Guild Wars 2

My one wish is this: stop trying to tell character-based stories in an MMO; it just doesn’t work. Instead of putting the story in the form of a character or collection of characters one has to stick to in order to progress, rather tell a setting-based story built into the game world itself. This works far better in an open-world non-linear game in my opinion. Of course, there are still going to be some NPCs that are more important than others, leaders of factions and so forth, but making those, or any other specific characters, the sole focus and/or conduit of the story is a fool’s errand. A legion of small(but still well done) characters is always going to do a better job of fleshing out a world than a handful of titanic personalities.

Randomness is the only sure way to keep legendary weapons legendary in rarity. It is abundantly clear that there are an amusingly large number of people with the time and dedication to get every component other than the precursor who would all be running around with legendary weapons by now if there was less randomness involved, thus putting them firmly outside the realm of legend.

It is almost certain that all possible recipes have not been discovered and publicly posted yet. I think that the people who are posting the recipes they find aren’t approaching it from all possible angles, which would explain other weirdness like the comparatively high amount of foci discovered thus far: foci are likely all made using the same general formula, that being the one that the public researchers are exploring.

The main thing I want for Wintersday is for it to be different from Halloween. The worst thing would be for Arenanet to develop a shtick that they simply follow again and again for each holiday. As far as specific suggestions: a focus on the existing world rather than adding new areas, a focus on new armor rather than new weapons, a lack of Black Lion Trading Company involvement, and festive decorations for all of the cities of the game would all be just lovely.

It just goes to show that you cannot, I repeat cannot stereotype an entire sentient race into one personality type or mode of behavior. Individuals will always break absolutely any mold that they are supposedly fit to. Thus the entire business of generalizing groups of sentients is a futile endeavor.

Is it confirmed that people still celebrate Wintersday? It’s entirely possible that the holiday faded into obscurity in the intervening centuries.

BrunoBRS.5178:

that’s like complaining that Hyrule in Twilight Princess is surrounded by a canyon.

it’s just gameplay over realism. suspend your disbelief, and you won’t even notice the mountains.

Are you asking me to overlook the mountains?

Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

Ulquiorra.6903:

Terazeal.1976:

Are you seriously assigning genders to inanimate objects? Is this actually a thing that you are doing?

you act as if its not a thing people do EVERY day, regardless of if it is right or wrong.

I act as if it’s something that is completely insane. Which it very much is. I suggest you have a good think about in what way it makes any kind of logical sense and then get back to me.

Focksbot.6798:

alternative reality

Key word being “alternative.”

Are you seriously assigning genders to inanimate objects? Is this actually a thing that you are doing?

This page could be of use. It lists all available stat combinations as well as where they can be obtained. It is, however, incomplete as it does not list items obtained from the Mystic Forge, for example.

Tyria != Earth
15c

Your constant Earth references are annoying and offensive.

Or the dragons ate the gods themselves.

Wow. I thought the dredge were actually unique and interesting and it turns out that they’re simply another case of the game ripping off reality. Great.

Seriously, are there just like a bajillion different tectonic plates or something? Are there even any geologists in Tyria?

I like the ability to combine 4 things into a better thing. The possibility of getting something of the same value out is really bothersome and the fixed recipes for particular items should just be discoverable recipes for specific crafting disciplines.

When you preview certain weapons and armor(the Durmand Priory weapons, most torches, anything that glows, etc.) large sections of the items are missing. As far as I understand it, this is because those sections are deemed “effects”(as in the terms “particle effects” or “special effects.”) I would much appreciate it if the preview feature was modified to include these portions of the equipment so that I can make informed purchasing decisions. Thank you.

In addition to everything stated in the thread thus far, I would like to add that the fact that the Zhaitan fight was confined to a 5 man dungeon rather than being the culmination of an epic dynamic event chain was the single most disappointing thing about Guild Wars 2.

They do warn you. Don’t you pay attention?

