Showing Posts For Rigero.5638:

Thoughts from a casual player

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Rigero.5638

Rigero.5638

To Khandro -

My partner and I share your gaming preferences. I had to recruit various RP friends to help her and I through each step of the HoT storylines. Even as a team (Ranger and Elementalist), we couldn’t do it alone. The Maguuma Jungle creatures have too many two-shot kill attacks, not to mention the various instant-death attacks (most associated with knock-downs followed by attacks while you’re down).

Without friends and powerful weaponry (to which your wearables contribute more than the weapon itself), the only way is to adopt the console-gaming attitude of “die a hundred times to learn the trick of defeat this enemy.”

I consider the whole game design philosophy of “a hundred deaths” to be silly, lazy game design. Subteens and teens enjoy it, because their fragile egos need the pleasure of insider-knowledge, and that need sustains them through the hundred deaths. Adults have less patience for such foolishness.

I would offer more help, since we greatly enjoy gaming at a less frantic pace than most GW2ers. Unfortunately, we are in US Mountain Time zone (UTC-7), exactly 1/3rd of the world away. The chances of teaming up regularly for a foursome seems hopeless.

Daily Heart of Maguuma Forager bugged

in Bugs: Game, Forum, Website

Posted by: Rigero.5638

Rigero.5638

I hate the jumping puzzles in GW2. Suggesting that I do that daily is just a non-starter.

LF NA PvE friendly, helpful guild

in Looking for...

Posted by: Rigero.5638

Rigero.5638

Two intermediate players seek a guild that values friendly, helpful teammates, and in turn is willing to help them with some of the "hard stuff" (oddball hero and insight points in HoT zones, dungeons, masteries, etc.). Both are experienced gamers (got their start in EQ) who exclusively do PvE.

One of the two is an active RPer, so a guild that demands a high representation level won’t work for her.

Both have gaming times that work best with mountain or pacific time zones. A guild with at least one officer in one of those time zones is preferred.

Dungeons

in Looking for...

Posted by: Rigero.5638

Rigero.5638

I agree with LadyLou. People on LFG groups exhibit all the worst aspects of PUGs. More times than I can count, players just banzai into the Dungeon. They try to kill everything, with no thought to what the room requires, what enemies are present, or what classes they are working with. As soon as the group fails in a room (which it often does), people start dropping out. If you ask in text chat a question about a room, or tactics, nobody answers.

I have the impression that many PUGers assume that someone else will know the Dungeon and carry them through. If that doesn’t happen, they just quit the group and look for another one.

It is possible the PUGers are assuming everyone else in the party will read their mind and support whatever tactics they have in mind for a room. Certainly the idea of touching a keyboard to type something is repugnant to them.

Why is WvW Leaderboard broken?

in Bugs: Game, Forum, Website

Posted by: Rigero.5638

Rigero.5638

When I look at WvW sin-game, and which servers are grouped together, it bears NO RESEMBLENCE to the scores I see at https://leaderboards.guildwars2.com/en/na/wvw .

I would be nice to have an out-of-game leaderboard that is up to date.

Eredon Terrace

in Looking for...

Posted by: Rigero.5638

Rigero.5638

I have been on ET for almost a year, doing PvE solo with friends I’ve made within the game. Yesterday I tried WvW for the first time. I realized that I desperately need a WvW guild that isn’t adverse to teaching a newbie. Are there any WvW guilds left on ET that are more than “old friends clubs” ? If so, who would I contact to learn more about the guild?

stuck on loading screen when switching maps

in Bugs: Game, Forum, Website

Posted by: Rigero.5638

Rigero.5638

Moving from region to region, for example by Asura gates, sometimes results in the region refusing to load. I end up stuck on the loading screen.

It happens to my partner periodically also. Sometimes she makes into the region, and I don’t, and sometimes the opposite. In either case, we have to ctrl-alt-del out of the game, restart it, and then load into the region.

This started happening after the May 23rd update, so I suspect you “fixed” something on the servers or region-loading that didn’t like it.

Constant problems connecting to login server

in Account & Technical Support

Posted by: Rigero.5638

Rigero.5638

In the last week, both myself and my partner periodically get a message, while in-game, about being unable to connect to the login server. We have no changed our router, internet or firewall settings in the last four months, but suddenly now get the messages. Today, we even ran into an inability to load the first zone (over two minutes and DR not yet loaded is a sure sign of trouble).

Our connection speed is 100 Mbps down, 3 Mbps up, and works perfectly well for other online activities, such as netflix streaming, youtubing, etc. We use ethernet to connect between computers and router, so there is no wifi to blame. Our conclusion is that arenanet made some change in connection logic or the login server, to “improve” something, but actually broken something else.

Relogging at Wrong Place

in Bugs: Game, Forum, Website

Posted by: Rigero.5638

Rigero.5638

During Saturday, May 7, whenever I logged out in Timberline Falls (the daily event completer was in that zone), when I re-logged in, I was put in Lion’s Arch instead of Timberline Falls. Oddly enough, my partner, sharing the same cable modem as myself via our router, always arrived back in Timberline Falls.

