Guild Wars 2

The heart of this issue is more social then technical. There will always be trolls and grievers. No technical changes or improvements will eradicate them. Fact. But atleast we can make it harder for them.

Kick vote requirement up to 3 people for full party and 4 members is good.
-It gives more control and security to the majority of the group.
-It will prevent a pair of trolls from grieving 3 decent players i.e hijacking dungeon groups.
-It will force more trolls to work together in order to grieve people successfully.

An absolute party leader or leadership system, while I can agree that it will have obvious benefits, has one fatal flaw which renders it absolutely useless – Should a troll take absolute leadership of a random party, the rest of the group then has little to no power to prevent grieving. The last thing we need is to give trolls more tools to abuse.

Imo the problem with condi damage in PvE will always be the 25stack or max time stacks limit where everything above that is just wasted. Tweeking mobs to have higher armor with lower hp could make more situations where condi damage is prefered, but wont kill the main problem of condi damage being wasted above the stack cap.

Maybe some kind of bonus that occurs when max condi stacks are reached on an enemy and then the conditions stacks resetting. ie at 26 bleed stacks an enemy takes X ammount of direct damage and the stacks are reset to 0. This way condi build users in PvE dont have to feel useless as soon as the stacking cap is reached and wont have to feel bad about non-condi build users using up condi stacks because of a bonus occuring at max stacks anyway.

Just an idea, and mainly for PvE. I feel it would be a little much too have that in PvP.

HelixSky.4951:

I like the megaserver idea better because it can be per map and thus more accurate. I don’t care if the server I’m on has a decent population. I only care if where I’m playing has a decent population. The problem as I stated it before is that ANet has taken away player choice with the one size fits all megaserver.

Instead of megaservers, ANet should allow players to play on a virtual server that places them on map instances based on a prioritised list of criteria that they can select. For example I really have no affinity to the server I’m on. I just want to be able to go out into a populated world but not one that is so populated that I don’t feel like I am having an impact. Other people might greatly value playing with the same group of people. Others might want to follow a zerg around to maximise their gains.

It seems like ANet has the capability to give everyone what they want if they would only let people tell them what they want. That would create virtual worlds that were really different from one another and more suited to each individual player’s tastes.
…

Kinda like what we have in gw1 and similar to how personal story is managed here. An instance of a map that could be customised to suit various player needs for whether they want zergs, solo or something inbetween and choice of which people they want to be with like guildmates, server crowd, party or full random. Maybe these instances could have additional content like Queensdale Hard Mode with extra tougher mobs scaled for well geared moderately skilled lvl 80’s etc.

Yeah I agree and thats all good provided firstly, players have a choice of where they want to be and who they want to be with and secondly that it can be done in a way that doesnt compromise server stability and make us all lag.

HelixSky.4951:

A better solution is to allow the player to specify their preference for player density. Some players like being in a zerg, while others like myself want to avoid zergs like the plague even though I do like to see other players in the world. I suggest these options:

• Frontiersman: preference given to being placed on lowest population instance. Increases chance that new instance of map is started when entering map and as population rises. Will be notified when new instance of current map is started up and given option to join it.
• Adventurer: preference given to being placed on lowest population instances.
• Infantry: preference given to highest population instances
• No preference: the default and uses current algorithm

But we already had that before, kinda. The server selection window shows what the population of any given server is. Any changing your mind was just a server transfer or “guest” away.

Looking at it that way (from the perspective of players) really makes me wonder why there was a need for megaservers in the first place, unless of course Anet wanted/needed to cut down on active server infrastructure on their end, and that will have a negative impact on everyone, whether they want sparkle clusterblobs or some breathing space.

BlackfoxKitsune.7480:

But the LAG OMG THE LAG!!!!

The lag is actually quite bad. I seriously understated it in my earlier post. I feel as though the South African gw2 community has just been hit over the head with the fat side of the latency stick.

