Guild Wars 2

Talyn.3295:

scizwig.5492:

Talyn.3295:

Figured this would show up again sooner or later.

Just because we have a map with few waypoints doesn’t mean that mounts are needed in any way shape or form. I am sure more waypoints will be added as the rest of the map is opened up, if not so be it. It doesn’t mean we need mounts.

But I’m curious mount nonsense aside what did you think of the res points?
I just thought it could be fun to explore the idea of justifying mounts- personally I’m not fussed either way about them.

People have been trying to justify mounts in this game in every possible way for a long time. Some have even went to the extent of suggesting waypoints be removed so that they can have a reason to explain why mounts would be useful.

As for res points, I don’t think that the new map really needs them, its not that big yet. Also with the WvW ish pushing into enemy territory theme it kinda fits. Would I be upset if they added a waypoint to each of the forts when we reach a certain level? No, that would be fine, just like when we upgrade a keep in wvw. It would be a reward for defending and holding them.

I do agree about the new map, I think it is great that anet have been focusing more on how the dynamic content shapes a map.

CMM.6712:

scizwig.5492:

JustTrogdor.7892:

Not again.

haha yeah I guess, dose that mean I missed the train, had nothing new to say?

All that has been said has been X a lot

Well, fair enough.

Randulf.7614:

Even if mounts were something to implement (and opinion is so vehemently divided that it prob will never happen), the chaos from lag would be too much. People already suffer on full maps and even more so when pets are summoned. Mini pets even have to be hidden to keep performance. Adding mounts into the mix would just not be feasible from this perspective alone.

Whilst I commend the way you have put some thought process behind your idea, it is extremely unlikely mounts will ever happen in the game. I understand your feeling towards waypoints, but they work very well for the game.

I hadn’t even considered the lag xD it would be monstrous. >.>

Talyn.3295:

Figured this would show up again sooner or later.

Just because we have a map with few waypoints doesn’t mean that mounts are needed in any way shape or form. I am sure more waypoints will be added as the rest of the map is opened up, if not so be it. It doesn’t mean we need mounts.

But I’m curious mount nonsense aside what did you think of the res points?
I just thought it could be fun to explore the idea of justifying mounts- personally I’m not fussed either way about them.

JustTrogdor.7892:

Not again.

haha yeah I guess, dose that mean I missed the train, had nothing new to say?

Possible mounts for races:

Human: horse (Even if it is in poor taste due to Centaur war), tamed griffon- no flying, humans too heavy xD (could be opportunity to make taming quests?) Moa? Or a tamed stag/Doe (or introduce elk?)

Norn: I don’t think it would correct lore wise for the Norn to have mounts, could it be possible they get the same treatment but with their spirit forms and instead of breeding, they have some form of spirit communion where they mix energies to boost the/change the look of the ‘mount form’ of the spirit form. And it would act as a spirit blessing and the money paid goes to the upkeep of the ‘shrine’- instead of ‘barn’.

Asura: Golems (breeding replaced by matrix and wire mixing- golem leasing station instead of ‘barn’ XD like a car rental.), Drake, large dogs/wolves, small horses, boars/pigs, bears/moas? (Asurans are more likely to fit a moa than a human. xD) plus each should have varied stats/skill specs making the choice important kitten far they have a lot of choice, or make it so they could only have golems? (D: but and asura being carried by a pig would be too awesome.)

Charr: Minotaur, Drake Brood mother or some of smart car tank or Segway- with its respective differences in ‘breeding’-‘barn’ xD

Sylvari: Same as humans- maybe introduce a fern horse.

