Guild Wars 2

Rednik.3809:

It’s so funny to read this thread, full of people who think that they understand raiding model better than Blizzard do.
WotLK was most successful addon ever, and it was first addon where they introduced four different raid difficulties without gutting class balance like they do in Cata and next addons. But hey, introducing hard and easy modes it’s a heresy, because forum experts saying so.

First off, WotLK was garbage compared to BC and even Vanilla. Second, normal mode in WotLK was comparable to what raiding is in this game. It wasn’t even until ToC that heroic was released which was quite a bit more challenging than how easy raiding is in GW2. Then Cata was released and they dropped LFR after Firelands. That is what destroyed WoW and raiding. WoW in its current state is absolutely awful. They were rewarding players for /afking and mindlessly ignoring mechanics. This game doesn’t need an easy mode. Players need to suck it up and either get good, or opt out of raiding. It’s really not that difficult of a concept. OK green circles pop up every so often! Stand in them! Okay fire is bad! Avoid fire! Okay I need to do this! Do this!

The problem is all these people who claim they are “casual” when in reality they are simply lazy. They want loot and they want it now. ANET WHERES MY LOOT BUTTON? Put the work in or no reward. SIMPLE.

It’s really up to you. Have you completed the story yet? If not I’m pretty sure you’ll want to go updraft mastery → Bouncing Mushrooms → Exalted Acceptance → Nuhoch Wallows. At this point I went 3/5 gliding then I went for poison lore so I could finish out exploration. Then after that I finished out gliding. After you complete the main story it’s really up to you.

@Sarrs

Out of curiosity was their reasoning behind no dungeons due to raids?

I think what they could do to increase dungeon participation is to create dailies around it, like fractals, and REBUFF the rewards! Running dungeons is simply not an efficient way to play this game in its current state. Especially the longer exploration routes on certain dungeons.

The pets are fine and take about 2-3 minutes total to grab them both after completing the meta.

After completing the meta first go to the chest. This video will guide you to the Electric Wyvern:

After getting the electric wyvern port to “North Advanced Camp Waypoint” and head south, just south of the northern circle zerg events. If this is confusing watch this video:

As for disconnecting. I’ve heard that running GW2 on the 32-bit will often cause Dragonstand to crash. Not much you can do about this but what you can do is educate yourself on how to participate in the Meta. Pay attention to this guide:

http://dulfy.net/2015/11/09/gw2-hot-maps-timer-famme/

You’ll want to show up on DS about 5-15 minutes prior to “Start” on the dragonstand timer. When you arrive you should be placed on a map with a lot of people and a commander. Join up on the commander and wait for the map to reset. Once this happens you’ll most likely be ported on the same server with the rest of the squad. In the unlikely chance you are not you have about 5 minutes or so until your server fills to join up on your commander by right clicking his name under the squad interface.

I hope this helps!

Edit: I have no idea why this reply is being spaced like this so I apologize for that!

onevstheworld.2419:

Participation % doesn’t directly level up masteries any quicker… it just means you get better rewards when the meta event ends…

onevstheworld.2419:

these rewards include more xp (I think), so it’s still worthwhile.

xD

HazyDaisy.4107:

I never said the quoted post was sarcasm, I said it was simply a joke. In fact I only mentioned sarcastic in my subsequent post to the first person that quoted me thinking I was complaining specifically about the champ spider. The subsequent post had nothing to do with the first, it only served to combine every sarcastic response I could think of at the time that was sadly less than 15 characters.

Kudos to you for getting that my first post was in fact complaining primarily about machete acquisition. The rest of that post however was mostly joking, as the scenario doesn’t always apply to me personally, but does apply to someone in a DS map somewher.

As you mentioned, yes, you do passively amass machetes, however, 100 in 2 weeks of metas when you can go through 40 in a GOOD single pod run? Do you hear yourself? My average is about 10 per escort run. That’s way too low for anyone expecting this big pod payout at the end unless they supplement with paid machetes.

Referring to pods as an end “reward” is the real joke. On a timer, surrounded by enemies, oftentimes only 1 or 2 of you in that particular area, with a limited supply of sources to open said pods if you haven’t a)Run the DS meta many times prior or b) run VB, AB and TD metas many times and gained currencies to purchase enough machetes for a semi good pod run.

Don’t get me wrong, I like the DS meta, when I need it. But the grind in order to grind some more after the meta is over is not fun at all!

Suggestions to decrease dead maps and frustrations:
1)Pre finale Pod spawns on escort routes and dead maps should be increased.
2)Crystalline ore output from pods should be atleast guaranteed 2 minimum per pod.
3)Passive machete drops from events needs to be increased OR purchasable machete bundle quantity (currently 5) needs to be upped to 10 if they’re going to require 3 different types of of 25 stack currecies for purchase.
4)Champs and overwhelming mobs should not be in collection areas or explorable areas when there is a timer is involved and people often find themselves alone. Not saying no enemies, but come on!
5)That timer needs to be increased atleast 5 more minutes if none of the above suggestions can be made.

