Guild Wars 2

Black Regent.5897:

I just popped a holo projector in Iron Marches which brought the Orr holos out and it drew two warthogs to boot. Not counting the initial KD, and two evades I was knocked down and/or stunned SEVEN TIMES IN A ROW before I could even begin the fight.

For the love of all that is holy, STOP WITH THE ENDLESS CC in this game from every freaking mob. It is not “challenging” it is not fun it is strictly infuriating and pointless and drags fights out for absolutely no reason.

Getting pulled a half dozen times in ten seconds by spiders is MADDENING. Getting constantly locked down because every enemy in the area can do a knockdown or stun is MADDENING. Stop. With. The. Ceaseless. CC.

You think you have it bad, try playing a squishy profession like a thief who gets instantly killed after the first knockdown.

IndigoSundown.5419:

Arkham Creed.7358:

IndigoSundown.5419:

Arkham Creed.7358:

pricer.5091:

The problem though, is that the boring moment starts when you log in and ends when you log out.

I am always amazed by how many people on the internet still struggle with that whole “subjective opinion” thing.

What evidence do you have that pricer thinks he stated anything but his opinion?

He made an absolute statement with no implication of it being an opinion.

This is an internet forum. People should not have to put “imo” on a post that’s obviously a subjective statement, and thus their opinion. If it’s not a statement of fact (“Berserker gear contains the +Critical Damage stat.”) then it’s an opinion (“Berserker gear is better for PvE.”).

In a perfect world I would agree with you, but at twenty eight years old I’ve seen literally millions of posts with people arguing “obvious opinions” as facts with an almost religious zeal. And in a world where intent and unspoken context do not translate into text and the odds are at best even that someone is trying to argue an opinion as a fact then you do actually have to state somewhere that you’re just expressing an opinion.

IndigoSundown.5419:

Arkham Creed.7358:

pricer.5091:

The problem though, is that the boring moment starts when you log in and ends when you log out.

I am always amazed by how many people on the internet still struggle with that whole “subjective opinion” thing.

What evidence do you have that pricer thinks he stated anything but his opinion?

He made an absolute statement with no implication of it being an opinion.

Brandonlink.3152:

I have no intention of grinding to level cap, I have played 2 hours I am level 3. I have been exploring and taking in the sites as well as a lot of time in menus trying to understand mechanics and things. Your description has entirely changed how I will approach my character next time, it all makes sense now, thank you for your time.

As for the no end game, if the PvP and WvW are fun, then I will be content. As a casual gamer with a family i didnt have time to partake in WoW’s endgame for the last several years anyway and the PvP was very stale. Before i even worry about endgame I am sure I will be leveling at least 3 characters or so.

In that case then I’m sure you’ll do fine. And welcome to Guild Wars 2. If you need any more help just ask, we’ve got our loud mouthed trolls like every game, but overall the community here is pretty welcoming and helpful.

pricer.5091:

The problem though, is that the boring moment starts when you log in and ends when you log out.

I am always amazed by how many people on the internet still struggle with that whole “subjective opinion” thing.

I’ll give you a quick rundown on skills.

Your 1-5 skills are based on your equipped weapon. With your main hand giving you skills 1-3, and while your offhand gives you skills 4 and 5. A two handed weapon will give you all five skills. Engineers are a good start to get used to that system because they have the smallest number of weapons, and can’t weapon swap. But later you should try another profession with more weapons and weapon swapping in combat, that way you can play around with different combos.

Your 6 skill will always be a heal skill, and every profession has three options, plus a fourth from your race. Different heals work in different ways, so you do have a bit of customization there. Your 7-9 skills are utility, you get to pick these from a tiered list of abilities, and once you unlock five from a given tier you can start unlocking the next tier of skills. Your 7 slot unlocks at level five, 8 at level 10, and 9 at level twenty.

Your 10 slot is for your elite skill, or Ultimate if you play LoL. This slot unlocks at level thirty, and you’ll only have about five or so options to pick from. Elites are very powerful but have extreme cooldowns, so don’t expect to use them often.

Your F1-F4 skills are for profession specific mechanics, these are different from one profession to the next. In the case of engineers we have a “tool belt” that basically acts as four more skill slots. What we have in our belt depends on what we have on the utility side of our bar. For example taking the healing skill Elixir H will give you the tool belt skill Toss Elixir H, and taking the Grenade Kit (a popular choice) will give you the tool belt skill Grenade Barrage.

Kits are a special skill type that engineers use. Kits act as weapon swapping, and once used will change the skills on the left –weapon- side of your bar. For example you can take a Bomb Kit on the utility side of your bar and get the tool belt skill Big Ol’ bomb. In addition using the Bomb Kit itself will replace you 1-5 skills with the bomb kit skills Bomb, Fire Bomb, Concussion Bomb, Smoke Bomb, and Glue Bomb. While you have a kit toggled on you can’t use your weapon, but there is nothing stopping you from just toggling it off again if you need your weapon skills. I called out kits because they are important to know, other skills are pretty self-explanatory like elixirs, turrets, and gadgets.

Finally unlocking skills is done by using Skill Points. You’ll be awarded these points every time you level up starting at level five. In addition you can find skill challenges all over the world (the little blue chevrons on the map) that will award a point each the first time you complete them.

