Guild Wars 2

Ever since the maintenance done to the game earlier this week, loading screens take much longer than they used to (going so far as to take 5 minutes flat rather than a single minute), and frame rates seem to drop at random moments.

In addition to that, even the chat and opening in-game windows (inventory, guild etc.) has moments of completely freezing up. I already attempted a repair of the client, which has led to no difference. What I did notice is that the game seems to be handling my RAM memory differently from before. It eats up a chunk more (rough 200 to 300 MB), which may relate to how the game has these “stuttering” issues nowadays.

Is there a way to stop the game’s loading times from being this extreme? I read around, and saw some people have complete load-screen failures and issues similar to mine, but I cannot find any actual fix for it past the admin’s suggestion of applying a client repair.

I’ve considered reinstalling, see if it helps, but if anyone has a simpler solution… shoot!

As it is now, we can have this debate all day.

Is RNG fair to the casual player? Is RNG fair to the devoted player?
No and no and also yes aaand yes.
The developers deliberately made this choice, and seeing that they have not revised it as of yet, it’s safe to say that it will likely not be subject to (extreme) change just yet. The fact the recipe for a legendary always requires four-leaved clovers, which hint toward luck as is, should perhaps be a big clue on what you are getting yourself into when you decide you want a legendary item.

What currently seperates Legendaries from all other gorgeous weapons that require multiple components isn’t just the sheer amount of extra materials; it’s the luck. Nothing but that. Simple as is.

I will not argue that it is a true shame they went for RNG rather than skill or effort, but it is as it is. Right now it is just a choice for those who decided to give it a go.
Do you waste gold on a gamble, or do you play the game, play the market and then buy the very same item all the same? Both ways comes a risk of losing money, but eh, if you feel so unlucky it might not be a bad idea to just take a while and gather coin to buy the darn thing. At least that way you’ll certainly soon hold your Legendary in hand.

All I wonder about is whether or not this is actually allowed or not. I can’t find any official statement on it. Been looking for a bit to check.
It’d be perfect if I could, since I love the Vigil heavy leggings but my Guardian is aligned to the Priory because I wanted to check that story back then.

Before adding that you want a statement, do read the ones already left.

AidanTaylor.3872

Edit: To clarify, I am not telling you the solution is to go out and do them all again, just that when a solution does come about you will regain those points.

Scroll up, see the original. Rejoice.

Since rgrwng.4072 was already so kind as to put up the list of achievements that need to be fixed, I’ll just add one he seems to have missed. (If not, pardon my poor eyesight.)

Lifetime Survivor is also 499,999 rather than full.

A potential fix for people who, like me, spent ages and ages trying to score the kills.
I am not sure if it is true, but thusfar it seems that the combo kill is more likely to be counted if the Combo effect is aggressive.

Healing bolts. Healing. Cleansing Bolts. Retaliation. etc.
All these do not seem to count toward the achievement.

Fiery bolts. Leeching bolts. Poison. Fiery projectiles. etc.
These do seem to work.

I’d love for an offical fellow to step up and tell me this is true or not.
If so, I’d like to say that the description of this particular achievement is a “bug”, in that it needs adjusting to more clearly inform players.
If not, then paint me green and call me pickle; I’ve no idea how this is so unstable, and I might just have been fortunate to have gotten at least something done. And then that on its own is a bug. Hence the reason I posted this here.

Greymelken.1892:

I have 100%, as a by-product of playing the game naturally.

a) Stop trying
b) Learn how to use your combos.

The actual issue is that not every combo skill seems to work at this point.
In fact, it seems only -aggressive- combo fields function so far. That’s to say, any field of water elementalists, or chaos armour, or cleansing bolts etc. do not function as of yet.
Uncertain if this is intentional or not.

Valmarius.4150:

It didn’t have to be the killing blow, or anything like that, I think it’s obvious that several skills are just bugged.

Bugged or simply excluded from what triggers the combos as valid for the achievement.
It’s tedious, either way, to figure out what works and what does not.

Sure, if you have hours to spend, it’ll come as you go, if you have a crowded zone with lots of combos. But if you’ve limited time… nada. The casual player gets a whack. It’s a shame.

