Guild Wars 2

Agreed. It should be by account instead. +1

I’m hopeful, but I find it unlikely at this point. Given the amount of time gone by, and the amount of demand for content, surely ANet would’ve done Dragon Bash again by now.

They did, after all, do Chinese New Year.

Once again, wrong. I said you cannot solo certain areas in Heart of Thorns. I said it would be harder to solo because the zerg was not as populated. And I have not attacked the game.

I offered my opinion and thoughts. You attacked my opinion and thoughts. Yes, my answer is right in my opinion.

In case you missed the memo, that was the whole point of this thread: to ask for our thoughts on whether it was possible.

The point of this thread was not to have a fit with me. If you don’t like my opinion, kindly stop quoting it, telling me I’m wrong, and then getting upset because I can defend my position better than you can yours.

And if it bothers you so much? Might I suggest you ignore it from here on out.

It’s not a popularity contest, but wrong again, Bob.

reapex.8546:

Ardenwolfe.8590:

Dragon Stand is the worst because even mapping will require zergs to complete because they’re locked behind quests. In order to gain access to more of the map, those quests must be successful . . . unless you’re clever with some climbing in the environment.

Agreed, if you’re patient with mobs and clever you can map DS or just the LFG tool and go with the zerg.

Do I miss hardmode? Not really. There are some instances in Living World that have this in order to gain certain achievements. But I could honestly do without them.

azizul.8469:

that was how they did it initially, then people cry they want expansion, so Anet gave them expansion, but now they want the Living Story back ? lol Anet can never satisfy their customers, can they ?

Pretty much this.

Oh. Splitting hairs again?

Nova.7261:

I’m not on allot and play solo so I usually miss the experience trains. Even when I do make them, it becomes hours of play at a time.

I read more than the title, thank you. And I’m not getting into hypothetical with you in some attempt at guessing what might be defined as solo. I’ll believe Webster over you: a person who works, acts, or performs alone.

Having two or three people help you is not soloing anything.

That said, Nova asked our thoughts and I gave mine. I don’t need to get into a tit-for-tat with you because you didn’t like my response.

He asked for our thoughts. I didn’t ask for yours about mine.

What part of ‘solo’ do you fail to understand?

Vayne.8563:

If you need mastery points, there are things you CAN get solo, and you only need maybe 2-3 people to solo most event chains, with the exception of the metas.

And this is where your diatribe and logic fails. Two or three people helping is not soloing an event. Soloing anything, much less an event, is you and you alone.

How does one solo Heart of Thorns? You don’t. Yes, you can solo some mobs, mastery points, and champion events if you’re good. But overall? You’re not. Period. And even in your attempt to defend this indefensible position, you admit it.

Two or three is not one. It’s not soloing. And no amount of your attempts at spin is going to make it so.

Answer: Yes.

Caveat: It should never happen.

Given how ANet tends to nerf summons and pets based on the tears in PvP, it would mean that stats, or the conversion, would get nerfed as well.

Again, while I would love this to happen, the amount of crying because of it, especially because smart players who would stack the right stats, would be epic.

I’ll give you an example: Let’s say I have stacked healing and use the fern hound. My hound heals on the same level as me with its howl. The howl also purges conditions and gives a near continuous regeneration. And I also use Rune of Water. So, every time I heal, the hound also heals with an AEO burst of water as well.

Now bring this scenario into a zerg in WvW? With three or four other druids? Exactly.

Therefore, it’ll should never happen.

Yes, this confused me as well. You don’t jump on the draft. You just walk or run on them, and then they lift you in the air . . . if they don’t bug out.

But that’s another topic.

AliamRationem.5172:

No. You’re taking a far too literal interpretation of what other players are saying.

When someone asks how to “solo” HoT, I imagine most players read: “How can I zone into the HoT maps on my own and make progress on objectives without getting killed constantly?”

That seems to be the question myself and others are answering here, not “How can I solo the assault on Tarir?” So, can I solo most of the HPs including champions? Yes, I can. Can I solo most of the events (outside of DS, which is really the only map that is a full on zerg!)? Yes, I can. And can I navigate the HoT world freely without feeling like I’m running for my life? Also a yes.

By that definition, I consider HoT a great place for solo players. And I think the expectation that the entire event cycle from start to finish should be solo content is ridiculous. Nobody expects that! So what are we even talking about now?

Sigh. Context is key to the question. Please note Nova also said:

Nova.7261:

The experience is like walking through wet concrete and im not getting anywhere… I get on, kill a few mobs, hope that I run into an event and then get off.

I’m not a hard core PvEer nor do I have time to pretend to be one so am slightly at a loss on what to do.

