Guild Wars 2

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WOOOHOOO PAX!

Thought and care went into designing this game, and it shows. I’m excited for expansion, and the community is very inclusive.

(Hard to find in MMO Communities) <3

So, I haven’t really played GW2 in a long time…(give or take six months or so…work two jobs and just recently started school again, software engineering…go figure…)

Anyway. I logged in to check out this SAB thing that is so awesome. I do the jumping puzzle, took me a few tries, pretty cool…no achievement, no reward, nada. Ok…but there’s another currency…on top of a wallet just to split up my currencies…which at this point I’m not even really sure where they come from or what they do. No big, I can check it out later. Seasonal content! Fun times! Casual friendly! (I work literally 50+ hours a week in addition to school, sometimes I count on a fun game where feel like I go somewhere without it taking hours…)

World one, spent some time in there. Fun. Retro. Nice learning curve, a bit quick to pick up, not feeling super inspired about this currency, but playing for the fun of playing. Then at the end my new buddy in my party glitches out on a log and he can’t claim the chest and I’m soloing the cage with the rock monster thingie. Meh, no big, moving forward. Wait, poison water? The floor is lava? I know this game…more fun.

Then world two. wut. Group of five, none of us could make it through the rapids…the first part was challenging, the candle part was tricksy and clever…but the bridge falling out after team mates jump on it? I thought that was a sweet addition, but then realized the rapids take you all the way back to the start of the level…(intentional? I can’t control my character barely…nope oh yup he hit a turtle….and a croc….and I’m dead. Whelp, at least I’ll catch up with my party now that I’m dead and back at a checkpoint one of them reached.) Bad design. Suicide option should not be best option. Easy fix with some sort of blockage closer to the mouth at the beginning of that particular segment, replaying through a part you haven’t figured yet is gratifying, replaying through the same challenge over and over again to get to the part you haven’t figured out yet is tedious and dull. I think that’s where the complaints about length come from. To be frank, I think the levels are fairly perfect in length. Climbing the same rock wall five times because I didn’t make contact with a ledge (again) is bad mechanics forcing me to repeat myself. (I don’t have a lot of time.)

I get that this is an RPG. I love this game as an RPG. I also love the jumping puzzles…seriously. It’s first thing I look for in every area I’m in. But if you’re going to make a hardcore tasting platformer then the mechanics and engine should be up to it…free camera controlling the pin-point jumps with a foggy hit box isn’t fun, it’s frustrating. Not in a Castlevania/Metroid kind of way. This isn’t something I need to figure out, or think about, and the risk/reward doesn’t work because I’m unaware of the risk being available and the pay-off isn’t solid or predictable. So either tighten up the jumping, make everyone the same size (doable with the heavy transition of style, at least in a design sense,) or make hit boxes match the models. Closer to matching them, anyway.

Remembering the water spout sequence (what order they come, how long they’re available) is engaging and old-school style fun. Creature around the corner I didn’t know about? Fun. Missing a step because invisible crocodile tail isn’t long enough and your character decided to pull out his gear at the precise moment you jumped and miss and now you’ve seizured in and out of the water until you die (and spend some, what are they now…bobbles?) to start over….further ahead from where you’ve died…missing the point (which, I’m gathering, defeats the purpose of remember the invisible hitboxes, which were not a problem in world one) just frankly isn’t good design.

I think the level and (intended) mechanics design is fresh, punishing, engaging and fun. The execution? No one in my group could get to the next checkpoint. Second party? Couldn’t either. Had to give up so I can write this post and go to bed. Love you guys, love the game, this game is sincerely an inspiration from a mechanic/design perspective…but seriously. It’s hard, not because it’s challenging, but because it’s flawed. Death should mean something, sure, that’s different and interesting. Cheap shots coming from bad mechanics (risk and reward, movement, controls, the rules of the game world) shouldn’t be the things that hinders the player. The level and the challenge should hinder the player.

Just my experience.

TL; DR: Yes it’s too hard…I’m ok with too hard…but it’s not too hard for the “right” reasons.

