Guild Wars 2

Oh boy…. Net – I am a bit of an MMO sociopath… there – I said it…. I play MMOs and I enjoy in game banter and helping folks in open world etc – but I frankly cant stand waiting for PUGS and possibly having some angsty person unload at me at the end of a really crappy day at work because I messed up on a step in a dungeon. I do like grouping with friends and family when I can – but that does always not meet my schedule since I work crazy hours to pay the bills.
I was really pretty disappointed at doing the solo stuff and then – oh golly gosh and kittens – a freaking dungeon at the end….
I love the game and I love the fact that Anet keeps adding new cool stuff for free – but its a waste of time for me if I have mandatory dungeon instance at the end …
So sure – tell us that we are whiners and that we should go somewhere else if we dont want to socialize – but really there are other approaches to ending stuff like this and it should not have to be dungeons …. By all means have dungeons with cool extra shiny things for those who care – but for me I would be happy to do a soloable version of something and see how the story plays out … or do an open world event… if the server would not melt down (memories of karkas…)

So … I demand a rideable Charr chugger
Darn it – it is a cultural imperative…. ;-)
I feel so betrayed running round on my paws all day when they show me tanks for Charr

I love the tone of most of the community on this one – i.e. chill !

So nice to have numerous fast travel points etc in this game which offsets real need for mounts.

Leamas.5803:

Sorkas.1865:

I have better things to do with my time than grind the time and effort needed for the relatively low incremental benefit of Legendary.

Wrong…there is no benefit. Statistically, they are identical to exotics. “Legendary” is a misnomer, it’s nothing more than an exotic in a fancy skin. You watch…the next set of legendaries released will be ascended legendaries and be even more difficult to get…if that’s possible.

Legendary weapons are no different that dating a supermodel. Lots of work to get, lots of jealously from those around you, when in reality most would probably be happier with the girl next door.

I had never paid much attention to this since I saw “legendaries” as unattainable for me. Now that I look at it I see what you mean …

I see that The Predator rifle hits for 986-1205 vs the 986 to 1025 on my mere exotic rifle – but bizarrely the other stat benefits are pretty much same total – and in fact my Spectral Wave Modulator thingy has better stats for my character build. Each to their own thing I guess

Too much hassle and some of the “Legendary” weapons look like stuff from Toys R Us..
- I mean – rainbow unicorns… really ….. so if you want a bow for your ranger you get either rainbow unicorns or flowers…. wow….

I have better things to do with my time than grind the time and effort needed for the relatively low incremental benefit of Legendary

I know that this is a great achievement for many folks – but life is too short to spend it grinding for these things

Funny to see so much skritt love – they do make me smile when I play the game and I think the comedic possibilities of roving bands of skritt are great – although seeing “shinies” all the time in map chat may need a “skritt filter” ;-)

so :
Skritt – since they are adorkable and make me smile / would be fun to RP in groups
Largos – Cool aquatic assassins with wings and a Quarian feel to them – whats not to like
and yes – I have to go with the samurai birdmen – i.e. Tengu – they are cool looking race

Kodan are nice but we already get bear forms etc as Norn – so I am less enthused there

I will be honest and say that I will never have a Legendary weapon as is since there is way too much grind just to get a shiny skin for a weapon – some of which even look a bit… silly to be honest . I would like to see quests for some good weapons which could then be evolved into Legendaries for those who want to go down the grind path but which could also be good items for those who are happy with “just” an exotic . This could also help cut the legs out from under the gold farmers who must be loving current state of things.

