Showing Posts Upvoted By moronwmachinegun.3815:

Unofficial Upcoming Patch Notes

in Ranger

Posted by: jcbroe.4329

jcbroe.4329

I took the time to go through the entire video segment by segment and write down every single note, including taking notes directly off of the un-finalized tooltips.

Here are the notes from the preview. I am aware there are multiple thread about the preview already, but I wanted to put all the changes into one concise list:

Traits

  • Signet of the Beastmaster has been removed. Signets now affect players by default.
  • New Trait: Predator’s Onslaught: “You and your pet deal bonus damage to enemies suffering from movement impeding conditions. Player: 10% Pet: 5%”
  • Read the Wind: In addition to its current effect, now also grants 10% increased attack speed with the longbow.
  • Strider’s Defense: Increased block chance from 15% to 20%.
  • Intimidation Training: “Activated abilities for pets cause cripple. This can only occur once on each target affected by abilities.”
  • Rending Attacks: “Pets inflict bleed when they critically hit wit their basic attacks.”
  • Stability Training: “Pets gain Stability when disabled.”

Weapons/Utilities

Longbow

  • Long Range Shot: Lowest Range damage tier gets a 17% damage increase. Medium Range gets a 7% damage increase. Longest Range is unchanged.
  • Rapid Fire: Reduced cast time to 2.5 (or 2 and 1/2) seconds.
  • Barrage: Reduced cast time by .5 (or 1/2) seconds.

Greatsword

  • Power Stab: Damage increased by 10%
  • Maul: Now hits 5 targets. Increased radius from 150 to 220.
  • Swoop: Now evades during the attack portion of the skill. Does not evade during the running portion.
  • Counterattack: Reduced aftercast to be able to follow up better after successfully landing this skill.
  • Hilt Bash: Daze and Stun durations are increased from 1 to 1.5 (or 1 and 1/2) seconds

Axe
Mainhand

  • Ricochet: Now grants might (base 3 second duration) per hit.
    Offhand
  • Path of Scars: Velocity increased by 25%

Utility/Elite

  • Sic’ Em: Reveal duration increased from 3 seconds to 6 seconds
  • Entangle: Recharge decreased from 150 seconds to 60 seconds. Duration of vines reduced from 20 seconds to 5 seconds.

Pets

  • Black Bear: Enfeebling Roar: Now delivers a strike for damage, no longer goes through evades or blocks.
  • Polar Bear: Icy Roar: Now delivers a strike for damage, no longer goes through evades or Blocks.

This should be the complete list from the preview. I personally am ecstatic.

Jroh | Former SOAC Ranger Podcaster | Platinum Division Top 100 Player
www.twitch.tv/itsJROH For stream, stream schedule, other streamers, builds, etc
https://www.youtube.com/user/JRoeboat

(edited by jcbroe.4329)

Love The New LA Background Music

in Audio

Posted by: Adelas.6598

Adelas.6598

The funny thing is, I never even noticed the music changing – I’m always so busy talking over it in Mumble.

My [elementary school age] son, though, spent a lot of time in his “hiding place” under the water – the area of the sunken city where they played Sands of Kryta.

He noticed the new song immediately and has mentioned the “sad Lion’s Arch song” several times and I had sort of puzzled over it, assumed they changed the music and never paid attention. When reading this article, I had the soundcloud file playing. Now I know why he likes it so much.

I’m glad the background info got posted today, it was really need to have the themes identified.

Love The New LA Background Music

in Audio

Posted by: Immortal.3647

Immortal.3647

whoever (afaik not jeremy soule but someone else) composed the new theme for LA, its BRILLIANT !!!

if it is the same person/group that also composed the OSTs for bazaar of the four winds and wintersday, ANET, KEEP HIM/THEM, the newer OSTs are as brilliant as the ones by jeremy soule !