I agree with pretty much everything you’re saying, but perhaps Anet did not want you to get 40+ noxious pods per meta event. Perhaps they intentionally made it like this. Otherwise perhaps they will change it. All speculation. Also, I myself have been slain while going for that noxious pod/Orichalcum vain right next to the champ drake lmao. Good times.

I made the thread “HoT needs to be Buffed” as the result from the nerf thread to be fair lol, I don’t actually believe HoT needs to be buffed.

@Palador

And… What makes you think they’re exclusively working on new raid wings? What if Anet is allocating resources to multiple departments and merely releasing content on deadlines/when it’s ready etc. There’s still going to be living story, new releases, etc so I disagree with you when you say “it’s common sense.” This particular subject is bringing in many so-called casuals because they refuse to “git gud” or had a particular bad experience with a raid group.

I’m just saying, I didn’t say I’d quit the game when they added in keg brawl. That mini-game offers a nifty title. I didn’t rage because I had no kegbrawl team and I didn’t claim that I was going to quit the game and that all Anet is doing is catering to the hardcore kegbrawl players. Where’s my free title???

It’s rediculous that people are this upset over content that isn’t exclusive. Demanding it is removed is straight up selfish.

@Ricky

There’s literally no reward for this and therefore it is a pointless arguement to make. I’m not going to nerf myself so that other players can more easily access content than me. I really hate this comment (whenever anyone says that) and the purpose of this thread was to not call for blanket buffs but to rather call out people who are calling for blanket nerfs due to the fact that they spent 10 minutes in VB and said “this is too hard I quit!” No disrespect, this just simply isn’t a viable solution.

Tumult.2578:

Wait another month or two, till many more players have left and ask again.

It will be more popular then, with fewer responses.

So where are you getting the facts from this claim? Does it make you mad when Anet tries to cater to more types of gamers than you? Are you like “man I love this game but I can’t stand that other players are having fun in content I have no wish to access.”

Naus the Gobbo.5172:

I just got back to the game last week, can anyone enlighten me on what promises they have gone back on? Or is everyone just whining for the sake of whining?

A little of each. There have been quarks here and there. They basically ripped off the community who has been here from the start for charging full price for an expansion… But I say whatever money goes into this game is good. They also did pretty poorly on their ad campaign. There were some issues with preording as well but I can’t remember off the top of my head. Pre-HoT the outcry was that GW2 needed more challenging content. They naturally did this (As end game should when new end-game content is released.) and now the social standard is that HoT is too difficult for the casual. I mean, list anything about this game and someone has a problem with it.

Healix.5819:

That was total accounts registered, which is a fairly useless number. The professional estimate was 3.1 million active players just after HoT. Judging from what others have said last month based on NCSoft’s earnings report, HoT likely only sold 300-500k copies. Not only was HoT poorly marketed (the focus on minorities, the lack of content, the price, etc), it also came at a bad time (in between other major releases, like FO4), so it’s really not surprising.

Point successfully nulled :P Well then I can most likely say hundreds of thousands for sure and that’s a significant amount.

Healix.5819:

Personally, I don’t really play alts so I’ve only played through HoT 1.5 times. First as a zerker ele and then as a zerker ranger wearing only rares, half accessories and no runes/sigils/upgrades. Although poorly geared, the ranger was easy, simply because of the pet tanking everything, plus I primarily skipped through everything and focused on the story.

To be fair it may of seemed easier due to the fact that it was your second time through, and rangers have the inherited advantage of a pet. Gear really doesn’t make too much of a difference from rare to exotic to ascended. At least not a very easily noticeable different.

Mishoo.5918:

Why did you quote me? Did you feel targeted, somehow? It was not my intention.
Generally speaking. Some people feel sick about other people’s opinions. Some people feel sick about other people’s attitude. I admit, sometimes I find myself in the second category.

The quote in your first thread was the direct result from something I stated. Nothing personal, merely showing you another way to view what you were saying.

Manasa Devi.7958:

Yeah, I get the point, you’re saying absolutely nothing using a lot of words. If you think there’s not a “lot of people” in the situation I describe, just say so. But you can’t say that for sure either, so you go off on a pointless tangent hoping this lack of a clue on your part remains unnoticed.

Uh maybe you should reread what I said. I don’t make claims without describing my though process. This is the opposite of discussion. I can be pretty certain by looking at forum views. I was extremely generous with that estimate. I am sure there are more than 1 million GW2 players still active around the world and I am sure that less than 100,000 people visit these forums on a regular basis to argue a point.

Manasa Devi.7958:

And what’s the point of this? Is this addressed at me? It doesn’t even tangentially touch upon what I’m talking about.

