Guild Wars 2

Hmmm … I wonder where my Mesmer’s hanging out …

I find this funny. You’re at BP, whereas some of ours went there, and frigging hate it.
Fact is, I’ll still wish you luck, even with that in mind. Another problem is, no server’s
morale is guaranteed. Say BP starts getting kicked, folks leave Wv3 for PvE. Then, you’re
trapped in a similar cycle. /shrug

Nittles.1582:

rootnode.9546:

But the game is not about grinding….
I remember a famous quote by General Ackbar.

Our shields can’t handle firepower of that magnitude?

It’s a TRAP!

Harbinger.9645:

I wouldn’t mind conditions that make sense being applied to building. The example of burning is perfect. Obviously things like bleed, confusion, and poison don’t really make sense on an object the same way applying healing to it wouldn’t make sense.

As a side topic, anyone else think players should be able to repair siege?

Absolutely. I would think an Engineer possesses enough knowledge of how siege is made. As such, they frigging well should have been able to fix siege, from the outset.
Failing that, if I as a character, can use a blueprint … would an equivalent “repair kit”
be that illogical?

A fair answer, Cactus. I suppose it’d also be too problematic to instead add more servers to the mix on both sides? After all – IIRC – EU’s T9 has the same problem at our T8. More servers would also give Glicko additional parameters to calculate with.
From what I’ve seen, forum-wise, the major issue is one of: not enough input for the
system to work properly with, thus it has trouble handling things like fast population
shifts.
Another idea would be to recalibrate the system based on average WvW population.
That would at least account for servers with a skewed PvE/Wv3 balance, I would think.

Actually, I’ve always figured this current currency issue is something far less sinister.
Namely, that ANet is the North American arm of a South Korean MMO company
(NCSoft). Now, considering this, is it at all impossible that:

1.) ANet would like to stick to The Manifesto As Stated.
2.) However, they’re eating pressure from NCS to Sell, Sell, Sell.
3.) To keep the brass off of their back, and at least try to keep things “Fun First,”
they’re bloody well forced to capitulate on certain things. Consider it a picking
one’s time to battle situation.

Now with that said, I personally would hope that NCSoft would grant ANet a bit more
leeway, considering that the original GW2 Manifesto is an extremely interesting way
to run an MMO, and might just get/keep more players. After all, many people -myself
included- bought the game, and continue to play, because we found it to be a breath
of fresh air, in a market that is saturated unto death with games that seek to become the “Next WoW.”

With that said, I’m also against other currency formats. If nothing else, would it be terribly hard to implement a currency-swap option for the more troublesome formats?
Hell, it doesn’t even need to be an exact swap: one could probably work it with a -for example- “X” percent turnover rate. This way, if a player is absolutely against a certain
currency type, they can at least convert the mainstay of it into something that they will use. Also, with a “tax” of sorts, it shouldn’t break the overall game economy.

Heh. A poster in one of these threads recently hit upon an extremely good concept for fixing this kind of situation. Namely, dropping the barrier between NA/EU servers. As such, then Glicko has 17 Tiers to calculate matches with, and this might just provide the combination of volatility and stability ANet seems to be looking for. Honestly, it seems as if it would make sense. Especially when one considers that many EU folk speak English, and there’d be less of a language barrier involved. If we NA servers can (and indeed do) coordinate with people from various sectors of the planet – as is – then, why is there a separation in servers, at all?

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

Advent.6193:

Well, Oglaf … you do realize that there were other seeds in the cave where Ronan found the Pale Tree’s?

Caravan. Caravan. As in, the White Mantle for some reason had the seed and he stole it.

I’m more worried about what the White Mantle was planning on doing with it.

As such, none of us remotely know how many Sylvari are runnin around out there. As such, the Sylvari aren’t strategically weak. Indeed, it’s very possible they’re like Pod People, and will run amok on the whole of Tyria.

Unless Asura discover time-travel, then all bets are off.

At least one asura did. Thankfully they were a bit of a moron and easily dispatched by their past selves.