Overall I am happy with new dailies
I typically only have about 2hrs/day to play and I can do dailies plus some story quest
I like that I can now get some nicer items for laurels

I would hate if dailies include jumping puzzles or mandatory dungeon runs
Current mix seems easy overall – including the very simple crafting daily and has been encouraging me to get better at dodging

There is a very good point in here.
Rift uses AOE looting which allows you to pick up everything in an area around you where you just killed stuff with a single click – This would be a good feature to streamline things .
In the meantime , of course as a Ranger they also dont want you getting lazy – so this helps your character stay trim ;-)

So many areas to explore you can level up several characters and still see new stuff. Also so many different class mechanics each with their own playstyles…. Loving alts.. also makes for different grouping options/dynamics with family/friends.

Summary – Orr has way too many monotonous dead critters too close together and all of the players are in fractals… Dear Anet please either reduce mob density or preferably- give reasons for players to group there…. PS if your server tech is broken and cant handle the number of folks in the zone then start work on that since we are just in year 1 now and this needs to be addressed as part of plan for viability of the game

Got to my first level 80 as I got to orr – and found it to be …. dead… literally and metaphorically… Mobs everywhere with fast repops and no-one around. Almost all of the travel points were permanently contested and hardly anyone around for groups…. HUGE letdown. Guess everyone is in fractals …. Went back to levelling an alt – hoping that Orr may be more interesting as folks who bought game at Christmas level up

Mature servers… yeah – right….
Played AOC and for a “mature” game there were a lot of kiddies (or adults who acted like that)
Bottom line is that there is no way to actively enforce mature servers and if you want nudity in a game rated T for teen then you are not paying attention to the ratings system and as other folks have said you need to go look at single player games / mods

I have issues with the double standard of parents who will let little Johny blow someone’s head off with a shotgun in COD but get upset when he sees a topless woman – but thats just the way things are

I dont like this idea at all and it seems very unnecessary in this game given how easy it is to get experience.
Each profession has a pretty unique play style and needs practice to get good at – as well as to develop in a way which suits your personal preference
I am not “hardcore” but have 1 level 80, 2 mid level 50s and several in level 20-30 range. I enjoy working between them and leveling up while I learn new tricks in the game. I recently went back to my engineer who I had abandoned in favor of a guardian when he was level 46 and have now gone back to him and am having a lot more fun now that I have learned more about how to play the game in a more dynamic way.. Having zombie leveling is not a good plan

I was surprised that I did not find this when searching the forums

Net is that I would like to suggest that Arenanet adds playable instruments to the game.
The excitement which the choir bell created was pretty amazing as an example of this and I think these would be very popular if they were buy able in gem store.
I have played other MMos with playable instruments and they were excellent – even resulting in player run concerts ! (although some folks do need to go and find somewhere out of the way to practice)

I would think that this would be a great way to make some $ and avoid frustrating players with RNG based antics

No issue with them …. except with the darned devil princess dolls.
Best technique there when I open box and see those little princesses is run in the opposite direction ;-)

And this is why we end up with Tixx.. The Norn are all too drunk and having fun to be bothered making toys !

Great pic – thanks – I love the community in this game – so many silly / creative people

It is interesting that some of my friends are going nuts about trying to get the choir bell to the point of obsession and frustration and I know at least one person who just dumped a lot of real world $ into gems to buy the thing from trade

I think that stuff in the open world should be RNG based – that is life – BUT – I think Arenanet is losing a lot of microtransaction $ by overpricing special items, binding them characters not accounts and applying RNG to them. Right now GW2 gem based bonuses seem overpriced unless you are a level 80 “farmer”. We have 4 accounts in my household and although we have multiple alts we only have 1 level 80 so far. I know from direct experience that my family would be spending more money on GW2 if it was not for the randomness and price of the items on offer

Update on this one – I tried the change in Windows 7 (32bit) suggested by Manasa Devi earlier here and I have had zero crashes when changing zones now for 3 days – i.e. issue is resolved !

Thank you !