Yeah…. when you take a paragraph and split it in half, often times you will find you have no idea what the second half is about. “Obviously these are all made-up numbers but you get the point.” should of been at the end of that paragraph. I just had more ramblings to say. I was merely reinforcing that by taking what you believe the community wants from these forums, this is not what actually represents the population.

Manasa Devi.7958:

That was never true of the vast majority of GW2’s pre-HoT content.

Sure it was. You have one hour to play a day. Your buddy has ten. He will most certainly achieve all his goals before you. You will always be behind in this game if you are not able to commit a certain amount of time. This will cause you to view the game as unfair, when in reality, all MMO’s are is a time sink.

Manasa Devi.7958:

I don’t care what the OP is complaining about. I never responded to anything he said. I responded to someone else rudely patronizing him.

“blaming people for being in the wrong type of game when what they got into was a different type of game, that’s just rude and ignorant.”

I was stating how I disagree with this. All clear now?

Drakz.7051:

The adventures on the other hand are a work of genius, some are a little tough but I really enjoy them, they are different and fun and I hope they add more of the adventure stuff in

Ugh I disagree so much lol. Not only are they challenging (This is good) and require memorization (This is pretty meh) but they are gated behind meta events as well (This is awful design). I decided I can not handle going for gold on all of them until they roll out a fix for this, which they mentioned somewhere. I was going for shooting gallery the other night. Finally got the outpost after 20 minutes of waiting. Gave the adventure 4-5 tries and then it was nighttime. I guess I have to wait another hour or so until I can hop back into that one! Some of the adventures are enjoyable to me though, I just wish they weren’t gated behind specific meta events.

As for finding a full map for meta events. This is pretty easy as long as you arrive at the right time. Depending on what time it is there should always be a point where you can hop into a full meta assuming you arrive before/on-time.

HazyDaisy.4107:

That ackward moment when a joke goes over someones head, not once, but twice.

That awkward moment when the person who laid out a sarcastic joke realizes there was nothing in his post that indicated he was being sarcastic.

Manasa Devi.7958:

An outdated quote for sure, but it explains why a lot of people are here. Acting like it never existed, like this game didn’t change course drastically, and blaming people for being in the wrong type of game when what they got into was a different type of game, that’s just rude and ignorant.

When you say so many people you mean maybe 3000-5000 a day? Maybe 100,000 total? At the launch of HoT they hit over 7,000,000 accounts. Assuming a fraction of those accounts are still playing 100,000 seems rather small when comparing to let’s say… 1,000,000. So, judging by this generous speculation this means approximately 10% of the player-base comes to the forums. Obviously these are all made-up numbers but you get the point. Compare how many complaints you see about a specific topic and relate that to the entire population. Game forums in no way represent even CLOSE to the majority of the population wants. They usually consist of the people who like to discuss, argue, help, or complain… emphasis on complain. People who complain have the loudest voice making it seem like that is the theme of the game. This is literally present in every game core-forum.

Also, indicating to someone who is stating he doesn’t have a lot of time to play a game usually indicates he doesn’t have time to play a MMO where time is literally everything. If he’s complaining about not being at the top of the tier then perhaps… MMO’s are not for him? I’m sick of people requesting a reward button for accomplishments that take time and work. If the game consists of nothing that requires time or work then the player-base will drop substantially. This I can guarantee.

Manasa Devi.7958:

“If you hate MMO’s you’ll really want to check out Guild Wars 2”
- Mike O’Brien

An outdated quote. As a business evolves so does its ideology. To survive you must satisfy as wide of a range of players as you can. One way to do this is implementing raids. It doesn’t effect the casual community because they can… oh I don’t know… not raid… While the hardcore community is happy.

@Aliam

I’ll reply to your question respectfully with this question: Would it bother the casual crowd to have patience, work together, and knock out the HP’s they can’t achieve alone one-by-one? I hear you though, and part of being casual with time constraints means it’s going to take longer to achieve your goal. You do one HP a day you’ll get them all done within the month! A lot of complaints I see come from lack of patience and the belief that the casual player who has spent little time on something should achieve the same status of the hardcore player who has spent hours/days.

Serious.7083:

I would respond that HoT does not need to be buffed at all, it is quite strong enough. Buffing something is not always the answer.

Players need to be nurfed. This would also toughen up central Tyria Mobs, and the gods know they need it.

Then the players who are complaining in this thread need to be nurfed more than others… 1000HP each, reduction to 1 dodge and unable to block or evade.

That should make the game hard enough for you.

It’s obvious you didn’t read this thread lol. Clickbait at its finest.

Furajir.3815:

How else will I look the coolest and pick up pixelated women?

Well… You can raid? Come on man, you’re a father, a business owner, a dog owner (this holds the highest precedence.) I know you can figure out how to find a guild that raids. If you truly do not have 3 hours a week to commit to this then I don’t know.

