Guild Wars 2

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

Sumii.2845:

Anet has had the ‘looking for new staff’ slide up for months…

I am sure people seeing how ArenaNet employees en masse are put down, called names, accused of anything and everything except killing their pet goldfish . . . I’m sure that has nothing to do with why people coming to the forums would think “hey I want to work there”. I know I wouldn’t want to work at a company where people who don’t even know what it I work on and don’t work on will continue to belittle me for the sole reason of who it is that signs my paycheck.

Just saying.

In a job where you’re put in front of a generally large audience it is accepted and known that you will have both positive and negative feedback. If you are insinuating that the complaints, trolls, flames on the forums are one of the bigger reasons behind why Anet can’t seem to keep people employed I’d argue otherwise.

My point for bringing it up is just simply the fact that they can’t seem to keep their numbers in play. Whether that is because of their antics, poor pay/benefits, or certain wishing-they-were-gods moderators even patrolling their hallways and being bullies to their own employees (exaggeration, but still) we’ll never know.

Anet has had the ‘looking for new staff’ slide up for months…

They were for a while constantly barraging ANYONE that visited the guildwars2.com website with a Pop Up to BUY NOW even if you already were logged into the website as a user (not a very intelligent web designer behind this).

They had a huge falling out of trust or PR after November with the Lost Shores patch and ‘perceived drops’ issue. After a few weeks of pure hell on the forums one of their poor employees got to be the fall person and ended up on reddit for a whole day ‘addressing the questions/needs of players’. This actually ended up being inflated PR speak with the ’we’re looking into this’ canned response prevalent. Here we sit months later and yet there was never a fix for the people that had drop off from the Lost Shores event, in fact it was failed to be ever mentioned by Anet again. The drops issue was supposedly JUST now for the most part fixed a week ago (although they completely dodged the issue on why it was a drops problem).

They maintain a bullish and unprofessional forum moderation staff that half cannot communicate effectively, and the other half usually just lock/merge willy-nilly to drown posts. This isn’t conspiracy, its just the observation of their acts.

You have a manifesto that for all intensive purposes has been used as toilet paper rather than design.

You have an audience that regardless of what is said or done refuses to do anything because they tout Anet’s ‘no monthly fee therefore be happy’ mantra.

I have watched two guilds with over 100 people simply die. Less than 5 users on at any given time. I’ve stopped playing the game and keep checking regularly to see if they’ve made any head way of promptly pulling their heads out of their butts. Unfortunately that’s not the case.

In every instance I come back the forums the situation always seems to get worse.

I’ve mentioned it numerous times in my posts previously, but being a marketing / brand manager professional myself I’d simply be out of a job from the PR work and the antics of this company.

And people like Martin and Colin are the exact reason behind those antics. Somebody like Josh Foreman who designed something I didn’t care for, but actively spoke with the community and has said why he did what he did and what he would do in the future is the type that Anet USED to be the majority of. It doesn’t matter if those monkeys C & J were there on the original team, they’ve fallen from their original status as much of the company has.

Unfortunately for you CriticKitten I believe the best thing is to move on because you will not find what you’re looking for in this game if you’re hoping they can turn around. If anything, what seems to be in their playbook is empty PR speak and an agenda not in line with the majority of their founding population of players.

Zenith.6403:

Legendary weapon is just a vanity item to show off, similar to obsidian armor in the first Guild Wars. It has no better stats than exotic weapons.

You can change your crafting profession by talking to master crafter.

This is incorrect. Legendaries will have slightly better stats than Exotics once Ascended is fully implemented. Is it worth the grind? That’s opinion, however they will in fact have better stats. When Ascended was first implemented all Legendaries stats went up and were immediately hot fixed to reverse it. Anet stated that once Ascended was in place the item stats would be the following:

Legendary > Ascended (Once fully implemented) > Exotic

Jeromai.8203:

You know, OP, one of the things not mentioned in this thread so far is that GW2 does place an emphasis on choosing how to employ your skills at the best possible timing.

I learned how to dodge out of red circles very early on, but it wasn’t till later when I realized that certain classes (like the thief) had block=>react attacks that responded to timing my keypresses just right to counter an enemy’s attack animation. From there, I learned those normal animations can also be avoided/evaded by a well-timed dodge, along with movement to avoid projectiles.

Interrupts and blocks (I play with blinds and aegis since I main a Guardian) are also most effective dependent on timing.

Ditto boons, conditions (and their removal) involving tactical choice and input from the player.

It won’t help you in the anticipation of a big move building up aspect, as that harkens back to a more turn-based approach, and it may not make you like GW2 combat if your preference is against hotkey triggered combat as a whole, regardless of whether it stresses tactical positioning and timing.

If you just want my preference, I like hot-key combat, especially if the keypress triggers as quickly and with as much sensitivity as GW2 and WoW. It gives combat an immediacy, a very action-based feel.

You do point out good points regarding GW2’s hot keys / combat system versus others and improvements as such. And you’re right, I do remember using thief’s death blossom (or whatever it was called) at the right time to evade incoming attacks if the dodge meter was out, etc. And you’re right that it is reactionary to a point.

I guess I just differ as I’d prefer to almost have a combat system free of that. And someone mentioned it sounded more like an action-type MMOFPS. I don’t know about it being in FPS, but action-type, perhaps adding a combo rating system like Devil May Cry, S, A, B, C rating, etc would be interesting. /shrug

Who knows, was just discussion fodder on what people would prefer. I guess personally I’m tired of all MMOs following the same type/format now (regardless of what individual ‘variations’ they might have). It’s always nicer to daydream about changing it up I suppose.

Kintari.4172:

So what about heal spells, forms, shouts, signets, traps, etc … you mentioned items but these are abilities. Seems like an awful lot of the dreaded hot keys hanging around.

Anyway, I don’t really see how having the game decide which attacks to use for me, based on my movements, is an improvement over having direct control over both my movement and my ability use, with ‘style’ being a reflection of how I make those decisions.

Many abilities are even dual use offensive/defensive and it would bother me to have the game telling me in which context I can actually use it, since making this decision intelligently is to me one of the marks of a skilled player.

But to each his own I guess. I’m not hating on it, and I think it’s a good thing overall if games try out crazy new input modalities. I just don’t see the widely used action bar + hot keys paradigm as some game-wrecking plague, and I don’t think the combat system in GW2 was a letdown.

Well actually I’d prefer no magic or at least not a primary magic focused user. But that’s all personal opinion on how each prefers their fantasy/genres. And don’t misunderstand what I mean, the game wouldn’t force you into what skill you ‘could’ use, it would react to the way you were acting. Shouts / buffs are definitely an issue in that circumstance. But again, I’m not opposed to not having them. Relying on stats on armor / gear and skill alone in terms of evasion / fighting or ‘SWITCH!’ (If you don’t get this reference, it’s okay, I admit to being a nerd) is fine for me. Since a few have said I’d want FFXI-2 I will say that Protect / Shell / Stoneskin spells always were questionable to me, but it was a part of the lore of FF series so it was something I had to deal with.

