Guild Wars 2

ChyrosNX.1834:

Disclaimer: I did this so you don’t have to. And yes, I’m totally broke after this lol.

Set 1, 130 Rare Greatswords, 63g. Result: 12 Exotics, 0 Precursor
Set 2, 130 Rare Greatswords, 60g. Result: 9 Exotics, 0 Precursor
Set 3, 130 Rare Greatswords, 59g. Result: 9 Exotics, 0 Precursor
Set 4, 130 Rare Greatswords, 60g. Result: 8 Exotics, 0 Precursor
Set 5, 130 Rare Greatswords, 60g. Result: 3 Exotics, 0 Precursor
Set 6, 130 Rare Greatswords, 60g. Result: 3 Exotics, 0 Precursor
Set 7, 130 Rare Greatswords, 59g. Result: 10 Exotics, 0 Precursor
Set 8, 130 Rare Greatswords, 60g. Result: 7 Exotics, 0 Precursor
Set 9, 130 Rare Greatswords, 59g. Result: 9 Exotics, 0 Precursor
Set 10, 130 Rare Greatswords, 61g. Result: 7 Exotics, 0 Precursor
Set 11, 130 Rare Greatswords, 61g. Result: 8 Exotics, 0 Precursor

Note: Exotics that I got are sold to TP to buy more rare greatswords. But after 11 tries of no precursor, I said what the heck and use all my leftover exotics to mystic forge as well.

Then the final straw…

Set 12, 32 Exotic Greatswords, (unknown price). Result: Even more exotics to mf, 0 Precursor

Summary

No of Sets: 12 sets within 1 day!
Total gold spent: 552g
Rare Swords: 1760 (incl, rare sword you get from MFing 4 of it)
Combine Count: 440 combines
*Result: * Emotionally damaging / disheartening (LOL! But no kidding!). It’s like going to casino with a lot of cash in hand and then go home empty handed.

Lesson learned: Mystic forge can get you rich sometimes or consumes all your hardwork. Learn when to stop. You don’t wanna get lose interest in this superb game after all. Like I said, I did this so you don’t have to.

Hope I helped the community with this information in one way or another.

I absolutely lost interest. I had to much time and played too much regardless, mostly mind numbing grind. In the end, this system is horrible and, frankly, antiquated. It’s not only bad design, it’s a lazy design.

I only followed up because I happened to see the post on reddit’s front pages and it deserves bad press.

Habib Loew.6239:

As you know we’ve been working on this problem for a while but what I think we haven’t ever said before is that our goal is to remove culling completely from WvW.

Thank you for the update. I’m sure this will spread quickly and positively. Communication always goes a long way.

Roe

ColinJohanson.2394:

Hey guys,

Just to help provide some clarity on this, we’ll be releasing within the next couple of weeks a high level summary of our big plans for the first half of 2013 to help provide more transparency into our plans with the game going forward. This will include providing more details about our goals for the game, information about the stories and features that you’ll see in the Jan/Feb/March releases.

To set expectations accordingly, the January release will be a relatively small release that sets the table for the stories and features we plan to roll out with the Feb/March releases and beyond. Also, there will be no new race, profession, or new region with these larger Feb/March releases. One of our major goals with these releases is making our existing world as strong as possible, ensuring there are reasons to go to all the locations in the world we’ve already built, and strengthening the core game we’ve provided. In saying this will be an expansions worth of stuff in these releases, we’re talking about the number of new features that will be rolled out across PvE, WvW, and PvP in early 2013, which usually you’d only find in an expansion for a traditional MMORPG.

More details and specifics to come in the next couple of weeks, but I hope that helps provide some more insight into what to expect at a very high level.

I love the communication. It really goes a long way. Thank you for taking the time.

Roe

Arcadio.6875:

While waiting for GW2, I watched a lot of interviews/panels and Colin really hyped me up for the game. I’m sure he honestly believes in his game, but watch the manifesto trailer and compare it against your experience with the game. http://youtu.be/35BPhT-KI1E

My stance now is that I have to see it to believe it. Instead of telling me the Feb update is going to be great, show us what you are working on. If you’re not going to because it is somehow too early, don’t bother trying to hype it up.

Welcome to the dark side. Forever in your future with any MMO where you say, “actions speak louder than words” you will find yourself bombed with fanboy hate.

Sarcasm aside, I think this point of view servers anyone well when it comes to companies selling their product.

Edit: Before people misunderstand, this has nothing to do with a company lying either. Anet employees really seem to care about their product and come across as a good gropu. It’s more a matter of someone putting their heart and sole into something, and that excitement comes across rather than the actual details.

