Guild Wars 2

1. It looks like ascended rings show up in the reward chests starting at scale 11. You can also buy them from the gold cat golem for 10 pristine fractal relics.
2. The final chest looks like it stays, but I have had instances where small chests (steel, etc.) do not appear in subsequent runs of identical islands.
3. Infused rings drop from reward chests starting at scale 21.

Actually, I kind of like this general concept? If ArenaNet splits PvP skills and traits (which I very much hope they will), they could bring back PvP-only characters/accounts or whatever. Have a pack that includes all the elite specs, maybe some gear for customisation, and a character slot.

Yeah, squad and party forcing nameplates is bad. Options are good.

Xenesis.6389:

Vayne.8563:

Wasn’t this the game that had to close down for a couple of years because it launched so badly they had to press the redo button on it? Yeah that’s what I thought.

HoT has changed many of the systems in the game. In a way, it’s the redo button that FF XIV did, before they started doing good things. Anet has told us that HoT is more of the roadmap forward than just an expansion. That was my understanding of it. Masteries, specializations, elite specializations, even the change to dungeons and fractals are all in preparation for what comes next.

So yeah, if you’re going to talk FF XIV, their first big “expansion” was actually a complete rewrite of a game with an abysmal launch.

The difference is FFXIV launched as a mess, they admitted it and they redid the entire game over and relaunched successfully in the eyes of the fans. GW2 was not a mess at release, it was very close to what the fans wanted out of the game, but from that day forward Anet has taken a different path that continue to disappoint a lot of fans (you can debate that all you want too I don’t care).

Now you say GW2 launched the expansion as a rewrite for their systems and future roadmap for a game that wasn’t really broken in the first place (they did the same thing with the NPE and trait systems, which they had to go back and fix again because of the backlash they got). Repackaging earned guild perks behind a material wall in the guildhalls was a good thing? Nerfing dungeons and discontinuing their support was a good thing? Messing up fractals rewards and scaling and can’t even be bothered to add 1 new map for the expansion was a good thing? Adding new p2w meta of classes in spvp was a good thing? Killing wvw with the new map and features while still continuing to not actually listen to wvw feedback was a good thing? Now they’re moving on to raiding which caters to a smaller subset of the player base is a good thing?

They don’t need to constantly trash stuff in order to implement new stuff. As someone stated in the reddit thread, HoT was literally our paying Anet to nerf our rewards. Spin it all you want, people are starting to stop turning a blind eye to it all.

The story behind FFXIV and it’s relaunch.
http://www.gamesradar.com/why-final-fantasy-14-failed-and-how-it-was-reborn/

Near the end of his GDC presentation, Yoshida pulled up one final slide, entitled: “What we have learned.” Its bullet point lessons were the exact opposites of the mindset that went into building the original FF14:

1. Never forget the fans. Without them, there would be no ‘us’
2. Fun comes first. If it isn’t fun, you’re doing it wrong
3. Never back down. Always aim to amaze
4. Don’t forget your roots. It’s what fans crave

“Breaking a promise is the worst thing that you can ever do, and I promised the people that I would make this game happen,” Yoshida said. “The fact I was able to deliver on that promise is a great relief.”

Lol, yeah. The dev-player relationship in FFXIV is amazing. The only reason I haven’t gone back is I don’t have the time for so many games, and I wouldn’t like paying for a game and not playing it.

Re: whatever Vayne was trying to get at: Yeah, they borked FFXIV: Online (which I’m pretty sure also launched with more to do, it just wasn’t…good). That doesn’t change anything I said at all. People were making the comparison of content and I was pointing out that it is not a favourable or fair one.

