Guild Wars 2

Avster.1935:

Mea.5491:

Elitism. The cancer of MMOs.

No. Uneducated & inflexible people are, especially when it comes to challenging content that requires group effort. You need to be a team player.

Many people who appear to be “inflexible” are not 100% that way. When forming a team and working to together it’s best to use positive team building communication skills. Most people view the term “elitism” as an attitude that is frequently extremely negative and condescending of anything that the “elitist” deems below himself/expectations/performance levels.

As I said in my previous post, if you approach someone by giving them orders, and telling them they are terribad, horrible, stupid, a noob, uneducated, casual, simply because they do not use a meta build. The player being addressed is far more likely to become defense, lash out, or become even less likely to want to change. Instead try approaching others with a friendly + positive attitude, it leads to better team work and communication.

Example: Stupid noob, terribad build. Switch to (insert build name) or gtfo noob casual. (yes it’s an extreme example, but I figure it gets the point across)
Better solution: Hey, we are really need (dps/tank/support/what ever), do you think you could use the (insert build name here)?

Both cases a build was suggested and request for the player to try. The later case will almost always have a better response.

Of course there will always be the super stubborn person who refuse to do anything different ever, which is no less snoby then the “meta” only attitude. In which case it’s probably best to just remove the player or reform. Also always try to keep in mind being a team player works all around, player A should be willing to work with player b, c and d. Each person should try to compromise at least to some extent to make the team work.

Gator.5729:

If everyone who has ever received a spam whisper from gold sellers noticed, everyone of them seems to have 17 AP. I can’t think of one that I’ve seen that ever had more than that in the last 4 years. Maybe there is a way to restrict whispers based on something like that.

Or they simply get more AP. 20 AP is like two days of dailies? Any kind of filter you pick, it would be a minor inconvenience to them but a larger and larger burden on legit players.

Gator.5729:

If everyone who has ever received a spam whisper from gold sellers noticed, everyone of them seems to have 17 AP. I can’t think of one that I’ve seen that ever had more than that in the last 4 years. Maybe there is a way to restrict whispers based on something like that.

The problem there is they would probably just resort to try stealing more accounts obviously with AP points. That really does not help a lot.

Curunen.8729:

ProtoGunner.4953:

There is another possibility. Since they can do whatever they want, we may kill Primordus during Season 3, I mean it’s really time to move on. There are 4 more dragons and after nearly 5 years only 2 are dead. With this pace (if they won’t change anything) we will be retired or six feet under

I’m going with this.

Primordus finished in LS3, Kralk in next expansion.

I don’t think they will risk that. They got an enormous amount of flak and negative feedback about how short HoT story was and how it made Mordremoth feel a lot less threatening. I don’t think a short skirmish and fight with Primordus, with little build up is going to go down very well.

Pacing is something they need to get right with the next Dragon. Mordremoth went from a 3 year build up to a sudden conclusion with loads of important hanging threads – the pacing was all wrong.

Primordus is also one of the most important Dragons (from a veteran pve player perspective) since he has been awake for the longest time, has connections to GW1 and ties into so many aspects of lore like Asuran history and the last of the Dwarves. Lots of players want to explore the potential in this and killing off one of the more iconic ED’s and moving onto Jormag or Kralk just squashes this potential completely flat.

They’ve lost a little bit of their mystique having two killed off already, but essentially machine gunning down the next en route to another takes an eons old threat and turns them into something rather pathetic I’d say.

My original post was definitely aiming to draw attention to detail in a silly way. I don’t want to be serious about things I see that I think should be in the game.

I really hope there is a real attention to detail with this stuff. It’s a game and it’s fun, but a lot of us are serious about our fun. We take attention to detail in movies, games, and especially books really seriously. Leaving out all of the enemies that were on the Ring of Fire Islands would be a shame.

I suspect Tyria will live on in this game and future games for quite a while so I would hope attention to the little things like what lives where etc. would trump, “Nah, I don’t want to make assets for gargoyles and hydras and flesh golems and Titans”.

If you google the definition of histrionic, you get “excessively theatrical or dramatic in character or style”.

