Showing Posts For frogos.4327:
First of all, let me state that the core concept and gameplay of the Gauntlet is fantastic. Kudos to Anet for creating challenging content with interesting mechanics! With that out of the way, let us talk about how it falls short and fails hard.
1) Location, Location, Location. Given that the arenas are directly over events that are probably be farmed by a significant zerg, playing through challenges that require precision timing in dodges and skills is artificially made harder. Lag absolutely kills in the Gauntlet. This could have been prevented by instancing the fights, such as having the upper ring in it’s own instance. While being able to watch players do their fights is a cool feature, there really REALLY needs to be an instanced alternative.
2) The dome of camera slaughter. While not a problem for all fights or all characters, having the camera zoom into my character’s shoulders does not make fights easy, and like the lag, adds an artificial layer of difficulty that honestly has no reason to be present. Having the top open up like a blooming flower for high awareness fights (Laidri for example) would be a step in the right direction without breaking the “immersion”. The grate being turning solid for fights with AoE rings would also be nice.
3) Artificial scarcity. This is a video game. Physical limitations like waiting in line are completely irrelevant and an irritation. Why was it decided that only 6 people in the zone could be working on the Gauntlet at any given time? This, especially on busy servers, results in wait times often greater than time spent actually fighting by a wide margin. Having the option to be in an instanced version would resolve this problem.
3) The waypoint run. Why do we spawn dead on the walk way? I understand the repair costs, and honestly, it’s fair. But the end result forces you to waypoint and run back if no one on the balcony is present (or willing) to resurrect you. The run back, combined with the wait times, makes the trial-and-error aspects of the Gauntlet incredibly aggravating after the first few times of dying. Having the NPCs resurrect you, or simply spawning alive with item damage would provide the same effect without the pain.
4) Lack of services in the Queen’s Pavilion. Simply put, given the amount of running back and forth required to get in and out of the pavilion to use the bank or trade post, it is a pain in the butt. While convenience alone and not critical, this would have been the prime location to put the Royal Terrace, or at very least a portal to it. (And I might have considered paying for access!)
5) Token bullkittentery. While the token system itself isn’t bad, when combined with the aforementioned issues, it makes for an excruciating experience when attempting to run the Gauntlet. I’m certain I’m not the only one who has run back from the waypoint, gotten to the Gauntlet only to discover I didn’t have enough tokens to do a fight with gambits up. Well, at that point I have to go and farm the watchwork things, or buy them off the trade post, and then pay addition fees for the tickets. Either way, it is an addition burden on top of the already broken flow of matches. Ideally, if no running/waiting were required in between matches, this would not be a problem. You could gather the tokens, play until expended, and then go get more without it being “even MORE running” or lost time. Also, why make them soulbound, instead of just making the token mail sent once per account? It now means those who play alts are stuck with useless tickets if they don’t plan to use said alt in the gauntlet.
TL;DR – Overall, the Queen’s Jubilee and the Queen’s Gauntlet are fun and well designed. There are just a bunch of small things that all add up to a clusterkitten of non-fun. If corrected in some fashion, future iterations of this event would be an absolute blast.
Is it bad that I’ve created a character using his name, and plan to observe my brew’s fine undertones in Lion’s Arch’s map chat?
While I really like the idea of Anet creating a constantly changing and dynamic world, I do not like the level of temporary content that the Living World creates. If you take a month break, for example, you may miss out on some very fun content/story. Additionally, with many of the RNG elements at play, you may not be able to get the item you want in the two week/month period.
On the idea of Fractals, and being able to play with echos of the past, I believe many of the non-repeating Living World content releases should be permanently accessible in the form of a self contained instance. Not in the five person type dungeon, but a portal-entry/exit only zone. This way, it could be set to loop through events, and allow those who missed said content to go back and be a part of the story, without having it break the flow of the main world/story.
This could allow for certain drops or some achievements to remain attainable in some fashion, as well as those who missed out on story-driven releases to experience it. Heck, even a set of minigame fractals to play all the past minigames would be a step in the right direction.