Guild Wars 2

I can go on and on about the nostalgia pangs I got playing the demo.
I have nothing constructive to say about the things I like.

I did however experience a lot of buggy looking model behavior.
mobs and mounts sliding along the ground, or falling under the map.
I also took issue with the mastery point puzzle at the teleporter.
Pahan’s dialog overlaps the first part of the puzzle and if you are facing him, you miss it.
It was also difficult to see during the day, so much so that I couldn’t always tell which part of the puzzle I was looking at.

One overall opinion about the map feel: It felt like Queensdale.
The hearts and dynamic events felt familiar, which may be the reason why the opinions were that it was grindy. Introducing players to new mechanics and features made for some lackluster event content. I enjoyed exploring far more.

With that being said, I am looking forward to this expansion. Thank you.

I purchased my copy of PoF and was offered a birthday present a little early to get a better upgrade. Is it possible to upgrade mt purchase after the fact?

I get OP on this too.
Opening up stuff on masteries was made the zones a lot more playable. I think that was the point. My husband felt much the same as well. HoT gated the ability to play the maps and its problematic for some players.

I have been running this build exclusively for PVE for a year now and finding it pretty effective.
https://gw2efficiency.com/c/Sankofa%20Jimiyu

Blocking attacks to produce clones and the Scepter for Torment, and Shatter: Cry of Frustration can shut down most level 80 mobs.
Focus 1: Temporal Curtain, Greatsword 5: Illusory Wave, and Shatter: Diversion for boss break bars.
Its not for everyone, but it has served me well, even in Dungeons, Fractals and some of the new content effectively.

I request the pet rock be the most OP mini available.

The odd thing about the old LA and new one is that the loading screen looked like the new one and the new loading screen looks like Vegas.

I had the impression at the announcement that the Elite Specializations would provide new ways to deal with the new content in HoT, giving each class a little something for support, dps and tanking. Some professions need more balancing, but that gets worked on in every patch.

For my 80’s, I do all the Dragon Champs and Karka Queen
For characters I am leveling, I do the starter area bosses and get the others as they level.

Its like taking off the training wheels.

I’m in my mid-40’s and a gamer as well as my husband at 37. I have a co-worker who is 62 and plays MMOs with her kids and grandkids.
It is however harder to find older ladies that play games like GW, partially because there is a stigma of pointless, socially awkward boys being the sole audience. My co-worker and I have been trying to change some minds about that with our own experiences. We work in a gaming section of a store and have helped them see that it is not outside the realm of possibility for them to play games as a family. Some are just afraid to look foolish or unknowledgeable, but we always stress that they have the kids who are usually pretty enthusiastic about helping.
There is also the fact that older adults may have been avid, feel they have no time. My sister was the best gamer I knew fr a while. She had a rough time after college, and has been so busy that she had little time for herself.
She was finally ended up remedying with the purchase of a classic video game console, the Odyssey by Magnavox. She may not like the MMO or FPS scene, but she does like some retro gaming

fizzypetal.7936:

Suggestion to ANet: when quest or event items become obsolete, either because the event is over and not going to be repeated or the quest chain objective has been completed (as in the case of the Star of Gratitude quest line), associated quest items disappear from player inventory. Bag/Bank space is premium so it would be really, really great if a feature like this could be implemented.

I still have fortune scraps, found belongings and festival tokens. With the Zephyr Sanctum effectively closed for business and no telling when SAB is coming back, my bank is more a hoarding situation rather than effective storage.
I wouldn’t mind a way to archive them, but it would also be great if there was a vendor that were bigger hoarders than us (Skritt?) that would trade them at a 1:1 ratio for something useful.
We could clean our banks of items that will never see use again, and if they aren’t offered, we would know that we could hold on to them for the future.

Am I one of the few that likes traps on a Dragonhunter?
It is a support mechanic on a heavy armor class, and I think that can be confusing in itself, but that’s the Guardian’s bread and butter.
Thematically, Dragonhunters are based on witch hunters. The idea of casting runes to bind opponents works with that.
Currently I have a style with my husband that has my Dragonhunter running support for his Daredevil. It has a nice synergy with the other new specializations, and with group play, but I understand it is a little awkward to play it alone.

