As someone who doesn’t have a lot of MMO experience, I’ve been struggling with this since I started playing. I have 35% of the map complete and I honestly couldn’t tell you more than five events / quest if you asked….other than, “Defend X from Centaurs.”
The problem is that almost all the quests can be blasted through and completed without ever knowing the context. You can basically run through any area of the game and be working on some kind of quest.
When my girlfriend and I first started the game we blasted through the starter worlds by accident. We didn’t have the discipline to slow down and try to figure out the stories. We now find ourselves having to actively force ourselves to get the context, and I’ll tell you, it can be hard.
The other issue I have is that every quest is tied up in these neat little packages. The NPC is conveniently standing right next to the area, the item to collect is in abundance twenty paces in every direction, and the boss is always standing exactly where it should be.
In Skyrim I very much enjoyed the way they handled events / quests. First, you had no idea who offered quests, or what they would be. This forced you to become immersed in the story and the world. Almost every character has something to offer even if its not a quest.
Secondly, quests were spread across the world. You could choose to pursue a single quest, or multiple at a time. Often you had to travel great distances and pay attention to the story.
Here is an example of a similar quests, and how they differ in execution.
Skyrim
Quest – Collect 5 gems so NPC can create something.
Solution – Explore cave systems all over the world. Talk to other NPC’s to get leads. Find out that cave X contains a stockpile, fight / sneak in and recover.
Guild Wars 2
Quest – Collect 5 gears so NPC can create something
Solution – Walk 100 paces, kill creature, loot, return, rinse, repeat.
It’s like the game hands every quest to you on a silver platter. It doesn’t require thought, or skill, or reasoning, just walk, kill, walk, kill.
I understand why this is, but I also think it is why this game feels repetitive at times. It’s very much about killing / collecting as much as possible without care or thought. Mats are a dime a dozen and have no value. Animals are plastered across the environment in predictable patterns, quests are neat little packages that can be solved with button mashing, and dynamic quests encourage zerging, not storytelling.
It’s no wonder why there are so many bots in this game. It has to say something when a computer can play the game with simple programming. To me, that says that the game is, in many ways, nothing more than the illusion of playing.
Anyway, I’m ranting. I think one of the main issues with MMOs today is that they don’t give enough credit to the player. They assume everyone’s goal is to just level up as fast as they can, and they want to not be bothered with anything but kill, kill, kill.
Second Life does this as well. It records when the user is typing it gives some visual feedback. It sort of works, sort of doesn’t and here is why.
Many times players will start typing, then delete what they were initially saying, then start again, and then stop. The other players all the while are sitting there waiting for some epic story and all you get is, “:)”
Or, are you saying that once you’ve pressed the return key, the character will basically just “animate” for a time relative to the amount of text?
As someone who enjoys the role-playing aspect of MMO’s, I would love to have some more character animations to give my character some life. I do agree, when everyone is just standing around chatting, it looks very static and non-engaging. Ideally it would look like all the characters were involved in a conversation.
I think this is a great idea. That / thing is super slow. If I wanna point, or kneel, or whatever, it takes a relatively long time to do. Your suggestion would allow for on the fly, quick emotes.
It would also allow the UI to expand emotes without having to have more words.
Nice idea!
I would think that their could be two ways of this working.
1. User Submitted
The players in the game could submit ideas using an in-game tool similar to the way the reporting system works. The user could choose a category, and then manually type in the suggestion. For example:
PvE > Environment > Visuals & Art > Night should be darker
Depending on the complexity, the tool could require users to justify the idea with separate input box. ANet could then take these suggestions, review them, and then add a proper vote. Example:
PvE > Environment > Visuals & Art >
Players have indicated that they would like nighttime to be darker. This would allow..,.
Please rate this idea: 1 2 3 4 5
This would allow ANet to control what features get voted on, (since they may never intend to implement a talking bunnies mode).
