Guild Wars 2

I did not complete it, and MANY times I wished for bad bad things to happen to the creator of this GENIUS mad hard jumping puzzle, but only because it was so fiendishly hard. However, I spent HOURS upon hours having fun trying, raging in chat (in a joking manner) and just having a ball.

Josh, I think for one you should keep doing what you are doing. As others have said if you can make PERMANENT jumping puzzles that are this hard I do not think anyone is going to mind at all. The one and only request for the future is thus:

For holiday / time limited puzzles, have a “hard mode” and a “noob” version. Let the “noob” version ONLY complete the achievement. No reward other than getting the check mark in the achievement tab. Hard mode can have the exotic rewards etc. Sure I would have liked to have got the slippers but not getting them is in NO way bothering me. Knowing that there was the one event that I spent literal HOURS on and still have a blank achievement slot on….does just a little.

Not enough to whine or cry over, I feel that it was a rousing success all the way around, but do not take this as a “mistake”, just now that you know that some people feel this strongly about completing content don’t “gate” an achievement behind a Champion level puzzle, when more than a few people still have issues with completing “Veteran” level ones =P

If I get stomped and lay there long enough to get danced on or tea bagged, I deserve it. If they are laying there and I get have a chance? They are getting a face full of norn skivvies.

Hey at least it’s not /spit…for some reason that ALWAYS made me rage =P

Key click as you described and is NOT used when you are AFK should not only not be an issue, but all but undetectable anyway. Now if you are using it while there is an event running and you walk away that is “simple” botting and can get you banned.

Also keep in mind it is one press / one action, so a macro like this is fine, but if you set a single key to launch a macro like 1 wait 2 wait 1 that is more of a gray area and could cause you some issues…

I have the traited Elixir S and I have to tell you when it pops I become smaller than a rabbit / raccoon =P It’s pretty funny to see, especially when fighting bigger mobs.

Wulfsbayne.8401:

Is it too much to ask for? I do not think so, but they are aware that this is how it works, it is not a bug it is intended.

Well aware personally that there is not a valid storage reason for not having it, was just saying that was the reason given on the BWE forums as to why pet names did not retain after swapping.

Client side would fix this as well, I am not saying there are not fixes that COULD be implemented, or supporting why they said they didn’t (as I said in my post I do not like it).

I am just trying to point out a method to avoid it if it REALLY bothers you (by using the same pets or ONLY swapping your second slot when/if needed) and to make people aware that Arena Net does not consider this a bug or an issue.

If anything to get this seen by the “right people” it needs to be put into the suggestion forums as a quality of life change instead of in a bug sticky or as a bug post, simply because they do not view it as such =D

Pet names only change when you swap the ones you have selected to ones you have “in the stable”.

For example I run a wolf/lynx on land and a armor fish / shark aquatic. As long as I do not change these my wolf remembers his name is Shadow, my lynx Green Eyes, my shark is Wakefin and my AF stays as Chauncy.

Now if I go into WvW and am on top of a keep and need a spider /devourer, when I switch it comes out as a juvie spider and stays that way til I rename him. After I am done EVEN IF I PUT THE WOLF BACK IN THE SAME SLOT I will need to rename him Shadow.

It’s annoying, I do not like it, and from day one I have wanted to have my entire stable assigned the names I wanted them to have, but that is a lot of info to keep up with server side, considering the worldwide number of rangers x number of ranger pets. Is it too much to ask for? I do not think so, but they are aware that this is how it works, it is not a bug it is intended.

Hopefully this will at least let people pick their “go to” pets and keep the names they want =D

AlphaDuck.7592:

Am I the only one who does not want the #2 ability to have a detonate ability? As it is right now its a hard to land but high reward ability. It forces you to be mid range for it to work, which is kinda cool. It’s like rangers longbow #1 attack that does more damage the farther away you are, I think mesmer greatsword is similar but I’m not sure. Trying to stay at the ideal range, not close enough for melee but not too far, adds an interesting mechanic to FT that is somewhat unique to it.

Adding a detonate ability will mean you can use it anywhere between 0-600 range just like any other 600 range skill, and it would be pretty easy to land just annoying cuz you have to click the button twice. The ideal usage would be to just use it every cd cuz it does good damage. Think of how little this adds to gameplay compared to having to get to the right range to use it for big damage, or you can just use it close range for smaller damage as it goes through them.

