Guild Wars 2

The meta notification for Flame Legion Battles (http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Flame_Legion_Battles 192023E0-BB4C-4EB0-B242-F4290E706D61) shows up not only in event_details.json (which is probably fine) but also is constantly active in events.json. Also, the coordinates given in event_details.json is located in Bloodcliff Quarry, rather than Sanctum Way or Incendio Templum.

I don’t expect them to add anything that involves interacting with character inventories, just like I don’t expect APIs that allow people to move their characters, use skills, loot, and so on. Even beyond the concerns of botting (and I’m boggled people here are actually suggesting that’s a non-issue), they do still want players to actually play the game in order to play the game.

I’m not posting here to argue against it. I’m posting here to say it’s absurd to expect in-game character interactions to be anything other than read-only.

Thanks Spradlin.

Cliff Spradlin.3512:

Dr Ishmael.9685:

In map_floors.json, some maps are returning as 2 separate entries under “maps”.

I believe this problem is fixed, can you verify?

Blazedridge Steppes and Lornar’s Pass are each still showing up twice in https://api.guildwars2.com/v1/map_floor.json?continent_id=1&floor=1

Possibly other maps as well.

I’d like there to be some way to differentiate which ‘map’ objects are the primary zones and which are personal story instances.

Right now I’m working around this by comparing the map_id to map_names.json, but that misses the capitals (I’m guessing because only maps with events in them get into map_names.json).

I also would like to have something to indicate if it’s a skill point.

Also, it’d be great if could have an attribute indicating what an appropriate icon to use for the event would be, like those from this list: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Template:Event_icon#Standard_values

I’ve revamped http://primalzed.github.io/GW2ActiveEvents to use the mapping service.

When you zoom in on a map, it will show all the waypoints and currently active events on the map.

Clicking on an event provides a link to the wiki page of the event, and clicking on a waypoint provides the in-game chat code for that waypoint.

What about the difference between highlight, base, and shadow of each dye? The Flame & Frost dyes obviously have a greater difference in these values than most dyes do. How is this determined?

Great stuff, Spradlin. Excited to see what additions or updates you guys make to the APIs. Thanks for the hard work and for keeping involved on the forum.

Vol.5241:

Another request from me!

Similar to the above, but using the event tracker

I’d like to keep an eye on available events on other servers so I can farm ;p

If no one else beats me to it, I’ll update mine to have up to 3 servers after I get off work tomorrow.
http://primalzed.github.io/GW2ActiveEvents/

Should probably replace the godcraft url with http://primalzed.github.io/GW2ActiveEvents/ – this will always have the latest that I’ve created, while godcraft has an older version of my site. (I’ve fixed the wiki hyperlinks and added icons to indicate normal event, group event, or skill point event.)

Flower Lyssa.8012:

I’ve been using gw2stuff.com and guildwarstemple.com for dragon/bonus chest event timers and they both seem screwy tonight. They are reporting some events in warm up that are not warming up at all.

For example, on Kaineng, on gw2stuff, at 22:26 EST, it says Gloem Mark II is warming up and in “Help gather kelp” stage. In contrast, 5 minutes later, the wiki says that the warming up event is up (and it is accurate).

Same server, same time, on guildwarstemple.com, it says Shadow Behemoth is warming up. I’m there and that’s totally not the case.

Maybe it’s an issue with the individual tools, maybe there’s a problem with the API. I just want the information out there.

I don’t know gw2stuff or temple timers to show a notification for “warming up.” I think you’re getting the phrasing mixed up.

(If the golem mk 2 chain is in the ‘harvest kelp’ event, it’s because the ‘disable containers’ event failed and i dont’ think it’ll get to the actual golem.)

In the events web service, the “warmup” status can last for a very long time, and shouldn’t be taken to mean that the event’s start is imminent. It’s better to just of the “warmup” status to mean “inactive.”

Dauni.8290:

This+Playerinformation API (+ x, y,y z pos of the player) – There is my Map on 2nd Monitor!

That sort of thing is the ultimate benefit of this, yes. It’d be possible to have on this map everything that is on the map in-game (POIs, renown hearts, vendors) plus more besides (all events across the zone, gathering nodes, etc). Other than player location and which POIs, etc have been completed by the character, all of this information can be included before they take the step into services using OAuth2.

Of course, it wouldn’t be entirely live – it’d have to run with about a ~10 second refresh time (don’t want to overwhelm their services with constant requests by a large number of people), but that’d still be plenty sufficient.