Nothing seems to work for me. Multiple characters. Even asked a friend to let me deliberately score the kills with his field.
Zero. Zero. Zero. Very odd. Already have the old tier to max… and in the past, survivor was bugged on me too. I smell a new bug, ahaha.

Just going to add my two cents: this uninstanced place should indeed remain open.
It’d be even nicer if they could actually open one of the side gates into it, and then leave the front gate closed to not confuse people with the “sudden” Instance pop up.

As for the strain it might cause: Divinity’s Reach is an area that seldom overflows. Even during the Tixx visit on our server it didn’t have a population issue, far as I have noticed or heard of. It’s but a simple, lovely area for roleplayers to visit, that “regular” players likely don’t mind stays – most are blissfully unaware of its existence.
Also, the only Pedestrian NPCs in the Reach, aren’t they? You cannot steal these poor AI people from their waddling routine!

Dane.3642

If Salma is going to be closed- it is effectively an unofficial declaration against the unofficial RP community that represents a pool of tens of thousands players- that Arenanet doesn’t want this community’s OFFICIAL money being spent on gw2.
Keeping salma=keeping income. I hope that is understood. If it is closed I will get Arenanet’s message.

Also this. While not as dramatic as that fellow, I’d hate to see such a nice area for roleplay just vanish. I am also still somewhat confused that for a company that built such a magnificent world, with so many buildings and gorgeous areas useless to “actual gameplay”… that there is(/are) no recognised roleplaying server(s) as of yet.
It almost feels as if someone accidentally forgot to turn on the “Roleplay” label in front of Tarnished Coast USA and Piken Square EU on the server list.

“There are two kinds of illusions: clones and phantasms.”
Source: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Illusion

So yes, the illusion refers to both clones and phantasms.
And indeed, when a trait or ability specifically mentions Phantasm, it generally does not include Clone in its effect. Same goes for the other way around.
Hope this answer your question!

Thank you both very much for the excellent feedback!
I’ve gotten to 80 and geared myself in better than average Berserker gear, so far. I can say nothing but: worth it. It’s fun, I can still easily survive and the damage and stacks of bleeding are mighty fine.

Vutak. I’ve been using Null Field in dungeons, because, as you said, it provides excellent back-up. Never quite saw its use in the field, but for dungeons it’s quickly upgraded to one of my favourite skills to use. I can even swap to the 20% cooldown reduce for Glamours, so that is incredibly nifty. Great suggestion!
I also tried out the Confusing Cry idea, which seems to work nicely in certain situations.
Blink is one of those skills I swap in and out as the situation demands. And as for the other suggestion: I got a pistol with the might stack sigil. I seldom get defeated, so it’s fun to use it to build up some extra power.

Fallos. I do have the focus traited at this point, thus it actually works very nicely as anti-ranged. I swap it out for pistol on occassion though.
I took Signet of Inspiration with me, as you suggested. Really nice when I had a support Guardian aboard. Used sword to melee next to him, taking in all his shout boons and then rolled back to the allies that were out of reach to grant them everything. It’s a very nice little tactic and very nifty for some extra support!

All in all, I’m quite satisfied with the build now, and grateful for the feedback. Thank you!

Since it’s also my topic that sinican.9250 supposedly referred to… Hi!

I did sort of ask the same as you have, but then, I didn’t narrow it down to merely Phantasms VS Shatter. I personally hoped to get all sorts of feedback on all types of builds, to measure upsides and downsides.

While I’ve yet to get more feedback on my own topic, back on the board, I do have to say it might be worth trying to just re-trait and toy around in a lower zone to see what you find more fun to play. Personally, I find that matters a lot!
I enjoyed both Phantasms and Shatter builds… but am just a nitpicking little fellow who wanted to get some constructive criticism on all fronts.

Warkupo.1025 does have a good point. A fair few of the traits to make a good Shatterer build are found early on, (whereas Phantasm needs a 25 trait for +15% dmg, ouch!) and it leaves a Shatterer build much more flexible in the end. If you’re going to PvE all over the place, that might suit you much easier.
But yep. Still waiting to see where these discussions might lead to.

