Guild Wars 2

I agree with everything you said. You’ve basically summed up my general high level feelings on this game in general. The problem is, it’s really still the best of the worst.

MMO’s in general all try to be the next big thing, but in reality I feel they’re too afraid to actually be that. GW2 makes some decent steps towards this, but they’re still too conservative to leave everyone else in the dust.

I mean…it still could be with a few tweaks, but I doubt they’ll spend the time now changing things. Perhaps when people get tired of the endless button mashing and numbers level off, they’ll take a chance.

For now, as I said, it’s still the best of the worst, so I’ll put in some more hours. For me, the opportunity to play with my girlfriend is what’s keeping me entertained. If it were just me, going at it solo, I think I would have went back to Skyrim.

Totally agree! I don’t like the outline at all. I find it terribly distracting and looks very out of place to me.

mechasauce.1309:

Love the post, felt very roleplay..ie…

However what you are after is something a little out of reach. If you haven’t allready i recommend The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, it pretty much covers everything you are looking for in graphics and weather, the only downside is its not an MMO….yet.

I’ve actually put in a lot of hours on Skyrim, and am very much hoping thier MMo is stunning.

I think GW2 could easily implement everything I’ve suggested. The game already has the ability to do all the weather and lighting effects (fog, darkness, rain, etc), they just have to be willing to take the chance and implement it.

As for the day / night cycle, well…this is where I think they missed the boat. To me, the world already feels cluttered. Too many events, too many creatures, too much everything. Having certain creatures and quests only happen at night would not only help space out the world a bit, but open a huge realm of story possibilities.

For example, you show up in the middle of the afternoon and the area is quiet. Deer are roaming around, and an NPC is tinkering away at a device of some kind. You talk to her and she explains that she will be heading out at dusk to collect skin samples from a cave troll that has been seen in the area.

As the sun gets low in the sky, I check my map and see that the heart is now available. I head over to the area and see her starting to gather supplies.

A few moments later I light my torch, and along with a few others we head towards a cave, our shadows stretched out in front of us. The sun dips behind the horizon and things go quiet. The birds are no longer singing, the crickets only dare make the odd sound. Your torch flickers off the dark walls of the cave as you all weave and wind.

Your friend startles a group of bats and you make quick work of them. Suddenly, the sound of snoring echos through the cavern. The NPC cautions you to be quiet as she collects the sample. You all stand watching as the light flickers off the face off the troll. Suddenly, the NPC drops the tool and the troll awakens with fury.

You all pull your weapons and the cave illiminates with magic, and light. The shadows of more trolls bounce off the walls and you realize you’re being surrounded. You all fight the darkness and the creatures. Your friend goes down and his torch falls. You struggle to revive him in the dark, the roars echo around you as the trolls swing wildly at the light.

Will you make it out alive?

Or… You could enter a well lit cave, with 8 people, kill a bunch of respawning trolls, get your mail confirmation, and run to the next heart.

My dramatic stories may sound like pipe dreams, but GW2 has the ability to pull this off with its current engine. There is nothing stopping them from implementing these, other than a hesitation to trust that players will enjoy slowing down and feeling emotion.

Soothsayer.9476:

If you had no idea what you were doing and why, then clearly you didn’t bother to read what the events/hearts were about and you never bothered to click on scouts to get the story behind the events of the surrounding area. If you take the time to read then you will know exactly what is going on where you are and why the events are occurring.

On the contrary, I talk to all the scouts and often talk to the heart NPC. The problem is that it’s way to easy to be pulled off task.

In many ways I wish it was required that you visit the heart to activate the story portion. For example, say I enter a new area with a heart. I’m not psychic, and so while I still have the option of killing creatures and gathering the items, it has no context unless I talk to the heart NPC.

So, say I collect a bunch of items on my way to the heart, I show up, and it says, “I’m looking for gears to build such and such, if you find any…” at which point ou could give the gears you have. If I went straight for the heart without killing creatures, I would have to get the context, then set out.

The difference between this and say WoW, is that I’m not required to accept the quest, but as in the real world, if I want to understand why I’m doing what I’m doing, I need to talk to the person with the information.

I dunno, I just think that there should be a middle ground somehow. When I’m not required to talk to anyone, and I just get an email thanking me for my help, I feel disconnected from the story. There must be some way to merge the hub concept, with the heart concept, yet keep players on task if thats what they desire, but also give them the freedom to quest without being tied down to hubs.