Again, what I was referring to was ‘my’ ideal game. Obviously I’ll never get something that’s completely suited to what I want. And perhaps the way I visualize a combat system isn’t possible or has too many issues.

I do know though that whether or not I’m dodging/evading, if all I’m doing is hitting a pre-set number of keys to do a pre-set animation/move – well its not too entertaining to me. I have seen systems (a vague type was in FFXI, but have seen it better employed in other games) is having the pre-set skills very short/limited to what they do and allowing the player to make their own sequence/style of skills so at least while the skills are already made, the player chooses how to employ them. I think Aion had some semblance of this, but it’s been a while since I played.

Does that expand anymore on what I mean?

Kintari.4172:

Too many random tangents / complaints about stuff unrelated to combat mechanics, and not enough on how you think things should actually work.

Rather than continually referencing other games (not everybody has played the same games), repeating phrases like ‘hot-key gaming’, and obscuring the point with random brain-dumps (itemization in early BC WoW, your thoughts on the holy trinity or lack thereof, or the state of magic find and drops in this game), try going into more detail on how you think combat should work, and less on how you think it should not work.

From one of my earlier replies (Yes, I admitted to rambling in initial post, and while this references Tera’s evasion, it says how I’d like combat to focus).

And yes, I do agree that Tera was hot key gaming. My huge love with the game was playing specifically a warrior and being able to choose when to attack (auto-attack/strike) to gain MP etc. It definitely still had hot keys which I’m not a fan of at all, but the interactive-ness of the way the system was made was very well done. Like I said previously, I’d like them to do a hybrid of Tera’s evasion / selective auto-attack system but make it branch out. I’m constantly rolling and slicing behind the enemy so that charts me on a branch to go down a certain attack, ie: the game takes player movement / attack patterns to branch it into what pre-animated attacks will be unleashed when the energy is full. If that makes any sense.

If this doesn’t make sense let me over-simplify it. The system has an ongoing algorithm that sees how you approach mobs, when you decide to attack, if there’s a focal weak point and how you exploit it. By seeing that it determines a method such as ‘brute force style attacks’ vs. ‘quick, stealthy debilitation attacks’, etc based on the way you move.

Some people prefer to run head on and unleash as much damage as possible and hope the mob falls. In this case the player would do just that, run at the mob and as they ‘white attacked’ (manual non-special attacks) the game would recognize that style and would automatically track down a path with special abilities on that path.

If the player saw that full on brute attacks weren’t working and shifted to evading constantly and trying to attack the mob at a weak spot, ie: the back, the game would shift the special attacks to reflect as such.

There wouldn’t be hot keys at all, but an evaluation of the player’s fighting stance or style to determine a correlating attack.

Again, ideally full player input via VR would be our dream, but I think for now a system that recognizes player style would be more in-depth. The only ‘hot key’s would be item usage such as a potion for healing, etc.

somsom.5201:

OP do you play WvW? Still think “standing still and watching hotkey animations unless there is a red circle” works there?

I should have iterated that I am talking primarily in PvE situation, however even in WvW you’re still mashing hot keys. Again, my main complaint wasn’t standing still, the primary issue to be discussed was hot keys as a combat system. The evasion / dodge system wasn’t being a focus other than saying that personally I felt Tera did it better.

Vorch.2985:

Olfinbedwere.5049:

You can download “combat mode”. It creates a more active combat feel. A lot of people use it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tjK5OI2oAQ

Was just gonna suggest that to the OP. Coming from TERA myself, it’s a VERY nice addon

I have seen the combat add on, however I have also seen the official statement from ArenaNet saying that it violates their ToS. It was asked very early on at GW2 release when it was initially released.

I definitely prefer gamepad over keyboard for trying to make a MMO more action-feel. And that might be a primary reason a lot of these MMOs choose to do hot keys is because they want the primary user to be keyboard / mouse and not gamepad.

/shrug

Edit: Official ArenaNet response regarding Combat Mode.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/account/Will-I-get-banned-for-using-Combat-Mode-1-0/first

Danicco.3568:

@OP

I think you haven’t grasped the potential of GW2’s combat system.
I play a Guardian and Elementalist, and while the Elementalist is my “easy mode” character because it’s ranged, meleeing as a Guardian is incredibly satisfying.

I was also amazed at Tera’s combat system at first, and kinda shunned the combat in GW2 thinking it wasn’t as amazing as Tera’s. After a thousand hours of playing, I can say that I find the combat in GW2 more interesting.

Did you know that you can dodge without actually spending your endurance gauge? You just have to move!

Did you know that you can solo nearly most group events in the game?

Did you know you can kill most enemies in the game without taking a single hit if you know what you’re doing?

You also don’t need to target any monster, when you attack, you’ll hit whatever that you actually hit on your screen.
This means you can actually feel like a more realistic fight, moving around and swinging (and missing, but evading as well), along with your “hot key gaming” you call of moving away from red circles and such.

But the game also lets you play as if it were a MMO that you stand and eat hits, healing through the damage and just evading the massive damage skills.
It’s up to you how you play, and because if you had to move around for every monster you’d fought or you would risk dying, the game would be just too hard.
Instead, the game’s on the easy side where you can do fine if you play it as you would any other MMO, and if you actually take the combat for real you can solo champions and group events with a decent challenging difficulty.

Also, I don’t think you’re grasping what I’m saying. I know all well how to dodge and evade and solo things. As I said originally I mainly only solo’d and duo’d in GW2.

My issue is with hot keys not with evasion / dodging.

And I would like to take a snipe, not at you, but at the game. Did you know you can wear full MF gear and farm for hours after not being on in over a month to not get any decent drops? Couldn’t resist! That’s for the other post though.

Back to hot keys!

Dreamslayer.7659:

I’m fine with the combat system in GW2 – I play a guardian and I play melee 95% of the time.

Your post reminds me of the days when Starsiege:Tribes was new and the people who loved it loved it A LOT. After the game died down, a lot of hardcore players were just always looking for that exact feeling they got from that game. It wasn’t enough to have a jetpack in a fps game.

Once you fall totally in love with a game, and play it for years and know every little detail about it, no similar game will ever take it’s place – it’s just not possible. Nobody is going to give a FF game GW style graphics or a GW game FF style mechanics.

Anyone who has played a game that much has developed a very strong neurological reward/response system where they get little micro shots of endorphins every time they do something they consider rewarding or fun. These neurological programs are non-transferable to other games so when we move, we feel like we are playing a similar game, but without that internal feedback system we slowly built around the previous game, the new game just feels hollow and “wrong”.

It also happens when you try to switch to a different OS or something similar. All those rewarding little competencies have to be rebuilt. Keystroke by keystroke.

Again, I most definitely did love FFXI at that current time, however the game has long since been changed into something else. But as I said previously, I’m not looking for a game with FFXI’s style of combat. My point was a system that doesn’t utilize hot key combat. FFXI was the only one that I’ve played since. If you read my last post referencing SAO you’ll see what I mean, but I do appreciate the input.

