Guild Wars 2

mdoucet.8735:

Given that traditional groups are optional for all other content in GW2, it doesn’t seem to fit that dungeons require a full human group. If the design goal with this game is to let people play how they want to and be relatively “solo-able,” there should at least be some option for solo players and small groups to enjoy this otherwise isolated content. Adding “henchmen” seemed like the most logical choice since the AI (however imperfect) is technically in place already, the characters already exist, and the mechanics of an NPC party is already known in the Guild Wars universe. I don’t think this will deter people from playing in groups (especially if the reward percentages are scaled down with party size), but will instead make people more comfortable joining random PUGs once they’ve gotten their exploration and cutscene fixes out of the way and feel confident in their ability to run that dungeon effectively.

The closest in-game analogy outside of dungeons is personal story missions where you’re already escorting one or several NPCs. It really isn’t that far of a stretch to imagine these types of AI-controlled allies being available in dungeons as well, fighting alongside you like a normal party. In fact, the NPC friends you make along the way in your personal story (eg. Demmi Beetlestone, Almorra Soulkeeper, etc.) could even be the henchmen, further integrating dungeon play with your personal story. Completing certain story events could even effectively “unlock” these types of additional allies for dungeon use. Lots of potential!

I actually really like this idea. As it is right now I don’t find myself caring a lot about the NPCs you meet in your personal story missions- some of them stand out more than others but the personal story progresses very quickly and many of the characters present in it do not appear for extended periods of time. I would be much more invested in the characters if they were people I could unlock who would then assist me in dungeons or similar situations- this worked really well in GW1, where your heroes were not only random npcs but also some of the main characters you encountered in the world. Not only that, but it was fun to unlock extra heroes that were only available outside of the primary missions- I would definitely run around and try to unlock as many hero/hench npcs as possible if they were available in GW2, even though they would only be available for dungeons.

And I think it is also true that honestly, GW2 doesn’t really encourage traditional group play right now. Even though you are constantly around other people and do interact with them you aren’t always in a group, and you really don’t need to be outside of instanced areas. GW2 has a good balance of encouraging community interaction while making sure people who prefer to play solo can still do that and not be at a disadvantage. It would be nice to see them carry this forward into dungeons.

I think that it would at LEAST be helpful if Arenanet implemented henchmen in dungeon storymode. As more and more players complete storymode it becomes harder for new players or more experienced players who haven’t done many dungeons before to find groups. The rewards for storymode aren’t worth the time for more experienced players, so unless you have a larger guild or group of friends it can be difficult to find enough people to do storymodes with you. Having this prerequisite creates a divide among players that goes against Arenanet’s efforts to make this a cooperative game.

I would really like a henchmen system for the dungeons in their entirety, as I enjoyed being able to do dungeons by myself in GW1. I really don’t think it would kill the cooperative nature of the game as long as it was also easy for players to find other player groups- so they should definitely implement the LFG finder first. If players right now are willing to do extra work to find groups without a LFG system I think that shows that there is a large playerbase that would still be playing in groups if henchmen/heroes were implemented. And since you would not be able to take these heroes/henchmen into the larger game world, people playing with henchmen in dungeons would still be meeting new players and forming parties with other people outside of dungeons. It wouldn’t be like GW1 where everyone is in their own instanced area with their hero/hench party 90% of the time. There is MUCH more player interaction in GW2 than GW1 so I don’t really think we can use GW1 as a prediction as to what will happen to GW2 if henchmen are added.

I think this is an issue throughout the game- and it’s way worse in GW2 that it was in GW1. I play a ranger as my main, and was really interested in the cultural armor until I looked at the tier 3 leather armor. It would make me uncomfortable to play an character wearing that armor and I agree that it can generate unwanted attention from other players upon occasion as well.

I guess my big issue with this is that ‘lingerie armor’ is not something that, on the whole, a woman would actually CHOOSE to wear. The reason that armor like this is available is ENTIRELY for viewing pleasure. The sole purpose of these types of armor is to objectify. While I don’t have an issue with some armors like this being available, the prevalence of them in this game as well as the fact that starting armors and a large amount of high-tier armors seem to be following this trend is disturbing. It basically says that yes, the female avatars are around to be objectified and disregards the fact that there are women playing this game (as well as men) who probably don’t view their characters in that light.

