Guild Wars 2

Looks like most their team are now working on the next expansion, guessing they are aiming for yearly releases to make more $$. What this means is, there will be NO ls3 unless you pay for it; calling it now.

- in 2016 we are trying to find a balance between frequent – game updates and working on the next expansion.

Well there goes that popular excuse Anet defenders always use as ammunition that we will be getting ls3 for free with HoT right out the ol window.

So essentially game updates will be (judging by 2 months of proof so far) minor bug fixes + mostly cash shop additions while rest the team work on the next expansion? Is that pretty much it?

I honestly can’t believe they openly admitted this. That’s even more disappointing than HoT was.

On topic: 100% agree with everything that fellow said in that vid posted in the OT. +1

Yea, log in and see all the gold and gem sinks for winter’s day; alt f4. Anet is focused on only 2 things it seems…pushing MTs as much as possible and their esport thing. Meh.

Wow, despite it’s gear treadmill that resets every few months and completely in expansions is still the one the best mmos out there imo b/c at least the story, quests, and large open world that has no loading screens keep me occupied. WoD was the worst WoW expansion but even then it kept me interested for 3 months…HoT lasted 2 weeks. Blizzard also has an absurbly high standards; they do NOT release broken kitten and then make excuses blaming the players…no they release polished patches and usually immedietly fix things if bugs make it through their thorough testing phases. Now here’s the thing, I swore off wow but I end up going back every expansion…like next one which has me real curious…hopefully they learned from WoD. Conversely, Anet has learned nothing about the last 3 years and decided to do a ‘Wildstar’ + turning GW2 into the usual cash shop richy rich only Korean f2p model. Meh, no thanks.

Anet has pretty much thrown out the manifesto with hot so I am all for them putting in skimpy outfits for all. Just tell the suits in charge of game decisions that slooty clothes will make them a metric ton of molla. If they need armor skins like these, rip them from blade and soul if you have to; just send a memo about this with the sound of cash registers to NCsoft and I am sure they will oblige.

So thief continues to get ignored. Sigh.

Welcome to the new and improved free to play business model; toxic behavior goes hand in hand with f2p like cookies and cream. Plus the release of HoT and all it’s attached elitism has turned what I once considered the most friendly MMO community into another typical cess pit. I think you can firmly put the blame for this change all on Anet’s shoulders so feel free to thank em for that.

sirsquishy.8531:

I equate HoT to D3:reaper of souls.
And who still plays D3? I sure as hell dont…..

I do, 3k hours and more to come next season; at least that game has content updates…content that is FREE unlike here where all HoT content gets put in a cash shop. Do not even dare compare a great b2p play game that is truly BUY TO PLAY to one that is clearly now f2p in business model and design. GW2 used to be my pick for the best MMO in last three years but NCsoft has ruined that. You can see the signs really, they are clearly going after the people who get addicted to gambling with all the BL skins they release. Must be working, more cash shop crap every week or two. Wonder when the prem service feature will show up? Soon I bet.

I believe we are simply paying for Wildstar’s flop; NCsoft put their boot down and told anet to go nuts on micro transactions I bet. Now we have to PAY for rewards in the cash shop instead of earning them. GW2 is just another lame f2p game now and that sucks. The worst part about this is Anet is completely unapologetic about this, they seriously seem to think every things fine. Well, few months from now maybe this will finally bite them on the kitten. I hope they wake up soon; wildstar proved it is a BAD idea to focus only on hardcore players, infact those HCs were the very first to leave. GW2 used to be a haven for me as a drop in and do whatever mmo, now it’s like a dang bus schedule where everything costs an arm and a leg. Bah, this new anet is not cool.

They do not care, they got HoT box money and if people leave; no big deal to them. Infact that is a good thing, less server costs! Win win for them.

Tattoolady.1934:

The price for the expansion includes all the new content that will come in the near future (like LS3 etc etc). So pls stop crying like spoiled kids.