Mainly I just want people to say if they’re for or against hot key style gaming. The evasion/dodge aspect in GW2 is much better to have than nothing at all, however I’ll take Tera’s over GW2. That isn’t to say that Tera is the end all, just that they accomplished more for evasion in that regards. Root abilities and other issues are a whole other story though. Something that needed improvement in Tera for sure.

Ellisande.5218:

Wait what? You found FF14 fun to play? FF14 was a game that was so bad at release the dev’s admitted it was a huge mistake and so gave the players an entire full year of free play until they managed to overhaul the entire game.

And I find that Tera is still “hot-key gaming” for several reasons:
1) When you attack you are rooted in place for the duration of the attack animation
2) The only attacks which are not based on hotkeys are what would be autoattacks in any other MMO because they deal an extremely tiny percentage of damage to the mob
3) The mobs take forever to kill and are placed in such a way throughout the game world that there really isn’t a rhyme or reason to some of their placement.
4) The quests are completely pointless
5) Etc. Basically the only reason why anyone says it is different than most other MMOs is because you can “dodge” in between attacks which is a really paltry reason in my eyes.

And for the record I loved the early part of EnB where it left the player still very much engrossed in the game and the gameworld. It was also the first MMO which used voiceovers for the NPCs (very exciting at the time and it wasn’t until SWTOR that I saw another MMO try doing it). Then it became nothing more than a pointless grind so I quit. But the combat was quite differentiable from Eve because EnB was your normal MMO combat set in space (it even had rogues) which was much more exciting during the early levels than the boring snoozefest that is Eve combat.

Oh no, don’t get me wrong. I know how bad FFXIV was. I stayed with it because the Devs (something ArenaNet should take a huge note of) were constantly in contact with the community to go above and beyond to make it right and repair the issues at hand. While we’re still 2 years past original release the beta for 2.0 starts in less than two weeks. I was an Alpha tester in both 1.0 and 2.0 and I just want to see what changes they’re going to make. However, after testing the 2.0 alpha I’m not sure that I’ll be playing the game again. It’s more ‘hot key’ gaming.

And yes, I do agree that Tera was hot key gaming. My huge love with the game was playing specifically a warrior and being able to choose when to attack (auto-attack/strike) to gain MP etc. It definitely still had hot keys which I’m not a fan of at all, but the interactive-ness of the way the system was made was very well done. Like I said previously, I’d like them to do a hybrid of Tera’s evasion / selective auto-attack system but make it branch out. I’m constantly rolling and slicing behind the enemy so that charts me on a branch to go down a certain attack, ie: the game takes player movement / attack patterns to branch it into what pre-animated attacks will be unleashed when the energy is full. If that makes any sense.

In an ideal world it’d just be VR and the issue wouldn’t even be an issue. But for now you know.

kitanas.3596:

what I think OP? I think you are asking for ffIX II. you want to get back the memories of your first MMO, which may never happen. and no matter how you set up the combat system, w/o a variety of enemies, it will still come into a repetition in what you do.

While you’re entitled to think that, you’d be wrong. It wasn’t my first MMO, it was my first MMORPG. My first MMO was Earth & Beyond (a failed EA experiment which was almost a spitting copy of original Eve) followed by Planetside as a MMOFPS. While FFXI was my first MMORPG, my issue again is with the hot key system and unfortunately, that has been the only one to date that didn’t have it that I’ve played. Although I don’t believe EQ1 had hot keys as well, but I never got into it.

And I never said that combat alone was what made a game. If you read my post I clearly stated that I enjoyed Tera’s combat very much, however the combat was all it had going for it. You are right that a lack of variety and such is also a killer. But if I can’t get into the fight and be drawn in in the first few fights when I’ve yet to meet the majority of mobs in the game, it doesn’t matter how many types of mobs there are. The combat system has to be there from the very first fight.

My ideal MMO wouldn’t even be like FFXI. It would be closer to SAO (anime series). The idea of a system in place with finite levels (100 in this case) where the extremely hard boss has to be defeated by a front line group (not a guild, but actually conglomerate of server) before the next level is unlocked for anyone.

The idea that if your character dies all your loot, exp, and character are gone and you have to start over or re-incarnate.

The option of choosing to be combative or just live a virtual life like Sims where you can fish, be a merchant, etc.

Active combat system without hot keys (the main point of this thread).

Like I said, you may believe I just want FFXI-2 (a statement that’s been made numerous times on the FFXIV 2.0 alpha forums with the people unhappy with the new hot key system) but you’d not be correct. The reason I so strongly spoke of FFXI in this case was it was the one that stuck out at the time and I’d like to see another game move toward that direction. GW2 was marketed as a groundbreaking / genre-shattering MMORPG changer. Obviously my opinion, but I fail to see how that happened.

I finally logged in one day for a mere few minutes and tried to do some fighting (not farming drops as that was long ago taken away) and I think I finally put the connection that it was the style of fighting that made me hop from MMO to MMO over the last few years after I left FFXI.

Just like the ‘personal (Traehearne’s (sp)) story’ (I still laugh at this) the combat using a hot key system is pre-programmed. Its an animation that you as yourself have no input on other than the ‘initialize’ (push the button) phase. There’s no build up of excitement leading to unleashing a huge move, there’s no actual input from the player on what’s being done. Obviously the enjoyment factor of this is all opinion. However, I think one of the things that drove me into such depths in FFXI was that while fighting no matter how grindy or repetitive for hours on end the ‘build up’ was one of the key things that got me into it. Mind you the auto-attack was still pre-made and could definitely have needed help, but the lack of a ‘hot key’ so to speak was a big thing for me.

And with Tera you control when you auto-attack, when you evade, when you dodge, where you go. And the combat is realistic and draws you in. But it still relied on hot keys for the ‘special moves’.

Actual Question for Discussion

SNIP – Refer to below addendum.

But that’s just my opinion. What’s yours?

TLDR: Take the time to read and understand what someone says over going the ‘Cliff Notes’ route.

Also, I know the title is not optimal, but not sure what I should actually label this post.

(2/2)

EDIT: Since some have said the original post was way too random (I wouldn’t disagree) I’ve attached below a snippet to focus on what I was going for discussion-wise:

Kintari.4172:

Too many random tangents / complaints about stuff unrelated to combat mechanics, and not enough on how you think things should actually work.

Rather than continually referencing other games (not everybody has played the same games), repeating phrases like ‘hot-key gaming’, and obscuring the point with random brain-dumps (itemization in early BC WoW, your thoughts on the holy trinity or lack thereof, or the state of magic find and drops in this game), try going into more detail on how you think combat should work, and less on how you think it should not work.

From one of my earlier replies (Yes, I admitted to rambling in initial post, and while this references Tera’s evasion, it says how I’d like combat to focus).

And yes, I do agree that Tera was hot key gaming. My huge love with the game was playing specifically a warrior and being able to choose when to attack (auto-attack/strike) to gain MP etc. It definitely still had hot keys which I’m not a fan of at all, but the interactive-ness of the way the system was made was very well done. Like I said previously, I’d like them to do a hybrid of Tera’s evasion / selective auto-attack system but make it branch out. I’m constantly rolling and slicing behind the enemy so that charts me on a branch to go down a certain attack, ie: the game takes player movement / attack patterns to branch it into what pre-animated attacks will be unleashed when the energy is full. If that makes any sense.