(edited by Immortal.3647)

GW2 releases Story Journals: Feedback/Questions [Merged]

in Living World

Posted by: Artanis.4963

Artanis.4963

One of my guildmates was worrying about the potential paywall that could build up for new players. What’s great about the Journal feature is that it stops the problem of telling a friend about the story, but that it only hangs around 2 weeks so they don’t get the game; but instead that friend buys the game and logs in the the first time ever, he has his personal story… and the current episode.

You take your friend through an executive summary of replays, front the gems for the episode you were talking about, but there’s still a lot missed, and if this is mid-season 3 or further, a lot of potentially salty purchases to really catch up on the story.

So here’s my suggestions:

  • At or nearing the end of each season, put a substantial discount on the “box sets” for a short period of time, excluding the current/just ended season.
  • More importantly, for most new episodes, put one or two episodes in the same season that have the strongest impact on the current story on a massive discount (read: steam sale discount, 60% to 75% off or more).

This does a few things for the new player:

  1. It’s not quite as painful to acquire multiple past seasons of the story. This is something you’d like a new player to do, since the point of a story is to be told. More than that, this is the end game, you want them to participate in it.
  2. Following the current story naturally leads to catching up on past events. This encourages the new player to continue participating in the current story, continue participating in the community. Not only that, this would highlight currently important parts of history for the entire community, and players that missed those episodes the first time around will be accompanied by others who decided to replay those episodes.

There should be no real effort made to highlight every episode over the course of a season, nor that each should only be highlighted once. Any given episode might be important to several subsequent episodes, although highlighting a single episode this way consecutively is probably not a good idea, nor the immediately previous episode.

Indeed, “…at this time,” suggest that it may be developed in the future. Its not a concrete confirmation or the like, but it indulges the idea, and that alone tells me they’re moving in the right direction.

One way they might do it when replaying a story step, you’d talk to an NPC to make a decision as normal, but only the only options to take are the ones you took before. Other decisions would be visible, but not available.

(edited by Artanis.4963)

GW2 releases Story Journals: Feedback/Questions [Merged]

in Living World

Posted by: spsworkz.4986

spsworkz.4986

If I end up missing out on unlocking an Episode, I’ll be disappointed that I have to use $2.50 or 20-30 gold to unlock it, but nothing that I don’t think is understandable. And $2.50 for an episode, however long, is just as comparable to those who bought The Walking Dead by the episode instead of as the full pack. For those saying 200 gems just for a 10 minute story seem to be confusing Living Story with a single Personal Story event that is only a part of a larger story. There is the ability to replay with all your different characters and try for the challenging achievements that get unlocked (this will really depend on a story by story basis, so will wait and see what the definition of challenging is in this regard).

Living World Season 1 was just temporary content where each Living World development groups would make something available for 2 weeks, and once it was finished, it was over and done with. It didn’t matter if there were still bugs that caused players to miss out on many of the events. I remember when Southsun first came out, the Crab Toss achievements were broken and a lot of players weren’t getting credit for anything happening. Then the 2 weeks were over and it was done, still broken for me on the last day.

With Living World Season 2, I see the 200 gems late fee a reasonable cost for keeping at least someone around to make sure all past events are still working, instead of just saying “It’s Tuesday, we’re done now and on to the next one.” With a lot of people missing out on things because of first week bugs (or just not around), this helps keep things around for longer.
Note: This can easily be countered by the fact that some stories will probably be pretty weak and not as enjoyable, and why would you want to pay anything for something not that great. They might even introduce some freakishly tall Asuran named Jar Jar for some down time comedy relief for people of all ages to enjoy.

Level 80 requirement is something I didn’t even realize that people would be upset over when I first read that. If someone is brand new to the game, with no character at 80, I don’t see why their first thought would be “I really want to play that brand new content that’s out with a story I don’t know very well.” I would have been upset if they said you must have completed all of the Personal Story (they only recommend it, not require it) but not for requiring to be maximum level.
Note: Counter for this would obviously be if ArenaNet ever decides to increase the max level available (because of new maps, content, etc). Level 80 might not be instant (without using items, that is) but doesn’t seem to be that long of a step to reach. But then if they ever start raising the maximum level, you’ll probably just be able to buy an “Instant Level 100” potion from the Gem Store for 2000 gems, so it’ll all just work out in that fantasy world!

