Guild Wars 2

3 million sales but I’d wager less than 200k active players. There’s a reason reddit called this game their second most regretful game purchase next to Diablo 3.

cobrahorse.4329:

Blizzard lisens to the playerbase at some point yeah, they are also smart that they let people deveolp addons that they implement later as official addons. But the main reasons that wow is so big is that it’s an endless grind sucking you in like a drug. And thats the reason i play gw2.

What is irony?

maddoctor.2738:

Vasham.2408:

maddoctor.2738:

Vasham.2408:

Besides, if the game was successful they wouldn’t be basing server populations on accounts tied to server. It would be based on active players.

It IS based on active players.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Server-Populations/first

No. It’s not.

Yes it is. Re-read the comment by the CC. She is saying that the “FULL” status does not take into account where you created your account (on which server you first made your character) but where you are now. Nothing about your claims.

Also, tell me if how you interpret it is true, how come servers (ALL OF THEM) have less population on less busy hours but suddenly spike to full at PRIME TIME (MOST OF THEM). If it was based on accounts made on a server that wouldn’t be possible.

Basic logic is needed here.

Arenanet controls all the information. They control what you perceive about the population. They admitted that server pops are based on accounts tied to server (no matter how much you deny it). They control the caps on the servers. Just because you drink the koolaid doesn’t mean the game is successful or, more accurately, not dyeing.

maddoctor.2738:

Vasham.2408:

Besides, if the game was successful they wouldn’t be basing server populations on accounts tied to server. It would be based on active players.

It IS based on active players.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Server-Populations/first

No. It’s not.

Creeper.9360:

stof.9341:

Jski.6180:

If your just going to use a guide to complete content then your doing away with all the lore. Part of lore is finding it your self if you just wanted it to be handed to you as “dead” lore then i suggested you just keep to reading books. In games and GW2 we have “living” lore the type that is just not simply handed to you you must look for it from the npc mobs and environment.

ANet fault for making the previous parts pure “search needle in haystack” quests that pushed people to use guides immediately.

No, it’s really what the playerbase is nowadays. They are content locusts. They want it like a McDonalds drive through, as quick as possible with everything leading you by the nose.

“Content locust” is a buzzword people use to justify MMOs which either fail to deliver content or deliver lot’s of poor content (GW2 being the latter). Blaming the players because Arenanet can’t deliver is the height of idiocy.

IomegadriveOne.5291:

Vasham.2408:

clay.7849:

Vayne.8563:

Flame and Frost feels more old school to me. You actually have to walk around and talk to people. And yeah, I don’t think it’s brilliant content. It’s filler content while the bigger stuff gets worked on.

But it’s fine. The two new instances are fun, you can run them once a day, get some extra karma, and just have fun with it.

Not sure I see the problem here, unless people were expecting totally awesome events for free on a monthly basis.

I remember Rift. Every month they’d come out with a new event that had new currency, that you could cash in for nonsense. Every month. One event would hang around until the next event came out. Some of it was okay. Most of it was annoying as hell. It was just another form of daily. By the end of the month you couldn’t wait for it to go away…and then they’d replace it with the next one.

Eventually Rift has some time to add new content and they did. The same will happen with Guild Wars 2. Until then, what we get is filler content.

To expect more from a monthly upgrade is probably unreasonable.

Considering that ANet has said that they are forgoing any current plans for an expansion in favor of the living story idea, I think it makes sense for them to put the same effort into the living story as they would an expansion. If they think it is a better investment to do that for free rather than working on a paid expansion, that is their problem.

Considering this game’s a complete disaster in terms of sales and player retention the expansion more than likely was canceled due to lack of funds.

Thanks for posting your sources and information to back up your claims. You definitely showed us just how brilliant you are.

Two million sales and the fact they’re officially offering free transfers shows exactly how brilliant I am. Two million is pathetic for an MMO at launch these days, especially since successful new MMOs have a 50% player retention rate, GW2’s retention rate being somewhere in the order of 20-25%.