If this doesn’t make sense let me over-simplify it. The system has an ongoing algorithm that sees how you approach mobs, when you decide to attack, if there’s a focal weak point and how you exploit it. By seeing that it determines a method such as ‘brute force style attacks’ vs. ‘quick, stealthy debilitation attacks’, etc based on the way you move.

Some people prefer to run head on and unleash as much damage as possible and hope the mob falls. In this case the player would do just that, run at the mob and as they ‘white attacked’ (manual non-special attacks) the game would recognize that style and would automatically track down a path with special abilities on that path.

If the player saw that full on brute attacks weren’t working and shifted to evading constantly and trying to attack the mob at a weak spot, ie: the back, the game would shift the special attacks to reflect as such.

There wouldn’t be hot keys at all, but an evaluation of the player’s fighting stance or style to determine a correlating attack.

Again, ideally full player input via VR would be our dream, but I think for now a system that recognizes player style would be more in-depth. The only ‘hot key’s would be item usage such as a potion for healing, etc.

Hi all, it has been a while since I’ve posted a serious question to the community (and even longer since I’ve stepped online in-game for more than 5 minutes), but it has been something troubling me for a while now.

First some background as to where I’m coming from…

My first MMORPG was Final Fantasy XI. A game that most people nowadays refer to as a style of tedium and ‘old clunky battle’. For me it was a game that immersed me deeply to the brink of escapism and allowed me to really enjoy playing a game online. From the constant auto-attacks building up to a Weapon Skill event (Limit Break) and the grindiness of leveling – I was always extremely enjoying myself. After almost 7 years I left the game when they decided to increase the established level cap to 85 and introduce for lack of a better term ‘more easy/casual’ gameplay.

I then had a brief spurt with WoW. I had beta tested and watched friends leave FFXI to go play it, but the cartoon style and emphasis on quest exp over partying / grinding never appealed to me. I went anyways as I’d rather be with friends from FFXI and unhappy rather than unhappy and with all my friends gone. I played Vanilla up to the release of Burning Crusade. Watching raided gear become useless to a green item from the first quest was not a pleasant experience and by the time I spent a day in Zangar Marsh I had decided that I would say good bye.

To this day I’ve had an off/on again relationship with WoW due to those same FFXI friends still playing and wanting to socialize with them more than play the game. I couldn’t believe upon each return (usually for a stay of 1-2 months) how much more simplified / easier the game had become. Especially since I had viewed the game as so easy from the beginning even in Vanilla.

I went on to beta test/go live with LOTRO, Aion, Tera, and a few others. And one thing I noticed ever since WoW’s release was the common UI appearance with the action bar at the bottom, but most notable the hot keys. Which brings us to the reason for this post.

Hot Key Gaming

For the life of me I have never understood why personally this style of gaming was viewed so much superior to the group cooperative combo system I was so enraptured with in FFXI. However, I do know that is solely my opinion in the matter. Not to mention technical limitations with MMO engines, network bandwidth, coding, etc & ad nauseum.

The main problem with the majority of these games with exception of Tera is that the player stands generally stationary unless a ‘hot lava’ or ‘roaming’ mechanic is forced on them during the fight. Other than that there is no reason to move and just spam pre-configured animations that are your skills.

So when Guild Wars 2 talked about all its innovation with its combat system and how much it was going to revolutionize, nay replace the MMO genre with a new standard – to say I was interested was a gross understatement. Just previously I had been in Tera and had been blown away by the active combat / evasion system. Playing a warrior and hopping around all over the place and seeing the stronger emphasis on ‘auto-attack’ with timed hot keys was definitely an improvement over what I personally viewed as boring hot key gaming. The problem with Tera was everything that wasn’t the combat system and there were even some hiccups in the combat system.

So when GW2 I was torn. I wanted to experience combat in a game that was more than mere hot key gaming, but the lack of the trinity (which I am strongly against in the way it was developed in GW2) had me torn. I took the chance and got the game. And when I loaded it up I created an Asuran thief and started. I lasted all of 10 minutes the first time. I was dismayed to find out that GW2 wasn’t the ‘innovation’ in MMO combat that I had hoped. It was more hot key gaming and if anything it was a definite step back from what I had seen in Tera. I quickly uninstalled the game and despaired.

At the time I was still playing FFXIV (a game that for lack of better words never was fully released). The servers were coming down soon for the start of the new improved 2.0 that had been on the forefronts of all our minds / hopes for better than a year.

So I decided I was rash with GW2 and I’d re-install it and at least give it a complete go. I went down my normal style and chose a ranger instead of the thief. I got it to 80 and crafted a full MF set for myself. While the combat system was nothing new and not very enjoyable I viewed it as a no-monthly fee RPG (not MMO as after multiple parties / events I just prefer soloing or duoing). And that was something I suppose, but I was never IN the game. Never immersed or enjoying it like I had hoped.

And after looking and comparing between all the games I’ve played over the years I still can’t put an exact focus to it. The graphic style both appeals and appalls me, but its not an ugly game. There are nitpicks all over, but every game has those.

(1/2)

Well after updating and not playing in almost 2 months if not longer, I played for about three hours. Didn’t get a single rare / exotic. Never saw one of these new chests. And I got nothing but blues/greens from big event chests.

I didn’t even get a lot of crafting mats either.

Back to looking for something else to do then.

Alright, so the masochist in me has been whispering in my ear for some time and I’m finally biting. As we speak I am downloading all the updates I’ve missed since I stopped playing quite a while ago. I was an avid farmer that made all my money purely from farming Orr. I have over 150 MF and am going to hop on and do some farming for a few hours. I want to see how much DR and (I’d type and/or if I even thought there was a chance it was just DR – yeah right) crappy RNG affect me right off the bat. If there was any DR on my account it should be gone by now, right Anet?

Be back in a few painfully boring playtime hours.

Ask the rest of the team when we’re going to stop fooling around with this scrap of a side project and actually start working on developing Guild Wars 2.

I hate to be so bitter, but this patch not addressing a huge issue for so long is just wearing out any hope I had for them to pull it back together.

Fast forward to now. If you read my other post or even skimmed over the initial you’ll notice that what I do for a living is Marketing & Brand Development. It’s what pays the bills and what I actually wanted to be (for the most part) – reason I got my design degree.

In a situation like this where you have such a noticeable outcry saying there is a problem, not because they don’t like it, but rather because something significantly changed and the company claims it didn’t – what needs to happen is close examination of the problem, finding the answer / solution, and implementing it. But also, during the entire process you must communicate effectively and clearly with your consumer to let them know you’re addressing the issue. If there’s a problem and the consumer is given no communication, as time goes on (especially now so) they will become disillusioned, believe you’re not doing anything to correct the issue, and move on / change to another company for their goods.