I generally use Feedback for more than just the great effect it has: the field is nice. Get some confusion whirls in there, chaos armour with my sword’s leap and so on.
But nothing beats watching fireballs fly far and wide if I can combo with Elementalists or others. In dungeons, when combining them with e.g. a Ranger’s healing spring, it’s just pure joy!

Unf. Just noticed that the link I’d pasted in is not the build I was actually using at all.
The site provided a link to a completely different build somehow. Seems to have been fixed now.

Thanks for the suggestions so far though. I’m looking into bringing Torch and Pistol along for my Orr adventures. I’ve already completed Straits so far, but it’s very bothersome to pull a lot of extra things by accident.
Torch’s extra stealth, blind and proper shattering to get clones out of bad places do help a lot!

Currently working toward my last two levels and then the hunt for exotics is on!
Right now, I am just not entirely sure about my build.

So far it works pretty well. But is it optimal?
I’ve looked into quite a lot of alternatives – Condition staff, Shatterer dodge-clones etc. – and I can safely say this mix of melee and ranged suits my style.
But is that good enough in the long run?

The thing I am going for is a mixture between general PvE (map completion) and dungeons (mainly damage with mild support). WvW and sPvP aspects can be ignored for this.

The build:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAR8dlwzSqXVzhGaNJxZGRf5oU0dwTqgqLfA3A;T8Ag0ynEOJ9S9lyJKlMKJUyqkTJpSLLGFsLA
Note: copy-paste this manually if it suggests it is a “bad link”.

The playstyle:
Single enemy (Bosses):
Open with the Greatsword to get in the clone (+ vulnerability) and the Phantasm asap. Swap to Sword/Focus to set up that Phantasm too and the line to ward ranged attacks off if needed. Granted the enemy is not too powerful, I leap in to unleash fiery hell and then roll back out. Swap back to Greatsword to set up the second Berserker and then keep distance for survivability.
Shatters where necessary only, to maintain the Phantasm squad. Keeping an eye on their health: if low, shatter beats getting them destroyed by the enemy.
Utility skills are adjusted according to the requirements of the fight.

Multiple enemies:
Similar Phantasm summoning style, but making more use of the Shatters and Sword’s blurred frenzy to maintain survivability. Kiting is my friend, it’s hard to explain in depth. Each fight is different. If nothing else, it keeps the combat fresh and enjoyable.

The gear:
Note: Tested several, this seemed most viable thusfar. Any remarks are welcome.
Full berserker with matching gems on accessories.
Runes: currently uncertain.
Weapons: Greatsword & Sword/Focus.
Sigils: Force on Greatsword. Fire on Sword due to large amount of hits inflicted and AoE. Force on Focus; uncertain about this usefulness.

The feedback required:
Does this look any good? If so: why? If not: why? Go ahead. Shoot! Tell me what you think.
And remember, the forum has rules. Much as I encourage you to bash all the downsides of my build and ideas, keep it polite, and don’t forget to add suggestions to fix and improve things! Constructive criticism all the way!

Got a “new” issue to report.
Whenever I use the trading post by browsing for items in the menu: it works.
Whenever I right-click an item in my inventory to sell it on the TP by the drop-down menu: no effect.
The list pops up, as does the price and the ability to select how to sell it, but the [Sell] button cannot be clicked. Grayed out and stuck.
If I manually go back to sell the exact same item it works though.

Just thought it was worth mentioning that it’s still a bit buggy as of yet.

Just ventured into the Personal Story Mission “Breaking the Bone Ship (68)” and found it was barely doable due to sudden extreme drops in framerate. I tend to put my graphics to a minimum during missions like these, and then have a steady 45+ FPS when on the move.

The moment I entered the mission it was already noticably lower and rocky in control (±20 FPS), and as soon as I hit the water to start doing the mission, my framerate dropped to a meager 8 at best.
I suspect this is caused by the large number of floating objects in the water, the rain effects and so on. The large amount of mobs that come at you don’t help either.