Rawrfaec.6412:

A luxury problem but would it be possible to have events sorted by ID? It’s a lot of client overhead that seems like it could be avoided. I realize they probably aren’t indexed by public IDs and requiring an ORDER BY on every request would add unnecessary server overhead, which is even worse.

What’s the point in sorting by ID? It’s just a GUID, so putting it in alphabetical order by ID won’t have any value.

edit: Also, if these web services become widely used, it’d be much more efficient to do things like sorting client-side so to keep the web service response as fast and efficient as possible for tons of requesters.

I disagree with specifically ‘start’, ‘current’, and ‘final’ locations.

For starters, an escort only needs ‘current’ and ‘destination’.

Secondly, there might be events with different kinds of locations, for example “destroy 3 towers” with the location of each tower.

To that end, there should be a “locations” array, with the x, y, (z?) of each location for the event, the type of icon for that location (shield, star, swords, etc), and possibly a brief description of it (i.e. “Tower” or “Destination”)

I don’t think the full path of an escort is necessary.

Also, a primary icon to use for the event would be handy (similar to what klaufel set up at http://klaufel.info/gw2-active-events/ – he’s just parsing the first word of the event name and guessing what icon to use with it).

Being able to see your inventory (both character and bank) through a web service would be hugely beneficial.

I would like to see an official coordinate system to work with the maps. This would be a huge boon not only to go with the events API, but also to provide a way to describe a precise location in the game for waypoints, points of interest, and so on (for things like the wiki and potentially for future APIs).

(Might need a z-coordinate for map depth in addition to the obvious x and y coordinates.)

Thanks for this.

I put it into a javascript array here: https://github.com/PrimalZed/GW2ActiveEvents/blob/master/Scripts/group_events.js

I created all the code used on http://godcraft.com/x/gw2/default.htm

It’s available (with updates) as open source at https://github.com/PrimalZed/GW2ActiveEvents and apparently github can also host the page at http://primalzed.github.io/GW2ActiveEvents/

I wrote a basic HTML web page that consumes these web services and displays the events for a given server/zone in a table, using javascript with jquery. Once a server and map are selected, it updates every 10 seconds.

I don’t have a computer I always leave on to host it from, but I’ve made the code available here:

https://github.com/PrimalZed/GW2ActiveEvents

Gandarel.5091:

Primal Zed.9714:

Gandarel.5091:

Ofc they got no plans wqith Livia, that’s sooo sillyyy..

Like the pink themed GW2 ‘scholar with a fan’ concept art, that’s just fan made, ofc that’s definitely not a mesmer, we won’t have mesmer. 3 years later that was verifyed to be a leaked concept art.

Arenanet is shady.

In a game that’s supposed to be continually added to with new content, it’s a good idea to insert a lot of potential plot threads early on, even if you have no plans on when or how it will play out at the time. Plus, their concept artists are known to make stuff without being specifically told to, and while some of that gets added into the game not all of it does. Lastly, sometimes they do have a long-term plan for something that gets scrapped for something different.

I think you’re giving ArenaNet too much credit here. They don’t have some master plan for all the story hooks in the game, they just make it up as they go along.

If they had plans, GW2 story wouldn’t be: " ahh screw the lore let’s add some dragons and hunt them down in the next 5 expansios before we will do something with the actual lore".

There’s no reason to immediately flip over to the opposite extreme. They did seed the dragons in GW1, after all, and just because they’re the primary big bad of the moment doesn’t mean there’s nothing else going on.

I think that all asura being good at everything is a bit overstated, despite the quintessential examples put forward by ArenaNet (Zojja and Kudu) being like that. The significant majority of asura in the world have some focus or specialization, and may not even be successful within that specialization.

Gandarel.5091:

Ofc they got no plans wqith Livia, that’s sooo sillyyy..

Like the pink themed GW2 ‘scholar with a fan’ concept art, that’s just fan made, ofc that’s definitely not a mesmer, we won’t have mesmer. 3 years later that was verifyed to be a leaked concept art.

Arenanet is shady.

In a game that’s supposed to be continually added to with new content, it’s a good idea to insert a lot of potential plot threads early on, even if you have no plans on when or how it will play out at the time. Plus, their concept artists are known to make stuff without being specifically told to, and while some of that gets added into the game not all of it does. Lastly, sometimes they do have a long-term plan for something that gets scrapped for something different.