At this point I am just frustrated. I had hoped that Arenanet was above things like this, and would really just like a response from them. Is this how they intended female characters to be viewed in-game? Did they not consider the growing number of women in their audience, as well as many men who are tired of the lingerie armor and sexist stereotypes as well?

This is an issue I have with GW2. While I recognize that yes, it would be pretty much impossible to call out your GW1 character by name or gender, I really expected them to be mentioned or referenced at least ONCE in a while. Mostly because 250 years is really not that long ago, and also because you have groups like the Priory and the Order of Whispers around. The Priory is engaged in finding everything about the dragons that they can- it would make sense if they looked into the gw1 hero’s story for helpful information. As for the Order of Whispers, they were THERE when your hero was running around doing all these things, and I have a hard time believing they would have not saved any record of this, particularly since their own leader was involved in the gw1 hero’s story.
I just find it really hard to believe that 250 years ago, a hero killed saved each continent, killed a god, faced the Great Destroyer, fought in Kryta’s revolution, helped Cantha with their afflicted/Ministry of Purity problems, and then subsequently disappeared from all records of history. I know who George Washington was, I know who Genghis Khan was, and if I wanted to I could read the Epic of Gilgamesh, which was written over 2,000 years ago by the ancient Sumerians. Why are the Tyrians so inept at recording history? It feels like there is this giant gap missing in the lore that nobody wants to talk about.

If Arenanet decides that your character never actually existed and it was the work of Mhenlo, Devona, etc., who saved the world I will be really sad. Though I love Mhenlo and everyone, it would make me feel like everything I did in gw1 didn’t actually matter.

I like WvWvW in theory but in practice it falls short. I feel like I spend more time running from place to place then actually helping in any way (running to different places that need help, running back from the portal after I die, running back from the portal again after I accidentally come across a zerg) that it can become boring and/or frustrating quickly. Combined with lag and rendering issues it is often more bothersome to play than it is entertaining. The chaotic nature of it is also confusing- the first time I joined a game I had no idea what was going on and left quickly. I also feel like the time and effort I put in to playing is not well rewarded- nor do I have a clear idea of what goals we are trying to attain. I just feel like I am ping-ponging from point to point, capturing and recapturing to no concrete end.

I am wary of the ascended items because power creep is one of the main reasons why I lose interest in mmos. I play more then just a casual player but would hesitate to call myself ‘hardcore’- most of my time I spend playing with friends or leveling alts. I enjoy doing dungeons and pvp but don’t do either very frequently. Because of this, as time goes by I find it harder and harder to participate in either of these two activities- as better gear is added to dungeons, and more players attain that gear, dungeon groups are then almost solely composed of these geared players who are uninterested in inviting anyone else to come along with them.
I recognize that these ascended items are only supposed to have a ‘slight’ increase in power, but this combined with the infusion slots combined with the fact that they are being released three months after launch COMBINED with the fact that the mmorpg.com article says this is supposed to “make players even more powerful so that they can tackle new challenges that ArenaNet plans to throw at them as they continue to expand on the dungeon over the coming months and years” makes me very worried that Guild Wars 2 is about to take a path that Arenanet has so far seemed very much against in both GW1 and GW2. One of the philosophies behind this game (that Arenanet has emphasized time and time again) is encouraging people to play together, and introducing gear imbalances is definitely going against that goal.

However, if they decide to redo the Ascended items as the armor version of Legendary weapons I would be totally fine with that. That seems much more in tune with their purported goal of having an equal player base.

I would really like to see a summoner class akin to the ritualist introduced in the next expansion. I really enjoyed playing my ritualist in GW1, and liked the ritualist aesthetic a lot as well. I always kind of assumed that Cantha would be the next expansion, so bringing the rit back in with it would work nicely. As for races I’d really like to play the tengu! I’ve liked them since Prophecies and I think having the tengu as a playable race would work really well. The tengu returning to Cantha after their race was exiled and Cantha itself was shut off from the outside world would make an interesting storyline, I think.