2. Anet Created
ANet puts up five questions for each section that they would like feedback on before spending resources developing.
For example say they’re trying to decide whether to implement a darker night mode, or a camera tweak. There are only enough programming hours in a day, so something has to take priority. If the community were to vote “Camera Tweak” as a higher priority, then ANet would spend time working on that instead.
The advantage to ANet is that they don’t get slammed for releasing patch notes with features no one asked for (or cared about), they can dedicate time and resources to features the community actually wants to see, and it allows the community to feel they have a say in what is developed next.
This idea does mean some great ideas (such as this amazing one) may never make it in, but we have to be realistic in that ANet can’t just magically make everything happen in one night.
Arson, do you think anyone would use it? My girlfriend kinda ho hummed at the idea. I think if it had a “world completion” prize attached people might be encouraged. Course, if it’s an easy reward, people might just blast through it for the prize and skew the results.
I’ve went hunting with a Norn hunter and we passed his twin (named Hunter), as he headed back to the restart point.
ANet is so concerned that everyone has something to do at every second, on every inch of the world that they plaster it with events, hearts, animals, enemies, etc.
They say they want to encourage exploration, yet the game is always distracting you. Reset rates also mean bots have something to do. Respawn rates of creatures are so fast in places you can’t even get out of the are without spending most of the money you just earned on waypoints.
The density of every creature in this game is crazy. I am fairly certain that the dev team went through cases of this stuff when designing the environments.
(edited by Crazylegsmurphy.6430)
Every single animal that is plastered around the world in unnatural numbers. Worse, are those same animals that attack for no reason, this slowing me down and annoying me.
Why is everything so hostile? Geez!
Take a few minutes and browse the forums, or spend some time in Lions Arch and you’ll quickly realize that people have a lot of time and a lot of opinions.
In my eyes, it seems counterproductive to have a forum where the same topics are brought up, discussed, then locked. How does anyone know if the ideas presented are in fact representative of the whole community?
I think that in addition to the trading house, and the crafting stations, the game should have voting houses.
These voting houses would allow players to visit, read, and vote on features they would like to see in the game. I mean, I’ve seen people in the game that were so bored that they’ll spend ten minutes jumping around the jewelry station, so why not give them something productive to spend thier time on?
This would also be a huge benefit to the devs because they could collect all the information in one place, and be able to assure that every player has a chance to be represented. They could even offer a sweet reward for those who take the time to vote.
Anyway, just an idea.
Not much to this post. I just think it would be cool if ANet arranged some social events where it was conducive to meeting people in game. Two million people are running around in the game and sometimes it’s hard to meet them as they run from enemy to enemy.
Maybe mini games, prizes, free drinks…stuff like that.
I’ve seen a lot of talk about bots lately (I even posted a screen shot of some myself), but I’m curious to know how they can be realistically stopped.
I would really like to hear how bots work, why they work, why they’re so hard to stop, and ideas for how to stop them.
Don’t let people get on your case about long posts. I’m one of those people at actually enjoys reading and so I read your post and thought it was very well written, and very insightful.
I wish I could comment more on it, but I’m too much of a noob to even form a coherent thought. I really just wanted to give you praise for taking the time to write something so well thought out.
Rounder,
I think it’s because ANet feels that to implement a proper night cycle would mean that they risk pissing off players who just want to rush though the game. Think about it for a moment. Currently, night mode is basically just eye candy. It really serves no real purpose.
NPC’s are out doing what they do, animals and birds go about their business, and the same creatures plaster the landscape at all times a day. This means that players never have to wait, nor do they have to deal with the environment.
It means that everything is available all the time. This is great for those who want to rush through the game, but disappointing for those who want a long lasting, immersive environment that creates depth and mood.
Personally, I have no issues at all waiting for night to fall so I can set out, torch I. Hand to hunt down creatures lumbering around in the dark. I have no problem diving into near pitch black waters, with only the glow of a waterproof lantern to illuminate my surroundings as I track down creatures that only come out at night.