The key word here is events. By no stretch of the imagination am I saying it cannot be done. Ironically, I soloed as much as I could myself. But I’m also not blind to the fact one cannot solo certain events without other people due to timer requirements or coordination.

And with less people in the those maps? Yes, it is harder given that circumstance. This is not brain surgery. This is saying the initial zerg is now gone and certain events cannot be done without them.

We’re not talking the pitiful beginnings of a chain quest event, but the ones that end it and open certain portions of the map.

Why this obvious situation is such a point of contention is beyond me. He even stated he missed the ‘experience trains’, therefore he wants to know if those events can be soloed without them.

And the answer is no. You cannot. He didn’t ask if he could solo the mobs. He also stated he can do that and a select veterans.

Please don’t tell me I’m taking a “literal interpretation” or some other nonsense. I answered the OP’s question from my experience and point-of-view. And then, one of our special posters decided to split hairs on the topic.

Yes, as I said originally, it can be done, but it’s harder without the massive amount of people from the original release. Yes, some events can still be soloed. But some events you are not going to solo no matter how good you are.

And there’s no getting around that.

Yes, you’re at a huge disadvantage in PvP and WvW because of the elite specializations. Honestly? In order to compete, they’re pretty much mandatory. The power creep is definitely noticeable in PvP and WvW.

For example, I can tell when I’m fighting a free-to-play in PvP because I slaughter them in a matter of moments.

Those without the expansion are pretty much fodder for those that do have it.

Oh man! I wish there was more publicity about this. Completely missed it.

Vayne.8563:

Don’t solo,. Seriously. There are generally enough people in the zones where you can make a bit of progress at a time, just by calling out in map chat that you need help with something and being a bit patient.

Please choose which opinion to stand behind: Don’t solo? Or it’s not hard to solo? Otherwise, you’re being argumentative for the sake of being argumentative . . . as usual.

And I see it’s time to go back to ignoring you again.

The question is: How does one solo HoT?

And the answer is: Overall . . . you can’t. It’s not hard. In some cases, it’s impossible. But, by all means, please post a video showing you soling the assault on Tarir or taking on all three towers in Dragon Stand to solo the Mouth of Mordy.

Otherwise, please take that ’It’s hard only because you think it’s hard’ nonsense somewhere else. Heart of Thorns is built on the concept of massive zergs working together to accomplish certain tasks in all four zones. To tell anyone it’s not hard to solo is not only misleading, but an outright lie.

As I said before, some content can be done solo. But, with the laxing of the population, some content will be much harder or impossible.

Nova asked for our honest opinions and observations. He didn’t ask for a rah, rah, rah with pom-poms. Your opinions may differ, but I keep in mind I have facts to back mine up.

No, you’re not soloing some of the content in Heart of Thorns without the zerg.

No one is.

It can be done, but it’s much harder now. With the first push and zerg moving to new pastures, some events will be impossible solo. This, sadly, will include some hero points and the like because of timers.

Unfortunately, ArenaNet went the way of Silverwastes with events that required a zerg to complete in coordination. Again, now that the rush is dead, so are any attempts to do certain content without said zerg. Dragon Stand is the prime example because even mapping will need zergs to complete because content is locked behind quests. In order to gain access to more of the map, those quests must be successful . . . unless you’re clever with some climbing over the environment.

Personally, I expect an overhaul of this situation in the future. But for now? You’re not going to solo certain content.

Sorry.

Tolmos.8395:

Just out of curiosity, how does Glassdoor filter the reviews they get? I mean, we are playing an MMO with quite a few players, at least a small percentage of which are likely to be trolls. How does Glassdoor stop that group from writing fake employee reviews just to mess with the company?

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Illconceived Was Na.9781:

If I had to point to one thing that hurt the game, I wouldn’t choose HoT — I’d point to ANet’s decision to drop everything else while they worked on HoT. I think that created a situation in which people were depending on HoT to do all the things that they wanted during the long drought of content before and there was pretty much no way a single expac could have managed that.

Even so, there are plenty of people who love HoT, plenty who have returned to the game (especially with recent updates/fixes), and it’s inevitable that some people are going to leave — people are always leaving and no matter how great an expac is, it’s always going to horribly disappoint a significant minority.

This is actually a fair assessment of the overall situation. +1

As much as I like some of the changes . . . yes. Yes, it did. But the game was apparently in trouble beforehand. No MMO goes free-to-play because things are going well.

I distinctly remember when Colin announced free-to-play. The audience reaction was more than apathetic. And, from the look on his face, he knew it.

Yes, HoT ruined the game, but it wasn’t the only thing that did.

