Maize balm farms work just as well in more remote areas, but people hear that Bloodtide Coast is the way to go and don’t even try to find a more appropriate venue.
For instance, I’ve seen these farms done up in the skill point area in Wayfarer Foothills where Issormir’s corpse is. No hearts around and the respawn rate on all those ambient birds is very good.
Yeah, there was no reason to remove the rewards. It’s not like they were breaking GW2’s economy or anything.
I think the key is the reward structure. The countless cap/defend events have tiny rewards, and then VW has a lot of rewards, but the two have nothing to do with each other. You can just go straight to VW (or the champs before that) after everyone else has done the work, do only that part, and get tons of loot, no less than anyone else.
The “work” events ..well let’s face it. They’re boring and tedious after you’ve been around the block a few times.
This is the crux of the problem right here. For most people, that long chain of events needed to get to the “good stuff” becomes very boring very fast, so people look for ways to minimize the pain but still get the rewards they want. And to be honest, the mat requirements for ascended are one of the main reasons for this behavior. You have to do this thing over and over, so naturally people begin looking for shortcuts.
Bloodtide Coast is a terrible spot for this, if it’s the location I’m thinking of. You really want to do this where there is no nearby heart for people to do. Farmers screaming at people for killing creatures to get their heart done is just completely pathetic.
I liked the bioluminescent set and might have done the grinding for it, but the achievements is what killed it for me. There’s just no way. lol
Why do people do the whole maize balm farm, anyway? What are they all hoping they’ll get from it?
And that’s why I don’t craft.
lol Ascended is making me wonder about that myself. I used to have all the crafts when I began the game, but I couldn’t afford to keep up with them all, so I dropped half of them.
I’m trying to decide whether or not to make ascended armor for my main. I keep waffling and haven’t come to a conclusion. It appears making it will take much longer than the month or so due to cooldowns because of needing so much silk.
Oh and the whining about PvErs there for map completion not helping the server and could they please leave so real WvWers could get in.
lol Yeah, I have to admit that people whining about players coming there for map completion is really lame. Duh, of course people are going to go there for map completion when it’s a requirement. Makes about as much sense as people whining about uplevels.
Why does it say that you are crazy if you hit 50/50? Is it really hard to do?
Heart of Thorns seems to have a lot in it that Anet believes will keep people happy. They’re focusing on the new revenant, so players will have a whole new profession to play around with and they’re adding new things for WvW and sPvP, two areas that they obviously feel are attracting players.
Then there’s the new emphasis on vertical adventuring. I’m not sure how I feel about this yet. I like the glider idea (enjoyed it in Archeage), but I’m not really that interested in JP, so I’m hoping the new areas aren’t going to feel like one big, really difficult jumping puzzle that only uber-talented gamers can reach most of the content and enjoy.
I don’t understand why some items have a collections slot and some don’t. Obsidian shards can be stored, but mystic clovers can’t. Makes no sense to me. I’d also like collection tab slots for things like vision crystals and mystic forge stones. Oh, and bandit crests and geodes.
What were GW1 Birthday gifts like?
All the talk of grinding made me wonder something. What do you do regularly with your game time that some might think is grindy but you don’t?
I’m one of these people that more or less has a high tolerance for “grindy” content. My friends and guildies joke that if Beth thinks it’s a grind, then it is BAD! lol
Here are some of mine:
I key farm. Yes, even after the NPE. I enjoy it because I like opening BLC, I’ve made a lot of money doing it, and I love leveling characters. I don’t need to keep the characters long term to enjoy leveling them. I also love Queensdale’s hearts and events.
I ride the WvW loot train. I like the feeling of playing with a lot of people. I like getting fast bags by taking places around WvW along with occasionally killing other players. I like leveling fast.
Anyone else do the same things regularly just for the fun of it?
This whole WvW numbers will suffer because people are no longer being lulled into it argument is garbage.
PvP is populated by people who inherantly wish to play PvP. Anet did’t try and stealth in some requirement in order to get PVE’ers in there. And now WvW will exist on the same terms.