I personally love the idea of feeling nervous about being caught in the dark where the undead or ghosts come out. And the thought of my guild, torches in hand, slowly navigating our way in the snow to a cave where a huge nocturnal troll lives to be super exciting.
This MMO has the potential to do such great things if the just take some chances.
I’d rather not have any events based on a day-night cycle. It would essentially lock me out of certain events because I logged in at the wrong time of day. I don’t get to play much (maybe 30 minutes a day), so I’m not too keen on waiting for the sun to come up to do stuff.
Would you like dynamic events to have an on / off switch as well? For the majority of us who play more than 30 min at a time, having a night cycle where the world is slightly different would be a welcome change I suspect.
For me, one of the games biggest flaws is that everything is available, all the time. The world is jam packed, and every square inch seems filled with something. For me, this is overwhelming and unrealistic.
Having a proper night cycle where the NPC’s go to bed, different creatures come out, and different events take place allows the game to space everything out a bit. It also, if done right, allows the gameplay to shift slightly to keep it fresh and fun.
Having a proper night cycle would mean players get two games in one. It means that players must consider the world and what effect it has on them. For example, if I’m going to head out and infiltrate a camp, I need to consider what time of day is most appropriate. If I’m a thief, then operating under the cover of darkness may be a good idea. If I’m a warrior, then making sure I can see my enemies head on may be a better advantage.
It also means players need to be aware of what’s happening in the world. Most of us run around by ourselfs without regard because we know there is really nothing to be afraid of. Imagine if night meant that finding a travel buddy was advantageous. As the long shadows and orange sky of dusk descends on the land, you may consider actually communicating with someone as you both know it’s mutually beneficial to travel together.
It also means that players might actually choose not to go out at night…which would be awesome. Maybe it’s just more fun to hang out in a tavern, trading stories and items until dawn breaks.
I dunno, there are so many possibilities for interesting and dynamic gameplay if the devs would just take the chance. Is, “everything must be available to everyone at all times” mentality, while practical from a rush to level 80 standpoint, doesn’t allow the players to experience a world where the world actually matters.
I for one want to interact with the world I’m playing in. I want time of say, season, weather, and the landscape to give me unique sets of challenges. I want to experience the feelings and excitement that come with a world that forces me to think.
Sorry, I’m typig this at 5:00 am so please excuse the rambling.
I’ve seen a few Dev posts about how certain things are on the ToDo list. I wonder if they would be willing to share that list with us?
That said, please type your own ToDo list if you were the devs.
It is not because of overflow.
It’s just bad.https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/suggestions/Day-Night-recycle/first#post85039
Thank you for posting this. I was quite curious if it was just an overflow issue or just lazy programming. I’m saddened to see its the latter.
Here is the post I started about the weather / day / night cycle.
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Let-s-talk-about-the-weather/first#post77216
It was locked down for the reason that ANet didn’t think there was room for anymore discussion…which is the same thing as saying, “thanks for the suggestions, but we don’t really have any intention of changing it.”
Butthurt much?
Nope, I feel fine…you?
You’ve all probably seen my lengthy posts about this, and weather. I totally agree that this game should have the confidence to do a proper night mode.
Let the NPC’s go to bed. Let the lights and fire create depth an mood. Let the fuzzy animals go to bed and the creepy, night predators roam the landscape.
At the very least, have a day/night cycle that feels somewhat based in reality. Use that fancy game engine and throw some long shadows and some great sunset/sun rises in there.
Well, looks like weather is something that won’t change any time soon. I’ve seen “speed up timers” , “slow down timers” , “make effects more common”, “turn effects off”, “there is scripted weather” , “the weather is dynamic”.
Just saying people, the areas where changes are usually implemented are areas that the community comes to a consensus on and says “yo, we really don’t like the way this thing works. Here is why”.