Yes. And I bloody wish I could change that a bit … replace the dorky NPC sidekick
with Zojja. Get a true Asura Master Race going on

As I’ve said in previous Siegerazer threads, the only screwball part of the situation, is that he can be triggered by a Tier’s Green Server. This is honestly illogical, overall … are
not most Green Servers that way, because they frigging dominate the other two?

The breakout event would honestly make more sense as a playing-field “leveller,” utilised for one of the losing servers to get a leg up on the “big dog.”

Well, Oglaf … you do realize that there were other seeds in the cave where Ronan found the Pale Tree’s? As such, none of us remotely know how many Sylvari are runnin around out there. As such, the Sylvari aren’t strategically weak. Indeed, it’s very possible they’re like Pod People, and will run amok on the whole of Tyria.

Unless Asura discover time-travel, then all bets are off.

Darek.1836:

People on FC don’t go to WvW because they gave up around the mid-Kaineng era, came back during the first 2 weeks of SF, and left once we realized it was the same thing all over again. The reason FC seems dead right now is because people are waiting on the server matchup to change.

also I’m coming back home soon, I hate t5

Good, now convince the old ENVY crew to come with. It’d be a hella fun thing to
witness. As for TTA, you still have some of your crew on FC. Maybe the lot of you
can re-birth it?

I wonder if Tyria has an equivalent of the Three Fates? If so, then Aspects could be:
Aspect of <Insert name here>. Another idea, and one that ties in with the concept
art, is that one could set their Toughness Trait-line to represent being shifted out of
(or sideways to) “standard time.” As much as I hate to step on Mesmer’s toes (Hell,
I bought the game because of their style.), I could see a Distortion-ish effect
for Chronomancer defenses. For that matter, a good set of ‘base’ Conditions could
be:
.Weakness/Cripple (temporarily speed-aging the target.)
.Fear (causing the target to perceive time as you do. However, you’d have to limit
it, so as to not step on Necromancer toes.)
.Immobilize (locking the opponent in time, for “X” duration.)

Logical Boons could include:
.Swiftness (Speeding up your movement/side-stepping “standard” time)
.Regeneration (Speeding up your body’s time, in order to accelerate healing.)
.Stability (Locking yourself into a specific time/space.)

I’m sure others could be (successfully) argued, but those seem to be the more “logical”
examples. As for teacup’s comment; Yes, I’d agree that some of the original ideas must
have been folded into Mesmer’s arsenal (i.e.: T. Warp/Blink/Portal/Temporal Curtain
/Distortion effects can all be argued to possess a “Chronomancy” aspect.) And, unfortunately, that’s the “rub,” on this (otherwise darn stylish) idea.

Fozzik makes a pretty good point. Although, who’d get which random SF Guild?
You could split both CoSA sets evenly, with one per other server. Or you could send us
KING and Seed. Hand LH to ET, that may become an even 3-way spread.
Although, let’s be honest here. As far as any of us know, SF Guilds are just as stubbornly loyal to their server as we are to our own. In addition, I’m sure that
any of our three servers have their own special flavour of internal strife. What happens if we mix the ingredients?

Engineers are un-nerfed.
Phantasms aren’t screwed in the pooper by “Obstructed.”
Mesmers and Guardians join the Speed Signet Club
Elementalist Fire/Air Traitlines are improved dramatically
Thieves get some bloody use outta P/P
Hundred Blades eats a damage reduction
Pet AI is BUFF
Guardian flame attacks are replaced by soap bubbles full of mini-Quaggans.

and … (drumroll, please!)

Glicko is replaced with a system that uses reasonable logic/WvW population checking to predict matchups.

I’d say Chronomancer, especially since the basic idea was something ANet fiddled about
with. I’d honestly like to see what a “Time Mage” could throw down with. The only issue
I could see is: atm, Mesmers pack a good degree of time/space-mangling abilities. As
such, how do we differentiate Chronos?

