Guild Wars 2

Consortium Dolyak is clearly one of the elite.

Eventually, the Dolyak Guild is going to revolt and take revenge for their fallen brethren in WvW and caravans across Tyria. They will trample the five races as well as the remaining Elder Dragons and usher in the age of GW3.

Show your support for Ellen Kiel, the the Southsun Settlers’ secret hero – second only to this heroic dolyak.

Ellen Kiel has my full support – we have adventured together, and Kiel has always done her duty, been dedicated to her job; she is straight and straight-forward – much like myself; but she also has a moral compass that will make her bend the rules if she must do so to protect the innocent. Never has she acted selfishly. She may come across as gruff, but I believe she will get things done for the people, not stopping at anything as long as she can follow her moral compass.

Hello,

With the recent update and look into what each candidate will offer, I’m here to tell you why Evon would probably be the best decision.

Now it is true that we use waypoint cost more than keys, however if keys get a 50% decrease in price or lower, chest can be very good. On top of the usual things like orbs, the repair canisters, and other boost; you can recieve permanent upgrades/items that are worth a lot in the TP. Ranging from 200g for a TP contract to 600g for a hairstylist. You can also win an item that levels your character up instantly, this could provide you some much needed help.

I know many of you must be saying, we can probably save more from the waypoint cost. This may be true, but consider this. If you receive even one karma booster, it can help you increase your overall karma gain substantially. Then you can buy orrian boxes and get T6 mats or even sell those grey items. The money gained from those could be close if not larger to what you could save with waypoint cost. Plus, those who are in fractals. You die and you rezzing may save the day, whats this? You have a revive orb! Boom save the day, don’t have to wipe.

Then you have the fractals. Lets be honest here, would you rather see some asurans (probably inquest) make a mis calculation in a Guild wars 2 version of a nuclear reactor, or would you rather interact, if not fight, a god and watch a god either die or the creation of the crystal desert.

From a logic standpoint, it is clear that Evon is the way to go.

Honestly, I think The Crossing makes a better legendary than The Bifrost ;f

Skeletons
Skeletons
Skeletons
Skeletons

Did I mention Skeletons?

I’d personally like to see more monsterous looking minions with spikes and what not. Maybe a mini version of Zhaitan. I also like the idea of it being a tank.

Hopefully they introduce more traits that compliment the minions in general though.

@Bhawb:
“One is built around the idea of basically using minions as Health/Condition batteries, siphoning conditions off you, healing you with every hit, and otherwise being there as extensions of you. This is built completely around the idea of sustaining a small army of minions, which then sustain you back. Blood Fiend is the embodiment of this group, the longer you keep him alive, the longer he will keep you alive, with very high sustain, however the cost of him dying is large.”

Could you please explain this build/gear to me more? I’ve only heard about the “utility” type MM.

PM if you want so that the thread doesn’t get derailed.

any minions that i could actually be able to control!

First of all exuse my terrible english.
Second, i hope this topic does not sound, like moaning, it is ment for constructive feedback, and a measurement of opinions on this topic.

So basically, i got a bit nostalgic, and started to watch Xena the Warrior Princess again, and realized a LOT of things, while playing my own Warrior in Gw2 (or ranger actually).

First of all, Dual Wield feels terrible to me. It does look cool, if you dont fight, but the second you go in battle (and the more chaotic the battle gets, the worse it is) it looks terribly…crap. Thats the best word for it.
Might as well say dull, but its not simply irritating, but feels, underdesigned, and a bad solution. What? The terrible fact, that you basically dont use your offhand weapon, untill you actually use a “skill” of 4-5. Whitch usualyl have a high cd. (so you dont really use it often) Not to mention, the offhand weapon, does not have an “auto attack” , like main hand weapon, when in fact it also should have, since its the same weapon, and should be able to perform the same things as your main hand weapon can…maybe weaker, but still. (and vice versa…the main hand should be able to use the ofhand “skills” to)

I mean, since when cant you parry with an sword? Only because its in oyur main hand and not in the off? Or why cant you simply strike with your offhand weapon?
I been fencing and dooing a lot of tradition keeping (as Hungarian) and i know a lot of swordplay technices. Not to mention the instense fantasy i read and see.

