Guild Wars 2

There is a fine line of knowing when and when not to stomp and a lot of people are oblivious as to when either of these tactics/methods should be used. As has been stated above I’ve had people in downed state that could be rallied if a player would just stomp. AND I’ve been in circumstances where every single person on the team tries to stomp one person without doing ANYTHING else to support their team – quite often leading the downed enemy to be rezzed due to lack of cc and effort from the rest of the team… AND I’ve been in situations where people stomp too much and we have those pesky eles/thieves/engis coming back faster to annoy us.

People are just less aware of the tactics of when it is good to stomp and when it is better not to.

Hey Scott, this is all fascinating and I love it.

My Q:

At what age are Asura no longer progenies and become adult or old enough to start fighting in Tyria? This is a really trivial question but is relevant to mine and my husbands roleplay with our cuties since this gorgeous thing has a sister called Kewtii Pi and we have them fighting dragons as pretty much toddlers in our heads right now ROFL. She’s called Sweetee Pi and we have an entire Pi family.

I love the Sylvari cultural armour. I got the lot. Light and medium armors can always be problematic for me because they all seem to have long swishy coats, but that fits I guess with the lore and that’s what outfits are for, right?! Just a shame there weren’t more armour sets available rather than pure full on outfits where you have to go with the entire piece.

Nightmare court armour I like too, on most of the races for that matter.

Good luck in your quest. This is one of my Sylvari’s in medium cultural.

It has been long overdue I write about this on the forum. Today was the last straw. Since the megaserver came out, wasn’t it meant to push players together (or at least something like that)? Now we have these pop ups that give you a reward for changing to, a supposedly more populated map. Or at least it says the one you’re on has few players.

It is driving me crazy and I am sure I’m not the only one??

It pops up at the weirdest times and doesn’t do what its supposed to. It’s popped up when the map is plentiful (or as it seems and we’re taxiing), and then people leave and that in itself causes issues.

It pops up, for example, in Auric Basin last night, my husband and I were on a failing Tarir map and so we clicked it, and we were taken to an even worse map without the choice of going back. It is so annoying. This has happened countless times.

Really regardless of whether the map is full/empty, the pop up is happening too often and is really annoying.

I completely understand where the op is coming from. I avoided TD for quite sometime. Still to this day, I struggle. But its a ‘get used to’ issue. I remember first going to Orr and finding some places in Malchor’s Leap, Cursed Shore really difficult to navigate and find different places, let alone find a commander on the map. TD still makes me want to pull my hair out when I am trying to catch up with a group, finally get there and they’ve glided off somewhere else as SOON as I get there lol…

But, I love Verdant Brink, I really enjoy the chain events (although added events has messed with this slightly), and I am getting used to TD… not to say it isn’t hard though, because it is.

Lacuda.8543:

I have a guild that functions with roughly 5 active players at our peaks. We have been around for years and we do not wish to be forced to either join a larger guild or grab our credit cards just to get the BASIC upgrades.

We are guild level 29, and running out of available upgrades. We will be forced to make the Tavern tier 2 soon…but this is not viable. This singular upgrade that grants absolutely nothing in itself costs a horrendous TWELVE THOUSAND flax seed piles if farmed.

This is seriously BS. Please, PLEASE. Fix the expensive upgrades! Find a way to flood the market with Flax and Flax fibers. SEAWEED AS WELL, it only has like 12 spots it spawns and it’s VERY irregular.

You guys are doing way better than my guild which has around 60members but only around 6-10 active on a daily basis (at peaks about 15), we are level 21 and due to many of our members having personal legendary goals etc we are at this level needing the mine upgrade. Elder wood, elder wood, elder wood… oh wait, anyone got any elder wood? LOL

Also actually at this point I might add a couple of our loyal members can’t afford HoT and don’t necessarily want to give up their mats they’ve earned for nothing in return (who can blame them?)… – this in regard to guild buffs which used to be for everyone and now you can only have ONE running at a time and ONLY if you have HoT. #unfair

Awesome, well I’m def up for it with you guys anytime. Aside from a couple minor pc issues I’m usually online most afternoons and pretty much every evening LOL feel free to pm

My husband and I haven’t done this achi yet either. Do you still need it? If you’re on EU servers, send us a PM, we can arrange giving it a go. I’m sure my guild mates will make up the numbers if needed too. In any case, happy to give it a go

I couldn’t agree more with this. Achievement points aren’t always a sign you’re a good player. You can go out and farm APs from several sources that are not from actually playing the game, for example fashion achievement points, and other collections that require little effort. This and time played (dailies and so on) can rack up a good number of APs without actually ever ‘playing’ core parts of the game, or at least without ever dong fractals! I see many people in fractals with 10k+ APs and some are learners, some have zero clue what to do. The amount of achievement points does not equate to how well you play. Its utter nonsense and it certainly sickens me when you’ve been the one to form the party, especially when he advertises as “all welcome”. These people have not been brought up to understand that they are simply being rude and it is unacceptable.

You have to be an achievement point hunter to be ‘accepted’ to do a level 13 fractal? Idiotic. I’m having similar issues with raiding. Why should I spend 100s of gold kitting out a character just to try out a raid?

I would agree engi over Tempest. It makes me want to rock in a small corner the amount of people who don’t understand how to utilize me properly when playing in solo queue as an ele. I main auramancer in PvP with renewal sigil and the number of people who run off points ignoring my heals, run out of my water bubble, completely miss the point that I can keep them alive in any way. The list, does, go on. It’s a nightmare.

But this post says it all. NONE of us should feel the need to play certain builds to carry a team. You may as well be 1v5 LOL … I nodded to all your points as to what (shockingly) people do and don’t do in matches.

Okay guys that’s really useful, thanks. I think I will do as suggested and swap my gear in the mystic toilet :P…

I can’t for the life of me find where my trinket(s) from LS are, so that’s another project to find those.

Really appreciate it, thanks.