Besides, if the game was successful they wouldn’t be basing server populations on accounts tied to server. It would be based on active players.

clay.7849:

Vayne.8563:

Flame and Frost feels more old school to me. You actually have to walk around and talk to people. And yeah, I don’t think it’s brilliant content. It’s filler content while the bigger stuff gets worked on.

But it’s fine. The two new instances are fun, you can run them once a day, get some extra karma, and just have fun with it.

Not sure I see the problem here, unless people were expecting totally awesome events for free on a monthly basis.

I remember Rift. Every month they’d come out with a new event that had new currency, that you could cash in for nonsense. Every month. One event would hang around until the next event came out. Some of it was okay. Most of it was annoying as hell. It was just another form of daily. By the end of the month you couldn’t wait for it to go away…and then they’d replace it with the next one.

Eventually Rift has some time to add new content and they did. The same will happen with Guild Wars 2. Until then, what we get is filler content.

To expect more from a monthly upgrade is probably unreasonable.

Considering that ANet has said that they are forgoing any current plans for an expansion in favor of the living story idea, I think it makes sense for them to put the same effort into the living story as they would an expansion. If they think it is a better investment to do that for free rather than working on a paid expansion, that is their problem.

Considering this game’s a complete disaster in terms of sales and player retention the expansion more than likely was canceled due to lack of funds.

Considering all the things in game that require gem purchases you’re probably paying more per month playing GW2 than you would for any other MMO right now. Screwing the playerbase over with mandatory real money trade is actually worse than having a monthly fee.

The last two parts of Flame and Frost were incredibly underwhelming. Why should I care about this part?

The answer: I shouldn’t, and you shouldn’t either.

Good. Considering the core game is an objective failure in every possible aspect they need to do a lot of work before even considering an expansion. After about five or six years this game might be ready for new content.

This game isn’t anti-casual. So far it’s set the bar so low that Angry Birds seems complex by comparison.

Levistis.8356:

Vasham.2408:

Look at these gigantic creatures from other games:

• http://youtu.be/e08HAZHx-p0?t=1m20s
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8R7hgU0CVyc
• http://youtu.be/6sS6U7pTrvs?t=5s

With the development time Arenanet had it’s pathetic that the Zhaitan fight boils down to this:

http://youtu.be/ANQuav3Ekmc?t=7m56s

And after nerfs it’s not even that. A developer response would be appreciated. I refuse to believe the lot of you are happy with how your final boss turned out.

You know that those are all single player games?

I’m aware. I normally preach against the lack of the holy trinity in GW2, but I used single player games to show that Arenanet really has no excuse for making such a lousy final boss. If single player games can have epic monsters like that then there’s no excuse for a similar encounter in an MMO to be nothing but spamming an enviromental weapon for ten minutes. WoW was able to have an encounter similar to those videos with Deathwing. It’s ridiculous that Arenanet won’t hold itself to the same standard.

Chaba.5410:

The best part of playing an engineer is being underestimated.

They’re right to underestimate us as a class. It would take three engineers to equal one of any other class as whatever role we try to play.

Look at these gigantic creatures from other games:

• http://youtu.be/e08HAZHx-p0?t=1m20s
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8R7hgU0CVyc
• http://youtu.be/6sS6U7pTrvs?t=5s

With the development time Arenanet had it’s pathetic that the Zhaitan fight boils down to this:

http://youtu.be/ANQuav3Ekmc?t=7m56s

And after nerfs it’s not even that. A developer response would be appreciated. I refuse to believe the lot of you are happy with how your final boss turned out.

The best part about playing an Engineer is watching group leaders tell you to gtfo because you’re considered a hindrance to any real PVE group. If you’re not a Warrior, Guardian, or Mesmer you should just reroll to one of those classes, or play an MMO with actual class balance.

Warrior, Guardian, and Mesmer buffs because that’s all Izzy and his buddy who two-man class balance and design have time for.

