Guild Wars 2

AlietteFaye.7316:

Blaeys.3102:

All of the rhetoric aside, I am the GM of a small guild. Tonight we successfully did a guild bounty, a guild challenge, a guild rush and a guild trek. We have done missions successfully for weeks now. In less than 2 weeks, we will be doing guild puzzles.

So, it isnt “small guilds go home” or “missions are only for large guilds.” Guild mission content is accessible for everyone – even members of small guilds – you just have to actually work at making them happen (as do large guilds).

Just curious, how many people total are in your Guild now?

I did a hard count of the guild members participating last night. We had 12 of our actual guild members participate. The rest were “friends” coming in as dual reppers. Total group size last night was 22, so we had 10 dual repping friends.

These friends came from a variety of sources – other small guilds, a WvW guild and a couple of people who just love doing guild missions with multiple guilds (because guild missions are FUN).

As far as total members, we have between 12 and 22 active members (that log on regularly).

When guild missions first came out, we had about 8 active members ( our guild missions really helped pull a few people back into the game) Those 8 people were able to easily unlock guild bounties, getting the process started.

Nick.6972:

Guild Wars 2 is losing hype/popularity even faster than Guild Wars 1 did, look at the Google Trends and see how the score has drastically dropped since the release.

http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=guild%20wars

And if you type in “Obama” or “Iphone” (or “Pandaria”) instead of “Guild Wars 2” for the same time period, the chart looks almost identical. Of course there were more searches for "Guild Wars 2 at and just before launch – and in the Christmas buying months. It has nothing to do with popularity – just people using Google to look up a particular term.

As someone said earlier, these kind of conversations (on both sides of the argument) are rarely (if ever) productive. They become filled with false logic like the post above use to “prove” a point that is more about the poster’s opinion (again on both sides) than anything else.

All of the rhetoric aside, I am the GM of a small guild. Tonight we successfully did a guild bounty, a guild challenge, a guild rush and a guild trek. We have done missions successfully for weeks now. In less than 2 weeks, we will be doing guild puzzles.

So, it isnt “small guilds go home” or “missions are only for large guilds.” Guild mission content is accessible for everyone – even members of small guilds – you just have to actually work at making them happen (as do large guilds).

digiowl.9620:

Blaeys.3102:

If you encounter multiple high level mobs with knock downs, then strategically place yourself in positions that minimize their effect – use line of sight, kite them etc. – as well as all of the tools you have to proactively defend – stun breakers, blocks, stability, profession specific abilities (aegis, distortion, etc), knockbacks, knockdowns, dazes, stuns, fears, reflections, etc.

The things like knockdowns (or stuns or pulls or confusion, etc) that we see a small number of people call “frustrating” are in fact what make fights interesting.

And, if all else fails – either make sure you dont aggro too many of these kinds of mobs at once – or, in worst case scenarios, simply run away.

At this point the game should be called kite wars 2 and melee weapons removed from the game, as kiting is best done with a elephant gun on repeat. And perhaps implement a proper mouse aim.

I quoted kiting as one of many different options. There are many different ways to deal with these mobs. The key is to experiment and learn what works best in which situations. As an example, on my mesmer, I often prefer to be in melee range so I can use blurred frenzy to avoid big attacks and still do damage – with an off hand sword equipped to offer access to a quick block or daze. I think what alot of people (not all) do is look for the highest DPS setup and then complain when they encounter mechanics that require something other than DPS/dodge/DPS.

If you encounter multiple high level mobs with knock downs, then strategically place yourself in positions that minimize their effect – use line of sight, kite them etc. – as well as all of the tools you have to proactively defend – stun breakers, blocks, stability, profession specific abilities (aegis, distortion, etc), knockbacks, knockdowns, dazes, stuns, fears, reflections, etc.

The things like knockdowns (or stuns or pulls or confusion, etc) that we see a small number of people call “frustrating” are in fact what make fights interesting.

And, if all else fails – either make sure you dont aggro too many of these kinds of mobs at once – or, in worst case scenarios, simply run away.

As I demonstrated with my example earlier in this thread (and that was backed up by Bravoart a few posts later), guild missions are easily unlockable and doable by small guilds (small obviously still being more than 4 members ).