I had been reading ( https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/No-waypoints-is-glorious/first ) seeing both sides to peoples arguments, the pros and cons of way points, the possibilities of res shrines, the distribution of them etc. (I would have posted in this thread but my post covers a bit more than I had first intended) I thought it would be cool if they had a middle ground with all of the maps. A middle ground which I propose to be: At each entrance to a map there should be a way point, as there already is. These way points would function as they do in game now, but should be at a cheap fixed price to use all throughout the game. Then there would be an even distribution of way points that act like gw1 resurrection shrines and would cost a small bit more. Like in Guild Wars they can have their respective priest of Dwayna/seraph field medic, Charr field medic, Norn Sharman, Asuran physician and Sylvari herbalist; depending on which map you’re on. There wouldn’t be so many that they trivialise the size of the map (and its game feel) but permit for quick re-entry to key locations and dynamic events as you chose which you wish to spawn at.
Given the state of the living story at the moment and just the general dangers that are faced by Tyrians on a daily basis, this is quite a lore friendly approach.
However, this raises the issue of the extra travel time to get from one point to another within a map, which could possibly be remedied by the implementation of mounts. This could be approached in multiple ways: Your player could be gifted a mount from the start as a reward from helping fix the problems presented within the tutorial missions, allowing them to be race specific. (Can’t really see a Charr on horseback. xD) Any further accusation of mounts could be done through the gem store (purely for the aesthetic, you still have the one you start with) . Alternatively, a more fun and interesting approach would be to make an in lore service. This service would rent out mounts for a low fixed price, say 1silver and 25 copper (Could get more expensive if you want a faster mount?). And so long as you stay in the map your mount will be with you (spawning with you respectively). And for a reasonable amount of gold you can buy a horse, which will be stored in a type of ‘barn’ (So upon entering a map from a city you can go to this barn and maps where a barn would have no place in being, you could maybe have a traveling ‘horse’ vendor.) But, it does not end there once you have brought a horse it could open up a new crafting profession: Breeding/maintenance. So the more you dress your ‘horse’ horse shoes to armour, could develop its speed or give you momentary boosts or boons after dismounting. (Encouraging the act of dismounting xD.) As you get to higher levels you could opt to breed and so opening up the possibilities for faster/stronger/longer lasting boon giving duration (The mount could even have its own skill bar with speed skills ect.) And this would present the opportunity to create your own unique looking ‘horse’. So you have the option to just rent or really work on getting something awesome (mini game racing would be super special awesome. xD)
It is my opinion that the waypoint system at present has made the game stale and dull to play. (I curse myself each time I use a way point for ease of movement as I have broken my immersion.) By making the choice to skip the world, essentially you make a game of tick box tasks jumping from thing to thing and it is almost mindless. >.> It is kind of a big testament to the state of our cultural conditioning. And whilst I do use the system for ease of movement, that ease creates an emptiness that isn’t fun or engaging. I know that Anet has wanted to stay far away from mounts, but I think with mounts incorporated with my proposed way point/res point system will make traversing the world of Tyria a more engaging and fun experience.
Breeding was already an addition to Guild Wars that I personally had a lot of fun with. However, it was for pets but pets could very awesome in Guild Wars. Maybe it could be implemented again and have players engage with them more and have your pet grow. (Thank you for reading. I hope this has given some food for thought.)

The reason for the topic title is basically this: I am pretty sure that how they are now going to be implementing traits, is much closer to what they described they where going to be on the original development blog. I mean correct me if I am wrong… but like why the change? I like it, but I have played the game a dozen times sorta thing and this is something that would have kept things interesting; playing content to earn the traits not just the trait points. But yes considering you have gone back? To this possibly earlier thought out trait system. could you please maybe go back to releasing the bar brawl and the shooting range in DR?

I would like it if the ministers of DR tried to push the queen into taking LA back. I mean it would be easy to wait for us to do the clean up and then send in a small force to take it back. It could create a new dynamic, do the players that are human side with their queen or fight back for the racial unity that the new(now old as it has been destroyed) LA has brought to the races.

Anet would probably never do that due to the whole ‘you are a HERO’ and morally complex settings don’t fit into that staple. But it would be nice to have an instance where you see them argue about it and the queen putting her foot down and saying no. Plus it would show how the LS is actually affecting the world.

Specific Game Mode
PVE

Proposal Overview
In short, I propose that you give Rangers kit utilities that function in a similar way to that of the Engineers of the game. Which, should focus on things like arrows and rune stones (of which can be placed on the melee weapons/war horn and torch.) maybe even traps.