Looking to get into raiding and I am satisfied I have a good revenant build, and a good mesmer build, but I want (in case we lack the need for) a good condi build so I am going to go with corruption necro. Viper’s stats are suggested as best, but I don’t think I am ever going to be able to make a complete set of Viper’s armour (certainly not any time soon) because of needing a lot of the materials for guild hall and so on. Plus I have already a set of ascended Rampager’s gear.

So, my query is, what is a ‘closest to’ Viper’s set stat? Rampagers/Rabid? I realize nothing will be the ‘same’ but obviously under the circumstances I just want to get as close to…

Thanks. Also, if anyone is willing to take a newbie (to raiding) like me and my husband through the first wing, we’d be so grateful – been dying to actually kill that boss :P, so just pm me (EU servers).

Saiyan.1704:

Answer
Working as intended (in theory anyways). It’s suppose to be challenging as players needs to try hard for the certain matches now. Only difference, it’s not as difficult as season 2 where matches really were lopsided. If it was any easier, like a pure 50/50 matchmaking system, then the best grinders would hit Legendary first.

S2, we saw a lot more players in “mmr hell” while others reached Legendary, albiet, they still had that 3-4 game lose streak on occassion. Now players are segregated at the very start of the season (this is good) and the players in mmr hell who were stuck in Ruby will be playing against other in Amber etc. Players in Legendary will go against each other in Sapphire.

There’s obviously some outliers but it sounds like a better algorithm… in theory.

Thanks. I see your point about it supposedly being more challenging and therefore we hopefully won’t see ridiculous wins/losses (at least that’s what I think you’re saying) and it’ll be more of a ‘fight’ than a bust situation, which is good yes. Personally, I was stuck in T5 Sapphire for the majority of last season because my w/l ratio was 50/50, so I hope at least this season I get better set ups in solo queue so I can push through. Once I got to Ruby I had the biggest win streak of 12 matches in a row and that was the only time it really felt good, and not because I was winning, but because the games seemed more even and challenging.

Couldn’t agree more.

Finished last season at end of Ruby (at highest point) so started Emerald tonight. Already a loss due to (pretty much definitely) solo queue being put with a 5-man premade. Is being able to be put with a premade team something Anet took as being good from S1??

Also, with Evans example of how matchmaking will be this season, the team on the right has a bigger advantage still of winning since their numbers are higher that the left side; this is fair? Or am I completely misunderstanding?

Jaken.6801:

Is she really that needed by us?
Ley Line energy?
has been studied for a longer time than Taimi and was just hidden. Yes she was there as the lid was opened, but we have several sources of research in that matter.

Yes she’s necessary. This has been pointed out by way more people than me in this thread, and the part about Ley Energy was also a big point made by a different person in this thread which was a very compelling reply. Basically that poster had said that Taimi had been the one to study Ley Energy more than any other asura and in doing so, trying to ‘teach’ another asura about all she’d learned for them to take over would be absolutely impossible. She is necessary.

Jaken.6801:

In the tangled depths the Pact had no problem adapting the technology there, even if they saw them for the first time.

So i guess Taimi isn’t as unique as you might think.

I didn’t say she was unique, I was stating how people, disabled or not, adapt – which you didn’t seem to think was possible, but I’m glad you’ve come round :P

Jaken.6801:

Here is the thing. You are saying GW2 is fantasy and as such real world analogy doesn’t apply.

So why is it, that the GW2 world bites back? Why is it that we can find things that just don’t add up, by only using the information the game is giving us? The fantasy world you hold so dear.

Not entirely sure what you mean here. But if you’re asking why can we pick holes in a plot, or misunderstand things, or ask questions… well this would be due to story writing, and us imagining what could be a cause to something. For example, many people had ‘theories’ over Sylvari being actually evil, and then the plot shows those people may be half-right in that they all have ties with Mordremoth. This still is fantasy and we can pick at it, discuss lore, misunderstand things, and imagine all sorts. Doesn’t mean it’s not fantasy.

As for ‘real world’ as I have said before, those who can’t let themselves “suspend their disbeliefs” will ask real life questions to which the fantasy world has no real answer because its make-believe.

Jaken.6801:

Why is it that you completly ignore when I say, that Taimi could possible be there, but that there are inconsitencies.

I’ve not once ignored this. You pointing out supposed ‘inconsistencies’ was the entire reason for my initial responses. You didn’t like the way Scruffy just ‘appeared’, you wanted a visualization of him moving, you didn’t like to imagine ways he may traverse the jungle. I gave responses for this so not quite sure what I’ve ‘ignored’ :P

Jaken.6801:

It is a great story. She is agreat character.
I care about her, that is why I ask these questions.
Why has it to ber her?
Why can’t it be one of the dozens of other Asura we are friends with and have the same or even better experience?

It is her, so let it be. As for actual reasons, (you’re repeating yourself now) I and plenty others have given perfectly legitimate reasons as said above. Its lucky we both like her

Jaken.6801:

That being said there are pros and cons for every partymember and right now we are just following a story. Does it make sense? No.
Why do we accept Canach so easily?
Why do we still keep Braham around?
What happened to Majory, the once only sensible person on the continent (okay, death in the family. It brings every detective down)?
What is the deal with OP Rytlock?
etc.

I guess we may or may not find out. The story is ongoing.

Jaken.6801:

The story and the world does not make sense in the grand sheme, simply because there are so many things working against each other. It isn’t just a story. It is a game. It has to work on several levels, which often just doesn’t work in its favour.

Really quite confused here, sorry. Not sure why the story doesn’t make sense “in the grand scheme” and as for it being a game, lore, stories and game work fine together imho.

Jaken.6801:

And for pets and minions:
Minions are summoned, thus shouldn’t have a problem to be bound close to us and most pets are able to traverse like us or are being magicaly stored, though the latter is more likely a game mechanic.