We all know this, its simple common sense. Where I have an issue with your post is your extreme ability to interpret anything whether related or not and twist it around to the vision you so desperately are hoping for and also in doing so making Anet look oh so much the better company. I bear no ill to you for wanting the game to be fixed, rather I’d love for it to be fixed so maybe I could check it out again and see if I can find what initially I enjoyed doing. But I think that dispersing your posts and presenting Anet as being competent in this matter, when they are especially not being so – and also attacking others claiming ‘hatred & venom’, and even going the ways of using your interpretations to twist their signature to your point is a gross and quite frankly almost devious display of bad politics.

It’s one of the main reasons the US as a whole has so many issues with the legal system is because of people able to interpret and twist anything to their own meaning during their term allowing them to enforce some random act or law that has no bearing on what was originally said.

Before I ramble any more, until Anet clearly communicates in THIS thread or in the Dev post area specifically addressing this issue clearly and concisely, it would do you good to just ‘hope’ they fix the problem rather than badgering any user on here that is disgruntled because it’s not working. And stop twisting every post you HOPE is the solution and just wait. Because Anet will eventually address it. And personally while I feel most likely it will be a ‘nothing was wrong’ type of post, until they do all you do is cater to more bickering and crap / grief in this thread and across the board.

(2 / 2)

Aproposs Of Fire.4056:

I am fairly certain that no matter what ANet does to resolve these issues it won’t be acceptable to some/many of you.

They could create an NPC where you could queue up and request any specific exotic and/or precursor you want for free and you would complain.

This is pretty sad considering you all are probably more ideologically compatible with the artists and developers @ ANet than I will ever be. Here I am, taking them at their word and giving them the benefit of the doubt and you are ready to cannibalize (figuratively speaking, I hasten to clarify) them.

Just to respond to one thing Wild said: My opinion of why they haven’t posted these things in this thread is that you all would insist on an AMA or IAmA which they are not prepared yet to do. They are giving information as soon as they can release it. I can almost guarantee that some of you would explode this thread with hatred and spew venom if they posted here. Look at how you are already responding to their posts…

I’m willing to wait to see what they’ve got; are you?

If not, then are you not really interested in the game as much as you are interested in finding a thread somewhere on the interwebs to troll? (I apologize in advance if anyone is offended by that – but please look at what you’re posting before you post it.)

FYI I’m not playing lately either – mostly because of my physical condition, but that’s because what little time I could stand being at my computer isn’t worth it in-game.

I am very eager for them to fix the issues in-game so that what little time I can play will count for something. I wish the Jan. update were being rolled out now instead of in 2-3 weeks instead.

Apropos, your name is ironic for me as of late. And I don’t mean that as an attack, but I mean just unfortunately that you’ve become grouped (for me at least) in a group of users that personally Anet savors and enjoys every waking moment.

First, here ’s a thread I started a month ago asking for a formal statement from Anet on very particular issues in general. I tried to present myself and my issues clearly without just bogging down the system with hatred and insensible jarble.

Shortly after that post, the community was rewarded with the reddit AMA. I know this wasn’t in direct response to my post, but I was pleased and even stopped posting in my thread in high hopes of it being addressed.

If you pull up the reddit AMA please find the very last question of the night. I am the user by the alias of sin. My main character is Sin Blossom a lv 80 Ranger (or rather was, I haven’t logged on in some time now). I posed the question then in regards to drop rates across the board being lowered and in particular when using full MF gear. Please also read the dev’s response.

This specific forum post did not come to light onto the forums until at least two weeks after that AMA and response from Anet.

A quick background about me in-game. To make money up until that AMA I was farming Orr extensively in full MF, gathering Ori and berries ad nauseum. I could manage an exotic at least once a week and a nice handful of rares every night. That, with the other random or junk drops I managed to keep myself near 50-75g consistently even when splurging on the Mystic Forge out of pure boredom. Mainly in hopes to get a precursor to sell so I could afford the much more sough after Aether for my Ranger.

Post-Nov. 15th just as anyone else in this thread (for the most part at least) has recorded, I had a significant change in drops. So much so that I wasn’t even able to manage to keep my gold at that level without using the Mystic Forge and just using my gold for repairs and travel costs. Without seeing my typical drops I became uninterested in farming and tried making a new character. Unfortunately, in this game and several like it, once I’ve done the quests / DEs one time, I found it was the same thing all over back to 80 with no option for any real other viable ways to get to 80. Because of that, I stopped playing. For me, what was the point? The thing I enjoyed doing was farming Orr and that had lost its purpose. Leveling a new character again had its pros, but ultimately I just didn’t really care to start the whole thing over again for no real reason.

(1 / 2)

I don’t need a plushie or a toy… I am however, rather hungry.

marnick.4305:

This is pretty simple. Quite some people have gems and want to sell them for gold. Since the rate is on the rise, people hold on to their gems as long as possible to get maximum gold profit. This reduces supply which in turn drives the exchange even higher. Fairly simple economics.

So what is happening is the following: gems in the exchange market are rather low but the savings in gems are very very high. A bit like the RL gold market. There’s plenty of gold for virtually everything anyone would like to do with it, the only reason it’s high is because gold is sitting in dark dungeons waiting to be sold for even higher prices. One day the rise of gems is going to stop, people will cash in and gems drop tremendously. For RL gold the same will happen eventually, just like the house market “always rises” which is exactly what sparked the current crisis.

Basically you have 3 choices:
- buy now at high gold prices
- wait until the eventual crash comes. This can take months though, don’t hold your breath
- buy gems for cash

Economics 101.

While I normally would agree since as you say its basic economics, this doesn’t seem to be the case.

ArenaNet has no cap or ‘total gems in circulation’ therefore they can always keep the ‘Gems to Gold’ much lower than it should be. The higher the demand for Gems via gold transfers should mean that people holding onto Gems should see a huge spike in profits. While the number has increased slightly it by no means is where it should be. Add on to that the huge % chunk AreaNet takes from the conversion and converting Gems to Gold is not a very lucrative bit.

Can you play the market buying Gems with Gold and turn around to make a profit by selling Gems for Gold?

- Yes, to an extent. However, since ArenaNet has no cap on the amount of gems in the market and can virtually double the entire amount of gems in circulation just from one large purchase directly from Anet (which would be identical to printing double your total currency in one run) it keeps the conversions for Gems to Gold down to an artificial level.

A nasty surprise is spending $20 USD to buy 1600 gems, turning around and converting 1600 gems into gold and receiving only really $15 USD worth of what you bought.

Varu.1063:

Great, another one of these “OMG, you ruined my life with the [insert update name], change is scary and bad” threads.
Get over it or seek help, it`s a game, not a life altering experience.

Actually if you were to read the first page and a half this post did NOT start that way. Only mainly today when I posted about being excited over the Reddit Q/A bit did it become a number of posts directly about Ascended / Fractals.

Again, this thread is not directly to complain about the content of the patch.

And rather than type until my fingers are ‘blue in the face’ so to speak, I’ll just direct you to my first post.