1. I am glad that many folks have taken a coaching approach to the question/comment here – thank you – that is what makes GW2 community awesome
2. Yes Dungeons in most MMOs really step up the difficulty and GW2 seems to do that in a pretty radical way – but as folks have said – I guess a lot of this is down to “cracking the code” on how to operate
3. Dont dismiss the comments about the bandits – they have been a nightmare due to game bug and that can really ruin your day

I Guess I am in the minority here but I hated her with a passion
I could not understand why my Charr Engineer would willingly tag along with this ditzy idiot……. but I also dont like contrived deaths of characters and would trade her in a heartbeat for the “wooden” acting and demeanor of Trahearne. At least she had a personality – albeit an irritating one at times

I agree with much of this thread having just passed level 60 / battle of claw island

I did not find Trahearne nearly as much of a surprise since I had been alternately leveling a sylvari – so although I did not seem him as a logical Charismatic leader – I at least recognized him

Main issues for me :
- I miss my warband and cast of stronger/more interesting characters related to MY story line
- Trahearne “feels” weak. I would not follow this person to death or glory
– His visual design is uninspiring compared to the larger than life characters around him
- Voiceover work is weak
- The way in which his combat is implemented is terrible – he never feels like he is actually helping. Even doing this artificially – e.g. seeing him hack his way through one enemy group on the left while you take on the right – would feel better – but he never seems to be doing anything heroic apart from talking.

I DO like the personal story line and am enjoying the differences between races and characters – but I now understand why so many folks are unhappy at being usurped by an ineffectual intellectual who does not seem to know what to do with the pointy end of a sword – even though he was supposedly born for this

Thanks Manasa Devi – I will try that tonight.

- Update – Proposed fix has worked well – no crashes in 3 days !

Same issue here but for some reason seems to be getting worse in last few weeks

Latest NVIDIA drivers / 32 bit windows 7
- approx 30% risk of crash to desktop every time I change areas

(Most recently crashed at end of long personal story quest – which means I need to do area again from the start)

Is this acknowledged as a bug/design issue or is the “fix” to run at video settings which are less than optimum visually or install a 64 bit OS ?

I did not buy GW2 to run it on reduced graphics when it has such wonderful art design

On related topic I wonder what is done with the automated error messages which my system is telling me that it is sending to Arenanet every time this happens ?

Terrible idea. As many have said – need the initial purchase price :
a. To cover Arenanet operating and dev costs
b. To act as a barrier to prevent massive influx of bots/kiddies
c. F2P model drives so many inbuilt in-game mechanisms to suck money out of you that it destroys the fun

I like current balance of options to purchase via in game currency or to be able to buy upgrades or even translate real money into gems then to in game gold

4 copies of game, multiple bank slot upgrades and character slot upgrades so far in my family and all very happy with this game so Anet is winning based on game quality and quality of the community. I left LOTRO and SWTOR when they went F2P since I felt it really messed up the game

I am with Eagleowl – they are like Kzin- or the Kilrathi from Wing commander games (who were also based on the Kzin

Goes way to back to playing a game called Metamorphosis Alpha about a million years ago where my character was an evolved tiger warrior and also due to influence of the Kzinti in Larry Niven’s ringworld books . I have always played cat/tiger races when available. GW2 knocked the charr design out of the park with body design, dewclaws on feet, proportions which are just right, no giant boobs on the females and running on all fours. Then add in that we live in a steampunk deathstar with vehicles which look like Batman would drive them and weapons which merge magic and mechanicals and what is not to love ! Voiceovers / humor are also very well done

Hi I am new to Guardian too and learning that you are best served carrying all of the weapons with you .
Staff is great for when in teams / large areas for heals / buffs as well as some range
Scepter/focus is very handy when you need to do some kiting
Mace / Shield is great for when I need to soak up the damage as well as deal some back

And last but not least – sword and torch is not to be ignored….. it is great for damage Being a charr on fire, in a ring of fire and breathing fire is brilliant !