When it comes to design, GW2, had me sold from the start. It is a beautiful looking MMO, and when I’m not being swarmed by the blanket of creatures that seem to attack me at every turn, I find myself very much enjoying the environment.

However, the lack of weather is really taking away from that experience for me. Scripted weather breaks my immersion almost instantly. Combine that with the carbon copy placement of animals, and the whole world feels designed. It doesn’t feel natural, or alive.

Imagine for a moment getting caught in a snow storm, where everyone in your party is forced to move slowly to avoid falling off cliffs, the shapes of wolves pass by you as you struggle to find the next waypoint. Imagine the sounds of thunder building in the distance as the sky darkens. The patter of raindrops start to fill your ears and before long you find yourself in the middle of a storm. Your ranged weapons aren’t as effective, so you must resort to close combat.

For me, it’s these little things that turn a cool game, into an amazing game. Seasons changing, realistic weather, and a day / night cycle that actually feels real, would be a great addition to this game.

Speaking of the day/night cycle, for me GW2 is one of the worst I’ve ever seen in a game. I often can’t tell if it’s day, or night unless the game boots me to overflow with a different time of day. There are no long shadowed sunsets, no red glow of the sunrise.

Night means nothing to the world. He creatures don’t sleep, the bunnies don’t hide from the nasty creatures or ghosts that only roam at night. Is game needs to take a chance, and make night, actually like night.

Imagine how amazing it would look to stand on the top of a mountain, watching oer players, torch in hand, navigating the terrain. Imagine how insanely awesome it would be to come upon a cave troll sleeping, your torchlight bouncing off his face as his eyes open.

Imagine the feeling you would get knowing that the deer that we’re casually grazing are now gone, and the lumbering steps of some unknown creature echo in the dark. Your party, torches in hand cautiously walk towards the sound. A bunny scurries from the light and gets blasted by your trigger happy quest mate.

If GW2 truly wanted to change the MMO experience, they don’t have to do much in my opinion. Use what is available. Take the chance and allow players to experience a whole range of emotions as they navigate the environment. You don’t have to plaster the world with creatures to make it seem alive.

Glad to see I’m not the only one having issues. I’ve filed a bug report, but I’m not ure if it’s a bug, or just sloppy UI design?

Hello Everyone,

I just got done reading the following article, “Quest hubs are dead” ( http://www.mmorpg.com/showFeature.cfm/loadFeature/6710/Quest-Hubs-Are-Dead-Finally.html ) and I thought it might be a cool conversation topic.

While I’m not the worlds most experienced MMO player, I did have some thoughts on why perhaps this article might be jumping the gun.

Traditionally, as you know, a player would be required to find a NPC, read and accept the quest, travel somewhere, complete a task, and then return to the NPC for a reward, or another task.

Guild Wars claims that this linear system promotes grind, and forces the players to spend a lot of time inning back and fourth from point a, to point b, thus missing much of the world. The result, as you know was to develop the heart system, which allows players to roam freely, and complete tasks without having to physically visit an NPC.

So, the question is, does this new heart system mean the death of the hub?

For me, no.

Quite soon after booting up Guild Wars 2, I started to get this feeling. At first I couldn’t place it. I mean, I was doing exactly what the game claimed should be the most fun. I walk walking around, exploring the map, killing everything in my path, all the while gaining experience.

It seemed so free, and open. Suddently dynamic events would happen and I would rush to help, earning a medal for my participation. However, very quickly I realized what the feeling I was experiencing was. I had no idea what I was doing, or why.

When I played WoW, I always knew what my task at hand was. Sure, it might be as boring as collect 20 scales, but I knew why I was doing it. Perhaps it was because a fisherman needed it to make a pie, or a new set of sparkly underpants, but either way I could always look at my quest log and choose to follow the story or not.

In GW2, I can run around willy nilly, completing tasks without ever seeing the NPC. For me, I feel that I’ve lost the connection to the story. Oh sure, it keeps me busy running around killing stuff without regard, but I find the longer I play, the less I care about why I’m doing what I’m doing.

Not only at, but in the world of GW2, the overlap of quests, combined with the sheer number of things to kill, means that the world never leaves me alone long enough to get my barrings. Task, after task, animal after animal, it all blends together into one giant super quest.

As someone who enjoys games for the story, I struggle with GW2. The first week of playing, my girlfriend and I busted through the starting worlds before we even knew it. We were walking home one day and she tentively asked me if I minded if we slowed down a bit in the game. If his made me launch because I had been thinking the exact same thing, but their she was enjoying the new open heart system.