So, you don’t see Scruffy as ‘summoned’ and therefore he can’t surely just ‘appear’ wherever Taimi is? I don’t get it. All of these things are game mechanics, the point I was making was that it doesn’t matter how Scruffy gets there; use your imagination, or if you couldn’t accept that, realize our own ‘companions’ do the same thing and so Scruffy isn’t ‘inconsistent’.

Jaken.6801:

Again gamemechanic vs worldbuilding. We have to compromise and yes, these things don’t make sense as well.

You seem to have an issue with literally everything in GW2 not making sense… and your argument keeps changing from your original; so I’m not really sure where we are now.

Jaken.6801:

In Rata Novus, Scruffy stopps, waits for us to fight off the enemies and then pops up on the other side of the gap.
Add a teleportation effect and it isn’t just a gamemechanic anymore, but established as an ability of Scruffy.

Yes it’s fine to suggest improvements, but as I said, this kind of thing seems to be your issue only because you can’t fill in gaps using your imagination. The same ‘problem’ (as you see it) happens with every other ‘companion’ in the game, and really isn’t something the developers need worry about (as you also said).

Blude.6812:

Let me just say that I went back again and there were two afk players there and the odd player rolling through. I got another 25 bags and garments to salvage-more leather and linen in less than 1/2 hr. In the time since this thread has started I will have farmed well over 100 bags. This does contribute to the topic since it shows that the afk players have minimal affect on others (when and if afkrs are there) in this specific area.
It isn’t difficult, thanks for drawing my attention to this area.

The bottom line, it is a simple L2P situation. There is no reason for Anet to dedicate time, money and resources to address your over exaggerated personal issue with a specific area.

Can I just ask when you visited the area? I mean, did you go at differing times? Perhaps all the AFKers have gone because of this thread or have been booted from being reported LOL. #justsayin

Nah in seriousness, I’m not arguing your findings, nor in agreement with the op, I’m just interested to know whether perhaps you didn’t spot the AFK farmers because you happened to visit at the ‘wrong’ times, or, if, indeed really, it isn’t an issue… I suppose neither can be proved really.

I think the above idea of automatically making pets passive, and or minions die/disappear after a length of time is a good one. The only issue with this I can envisage (and this is for honest AFKers) is when playing Ranger, I guarantee that if I had gone AFK to use the bathroom or something and come back, I’d probably not notice my pet was passive for some time lol… but I am sure there’d be workarounds. Minions are easier to notice that they’ve vanished however lol… I think.

I also think another problem is how few materials we get on a ‘normal’ run around a map. I am desperate for rugged leather, though I wouldn’t AFK farm, I will go to places I know and kill mobs to get the mats I need. But, upping the quantities we’d get causes other issues and most AFK farmers are probably doing it for gold rather than a ‘need’ for crafting etc… idk :/

Jaken.6801:

Why do you have a problem with people not accepting her so easily? Even if they give you valid reasons.

This is a debate and that’s all. No one is dissing anyone’s opinions here, we are all just maturely debating the concept of Taimi as the op first considered, and I completely accept her.

As for (as you put it) ‘valid’ reasons people may have for not accepting her, some reasons may be valid in the ‘real world’ but not here in GW2 in my opinion. Where I am able to use my imagination to accept, and understand Taimi along with whatever magic she may use with or without Scruffy, yours and others’ who have an issue with this character alone, cannot. It’s a simple bias against the character (and indeed possibly the disabled in general, regardless of how influencial I, and others who are disabled can be). They don’t like her, its as simple as that. I hate Trahearne and I’d completely choose to do anything without him. Gladly I killed him so… LOL

But, as people have rightly said, she is very important to us, not least for her knowledge of Ley Energy which is far superior than anyone elses.

Regarding suspension of disbelief, none of what we do in GW2 is real, so you have to give in and suspend your disbelief for anything really in GW2 to make sense.

Interestingly, you’ve not addressed any of my arguments I put forward in response to your last post about Scruffy/Taimi, since again, I believe your issue was over Scruffy!

I couldn’t agree more with the statement of some of the power specs. No build should be that powerful that it can singlehandedly kill you without you even being able to respond. And by response I mean quite literally your reaction time is slow enough that you’re killed before you can do a single thing. And no, my reaction time isn’t just slow. I’ve encountered this mainly on my alt account playing a non-HoT spec… one particular match, revenant comes with his Unrelenting Assault and I am dead. Lovely.

Thanks! I knew it affected who you dealt with, just couldn’t recall what happened and whether your choices reflected what happened, if that makes sense.

Huge thanks all

I still have the issue with calling her a child though. As several people have explained above, she isn’t actually a child, but not an adult either and is somewhere inbetween.

But when it comes to teens and children in battle, there are plenty of fantasy stories where kids are fighting at the fore-front, and many are also disabled. So, why its a problem for GW2 I’ve no idea :P

An interesting website: http://www.gamesradar.com/10-inspirational-disabled-characters-from-sci-fi-and-fantasy/

Hi all,

I gotta say, as a veteran player I feel ultimately ashamed at what I am going to ask, but here we are anyways :O…

I had always thought that when choosing an option at the “Your Greatest Fear” section during “A Light in the Darkness” step that it mattered which one you’d pick, and so as a role-player, I would pick something that suited my character, but I have never completely noticed what actually comes from my choice.

I have searched the net far and wide, and even the wiki and I can’t seem to find what happens with each choice. I think it has to do with Apatia and/or Tonn, but right now I am a little confused.

Without spoiling it for newbies, can anyone tell me what happens from each choice please? Maybe having over 20 characters has blurred my comprehension of what has happened to each of my characters LOL…

Thanks in advance.

Harper.4173:

I can not disagree more. Fantasy is imagining the unimaginable. There are zero rules when it comes to imaginative, creative thinking. Give me some legitimate ‘rules’ of fantasy…

Yes – but if you go down this rabbit hole consistency goes right out the window.
If there are no rules – there’s no predictability – and without that you can’t really build anything.

I don’t want things to be predictable. That’s boring.