I suspect the server supporting Timberline Falls had problems keeping track of character locations.

Soothsayer Jacinda Bug [Merged]

in Bugs: Game, Forum, Website

Posted by: Rigero.5638

Rigero.5638

A friend got this bug (told to talk to soothsayer, even though she finished the entire original storyline) again today, shortly after the update (today being May 4th, 2016).

Region & Event Timer Bugs

in Bugs: Game, Forum, Website

Posted by: Rigero.5638

Rigero.5638

Verdant Brink regions seem to “time out” frequently. Today I was running with a group three times, and I got a message to change regions in the middle of an event. This invariably results in at least some people leaving, making a do-able event into an un-doable impossibility.

The TCRP Guild (nearly 500 members) had an RP session in the guild hall last weekend, April 30/May 1). Every 15 or 20 minutes, without fail, the guild hall suddenly decided to close. Everyone had to leave, go to a new instance, only to find the same thing happening again, very disruptive. Total number of people present was in the 10-20 range.

Finally, again in Verdant Brink, three or four times today (May 4) my Ranger friend was not given credit for the event – got an “inactive” message. However, she was right beside me all the time. Why did I (an elementalist) get credit, and she did not? Smells like a bug to me. The timer for staying active in an event, especially the escort survivors events, is WAY too short some of the time.

Server Lag & Lost Connection on 4/30/16

in Bugs: Game, Forum, Website

Posted by: Rigero.5638

Rigero.5638

Throughout today, Saturday, April 30th, both my wife and myself experienced periodic huge lags. Normally our lag (ping time) measures at 80-120ms. Today it was 800ms to 1100ms !!!!

In the evening, trying to do Frostgorge Sound events (today’s daily), we both lost connection with the server, could not easily get back on. When we did get back in, loading times were enormous, and disconnects frequent.

GW2 was the ONLY application that had this problem. I was on multiple other internet applications, and all worked without any problems.

Jungle Wurm failed to provide credit

in Bugs: Game, Forum, Website

Posted by: Rigero.5638

Rigero.5638

I’ve had this problem too, a couple times. Other times I get credit. I seem to remember this was a bug long before Heart of Thorns launched.

It seems that fixing bugs below the “rage quit” level isn’t as important to Arena Net as creating whole new expansions full of additional wonderful and entertaining bugs. Viva la Bug!

Rp in gw2?

in Looking for...

Posted by: Rigero.5638

Rigero.5638

Amaranthe.3578, ArenaNet has a long reputation of paying no attention to the needs or desires of role-playing gamers. Nevertheless, GW2 has had, and still has, an active and vibrant RP “scene” despite the random instancing that destroys any possible sense of “server community” found in other games.

Forums devoted to role-playing, including characters, guilds, etc. can be found at: http://www.guildwars2roleplayers.com/

If you are an NA roleplayer, the most useful guild is TCRP – a “hub” guild primarily designed to facilitate player meet-ups. Anyone in the guild can invite you – if there is room.

There is no way to manually select an instance (unlike other games with instanced “zones”). However, representing a guild significantly biases the instance logic to putting you in the same zone as other guild members – in this case TCRP roleplayers! Failing that, you can use guild chat to request a “taxi” (a method that exploits party mechanics to get you into a specific zone).

The zone with the most open-world RP every day is Divinity’s Reach, the human home city. This the place where you find like-minded players. The scene there has been vibrant for years, including RP guilds for the two competing city police forces, the “Krytan Ministry” guild to represents the human kingdom government (and does it well, by RP standards), and even a brothel guild (The Coin) with its own semi-secret tavern location. There are also three more conventional taverns (Busted Flagon, Maiden’s Whisper, and “The Sun” in the Ossan) available in Divinity’s Reach that are commonly used by RPers, especially “The Sun.”

The only recent game I’ve encountered with a stronger RP environment is Final Fantasy XIV. However, the main RP server there has been closed to new accounts for years (there are ways around that using character-transfers between servers, but it’s costly).

(edited by Rigero.5638)

Jan 14 update - FPS and client disco problems

in Account & Technical Support

Posted by: Rigero.5638

Rigero.5638

NilSatis, thanks for the advice about GeForce experience. I mentioned it primarily to provide a universally available reference point for graphics settings. Having been on the inside of the game industry for a while, I know the tendency of engineers tend to blame the customer rather than their code at first. You have to build a strong case before they will agree to look into it.

By referencing Nvidia recommended settings, if engineers claim it was a settings problem, then they need to resolve it with Nvidia, which makes it a debate between graphics hardware, graphic driver software, and game software.

I am running the 32-bit client, not the 64-bit. I want to enjoy the game rather than struggle with potential bugs.

My graphics system is not beset by either a loose board, loose CPU, or some other graphic fault. All my other applications are running fine, including some very graphically demanding games. If my hardware was at fault, I would expect to see the faults show up in other ways.

Personally, I believe there is an extremely strong case that Anet has created a new bug somewhere in the graphics code. It seems to affect newer systems (like my GTX 770) more than older ones (like my partner’s GHTX 580), since otherwise our machines are fairly similar, right down to the graphics driver. I’m hoping the Anet 3D engineering team knows what it is, and will quietly issue a fix.