I purchased an bank tab after I miscounted how many I had, which was maxed. Is there any way to get the gems refunded after my flub?

I kinda hoped it would be mini Silverwastes events, letting the newer players getting how to not just zerg, but to understand chained events, objective claiming, holding, and losing.
Even with the rewards being low, it seems the event Mordrem were weaker in comparison to the events in Iron Marches that were challenging.
I also was disappointed at the lack of XP. I understand the reasoning, but it really brings the reward vs time ration down if there isn’t full map participation.

Elementalist Burn Envy

I feel for you OP. With the addition of Specializations coming, I can only see your situation getting more stressed.
Usually, in other games I will OCD and metagame everything I can and it eventually ruins my ability to have fun actually playing. I spent 2 days making spreadsheets to build my character’s gear out for any situation, rather than actually playing the game.
Now, I just have dedicated characters for different situations. I still play my main more than the others, but I can have more fun on my main doing whatever. Run a dungeon, WvW and PvP all with same armor and gear if I am just playing around. Run one of my dedicated alts if my party needs someone running the meta.

This is something I have been hoping they would add for a while.

Giving my first 8 characters crafting made sense. It is a way to level and very beneficial for an account to have the ability to crafting items all characters, friends and guildmates can use and share. What I did at first, was to give all my characters 2 crafting disciplines. It was more a waste of crating materials than help. I was hoping for a way to turn the other discipline off, but it isn’t an option.
The other issue was trying to keep track of who knew what recipes. Sure some are shared between 3 professions, but that means I need no more than 3, but which one? Both of my Tailors knew the recipe, but my Leatherworker didn’t, which means I gave it to the wrong character to begin with. Other times I have logged in to check all of them. which I could not imagine doing with all the characters I have now.
The last reason it has become useless to take multiple crafting disciplines are the Dailies. Crafting as an alternate way to level up, is outdone with Writs of Experience and Tomes of Knowledge. These consumables drop for every one you can complete and Tomes are available once a week, in multiples after the first week.

I understand that some folks may want all their characters to be able to be Jacks and Jills of all Trades, but I’m just not interested.

Jermoe Morrow.9501:

There is NOTHING sad about the loss of heroes and henchmen….
In short, stop being anti-social, make a group, and play with people. Don’t try and make this a single player game.

Orpheal.8263:

I wish I could just take my own made characters and recruit them as “Heroes” to form up with them

In Guild Wars, I made characters that were related and added them as as Mercenary Heroes so they could travel the world together. This was good for the way I liked my story. It wasn’t a replacement for players until my guild started to play more WoW.
The AI was never meant to take the place of people, but for fun and in a pinch.
We already have the all sorts of AI controlled characters that we have to deal with in the Personal Story, Living World, as well as Clones, Minions and Pets that have simple minds of their own.
The concept of Mercenary Heroes and Henchmen is something we don’t need, but I can’t deny that I had fun with seeing all my play styles in one party through the lens of the games mechanics.

I have been sitting on this idea for months, but both financial and time restraints have made this something I may want to do for myself, but may be of interest to the community at large.

One of my favorite things about this game are the diverse environments. One of the NPC comments upon entering the new Lion’s Arch, was that it was stinky. This only made me wonder about other locations as well. The Black Citadel, for example would be musky with both hints of industry and the the deciduous forest of the Charr homelands.

I also came across this site that has some novelty scents:
http://www.saveonscents.com/index.php/cPath/291_366
I saw all sorts of fun ways to create something like candles, or bath soaps that smelled like the Charr home city with oils, like “Gunpowder” and “Aspen”.

Loads of possibilities. What is your olfactory representation of your favorite locations in Tyria?

I had 2 ideas about how this could be done:
1) An opt in, Friendly Fire: On

A player with a Sylvari can go into options or have a toggle on the hud and turn this feature on. Still appearing as friendly until they change their status. A zerg battling one of Mordremoth’s Champions is suddenly burst apart by a party of Sylvari minions among them.
Lots of potential for roleplay and (unfortunately) trolls (Mordrem Trolls?)