You talk about HoT being akin to a revamp/relaunch like FFXIVO to FFXIVARR was. Okay. HoT removed content from core players, many of which paid for them when they bought the game. They’ve moved several features to behind that paywall. With HoT they purposefully destroyed older content like dungeons and fractals. They’ve almost completely wrecked WvW for some inexplicable reason. PvP is a mess, launching a league system that is broken and minus an actual balance patch (though they did admit HoT counted as one…for some reason). The story in HoT feels like they were forced to cut a tonne of stuff out, with plot threads that lead nowhere, are hinted at etc. No substantial questions or build up from the vanilla and living stories are actually resolved, the whole thing culminating in a very abrupt ending. They added a literal handful of new armours with the xpac after months and months of people lamenting the fact that they churn out outfits for cash almost on a weekly basis, but there is a dearth of armours being added to the regular game, including the big new function of HoT, gliders, which are not available through normal play at all. I think HoT was, overall, pretty great. But there are a lot of missteps and it feels like ArenaNet is taking some random steps backwards while stumbling towards whatever their nebulous new goal is. They started GW2 with very clear intent and goals, but it’s slowly eroded away.

I enjoy the game and still play it, but a lot of the things they’ve done recently, particularly with making changes that they say we asked for or are good for us that actually have nothing to do with what people were concerned about, they’ve done without actually getting feedback or communicating with us before, during, or sometimes even after they’ve made changes. And that makes things feel a lot worse. Maybe Yoshida spoiled me with his candor and commitment, but tonnes of issues people have would be less offencive if there was simply more communication.

Coyote.7031:

warbignime.4610:

Crovax.7854:

And yet it lost to ESO for best MMO. How unfortunate :/
That being said HoT really is lacking content and a lot of stuff like the story or the fact that we got very few new skins ingame make it seem rushed. Still liking the game but as far as expansions are concerned Heavensward should have won by a country mile.

Nope, Heaven sword release(3.0) has no where near as much content as HoT, It has 3 maps(including a city), a few skills for each class no where near specs of hot of course and end game is still the same token grind.

It did however come with 3 new jobs/classes and a new race. Features, at this point, 10 new dungeons and 3 raids. Seems like more content than HoT to me.

Nevermind all the new armours, weapons, mini-games, activities, mounts, quests, etc. HS has waaay, way more content than HoT (and vanilla FFXIV has far more content than vanilla GW2) and it’s not a fair comparison seeing as it’s a subscription game. Back when I played it there were tonnes of content updates that added raids, gear, quests, classes, jobs, etc. etc.

Hmm. I don’t know. I like the audio cues for boons, conditions, and control effects. It gives me the option to look at fewer UI things, especially when I can’t see my character clearly to look for the visual cues. I think it should be a toggle, as there is in many other games that have idle or personal monologues.

Yeah, they didn’t actually answer ANY questions that were presented in GW2, LS1-2, and during HoT. Very frustrating.

What about the other Sylvari trees, Malyck?
What happened to the Pale Tree?
Aside from not all crumbling to dust, what’s going on with the Sylvari after Mordremoth’s death?
What happens to the Pact without Trahearne (I assume we just become warmarshal in name, though we are already in charge in function)?
There were dozens of Trahearne clones in the same cutscene that revealed the Logan and Zojja ones. What happened with them? Is Trahearne, or Mordremoth, actually dead?
What’s going on with Logan or Zojja (whoever you save last)?
Did the Exalted have a larger role (I remember in their reveal media they looked like they were much more pro-active) that got cut?
Why is Rytlock being such a jerk about explaining his new profession? Like, why have Rox ooh and aah and ask about it repeatedly just to have him brush it off (or have a throwaway handwave placed in idle dialog).
What IS the deal with Scarlet? We went through tonnes of stuff to learn about her and it all started hinting at some other motivation than “Wake Dragon, Dragon wrecks face”.
Canach suggests that the Chak could be used to fight Elder Dragons. This is immediately dismissed for the CHANCE that there could be some nebulous research that MIGHT help them kill them. AND THEY FOUND WHAT AMOUNTS TO NOTHING. Oh, the dragons have a specific weakness, but who knows what they are. O.K. Well, we just killed one, so …duh. Also, with the Asuran obsession with Primordus, do they know his weakness?