I like it. I had all this Karma, and I’ve got four alts to level before I even think about what to trick them all out in when they’re 80. I’ve played 200+ hours and have barely touched sPvP, spent a BIT of time in WvW, for the players like me who aren’t in it to grind, (which, tbh, the grinding is there if you’re looking for it,) it gives me a way to lower myself into the ascended gear and keeps the dailies interesting. I don’t have to run fractals 100 times, I can run it here and there….get some armor from crafting, some from playing the tp., some from laurels, it’s nice to be able to just do whatever I feel like and get rewarded for it.

I support this patch.

The moving/dodging/stamina mechanic is really central to the combat in this game. The AoEs, though numerically powerful, are very easily dodged.

Yeah, you can hit 5 targets for 8 damage over time if they stand in the same spot, or you can hit 1 target for 10 no matter where they go. Is it just me or is saying the AoEs are OP is silly considering?

Yeah I play a supportish staff ele…this will murder my build if it’s too harsh. All I have are AoEs

dzeRnumbrd.6129:

How about adding some developer API’s so we can code things that aren’t high priority to you but are high priority to us? (specifically Trading Post APIs)

APIs would be wonderful! Let the community build the mobile/web app platform around you!

kKagari.6804:

bamono.7098:

morrolan.9608:

kKagari.6804:

I’ve put up with a lot of bugs like that for a while but the Giver’s items feel like a final gigantic slap to the face. It’s not that I want to use these items badly but for that issue to have entered the game, it could only mean there was ZERO testing done on it in the first place. And when the problem has surfaced they make an equally similar ZERO effort to acknowledge it. This is not professional integrity.

Its pretty clear that the review and QA processes at anet are virtually non-existant. Seems to me that they lack the resources to properly support an mmo of this scale.

There’s a lot that goes into testing software. You two sure you know enough about it to say they have ZERO testing? Sorry…but yeah. No. There some things you just can’t predict when things go live. No matter how many test cases you write. Any programmer will tell you that. Not about resources, not about thoughtfulness, sometimes there are problems that can come out of nowhere.

Taking so long to fix it when they clearly have a reliable build distribution system? That’s interesting. That makes me think it’s more of a management or structure problem than the devs and QA team… but they’ve over all done a great job.

Please think about this logically. The item has zero effect. It is NOT failing due to an obscure situation, or a complex chain of events. It is failing at its BASIC functionality. If it was tested, WHY would this not have been noticed? If it was noticed, why was it still released?

Ok, logic. Live Build != Test Build. Test Servers != Live Servers. Both are true. You can’t predict the future, neither can Anet. Bugs can and WILL happen in software development. It’s not about the bug, it’s about the response.

I get we can’t talk about it on the forums, but I’m really frustrated. Who do I e-mail exactly? I’m not interested in an appeal, infractions really don’t mean anything to me.

Zeefa.3915:

Scourge.4317:

Silver.8023:

I don’t do jump puzzles for the reward at the end, I do them because I find them fun!

Wish more people did that.

I do that too. Which also means there is some I wont do as they are too much trouble for me.

ME TOO! I also love how I don’t have to do them and I’m not going to miss out on any real content.

I agree with the feels of this post…but I’m against grinding. I like the solo-ability of the game. I think there needs to be more incentive to play as a part of a guild and to join parties-and they way we interact with those two parts of the game need some serious thought. I feel like they were added in as after thoughts-like an MMO must have list was written and these needed checks. A creative way to provide players a horizontal incentive to play together long term would be great. It’s the same thing they did with dynamic parties (or whatever they’re called, random people joining on same mob individual loot, more people = better drops, etc) only on a larger scale.

morrolan.9608:

kKagari.6804:

I’ve put up with a lot of bugs like that for a while but the Giver’s items feel like a final gigantic slap to the face. It’s not that I want to use these items badly but for that issue to have entered the game, it could only mean there was ZERO testing done on it in the first place. And when the problem has surfaced they make an equally similar ZERO effort to acknowledge it. This is not professional integrity.

Its pretty clear that the review and QA processes at anet are virtually non-existant. Seems to me that they lack the resources to properly support an mmo of this scale.

There’s a lot that goes into testing software. You two sure you know enough about it to say they have ZERO testing? Sorry…but yeah. No. There some things you just can’t predict when things go live. No matter how many test cases you write. Any programmer will tell you that. Not about resources, not about thoughtfulness, sometimes there are problems that can come out of nowhere.