For me, this game never use to lag prior to 15th april unless (I was doing something stupid on my side). Right now its highly unstable and almost unplayable during “prime” time. It feels as though the servers which are still running are overloaded (some server space probly rested as a result of large numbers of previously split players grouped into fewer instances aka megaserver testing).

meh.. glancing over a lot of what is in this thread its clear to see that there’s huge outcry for rolling back to the old system for various reasons like rollplayers and other event organisers, lag and server stability, guild missions, the multiple languages and bad behavior and weak fix that came with it, new restictions and fixed times for old dynamic event, server identity and community concerns….

Even so there’s a side of me that would want to see megaservers work for those who prefer running around everywhere in a clusterblob of name tags and particle effects with their machines screeming at them to turn their graphics down, and those on low-pop servers who struggle for numbers in Open World PvE.. But the only way that this can work is if the old pre-15th-april server system remains from what we see on client side to the infrastructure over on Anet side, and megaservers added in addition to that with players being able to choose between the two.

Still doesnt even come close to solving the other seriously gamebreaking problems introduced with megaservers… Main Feedback Topic

Please please just give us our old server system back for all maps as standard.

Lannah.1283:

The megaserver has made things worse/impossible for:
- native server communities and server pride
- world-boss communities (feedback from TxS, feedback from the Deso GW2 community)
- Guild missions for large guilds
- the roleplayers
- calls for WvW support in mapchat or advertizing WvW events in mapchat
- guild recruitment
- players with weaker computers (lagfests, FPS slideshows, disconnects, client crashes have made the game unplayable for some)

Most of the problems have to do with not being able to get everyone from your guild or alliance into the same instance (and on time for whatever you’re gathering for).

It’s cool if you’re a solo player with little interest in the community, a player unwilling to pay for a transfer to a higher-pop server, or if you’re just levelling up, roaming, and not really planning to take part in anything organized on a larger scale. I’m sure the game feels fresh then. Old-timers who have spent time and effort on building a community of some sorts, however, got stiffed.

Tell ’em sister.

We were better before with the old proper dynamic events, proper seperated servers, and the guesting system. People on both sides of the fence who wanted either more people around or wanted to get away from the masses always had a choice to pop one of their daily guest passes. Kill the megaservers or atleast make it optional but please give us back our old servers and overflows for all maps as standard.

Oh yeah and there’s a lot more lag, as in network latency higher ping etc, since the patch on tuesday especially durring peak times.

The events chains effected by the new set times just feel unnatural.

Not to go too far off topic but this set time system is so that we can have a way to “reliably” track events with the arrival of megaservers yeah? Megaservers which have enough problems of their own for discussion in the megaserver threads.

Old system of break timers and proper dynamic event chains was much much better.

I liked the Sunken Ship trait task. It was fun, and I could just go do it without waiting for a timer or having to rally a group. The other Trait tasks should be more like this imo. Taking people to interesting places throughout Tyria.

The problem for me with the other 4 trait tasks is that they’re dependant on specific events and conditions. The trait task to kill the Risen Priestess of Lyssa for example, suffers from this. Because the new update has made the Lyssa temple a popular camping spot, once the temple has been capped people show up afterwards hanging around, doing the defence events, and therefore denying people a chance to get the trait via the trait task, which is a major design flaw. The Karka Queen task is also tied into the new fixed event times, which could be a problem for some.

We were honestly fine before with guesting and proper dynamic event chains.

As they are now, the Megaservers fail hard. Kinda killing the spirit of gw2 pve.

The new fixed times for meta events suck. They really kill the flow of the story in those areas. Many times today I’ve seen people doing the preevents only for the event to just go “kitten ” and end awkwardly because bosses can now only spawn at specific times. Its unnatural. I definately prefered being able to just go to an area and get the pre-events running and actually make stuff happen. Waiting for stuff to happen sucks hard.

The allocation of players to megaservers is random at best. Mostly notable on euro servers where its now all just a mess of languages and ragers demanding english. Its also upset the flow of Guild Missions. What use to be a rare annoyance in a highly populated map due to Living Story or what ever event that was forcing overflows that would split guilds up who had guild missions in those areas is now becomming quite a common pain. For our guild missions recently our guild was split between multiple megaservers in Fields of Ruin and Timberland Falls and we had to spend around 10mins inbetween breaking and reforming parties ferrying our guildmates to a selected megaserver.