Now as to the doom and gloom, most of that comes from the “no endgame” crowd, although the anit-RNG crowd has been pretty vocal of late too. As far as the endgame one…well that depends on you. Once you hit level cap there won’t be a change in the game or its content. You’re not going to unlock raids or anything, and you’re not going to be working to gear up for any instances. Endgame is the same thing as leveling content; exploring the world, doing Living Story content, collecting skill points (used for crafting certain prestige skins), doing dungeons, and if you choose a bit of PvP or WvW. Running out of content is entirely your own choice here. If you rush through now you’ll feel bored later, so I suggest you take your time and have fun. Do not under any circumstances grind to level cap. Just don’t. Especially not with your first character.

So nobody is even going to try huh?

JustTrogdor.7892:

p/p/sb power/crit with 10 points in trickery to get caltrops on dodge. I’ve been playing that for awhile.

P.S. Generally posts asking for help that end in things like, “You suck” are probably not the best way to find helpful people. Just saying.

I forgot semi-sarcastic jokes don’t translate well to text. I’ll add a line.

I’ve been constantly jumping back and forth between professions and builds for a while now, but I’m getting to the point when I want to start the long grind for a legendary and would like to settle on a main for that. Right now I’m between engineer and thief, and because there are…problems, with the relationship between engineers and legendary weapons I am looking to get back into the thief. But to do that I’m going to need a fun build.

To set some guidelines, I am primarily a PvE player, and rarely go into WvW and haven’t bother with sPvP in months, so I don’t really care how this build fairs against other players. Since most of the legendary grind is open world content, I’d like a build suited to that, but that could also handle itself in dungeons when need be. I hate “MMO stealth” with a passion and refuse to use it unless I absolutely have to, and don’t really care for the thief’s steal mechanic. I’ll use it, but I hate being forced to use it such as through those trickery trait builds that seem all but mandatory for the thief to be viable. I don’t want stealth or steal to a cornerstone of my build, but rather –at most- a bonus or situational tool I can use if I need it.

Due to my history as a ranger in the original Guild Wars I have a fondness for the shortbow, venoms (they remind me of preparations), and traps (I just wish they were circular fields rather than single attack lines), and tend to prefer degen builds where possible. I like being able to spread high damage conditions to keep the pressure on even when I am doing other things, and demand some level of support ability so I feel useful in groups. My choice of elite is limited only by the fact that I can’t stand the venom one because of how short it’s duration, but the other two and the human racial elites are all fair game.

I realize this is a lot, and doesn’t really gel with the current thief meta-game, but I just can’t get into a profession unless I enjoy playing it, and I’ve never been the “stealth and gank” type. Thanks for any input you offer, and for taking the time to read this.

TL;DR

1. You suck, you’re on a forum so reading is kind of a requirement. (just poking fun, don’t take it seriously)
2. I want a thief PvE build that isn’t reliant on stealth or steal, and has plays to at least some of my game-play preferences; bows, traps, conditions, and support.
3. Please don’t tell me to roll a ranger; I picked thief for a reason.

I’ve been constantly jumping back and forth between professions and builds for a while now, but I’m getting to the point when I want to start the long grind for a legendary and would like to settle on a main for that. Right now I’m between engineer and thief, and because there are…problems, with the relationship between engineers and legendary weapons I am looking to get back into the thief. But to do that I’m going to need a fun build.

To set some guidelines, I am primarily a PvE player, and rarely go into WvW and haven’t bother with sPvP in months, so I don’t really care how this build fairs against other players. Since most of the legendary grind is open world content, I’d like a build suited to that, but that could also handle itself in dungeons when need be. I hate “MMO stealth” with a passion and refuse to use it unless I absolutely have to, and don’t really care for the thief’s steal mechanic. I’ll use it, but I hate being forced to use it such as through those trickery trait builds that seem all but mandatory for the thief to be viable. I don’t want stealth or steal to a cornerstone of my build, but rather –at most- a bonus or situational tool I can use if I need it.

Due to my history as a ranger in the original Guild Wars I have a fondness for the shortbow, venoms (they remind me of preparations), and traps (I just wish they were circular fields rather than single attack lines), and tend to prefer degen builds where possible. I like being able to spread high damage conditions to keep the pressure on even when I am doing other things, and demand some level of support ability so I feel useful in groups. My choice of elite is limited only by the fact that I can’t stand the venom one because of how short it’s duration, but the other two and the human racial elites are all fair game.

I realize this is a lot, and doesn’t really gel with the current thief meta-game, but I just can’t get into a profession unless I enjoy playing it, and I’ve never been the “stealth and gank” type. Thanks for any input you offer, and for taking the time to read this.

TL;DR

1. You suck, you’re on a forum so reading is kind of a requirement. (Just poking fun, don’t take it seriously)
2. I want a thief PvE build that isn’t reliant on stealth or steal, and has plays to at least some of my game-play preferences; bows, traps, conditions, and support.
3. Please don’t tell me to roll a ranger; I picked thief for a reason.

Let me ask you this; do you farm more often than he does?

If so it could be the anti-farm code. That being Arena Net’s little insurance policy to keep people from ruining the economy by farming too much. There is reason to believe that it will actually nerf the drop rate of everything for your entire account, permanently, if you farm too much.

Penguin.5197:

Airship pirates by Abney Park seems fitting right about now
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPH1OoTobtk

You win this thread.

