Guild Wars 2

I would like to outline one issue i have with GW2 regarding it’s gear system and Ascended gear in particular. I don’t want this post to become a rant, so i will try my best to stay constructive.

GW2 offers great variety of customization in gear and build department. There are 18 stat combos available for armor, jewelry and weapons, around 64 runes and around 63 sigils in this game. Now, on paper it looks like GW2 was designed with as much freedom for players to choose their builds and play styles as possible in mind. Sounds great, right? Unfortunately in reality it’s not that great. Right now gear system feels cumbersome and clumsy, requires a lot of micromanagement on many levels. I assume everyone who played different game modes in GW2, like PvE and, especially, WvW, familiar with the usual routine you need to go through with in order to set your toon up. And when you done, you end up with multiple sets of armor, jewelry and weapons in your bags/bank and no gear manager, no build manager, no dual spec. And if you would like to try another rune set or sigil… well you’ll have to either replace existing ones or craft yet another set of armor. It’s worth mentioning that whole this process is not cheap either. So, in short, i think it’s fair to say that currently whole system is somewhat inconvenient to use and user unfriendly.

Now, on top of that, we now have ascended gear. I have 4 daggers, 3 shortbows, 4 pistols, 3 swords on my thief. I’am a lazy one, that’s why i have so few :P. I have a guildie who have 8 sets of armor on his warrior. And that’s just one character. I have 4 level 80 ones and i like to play them all. So i’am wondering if it’s “working as intended”, if Anet really expects and wants us to craft all this and pile it up in our bags? Is Anet pushing us to choose and stick with one, main, toon and work with it, gear it, with one build, one game mode (PvE/WvW)? Instead of being able to change our builds and playstyles in a matter of seconds and instead of trying new things, experimenting? Like, is this Anet’s game vision as of right now, that’s where they want GW2 to be? Or is this system is currently in some transitional phase and some tweaks and fixes are coming? Do they recognize it as an issue at all or this design intentional and it’s fine in their book? And how the rest of the community feels about it?

So far i’ve been mostly complaining and criticizing, so i just want to throw in an idea about possible fix. What if sigils and runes instead of being essentially consumables would be, instead, unlockables for armor and weapons? You apply a sigil to a weapon and that sigil becomes available for this weapon to choose from a drop-down menu. Same goes for runes. And what if insignias and inscriptions would work in the same way? You craft an inscription and you apply it to your armor piece and it becomes available for you to choose from, at any given time, when you’re out of combat? This would improve quality of life for players greatly, while maintaining some of those element’s gold sink potential. I’am not saying that this is how it should be or that it’s the ideal solution, it’s just a food for thought, something to work around with, nothing more.

Obviously i don’t expect to have someone from dev team to comment on that, but at least it would be interesting to hear ideas and opinions from community.

Thank you for reading this wall of text, that is, if you did, i tried to put it as laconically as i could right now.

I respect Konig’s opinion, if only for his vast knowledge, but I disagree.

The new lore is ok, not great. Too radical a departure from its roots imo, but that’s another topic.

The story is good at times, but overall it just seems whimsical and flat. I have to say there were a few moments I actually enjoyed the story content, but they were rare gems indeed. It kind of felt like it was meant for an adolescent Harry Potter type crowd. /shrug

The characters…idk. Unmemorable? Destiny’s Edge is uninteresting: Logan is universally loathed; Rytlock is probably the most well-liked by players, including me. Tonn and Ceera’s little mini-story was nicely done. Trahearne…I don’t need to talk about him. The Personal Story had potential, but it didn’t follow through at all really. It also wasn’t very “personal.” People seemed to like Tybalt.

The Living Story characters I have no idea really. Trying to force me to participate in temporary content in a tiny window of time is bad. You can chalk this up to story telling like Konig said, but the reasons behind it is what destroys my interest in it.
There was an interview awhile back(can’t remember the details) where a dev was asked why GW2 has leaned so intensely toward the Living Story as its modus operandi for story-telling. His answer was basically that ANet had started to notice that “hype” for GW2 always seemed to spike before content releases. So they decided to change their content releases to be doled out in pieces every two weeks so they could ride that wave of hype more often. This also benefited their gem-store tremendously, adding several new, unique items every two weeks to pad their wallets.