Harper.4173:

Now that my example is out of the way can you realize why it’s bad? It’s bad because the narrative has set things up in a certain way (dragons are powerful, dangerous, hard to kill) and the new element I’ve introduced undermines that.
Similarly – having a child on a battlefield ( especially one that’s aloof and cracks bad jokes all the time) undermines the notion that we’re fighting a hard fight pressed by time and undermanned.

I see your point here, but in real war, armies get light relief from, for example entertainers, letters from home… and there will be 100% humour, jokes, camaraderie… Taimi gives us this on the battlefield. There are jokes and funny nuances in story plots too (e.g. James Bond), so why not in GW2?

These things don’t undermine the seriousness of situations….

Jaken.6801:

Celine.6857:

-snip-

Fantasy vs. story

-snip-

LOL, I’m sorry, but the fact I don’t even really understand what on earth you’re on about means you’re literally grasping at straws to make a point even you don’t really fully understand because you know there isn’t actually an argument with this.

Stories, fantasy or otherwise are subject to the writer. They can take it wherever they please. It absolutely does not have to be consistent.

Also, your point was (I think) about Scruffy and his ‘unimaginable’ way of suddenly appearing etc; well I, and others above have already shown that this is ‘consistent’ with other beings in the game so if you argue consistency, at least there is where that is concerned. Thereby, what is actually your point, because you’ve not even addressed how our own pets, minions, and indeed racial golems do the exact same thing.

[Edit] your last post (above) says to me that your actual issue is that you don’t visually see Scruffy doing things. I suggest you use your imagination to fill in these blanks so the devs don’t have to add/change a bunch of things for more than just Scruffy (because once they do it for one, they’ll have to do it for the rest too). As you say, not priority.

Jaken.6801:

As far as I know Golems can’t jump. Transforming into a Golem usually doesn’t allow you to jump.
I don’t think gliding is possible, but I actually didn’t test that.
Then again, I don’t know if tonic transformations are a valid compairson.

LOL like it… its funny, I can glide as a quaggan, skritt burglar etc… not sure about a golem. But that made me giggle As for your comment though about golems can’t jump… as a ‘rule’ I’m unsure yeh, although there is a personal story quest in Mount Maelstrom where we are turned into golem suits and we can jump a fair way lol…

Jaken.6801:

Scruffy doesn’t displayed more abilities then your run of the mill golem.

Doesn’t mean he doesn’t have special abilities though.

Jaken.6801:

A great thing usually. He might survive more.
The thing i am more concerned with, however, is his ability to traverse the terain in the same manner, the rest of the group is.
Which he isn’t and if we see him, it is usually through cheating . As no real ability is displayed (As in any effect being show, like with every other character)

Do you say the same for ranger pets, necro minions and so on? Because they do the exact same thing.

Jaken.6801:

As for your comment about fantasy.
Sure you can go with the it’s magic, shut up argument, but even fantasy has rules.
It has nothing to do with with the unthinkable or unimaginative.

I can not disagree more. Fantasy is imagining the unimaginable. There are zero rules when it comes to imaginative, creative thinking. Give me some legitimate ‘rules’ of fantasy…

Jaken.6801:

it is a question of consistency.

In a dynamic world where things are always changing you think there should be consistency? We have had to adapt to the maguuma with new masteries and skills (elite specs). This is progress as we all, including machines and golems I am sure adapt to ever increasing demands for change. Maybe I misunderstand….

Jaken.6801:

If Taimi had outfitted her golem with some special abilities like teleporting, gliding or the simple ability to jump, then it would have been on display in some form.

Again, why, when we don’t see the others do any of these things in the same way?

Jaken.6801:

Also, I clearly said it is okay for Taimi to be there, if said requirements are fullfilled.
Right now it isn’t the case, so thank you for missing my point.

Sorry, not sure which bit of my post you’re commenting on. I was simply talking about others’ views of her being there. I realize your issue is with her golem for some reason lol.

Jaken.6801:

Oh and yes, steven hawking would be helpful in some way, i never doubt that… but he still has to traverse the jungle. As the problem is still with the tech and not with the person.

He may not have to traverse the jungle, he could use technology, for example by use of holograms: Elli for example fights through her hologram, and also Taimi used holograms during the HoT story to be of assistance.

It really genuinely is down to imagination and what you let yourself believe, and when it comes to GW2, anything is possible especially when I, as an asura can activate my racial golem skill, get crippled, hobble to the edge of a cliff, glide down and have my golem suddenly appear next to me ready to defend or fight. Yay! \o/

Jaken.6801:

Here is the thing, though.
I don’t mind Taimi.

It is just that her being able to get that far just isn’t feesable to me.

The one of a kind golem she is appearently controling just doesn’t display the abilites that would be needed to traverse the jungle as fast as the story is supposed to go.

In the story the heroes do a b-line (mostly) towards their objective and that doesn’t mean they traverse the road on the ground, but going to places where you have to things like jumping or gliding.

Erm… we don’t see any of them gliding do we? I may be wrong on that. Fantasy… I don’t care if people are sick of me saying that because the meaning of fantasy still equates to Taimi fitting as a character perfectly fine in these storylines, along with Scruffy. People who are realistic in nature perhaps have a hard time imagining the unimaginable and that will be the bigger problem, not Taimi.

Also, a lot of people have said that their problem is that they don’t ‘choose’ to have her along with them and as commanders of the pact they should decide who they take. Well, we don’t choose to take any of the guys who end up on our side. I 100% did not choose to have Trahearne babbling in my ear all the way through any of the stories :P

Jaken.6801:

Yet in no circumstances they have the golem display these abilities.

In fact instead of giving the golem the usual teleportation effect and ability they clearly show him just popping up beside or in front of you, when there is a gap.
This is shown a few times straight in rata novus.

All of them do that LOL.

Jaken.6801:

If this was an ability of any kind, then they would have shown it, because I don’t think Scruffy is a mesmer and able to blink (but even that does have an effect)

Taimi controls the golem, doesn’t she? Have we ever seen any of our allies’ abilities, properly? So maybe Scruffy does glide, we just don’t see it.