I’m not sure how you expected to have fun just throwing open a pile of random chests in the first place…

God no. It’s bad enough that they have levels in at all. Until I hit level 80 I was confined to only adventuring in areas that were intended for my level… which was awful.

Ripping off reality in no way makes a game compelling. As far as I’m concerned, humans should never have been a part of Guild Wars or indeed any work of fiction set in another universe.

BrunoBRS.5178:

i conclude it’s a case of gameplay > lore (or logic). if you could just hide and let the minions kill each other, than take out the weakened last minion, it would break the dungeon.

The textual and experiential facets of a game are simply two ways of expressing the same events. If an aspect is not acknowledged(tacitly or otherwise) to be “outside of the game”(i.e. entirely for the player’s benefit) it is “inside the game”(an expression of the happenings intended to be conveyed by the work.)

The events in question are not in the game yet as far as I’m aware

I’d not trust the Inquest, bro.

So, I just completed the first “chapter” if you will of the story of my latest character: a sylvari ranger of the cycle of noon who dreamed of a white stag. After finishing this segment of the story and meeting the Pale Tree etc. I reflected on the experience and realized something bizarre and somewhat upsetting: I had not made even the slightest contact with Niamh, the Luminary of my very cycle, who, by all rights, should have been guiding me along my journey! Instead, the person with whom I had the most contact during the early stages of my life was Caithe of the cycle of night, who is not even a Luminary. After some research I came to a horrifying discovery: absolutely every sylvari character’s story features Caithe, playing the role one would expect of their cycle’s Luminary(i.e. that of mentor and guide).

After yet more research(combined with previous personal experience), I discovered that this issue extends to the other races as well: every charr character’s story, regardless of legion, heavily features the Blood Legion Tribune Rytlock Brimstone, every Asura’s personal story revolves around Zojja, a member of the College of Synergetics, and so on. This trend continues on into the higher levels: absolutely every character of a particular order has the same mentor(and, more shockingly, goes on almost all of the same missions), and, most heinously of all, absolutely every single character ever made will accompany Trahearne on his wyld hunt to cleanse Orr and become second in command of his Pact in the process completing, again, almost all of the same missions with the occasional choice between two or three different ones.

This is simply ridiculous. This game, rather than featuring the diverse cast of characters one would expect from a game with such a huge world and huge story to tell, instead focuses its attention on a small handful(around a dozen I estimate) of seemingly all-important people, with everyone else having a role to play only in regional happenings. When seemingly every important event that takes place in the story features one of the same small number of characters, it makes the game feel less like an MMO set in its own, unique world and more like a novel(the epilogue to Destiny’s Edge, perhaps).

On a related note, and rather tangentially, the story being told in this game, even outside of the “Personal Story” feels far too monolithic for the vast world it takes place in. Everything in the game is either about the elder dragons or some relatively small regional concern; there are no large subplots to flesh out our understanding of the state of the world. It feels far more like a game about the dragons than one about Tyria, the opposite of what one would expect from a true MMO.

All of the elder dragons should be world events. Discovering that Zhaitan could only be encountered in a 5 person dungeon was by far the most disappointing thing in Guild Wars 2.

My major complaint about the armor in this game is that nearly every single chest piece has a lower bit that hangs off the waist and around the legs(longcoats, loincloths, skirts, etc.) This really bothers me for some reason and I think they need more variety in this regard.

Quaggans are kind of like porpoises.

I’d agree with this. The obscuring effect of many abilities makes it very difficult to know when to dodge or interrupt. This is a particular problem with guardian abilities: I literally have to turn down my gamma when I’m playing with guardians.

Terrible game design. Creates confusion and discontent.

It would seem that a Norn’s outward appearance does not reflect their age in the way it does humans. In any case, Eir is very much in the latter stages of her life during Guild Wars II, having already created a sizable legend for herself.

On this topic, the night time is way too bright. It looks almost exactly like day, but blue.