Guild Wars 2

The Q&A was very informative but a lot of misunderstanding and player frustration could have been avoided if they just said everything up front, before the last patch went live. They admittedly knew their chosen method of Ascended gear rollout was going to cause outrage, yet they went right ahead with zero warning or explanation beforehand.

“Q: Are there any plans to standardize how information is disseminated to players?
I think that a lot of the recent drama could have been abated somewhat by giving direct statements to the players, rather than leaking incomplete information to third-party sites.
This AMA is great, but it’s a few weeks late.
A: I agree whole heatedly and this is something we have and are continuing to have multiple discussions about.”

Ran 7 fractals last night, most with magic find booster, 2 yellows and the rest greens/blues. Our group got 1 exotic total, for 7 fractals and that didn’t even come from the Jade Maw chest. Something is definitely not working as intended, or maybe it is…

Should Ascended gear feedback go here now, since the original 10,000 post thread was deleted?

Anet’s stance on WvWvW is that it’s war and not meant to be fair. This concept has worked well so far, and would continue to, IF Ascended gear were made accessible through all the same means as exotic gear. Perhaps allow Badges of Honor to be exchanged for Fractal currency.

They did say Ascended gear would be available via WvWvW and PvE over time. We can infer/assume crafting would be included in the PvE statement.

Mandrax.7342:

GADefence.5634:

“If they do that, they would be outright accused of Pay to Win methods, something all self respecting developers would want to avoid.”

Ok, I can see how you took that that way – I meant the skins, not the stats. Offering all backpack items and new armour for money as skins would probably have gotten them somewhere.

Same with finally letting us use tonics and costumes in combat, that would have boosted that sell.

But nope, instead the alienate their playerbase and a portion of them took refunds. Hope that 60$ * player base you shooed off amount of money as a negative to your year end was really worth it ANet.

Ok, I see what you mean now.

I agree. A meaningful cash shop would mean more revenues. The cash shop as it stands is pretty dire. There are people out there with money burning a hole in their pockets for the right items. The shop currently does not have the right items.

Pretty much this: introduce useful items to the cash shop. Off the top of my head makeover kits, cool-looking armor/weapon skins, perhaps even old event skins, permanent banker, TP, merchants etc.

I feel like there was no continuity between the scavenger hunt portion of the event and downing the Ancient Karka. The mechanic could have been tuned to make use of the giant laser and trebuchet that the npc’s were just lounging around. The reinforcement phase was definitely boring and could have been made more interesting by using siege to break off pieces of the Ancient Karka’s armor or some actual game mechanic that required thought.

I feel the addition of precursors was innovative and a nice bonus for those that were able to get them. In the future perhaps a set gold reward could come from the chest if you didn’t get an exotic. One or the other, not both. I also agree the one time event should occur one time, per character.

Overall I feel that the event was positive, but that the new continent is underutilized and boring in its current state.

Razarei.2809:

Shayde.2564:

I posted this in another thread. I just made the Ascended backpack, here’s a comparison to my old one:

Guild Assassin Backpack of the Berserker
20 power
14 Precision
1% Crit damage
25 Power
3% Crit damage
15 Precision

Quiver of Swift Flight
24 Power
17 Precision
1% Crit damage
32 Power
4% Crit damage
18 Precision

The stats are 20-25% increase, apply that to every piece of armor and weapons and I think you’ll agree it’s going to be a problem in WvWvW.

An increase of 4 stats points from rare to ascended = gamebreaking?

The lols is mighty on this one.

For the sheer majority of the forums who don’t understand game mechanics, you think an extra 36 points (ring ring backpack) is going to be the deciding factor in a fight?

Wow. Just wow.

Math is hard so let’s make a simplistic example.

The delta in the above gear is +11 power, +6 precision, +1% crit. Now extrapolate that to an imaginary Ascended chest piece using the same ratios: http://www.gw2db.com/items/57141-berserkers-draconic-coat becomes:
101—>121 Power
72—>86 Precision
5—->6-7% crit damage

Now we might be looking at +200-250 power with a full set of Ascended gear. Don’t forget to add +100 weapon damage, if Ascended weapons scale the same way as rares to exotics. No one is saying 3 pieces is game-breaking, but 13 might be.