Goal of Proposal
The Problems that this addresses: The fact that the Ranger can only seem to achieve effectiveness by heavily traiting themselves into one specific tree, meaning that the jack of all traits must become master of one. Kits would permit for more variety for a Rangers play style. As currently, it feels stagnant and dull.

Proposal Functionality
Arrow kits could function much like the Elemenatlist’s attunements:
Glass arrows- cause either bleeding or higher damage, having more skills focusing on burst damage.
Flaming arrows- burning AoE skills or attacks that cause burning to adjacent foes, maybe a reduced hit damage to compensate for the burning.
Poison arrows- much the same as flaming.
Water arrows- more focused on healing and chilling .
(these all sound like how the traps function, but for traps to be viable you need to grandmaster the second tree.)
Associated Risks
The risk is that my proposal sounds too much like a complete overhaul, rather than some basic improvements. Also a possible risk of over complicating the class or maybe overpowering.

Imho: Every other class is a better Ranger than the Ranger- you need to make it more FUN to play!

The screen shot attached to this post shows my character meeting DE in the Personal story instance, which is supposedly a year prior to the destruction of Lions arch. This also happened when I did the mission where I met my mentor in the Vigil.

Is this intentional, accidental or bad continuity laziness…? I suppose it is some stupidly complicated thing that has one of those, easier said than done solutions. But like it is just silly, not only because the time line is mucked up but because it is pure nonsense that the missions could take place during the invasion.

I don’t know… like it just kinda makes me lose hope as to the actual affects the living story is going to have on LA. I mean afterwords when we do eventually save the day or don’t, are the ministers of Divinity’s Reach are going to start putting pressure on the queen to reclaim the old capital…? if they didn’t that would be kinda out of character, considering their ‘corruptness’. Say if the queen takes it back and rebuilds it all divinity style, will the mission take place in the LA the queen owns? I am kinda wanting the answer to be no.

Hey everyone, just wanted to post this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jy7CcwnfUdU
Colin Johanson answered questions from the community, as selected by MattVisual. I just wanted to say thank you, to both Matt and Colin. It is just really great to hear Colin explain Anet’s vision for the future of the game. Looking through the forums and reading official blog posts, I have always felt that: this vision was quite blurred for the community. Simply because, the nature of the forums and the limitations of a blog post do not permit a clear out line of where the game is heading. This interview put to rest a lot of my own questions, except for Cantha xD. I once had the pleasure to meet Colin, through talking with him I had said ‘Guild Wars 2, the guardian angel of the MMO’ >.> that may seem a bit grandiose but kitten it I want to stick by it and so long as Arena Net are trying their best to innovate the stale state of what defines an MMO, I will. So yes, Once again I would just like to say to Colin and the rest of the staff of Arena Net. Thank you for Guild wars 2 and all of the work you have and are still putting into it.

NOTE: I know that I am posting this in the general section but the guild forums didn’t leave much room to place this as a topic…

Hello, I have tried searching the forums for a topic on guild halls but to my… surprise? There was nothing. So I figured I would create one. In short I would like to ask you Anet, if you could please introduce guild halls. They worked great in the first game and I can only think of how they could be more of a benefit then something to negatively impact the game. Though, I understand that the fact being able to be a part of multiple guilds might complicate introducing them. But I can honestly say that trying to organise things without a ‘secure’ meeting place can make the entire fiasco of say, guild bounties, incredibly convoluted. On top of that it would just be nice to have a sense of privacy; it would also give a guild a sense of tangibility within the game world. As well as the aforementioned, it would most likely significantly reduce lag, slow loading etc. in the major cities where guilds might currently use as space to gather. I know that the real purpose of the guild hall in gw1 was meant for the game mode Guild vs Guild, but it became so much more than that. Players could test builds against each other and organize dungeon runs/raids or just have a quiet place to chat.
I don’t know whether this is just a non-issue for people but it is something I personally sorely miss. It was nice to feel like you owned a map, part of the world. And I can honestly say that a Home instance in gw2 has no ground to stand on in comparison to a guild hall.