She, like I enjoy the story, and so we sat down with the intention of taking it slow, and immersing ourselves in the world. We wanted to enjoy the quests and truly understand why we were killing things. However, despite our best intentions, we’ve now blasted though six worlds, and still have no idea what we did, or why.

You see, one of the huge advantages to hubs is that the player has the power to choose which quests are done, and why. The story is something he player must engage with I order to complete. In GW2, my girlfriend and I are constantly coaxed off task by some other task, and then we are distracted by an event, then by another event, and then the same event we did ten minutes ago starts again, and we run off in that direction.

In e end, we had no idea what our quest was in the first place, nor did it really matter. You just open the map, find the heart you missed, and go kill stuff until the progress bar fills up.

As someone who has just come off countless hours in the world of Skyrim, I miss the days of talking to everyone because they might have an interesting story to tell, and a quest to complete. While I applaud ArenaNet for attempting to create the next generation of MMO, I think that once the initial novelty of being able to run around freely and gain XP wears off, people will realize that they’ve missed the story.

My girlfriend and I are still attempting to force ourselves to pay attention, and not be pulled in a million directions, but I fear we will soon be I’ve same position as many level 80’s seem to be in…a world completed to 100%, with nothing left to do.

Anyone else finding that typing in numbers is finicky? I have often selected the text and types 20, only to have it show 10. Then, then I highlight and try to type it again, it goes all strange.

It doesn’t seem to behave as expected in that I should be able to select the text,many type in the new number. I shouldn’t have to delete each number, then type in the amount.

No, no,mist far from trivial. I was taking a bit of a jab at ArenaNet.

It amazes me that normal players are being accused of using bots, and being banned, yet bots are allowed to run rampant.

The system is broken beyond a doubt. My girlfriend and I just keep to ourselves and don’t get involved with anything. The game will more than likely collapse on itself before long, so we’re enjoying it while it lasts.

On a side note, boy am I glad I didn’t save my credit card info into the Trading Post.

Drintar,

Actually, I think It’s probably due to the fact that the entire world overlaps. Half the time I have no idea if I’m even in an event because I’m trying to do some other task

I haven’t been able to determine that the cause is. All I know is I have been running around when suddenly, DING bronse medal for something.

My girlfriend notices it as well. She will be playing and suddenly she will say, “oh, I got a medal…okay, I guess so.”

Zogrim,

So I deserve to be banned for asking if something is in fact an exploit? If it is, great, I won’t do it…but how am I supposed to know exactly?

This logic is flawed. I’m just supposed to know based on common sense right? In a game where I can sell a glob of goo, on a trading post that magically flies above my head, from anywhere in the world, I’m supposed to use common sense?

You can’t assume everyone understands what is, and isn’t an exploit in a complex game. People should have the freedom to ask, or find out, without being threatened with a ban.

My gamma is set to about 95.

Coming off of 180 hours of Batman Arkham City, I can say that this camera is horrible. I’m always staring at the ground, it’s always Jittering around, and I fight it all the time to see the world.

It feels very claustrophobic.

Drintar.1246:

Simple rule of thumb if you think to enough of a degree to report it that it’s an exploit just don’t do it

Sure, and as I said…what if it’s not? Why should I suffer for lack of transparency? Why shouldn’t I have the right to ask the question without fear of being banned?

I see this as blaming the victim. In the end, it just makes more sense to just take advantage of everything. If you risk being banned either way, or miss out on legit aspects of the game, you’re really screwed no matter what you do.

I tend to follow the rule in life that I like to be educated on a subject so I can make informed decisions. Not everyone has years of MMO experience behind them, and so many are doing things that may seem totally normal.

For example, is it an exploit to put stuff into the Trading Post while questing to bypass your limited inventory, or is this part of the game mechanics? I have no idea, and the idea that even asking can result in a ban is redicilous.

Transparency and communication will make the game better. Banning people, left, right, and centre for things they may not even know is wrong (and aren’t allowed to ask about), only serves to further put fear into players.

Fear of getting banned for swearing, exploiting, accused of using bots, account hacking, credit card info on file…it all adds up.

Sneakier.9460:

WoW

Ppl are getting mad are free stuff

The world gona mad and it is true that popular saying:
“-Someone will always disagree.”