I will say this though. Even though I can easily access raids I know many others can not. People far less able as you. I believe there should be an easy-mode zerg style raid that offers maybe… 10% of the rewards from actual raiding. Then it becomes a time constraint where hardcore players are getting rewards first… as it should be… but casual players can still participate. This seems like the obvious option and I have little doubt that Anet will implement something like this eventually. The outcry from casuals is crazy regarding raiding.

Also, a bit more than 1% raid… No need to exaggerate on speculation to push a point.

You have a few options:

1.) You can find a guild with a predesignated raid time that you can always make. This will save you time because you will not have to search for pugs. This will also help you learn content in a friendly environment.

2.) You can pug the content when it is more well known. It will get easier as more and more players grow accustomed to the fights.

3.) You can opt out of raiding and not receive legendary armor. " I was told I wouldn’t have to raid in to get the best gear." Are legendary weapons any better than ascended weapons? It’s pretty safe to assume you will not be at a disadvantage. If you play MMO’s to play alone… to each their own. I’d really suggest associating with people who can help you progress further in this game… After all… It is a MMO. I personally am glad GW2 isn’t implementing a “click this button for free loot” module.

Perhaps what you are looking for is a RPG.

Edit: Also lmfao at Naus.

I’ve noticed the theme with heart quests is they simply are not present on end-level zones. Southsun Cove was a bit pointless and unoccupied besides the Queen of course and Orr is home to those who enjoy the champ trains/t6 mat farming. Anet did a fantastic job with HoT by keeping people preoccupied constantly while in the new zones.

It is fantastic to see someone who actually appreciates what they brought with the new expansion, after all… Anet wasn’t even sure if they were going to work on one.

ricky markham.8173:

i play solo and i say its easy. i havent gone with any guild since hot started. i used to belong to a wvw guild and only things i did as a guild was wvw or pvp. so your theory goes out the window tthere

I agree with you 100%. The only thing you really need a guild for to get far in this game is one for raiding. Everything else is incredibly easy to do on your own. Without a proper LFG panel finding raid groups becomes insanely difficult. I realized this day two into HoT and made it my mission to find one. Plus, pugging really sucks and its nice to progress with the same group of people rather then restart progression every time you enter a pug. I think the main challenge people have with this game, and other MMO’s is utilizing the tools given to them.

Anyways, I read an article stating GW2 hit 7 million players at the release of HoT. We’ll guess that 2 million are inactive. We’ll guess the bottom 20% or so is unable to complete HoT or doesn’t bother/isn’t interested. This speculation leaves roughly 4 million players who at some point, made their way through HoT. Again, speculation… but you get the idea. Literally millions of people have completed this content. I feel like this argument should be my main point lol

Arlee.7038:

Because if it didn’t have stat switching it would just be ascended armor with a different skin, not legendary armor.

Were you around prior to legendaries having the function to change stats? They were legendary because of the unique and noticeable skin. They were essentially ascended weapons with different skins…lol

LanfearShadowflame.3189:

No, I’m pretty sure it was said somewhere that it was stated to have this functionality. And it makes sense that it would, considering the backpiece does….(at least, I think it does. Don’t have one yet)

If Anet announced this then it is not speculation, it is a fact! I personally have not seen anything which is why I’m saying speculation is speculation. I do believe that they will have the function to change stats but obviously, this leaves everyone hanging on what the heck are they going to do about runes.

Paandor.1950:

Highness.9061:

It’s doable , but it’s annoying , please ANET do something about this . i log in the game to have fun not to be frustrated .

This ^

This ^ … Does not mean anything. Why is it annoying. What are you frustrated with? What is holding you back from completing the content?

battledrone.8315:

1: it is cheaper to use and expand an existing system , instead of making a new one

Absolutely, but I’m not sure if you’re talking in regards to masteries… or… well anyways… the way I see it the mastery system is a solid alternative to simply raising the level cap and really creates a new unique system for HoT to build off of.

battledrone.8315:

2: wows underwater combat is not nearly as good, as GW2s

I mean, this is definitely an opinion and not really a fair argument. I don’t think you would find an underwater world full of mobs appealing if you are struggling with the easily controlled mobs on land. With underwater content you need to think on a 3D scale taking in account for mobs above and below you. If you are looking for simple content this is definitely not for you.

battledrone.8315:

3:yes, i have have a big problem with jumping puzzles, i struggled to get many of the vistas jumping puzzles with enemies around..even worse

I hear you, but practice makes perfect! When you apply yourself to what you want to accomplish you should gradually improve. That is to say, everyone improves at different rates and this is a topic I didn’t really cover in this thread.

battledrone.8315:

4:i dont run dungeons and fractals here at all..tried a couple of times, wasnt my thing if they made a REALLY easymode version, i would prolly try it at least once if it was casual enough, i would happily run all my 23 characters through it

