Showing Posts For Scera.9746:
I just hit level 69 on my guardian last night, and I hit 60 about 3 or so days ago. When I hit 60, I had around 8 gold after purchasing my last book. I had around 30% world exploration complete at that point, and I was right around on-level with my personal story. I had not done very much crafting at that point, maybe had spent about 3g on it.
As far as my personal habits go:
-I upgraded my inventory size as early as possible, so I have my main backpack and 4 10 slot bags
-I constantly store all my collectible items in my bank, which you can do while out in the world by opening your inventory, clicking on the gear icon at the top right, and pressing the “Store all collectibles” option. This gives me more inventory space to pick up items
-Every time I’m either at a merchant OR I need space in my inventory when I’m out in the world, I open the Trading Post window and sell anything that’s profitable to open up more inventory space. Again, this can be done while out in the world.
-I would say I use waypoints rather liberally, and I’m not too concerned with saving gold by walking instead of porting.
-I have spent literally ZERO of the karma I’ve accumulated so far (about 25k at lvl 60)
-I would say I participate in about 70% of the dynamic events that I encounter
-I am not diligent about gathering materials at all. I mine if I have a pick but I don’t usually have one on me. I think I’ve chopped down like 2 trees and maybe picked a few carrots in my adventures so far.
So all in all I’m not filthy rich but I’ve never been strapped for cash. I even splurged a little bit once I hit level 60 and bought myself an entire rare set of armor and a new rare greatsword. When I hit lvl 80 I imagine I will have enough gold to buy an exotic greatsword and a set of rare armor.
Hopefully this gives you some insight into how to have what I would call -adequate- finances throughout your travels. =)
I am curious as to what level you are, what profession you are playing, and what dungeons you’ve run. There are areas where “unchallenging combat” is a kittenessment. Not all combat is challenging, but not all combat is unchallenging. There are plenty of instances where I have been overwhelmed trying to take out a small group of baddies.
Additionally, dungeons require more strategic combat than simply “hack and slash.” Some of this requires reflexes, moreso than other MMOs due to the dodge mechanic being implemented. In some of these dungeons having certain skills makes your party’s job significantly easier.
As far as having access to all your skills early, I can’t argue much against that. Being able to have a full skill bar at level 30 is cool, but also makes 31-80 a bit less exciting. There are some awesome traits to look forward to getting, but gaining a passive isn’t as exciting as getting a new toy to play with.
End game argument is driven into the ground. Not even going to go there.
Those are my thoughts.
Level 62 guardian so far – and yes I realize that now I’m going to get a bunch of flack for saying there’s no endgame when I haven’t gotten there yet but I’ve read/researched enough to know that it’s going to be more of the same.
I have done a couple dungeons and my biggest problem with those is that death is simply, and completely, inconsequential because all you have to do is run back from the waypoint while 2-4 of your party is still alive and eventually by beating your head against the brick wall it will fall down. There is no price for failure. This means that there is no demand for skill other than a slightly faster run.
Now don’t get me wrong, I actually think that the capacity for skill-based combat is much higher in GW2 than other MMOs. Honestly there could be some encounter designs that really utilize the mechanics that already exist within the game. The problem is, the price for failing to properly execute these mechanics is too low.
So I was thinking about the differences between GW2 and other popular MMO’s, trying to figure out what exactly makes the experience feel so different. It dawned on me that there are many similarities between GW2 and games in the hack n slash genre.
-Unchallenging combat (being able to take on many enemies at a time – “hordes of enemies”)
-More “action/active” based combat, relying more on reflexes than tactics or strategy (sorry to say, my experience thus far seems to reward blindly hacking away until your targets die – even skill combos feel underwhelming and seem inconsequential)
-Access to most – if not all – skills and abilities before hitting about 2/3 of the level cap
-Lack of a fully fledged PvE “end game”
Obviously these are just a few points and in many ways GW2 exhibits properties of a traditional MMO, from gathering/crafting to the 3rd person camera angle.
Would like to hear what you guys think and if any others have come to the same conclusion or have different opinions.