I am well aware of the existence of Histrionic Personality Disorder, but that’s different from using the word as an adjective.

And yes, it was a non-subtle reference to all the caps in the title.

Histrionic – overly theatrical or melodramatic in character or style

Nobody suggested the OP is suffering a disorder.

spawning items on top of some other interacable object is almost as annoying as typing with CAPS.

Despite the OP’s histrionics, I do agree with the suggestion of being able to find the owner of the banker/trader/box o’fun/etc.

Not for blocking vista, NPCs or annoyances like that, but players have trolled more significant events, notably TT wurm by using these items.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/4zrkus/vent_trolls_at_tt/

Tsumiju.3071:

if the commander had said

The commander in this case has already said. They said run a meta-build. You need to get over this, you are not being singled out but are instead making yourself stand out. “I refuse to conform” just means you aren’t going to get in a raid.
And the thing is, that is probably a good thing. Because when the commander says “right, you need to get on teamspeak”, are you going to refuse and insist everyone uses mumble?
And when the commander says “take out the big boss against the wall” are you going to refuse and start arguing about it being better to take out the small guy in the far corner first?
There’s a reason for the builds, they’re not made up. It’s from experience of what works. The second you start going “well I’ve got this other build..” you’re inconveniencing a bunch of other people who have the right build to get the job done. As has been said, make your own group and see how that goes. I suspect not well because this isn’t something you get carried on and people will just quit your group when you can’t get through the content.

It has also been said that you could join a training/raid guild. If you joined mine we’d still insist you had a metabattle build. And if we had enough PS warriors and you were another a PS warrior, you wouldn’t get in. Raids are about builds and team composition so I’d recommend having a few characters you can raid on if you are serious about raiding.

Ardenwolfe.8590:

Ensign.2189:

You are correct, snobs that think their special snowflake build and way of playing is more important than doing what is necessary to make the team successful have no place in raiding.

They also have no place in team PvP, or basically any sort of team environment in any walk of life.

I’m loving the irony.

You mean like the irony of the OP saying people who use meta builds are snobs then saying the people who use meta builds aren’t actual players?

Yes. This thread is full of irony.

Miku.6297:

Just because someones build/armor set isn’t EXACTLY what YOU consider meta, doesn’t mean it’s “terrible build/armor set”. That mentality, and condescending attitude is being a snob.

I don’t think everyone thinks that players not using a meta build have terrible build/armor sets. They just don’t know how good or bad it is and would rather get someone using a build they know is good (the meta) instead of risking it being a person with a terrible build/armor set.

Some probably do think that every build that is not meta is terrible, but it’s not everyone who does.

Tsumiju.3071:

Since when did MMO endgame content rely on players following the exact guide from sites like metabattle etc? It seems nobody want’s to do raids unless someone has handed them the exact guide on a plate.

Neither statement is correct, as you’ve phrased them.

• People do not rely on exact builds. Some training guilds recommend different builds.
• Plenty of people who are experienced raiders run other things, once they know what works.

Tsumiju.3071:

It’s getting lame but I’m not changing a working build just to be “allowed” to participate in raids.

You’ve conflated two different ideas.

• Your build might ‘work’ in one game mode, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good choice for other modes. For example, lots of great PvE builds won’t work in WvW or sPvP or vice versa.
• It’s not about being ‘allowed’ to participate, it’s about understanding that you are not yet as experienced as the raid organizers. They know what’s required to succeed; you do not — not because you’re not clever or skilled enough, only because you haven’t seen it in action.

I’m a very experienced driver, but that doesn’t give me the knowledge to race at speeds double (or more) of what I drive on the freeway. Everything I know about being a ‘good’ driver on public roads isn’t enough to help me succeed on a race track. I rely on experts to show me what I need to do, including changing my idea of how positioning, speed when I reach a curve, and (to my chagrin) how often I need to look for other vehicles (hint for that last one: never, when I’m with a trainer).

tl;dr if you want to participate in someone else’s organized raid, then presume that they have good reasons for asking people to run certain builds. If you feel restricted by that, organize your own raid group and figure out what works by trial and error.

sophiewhite.3149:

honestly i love how people say form your own group. sure i will. as soon as lfg isnt spammed with “SELLING RAIDS” bs. they should be banning those people.