Jaken.6801:

So my simple problem with the whole szenario isn’t Taimi directly. It rather is the way they get her there.

Again, it’s the same for the rest of the team.

Jaken.6801:

The one of a kind ley line golem Scruffy just doesn’t show more abilities then the regular golems around, thus making him slow and not suited to traverse the jungle at the pace the story might want.

Do you have proof of this? No. He’s there, Taimi controls him, its magic, skills, whatever, he’s there. End of.

Jaken.6801:

I wouldn’t let Steven Hawking in the jungle. It doesn’t matter how intelligent he is. He would slow the group down. Even with a tank-style wheelchair. As long as it isn’t able to have some kind of gliding or flying ability he would get into trouble at some point.

Luckily that’s not your decision to make. He is accutely more disabled than Taimi, and doesn’t have a huge awesome golem on his side that can be adapted for probably any situation through Taimi’s intelligence to update his programming (probably) and erm oh yeh, magic.

I think I died way more than Taimi or Scruffy during some of the Mordremoth fights. :P LOL

[Edit] Also, to just add, if people are going to talk ‘real’, in WW2 women weren’t ‘allowed’ to be on the battlefield yet they were instrumental in other ways. My Nanna for example worked for the fire service during the war and made a huge impact. Just because you wouldn’t want to take Steven Hawking into the jungle doesn’t mean he wouldn’t be absolutely vital in other ways. But GW2 isn’t ‘real’ so meh.

Harper.4173:

One problem people keep bringing up is that “oh this is fantasy – everything is cool and totally fine” – no.
Just because the game is set in a fantasy setting doesn’t mean anything can happen and we’ll be happy and just roll with it because " eh it’s fantasy man let it go".

No. You simply have an issue with the character and are trying to find ways to negate the argument that this is fantasy, which is an excellent argument.

By definition:
fantasy
?fant?si,-zi/
noun
noun: fantasy

1.
the faculty or activity of imagining impossible or improbable things.
“his researches had moved into the realms of fantasy”
synonyms: imagination, creativity, fancy, invention, originality, vision, speculation, make-believe, daydreaming, reverie
“the movie is ambitious in its mix of fantasy and realism”

So… “…imagining impossible or improbable things”.

There is no allowance for ‘blurring’ when it comes to fantasy and realism, something is either fantasy or its real. If you want to play realistic games, go play War Online or something because this game is fantasy where anything is possible. If it wasn’t, we wouldn’t be able to die over and over, dragons wouldn’t exist and there’d be little lore.

Sadly too, a child on the battlefield (even though Taimi isn’t really a child) is very real in some war-stricken countries.

You are entitled to your opinion, but when it comes to this argument, there is only one fact: it is fantasy and Taimi fits fine with that.

Vicky.4563:

Why?

This game has gone to the dumps ever since they started implementing these rules in ESL. We went from run whatever you want and games were decently balanced. Then DD eles came along and they implemented no more than 2 class rule.

And that was still ok.

And then Pro Leagues came along and suddenly they implemented no class stacking at all.

And now look at balance. When people were running 5 DD eles, look how fast that got nerfed! Sure it took months, but they got to it eventually! Ever since they started implementing these rules to hide their failures, balance has only gotten worse.

Now players want to actively help them hide their mistakes? Are you kidding?

You can hide it in tournaments so it’s not as blatent, but it’s still clear in game. You hide it in game and Anet will NEVER acknowledge these issues at all.

I completely understand what you mean and you’re right. Unfortunately though, unless they do address the situation I, as a player am not content with the possibility of coming up against 3> of the same class, which is usually a meta build (zzzzzzz) and so we have zero chance of winning, unless our team in solo queue is matched fairly against the opposing team and that’s a big gamble in itself.

Having said that, last season I felt as if everyone was Reaper and there was not much point in being anything else. At least 3 were on both teams in probably 90% of matches, and that was fine until we were the team with say e.g. 2 thieves and whatever else. I found it hard enough playing ele in solo queue anyway since team members seemed to be completely oblivious to my strengths and how to use me to their advantage but that’s an entirerly different problem.

If they address balance properly, fine… but since we don’t hear much about them concentrating on this in the way the majority of players feel they should, I’d settle for no class stacking.

Vicky.4563:

So if I want to play power mesmer and someone is playing condi mesmer, tough luck for me then?

Class stacking only happens when devs don’t balance the game. Balance the game and you won’t have these issues.

The more you implement these coverups and lazy fixes, the less incentive they have to actually do their jobs and balance.

This would be okay since there’s only two of you, and actually since you’re different builds, completely fine. It’s when we get 3+ of the same class that’s an issue, imho.

I am sure there are also some instances of “I don’t trust you can play the class as well as me so I am staying as x” as well as the problems of daily class wins and other such difficulties already expressed above.

But in league I don’t think you should be allowed to switch when you see what you’re up against and therefore there needs to be a system to stop class stacking beyond 2 and another system to prevent switching in-game. I’ve seen people switch half way through! grr

LOL, nightmare but glad they were bad mesmers, for you. Indeed on occasions your team can beat the team (sometimes intentionally) class stacking if a) you’re a good player in a good team and, b) have good classes to counter what you’re facing.

Shadow Bane.9362:

kdaddy.5431:

Class stacking is not the reason people are not getting the ranks/titles they want in ranked que.

While I mostly agree with this statement. Its infrequent when this sort of thing happens at least in my experience but it is still problematic. Match making should cap at 2 of any class unless they queued as a group getting 3-4 of anything(some clearly more hindering than others) isn’t going to make for a good match on either side.

Guilds/premades should not be allowed to queue if they have 3 of the same class, and there should be a system to then prevent them swappin when the game starts.