The lack of a questing system was 100% intentional, and was widely touted as a SELLING point for the game. Not sure why this is surprising.
This.
If you want fetch quests you bought the wrong game, there are several trash MMOs around with this poorly designed system if you want tho.
While I respect your opinion that the aforementioned system is “trash” I want to emphasize that it isn’t an arbitrary process. The quest-giver centered method is an example of one of the oldest elements of human existence: narrative storytelling. Think of each quest in a “standard” MMO as a mini story with a beginning, middle, and end. The beginning and exposition take place when you first acquire the quest from the NPC. The middle is the actual activity you are asked to do, and the ending is the completion/turning in of the quest. This process is an extremely familiar element to humans, one that predates recorded history. To ignore this would be a big oversight in any argument that the “standard” or “old” quest system is flawed.
My point isn’t that the abrupt introduction to Hearts in GW2 is a departure from the traditional system – we all agree on that. My argument is that this new system does not particularly solve any of the old problems and has its own negative aspects as well.
That’s what I hated about questing in WoW…. being led around by the nose. Go here, do these quests, then go there, do those quests…
And that’s what I love about GW2… I can just wander around and it feels like stuff comes and finds me instead of the other way around.
To each his own.
I agree with Omega 100%. I never played WoW but I get sick and tired of the
“Go to x, kill y, and go back to x, then return and kill more y for z drops.” types of games. I’m really glad GW2 took this out and this is a new game trying out new and different ways than the old typical MMORPG type of ways.
Well, is there really that big of a difference between “kill 20 Orc Marauders”/“bring me 15 Scarlett Badges” and “kill enemies and destroy their supplies until this yellow bar fills up” ? The only real difference is that you don’t have to go talk to the quest guy before and after, which is bad in my opinion, because then you’re only experiencing the middle of a story, and not the beginning or ending.
I know you can still use the WASD keys while the map is open but that’s far less smooth than the mouse.
The lack of a questing system was 100% intentional, and was widely touted as a SELLING point for the game. Not sure why this is surprising.
Yes, but throughout development I got the impression that Dynamic Events were going to effectively replace questing – and I don’t feel that they have at all.
1) Make it so that if you are holding down the right-mouse button before you press M to view the world map, you can continue to direct your auto running character by dragging the mouse.
2) The ESC key should NOT stop your character from auto running, or at the very least should clear your target and all UI panes before affecting character movement. It’s very jarring to be running through the world, click on an enemy, then hit ESC and stop moving but still have the enemy selected.
Finally, Dynamic Events are the sort of “new” and “novel” element added to the game. When I was following the development of the game in the year and a half or so before its release, Dynamic Events were by far the mechanic I was most looking forward to in the game. I was so excited to play through an ever-changing world where I felt like my actions directly impacted my surroundings in an unprecedented and profound way. I remember a Dev blog I read hinted at Dynamic Event chains that would evolve over months, which to me was awe inspiring. To be perfectly honest, I have found them to be lackluster and disappointing. While I admit to enjoying them when they are available, the role they play in the game is nothing like what I originally imagined them to be. Now, I know Anet will continue to add new events and diversify/complexify the system to a much more robust point as time goes on and they are able to add more content. However, in their current form, Dynamic Events are not the heralded revolutionary way to play. Here are a few of the issues I have with Dynamic Events:
-There just are not enough of them at this point for a player to feel like they are the driving force behind progression.
-The “changes” that come about from either participation or lack thereof on the behalf of players is underwhelming.
-They feel too linear. Either the group of players participating takes an active role to help or they neglect the situation. The latter never occurs because that course of action is never rewarded. Since it is in “everyone’s” best interest to drive the dynamic event chain forward, they seem as if there is no real choice in the matter. This makes them feel inconsequential. Players may only participate to progress unidirectionally, and there exist no opportunities to branch the quest chain in a different direction.
-Dynamic Events repeat too often, to the point that the illusion of dynamism feels false.