Finished listening. I think the interview is not hopeful or very enlightening. These guys i have no doubt are good at what they do, and care about their product, but limited resources are limited (their words). No monthly fee, it is what it is.

I also think culling is as some programming people have said it was: a result of poor network design choices and something which might not be easily fixed, if at all. There was way to much silence and not enough optimism on this issue. I don’t anticipate any type of turn around fix in the next few months. Especially considering they just floated a two week, failed workaround—not something you would do if you were expecting to fix the issue any time soon.

muylaetrix.2096:

shadowsoul.2134:

in my opinion, the biggest problems are free transfers and nightcapping!!

But it’s still an amazing game!!!

my reasoning why they are not problems.

a) free servers allow w3 players to leave dead servers or servers with a mainly pve crowd that can’t offer the kind of w3 experience they want without having to pay for it. it would suck to make a character, invest time in it, and then find yourself severely limited in your play options because you chose the wrong server at start and had to make a new character on a different server or had to pay for transfer. but i’m sure it has a lot of bad effects as well.

b) the moment you leave a tower / keep / camp, you forfeit everything you did there. you do a one time investment to buy an upgrade and it stays there as long as you defend it, and if you are lucky it might even stay there for some time. if you are not willing/unable to defend them, that’s it, simple. i upgrade stuff that i know i will defend untill i log or get kicked out. if i upgrade something and move away from there for whatever reason, i forfeit my upgrades in my opinion.

It’s a problem, because a large number of people say it’s a problem and leave because of it. I’m not talking forums. I’m talking the hundreds of hours I’ve spent playing WvW to see people I have gotten to know vanish left and right for various reasons: population balance issues, culling, lack of rewards and playing the same teams week in and week out.

I doubt the issue is the devs aren’t aware, to the contrary, it’s not a secret what the issues are. It’s likely a matter of money, budgeting and where they can take the game with limited resources. Over time if the game continues to be decently profitable, these known issues might be addressed, or compensated for with new features.

Also, regarding the upcoming WvW changes, the number one rule is miracle patches do not exist. February might introduce some new features, but I sincerely doubt it’s going to completely change WvW overnight.

I noticed the change in the drop rate, particularly on the part where the skritt keep spawning while you are running around collecting items.

My guess is it’s due to botting. Put five bots in an instance where they won’t be reported, let them farm the endless spawns without progressing the event, or simply redoing the event over and over. I could be wrong, it’s no different than any other area they can farm except the isolation. No clue.

Oozo.7856:

Tulisin.6945:

Although I will say that many of the people complaining about downed state aren’t the ones that are having their “superior skill” mitigated by it, they’re the people are are bad at manipulating the downed state. You can’t attempt to ignore an entire mechanic and then say “But really I’m skillful, this thing I’m bad at is just holding me back!”

Ding! Ding!

Actually if you have a fight where you are winning 15 against 35 and and are in the process of cleaning up, then one random person who was tagging along rallies them, it’s a crappy mechanic. Especially since they will start with half health, no conditions and their short cooldowns all refreshed.

Now, introduce a 20v20, guild versus guild system with a limited time format and I will change my opinion.

lettucemode.3789:

Roezz.5460:

The downed state is the advantage a larger force has against a smaller one—which for the love of all things Holy WvW does not need more of. Smaller force can win in a battle and put a far greater number of enemy in downed state, then make one mistake with someone getting dead, then 15 people in the larger force rally, restoring the larger forces advantage despite their incompetence on the field. I’ve done it on 2 v 6 before as well. We put 4 or 5 in a downed state and one of us dies and they all rally. Larger forces do not need force multipliers.

Unfortunately, WvW has PvE and sPvP as priorities. It’s a horrible WvW mechanic. God awful mechanic.

When I am done with GW2 I will remember WvW for culling, lack of balanced participation and the downed state mechanic.

I’ve had the exact opposite thing happen to me. Our group of 5 fighting a group of 7 or 8, most of us downed, got one clutch stomp, we all rallied and cleaned house. Down state can also work to the advantage of smaller groups because it works to the advantage of whoever handles the down state better. Your story alone is not a substantive argument.

None of this is substantive, it’s all preference and opinion. What a weird thing to say.

If I had intended to say it was substantive, mathematical modeling or something I probably would have said that. Sometimes, even on internet forums, the obvious is just the obvious.