Obviously the constantly being obstructed by a bump in the terrain is a different issue that needs to be fixed, but after that is fixed it would be nice if it remained something that you have to do some work to be able to land it, but with high damage if you do manage to land it.

I for one do not mind having a skill that I need to “work to use”, provided that I have 2 things. One is another reliable source of damage, and two that I CAN “work it” into a useable position during a fight.

Sure as you said I can ignore the damage potential of the explosion and simply take the little hit as it passes through them while they stand on my toes, but honestly at that point I feel like I am wasting a cool down since another cycle of Flame Jet is giving me just about as much damage, it’s just a choice of vuln. or burning / bleed.

It just seems to me that we HAVE a tool that “should” make it work with Air Blast. If a mob is all in your face, hitting them with Air Blast (or Overcharged Shot) puts them about where they would need to be for the Flame Blast explosion. Even if you have the reflexes of a puma though, by the time you hit them with air blast UNLESS you net shot them or combine it with a back roll (which you can’t count on having the space to do) by the time that Flame blast gets to where they were at they have started running toward you and once again you are “making do” with the smaller damage.

By all means if you can explain to me how you are working it into a fight outside of the initial pull or using an NPC/other player to position them so that you are getting the full effect of the skill I am MORE than willing to listen and learn, and that is NOT sarcasm. I know I am not the best engi out there by any stretch so if I can learn a new trick I am always willing to pick one up =D

I don’t even want it to explode on impact like some others do, I WANT it to be a skill that takes some effort to use, but the way it is right now I only get the full effect when pulling or if I am with another player that keeps them in the “sweet spot”, or the RARE moment when the stars align, my CC works right, and I am fighting in an open field with a ton of room to move.

Not a flame but if you have to ask, buy armor. The “commander title” is not just a fancy tag, it is (or at least should be) a mark for someone that leads efficiently and that knows not only how but WHEN to do what in WvW. If you are a strong enough leader that you wish to have this to make it easier to lead a large group of people, by all means get it and do what you need to do. If you are simply buying it for the “look at me” title aspect, do something like fancy armor (which is awesome) to get that same type of recognition.

Err, I have no issue with the damage at all. What i was saying is even using air blast to knock them back and INSTANTLY triggering skill 2 usually means that by the time it gets to them they have got up and started moving toward you, which means that is passes through and explodes behind them, causing you to miss the damage potential.

Even dodging backwards after air blast (if viable) sometimes is not enough to get the positioning right. Much like the guardian skill that has the same mechanic, you launch the attack and it will go so far before exploding. With a Guardian though you have the option to detonate it early, where with an engi it is always the same tethered distance from point of origin.

Hope that clarified. If you still disagree well then we just see things different, no harm no foul =D

I agree that the hue and cry about the adjustment to short bows is above and beyond what it should be, but by no means does that mean that we, as a class, are perfect and do not need some tweaking.

I LOVE my ranger. I have a lot of other classes, but by far and away Dari is my favorite class and the only reason he is not getting a TON of playtime right now is I want to level my engineer a bit and my Ranger is pretty close to where I want him to be. Mechanics wise though, there ARE some reasons to ask for tweaks / adjustments.

Greatsword may be intended for a more defensive weapon I will give you that, but right now compared to other classes USING THEIR DEFENSIVE WEAPON our damage is soft. I do not WANT it to be an uber AOE machine like it was in early beta testing, but simply more in line with what other classes can do with a similar setup.

Longbow is my other stock-in-trade tool. Overall I am happy with the skills that I have, and the damage output feels right on skill use at proper times. The ONLY thing we need is a SLIGHT uptic in the speed of our arrows in flight as well as a SLIGHT increase of auto attack cycle. If the SB “nerf” was 40ms slower, I feel that 10ms, 20 at the OUTSIDE faster cycle rate would bring this weapon on par to what other classes can do and give Rangers as a whole more weapon viability.

Pet issues we have a few, but one is the trait Master’s Bond. AWESOME trait on paper, I would give ANYTHING if it worked properly. However at this point it is pointless to slot it because swapping pets or EVEN FALLING IN WATER resets the stacks. I get that it is a balance thing so that not every pet/ranger has a constant, instant buff because of the trait, but this one desperately needs looked at.