This brings me on to my next complaint (I would like to apologise for complaining. I do love your game a lot!) I quite clearly remember you saying in your manifesto that if, in my home instance, I was to let one of 2 buildings burn down, the one that I didn’t save would stay burnt down. This has not happened, in fact the only permanent change (other than npcs appearing, like the Shining blade.) that has been made that I have been aware of since launch, has been the quartz node. Now I don’t know if the same goes for other people but to be sure it is certainly very disappointing…

So I guess my closing remarks are: The guild halls you had made were freaking awesome, seriously I would just often explore the maps in preview mode because of said awesomeness… please bring them back…. And I would like to know if my instance is just bugged or something.

Hello everyone! I would just like to thank you all for keeping this topic alive, I think it is truely awesome that it has been given so much support, you guys are epic.

Guild vs. Guild:
If you do ever include the game type I warn you, it must strictly be for fun and that there should be no need for investment. No scoreboards or chart or tournaments, you already have those. If you give them to GvG, WvW will in turn die out, due to the aforementioned problems. Guild vs. Guild is a very good way of making a battle personal as you would be fighting for the name of your guild. That’s intrigue enough to make it something people will do, the only investment is to prove yourself, once that is done you can go back to WvW knowing that you’re Guild is awesome or in need of some team work exercises. Though unlike PvP you give the players some back story instead of the map. The way to do that is to bring back guild halls. But make them like the home instance. For example the human home Salama District; the owners of the hall might play as Seraph agents and the invaders, bandits. A simple context that shows the players what is at stake. The houses, veteran hospital, orphanage can act as objectives or capture points, giving players buffs or new routes around the map. And instead of a guild lord, let’s actually give the bandits a reason for invading, inside the tavern, on the top floor or in the basement. There is the elite guard, guarding a bandit leader. Once the bandits get that far it becomes an escort event, get the bandit leader out of there! But he shouldn’t be able to be taken down so easily that it becomes impossible to save him which means resurrecting him should be made easier too. Or you have the choice save him or kill him to stop him from spilling secrets, if you save him you get 20 influance, for completing the event . All the seraph has to do is defend. It would be like a very much improved Fort Aspenwood. But I suppose the possibilities are endless.
If GvG never happens… then can I suggest you at least try to make new maps for WvW and circulate them weekly?
Anyway just my thoughts on the subject, if you got this far, thank you for reading.

Alienation through armour:
This is a lot simpler and has little to do with you; still kind of your fault though. You have your casual players and you have your ‘hard core’ players. I am a casual gamer, as my life is filled with things that prevent me from being able to play the game. A hard core gamer by my definition has more time on their hands and is efficient at earning a lot of in game currency that will benefit them with in the game. Whether that is accurate or not is irrelevant. My point is: Hard core gamers will achieve better gear faster and become better at the game faster. The harder you make it to get the better gear, the more likely the hard core gamers will have it and the casual gamers will make do with what they have. This along with your armour repair money sink makes it very hard for any casual player want to join in with WvW. I’m not saying you should equalize the armour like in PvP but maybe equalize the chance of getting the better armours. Laurels do not fix this, so long as there is only a chance of getting level 80 armour, it isn’t fair. Also making Daily’s a chore was a huge step back for your no grind policy. I understand you can’t just give armour away but there has to be a better solution… And you cannot always complete the monthly if you chose not to craft or salvage. From the start this game has been about freedom of choice, you can’t do that if you want the best gear and to have any sort of equal footing in WvW, you need the best gear.
On to my next point: the guilds. When a world has good guilds, other worlds will result to desperate measures and for up team so large that they become untouchable. Though this is unavoidable it could be fixed by the urban battle field.