First, I’m not mad. I just find it slightly irritating. Secondly, what is the point of playing a computer game if the game plays itself?

I want to earn my XP, I want to feel accomplishment for hard work and dedication. I don’t want to level up by standing around as the world passes by and rewards me for breathing.

The reason I’m “complaining” is because it seems like the game is holding my hand. Is like its saying, “oh, it’s ok little crazylegs, we want you to feel like you’re doing something in the game, so we will give you a bronse metal for just being you”

It’s like getting a participation badge during sports day spin elementary school. If I don’t contribute, don’t give me anything. Handing me free XP just cause I’m there is insulting in a way, and you as a player should feel cheated.

Could someone help me understand the logic behind exploit reporting?

Here is what I understand to be the current outcomes:

Situation a)

Player finds what may be an exploit. Being a decent and thoughtful person, asks the community for confirmation before reporting the exploit. Player gets banned for promoting exploit.

Situation

Player finds what may be an exploit. Reports it to ArenaNet, and stops doing said action. No feedback is given as per ArenaNets policy. Player misses out on designed game function.

Situation C)

Player has no idea what they’re doing is an exploit due to the rules against promoting or discussing potential exploits. Player is permanently banned and has no idea why.

Situation D)

Player finds potential exploit, and reports it. Hears nothing back officially so assumes its not, and continues to so said action. Player gets banned for exploit.

You see how flawed this is? The person trying to do the right thing is more times than not, punished for doing the right thing. I get that pointing out an exploit can cause issues, but why should the person doing the right thing be punished for it?

If there is an exploit, it should be discussed, and dealt with. If someone reports an exploit, then ArenaNet should respond to the community by explaining what is, and isn’t considered an exploit.

If they said something like:

" it’s been pointed out that doing this, is a game exploit. We are working to solve this. In the mean time if you click “ok” you are agreeing to not take advantage of this under threat of ban"

Or

“a few people have reported this as an exploit. At this time, it is not considered as such, and you are free to partake in this action without fear of consequence”

Bluestone.7106:

People are complaining about free EXP now?… that’s nuts…

As you go up levels into higher zones it gets harder to accidentally get silver or gold participation without actively engaging the event. Sometimes you still get a bronze for killing guys while an escort is passing. But whether you like it or not that was helpful to the event.

Take your “free” exp and move along please.

Maybe I should get a bot to play for me as well ya? Or hire a kid to play my account.

The whole point of the game it to be involved. If I’m gaining levels for simply standing around, why would I bother even starting the game?

I think this is unfair. Do you realize how many people are using dirty words that need to be dealt with immediately?

No, really…bots are stupid, ArenaNet should be dealing with them.

Draghmar.2594:

Crazylegsmurphy.6430:

There is a solution to this, a proper solution, but no MMO developers have the confidence to try it.

I’m really curious, what solution you have in mind?

Short answer: Servers start on day one of launch and run linear until endgame.

Long answer: On day one of launch, players can choose thier server. This world then starts and continues until end game. Think of it like this. Day one, Frodo leaves the shire, day 365, Frodo either succeeds or fails. Everything the players do in the meantime effects the world.

The idea would be that each server is set in motion, and the actions taken effect the outcome. Sure, not everything would effect the main story, but would still have consequences. For example, a giant, super hard cave troll lives in a cave outside town. This troll and it’s population of say 1300 disrupt and destroy the countryside. That server has the option to fight and kill that population.

The troll may retreat, it may die, it may kill every player, but the effect will be felt in that area. This would not only promote cooperation, but give the players a very real sense of accomplishment and purpose.

As to how to get around new players joining. They’re given an option. Start within a previously running story, or wait 30 days until a new server starts. (something like that).

I won’t go into all the ins and outs here, but something along these likes would really change the way MMO’s are played. People would really start to care about what they killed and why. It would eliminate the need to respawn events and creatures endlessly.

Argh, the starting enemies respawning before you’ve even killed the champion is super annoying. You fight your way in, and then you have to fight the exact same enemies on the way out.

What’s worse is when you defeat a champion, and while you’re opening the chest at the end, it respawns again.

I think this system of faster respawns based on number of players in the area is flawed. I realize the designers don’t want players waiting around for things to happen, but it’s equally bad having players trapped inside places. Not only does it require the initial player(s) to fight thier way out, but the incoming players are denied proper XP, drops, and gameplay.

There is a solution to this, a proper solution, but no MMO developers have the confidence to try it. In the mean time, I would rather players be forced to wait a while, than having the world feel like one big respawning mess of overcrowding.