While I agree that WvW isn’t going to die as a result of this change, one of your statements isn’t really accurate. I do a lot of WvW, and I am not a PvPer at all. When I played this game at launch, I had zero intention of ever going to WvW. Sounded like a nightmare to me. Then I had to go and complete maps there and I discovered that WvW did not feel like other PvP experiences I have had. I had no idea how different it was until I was forced to try it in order to complete my first 100% world completion.
I know dozens of other players for whom this is true also.
This game has ZERO trolls in chat.
It does? lol Couldn’t resist.
…lowering requirements for items ultimately disenfranchises the loyal players who have already completed it with the harder requirements. It may be “for the best”, which is still a matter of opinion, but it doesnt return the time and effort already put in by people.
This also leads to those loyal players saying to themselves whenever new content comes out, “Ill just wait 6 months or a year and they will make it easier to do”
I can see what you’re saying with the second point, but what I’m really referring to isn’t starting out with one thing and then changing it to another. I really mean, they could have lower requirements from the beginning, even though in the above discussion, I mentioned adjusting things to make them easier. It would be preferable if things started out with less of a grind rather than change later, I agree.
Although, that said, MMOs are always changing, and so yeah, some people may have different experiences, but for me, it doesn’t bother me if I do something and then it gets easier for someone else. I chose to do what I did when I did it, so it getting easier isn’t really an issue for me.
No matter what definition individual players give, it doesn’t matter. It’s how the developers define it that matters.
Yes, ultimately, that’s what it comes down to. Anet defines grind for their game, so that is the end all and be all. We all know that Anet separates grind into required grind and optional grind, but one of the discussions here is whether anything can or should be done about the optional grind because that is minimizing some players’ enjoyment of the game.
Absolutely. Tell them to not do it if they don’t enjoy it.
Yeah…but once again you seem to be missing the point. Not a problem. There are going to be disconnects in any discussion.
It’s pretty difficult to generate profit to other players, too, in a broad sense.
This comes from the link of Gold to Gems – it needs to be monitored, and runaway potential has to be anticipated carefully.
Actually, I have no trouble generating profit through crafting and selling what I craft on the AHs in most of the other games I play. GW2 feels very different to me in this area. But I know that’s because their TP is different, as well.
Yeah, the whole selling gold from gems and vice versa is obviously at the heart of this game’s attention to their economy, which I know, again, changes the game compared to others I’ve played.
The optional grind is up to the player. There can be no grounds for complaint because they are only doing it because they wish to rather than need to.
Freewill FTW
Yeah, but as noted previously, you’re missing the point of what is being said about optional grind completely.
So many of us have hated the new trait system. It’s worse than the original in so many ways, such as making it harder for those with a lot of alts to keep up. While I like the idea of giving players an option to get traits through gameplay, it seemed like a lot of their choices for activites and the order in which they placed them were anywhere from odd to downright painful. Plus, the increased costs were really unnecessary.
If the organization of the gameplay options were more intuitive and more accessible to most players, or we had broader categories for completing each one, it might have worked. However, as it stands, it needs redoing and so it’s good news that they’re going to do just that.
Of course, HOW they redo it remains to be seen and whether it makes everything worse or better.
No matter what definition individual players give, it doesn’t matter. It’s how the developers define it that matters.
Yes, ultimately, that’s what it comes down to. Anet defines grind for their game, so that is the end all and be all. We all know that Anet separates grind into required grind and optional grind, but one of the discussions here is whether anything can or should be done about the optional grind because that is minimizing some players’ enjoyment of the game.
I’m sure it’s a complicated answer. I guess a lot of grind could be reduced simply by reducing the requirements to a more reasonable number, in cases where that could solve the problem.
For instance, crafting recipes that are particularly difficult to complete due to items dropping rarely in the world or even being impossible to get aside from the TP or simply having really high item requirements – the numbers of items needed could be reduced, thus reducing grind to complete or discover them.
Achievement numbers could be reduced, such as in many WvW achievements. This would then reduce grind on those.
A lot of times when people talk about grind, they mean the ability to make gold. Many people come from games where making in-game currency is much easier there than here, so it seems like a huge grind here. But any talk of making it easier to make a profit, say on the TP, also involves complicated discussions on the economy.