This thread has been for the most part constructive and not a bickering thread. And I would prefer it stay that way, although I can’t stop people from posting unfortunately.

I would just ask that people that post contribute and comment on what the main post’s points are.

Thanks!

While I can appreciate your opinion, please read the entirety of my first post before de-railing this thread. This thread is not about Ascended gear or Fractals. There is already a number of threads out there in regards to that. This post is in regards to policies, marketing & branding, etc.

Thanks!

Today is the day we find out if the Reddit session is the moment we’ve been waiting for. fingers crossed

Wow, I went to sleep and missed a considerable amount of replies. (I fell asleep during Jormag event too darnit)

First and foremost, I’m going to hold ANY criticism until after Monday’s Reddit bit. Chris Whitesdale specifically mentioned the direction the company is going and the philosophy behind it. You can call me naive by saying that I believe they’ll respond to that, but the post put on their news & announcements seems to be a clear and resounding reply to exactly what I made this post in regards to.

Secondly, again – as much as I would LOVE for their replies and answers to be what >> I << want personally, I also understand that I am but one person. I might be a part of a consensus or not in what I want and personally I just want the formal answer. It will let me know if I want to continue playing the game or not. It will also as it so happens let me know if I need to call my friend Sven and tell him to purchase the game. As I told ArenaNet in the survey, I don’t recommend things to people until I’m comfortable with them and know full well that it will not blemish my opinion in the sight of my friends or peers. As it stood at the time, Guild Wars 2 was NOT in that shape. However, that is for the survey bit and not for this post.

I am not a glass half full or a glass half empty kind of person. I am a there’s just enough room for alcohol in that glass type of person (I cannot remember who said this, but it applies perfectly to me). I will wait until Monday (kittentail in hand) and see where things lie. I think as it stands that is all we can do as a whole. After an official announcement that is indeed to set the record straight it serves no purpose to continue bickering, complaining, praising, or any other discussion of the Devs, ArenaNet, and their practices.

Let’s just wait until Monday. (fingers crossed)

Posted this in the other thread, but it applies here too!

Martin Kerstein.3071:

Hi All,
Thanks for your feedback we really appreciate it. I would like to take the opportunity to answer your questions in an AMA on Reddit on Monday 26th (12pm PST- More details to follow) to talk about recent updates to the game and our philosophy for Guild Wars 2 moving forward.
Please keep in mind that there we are about to begin the Thanksgiving holiday in the US and are out of the office (and likely in game) until Monday. Happy Holidays everyone!
Chris

Original thread is here: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/info/news/AMA-with-Chris-Whiteside-on-Monday-November-26/827481

Now THAT looks extremely promising. I will keep my fingers crossed and hope that Monday provides some insight and answers. Good job ArenaNet!

Martin Kerstein.3071:

Hi All,
Thanks for your feedback we really appreciate it. I would like to take the opportunity to answer your questions in an AMA on Reddit on Monday 26th (12pm PST- More details to follow) to talk about recent updates to the game and our philosophy for Guild Wars 2 moving forward.
Please keep in mind that there we are about to begin the Thanksgiving holiday in the US and are out of the office (and likely in game) until Monday. Happy Holidays everyone!
Chris

Original thread is here: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/info/news/AMA-with-Chris-Whiteside-on-Monday-November-26/827481

Now THAT looks extremely promising. I will keep my fingers crossed and hope that Monday provides some insight and answers. Good job ArenaNet!

XRTDiablo.9321:

… snipped only because I keep hitting the 5001 character limit.

In the end I feel they do enough to communicate to not be alienated from the players. Some games I’ve played you’ll never hear an answer from a dev about anything… ever. I’d rather they spend their time working on the game then spending their time on the forums responding to every single post, holding peoples hand telling them it’s all going to be alright and that they are working on a build that will magically solve everyone’s concerns and are actually accomplishing almost nothing. Oh and lets be real, the majority of people who post on the forums not just in this game but every game are the vocal minority. If devs did everything the average forum poster wanted they would hand out 1000g for logging in and every class would have a 10000range aoe oneshot :p

While I disagree that the majority of players on the forums are the vocal minority, I nor you have facts to back it up. It’s really all hearsay and without the company letting us know survey results and how they line up with forums, its really anybody’s guess.

However, that being said – you are most definitely right. If a company did everything that everyone whined about it would be a disaster. As I said originally you can never please every one. But a great number of people have let’s say complained about precursors and their cost. This past event had a suddenly higher chance to get a precursor. Did everyone get one? No. Was there enough of an effect to change the economy and possibly cause artificial inflation? I would say yes, but that’s my opinion and it hasn’t been long enough to see the results of such an ordeal.

The issue really at hand is communication. As I just posted in another thread about a similar topic, in this day and age for a company to disregard communication with it’s consumers, irregardless if its the answer they want to hear, does not bode well for the company’s survival.

There are all sorts of MMOs out there. They all have forums and their own niches. Simply putting out TV/Radio/Magazine ads is not enough to pull a large enough base away from one group or another. You have to sell service. You have to sell quality. And you have to mean it. Once someone discovers that you’re an empty shell of promises or statements, you lose all credibility. It is extremely hard to recover from this – as any number of recent failed MMOs should be evident.

I hate social networking. Loathe it. I want to delete my FaceBook, LinkedIn, etc. like you have no idea. From a personal standpoint its fine. From a business standpoint its suicide. The more connections you have to your consumers, not just to sell your product, but to interact with them, brings more leverage your way. It makes you more appealing and it builds your case. I do this on a daily basis for a living. Its something a lot of business owners don’t like to hear, but in extremely competitive markets (can you really think of something more competitive than video games) you have to prove your case. You should jump at every facet of that.

LadyAfeawen.7409:

As a long-time gamer, I share some of the concerns my of the other players of GW2 do. However, I’m not going to continue the griping about specific play issues. I do want to say this, though…

After laying down the money for not one, but two, copies of GW2, I’m taken aback by the lack of communication (or should I say, thorough communication) by the GW2 developers. Especially telling was the head of global community’s comment about people griping and the inevitable curtaining of specific forum topics. Couple this with the “everything’s sunny here at GW2” attitude being regurgitated in light of the numerous complaints of players (who BOUGHT your game), and this is a PR nightmare.

Professionally, I’ve done public relations and marketing. And right now, you’ve got a crisis on your hands. If you keep telling your BUYERS that you’re going to shut down their ways of expressing their concerns and by NOT forthrightly and immediately answering your many player’s concerns, you might as well say “no comment” and “kiss our *,” as well as saying goodbye to any further cache in the online gaming market. You are pissing people off right and left by ignoring the concerns. Either get out here and give the players (like me) some detail, or we go to another game for good.

I agree as another fellow professional in Marketing & Brand Development. Not at an attempt to plug my own thread but this is something I started earlier that has been dwelling on this.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Formal-statement-from-ANet/824530

But yes, if they keep down this trodden path its going to severely affect them. Regardless of the fact if I’m a happy consumer that likes the changes or an upset consumer that feels betrayed. Lack of communication, especially in this day and age with businesses (Read: lack of communication to the pertinent problems, not just empty/circular messages) doesn’t lend itself to a company’s survival.