Rising Dusk.2408:

I really hope when they redo dungeons, they redo Arah story mode so that Zhaitan is the most epic fight in the game. Rob, I hope you’re reading this!

Considering how the devs have been completely silent about the matter I doubt that will happen. How that fight made it past quality control I have no idea.

eisberg.2379:

Vasham.2408:

I’d love everyone championing this game’s broken “no trinity” design to spend one day raiding with a top 100 WoW guild. You’d be kicked before the first boss was killed. This is a classic example of how casuals think: “I’m a bad player, so when I chose an easier path I must demonize those with more skill to make them appear in the wrong, justifying my poor performance.”

I was in a top Raiding guild in WoW from Vanilla through Sunwell, constantly making server firsts.

No, you weren’t. No one raiding in WoW, Rift, or other MMOs right now takes GW2 PVE seriously, even the people who play it along with other games.

TheDaiBish.9735:

Well, I used to raid.

I much prefer GW2’s design over just standing there, filling health bars (I used to heal). Maybe occasionally use a skill that reduced damage taken.

Most encounter designs from the trinity could be implemented without the trinity as well, outside of the obvious keeping aggro, filling healthbars and keeping the tank up.

So you fear responsibility. Got it.

TheDaiBish.9735:

Vasham.2408:

I’d love everyone championing this game’s broken “no trinity” design to spend one day raiding with a top 100 WoW guild. You’d be kicked before the first boss was killed.

And why is this exactly?

Because anyone who believes this game’s no trinity system leads to more challenging content is deluding themselves. However reality will never set in because these players prefer to exist in their little bubble of reality were “kite and dodge” is somehow the pinnacle of encounter design. If they stopped using entry level content in standard MMOs as a strawman and actually experienced some real PVE their minds would change quick.

I’d love everyone championing this game’s broken “no trinity” design to spend one day raiding with a top 100 WoW guild. You’d be kicked before the first boss was killed. This is a classic example of how casuals think: “I’m a bad player, so when I chose an easier path I must demonize those with more skill to make them appear in the wrong, justifying my poor performance.”

Red Falcon.8257:

Vasham.2408:

• Hearts replacing quests ruins replayability
• Personal story being devoid of meaningful choices despite being advertised otherwise
• Events are buggy and non-functional months after release
• Event bosses are mindless zergs
• Lack of the Holy Trinity effectively killed complex boss design
• sPVP is a complete joke, poorly balanced and completely abandoned
• WvW is nothing but zergs, capture trading, and door smashing
• Dungeons are a mess of bugs and erratic requirements, either too easy or full of fake difficulty
• Loot DR implemented to force gem purchases upon the playerbase
• Bots left to do their thing, ruining the economy
• Servers list accounts tied to server, not actual populations to hide poor player retention
• Legendary weapons not legendary, just a massive grind
• Trahearne (THIS IS MY STORY LOL)
• Zhaitan (SPAM 2 TO KILL THE ELDER DRAGON LOL)

Need I say more?

He asked examples of poor design, not baseless dismissal with no reasoning/evidence.

I mean, you said one-man aggroing whole dungeon while one refills his health and others spam the same rotation is “complex boss design”, go figure.
Bots have been banned in dozens of thousands and are hardly around anymore.
WvW zerg? Is mass pvp supposed to be about 1vs1 in your opinion?
The only things you got right are poor design of Personal Story/Trahearne.

Need I say more?

Not really since everything you said is wrong:

• Summing up Trinity based boss encounters so simplistically shows you have next to no experience with competitive PVE. Come back when you have some experience. Until then you only insult players more experienced and skilled then yourself.
• Yes they ban bots. Yet they always come back. Not very effective if you ask me.
• No it’s not supposed to be about 1v1. But it’s also supposed to involve strategy, not just throwing masses of players at a door or point to capture.