Thief
In theory I love this profession. I love the theme and have always played as rogue type characters in RPGs. But I have problems with the thief that I can’t stand. While I love the idea of not having my weapon skills restricted by cooldowns, I can’t stand initiative and find the fear of running out to be much more restrictive. I like the idea of being able to “steal” skills from my enemies, but I hate how steal is forced on me as a form of initiative regeneration (also forcing traits in a line I have no interest in), and how that reliance on steal makes playing ranged difficult. I love how the thief has the spiritual successor to my old preparation play style (venoms) and even traps to boot, but hate how those skill types are mere shadows of their former glory (especially the traps).

pros
• Thematically appropriate
• Mix of ranged and melee options
• AoE appropriate weapon choice (shortbow)
• Mobile/dynamic combat style
• Weapon swapping
• Additive weapon effects (venoms)
• Inherent life-steal abilities
• teleportation
• rapid stamina regeneration (trait)
• ability to rapidly stack bleed (dagger/dagger)

cons
• Forced melee mechanic (steal)
• Overly random mechanic (steal)
• Limited skill resource (initiative)
• Limited default health pool
• Limited default armor score
• Narrow trap radius
• Over-dependent on (stupid) stealth mechanic

engineer
I love this profession because of the massive versatility I get from kits, the alchemy them (I’m something of a science geek), and because I am a fan of steampunk. I love feeling so useful to my party as I wipe conditions from the whole team, stack buffs, and keep everybody healed, while at the same time being able to throw down conditions and keep damaging my foes. It’s great. However I dislike the extremely limited weapon selection and not being able to weapon swap. Turrets annoy me, and I suck at grenades (I can’t aim and run at the same time, I know “fail.” I don’t need to hear that again, thank you). Most recently I’ve to have a love/hate relationship with kits. I love the versatility and theme, but I hate the “hobo sacks” and how using them completely invalidates Guild Wars 2’s cosmetic focused loot and progression.

pros
Visually interesting
More desirable single legendary choice
Wider appropriate armor variety
Better survivability
Versatile (kits)
Alchemy related themes and skills
Explosives
Wide range of available conditions
Can maintain burning indefinitely
Superior support ability

cons
Limited weapon choice
Unimpressive elite skills
Over-dependent on kits
Kits render equipped weapon/back skins irrelevant
Constantly nerfed
Allegedly lower overall damage
Most utility skills are unimpressive

As an engineer I at first wasn’t overly impressed, but soon grew to love the profession. Being able to switch between damage and support made me feel consistently useful in dungeons (one of my biggest concerns with the thief) and I liked the alchemy theme the profession offered. Further the kit system was a breath of fresh air that gave me a level of versatility I’d never previously had in any role playing game, MMO or otherwise. I raised my engineer to level eighty, finished the personal story, got a full set of exotic karma armor, and finished all the story mode dungeons. All was well. Until I started to really focus on my legendary.

The first thing I noticed was that the legendary pistol, Quip, was what I consider by far the stupidest weapon in the entire game. Then I noticed that the shield was a magic themed weapon, and in spite of my attraction to it because of the lore behind it, the skin itself just doesn’t work with a technology themed profession. This left me was one option; the rifle. I didn’t really use the rifle that much, outside of “cheating” jumping puzzles, but I shrugged it off and started to work on a rifle based build. Then I noticed the flaw in the engineer, a flaw that I haven’t stopped complaining about since. Legendary and event skins are completely freaking meaningless to an engineer because of how reliant we are on kits.

Some disagree with that, I know, but for me it is true. The whole reason I like the engineer is because of their kits, so I was faced with either not using them so I could justify my legendary, or continue using them and have no endgame; no goal to pursue beside my fiancée.

I opted to re-roll my thief. I still have the engineer, but I thought that I could build a new thief and then just use a name change contract later if I opted to keep him. It’s been a struggle, but so far I’m at level sixty-five. I thought that with time away I could come back to the thief and see it with a fresh perspective, perhaps find something else about it I loved, or that perhaps if I just forced myself to see it through to level cap it’s weaknesses my correct themselves. So far it’s been a struggle, and I’m not seeing my improvement.

Okay, first let me be absolutely clear; I’m not new to this game. I’ve been playing since the very first pre-purchase beta, played every stress test, and was here from the first minutes of headstart access. The problem however is that I still can’t settle on a main profession. Yeah I know; kind of strange. So I thought I’d just pop on here and throw out my problem in case anyone is willing to help me out. First I’ll let you know what my play style is, and why I’ve been doing what I’ve been doing so far.

Me
I’m an RPer at heart, and spend the vast majority of my play time with my fiancée (she’s been on the same Mesmer since beta, and aside from complaining about not being able to dual-wield pistols is very happy with the profession). Together we play through the various Living Story updates, do occasional dungeon runs, and am currently working on world completion for her legendary. We’re not really “casual” but we are busy (jobs, you know how it is), so our overall progress through the game has been very slow. Not helped much by me re-rolling a while back.

Back in the original Guild Wars my first character was a necromancer, and I played to max level with him using a minion master build simply because I like summoner classes. However I ditched that character and re-rolled when I got my fiancée to give the game a shot (she rolled a Mesmer and instantly fell in love with it). At that point I opted with a ranger because, as an RPer, I was using the same “main character” that I’ve long used when playing games with her. This character is thematically a pirate and a thief, and as of Guild Wars the ranger struck me as the most suitable for that theme. Playing the ranger I tried out a bunch of builds, and spent a while in PvP as a “toucher” (ranger/necro hybrid focusing on melee ranged life steals), but ultimately came to love two core play styles and assembled all my builds around them. Those being traps and preparations.