From this thread it actually seems like Anet did it perfectly. They hit the exact middle of the road. Upsetting a few people on the extremes of the too much/too little camps instead of every single person with an opinion on one side or the other.
With that…I can’t wait to see this Wintersday if there is going to be three ft of snow on the ground in Divinity’s Reach while Queensdale is the picture of Spring.
Ref,
Totally agree. Here is a post, that contains another post, about this as well.
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/What-s-up-with-the-night-day-cycle/first#post137368
Here is the post I started about the weather / day / night cycle.
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Let-s-talk-about-the-weather/first#post77216
It was locked down for the reason that ANet didn’t think there was room for anymore discussion…which is the same thing as saying, “thanks for the suggestions, but we don’t really have any intention of changing it.”
No, it’s not random…just not well designed.
I’m fairly convinced after playing the game a few weeks that the day / night cycle was a last minute afterthought. Or, it was one of those things that was added sometime at the start by some programmer on Friday night that just wanted to go home for the weekeend.
First, almost nothing reacts like its night. The animals, the people, the sounds, the creatures…they all go about thier lives like nothing is happening.
Secondly, the difference between night and day are virtually nothing. Night is way, way too bright, and does nothing to set the mood. There is no transition from day to night at all. No dusk, no dawn, no red skies, nothing, just POOF.
Thirdly, when traveling around the map, the game often puts you into an overflow server. These servers, for whatever reason don’t have a synced day / night cycle, so often you’ll be jarred between the two.
I’ve made a few posts on the day / night cycle and weather before, but I suspect ANet won’t say much about them. I think they were so excited with implementing their new heart / dynamic system, that they just overlooked how it works in practice.
I really hope they address this. Adding a day / night cycle that actually changes the game would go a long way to keeping this game alive and fresh.
Add my vote. This just makes the gameplay feel so much more alive.
Hardcore WvW maps sounds like a great idea. Once you die in that map you’re given a 30 minute delay until you can join that map again. No more wait to join since players will be dropping fast and booted from the map. You could be able to join one of the other maps though while waiting for the timer to run down. The penalty will still be there but won’t stop players from being able to join a new game because they died once.
I’m all for solutions like this. I come from the old school Nintendo era where games were friggin hard, so I’m totally used to games penalizing me for not taking my time and doing my best.
GW2 was developed to be accessble to the widest range of players possible. The consequence, as it is with any game with this goal, is that it has to hold the hands of players. Take the Lego series. In Lego Indiana Jones, you can’t die. It’s impossible.
This is so kids can finish the came if they just put in enough tries. Compare this to older games like Mega Man, where is you died, you were going to have to do the entire level over. P
Sure, this can be frustrating for players not that good at video games, but the fact is that if something is too easy, then people become complacent and lazy. It makes me sad that I can just mash buttons (the game will even attack for me if I choose) until the boss dies.
In contrast…last night my girlfriend and I did her personal story and were required to kill a level 50 boss and about fifteen minions. We tried the two man Zerg rush and got owned. We resorted to me using my “pull” ability to separate the minions and kill them.
To die was to lose since we couldn’t get close enough to each other, and if we both went down we would have to start over from the checkpoint. In the end we had to use tactics which took us over 45 minutes to do. It was also one of the most fun I’ve had in the game and realized that worst part about this MMO is the MMO part.
Every battle in which there were a small number of players against hard enemies has been fun. Every battle where it’s been a giant blob of players has been unfulfilling and boring.
I think another reason why people globb together is because once they go into down state they want a 100% reassurance that someone will see them, increasing their chances to just be revived.
I think you’re right. The good, and bad thing about WoW was when you die, you’re required to run all the way back into battle for the closest graveyard ( which could be quite far away), or Rez, at the expense of losing a lot of gear. This system works because, while annoying, solves two issues.
1. It removes players from the battle.
As people die, they’re physically requireed to run back to the battle. This means that the number of players is naturally thinned.