VOLKON.1290:

Vasham.2408:

SneakyErvin.3056:

Vasham.2408:

If anything this game’s poor design has reaffirmed my faith in other MMOs were the developers actually put forth honest effort. GW2 feels like nothing but a formless mass of ideas that didn’t pan out, everything tried an afterthought to the next “big idea” that got abandoned down the line.

An example of the poor design would be nice to hear.

• Hearts replacing quests ruins replayability
• Personal story being devoid of meaningful choices despite being advertised otherwise
• Events are buggy and non-functional months after release
• Event bosses are mindless zergs
• Lack of the Holy Trinity effectively killed complex boss design
• sPVP is a complete joke, poorly balanced and completely abandoned
• WvW is nothing but zergs, capture trading, and door smashing
• Dungeons are a mess of bugs and erratic requirements, either too easy or full of fake difficulty
• Loot DR implemented to force gem purchases upon the playerbase
• Bots left to do their thing, ruining the economy
• Servers list accounts tied to server, not actual populations to hide poor player retention
• Legendary weapons not legendary, just a massive grind
• Trahearne (THIS IS MY STORY LOL)
• Zhaitan (SPAM 2 TO KILL THE ELDER DRAGON LOL)

Need I say more?

How about something factual this time?

If facts aren’t your definition of factual then there’s no helping you.

SneakyErvin.3056:

Vasham.2408:

If anything this game’s poor design has reaffirmed my faith in other MMOs were the developers actually put forth honest effort. GW2 feels like nothing but a formless mass of ideas that didn’t pan out, everything tried an afterthought to the next “big idea” that got abandoned down the line.

An example of the poor design would be nice to hear.

• Hearts replacing quests ruins replayability
• Personal story being devoid of meaningful choices despite being advertised otherwise
• Events are buggy and non-functional months after release
• Event bosses are mindless zergs
• Lack of the Holy Trinity effectively killed complex boss design
• sPVP is a complete joke, poorly balanced and completely abandoned
• WvW is nothing but zergs, capture trading, and door smashing
• Dungeons are a mess of bugs and erratic requirements, either too easy or full of fake difficulty
• Loot DR implemented to force gem purchases upon the playerbase
• Bots left to do their thing, ruining the economy
• Servers list accounts tied to server, not actual populations to hide poor player retention
• Legendary weapons not legendary, just a massive grind
• Trahearne (THIS IS MY STORY LOL)
• Zhaitan (SPAM 2 TO KILL THE ELDER DRAGON LOL)

Need I say more?

Until the trinity is introduced PVE in GW2 will never be “hard.” Just an endless stream of bosses with massive HP pools were the only strategy is “kite and dodge.”

There is no endgame. Anyone who says otherwise is objectively wrong.

Ungood.3054:

Vasham.2408:

Vasham.2408:

No

Sincerely, The Guild Wars 2 community

Ungood.3054:

Yes

Sincerely the Guild Wars 2 Community.

I would say a player speaking for the community against easy dungeons cares more for the game’s future than a casual.

I would say you don’t speak for me, or the community as a whole, so don’t act like you do.

I don’t need to speak for you since as a casual you void your right to opinion.

Ungood.3054:

Yes

Sincerely the Guild Wars 2 Community.

I would say a player speaking for the community against easy dungeons cares more for the game’s future than a casual.

Keeping this bumped because frankly I’m sick of the developers being silent on the matter. How can they call this boss well designed? How can they be happy with this? A game’s final boss is telling of how committed the developers are to the overall experience. The pathetic nature of the Zhaitan encounter speaks volumes of what Arenanet thinks of their game’s potential.

No

Sincerely, The Guild Wars 2 community

Khisanth.2948:

Vasham.2408:

Robert Hrouda.1327:

Ojimaru.8970:

The fight wasn’t hard, at all. It’s just a tedious fight. The entire strategy revolved around repeating one set of actions over and over again for an extended time. That’s tedium, not difficulty. Reducing the time involved just hastens the inevitable and actually get people to run the path again.