I think you’re giving ArenaNet too much credit here. They don’t have some master plan for all the story hooks in the game, they just make it up as they go along.

I think G&G and Jrunyon are talking past each other. G&G (and the OP Shooopa) seem more concerned with how interesting the encounters are, while Jrunyon is interpreting it as being concerned with the input mechanics of wsad, mouse, and keybindings.

(Given Shooopa’s complaints involving hitting keys 1-5 and G&G likewise invoking pressing skill keys as a bad thing in his first post here, I also had Jrunyon’s interpretation initially.)

Faux Play.6104:

It only took 8 people 4 weeks to put SAB into the game, but some how the team of 200+ has not had the time over the last seven+ months to add an option to disable right click targeting?

Primal Zed.9714:

I’m not sure what the problem here is. They have a team of over 200 people. Over one month, they had 8 or so working on SAB, with a few more occasionally putting some time to it. What makes you so certain that this has any kind of impact on their progress with the sort of updates you say you want?

It would seem they have other priorities, yes.

The things you’re bringing up here seem very mundane, too. Disable right click targeting? Is this something that’s been widely demanded, and I just never heard of it? Why should that be a thing?

(It’s “per se.”)

Yes, it’s a possible plot thread that ArenaNet can pick up on. However, there’s nothing to suggest any imminent plans. Pointing that out isn’t a desperate move to disprove anything, nor an attempt to crush any fun.

I think Konig would agree (just look at his first response) – that the NPCs have conversations and speculate like this is a very neat thing, making it seem like there’s so much more going on in the game world. There’s lots of vox populi moments like this, and it’s an excellent way of inserting bits of lore, culture, and yes potential plot threads.

(But mostly I wanted to post because the phrase is “per se.”)

I’m not sure what the problem here is. They have a team of over 200 people. Over one month, they had 8 or so working on SAB, with a few more occasionally putting some time to it. What makes you so certain that this has any kind of impact on their progress with the sort of updates you say you want?

It’s a “no”, primarily because of personal story making it difficult. Sorry dude.

ZenonSeth.5739:

But I don’t think it will happen. The main reason is that all armor is designed to fit with each other. I’m not talking looks, I’m talking leaving out gaps on your character and clipping. So all heavy armor pieces are designed to ‘fit’ properly with all other heavy armor pieces, such that they don’t leave gaps.

My guess is that all armor types (heavy, medium, light) have their own internal fitting that won’t necessarily work with other types. So if a user equips, say, a Heavy Chest armor and Light Pants, there might be gaps between the two, making your character look like he’s been chopped in half.

The armor in this game does not “fit together” as you describe. Depending on the pieces, there can be both gaps and, quite frequently, clipping.

New armor skins should be available in the game, not exclusively from the gem store.

Mastruq.2463:

I prefer dev participation on the forums to a hired mouth piece. That usually turns into a scapegoat anyway.

I do second the idea of devs spending 20 minutes every other day on the forum, getting a feel for how the community views their work and answer questions that are worth answering (most arent). Its direct feedback to what they are doing and that can only help with improving the game, as long as they also stick to their design document and not just implement the latest forum fad.

It’s important to remember that the forum-goers are a very small percentage of the overall player base, and shouldn’t necessarily be taken as representative of the player base. Not to say that well-articulated feedback is worthless, just that what goes on in the forum is not as significant as you seem to regard it.

Please add to http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Frost_Dye_Kit and http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Flame_Dye_Kit the dyes that are available from each kit.

The wiki indicates there hasn’t been any follow-up with that, and the developers themselves may not have had any real plan with it when they added it in:
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Livia#Notes

If they have something in mind for it by now, I doubt they’d spill the beans here.

I play on Tarnished Coast. All my characters have roleplay-appropriate names. I create and lead roleplay events for my guild.

I don’t care about people on the server who don’t roleplay. I don’t care with when they have silly names or ape the name of some other fictional character, whether it’s part of the Guild Wars lore or some other popular story. In fact, I was amused to discover that the Tarnished Coast server is home to a female character with the name David Bowie.

So long as they don’t bother me when I’m roleplaying (which, surprisingly, has not yet happened), it really doesn’t matter that there are people on the server that don’t care about roleplay and anything it entails.

Really, I’d hate if there was some kind of all roleplay all the time rule for the server. Most of the time I’m just runnin around bashin stuff like any non-roleplay player would.