Siphaed.9235:

Tuccos.8592:

I really wish they had made Ruins of Orr and Southsun Cove more player friendly.

i hate these two maps, why couldnt they create these maps more Solo player friendly ?

In Orr players are perma stressed by perma attacking mobs and in Southsun cove the Mobs hit so hard that a normal equiped player dies in 2-3 hits….

Orr needs a revamp, less mobs more exploration without permanent fleeing from mob crowds. Its no fun there..

not more to say … that was all….

To do that is to change the lore of Orr…..that’s not happening. Orr was a great nation that sunk to the bottom of the sea, killing all it’s inhabitants during the Charr invasion.

Yeah but Trahearne fixed it, the area should be getting all shiny and flowery by now.

munkiman.3068:

I still don’t understand why there needs to be 30 threads all arguing the same thing. It’s in the game, it’s going to be able to be acquired in other ways and it’s most likely here to stay. I think people need to move along. This debate is getting worse than politics.

There are 30 threads because Anet hasn’t responded to the mass outrage in any official capacity. I suggest everyone mirror their forum posts in the survey.

I posted this in another thread. I just made the Ascended backpack, here’s a comparison to my old one:

Guild Assassin Backpack of the Berserker
20 power
14 Precision
1% Crit damage
25 Power
3% Crit damage
15 Precision

Quiver of Swift Flight
24 Power
17 Precision
1% Crit damage
32 Power
4% Crit damage
18 Precision

The stats are 20-25% increase, apply that to every piece of armor and weapons and I think you’ll agree it’s going to be a problem in WvWvW.

I brought 7 friends to this game and15 guildmates from Rift. As of today only 2 out of 22 still play. Anet’s new direction is not one I can recommend to anyone.

Columba.9730:

Rhaviolio.1853:

First few difficulties of FotM are Kitten Easy. it is not gated content at all.

They already said they will be adding new ways to get this gear including WvWvW.
That is Not speculation, it came from the horse’s mouth.

Over time? When is that exactly, and why isn’t it available in wvwvw Now? Why are the wvwvw players pushed to the back of the bus?

Because that’s what every other mmo does.

Lande.5782:

Getting Lion’s Arch overflow all the time now. Honestly I may dislike the gear treadmill changes, but population seems to have gone up.

But, as Mulch said, “We can lose a lot of players and still have a lot of players.”

That’s bound to happen when you move the “end game” from Orr to LA.

Lol the economy was “destroyed” at launch with all the karma gear and Godskull exploits. Players were posting screenshots of 900g within the first 3 weeks. If anything this event brought prices down a bit. Yes I got a precursor, and subsequently mailed it to a guildie for 25g. The economy in this game is regulated about as well as the Federal Reserve.

flyro.6083:

Its 2-3 points diff from the new back item to the guild one. If you die to a player using the new back TRUST me its not the gear@!@

The problem is that it’s not 2-3 point difference, I have both of the following:

Guild Assassin Backpack of the Berserker
20 power
14 Precision
1% Crit damage
25 Power
3% Crit damage
15 Precision

Quiver of Swift Flight
24 Power
17 Precision
1% Crit damage
32 Power
4% Crit damage
18 Precision

The stats are 20-25% increase, apply that to every piece of armor and weapons and I think you’ll agree it’s going to be a problem in WvWvW.

Azure Prower.8701:

Same.4687:

IF Ascended gear will not be made available through any other means but dungeons. I will drop this game so fast the only thing you will see before it dropping the ground is a dustcloud.

There are some exceptions:
– Ascended gear is fully craftable via materials found OUTSIDE of dungeons
– Considering the last one this means you should be able to buy them on TP
– Via some sort of Karma/Badge payment

If they are going to try and make me run the Fractal thingy, I’m out.

I give you the ascended back pieces:
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Vial_of_Condensed_Mists_Essence

It requires a vial of condensed mists essence that is account bound and only obtainable from the chests at the end of fractals.

These aren’t minor upgrades either.