Pretty spot on. The fight wasn’t overly difficult, just tediously long. We plan on revisiting this boss during our Phase 2 pass, but for now this should lower the tedium of this encounter.

Any word on revisiting Zhaitan? I refuse to believe you think that is a good boss encounter, especially after the nerfs on the 28th.

I haven’t done it since the patch but do you actually mean Zhaitan? That would not make any sense! Zhaitan is one of the easiest part of Arah story mode. I remember the patch notes mentioned something about the plaguebearers.

Yes I mean Zhaitan. He’s even more of a complete joke now, a glorified quicktime event after the nerfs rather than a boss. Between this and the OPs video we can see the dark path the dungeon designers are going. Nerfed content and casual pandering.

Reaver.9256:

Rift has solo dungeons I don’t see why this game can’t……

Yeah I remember those. They’re called Chronicles. They’re also a complete waste of developer effort.

Narkosys.5173:

kokiman.2364:

Arnath.2319:

It makes me so sad to say this but currently Guild Wars 2 has the worst PVE in the history of MMO’s.

What’s the second worse MMO PvE wise?

GW2 first and Tor second since those are the only 2 I have played.

You’ve never had the pleasure of enduring a World of Warcraft content drought. Who loved that year and a half of ICC? Or that year and a quarter of Dragon Soul? Honestly Arenanet is up there in terms of content delivery if you take a look at the industry as a whole. Only Trion releases more, but that’s not necessarily a good thing if you’ve raided in Rift.

Robert Hrouda.1327:

Ojimaru.8970:

The fight wasn’t hard, at all. It’s just a tedious fight. The entire strategy revolved around repeating one set of actions over and over again for an extended time. That’s tedium, not difficulty. Reducing the time involved just hastens the inevitable and actually get people to run the path again.

Pretty spot on. The fight wasn’t overly difficult, just tediously long. We plan on revisiting this boss during our Phase 2 pass, but for now this should lower the tedium of this encounter.

Any word on revisiting Zhaitan? I refuse to believe you think that is a good boss encounter, especially after the nerfs on the 28th.

Avatar.1923:

Vasham.2408:

I’m going to give Arenanet the benefit of the doubt by waiting to see just what new stuff the first part of Flame And Frost brings. Last month was just the prelude after all.

I’ll point out to most people that if a jaded, cynical, no-faith-in-the-devs kitten like me can be patient, you should be too.

did you give them the benefit of the doubt with the Modus Seleri and Southsun Cove, and the mini fractals that are in no way related to the content/lore and feel like a separate game?

im just being mean here.
but i still think their updated content is a bit messy and unfinished and “always a prelude” to something that will never happen.

A rational man withholds judgement until all the evidence is on the table. It’s pretty much a proven fact that aside from the listed features of the Flame and Frost patches that the actual living story stuff is under wraps. Arenanet said January wasn’t the start of the major updates, that it was as stated in the title a prelude. It didn’t stray from that promise and I held no higher expectations.

Your citations of previous events and how they “didn’t deliver” are rather faulty. Modus Seleri was a singular zone event while the Lost Shores was about the Karka themselves. While something pushed the Karka into our back yard it was the big ugly crabs themselves that were the main story. Now I was dissapointed by the Lost Shores patch for many reasons. Southsun Cove is a waste of space, the lead in quests were buggy to the point you couldn’t finish them and Arenanet’s faulty servers screwed many people out of the rewards and participation in general with a one time event. However in terms of story it presented a threat to Tyria and we dealt with that threat. Honestly it was more epic than Zhaitan ever was.

Learn to properly apply blame before forming arguments against something and wait for there to be blame to cast.

I’m going to give Arenanet the benefit of the doubt by waiting to see just what new stuff the first part of Flame And Frost brings. Last month was just the prelude after all.

I’ll point out to most people that if a jaded, cynical, no-faith-in-the-devs kitten like me can be patient, you should be too.