One of the basic rules of melee combat is : If you have a spare hand, use it. Have a shiled for blocking attacks, so you can attack and defend to in the same time. (or after attack you can block the incoming one)
Or use a weapon in it, so you can attack from 2 sides at once, enforcing your opponent, to use 2 “weapons” unless he want to be beaten instantly. (not to mention most weapons can parry to, so they can act as defence and offense to).
What you use, wont matter, as long as you have “more” opportunities then your enemy. If you have the same, then it comes down to skill, speed and strenght and wit. (skill).

2 handed weapons offer other benefits in melee, that counterbalance this. Like reach, and weight.
The other thing abaut weapons is (exspecially swords and maces-hammers) is that they can be mostly used in 1 or 2 hands. I am not talking abaut the Ba sta rrd swords (thats the official name pls dont filter it -_- ) that are an 2 handed sword basically, but can be used in 1 hand to, if you are strong enough, i am talknig abaut those tipically 1 handed swords, that have the hilt to be used with 2 hands for more power,mobility and speed. So using an 1 handed weapon with 2 hands also has benefits that counterbalance the odds.

So i cant simply understand, why is it good, to simply hold a weapon in ofhand, and do nothing with it, while you chopping with the other one….kills the purpuse of having 2….
I could go in more detail abaut, what flaws i find in melee combat in the game, but i am not actualyl here to make it feel “realistic”, even this topic is only for the sole reson : REalistic or not, the Dual Wild fighting looks really bad! Totally odd, destroys my mood, enytime i see it.
I try not to mention animations, since i love the way characters move using 2 handed hammers, but Great Sword fighting looks terrible for my taste. (exspecially spinning movements, try not to force it…its looks stupid)

So thats what i mostly wanted to say. The other thing i would say is just my personal wish : More weapons pls. Gief ranger a chakram . Warriors, rangers, thieves a “short sword” like sword that can be used with 2 hands, giving them a mobile, swift combative fighting mode. (Btw, just look at almost ANY movie and you see it constantly, that heroes use a sword in 2 hands, and then use it in 1 hand…)

Again sorry for the terrible english. As me if something is not clear. . .

Seeing people on here get this involved with a story before its even out yet. I’ve played a lot of MMO’s and I think this is really cool and different, especially seeing the reaction.

To tell the truth I coupled this with real world drinking. Made it much more bearable… though the morning after we will not speak of.

(side note — can we get enough townsfolk to get torches and pitch forks to throw Adnul into Kralkatorrik’s lair?)

Lonely Hermit.1967:

so people have to spend all their free time on this awesome mini game?

You hate it but its awesome? Lolque?

There’s so much ignorance in this thread I don’t know where to start. Just a couple random things:

1 – Adnul is the hardest, but doable. There is a strategy to it, learn it instead of randomly spamming kitten.
2 – You don’t need the drinking achievements to get the Bazaar Ambassador meta. You need 16 achievements. There are 25 achievements you can do. If you mean the Grandmaster of Om achievement, you don’t need it if you don’t like it.
3 – What you like is in no way related to what other people like.
4 – What is this I don’t even…

The whole point of legendaries is that you spend a lot of time doing crap nobody wants to do so you can get a special unique weapon that only people willing to do that much work can get. If you don’t want to go through that process, then don’t worry about making one. They aren’t supposed to be easy to get.

And as for precursor prices, that is entirely about the players. Precursors are rare and hard to get, and of course a big demand for them from anyone who wants to make a legendary. Therefore they are going to be expensive on the trading post. Low supply (super hard to attain) and big demand (people desperately seeking alternate options to the forge). And so, they’re expensive. You don’t have to buy one, you can spend the same amount (or more) gold buying rare/exotic weapons to throw in the forge, if you want. But it’s most likely not going to cost you any less.