I disagree that class stacking doesn’t cause a problem. Come up against 4 DHs and you have an instant issue of continual pull, push, immobilized, contained, burned, killed. The same (but with differing consequences) happens with other class stacks. Then when you are teamed fairly equally, even though that is fairer, you are reliant on your team understanding rotation and visualizing the map/envisaging what the other team will/won’t do. For example, I had a match last season with 3 eles both sides, we couldn’t kill each other, yet the rest of our team wouldn’t for the life of them rotate and back-cap or cap and stay capped. At the start of the match I said, grab, cap and hold but no one did. Had we got to capture points first, we’d have been in the same boat of not being able to kill each other but with the advantage of having capped points. It obviously wasn’t as simple as this, but this was an issue and is purely ONE example.

And have any of you tried to go up against 5 mesmers? -.- That was before any league btw…

Plus I don’t care if this causes longer queues.

Class stacking is one of my biggest irritants in PvP. S2 league, nearly every single match was met with 3 necros, often on both sides.

It is not allowed (asfaik) in pro league so why should we have to put up with class stacking? I don’t mind 2 of a same class but not 3>.

Just yesterday I had a thief 1v1… they were bouncing around me like a kid on sweets. It was ridiculous. I actually ended up just standing there waiting for them to stop, dumped a ton of aoe and waited.

Moonyeti.3296:

This right here is my issue with the character. I actually like Taimi, so I don’t want her to get killed or anything, but it does absolutely destroy any tension knowing that there is no way she will be killed off due to the blowback that would cause.

This has been a pet peeve of mine for years, as my dad was wheelchair bound. He hated how TV and movies would always have the disabled person always virtuous and moral. As he used to say “Crippled people can be jerks too. Just look at me!”

That’s actually really false. Just type into google “disabled villains”. There are tons. But for a few examples: Darth Vader, Dr No, Blofeld, Davros, even sodding Paul Robinson on Neighbours has one leg LOL.

I think you, and to some extent your Dad were psychologically ignorant to any villain who was disabled, or you are simply unaware of the hundreds actually out there.

Harper.6175:

Agreed – And I don’t. But between the two – at least one isn’t disabled and can actually fight.
That aside – I’m almost equal in how much I don’t want either of them with me.

As someone with a disability myself, I am almost insulted :P (jk)… Taimi, albeit disabled has a very huge role to play in her intellect. She brings an awful lot of brains to the team, you don’t just need brawns. She also provides some incredibly funny comments which brings flavour to the game that I love.

People on the side of not wanting her (or Braham now lol) with them when fighting, or whatever, are still thinking too ‘real world’, this is Tyria, fantasy. It’s essential flavour to the game which makes it interesting; plots change or continue with what Taimi has to say about her discoveries, some of which are essential.

There are some key moments in the story where she is vital (without wanting to add spoilers) and we wouldn’t be able to continue… thinking of one particular moment where we’d have been trapped… for ever.

As an interesting concept, my husband looked up her age: she is (in real world) a teenager, but that means nothing in the context of a fantasy world like Tyria even though she is a progeny, she’s a bit bigger lol. Check out some images of an actual progeny and Taimi.

A progeny
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Progeny

Taimi:
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Taimi
Last but not least, she shows Phlunt who is boss, and that makes her the biggest hero of all in my book :P

novaspire.9801:

I see a lot of folks nowadays praise taimi, and her story, but I have not once felt she was appropriate to the world of guild wars 2. Before you start brandashing pitchforks and torches let me explain.

As long as taimi lives, and is following the commander, there can be no tension to the story anymore, none. This is for all intents and purposes, a disabled child, that granted has a golem following them, but is able to survive the harshest jungle environments basically on her own. If you were to argue that she is able to survive as easily as she does, no other asura would feasibly die within tyria, as frankly a weak powerless little creature can get to the heart of the most dangerous areas without a scratch. Even with the golem argument, every single asura is able to build golems, several more technically advanced then hers ( snaff and sandy anyone? ), so it makes no sense that any asura would die.

You’re being too ‘real world’ :P, this is Tyria and fantasy, she stays alive because she has magic to help her :P…

I chuckled at your sentences about a feeble disabled child out in the worst environment ever because it made me think of me… I am not a child but have a rare skin disorder that blisters and wounds at the slightest touch and I go storm chasing in the USA driving 30k miles to find violent tornadoes and storms LMFAO :P

I adore Taimi and I think she is a breath of fresh air. Her comments and cute jokes are worth every penny.

Supreme.3164:

Also 2vs1 an ele and can’t win?…just go on ele and I come on the other profession, 200g you don’t last few secs after using obsidian flesh

.P.S Superior mobility?..lol kk

If that were true, the ele doesn’t know how to play ele. I can quite honestly be kited around a point for hours if I wanted by 2 or 3, and occasionally I’ve even survived against 4 (albeit needing to run a bit to have all my healing capabilities come off cd, but it CAN and HAS happened to me and I’ve seen it happen too).

A good elementalist knows when to use what attunements to stay alive, and yes they do have good mobility.

Of course it depends what classes the ele is against but usually the ele will sustain against most long enough for help to arrive to finish off the opponent.

Eles and scrappers (scrappers less so since last patch mind you, I think) are a nuisance and I don’t agree with it even though I play them both.

Stronghold annoys me. Hardly anyone (unless playing in premade) ever talks about strategy beforehand so you end up with pawns all over the place usually being utterly useless. Does an army go into battle without a plan? No!

They probably weren’t watching the map which is usually the case and as Dahkeus says, they could’ve been doing literally a number of other stupid things.

Thiefz.3695:

Fishball is right. Statistically, higher MMR players will be put with lower ranking or newbie teams in Unranked because the match making program is looking to make comparable teams with the same average MMR so any combination of MMR is possible on the same team. In Ranked, it was just based on your PIP level so at some point, higher MMR players would only face high MMR players.

So while a few people got to legendary by grinding, it wasn’t like it was throwing sapphires or ambers on your team. Also I believe I read last season that Unranked MMR decays so if you didn’t play for a few months due to Seasons, your MMR tanked a bit which hurts higher tier players.