They also lag a little more then the old servers.

To end off, what seemed reasonable in the earlier blogs about megaservers is seriously outweighed by the problems that come with it. IMO a megaserver should be an OPTION for people on low-pop servers or during off-peak times if there’s a real struggle for numbers to get event chains running, but the old original servers must remain as they are.. well.. as they were before the update 15th april. All maps.

Forced megaservers are not cool.

1. Ranger – The leaps and sticking on the one handed sword #1 autochain kills the weapon. A generic auto chain would much better (i.e let the ranger move normally while auto attacking on the sword). Maybe ranger could also get some more supportive utilities via pets like a Smoke Drake with a smoke field breath as an example.

2. Necro – The main thing I feel necro lacks compared to other classes is melee cleave. Give them a new weapon, GS, One hand sword, change the axe #1 attack, just give them some form of decent damage but well ballanced melee cleave.

3. Elementalist – A lot of the depression I’ve seen on ele comes from them being a light armored class with the low 10805 base hp. Buffing their base hp imo could alleviate many elementalist problems around survivability and/or “risk VS reward”

Hmmm.. those would be my votes for 3 classes with issues that neeeeed attention.

A few quick thoughts about other classes.

Mesmers could use either some passive Out of Combat IMS on a trait or signet somewhere or more reliable access to swiftness. They probly the main reason why Sup Traveler Runes are at the price they’re at.

For me the issue of warrior dominance is linked to their base stats. A full zerk warrior at lvl 80 in exotic gear has 2127 armor with 18372 hp, stats that an ele would have to stretch at to achive while giving up a lot of potential DPS, while the warrior hasnt had to give up any offensive stats slots for that. Perhaps bumping warriors down to one of the lower HP tiers would make them think more about building their defence in terms of item stats, utilities and traits, while simultaneously taming their DPS to be more inline with what other classes are doing, or atleast make them think more about the risks of running full offensive setups.

A few things..

The recommended lvl for AC exp is lvl 35 (according to the pop up window, not the meta).

I think the first rare grade stuff is lvl 30 available via crafting.

Regardless of whether they can do it or not, the data they gather in their attempts will be of great value.

I wish you guys well with your lvl 35 AC exp runs. Please share what you guys discover.

Its totaly worth it.

This way there will be more people around the actual lvl requirement for the dungeons doing the dungeons. And hopefully out of that pool, Anet can get more data for when it comes to ballancing dungeons properly, as opposed to all us lvl 80 full exo/acsended facerolling and going “whoohohooo its too easy make it harder”.

It wont be effective. You’ll be much better off leveling via crafting or exploration. But the data could help Rob and his team alot.

Just theroy but.. Engi with Pistol/Shield + ToolKit?

and @ Rob, I’ve very often been the saving grace of my Arah teams with Ranger on Greatsword. Counter Attack is an amazing skill not to mention Power Stab timing to evade the little things. Mainhand sword could, but most probly wouldnt be so good though with the way the #1 chain makes you stick to the target therefore reducing your overall mobility.

Yeah.. its all the people coming here from other MMO’s with their outdated Trinity theories that are suffering, and rightly so. This is Guild Wars 2!!! Balance (excluding warriors because at the moment they are, grrr) your build and you wont get one-shot. Dodge/Move around and your defences will last longer.

I would actually love if dungeons/fractals had well ballanced explorable solo paths. MMO’s have solo players too.

I love group play for sure, but I highly dislike that the progression made towards dungeon/fractal goodies is dependant on groups. Its absolutely unfair on solo players.

JNetRocks.3652:

I wont’ run AC anymore unless I have at least two eles and a guardian for the heals/protection/ice bows.

Sad.

Anyway, bugs aside, the new AC is fun. I love that many of the encounters are more “in your face”. No more sleeping through AC tripples FTW.

adam.8692:

Go and learn the mechanic, go and learn your profession, go and learn how to dodge. Do not, I repeat, do not come here and ask to nerf a fight because of your lack of skill.

Bingo. Our dungeon group use to struggle with Lupi in the early days but now that we all know the mechanics of this fight pretty well, he’s no harder to fight then Kholer.