I’d also add Emerald Orbs … they have a reasonable stat spread, and aren’t hellaciously expensive. I was originally Undead, but got sick of limping-slow speed in WvW.
Went Centaur, still miss the extra Toughness/Condition, but get by.
One could also make a good case for some of the less-used Runes. Full set of Rata Sum, for a heavy-Dueling Mesmer could be interesting, as could Infiltration. Maybe
even Melandru, for tanking/condition removal.

I’ve got both at 80, but still main Mesmer. Although, both are hardcore when played well. I’d say Ele if you want AoE/better healing abilities. Mesmer if you’d rather screw with the enemy’s head in a fight.

As for glaring weaknesses: Don’t let the Ele-haters confuse you, that insanely tankish D/D Ele stereotype is based on one niche build. Most Eles are considerably more fragile in a fight, due to their health being lowest rank (them/Thief/Guardian, IIRC. All 3 of which have a nifty mechanic what allows them to survive better for being low-health.)

The biggest Mesmer weaknesses would be out-of-combat speed and LoS issues. We have medium range health (along with Ranger/Engi), and can be built reasonably
tankish, or Glass Cannon, as you see fit. We have less AoE than an Elementalist, but
can definately still slap down the damage.

I’d go further, but need to head to work. Hope that helped

You could call it “Butterfly Effect.” Works for Mesmers, and Chaos Theory.
Although, I will admit that “Mesmerized” is a very strong contender.

Well, Runamok: it’d be nothing but honest to say that Kaineng is/was a beast of another stripe. If I tended towards having game-induced nightmares, then the combo of DR/Kain’d definitely cause one. As for SF “choosing” to stick around in T8, remember how much had to go on – from our tier and others – for DR or Kain to escape the Black Hole of Glicko T8.
Can any of us actually blame SF at this point? I wouldn’t. Hell, sometimes it’s hard
enough for my FC self to bother. SF after the Devona/Kain Pain-Train? Ouch. Just.
Plain. Ouch. As I’ve said in other threads like this one, I keep at it because I’m just a
stubborn S.O.B.
The part what sucks is, we’d pretty much have to have SF max out for a week or two, and someone in T7 get beat into the bloody turf for the same period of time. If only
to create the needed upward pull to get ‘em out of T8. This is why folk have suggested
-many times- that ANet may wish to add a “ratings floor.” As we stand now, FC/ET’s
ratings are low enough that they vampirically devour the positive ratings SF would
logically gain in another tier, with their weeks of tailkicking.

Hmmm. I’d predict the following:

The new patch hits, and -as always- only 50% of WvW players are even remotely satisfied with it. As a result, the already bored to heck SF’ers will see a massive exodus from Wv3 > PvE. ET will continue to strengthen their Powers of Tailkicking
(seriously, you lot have been doing exceedingly well, lately), and go Green.

However, the terminally downtrodden Fergs will riot on an extreme scale, and -at the
very least- manage to get back to Blue, if not Blue with a head-hair of distance from
Green. Keep in mind, that although we’ve lost some stronger Wv3 Guilds, we do
still have some serious folks around (i.e. WZ/DoSW/BS/KRAK, various smaller groups/solo fighters).

Ah, well – I could always be wrong. Check back with me in a month or two.

These days, I’m Staff + Sword/Torch. Current version of The Prestige is pretty freaking
workable. (But, yes … IMage is still horrid). Staff cranks out my close/medium range
damage and Conditions. Sword’s lockdown (when ILeap decides to work), Invuln from Blurred Frenzy, and boon-ripping. Torch is there for extra stealth/AoE Burning.

As for Dual-Sword, it’s definately workable, you’ll need to keep an eye on your timing and distance from the enemy. Greatsword could be called a “noob” weapon, but is also usable at a higher level of skill. It is also your best ranged weapon, since Staff’s 1200 range is -tbh- more like 900 in practice.