It really irks me that marketing decisions can influence the story in such a way. Bad ANet, bad!

I played GW1 for years. I played it when there was no hints that there would be a GW2. I remember taking the first steps into post-searing. I remember the first time I saw Shing Jea and met Mhenlo. I remember falling in love with the pseudo-African plains of Elona.

When GW2 first launched, a few of my friends and I wandered around the countryside and found some things such as Olafstead and Longeye’s Ledge from EOTN. We’re still looking for Sifhalla.

GW1 was one of the best there ever was, but it was not without it’s problems. There was no Trader, there was no LFG for years. It was bot infested, although it was fun sometimes to sit on a hill in Bergen Hot Springs and watch hundreds of almost-naked monks run to the merchant, and run out the door, only to reappear in 30 seconds and repeat their route.

I remember when they added henchmen, and the actual grouping with other real people almost stopped. The only time you got a group together was if you were doing a UW speed clear or something similar. Once you hit the level cap (20) you only had PvP (as in GvG) or a few “dungeons” to run.

Yes, I enjoyed GW1 for years. But as with all games, after birthday number 7, it was getting old… very old.

ANet didn’t forget me. Yes, there are a few things I would have liked to see transfer over, but in general, I am enjoying the hell out of GW2.

I didn’t blow through all the content in the first few weeks. I only have 2 lvl 80 characters, I am only maxed in 3 crafts, and I have yet to surpass 70% on world exploration. I play a bit every day, but I don’t have to have that shiney, or the BiS gear RIGHT NOW.

So, the answer, OP, is that no, I don’t think ANet forgot me. I do understand why others feel left out, but at the risk of sounding clichéd, GW2 is a completely different game. It is not GW1. Some people will say good, others will bemoan that it’s not. I can’t speak for anyone else. I am only speaking for myself when I say that GW2 is the best game online FOR ME right now.

Arenanet uploaded screenshots for to-be-revealed Halloween event. I saw a new red door and BLOODY PRINCE here’s the link If you look at the end of URL you will read out BLOODY PRINCE is this Oswald’s or is he someone else, another mad dude?

This should be a game feature. It’s really outrageous that they are charging for this,Low blow, ANet. Low blow.

It’s the result after Rytlock bites Logan during a full moon…

I can only speak for PvE here, I don’t PvP in either of the forms this game has.

First of all, you have to be willing to consider GW2 entirely on its own merits. If you compare it to any other games, including WoW or GW, you risk overlooking some of what makes GW2 what it is.

Second, if you really want to get to max level and best gear ASAP, then this game will disappoint. Yes, it’s easy to get to max level. Max gear? Hard, and getting harder sometime soon. But if you DO get the best gear… there’s nothing else for you to chase. You can do the living story updates, but they won’t actually advance you any. You’ll feel like a marathon runner that slammed straight into an invisible brick wall at the 1 mile mark.

Third, if you must complete every goal and get every shiny, run away. Quickly. New “Living Story” stuff is added every two weeks, and sooner or later you WILL miss something. Hell, you’ve already missed a lot of it.

Fourth, this game has RP in it, which is good. But the game itself isn’t really very RP friendly, which is profoundly disappointing. There are RPers and we do our best, but GW2 really isn’t the best place for RP. (Note: I’ve come from some VERY RP friendly games, so I may have different expectations than most players.)

But for fifth, there’s the positive side. While going at this game as a marathon run is bad, going at it as a casual stroll is great. You have to be just that, though. Casual. Wander around, see what’s going on. Talk to NPCs with names, and enjoy the sights. Take your time, ignore what you don’t want to deal with, and never stress out. If you can enter that mindset, the game is fun. There’s no rush to level 80, the content doesn’t really change for the high end, anyway. There’s a big game world to explore, and some fun to be had if you go out and find it.

So… yeah. If you stress, obsess, or strive to excel, you might want to stay away. If you want to play to just relax and have some fun wandering around a pretty game world and smacking grawl, then load it up and give it another shot.

Beta.. was good times.. why did they change the login screen it to something so basic, simple, unimpressive and well a bit shoddy compared to the rest of the game?

I for one thought the original (beta) intro was fantastic! really got me excited to play gw2!

