Simply put, level 80s are way too powerful in low level dynamic events because downscaling does not nerf their gear (or nerf it enough). As a level 80 going around exploring the rest of the world, it’s really boring to two-shot everything. And as a lowbie doing events, it’s really boring when some guy is just mowing all the enemies down single handedly. It’s not much different than traditional MMOs at that point, where max level characters can come in and massacre entire zones.
Maybe it’s just my personal preference, but I wish downscaled characters performed more in the same ballpark as their naturally-leveled counterparts. Particularly in terms of DPS. Now the question is whether ArenaNet wanted it this way, or if downscaling isn’t working properly.
Also, couldn’t we argue that a player who has played to level 80 would be much more skilled than a player at level 10? and that players skill would also be a factor at the level of difficulty of playing at lower levels?
For me it isn’t really a general feeling of being stronger. It’s a very specific phenomenon: I two-shot everything. I doubt my increase in player skill causes my individual attacks to be that much more lethal.
Weapons
I haven’t looked at stat scaling on weapons, only armor, so it is possible there is massive inflation on weapons, but given the other scaling, I find this very unlikely.
This would be interesting to know for sure. Come to think of it…when I’m in a low-level area, I don’t seem ridiculously tough; I just seem ridiculously lethal.
if you dont like being a “over powered” for an area, strip ur cloths off and use a low level weapon…problem solved…..
That’s exactly what I do—equip lower-level gear. It gets annoying trying to keep all that gear on hand, or to procure a new set of gear every time I go slumming. It would be nice if there was an easier way, like a slider or something.
Also I’ve heard rumors that gear scales differently than level. I’m still looking for a thorough explanation of how it works, so I can work the system properly.
Warning: I am a numbers geek. I have invested more time researching this topic than any sane person should.
You’re probably in a good position to solve our quandary then: If scaling is working as it should, why are low-level areas such a cakewalk for high-level, high-geared characters? Was this just how ANet intended it to be?
If they do this then they should also increase the rewards for that area right now there is no reason why anyone would go farm in a lower level area when event rewards is marginal.
I go to lower-level areas explore, to play with low-level friends, and to try new events. And while I’m there, I’d like it to not be so dang easy so I could enjoy the combat experiences as well.
And I agree: if they make it harder, they might as well up the rewards too.
All I know is, when I take my level 80 back to lower-level areas, it’s too easy to be fun. I have to equip lower-level gear just so it stays challenging.
I thought ArenaNet said gear was exempt from any kind of scaling. If that’s true, I’d like gear to scale down, somewhat, so I’m not two-shotting everything I encounter, without having to change gear.
If gear DOES actually scale, as some people seem to be saying, can someone please point me to an explanation of the system? Because it does not seem to be working as intended.
Another possibility might be to use Transmutation Stones to change the appearances of end-game gear to something more to your liking. That’s what I did.
SUGGESTION: At level cap, all activities you now do generate karma instead of exp i.e. gathering, exploring and even the exp you would get from events etc —> all converted to karma.
Interesting idea. But then how would we get more skills/skill points after level 80 if we so desired?
Another partial solution: Make neutral creatures smart enough to avoid battles.
Most real-world wildlife, including vicious predators, would tend to move away from possible danger…for example, a ferocious battle between characters and bandits raging in their midst. The noise alone would cause most animals to scatter for safety, or at least move 10-20 feet away.
If neutral creatures in GW2 behaved like this, it would reduce our chances of hitting them with auto-targeting and AoE attacks. Would also make for a more immersive experience.
Thread was moved to suggestions, but at this point it should still really be considered a BUG in the game that Anet refuses to address because it doesn’t affect enough people for them to care… sad really.
There have been several threads about this issue in the BUGS forum, but the only one that’s still open is the one that includes this great post:
Jeffrey Vaughn said a couple days ago that it would be fixed in the Oct 22 update, and as I type that update isn’t up yet. More recently, in the latest message on the subject, Gaile Gray didn’t give a date, but said the fix would go live “upon successful testing.”
So unless I missed something (did I?) we can’t count on it being fixed until we read it in the update notes. Meanwhile, we have to assume more characters are still in danger of being shanghaied into the Vigil. For life.
I also didn’t continue. I was reaaally enjoying the storyline my wife and I had going. So when I got put in the wrong Order, and ArenaNet proclaimed it unfixable, it felt like my character died.
Help me out here…I’m having trouble understanding why this is so difficult to fix. We give them our character names, they look us up and verify that we stopped at that point, they change our current quest and order affiliation. What’s so hard about that? They’ve reiterated that this bug has only affected “a few” people, so how long could it take?
If there’s a deeper, more plausible explanation of why they can’t do this, please, let me hear it. It would go a long way towards renewing my faith in ArenaNet. And Humanity.
Avarycce, very good points. If I’d been warned about this bug just three days ago, it would not have happened to me. I’d still be happily playing. Instead of posting here, hoping to avert the loss of a month’s play, and the “death” of my all-time favorite character’s storyline.
“Our CS team does not have the ability to change your current quest or order, either, so it’s not something that we can manually fix on a case by case basis, either.”
CS stands for Customer Service. They said the ArenaNet Customer Service Team can’t do it. That’s a long ways from saying that nobody in ArenaNet could do it. They never said that, did they?
The story is familiar. My wife and I both made Sylvari, and coordinated our multiple-choice questions so we could play through the same personal story together. It worked great, and we had a fantastic time…until, at the Lv 30 branch, we got put in different Orders. We both wanted to join the Durmand Priory, but I got put in the Vigil. I have kept my personal story on hold, hoping that it would be easier to fix. Besides, I have no wish to play the Vigil storyline.
If they can give malicious Karma exploiters a one-time by-request reprieve from having their account banned, certainly they should give “Sylvari-who-got-put-in-the-Vigil-against-their-will” a one-time by-request story fix.
EDIT: Apparently the bug is not yet fixed but the fix will be in the Oct 22 update. Is there a way we could warn all the Sylvari characters who still are in danger of having their characters permanently hijacked?
We have record of Jeffrey Vaughn saying two days ago that the bug had been squashed, but it just affected me one day ago. And another poster has reported the problem since me. Kind of hard to “move on” if we can’t be sure the problem is actually fixed.
For future posters: if you can, please include the date and time that the bug affected you, so we can verify if it is indeed still alive.
Affected Character: Ryx Thornewood (Sylvari Thief 28)
Story Branch: lv 30 story
My wife and I just played “Trouble at the Roots” together. At the end, we selected the Priory option. She got the Priory quest, but I was given the Vigil quest (“Flower of Death”). I’d like the Priory branch please.
Meanwhile, the Asura tier 2 cultural weapon vendor in Rata Sum sells the Sylvari tier 3 set (carrion something). So both the Asura and the Sylvari are missing one of their sets.