Posted in bugs, since I’m sure the framerate is not meant to dip like this!
Also found that some voice files throughout the mission do not function as they should. The cutscene that followed up the big explosion had but one word and then it cut off. The explosion itself was soundless.

Thanks for the reactions. I was not sure if it counted for a bug or a mere oversight in the database. Glad to see some folks are already on it.

I’m no fan of setting max limits either, but I think it’d be rather reasonable that you can’t overprice/undercut any item by more than double the original price or something of the sort. It’d depend on the item, of course.
They’d have to sort out what limit to paste where, if they ever consider working with such an idea. Bothersome, but likely not impossible. Going to keep an eye on that other topic, see where it leads to.

Opened my Trading Post page to find someone is attempting to buy a Pear for 600g.
Naturally, my guild mate and I discussed it and I fetched a pear to see if that was even possible.

As suspected, pears are currently account-bound and therefore cannot be sold or bought. This leads me to wonder about several things.
1) Who would have so much coin that he can afford to leave 600g on a random item?
(Bot? Cheater? Very, very bored people performing an interesting prank?)
2) Why can we still manually list a buy request for account-bound items on the TP?
(I know some of the database is still being worked on, but some items have been like this since the beginning.)
3) Why isn’t there a maximum price pre-set for items of low value like this?
(Typos happen, after all. This obviously is not, but I’d be bummed if I misplaced a zero all the same.)

If nothing else, please double-check this person. I find it bizarre anyone would have 600g to put in the TP like that, never you mind that this someone would want to spend it on a pear of all things. I love pears, don’t get me wrong, but this person took his adoration over the top.

Put this under “bugs” as that made most sense; it’s obviously a mishap in the system.

Could not find it with the search tool; too many unrelated hits. So here goes!

If you delete a character, do you lose all achievements specifically bound to that character?
E.g. I delete an Asura that has a set of Tier armour. Do these achievement points for it vanish or do they stay?

I’ve found the puffing panting lady all over the place, really, although most prominently in Salma district due to the lack of other NPC dialogue in there. It may take a while, but it’s so distinctive, it’s hard to miss.

I checked the Grove by the by, and that is a lovely little tune.

Running a very similar build to yours, and I think it’s inevitable on almost any profession to drop if those stacks are left for more than a few seconds.

Schnitter’s suggestion is a very good one. Wall of Reflection is my personal favourite choice for Combo Field Light, especially in CM, because it keeps riflemen in the distance occupied a bit while you deal with the cutpurses/scouts.

Another thing is to memorise at which points you run into cutpurses the most, and then if able, quickly stash both condition removals you have into your skillbar.
Also, timing is key. If you see two running up to you, don’t pop your smite the moment one poked you. Odds are, the other will just put the bleeds right back. If able, always try to time it to remove the full load in one go. Easier said than done, but not impossible.

For those of you who use a headset or earphones, it may not be unfamiliar.
Ambience sound. Now, I love the fact that some city areas sound like real markets, that in the forests you hear wind rustling leaves, that footsteps have good audio. Love it.

But what is up with some of the sounds made by people in Divinity’s Reach?
A fast, hoarse gasping woman. “Uhhh!” as if… as if someone… did something! To her. In strange places. Yikes?

At first I considered it was just my dirty mind, but when I asked if others heard it too… yes, yes, they did. These sounds aren’t often, and they are hardly a true bother. Mind you! It’s quite hilarious, really.
But it leaves me to wonder what instructions were given to the voice cast. Anyone care to enlighten me what I am supposed to think of the woman’s rapid panting and the male “hehehe” that shortly follows?

And of course, if anyone knows of any other interesting unidentified noises in other areas… drop them here, let’s see if we can figure out what they might truly be! Just for fun and curiosity.

Orion the Cursed.1206:

Most preferable to me is to make all dungeon Story mode soloable with the Destiny Edge as your allies (story rewards aren’t that great anyways)

Second is a solo last mission.