It feels like a lot of the story was cut or changed. Like, I’m enjoying the expansion, but have all this stuff set up over the course of years, with no pay off is frustrating, ESPECIALLY with the abrupt ending. No celebration or talking with comrades, or remembering ALL THE FRIENDS WHO WERE MURDERED, no nothing. Just a stinger with the egg that seems to imply that each Dragon we kill makes the others stronger, including the one in the egg.

Orangensaft.7139:

i once had lag inside an updraft and when everything started moving again i was catapulted like 40% higher than normally

maybe because the game thought i was inside the updraft longer and thefor had to be pushed up further?

so with lag you can glitch to spots where you are not supposed to be maybe?

Are you sure it wasn’t a large updrafts? Those take you well above the canopy.

Is this the “Glint used Gust. It’s Super Effective!” skill that attacks my FPS?

Khyber.1284:

I don’t need to “see” my chaos armor…I know when it’s gonna be active. I didn’t even notice a change.

Yeah, but it’s difficult to notice on the fly, in the heat of battle for your opponents. Being able to clearly see auras was a good thing.

In any case, the way my mesmer holds the staff, its almost leaning halfway outside of the egg shape a lot of the time…they should at least make the bubble spherical again.

TheFrighteningFrenchFry.3275:

No. Assassin’s/zerk is still meta, if you need toughness gear grab a piece or two of knights. You get boon duration from other sources that don’t cost as much personal DPS ( food, sigils if needed, herald etc )

like, how does this zerk/sin personal dps discrepancy measure up to the difference in team dps, team utility, etc, from the extra +/-30% boon uptime?

Indure.5410:

Drayos.8759:

and Ofcourse it’ll still be a Dragonhunter, but as it should have been and not what you guys are stuck with. traps should be more CC orinitated for Team play, where there Skillset needs More combinations in it, atm they just have Tons of Damage in 1 button, and the Prayer a idiot runs through their traps repeatively.
/snip

Do you even read the tooltips on traps?

All traps can be traited for daze, one of the stronger CC in the game.

Fragment of Faith: 6s of cripple, spreads aegis procs around the area and is a personal stun break and stability for the guardian.

Lights judgment: 10 stacks of vulnerability, reveals stealth, and provides guardian with swiftness.

Test of Faith: 6s cripple and provides guardian 6s protection.

Dragons Maw: Provides 6s ward, 4s slow, and gives the Guardian 10 stacks of Might.

They really don’t need more CC or utility.

On paper this all sounds super OP, but in PvP the more traps you bring the weaker you are going to be and even with them all it’s basically going to come down to if your opponents aren’t paying attention or if you get a lucky break with your team. I agree that Dragonhunters need an overhaul in mechanics and versatility. As far as CC, other than the global daze, Maw is really the only one that stands out. I think the traps need to be more specialised. There’s is no real strategy behind crapping traps out, outside of placement and the 1000% obvious and telegraphed push/pull game. 90% of players go for the Test of Faith tug of war and that’s essentially the extent of DH gameplay. It’s shallow, predictable, and ineffective against not even just skilled players, but any with a modicum or awareness. There is something wrong when a DH can drop up to four or five traps on a point and literally accomplish nothing against most professions while they instantly become useless for 20s outside of maybe carrying some meds.

that Dreamer outfit in the gem shop was pretty neat, tbh.

Timston.1976:

There are enough flashy animations we don’t need any more in the game to obscure my vision

PvP is where we NEED a few of the animations to be able to actually tell wtf is happening on the fly. The new auras are an example of a giant step backwards as the indicator in around the feet, where pretty much every other effect accumulates. This tiny translucent ring with Maw is easily missed by anyone entering the fray and there is no logical reason for it. PvP never looks like PvE (attached) and the visual “noise” reduction isn’t necessary in most cases outside of PvE.