Narkosys.5173:

We just got it and I hope you like the answers. No problems a few hiccups with the live events but everything is wonderful and perfect.
We hold a vested interest in this game and its company via the Gem shop. That is our investment.We like to see returns – when people see deviations from that they get upset and worried.
when told like today there is no problem so go away – It may get worse.
I would at least have respect if he did come out and say ya I sold out eat it. see that little red x in the corner use it. – I would say great I understand the motivation.

Again, I’m afraid that it might be the only answer, but I’ll hope that there is more to come. Perhaps once all the surveys are in.

FFXIV, a game that failed horribly in its initial release, held on for dear life and has struggled for two years. In that time the player base who once deserted it had started coming back in droves. Square Enix learned that player input was paramount when coinciding OR going against their vision or wishes. They began holding constant POLLs based on what they were planning on doing to rectify the situation. Yoshi P stepped on board and began having ‘Letters from the Producer’ constantly to let people know the state of affairs and the direction they were planning.

Since then the servers are now offline and being changed for a re-release of 2.0 A Realm Reborn. And to be honest, it looks very promising. It’s amazing what SE has been able to do to gather support from shunned customers. But it started with them being frank and honest. In that case it was with them admitting they released a product that was glitchy/buggy and didn’t match the vision or product presented to audiences.

(2/2)

bojangles.6912:

LMAO. Sorry to laugh @OP but “imploring” Anet to post in the forums or anywhere on the site about a discussion they had behind closed doors along with the devs is just hilarious. Who in their right mind would even ask this knowing kitten well no company would ever do such things. They could tell us why they went this route and felt the need to lie to us, but to ask on the forums for closed door discussion with the devs too just shows you how well people think.

Any time a big decision is made, say Creating a mini-expansion like the Lost Shores the Devs & teams have multiple meetings about what it will entail and what their ultimate focus is. The ultimate focus being what they want the players (consumers) to take away from this. That is ALWAYS relayed to the players via PR statements, teasers, etc. from the Marketing team. So yes things from behind closed doors DO get sent out to the public once it’s refined and thought out. THAT is what I was asking for. I hope I worded it right originally and it seems for the most part that I did, but I’m sorry you might have mistook me for saying that every intricate detail, secret, caveat that goes on beyond closed doors should be transparent to the consumers.

mulch.2586:

Seek and ye shall find.

I think this is intended to serve the purpose the top post was requesting.

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/chris-whiteside-on-the-lost-shores-and-beyond/

Unfortunately, I think you’re right. It is an answer so to speak, but it is completely devoid for the most part of addressing the issues at hand. But to be positive, it was nice for a more lengthier than brief blog post to be posted. It at least takes away from the hastily and rather short messages or lack thereof we’ve been receiving. Perhaps, there will be more to come of it. I can only hope.

dalendria.3762:

Sumii.2845:

As the title states, I would implore ArenaNet to give us a ‘sum up’ of all their discussions back in the Dev’s room; ie: any discussions as to the state of affairs from recent events, a change of direction?, a misunderstanding, etc. etc.

I ask this because I believe by being silent or relying on week old vague and circular statements they are doing more damage than any sort of good.

(1/2)

100% agree OP.

Silence is one of several PR tactics when a customer uproar occurs. The intent is to let people get it out of their systems. The hope is that it will not do significant or long-term damage to the product, brand or company.

The problem with the tactic in the digital age is that people have found many ways to express themselves. You have so many popular sites like Facebook, Youtube to share feedback. I personally think that this PR tactic is a mistake.

Arenanet may also be:
1. Stunned at the degree of uproar on their forums and other sites including retailers.
2. Trying to come up with a public statement that diminishes the damage and does not cause more of an uproar.

This one is tricky. Because it is not just about introducing new gear and having serious problems in the November content launch. They have been asked to explain their radical change in product design and undermining of their game vision.

What statement could they make for that?

“We have realized that everything that Mike O’Brien, Arenanet President, has been saying for 7 years about how to make a "different and better MMO’ is incorrect. We have decided that he was wrong – gear stat progression is required in any MMORPG. Mike now sees the error of his ways and agrees. We also have statistical evidence that the “dedicated players (gear grinders)” spend tons in the cash shop and love buying items based on RNG mechanics."

&

Ganzo.5079:

Have i to be honest?
If they say something like this, i will be very happy, even it will mean that i will leave the game instatly.

This. Very much this. My point being that an open and honest answer whether it is favorable or not to people is something that many people can respect. It let’s them know that the game is either going the way they’d like or changing into something they’d no longer be a part of. Would this mean they’d shed some possible consumers in the gem shop? Absolutely. But it would ensure that their main player base was on the level with the Dev team and backing / supporting them.

(1/2)

Either MistaMike’s post received an infraction or he chose to delete it (either way it was a bit of a trolling post), however, all in all it takes away from the point of this thread.

Despite your post being now gone let me address a couple issues you stated:

• I never once threatened lawsuit. If you read my post through and through (which it seems you didn’t) or didn’t pay attention to the TLDR note (again, seems you didn’t) I said I didn’t condone or think there was any benefit to threaten a lawsuit.

What I DID say was that it would be naive to think that such things couldn’t or wouldn’t happen if things kept on this current track.

The favored yet not thought out response of Go make your own game if you can do better disregards the main points of this post. Every person that purchased this game is a vested consumer that has brought money into the revenue stream for Guild Wars 2. No, we’re not stock holders, but we ARE stake holders. They have a concept and an idea that they have marketed and promoted (rather successfully) and that is generally the purpose most of us decided to vest our interests and money into this game. However, steering away from this main focus is a clear and present danger to their stake holders.

If your simple answer is to “Go make your own game then” then you are missing the whole business aspect of games. They are in it to make money and to do so there are standards they need to follow. One of such is following their own guidelines set forth by themselves. If they are going to change those guidelines, it is important for them to convey that to their stakeholders.

Hawks.5736:

Id chill a little bit about getting responses, because:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/pvp/pvp/The-teams-that-work-on-PvP-WvW-Balance/first#post818357

I know, its about PvP, but apparently a lot of them are out of house right now. What it also tells me is that they are paying attention to the forums, so I would expect some more clarification on the Ascended gear design choices… perhaps in a week or two.

Edit: Since he seems to be in a talkative mood perhaps you could PM Jonathan Sharp, though personally I would first have a list of topics and replies about Ascended gear that are constructively put(like this one). – I dont know if its against the rules to PM a specific dev or not, or if you even can, so ymmv.

Thanks for this, I did in fact message Jonathan and am hoping for a reply. Although I will keep it as a realistic hope and thus, not expecting a reply.

Zplus.4217:

If you guys really want your voices heard by people in the office instead of just the forum mods, here’s an official survey about the latest patch/event.

http://newsletters.ncsoft.com/emp/gw2/announcement/2012-11-21/na.html

I have already filled out the survey, however as others have noted it is not very open to much input in the regards of paragraph fields. Reading that much block text is a hindrance and tedious to be sure, however it provides much more insight to a company than simple radio button options.