Though, if you’re serious about making a legendary..It’s going to take you a while to get all of those tier 6 mats, clovers, etc so what I’d suggest would be as you farm and do whatever you need to for that, save up money. Unless you are really rich in-game through playing the TP or converting gems to gold, making a legendary means you are going to be poor for atleast a few months. Trust me. That’s just how it goes. If you don’t want that, or you want to focus on something else first, then just do that. Legendaries aren’t goin anywhere.

HiddenNick.7206:

…and it wasn’t because there was more mini-games.

At launch the game was about dynamic events, leveling, crafting and gear progression. I had more fun back then. I really miss that time. I loved the feeling that there is a reason to fight that monster and help those peasants. Now I feel that the game is about farming achievements and getting 8th back piece that I really don’t need and don’t care about… I never cared much about achievements. That didn’t change. But AN puts most of their effort on mini games and achievement system instead of that what was really fun for me – dynamic events, fighting giants and dragons with crowd of people!

After launch I was playing a LOT. Now I rarely log in. Just to check out new area or dungeon. After an hour I’m done and bored. I spend more time on the forums now.

I hear ya. I feel exactly the same. Except that my alts are making THAT same last year game last… so far.

Plan B was the “reward systems”, unfortunately I don’t play reward systems, I play games. And while minigames and coxbox updates seems to be pretty much the Plan C, I’m hoping maybe they’re actually making a mmo game in there somewhere, even if on the side… Maybe the Orr revamp is not gonna suck, maybe it’s gonna be somewhat remotely epic.

C’mon guys! Hold your hands, squeeze your eyes! Blind faith! Willpower! Aliens, give our devs back! :P

“I agree, at launch there were so many players running around doing hearts & DE’s, and we were all leveling our characters. But those days are over. Most players have their level 80s, and are “done” with that part of the game.”

Funny you say that. I have started a new char, and the initial area are still full of char, so many then when a champion is up, and somebody in the chat says “so and so is up at waypoint xyz”, even clicking the Wp and runnign as quick as possible I only get there within 20 seconds, and the mob is already dead with at least a dozen guy dispersing away.

I agree, at launch there were so many players running around doing hearts & DE’s, and we were all leveling our characters. But those days are over. Most players have their level 80s, and are “done” with that part of the game.

I still enjoy PvE, but now it’s only for grinding out my own personal goals. I no longer pay attention to what the NPC’s are saying and I don’t care why I’m helping farmer Joe for the 100th time kill whatever is attacking his crop.

When a player reaches the point where the game is no longer enjoyable, then it’s time to move on to another game. Anet is trying to keep players entertained by adding some sort of content every 2 weeks. So at least there is something “new” to look forward to and try each month.

So far, PvE is still my favorite, and I still HATE JP’s, but I will continue to try out the new content each month.

…and it wasn’t because there was more mini-games.

At launch the game was about dynamic events, leveling, crafting and gear progression. I had more fun back then. I really miss that time. I loved the feeling that there is a reason to fight that monster and help those peasants. Now I feel that the game is about farming achievements and getting 8th back piece that I really don’t need and don’t care about… I never cared much about achievements. That didn’t change. But AN puts most of their effort on mini games and achievement system instead of that what was really fun for me – dynamic events, fighting giants and dragons with crowd of people!

After launch I was playing a LOT. Now I rarely log in. Just to check out new area or dungeon. After an hour I’m done and bored. I spend more time on the forums now.

By that I mean less describing enemies behind stats like levels and normals, veterans etc..
Also, while this thread may seem like a suggestion thread it is not one. Instead of providing a solution I write here things I don’t like and want to see other opinions.