And, for those in tiny guilds (those 2-8 player guilds out there), it is still easy to dual rep with other guilds (of all sizes) to experience guild missions.

As I stated earlier, my guild was concerned about the numbers early on as well – but, rather than stew and complain, we worked with the system in place and are now – even in small groups – really enjoying guild missions.

Guild missions are there to give larger groups something to do together. If your guild cannot achieve the mass required, take advantage of dual repping to make new friends across the server, or even on other servers (guesting).

My guild, Contemporary Heroes, is always looking for new friends (who are actually friendly ) to participate in missions with us, even if they only rep with us during missions. The contact is Blaeys.3102 in game. As long as they are friendly, we dont care where they come from (even other servers). We see missions as a great way to build community and make new friends.

Yes I would.

Still busy enjoying the current game, though.

The last few weeks in WvW have been a blast. Seems like someone is always taking something from someone.

And the good spirits and attitudes on this forum recently really add to the experience.

Sushihammer.4813:

Blaeys.3102:

First, you can’t say something like “no new content,” then be proven wrong (guild missions, new pvp map) and then say “guild content doesn’t count.” For many, guild missions are a huge (and extremely positive) addition to the game. It sorta invalidates the argument.

Second, there is another, very big, permanent addition to the game – the Living Story itself. While much of the individual content itself is fleeting, the story itself is ever present (and changing). As long as they are able to keep the momentum going – and the content enticing (which many think they are) – then this is a great use of development resources.

Those are your opinions, which you are entitled to. Clearly though, a significant number of others do not share that opinion.
There’s no valid or invalid about it, since these are all peoples personal opinions on what constitutes interesting or valuable content.

Valid points – as with most posts on these forums, it is more about opinion than anything else – and it ultimately comes down to the individual to decide their personal satisfaction with the game.

My point was, the statement “no long term content since November” is, as an absolute, incorrect, and when you start adding qualifiers “no long term content since November, not counting X, Y and Z,” you weaken the initial premise and change the nature of the discussion itself.

But regardless/either way, as you have noted, it comes down to personal opinion more than anything else – that is all that matters in the end.

I keep seeing this argument about “anti-small guilds” and my experience in game simply doesn’t support the negativity.

I’m the guild leader of a smaller guild on the Henge of Denravi server. Prior to the release of missions, the guild had an average of 6-12 players on each night. We really wanted to do guild missions but we didn’t want to lose our identity by mass recruiting random players.

Instead of complaining, we pooled our resources and did what we had to do to unlock guild bounties as fast as possible. We did it without the gem store and without sacrificing other aspects of the game. Once we had bounties unlocked, we made an open invitation to all of the small and WvW guilds on the server – join CH at the “friends” rank and you only need to rep with us once a week for missions (and get your guild commendations in the process ). There were alot of guilds that were either small like us or wanted to focus their guild resources on other things (most notably, WvW). This worked perfectly for them – and for us.

We are currently two weeks away from unlocking guild puzzles – and our average number of active players is much higher than it was before guild missions came out (in addition to all the new “friends” we now play alongside). More importantly, we are having a blast with the guild mission content.

So, even small guilds can participate very actively in guild missions. It just takes being open to working with the system instead of just complaining about it.

As someone leading a small guild, I can say without a doubt that guild missions are the single best addition to the game since launch. They were just what we needed to get some of the less active players interested in the guild again.

First, you can’t say something like “no new content,” then be proven wrong (guild missions, new pvp map) and then say “guild content doesn’t count.” For many, guild missions are a huge (and extremely positive) addition to the game. It sorta invalidates the argument.

Second, there is another, very big, permanent addition to the game – the Living Story itself. While much of the individual content itself is fleeting, the story itself is ever present (and changing). As long as they are able to keep the momentum going – and the content enticing (which many think they are) – then this is a great use of development resources.

To offer a bit of a counterpoint -

Reward advantages in high level fractals represent a bit of gray area when balanced with the game design. It’s obvious that, while there are disparities in difficulty between different game aspects, the intent is that the rewards should remain somewhat (if not exactly) flat. In other words, if you spend 100 hours doing fractals, you shouldn’t be treated more special than someone spending 100 hours doing dynamic events (or dungeons, or WvW, or temples, etc).