Wow, I respect the fact that you maxed out 23 characters. What is your ambition in this game? Have you thought about simply applying yourself to one sole class and improving from there? You’re putting yourself at a major disadvantage if you try to push through 23 separate characters through content that SHOULD gradually increase in difficulty. I think you view GW2 as a sandbox game rather than a game with gradual progression. This applies to most MMO’s in the leveling process but you need to aim for something if you wish to be successful in end-game content. I’m going to go out on a whim and speculate that the majority of the player-base is more focused on mastering one class where as this would put you at a major disadvantage.

battledrone.8315:

5: they made lions arch 3 times but theyre only using one of them..wastethey make a zone, cram it full of mobs, which they then spend time on nerfing..waste they had a really good skill system, but they replaced it with a inferior system..waste when blizzard make a zone, they just leave it open for eternal use
with bugs and all.. happy gamer? currently switching between Xcom2, master of Orion and the division i have plenty of games to play, but i would like a reason to return to Tyria AFAIK they have only made 2 regular hearts quests since launch?

How do you propose they use all three versions of LA? They update the city according to how the living story is going. This is the whole purpose of GW2. Live maps that are constantly changing and evolving in relation to living story. If you are looking for a static MMO you are in the wrong place sir. GW2 is looking to get rid of grinds. This means you don’t have to grind out 30 million XP to participate in the expansion and this is why the mastery system is superior. A lot of the player-base complained about the dull-ness of heart quests and therefore a different system was introduced. As for the mastery system I explain above why I believe it is a superior system. Guild Wars has never been about raising the level cap. If you ventured into GW1 you would understand this. I respect your opinions but I believe they differ from the vast majority of the player-base.

I bought HoT around 3 weeks ago and achieved map completion after a week. Here’s what I did:

I’m a ranger so for obvious reasons I was probably able to solo a bit more than you, BUT as I got to AB/TD/DS I was not able to do this for the most part. Many of the HP’s are simply channeling effects so those you can pick off right away. Next, try to be on maps right after the main meta events are complete. Trains tend to start there. You can find a wonderful timer here:

http://dulfy.net/2015/11/09/gw2-hot-maps-timer-famme/

So as for the ones I could not solo… You have three options. Find a train like I described above, which I didn’t do myself. You can wait in a safe spot until others will naturally, eventually, arrive. I think the most I waited was on a HP in TD for about 15-20 minutes. The third option is to get your mentor tag. Now I know a lot of people are not happy with the idea of working with others in a MMO because it isn’t “casual”, but you throw up your mentor tag and post in map chat “So and so HP on my tag!” Naturally this + open world LFG will eventually find you a partner in a mere few minutes.

I know a lot of people complain about the difficulty of these HP’s but with increased reward comes increased difficulty. Working together and taking full advantage of the tools given to you is key to any MMO and this is what worked for me.

Edit: Oh, and it’s worth mentioning the worst HP is in TD. It is the “Mushroom Queen” HP and it is ridiculous because of the amount of space you get to fight her. This will typically take 4-5 people to zerg her down quickly so if you ever see any mention of this in TD map chat then do it! What I did was tag up, post in LFG, and I got a group of 6-7 people together and led them personally to the HP.

There are also two HP’s in DS which require meta completion. Once you kill off modre there will be two giant red arrows on your map. Simply follow them and ride the train!

As for HP’s in TD (or anywhere else for that matter) where you’re like “I have no clue where to even start to find these!” I would suggest youtube-ing the area the HP’s are located in (Ex. Google “Deeproot Sink HP”) and either using a guide or watch a video. Some of the exploration gets a bit crazy, especially in TD, but this provides entertaining content that you don’t simply walk to and complete.

If you need additional help, or do not wish to use guides, then hit me up in game! I am always happy to help!

(The people who say they won’t, really will) xD

Manasa Devi.7958:

Regular intervals? If we’re to take that literally and they do them in groups of 3 we’ll be well into 2018 before they’ve all been released.

Regular intervals do not mean equal intervals but I’d guess they’ll be released up to the point where they have xpac2 announced. They’ll release them when they are ready.

HazyDaisy.4107:

Pretty pods! How do I open? Wait, what? I had to farm VB, AB and TD to buy machetes! Ok, I have 5 WHOLE machetes now what? Wait, is that a champ spider? NO! Don’t lead him to me…there’s only 30 secs on the map timer. Hey, come back here, I..I…I have machetes.

You pretty much passively gain an excess amount of machetes after awhile lol. I have over 100 from about two weeks worth of metas. Also, 30 seconds left? I hope you were able to open at least 10 pods in this rest of the 14 minutes lol

You get a bit more of a reward from DS than pods so let’s not act like DS is entirely pointless.

How do you even know you’ll be able to switch the stats? I mean, I assume this too but it’s not like it’s a fact. Like I said, it’s all speculation.

battledrone.8315:

i dont need advice, i just need some new casual content
i could prolly slug my way though HoT, if i REALLY wanted/needed it, at least on my strongest characters
i play for fun and relaxation, HoT is neither , IMO
they have a great underwater combat, but they dont do anything new with it
instead, they use precious resources on a new gliding system , which is mediocre at best
they have wasted a ton of resources on content, that too few people enjoy
that is why, the population is steadily declining
if you build it, we will pay and play

I think most players would disagree with you when comparing the enjoyment of gliding to underwater mechanics. WoW already tried an underwater zone which immediately transformed into a deserted wasteland with zero reward. I actually really enjoy gliding. It’s a nice alternative to a flying “mount” which still keeps players involved in map combat.