This is somewhat incorrect. Any fractal mob can drop them. I got mine solo, after about 20mins of grinding mosquitoes and spiders.

eisberg.2379:

Brutaly.6257:

Didnt participate myself but it was described to me by a friend, its sounded truly awesome and its great that there are “unique” experiences that not every one has.

Keep them, it keeps me thrilled about the game and i will definitely be there next time.

I’m going to quote someone else here:
“The better question is WHY, in a game genre with persistent worlds, 24/7 gameplay, people in time zones all over the world, people with varying schedules and play time, would you EVER have events that occur one time at specific times that works for a small number of players?”

Hopefully Arenanet gets enough feedback and data to show that they really need to make sure their events can include the vast majority of the player base, in other words, get rid of the one time event, have it repeatable, and have it repeatable over a matter of days.

Quite simply because players would farm it. There were already players getting 2-3 legendary precursors by jumping overflow queues. It messes with the economy when you give some players 300-600g/day.

There was a makeover kit and total makeover kit in the Halloween Patch, they pulled them due to bugs but said they’ll be in a future update. If they wanted to put something worthwhile on the BLTP it would be these.

25mins essence dropped. Also watch out for Moss Man, he hits hard but loses aggro quickly.

This subtopic thread is now longer than the entire “Guild Wars 2 Discussion” parent topic. Still not a single word from the developer.

In European Countries the “Unfair Commercial Practices Directive,” legally requires a manufacturer to accept returns under bait and switch conditions. The document can be found: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDMQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fec.europa.eu%2Fconsumers%2Fcons_int%2Fsafe_shop%2Ffair_bus_pract%2Fucp_en.pdf&ei=_eioUKrFNqag2gX_3YGwCg&usg=AFQjCNEhoQoAfztIpixN63kojY8yQKt_LQ&sig2=92DhUMm_OQZZNiDqXJoDwA

Arius.7031:

Shayde.2564:

marianitten.1247:

Amazing! another “quoting ANET people” post! we need more of this.
/sarcasm

The new dungeon is not out, the new gear is not available. WAIT to see how they managed this, and then take conclussions.

The new gear is out: http://www.gw2db.com/items?filter-item-rarity=8 Look at it and then tell yourself it’s not necessary to remain competitive.

Not much different than rare versus exotic. Yes, you’ll have to grind—but not much. It’s still not a lengthy gear treadmill like in other games. It’s a very short gear treadmill, and even then, you can still play in top notch PvP without the ascended gear—just not the Fractals dungeon.

5 tokens every 15-45 mins and you need 1350-2000 tokens per item. It makes the drop rate on badges of honor look downright generous. Don’t kid yourself, this is an Aion-caliber grind in a game that’s core philosophy was skill not gear. Ask any guild who came from Rift. I know 80 players+ that came to GW2 solely because gear was touted as cosmetic only, guess what game they aren’t playing as of today? In one fell swoop Anet galvanized the player base into content locusts and disgruntled former fans, neither of which will be around for long. If endless gear grinds are so good for player population, then why aren’t we all still playing Warhammer?

“We don’t make grindy games — we leave the grind to other MMOs.”

marianitten.1247:

Amazing! another “quoting ANET people” post! we need more of this.
/sarcasm

The new dungeon is not out, the new gear is not available. WAIT to see how they managed this, and then take conclussions.

The new gear is out: http://www.gw2db.com/items?filter-item-rarity=8 Look at it and then tell yourself it’s not necessary to remain competitive.

From: http://www.guildwarsinsider.com/qa-with-isaiah-cartwright/

“Q: how important for you is vertical progression in GW2?

A: All progression is important to us, we want to make sure our rewards and progression systems hit a spectrum of players and makes everyone feel excited to play the game."

Looks like gear treadmill is here to stay.

Moderator edit: removed CoC infraction from thread title

To me such a drastic change in game design is akin to them introducing a subscription fee. I’d rather have a great game with a subscription fee than another dime-a-dozen gear grind mmo.

To me it seems like the transitions from chop>double chop>triple chop are quicker and the triple chop animation is a bit faster.

