Guild Wars 2

Danikat.8537:

But I did once see someone in LA really excited about the random gold item they’d just pulled out of the Mystic Forge – because no one was currently selling one on the TP they thought it must be really rare

While I understand that generic Exotic items aren’t generally rare, it does seem strange that there wouldn’t be any of that item on the TP – since they are not, in fact rare.

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

I agree that enrichment bonuses are currently outdated. However, I don’t think movement speed is appropriate — there are balancing reasons why some professions have access to sustained swiftness and others don’t.

More importantly, enrichments are deliberately designed to have no impact on combat, which a speed buff certain would do.

I’d like to see enrichments start to match the boosts we have from the guild hall:

• Gathering
• WXP and/or WvW rank
• Map Bonus reward progress

I don’t think that movement speed should be part of professions. I think that everyone should have access to it. If there are PvP / WvW balance issues, they can already have separate traits from PvE.

Feanor.2358:

Ashen.2907:

Its not reasonable to expect people who are paying to have fun to spend their “play” time not having fun. Customers telling you that they do not like aspects of your product is kind of important if you want to continue to sell to them in the future.

You seem to assume all the players have the same tastes and want the same things. This obviously isn’t the case. And frankly, you don’t even need to read threads like this to know this is an unreasonable assumption. You just need to have had contacts with people.

I’m just curious: how did you read the post you quoted and get “you seem to assume all the players have the same tastes and want the same things”?

Ashen.2907:

To me (I understand that this is completely subjective) it is rewarding to have my efforts, in this case paying attention to my character’s surroundings and to mob behavior, impact my success to a degree that is often not the case in core Tyrian maps.

In core Tyrian maps I have gone AFK due to an emergency and have returned to discover that I had gotten credit for completing events while I was gone…my pet alone was sufficient without any effort on my part at all. This may not be the case everywhere in the game, but having a sense that my efforts matter little to my character’s successes makes those victories less rewarding for me.

As to the post that you quoted, I feel I should clarify…

As much as I would love what was described…I am not asking for it. That degree of change to existing content would be, in my opinion, inappropriate at this stage in the game’s lifespan. I would not wish to take away form others something that they love. Expanding the game with more options, such as some more challenging maps, is very different than drastically raising the challenge in existing maps.

I see what you are saying about rewarding your attention. I haven’t had the situation of going AFK and accidentally gaining a participation reward. Even in core Tyria I can still be killed by mobs if I am not paying attention so I only AFK in a safe spot.

As for more difficult mobs in core Tyria, soon it won’t matter whether they do it or not. That game that many of us loved is gone. Soon core Tyria will be an anacronism in the new, different, GW2 with the majority of maps being more difficult with content / mobs.

Menadena.7482:

I am wondering if the run time counts the fact that not every bush is in the one corner of the map?

Yes, that’s hard to say. Those who farm berries seem to think that everyone would know the best route. Those who are simply running to the next node they see on their minimap because they don’t normally farm, are probably going to miss a lot of nodes unless they run around actively looking for more, or look up a guide, which would ultimately add more time to their run.

Ashen.2907:

HoT mobs are designed to be more difficult, but are also designed to reward paying attention to your surroundings and to the mobs themselves.

I would LOVE to see HoT mob style encounters in core Tyria maps.

How do HoT mobs “reward” paying attention to your surroundings?

Obviously HoT maps are more difficult to move around and the mobs are more difficult to deal with. For those seeking difficulty, I guess HoT is more rewarding. However, this thread is about how GW2 was a more laid-back MMO for 3 years and how many of us who actually played it for those 3 years are disappointed in the expansion.

I can understand new players who enjoy a challenge joining GW2 because of HoT. What I can’t understand is why anyone who preferred a higher difficulty would play GW2 for the first 3 years as it was.

I don’t think there is anything wrong with more mounts that are essentially Ascenders or toys in different forms. Just like you ride the Broom, some of those forms could be other things you ride like horses or motorcycles. And for new gliders you could have airborn “mounts”. I don’t see why not.