Why is HoT too difficult for you? You can state it is but that leaves me sitting here clueless to why you feel this way and refuse to get advice. On the contrary you could probably get away with most of the HoT content in white gear and be perfectly fine. Is armor or experience what you define as “strong characters?”

When you say they waste precious resources I assume you’re talking about raiding? I hear you here. Do you run fractals or dungeons at all? If they implemented an easy-mode would you play it? If you were given advice on how to optimize your game-play would you take it?

How do you define casual? From all your recent posts you do not seem like a happy gamer

pepsis.5384:

So apparently someone was offended by my post here yesterday. What I wrote may have been a tad sharp but it was my personal reflection on the current state of the expansion fueled by nothing else but my sincere frustration with some aspects of HoT. It definitely wasnt insulting or hateful – if some of my fellow posters felt it was let me know and I’ll adjust my level of honesty next time.

Anyway I’m drawing my conclusions from all this and everyone else is free to draw theirs.

Wasn’t me, I had a lengthy 4-5 paragraph reply to what you said which got deleted. If you want to raise some points go right ahead. To be honest, it seemed like you didn’t even bother to read my OP or any bit of the discussion on this thread.

Wethospu.6437:

I have never raided but this clearly proves what a joke raiding is in this game. At least in WoW it takes months to beat raids even for top guilds. Even then I don’t understand why anyone would take pride in raids. Anyone can beat the scripted static content with enough practice. Give me truly hard content with dynamic and opponents with brains and you got me interested.

He’s the guy who rages in the comments when The Onion posts on facebook. lolol

Jordo.5913:

and then you go and put the first bit of GW1 related story into content that only 5% of your player base is playing?

Niiiice you took the entire active population and figured this out!!!??

I don’t know… if you refuse to raid then you could… youtube it?

I imagine that would be extremely handy lol

Continued…

Simply because my opinion does not reflect what you have personally seen in these forums does not make it wrong or right. The loudest voice in game forums are the ones who usually have something to complain about. You’re not going to see many threads saying “I think the content difficulty in this game is satisfactory.” No, those people are simply playing the content. On top of this the portion of community that visits these forums is so tiny when comparing to the overall community. You can’t take the opinion of the few and label that as a fact.

Also, in regards to TT i’ll say this. Yes, content is briefly gated behind some pre-meta events but this is the function of the HoT maps. I’m indifferent with how this works. Sometimes it is an adventure you can’t access. Sometimes its as simple as a longer walk due to a contested waypoint. This isn’t to say… content should be nerfed or buffed.

Lastly, let me be clear. The title of this thread is a joke to grab the attention of all those who are seeking nerfs without fully understand how this game works. I do not actually wish to see this content buffed, although I personally would enjoy that. What I wish to see is new content becoming linearly, increasingly, difficult as time goes on while older content becomes easier and more “outdated.” This is how you keep all aspects of the player-base entertained and this is the model that Anet and other MMO’s typically follow. If you are not willing to learn the game then it’s simple. You will not be at the top of the scale when it comes to progression. MMO’s are competitive in the sense that they require strategic thought, time, and help from others. This game is no different.

What do I hope to get out of this? I hope people come here saying something is too difficult. Then we can talk it through and I can offer advice on how I accomplished this.

@Blude

Let me start by saying thank you for being more respectful in your reply. I am trying to promote discussion while trying to rational this nerf crazy thought process that a lot of people seem to be having. My OP is merely a troll to lure in those who might blindly disagree with me without reason. The comments that were removed were not due to anything I did or can control. I didn’t even think they were that bad minus what Pepsi said last night. I’ve had several comments removed myself now due to the fact that I was quoting their comments. I’m going to say this in two parts for just in case…lol

Warcry.1596:

There aren’t really any long distance glides in it. I mean I have gotten gold without it so I haven’t tried experimenting much with it.

I’m not sure what the 1 skill did seeing as they removed it before I tried it, but I’d use 2 after the second checkpoint on the long glide, up the long narrow straight vine, and at the end where you have to glide over the gap. Oh and I used it at the start after you hopped up the first climb.