JonPeters.5630:

Hi Anders, I’m totally not here so skip this post and read on…

We made the improvements we had time to test. There are still more ranger improvements but when our time is limited we have to focus on things we know we can fix. Signets and shouts are still on the docket, and I suspect some of each of these will get some love in the next time around. As you can see a lot changed in this build for every profession and we have to test these changes as well.

I do still believe ranger is the profession in most need of improvement after this patch and we will continue to make those improvements. If we could fix everything at one time we would, but the reality is there are a limited # of hours to make changes.

I see a lot of talk about ranger weapons, but I don’t think that is the real problem. I think sword and longbow are both good weapons, which is why the changes take longer. The problems are deeper, in pets ability to hit moving targets, trait lines with not enough viable choices and skills that are often too specialized to really compliment the weapon builds. These aren’t things we can change overnight. The change to Greatsword block was in fact a very difficult change, but we made it because we knew it was the right thing to do.

There are >500 skills in this game, 480 traits, and 2 designers working on this. Even then often we are bottle necked by other issues. I’m not going to say we are not working on these things, nor can I say there are things we could have changed but just ran out of time on, but this was a patch that contained ranger improvements and it will not be the last one that does so. Maybe you want more than honesty but that is what I currently have to offer.

Jon

I think this is an articulate, honest and productive response. Thank you sir. I wish there was a similarly constructive response to the massive pink elephant introduced with this patch. A little communication goes a long way.

phooka.4295:

cherrie.8907:

Lets start with one very basic thing:
If you want to fight WoW on it’s ground, you better amp your customer satisfaction.

GW2 has no
- in-game support
- account restoration nor plans for acceptable system (rollback only, no ETA)
- no reimbursement system even for colossal player losses caused by game bugs
- no dungeonfinder
- good dungeon mechanic

Add to that:
- No raids; while we’re at it we might as well add them.
- No working dungeons; I’ve hit the “can’t finish due to bug” wall once too often.
- No class-balance; my warrior does at least 1.5x the damage of a ranger.

You forgot mounts and more emotes.

Still no fixes for Warrior traits: Crackshot with Volley (-20% cooldown) and Fast Hands (-5s weapon swap). These seem like low-hanging fruit and 3 months without a fix is pretty bad.

If that’s the stat gap between Exotics and Ascended, can you imagine the gap once they add more Legendary items?

I did notice 2 new poi in Lion’s Arch…once it actually loads we’ll know more.

Same, won’t go to Lion’s Arch.

Alexander Dragonfang.1759:

The problem is unrewarding experience in low-mid zones and lack of unique and attractive content on capitals.

The game should scale his dificulty by maps, thats clear, a 1-15 map should be easier than a 80 map. But the rewards should scale up based on your level. If you are 80 in a level 1-15 map you shoul recieve a full 80 rewards items, time to time you recive some high items so you at least can savage something, but mostly you see level 1-30 crap. Going back to starter zones isn`t worth it!

Capitals are great, they all have their unique style which is awesome, but they don`t have anything special (besides some minigames) that could move people to them, that`s called “influential zone” in demographics, and in the map as it is now, the only influential focus of the game are Lion`s Arch and Orr, with a minor population on Frostgeorge.

To fix this you need to divert atention from LA to other cities, making those cities to have something UNIQUE that LA do not have and players NEED, and viceversa of course.

Travel to LA is free from anywhere, it’ll always have a higher population than other cities.

Wreckdum.8367:

Ascended gear will be available through WvW you dippity doos.

“Ascended and infusion rewards will be available in both PvE and WvW over time.”

So it sounds like there might be an artificial gear disparity to keep the new, shiny, entitled target demographic just ahead of the pack. Gotta make sure hardcore raiders can display their kittens in Ironfor…er Lion’s Arch before anyone else. I really hope this is just some huge misunderstanding and Anet hasn’t really abandoned Gw2’s best selling point.

It also remains to be seen what these Omni and Offensive infusions will do. If they offer dmg/defense vs. players as well as Fractals, then they will easily be BiS for WvWvW.