Ksielvin.1587:

Tribune.3782:

A LOT of people exploited this method over and over. Some have made several thousands of gold since Saturday. Ten thousands – if not hundred thousands – of gold have been created in no time without any effort. I hope that those exploiters will get punished.

You seem confused. No new gold has been created. No new gold has entered the economy. Ectos did, which lowered the price of ectos and thus made any gold you had worth more ectos. Gold changed hands but this just resulted in 15% TP taxes and gold EXITING the economy.

No new gold. Just the few taking from the many.

This wasn’t a money making scheme within the intended framework of the current supply controlled system. Pristine snowflakes are easy to get, easy to farm and after two weeks when they were gone the ectos market would have been completely shot. Long after pristine snowflakes are gone, people farming would have one less way to make money. Overall, since ectos are the main supply controlled ingredient in a lot of items, the ripple effect would be significant. The rares ectos come from are considered rare for a reason.

Not to mention people were probably able to use this exploit to effectively get black lion keys for nothing. That creates a whole other bunch of questions about gems price conversions getting even worse, etc.

One needs to see the forest for the trees.

The downed state is the advantage a larger force has against a smaller one—which for the love of all things Holy WvW does not need more of. Smaller force can win in a battle and put a far greater number of enemy in downed state, then make one mistake with someone getting dead, then 15 people in the larger force rally, restoring the larger forces advantage despite their incompetence on the field. I’ve done it on 2 v 6 before as well. We put 4 or 5 in a downed state and one of us dies and they all rally. Larger forces do not need force multipliers.

Unfortunately, WvW has PvE and sPvP as priorities. It’s a horrible WvW mechanic. God awful mechanic.

When I am done with GW2 I will remember WvW for culling, lack of balanced participation and the downed state mechanic.

In fairness, we need guild rivals and people to get some angst. It’s about everyone pushing themselves to be better and challenged. Right now, there are no rivals. It will make organized WvW better when there is.

Indo wants someone to hate him, challenge him and fight him. He’s one of the best at what he does. People who want to be the best seek out the best.

Jinks.2057:

Please remove all EU/Oceanic/Asian/etc. gamers off american servers.

Likewise please return RUIN back to us so they can fail once more against prime time competition.

Thank You,

Your Players

I disagree, regardless if you’re joking or not. This issue is one of the major WvW flaws—culling the other. They should consider pairing up US and EU servers to help coverage issues.

The population imbalance removes the competitive nature of the system throughout the day when one side is horribly outnumbered. It’s not appealing.

They need to figure out culling first and add ascended gear. After that, it’s no secret WvW is horribly flawed with population (participation) balance issues—it’s a daily issue in tier 2. Perhaps pair up EU and US servers for WvW only to help with around the clock coverage issues.

Edit: and for people who think there are queues, without insult I think you are out of touch. WvW participation is in steep decline. Queues still exist Friday nights for a bit, and perhaps in EB here and there during peak hours.

ghostchipz.2341:

just a thought as we are going to be paired together for a while.

Anyone up for an inter sever Coustume Brawl on Boxing day 2012.

Just thought it might be a fun idea over the festive period.

:)

I’m pretty sure SoR has plied IoJ with Fireworks, Cauldrons and Fun Boxes a lot the last few days, with few takers.

Edit: and Free open-field vendors. Forgot those.

Cancelled an order of 250 items for a little under 2s each, nothing to pick up. There should be 4.5g to pick up. I put up a buy order for 5 items at like 33c each, and cancelled, nothing returned.

I see TP issues mentioned on the forum here, but not sure of the time frame. This happened for me at around 2:40 pm EST (few minutes before this post).

Unsure where to report this to document it, to make sure I get my gold back. Thank you.

I don’t think it’s ignored. It is a bit disconcerting when it says PvP in the patch notes and it refers exclusively to sPvP changes, yet doesn’t affect WvW. Since when is WvW not PvP (PvDoor jokes aside)?

Regardless, when people joke you have to theorycraft the patch notes to figure out what actually is changed, it’s not good. It also gives the wrong impression about WvW compared to sPvP.

My guild routinely beats portal bombs used against us. I recognize when a few people sit and talk together can’t figure out a solution, it seems like there likely isn’t one. That’s simply not the case with portal bombs.

WvW may be billed as casual friendly, but it’s best enjoyed with a guild or group of friends who communicate on TeamSpeak/Vent/Mumble. You will find the portal itself is never culled out, ever. As a team people who are sensitive to portals will bark them out on Teamspeak and counter measures are taken. Those should be obvious.