The reward for our doing lvl 40+ fractals is the prestige of being able to say we did lvl 40+ fractals – and fractal weapon skins, which serve as a sign of that accomplishment. If it offers too many perks compared to the rest of the game, then it becomes something that people feel like they have to do – which goes against the idea of “playing the way you want to play.”

My experience has been pretty much the opposite of what the OP describes – In fact, I had to leave WoW because it became a nightmare of “im better than you, so leave me alone”, “your gear sucks so you can’t play with me” or “let’s all laugh at the noobs” style players. SWTOR was just as bad – especially when it came to pvp or dungeons.

Since coming to GW2, I’ve found it a much better and friendlier environment. The key is to be friendly yourself – do things like call out active dynamic events in map chat, rez people when they go down, proactively ask people to group up, etc.

I know on my server, we see these things happening all the time – to the point where people instantly recognize the friendlier players and enjoy playing alongside one another – even if we aren’t necessarily grouped together. It may be because of my server, but somehow I don’t think that is the case. In the few times I have guested, Ive seen other really friendly communities in the game.

While I agree some mechanics and one shot abilities need to be looked at, I don’t want the zone turned into a bunch of mindless, easy fights. In every fight, there need to be mechanics that require some movement or thought on the player’s part – mainly to make the fights more engaging, but also to severely punish the botters and AFK/auto attackers.

So – look at the frustrating mechanics – particularly anything that one shots and is unavoidable (and very much at anything that one-shots critical NPCs), but do not dumb the fights down to the point where it is just a farm/bot fest. That said, one shot mechanics that are obvious and avoidable are okay.

The one thing we need most in this game is more zones with epic scalable-5-to-100 fights for guilds and organized groups to enjoy. In places like Orr, I would vote that they design around groups rather than collections of individuals. Even if the temples stay contested/events stay in failed state 90% of the time, having the challenge there for guilds and groups when they want to tackle them is important. Dumbing them down would take that from the game. Places like Orr should be there for organized groups more than anything.

Again, however, things like the one-shot on the Grenth NPC (or the morale-dropping events – those don’t seem to scale well either) need to be looked at very closely.

The thing that would benefit guilds (especially smaller guilds) more than anything else would be an in game calendar with the ability to invite people to events. It would allow us to better advertise events and coordinate for things like guild missions.

It seems like such a small thing, but the impact on guild management and running events with friends would be huge.

An in game event calendar.

Being able to plan and invite people to an event – with that event staying on their calendar (and prompting them when it is time) – would be very useful in this game.

I think we are starting to see the true potential of the Living Story model. Not only is Southsun fun again, but the nature of the events/achievements/farmable areas is pulling people into the same zone in a way that makes gameplay reminiscent of the days following launch. That isn’t to say that the rest of the world isn’t fun (it still is), but this model works – and it is repeatable.

Part of the fun obviously comes from the challenge of a lvl 80 zone – even for those who are auto-leveled up. Add in the rewards and it creates the perfect environment for the type of Dynamic Event gameplay that is core to GW2. I hope they keep that in mind with future story steps. Even if the story takes us to Brisban or Fireheart Rise, it needs to offer the challenge and reward model were currently seeing in Southsun (even if it means leveling the zones to 80 for the duration of the events to entice more players to participate).

The Secrets of Southsun event is turning into one of my favorite patches – but what excites me most is seeing the true potential of the Living Story in GW2 open world gameplay.

For everyone talking about the fight mechanics of drakes/karka/etc – it is learning to deal with those mechanics in different ways on different professions that is partially responsible for making the zone so much fun. They become much less annoying when you move away from a zerg mentality and think about how you can best deal with various mob attacks (or combos when multiple types attack).

In my experience, there is still plenty to do and plenty of people to do it with.

While there has surely been some natural attrition since launch (and players coming and going regularly), I believe the reason some areas feel less populated is less insidious and more obvious – people are simply spread out alot more than they were early on.

Whereas Orr and WvW held the greatest interest for the early months of end game, that interest is now spread between Orr/Temples, WvW, renewed interest in sPvP, dungeons, fractals, chasing dragon events/other epic loot chest droppers, farming Southsun, doing dailies, leveling alts, farming lower level zones, guild missions, the living story, etc.