Gehenna.3625:

The events trigger when they trigger and when you are nearby you are invited to participate. Except if you get there at the very end, you will generally get some reward. This ensures that people are willing to jump in and participate.

This is part of the MMO experience, it’s a way to make sure people actually participate. I mean, how many people would join in if they weren’t sure if it would be worth it? Not that many I can promise you.

So what the OP is complaining about, maybe a valid concern for him/her but in the larger scale of things I wouldn’t want them to change it because it’s instrumental in getting people to participate.

Let’s be honest…we were told there were over 1500 events to start with. Well, after doing a fair amount of events I roughly see it comes down to: defend this npc, defend this location against x waves, escort an npc. I’ve killed my share of centaurs by now. Anyways 90% of the events are roughly the same type. Understandable but without a generous reward system, people just would start avoiding more and more events because “it’s not worth it”.

Perhaps you’ve hit on a bigger problem. If the game has to reward players for minimal effort, just so they’ll participate, then either the events aren’t interesting enough, or they happen too frequently to be worth caring about.

I don’t really like being rewarded for something I didn’t do, however, if I knew that the event happening was a rare opportunity to participate, I would do everything I could to be a part of it.

It’s like when celebs visit malls, everyone flocks to the area to be a part of the event. It’s because it’s rare, and exciting. I’ve been saying this for weeks, but I think there is simply too much happening on the maps. Too much overlap, too many creatures, too frequent of repeats.

Ceallach.8740:

But what’s the downside to having “too much” exp ? With level scaling, the people that wanted to stick around and enjoy a map will still do that anyway.

The only people being negatively effected by “too much” exp are people who want to be held back and forced to do things in the game that they didn’t really want to do (because otherwise there’s no reason to still do all those things – you can’t accidentally over-level and lock yourself out of being able to content at-level or anything).

True, but for me it’s about feeling like I’m progressing due to my own actions. Being level 80, and going back to starting levels will never feel the same unless the game nerfs me to noob levels.

It’s not really about having too much XP persay, it’s more about feeling like the game is just playing out, and I’m just along for the ride. When I get credit for a dynamic event that I didn’t participate in, it feels like it doesn’t really matter if I do anything or not.

I guess this is hard to explain.

zogrim.6925:

And to counter your points:

• Events are registered by participating in it, one of the basic concept of the game was to remove the usual talk to him to start something that you already could do.
• PvP experience AKA Glory does unlock PvP exclusive armor skins.
• The whole game is about supporting others as a single player could not achieve most things in the game.

It’s a bit of a catch 22 really. I don’t like having to talk to people to start quests, yet I don’t like quests to reward me half way through for something I didn’t even do.

If you think about it, it’s like getting a university diploma. I need to physically walk into the building, register, and put in four years of work. Walking down the street and getting handled a diploma for the class of 2012 just because I happen to be there is confusing, and devalues the meaning.

xnorb.8207:

It’s not only random event reward.
We get drowned in EXP in GW2.

That’s something that causes lots of troubles IMO.
(Just look at all the threads about missing endgame content)

If i were to design EXP:

• Events need to be “registered” – for example by talking to an NPC
• No EXP for crafting, you only gain crafting levels
• PvP EXP unlocks special PvP things, should not affect PvE
• Supportive actions / Teamplay gets rewarded with EXP

I agree a lot with the “registered” idea. I really miss choosing which quests I’m doing and following. Since day one of GW2 I’ve never felt in control of my quests. I’ve always felt like I was being taken along on a wave and if I just killed enough, or hung around in an area long enough, I would complete something.

Im level 42 and I can only remember a handful of quests. Not because they weren’t memorable, but because they all blended into one giant quest with no end.

I’ve actually felt like I’ve gained way more XP than I want. I’m level 42, and have 25% of the map completed. At this rate, I’ll be level 80 and all the areas will be low level.

I dunno, I just want to feel more involved in the quests. Having them complete just because I happen to be standing in the area isn’t all that fun.

Garrix.7036:

Often these events count any kill within the area as part of the mission. Of you truly don’t want any credit, don’t kill anything until the popup is gone.

Unfortunately many of these overlap heart, and other quests. :/

…just because you happened to be walking by the university.

Is anyone else confused and slightly frustrated at the games inability to realize that I’m not involved in an event? I know it may sound strange to complain about getting free XP, and Karma, but I actually find it annoying.