However, Unranked is basically Hot Join and I think that’s the complaint. It does keep queue times low though..

The problem comes when your team doesn’t listen to your advice, and strategy and that happens a lot. It is infuriating.

Then you also have language barriers, and simply without being rude (because I’m not), it makes it nigh impossible to communicate if your team doesn’t speak English (and I only pick English because it is the world’s language) and that’s a completely different point.

I still prefer ranked over unranked any day and I enjoyed out of any division Ruby best, with the closest matches and fun, dedicated, communicative players who knew how to call target, rotate, knew when to support, watched the map, and all those things most people seem to completely ignore.

Cynz.9437:

Celine.6857:

Cynz.9437:

Celine.6857:

QUESTION… (just throwing it out there)…

People continue to go on about the huge complaints that are made (and I’m guilty of it too) of being put with people with a lower MMR than themselves…

How do you/we/I know they are lower MMR? We can’t check? We don’t know our current MMR when entering those games… People have bad days, including me…

Obviously we all know when our team sucks, and we all know when the opposition sucks, but when complaining about being put with people who are lower MMR than us, how do we actually know that, as fact? It’s presumption based on game-play and unless you get those people time and time again and they continue to suck, we don’t actually know.

That said, unranked still sucks LOL.

Gameplay and division. And yes i get same people a lot and i see their division in HotM. They even say themself they are new to pvp and just started. I had match other day, a druid came with me and started double cap home. I told him go mid, support team. He apologized and said he is new to this. I felt so bad for him. I played over 5k matches, some enemies on our team probably too. He got farmed so hard all match. We won but i wonder if he actually enjoyed the match.

Besides it is not normal that i can 100-0 revs, scrappers and chrono as thief. In unranked it happens a lot.

But, you can be dragon rank and have a kitten MMR, right? And, I can be in Ruby or above and have horrendous loss streaks that lower my MMR time after time… gameplay doesn’t really tell you much unless you play with them time after time.

So I still don’t see how honestly we can tell what our team mates or opponents’ MMR is.

[edit] my query was just about people ‘guessing’ that they are matched with lower skilled players than them, and wasn’t about how unbalanced unranked is.

I am in legend, some people i face/get on my team are in sapphire. Do you really think we have same MMR given that i facerolled through sapphire on core thief?

Maybe! Because perhaps the sapphire guys hadn’t played much last season for whatever reason. Maybe they don’t have endless time to play PvP but it doesn’t mean they’re less skilled than you.

Plus we don’t know, and nor do you know what YOUR MMR is. Fact. Unless Anet tell us what our current MMR is during seasons and shows you what your team mates and opponents’ MMR is at the end of the game, we do not know.

You’re still talking about ranked, I am talking about in general and also within the debate of unraked vs ranked and so in unranked you might absolutely be put with sapphires, or even ESL pro league players and that simply isn’t right.

If unranked during off-season is for ‘training’ or whatever, then it needs to be the same match making as ranked or you aren’t ever going to fully understand your build, counters, and so on when the matchmaking is so sloppy.

[edit] you also are very likely going to be put with non-HoT elite spec builds and that also isn’t right IMO.

Cynz.9437:

Celine.6857:

QUESTION… (just throwing it out there)…

People continue to go on about the huge complaints that are made (and I’m guilty of it too) of being put with people with a lower MMR than themselves…

How do you/we/I know they are lower MMR? We can’t check? We don’t know our current MMR when entering those games… People have bad days, including me…

Obviously we all know when our team sucks, and we all know when the opposition sucks, but when complaining about being put with people who are lower MMR than us, how do we actually know that, as fact? It’s presumption based on game-play and unless you get those people time and time again and they continue to suck, we don’t actually know.

That said, unranked still sucks LOL.

Gameplay and division. And yes i get same people a lot and i see their division in HotM. They even say themself they are new to pvp and just started. I had match other day, a druid came with me and started double cap home. I told him go mid, support team. He apologized and said he is new to this. I felt so bad for him. I played over 5k matches, some enemies on our team probably too. He got farmed so hard all match. We won but i wonder if he actually enjoyed the match.

Besides it is not normal that i can 100-0 revs, scrappers and chrono as thief. In unranked it happens a lot.

But, you can be dragon rank and have a kitten MMR, right? And, I can be in Ruby or above and have horrendous loss streaks that lower my MMR time after time… gameplay doesn’t really tell you much unless you play with them time after time.

So I still don’t see how honestly we can tell what our team mates or opponents’ MMR is.

[edit] my query was just about people ‘guessing’ that they are matched with lower skilled players than them, and wasn’t about how unbalanced unranked is.

Marius.3185:

Earlier today I had a game where an ele kited 3 of my teammates around close for 5 minutes. I’m not kidding it was 5 minutes. They were just going around in circles near a point capped by my team. He wasn’t even trying decap or something like that and he was a really good player. No matter how much i tried i couldn’t make them move – and when i went to kill him 4v1 running out of other options it was fine until he came back – we couldn’t hold 2 points no matter what and I was playing condi ranger so I couldn’t carry the game outnumbered by 2 people on the rest of the map.

I honestly laughed my kitten off when I saw what happened. But I don’t want to play these kind of games. Nor do I want to play 4v5 and 5v4 which seem to happen extremely often. Dc, afk or high pings and I just wait around for the game to end…It’s a disaster. I shouldn’t play in the same team as a warr who waited around close at the beginning of the match until svanir spawned so he can beat him (he wasn’t the one capping the point – he just sat for over a minute and half waiting near where svanir spawns). His version of pvp and mine don’t have anything in common. Why am I left with only the choice of playing with these kind of teammates?

I’m not playing pvp to just screw around – nor do I consider winning 1v3 with a makeshift build on warr ‘fun’. Seriously annoying that games are so random and I’m playing less and less because I don’t wanna queque just to hope that out of five games maybe one will somewhat decent.