I find I am weapon switching a lot and having a lot of fun
Check out the excellent Guardian 101 guide which is stickied at top of the forum

I participated in :

Friday Karka invasion
Sunday afternoon event
Could not do Saturday due to family commitments (married with kids and saturday 3PM est is prime weekend time for activities)

Pros / Cons

Pros :
- Imaginative idea and nice to see that A-Net is working to spice things up regularly
- Great way to open up a new area
- Communications on event were a lot better than Halloween event
- Stars for event quest givers was great idea
- I love that low level characters are scaled up for events to allow participation
- Very good way to bring community together
- Players were excellent – co-operating / rezzing etc
- Huge chest reward / 20 slot bag / ring and assorted gold items at end of karka fight was a pleasant surprise

Main Negatives :
- Frame rate issues even at lowest graphic settings with swarms of mobs and players on my older pc / Nvidia 460 card.
- Significant key input / action lag at server side which made activating skills and staying alive more a matter of luck at times
- Could not see drops from karka amongst all the on screen mess and trying to pick up drops was affected badly by input lag
- It was not clear when some of the events were no longer active since quest givers in lions arch were still giving quest starter dialog for beach scavenging for example
- Having events at single point in time – although cool – does create challenges for people with jobs / families etc
- Karka event on sunday started off really well – and was overall well designed but the waves of reinforcements got very old very fast and when I did not have a rez point near the battlefield initially and had to run back across zones with respawned mobs especially at end sequence – it was quite hazardous
- Crashes during the event . I crashed 3 times – last of which was 5 seconds after looting chest from the karka so I was very lucky

-

I dont remember anyone stating that there would be any loot
Many folks thought that we would just get a title

Net – I got a 20 slot bag, a nice ring and a good assortment of gear which I will use for Alts once they level up – and I was happy

As others have said – no point in getting upset when other folks were luckier on the lottery

Thank you for this excellent piece of work. This is not only very insightful and informative but is very well written. I just started a guardian and this post has been a great help.

I am glad that Anet team is trying stuff like this but the ambition of the idea is ahead of what can be done. I could not play at all then dropped my video settings to minimum and could at least move around and fire off attacks – but as others have said I had massive lag between hitting a skill and anything happening – which was also a challenge when trying to see/pick up stuff dropped from the karka. Still a great game though -but as others have said – maybe better investing time in fixing basics than creating events like this to compete with other launches this weekend and actually making game seem unstable

Had to comment on this one even after over 9000 other posts since although I dont normally post a lot this hits a nerve with me

I am a casual, but regular player (every day 2-3 hours)
We have 4 GW2 accounts in our home since the whole family has enjoyed it so much
and we have spend some other real cash on extra bank and character slots since we are having so much fun with alts etc due to the variety of regions and professions/builds

I have never collaborated with other players to achieve goals as much as I have in guild wars 2 and I was looking forward to seeing this continue in later levels with additional content / cosmetic loot and achievements etc

The idea of creating incremental tiers of grind-required gear as your price of admittance to dungeons may appeal to a small number of players but I am dreading seeing the gear grinding hamster wheel of WOW mentality moving into GW2 design and seeing a move to a gear score like mentality

I strongly agree with previous poster – i.e. lets focus on skills development – not gear score as the differentiator – and create very cool looking gear which can show what a player has achieved without excluding people who dont have time for a gear grind from new dungeons .

Thanks for this . I was going nuts trying to figure out why everyone was using the word “kitten” all over the forum. I had searched the web to see if I had missed some new meme.
I always disable profanity filter immediately so had never seen this – but now I need to re-enable it I guess to see all that kitteny goodness replacing F-Bombs ! This is a very cool idea – take something profane and make it cute !

I agree – I am trying to add a 4th family member to GW2 and we cant get her onto same server as the rest of us (Tarnished Coast) with a new licence – so I dont know how it will be feasible to play with a friend unless free / friend invites will take priority over new paid customers ? Very curious on how this will be handled. Right now I am just having to keep watching / hoping for a way to get eldest daughter into same server as rest of the family