I liked the idea of setting traps to catch my foes off guard, and I loved being able to modify my skills with preparations (Ignite Arrows was the backbone of many builds). However coming to Guild Wars 2 I changed professions instantly. Instead of sticking with ranger I decided to roll a thief literally the second it was announced for role play reasons. Once in the game I rather enjoyed it…at first. I stuck with it for a long time, but around level thirty or so I hit a snag; it just wasn’t fun anymore. I was just starting to explore the possibilities of traits, but weren’t finding them to have enough influence at that level to reinvigorate the –by that point- stagnant thief gameplay, and worse still I was beginning to struggle to play the profession at all.

Perhaps it was just me, but the thief seemed to hit a massive problem with the way it’s stats scale relative to the world at about level thirty. Where I was a powerhouse, I suddenly felt extremely weak in spite of my habit of using crafting to update my weapons and armor every five levels. The diminishing returns on precision all but destroyed my DPS, and the thief’s low health and armor rating started to really become a problem. By level fourty-five I’d had enough, and after a lot of debate I deleted the character (there can only be one Arkham Creed) and re-rolled as an engineer.

billjenkins.5267:

I might sound stupid, but what does rng mean?

Random number generator. The background math that decides of you get something good out of those boxes and chests, or just complete crap. It is also the system used in the Mystic Forge and most loot drops.

Some players really hate it. No skill involved, and the odds can be controlled by the developer so it isn’t really fair either. It basically turns rewards into luck and gambling, and is completely hated when it comes to things we have to pay real money for.

LanfearShadowflame.3189:

Aeonblade.8709:

I actually do have somewhat statistical evidence, look at the amount of time between the 2 million and 3 million sales announcements. And where is the 4 million announcement? It isn’t here, because sales have slowed down.

That’s about the best evidence I can give though, Anet is very tight lipped, and I would be too. Enemy at the gates (consumers) and all

I’m not saying I’m right, but one can logically deduce that sales of the game have slowed.

Lol a million is a lot of freaking boxes. Keep in mind it took like 7 years for GW1 to reach what, 4 or 5 million? Just because they haven’t hit that next million mark doesn’t mean sales are necessarily ‘way down’, only that (like all games) they have slowed down. Yes, this is proof that box sales have slowed (as expected I’m sure), I grant you that, but doesn’t support the assessment of ‘way down’ anymore than it supports the wild accusations of some that the game is dying because they haven’t sold another million boxes.

I can’t blame Anet about being tight lipped about things like that, but if things were bad, we’d have signs. Whether they came out and told us or not, there would be other things that would tip us off, and they aren’t present at this point. Still, that’s beside the point, which was whether or not a boycott of RNG would successfully elicit an expansion from big mama. XD

Let me clarify; I don’t think that boycotting RNG boxes would directly get us an expansion. But I do firmly believe that if we boycott them NC Soft would notice, and start scrambling to find a new source of profit. Big businesses tend to get comfortable with their highest profit, and freak out when those profit normalize. This is why triple-A console publishers call games failures just because they don’t instantly sale six million copies.

So point is; if we take away NC Soft’s RNG profits they’re going to start looking for something else to sell us, and an expansion is a good bet for making money, so it is possible that they would put more pressure on Arena Net to develop an expansion. Of course it is also possible that they’ll push for something stupid like a real money tax on the Mystic Forge. But I don’t see that as very likely.

LanfearShadowflame.3189:

Buying boxes =/= no expansion.
Conversely not buying boxes =/= expansion.

There are more factors to it than just RNG box purchases. Yes, profit margins do have an impact on business decisions, but people not buying RNG boxes would not be a break the bank issue for them necessarily. If the profit forecast becomes that bad from just people not buying the RNG boxes, they are actually more likely to scrap the game than make an expansion for it. Risk vs reward assessment….

Not buying boxes =/= game being abandoned.

Madjon.2657:

Colin, Engineer weapons and kit skins need more love.
You made new weapon skins for southsun AND dragonbash – but nothing for engineers???

In fact Engineers and Necromancers are the 2 professions that need more skins suited to their class IMO.
Engineers for all their cogs and gears, turrets, elixirs and elixir guns don’t have specific armour choices to reflect their proffesion.
We need new flamethrower and elixir gun looks, new back packs, at least 3 armour sets heavily focused on an engineer look – but NOT locked to engineers.
cheers,
JF.

I don’t know if it is legit or not, but some data-miners on reddit claimed to have unearthed some armor mesh (the polygons that make up the shape, not the actual texture/skin) that appears to have a steam-punk theme to it. I don’t know if it’s real or not, but if it is I just have two thoughts.

1. When do we get this?

2. Please for the love of god don’t make it another freaking RNG box.

dimgl.4786:

One of the major points in the Guild Wars 2 manifesto is that this is a game that you can play how you want.

No it was not.

When was the last time you watched that video? A year ago? Because I just watched it and at no point was the phrase “you can play how you want to play” ever uttered. Nor anything similar. The whole video was about fun content, not methods of play nor rewards. It spoke of grind, but Colin said, and I quote “the rest of the game is this boring grind to get to the fun stuff” did you catch that? “To get to the fun stuff.” It wasn’t talking about grinding for mats or rewards, it was talking about grinding to unlock content.

I think everyone who has been bringing up that video of late needs to take six minutes to actually watch the kitten ed thing.

KingClash.3186:

This is the 5th event they have added in the RNG box gamble, if they read the forums they know people hate it and the only conclusion is greed > care.

Arena Net reads these forums, and it is NC Soft that demands the RNG boxes. The developers aren’t the ones we should be complaining to; we need to petition NC Soft directly otherwise all these complaints are meaningless. Not because Arena Net doesn’t care, but because they are powerless to do anything about it.