Spiky.8403:

OK guys, you are probably missing the sick part of this thread. Making solo option for story dungeons is acceptable, but I guess none of you actually read first post. Let me quote it for you:

Please make the story dungeons easier and soloable without nerfing the rewards
I haven’t tried to join a group yet in gw2 <- THIS..

For me OP is the biggest egoist I’ve seen yet.

I say we make Story Mode harder. There’s no reason it can’t match explorable in difficulty.

You’ll never see it happen because of the casuals. They’re already mad about story modes being “too hard,” when if anything they need to be harder.

Draconus.9786:

It’s part of the story mode. Why should it be challenging? The rest of the story wasn’t. Some people actually just enjoy the story and want to finish it. They shouldn’t be punished with a hard dungeon at the end. If you want a challenge quit complaining and go do explorable modes. That’s what they are for.

Maybe it’s not an incredibly challenging encounter we want so much as an actual well designed final boss fight. Zhaitan in his current state is kittening pathetic. It’s not a matter of opinion, it’s a fact.

Blacklight.2871:

Vasham.2408:

The fact this thread exists and has so much support is a clear sign that GW2 is doomed to the same ultracasual fate as WoW. I hope you people are happy with yourselves. You ruin everything you touch.

Why? Because this would allow everyone to see all the content in the game, but still only reward those who take the hardest path with the best rewards?

Elitist kitten like you is what turn games into jobs. You kitten up everything you go near.

The problem is gaming is not a socialist thing. It’s is about those with skill outplaying those without. When you reward people for zero effort you destroy the very core of what makes a game a game in the first place. On a similar note it is very greedy and thoughtless of you to wish destruction of group content upon those who enjoy it, that people who don’t want to play solo must have their play style violated for your sake.

The fact this thread exists and has so much support is a clear sign that GW2 is doomed to the same ultracasual fate as WoW. I hope you people are happy with yourselves. You ruin everything you touch.

DanH.5879:

since it sucked so hard as a difficulty when you reached 80 and wanted to finish the story, now it is more easy. go explorable if you want a challenge.

Ever stop to think some people like running story mode dungeons, or others (like me) would prefer to see what’s supposed to be this game’s final boss be an actual challenge and not a glorified quicktime event?

DeWolfe.2174:

I would hope Arenanet will not be so willing to go down the dangerous path of catering to Elitist, at the expense of those who actually pay to play the game too.

Content should be variable based on the level and number of those taking on the challenge. A closed instanced dungeon is too old fashioned and it’s time has come. Dungeons should be dynamic events. Where we all can pile in and the difficulty scales to it.

One elitist is worth more than a thousand casuals.

haviz.1340:

Vasham.2408:

What poor design?

• Mobs that die the moment they spawn to nearby NPCs
• An epic, climactic battle that is not epic and anticlimactic
• The complete inability to die from any ability the boss can throw at you
• 30 seconds of spamming #2 being the only part of the fight you need to participate in

It’s also worth repeating that just because it’s story mode doesn’t mean it should be a complete faceroll. When you start to settle for less the end result is the dungeon content in WoW.

Wasn’t it like before?

Before the fight was terrible (kill trash waves, kill eyes of zhaitan, spam cannons) but at least you had to put forth effort. With the nerfs to the mobs it’s so easy the NPCs that are on the airship can kill the mobs without you intervening. The only part you need to involve yourself with is the cannons, which now kill the boss in under thirty seconds so he can’t even spawn his adds.

angan.6572:

In a game with no group forming system, i don’t see why there shouldn’t be a solo option.

Because if you can’t handle a story mode dungeon then you have no right to step into an explorable dungeon. Fact.

There’s really not much else to say here. Players who don’t want to put forth effort do not deserve rewards. Dungeons are group content and if people don’t want to group to complete them that is their choice. Their choice should not ruin the experience of those who actually desire to run group content. Moreover to nerf story modes would begin the slippery slope casualization causes in every MMO. Fist they want story modes nerfed. Then explorables. Then Fractals.