Likewise, there are some mechanics to combat this – the biggest of which is guesting. If a particular activity (such as farming events in Orr) seems unattended, guest to more PVE oriented servers to find zerg groups. Alternatively, find an active guild that focuses on those activities you enjoy most. It isnt hard to do this on most servers (Im on Henge of Denravi, one of the least populated servers, and people have no issue with doing exactly that here).

So, yes, it may seem like there are fewer people in certain areas, but that isnt a sign of the end times. It is a result of different factors (not necessarily negative factors either) – and there are still many ways to enjoy the game.

Many (many many) people still find the game extremely enjoyable and have no problem finding like minded people to play alongside. Go in with a positive attitude and know what you want from the game, and things become much easier to enjoy.

The greatest potential for more endgame (yes, more – I think there is plenty now) involving large groups is in three areas -

1. Open world dynamic events (more event chains like Grenth or the centaur chain in Harathi)

2. Mini-dungeons (more like Vexx’s Lab and Font of Rhand)

3. Guild missions (guild challenges are particularly great examples)

Im not saying the game is perfect, but the structure exists for them to develop outstanding large group content around the three game elements I mention above. For example, there is no reason that any boss (even complex one’s like Lupi – or brand new complex mechanic bosses) couldnt end up as guild bounties in the open world – or featured in their own mini-dungeons.

And let’s face it – who wouldnt love (feel a moment of panic during) an event in Mt Maelstrom that announces “Test Subject Alpha (or Test Subject Beta ) has escaped from the Crucible.”

For those playing now and looking for this experience, I would strongly suggest finding a solid PVE-focused guild. Like-minded direction and focus in your gameplay goes a long way in this game. Find a guild that spends nights focused on dynamic events in a particular region or map, does things like regular runs of the mini dungeons and, most importantly, that does guild missions every week.

Like many, I would be against instanced content that limited participation (e.g., 10/20/25 man raids). I have a hard enough time already leaving people behind when five of us enter a dungeon.

The answer is simple – play the aspects of the game that you enjoy playing and stop worrying as much about how many moldy bags you are picking up. If you enjoy particular dungeons – than run those dungeons. If you enjoy doing dynamic events – then do those events. Like anything else, the game is what you make it.

Ive found that, if you stop trying to find a way around the game and actually play it, you will enjoy it a lot more.

Additionally, diminishing returns are no where near as bad as the (very) few end-of-worlders on these forums make them out to be. I play alot (alot) – make a decent amount of gold – and I never run into diminishing return. Most people I know don’t even think about DR. As long as you dont try to stand in the same small area for hours on end, or run the same dungeon path 20 times a day, it wont really effect you. Like Noodlz mentions above, the long temple chains and WvW are great for people who feel like they have to farm to enjoy the game (and both events are fun).

I tend to agree that, if asked to chose between new dungeons or enhanced experiences in real world zones, I would chose the latter.

Ideally, I would love to see an extension of the difficulty we see in Southsun or the temple events – mechanic oriented fights/meta events/encounters designed to be challenging for groups of 10-100. I wouldnt even mind if the zone was deserted most days – if the reason it was there was for those times when people grouped up and took an organized approach to real world activities.

I dont see any reason that just about any boss couldnt be moved into the open world. Even more complex bosses would work – they may not die often and may frustrate individuals heading into the area – but it would prove outstanding end game content for organized guilds and groups.

I think people use the word farming as a catch all, when the real issue is something a little different.

Players shouldnt be able to earn a legendary by standing in a single spot for hours and hours with their finger on the # 1 key – or for running a dungeon as mind numbingly easy and fast as COF1 20+ times in a row in a single day.

At the same time, farming should be (and is) a viable way to play – it just needs to be done smartly. Even in the real world, farmers have to rotate their crops to keep from depleting the soil (their version of DR). Requiring farmers to move between events or zones to maximize yield seems fair to me.

I have routes mapped out in several zones that include a mix of farmable mobs and dynamic events. When I feel like farming, I follow these routes. Followed by playing the Trading Post a little (rather than selling outright), I make a good amount of gold (close if not equal to my friends who grind individual areas).