Publishers control developers, not the other way around. A direct line to the developer will have zero influence on their publisher.

dimgl.4786:

The point is, no one cares how you play. We’re talking about mechanics and design flaws of Guild Wars 2 as a whole that affects the way everyone plays.

Unless you play as intended. It is pretty obvious by the way the game is designed and promoted that no body is supposed to play for rewards. I understand lots of people have a hard time understanding that because of what has been drilled into their skulls by the MMO industry so far, and I don’t blame anyone for it, but it is what it is. I realize that people tend to get offended when you imply that they are playing the game wrong, but those same people need to get over it because they are playing the game wrong.

Depending on how the game was designed there can be and often is a wrong way to play. That is simply a fact of the technology. And the best way to tell if you’re playing wrong is to look and see how often the way you play is getting nerfed.

Nerf = stop that

Getting nerfed = you’re doing it wrong

Farming spots (for example) getting nerfed = STOP KITTEN FARMING YOU DOLT!

Diminishing returns getting worse for grinding = STOP KITTEN GRINDING

Grinding for completely optional skins that have zero impact on gameplay and do not lock you out of content is not “being forced to grind.” It is a choice you made yourself, and if you don’t like it blame yourself. You don’t want to grind, then don’t. It won’t hurt you to not grind. And if you’ve run out of things to do at level cap it is because you’ve been grinding too much already.

Wow one of my old idea threads got necro’ed. Can’t say I’m displeased by that in the least. Thanks for the kind words and let’s hope that Arena Net does spot this, my idea was good but the important thing is there is room to build on it, and I love reading all the little additions you guys add. +1s all around.

tigirius.9014:

Some of us have it permanently no matter what we do, that’s not bad luck that’s bad math.

Actually it’s intended. Based on a tiny bit of research it appears that the anti-farm code inherited from the original Guild Wars will slap you account with permanent low drop rates if you farm too much. Arena Net doesn’t want you farming, and they will stop you from farming regardless of if you want to or not.

And before you say that you have to farm to get this or that; no. You don’t, it will just take longer to get those things if you don’t farm, like about as long as its supposed to take. You people are confusing veteran rewards with general loot and think you’re entitled to it. You’re not. Guild Wars 2 hasn’t been out long enough for their to be a real veteran player yet.

Mirta.5029:

Any updates on this?
Also an easy way to solve it would be to give kits special effects depending on which legendary you have equipped.
I would really like to have the legendary pistol on my engie one day, but for now I could see it and its effects so rarely that it doesn’t make any sense to get it.

The last word we got was from Colin back on page three basically saying not to hold our breath. They are aware of our problems, but don’t have any plans to do anything about them right now because of all the technical issues they need to work out first. And recent history has shown that said technical issues take a back seat to the living story, so my guess is that as long as they keep pumping out an update every few weeks we’ll never see this fixed.

ColinJohanson.2394:

It’s something we’re absolutely aware of and want to address in the future, one of my main characters is an engineer so I feel ya on this one. My poor quaggan backpack is visible like 2% of the time I play as I kit swap, never mind my weapon skins.

We’re currently focusing our engineering (programmers, not guys with net guns) resources that could work on solutions to issues like kits/skins on major systems that address issues higher priority and wider reaching like lag in large battles, LFG, custom arenas, spectator mode and so on but this issue is absolutely on our radar.

As always, please post your ideas of what you’d like to see solution wise, we love to see the fun ideas y’all come up with too!

Quick Mouse.7635:

So I’ve been leveling an engineer lately (my fourth alt). I was thinking how lame the kits are, because you have the same weapons/backpack all the time regardless of the weapons you have equipped. I can imagine how annoying this is especially for people with legendaries on their engineers.

Since engineers have kits equipped 50% of the time, I propose: Legendary Kits!

If you have a legendary weapon equipped, your kits get some added effects. A wrench that glows, or grenades that shoot rainbows. Backpacks filled with futuristic looking bombs. Anything instead of the bland default weapon kits that every engineer has.

Good luck. I’ve been barking up this tree for nearly a year and the only response I’ve gotten from Arena Net was “we’re aware of this. It isn’t a priority.”

Siebenstein.1376:

I have to agree with OP, too. GW2 was tons of fun until November 2012. I hit 80 one ore two weeks before and got my exotic gear. I enjoyed Halloween a lot and then Anet introduced ascended gear. After that the game went downhill for me with every patch: DR, RNG, the so called “living” story … I think that attracted a lot of other players, but the fanbase that believed in the manifesto was kind of betrayed.

Except for some WvW I quit GW2 around February or March and played TSW since then. Yes, I wanted GW2 to be great but after November 2012 it just wasn’t the game I played since then.

As one of the long time Guild Wars fans who believed in, and continue to believe in, the manifesto I fail to see how we were “betrayed.” Everything said in the manifesto is still true, and if anyone was betrayed it was Arena Net, as the community are the ones to wouldn’t stop telling them how awful their game was, and how all the things they were trying to do were bad ideas. Vocal minority of not; that kind of thing is what is really responsible for the current state of the game.

OP, notice that your problems started not with a shift in design goals or game mechanics, but with a shift in the way the community consumed content. I agree that certain recent additions to the game have felt….well, not quite up to par, but these changes strike me as reactionary.

*People complain about no endgame progression: add Fractals.
*People complain about no reason to go back to old areas: Add rewards for dailies in those areas.
*People complain about missing out on the big one time events: change to month long mini-events.
*People complain about there not being enough armor and weapon sets, and seeing them all all the time because they are so easy to get: add new weapon skins with each update that are temporary and hard to get, keeping them rare.