Portals provide much needed strategy in the otherwise bland siege warfare. The game needs to foster strategy more, not reduce it.

SarahWitter.2317:

After the weapons were readied, and the karka attack, Captain Magnus and others needed help bringing the battle to the karkas. You should have a piece of mail that helps.

You can also just go near the Sanctum Harbor Waypoint in Lion’s Arch. There is a transporter NPC near the boats/docks that will transport you to Southsun Cove.
Have fun!

Most of your events lack decent, straight forward communication. It’s not beyond anyone to put a very literal speaking, straight forward NPC out there who can outline the event. One who isn’t speaking on lore, or part of the storyline.

The communication issues extends beyond this. There was no in game mail telling me the Noll event was broken, or some other obvious in game communication. After an hour through speaking to other players, I learned you guys promised a fix. Today, those promises came up short. It took me another 30 minutes to find out I couldn’t do it. (Dare I mention the horrible lack of on time restart for WvW and no communication there either?)

You guys put piecemeal information out there on twitter, Reddit, GW2guru, and it requires a bit of detective work—and way to much effort—to come up with a comprehensive idea what is going on. It’s unprofessional, simply put.

This is only the recent stuff. It’s a chronic problem. I trust you guys will make the necessary changes.

ReginaBuenaobra.6953:

There were some events that we could not extend past Phase 1, unfortunately. Extending all events in Phase 1 would have been a much more extensive fix, requiring much more time to thoroughly regress. Given the time sensitive nature of the event, we extended what portions we were able to effectively.

Our developers are reading all of your feedback and are taking all the critiques on board.

We apologize that this means that folks are not able to complete the Miyani chain.

I wished there was some way I could express my level of disappointment succinctly, and in such a manner which would foster the game towards success, somehow. Unfortunately, where the game goes and the direction belongs to your company. It’s a shame. The level of failure in conjunction with a promotional weekend does not bode well.

On the other hand, the new dungeon rocks, is stable and well tested. I love it. Yet, it’s not pug friendly—no issues there from me, but it is what it iss—and introduces yet another “gear score” casual player issue. Another unfortunate circumstance.

Yup, stuck in Malchor’s leap (which is the toon I was on at the time the 3 minute patch was announced). I can log into an alt, which I don’t really play. Not fun.

Why do people think portals are broken? Assuming you don’t have10 FPS, you can tell if enemies are coming through or not even if they do not all render, and take defensive measures—they exist and are not complicated.

Let’s be honest, it’s either the classic “don’t stand in the fire” issue which has plagued MMO’s since day one, aka skill levels vary, or people simply not wanting to have to be organized and go through trial and error. WvW does not need to be made simpler and more predictable.

As an aside, I would also like to add, as someone else mentioned, mouse turning versus keyboard turning probably makes a world of difference. I am not sure how someone could keyboard turn and do the puzzle, because with the mouse you can turn instantly versus the gradual keyboard turn.

That’s not so much a skill issue as it is reteaching one’s self a different way. When I switched many years ago it was very uncomfortable and took a long time. Now, though, it makes stuff much easier.

This event has had the best response I have heard on TS regarding any PvE content. It’s amazing and the right amount of challenge. Finishing was a thrill. I sat in the tower and others would show up and we would hang out, and talk about how good it felt to finish. It’s a great experience, only because it was hard.

But, no one can be left behind. I get that.

Next time perhaps make a “story” mode and a “Mad Hallows” mode. That way, all of us can have nice things.

1. Group up, groups in both PvE and PvP have substantially more drop rewards for each player, than a player solo finds.

2. Tag people. Just like in Pve farming, where the object is to tag as many mobs as possible, do the same in WvW. That is to say, move around with your AoE’s when it’s tactically viable and tag downed people (do damage to them, you get a chance for a drop then when they die).

3. Get on Siege. For the love of your noble MMO God, get on an arrow cart, or othe siege, at a successful gate defense and let the bags flow!.

4. Well, it helps to be a part of a fairly decent group. Pick-up groups (PUGS), like everywhere, are least efficient and might result in a lot more deaths than a well organized group—aka, a group of people who actually know a little about pvp and do it enough to get good at it.

5. (edit) PvP is not PvE. What works for skills, traits, weapons and gear in one might not be as useful in another—just know they are different and have a plan in mind when making your build. Stun breaks are a prime example. Have them ready to go, it might help you live a bit longer.

Allow commanders to select the color of their dots please. Up to 10 different colors would be great.