I think that DR and anti-grind changes at single events/dungeons/etc. is a good move on ArenaNet’s part. It isnt good for the game to have large groups of people stay in a single spot for hours (days?) on end.

Farming is still viable – you just have to put more thought into it (which should be a requirement for anyone wanting a legendary ).

The combat system in GW2 is different than those found in games like WoW. In WoW, the priority is on your skill rotation – most abilities either synergize with others or cooldowns/ability costs are set up in such a way as to make hitting a series of abilities in a particular order reward the player with greater DPS or healing.

With a few possible (soft) exceptions, there are no skill rotations in GW2. Instead, most of your pure damage is tied to 2-3 buttons. The remaining abilities are situational skills. This makes for a different (yet still engaging and fun) playstyle. It also separates the good players from the mediocre ones in different ways than in a game like WoW – the guardian who uses reflection abilities in the volcano fractal or shares aegis during big spike attacks – the thief that knows how to shadowstep or keep interrupts rolling – the necro who keeps enemies from stacking boons and keeps weakness up on the target 100% of the time – etc.

I think where people have the biggest issue is that, in GW2, there are very few (high level fractals and some arah paths) fights where these situational abilities are even semi-required – whereas, in a game like WoW, if people didnt know their rotations, they couldnt complete some raid encounters.

While I find the current system engaging and fun personally, I do think this is an area they could improve. Fights like the one in the new F&F dungeon are a step in the right direction – fights where playing smart make a difference.

All of that said, I think if you take the time to learn the roles the guardian (or any profession you play) can play and master them, you may find it a more enjoyable experience than games with a more skill rotation based approach (regardless of the number of skills).

Awesome approach to an MMO. Keep up the great work.

Can’t wait to see where it all goes (and goes and goes and goes).

And yes to what Rising Dusk said – Dredge Engineer Mini-boss setting up weapon training areas everywhere in a particular zone would be an awesome bounty target addition.

A lot of people are predicting movement/activity in Southsun following Flame and Frost – because of the refugees relocating there. I think it is a safe bet something will happen there.

However, I dont think it will be confined to Southsun because of the level requirement there, but I do think it will be a big part of the next chapter in the living story.

Additionally, so far, all we have really done is destroy weapon facilities built by this Dredge/Flame Legion alliance. I doubt very seriously that this will invalidate the threat they pose or shatter the Molten Alliance. I would expect to see them regrouping somewhere – or us taking the fight to them in a more direct manner once weve crippled their weapon building capabilities. During their “rebuilding” phases, this could easily be done in the form of new dynamic events across the region (with more focused story content in the future).

Long term, I would love to see additional threats arise across Tyria as part of the living story. I really enjoy the large open world conflicts with the centaurs. I would love to see an all out assault on a portion of Divinity’s Reach (possibly partnered with the rebel factions in Queensdale tunneling through into the collapsed quarter of the city).

There are alot of story arcs they can take (there are alot of potential enemy factions out there). I know F&F has gotten a fair bit of criticism – especially regarding the pacing of the early parts, but I am looking forward to what they do next.

Looks pretty interesting. Nothing gamebreaking but still interesting enough to warrant a few dollars/gems spent. Will definitely be buying the dance book.

I really like the way they are using the gem store to offer cool little flavor items.

Little confused about the RNG complaint by the OP. Dont really see any RNG items listed at the link.

BaconCatTheGreasy.9542:

Mad Queen Malafide.7512:

Glad that they added fixes for all that. Its not a big deal that you can still get behind the Jade Maw, but at least you have to fight your way there now first.

The Svanir Shaman safe spot was indeed kinda silly, glad they fixed that.

Its not the fixes that annoy us, it’s the fact they are stealth changing it. It doesn’t foster trust.

Personally, I love stealth fixes to exploits or borderline exploits. If players go out of their way to invalidate fights or exploit continually, it’s only fair they get at least one repair bill or a little inconvenience when the hotfix goes in to make up for it.

I would like to see guilds be able to buy and fund them with guild influence.

It would give a needed second option to gems and allow pvp focused guilds to further define a unique character/place in the game.