Why exactly should they be banned? They aren’t doing anything against the rules.

They say they are working on it forever, but I don’t really see any progress. So I’m guessing they’re slacking.
It serves them right that the portal isn’t working :p

There is a reason for meta builds. People want to get raids done fast. Not wait around for someone who has a terrible build/arnor set. Most of these people arent being snobs. Its usually soneone being to sensetive. This content just requires certain things. (people have done it in all greens and what not but those are thr same people who make the meta builds so id say they are above average) the average player who does raids just wants to get them done with as little pain as possible.

Well, don’t then. make your own raid group with everyone having whatever build they feel like using.

Chad.6104:

What is the point of having a minus (in combat for a minute)? You can’t use these in raids, WvW or PvP. That leaves dungeons and regular PvE. Are so many people doing dungeons that a full minute of in combat is needed?

Maybe arenanet needs to rethink this item. It’s expensive to buy for what it does and most of the time there’s a waypoint nearby so it’s easier to waypoint then run back rather than use something like that.

You’re assuming that Ring of fire and all future zones will have multiple waypoints.

What is the point of having the Agent of Entropy achievement set to “infinite” if, after achieving it a finite number of times, and maxing out on the number of achievement points you can earn, you no longer earn any more achievement points? Each time I hit the required amount of salvage (200), it says that I received 2 achievement points….but I don’t!

So either fix it to remove the cap and allow a player to receive 2 points every time he/she hits the 200 mark, thus truly making it “infinite”, or have the achievement no longer be active after a player gets the max number of points.

Smooth Penguin.5294:

Just some background for you. The rifle wasn’t originally a tool used to harvest rice. Nor was it thanks to the Okinawans for first incorporating it into martial arts.

No, but the rifle was designed to press firmly into your shoulder. Just as the kama (as a weapon) is meant to be used with PROPER form in combat. Holding the kama in a very loose and isolated reverse grip as GW2 characters currently do is akin to holding a rifle with the stock 3 inches above your shoulder. It may look generally close, but it is not proper. There is no benefit to it, and there are many disadvantages.

Smooth Penguin.5294:

Holding kamas with an upside grip with the way a Thief uses it, and you’d be attacking with the blunt side of the blade. So again, it only make sense to hold it with a reverse grip..

I just went through Thief Dagger(/Dagger) animations in slow motion with both normal daggers (Chaos Dagger skin) and kamas to confirm. With a disclaimer that certain animations like Death Blossom are an absolute pain to track the actual weapons (so may be inaccurate), here are the results of what part of the kama actually strikes the target…

Blade = tip or sharp edge
Top = top of blade (blunt)
Back = opposite side of handle from blade
Bottom = bottom of handle (pommel strike)

With the current reverse grip

Backstab: Top
Double Strike: 1 Blade, 1 Back
Wild Strike: Back
Lotus Strike: Top
Heartseeker: Bottom
Twisted Fang: 2 Top
Death Blossom Main Hand: 3 Blade
Death Blossom Off Hand: 1 Blade, 3 Top
Dancing Dagger: Back/Top/Bottom (could hit with anything except the Blade)
Cloak and Dagger: Back

With a would-be normal grip

Backstab: Bottom (possibly Blade)
Double Strike: 1 Blade, 1 Back
Wild Strike: Bottom
Lotus Strike: Bottom
Heartseeker: Bottom (possibly Blade)
Twisted Fang: 2 Blade
Death Blossom Main Hand: 2 Top, 1 Blade
Death Blossom Off Hand: 3 Blade, 1 Top
Dancing Dagger: Blade
Cloak and Dagger: Blade

According to my eyes, at least, changing the kama to use a normal grip would actually benefit the Thief Dagger(/Dagger) animations, especially the off-hand animations. The only animation that seems to benefit from the current reverse grip is main-hand Death Blossom… which isn’t really visible in real-time combat anyway.