I agree with you that Arena Net has strayed from the path we all hoped it would follow, but I disagree that it was due to greed. No; I think it was due to necessity. A necessity that we created.

People have been asking for this since beta and so far the official response has been “no.” Classes are bound to certain armor types for a reason, and this would invalidate that reason, so it is quite simply never going to happen.

Not going to happen. The impact it would have on the personal story would be game breaking, and it would even screw up your build if you use racial skills.

This is Shiro’s Armor as it appears in Guild Wars 2 (note I picked the medium armor because in Guild Wars Shrio was an assassin; a medium armor profession).
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/images/d/d9/Human_male_PvP_Leather_armor_%281%29.jpg

This is Shiro Tagachi as he lived and died in the Original Guild Wars.
http://wiki.guildwars.com/images/2/2e/%22Shiro%22_concept_art_1.jpg

See the problem? If an armor set is named after an important character from Guild Wars lore, then it should at least slightly resemble that character’s signature look.

Back in the original Guild Wars I played a ranger, and I had two play-styles and builds that I couldn’t get enough of. I loved these builds, and used them every chance I got. The first was a preparation build, and sadly impossible in Guild Wars 2 (I was lured away from ranger and to thief because their venom skills are the closest this game has to preparations, though still just a shadow of their former awesomeness), and the other was a trapper. I see that traps return here, although with a more limited selection, and they are actually available to both rangers and thieves. That should be great news.

Now I just made a suggestion thread outlining how I feel thieves were shortchanged in the trap department and how I feel they should improve, but that just led me to an interesting thought; are traps in Guild Wars 2 worth having at all? So I ask that question now. Does the community feel that traps, be they used by rangers or thieves, are at all worth taking, or are they simply a relic from the former game that no longer holds up? Or perhaps do they simply fail to reach their true potential?

From the wiki

*Thief traps have the shape of a long rectangle (900×130) centered on the player’s position, and extending to his right and left sides. If Autotargeting is enabled in Options, the player may be automatically turned to face a nearby enemy while laying the trap, thereby affecting the trap’s orientation. It is possible to trap multiple foes with Needle Trap and Tripwire only if they enter the area of the trap at the exact same time.

*Thief traps trigger once and disappear, while Ranger traps are more like AoE hotspots which remain for a certain time after being triggered.

I am extremely unhappy with both of these factors. To an extent I can understand that a thief trap would only effect each target once, but they need to persist a few seconds like ranger traps to allow them to hit multiple foes. Obviously Ambush would be an exception to that. Either way I feel that they all need to be reworked to have the same shape and radios as ranger traps simply to make them mover viable. Let me give you a scenario that happens to me a lot in PvE.

You lay a trap and use a ranged weapon to pull a single target. That target charges right at you and you have to dodge to the side. Thus the target follows and completely avoids the trap.

As a simple ease of use issue thief traps need to be circular so that they have a greater effective range from the thief before they trigger, because as it stand to avoid the above problem you have to wait until the target is right on top of you to dodge, and those of us with lagging connections or slow dodge response simply can’t do it. Finally I would like a thief equivalent to Trapper’s Expertise, as I feel that trait renders the already under powered thief traps completely invalid. I like traps, and played a trapper ranger back in the original Guild Wars, yet I prefer thief here while still wanting that same play-style. Now I know most would just tell me to roll a ranger, but honestly what is the point of giving thieves traps at all if they are so ridiculously inferior to ranger traps that the play-style is completely invalid for the profession?

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Trap

Fernling.1729:

Arkham Creed.7358:

the uprising.6317:

Arkham Creed.7358:

the uprising.6317:

Arkham Creed.7358:

the uprising.6317:

Sure you can do whatever you want with a toy like an MMO but in a themepark mmo, how the game is designed is everything.

Arena Net specifically said, more than once, that Guild Wars 2 is not a themepark MMO. And as to subjective opinions; this isn’t your game. You didn’t make it. Arena Net did. It is their game, we just play it. Their opinion is the one that counts; not mine and not yours. If they say endgame in GW2 is X, then it is X, you insisting that it should be Y is completely futile and meaningless. And before you talk about what MMOs are again based on other games; what other games say endgame is is also completely futile and meaningless.

Wow, if you really think GW2 isn’t the themepark MMO then just… I don’t think there’s a point of debating with you. I could probably give you any single player and tell you “its a sandbox”, and you would believe me, look you don’t HAVE to beat the main quest in Zelda, you can do sandbox stuff like stare at walls and examine the texture work, make up challenges like running a circle around the town fastest, and stare at the TV screen for 3 days until you start hallucinating! So many options with limitless entertainment!

Now you’re just being insulting. And getting reported for it. But I digress.

Clearly there is no point in this conversation as you are dead set on refusing to admit what kind of game Guild Wars 2 actually is due to some archaic notion of what MMOs have to be. Completely disregarding that MMO isn’t even an independent genre, but rather a multi-player mechanic that could conceivably be applied to any and every genre.

Themepark games = Mostly dev made content

Sandbox games = Mostly player made content.

Facts. You are wrong, not subjectively, objectively wrong, GW2 is a themepark game with incredibly negligible sandbox elements.

Developer intent for their individual project supersedes industry generalizations. Fact.

Also a fact is that I explained what GW2 is in a post just after that one. Know how to work a scroll wheel? Or just click and drag the little bar at the side of your screen.