Im guessing this the right thread to say how much we loved the new dungeon.

I loved the new dungeon – more like this please

A few counterpoints -

Activity – This is really about your perspective on the game. If you are using your guild as a metric, its worth noting that my guild has grown considerably more active than it was in the early months of the game, primarily because of guild missions (and we’re not a huge guild). As far as the number of consistent players, what Im seeing is a consistent base with transient players coming and going (playing and taking breaks in waves). With no (real) gear treadmill and no sub fee, player fluctuations have less of an impact on the general game environment. I don’t see this “killing” the game any time soon.

Dungeons – I dont agree that the AC dungeons are horrible – the opposite actually. At the same time, I agree there are fewer people doing them. This is because the new AC is not pug friendly which makes it harder to form a group for that content. Whether or not this is a good thing (I think it is) depends on your particular play style. For those of us who run dungeons with guild mates and friends, it makes for a better play experience. Dungeons are not the core element of the game for everyone – and for those focus on them, they should be more challenging/require more teamwork. The AC change moves us away from the zergable dungeon, which I think is the best thing they could have done for the long term health of dungeons. I cant wait til they give the rest of the dungeons the same treatment.

Personal story ending – agreed this felt anticlimatic. I dont see this as a sign of the end times, however – just something they can learn from/do better in the future. The tools are there.

Living story – I’ve actually been enjoying the Flame and Frost LS content but agree there have been some growing pains as this model finds a place in the game. I see only good things for the future on this front.

PvP – I enjoy the sPvP model in the game, but also realize it is in its infancy. I like that they are taking their time and expect great things in the future here as well.

User friendly interfaces – agreed that there is a lot of polish needed here – most notably with the guild leader and party interfaces. Again, however, I dont see this as game breaking. It works fine as it is – it could just be better.

In the end, however, none of this matters. As long as the game remains entertaining for a large enough group of people (which it obviously is), there is no worry of it “dying.” That doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement – just that what exists now is (for many of us) a compelling and fun game.

Actually feel the exact opposite from the OP. Gold seems way to valuable in this game – its the root of the grinding issues in the game. Almost everything you need can be acquired via gold – and it is WAY too easy to grind out gold in the game by farming quickly respawning mobs or running short dungeons over and over.

IMO, karma should be the primary currency in the game. If anything, we need more ways to spend karma in the game. That would pull people away from the mob/dungeon/etc grinds and back to doing actual ingame dyhamic events.

Beyond the scaling issues, most of the fights just need anti-zerg mechanics and reasons to do something other than simply wail on the boss for a few minutes.

Below are some possible mechanics that I think would work –

Jungle Worm – Once the scaling/health issue is fixed, make target switching to the Summoned Husks more important. If the worm eats a husk, give it a lethal burst attack and cause it to take no damage for 5 seconds.

Tequatl – create a huge, very potent, field of poison around the boss, extending at least to where the bone wall spawns. Then give us multiple ways to walk through the poison – for instance, adding an ability to the mannable turrets that creates safe zones on the ground or boxes of portable environmental weapons that protect people in a small radius around the player carrying them (the game has similar weapons in a couple of dungeons). This would give players at least three ways to approach the fight – either use the stationary guns while defending them, focus on creating safe zones so players can get in close or wait for the asura laser to stun him to temporarily remove the poison field.

The Shatterer – The big problem here is that people keep finding places to stand where the group takes no damage and can just zerg at the boss. Up the number of veteran adds and have them path around the boss very fast – and give the dragon an attack that summons low damage crystal bombs on every player standing within 1200 feet of the dragon (that explode after a few seconds and hit anyone around that player) about every 5-10 seconds. This will reward players for using the stationary weapons but still give them a way to move in close to the boss.

Things like this can be done in such a way that the fights are still doable with unorganized groups but still reward strategic thought and even coordination by smaller groups. It could make the fights much more fun without excluding people.

The new AC mechanics are a definite improvement. Anything that rewards coordination/team play – and discourages simply zerging content – makes for a more fun dungeon experience. There is plenty for solo players to do in the game. When you enter a dungeon, the design and gameplay should be about the strength of the group rather than the strength of individual players who queue up. A group that works together should go smoother than one where players dont even say hi to one another in chat.