Its unclear whether the ascenders / toys work with speed boosts. I think they should work with constant boosts like runes or buffs, not weapon skills. But I don’t think they should offer any movement benefit inherently.

Feanor.2358:

Djinn.9245:

I don’t have 4-stat gear and it takes time to get Elite specializations. You can either go back to core Tyria and get your Elite specs the long way, or suffer through HoT to get them.

Neither do I, I use good ol’ Berserker stats. As for getting the Elite specs, that could only have been a problem very early after the release. After that, there are plenty of well-known easy HPs, there are HP trains that don’t even require you to have waypoints, and there’s map chat and players who always come to help with HPs. I spend ~90% of my play time on my main yet I have 9 alts, one of each class, and elite specs unlocked on every one of them. It’s not even hard. Calling it “suffering” is just exaggerating.

When I am in HoT, I frequently see people in chat asking for help with HP who get no response. I know that they get no response, even private, because a few minutes later they ask again, and again. I also haven’t seen any HP trains advertised in a long time.

Feanor.2358:

Djinn.9245:

So I should “learn to like it” like its brocolli or something? This is a game – you know, entertainment? If I don’t like it why should I play it? And of course it is Anet’s fault, they made HoT. If a book is not good, it is the author’s fault, not the reader’s.

Sure, if you genuinely don’t like it you shouldn’t play it. Note that you can still play in core Tyria. However, there are other (again, myself included) who genuinely do like HoT. So your assessment that it’s “not good” cannot be objectively true. Meaning ANet didn’t to something objectively wrong. At best It’s a problem of perception. Maybe it’s simply not for you. But hey, it’s a game! Playing all aspects of it isn’t mandatory. I don’t like PvP and I don’t play it. But I don’t complain about ANet putting it in the game.

I never said that HoT was “not good”, I said I didn’t like it. I made the “not good” reference in my statement about a book not being good. But why are you telling me not to complain? People have complained about a lot of things in this game that Anet have changed as a result. So complaining is a perfectly valid form of showing your opinion.

Linken.6345:

Djinn.9245:

Linken.6345:

Djinn.9245:

Ardid.7203:

You need to also consider that Tyria IS NOT MODERN, FIRST WORLD EARTH.

During most of humanity’s history, and in fact, in many places all over the world even today, young people do need, want and have to take responsibility over their lives and the lives of others, often puting themselves at risk. 17 years old people go to work, take care of their families, go to war, have children. Many of them do a terrific job we should be grateful for. It is not good by our standards, it can be extremely cruel and heartbreaking, but it is real.

And yet, as I already stated, after gaining map completion I don’t recall a general attitude that in Tyria young people are tragically expected or even allowed to enter the fighting.

Ardid.7203:

With 17 years on her life, if Taimi were a real human she will not be even close to an infant. She’s on the fringe of adulthood in a lot of modern societies, and well over the age of motherhood in most historic societies.

Who said anything about infant? That’s an extreme comparison. And as I said, I don’t see a general situation in Tyria of young adults being mothers or other “adult” situations.

Ardid.7203:

So, yes, she’s quite young, by our modern, first world standards. But I don’t think Tyria can be considered that similar to our own place. Please remember the most ancient of the oldest Sylvari today has only 26 years… Tyrians can’t be judged by the same rules as us.

Sylvari are born adults.

Someone havent watched the cubs play with the ghost’s outside black citadel

Perhaps you’re talking about the event:

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Stay_near_the_Crush_cubs_and_keep_the_ghosts_away

The cubs aren’t playing with the ghosts, if you look at the wiki (or actually do the event) you see that you are actually governing their fear level…..

Yea and you as an adult dont send them home instead walk with them and indulge in their game, how dare you put them in danger man?

I agree, and I said the same thing about Taimi. It is bad writing.

Linken.6345:

Its the same thing with Taimi you dont control them or her.