See beta login:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh2qLcZAUfY

But now its like.. meh :/

Okay. I’m pretty sure all beta players remember that GW2 once had an epic log in screen. It was amazing, and there was more then one thing I liked about it.
-First of all, you got to hear some of the amazing music in GW2, even when you couldn’t login. As soon as you got the client, you could just sit and listen to the music, which I personally liked.
-Second, it was beautiful. Inside the logo of GW2 we could see some amazing concept art, and as well as listen to music, I also liked just staring at all that art.
-Except for the previous things, the old log in screen enabled you to login as invisible. Thats very convenient. I know it’s not the most important thing to be invisible in an MMO, but when you do want to use that feature, it’s useless cause once you pass the character screen, everyone knows you’re on.

Please, return the old log in screen. I don’t even mind double logging in. And other’s people opinions are appreciated. But I really hope the log in screen will return.

Ever since Scarlet was introduced, there has been outlandish speculation of her role in the Lunatic Court. Seeing the time frame for the updates, and the technology used by Scarlet, as well as her personality, it doesn’t seem all that farfetched now that she is in fact somehow related to MKT.

My biggest realization was the Clocktower, and how perfectly Scarlet fits the theme of Guild Wars Halloween.

Thoughts?

Make them collectibles so we can stick them in the bank without using actually valuable slots. That way you can use them or not as you prefer. I have all the backpack skins from each of the events I’ve done since returning to GW2, and I haven’t actually used any of them. They’re all ugly. Holo wings, bone wings, rotting wings, and now a new hobopack for every class. Bleh.

Shufflepants.9785:

Tom Gore.4035:

Shufflepants.9785:

I feel like this is obligatory: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWdd6_ZxX8c

I for one love that this isn’t some static world where all technological progress ceased thousands of years ago.

To be fair if our world had magic we wouldn’t had to invent stuff to make our life easier, which is the base of all invention. A combination of technology and magic would definitely still be viable.

To be fair, if our world had magic, it would be called “science”.

It would get studied and researched like any other current aspect of science. And this seems to be the way that the asura approach magic, scientifically.

Exactly.

If magic is an observable, controllable, predictable phenomenon, it is nothing more than an alternate form of physics that fit a fantasy setting and it would be systematically studied; i.e. science. People would use this powerful knowledge to make magical toasters, plow fields in 20 minutes, create water, eliminate hunger, fly around on floating platforms and instantly heal the sick. It would look way more hi-tech than most sci-fi because it would essentially be real world physics on steroids.

Tom Gore.4035:

Shufflepants.9785:

I feel like this is obligatory: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWdd6_ZxX8c

I for one love that this isn’t some static world where all technological progress ceased thousands of years ago.

To be fair if our world had magic we wouldn’t had to invent stuff to make our life easier, which is the base of all invention. A combination of technology and magic would definitely still be viable.

To be fair, if our world had magic, it would be called “science”.

It would get studied and researched like any other current aspect of science. And this seems to be the way that the asura approach magic, scientifically.

I wouldn’t expect a random casual who can play the game for two weeks to fight Tequatl.

The game offers a range of stuff to do. There’s stuff to do for people who are casual, like work toward exotics (which are good enough to do anything in this game that a casual is likely to do).

But the game also needs more challenging content for other people.

Not having an ascended weapon doesn’t cut off the content of the game from a casual player.

Butter.3024:

Without Holy Trinity it is gonna be hard to make all the stats viable, any body got any ideas?

The problem with thier stat system is that they made beserker and condition sets the only sets that actually modify abilities
the game is designed where ability use is the most important thing.
they reduced the amount of guaranteed hits (skillfull play involves minimizing damage through position, evasion, and preparatory skills like blocks, dmg cancels, etc)

this is why beserker is the best, its not because there are no other factors besides DPS, but you can avoid/prevent/reduce damage, support, and CC virtually the same as anyone else no matter what gear you are wearing.

on the opposite side, 70% of your skills are less effective if you dont have berserker.
as long as this is the case berserker will always dominate the game.

the only other sets that matter ability wise, are condition, and boon duration sets, however, a skilled team can already get max boons when they need to, and do like 50% more dmg without using any boon duration. Condition sets also matter, but conditions dont work very well on bosses, and work very poorly in events with more than 8 people.