As for build options: A heavy GS build’d probably be something like:
Domination 20
Dueling 20
Illusions 20 (specifically for Illusionary Elasticity, so Mirror Blade bounces more)
(The other 10 are discretionary. Would you want more damage/hp/durability?
Most likely Berzerker/Valkyrie eq, although Berzerker/Soldier’s would also be
pretty tough. This would also help for a GS/Dual-Sword build.)

Staff, would differ in certain respects.
Dueling 20 (mainly for two things: illusions causing bleeds on crit/Deceptive Evasion)
Chaos 20-25 (can work either way, 25 would unlock Chaotic Transferance, which makes 5% of your Toughness an add-on to Condition Damage)
Illusions 20 (Illusionary Elasticity, for Winds of Chaos)
(Preferred EQ would be mainly (if not completely) Rabid. C. Damage/Toughness/Precision are hella useful for a Staff user.)

By comparison, I’ve modded things a bit:
Rabid Armour/Trinkets (Although, with Ascended, I’m debating whether to use C.Dmg/T/V or the Divinity spec, on a couple rings.)
Rampager Weapons (extra Precision as a main stat, some C. Dmg/Pow)
Traits: 0/25/25/0/20, for now. Feels fun as heck in a fight, especially when yer outnumbered and blipping all over the place.
Utilities: Arc. Thievery/Blink/Other (usually Decoy, but I swap it out)
Elite: Mass Invisibility.

Past that, we have stickied build ideas from an entire slew of Mesmer players.
It’s quite possible that one of those could work for you, or even act as a springboard
for your own ideas. That’s the main – and BEST- thing about Mesmer as a class.
We’re extremely flexible, in regards to builds/EQ/Traits.

@Gaiawolf:
We won’t argue about that bloody mage. Yea, he needs the hook-up. Like last month, even. I was mainly trying to figure out what the “logic” of leaving Torch with such a low-end Phantasm could be.
If it were up to me, we’d get: reworks on IMage/P-Disenchanter/Scepter. Fact is, those
could be argued as some of our worst stuff, and not used nearly as often as -say- Duelist or Berserker. It’s kinda annoying, tbh. Only thing what keeps the faith, is that
there are classes and skills what are far worse off.

It’s the closest in game to a proper “Psionicist” archetype. Mental manipulation, time/space alteration, and really stylish attacks. What’s not to like?

Heh – thanks, Pyroatheist. Facts are: 1. Was off to work in ~5 min, and 2. I’d say that you
and Grimmson are better on the tank/damage Mesmer builds. And what in the heck does this word censor keep calling Ikittenerg, btw?

Actually, there’s a fun trick that works with the portal strat you just mentioned. Namely the 20-point Domination Trait that makes Glamours cause Confusion. This works on anyone that enters or exits the AoE. Also works for stealthing your group, via Veil.
As for EQ: Depends. Do you wish to focus more on Condition Damage, or survival?
C. Dmg, you’re going to do best with either Carrion or Rabid. (Rampager is another option, but more glassy, and mainly focused on Precision with a side order of Pow/C. Dmg). Survival, pure P/V/T specs.

Weaponwise: No matter what build, Staff is indeed our best “defensive” weapon. Especially buffed by Chaos 20 (Trait X), and Illusionist’s Celerity. Never underestimate
the escape use of a 5-sec. C/D Phase Retreat. Chaos Armour is -arguably- the king of
armour moves (and tosses conditions on the poor guy what hits you). Chaos Storm
is a nice combo of damage/party buffing/ethereal combo field. Slap that on yourself/allies, gain buffs. Then you can Phase Retreat (or other Leap Finisher) for free
Chaos Armour. Blast Finishers apply this effect to an AoE – fun for giving your squad
free C. Armour. And of course, Winds of Chaos buffs you/tosses conditions. Too bad
Illusionary Elasticity (in Illusions traits) only works on your WoC.

Another survival/attack trick is Dueling 20(Trait X): Deceptive Evasion. This lil’ number
allows the generation of a Clone when you dodge. This is always good fun.