Magiofdeath.2745:

Where was all this outcry of 150 pages when skill points, temple of balthazar, etc was practically continually bugged for over a month after release? I don’t get this community – there was game breaking bugs in the game for over a month after release and there wasn’t a single thread that was 150 pages worth of people complaining about that (I did complain about that because it was a problem) and now they add a new tier of gear and there’s a thread that has amassed 150 pages of outcry. This new tier seems infinitesimal to the game breaking bugs the game had for a month, and which are still present to some small degree with PS, etc. I just don’t get it – can someone please explain that to me?

Sure, most mature players expect some degree of bugs, crashes and server-related issues during the first month or two of a new release, especially one with the complexity of an mmo. These same players will be patient with a developer that is transparent, communicative and responsive to these issues. However, if said developer seemingly takes a 180 on their core design philosophy and offers little in the way of justification or explanation, players feel their good faith/trust betrayed. When players feel betrayed they get angry, form a virtual mob and spew their dissatisfaction for 150+ rage-filled pages.

WvWvW is completely impersonal in GW2, which is very beginner friendly. You’re character is just a generic red, blue or green “invader.” To me there’s much less shame, if you can call it that, being downed by a live opponent versus a scripted AI mob. The result is the same either way, you get rezzed by friendlies or nearest waypoint and get back to the action.

Good article on tentonhammer: http://www.guildwars2hub.com/features/editorials/honest-discussion-about-ascended-gear

“But, I think what we as a community of outraged players want to hear from them say something along these lines:

“Ascended Gear will be best in slot for the lifecycle of the game. We needed to fill a gap we left in our original design while introducing the infusion mechanic we used in GW1. Ascended gear allows us to do that, and hopefully solve many problems for a slight pain to current players.”

If I had that once piece of confirmation, I would be set."

If it was true and came from Anet, I agree this would assuage most of the population.

Vorch.2985:

Strang.8170:

Untouch.2541:

Every increasing tier has better stats than the other (except legendary).
They probably thought to keep up the tradition.

Which is exactly the thing we protest against.

If they keep on introducing new tiers with better stats, we´re in the treadmill.

If they stop with this tier, then what was the point of increasing stats from exotics in the first place?

To provide something between Exotics and Legendary gear to strive for that’s more powerful than Exotics and less grindy than legendary.

That statement does nothing to explain the stat upgrade for Ascended. It was stated time and again that Legendaries will be cosmetic only. People still strove for legendaries, based solely on pretty pixels. I question how a gear grind equates to higher profits, since the BLTP doesn’t contain Legendary or Ascended armor skins. If Anet wants to make money then they need to offer unique, valuable cosmetic items on the BLTP. Other games offer unique mounts, mobile banks, vendors etc. on their cash shops, Anet has yet to offer any “must have” items.

Good improvement, but horizontal is what hurts the most. We really need a slider up to 90 degrees.

showatt.9413:

nysta.6713:

the worst thing about it is the raider-guild mentality.

everything becomes a case of “what gear do you have?” before anyone would talk to you. you’re considered a good/bad player based on your gearscore. you end up not being able to see half the game’s content without investing your soul into a group of easily irritated people who take the concept of “game” too seriously. you find yourself not bothering with the little things in the world as you end up pursuing only those things which guarantee you loot formatted for your class. ragequitting gets more common. no one likes anyone else because everyone’s too determined to get their loot NOW so they can get into the next raid with “not noobs”.

ugh. the whole idea makes me cringe. i was so glad when gw2 seemed to be saying it would pretty much be the antithesis of this. i thought: at last. a game where gamers looking for challenges and fun can gather. a holy grail, i guess.

while i don’t think this power creeping is the end of the game, it’s pretty much telling me this will be another mmo in which my wife and i’ll be locked out of endgame. again.

Which, would be an MASSIVE exaggeration on your part.
Number 1 – Asc really aren’t that much different than Exotic gears.

Their stat APPEARS to be better, but you would still end up getting more stat bonus with matching runes on your exotic then ASC because these armors only have infusioin slot.

The agony debuff is designed so people only experience it after repeating the new dungeon.

Everything about this entire fiasco has been over exaggerated on the GW1 purist’s part it would seem like the end of day of GW2 if you have only been looking at the forum and not playing the actual game.