I wouldn’t entirely remove the option to do the story dungeons with groups though.
Just having a single player option at a muuuch easier setting would be nice for those who love the lore. Or perhaps some NPC that allows you to watch the cutscenes you’ve already come across as often as you like. Most groups want you to skip them for the sake of being fast after all…

I suppose if the mechanics of Guild Wars had allowed for it better, Rurik would’ve been quite good a swordsman. Sadly, he was reduced to a very simplistic man due to the way the NPCs were programmed at the time. Him luring forty or so Charr when we could’ve slipped past most of them: unforgettable. Such battles. The chaos.

In lore, I’d say he must’ve been rather decent a swordsman. Think of him growing up in war, much time he spent in those lands, and then his journey after the Searing. The fact he was brought back from the dead briefly, solely to be a nuisance once more also hints that he was likely to be stronger than the game made him out to be.

Considering Adelbern’s fine new position too, he was probably not uncanny with a blade either. Like father, like son. Pains in the behinds in-game, but in the proper lore, who knows…

There is also a pipe organ in a house in Ebonhawke, which you can play as you see fit. It’s placed in a house quite close to the graveyard and the vista up above in that area of town.

If you wish to see what’s behind the door next to the organ, it is wise to pay the graveyard a visit and listen closely near Gwen’s grave…

I fully agree that this is sort of odd. I’ve already done it, but it’s a fairly lengthy dungeon, and quite difficult at times. Most people who played their story to enjoy just that, who just hit the magical level 80, aren’t yet geared or interested in the high end content.
It’s quite the obstacle.

What has me wondering the most is that they did not include the other dungeons in the story before this. If you have not set foot in the dungeon story modes prior to this final one, you’ll be in for a lot of confusion as to why everyone acts the way they do.

Not saying I’d want the other dungeons to become mandatory for progress, but it’d be nice to have them included as side quests on the go. To have them be a bit more important than just a loosely referenced mail we get as we level from our “Herald”, whoever he or she might be.

Turning this final requirement into a personal story quest instead, and leaving out the necessity to barge into the dungeon would be most desirable though.

EDIT: Sincere apologies for this, but it turns out the buzzing noise issue was simply the beginning of my monitor’s (speakers) final countdown. Just coincidentally marked by the last maintenance, and incidentally only initially triggering on Guild Wars 2. That really confused me and had me convinced it was the game client’s audio borking it up, so to speak. It’s not. At least that, phew!

So! Topic can be locked or removed. Again, my apologies for wasting time here.

The Sea of Sorrows area on the map was formerly blank and could not be accessed.
Now it’s been opened as a level 80 zone.

Also, there’s the entire Fractals dungeon, as well as a brand new structured PvP map.

I applaud their efforts. I really do.
I applaud the free content they still grant us, until the day comes a true expansion hits the shelves.
I just do not applaud their inability to see sense when thousands of people are pointing at it for them. Time and again, the servers have shown to be a weak spot to events such as these. The beta. The stress tests. The headstart weekend. The official release day. Dungeons’ first openings. Halloween’s dungeon implementation.
And yet, they keep going there, trying to do what is evidently impossible.

The dungeon. The map. I’m eager to explore them, as I was unable to do so until now – again, the servers were unstable and I do not like pug’ing with overflow people as it feels so distant.
But an event like this. Again? An event that is marked forever by trolls who wave their expensive loot about, who have NO idea what lore they just skipped past, who don’t care what the monsters were like, what great sceneries they ploughed past… what effort has gone to waste in building all that, because they were too short-sighted to appreciate it…

I’ll pass on that. This was a grand experiment I suppose, and it got out of hand. Servers crashed. Loot was far too valuable for a one-time thing, giving unfair advantages to those fortunate enough to be available and remain unscathed by the crashes.

I hope they see sense and try something different next time. So long as they keep trying: that I can do nothing but agree with, Majik.

NickChabby.8907:

Daendur.2357:

Jiminy.8340:

Bosley.6403:

If you miss your favorite bands one time concert in your town, do you blame the band or do you blame yourself for not finding the time to go?

If the band tours at 4AM on a work day after issuing a manifesto about how ‘all’ users should be able to attend the way they want to, I blame the band.