Question: please link official announcement that there is infact going to be LS3 included for FREE with HoT. I have seen nothing about this what so ever .

Kirschsahne.2081:

It isn’t really that complicated. 90 gold is like 1 day of fun playing.

How are you making 90 g a day? Do you play 18 hours a day and or do you just sit there playing stock simulator? Do tell. Normal people will be lucky to make 5g a day considering that most collectible materials are now 1/2 or less the price they used to be; the min wage was cut in HoT. Yay?

Kirschsahne.2081:

I am totally happy to spend it on the Gem Store.

If GW2 is to be another F2P game then make HoT free then.

At end of day this is supposed to be a BUY TO PLAY MMO where you can earn nice kitten by playing and not in a darned cash shop. You know, like how GW2 used to be.

If I wanted to raid, I’d go back to WoW where they are done 100 times better. And not only that, WoW offers different raid difficulties from pug to super hardmodes for ALL types of players instead of only the top 1% rich people. W/e, I main thief and no one wants us in PvE or PvP so I am pretty much sol I guess.

No one resses me while in down state nor do they ress if I am dead so I don’t ress no one now either. You just gotta accept that HoT and the F2P model has made this into a toxic community where you do not help strangers EVER; this is just how anet wants the game to be I guess. It’s sad though, this used to be best MMO community ever but not no more thanks to HoT.

Log in for reward, farm SW/CS until DR kicks in after 30-60 mins, then log off and play overwatch/warframe.

LegACy.1296:

Khyan.7039:

Oh nice. But we don’t really care. We want our skills effect back. NOW.

Sigh.
You know, this kind of behavior is probably why Anet doesn’t communicate much.

Nah, they get people like you defending them entirely free of charge which is the best (and cheapest) form of ‘communication’ ever.

W/e. Since we have to pay MONEY to post here, I would expect Anet would respond now and then instead on some free to sign up third party website. Right?

If you like farming in CS and or SW b/c HoT zones are mazes and have kittenty rewards then I would say no. If you are a vet, you are probably sick of CS/SW by now so yea.

I own HoT but I don’t play HoT zones. Low rewards, zones that require a 150 person/well coordinated raid group to complete, zones that are also on timer so if you miss getting in at the start…there is ZERO reason to even bother, and a whole lotta useless faction junk I do not want….like minstrels. Who the heck thought that was a good idea when + heal is completely worthless? Jokes on me I guess.

Great expans….I mean over priced DLC for sure.

Just do this man; go to your bank with a female human character -> wardrobe -> click on medium armor -> type in Ley -> click on that set to view. Then go to gem store and view all the new outfits that come out in a separate panel. Tell me, which skin did they spend 5 minutes on and which they put lots of effort into? Medium Ley line set looks like it is an old asset where they threw on steaming dragon poop; this is a reward for playing the game. Then look at the arbiter, lysa, and other skins: these have 10x the detail to that ley set; these cost gems/real life money. Why give nice things for free when you can charge money for them?

It is clear where Anet is going here; total conversion to Korean F2P style where all the best stuff is for real life money and game mechanics are nerfed to ‘encourage’ you to spend money or face grinds from hell. If you like pay to save lots of time MMOs like this then sure, come check it out. But if not, wait for other titles to release and skip GW2 entirely.

They really do need to get rid of the Wildstar/NCsoft elements that have taken over decision making; they have straight ruined what I considered the best MMO out there with pure greed.

Warhawk.7095:

Thieves on patch day be like:

And that giff just happened; atom guy (anet) just blew up thiefs today with steal nerf.

In return we get only a fix to text. 10/10 IGN Nerf thieves moar b/c it’s funny to see them squirm.

+1

Terrible change. Undo pls. Ty.