The last thing I am going to touch base on is pet AI, we all know the issues with them and YES it does need some balancing. They are not NEARLY as useless as people want to make them out to be, and the bunk of “you HAVE to run a tank pet or they are always dead” is simply false. I run a wolf/lynx 90% of the time and through proper pet management can keep my DPS up and still keep them alive and doing damage in most cases. Sure if I just send them in and expect them to be “set and forget” pets like in other games they are going to be toast, but when people learn to not do that they will be better Rangers. Not saying they do not need a LITTLE more beef, either in armor or HP, but they are NOT useless…just stupid at times =P

The one other change to rangers that I do feel that is needed is either a damage cushion, negate the cooldown on fall damage, OR a perma stow option for pets. I am VERY vocal against the concept of a “petless” ranger, but at the same time even I find it annoying that if I put my pet away that one point of fall damage pops him back out and I have to wait to tell him to go away again. Cooldown for swapping / stowing in combat? By all means yes, but fall damage should in NO way trigger this. Even giving a delay of 20-50% health before the pet is auto summoned would be fine, but as a fellow ranger has said in other threads I am a master of beasts, the pet should listen to me if I put him in a cage.
Side note. Doing so should NEVER buff me or add pet damage to me, it should be my choice to tell him to go away but it should not be a benefit

The one biggest fix I want on my FT engi is give me the option to detonate skill 2 in the same manner our mines are done underwater.

It is SO frustrating to only get the full effect of this skill ONCE in most fights (when pulling) or by trying to use air blast >switch to rifle and net shot > switch back and get the ball there BEFORE net breaks. Needless to say most of the time it still passes by them to explode JUST behind them.

A simple double key (once to launch, once to detonate) would change this skill SO much that I think I could live with everything else for the time being.

Let me start by saying I have always preferred boosts to weak skills / weapons than nerfs to strong ones. However, I am torn about all the drama over the SB nerf.

One side of me looks back over almost every single pre-patch reference to SB being a “machine gun” and “face melter” and wonders how people did not see it coming. I for one never really cared for the SB, sure it WAS superfast but I just didn’t like the rest of the skills it brought to the table.

On the other hand, I have been in those shoes where a weapon / skillset was my favorite and what “made” the class for me only to see it get nerfed into oblivion.

Is it a nerf? Absolutely. Did I expect it? Mhm. Was it TOO heavy handed? Maybe, but I have yet to see if it made it “unplayable”. I have always been a fan of the longbow myself, so being “OK” with the damage I could get (it could use a VERY slight buff to either attack speed or damage on skill 1) I am pretty sure that playing with the now nerfed shortbow will feel about the same as my current.

TL:DR= Short bows were “machine guns” and the bat was swinging. Did the nerf bat hit too hard? Possibly.

I am not gonna debate if the nerf was too much or unwarranted. The only reason I am posting is you people are making me CRAZY with claims of “STEALTH NERF!!”

It was in the patch notes people. I am not saying the numbers are right or that it is what was advertized, but it was NOT a stealth nerf by any means.

Had this change rolled out with NO announcement, THAT is a stealth nerf. If you are going to tear your hair and beat your chest, I can’t say that I do not understand why, but please do not muddy the waters with a completely erroneous (wrong) phrase.

DreamOfACure.4382:

Your advice is like telling a Mesmer player who doesn’t like illusions to never cast or use clone/phantasm skills/traits.

As gamers, we CANNOT do that – It would mean giving ourselves a handicap and no one wants to do that. We can’t simply ignore a mechanic that is integral to the profession’s gameplay.

Letting the pet die is NOT a solution. It’s a statement of apathy.

We want an pet-less Ranger who can play at optimal levels comparatively to the current Ranger with a pet.
Letting the pet die would not achieve this.

What you (and others) do not understand is this is what you are asking for. You want to play a mesmer that in no way uses what is their “class mechanic” and instead gains the damage / utility of that mechanic directly into their skills.

I understand that people have a “vision” in their heads of what the perfect ranger is to them, and because they do not want to use pets it is different from what they want. I get it I REALLY do. Does not change the fact that the way that the GW2 ranger was developed, tested, and put into THIS game was as a class that is pet centric.

I have made my stance clear, I am totally against giving any sort of buff or compensation for dismissing your pet. Am I against having the OPTION to do so? No, it IS something that needs adjusting, either a perma-stow or at the LEAST a manner in which pets are put away and stay there when you take slight damage from falling etc.