-
People still pay $60 for games that can’t be played at launch or are just plain bad. I’d rather a $2.50 / 20g gamble (with a chance of free) for more content from a game I love to play since day one over a $60 fail.

GW2 releases Story Journals: Feedback/Questions [Merged]

in Living World

Posted by: crosknight.3041

crosknight.3041

since it looks like you can replay the release episode, i hope they implement this for personal story also

i’d like to be able to go back and relive my story

GW2 releases Story Journals: Feedback/Questions [Merged]

in Living World

Posted by: Blade Syphon.4325

Blade Syphon.4325

I…I have no words.

Arena Net actually listened to us. They’re adding permanent content to the game, not garbage content that’s done and over within in two weeks. I…I am impressed.

Now, admittedly, I do think it’s kind of a blow to require people to pay Gems for an episode they missed to unlock it, and I do think that’s something that should be revised, but it seems to be in Anet’s nature to bring good news with a touch of bad, and it doesn’t strike me as unusual at all that they’d attempt to monetize this in some way.

But that said, a two week window is more than enough time for most people to log in for a second, unlock the episode, than play it at their leisure. I just feel that instead of requiring people to pay two-hundred gems, it should be unlockable for a small Gold fee in stead.

The sooner we can move away from monetizing everything with Gems, the better. But the Story Journal is definitely a VERY big step in the right direction of bringing this game to where it should be.

GW2 releases Story Journals: Feedback/Questions [Merged]

in Living World

Posted by: Jordo.5913

Jordo.5913

This feature is amazing….it is what we have been asking for, for a long time!

- Permanent Content
- Permanent way to earn rewards
- Less emphasis on achievements to get said rewards
- Harder achievements than just “Kill 50 Centaurs” (remains to be seen)
- No rush to complete said achievements

the only thing i see that kind of rubs me the wrong way is having to pay 200 gems to get the content if you missed it…for instance when I go on vacation this summer…if this content falls in the 2 weeks i’m gone, im screwed

granted…i understand that “hey…too bad, you didn’t want to be around the game to get it for free…pay up sucka” and 200 gems is like 20g(I think)….that is more than achievable in gamen in 1 day

The Arc, Dialog, Writing and Season 2

in Lore

Posted by: Silalus.8760

Silalus.8760

First of all thanks for listening to us, means a lot to know that you’re listening.

Heck yeah! I’ve never seen another major MMO story team so obviously engaged. It is absolutely awesome. (And frankly it encourages me to spend more money on the game too, just for the record. Tell that to your BA’s, would ya?)

-We can have ranks in the army based on our achievements or account points, this allows us to feel more engaged with our characters
-The dialog can refer to us by our rank, oh i heard about the infantry that lost so many fighting the elder dragon, welcome back my friend, i cant believe you are now an arch mage, you sacrificed much to achieve this, etc…

This is a darn good idea, and I’ll add to it:

What if you had your actors voice a nickname based on each title? (Naturally you’d do it for a ton of possible future titles too, so you could get it done all in a session to contain expenses.)

For example, “Mist Runner” could probably just be voiced as-is, while “Combat Healer” might be voiced simply as “Medic” so it would flow naturally into dialogue.

Add to that a couple generic ones such as race (“Norn” or “big guy” for males of that race, “Charr” or “Legionnaire” for them, etc.), class if course, and personal story faction (“soldier”, “scholar”, “rogue”, etc.) as well as “commander” for those with the tag.

Then based on what title you currently have selected and whether you have a commander tag up, the dialogue with npc’s could rotate through some appropriate nicknames.

That would add a touch to the fun of having a title too, especially if there’s any dialogue other players can hear. And as far as Talyn’s military idea, something like that could blend in seamlessly via earned military titles.