Back to topic. One of the things that annoy me in mmos is the fact I never look at mob’s appearance but rather on any special symbols and numbers around its portrait. It doesn’t matter if it is dragon minion or dredge or moa, if they have “correct” numbers I engage them, otherwise I do not. I never think like “Oh boy, its an aatxe, better be careful.” but rather like “This mob #364218 has 2 levels less than me. Conclusion – obliterate(even though its a giant icebrood beast and I should think twice before engaging this enemy).” or “This mob #4624719 has champion status. Conclusion – call for more people( even though its just a single bandit and my hero should have no reason for calling for help).”

Other thing is that while there are a few mobs that use dodgable attacks or other moves that can be prevented there are still far too many mobs who just simply autoattack and by that the whole comes to wow-like “my stats vs yours”. Of course its talking mostly about open world.

By that logic you may think that karkas are perfect in my view, and you are almost right. They are far from perfect but a step in right direction. I don’t have to look at the portrait (mostly) and karka can either obliterate me or be obliterated which depends on how I time my dodges etc. Veterans (adults) are very funny to solo.

I love them, I do, but my characters… they only have one back! I’m getting more than I can use, something… else… to shake it up would be wonderful!

Or… add additional backs to our characters.

When designing a system with known, fixed rewards that must be accumulated over time, the hardest part is making players take the first step; the following ones are easier, as the tendency to continue accumulating the rewards go on.

Using the GW2 dungeons as an example: doing a single path gives more or less 60 tokens. That’s a fixed reward which, by itself, is not enough to buy anything useful. But, once a player has actually done a path and found himself with 60 tokens he has nothing to use for, said player has a strong incentive to do said dungeon again until he has enough tokens to buy something.

The issue, then, is how to make the player take that first step – do a single dungeon path. Between the lack of a good in-game LFG tool, how time consuming a dungeon may be with a bad group, and the need to watch YouTube videos to be aware of all popular exploits in a given path, there is a significant entry barrier that should not exist.

I believe this could be fixed by implementing three changes:

• Making the first path of every dungeon to give little gold, so the reason to do it would be to get dungeon tokens, nothing else.

• Making the first path of every dungeon to be easy enough so an average PUG could play through it in a reasonable time without having to rely on exploits (and exploits would have to be removed from at least this path).

• Making the second and third paths of every dungeon significantly harder, tailored for organized groups.

We would then have a hook to make players try dungeons and so begin collecting tokens, which would trigger the impulse to keep playing until one gets enough tokens to buy something. The “easy” path would also serve as an introduction to the dungeon, teaching players about its main mechanics and about its layout. At the same time, we would reward skilled players and organized groups by allowing them to collect dungeon rewards in one third of the time it would take less skilled players, which would also be an incentive for players who only do the “easy” path to try to become better players so they can get their tokens more quickly.

Honestly at time i feel malicious enough (because of seing the dreaded elitism ) to really want a change to CoF ala AC style, in that it so wont be such a fast run or such anymore. But thinking about it more, i think maybe, just maybe.. some super easy dungeons should be around still. Challenge is all good and stuff but I do know there are times i want to run dungeons in game in a more relaxed and less stressful manner, so having such option around is nice.

I don’t farm it; I never run zerker groups when doing it.

That being said, it is perfectly fine for other players to want to farm it any way they’d like to; they want to, they enjoy it, they’re entitled to their own game experience.

Other farming methods being removed or nerfed is a different story altogether, so I won’t bring it up here.

Even without a guild or friends that play the game, it is INCREDIBLY easy to get groups together to run it that doesn’t involve four warriors and a mesmer adhering to perfectly executed roles.

I run it every day for tokens with random PuGs and have never had any issues with it at all.

It’s a great introduction to dungeons for new players, with the paths increasing a little in difficulty; path three would be a pretty good intro to game dungeon mechanics for those who want to do harder dungeons.

It is also a great way to get your first set of exotic gear; especially considering you can get a Berserker set with tokens.

All in all, it is easy to do casually, you can farm it if you wish, it’s a great intro, (taking all paths into consideration) and it’s a great way to get new players exotic gear.