Personally, the Nightmare Court approach strikes me as similar to that of a rebellious teenager. They claim to be all about independence from their parents, but the actions they choose to take are often to be in opposition to their parents rather than being truly independent of them.

They’re just overly obsessed with the Pale Tree and her philosophies, making the warped decision that the only way to be separate from her is to completely go against her.

The sylvari that truly want to be independent become Soundless.

Not sure if it’s already understood, but want to make clear that Razah is just the name of the individual, not the name of that sort of creature or anything.

Also, I think that you could play a creature from the Mists as any profession. It’s not like he has to have some affinity for Mists-magic (which may not even be a thing, so far as I know).

No comment on the size difference, but I do really like that the two actually have different models.

Shahiel.8342:

“The ultimate goal of marketing is to generate an intense bond between the consumer and the brand, and the main ingredient of this bond is trust,” Oxford University Press’ report, Emotion and Brands.

“We respect you—as a player, as a human being. This game we’re making may end up competing with your real life. It might fight for your free time alongside your friends, your family, your work, and whatever else you might be doing. Because of that, we want to give you a meaningful experience, not one that is a vapid waste of your time. Whatever your reasons for spending time in Tyria, we don’t want to waste it by doing stuff that isn’t fun.
[…]
Purpose: To keep us honest.”

Ben Miller, The Golden Rules of Guild Wars 2
http://www.arena.net/blog/the-golden-rules-of-guild-wars-2

bcbully.7289:

You guys made a real good point. There was no gap, and if they felt there was a grind gap why wasn’t that gap bridge with cosmetics?

Just wait till they show you how the cash shop works with all of this.

This is a little tangential, but one good thing for me that has come out of this thread is that someone else pointed out that there actually is an intermediary between typical exotic items and the legendary:

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Mystic_Forge/Other_Items

These items each have a unique skin, are more difficult to acquire than a level 80 exotic of equal stats, but easier to acquire than a legendary weapon of equal stats. (They also don’t require mystic forge gambling, yay!)

Fayte.1803:

Primal Zed.9714:

Fayte.1803:

The increase in stats is simple, players wanted more end game content, or thats what was said, honestly though I could care less, I’m just glad they give a kitten to even give us more content, and yes another player can be just as powerful without ascended gear, keep in mind our individual builds are stat driven, you might have a few additional stat perks but in the long run it won’t decide the outcome of a skill driven battle.

Higher stats does not equal more end game content, nor are higher stats necessary for more end game content.

No one is upset about the addition of new content here – in fact, as I said to Mr. Whiteside, I’m sure most if not all people here are very pleased to be getting new content this month.

A player with exotic gear cannot be just as powerful as a player with ascended gear. It is mathematically impossible. As demonstrated in their example of an ascended item alongside a level 80 exotic item, ascended items have a higher stat cap.

If the difference in stats is truly insignificant, why did they add it at all? (Yes, I did ask this question already, and you did already answer, but as I address in my first paragraph here your answer is nonsensical.)

Just what is your point here?

Your arguing and using ascended stats as an example even thought the actual content has yet to be released? Everything is only based on assumptions given by the little bit of info that was fed to us, so which statement is nonsensical again? And in a skillbased game power isn’t everything, just cause someone is decked out in better gear doesn’t mean they will have some advantage over another player, your basically just throwing around numbers, it will be the same when the ascended gear is released.

Yes, I am using the facts ArenaNet has provided about what they intend to add in to the game this week. What am I assuming, exactly?

Your statement that the higher stats is for new content is nonsensical. Higher stats on gear is not new content (dungeons, zones, enemies, events), nor is it required for new content.

It will not be the same after the release. I’m not just throwing around random numbers, I am referencing the numbers they give us in which the ascended item has a higher stat allocation than the exotic item. 50 is greater than 48. 18 is greater than 15. Saying they are the same is fundamentally incorrect. Saying it is not an advantage to have greater stats is fundamentally incorrect.

If the difference in numbers is so insignificant as to have no practical impact, then why are they changing the stat cap on gear to begin with? Why can’t they leave the existing stat cap?

BatteryBiscuits.1573:

You know guys, Have you ever considered that theses ‘’infusion slots’’ could just be perhaps % bonuses against certain enemy types along with agony resistance?
Like defensive infusion could be -3% dmg received from inquest and offensive could be +4% dmg against krait for example.
Of course it’s just a guess but it’s another way to look at something we don’t have the full details for yet.