In other games, for instance, I would find a crafting niche and make items and then sell them for a nice profit and I can do this any time I like. It was easy to farm mats and keep my business, if you will, going. Here, it’s different. Making something and consistently selling it for a nice profit is harder, not as much of a sure thing. Solution? Not sure, since other games don’t make as much of an effort to watch all aspects of their auction houses.
One person finds something in the game Grindy. A second person does not. Is there, or isnt there grind?
This is the main problem with grind discussions. Everyone has a different definition so no one ever really agrees. For whatever reason, this game is what it is.
For me, aspects of it is the worst grind I’ve ever encountered in a game. But other parts of it is much less of a grind than other games. Basically, I do what I can to minimize the game’s grind while enjoying the parts I don’t find grindy.
How do you decon ascended items?
I love any skill that increases my run speed.
And Hundred Blades is really nice.
I like that there’s no monthly fee and gameplay isn’t really all about the store.
I’ve gotten tired of games like LOTRO where they keep increasing the slayer and reputation grinds just so people will buy accelerators from the store, and now they are gating content behind finishing their obscene reputation grinds. I actually love that GW2 has NO reputation at all. So tired of reputation. lol
I’m also a gamer that likes to level characters and I feel that this is quick and easy here.
I enjoy finishing PvE maps and I like WvW.
I like the PvP reward tracks.
I’m not opposed to something more useful, for sure. Although, I don’t mind the insta-20 scrolls since I use them for key farming characters. I’m saving one for the revenant, but the rest I just use.
Also, if the scrolls were simply “get 20 levels” rather than “get the first 20 levels,” that would be more useful to most players, I think.
My favorite class to play is the necromancer, but because of the way the game is designed, I have to spend more time on my warrior. Not that the warrior isn’t fun, but I’d do much more with my necro if the game supported it more.
This change doesn’t bother me really. I do hope we still get a map completion reward should we choose to do the maps, anyway, but I don’t care it’s not required for world completion. I understand the concern, though, about new players never being exposed to this, which would be a shame. WvW can be a lot of fun and is often really profitable from a loot standpoint. I’m not a pro pvper, but I’ve leveled many characters in WvW and gotten a lot of money from playing out there.
But what is optional.
The so called ‘required’ grind in many other games like WoW was never required for me because I did not want to do the highest lever raids. So does then not make it optional?
Yes and no.. it was optional for me because I did feel the need to do those raids. I however do feel like getting those cosmetics so if I would want to do that in GW2 the grind is required for me.
It just depends on what you like to do if it’s option for your. However it’s both not ‘required’ in general.
So when you say that is required and this is not it only means you feel the need to be able to do those highest level raids while you do not feel the need to get the cosmetics. Thats person.
But for the people who like to hunt for the item, grind is grind.
This is a good point. For many people, the old stand-by cop-out of “You don’t have to do it” is their go-to response for everything they personally don’t have a problem with. I know what you mean, though. As was pointed out in the other thread, Anet’s narrow definition of grind allows them to make the claims they do, but for people just playing the game, doing different things, they see a lot of grind.
I’ve done a lot of crafting in this game, for instance. If your definition of fun is collecting crafting recipes, you are going to find A LOT of grind. Some of the recipe requirements are simply unbelievable. Same for WvW achievements. You’ll not find too many people unwilling to admit that most of them are really bad in the grind department.
However, Anet’s definition of grind means they discount these other areas of the game. Anet has, in fact, built very impressive grind into their game to keep people busy. But all MMOs do this to varying degrees. So while players will always find grind to deal with according to their particular playstyle, whether it’s crafting, WvW, achievement hunting, festivals, etc., it’s also not going to go away. Anet has already proven that, in many, many game areas, they love grind.
Yeah, they should add the ability to change your glow to both kit types.
How would Gimli feel if there were no 2h axes? I’m sure he would let somebody toss him over in his own grave for that one.
Wait. Gimli isn’t a warrior. He’s a champion! lol
Seriously, it would be fun to have them in this game, but they’re not adding any new weapons with HoT, so it’ll be a while if it ever happens.