The reason is that for me, the enjoyment I’m getting out of this game comes from the journey. It’s feeling like I’ve exported and accomplished the quests / events to the best of my ability. I am also into role-playing and so I enjoy when the game doesn’t actively try to break that immersion.

When I’m wandering around and suddenly I’ve earned XP, and Karma fr something I didn’t even do, it frustrates me because not only has the event been spoiled in a sense, but it’s progress I didn’t earn.

I’m not sure if this is making sense, but I wish the game was a tad more strict about what counts as participation.

My girlfriend and I were complaining about this just last night.

We found that mines are particularly bad for this and by the end of the night we just resorted to running past enemies. Every time we would stop and try to fight, the respawn rates happened so fast that we (and other players) were getting swamped.

The time when this is absolutely the most frustrating, is when you clear out an area because you’re attempting to do something like get to a vista. You don’t even have a chance to get there before the creature you just killed respawns ontop of itself and starts attacking.

When building an Armour set, is there a general rule for adding stats? For example, should I mostly create vitality, or power, or what?

I’ve just been building random stuff, but don’t really understand how to make an outfit that words well in practice.

I have like a billion (not really a billion) tier 1 mats that I no longer seem to be using. My girlfriend has decided to level up her Huntsman, and needs mats.

Should I give them to her, or will I regret it later?

I actually don’t understand overflow at all either. If I reserve space on a server, then why do I have to wait to be on the server? O

Am I missing a setting or something? Night and day are very similar to the point where I don’t even really notice unless the game kicks me to an overflow that is a different time of day.

Should I tweak a brightness, or nvidia setting somewhere?

ozymandias.5317:

Stick to the paths.
I have noticed what your talking about when I’m running across terrain, and I would expect this. I’m entering the wilderness, it’s going to get wild. However, if I follow the paths on the ground, then I only run into the occasional merchant needing protection from bandits or something, but very few wandering creatures that try to attack me.

If you are complaining about running into lots of creatures when trying to uncover points of interest, then that’s just something you have to deal with because you are going into their territory and they have a desire to defend it from intruders.

Perhaps I’ll need to stick to the paths a bit more. It’s a bit of a shame because I’m sure I’ll miss a lot of the beautiful artwork and design.

I can buy the idea that it’s “wild territory” and so the creatures are more hostile. If they just toned down the amount, perhaps it wouldn’t feel so insane. It may also serve to create a bit more suspense if running into a bear was actually more rare and scary. I would rather see the odd pack of strong wolves on the hunt, than perfectly spaced carbon copies populating an area.

I dunno, maybe I just don’t “get” MMO’s

MikeRocks,

That’s how I feel as well. I actually can’t remember most of the environment aside from some of the more memorable vistas because every direction I turn, the environment contains a plethora of creatures. It’s like walking though a zoo with no cages. Each animal and creature type is placed perfectly, in endless numbers, in thier neat little environments.

I’m not saying the environment should be barren persay, but just plastering the world with things attacking you for the sake of it, well it just feels contrived and annoying.

For me, the problem is that the constant bombardment takes away from what makes he game great, the events, quests, and story. When every square inch of the world has something happening, I think it overwhelms the player and they lose focus of what is important.

It’s like in design, you don’t just add things sor the sake of filling space, because your aducence fights to focus on what the information you’re trying to present.

Having animals act more like animals, and cutting the physical amount on the map would really open up the world. It would give the players the freedom to explore and get involved in the stories.

Have any of you felt frustrated by how often the world confronts you? I’ve already stated in other posts that I feel the world is too populated. Animals, creatures, NPC’s, events, and players seem to take up almost every square inch of the world.

In general, this makes the world seem small and contrived, in reality it’s like trying to get back to your vehicle at Disneyland. You can’t walk for more than a few steps without some creature chasing you down.

It’s almost as though the developers have never actually experienced nature. Imagine what would happen if you went on a day hike and every time you turned a corner there were 20 bears, 15 wolves, 30 eagles, and 70 alligators all trying to kill you?

Animals don’t act like that. They try to avoid people as much as they can.

Tonight when I was playing, it was the first time I truly realized how annoyed I was at the environment. I was trying to get waypoints and points of interest, yet I was constantly attacked by something.

It’s like they added content for the sake of making the game feel action packed, when in practice it just serves to muddy up the environment. I realize this is more of a rant than a players helping players, but perhaps you guys could give me some advice on how to avoid feeling like I’m just running an artificial gauntlet?