The Arc, Dialog, Writing and Season 2

in Lore

Posted by: Silalus.8760

Silalus.8760

While I was happy to see the world recognise my actions I was uncomfortable being viewed as the one as opposed to one of the many that defeated Scarlet.

One comment on this, because there is something quite unusual about how it played out for MMO content:

Remember that you personally were the one that cornered the severely wounded Scarlet in her lair and ultimately delivered the killing blow. You literally were given the chance to use the game mechanic finisher for this, which shocked and impressed me, personally. Each character has their own version of that particular story moment, but in your personal narrative it really was you (character), and you (player) actually did hit the buttons to make it happen. To me that made it more real than the average “you killed it in a raid” tag.

I actually was really impressed with that bit of instanced content because it was a wonderful moment of existential moral ambiguity, particularly given that you (player) have very little choice in the matter, Bioshock Infinite style. (In fact it felt more than a little like the handing over of the infant in Bioshock to me.)

In the end each character’s personal narrative goes: one soldier/scholar/rogue among many, you were at the fulcrum of history at just the right moment. And at that moment you had the ruthlessness to take Scarlet’s piece off the board forever. The world will remember you for that. Your myth will grow larger than life, your role will be exaggerated, and perhaps one day long after the real you is gone you might be renowned as a hero still or perhaps revised to someone with cruel motivations. And it is all because you just happened to be the one with the sword/axe/unicorn-rainbow-shooting-greatsword-of-death in your hand at the moment where the only option seemed to be the one that ended with cold blood on the ground in front of you.

So just an alternate perspective, but that is pretty real to me- I bet there are long dead kings, presidents, and soldiers who would agree with your discomfort. Your discomfort in how you are remembered, as opposed to all that really happened, is perhaps a very believable part of your story.

The Arc, Dialog, Writing and Season 2

in Lore

Posted by: Sharayah.2197

Sharayah.2197

Perhaps I shall add another voice to the pile of those who don’t like being the One True Hero all the time. We are out there, after all, even if we’re quiet.

I’ve been feeling very awkward in every Living Story cutscene that paints me as the “Leader”. I do not feel like I earned the title, nor do I particularly want it. I would much rather be, say, a researcher who’s helping figure out the puzzle, or a soldier fighting against a dangerous enemy, assisting as I can.

I can’t recall any one point where a decision I made, as a player, affected how the group I am “leading” actually decided to act, which seems to me to be the one key requirement for leading a group. There were times I brought important information or lead the charge, but still, without being able to actually lead, I feel like no “Leader”.

This makes the various celebratory cutscenes of the last few updates rather cringe-worthy to me. I feel like a fraud, or perhaps a mascot, a puppet leader they can point to when someone asks. It feels similar to a salesman calling you “friend”, a title that you want to be called by most people, but in that particular case brings up all the red flags. It actually makes me feel excluded from the group far more than if I was standing on the side, unmentioned.

I would much rather have the story bring in the power of a multiplayer game. Our characters live in a world full of adventurers, full of heroes. There are many who answer the call, who run into danger rather than away from it. Each of us brings our own part to the story and there should be no One True Hero, for we are all heroes. We should be working together to forge the future rather than commanding others to follow behind as we lead.

Many games tell us stories of the Power of One, but few manage the Power of Many. There are so many interesting political scenarios, large-scale endeavors, even massive armies clashing like in Season 1, the things that only work if there are many heroes who all think and act differently. I want to lose every so often, to have others support me, just as I want to support them, let them take the limelight for the great things they do.

That’s one of the strengths of WvW, how it tells its own stories of politics and warfare, but there the story ends every time the maps reset. The slates are wiped clean, and while the politics may change over time, the battlefield is the same. But in the Living Story, such epic stories can continue to grow and evolve.

Now, I know that there are many who do want to be the Hero, so I do not request that you get rid of all those story elements. Merely let us tailor it a bit more, let me choose to be the power behind the throne rather than the fool on top of it once in a while. If I wanted to play a game where I ruled everything, well, that’s what single-player games are for. And there are many ways to be a true hero without being the One True Hero.