Log on, collect daily sign in reward, and try to think of some thing to do. Ok, head to DS…oops 45 mins left to go so no chance to get 100% but that’s ok since people are already leaving in mass b/c it’s a loss. 45 mins laters I have made maybe 1 gold at most and very little exp. So I look in LFG and nothing. So I go to AB, same thing. Go to VB same thing. Go to TD same thing. Now only thing left to do is go to SW or CS and farm b/c that is the last places left where I feel rewarded; zones I have farmed for 3 friggin years. What did HoT bring, a whole lotta ‘wait for the fun to happen’ and ‘pray you get into a good instance’ then ‘crash at some point losing all progress, haha sucker’. This expansion is super light on content and Anet has done their best to time gate it as much as possible + put in as many frustrating mechanics as possible to make it seem there is more than there actually is. And now all their focus on raids, raids I will never ever ever get to be apart of since it’s designed for the cash shoppers/1%ers. GG? No not really.

Do not play thief, anet hates this class with a passion and so does the population; no one wants a thief in pvp nor in pve so please remove this class from all lists. Heck, should just remove thief all together and be done with it finally.

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

And here I thought the going consensus was Ascended Gear; I can’t find that in the Raider’s Supply Pack.

I can find the ascended pack pretty easy; convert gems to gold and buy all the mats you need instantly. It’s not rocket science. But I do see your point so I will forward a suggestion for them to offer Ascended gear in the cash shop straight up; you can do it indirectly already so let’s cut out the middle men (players) completely for max profit.

When I play now, I feel like a slave making pennies while gem buyers profit. Instead of raising the min wage, they lowered it into a well. GW2 is just another nickel and dime F2P where the game as a whole is being adjusted to push you to the cash shop. Now they say convert gems to gold (abuse those peasants like me) and also right under it is even more kitten ing; Raiders Pack. So now if you want to raid, ya gotta buy cash shop items. Gee, where have I seen this before….oh right, pretty much every crappy f2p out there. What is odd is….I BOUGHT THE BOX, this is supposed to be a b2p game with purely optional cash shop, not no more! Evidently buying box is just so you can buy more mandatory things in the cash shop. Wonderful.

W/e. Boycotting further Anet purchases until I see a proper return of my money which I 100% feel I didn’t get with this expansion; putting all the best ‘content’ in the shop is baloney and infact inexusable in my mind. If I had known they were going to do this, I would never have bought the expansion in the first place.

This is not a b2p mmo much no more, yea you buy the hot client but it only gives you access to 4 maps and bunch of other worthless content; the REAL content is now in the cash shop. Just look at that Raider Pack they put up in the CS and tell me they are not trying to go all korean cash shop heavy with game mechanics designed to push you to it. Did NCsoflt finally take over? Looks like it, they do same baloney in their other titles…GW2 up until HoT was the exception…well, not no more. Welcome to GW2, just another lame Cash shop centric f2p. Yay?

No, this expansion is nothing more than a larger than usual DLC that recycles old content and calls it new. I will never pre-order another game ever again and will wait for reviews a month or two after before I even consider buying it. The gaming industry as a whole is going down the toilet and it’s up to us consumers to put our feet down and say: no! It’s getting to the point were current gamers have no idea what it was like to not have MTs in games and mechanics designed around them, it’s expected and even defended. Sadly people seemingly are not concerned about this trend and still buy into this baloney; game companies think it’s ok and it then gets worse and worse. GG.

Personally, I am done with supporting such shady business practices so the only way I can protest is not pre-order or buy into destiny type game design that is taking the industry by storm. ie. Make complete game, chop it up into little parts, sell 1/3rd of a game at launch, and then sell the missing pieces for more money after. cough 4x blacklion only weapon skin sets compared to ONE (reclaimed set) you can earn in HoT. I see what you did there Anet…not cool.

It’s disgusting if you ask me. I had thought Anet wasn’t like this but that’s all changed for the worse. Live and learn.

In the end it matters little, they got 135 bucks out of me just for HoT not including gems so who cares…most certainly not them.

Caveat Empor at it’s finest.

1/10, not much content and what little there is ends up in the cash shop instead as per the usual F2P style of business. This used to be a great b2p game and now it is not thanks to HoT. On the plus side, pre-ordering this expansion has finally taught me to NEVER pre-order another game ever again unless it’s a blizzard title.