I know a lot of people that usually take a day of vacation to be able to follow the band…
If your son will born on a work day what will you do ?

What the holy cow? lol, you’re comparing bad game design decision to the birth of a child?

Seems 20 slot bags and a chance at a legendary precursor mean an awful lot to some people.
Joke aside, I do see what he means, in a way. With the value of some of these items, and the people who are actually hunting down a legendary weapon already… I could see them trying with all their might to be present during an event for a potential freebie.

And then the event crashed on them. I feel sorry for them, I really do.
I just wish I’d been there for the bag, personally.

There’s just been a massive patch, including a whole new dungeon that’s currently filled to the brim with excited people that try it out. It’s only natural for the servers to be a little shaky at this point, I suppose.

Came across a page on the wiki a while back that had mention of this issue.
It seems that as it is now (and was then with the Monthly achievement of Survivor) it cannot continue to stack the experience you got without dying if you’ve logged out or traveled into instances (e.g. a personal story quest). Not sure if this is what causes it, but it sure was the issue back then. It might be wise to try and see if you can find a place to race this stack of exp in one go.

This NPC only takes the items if you got all three of them AT ONCE.
It took me a moment to figure it out. But I can confirm that if you get all 3 items, as is mentioned in the guidance mail, that Levvi will take them and swap them, no problem.

I still just ask my groups whether or not they want to kill him. The few extra silvers aren’t half bad, but some people still find tokens most important.
To each their own. It’s barely even worth arguing over.

Just happened to my group as well. There’s a topic over on the Dungeons forum where it’s being discussed in some more depth.

Seems the patch unintentionally adjusted something with the way he’s meant to collide with pillars.
It’d be very nice to see a warning is put up for this, so no-one else can accidentally stumble into this path. So close to the finish, too…

Still bugged as of now. Just found out AFTER we realized he doesn’t collide with pillars.
Waste of time.

Please fix the content or shut down this path until said fix.

Romeo4378

I was thinking about giving her a scepter for her second wep so she can shoot bosses from afar but she also likes mace and shield so idk.

It’s never a bad idea to keep a Scepter in your inventory, just “in case” you run into a long range boss you cannot reach. It doesn’t do too bad when paired with a shield, either. So in case of lazy, you wouldn’t even have to swap the shield out as well.

I’m not too big a fan of Sanctuary because of the cooldown, but I guess if someone really hates dying, it’s a thing to use. Perhaps it’s wise to invest in Wall of Reflection. It tosses back all sorts of ranged attacks tossed at you. It doesn’t just protect you, it also deals damage back to enemies. A dead enemy is a good enemy, right?
It also allows for the Greatsword’s whirl combo to cleanse conditions, I think. If it’s not that, it’s healing bolts. One of the two, I am sure.

To compliment defensive traits, as someone already mentioned, Knight armour isn’t half bad. It’s got precision, vitality and toughness, but lacks power. The precision often makes up for it though. Add to that a sturdy good Greatsword with perhaps some critical damage, and the Guardian will still hit some decent numbers.

Oh, and come to think of it. I think pouring just 10 trait points into Virtues gives you an option that makes Spirit Weapons last 50% longer. Pretty and useful? Yes please!

Guanglai Kangyi.4318

DPS. No one wants a support. Supports slow down dungeon runs and usually don’t help that much, unless said supports are elementalists. You are not an elementalist. Ergo, you do not run support.

Correction: Nobody wants a pure support Guardian.
Losing their excellent damaging capacities in favour of doing a thing another profession may do better… not advisable. But that doesn’t make it impossible to invent a manner in which you are support heavy, and still deal good enough damage to not at all slow your team down.

Think of the many offensive trait options that can “strangely” be found in our more defensive looking trait lines.
A 20% decrease in cooldowns on two-handed weapons, in our Honor line.
Added burning effects and more retaliation triggers through our Virtues.

I personally run a rather support-heavy build, based around Altruistic Healing. I like being the one that’s able to run into the fray head first, to survive with relative ease while I buff my friends up with massive stacks of Might, hoisting about a greatsword to do my own share of ravaging.
Naturally, I will not deal as much damage as a pure Berserker, but in turn, I do get more opportunity to deal decent amounts of damage due to the simple fact that I do not have to roll out as fast or often as they do.