AcidicVision.5498:

Well I hate to give away my secret, but it may help to stop all of the complaining a little bit. Here you go: buy the competitors stuff and re-list it. If I have an item listed for 6 silver, and someone under-cuts me and sells the same thing for 5s, I buy theirs and re-list it. Re-listing at my price means I have profited 89 copper on the item. Or I re-list for a few copper higher than my original price to profit an even silver.

The result of doing that is you have cost your competitor money since, with TP taxes included, they were selling under vendor price. You have profited off of their loss (a small profit, but one none the less). You have removed a competitive item from the shop, improved your original items position, and if you list the newly acquired item at a different price than your original then you have at least the top two listings for the thing you are selling.

A player could honestly go in to the market with just a few copper in their pocket, buy the lowest priced listing of an in demand item, sell it a few copper above the next lowest price listing and be rolling in the silver within a few hours.

The longer the game goes on the more alts people make that need crafting materials and gear. The market will tighten up and prices will stabilize. So while you have the chance, why don’t you take advantage of the people that haven’t figured it out and make make a fortune instead of sitting around complaining like akittenabout someone trying to snipe your sales?

Let me check my silver….ummm, I don’t think I’m going to be able to buy 4500383 orders of leather…..hmmm.

So, out of curiosity, what does everyone think the main factor is here?

Are the drops / availability too frequent? Was it the lack of TP for the first while? Are people not understanding the concept of the TP? Are people using it as an extended inventory?

I can’t get small totems for the life of me, but if you want butter and chocolate…I’m your man.

The last thing this game needs is more clutter. Anywhere where players gather (battles, trading post, crafting stations), are already cluttered with players. Adding more visual elements will not help.

This also goes for the real of the world. The game is already jam packed with visual elements. Everywhere you turn there are events, animals, settlements, waypoints, etc. The last thing this game needs is more elements on the screen.

I was typing this when the last thread I started was locked.

The game is rated T for Teen. It also contains tools for blocking users and language. I think the solution is to put more power into the hands of the player. Give the player to tools to customize thier own level of censorship.

If someone is offended by something, they allow them to filter those words or phrases. Eventually, people will begin to realize that if you’re rude, abusive, and offensive, your game world will be a very quiet place. If you’re sensitive about language, then shut yourself off and leave others to heir own game experience.

This idea that banning people is going to create a better game community is outdated and short sighted. It does nothing but force people to find other ways of communicating, and deters people from getting involved in the community.

I’ve already decided not to bother getting into conversations in game, and my desire to role-play is still up in the air. Until the environment becomes less volatile, I simply can’t risk getting banned due to some other players interpretation or attitude.

The more I think about it, the more I’m convinced people are using the TP on the fly as an extended inventory. If something sells, great, if not, you can hold hundreds of items in the field and recover them when you’re done.

I did it as well. You have to do the steps correctly, but it works.

I’m also getting a lot now as well, but I don’t know if it’s because there are actually a lot, or because I’m aware I’m getting different items.

On the surface, it does seem like a lot though.

I started a post about this a few days ago, but I totally agree. I mean, on one hand I have been able to buy materials super cheap, but on the other it really sucks to lose money for items that should have more value.

I kinda agree that the trading post should be available only at trade houses/npc’s. I didn’t even think about it, but I can totally see how people would be just dumping thier extra inventory into the TP.

If it sells, great, if not, you can always recover it later, but it either way basically gives you an unlimited inventory on the road. I think the idea of limiting the actual listing, and perhaps buying until you’re at a physical location would help curb this.

I have more issues with the TP than this, but I have a related question…why is it in MMO’s there are those players that list low cost items at the most redicilously high price? I never understood that.

Turtles All The Way Down.5608:

It’s also significant that there is no option for me to appeal the ban, so if I believe I’ve been banned wrongly I have no option to argue my case (except by raising a big angry stink on the forums). Their word is “infallible” I suppose.

I think you can open a support ticket actually, but in the end you could be waiting the same number of days.

That’s why I think there should be a system where a player who has been reported is allowed to continue playing while the review process is happening. Each player should have a “report threshold” which, if a person is being abusive will be reached very quickly.

While the person is being investigated, they’re allowed to continue playing. The mods should review the situation and give the player equal opportunity to plead their case. If it is an isolated incident, it should result in nothing more than a mark towards the “report threshold” if it is a clear case of abuse, then sure 72 hour ban seems appropriate.