Traps, wells, auras, etc. these were not changes that benefit PvP, or even PvE tbh.

Anymoify.8132:

U will never win a mid fight.

…or pretty much any fight or hold points.

Yeah, this went from mystery item to 54g TP item pretty quickly.

The Victor’s Cache you receive upon completing Hearts and Minds states that it contains a vision crystal. I’ve cleared H&M four times and it has never yielded a vision crystal. Is this a bug or just an error in the text? The wiki (http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Victor's_Cache) does include the text about the vision crystal, though it lists crystalline ore in the contents instead.

I’ve read that you can get the recipes for making tenebrous/shimmering weapons at that point. Anybody have it unlocked?

I’m gonna need Mesmer to get a mainhand pistol, be it through and elite spec or just added to the game. kthx, anet.

They are sitting on a quite a few unused/removed weapons and armours from PvP and other stuff. Pretty happy that they confirmed that some of them are coming back at some point.

A Guild Wars feature in Guild Wars 2? Nonsense!

Seems like a situation of needing something more exclusive to the xpac, yeah. The idea also seemed to be that in order to take the weapons and their new powerful abilities and changes in class focus you MUST sacrifice a trait line for the whole package. Which I kiiind of agree with in that the weapons can fundamentally change how the profession is played in some instances. However, this didn’t work out too well seeing that most professions can very comfortably drop a vanilla trait line and improve pretty much 100% over the base profession.

I mean, I assume they’ll all get balanced down the line, but let’s say mesmer get’s a new elite spec and gets, say, a main hand pistol (pls anet), will the ‘theme’ of whatever the spec is and how it changes play style work with shields? the elite specialisation is a true specialisation that must be focused to gain it’s benefits. At least, that’s what it seems like anet wants for them.

speaking of auras. with the new egg shape my mesmer actually stands halfway outside the aura when wielding a staff. gg anet

It boggles my mind that they didn’t just add visual fx options like every other frigging mmo on the planet. The new auras are nearly invisible and put some animation around characters’ feet. OK. Except with all the other effects going on, including ground targeted skills and ground effects you cannot see that either (and lol@giving any revenant with fragments auras and being able to tell). You know what I COULD see (and HEAR) the old auras, so I knew that hitting someone would result in something negative.

Maybe if they didn’t reject actively avoid all the things that made the original Guild Wars work (does someone in charge at ArenaNet hate GW? or have some sort of complex against it??) it would be a realistic goal. As it stands, they are going to destroy PvE and WvW in their tunnel-visioned quest to be an eSport.

This game is starting to remind me of all those budget f2p korean mmos that put like ten little icons and titles and pictures all over ppls nameplates -_-
Like, I don’t mind the idea of displaying this stuff, but it needs to have a more streamlined, compact look. Maybe for league, a coloured border around the nameplate or something or even put something around the target portrait, idk.

Also, kind of weirded out that I can see my emerald, but not my star or masteries.

I remember one of the matches I was in had a big fight on a point. It was literally a giant clusterkitten of particle effects, "Invulnerable"s, 0s, and getting bounced around and rooted for like half a minute lol. CC seems to play a much, much larger role than it ever had or has any right to and I think all the new CC abilities were designed for PvE breakbars so that makes it worse.

The game booted me while I was waiting for the queue to pop. Gave me dishonor. Makes me paranoid about having what you guys had happen during one of my matches.

These llamas were given away like ten times outside of tournaments. Chill.

I don’t know if this is a joke topic, but most of the male armour seems a lot better designed than the female options, which are usually just a bunch of patches cut out of the fabric to expose flesh.

I am sad that the Voltaic spear was reduced to an underwater-only weapon

Randulf.7614:

The backpack in those screenshots sits just below the shoulder blade. It definitely doesn’t sit in the small of the back.