I hope this is a joke… That is as stupid as the developers of Call of Duty saying that their games are turn based rpgs. Just because the devs call it something doesn’t mean it is true.
GW2 is a themepark mmo with very few sandbox elements, no matter how you spin it.

Obviously this doesn’t apply to cookie cutter squeals to existing genres. But when you create new genres or sub-genres it is only logical that naming conventions be the right of the creator. And as to the “themepark with sandbox elements” thing, since everyone is too lazy to scroll up, I’ll re-post the explanation here.
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————

One of the developers (and again; it is their game so their views supersede all of ours, including yours) sated that Guild Wars 2 was “a sandbox full of themeparks.” It may seem an unimportant distinction, but it really isn’t. What that means is each type of content in the game is self-contained; there is no overriding “endgame” or “progression” or universal goal of Guild Wars 2 at all. Instead we are supposed to pick an element of the game we like, or a type of content, and stick with that.

For example; unlike in WoW you don’t PvE as a way to gear up for PvP. PvP and PvE are self-contained content that do not require any overlap on the part of the player. As such if you are the type who wants challenging content and endless progression you are supposed to play Fractals. Just Fractals. Fractals is its own game, and its own endgame. It is the place for progression in the same sense that the Living Story is the place for “lore hounds.”

the uprising.6317:

Also, I would really like to meet this magical “arena-net target audience”, I doubt even a majority that bought this game due to the advertisements or hype fit this narrow subset of players.

Hello. Can’t say I’m pleased to meet you.

Joking aside, if a developer intends to make a new type of game with multiple noteworthy differences from industry standards, such as Guild Wars 2, then what that developer prefers to call the game supersedes the term for the closest industry standard. Arena Net referred to Guild Wars 2 as “a sandbox full of themeparks” and that is exactly what it is. And I’ve already explained what that means.

the uprising.6317:

Arkham Creed.7358:

the uprising.6317:

Honestly I think everyone would rather have WoW quests over how GW2 does it

You are incorrect sir. And there is lore connect to the events, you just have to pay attention because no NPC is going to run up and stick a copy of their dairy in your face and demand you read it.

Hmm what would Arkham Creed say in this situation, “that is your subjective opinion, learn to keep it to yourself.”

See how that’s annoying?

Actually it isn’t a subjective opinion. You see you presented a theory, namely that everyone would prefer the WoW style of questing. I responded by saying you are incorrect because I just so happen to be a part of everyone, and I do not prefer WoW style questing. Thus your theory was objectively wrong.

Don’t get into a battle of intelligence with me Uprising; you are not equipped for the challenge.

the uprising.6317:

Arkham Creed.7358:

the uprising.6317:

Arkham Creed.7358:

the uprising.6317:

Sure you can do whatever you want with a toy like an MMO but in a themepark mmo, how the game is designed is everything.

Arena Net specifically said, more than once, that Guild Wars 2 is not a themepark MMO. And as to subjective opinions; this isn’t your game. You didn’t make it. Arena Net did. It is their game, we just play it. Their opinion is the one that counts; not mine and not yours. If they say endgame in GW2 is X, then it is X, you insisting that it should be Y is completely futile and meaningless. And before you talk about what MMOs are again based on other games; what other games say endgame is is also completely futile and meaningless.

Wow, if you really think GW2 isn’t the themepark MMO then just… I don’t think there’s a point of debating with you. I could probably give you any single player and tell you “its a sandbox”, and you would believe me, look you don’t HAVE to beat the main quest in Zelda, you can do sandbox stuff like stare at walls and examine the texture work, make up challenges like running a circle around the town fastest, and stare at the TV screen for 3 days until you start hallucinating! So many options with limitless entertainment!

Now you’re just being insulting. And getting reported for it. But I digress.

Clearly there is no point in this conversation as you are dead set on refusing to admit what kind of game Guild Wars 2 actually is due to some archaic notion of what MMOs have to be. Completely disregarding that MMO isn’t even an independent genre, but rather a multi-player mechanic that could conceivably be applied to any and every genre.

Themepark games = Mostly dev made content

Sandbox games = Mostly player made content.

Facts. You are wrong, not subjectively, objectively wrong, GW2 is a themepark game with incredibly negligible sandbox elements.

Developer intent for their individual project supersedes industry generalizations. Fact.

Also a fact is that I explained what GW2 is in a post just after that one. Know how to work a scroll wheel? Or just click and drag the little bar at the side of your screen.

the uprising.6317:

Honestly I think everyone would rather have WoW quests over how GW2 does it

You are incorrect sir. And there is lore connect to the events, you just have to pay attention because no NPC is going to run up and stick a copy of their dairy in your face and demand you read it.

the uprising.6317:

Arkham Creed.7358:

the uprising.6317:

kefro.9312:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftaMx4_5aNU

Very funny video but also shows up what gw2 needs to improve like those loading screens between zones

Lol hit the nail on the head

You’re still here? I thought you quit yesterday. You shouldn’t quit the game and keep posting on the forums you know; that’s just rude.

Did I hurt your feelings? I can do w/e the hell I want.

Uprising, you couldn’t hurt my feelings if you tried. Keep trolling, you’re only wasting your own time.

the uprising.6317:

Arkham Creed.7358:

the uprising.6317:

kefro.9312:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftaMx4_5aNU

Very funny video but also shows up what gw2 needs to improve like those loading screens between zones

Lol hit the nail on the head

You’re still here? I thought you quit yesterday. You shouldn’t quit the game and keep posting on the forums you know; that’s just rude.