@ the OP: Everybody has a what-the-kitten-rough experience the first few times at any boss, thats normal. But please please please, practice before you make reports on unballanced encounters.

NB Side Mini dungeon tip: Make or get yourself into a steady dungeon group with atleast 2 or 3 good friends who will almost always be with you when you’re doing dungeons. This way, your entire group (or the group core atleast) will learn these tough dungeon encounters (like Lupi) together instead of making random progress and/or picking up bad habbits in pug/meta groups. Also, and most valuable, your group will build trust with each other – There is nothing more scary then going into a tough dungeon encounter with a group of people you don’t trust. I keep telling my guildmates that GW2 is not just a test of skill, it’s a test of character aswell.

Ranged > Melee is a well.. I will say its a myth but I have considered the theories as to why a large majority of people believe that.

Its all subjective to the enemies that you are fighting: They have different attacks for dealing with both ranged or melee players i.e Lupi charging down ranged weapon users. Watch them and you’ll learn or try and get into groups with braves like myself or Wethospu and watch how we manage ourselves upclose. Personally I find it generally a lot more fun to jump around your enemies like a ninja or duck under your shield every now and then compared to spamming your 1200 ranged weapon #1 skill afk like a total lamer. (N.B. for Rob #1, please more hate from mobs VS. 1200 range weapons specifically to eliminate that)

Its all about class mastery VS. knowledge of enemies. There are perfect skills for specific situations and these are the things you need to look for, whether those skills are on melee or ranged weapons.

N.B. for Rob #2: WTB More – “Dungeons are group play, but there are standout solo moments in them.”

Hello Binary.

As a dungeon master I’d say all you need for a good team are 5 awesome players who get along and know eachother well.

Building a really good dungeon team imo is more about building good relationships with your teams mates and not so much about traits/weapons (as those will change frequently with the requirements of the various tasks and enemies presented). Guild Wars is just as much a test of character as it is a test of skill.

Anyway here’s one for your party slot consideration, The “Crowd Control” Thief.
Traited 30 Crit, 30 Shadow, 10 any. Using something like D/P + P/P or S/D + P/P always having access to a Daze/Stun or Blackpowder nearly on demand goes a huge way towards ensuring that many enemy encounters stay on your terms. Venomous Aura trait for sharing poisons with the rest of the party for coordinated Basilisk Venom ganks on bosses not to mention other party members with high condition damage will appreciate a shared Spider Venom every now and then. Oh and stealth from Cloaking Powder and Shadow Refuge to assist with heals or take agro off downed party members for ninja resses (and sadly to assist with skips if really needed). Damage is pretty good aswell on your choice of Hidden Killer (100% stealth crit) or Executioner (+20% damage VS foes below 50% hp).

Robert Hrouda.1327:

My current plan is to drop it down to 3 torches, so two players who choose tanky/support roles won’t be so punished by the content. . .

I can agree that this part may need some tweeking to encourage more PuGs to take up the challenge of this path. But I disagree with that (quoted) reason based on two things.

Firstly I love that there is no set or overwhelming need for building DPS/Trinity parties, where all that is needed is for someone to know their class and be awesome. Secondly to me Guild Wars has always been about understanding the task/enemies ahead then picking the right weapons and utilities that work best and so what if you fail the first time. Make a few adjustments and play a little harder thats all.

Dropping 2 torches to accomodate for tanks and healers goes against those two Guild Wars philosophies. By this stage in the game (lvl75+) people should know their classes well enough to act above and beyond the “Trinity” and be willing to change things up for the situations ahead. I totally feel that yes, they should be punished for being unballanced as a result of building their Guild Wars characters according to remnant theories from other MMOs. Dropping 2 torches would actually make me angry. One person will still have to take a torch solo (which would be me so no difference there) effectively carrying the rest of the team through. I love the 5 torches. I find them fun. Its like a quick spot check to see if individuals players are well built and skillful enough. I’m not a difficulty snob but please dont take away our moments of individual awesomeness.

Rather then drop torches, look at longer coordination periods and/or respawn timers. So its still the same effort across the whole group, but its less annoying and frustraiting.