Had a look on my Asura and I’m still not seeing anything off with any backpack i have tried

Yeah, it’s just below the shoulder blade, where on my Sylvari it’s just at the shoulder blade (just previewed a few items). But the items are also proportionately bigger on human-shape PCs and I think the slight difference in placement is because of the asuras’ giant heads, longer necks, and lower shoulders. For example, the Radiant back item I previewed would be inside my asura’s head if it was moved up or made significantly larger.

Pretty sure they had a similar issue in the original Guild Wars when they first added the location to the friends list. It ended up being changed so that only mutuals could see each others location and there was none of this “Follower” stuff. Why is that even a section? Why don’t they just make an accept/decline friend request system instead of them just being tossed into a list YOU aren’t notified of, and can’t remove them from, but still treats them like friends? Bah.

I like Anet, but one of the huge thing that annoys the crap out of me is that they threw just about every single feature like this from the first game out the window for no discernible, logical reason.

condi is fine in the raid o_O
I see ppl looking for tanks, dps, supports, and condi builds for raids all the time. I guess just wait for a different group to come along or try and get one started. ppl are gonna get silly with the AP reqs and stuff regardless

You are sure this doesn’t have to do with the difference in anatomy with asura? I mean they have lower shoulders and large heads, so maybe having the back items be higher up causes problems like taller ones clipping through your head.

I see a few ppl request builds without elite specs (particularly guardian, warrior, and engineer), so it really depends.

I always mouse over the bottom right corner to reveal the skip button and haven’t had any issues with it as recently as a couple days ago.

Your items add up to 732 toughness, assuming you chose Minstrel’s for the shoulders and including the staff that is not equipped in the screenshot of your stat sheet. Base toughness is 1000 at level 80, plus your gear.

mXz.4512:

I logged in the first time tonight with no real problems, just continuous loading. Then I logged out and keep getting this:

(Picture below)

I know 100% for a fact that my log in is correct because I’ve never changed or altered it, yet for some reason it’s saying my info is incorrect. What’s the problem now?

I got this error about seven times on two different accounts, even typing out the password in notepad and copy+pasting it just be sure. Eventually, this error was replaced with

I’ve had it pop up to tell me that I’m apparently no longer participating in a boss even while I’m standing next to the boss attacking it. On the flipside, I have also had it repeatedly tell me that I’m losing participation for an event that I not only completed, but had been over for quite some time. It’s a bit buggy I think, though I do agree that it is a good idea.

Just sounds like an arrow whistling through the air to me. It seems louder than other DH longbow effects, so it’s occasionally distracting.

What about all the story choices, achievements, armours, how characters address you, etc.?

GW1 Mesmer, followed by GW2 Mesmer/Chronomancer, followed by Dragonhunter.

So here’s another neat side effect:
I cannot progress my story because no one is doing the events. There is an NPC I have to talk to to move forward but he is dead and when I approach him I am swarmed by literally dozens of mobs with crossed swords above their heads.

So, I’m guessing Braham will resurface with his mom’s bow as a Dragonhunter. I do not like Destiny’s Edge is being phased our by DE 2.0. Or rather how it is happening. I like Braham more than I expected, but…

Keep in mind that it will consume your item and produce a new item with the new stats and appearance of that ascended stat type. For example, if you put the sword in and you want Assassin’s stats, it will come out with the yellow and black ascended greatsword skin.

Well, there’s a mastery and traits that do that atm. That probably means it won’t be a change to HP any time soon. HP is kind of a weird stat, tbh.

I think WvW reward tracks would be a good idea, tbh.

luzt.7692:

Agreed, show us a list of all the megaservers with a bar that shows the population in %.
In other games these are usually called channels, but it’s not exactly the same.

Guild Wars had a feature like this that, like many others, didn’t carry over. It was called “Districts” and it was a drop down menu and you could choose which map to join. They were very simple as well. North America – English – District 1 or something to that effect, as I remember.

Like Fractals and PvP, Raids should have a lobby or staging area. There were literally dozens of people hovering around the entrance on the map, not contributing to it.