Battle fields for the sake of war:
Tangibility is something that, if forgotten about, can be game breaking. Another huge problem, though this one is more understandable. Is that the world is designed for WvW, now before you say “That’s a paradox.” Think about it. The world is literally a waste land with forts in it. You have filled it with ‘wild’ life and the likes of the lesser races but they are only ever a means to an end and they are never affected by this war. This leaves room for only two types of tactics, tower defence/assault and open war. Understandably this is what the game mode is about. But the lack of variation stunts any positive growth for example the mass use of in game skills to ‘cheat the system’ cough, splutter Mesmers. The lack of any urban war fair is the main issue. Firstly because it stops this idea of tangibility; this war affects no one. No damage is done; there is no consequence for the action of war. There is no evidence that you are fighting for anyone, even in the borderlands! Making the fight seem all the more pointless. Furthermore if you were to have half destroyed villages, this would open up an entire avenue for fighting tactics. An example of this could be found in the PvP map The Battle of Khylo, though I would use this loosely as the map it’s self is rather small but the point still stands. You could make hollowed out towns a new kind of resource or a mini fort. These could easily break up the main game play tactics and make for a fun diversion to the more monotonous breaking of fortified doors. It would be very fun to hide out in a house waiting to ambush an enemy. Open war in the large empty spaces and fort defence is awesome, you have that down. But you’re leaving nothing open for the smaller groups other than supply camps, but victory over those are far too short lived. And the larger the unorganized groups get the more disorganized they become and then no one has a truly fun experience.

War for the sake of war:
You have given us a superficial battle to fight, one that consist of no ideologies, no underlying purpose. Your NPC’s say something along the lines of ‘Fight in the mist war, defend your world.’ All I have to say is why? Wars have always had a point to them, whether or not people agree with that point is not important. Normally if people disagree, in war, they fight back. The mist war has no point and no amount of scoreboards is going to change that. A score count will keep people invested, not intrigued. Without a sense of intrigue, people get bored and this is why they are craving Guild vs. Guild –more on this later-. They are fighting for their world, in the Mists; which you have never solidly explained. Personally I think it is great that you have left the possibilities for interpretation open. It is truly mind boggling that as the mists is the universe and also fragments from time from worlds throughout the universe; it begs the question: is Tyria even real? This is a brilliant premise. But without any sort of explanation as to why people should care, other than a scoreboard. People will always cry for something more.

Hello Anet, now I know this has been brought up to up many times to you before (or at least I have been told it has.). But I would like to have my say. Though I know in the grand scheme of things it doesn’t matter but hear me out.
I don’t want to sound as if I am being harsh. But I need to inform you of a simple truth. World vs. World vs. World is too shallow, too thin. Now there are several reasons for this, some I am sure you have guessed. It is my intention just to bring them to light and maybe suggest a way forward.
Please read following posts….

hey, just wanted to ask why that had been taken out. For me getting to see all the different armours on say my human ranger, was like having like a show room to what i might want to give a future alt. to get more alts I need to buy gems, if you like get what I am saying. Please bring it back. Unless I am the only one suffering this, then it just sucks to be me.

Eveningstar.6940:

Hang on. Dial it back a second. Can I see your source? I’m not trying to sound snobby—I just honestly want to know where you found this bit of news, who this “unnamed artist” was and what context you took your quote from. Because going from “wanting universal rather than Asian themes” to “There will be no Cantha” is a magnificent leap of logic.

There’s a lot of ways you could interpret ‘avoiding Asian themes,’ but without the actual quote and the source, it’s all speculation.

However, a slightly simpler argument might say that they want to avoid Asian themes in the overall design philosophy of the game. There has to be a believable element of Western fantasy (which, believe it or not, has plenty of room for Eastern themes) in the design of GW2 in order to make the world more accessible, and do differentiate it from the stereotypical Korean Grinder.

The quote might have just been about universalism as a goal of the GW2 design vision and its relation to shying away from characteristically Asian themes. In which case, the evidence is all over Tyria. The world is variable and diverse and draws from all sorts of fantasy sources, and it’s hard to pin down in one specific genre.

Again, no idea what the original quote was, the context, or who even said it, but this is a simpler interpretation.