Seriously? He’s thanking ANet for their obvious support of the LGBTQ community. Given recent events, this is more than understandable. And some of you are in an argumentative tailspin about it?

Jesus.

+1 to OP and kudos to ANet for their support.

Even though I’m not in a guild, I support this idea. It should definitely happen not only for the pets we’ve lost, but also for the people.

LMAO . . . man, you’re on a roll.

Vlad Morbius.1759:

There are NO mixed messages when it comes to an MMORPG…..one message and one only, drive content out as quickly and professionally as possible! We’ve had so little one needs to wonder who the hell is steering this ship and why haven’t they cried out to upper management??
I am currently and have successfully run a 150 million dollar company and can say without a doubt, the CEO who hides behind closed doors is a failure. You want to keep your player base, start talking, start pushing interest back out there. No? too afraid to fail? You already have…..hang it up and make room for someone who really cares to grow the business.

Bam!

I wouldn’t call it ‘raid centric,’ but I will say the majority is not raiding.

And yet, they’re still ‘squeezing that stone’ aren’t they? It’s rather hypocritical to ask why the customers are doing it toward the game, when the game is asking the same from the customers.

That’s the point.

Would someone else like to answer this? Because honestly, I’m too busy rolling my eyes like Robert a few posts up.

I suggest they return to the content update every two weeks to two months. This also included more seasonal and special events in-between. As much as some disliked Living World, no one complained they were bored with nothing to do.

You know, I’m amazed by this nonsense. My peers and I warned about this very thing, but people just had to have their expansion. Said over and over, they’d stick with the game despite the dry spell of content that “might” happen.

. . .

How’s that working so far?

CrusaderMichael.9245:

How much blood exactly do you wish to squeeze out of one stone?

Well . . . how much money does the company want to squeeze out of us? Seems to me many MMOs, much older than this one, want as much as they can get before being forced to move on.

No MMO, as far as I’m aware, has shut down the servers by choice because they wanted to. They did it because of outside influences that all but demanded it.

It only goes ‘round and round’ when it’s more profitable to do so because interest has died.

Don’t get that twisted.

Because guess what? Guild Wars 1 is still, running, and ‘squeezing that stone.’

penelopehannibal.8947:

Not sure why people have to announce they’re bored in the first place. It’s not Guild Wars 2’s fault.

I snickered when I read that last line. The question, given where it is asked, is: anyone else getting bored with Guild Wars 2?

The point of a game is to entertain its customers. If they’re no longer entertained with the game, it most definitely is Guild War 2’s fault.

And yes, more than a few of us have gone to play something else. The traffic shown on these forums have dropped for a good reason.

Didn’t think anyone needed to point that out, but here it is.

DeanBB.4268:

I do agree with the laziness. Prime example: Pre’s for Shadow Behemoth. I don’t know how many times I’ve gotten to the swamp after finishing the Pre at the monastery and one or even both of the other pre’s haven’t been done. Yet there stand 50 toons doing nothing. Annoying.

This in a nutshell.

It was hell, but I eventually got this done in the original time required for Gold. Afterwards? I never did it again and never will.

This video helped me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7j_v4G2OZqQ

The key, at the end, is to shortcut and jump directly to the finish line.

Getting bored? I’m well past that. Log in, get daily reward, do three dailies in five minutes or less for my two gold, and log right back out to play something else.

Sure, it might inflate the numbers and make the bean counters a little more happy when they display stats on PowerPoint, but let’s not kid ourselves.

The game is not in a good place right now.

Even so, I find it telling that the title “Bad Management” seems to repeat more often than not. While we could brush that under the disgruntled ‘anonymous’ reviewer, it’s still a case where there’s smoke. . . .

That said, like Kamedin, I’m not surprised. Colin didn’t leave because he was oh so happy you know. No amount of spin will change the fact he “quit” less than a year after the game’s first expansion.

That says it all in my book.

The answer depends on your outlook. I also achievement hunt. Go out of my way to gain them. But certain achievements (i.e. raids), I’ll never touch. Since I’ve done the majority of achievements in the core and expansion, my time isn’t as demanded.

I suspect this is also true for those players who stayed with the game. However, if you’re new and achievement hunting, this may feel like you’re chasing the proverbial carrot more. In actuality, you’re not chasing it any more than we did in the first place.

The difference is perspective. Since you have them all lumped together, if feels like more time is demanded. It’s not. It’s the same amount of time asked of veterans, yet more spaced out.

The question is whether you’re willing to put in the time for in-game achievements that really mean nothing of circumstance. If you are, then so be it. But, keep in mind: it’s a choice.

The game isn’t “demanding” anything. Again, the answer is what you’re “willing” to give. If your time is better spend on other endeavors, then choose those. Remember, it’s still just a game. Don’t get fooled into believing any in-game achievement is a requirement.