I took a two month break before hot b/c I was getting burned out. Come back to HoT and two weeks later I am disappointed and burned out again. Did I play a lot to do this? Nope. HoT has very little unpaid content, most of it is in the cash shop; rewards in game for playing sucks big time. ie. ley line med armor looks like crap yet cash shop stuff looks amazing. Coincidence? I think not.

Clearly GW2 is going the korean f2p direction where less is supposed to be more and all the best content is paid for beyond the box price. Obviously the cash shoppers LOVE this though so it’s all good. Done with gw2 for now I guess and no you can’t have my stuff.

This is by far the most buggiest and content light expansion I have ever played in any MMO to date. I started in EQ/UO btw so that’s a pretty impressive feat. Only a few weeks later after HoT launch, I don’t want to log in and play no more; it’s the same old grind doing the same old things. Well played anet, well played. /standingovation

Why would it be required? Maximum speed and efficiency ofc.

Since this is going to be ultimate challenge content, raid leaders will require members too…

- be on TS/Vent/insert voice com program here
- have certain masteries unlocked (or fully unlocked)
- use the very best consumables (food/oils or stones/etc)
- use cash shop combat boosters (ie. 5% dmg)
- have fully ascended gear with all defensive/offensive infusions with highest type equiped
- have spent hours researching youtube vid strats
- previous raiding experience
- be in a guild/group that has 9 more MLG pros like you

I bet there will be even more requirements but this is just the general basics I can think of. Due to cost of the consumables that will more than likely be required, you won’t be making much gold in raids…heck I bet you will be spending more until it’s on farm. This is the raid formula in every MMO I have played that has them so I expect it will be the same thing here. This content is aimed at the top 5% and I doubt the rest will succeed until they start selling raid slots for gems or gold. Fun times ahead?

VaLee.5102:

Do it the way ANet expects you to do, buy gems with real money and convert them to gold.

This. 1 hour of work = 10 hours of farming in game.

You can see which is the clear winner and intended route anet wants us to go. Cash shop type players absolutely love this hence why they are so quick to defend Anet.

Honestly, I wish this game was sub based so I could cancel it. I am done buying gems here with RL money since this is the only real way to show my disappointment in this supposed ‘expansion’; no it’s a larger than usual DLC that recycles old content and calls it new. GW2 is now just another f2p now. Case in point, if you happened to miss LS2; you now have to BUY it since it is mandatory to get mastery points. It’s not enough I paid 80 bucks for vanilla, 200+ bucks in gems, and now 140 bucks for HoT pre-order…no I gotta pay even more on top that since there is no choice in the matter. All in all, GW2 is resembling the typical cash shop centric Korean F2P model every day. But each their own, many cash shopper players love this so it’s all good; Anet is now catering to that crowd and making sure to punish filthy ‘f2p’ players like me.

Do not regret vanilla purchase, it was a great buy.

But for HoT I totally regret paying 140 bucks after taxes for what is essentially a larger than usual DLC that recycles old content and calls it ‘new’. Also not a fan of this new F2P model that has crept in. GW2 is now just another f2p cash shop game to me.

I guess other MMO expansions that bring in entire new landmasses that can’t be almost fully explored after 2 days, dungeons, and other content that does not force me go back to old world I been farming for 3 years has spoiled me. Doh.

Learn to farm the jungle lmao!

Learn to kill the exact same 24 or so vet spiders with heroic boosters you mean.

Don’t worry, those will more than likely get nerfed soon.

“LFM Raid, only players with max masteries/ascended or legendary gear/combat boosters only!”

Wildstar did the same thing and look how that turned out.