Asking for a petless ranger to play at optimal levels in comparison to the current ranger with a pet is asking for a mesmer without clone/phantasm skills to be just as good as one that uses them properly. I just can not see that happening.

What I was trying to say with “all weapons becomes hunter weapons” has been touched on in the thread after, but for clarity’s sake that’s what I meant. A warrior has access to a HUGE amount of weapons because of being a martial specialist. Adding rifle (or pistols) to a ranger at this point to me would feel tacked on and would take away from the reasons for having other classes that have access to those weapons that we do not.

There are valid reason for adding it sure, the same that I see for giving Thief a “sniper set” with rifle or having an engineer with a shortbow that is similar to the thief’s that could launch nets or flashbangs etc. However, at some point adding weapons to classes becomes redundant, and I for one feel that the Ranger has PLENTY of ranged options without adding in another one.

That would kick so much Ash, just sayin…

An option for medium armor and rifles already exists with the Engineer =D

For me personally I feel that we have plenty of ranged options. Adding a rifle or even pistols at this point would move us into the same place Hunters were in WoW. Every weapon is a Hunter weapon because we can equip it. =P

It’s not like I am dead set against having rifles, i just do not understand why people feel that we need them.

I hate that I have not seen this before because I may be able to help. If you are using a pre-paid card remember that most (if not all) of them have a charge per transaction of usually $1.

I know this because I did the same thing, loaded up 20 bucks and tried to buy 20 bucks worth of gems and it kept getting denied. In desperation I tried buying 10, and it went through instantly. When I went to my account, it showed I had a 9 dollar balance. Posting this here but will also send it as a PM in case you have not got e-mail notices turned on =D

Also Gaile, this MIGHT be worthy of posting on Facebook etc for others that may be having the same issue (provided this resolves the problem).

+1 for dolyak. Super beefy in HP, a charge/knockdown, and they just LOOK cool.

On this same note, WTB moose…. jus sayin

I am not going to go back and forth on this, though I will say that I should not have used the term “exactly” and instead said similar. Heat of the moment typing there made me state it in a way that DID come across in a manner I didn’t intend. I stand behind every other point that I made though, and while I hope that ANet does not take developer time away from the things that need to be fixed and focused on to look at making rangers “petless and viable” I DO hope they can find a way to end this debate.

Serosen.2650:

You wrote all this to make point “Tough kitten Rangers are a pet class”? Well, here’s a counter point. Food for thought: If a suggestion is made that changes class mechanics to facilitate the option of a slightly different playstyle, but won’t necessarily outshine, outperform, or outdo the original inception, then why do you care so much? Is it a purist thing? “X” class was made this way so therefore it must always be like that? Here’s the thing. I don’t want pets to go away. I just want the option to forego the pet and still be viable. Because I love the Ranger, just not the companions.

The point that you are (choosing to) not see is this. It is pretty much impossible to love the ranger CLASS but at the same time hate its “class component” to the point you wish to remove it. I know you are not saying that you want ALL pets removed, just because you do not care for them, you simply want to remove them yourself, BUT be compensated for it. That is where I (and others) are against you.

You do not seem to understand how much time and effort it would take for the devs to start working the math and rebalance a class to compensate for not only the removal of the DPS from the pet, but also adjusting trait lines etc. You can sit there now and say “Oh just give us 20% increased damage” and think that is going to solve everything, but it is a LOT deeper than that.

IF Arena Net decided to forgo what they have envisioned for the ranger in favor for making a “pet-less pet class” viable then how long do you think it would be before you or someone else that would support this play style would be back on the forums saying “WTF Arena Net I love the Ranger as a class but I decided to go petless and most of the trait lines either have something to do with pets or do not benefit me playing without one, we need some love too!!”

That aside, no matter how you slice it, making a change from a pet class to a viable non-pet class is going to take developers time and effort to balance, even if they gave the perma-stow option right now. There are other things in the game that NEED attention, things that are in place with the direction they are going, that deserve the focus more than trying to rebalance away from what they wanted the class to be.

As I have said in MANY other posts but gonna try one more time, I fully support you in the concept of being able to dismiss your pet until called for. That should absolutely be your choice. However, it’s not up to you (or me) to decide to want to change a MAJOR aspect of a class at this stage, and revamping the ranger from a pet class to one that is viable without the pet is exactly that.