I realize this is anti-PUG, but I think it is needed. Most explorable dungeons should require communication and actual strategies/tactics to complete (maybe keeping one path semi PUG-friendly in each dungeon to meet broader needs).

I can’t wait to see what they do with the rest of the dungeons.

mercury ranique.2170:

hmmmmm, first of all I would like to know the location of this gaveyard cause it didnt ring as bell and there might be more to this lorewise (had the ghost a name for example).

If it is the event I think it is, it is the graveyard in Queensdale just to the east of the main gate to Divinity’s Reach -

Rather than with pure instancing, I think the perfect place to implement something like this would be with more pseudo-instances like the Font of Rhand and Vexa’s Lab. This allows for scaling, but still has a gating mechanic that discourages zerging to a point.

Also, it would have to be scalable – no matter how it was implemented. I would hate the idea of an instanced fight that required a set number of people greater than 5. As a guild leader, there is no greater headache than having 11 people show up for a 10 man event. Five allows for informal grouping – anything higher becomes a “guild event.”

As far as adding complexity without giving griefers a field day, there are many ways to do it – coordinated switches, safe zones that people need to stand in during abilities, adds with devastating abilities (requiring target prioritization), boss abilities/immunities that require environmental weapons to counter, etc.

Knowing this, my only concerns is – will there be a free version of custom arenas, or will it require someone using gems to set one up?

This is, of course, based on seeing the custom arena tokens leaked earlier this year. It would be a shame to lose this from the base features of the game (realize its way to early to be actually concerned – mostly just curious).

Agree with those who say that religion adds depth to the story and helps to differentiate the groups in the game.

What I find most interesting, however, is that someone named “Holyblesser” is asking why religion is in the game.

If you’re looking for players hanging around – dancing – walking minis – filling map chat – etc – you definitely want to make your way to Lion’s Arch right away.

Easiest way is to head to the Heart of the Mists, rush through the tutorial area and take the portal.

shambo.3842:

the boulders do not need redone, there quite easy with or without a mesmer.

The only thing that needs to be changed is the fiery boulders need to spawn and start moving BEFORE the rock door opens and players move in. That way, the encounter stays the same but all 5 players cant skip it entirely just because of group composition.

Robert Hrouda.1327:

Sure revamping some bosses would be neat.

…but whats this about removing the boulders trap?

Im guessing that the point the poster was trying to make was that the boulder trap section of the dungeon is the only real reason people are looking specifically for mesmers for COF p1 runs. As you are aware, there is a period of a few seconds after the door opens before the torches and boulders spawn. It is child’s play for a mesmer to place portals BEFORE anything spawns in the room and then have the party simply port torches. It makes an interesting puzzle invalid and mindless.

Definitely agree with others that bosses in this dungeon need a serious look. When you have bosses dying in less than 10 seconds with no real threat to the party – throughout an entire dungeon path – combined with easily skippable trash and mechanics – it makes the entire dungeon a bit of a joke. When it is even faster for a specific profession (zerker warriors), it creates a larger issue.

Love the game, but I haven’t run this dungeon on principle (and I main a mesmer) since this started happening. It isn’t fun – its a gold grind.

What I would love to see is for you to make Half Baked Komali the first boss in this dungeon path. That would definitely make it harder to zerg down.

In order for the OP’s analogy to be complete and apt in this situation, you would have to include a sign on the front of the machine that read something like “If this machine malfunctions and you continually and egregiousness take advantage of it for your personal gain, then you will be in violation of store policy and subject to a lifetime ban.”

In other words, players have been warned. It isnt hard to understand what is and isnt an exploit – and to understand the negative impact those exploits can have on the game and population as a whole. If it feels like something that is circumventing game design or providing an unfair advantage, then simply stop doing it. The instances that Ive heard about where people were banned all had one thing in common – the exploits were clearly things that people should have known they werent supposed to be doing.

The penalties are there to protect the players who do not exploit. Kudos to Anet for taking a strong stand on this.

I have lvl 80 Mesmer and a lvl 80 Necro. It really is about how you like to play.