History proves that listening and catering to hardcores only is finacially a really really really bad idea but I guess no one over at NCsoft learned that lesson.

pho.9412:

while I do agree that end game content should be hard, the mastery grind is ridiculous. I’ve been playing about 4-5 days a week and about 1-2 hours a day since HOT launch. I have only gained 5 lvl total of the maguma masteries. 1 lvl for each itzel, exalted, nuhoch, and 2 lvl for gliding to use updraft…

You HAVE to spend cash on heroic boosters or exp gains are so low it’s as bad as any of the worst f2ps out there….using these boosts is literally like turning on a light switch from little exp to lots just by using those. Sadly it seems no one is concerned about this new f2p direction they are going where cash shop items were never really needed and now they are. This game is no longer simply a b2p MMO no more, it’s getting more and more cash shop centric and this is only the beginning.

Now the new measuring stick to judge who is a good guildy and who is bad is now not how much you play but how much you PAY. No thanks.

I undercut pretty much for 2 reasons;

To get it out of my inventory b/c it takes up space and I just want it gone.

and most importantly:

Anything above vendor cost is a win to me.

Big ticket items, I would sell for much higher prices but I don’t find those ever so no point even going further about that.

I personally do not sit infront of the TP all day and night long like many to monitor what stuff is worth; people with third party programs, third party sites, and or are career flippers will always come out on top no matter what so I really don’t care no more I guess.

edit. one more reason why I tend to undercut: I have been burned by other undercutters and had items not sell for weeks. Then I have to reprice and it happens again so I continually make less money due to listing fees over time thus I just price stuff to sell fast/be done with it.

Notice the trend; there is now more cash shop only skins released of recent than things you can earn in HoT combined, all in a matter of weeks since launch. And the actual rewards you can earn by just playing the content is extremely low quality compared with what you can get with RL money.

It seems that all good things are now being put in the cash shop rather than earned in game. It’s lame but I guess this is their new direction/business model.

I always turn off name plates in pve zergs but that does not usually help, the amount of flashing effects totally obscures mobs to the point I have no idea what they even look like. Thank goodness for tab targeting?

What is point of luck when most these HoT event mobs drop absolutely nothing; most loot comes from bags/clickables now.

Went 6 piece marauders, weapons also maruader, and then all serker trinkets. Also running scrapper runes since that 7% extra mitgation seems to help.

I was going to stick to serker but I felt getting over 15k life as being a good idea (and it was imo) while not sacraficing much in damage. Seems to be working.

I can buy a full set of ascended jewelry with laurels now but not sure what to pick. There is no valk so that’s out so I think I just save the larels and hope they add those to the vendor one of these years.

I run solo pretty much so that is why I don’t go the more popular routes that relies on other players and their buffs.

All these different bags give the same exact things: a blue or green with maybe some low end mats that are worth nothing and better vendored. Also due to salvaging nerfs, I am fairly certain it’s better to vendor all blues/greens/whites like the old days again since most the time when I do salvage I get nothing from these items now other than luck consumables. And what does luck do? Nothing, far as I can tell.

Dreaminspace.2638:

By using a known crafting site or with a little bit of code you can import prices into your own spreadsheets, you can easily find which items to craft that will give you the best gain and even within your price/crafting level range. Researching, buying components/materials, and selling your crafted items only take about 10-15 minutes. Then you play the game (i.e. Fractals, HoT, PvP, WvW, dungeons) and wait for your pay day.

Granted with this method it takes gold to make gold.

Gee golly whiz, I always wanted to have to mess with spread sheets to make gold in a game instead of playing it! /sarcasme

When it comes down to it, there is 1000s of career flippers out there so trying to compete with you people without have a degree in business simply isn’t going to happen. Instead, I will just continue killing things and making sweat shop wages. Yay!

Yes, if you are an economist/accountant who sits in front of the tp all day and night long flipping/observing then making gold is probably much easier. I for one am not that type of player, I rather kill things than do that.

Yea, thieves got the short end of the stick…literally, we got +1 stam and left overs from the Rev. All other classes got new things, instead we got acro 2.0 which I might add that acro line is the most redundant and useless line of all classes now, worst trait line ever? I think they just had to rush theif elite for release due to time restraints and it shows.

