Guild Wars 2

As someone who runs fractals more than would be considered healthy, I have to admit not loving the assigned scales thing. I love the randomness, having to be prepared for whatever combination of fractals you might get in a given run and I HATE the idea of having to run certain scales to run certain fractals. I really do. I saw and still see no reason to mess with the way the fractals are assigned – just add new ones and an option for people in a hurry to practise single fragments. Really, I can’t stress it enough. Making it easier or simpler makes little sense in a game mode that is all about a continuous grind for people who enjoy such a thing.

Jana.6831:

liquid.5871:

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Here’s an idea: Buy the ready made legendary.

Now why would I do that? I like the process of crafting it as opposed to farming gold in copious amounts. I just think that ‘local hero’ has absolutely nothing to do with exploring. I don’t mind long tasks, as long as they make sense.

Right, so I run fractal 50 on a daily basis and I run with 85 AR distributed across my ascended armour set, trinkets, backpiece and weapon. I use only the versatile infusions bought with fractal relics and a few +5 crafted infusions on infused gear. There is no reason why you can’t do the same. It costs virtually nothing, it’s technically possible to drop all of the gear in the fractals themselves. Yes, the game is about skill and player prowess, but none of that actually comes into play if you take three stacks of agony and crumble. Experience and AR alike are garnered by running fractals, increasing your reward level as you go. It’s a grind, a contained one intended for grinding. If you want to run fractals just for the fun of it, there is no reason whatsoever to go for higher fractals. They don’t get any more fun to do, the higher you rise from a design perspective, but they do become harder/tougher (though still not exactly massively challenging) which in turn requires strategy and build/gear optimisation. This is where gearchecking comes in. The lfg is full of groups that are not totally random, but looking to fill a spot with random out of necessity. These groups have a certain style of play or a certain strategy, that calls for specific armours or builds to be played and that is perfectly all right. I for one do gear checks and get gear checked all the time, but I have nothing to hide. Yes, my gearing and build is not exactly imaginative (e.g. full berserker ascended warrior running phalanx strength) but that is beside the point. Groups that require gear checks do so for a multitude of reasons. It can be assumed, that if you own a full ascended set of armour and weapons with the right upgrades, that you know at least in part what your role in the party is or that you are capable of reading a guide online. It also goes to show if your style of play fits the group theme. You’re free to not join gear checking groups if it bothers you to have expectations placed on your shoulders. Many advertise it, some even predetermines with which stats you’re allowed in the group. That might sound harsh, but when running fractal 50 for example, it’s all about efficiency and speed, all of which cannot be achieved in general, in my opinion, if you just barrel through with haphazard builds and armours.

So no, AR or gearchecking is not an issue that needs addressing before they implement the new fractal 100 part of it all. Then, we’ll need to figure out how to obtain whatever insane amounts of AR required to pull that off efficiently, preferably without having to spend insane amounts of gold on infusions, because right now, that is not necessary.

I’m not a huge fan of the map completion side of crafting a legendary either. I did it with my main character but I can’t be bothered to do it all over again. Not because it takes ages, but because to me, there is a giant issue with what is requires to achieve map completion:

Heart quests.

They are tedious, everything but rewarding and have very little to do with exploration. I enjoyed hunting skill/hero points and uncovering new points of interest, visiting vistas and travelling across the map. It was fun and engaging to me, to see all of Tyria and the amazing places in it. But heart quests quite literally ruined it for me.
The root of this specific problem to me is the fact that our characters are supposed to evolve and rise up to become true heroes. Hero of Shaemoor at first, if you’re human, then diplomatic envoy to the crown before becoming Pact commander, working with Divinity’s Edge and then, taking on a new ragtag band of misfits to lead into battle who look up to you and call you Boss. We’re supposed to become legends, dauntless trailblazers and thus, what we expect from the endgame is higher and higher stakes, more thrilling tasks and exciting foes. And still, somehow, to craft a legendary weapon, we have to go back to doing the jobs of every NPC ever while they wait around for us to dig up turnips, herd their cattle and retrieve their lost junk. Yes, humility is heroic and the common people needs out help and we cannot be too good to help out those in need, but heart quests are over the top in numbers alone. 20 hearts per map give or take of absolutely pointless quests that yield little reward, all to be done and redone over and over again is too much. It takes away from the exploration as such and makes it a chore rather than something fun to do. And all so that exploring the map is sure to take forever. Doing it once, all right. Twice, maybe. Over and over again? No thanks. If/when being the NPC’s personal maid stops being an exploration requirement, I’ll reconsider, because Tyria is amazing. /rant.

I think that going forward, there should be a different option. Complete the map once and then be able to craft the gift with a 500-craftsman for one, using components usually reserved for ascended crafting, vision crystals and the like.
Or acquisition via dungeon tokens from every dungeon, albeit a truckload of them. Anything but having to trudge through Queensdale and collect turnips for bland NPC’s I couldn’t care less about over and over again.

Brad Cheezum.4958:

Please let me know if this is still occurring after this post.

Yes it does. Unfortunately.

This is my warrior, Liquid Rhaegar, my main character who spends most of his time either venturing into the darkest, most spider-infested dungeons or exploring the fractals of the mists while phalanx-ing all over the place. He’s a pretty cool dude, totally pro-edged weaponry and con-firearms. Also, he’s super touchy about his hair. Do not touch.

kawo.6935:

for me, it’s a fine deal if…
50$ with no additional slot for new players with core, or
50$ with an additional slot for old player without an extra copy of the core game.

Exactly! I second this! +1 and all that jazz. I’m fine with 50 bucks – I just really want a character slot instead of the core game which I’ve owned since it became available for pre-purchase 3 years ago.