Also, the stickied guide/build thread has some very effective options. Any one of them might arguably inspire your own playstyle. That’s the “real” key of Mesmer, finding what you are best at, and refining it. Arguably, even our “worst” builds
have at least one Mes player who’s pretty darned effective at running ’em.

As for Aeros: Grove > Nightmare is honestly the in-game variant of Seelie and Unseelie Court Fae. Stands to reason the personalities of both are less … (un)corrupted … and more two sides of the same coin. Typically, Seelie were linked to Spring/Summer, whereas Unseelie were Autumn/Winter. Growth versus Decay. IIRC, a good deal of this similarity is due to there originally being a “Sidhe” race planned, during the GW: Utopia days, and I would venture to say that said race was -most likely- going to make use of similar personality/story mechanics.

Well, woopwop: the blind becomes very apparent when you look at our Traits. Particularily Blinding Befuddlement, in the Illusions line. Combine that with
the glamour = confusion field out of Domination and Master of Misdirection (also Illusions), slap null/feedback/TW down.
Then The Prestige is a straight-up abomination. AoE Confusion/Blind, followed by
Burn/Blast Finisher-ed Ethereal Field/Confusion. I’m convinced this kind of trickery is
why ANet’s so leery of how far they buff Torch.
Along with these lines, I need to snag another Exotic Torch. 30/20/0/0/20. Cleansing Conflag/Confusion Glamours/Blinding Befuddlement. It’d be a Glamour/Confusion + Damage spread. Could be a fun little project . . .

The worst part is … a lot of Mesmers probably would not complain with even a +10-15%. That/focus/blink and/or centaur/air runes would be enough to get biz
done, without making us IC speed gods.

GummiBear.2756:

Esplen.3940:

But not with a single skill that was on a potential 4 second cooldown.

can you say cluster bomb? and as someone said no 4sec cd only on it either, where cluster bomb i spammable a 5-6 times and after ini is out only a few sec cd as well. AND is the highest raw damage skill on thief shortbow as well

I can’t argue versus that. Especially when my own 80 Thief has been SB/Dual P. for most of her existence. Cluster and Detonate Cluster are sick bastids, only saved from
complete OP-ness by the crap speed of the attack. And, arguably, the fact Thief lacks
a 1200 range option.

However, if we wish to talk weapons that are hellaciously buff, I can say two words:
Guardian Greatsword. 1 field, 3 finishers on the same weapon? It’s inarguable why
GS is a mainstay for like 90% of that class’ population.

Better bounce logic (and hopefully working with I-Elasticity). Faster attack speed – Gods
know it’s nigh-impossible for an IMage to get off more than one hit in a fight. The same can be argued for P-Disenchanter, as well.

FilthyRat.4652:

Rattlehead.1476:

Fergs are your true Spartans, outnumbered on all sides, but no matter the odds we fight till the death ;-)

Yes your guild is very formidable and wish I could fight beside you guys instead of fighting against them. Wish all you luck and hope you hope you get all the recruits you need to push ahead.

Realistically, you could. Just something for you to ponder. Hell, it’s not like any transfer to FC Wv3 wouldn’t get a welcome.

What’s nerfed about that? Fact is, it is a sensible modification, when one considers that the flame wave is the “blast,” anyway. Now, if they could only touch up that bloody IMage . . .

Unkillable:
Skill Lag, Server Random Shutdown, bugged abilities

Troublesome Opponents:
Anyone with either vast maneuverability (D/D Ele, Thief), or someone with massive Condition Removal (Ele/Bunker Guard/Condition Necro). High CC characters (immobilize/stun sucks). Top-end Mesmers.

Normal:
“Balanced” Warr/Guard/Ranger. Well-played Engi. “Reasonable” Mesmers.

In My Favour:
HS Spammer Thief, GC Warrior, newer Mes players.