I would hope Arenanet is not willing to go down this dangerous path of catering to casuals at the expense of those who actually enjoy group content.

NovaBlast Shockwave.5164:

Please make the story dungeons easier and soloable without nerfing the rewards

So you want all the rewards with none of the effort? You are everything wrong with gaming today and I would politely ask you to go play something more your speed, like Farmville or Angry Birds.

haviz.1340:

Vasham.2408:

I’ll restate the obvious: the fact it’s story mode does not excuse poor game design.

What poor design? I’m all for reducing difficulty of story mode which was suppose to be for average player while explorables should be made harder.

What poor design?

• Mobs that die the moment they spawn to nearby NPCs
• An epic, climactic battle that is not epic and anticlimactic
• The complete inability to die from any ability the boss can throw at you
• 30 seconds of spamming #2 being the only part of the fight you need to participate in

It’s also worth repeating that just because it’s story mode doesn’t mean it should be a complete faceroll. When you start to settle for less the end result is the dungeon content in WoW.

haviz.1340:

It’s a part of personal story and those missions are really easy.

I’ll restate the obvious: the fact it’s story mode does not excuse poor game design.

CHIPS.6018:

I actually think that ALL story mode dungeons should be easy. They do not even give a reward for those armors. So you cannot farm armors in the story mode anyways. And they are required before exploration mode. So it make sense for them to be easy, so casuals can read up the story.

Most missions in the personal story are very easy for the same reason.

I will restate my point: The fact this is story mode does not justify poor game design.

Thysoliai.2859:

Strifey.7215:

Because casuals + required dungeon path to complete your personal story = easy mode.

Personally who cares, there’s plenty of explorable dungeons that are much harder, originally story mode was suppose to be super easy anyways and was more for casuals to experience the story.

Stack on top of that your personal story which is super easy, and now you get super duper easy dungeon path so no one can ever complain about things being too hard to complete their story.

Speaking as someone who would self-describe as casual, I find the lack of overall engagement in this fight to actually be insulting so, yeah I’m going to care even if every bodies precious explorables aren’t affected. Casual doesn’t need to mean spoonfeeding and I find it insulting that people think that it does, just to support their own narcissistic elitism.

Completely agree. There’s a difference between making content accessible to casuals and treating them like idiots. This nerf is the latter.

Regarding nerfs to Arah story mode in the patch…

So I just ran some people through Arah storymode to help them finish their personal stories. I had read in the patch notes about Zhaitan’s poison bombs being nerfed and the airship battle being nerfed, so I expected that. Here’s what I didn’t see coming:

During phase 1 Zhaitan’s adds are now non-veteran and spawn in ridiculously reduced numbers (2 per spawn instead of 4). They also have next to no HP, so the NPCs killed them before we could even get there. We literally sat on our rears and let the game play itself.

Then it got even better. The three Eyes of Zhaitan during phase 2 had their HP cut in half and their damaged nerfed so hard we took none at all. They died so quick we had over a minute to wait as the ship pulled up next to the tower and we could start the cannon phase. When that started it too less than thirty seconds to kill Zhaitan. Thirty seconds. He didn’t even have time to spawn his tentacle adds you guys put in there to make the phase more “engaging.”

How is this acceptable, Arenanet? How can you justify this second rate game design? This is a FINAL BOSS, something that’s supposed to be difficult to kill. Sure the fight was crap before but at least you had to involve yourself. After the patch this isn’t even a boss fight. It’s comparable to the quicktime event bullcrap that permeates FPS games nowadays. I wouldn’t even call this casual. To call it such would insult the intelligence and skill of casual gamers.

Arenanet you better have some amazing fixes planned for boss fights, especially this one, when you reveal your “phase 2” of the dungeon changes. If this is a sign of things to come then dungeon content in this game is doomed.