As least a system like this would seem to resemble some form of fairness. It would stop people from abusing the system, and make AN accountable for their decisions.

Turtles All The Way Down.5608:

I said “Anal [Shelter]”

Someone said they were reporting me for making horrible anal jokes.

A bit later I was banned.

Interesting. So, because this person didn’t like your humour, they had the power to get you banned. And because you used a word that could be interpreted as, “Strong sexual nature” you were banned.

This is exactly what I am talking about. Turtles is now banned for 72 hours because someone else took personally offence to what was said. It doesn’t sound like it was directed towards anyone in particular.

Does this really warrant a 72 hour ban? Does the person who reported this have no responsibility in this?

Personally, if this story was told accurately, I think this is a shining example of how misguided the AN policy is, and how easy it is to abuse. It has been shown time, and time again, through both science and practice that if a few people are given power, they will abuse it.

Because the consequences are so harsh for breaking the rules, AN needs to put a system in place that protects everyone involved. No one person should have the power to ban someone without a proper inquiry.

Turtles, I feel bad for you. I’m scared to chat with anyone in the game now because I have no idea if my personal brand of humour, or whatever will lead to being banned. I don’t think I have much more to say other than I unfortunately have to agree with those who suggest not being social in the game, and sticking to third party communication.

This is a very black mark on an otherwise great game.

Turtles, could you please provide the context in which you were banned? I think it would be beneficial to hear an accurate account of why you were banned so we can better understand how AN’s policy works in practice.

Shifted.3697:

amradio.2513:

Shifted.3697:

amradio.2513:

This is not a game for adults, its a game for teens. As such, you have to mind your mouth.

I take it you don’t have the privilege of listening to many high school kids talk amongst themselves.

Lol I’m 23 so yeah I know, but parents will be parents and they prefer to pretend their kids are angels.

Ha, so true.

I totally understand the flame wars/racial slurs/personal attack stuff, but casually cursing in the middle of a sentence just adds more flavor. Besides, the F word is the most diverse word in the English language…

I agree. There has to be protection for players against verbal abuse. No one should have to be subjected to bullying, or trolling when they’re trying to enjoy the game. There is a big difference however between actively going after someone and just using colourful language.

My girlfriend is sitting here right now going off about how as a role-player she likes to play characters with a bit of attitude. In ALL other MMO’s she’s played her characters sometimes used colourful language in her role-play community. One of the biggest reasons she decided to play GW2 after a long break from MMO’s was because she was excited to role-play again.

The problem is she is concerned that, because there is no official RP server, and because of the strict rules by AN, her character could be misinterpreted by other players and thus find herself banned.

AN needs to set out some more realistic policies and procedures in my opinion.

draeath.8536:

Pretty much.

Look, it’s really simple. If you don’t want punitive action, DO NOT BREAK THE RULES.

If you can talk like an adult, you can act like one. “It’s only a crime if you don’t get caught” is false and immature. Breaking rules in private company is still rule-breaking.

When you signed up, you accepted a contract with ArenaNet in a form: They provide you access to the game, and you follow the terms and conditions in the AUP/TOS. If you violate said “contract” by violating these terms and conditions, then don’t be surprised when ArenaNet terminates their end of the contract in turn, by booting you from the service.

There it is for you – a nice cold shower of reality.

This is all fine and dandy if the rules are set out in a clear and concise way. The problem, (as myself and others have stated) is that not everyone interprets things the same.

You may be super offended by a word I use, but my friends would think nothing of it. There are so many words and phrases that can be taken a variety of ways by people. By having a policy that relies on a “one strike and you’re out” mentality makes it way to risky to get involved in any conversations.

What’s worse is that, as others have said, it’s way to open to abuse. If I happen to upset someone or whatever, they are now in a position where they have the power to get me banned. All they have to do is get me saying, or doing something “offensive” and report it out of context to AN, and BAM…banned.

A little food for thought. My friends dad used to send me home for saying the word “Geez” because he felt it was too close to the name, “Jesus.” Now, you may call this extreme, but it’s a perfect example of how easy it is to misinterpret phrases, or words. I should not be walking around in-game under threat that if I happen to say the wrong thing, to the wrong person, I risk being unable to play for 72 hours, or longer.

I admit, I’ve never used the nvidia control panel settings for gaming. I’ve always just left them to default, or let the game decide.

Is there actually a benefit to setting these manually?