Ahem.
Tl;dr: Support is viable, but 100% Support is not. Hybrids are fine to an extent.

If you ask me, just play around with your traits and some cheaper gear till you find what you like playing as best.

shockwave.1764:

what staff is that?!

It’s the staff from the Ascalonian Catacombs dungeon rewards vendor.
Overday it’s a regular golden colour, and during nighttimes it turns a ghastly blue.

Here’s another image of that staff, wielded by my Guardian.

If you’ve the time, quickly check them all for feels… animations and all. Voices and such. If you pick one with a voice you find horrible, whilst wanting to keep the dialogue volume on: eww!

That said, there are lists on the Wiki pages that show the racial skills. Seeing you wish to zoom through the game, and likely solo at that, it’s probably not a bad idea to pick a race with solid racial skills that you might actually enjoy using.

Ranger is a very good choice for solo’ing, and if it’s not your thing after all, you could always roll a Warrior, a Guardian or a Necromancer for comparable “solid” results, from what I hear.

Alfrond.5037

Really, I was rather surprised to hear how easy some people thought the dungeons were. I’m betting that Anet might be too, since explorable mode was supposed to be very hard. And many do find it pretty darn hard.

But hard doesn’t always equal fun. Especially not if fights are difficult only because the bosses have insanely high health. And the reason a lot of people find certain boss fights, (e.g. Kohler, who has only one true lethal skill) so hard, is because the rest of the time they can get away with no-braining a DPS rotation.
The dungeon system just needs a bit of balancing between the long, boring fights and the short, intense fights. When trash encounters are more intense than the boss that follows, something ain’t right!

As an example, my favourite boss fight in this game so far is Citadel of Flame story mode’s final boss. A big bad in the distance, with an oldskool platform concept to get to him. Dodge the boulders, crush the walls, throw rocks, destroy him!
Very similar to the Claw of Jormag encounter, but then scaled down for 5man. It took long, but not so long you began to wonder what else there was to do, and even if difficult, it was completely based on player skill rather than gear/profession based.
It was even more fun to see my mute group members suddenly ask if anyone had a swiftness buff or two, and within seconds we were completely in sync as we finished off the kitten.
I really thought it was fun. Just fun. And if it weren’t for the dull lengthy dungeon in front of it, I’d probably frequently visit that fight with friends, to show them how amazing the fight was. The music. The mood. The big opponent. Clear mechanics with plenty challenge. It just seemed proper!
A few more fights like those, to finish your dungeon adventure with a blast would be so darn welcome.

Negativity.5801

It’s gratifying to be able to master difficult content.

This pretty much sums up what is currently not entirely right with the dungeon system.
The sheer lack of balance between easy and tough-as-nails bosses, how often they pop up, when, where, at what levels, and so on… is what makes it impossible for many to get the urge of wanting to master the game. Heck, not even the game. People don’t even want to improve their own character.

I’ve a friend – bless him, he’s amazing – who has been by my side in many a dungeon. Engineer. He dropped like a fly! Took me a lot of friendly teasing to convince him to fix at least a tad of defensive traits and to get himself some new armour with vitality in place of a tiny tad of precision. And even then, he just can’t force himself to care past the basics.
I understand him entirely, since… if you play casually, and 3/4 of the bosses are so easy… why would you?

Oooh, this is interesting.
It’s also somewhat reminiscent of the old elite skills from Guild Wars. Back there, almost every boss had an elite skill that you could “capture”. Something similar upon dungeon completion, be it an item, a skin or a skill… that’d be nice.

I don’t think all of these encounters should be done away with, but I think Anet needs to strike a balance between challenging content and more casual content. I think something like Hard Modes would be a step in the right direction.

That’s pretty much the whole issue right now. Due to the vast amount of ridiculously lengthy and dull “roll your face on keyboard” encounters, not many players take the incentive to try and improve.