2) Environmental triggers. Certain areas, or times of day lower a Sylvari’s resistance to Mordremoth. Note: All the Sylvari that were turned, were off the ground at the time. Did this weaken their connection to the Dream? In trying to reconnect to the Dream connect them to Mordremoth instead?

Just some musings that made me think how this could be implemented.

PvE is most similar to other games I like. I get to play with my friends and family that are far more casual than I am (They think I am hardcore. >_<).
I am also big into little details and have pages and pages of detailed (unnecessary) character details for roleplay as well as just notes about things I learn as a player.

So this showed up on a Black Desert beta:
http://imgur.com/PszRLZs

And in the video, they specifically mentioned how Guild Wars 2’s opted to just remove the hair. So it can be done, even with all the customization in BD. We just don’t know how difficult it is to do in Guild Wars 2.
I would like to see this as a stealth update sometime in the future with hair and hats/helms being made to live in harmony with one another.

Trying to find out if the Revenant we make will be deleted, or permanent till deleted/disabled till the expansion drops.

The new LA solved a problem that old LA was having, and ruined LA toyed with:
Spread the population out. Not just throughout the city, but throughout the world.
The original LA in GW1 had the bank at one end of the area and the armorsmiths in another and crafting merchants in another. It was a small location, but there were services all over.
The one thing it excelled at was being a great location for festival events. This is what I am getting from this new iteration. There are a lot of services near the main trading location with the rest of the city functional for story events, and roleplay for players that would like to immerse themselves.
While LA recovered, I moved all but one character out of the city and too their racial cities. With actual players in those cities, the game feels bigger than just the steps of one bank in one city.

I feel for you op, I had the opposite experience with one character and exactly what you described on another.
My Mesmer build was a mix of Carrion and Sinister before the patch and greatly improved with the release. My Elementaist did not fair as well with full Berserker gear. Prior to the patch, she was a powerhouse. After the update, she could still hit hard, but her survivability went way down.
When ANet said it was trying to encourage more diverse builds, it seemed to translate to “Break the Meta”, or at least shake it up. I don’t completely dislike it because I now have to re-trait all my characters and get them new gear too.
At least one of them is in a good place right now.

They are also Human male model animations and voice, for anyone that was interested.

I have a lot of characters based off old art, and D&D characters:
Sankofa Jimiyu – Human Mesmer descendant of my GW1 Mesmer, Ayanna Jimiyu.
Thwisp – Sylvari Ranger that I had in Beta. Loved the name so kept it. I had the concept of Autumn when I made her, so I ended up continuing the theme. I also have all her pets named after plants that are related to Nisghtshade, So her Fern Hound is named “Mandrake”, Black Moa named “Henbane” and Ice Drake named “Aubergine”
Kappow – Asuran Necromancer from Beta who I kept. Name taken from a sound effect.
Sera dër Skulhund – Norn Warrior. A meta character who played a lot of Skyrim and Puzzle Pirates. She is also based a little on my BFF.
Mala Searsoul – Charr Guardian that was mostly messing with sliders and selected class based on what she looked like when I was done.
Serphyre – Sylvari Elementalist that I created to represent Summer. Named after a character I doddled years ago.
Capn Toji – Human Thief named after another character I frequently drag into places they don’t belong. Prefers to be referred to as an “Artisan Merchant” because only wicked people are pirates…
Gerzilla – Asuran Engineer that may or may not get a name change. Named after a small dragon character that was a bit of a mad scientist himself.
Natsume Akino – Human Guardian(Dragonhunter) formerly Elementalist. Totally inappropriately named character that I made to RP with my husband’s Ninja thief girl.
Iris Hearn – Another Human Msemer to pick up Chronomancy. Based loosely on Yukari Yakumo from Touhou Project.
Frondel – My pretty Sylvari Warrior made with Spring in mind. He was practically made with the Daydreamer’s outfit in mind. Name totally made up while thinking of a frond and adding a masculine ending to it. Happy I got it.
Grimmhoar – A Sylvari Necromancer with Winter, the Reaper and Thranduil from TLotR in mind. Named is a combination of “Grim” (Dark and Mirthless) and “Hoar” (grey, frost-like), and sounds like “Grimoire” (book of spells).
Keyblah Kan – Human Guardian I use for Key Farming. Obvious play on Kubla Khan.