I’ll win, unless I screw up.
Badly played/new Engi. SB/PP Thief

Honestly, with how many Mesmers tend to float around in any server’s WvW, it’s quite possible to almost never be Teh Portal/TW-bot. Hell, I’m usually the guy rolling with Mass Invisibility and Manipulations. Or Mantras. Now – OOTH – if someone Zergwise
asks for a specific skill, I’m going to be polite.

Otherwise, yes: Mesmers are downright hardcore in WvW. Just make sure you’re packing some stunbreak and condi-removal. You are going to be one of the first
classes to get focused on, as soon as the other guy sees the purple of your casting.

There’s an easier logic here. They can’t be corrupted, simply because they’re plant-based, perhaps? Asura, Human, Charr, Norn – all are mammalian formats. Of course, it could also be because Sylvari are the “obvious” Fae analogue.

Astrologer Nerrak?
Or perhaps Cosmologist.

I roll Staff/GS. Superior Sigil of Earth on Staff, Air on GS (for now. prolly going remove condition or boon on crit, depending). And yea, it’s rare to top ~ 10-11 bleed stacks.
Unfortunately, ANet made Staff somewhat of a hybrid weapon. IMO, if we convinced
‘em to yank Vulnerability from WoC (which -IIRC- isn’t helping for Cond-spec.), we’d see more trustworthy Bleed procs. Hopefully, we luck out, especially with Trident as a good example of Bleed/Confusion combo weaponry.

Kal Spiro.9745:

The solution to the problem is not to remove availability of the action, it is to remove the reward to taking the action. The only reasonable and effective solution is to remove chest access to guests. No chest means no reason to randomly enter another server to do their events, while still allowing people who legitimately might be interested in interacting on or moving to another server the ability to do so.

That’s still problematic. Let me give you an example of how. One Guild I’m in, is a cross-server all-Mesmer outfit. We regularily do world bosses/dungeons/fractals. As such, we pick by group vote which server we’re Guesting on per week. With this in mind, we’re not there to troll that server’s legitimate population, or deliberately screw up your fun. Would you still think it’s A-OK to do a group like ours dirty, RE: rewards?

Honestly, there are far worse things that can be said, Sniffy. To tell the truth, I’m convinced that Western culture’s obsession with “Political Correctness” has made folk downright spineless. As someone who is generally in the “underdog” position, WvW-wise, being told I got “pwned” does precisely one bloody thing: makes me go back after the player in question, with better tactics. Goodness, at least when I was a squalling brat, you had to talk smack about a man’s mom to get a rise out of ‘em.
(And we wonder how “Cyberbullying” became an issue … someone annoys you that much, we’ve got a block function for a reason. Or you could out-troll the troll.)

As for words that don’t get “kittened,” we can’t expect a perfect 100% ratio. Nothing
human, or made by our kind is that efficient.

Oglaf.1074:

Windu The Forbidden One.6045:

Oglaf.1074:

Fred Fargone.3127:

removing the limit doesn’t mean it would hit any more damage

Yes.

Yes it would.

Not in the way he means it (I think).
You deal damage to more targets at once, but not more damage on each individual target.

That doesn’t change the fact that the damage potential of AoE abilities would go through the roof.

The target limit is there for a reason.

The target limit, as previouly implied, outright frigging kills tactics. “Oh, dear … that
Elementalist is casting Meteor Storm? Let’s all pile up into one ball, and we’ll be fine!”

Zergball is bad. The other thing, is that most player AoE doesn’t do near the damage of even a medium-spec’d one-person attack. GC Ele + MS, you might eat the occasional 3k hit on a reasonably armoured char. Do I need to mention things like Kill Shot or BS?

Hell, the OP’s idea of scaling damage on AoE, or in fact creating a “damage epicenter,” is darned good. It’d still keep siege useful in WvW, and allow for more tactical combat.
Honestly, even merely upping the player AoE cap to -say- 10-15 would work wonders.