This was a response to you since you said no were in core game were children put into danger.

Yes, you found one other place. This was probably written by the same person. However, my point was that this wasn’t a “common occurrance”. People were trying to make a case that Tyria was a more medieval society where children were considered as adults and therefore put in adult situations all the time. My point was that as I went through Tyria, I didn’t see this situation of children commonly being treated like adults.

And in this situation, these children aren’t being treated like adults NOR are they acting like adults. They are scared children and you are protecting them.

Cyninja.2954:

Djinn.9245:

Cyninja.2954:

So let’s assume 15 minutes per berry run since not every class can zip through like a thief and not everyone owns the Consortium Harvesting Sickle (and no, it’s not more than 15 minutes. I’ve run through the berry forest with every class and every gear starting with rares up to full ascended multiple times).

You don’t think that this fact alone increases your speed? O.o

Let me rephrase that, I did not do some crazy amazing impossible thing to do. I ran through the forest with my characters without switching traits, using only the utilities I had on them for other game modes and didn’t even have permanent swiftness or condition cleanse on some of them.

It’s called establishing a baseline.

This is literally doable by every single person who plays this game unless you suffer from severe attention deficite disorder and can’t stay focused on 1 task for 15 minutes at a time.

My point was that you obviously do this a lot. Therefore you have a certain route, know what spawns where, etc. This increases your speed. Most players aren’t going to farm like this. They go somewhere long enough to get the one thing that they want and then the leave. They don’t have it memorized.

Feanor.2358:

Djinn.9245:

But I disagree that adding different content to a game is ultimately good. GW2 started as a game that encouraged exploring, play your own way, and was fairly easy ramping up to difficult in Orr / Southsun (talking about my standards). Truly challenging content was relegated to Dungeons (talking about the past), Fractals, and some Story boss fights. (Sad that I have to put disclaimers that this is my POV in my own post. And people will probably still argue with it.)

I’d argue the difficulty of HoT isn’t that much different. Yeah, it IS harder than Orr, but the player characters are more powerful too, thanks to 4-stat gear and elite specializations. More on that in a minute.

I don’t have 4-stat gear and it takes time to get Elite specializations. You can either go back to core Tyria and get your Elite specs the long way, or suffer through HoT to get them.

Feanor.2358:

Djinn.9245:

The player base for GW2 obviously enjoyed the game or they would not have played it from 9/2012 to 10/2015.

Here’s the crux of it. What makes you think these are the same players?

Players come and go. Giving them “more of the same” eventually tires them and they leave.

Many of us are specifically stating that we wanted more of the same, including my post you are quoting, so idk who you are talking about.

Feanor.2358:

Djinn.9245:

When a new expansion was announced, I assumed it would be on the same level as what was already proved a success and enjoyed by the players. Instead I got platforming, 3D maps that I could not find my way around, and packed with deadly mobs with cc (remember, this is my POV). I had been introduced to a more 3D map with Drytop and I didn’t even like that. HoT is an order of magnitude worse. I was stunned that Anet created an entire expansion that was so completely different from the core game. And very disappointed that there wasn’t more of what I already was enjoying.

That’s hardly ANet’s fault though. Let’s be honest – it was your own choice to dislike the content instead of trying to learn/master it.

So I should “learn to like it” like its brocolli or something? This is a game – you know, entertainment? If I don’t like it why should I play it? And of course it is Anet’s fault, they made HoT. If a book is not good, it is the author’s fault, not the reader’s.

Feanor.2358:

The maps are easy to navigate and easy to play. Yes, they require you to spend some time there earning the masteries which is questionable. But once you get through that, it’s hardly any harder than Orr.