One last thing: the only values unranked had are gone: newbies get flamed and destroyed instantly without any chance to ‘have fun’ or learn the game, I don’t want to test builds since playing is random enough and after so many people ruin my games I don’t wanna do the same to others (sometimes the need ‘to carry games’ seems more powerful than during ranked last season) and toxicity is just through the roof. I can’t even control myself sometimes and I realize I’m ending up playing just to get angry. This is especially because people wanting to have casual fun and people wanting to play a serious match are grouped together – what other conclusion could this have anyway?

I literally couldn’t agree more. And, for the start of your post, I have been that kind of ele, and it’s not fun for me either. I don’t enjoy winning in such a cheesy way just because the skills are stupid.

QUESTION… (just throwing it out there)…

People continue to go on about the huge complaints that are made (and I’m guilty of it too) of being put with people with a lower MMR than themselves…

How do you/we/I know they are lower MMR? We can’t check? We don’t know our current MMR when entering those games… People have bad days, including me…

Obviously we all know when our team sucks, and we all know when the opposition sucks, but when complaining about being put with people who are lower MMR than us, how do we actually know that, as fact? It’s presumption based on game-play and unless you get those people time and time again and they continue to suck, we don’t actually know.

That said, unranked still sucks LOL.

I am with Ellie on this. I much prefer matches that take a bit of effort, strategy, and skill than complete blow outs either team.

In season 2, I had a hellish time in Sapphire. My win/loss ratio was quite literally 50/50 most of the time. I was stuck in T4 sapphire for about 4 weeks. Once I hit Ruby, I felt a huge change in matches. People communicated (omg what is that! No one ever usually communicates! :P), I felt much more support from team mates, I felt that ‘team spirit’ you should always have (IMO). That was probably because in Ruby there’s more to lose, though I also felt, really felt I learned a lot too in that division. I felt the pace of the games was higher, and much more competitive and therefore fun. I went through on a huge win streak of 12 matches in a row before my downward spiral started again.

The point I am making here is, these matches in Ruby were closer, for example 506-405, 500-336, there were zero 500s-20s, or silly wash outs like that, and I honestly believe it was better and was also therefore much more fun. There was also a lot less ‘giving up’ and that was great to see. Giving up is something I absolutely hate because I have been in matches where you think there’s no hope, yet you’ve turned it round to win.

If you’re playing PvP to annihalate the other team and have it over fast then, to me, that’s not competitive play nor the way it should be played imo.

Finally, unranked is hell. As people have said, you can come up against anyone. My hubby and I play on our alt accounts. On our alt accounts we are both deer rank. We come up against dragon ranks, bunny ranks, dolly ranks, and we are either annihalated, or we annihalate the other team and in no way whatsoever is that fun. On our main accounts its the same but we are the dragons.

Food and other consumables is a really good tip. I always take food with me, always.

I’m of a different view on probably the majority. If you have a build, that you enjoy that works then use it. It doesn’t have to be meta, it doesn’t have to be full zerk, it doesn’t have to be anything other than useful and survivable, IMO.

My guild mate gets flamed all the time for not having a specific build when doing a fractal; he simply ignores them, and ultimately is usually the one that we need most on the team and is usually the one that hardly ever dies.

I realize the op is after a build for one of the classes he mentioned… I play Tempest most in fractals, let me know if you’d like my build for info or to play with.

Oslaf Beinir.5842:

Most condi builds pre hot could still function with a proper support or opening. You could try

Old school Core condi necro still works well running spite curses and soul reaping, merc amulet, double geo/ whatever you prefer rest of sigil and runes. Your corruptions will do the work for you just keep your distance and set up your wurm well, transfer enemy condis and try to hit scepter 3 for added burst and weapon swap or shrouf in someones face. And you might not want to run triple signets.

Thanks, I already have a great necro for just an alt account but if I want to mix it up, I’ll be sure to go this route.

Oslaf Beinir.5842:

Core burn guard is still amazing for bursting unaware targets down especially if someone condi covers your burn stacks but cant win most 1vs1s on its own

Now this is what I was waiting for, tbh. Since the majority of opponents would naturally ‘assume’ I am a DH, I like the idea of catching them unawares. Thanks for this.

Oslaf Beinir.5842:

Core condi p/p engi still packs a punch but lacks defense and sustain to hold its own alone so pick your fights well if you use it

This is what I’ve made (sort of) ready for an engi day, but indeed I don’t feel fully confident but having said that, dependant on team set up, I think I’ll give it a go.

Oslaf Beinir.5842:

If you want to play power builds only core war and thief would hold its own vs elite specs. If you are skilled enough you could try burst mesmer and LB ranger but i would rule those two out since anything would kill em even retal damage xD

Not bothered what kind of build it is, providing it stands up fairly well against the elite specs. I would expect the ranger to be hit hard, but I am still going to try it since if positioned well I feel could be useful in the right scenario. However, as you say, I fully expect to get stomped hard lol.

It’ll be interesting to see anyway. Btw, still no loss with my MM necro on the alt account lol.

Okay, I have to ask after reading most of this thread….

Those of you who have said HoT felt “rushed”…. How? Why? I simply don’t get that comment. Unless you were on the development team and there were many more things in the pipeline that were missed or you just quickly shoved this and that together, how can you say, as a player, you ‘felt’ it was rushed?

#intrigued.

As for the op… I disagree entirerly: your opinion however, but why not go play something else rather than complain about a game a huge number of people still love.

Sirendor.1394:

I have played core D/P trickery thief a lot.

A lot depends on your team when you play thief. As thief you are not the one who takes the fights, you’re the one who turns fights into your team’s favor or who backcaps.

Absolutely agree. This is definitely one I will be making as I am comfortable with the build. Thanks for providing support in that it is viable (I kinda thought so mind you, since my DD thief on my main account is exactly the same build but for replacing SR with either a signet or something else and for the different dodge capability lol).

Many thanks.