It doesn’t matter what goes in the infusion slots. The fact is that even notwithstanding the infusion/agony mechanic, the ascended gear has higher stat allocation than level 80 exotic gear. That is the information we have.

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/linsey-murdock-unveils-new-high-end-ascended-gear/

noir.6392:

Who in their right minds doesn’t want their character to get more powerful? So what, you have to farm a little for better gear, big whoop. It’s not like you have a lot to do after finishing most of the content. And the gear upgrade comes naturally by exploring the new content. As long as it’s not a few months grind like in other popular titles, I don’t see the problem.
A few days of playing for better gear and stronger character triggers 124 pages of complains? You people are sad. Especially given that the ring will drop/be obtainable by simply exploring the new dungeon..I’m missing the logic in all the arguments.
I have followed everything that ANet said about the game prior to it’s release and I don’t remember ever seeing anything about there not being any kind of character progression in the following years.
If that is the case and my characters stay the same for the entire life of the game, with all my love for GW I will drop it in a couple of months. I truly hope there will be more of a gear progression than this, , given that exotic gear is a joke to get.
Stop patting just the casuals on the head, give something for the more hardcore players too.
And can you actually say that you even need exotic gear to enjoy the content of the game? Hell, you can do all the dungeons and PVE in green gear just fine.
I don’t know when people have turn into big whiners.
It bothers me too that they promised that there will be no grinding and most of the game is grinding. But it doesn’t bother me because of the grind itself. I had the pleasure to grind for a legendary and I can say it was 99% a huge grind. No, it bothers me that they lied about it, that they didn’t live up to their promises.

But better gear? Hell yea.

People who want to have the freedom to pick up the game and play it after a break don’t want their character to become “more powerful.”

The entire concept that your character becomes more powerful with higher stat gear is an illusion anyway. The content is still going to be designed around the stat cap, no matter how high the stat cap is. The only thing it does is make older content a little easier.

No, older content becoming easier is not something to be desired. That’s why ArenaNet designed their content scaling, after all.

If you do want to be chasing after new gear for the higher stats every few months, then that’s fine. You can do that in games that are designed that way. This game was specifically marketed as not following that model, though.

Archernick.8260:

Hey I have an idea.

Why not wait until the update hits this weekend, and THEN feel free to freak out if you think it’s still just.

The way people freak out about these things is almost sad, if not mostly funny.

Just what information do you think is necessary for this discussion that is not in their blog post today – https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/linsey-murdock-unveils-new-high-end-ascended-gear/

Arkham Creed.7358:

I can name a game wherein it did work. Guild Wars. Look it up. Go on the wiki and search for “Spectral Agony.”

What makes you say that it worked in Guild Wars? They ended up changing it to make infusing gear much easier, and did not carry the same sort of mechanic into future additions in the game.

WoW also had a mechanic in which players needed a specific type of gear for certain dungeons back when it was first released (the period of the game now referred to as ‘Vanilla’). For Molten Core, players needed fire resist gear. For Blackwing Lair, players needed a fire resist set, a shadow resist set, and a specific cloak. For Ahn Qiraj, players needed a nature resist set. This was unpopular, and the developers have moved away from that sort of mechanic and have not gone back.

Fayte.1803:

Primal Zed.9714:

Fayte.1803:

Primal Zed.9714:

Fayte.1803:

Hrm really? They specifically said there will NEVER be any increase in gear stats? Like you heard one of them say those exact words? Cause if they only mentioned something that sounded similar its not the same, as before the manifest is NOT a contract. They are free to change and add whatever content they want to the game. I mean they created Guildwars 2 they didn’t have us harping on them and look how great it turned out.

I never suggested that their manifesto is a contract, nor that they are somehow forbidden from changing the game as they see fit. In the same spirit, I am allowed to provide my feedback.

Yes, they did say that they won’t have higher-stat gear. Most recently reiterated (to my knowledge) in a blog post by Colin Johanson a few months before release: http://www.arena.net/blog/is-it-fun-colin-johanson-on-how-arenanet-measures-success

In my opinion, their single stat plateau without a gear treadmill is one of the things that makes Guild Wars 2 so great. Without that, I am much less interested in staying with this game in the long term. It might still be great (or greater!) for others, which is fine, just not for me.

Hrm yes I read that blog to, allow me to pull a part of it,

Fun impacts loot collection. The rarest items in the game are not more powerful than other items, so you don’t need them to be the best. The rarest items have unique looks to help your character feel that sense of accomplishment, but it’s not required to play the game. We don’t need to make mandatory gear treadmills, we make all of it optional, so those who find it fun to chase this prestigious gear can do so, but those who don’t are just as powerful and get to have fun too.