Sharpen your pitchforks people! I’m about to start talking about World of Warcraft =O
One of the best elements of questing in WoW is the sole fact that the storyline and sense of interconnectedness between zones was extremely solid. Players were driven by quests to travel to new zones or new quest hubs (which simply do not exist in GW2). The only quest element that actively requires players to travel to unexplored territory in GW2 is the personal storyline, which in my opinion makes no sense considering that the personal story is an instanced, separate mechanic that doesn’t feel like it’s connected to the rest of the playable world. Part of the epicness of WoW was being asked by a quest giver to run across the zone 2 or 3 times to talk to different people. You felt like you were playing a part in something big, something of consequence. Everything had a feeling of “building up” towards a big climax. If you paid attention in high school literature classes, you may remember the traditional story-arc with a beginning, middle, and end. Each quest line / quest hub in WoW was a miniature story that played out as you completed different tasks. Neither Dynamic Events or Heart Tasks in GW2 fulfill that, and as I stated before Personal Story is too far removed from the world and accounts for too small a portion of gameplay to offer that consistent story.
If you’re still with me, I’m about to sum up my argument (woo!).
The main problem with “Questing” in Guild Wars 2 at the moment, is that the three different mechanics driving player progress each fall short and the result is an incoherent romp through Tyria as opposed to a fluid storyline.
So if you made it through my wall o’ text, I’d really like to hear some feedback on your own experience and how it compares to mine! Give some opposing points of view or expand on any of my points if you see fit.
Thanks for reading and hopefully this starts some good discussion =)
(edited by Scera.9746)
So now that GW2 has been out for a bit, I thought I’d reflect on one of the things that has bugged me so far while playing the game. Just to clue you guys in on my state of things, I bought the game about 3 and a half weeks ago, and I have a lvl 50 guardian as well as some other <10 lowbies.
My main issue with the game so far has been the (extreme) lack of cohesion moving through the different zones. Let’s break down the gameplay elements that lead to this feeling so we can pinpoint where the problem lies.
Insofar as I can tell, there are 3 main mechanics that make up the “questing” in GW2. We have Personal Story, Heart Tasks, and Dynamic Events.
Between the 3, Personal Story is by far the most compelling with respect to your character. This storyline is where your “legend” is created, and you get to watch/decide how that unfolds. Your Personal Story is the closest thing to what I would call “traditional questing” for the following reasons:
-Events follow a chain pattern where one section might just be a bit of dialogue, and another may require a big boss fight at the end of a long story arc.
-Sometimes the player is sent to an entirely new zone in order to progress in their Personal Story
Heart Tasks seem to be the most out of place to me. They are strewn about each zone, with a vague background associated with each one. With each Heart, some conflict exists that the player must resolve – usually by repeatedly completing any of 3-4 different tasks until enough progress has been made to satisfy the conditions and receive the reward.
In my opinion, the three problems with the Heart Tasks are:
-They just pop up sans explanation, and the player has to go out of his/her way to learn more about whats happening to warrant their active participation in the problem. Anet has made it so easy for players to just blast through these without giving them any thought or providing a story-backed reason (which is a vital element in MMOs)
-The variety of available tasks to complete is quite small, and oftentimes I find myself endlessly grinding through enemies to fill the progress bar. Yes, there are some instances where the different activities to do are fun and new, but so far it has felt like 95% of the time I’m bashing heads in without knowing why.
-Related to the previous point, because Heart Tasks just pop up when you are in the appropriate area, there isn’t a defined “beginning” to any of them. The closest you get to an introduction is when you talk to the Scout who points out the location of the heart, and then subsequently when you speak with the “quest giver,” which isn’t even necessary (and in fact feels like a waste of time to do so). [YES, I understand that you could argue that it’s my fault I find these Tasks devoid of meaning because I’m too lazy to go talk to the NPC for 10 seconds, but my point is that Anet really hasn’t incentivized doing so. Why bother having them in the game if they effectively serve no purpose?] Similarly, these Tasks have no definitive “ending.” In fact, they abruptly end without much fanfare and while I appreciate the cute note with some coins that I get in the mail, I don’t feel as though I’ve made an impact on the situation.