Did I hurt your feelings? I can do w/e the hell I want.

Uprising, you couldn’t hurt my feeling if your tried. Keep trolling, you’re only wasting your own time.

Creeper.9360:

WoW sure is an ugly looking game.

Nah; just old. Like a faded photograph or tarnished penny. Back when it was new it was down right beautiful, but standards change and technology progresses. Doesn’t make it ugly; just….old.

Vayne.8563:

Paul.4081:

I seen Vayne’s postings in the other GW2 forum that isn’t GW2 Guru. I think the guy just loves the game. A little too much if you ask me but hell I’m that way with zombie films

Actually I don’t love the game. I like the steps the game has taken in the genre. That is to say, I have always seen the potential of MMORPGs but I’ve never found one I’ve liked enough to stick with until now.

The game has flaws. Every game has flaws. Out of all the MMOs I’ve tried, this one is the best so far but there needs to be a lot of changes before this is a great game.

It’s a good game, though. Which is more than I can say for the rest of the MMOs I’ve played.

I believe this is where I’m supposed to say “you hit the nail on the head.” Never really got that phrase, but there it is. Anyway, I agree.

the uprising.6317:

kefro.9312:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftaMx4_5aNU

Very funny video but also shows up what gw2 needs to improve like those loading screens between zones

Lol hit the nail on the head

You’re still here? I thought you quit yesterday. You shouldn’t quit the game and keep posting on the forums you know; that’s just rude.

CreativeAnarchy.6324:

There are no traps for any class to disable.

This is an interesting point and leads me to an interesting idea. What if all classes had utility functions outside of their traits and skill bar, and future content was made to use these functions. New instances or zones could littered with new objects to interact with, and doing so with different classes yielded different results. Combat based interactions could alter the mechanics of a fight or provide advantages to the party that they otherwise wouldn’t have, and non-combat interactions could open new paths through zones and dungeons leading to different challenges and rewards.

For example an engineer could repair and maintain damaged or destroyed cannons and turrets or even produce environmental weapons by interacting with certain objects, as well as operate everything from drawbridges to mechanical gates to mining equipment to open new areas. A thief could disarm new types of traps and pick locks that otherwise cannot be opened. And perhaps an elementalist could create ice bridges or use the wind to activate switches too far away to reach.

The mechanics of combat need not be altered much, but by increasing the role of the environment in combat, and giving each class interesting and unique ways to interact with the environment you open doors to all manner of new and exciting scenarios. For example maybe you’re fighting a creature like the swamp monster, only it ducks underwater where you can’t reach it throughout the battle. An elementalist could freeze the water to trap it above so the party could do extra damage, or a warrior could chop down trees to use as bridges to reach it when it swims farther out. And perhaps an engineer could turn those chopped down trees into battering rams that other members of the party can use to knock the creature back or down. The possibilities are endless.

I suggest you rebind 6-0 to alt/ctrl/shift + 1-5. Problem solved. I’d also suggest you pick up a five button mouse (one with a thumb switch), and bind your key modifier to one of the thumb buttons. I used to do that and it was easy pie; just press down with the thumb that otherwise would be doing nothing but hugging the mouse and you get all ten skills on five keys.

Vayne.8563:

Arkham Creed.7358:

Vayne.8563:

You’re doing a fine job. It won’t change anything, but have at it.

Given enough time a single glass of water can reshape the entire planet. Patience is a virtue I strive to master, and I’m nothing if not stubborn.

Yeah, I got that. lol

We are what we are.

Honestly I am getting to the point where I don’t really care about any engineer weapon. The only reason I want one at this stage is for a legendary, and there is only one legendary I really like and it just so happens that the engineer can’t use it. I’m told I should just wait and see if Arena Net adds more, but frankly they seem resistant to add weapons the engineer can actually use in any of their updates, and even when they do they are not themed in such a way as to look right.

Honestly at this point don’t we have enough magical swords? Can’t we get some tech themed weapons at some point? Give me something steampunk, please.

Kal Spiro.9745:

lupercaleb.6041:

lich transcends gender

Yeah, I didn’t realize giant skeletons could be male or female. How can you tell?

There are many differences between the male and female human skeletons. Most prominent is the difference in the pelvis, owing to characteristics required for the processes of childbirth. The shape of a female pelvis is flatter, more rounded and proportionally larger to allow the head of a foetus to pass. A male’s pelvis is about 90 degrees or less of angle, whereas a female’s is 100 degrees or more. Also, the coccyx of a female’s pelvis is oriented more inferiorly whereas a male’s coccyx is usually oriented more anteriorly. This difference allows more room for childbirth. Males tend to have slightly thicker and longer limbs and digit bones (phalanges), while females tend to have narrower rib cages, smaller teeth, less angular mandibles, less pronounced cranial features such as the brow ridges and external occipital protuberance (the small bump at the back of the skull), and the carrying angle of the forearm is more pronounced in females. Females also tend to have more rounded shoulder blades.

Mathias.9657:

TBH, I and many others didn’t want change. ANet did… so I will personally hold it against them because it irks me to no end – they had the success recipe and threw it away. Why? Is being different really that important? GW was already incredibly different to other MMOs. No need to go and butcher tried and true GW mechanics, alas that is what they did.

And a lot of people did want change. You can’t please everyone. You are being petty, and honestly coming off as a little bit spoiled. You don’t see me blaming Blizzard for not making World of Warcraft exactly like how I would prefer, so why are you attacking Arena Net for not making your personal favorite game? Grow up man.