Some guilds, or groups of guilds, have two or three commanders and it’s beneficial to see them all. Joining squads is a hindrance, and pain to reorganize when needed (reinforce one place, move here, move there, tactics require this). It’s also beneficial to see where one commander is even if not working directly together, to know where his or her group is quickly without requiring time wasting whispers or VOIP constantly.

As it stands, seeing six people with a blue dot on the mini map all the while trying to mouse over to see the one I need to follow or rally on is horrible—not to mention group member names always seem to get in the way as well. A different color for each would allow quick recognition on the mini-map and save loads of time.

Please! Thank you in advance.

I laughed pretty hard at many of these jokes. Corny—get it?—is my thing!

You guys need to lighten up.

I do feel left out with the gem store items, in a sense. The costume brawl is best won with gem purchased items, for example—like flat out the costumes are over powered compared to free stuff. However, this is the first free-to play post purchase model game I have been in and I figure it will take some adjusting and give-and-take. You can get potions normally obtained with gems from completing the tower jumping puzzle, for example. They have to make money some how.

I disagree with the gambling method to obtain skins and apparent reduction in looting keys from opening chests, which from speaking to people on TS during WvW, a lot of people pumped money into with little result. It’s a more manipulative gimmick, and those things always turn me off. Expect those type of things to diminish as this business model is copied and there’s more competition.

How many extra keys did you get? I used to get extra keys frequently when opening chests. According to the gambling addicts I’ve spoken to—those who pumped a lot of money into a random chance—they got none, or only one extra key from 25 or more chests. It is a frequent complaint.

I loved it. Took me an hour the first time and over an hour for the second! It is very well done, and a fun sense of accomplishment.

“/say’ was also a blast. People were joking and generally good spirited about it. I only saw people ask for Charr and Norn to take armor off.

They PvP. I’ve killed an Anet marked player in WvW before.

(edit: now that I think of it, that brings me some comfort! :p )

The patch was about an hour after the reset. I’m not sure why they didn’t know or couldn’t warn ahead of time. I’m sure they have reasons based on what their priorities are, but a little communication goes a long way. Not everyone is a spoiled brat who is going to be unhappy no matter what. At some point, being upset is reasonable though. Especially, given the issues with Friday night wvw queues.

First friday night I get in WvW in four weeks. GF goes out because I am busy, reset happens and now I am sitting in queue again.

Seriously, I put up with so much stuff, all the bots, all the bugged DE’s, all of the hacks which i have witnessed and see first hand, and I stick with things. At some point, that’s it. I look the other way and don’t come back.

Anet, way to many rookie mistakes. I don’t appreciate it.

Yup, invisible is still there. It just takes a bit longer to take effect. The hallmark of the bug is you start hearing all of the player shouts etc much louder and more prominent. “I feel six feet tall!” Of course, you can’t see other players.

Few people in TS have experienced it.

I see PRX went to Sea of Sorrows, along with a few others. Good luck.

Relogging fixes the problem, but it’s only temporary. I was in WvW all day and many more than 20-25 people on teamspeak were able to fix the problem, myself included by relogging.

Personally, how fast the problem progressed depended on how many enemies I saw. As soon as it was a large force of 40-50 plus on both sides it would progress to the point of can’t see anything. Enemies first, then NPC’s and team mates.

Arson, what’s happening now is nothing like it was before. This is new, or a problem taken to a huge extreme. I could see people before in large battles, especially if I sat in the area for a few seconds (5-10 on really big fights in WvW). Now, I don’t friendlies or enemies, at all.

Like others said, this is new and completely different. Team speak has been blowing up since the patch, a ton of people stopped it’s so bad now.

In WvW literally can’t see anything—started off ok, then progressively has become worse for everyone. On teamspeak it’s a few people trying to call general direction. This is after fighting for five minutes, not some five second delay. WvW servers need to be rolled back to the time of the patch—which i am sure probably can’t be done—in which case I don’t know. This is horrible.

Character: Astrogadget
Server: Jade Quarry
Last Mission: Level 30 story order selection: Lines of Communication
Order Selection: Order of Whispers
Result: Skipped content to Suspicious Activity (48)

See above: still broken following the patch. Still stuck at Suspicious Activity.

Character: Astrogadget
Server: Jade Quarry
Last Mission: Level 30 story order selection: Lines of Communication
Order Selection: Order of Whispers
Result: Skipped content to Suspicious Activity (48)

Note: I did the last mission in a group with my girlfriend, Oedipial, with the instance being her instance. It asked me at the end as always if I wanted to progress to that point, I said yes. Upon completion the forgoing result occurred.