The mesmer puts out more direct damage and really excels at single target play. In terms of support, you will primarily be reflecting damage away from your team, dazing/stunning targets, crippling, applying vulnerability and, possibly, handing out boons to allies (via chaos storm and signet of inspiration).

The necro is more about AOEs and condition damage. When it comes to support, you have reliable aoe heals and condition removal (from both you and your allies). The necro really shines in applying conditions to the target (not just damaging) – primarily chills, blinds, vulnerability and weakness – all of which make things much easier on your party.

To answer the question about single target fights, it really depends on what role you want to play. If it’s all about damage, definitely the mesmer. If you want to potentially keep the boss from killing players or keep your fellow team members alive, I would say necro (mainly because of blinds and weakness).

Of course, how you trait and gear whichever you choose is just as important.

When guild members complete a dungeon or win an Spvp match, the guild they are representing earns influence. Currently, however, members completing fractals award no influence. This makes them, by far, the biggest hurdle to gaining guild influence – namely because members are not only doing something that awards influence; they are not out doing things that do earn influence.

As much as guild members love fractals, I would love to see the guilds they are representing get something from it.

Firstly, based on anecdotal evidence, the game seems stronger than ever. People are still playing in large numbers – as far as I can see.

Regarding the “maturity” comments, the concept is subjective and multifaceted. Im in my 40s and enjoy content like SAB or Kegbrawl (or the Christmas content) as much as I do beating up stuff in fractals/dungeons/WvW. The idea that any time something outside the conventional Tolkien-esque framework is considered, it is suddenly gamebreaking or not mature seems arbitrary to me. Mature players realize the goal is fun before form.

As to the potential threat from other games, I think it will only serve to strengthen the GW2 experience. Intense competition breeds greater innovation and a need to stay entertaining. GW2 has a few things going for it – established communities, strong development team/budget, innovative concepts, solid framework on which to launch new content, etc.

While other games will bring those same things to the market, I dont expect GW2 to go anywhere. It takes alot to kill an MMO (just look at SWTOR). And, since ongoing profitability at ANet is directly tied to “what have you done for me lately” rather than the hamster wheel sub fee inspired grind other games use, competition should cause us to see stronger GW2 game additions – rather than the compromise to business models (SWTOR, SW, etc) or gameplay mechanics – that occur when other games are faced with strong market competition.

Part of what the OP is asking for is for dungeons to be designed around pugs where there is minimal communication and coordination.

I am very much against that idea- at least as a blanket concept (story modes should be easily puggable). In explorable dungeons, however, I would love to see more mechanics like the bomb run in CM (or – an even better example – the Ghost Eater fight in AC). Pugs should have a more difficult time than organized groups (imo, to the point where some – not all – paths are virtually impossible without coordination/communication).

I think the best thing they could do to make bounties more engaging is to significantly shorten the paths that most bosses take on their respective maps. It would make it easier on smaller guilds, put the focus on the fight more than the mindless search, remove some of the RNG from the process and alleviate respawn concerns considerably.

MarMaster.6241:

It (supply) does seem pricy for the benefits.

Being able to build siege twice as fast seems pretty strong to me – a lot stronger than anything else offered.

I found the new story lines interesting and a nice way to add to the world. Specifically, I like the direction the stories are going and the future potential for conflict on a wide scale. I am interested to see where they take this next.

Taken as a whole, these missions add a new aspect to the game – and give us something to do solo that is more than just explore, farm or grind out dynamic events. With a little polish, as the stories flesh out, the “recap” feature offered will let players – eventually – play out longer single player (or alongside friends) campaigns. They may not be the most difficult content in the game – or even the most rewarding (from a shinies pov) – but it is something new to do that many of us will find fun.

If I were to offer a criticism, it would be with the confusing nature of the interface. It can still be a little hard to discern where you need to go – even though they have made significant improvements to that since, say, the halloween events.

I look forward to where expanding something like this – alongside pvp, dungeons, fractals, guild missions, etc – takes the game in the future.

1. What is the next major holiday you plan to build content around (similar to Halloween and Christmas)?

2. Following the revamp to AC, what is the planned timeline for making similar passes at/updates to the other dungeons in the game? Will they be taking them in order (CM, TA, SE, …) or do will they be prioritizing the upgrades in a different order?