I’m slow though, I made silver by 3 seconds :P

@TheLastNobody

I agree that timers are not the greatest for one who is gated behind time. I defined a “casual” pretty much as this. The only problem I see is what else can you do? Let’s say you change meta events to react to the amount of players willing to participate. This will essentially result in even more waiting as you sit there waiting for people to fill your map. This will also result in more waiting as you are forced to complete every pre-event (Which can take up to an hour) before you even get to the meta event. This will further lock those who consider themselves casual from even participating. You log on for an hour, find a meta chain after 20 minutes, participate in pre-events until you need to log off 20 minutes prior to the actual meta beginning. Wouldn’t be easier to simply look at a timer and go where you need to go? Sure, you may not get the specific event you wanted (Ex. VB, AB, TD, DS) but at least you get to participate in something with such a small time frame. I mean I’m open to hearing ideas to work around this. This is the exact reason I made this thread. Discussion.

I absolutely agree that gating masteries behind adventures was not the best idea. I myself, struggle immensely with some of the masteries such as shooting gallery. To make things worse most of the adventures are gated behind Meta events resulting in a very limited amount of time to actually practice said adventures. I waited about 25 minutes for shooting gallery to open up. I put in 4-5 attempts then it was night time! This was about 10 minutes…

As for hero points in HoT. I didn’t even join a train minus AB which seems to always be running HP trains. When I was in TD, if there wasn’t a mastery I couldn’t solo I simply sat there and waited. I think the most I waited was about 15 minutes for the troll HP. Then two guys randomly showed up and we did it! We didn’t exchange numbers or life stories, we simply completed it. I think the only HP that is absolutely ridiculous is mushroom queen due to the fact that you need to zerk her down in that tiny area in TD. This is literally the only HP you need more than 2 people to complete.

I mean they handed out free apple tags to everyone. If you’re waiting for a HP simply throw it up and people will come. I know casuals don’t want to do this but perhaps try "/map LFM “so-and-so” HP." Trust me, it’s not that bad.

The key with HoT meta events is understand how they work. To do this, simply look at the timers posted above. I personally like:

http://dulfy.net/2015/11/09/gw2-hot-maps-timer-famme/

but whatever you prefer. If you go to DS even 5 minutes prior to the start of the meta you will notice about 50 people standing there and one commander tag. Join the squad and wait. The timer in the top right (By default) will tick to zero and everyone will die. Now there is a chance that you will be launched into another server from your squad, but this is why you joined the squad. Right click the commanders name and join his instance. Now you are set!

There is a window though if you arrive a couple minutes late to the meta. There will be various people in LFG attempting to fill their servers for about 5-10 minutes after the meta has begun.

If you attempt to do DS out of this time frame you are out of luck my friend, but this is simply how the mechanics work in HoT. This applies to every Meta but the others are usually less punishing if you are late.

@TheLastNobody

I couldn’t agree with you more. Take a second and think about the last time you’ve failed a meta event? In the three weeks I’ve been playing this game I’ve done AB about 25 times, TD, about 3-4 times, DS about 20 times, and VB 3-4 times. I have never failed an event! I have never missed out on an event as well if I was there prior to the event starting. There are fantastic timers that help out with that.

This game hardly even requires your attention in its current state. HoT did a good job in improving that with specific mob mechanics, but it’s pretty ridiculous to be calling for nerfs on events that never fail.

I believe there is a learning curve, although the ceiling cap on the game is extremely low. You enter VB for the first time. You see a target over your head for a few seconds. Now theres a red line under you doing insane amounts of damage. Oh, perhaps I should move/dodge out of that. You try to pull 7 mobs like you could in central tyria. You get rekt. Oh, perhaps I should be more strategic about how I encounter enemies.

sirsquishy.8531:

The ones who say HoT is easy are the ones who are actually playing with others. HoT is solable to a point, I know as i did all the maps (minus the Meta and Champs) on my Mesmer and Necro alone. And its not easy, takes a long time, but it IS interesting…the first few times you do it.

to the comments ‘Why play an MMO solo’, because solo play is fun too. And there isnt always a group availble, so sometimes you have to resort to playing alone. Does this mean all content needs to be solable? no. But there is a lot of content that needs to be toned down, specifically areas that have 20+ Mobs where it just doesn’t make sense to have that kinda setup.

But I think the main issue with HoT, its not like the Classic core of the game at all. Just about every aspect of HoT is completely different. Its like a whole other type of game.

Of course HoT is for the most part, solo-able. So many people have accomplished this. Of course champs will require waiting around for 1-2 others to show, but this comes with increased reward.

Here’s the thing. MMO’s are built on the ideology of fellowship. These are meant to be social games outside of your personal story line. GW2 created a MMO that allowed casual players to have limited participation in social activities though. (Ex. Events) The truth is that you will be extremely limited in this game if you refuse to associate with others. This goes for pretty much every MMO. You need other players to make the game work.

The main issue that players do not see, is that HoT does not include all the additional features that the core games have. There’s a story line. There is exploration/adventures. There is raiding. There are meta events. Each of these features, minus story line, requires teamwork and working together. It doesn’t mean you have to get on a personal basis with each other, but every once in awhile you may have to open up that LFG panel, or sit around for a few minutes until someone else shows up.