They don’t need to make gear treadmills, they just now chose to do it, its optional, your not being forced to grind for it, and those that will might have a slight advantage over others, but a game the boasts the skill of a player this shouldn’t make a whole lot of difference right? Seriously you guys are blowing this way out of proportion.

Yes, they don’t need to make gear treadmills. Yes, they chose to do this. No, it is not optional – in fact they explicitly include a gating mechanic as part of the new gear in addition to the stats.

You’ll also note that they say the player shouldn’t need the latest gear – that the player would still be “just as powerful” without it. How is that not explicitly broken here?

How am I blowing it out of proportion? They said they wouldn’t do this. Now, they apparently are doing this. At what point have I exaggerated?

Yes, the percentage change in stats here is fairly small. It is not the percentage that actually matters, it is what the increase itself represents. As I said in my post addressed to Mr. Whiteside, if this is not an intentional implementation of gear treadmill, then what purpose does the increase in stats serve? If the difference truly is insignificant, then why increase the stat cap at all?

The increase in stats is simple, players wanted more end game content, or thats what was said, honestly though I could care less, I’m just glad they give a kitten to even give us more content, and yes another player can be just as powerful without ascended gear, keep in mind our individual builds are stat driven, you might have a few additional stat perks but in the long run it won’t decide the outcome of a skill driven battle.

Higher stats does not equal more end game content, nor are higher stats necessary for more end game content.

No one is upset about the addition of new content here – in fact, as I said to Mr. Whiteside, I’m sure most if not all people here are very pleased to be getting new content this month.

A player with exotic gear cannot be just as powerful as a player with ascended gear. It is mathematically impossible. As demonstrated in their example of an ascended item alongside a level 80 exotic item, ascended items have a higher stat cap.

If the difference in stats is truly insignificant, why did they add it at all? (Yes, I did ask this question already, and you did already answer, but as I address in my first paragraph here your answer is nonsensical.)

Just what is your point here?

Fayte.1803:

Primal Zed.9714:

Fayte.1803:

Hrm really? They specifically said there will NEVER be any increase in gear stats? Like you heard one of them say those exact words? Cause if they only mentioned something that sounded similar its not the same, as before the manifest is NOT a contract. They are free to change and add whatever content they want to the game. I mean they created Guildwars 2 they didn’t have us harping on them and look how great it turned out.

I never suggested that their manifesto is a contract, nor that they are somehow forbidden from changing the game as they see fit. In the same spirit, I am allowed to provide my feedback.

Yes, they did say that they won’t have higher-stat gear. Most recently reiterated (to my knowledge) in a blog post by Colin Johanson a few months before release: http://www.arena.net/blog/is-it-fun-colin-johanson-on-how-arenanet-measures-success

In my opinion, their single stat plateau without a gear treadmill is one of the things that makes Guild Wars 2 so great. Without that, I am much less interested in staying with this game in the long term. It might still be great (or greater!) for others, which is fine, just not for me.

Hrm yes I read that blog to, allow me to pull a part of it,

Fun impacts loot collection. The rarest items in the game are not more powerful than other items, so you don’t need them to be the best. The rarest items have unique looks to help your character feel that sense of accomplishment, but it’s not required to play the game. We don’t need to make mandatory gear treadmills, we make all of it optional, so those who find it fun to chase this prestigious gear can do so, but those who don’t are just as powerful and get to have fun too.

They don’t need to make gear treadmills, they just now chose to do it, its optional, your not being forced to grind for it, and those that will might have a slight advantage over others, but a game the boasts the skill of a player this shouldn’t make a whole lot of difference right? Seriously you guys are blowing this way out of proportion.

Yes, they don’t need to make gear treadmills. Yes, they chose to do this. No, it is not optional – in fact they explicitly include a gating mechanic as part of the new gear in addition to the stats.

You’ll also note that they say the player shouldn’t need the latest gear – that the player would still be “just as powerful” without it. How is that not explicitly broken here?

How am I blowing it out of proportion? They said they wouldn’t do this. Now, they apparently are doing this. At what point have I exaggerated?