I’m glad that you think the maps are easy, there are many people who don’t. This is an opinion – you are allowed to have yours and I have mine. But you can’t change my opinion by simply telling me I am wrong.

vesica tempestas.1563:

Blue.2734:

Wow, not a very nice person, are you? When you are lost and trying to figure out where you are and where you need to be takes a few minutes and the spawn rate is pretty high for mobs. It is so nice to see there are still the elitist that think their mean and not helpful things to say are okay and just for the record, I have played it, although not as high as some I have seen my mastery level is 23 all zones open with completion between 57 to 96%. If you have nothing nice to say, then please say nothing at all.

You don’t really get ‘lost’ you just use the in game map as you have done until you get familiar with the map. If you need a reference you just port back to a WP.

How can you tell someone else that they don’t get lost? O.o

I get lost in HoT all the time and I have been playing in it since it came out. And going back to a WP all the time costs money.

vesica tempestas.1563:

RE mob spawning, find a spot where mobs don’t spawn, then look at maps as much as you like. In other words no need to blame the game when there are perfectly safe solutions available.

If you don’t know the maps well, how do you know a place where mobs don’t spawn?

Blue.2734:

Wow, not a very nice person, are you? When you are lost and trying to figure out where you are and where you need to be takes a few minutes and the spawn rate is pretty high for mobs. It is so nice to see there are still the elitist that think their mean and not helpful things to say are okay and just for the record, I have played it, although not as high as some I have seen my mastery level is 23 all zones open with completion between 57 to 96%. If you have nothing nice to say, then please say nothing at all.

No, that was not a very nice post. I’m not going to respond to it in case it gets removed.

I agree that mobs in HoT are very deadly. Anyone who thinks that mobs in core Tyria are anywhere near as bad (in general) are just not truthful.

Cyninja.2954:

So let’s assume 15 minutes per berry run since not every class can zip through like a thief and not everyone owns the Consortium Harvesting Sickle (and no, it’s not more than 15 minutes. I’ve run through the berry forest with every class and every gear starting with rares up to full ascended multiple times).

You don’t think that this fact alone increases your speed? O.o

Linken.6345:

Djinn.9245:

Ardid.7203:

You need to also consider that Tyria IS NOT MODERN, FIRST WORLD EARTH.

During most of humanity’s history, and in fact, in many places all over the world even today, young people do need, want and have to take responsibility over their lives and the lives of others, often puting themselves at risk. 17 years old people go to work, take care of their families, go to war, have children. Many of them do a terrific job we should be grateful for. It is not good by our standards, it can be extremely cruel and heartbreaking, but it is real.

And yet, as I already stated, after gaining map completion I don’t recall a general attitude that in Tyria young people are tragically expected or even allowed to enter the fighting.

Ardid.7203:

With 17 years on her life, if Taimi were a real human she will not be even close to an infant. She’s on the fringe of adulthood in a lot of modern societies, and well over the age of motherhood in most historic societies.

Who said anything about infant? That’s an extreme comparison. And as I said, I don’t see a general situation in Tyria of young adults being mothers or other “adult” situations.

Ardid.7203:

So, yes, she’s quite young, by our modern, first world standards. But I don’t think Tyria can be considered that similar to our own place. Please remember the most ancient of the oldest Sylvari today has only 26 years… Tyrians can’t be judged by the same rules as us.

Sylvari are born adults.

Someone havent watched the cubs play with the ghost’s outside black citadel

Perhaps you’re talking about the event:

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Stay_near_the_Crush_cubs_and_keep_the_ghosts_away

The cubs aren’t playing with the ghosts, if you look at the wiki (or actually do the event) you see that you are actually governing their fear level…..

castlemanic.3198:

Djinn.9245:

And the entire Pact fleet was decimated by the same jungle that she accompanied us into in her robot. If any of the adults in the Commander’s group think that Taimi being in a robot = being safe, when the armed Pact warships and helicopters weren’t safe, they are all more stupid than they already seem.