As a side note, how are you people using these 2-3 second cast things against mobs that are totally immune to CC + buffed by zergs? Moment I try for a FF against those, I will die 100% of the time; going close to those types of mobs is suicide unless you are playing a heavy armored prof and even then…

Cash shop has a 100% drop rate for gold!

Firmly believe the introduction of f2p has lead to the nerfing of gold and exp gains across the board. Just like all f2p games do.

Test.8734

Is this the best MMO around? Maybe. Which is proof of how bad MMORPGs are, not of how good GW2 would be.

This, the genre has gone stale and mmo devs across the board are not even trying now. Goal is to get you to buy box, cash shop items, and or a sub for a few months then they expect you to quit/move on. The concept of actually retaining customers past the first few months is long gone and now entirely focused on micro transactions while recycling old assests to further save money. To me, the MMO genre is now dead. It’s too bad, MMOs have been my favorite game type for over 20 years but not any more.

Yea, they give us two new armor sets that are ugly as sin.

Look at the bladded medium armor chest piece where it looks like I am the front grill of a Mad Max car.

Or the leyline one that looks to be an old skin recolored, it’s a patchwork moo moo that steams like a pile of poo poo. Super low quality yet this is an ‘end game’ reward. No, no it is not. Who in the world would even wear that ugly set anyways, it’s absolutely hideous and looks like it took them 5 minutes to come up with. :S

And then you look in gem store and see all these high textured/high polygon armor pieces that look like they spent some time on them for 10-20 bucks a pop. It seems all good ‘content’ you have to pay gems for past the box price I guess.

In the end, was I just spoiled by stellar expansions like the The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King where the shere amount of new landmass/content was so staggering it kept me going for years then? Is my expectations just way to high? Compared to MMO expansions like the ones I just mentioned, HoT is incredibly disappointing. It’s not an expansion, it’s a larger than usual DLC for full price to me.

Last thought before I head off: IGN, one the biggest gaming sites out there has not said much about HoT. It’s not being reviewed nor is it even mention as being released. This is same site that will review retro 8 bit indie games made by dudes in basements yet they are totally ignoring GW2. lol?

I agree with op, it is the best mmo.

Up until HoT that is.

Unlike other MMO game expansions, this ones uses a metric ton of recycled assets and then called new. I know no other MMO expansion that makes you go back to old world stuff I have been doing for three years; it’s always completely new stuff, with new loots/rewards/etc. But not so in HoT! Here I am, in new expansion farming the same junk I have been doing for years. Instead, all the cool stuff is in the gem store; frankly, I am not impressed with this new direction they are going where less is supposedly more.

GW2 is less grindy…

If you use cash shop boosters that is.

Only place to get good exp in HoT zones is grinding on the same 24 vet spiders for hours on end. I recal doing the EXACT same kinda thing in Runes of Magic, a korean MMO that was hardcore grind…unless you paid money for boosters/premium then it wasn’t so grindy. See a trend here?

At least in WoW, I don’t need to spend any money past the sub inorder to have a good game experience. Also, you cannot simply cut out years of grinding with RL money like you can in GW2. One game you have to play it, no short cuts. The other you can throw RL money at a problem and it will go away. Obviously, cash shoppers love the latter thus love GW2 more and with good reason.

To each their own style of ‘playing’ I guess.

Yea, another evening of grinding in VB yesterday with only food for exp buffs…4x day and night cycles hitting every single event/mob I could resulted in…20% of a MR level. Did anet get taken over by a korean company or something?

Pretty much, they have lowered exp rates into the ground to get you all to buy booster and it’s working. Even more depressing is people are fine with this apparently as they happily blow RL money to get lots of easy exp at 10x the rate of us ‘f2p’ players. Oddly enough, I seem to have bought the gw2 vanilla client AND the HoT client yet I am at f2p levels, in true restrictive f2ps I can DL the whole game for free…no need to buy a single thing just to play it unlike GW2 where you gotta b2p. So when is monthly premium service coming? It has to be soon.