In some ways, what I want is the storytelling equivalent of the fight against the Marionette. There are times when working as a team is what’s important, where you have to band together to hold the lane against enemies. And then there are times when it comes down to just a few, where one player can make the difference between winning and losing. Those times where I was fighting my hardest, buffing all my allies with Empower so we could kill that warden before the last seconds ran down, those are some of the most exhilarating moments I have ever had in any game. But it would have meant nothing if those on the lanes weren’t fighting their hardest too, giving us few on the platform the space we needed to finish the job. In the story as well, sometimes I want to be part of the crowd defending the lanes, sometimes fighting as a small team on the platform, sometimes the last one left standing and the fate of many resting on my small shoulders.

Many times this game has already delivered on this careful balance of having many heroes via gameplay. But the story doesn’t always follow the same pattern. We’re cast in the starring role, no matter what we did or want. Even when others take the lead, such as Traherne, they defer to us, unable to act without our reassurances. Not our decisions, though, since we make few true decisions, and none that change the patterns of the world.

Perhaps the ones like the OP who ask to become the Hero and those like me who want to stop being called one are reacting to the same things. This “Leader” role feels hollow, unearned. Some players want more real power, others want the fake title removed to better match our real actions.

TL;DR. I don’t want to be the “Leader” of the Biconics, not unless I truly earn it. I’d rather be their friend, and not their only one. Let the story match the world, with every player being their own form of hero.

Peneloopee & Bloomanoo

in Lore

Posted by: Milea.6043

Milea.6043

I’m going to look for them! I am still hopeful for a wedding!
I thought they would be going to Timberline Falls & to Coddler’s Cove. wink

Swearing allegiance in life & beyond did Desmina Zqooksha thence become the gods first follower

Peneloopee & Bloomanoo

in Lore

Posted by: Erukk.1408

Erukk.1408

Anyone else see Pene dying and Bloom going all action-hero-revenge. Maybe even becoming a part of Destiny’s Edge 2.0 :P

Kasmeer: Peneloopee? Bloomanoo? Why are they running?

Marjory: Because we have to chase them.

Kasmeer: They didn’t do anything wrong.

Marjory: Because they’re the Quaggans Tyria deserves, but not the ones it needs right now. So we’ll hunt them. Because they can take it. Because they aren’t our heroes. They’re silent guardians. Watchful protectors. AdoOooOoorable Knights.

Peneloopee & Bloomanoo

in Lore

Posted by: Angel McCoy

Angel McCoy

Narrative Designer

Pen and Bloom are on their way to Kessex Hills, but not quite there yet. Look for them, if you choose. If not, that’s cool too.

Peneloopee & Bloomanoo

in Lore

Posted by: Tamias.7059

Tamias.7059

I quite like them. They’re a little reminder that there are more characters in the world than just the biconics, and that when the world move forward, so do its minor characters. I don’t know how I’d feel about them as more central characters, but I think that’s more because quaggans are so specifically defined as a race, it’s difficult to have a huge amount of variation on quaggan characters (same as skritt, really).

Victory Is Life Eternal [VILE]

Peneloopee & Bloomanoo

in Lore

Posted by: Shiren.9532

Shiren.9532

At the very least, if they must stick around, put them in Lion’s Arch’s little quaggan town and never touch them ever again because really… they feel like they’ve been tacted on as cuteness relief.

You mean like all the “awwwww” moments from Kasmeer and Marjory’s flirting? Or the “awwwww” moments from Braham and Rox’s “cute” banter about Braham’s injured pride and Rox’s supportive realisation to choose friends over her culture and cut through bother their “tough” personalities and talk about his injury? Or Taimi’s “awwwww” everything (remember when asura looked like this: http://wiki.guildwars.com/images/0/02/Oola.jpg and were generally unlike-able?)?

The story doesn’t need cuteness relief, it’s become the core of most of the scenes. It’s clear the current writing has gone for a specific style and target audience and the quaggan couple are just one element of it.