Anyone can dispute it, but they can also do the same thing I did to make their own judgment.

draxynnic.3719:

To be perfectly honest, I always thought the reverse grip was silly for all of the daggers. It’s useful for close-in work against an unarmed opponent or another knifefighter if you know what you’re doing, but in GW2-style combat where you’re often fighting someone with a larger weapon, you generally want the longer reach of the conventional grip.

Completely agreed. I can understand the “ninja-esque” vibe of the reverse grip for the Thief, but the normal grip is much more useful in combat… especially for double-edged blades.

Sartharina.3542:

I like the way the Kama’s held, with the blade under the hand. Turning it around makes it look like a stupid sickle.

Kama IS a sickle

Agreed. To be perfectly honest, I always thought the reverse grip was silly for all of the daggers. It’s useful for close-in work against an unarmed opponent or another knifefighter if you know what you’re doing, but in GW2-style combat where you’re often fighting someone with a larger weapon, you generally want the longer reach of the conventional grip. Plus, the animations tend to have the blade sticking into your character’s thighs when in the ‘ready’ stance.

What’s silly with a dagger, though, becomes ludicrous with a kama. I like the skin, but the animations are totally unsuitable.

Haleydawn.3764:

If the weapon was flipped around, dagger animations would need an overhaul just for one weapon. Since the animation uses the underside of the hand to attack (where the dagger blade is currently) so no I think with current animations your suggestion would look even worse.

Upside down daggers? Thieves hold their daggers in a reverse edge in grip, known for defense and greater force when brought downward on the tip (hello Backstab). So they are holding daggers correctly imo given the status of the abilities they give you.

Your post has merit and it makes sense. I thought of that too. There are already daggers in game that face the other way, so it’s not impossible. Reaper of Souls, Severed Dagger, Jormag’s Needle, and Grenth’s Tear are all “upside down daggers”. Note that Reaper of Souls being sickle like and was made to be more appropriate handling. To make the kamas that way is either oversight IMO, or sheer laziness. I know thieves would have been left out, but I think a kama would have been better in the “axe” category for this game rather than daggers because of the animation.

At this point, I really think the dagger orienation bothers me more than the animation. With all the “fancy-dancy”, overly done effects, you are not going to see much. Every time my characters pulls out their weapons tho, it will make me cringe. I know kamas, so maybe that plays into this. But at the end of the day, they are simply wrong. No one I know holds them that way. It’s akin to holding a sword by the wrong end, beating the enemy with the stick end of the hammer, or holding a rifle upside down. It’s just plain stupid for those that know, and I think many of us know kamas.

Watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMibaWEStkY

or look for any video of Tyler Weaver

Smooth Penguin.5294:

There’s no right or wrong way to use kamas in the real world. In game, kamas are dagger skins, and all daggers are held with a reverse grip. Flipping the kamas would make no sense due to how daggers are used by characters.

Let’s substitute the “kama” there with another weapon.

“There’s no right or wrong way to use rifles in the real world.”

Sounds kind of silly, don’t you think? If you wish to be effective and safe, you must hold the weapon the proper way.

The kama is not a dagger. The kama’s current reverse grip doesn’t even work well with existing dagger animations. Go try it out with a Thief. It’s like a thug holding a pistol sideways just to look cool. This is worse.

The dagger is fine. The sai (Usoku’s Needle) is ok. A shortsword may be tolerable. But the way the reverse grip looks (as is) on the kama is very unsettling. It’s like a tennis player holding his racket upside down.

The kama needs to either be flipped to be held in a normal grip, which would work just as well (at least with Thief animations), or have its angle changed to be a proper reverse grip… which it is NOT currently. It’s like holding a rifle with the stock 3 inches above your shoulder. It is both impractical and looks glaringly wrong.

http://dulfy.net/2016/09/06/gw2-gemstore-updatedragon-kama-returning-items/

Watch the video closely and imagine the Kama being wielded in correct way (imagine real world hammer). The animations would still work perfectly and it would not look as silly as now. Actually they would look even better than now :P

This actually isn’t true. There are several daggers held the other way around. E.g. Tear of Grenth, Jormag’s Needle.
I never felt that the animations were off with these daggers, even though they are reversed and I have to agree with op, that the Kama would look much better reversed.