2. There are real consequences to dying.
I remember times when I was very conservative while fighting creatures in that game because I knew that dying would result in me having to make some serious choices. In GW2, its so easy to get back into battle, that dying isn’t even something I care about or consider.
What if perhaps there were a penalty for using a waypoint in battle? Say a message that would pop up dating that of you travel now, two random items will be removed from your inventory?
No matter how much strategy they throw into it, when you get 20 people on the same foe, it will become a mindless zergfest with no tactics.
I wouldn’t suggest adding a death penalty at all, because that would actually encourage zergplay as people would prefer to progress safely in the game. I wouldn’t consider the death penalty as having anything to do with games being dumbed down though.
I think we really should just be patient and wait for the populace to spread out. Unfortunately, given how scaling works, I think pretty much everyone will be crowding in Orr. Scaling down should be rewarding and challenging too. We can’t be limited to the few end zones.
Not sure I agree. Death penalties create situations in which you must evaluate risk vs. reward. If there is a huge risk to just running head on into an enemy, then you’ll need to change the way you do things.
I also don’t think the waiting until players spread out is a viable solution. I’ve seen players of all levels and races running around. Players are constantly starting the game, and new characters. Not only that, but when big events happen, the word goes out and everyone starts showing up.
Because waypoints allow for such fast travel, players can get to events within minutes. I could get to a world event in less than two minutes from anywhere in the world pending load times.
That, and it’s not fair for anyone to have to stifle their game progress just because ANet couldn’t foresee this issue. The solution is not to discourage players from participating, the solution is to reevaluate how the game works with large numbers of players.
I’ve been trying to come up with solutions to the problem of “zerging” in this game.
http://www.mmmyeah.com/GW2/GW2-Seizure-02.jpg
I’m aware that ANet’s stace seems to be that if we just wait long enough, players will spread out. The problem is that it’s not feasible to just wait it out, nor does it account for the new players, and players for other home worlds branching out.
So, I figured I would create this topic so we could all discuss ideas that ANet could consider.
1. Scale up, and out
There was a brilliant post the other day proposing the idea that the game needs scale not only in numbers, but in tactics/ intelligence.
I think that ultimately this solution is the best. It would not only make tha game feel much more alive, but force players to spread out and fight. Right now, the game encourages blobs and forces players to bunch up.
2. Consequences
I play a lot of FPS games and I can tell you that there is a definite difference in how people play when the game type doesn’t allow a respawn. People start using caution and tactics because they realize that there are consequences to dying in the game.
In GW2, you can’t ever truely die. If you call in battle, all you have to do is wait, and you’ll be revived shortly. If you happen to die, you can just teleport to the closest waypoint, quickly repair, and you’re back in the battle, no problem.
This means that there is no consequence to just rushing head on into a battle and spamming the attack button.
The dumbing down of video games in recent years is a whole other topic, bu the fact is that until there is a real consequence to dying, people won’t hesitate to just blast into battle without thought or care.
It also takes away most of the feeling of anticipation and excitement when you know there is no consequence to dying. If most players are like me, they sit there “dead faced” just clicking buttons until the enemy dies.
I would like to year your thoughts.
I’ve basically been suggesting this for days, and so I agree ai the OP.
All accounts should have a report threshhold. The way it would work is that every player starts with say 25 – 50 “points.” Each time a player is reported for something, (botting, spamming, exploiting, language, etc) by another player, they lose one point.
If the player loses all points, the account is either locked, or limited, pending ANet review.
This would very quickly weed out problem players. Players who casually get reported for things would eventually reach the threshhold, and find themselves under review, but the average player who may get reported a few times due to error, or by someone with a personal grudge would not really see an effect.
There are of course a few cases in which this could be abused. For example if say a guild wanted to bully someone, they could all gang up and report a single player, or another guild enough times to force the account to be locked down. However, in the review process I’m sure ANet would be alto make an appropriate choice based on the history.