If the quaggan didn’t turn up in this last patch, we are certain to see them in the near future.

Peneloopee & Bloomanoo

in Lore

Posted by: Milea.6043

Milea.6043

Went to visit Peneloopee & Bloomanoo today & they are no longer beside the apple orchard in Gendarran. Anyone know where they may be?
Hopefully, planning their wedding & a huge Guild Wars 2 wide celebration event!
~Milly

Swearing allegiance in life & beyond did Desmina Zqooksha thence become the gods first follower

OMG - I'm so sorry everyone

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: LastShot.4762

LastShot.4762

See this nerf coming over a month ago, when Anet nerf champ box and the FG train, can’t say I am surprise at all.

ps. nerf DQ train thread pop every few weeks, this one just happened right around the time Anet decide to do something about it.

OMG - I'm so sorry everyone

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Lankybrit.4598

Lankybrit.4598

I thought it was actually pretty funny that I got it spot on. They left Oak and got rid of all the others.

I’m apologizing to those who don’t like the change.

My Life in Tyria: http://lankygw2blog.blogspot.com/
Updated every Monday

OMG - I'm so sorry everyone

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Lilith Ajit.6173

Lilith Ajit.6173

I’m fine with the QD train being derailed. I’m usually one to fight for the destruction of loot faucets, but given the amount if noobies I help and how many of them were terrified of setting foot in queensdale…. I just didn’t like what it was making the game look like.

Now if it was in a mid level zone I’d give zero kitties.

[ARES]
And all who stood by and did nothing, who are they to criticize the sacrifices of others?
Our blood has bought their lives.

OMG - I'm so sorry everyone

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Vesuvius.9874

Vesuvius.9874

Why are you apologizing… ? Unless you’re being sarcastic :P

On topic though, yeah the developers do listen. As I was going through the detailed release notes, I noticed a lot things added/changed in the latest patch were things people talked about on these forums.

Kudos to ANET for taking their player base so seriously!

OMG - I'm so sorry everyone

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: timmyf.1490

timmyf.1490

They also didn’t listen when people complained that high-level zone map completion shouldn’t be required to get lower level traits.

Karaoke – Guild Leader – [MEGA] Super Mega Happy Fun Time
www.getunicorned.com / northernshiverpeaks.org

OMG - I'm so sorry everyone

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Hopeless.5403

Hopeless.5403

I for one never understood the “champ train” in starter levels to begin with. I guess peeps really like those 4 slot bags. I’ve been asking the devs to fix the light blobs or give us an option to turn off other players spells to no avail.

OMG - I'm so sorry everyone

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: cephiroth.6182

cephiroth.6182

I’m warning you! If you say “Queensdale champ train nerf” one more time (gets hit with rock) RIGHT! Who did that? Come on, who did it?

OMG - I'm so sorry everyone

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Celtic Lady.3729

Celtic Lady.3729

They made this decision based on more than one player’s disgruntled comment. But if it makes you feel like a special snowflake…:) Go for it!

OMG - I'm so sorry everyone

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Dusty Moon.4382

Dusty Moon.4382

Hi,

I thought I remembered saying this, but I couldn’t remember where. Well, on May 8th at 13:23 on page 4:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/An-End-to-the-Queensdale-Train/page/4

I said:

“They should move all Champion Trains to high level zones. Maybe low level zones should have 1 champion each or something, but not enough for a train.”

I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize the Developers were actually listening.

People say A.Net doesn’t listen, well they do. I say the Champ Train should have been flushed a long time ago.

OMG - I'm so sorry everyone

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Lankybrit.4598

Lankybrit.4598

Hi,

I thought I remembered saying this, but I couldn’t remember where. Well, on May 8th at 13:23 on page 4:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/An-End-to-the-Queensdale-Train/page/4

I said:

“They should move all Champion Trains to high level zones. Maybe low level zones should have 1 champion each or something, but not enough for a train.”

I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize the Developers were actually listening.