She came ON HER OWN. That’s the entire point I’ve been making again and again, which you simply don’t want to acknowledge

Why are you purposefully stating something that isn’t true about what I have said? I have already acknowledged that she shows up places on her own. But I also know that every young adult doesn’t do this – because they are told (sometimes over and over) not to. On top of that, Taimi is written to do this, she isn’t a real person. And what I am saying I disagree with is that writing. I don’t find it believable that a group of adults are ok with putting Taimi in these situations. It doesn’t matter that she shows up, they are complicit by their acceptance. I personally would send her home. If I made it clear from the start that she wasn’t welcome, she wouldn’t show up all friendly like “Hi, I’m here”. At least if the writing was believable which it is not.

Djinn.9245:

You claim this is normal and believable for GW2. You obviously are welcome to your opinion but I don’t share it.

castlemanic.3198:

You’re welcome to not share it but the evidence is there regardless of whether you choose to see it or not.

Yes, we all have our own opinions. I’m glad you are giving me permission to have mine.

Sartharina.3542:

Djinn.9245:

Yes, Taimi has a gun just like my nephew would. Equivalent tools = equivalent situation. And I am POSITIVE that if the team needed more brains, they could find someone with both brains and better suited for combat situations than a disabled child.

And here is where you’d absolutely be dead wrong. Taimi is the #1 leading expert on Dragon Magic by a long shot.

According to Taimi.

castlemanic.3198:

Taimi isn’t in a wheelchair, she’s in a BATTLE CAPABLE GIANT ROBOT

And the entire Pact fleet was decimated by the same jungle that she accompanied us into in her robot. If any of the adults in the Commander’s group think that Taimi being in a robot = being safe, when the armed Pact warships and helicopters weren’t safe, they are all more stupid than they already seem.

But as I have said, you see a different Tyria than I see. I have seen no indication over the years I played before Taimi was introduced that Tyrian races allow, nevermind encourage, young adults into dangerous or otherwise adult situations. You claim this is normal and believable for GW2. You obviously are welcome to your opinion but I don’t share it.

(Oh, and all the yelling doesn’t make me believe your POV any better than non-yelling.)

Ardid.7203:

You need to also consider that Tyria IS NOT MODERN, FIRST WORLD EARTH.

During most of humanity’s history, and in fact, in many places all over the world even today, young people do need, want and have to take responsibility over their lives and the lives of others, often puting themselves at risk. 17 years old people go to work, take care of their families, go to war, have children. Many of them do a terrific job we should be grateful for. It is not good by our standards, it can be extremely cruel and heartbreaking, but it is real.

And yet, as I already stated, after gaining map completion I don’t recall a general attitude that in Tyria young people are tragically expected or even allowed to enter the fighting.

Ardid.7203:

With 17 years on her life, if Taimi were a real human she will not be even close to an infant. She’s on the fringe of adulthood in a lot of modern societies, and well over the age of motherhood in most historic societies.

Who said anything about infant? That’s an extreme comparison. And as I said, I don’t see a general situation in Tyria of young adults being mothers or other “adult” situations.

Ardid.7203:

So, yes, she’s quite young, by our modern, first world standards. But I don’t think Tyria can be considered that similar to our own place. Please remember the most ancient of the oldest Sylvari today has only 26 years… Tyrians can’t be judged by the same rules as us.

Sylvari are born adults.

castlemanic.3198:

Djinn.9245:

Ok, I change my situation to my nephew wanting to accompany me on police patrol. He is a great martial artist and can use a handgun so that makes it ok for him to accompany me, right? As long as the person is capable, it shouldn’t matter to me if they are young, or disabled, or whatever, right? The more the merrier!

This is still a strawman because it’s not the same thing as what Taimi does. There is no real world equivalent you can make to accurately portray the Taimi scenario, and thus any real world example you throw forth is a strawman.

You ALSO missed the most important parts of my argument.

Here is what I posted:

castlemanic.3198:

a young person throwing themselves into battles and being just as effective as the soldiers on the field while having the smarts to try and figure out a way to permanently defeat the enemy, smarts that NOBODY ELSE FIGHTING HAS.