I don’t think Lion’s Arch isn’t ruined. Its different and I would rather it stay that way for a while.
When LA was razed, I kinda hung out at the Fort Mariner Waypoint for a while with all my characters. I mostly used the bank and would head out to do any activities.
Then after a bit, I took a liking to the Western Ward. It had the forge there and while the bank was a little ways from the waypoint, I used the crafting stations for quick access right around the corner.
I finally said, “Eff it”, and just moved into the racial cities of my characters.
This turned out to be both convenient and interesting. Waypoints are free in the cities, but sometimes I’d rather walk.
I think Rata Sum won on the convenience factor of everything in one place, with The Grove a close second. Divinity’s Reach comes in dead last for convenience, unless you have a Queen’s Pavilion Pass.
Then you have the PvP lobby. It offers some quick and dirty Bank and BLT access.

Overall, the rebuild Lion’s Arch home to only one of my characters under the Starfish.
The layout of the city makes sense more than it used to. Unused areas have found utility, or will in the near future. There is actual housing for people and not just random buildings here and there, like Divinity’s Reach.
Communal areas that were added for more than just storage and trade.
I actually see people moving about in the streets playing because there is more to do overall.

LA. Not ruined, just different.

Randulf.7614:

As for wurm, not sure I understand why that got buffed. 3 attempts the day before ended in failure.

I have never been on a successful map with the Wurm. It requires coordination of 3 groups in different parts of the map, and timed to kill the 3 heads in close succession.
Then you get a crack at the Wurm.
Tequatl is one of my favorite bosses because it rewards the coordinated effort of a map’s players and it has a little wiggle room to allow newer players to learn how cooperation works.
Partying up for one of the defense positions instead of just sticking to the Zerg. Phases. Using Turrets effectively should award a map able to pull these off with enough people doing what is needed.
I haven’t had a chance to try the new bosses except for the Shatterer. If it is truly bad, I just expect ANet is watching the buff on the bosses to see if it is still offering a level of challenge, instead of just prolonging efforts of a maps population and running out the clock..

EDIT: Finally was able to try it and we took him out with less than a minute to spare.
It is harder, but the ability to crit and all the condi is prolly what makes up the difference.
Time to craft some gear with Precision and/or Ferocity, folks.

I made an observation after patch that, yes, a lot of our trait synergies can make us over powered, but the damage I was taking was downing me.
Please, ANet. If you plan to nerf traits and skills that allow us to properly deliver damage, give us some more survivability to offset it so we can be a viable again.

On any given day prior to the patch, I would farm materials between Pagga’s WP to Wren. Currently running Illusions, Domination and Inspiration on build. Gear is Exotic Carrion with Perplexity runes and Sinister Scepter/Focus and Greatsword.
While I consider myself casual PvE player. I main on a Mesmer, so the changes from the day before to last night were pretty impressive, with some areas that I was not comfortable with.

The Good
• Vulnerability baseline was something I could see immediately. With conditions being effective, instead of an annoyance.
• Skillful gameplay is satisfying. While it is easier to spam 1 on Scepter for some easy torment with MtD traited, it was far more effective and rewarding to use it for blocking, clone production. I had never used Diversion much till this made it fun to so so.
• Shaking up the meta was something I was hoping for. Having gear optimized for a condition build rather that direct damage felt like it was making a difference in my results.

The Bad
• Oh so squishy. Having a reason to use Diversion and Distortion, to avoid getting hit. Enemies get a few smacks and my health withers away quickly. On a related note…
• Fights are over fast. I have never gotten more than 12 stacks of anything before the rework. Even when I managed that many stacks, I could see the conditions ticking health away at a certain pace. With the rework, damage hits fast and foes quickly die under the weight of them.. While I like being able to play skillfully, smashing 1 can apply enough conditions where I don’t have to.
• World Bosses and Event Completion challenges are all over the place. The Shatterrer went down quick last night, but the Champion Savnir Shaman took a while to defeat.
Events in Snowden Drifts were over the moment they were mentioned in chat. (They were before, but now even moreso.)

Just some of my observations. feel free to add yours.