Yes, the percentage change in stats here is fairly small. It is not the percentage that actually matters, it is what the increase itself represents. As I said in my post addressed to Mr. Whiteside, if this is not an intentional implementation of gear treadmill, then what purpose does the increase in stats serve? If the difference truly is insignificant, then why increase the stat cap at all?

edit: I’m not sure what point you’re trying to make here, Fayt, other than random pot shots at perceived or invented holes in my posts.

Edewen.8304:

So tell me if im wrong.

Theya re not making a treadmill. Ascended is simply to bring the gap between the exotic tier and the legendary tier.

So you are saying you are adding ANOTHER tier after ascended called legendary?!?!?!

Legendary items are already in the game, but take many many hours to acquire. They currently have stats equal to exotic items. This update that adds ascended items is also going to increase the stats on the legendary items (and there has been some suggestions that they might also make the legendary items a little easier to acquire).

Xilo.9567:

As long as what he said in his post is true. Its just a barrier between exotic and legendary. If they do not intend to keep introducing new tiers of gear then its not a problem. And they have still stuck to their manifesto.

Just one more thing needs to happen. Make it available through lots of karma, and WvWvW.

The problem is, currently, there is no stat difference between exotics and legendaries. This new update creates a stat difference between exotics and legendaries.

I would be all for a new set of gear with distinct skins that are more difficult to get than exotic gear but not as difficult to get as legendary gear, if adding this new set of gear did not also entail an increase in stats.

Fayte.1803:

Hrm really? They specifically said there will NEVER be any increase in gear stats? Like you heard one of them say those exact words? Cause if they only mentioned something that sounded similar its not the same, as before the manifest is NOT a contract. They are free to change and add whatever content they want to the game. I mean they created Guildwars 2 they didn’t have us harping on them and look how great it turned out.

I never suggested that their manifesto is a contract, nor that they are somehow forbidden from changing the game as they see fit. In the same spirit, I am allowed to provide my feedback.

Yes, they did say that they won’t have higher-stat gear. Most recently reiterated (to my knowledge) in a blog post by Colin Johanson a few months before release: http://www.arena.net/blog/is-it-fun-colin-johanson-on-how-arenanet-measures-success

In my opinion, their single stat plateau without a gear treadmill is one of the things that makes Guild Wars 2 so great. Without that, I am much less interested in staying with this game in the long term. It might still be great (or greater!) for others, which is fine, just not for me.

Chris Whiteside.6102:

I’d like to respond to concerns players have raised about ascended items. Please keep in mind that we’re releasing this as one portion of a massive November update that introduces and improves many aspects of challenge, progression, and rewards. With this and upcoming updates, we view ourselves as introducing large amounts of content with supporting systems and features, akin to an expansion pack, building on Guild Wars 2 through a series of live releases. So it’s important for us to be able to add an expansion pack’s worth of progression and rewards to support that content.

Our goal is not to create a gear treadmill. Our goal is to ensure we have a proper progression for players from exotic up to legendary without a massive jump in reward between the two. We will slowly add the remaining ascended gear items and legendary items in future updates to allow people time to acquire them as we add exciting new content that deserves exciting rewards. We will not be adding a new tier of gear every 3 months that we expect everyone to chase after and then get the next set and so on.

Ascended and infusion rewards will be available in both PvE and WvW over time, and be made available through all sorts of content around the world including existing content. PvP will remain unaffected to ensure our intended PvP balance going forward. We are also working on other reward and progression systems for the game that tie into current and new content and features. As you know we care very much about your support and opinion and are listening intently to what you say.

Finally we look forward to hearing your thoughts on the upcoming content, and we will ensure we share our thoughts with you on the experiences we share in the Lost Shores.

Chris Whiteside – Studio Design Director

Thank you for the post, Mr. Whiteside.

I think it’s pretty safe to say that most people here are thrilled to get new content in the game, with new challenges and new equipment skins.

But if your goal is not to create a gear treadmill, why up the stat cap for level 80 items? You say that you want to have proper progression between exotic and legendary, and I think that’s perfectly reasonable considering the different in level of effort between exotic and legendary gear. But there is (currently) no stat difference between the exotic and legendary. These new ascension stats are not bridging any gap, they are creating a new gap.

What purpose is the increase in stats supposed to serve?

You suggest that you won’t be adding new tiers of gear every 3 months, but frankly what assurances do we have of that? You (ArenaNet, not you personally) have said before that there won’t be an increase in gear stats in this manner. If you go through with the stat increase from exotics to ascended items, why should we believe that you won’t do this again in the next content release?