My Life in Tyria: http://lankygw2blog.blogspot.com/
Updated every Monday

Guild Alliances on Upcoming Patch

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Reyo.4738

Reyo.4738

The mega-server is not going to be implemented world wide at the start no. It will be in stages. BUT, the spawn timers for the bosses IS being added. Why change Teq and Wurm from alternating every 2 hours? Its fine as it is! If its not broke do not fix it.

As for what we are hoping for? We are hoping our community remains intact with this patch and is not disjointed and fragmented, and then ultimately destroyed by it because we cannot get all 120+ of our members in teamspeak into the same map.

Guild Alliances on Upcoming Patch

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: agenciq.8043

agenciq.8043

(I would hereby like to request forum moderators not to merge this topic with other Megaserver feedback threads. We don’t just want to give feedback, we want to raise serious concerns here regarding the future of guilds like ours, rather than being lost among flame and suggestion posts. Thank you in advance.)

At the start I would like to apologise. It is not my intention to offend anyone, especially not ArenaNet nor any person that plays in GW2. I will state the facts as they are without any sugar-coating and sometimes truth is harsh, so don’t take it the wrong way.

Let’s start with a short introduction; I’m Agent, one of the three leaders of the biggest EU community dedicated to slaying Tequatl and Triple-Headed Wurm and probably all the future “hard” bosses we might get. The TxS Alliance, as we call that community, is a home for over a thousand players enjoying the complicated events in-game. The Alliance is spread over 4 multi-server guilds; TKS, THS, TSS and TXS. We usually kill Tequatl at least twice a day (more than 300 confirmed kills) and we managed to kill the Triple-Headed Wurm over 50 times since its release. This all would place us amongst the most experienced in these events.

Of course, we are not the only ones; NA servers have its own community called TTS (which exists of 10 or more guilds and houses around 5,000 players). Since we operate in the same way I think that I speak on behalf of all those people.

We have created said communities for these hard events, but with the upcoming Megaserver patch, that will most likely come to an end. This is why:


1. Average population per map copy: +225%.
This is how we organize our events: Get around 120 people on TeamSpeak, guest to a server, check if the map is empty, invite all your members and kill Tequatl/Wurm. I guess I do not have to remind anyone that maps fit 150 people at most.

ArenaNet’s idea: Get everyone, regardless of server, on the same map. This way, every instance of every map will usually be almost full.
I understand the point of view of developers; you basically want to squeeze as many people as possible on a map so “casual” players will always have someone to play with.
But hey.. what about the NON-casual players?

Question: How we are supposed to do these events now when ¼ of the people will end up on map instance one, ¼ on map instance two, ¼ on map instance five and ¼ on whatever other map instance there is? If your answer would be: “But people from the same guild will end up on the same map!”, that might be true, but to what extent? You will end up on the same map, but that map will already have people on it. What happens to those people when more guildies try to join in and the map is already full? Do those people get ported over to a different map instance, or will the guildies not be able to get in anymore?
Not to forget about: “Average population from the same guild as the player on joined map: +5%”. As mentioned before, we are not just one guild; we’re spread across four.

Our solution: Guild-specific map instances. Since we can pay gems to make our private pvp arenas, why can’t we pay gems to create our private Sparkly Fen, or Bloodtide Coast? Where only specific guilds can enter?


2. World bosses spawn time changes.
I do not know what statistics you guys look at in your office but I can tell you now that no-one will kill Tequatl at 04:00 AM in Europe. How did you even pick those times? Since September we kill Tequatl every day and I must say that our guildies never asked us to kill Tequatl at any of those ridiculous times before.

ArenaNet’s idea: Since we already squeezed all the people on the same maps so they are not empty, how about we limit world bosses to only one kill per day, at a realistic time? That’s great! Now these maps will always be full at this hour because, let’s be reasonable, there’s only one time most of the people will manage to join after work/school/university/life in general. (Which is 19:00 cet)

Question: What exactly was wrong with Tequatl/Wurm spawning every 2 hours? People/Servers could pick whatever hour they wanted to and finish those events at a convenient time but now they can’t. “You will be able to spawn those bosses using consumables bought with guild merits/influence” NO. Which takes us to the problem number 3.