If you like PvP, you can get Tomes of Knowledge from the reward tracks that will give you one level for every tome you use. Then you don’t have to level your character in the world at all and can get to 80 that way.
I hear they’re flipping Kasmeer Meade’s so fast right now that she’s got a permanent case of motion sickness.
No Crafter is ever gonna publicly say what they craft for profit.
Well, not sure what you mean by publicly, but I’ve learned a lot about the kinds of things people craft for money simply by asking and receiving an answer. There are plenty of peeps that will talk about that kind of thing.
I wish i knew exactly too lol. I know its some of the rare recipes from dungeons made from tokens , but she work the market for anything she can make a buck on. She invest in things like rare skins and minis that i know of. By long term i mean multiple month sitting in banks until market volume drops and prices increase.
Ah, okay. Cool. I wondered if it was something like that or the MF cooking recipes, which I know a lot of people make to sell also.
I’m always interested in what people craft when they’re looking to clean up. What does she craft specifically?
Also, what is meant by a long-term market investment?
All the examples here depend on a one-time major gain in gold, as opposed to something that can be replicated month after month.
Just interesting to note.
Yeah, I hate that stealth flag heart so much. I also hate the heart in Sparkfly Fen with the Hylek grubs. You have to use the poison machines to knock over the termite hills and carry grubs to the fire pit but you can’t get the cooked grubs out of the fire even though it says you can.
Another annoying heart is the one in Plains of Ashford where you have to use a special rifle to catch minotaurs and drakes. It says you can fight them in the pit, but you can’t. Before the NPE, though, we could and it was a fast way to get the heart done. Now it takes forever.
Calculate the cost for a full set of ascended armor. If you think that’s acceptable good for you. If you think it’s excessive I agree with you.
I couldn’t agree more. I’m currently working on a light set(one piece done so far! lol) and it is so expensive. I really shouldn’t have started with light armor when my “mains” wear medium… haha. I don’t plan on crafting med/heavy after this unless future content requires ascended.
Perhaps an expansion in the future will require ascended gear as a means to increase challenge and busy work.
What are adventures, exactly? Are they like Rift’s Instant Adventures where you can join from a city map and be teleported straight to the action to do a series of “quests” with a group?
Nowadays, I get most of my transmutation charges from PvP.
I would say it was this past 30 days. Ended up making ~550 gold.
However, that involved:
Selling 170 laurels worth of crafting mats
Selling all of the crafting mats I had in my bank aside from T5 and T7
Selling a ghost pepper node I got from a lucky BLC
Selling a Chaos Staff skin
Lots of lucky envelopes when they were availableSo yeah, not sustainable in the slightest, but I got my precursor for it. Finally finished Frostfang.
Yeah, I did more or less the same thing when I made my Sunrise. Minus the lucky envelopes since this was before that.
Some hearts are definitely more difficult to complete than others. Why some of them need to be so slow if there’s no DE going on in the immediate area, I’ll never know. Hearts that are too dependent on a DE going on is not a great idea overall.
I just want to push a button and get a reward, and do that repeatedly until it becomes the essence of who I am.
MANUGO!!!!
Oh, wait. Wrong game.
An ascended cooking pot. Elonian wine. Or INFUSED VEGETABLES!
Yeah, I could really get into making my own crafted drinks.
I PvE in every PvP match.
People like path selling because the difficulty/time commitment in some of the paths is more than they want for the effort. A player might enjoy many of the dungeon paths and do them regularly, but for those that are way above the difficulty scale of most of the others, buying is a nice option for getting AP points and finishing up the achievements.
I’m glad you’re jealous enough to track every post i make though, it seems I’ve stared a fan club.
Regulars here just happen to follow things and recall posts people make.
So, when you post stories about your gold earnings as a casual player that changes from 300 in the first month the 500 to 550, people are going to call you on it.
Fantasizing that forum users are jealous of his money/luck is one of his favorite things to do apparently. He doesn’t understand that most players have way more than that already, so his claim is just nonsense. He also thinks that if he tries to be insulting, we’ll forget all the times he contradicts his own claims.