I don’t understand all the hate I see going around; there’s nothing wrong with people wanting to farm it, and there’s ALSO nothing wrong with having a few explorable paths that are stupidly easy. If you want challenge, there are other places to seek it; every game is going to have its really easy parts, and more difficult parts.

I seriously do not understand why CoF is a bad thing at all; I enjoy running Arah and high level fractals, and THAT’S where I derive some more challenge from, but leave CoF as it is.

Maybe make other methods of farming gold more viable as well, but I don’t think there’s any issues with the way its set up.

… joining CoE parties! o_o;

It’s obvious ANet needs to fix the problem by either renaming one of the two dungeons or by redesigning the English alphabet so that F and E look more different.

If we go with the first solution, I propose either:
Really Hot Cup of Eternity – RHCE
or
Citadel of Conflagaration – CoC

No, I’m not really upset about this, but the thought struck me as funny how often people hang out in fireheart while 4 of us are sitting in Crucible. You can at least mousover people’s party icons to see where they are…

Constantly I see players saying the level of content isn’t good enough. Or that the rewards aren’t enough. In my opinion the game should be good enough that repeating content (for a reasonable period of time, at least) should be rewarding enough on a core level of simply enjoying the combat itself. The problem lies in that most skills/weapons are really pretty shallow and with most professions I feel everything falls onto watching yourself autoattack. Certainly, you use other skills when appropriate, but either the cooldown timers, general effects of the skills, or tuning of the skills keep the game from being more engaging than it potentially could be. Let me elaborate with an example weapon combo I have on my Necro.

Dagger/Warhorn

Dagger
-Autoattack outshines most everything. It’s a simple chain of damaging attacks that give life force. Not very interesting- this is the case with most autoattacks.
-Life Siphon does pitiful damage so you won’t use it when not in danger. When you are in danger it doesn’t heal enough to have much impact on anything.
-Dark Pact also does pitiful damage. Most single mobs aren’t threatening enough to even bother immobilizing. Most mobs you would like to immobilize are unshakeable/defiant champions. This skill is rarely used.

Warhorn
-Wail of Doom. This skill does no damage and has a sizable cast/aftercast time. In most situations you’re better off just autoattacking through. For example- WvW guards that heal. The opportunity cost of interrupting the heal vs. doing damage is so break even that you’re better off saving the daze in case a player comes around.
-Locust Swarm. This is an example of a well designed ability. The damage over the duration of the skill outweighs the opportunity cost of autoattacking and additionally it cripples nearby enemies. More skills should follow this model.

This is, admittedly one of the more lopsided combinations in the game. The point I’d like to make with it, however, is that the development team decidedly need to take the combat in one of two directions to keep the combat interesting.

1) More interesting skills. Any given skill needs to be more impactful to the flow of combat. A great example would be the guardian skill, Binding Blade. It has a powerful crowd control effect that manages to transcend the otherwise dull boon/condition system that holds other skills back from being more interesting.

2) Tone down autoattacks. In this method the balance between autoattack and the 2/3 skills on a given weapon would shift so players are actively using more skills, even if situational uses are not currently needed. Lets use the Warrior’s sword as an example. The damage/bleeding from auto would be reduced, however Savage Leap would do more damage and apply an AOE bleed upon landing. Final Thrust’s cooldown would be reduced and it would also apply a longer duration bleed. In this way it would be a skill worth using over autoattack- as an opener perhaps, but it would be a very useful skill against foes below 50% health.

Or a combination of the two above proposals. This game has a great deal of promise, but as a long time powergamer there is, in my eyes, a great deal of improvement to be made on the core combat of GW2. Knowledgeable players don’t just press buttons for no reason. In far too many cases skills sit idle on our bars because there is no reason to be using them. We stare at our character autoattack because that is the optimal action. Optimal and fun shouldn’t be mutually exclusive and I feel is a large detriment to the game.