As far as logical and efficient, both Divinity’s Reach and Rata Sum are excellent cities and I like them for that. Getting around is easy and services are neatly placed.
With explorable areas, I like Orr. It is both challenging and the look of grandeur fallen to ruin makes for an interesting backdrop to the Pact assaults and throngs of players charging up the steps of its temples to the Gods into battle.
Kinda the opposite of a Zombie Apocalypse, with Risen going about their daily routine, and suddenly, ZERGed!

This seems to avoid an issue with some services in LA being completed, while others aren’t. Moving things around on a temporary basis for a few weeks, moving them again.
I think the goal of spreading out players not only throughout the city was successful, but also throughout the world. The racial cities social areas are now used as much as the areas in LA making the game overall more alive with players rather than just NPCs. milling about.

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Are they getting adopted or something by the Asura?

Yes, the Asurans are adopting them and I thought that was implied.

OP, you have some completely valid points and there are multiple game modes to find a niche in, but personally, and for most people that do play GW2, this is what we actually like about it.

I don’t play a lot of games, I have a few I enjoy for the relaxing content, story and amicable community. I work odd hours and have a life out of game. I don’t have time for drama, haters and QQ. That is specifically why I don’t play those games, and prolly why a lot of others play this too.
There are always things that can be improved upon, but ANet making this game anything other than what it is, would drive away the players that like it for what it is, rather than what it isn’t.
It is obvious that there are aspects of the game you enjoy, because you express ways to make it more to your liking based on previous experiences. But if that is the case, play on what you like, not for what you want, and have fun in other games that contain other content that you enjoy.

After hearing about the mess with ESO being cross-platform retro fitted for consoles, I doubt it is in the realm of viability. Its more than changing a keyboard layout to work on a game controller. Its tearing it all down and rebuilding on a subpar foundation.
Consoles, even the new ones, have limitations, licensing, software and hardware that make it difficult and impractical for developers.
Going to PC seems to be easier, since the games are developed on PC to begin with.

Everyone that hung around the bank in LA could hear some kids playing “Charr and Ghosts” behind it. They are Leyah, a Charr cub and Jordyn, a human child. Leyah promised Jordyn they would have their own warband, despite their parents disapproval and history of tensions.

During the attack on the city, we showed concern about what happened to them. Players had a chance to rescue them, but apparently their parents did not make it through the attack. Up till now they have been at the Vigilant Hills camp, but they have moved since the last update.

Turns out, they are going to be sisters!
Brokka, an Asura at the Bloodtide Coast refugee camp is getting married to Tokk, the fellow that owns the mill in Farshore Ward. I am not sure if they are moving into the mill or to the farm below, but they said they are willing to do the repairs. Brokka has her own prejudices to confront, as she believes their races suffer from a “cognitive disadvantage”, but believes they need love and support more than anything right now.

I am so happy for this little detail. ANet, you had me crying a little with this one.

EDIT: Brokka is marrying a different Tokk (Captain Tokk) than the one that owns the mill, so I guess they are moving to the farm.

I am currently using 11 character slots:
8 for my level 80s of each profession and different races. Each has a different crafting discipline.
3 alts for Dragonhunter, Chronomancer and whatever the Warrior Specialization will be.
An extra slot for my key farmer, and one for my Revenant to be

I have far too many Humans and Syilvari, so all my new characters will be Charr, Asuran and Norn,

DS is just as much as a profession mechanic of the class as aura channel in Elementalists and shatters for Mesmer.
All are pretty squishy without them.
Why the hate?

Imagine this scenario:
You and a buddy use identical looking characters. [Create/Makeover Kit]
One Mesmer with Chronomancer Specialization and the other Necromancer with Reaper Specialization.
Wear the same outfit, equip staff and greatsword for NecrReap and sword/shield and greatsowrd for MesRomancer
Head out into the Mists.

There is a lot of synergy in these classes now.
Why bicker with the potentially with a deliciously diabolical ally.

-resumes maniacal laughter-

SlimChance.6593:

Reapers, Chronomancers. This is not the way.

Do you not see?

We should be allies. Reaper and Chronomancer together against all others.