We haven’t seen what Omni or Offensive infusions offer. They could be far more powerful than current exotic rune bonuses. That’s really the crux of the issue, 3 months into the game and exotics are no longer BiS.

Malevil.2104:

Shilian.5873:

Guys you forgot something essential:

The gap between exo/ascen is MINIMAL, so not a MUST for WvW or anything, just for the new dungeon, and guess what? you will get the gear while progressing trough it.

Too much fap guys, no reason to go mad.

I dont consider 8% difference minimal , its quite enough to be difference in small scale fight in WsW.

Agreed. That 8% difference was extrapolated off one piece of gear, the difference will likely be greater on chest, legs and weapons. 8-10% more vitality, power and crit damage is significant and will make a difference in WvWvW.

Let those of us that actually like GW2 as advertised buy this new puce gear on the trading post, in WvW, or for gems. We’ll go back to the product we loved, albeit a little wiser, and Anet can go back to the impossible task of pleasing wowkids.

stpetemermaid.5947:

If Abyss dye was not so expensive, I would put it on all of my characters to signify their mourning.

If Abyss dye (and other useful and/or desirable items) were available on the BLTP for direct purchase there wouldn’t be a reason for this thread. A microtransation business model doesn’t work with crappy items.

Shootsfoot.9276:

ExpiredLifetime.1083:

Shootsfoot.9276:

Yeah, how evil is it for a company to make money, anyway?

So you like for your car dealer to lie to your face about what the car has, just to get more money out of you?

Horrible analogy, but I will humor you. First off, I test drove the car myself, I researched the car myself. I then bought the car and then drove it for 50k miles.

Now I’m to expect the dealer to take it back because there’s a new model with better features and other people can get it?

No, but this car was designed and advertised to never need an oil change. Now suddenly at 20k miles the dealer tells us to start changing the oil for optimum performance? Yeah that’s false advertising.

ExpiredLifetime.1083:

Basically my belief is that they saw how many people their game attracted, pulled a Blizzard and got money hungry, and are now trying to keep them playing.

WoW = subscription model
GW2 = microtransaction model

Until they offer items and services that players actually want to pay for, they will not make money off of it. This gear change does nothing but piss off their core audience.

If this is the route they want to take, so be it. But they better make it as easily accessible as the current tier of exotics: droppable, craftable, buyable with karma, gold, badges etc. Restricting BiS gear to uninspired PvE content has alienated PvP players in every mmo to date. WoW, Warhammer, Aion, Rift all made this mistake and lost the “large-scale PvP” demographic. Anet promised something different…you sit on a throne of LIES!

funforums.4850:

But wait a second.
I don’t like this change, but you won’t be using that gear in sPvP. You can use it in PvE and WvWvW.

Guys, my gf survived to an entire WvW session (lasted 1 evening) with a lvl2 warrior and equip, without dying… will some ascended armors/weapons make difference?
It’s a 300vs300 game mode.

The orbs didn’t make a difference in WvW either right? Give one team the new, permanent Ascended “buff” and the other team standard exotics. There will definitely be a difference in performance between the two teams.

Przemek.6835:

Quick and short : when I started playing I had a feeling that people are so nice and you know … “well brained”. Now when ANet tries to do something for A LOT OF PEOPLE that were just getting bored everyone else is crying about it. What I thought is the best, turned out to be the worst, people have a mindset that if there is any gear progression they have to participate in it else they feel inferior to others that have 5% stats more. If you don’t like gear progression, even as little as ANet wants to introduce, either stay away from the new dungeon and help gear up people that want to try it out (because you will need exotics before stepping there) or go craft, farm events or do whatever you want. The game is ment to be fun, and your “fun” doesn’t have to collide with others.

Ascended gear is BiS for all aspects of the game, with Omni or Offensive infusions it will be significantly better, and thus required to be competitive in both PvE and WvWvW. This goes against everything Anet has previously stated about gear progression and their intention to make skill > gear in Gw2. If Ascended gear were craftable or only usable in the new dungeon this would be a much lesser issue.