It’s not. Again, they’re carrots the game brainwashes you to believe are required for a better experience. Hardly. Please keep this in mind.

Fine. The home instance is good enough . . . for me. If I want more, I’ll play The Sims. Right now, I’d rather they work on content than anything else.

The home instance is good enough.

Because in a novel or story, we have a different standard. Yes, real life is random, but we expect better from our entertainment.

Quite a few hacks in publishing wish a story wouldn’t be subject to different rules, but when you ask people to spend money on said story . . . different rules will apply.

Yes, life is random. But the plot to a story shouldn’t be. Ever.

To be fair, most of the casuals in this game don’t actually recognize ‘raids’ as content at all . . . given that they’ll never touch it. I certainly don’t and didn’t.

Actually, yes, you can get another one from a champion. I have a second one sitting in my inventory right now, and I’ve also gotten the reward for killing the bandit boss.

Don’t know if that’s a bug, intended, or massive luck with a drop, but it definitely happened for me.

Given the two threads on the forums about this, I’ve yet to see ANet deny it either. From my experience, that seems to indicate something is true . . . their silence.

Otherwise, a developer tends to be quick to say otherwise.

Honestly? Bad writing and poor plotting. It was meant to create a dramatic effect and further character development for the new characters. In this case, especially Braham.

But never underestimate a smart reader or player who can see what’s really happening.

In other words, the plot required it, and that’s why it happened. Players recognized it for what it was: a stupid, throwaway decision solely based on circumstances and opinions outside the story itself.

Trahearne anyone?

BrotherBelial.3094:

You might not, but come on, seasonal events? They have been the same for the last 2 years. Nothing new added really other than a few skins. Yes guild wars was the same for its whole life, but there was more to do. The seasonal events have very little to do, they are for the most part busy work and AP. Now people are asking for more story, but we might have to wait 3 month’s to find out what happens next.

I just hope they don’t deliberately space it out just so they can focus more on the new Xpac. But the it they just told us what they planned to do, most of us probably would except it.

Well . . . let’s see: nothing to do besides filler (if that) for months and months on end or something major to do every two or three months with seasonal filler in-between?

Hmmm. I say let’s not look a gift horse in the mouth.

If it’s a question of continuing to have nothing for another year or something every two months, I don’t think complaining about what we aren’t getting makes any more sense than complaining about what will get instead.

I’ll take something over nothing any day, thanks.

If this is spaced out between summer and/or seasonal events, I don’t see it being an issue.

All hints seem to point to Kralkatorrik though. . . .

Yes, please.

Welcome to Guild Wars 2. The unofficial RP server is Tarnished Coast. Most of the RP has gone from Queensdale, after the great Queensdale train nerf, to Divinity’s Reach. You should still see plenty of RP in the city and especially near the home instance.

Quite a few RP guilds as well on the server. Good luck!

And now we’ve come full circle. For months and months and months, certain posters filled this forum with rants about how they wanted an expansion. How they wanted raids. How they were willing to put up with long downtime of no content. And how they would stick around for those things.

ANet listened and gave them what they wanted.

Now here we are: Content drought. Raids. Expansions. Questions about whether the game is dying. If ANet’s forgotten their casual base. And those players who demanded this situation in the first place are nowhere to be found.

Has ANet forgotten their casual base? No, and they’re doing everything they can to regain them.

It remains to be seen if that happens.

Amineo.8951:

They are making content to force people into login in the game rather than experiencing it, simple as that.

I have to admit . . . there is some truth to this. Even with the short content inserts, it did make me stay in the game an hour or so longer. So, if that was their intent: mission accomplished.

At least for me.

TheBlackLeech.9360:

You don’t always need to apply a quantitative label to kitten data or information.

…and simply because we, the consumer, do not have raw number data, doesn’t mean we can’t come to conclusions using facts presented to us.

You can’t ignore the fact that HoT sales were poor… and you can’t pretend that poor game sales is not something contrary to your statements about the game being healthy.

…and certainly…

You can’t ignore the fact that GW2 is now free to play and Anet isn’t getting the free to permanent conversions they hoped for.

There are many other things that CAN be ignored, and in true white knight fashion you dismiss them left and right.

Megaserver implementation masks dwindling map populations.
PvP matchmaking reworked to lower queue times and mask low pvp playerbase.
Entire WvW servers devoid of activity.
Development team relocating resources away from content that was paid for and promised to focus on “something else.”
Flagship members of the Anet team leaving without being replaced.

It all points to the same thing, regardless of the absence raw number data.

The game’s not doing so hot.

Well said. +1