Do you not see the true power of a Reaper as the Chronomancer feeds it quickness and alacrity. Chrnomancers do you not see protection and condition support that Reaper can provide. Chilled enemies, Slowed enemies, faster casts, reduced cooldowns, poisoned enemies, stunned enemies, dazed enemies. Do you not see!

My husband and I are already plotting all the havocfun we can have with my Chronomancer builds and his Reaper builds.
Mwhahahaa!

With Guild Wars 1, I could not even recall the original login screen from when it first came out. Each of the expansions brought with it a new login area for the game.
If the same goes for 2, will we expect the old Lion’s Arch in the distance to give away to golden towers in the jungle?

They said they are coming out with something to deal with that, but we are swimming in so much of it ATM.
Even if they don’t have something that can drop soon, maybe a MF recipe could drop.
The time for Dragon Bash is coming up. Even if we don’t actually have the event, maybe give us some usage as currency or trade with vendors.
Something plzthx.

I made a goal of having a character of each profession and race, but still ended 4 human females out of my 12.
The first 8 are basic classes, but the others I made for the expansion. A Charr male Revenant (A character I had in mind, but felt the profession fit him better than Ranger). Another female Mesmer (Chronomancer), 2 male Syilvari, one warrior and one Necromancer, A human male Thief, and a rerolling a low-level Elementalist into Guardian (Dragonhunter.) to fit her original concept.
No ideas for new Elementalist, Engineer, or Ranger

Your welcome ANet. I love me some extra character slots.

I have to wonder if the reason they came up with Dragonhunter was because Paragon was taken as the PVP achievement title…

The name implies currently that all the other specializations released with HoT will have an obligatory “Dragon” in the name:
“Meet the Dragon Thug: Thief Elite Specialization”
“Meet the Dragon Knight™: Warrior Elite Specialization”

The Mesmer got such a unique and appropriate name for their specialization line, granted it was something that was on the back burner for a long time.
They are always actively saying that the skill specifics and traits are still being worked on.
Can this please be one of those things you are still tweaking?
There has to be something better out there that makes just as much sense without sounding like a placeholder for something better.

I think that ANet would have used Paragon, if they hadn’t already tied it to the PVP achievements for Guardians.
As a name, I am seeing Dragon Hunter along the same line as Game Warden, which makes it even funnier.

This is a pretty good thought on the problems that outfits have.
however currently, to disable the outfit headgear, you have to disable the regular helm.
My Asura wears glasses, so if she is wearing an outfit, she can look pretty, but be a little nearsighted.

Coinhead.7591:

In anime Bleach the “quincy” are humans who use spirit bows and shoot arrows made of energy. They have same color theme of white/blue that the guardians have.

OMG This!
I knew it reminded me of something and it is very similar in style, they have a longbow style for a protection preofession. The meaning is even “Monk of Destruction”
We are onto you ANet.
A bunch of shameless anime fans. =P
“Dragon’s Maw” looks a lot like “Sprenger”
https://youtu.be/Hh1r-M2G2oc

I think they wanted to stay away from titles from other franchises.
That would make Arbiter a problem. Justicar was associated with the White Mantel, and seeing they still have some influence in the current lore associated with bad guys, that leaves that suggestion our as well.

My suggestions:
Castigator (Suggested already, thanks)
Harrier
Censor

I just got home and haven’t had a chance to read all the press and feedback about the Guardian specialization, but it seems very tepid, seeing as I was really enthusiastic because I was looking forward to Guardians getting the Longbow for a character I wanted to re-roll to be more about support and smiting.

The name: I understand that we are going into Maguma after Mordremoth, but Dragonhunter seems to understate how these skills are going to be useful in anything other than hunting dragons. (" ‘Paragon’ is right out. Let’s hunt dragons!").
The video: Seemed to muddy the waters on what this specialization brings to he game.
Aside from the wings (Yay, more wings!), it seemed the standard “pew pew” and then a big critter was denied entry into the nightclub. Cut to black.
The blog post: I liked somewhat, but it leaves room for details I hope the livestream can touch on in detail.

ANet will have to bring some grade A hype to deal with this lukewarm reveal of what seems to be its most appreciated specialization.
Hype and a kittenload of cookies.