Male (Guardian/Mesmer): #2
Female (Elementalist): #2

Rune-wise? Superior Undead, although Necromancer might be interesting with Terror
duration.
The only major issue with Fear is that Necro – supposedly the Master of Fear – has crappy Fear Duration, by default. Past that, if spec’d with at least Terror, it can slap down some decent DPS. As such, I’m willing to believe that a Curses/Soul Reaping hybrid build can use that to help wreck faces. I’d still like to see Steal “Fear” to be brought down in duration, tho. Bad enough Warrior’s “Fear Me!” is at least = duration, IIRC.

Engineer. You figure, Raven represents cunning and wisdom. What’s more of a “trickster” setup than being the guy or gal in a Nordic/Native American themed race who’s tricky enough to bust out high technology? Also, Norns run into both Dredge
and Charr often enough to give a young Norn plenty of access to tech.

Considering that male Asura with names ending in vowels tend to get ragged on as children, I could see Quojo being a Necromancer. Think “Creepy quiet kid in the back of the class.”
Come to think of it, this factor is probably why Kudu is such a jerkface. XD

You never know. Back when the OP made this topic, nobody would’ve expected multiple new colour options for eyes and hair. Perhaps ANet’s keeping an eye out on this kinda thing. I do agree with most concerns stated above, as well. Had to do a bit of work to get my Human Necro to just look handsome, as opposed to Visual Kei-level
Bishonen. (Mind, I don’t hate that as a look, but I do agree more options are a good thing.)

pdboddy.4162:

Advent.6193:

Considering the sheer scope of Asuran endeavours: I’m arguing equal parts straight IQ and creative intelligence. They probably also access more of their brain’s “spare” space.

Brains don’t have spare space.

Alright. Then explain the cases where a certain brain area (for instance, motor skills) is
heavily mangled or destroyed, but then the brain effectively rewires itself to function in spite of the damage. Seems to me (not being a neuroscientist, but not an idiot either …) that there are areas that aren’t necessarily used at full potential. Else, losing any brain region would completely negate that sector’s functions, would it not?

kuora.5402:

Krosan.2890:

Its quite amusing to see the server have hordes of mass recruited people and bandwagoners then end up complaining about the lag.

Hoards or not, this amount and severeness of server-side lag is absolutely unacceptable. Like I’ve said before, there are games that can process aircrafts, land troops and hundreds of players fighting in one area with close to zero server-side lag, why can’t GW2, advertised as a ‘next-gen MMO’?

Shoo, troll.

Realistically? It’s very simple. What folk don’t realize when they/we blame (specifically) ArenaNet: they’re the U.S.A. arm of a Korean MMO corp (i.e. NCSoft).
As such, if NCS says, "Hey, we’re only giving you lot “X” amount of money to dev, produce, and run this MMO of yours.", then ANet’s stuck with it. Sucks, but that’s
business reality.
If I were to guess, the whole reason servers/bandwidth/game engine were arguably
skimped on is because of this reality. Most corps assume a lower sales number
than they end up getting. Then, they cheap out on hardware/manpower. This gives us things such as: culling, laggy game engines, and so forth.
Now, there has been work done on these issues. The problem is that – let’s bloody
well face it – we gamers are a seriously impatient lot. As such, there’s a fair arguement that we could do with a tad bit more … restraint. Past that, I’d like to
see what this month’s “culling fix” amounts to. Mayhap it + a bit more leeway from
ANet’s parent company might solve your issues (or at least knock them down a peg).

Honestly, I’ll take some choice (RE: dailies) over what we used to have. Fact is, even a couple of months ago, you were stuck with Daily (insert task here) X5. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for more options. Hopefully, they’re working on improving the current
setup, choice-wise, and adding more options to Monthly.

frans.8092:

How would you do that? That is two weapon sets occupied, you aren’t seriously suggesting using those two, SB and /P, in dungeons, by default?

I’ve done it, and lived. My Thief was SB/Dual P for most of her existence. Although, I
still experiment with other combinations.

I’m condi/vamp build. For me, at least: Consume Conditions. Although, I have noticed a definate upswing in MMs lately. Not that I’m QQing. Who knows, maybe the next patch’ll bump Lifesteal up?