DegoLocc.5976:

I think some of the anti stat progession guys would be shocked and surprised to see, how small their numbers are in the grand scheme of things.

Anet is not stupid, they proved it with this game (which had stat progression and a grind from launch), so let’s let them run their game, they seem to be doing a fine job in my mind and a lot of other peoples opinions are similar.

You all also forget not all of that 200 page thread was negative, a lot of us enjoyed the one time event, and enjoy new tiers of gear to try and achieve.

Again, if you read my post I ask for any statement no matter what it says, not just justifying or answering the negative. And I did state that it was ‘mostly’ negative, not entirely. In truth, just having huge amounts of positive and negative input alone from consumers deserves a formal response – whether being thankful or explaining one’s self.

Mimizu.7340:

i just got infracted (twice!) for posting the phrase:

“this is not the arenanet you are looking for”

by which i mean (constructively) that i agree with the OP’s mandate,

however, the company that won our trust does not exist anymore,

other than in name.

to paraphrase Herac-l-i-tus (forum filter hates ancient greeks):

“no customer can deal with the same company twice,
because the second time,
it is not the same company and he is not the same customer”

If it makes you feel better many of my posts asking this same question have been marked with infractions. I do find the moderator(s) on the forums extremely stringent and overly brash – with a lack of viable communication skills. Putting that to the side though….

That is an extremely valid and well put quote.

This is all I see when I see or hear an obnoxious Quaggan.

penatbater.4710:

think of wvw as pve, except your mobs are smarter and move in groups, so you have to move with “npcs” as well or get left behind :P

and iirc, the story mode also counts as a dungeon run.

More like think of WvW as a place with rampant teleporting Mesmers creating a portal for the whole mass to come in and zerg everything.

Nothing more fun than ‘smarter npcs that move in groups’ and teleport all over the kitten place.

Hell, I’m surprised half the posts with the manifestos aren’t deleted. It is a violation to call out Devs specifically. Whether it be about their failures, contributions, successes, or even quite simply just a quote.

In fact referring to the Devs as a whole is a violation according to the infraction I received yesterday for asking what Dev was responsible for doing something.

You can’t ask ArenaNet for personal responsibility. They’ll close the thread and delete it faster than you can hit the Post Reply button.

The ONLY Dev they have that has come forward and taken the brunt of pain/anguish for something that many perceived as a very buggy instance was Josh Foreman (gasp, did I just call out a Dev, I sure as hell did). He is the only one with a backbone to admit it was him. And you know what? He received a lot of praise for doing so. Too bad the rest of the company can’t take notice.

The loading screen for the event should have been an ArenaNet Dev char with two middle fingers, a troll face, and an endless spinning loading screen.

Yes, ZaiTh let’s make the game socialist in partying so that all the money I spent on MF gear gets to be a benefit to YOU who thinks that DPS should be the only thing allowed in the ridiculously easy dungeons because of a marginal % difference.

If you want MF bonuses, buy your own gear. If you want to make sure that people aren’t wearing MF gear in a dungeon, well TOUGH. There is no check so you can’t discriminate. The game is about personal gain, not group gain. Each player gets their own random rewards. If I get an exotic I can’t use, I COULD give it to you (if you could use it) to be nice, or more than likely I’ll sell it for my own personal gain.

I seriously loathe people that think they are ENTITLED to something because its unfair. Go play Socialist Wars 2.

1) Graphics (1 Bad – 10 Amazing) – 7
2) Sound (1 Bad – 10 Amazing) – 0 (Sound siren bug when massive people around)
3) Story Concept / Originality (1 Boring – 10 Captivating) – 2
4) Loot/Reward (1-Lost all my money…10-Gained amazing items) – 1
5) Stability (1 Extremely Buggy – 10 No Bugs) – 1 (Although should be -10)
6) Network Connection / Speed (1 Laggy / D/Cs – 10 Perfect Connection) – 3
7) Mini-Events Length (1 Too Short / Long – 10 Just Right) – 5
8) Overall Event Length (1 Too Short / Long – 10 Just Right) – 5
9) Overall Satisfaction (1 Worst Experience Ever – 10 Best Experience Ever) – 3

I had more fun with FFXIV initial launch in all its hellish / laggy UI / gameplay issues than this weekend. I accomplished more doing it too.

1. You can still use candy corn in recipes if you’re a crafter. Otherwise you can sell it on the TP (although I’d recommend waiting a few months so you can get more profit).

2. It does have a name but it blends in with map colors. It’s called “Fireheart Rise”.

3. I believe for the events it would scale you up, but Southsun Cove is most definitely level 80. The mobs while not undead and so packed as Orr, hit a little nastier. I wouldn’t advise going there as a lvl 66 at the moment.

4. The two POIs coincided with the event. One of the POIs you got was a ship that takes you to Southsun Cove. I believe the other was the POI for the Asura gate that takes you to the new Fractals dungeon.

Comrade, you are not putting in your equal share yet are receiving the same benefits (and possibly more). This is not fair comrade! We must all be equal and get only the same stuff!

Replace ‘Comrade’ with ‘Person wearing MF gear" if you don’t get why this whole thread is too funny.

It’s funny because all in all I didn’t really care for a lot of the rewards in terms of skins (I just personally didn’t find them visually appealing or worth any sort of effort), and yet I finally said what the hell and gave the jumping puzzle a shot. After about three hours I decided to check youtube to see if I was going about a certain spot in the wrong light. That’s when I first came upon Josh’s comments to all the varied upset/happy people posting.

I think when it comes to things like legendary weapons and true feats of end-game and what have you that your idea that you mentioned of ‘5% would succeed’ in general is a pretty decent thought structure. However, I think applying that to a seasonal event that is/was quite brief was not a good call. Again, just my opinion. I don’t think everybody should be able to complete it, but I don’t think for what you get as a reward/accomplishment from such a silly puzzle that 5% should ever be a ’This is my basis for designing this level."

Also, I know the MMO is extremely infantile still and working out the bugs with the things like camera. But you yourself admitted that you were going for the platformer type and that as things were it just wasn’t up to snuff. That alone makes me wonder why it was released as it was, but then again some people are loving it so more power to them/you.

I’m going to log in and attempt it some more now not because I enjoy it, but because I’m so anal/OCD I feel compelled to. That and I’m choosing between the lesser of two evils for an itinerary tonight. (Do glitchy puzzle or drink self into a stupor at a Halloween party – I’m too old for the latter now).

Although, on a small aside I did run across an article you wrote some time ago about how you greatly disliked cutscenes / forced character dialogue in games. Which I find quite ironic considering how little control we have over what our characters do, interact with, and engage with in terms of story line (other than be brute, diplomatic, or charming). Maybe you should forward that story to a few of your coworkers in the character development area as it was very well written in that aspect as to how we personally would act and would like our character to act.

That, and I hope that there’s not another episode like this in any future events/updates, at least not with the ‘5%’ intentional mentality. But then again, who am I but just a lowly consumer.