Jan 14 update - FPS and client disco problems

in Account & Technical Support

Posted by: Rigero.5638

Rigero.5638

Some serious client errors still exist in the Thursday, Jan 14 update. For details about my test systems, see the bottom of this post.

When the first Jan 14 update was released, my FPS plunged from 50-60 fps to 12-15 fps, making my screen into a stuttering, jerking mess like a Victorian zoetrope. Later in the day an update was released that appeared to fix the problem.

If only that were true. Over the following three days (Friday, Saturday and Sunday), about one in four of five startups, the graphics were running 12-15 fps again. I got a feeling for this because once or twice each day, while in the middle of running, the game would inexplicably go to a black screen (forcing me to Ctrl-Alt-Del and end the program) or lose connection with the server (with a message window, so I can restart). This afforded me additional opportunities to observe whether the game started up at full speed (50-60 fps) or 1/5th speed (12-15 fps).

Curiously, my partner’s machine, with an older graphics card, had NONE of these problems. Both our machines run through the same router into the same cable modem with a 100mbps download speed, so it’s not our internet connection.

My conclusion is client code changes made in the Jan 14 release created big problems at first, leading to an “oops!” moment which correct most but not all of the problem. Gameplay will be periodically frustrating and unreliable until a better update is released.

Machine Specs:

My Machine (shows GW2 problems):
2.8 GHz i7 quad-core processor with 12GB RAM
Windows 7, service pack 1 OS
2TB hard drive with SATA 2.0 drive controller, plus a second HD only for backups
Nvidia GeForce GTX 770 running Nvidia driver 361.43 (Windows approved)
Screen resolution: 1920×1200
Graphics settings: those recommended in NVIDIA GeForce Experience software

Partner Machine (does not show GW2 problems):
3.2 GHz i7 quad-core processor with 16GB RAM
Windows 7, service pack 1 OS
2TB hard drive with SATA 3.0 drive controller, plus a second HD only for backups
Nvidia GeForce GTX 580 running Nvidia driver 361.43 (Windows approved)
Screen resolution: 1920×1200
Graphics settings: those recommended in NVIDIA GeForce Experience software

Hope this helps you identify the problem, rather than hope it just “goes away on its own.” As I’m sure you know, that kind of hope actually leads to customers going away on their own.

In-game mail broken?

in Account & Technical Support

Posted by: Rigero.5638

Rigero.5638

I finally got an answer from customer service earlier today.

It turns out ALL new accounts, even paid HoT accounts, have a seven day (real-world calendar time) waiting period before you can use in-game mail, or purchase anything at Black Lion, including just buying a few materials or simple items for a few coppers.

When exactly seven days had passed, to the minute as best I could tell, my in-game mail was enabled, and I was able to purchase things with copper, silver or gold at the Black Lion.

In-game mail broken?

in Account & Technical Support

Posted by: Rigero.5638

Rigero.5638

Figlilly, thanks for the information. I have talked to a few experienced people, but all they have is speculation. All experienced people were around long before HoT released.

I’ve never seen a mentor, but I’ll keep an eye out for one.

Frankly, I think this is a support question for Arena Net. Either our email is broken, or their user interface is broken (because it just locks stuff for no comprehensible reason).

Attaching to mail

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Rigero.5638

Rigero.5638

The official wiki description of mail (https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Mail) says nothing about elapsed time of hours or days, or what kind of account activity is needed, and how much. It does say you need to be level six.

I and my partner are both past level six, have six days in the game (3-6 hrs/day), and don’t have email. We can’t exchange possession in-game, and we can’t do it via mail. I get stuff her ranger can use, but I can’t give it do her. She gets stuff my revenant can use, but has no way to give it to me. What the heck???

It would be nice to know exactly how the system is supposed to work, not speculation, and not information that’s out of date.

In-game mail broken?

in Account & Technical Support

Posted by: Rigero.5638

Rigero.5638

We HAVE set up SMS authentication for BOTH accounts. Please read the original post.

If there is a delay before activation of new accounts, why is Arena Net concealling this fact, and not mentioning it on the game’s official wiki?

This is only one of MANY things in the game which do not work as advertised, and for which internet searches are useless, since most online sites describe the game as it was at launch. The game today behaves VERY differently, and figuring it out is a perlexing mess. It’s as if Arena Net doesn’t want new players – because there are no correct instructions or documentation for new players.

Incidentally, shouts in-game don’t help either. Most of the low-population servers seem to have people just as clueless as we are.

In-game mail broken?

in Account & Technical Support

Posted by: Rigero.5638

Rigero.5638

I and my partner both purchased new HoT accounts last weekend. We like to share resources between our characters, but cannot because (a) no transfers in-game between characters, and (b) email is locked for both of us.

I consulted https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Mail. We both have characters in our teens, both are friended with each other, and haven’t done anything to earn the ire of Arena Net (at least, nobody has warned us about anything!). Yet we still can’t email stuff to each other, or anyone else.

Do we both have broken emails in our accounts, or is there some other requirement to enable in-game mail? Account names are Rigero.5638 and thaddea.1342.