Our solution: Um… leave the spawn times like they were and everyone will be happy? Because there was totally nothing wrong with that.


Agentka
Former TXS Alliance Leader,
now Northern Lights EU community Leader

Guild Alliances on Upcoming Patch

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: agenciq.8043

agenciq.8043


3. Spawning world bosses using consumables for guild merits/influence.
You guys made a game where people can join 5 guilds at the same time. So people join one for guild missions with friends, one for WvW raids, one for doing dungeons and, for example, TxS only to kill Tequatl and Wurm. We can’t even comprehend why you did such a thing since even players from 500 people guilds join TTS or TxS just so they can kill Tequatl/Wurm. Do you really think that giving people the ability to spawn those events will somehow magically change the way guilds work? The only thing that this will lead to is flaming and whining on the forums because guilds with 35 players are able to spawn Tequatl, but it’s too hard for them to kill it! Nerf it! Just like what happened with the Mad King jumping puzzle.

ArenaNet idea: Tequatl and Wurm might be fun events for casual guilds to try. Let’s make it so that they can, given the guilds are able to grind for merits and influence, queue their own world bosses!
In doing so, we will force our guild mission content on all the guilds that are not designed for guild missions at all. On top of that, offering double rewards for having to do guild missions not only in the guild that is meant for that, but also in a world boss guild just so they can unlock the content the guild is purposed for is obviously out of the question.

Question: Now you expect people to do guild missions in more than one guild? What for? Will they get twice as much commendations? Probably not. Will we be able to gather enough merits to spawn Tequatl twice and Wurm once a day? Everyday?
TxS guilds exists only to keep all the people together in one place because we all want to kill Tequatl and Wurm. We never wanted to do guild missions together, or any other guild activity for that matter, to be honest. Not to mention you allow players from different servers to join the same guild. How do you expect TxS or TTS to gather influence and merits for those “consumables” if each server carries its own influence?
You can’t just force those ways on every guild. Certain guilds serve one purpose and one purpose only. We kill Tequatl and Wurm and that is the only thing we do, as everyone has their own guilds for guild missions already.

Our solution: If you really want us to spawn those events using influence/merits you should make sure that both will not be server-based anymore on the same day as the patch hits, not half a year later.


You might think that this post is just another old man’s rant, but it is not. Since the information release of the Megaserver patch we had pleasure to talk about it on TeamSpeak with at least 500 of our guildies and those are the concerns that were raised.
Now, ArenaNet! Don’t take this the wrong way; the idea behind this Megaserver patch is awesome it will help casual players in whatever they want to do, but it seriously hinders the thousands of organized non-casual players like us.

To give you the simplest example, look at your statistics, how many times did Vabbi kill Tequatl or Wurm? Now let me ask you another question: do you really think that the great population of Vabbi gathered around and did that? And do you really think that getting more casual players on the same map will lead to them successfully finishing those hard events? There is a reason we have an organized guild like this, because it takes a lot of organisation and cooperation and teamwork to kill these bosses.

You usually do not get feedback like that from communities like ours because we know that it will probably get ignored anyway and we won’t accomplish anything, but this time is different since the patch puts the survival of guilds like ours in serious question. Lots of people in our guild, like myself, only play this game because we have these events where the organising and doing them as a team is the last fun part of Guild Wars 2. If this ends, many will consider leaving, like me.

This is a serious matter to us, so I’d like to ask the general community of the game not to use this topic for flaming or trolling because you won’t accomplish anything anyway.

As a leader of TxS I am also asking members of our alliance not to participate in flaming wars if any were to occur. Be polite, respectful and stay on topic.

(Big thanks for Chiiwii and Fyridor for spell-check and grammar ^^)

Agentka
Former TXS Alliance Leader,
now Northern Lights EU community Leader

(edited by agenciq.8043)