the best solution imo?

make other stats effect abilities, and other game play related things.

toughness could effect damage mitigation/prevention stats;
endure pain could have a maximum damage blocked, or have its duration effected by toughness, or vitality for example.

vitality could reduce condition durations or mitigate condition damage, and effect some evasive skills

healing should be changed to an overall support stat lets call it newhealing;

new healing could give a buff to the effectiveness of all boons, and give everyone in the party a bonus as well.
say self bonus maxes at 20% bonus to boons and an overall party bonus to boons. A fully support focused player would make the other 4 players in his party get more power from might, more protection from protection, as well as buff himself.

these are just ideas, but the premise is that the abilities and skills you use need to be effected by more than just power crit dmg, and condition dmg. a berserker can support, avoid/prevent damage, and CC as well as any other geared player. Thats really the problem

It’s sad that noone shows supooer for this.
People just want to grind not play differnt content…
Sure go for it.

Example:
5 points title needs:
1. Completing at least 1 personal story (race part)
2. Completing at least 1 personal story (order part)
And 3 from optional list
10 points title needs:
1. Completing at least 3 personal story (race part)
2. Completing at Arach story (killing Zaithan)
And 3 from optional list (not counted for lover tier – 6 in total)
15 points title needs:
1. Completing at least 2 personal story (order part)
2. Completing map exploration
And 3 from optional list (not counted for lover tier – 9 in total)
20 points title needs:
1. Completing at least 5 personal story (race part)
2. Completing dungeon master title.
And 3 from optional list (not counted for lover tier – 12 in total)
Etc…

Those are my propositions for “Must to have list” categories:
- getting at least 5 races story completed
- getting all 3 orders story done
- killed Zaithan
- getting dungenmaster title
- getting all bosses category titles done
- 4th rank in PvP done
- taking castle 5 times,
- taking garrison 10 times
- taking tower 20 times
- taking camp 50 times.

Those are my propositions for “optional” categories:
- getting grandmaster crafter title (all to 500)
- getting at least 1 mini collection title compleeted
- getting 90% of fractal achievements
- getting at least 1 mini game achievments compleeted
- active guild member title done
- no one left bahind title done
- teamwork gets it done title done
- all you can eat title done
- thirst slayer title done
- golden title done
- 500 hearts done
- 5000 events done
- 1000 skill points earned
- 90% of jumping puzzles done
- 90% of slayer titles done
- 90% of weaponmaster titles done
- 1 culture armor achievment done
- something from WvW but on an logical number since current achievments need real rework.
- half of current living stories metas done
- 12 monthlies done

At the beginning achievement points but due the fact you get those for dailies and monthlies there is just nothing but grind on leaderboards for those points and despite ANet efforts those are only for some shining trinkets that I love, but seriously those done mean a thing in the end to impress anyone or you can’t really tell if anyone knows the game at all when you look at them.

In GW1 there was meta achievement for that and it gave you a title each time you completed to the end each 5 titles that weren’t really easy to get. I looked at someone’s title and I knew hoe experienced they were.

I look on titles in GW2 and I see GWAMM, HoM titles, Golden, Ommnioative and such but that doesn’t really tell a thing. Even achievement point titles don’t really tell a thing about you. You can have 5k or event 10k achievements (if not yet then very soon) and be total noob in dungeons, PvP, WvW, jumping puzzles, map exploration and such, but they grind achievments or dailies and that’s very common now that people with more than 5k achivment points don’t have a clue about many stuff in the game.

We basically need some kind of conqueror title that would touch almost all possible categories of the game in many points and after completing 5 of those points you would progress with your title and that would be something to show as your title.
BUT there should be some must to have and others that are optional to progress at each title.

For each 5 points you get a title that you can show to others so they know that you have some bases and it would give a lot more into status of your character.

A good and valid suggestion! Belongs on the suggestion forum thou…

As a casual, i only can play 3 out of 7 days. Definitively this could put me on par with the rest of those who can play 7 out of 7 days, in terms of time gated content.

/cheers

I definitely want Claw of Jormag and Shatterer to receive the Tequila-treatment! <3

The rest of the boss fights can stay as they are, not everything needs to be ultra-difficult.

Best time in gaming since EQ days. ty arenanet.