In the end this system would free up ANet from having to deal with every little infraction, and concentrate on the problem players. It would result in spammers and botters to be quickly suspended pending review, this not making it a viable exploit, and much more inconvenient to do.
Anyway, I hope ANet implements some fair system soon.
Dusk, I’m beginning to think you didn’t fully read my post. I don’t have player names turned on, you can see that in the second photos. Secondly, my girlfriend gets on averag3, 50+ FPS, and I get about 30 -40. We both dropped a lot ( I went down to about 4 FPS).
ANet could do two things to start.
1. Down down particle effects.
2. Create dynamic events that force players to spread out. There is a suggestion topic started today that outlines this beautifully.
Eochaidh,
I’m actually a little surprised at how quick ANet is at banning people who swear, but botters are allowed to run around for days.
Dusk,
My girlfriends computer is better than mine by quite a bit and hers was grinding along as well. The amount of particle effects makes GPU’s cry.
And even if the computer could handle it, my brain can’t. In fact I don’t think anyone’s can. It’s just visually overwhelming to the point where even if you wanted to see your character, ou couldn’t. I couldn’t even see the guy we were fighting.
As for the Trading Post, no, it’s not user error. It’s the fact that the numbers are inconsistent and often don’t input correctly. Try it yourself, select some numbers and see if you can notice when it doesn’t accept the numbers you input.
Course, this could be due to the fact I have a wireless keyboard synced to my toaster.
Today my girlfriend and I decided to get some snacks and play Guild Wars 2 in our underpants for most of the day. Most days, things are pretty normal, but today we ran into some interesting things.
1. Super-Bot
As I rushed over to a dynamic event, I noticed a strange thing. Four characters dressed exactly the same, at the exact same level, doing the exact same thing. They would stand in a group and when the event would start, they would, after a delay, spring into action and swipe wildly at the air. Once the enemies were dead, they would regroup, and do it all over again. Eventually another one showed up to join in the fun.
They did this for the better part of an hour, and I remember seeing two of these, “players” yesterday at another event. It seems odd that these accounts are still allowed to function despite being reported by multiple people, multiple times.
Here are the names of the players, their guild name, and a photo. If you see them, please report them.
Mozne
Weoz
Ksoz
End Play
Swissg
Guild: Playplace
[img]http://mmmyeah.com/GW2/GW2-Bots.jpg[/img]
2. Seizure Wars 2
Later, my girlfriend and I headed to another dynamic event, and as you can see…we weren’t the only ones. As more and more players showed up, the spectacular light/slide show became all the more amazing. Eventually I had no idea where my character was. I assumed he was somewhere in the middle, but who knows if I was actually pointed at, or hitting anything.
I resorted to button mashing and hoped for the best. I think this further illustrates the need for ArenaNet to figure out something in regards to the amount of players in dynamic events. I could barely see the enemy, my computer slowed to a crawl, I had no idea if I was even hitting anything, and all strategy went out the window.
They thought it might get better once everyone spreads out a bit. However in reality, there are hundreds of us on the same server, in the same area, and at the same level.
Unless something is adjusted, these events will just continue being super zergs.
[img]http://mmmyeah.com/GW2/GW2-Seizure-01.jpg[/img]
[img]http://mmmyeah.com/GW2/GW2-Seizure-02.jpg[/img]
3. Burn it with fire?
My girlfriend was trying to destroy some Centaur equipment (she thinks these are barrels, wooden carts, and weapon racks.). Strangely, it doesn’t seem like she can destroy any of them with fire. She has to resort to shooting them with poison.
Either Centaurs have some really clever flame retardant wood sealer, or something isn’t working as intended.
4. I’ll take 20 gold please, wait, that’s HOW MUCH?
If you try and type an amount in the Black Lion Trading Company window, you might just be in for a surprise. There seems to be a bit of an issue with typing in numbers, and today, I bought a very special amount of gold ore…yes, 50 silver worth. Did I mean to, oh, of course not, but because the numbers that get entered, and the calculations that show up aren’t always the same, I often find that what I end up picking up at the BLT isn’t exactly what I ordered.