I appreciate any comments/criticism. Thanks!

Hes not complaining about difficulty. I think its about difficulty in a time frame that is unbeatable depending on your real life.

I actually completely agree to the OP. I have the same “problem” called real life. I am more of the 100% person but that’s not even the reason that makes me lose interest. The thing is, I sometimes have just not the time and can not play for 2-3 weeks in a row. Or maybe just a few hours a week.
I feel forced to log in for living story to actually being able to play the content, as it will be gone soon. For ANET this might make sense from a business point of view, but for me this actually has the opposite effect. I am losing interest, as I know I will miss future content as well and that sucks.

The problem is. I feel forced to play how and when they want not when I want. And that makes the whole thing not a game anymore and feels like work. The fun gets spoiled and I feel every day less and less motivated to play on, ever.

I don’t think we need one. The concept is good, the content, as they said, is experimental. If all this meh “story” and “content” finally turns into something meaningful with a decent overarching story and real and permanent content (aka DEs in the open world and not checkboxes), it would be the best thing an mmo ever did. It doesn’t even have to be amazing, just better than what it is.

As far as I’m concerned, an expansion right now would put a nail in the coffin for this game. There’s zero reason i’d buy it. And between an expansion and a new mmo next year, i’d go new mmo. You can’t sell expansions without a solid foundation.

I would say you’re both right and wrong. You are right about the recent plots not having much impact. The Aetherblades show up out of nowhere and interfered with a festival that’s about uniting to overcome the overwhelming threat of the elder dragons. Then they only get a dungeon, a jumping puzzle and occasionally pop up in very remote locations around the world. Worst of all, there’s no lasting impact. The world really hasn’t changed except for some pirate councilor dying and that was so trivial, I can’t even remember his name. If they really wanted to make an impact, they should have killed off a member of Destiny’s Edge, Queen Jenna or even Trehearne (though that will likely be met with fanfare) then have Lion’s Arch on high alert while an Aetherblades dynamic event has a chance to spawn in any highly populated area, including cities. That would have got people talking and made one thing clear: no character has plot armor.

That said, I must also insist that you’re wrong because stories need peaks and valleys. You can’t have something exciting happen every single update because it will be expected to be topped the next time. This pushes the creators to constantly clamor for something bigger and better, which always ends in stories ramping up to ludicrous proportions. It happens in shounen anime all the time. Dragon kitten, Fairy Tail and Naruto are extremely guilty of this. Bleach is the worst of the bunch as, when it began, it had a very good flow and focused on flushing out the main characters’ personalities, life views and aspirations . Eventually though, a female because the token damsel in distress while the main character suffered the incurable, “I must become stronger,” mental illness that affects every lead of the genre. That always ends up with said lead being able to blow up entire cities or even planets, just to be on the level of a villain whom had to be powerful enough for the audience to perceive him as a threat.

In short, bigger does not mean better. Downtime is needed calm down from the last story’s climax.

I don’t want to come off sounding entitled, but I am getting a little disheartened due to the lack of Achievement points in PvP. I’m top 500 players (US) become pretty well known, and work hard there (High Warlord Sikari) And I’ve even spent my time doing PvE even though I’m not a fan, and got to 80. I’m still only at 2.2k achievement points. Throw the PvPers a bone, please. All I’ve wanted from this game in a LONG time is that helm, just let us pick 1 of any of the 6 pieces, since we’d still have to grind another few thousand or two just to get another piece of gear, I don’t think letting us pick our own path to them would be that big of a deal. I REALLY don’t want to grind my life away in PvE in this game just to feel slightly rewarded for my efforts in PvP.

The same even goes for Grinding my heart out in sPvP. I would like to be more rewarded for skill rather than time spent in hotjoins. But that’s already being looked at. I’m just pleading because I can’t take much more of this endless grind. I like PvP, but it would be nice to get rewarded like everyone else who’s doing what ‘they’ like to do (PvEers).