Taking so long to fix it when they clearly have a reliable build distribution system? That’s interesting. That makes me think it’s more of a management or structure problem than the devs and QA team… but they’ve over all done a great job.

I love this game. Haven’t even played sPvP at all, just getting into WvW. Main guy is 80, still haven’t finished my story, map completion, all the jps, all the bosses, haven’t hit every dungeon, every path in every dungeon, the FoTM (I’ve done 6 I think?), two other clubs to join, haven’t gotten anywhere CLOSE to a legendary…plus achievements and the almost monthly events that have been going on…I’ve mastered 2 crafts…out of 8. If you like most or all areas of this game, there is a TON of content here. Everything you do gives you some from of progression-even after 80.

To be honest, after “end-game” (which is what exactly? It’s really hard to define in a game like this…) I still have a lot to do, though I am debating doing all the jps, bosses and craft professions on alts…with what, SEVEN other classes and FOUR other races?

Not to say some things start to feel a bit tedious after awhile…forcing you into every nook and cranny kind of takes away to sense of exploration and finding hidden things for me…but then again, if you look hard enough, you’ll find things like random chests in a cave and gardens of crafting mats. I even played the TP for awhile.

I don’t know man, to be honest, I think the people that get bored with this game so quickly are playing for one or two aspects of it, which is totally fine, but they have a LOT of different things going on, and it will take some time to flesh a few things out completely. I trust that they will. Everything I’ve learned about Game Design has went into this game-honestly. It’s almost textbook. They really care about it and it comes through in the game.

EDIT: Since my other post got deleted by a mod, I’ll put it here, with the rest of my opinion about the game….which is on topic considering this is what the thread is about…

The culling issues should have been addressed awhile ago. This is a legit complaint from many people about the game.

I give people potions and/or food if they are really helpful. lol, artificer to 400 I have a thousand of every potion ever

You really need a blog. If you did these periodically I would read it.

Ele. Hands down, toughest I’ve tried and my main. Got him up to 80, but Orr is a nightmare. WvW is a lulfest of death

Ok you didn’t even cover the second part. Sheesh.

Ok, a game being an MMO has nothing to do with it having jumping or puzzle or not. :/ Hm. Think I need a break from the forums.

What is culling?

Some things I thought I’d share…

The same people complaining about Ascended stuff are asking people if they have exotics for a PUG lvl 1 of Fractals. lol….really?

ANet should rename Bags of Gold to Bags of Silver. That’s just trolling.

The fractals are awesome. I was a dolphin.

The rez thing is a bit obnoxious, also we got no heads up about the fact that should we return to repair it starts our 3 fractal count over…we were on our last one. /sadface

The scavenger hunt bugs and lag are a bummer. Halloween went really well. What was different about this?

Thanks for cool new stuff, Anet. Bought Gems for the first time to support you because I see the kittentorm brewing. No one can predict the future, one tier of gear != new gear every few months, and a lot of people love the additions and are having fun.

Crazyeye.7514:

Dempsey.8760:

But I wanted to play GuildWars2 not Super Mario Bros.

What he said.

I have always hated platforming games. I didn’t have to do them before in other events, now it is mandatory in what is going to be the main endgame dungeon grind Anet introduced today.

I think they are so proud of their sequel having the jumping ability they are going ape kitten putting it in everything.

Ok this made me laugh, but honestly, I love the jumping puzzles. A lot of people do. There are things about this game that people love (WvW…for now) that I don’t really care for. I hasted the jumping stuff at first too (mostly because of the bad shapes…hard to land on branches but easy to land on air next to it?). After some practice I got it down…and yeah, make a mesmer friend.

If you haven’t tried the fractals dungeon…you should. Pretty much amazing! The events had me steaming until I tried the new fractal thing…absolved any frustration I had. Give it a shot in the meantime. Trust me. ;D

Trying it out now will report back

Edit: JK Download stopping at 92%

Noll isn’t working, He spawns but no dialogue. P.S. On Ehm Bay

Noll on Overflow. Noll on another overflow. Noll on EB. Cannach on EB and my current overflow.

Noll is bugged…I can’t find him. Anywhere.
Pretty sure there’s a quaggan I’m suppose to talk to somewhere, and Canach is just chillin. Doing nothing. In fact I’m asleep on the bed next to him.