So that is a little breakdown of my experience today in Guild Wars 2. It’s an awesome game, and I enjoy it very much, but….well, lets just say it needs a bit of love in places.
(edited by Crazylegsmurphy.6430)
I’m not entirely convinced that dynamic weather is turned on, if it’s in the game at all (despite what the wiki says). I can’t remember a single time when it’s started to snow, or rain dynamically.
I agree 100% with the OP.
The AI in GW2 is reminiscent of games from ten years ago. Just expand numbers, and continue on predicable and scripted paths.
What the OP is suggesting would not only solve the issue, but make this game one of the coolest online experiences I’ve every had.
I’m getting so tired of everyone showing up for events and just winning through sheer numbers that I’ve actually started avoiding them.
Just a quick thought. Most people think that botters, and gold spammers are using hacked accounts, but I am wondering if perhaps the serials / games have been cracked?
Could it possibly be that many hacked accounts?
There are already such puzzles in the game if not in abundance.
For example, one of the Asura areas has panels which ask mathematical questions (such as area, volume, next in series)
I didn’t realize this (I’m a Human Thief). This is good news indeed.
As for “escaping real life” I’m not sure why your philosophy to life would be to not be educated at every opportunity. I mean no offence, but I think it’s a sad way to look at life. If I am spending countless hours doing something, it would be great if I walked away from it a little smarter perhaps.
Take Guitar Hero. How many people dedicated hours and hours of their lives to that game and still can’t play guitar. Would those people have been worse off if the game had been designed to help them learn?
Anyway, I’m happy to hear that those puzzles exist in the game, I’m looking forward to trying them out.
Whoa, ok…before you grab your pitchfork and chase me out the door, hear me out.
The fact of the matter is that 2 million people are now playing this game. Some of those players are sitting there for hours a day. I can’t think of a better opportunity to educate people.
I think it would be really awesome to have puzzles and such that were based on things like math, science, language, etc. For example, what if one of the heart quests was to seek out and find an ancient artifact that could only be opened using math? Or what about side games that were based on real world games?
How about crafting requiring some kind of learning aspect so instead of just putting pictures of things together, you actually had to build things using proper measurement and such.
I dunno, I’m not saying the game has to be super lame sauce, but I just don’t think the idea should be discounted without consideration.
People these days are getting so dumbed down and Passive ,it explains why audiobooks are so popular these days. Ironically audio books used to be considered to be mainly intended for little children or disabled people who where unable to read for themselves.
Do you think perhaps you’re being a big biased when you say “dumbed down?”
There are many out there who aren’t able to read for various reasons, (dyslexia, comprehension, ability, etc). To assume that people are dumber for not reading is a bit of a gross assumption.
Secondly, I don’t see it as dumbing down at all. MMO’s are not educational software, they are entertainment. For many of us, having a consistent presentation goes a long way to the immersion. Gone are the days when voice acting had to be limited due to limited space.
I didn’t say everyone should just randomly talk to you. I think that when you talk to an NPC the dialogue should be spoken. I find it strange to have the dialogue go from spoken, to written.
Plus, from an accessibility standpoint it just makes sense.
1. Dynamic Weather & Realistic Day/Night lighting
2. Scale back, and space out creatures to eliminate clutter and free up the environment.
Has anyone else noticed that when yu bring up the list of items you’ve learned to craft, it’s not always in the same sort order?
For example, I was trying to refine leather, but the refinement section was often in a different place every time.
As well, when I contract the lists, they don’t stay that way. This causes me to have to scroll though an ever expanding list to find what I want.
I was standing around today when a little blue icon wih a magnifying glass floated by me and swirled around the ground. Curious, I followed it and low and behold, it was attached to a player.