It may not be the answer you want, but yep, at this point it really is “tough kitten, the ranger is a pet class deal with it”. There are MANY other classes that offer you the play style you are EXACTLY looking for that do not have pets, try rolling one of them. If you do not want to do that, then as has been suggested before, use a small pet like a bird, put it on passive, and deal with the loss of that DPS.

That’s the only two choices you have, stamping your foot and demanding to be able to play “the way I wanna play” is most likely not going to get you the results you want.

I am sure as time goes on we will get more dances. I now GW1 has a BUNCH of different ones you could get, I am just gonna give them a little time to do it.

And even with all the hate for the Carlton, a part of me REALLY wants to see an asura do it one day =D <3

Reading what has been posted I wanted to come back with just a couple of points for rational discussion. Before I say anything though, I want to make something VERY clear. I am not saying pets right now are perfect, they are not. They need work. F2 responsiveness is better but not where it needs to be. It has some AI / pathing issues that need tweaked. I love my pets but at the same time I do not have my head in the sand about the issues they have =D

Now, having said that I want to revisit the trait / passive buff / stowed buff thing that I think that many of us that are against this idea are opposing.

Are there times that I wind up in a situation where I do not want my pet underfoot? Absolutely yes. Should there be a mechanic rework allowing me to put my pet away so that I am not having to deal with it then AND not have it pop out if I stumble over a rock? Yep. Not trying to take that away, it is needed. Should I get the damage that my pet would have generated “added into” mine? Nope. I made the decision to not have it.

Passive bonuses for when the pet is not attacking. This I will give just a LITTLE leeway for, but more than that I will give a little free ranger advice (and a bit of a confession). In WvW is really the ONLY place where this should have an impact, because in PvE if I am on a ledge and my pet can not move to what I am fighting I am going to get the invulnerable anti-exploit check. I would not mind to see a “Master’s Bond” type of buff with this in which my pet could generate added bonus damage or something if I am defending a keep or on a ledge in a choke point. HOWEVER we already have a version of this that you can use right now. It’s called pet diversity =D

To explain, I really ONLY run 4 pets, ever. My wolf (Shadow) and lynx (Green Eyes) are my land pets, while in water I use my armor fish (Chauncy) and shark (Wakefin). That’s pretty well it. In WvW though, if I am on the walls of a keep I switch to a red moa and one of the devourer or spider family. I use the moa for the frenzy screech and the spiders for ranged attacks. I would RATHER use my standard animal companions, but if they can’t attack I can choose to switch em up and still benefit from my class mechanic. Maybe people have not really thought of this, maybe they have not found a pet they like, but while I am not CRAZY about a devourer and have ZERO “attachment” to it, using it is better than having a lazy cat laying at my feet =D

I am sorry that some people feel that they can like all other aspects of a “pet class” except for the pet and want to completely remove what makes that class “stand out” and that is simply a choice. It’s like I have said, you CAN do so, but if YOU are choosing to ignore an aspect of the class, it is no one’s fault but your own.

You can roll an elementalist and only run one attunement. That is absolutely your option. You are not going to get the damage / control of the other 3 “folded into” your fire build, nor are you going to get access to a weapon swap to compensate. You can run an engineer without either turrets, gadgets, or a kit. Your pistol damage is not going to be raised to compensate. You can ignore the Virtues on a Guardian, but you are not going to be able to say “If I choose to disable ALL my virtues I should get burning on every single attack to make up for it”… life just does not work that way.

Ranger is a pet class. Pets are our “thing”. Trying to remove our “thing” is not going to happen in a manner that will warrant an improvement in another area. A mesmer can never summon a clone/phantasm/etc, but that is not going to benefit them, and fact is if I did not enjoy that play style why in the world would I not play a necro or an ele?

This frustrated me early on as well, but I can sort of see the issue. Each ranger can have dozens of pets (can’t remember offhand if it is 45 or more) so then multiply that by the number of rangers etc… yeah lots of info to save and keep up with.

But to answer, as of now yes it is working as intended. It’s aggravating I understand that, but it is what it is.

Ranger in this game is a pet class. You may disagree, but in GW2, pets are what make a Ranger a Ranger.

Pet perma-stow has made the rounds several times, and as I have said elsewhere, if you choose to ignore having a a pet that SHOULD be your choice, just like a thief choosing to only have a single sword vs having an off hand. However, just like the thief losing 2 skills, Arena Net should not be responsible for undoing your “self nerf”.