What am I suppose to do for this event? Where do I go? WTF is this bag and this map? I saw a Karka for a second before all 3 of them were aoed to oblivion.

Maybe I’m missing something?

Yeah um…people talking about getting to the “end” of the dungeon….it doesn’t end. You won’t be locked out of content. You can’t upgrade asc gear with upgrades. You can easily out stat most of it with upgrades if that ring is any indication.

I ran into this problem as a tailor, until I realized that if you need to purchase a recipe for something it won’t show up if you’ve found out every other recipe-until you buy the appropriate recipe and learn it.

Psh, us Eles need some major love.

…but it’s not the highest level gear. Not even the best stats, there is no way to know that without seeing it. They may release better runes/upgrades for exotics. It hasn’t been released. They never advertised they wouldn’t add a new dungeon specific gear.

Cool. So this is mostly fear based on speculation that the gear people worked for will quickly become obsolete. Understandable. They haven’t really said that though…so I don’t need to worry about this becoming wow. I hate that game. I hate most MMOs. lol. So I was worried with the sky is falling-ness of all this. I shall carry on. ;D

Edit: Thanks nidwin…

Double Edit: They said the top-tier gear will be adjusted to remain so. So I still don’t see the treadmill if you choose not to do this one dungeon.

Ok, not trying to have a fight about whether they should or not, I just don’t get why people are raging. It sounds like they’re keeping the top tier items top tier according to her own post. Why does everyone keep saying it won’t be?

I understand the agony thing, but isn’t just in the dungeon? Didn’t she also say top tier stuff will be adjusted to remain top tier? Where is the treadmill? .

P.S. Thanks Valhallen for explaining it. Like I said, first MMO. I’m not really familiar with “treadmill” and “gear grinding” lol but they’re pretty self-explanatory.

I feel like most of the people on the forums are sPvP and WvW players. But yeah, I think it’s cool that I have something to do while “growing” into my legendaries that isn’t Plinx. Also an ever changing dungeon that doesn’t end, keeps getting harder and drops better/more loot? How can the hardcore grinders not LOVE this?

Ok cool. I was afraid there was some glaring problem I couldn’t see.

I’m excited about the bottomless dungeon, it seems like a really cool concept. I just got to 80, and I really don’t have much to do besides grind away or work on alts.

I wish there was more story content in the works, like another path you start once you get to 80. That would be awesome. I’m new to MMOs, so a lot of this stuff is foreign.

I’ve just started playing WvW, so I’m beginning to understand a lot about the heart of the game. What I’m not understanding is the rage towards the new tier of equipment. The stats are ingrained in the weapon, so sigils/etc can’t be used to add or change stats. The blog post said legendaries would be adjusted to still be the highest tier. There is no indication that you can add/remove stats from the gear-we don’t know what the infusions will do for stats. So far all we know is that they will play into the new game mode. Sorry, it’s hard to say it’s a dungeon considering the nature of the level, and it gives me a whole new way to play the game. If this gear is just for this new mode and is something that lies in between the legendary grind and exotics….why is that a bad thing? I had exotics by 80 without grinding at all. The legendary grind is massive and extreme. What do I do until then? Just grind? This gives me a middle ground-and I don’t see why that’s such a bad thing. How does it make top tier gear obsolete when she said explicitly that they will be adjusting the top tier gear to remain so?

Maybe there is something I’m missing.

…but you can’t change those stats. We don’t know what the infusions are. She said they’re going to upgrade legendaries in some fashion. There honestly isn’t any treadmill proof. The devs said they’re really there for the fractal dungeon, which is a whole new mode of play. I really can’t see why everyone on these forums is freaking out about it, to be honest.

This agony thing applies only to one dungeon, which seems almost like a new mode of play…and she said explicitly legendaries will be on par with the ascended items automatically. She also stated we will be given complimentary ascended gear…and that they’re adding new ways to get precursors making those legendaries easier to get. I’m unclear as to what the problem is. She also said they’re adding a ton of high level end game content…why would I boycott any of this?

I think it might depend on your connection-the longer I stand still the more people around me show up. This makes me feel like loading the players around me is prioritized based on some system about data transfer and connection speed.

Um, yeah…
http://youtu.be/dyE2MLq24OE

Yeah I can’t even get through Straights of Devastation at all. I get mobbed every few steps. Really frustrating.