It seems the little blue icon doesn’t layer correctly and so it shows in front of everything. If the player enters a building, or goes behind a hill, it always shows.
It’s rather distracting.
(edited by Crazylegsmurphy.6430)
What effect does this have on the gaming experience? Are sounds dropped, less quallity, or what?
Coming from Skyrim I’m totally spoiled when it comes to NPC voices. Sure, in Skyrim you could hear voices repeated a lot, but it was always amazing to hear everyone talk.
I think it would help the immersion and encourage people to get involved with the quests if the NPC’s all had voice dialogue.
I would even love it if ArenaNet allowed players to submit thier own readings and they pick the best ones. This would go a long way to makeing this game untouchable.
Just a quick question. If I eat multiple items at ounces, do they stack, or do I overwrite the previous meal?
…is the feeling I get when dynamic events happen.
I wanted to jot down a few thoughts regarding dynamic events. I would like to hear yours as well.
1) Nothing I do matters
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve killed that blasted queen wasp. She just respawns, and respawns, and….argh.
I must have really misunderstood when I read about dynamic events having an effect on the world. From what I can tell, dynamic events are just canned events that repeat indefinitely and whether it’s a success or failure doesn’t really matter.
2) Mob Packing
I’m sure you’ve noticed that the more players participating in a battle, the more likely it is that you’ll be looking at nothing more than a blinding, seizure inducing, mish-mash of particle effects.
Part of the problem is that mobs don’t space themselves out at all, thus forcing players to bunch up. This makes dynamic events very difficult to take seriously when all I’m doing is button mashing in the hope I’m doing something productive enough to earn me a gold medal.
3) Too much information
My girlfriend made a good point. When dynamic events happen, why do we suddenly gain the power of a crystal ball? She feels dynamic events should have two circles.
- The first is an area of attention where you are alerted to an event, (the game really should make a more effective use of sound and echos) but you have no idea what’s happening.
- Second, a line of sight circle where, once in range you gain a better understanding of what’s happening.
This would make dynamic events much more interesting and emotional. It would also encourage players to get involved because its much more fun to be curious, and to gather more information, than to be spoon fed guests that you can read and choose to get involved or not.
4) Keeping it fresh
So many of the dynamic events are based on the same core concepts. Escort, defend, gather, kill everything.
To be fair, there are the odd event has something different, but for the most part they’re the same. What I would like to see are events that don’t always resort to combat.
For example, let’s say that a troll enters a village and startles a huge herd of cows. Now, everyone in the area hears the roars, and the mooing and run to check it out. A farmer is yelling and flailing about, “My cows, please stop my cows!”
So the players now need choose to stop the cows, kill the troll, orput out the fires it’s starting. Those that choose the cows, are required to work together to form a line in front of them, and keep that line moving to herd them back into the gate.
Or what about an event where players need to line up on a mountain top and jump, cheer, and make noise so it creates an avalanche which slams a camp of centaurs.
Using the game dynamics to encourage players to have to work together and coordinate would be a nice change from the “run in, kill all, run out” mentality.
(edited by Crazylegsmurphy.6430)
Sorry, what does “Zerg” mean?
Could you give some examples of how to make things more challenging?
Totally agree. It’s super annoying to fight through a mob, have them respawn when fighting the champion, then turn around only to find they’ve all respawns behind you.
This really rammed me feel like I’m playing an arcade game, not immersed in an online world.
My suggestion: implementing some "relaxing" activities
in Suggestions
Posted by: Crazylegsmurphy.6430
More leisurely activities like fishing would be cool, especially if you’re a cook. However, if you’re AFK for longer than the time it takes to take a decent poop, then please just log off.
Taking up server space and resources while you’re not even playing does nothing for the other players, the life of your GPU, or your mental state.
Here are my thoughts on the weather / day / night before it got locked down.
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Let-s-talk-about-the-weather/first#post77216