It is among the comments. I quite like how you have read into it actually. Makes me sound that I rushed into it, a bit. I guess I did, and beyond taking this persons word, there really is no proof at all that it is true. I hope that your way of looking at it is, indeed what was really meant because I really can’t think of a single reason why it would make sense to drop Cantha.

“Well lets be real, there are 5 races now in GW2, its not about only humans anymore. Did we see any charr or asura or norn in Cantha and elona? I cant imagine that 5 races suddenly decide to migrate to cantha in 250 years. Sure I would like to see cantha again, BUT a big BUT, I would rather see new areas with new lore .”

I also agree that it would be awesome to see new area with new lore. But the problem with Cathan, is that it is a huge part of the lore and it’s lore had bled into Nightfall. (SPOILER) And there was one Charr in Night fall, in a mission, but it turns out that it is actually an assassin in disguise. And the Tengu played a huge role in Cantha. And it’s not like that each continent was unaware of the races and happenings of the others. I also understand that human are now in decline BUT Cantha does have lore that clearly implies that humans still live there. I think it is a shame that humans could lose some of their diversity because there are five other races… I mean surly Anet have a large enough staff to keep each race feeling ‘diverse’.

Neb, I am not too sure but it could be to do with the political climate in Korea, not that I know what is going on over there, so I wont say anything. But it could be for any number of reasons, I personally can’t see any of them being a good reason.

I agree. there is no evidence. But if it is true, then it is a real shame and I think that it is important that people know about it and at least are aware of it. But I honestly Hope that is is some kind of hoax. But you can never put anything past the companies in charge of the developing teams.

I just heard news that Cantha might not ever be making its way back into GW2 as an unnamed artist for Anet has said: "NCsoft was firm in its decision to stay away from “Asian” themes and keep it “universal.” ArenaNet had to make adjustments quickly. A small number of you may recall that the human story was originally split by Canthans/Elonians/Ascalonians instead of the current Streets/Commoner/Noble paths. Divinity’s Reach originally had sections dedicated to the three cultures as well (Ossan Quarters & Rurikton are the current “versions” perhaps?) ArenaNet obeyed NCsoft’s suggestion and halted all Canthan productions, including the once-existing Canthan sector of Divinity’s Reach…. Because of time restrictions, they had to erase the Canthan sector of DR quickly. The current result is “The Great Collapse.” It’s an inside joke now, she says. The “Collapse” symbolizes what was once an idea that didn’t make it all the way. She further states that ArenaNet had to come up with some new lore to cover up the lack of Canthan content — hence the Emperor’s decree (read lore on Wiki). That’s all I have."

Regardless if this true or not, it is ridiculous. The game world is made universal because it has more than one type/race of human. In GW1 I saw it like this:
Kryta= Greece, Ascalon =European, Istan and Kourna= African, Vabbi and Orr= Arabic and lastly Cantha represented Asia, mostly China/Japan/Korea. That universal diversity is what made Guild Wars such a compelling game. By trying to represent most cultures, you created something universal. I think it is a huge mistake that NCsoft think that universal should mean some sort of one ‘common race’, that because of sexual mingling has come about. That being the only way for it to come about… It is unbelievable to think that entire continent can be erased from a game for the sake of PR.

Cantha and Factions had some of the very best concepts about it in terms of map design and cultural lore. From The training Island to the main land the entire game was beautiful, and the giant city, felt like a giant city. I have actually gotten myself lost in it many times. In fact for quite a lot of people I know, Factions is what got them playing GW in the first place… I know that doesn’t count for much but still.

But what I am most annoyed about, is that you guys (anet) have always been ‘we talk to our player-base’ If this about Cantha is true, then surely this is something we need to talk about. As this is no small thing, it is an entire section of lore and some of your best work going down the drain for no real good reason. Even if this is a thing set in stone, I think it is unfair that the player-base’s opinions go left unheard. It could even be possible that if NCsoft realise how much we love that part of the game, they might change their minds. After the whole Mass effect thing, I think anything is possible with enough voices.

Anyway I just thought I should say something and hopefully people agree and that we can rescue Cathan from the ideas bin.