If you enjoy the ranger but do not want the pet at all, use a hawk / crow on passive and ignore it. They take up VERY little screen space and will not be impacting your play that way.

However, it is ludicrous to expect a complete revamp of the class AWAY from what Arena Net intends when other classes offer a play style similar to what you are wanting. Try a thief or a warrior if you want a pet less ranger, but don’t expect Anet to completely change the dynamics of an entire class to fit your expectations when they have SO many other things that need to be addressed.

Skolvikings and I have posted pretty much on all of these threads and are on the same page. I can see there being times when you simply do not want your pet around, and having an option to dismiss it until called for would be fine.

Thing is with most of these threads, that is almost always followed with “we should get a damage buff to compensate for not having a pet”…no. Just no. You as a player are choosing to get rid of your pet, you as a player have to deal with the fact you are taking away from your buffs / DPS / etc.

IF this is added as a feature, it should be something that a ranger has to CHOOSE to activate, and if you DO choose to perma-stow your pet you have to understand that you are the one that is taking away from the mechanic of your class. Just like a thief that never stealths or steals for whatever reason, YOU have the option there to use it or not, it is not Arena Net’s responsibility to make up for your self nerf.

As I said in another thread, giving the ranger the option to have a “damage cushion” before the pet appears would also be a good compromise. In other words instead of every single point of damage summons your pet have it so that it only comes out after you have lost 20%…maybe even 50% of your health pool.

I can see the frustration, but I can’t say there is not a SMALLLLL part of me that is giggling profusely at the fact that for such a long time that PvPers and “leet kiddies” have done everything they can to stomp on RPers, no matter what server they are on, that RPers have at least a manner in which to troll them back a little.

Think of the kittens, those poor little kittens..

Honestly, those that DID get it in that manner got it because of a bug (it has since been removed), and there are still several others that can’t be gained in this manner.

To be honest, I doubt it will happen but after seeing a post like this I would get a HUGE chuckle if in the next round of patch notes it said “Black Moas removed from rangers without HoM access to it”. Just sayin.

My hope is eventually (perhaps during holiday events like LOTRO did it) we will be able to learn the other racial dances, and perhaps have new ones added in as well.

Also, for people who think the charr dance is lame, I thought the same thing when I saw the dance video the first time, till I went and did some research. The ONE thing that would make the charr dance perfect would be to time the “grunts” of the dance (not even words) into the cadence of the actual haka. Much love for the Kiwis and this awesome dance
This vid is the All Blacks NZ rugby team doing a haka pre-match
This one is a military company saying goodby to fallen friends
I can’t watch that last one without getting chills.

Right now I am running T1 mask and T2 shoulder and chest and LOVE the way it looks. As time goes on I will get at least 3 more pieces to get the achieve, but a full set of T3 is a LONG way off.

Until I play my human female thief… 30 gold for underboob is a lot, but that is too smexy to pass up =P

I personally like the T1 mask, it’s the other two I do not care for. Now if I log in today and have a headdress like the shaman wear VS said mask am I going to be sad? Not in the LEAST, but out of the 3 masks I like the wolf muzzle the most.

I would imagine that the reason this is the way it is is for balancing purposes. If you could spam (or activate) any of the pet abilities on demand vs having the set F2 skill with the AI dealing with the rest, it would be much harder to balance the cooldowns.

I completely understand why people would like to have this, heck I know I would myself. But if you think about it for a minute, there has to be a reason behind it being set up the way it is, and I just consider all the other pet abilities on “auto fire” like a WoW hunter setting claw and bite =D

I for one do not have the HoM pets, and yep, they are the only ones I am missing as well. Looking at those grayed out boxes is almost enough to make me think about going out and getting the GW1 xpacs and working my points up enough to get them, and FOR THAT REASON ALONE Arena Net needs to leave them in place. Yes, it feels incomplete to me. Yes I wish I had them, but the people that DO have them put in a lot of time, effort and DESERVE them, even if they do need tweaking.