What I do feel, is that as it is now, it seems the game punishes those who do try their best. The Tommy Terribads, as Bobathar names them so well… I call them mops. Because they land on the floor all the time. Downed, if not defeated.

It’s these mops that drag teams down. And somehow, I often can’t even blame them.
They were the ones that were given no stimulation whatsoever to try and improve, as many an encounter is lengthy but seldom actually difficult. Many of these “mops” still get everything done, be it by getting carried, by being able to resurrect those who can maintain themselves, or by simply flailing arms and running in circles.

But does the game punish them for being poor players, and not having taken time to try and improve? Slightly: they get armour repairs!
Does the game reward them? Yep, when they are done cleaning a dungeon floor, they get as much loot as the other people in the dungeon.

Result: the rest of the group gets punished more than the actual Tommy Terribad mop player. The game currently does not stimulate people to try and improve, since “what works will keep working anyway”, even if not in the best possible way.

Punishment… there is plenty. Just not in the right place.

Condescending, silly people with ego issues. The ones that make me resent I said so much as, “Hello!” to them.
I reckon everyone knows them in some form! Here’s a few of the funniest examples that I get to deal with as a Guardian tank/support player.
(Note, this is how their comments sound in my head after re-reading them a while and having repeatedly facepalmed at their logic.)

“Oh, you just asked if I want to do method A or B for this boss, to prevent us from all doing different things and failing miserably? How about I start explaining the futility of both methods by saying your DPS sucks and suggest we zerg and repeatedly die instead?”

“Oh, you were downed right next to me and I didn’t res you ‘cause I’m the glass cannon that lives in tunnel vision? Tell me how much DPS you do again, Mr Support player who saved my behind repeatedly now.”

“Oh, so you have full Knight status rares/exotics with matching runes, but not full exotic armour yet? Let me spam you with my mismatched gear of Knight-Cleric-Valkyrie-Berserker stats and inform you how dumb and fat you are for no apparent reason.”

They think themselves clever but… yeah.

And my absolute favourite, here in a generic flavour of how it sounds in my head whenever I read a version of it.
“im new but u all must do it wrong lol cus we wiped, despite surviving longer and helping others up while i remain on the floor defeated and refused to res even when begged 3 times. u noobs!”

At least most of these aren’t so common it happens on every run, but once in every ten or so groups still have at least one guy with this sort of “logic”.

All they’d have to do is tweak the current LFG tool, if you ask me.
Add to it one tiny line that states -what- dungeon, perhaps even which path, these people are looking to do… and BAM. Naturally, adding a x/5 counter and automatically disabling the tool upon filling the party to 5/5 would be very nifty.

It needn’t be some automated thing like certain other MMO’s have, that take the social aspect out of the game entirely… just a small tweak to the current search method would likely fix most the issue.

Elitists pop up in any online game. Just based on a few lousy experiences with them, does not make all of them jerks by default. These elitists are generally people who simply think their way is fastest or most effective, and thus they can no longer be bothered to attempt to adjust to people who view it differently.
It happens. It’s sour if you’re the one opposing them for whatever reason.

But why would you report them as if having an opinion is a crime? So, you say you are free to do AC explorable as early as 35. What if they suddenly screamed at you and told you they’d report you to be banned for such “ridiculous” thoughts? Sour, isn’t it, being banned over a mere opinion…

I personally see no use in level or profession discrimination, as I try and do the best I can before I start to harass others about their armour values, skills and so on. May make me count as an Elitist on my own; I just don’t boot others if they’re not the same, though I’d rather ask “gee mate, you died 9 times in a row even though you dodged, may need to update your gear a tad, eh” than mute my way past them.

Adding a banhammer for people who just aren’t as patient and seek their own kind of people to dungeon with – all level 80, all good gear, all fast and familiar with the dungeons – is just not the way to go.

Just try and be specific in your “LFG” messages. It may take longer to find a group when you are not 80, but if it spares you having to deal with Elitist folks you don’t appreciate… may as well.

Oh I see, thanks. I HATE twitter and wish they’d use their own webpages to inform the crowd. Thank you anyway!

Would indeed like confirmation that this dungeon stays open for several hours, if not days.