Blude.6812:

Although the OPs’ post was tongue in cheek, if Anet even considers buffing HoT, it will just hasten the games demise. Of course some of OPs’ responses insult and ridicule others who challenge and disagree.
Time for the mods to lock and/or delete the thread since it offers nothing.

Okay, this is the kind of discussion I disagree with. Tell me, on which response did I insult and ridicule? This thread has been entirely justified discussion. The mods will not lock this because I have every right to express my opinion as you do. You state “buffing HoT will hasted the games demise.” You need to back up your claim. I believe the exact opposite. If content is nerfed to the ground then players will eventually run out of content. This game needs to increase with difficulty as time goes by and they need to back this up with increases in our abilities. (Ex. Elite Specs)

Out of curiosity what does skill 1 do? I would also highly recommend using 2 while at least gliding long distances.

Ayrilana.1396:

Avarice.2791:

Warcry.1596:

It is impossible for me to complete fast due to this:

http://imgur.com/SCRwWqm

I don’t understand?

The #1 skill is missing.

Just ran it. Gold is doable but the timer is even tighter now.

Oh, I just assumed that was a thing when I ran it today xD. Yeah I barely made silver lol.

Jahroots.6791:

Consider that we all play for vastly different reasons. Me? I’m a fashion kitten. I will do just about whatever it takes to get the skins I need to complete my characters’ looks. And it hasn’t been easy, I had to became ‘hardcore’ for pretty ‘casual’ reasons – just to play dress up. Some people are more goal oriented and get satisfaction from overcoming challenges, while many are simply content to play and talk with other people. For the latter category learning, adapting and improving can have relatively little value.

Fashion can still be viewed as both “hardcore” and “casual” in my eyes. You can get that 100g look, or you can drop around 3k on a nice weapon. (Assuming we translated time into actual price.) I understand that players don’t want to become “hardcore” to achieve something but there always has to be something just slightly out of reach. Nothing would hold rarity if it was easily gained. If no goals are set then what’s the point? Would you really want that legendary if everyone else had it? (Maybe I’m greedy lol :P)

This may not be appealing to the casual gamer who plays off and on (As they will always have something to do) but I believe Anet needs to be loyal to it’s committed population as well. Eventually you will run out of things to do! This is why time consumption is a huge factor in a MMO.

Jahroots.6791:

This has not been my experience. Many others have posted complaints about it as well. The only map-wide meta that is consistently available, round the clock is in the Silverwastes.

I think the reasoning for this is the fact that people do not understand how HoT fundamentally works. Once you have it figured out it’s easy. It’s just a matter of figuring everything out. I can literally find endless events when I go in a HoT map.

Overall I hear you though. You don’t want to deal with challenging content. You want to go to a HoT map to do what you want to do. You don’t want to stress out over having that sniper target over your head. To a casual gamer this is a “watch tv and do what I want” game. I just believe there needs to be balance and the nerfs have already made HoT content soooo simple.

That’s a good question and everything has been speculation so its hard to say.

Warcry.1596:

It is impossible for me to complete fast due to this:

http://imgur.com/SCRwWqm

I don’t understand?

Jahroots.6791:

Casual in MMOs is really less about play time than play style. A casual can spend hours at a time wandering in maps, gathering from nodes, doing the odd event here and there, that sort of thing.

This type of player generally doesn’t want to read meta build guides, watch video tutorials, or consult 3rd party websites just to figure out the best time to play specific content. Lots of people just want to log in and get right to the action. Unfortunately HoT is designed in a way that doesn’t really allow this, and naturally people are dissatisfied. As I mentioned earlier, there’s a threshold for effort that just takes all the fun out of playing and makes it seem almost like a job.

I actually, respectfully, disagree. A casual player is not one who refuses to better himself or eventually use outside sources to better his performance. That is a ridiculous line of thought. What kind of a gamer is like “I’m going to play this game but I have no ambition in becoming better in relation to the time I put into it.” Eventually you’re going to find your way to metabattle, use outside sources as guides, etc.

As for being able to jump straight into content. This is literally the game for that. Quick open up the timers, oh DS is up in 10 minutes, travel there. Bam. Travel to Auric Basin and you’ll always see pylon event groups. Travel to Verdant Brink and I guarentee there are people working on outposts. Want to run a fractal? There’s 20 groups posting throughout the difficulties. Want to do WvW? Invest in a T1/T2 server. There is always something going on there. Want to play some PvP? It’s as simple as a 60 second que timer. My point is eventually you’re going to learn how this works no matter how casual you are. What holds a casual player back is the time commitment to do these things. Some things in this game are up to 2-3 hours of time commitment. This isn’t possible for one who can’t spend more than an hour a day doing this content. The most progressive content is saved for the user who is able to put the most time into it… at least for the most part.

I understand that a lot of content is gated by time, but I can guarantee you can always instantly hop into action. The fact that content IS gated by time further proves my point that a casual is one who can not make a proper time commitment to this game.