If those blank spots bother you bad enough you will eventually get the earlier game and get the points needed to fill them up. If you do not want to play Gw1 enough to get those points, it does not bother you bad enough. I will NEVER ask to cheapen what the players of GW1 achieved just so I can say I have every pet in the game if I do not put the same effort into it =D

I too wouldn’t mind to see a “Dire” option for pets. Not huge or anything, but using Garm as a scale for wolves, yeah, about that much bigger =D

It’s been done before, but i wouldn’t even mind to see it done as a leveling mechanic on the pet itself. That way you play with a certain pet (or two) for enough XP and they get the OPTION to increase in size. Some people that play with birds etc would NOT want them larger and that is fine, but for those of us that do allow the pet to scale up.

If you want a stable full of Dire pets, you would have to level them up as well, lind of like you had to do pets in WoW back in the day.

If not this then a “Beastmaster” NPC that would scale one of our pets up would make me and Shadow happy =D

Going to say pretty much exactly what I said in the other thread that addressed pet stowing. First and foremost, off the hop, the ranger is a pet class IN THIS GAME. Classes are different here than in GW1, and some are even different in the overall MMO genre. Fact remains, pets are what make a ranger a ranger. If you don’t want to have a pet at all, then there are MANY other classes that give virtually the same play style with no pet involved.

Now, as to “perma stowing” your pet, I have no issues with making it an option as long as the devs do not have to take time away from addressing the many other issues they have on them right now to try and re-balance the class overall depending on if a pet is active or not. In other words you choose to run without a pet, you lose the pet’s DPS / skills / buffs etc but gain nothing. No reworking traits to allow for a buff, no automatic buff for not having a pet out, no nothing. You play the class that you picked, and just like a thief choosing to only use a sword with no offhand or an ele that only uses one attunement, if you choose to nerf yourself do not expect Arena Net to compensate you for it.

I think that truly the best way to have it would be if a pet is stowed and you take damage that THEN, and only then, can they be instantly stowed again. That would relieve the issues of fall damage or jumping puzzles.

Otherwise, do not ask Arena Net to completely change a class’s mechanics couched in wanting “options”. The ranger is a pet class. If you do not wish to play with pet class mechanics, roll another class. It truly is that simple.

Edit After re-reading the thread more carefully I would also be OK with having a damage threshold before the pet came out. Somewhere between 80% or even as low as half health of the ranger would trigger the pet to be un-stowed. That would allow for pets to be put away for jumping etc, but would come to your aid if you are in trouble.

My concern echos others here. Sure there are times that I tell my pet to take a hike (jumping puzzles, waypoint runs, etc) and yeah when I get hit and he pops back out it can be a little annoying. My concern is that if this mechanic is changed to manual or perma stow, how long before those SAME people that are asking for it are back here saying “I started stowing my pet because it is useless to me, but now I am losing damage / buffs because I do not want to run with a pet, and we should get buffed to compensate for not using a pet!” I am not saying everyone would, but if you think some people would not, you are deluding yourself. Do not take this as an attack, it’s a simple statement of fact that it WILL happen.

As to having the option? I personally could see myself using it on rare occasions sure, but not enough to warrant the trouble it would lead to later…not when other classes in the game deliver almost the exact same style of play minus the pets. If no other class had access to bows, or if no other class had medium ranged combat, then MAYBE I could see it.

If you are saying you want to play a ranger because you love the class…that class comes with a pet. It really is that simple. Pets need some love and no mistake, but it IS what makes a ranger a ranger IN THIS GAME, so either find ways to work with it, or move on to another class.

T-stones add up quick until you start working with level 80 gear. At that point you have to use Fine T-stones, which I have HEARD may come off some maps but i have only ever got the basic ones personally.

Another thing to remember when working with stones at 80, if you buy say, T2 culture gear but have runes etc on your 79 and below gear you want on your 80 stuff, blow a basic stone to merge these FIRST so that you then only have to use ONE fine T-stone to get the look and the rune on your 80 gear.

So I love Arena Net. I trust Arena Net. I am realistic though, and realize that while bloody unlikely at this point my account could be hacked. So, instead of using my actual credit card for buying gems, I went to my nearest Wal-Mart and got one of the Visas that you can pre-pay for. Loaded it up, came home and got myself some gems =D

One thing about this, each transaction on most of these pre-paid cards are charged $1 per purchase, so if you want to get $20 worth of gems be sure to put $21 on it. Had a while where I did not think it was going to work but when I figured that out I have not had a problem since

Safe, secure, and as long as you do not put a ton of money on it at one time even IF you do get hacked you will only be out a few bucks instead of hundreds.