Notice the vast differences between this and what you mention?

You mention your nephew wanting to come along on patrols, him having martial arts training and is good with a handgun.

That’s not the situation with Taimi.

As I said in my original example, my nephew would just show up. Sorry I didn’t state it in the precise manner this time. I expected it to be understood. So my nephew gets a police scanner and shows up at dangerous situations. Since he’s going to show up anyway, I should just go ahead and take him with he on patrol, right?

castlemanic.3198:

Taimi throws herself into battles (so it’s not a case of begging or pleading to join a patrol route) is just as effective as any other soldier (so there’s no martial arts training or ANY sort of training equivalent you can draw from that) while having the smarts to figure out a way to defeat the enemy, smarts that NOBODY ELSE HAS (aka beyond current scientific research, so again, there’s no real world comparison to draw here).

Yes, Taimi has a gun just like my nephew would. Equivalent tools = equivalent situation. And I am POSITIVE that if the team needed more brains, they could find someone with both brains and better suited for combat situations than a disabled child.

castlemanic.3198:

There’s no real world example you can compare this to. There is nothing you can say that changes the basic fact that within the world of Tyria, within the story presented in GW2, the writing for Taimi IS believable, IS accurate within a FANTASY world full of dragons and mechanical golems that fight just as effectively as any soldier on the battlefield, including those soldiers with MAGIC.

I am talking about ATTITUDE, not fantasy, etc. If you are saying that adults in Tyria all think it is fine to accept a young disabled person into a group that regularly faces horrific situations and mass death, I have to say that I don’t see it. I have map completion and have never encountered any kind of general attitude like that.

castlemanic.3198:

Ashen.2907:

His last sentence made reference to his nephew just showing up on own, as you state Taimi does.

First, he edited his post after I began replying to him, and I modified my post accordingly.

Second, the whole argument is STILL a strawman because a young person showing up to a bar is nowhere near the same as a young person throwing themselves into battles and being just as effective as the soldiers on the field while having the smarts to try and figure out a way to permanently defeat the enemy, smarts that NOBODY ELSE FIGHTING HAS.

There is a world’s difference between the two situations.

Ok, I change my situation to my nephew wanting to accompany me on police patrol. He is a great martial artist and can use a handgun so that makes it ok for him to accompany me, right? As long as the person is capable, it shouldn’t matter to me if they are young, or disabled, or whatever, right? The more the merrier!

castlemanic.3198:

Djinn.9245:

If my teenaged nephew tells me that he wants to come with me when I go out drinking at the club, I say “no”. To bring him along just because he wants to come would not only be irresponsible, it would be encouraging him.

This is a strawman by it’s very definition. That’s not the situation with Taimi and you know it.

Taimi has thrown herself into dangerous situations every time she as a character shows up (before season 3). The commander NEVER stood there while Taimi pleaded with us to take her along because reasons and excuses. Taimi doesn’t care what we think. Taimi at EVERY point has done whatever she pleases, actively going into well known dangerous situations when other people have encouraged her NOT to do that thing. Every time, she has ignored those people and gone straight into battles, placing HERSELF in danger every single time. It is NOT anywhere near the same thing that you suggest it is.

EDIT:

Djinn.9245:

No one would have to worry about Taimi’s wellbeing if she simply wasn’t involved. It seems you are saying that just because Taimi keeps putting her nose into things, we should give in and let her have her way. Should I behave that way with my nephew? “He just keeps showing up illegally in the clubs I go to, so I decided I’ll just take him with me from now on.”

Again, you’re putting forth a strawman argument. It’s not the same thing in the slightest. Yes, no one would have to worry if Taimi wasn’t involved, but Taimi actively involves herself in battles. She modified Scruffy for BATTLES. Your extremely false equivalents fail to actually take in the scope of Taimi’s character and the situation surrounding her.

Yes, Anet has written a story where Taimi conveniently knows when and where everything is going to happen so she can throw herself into the situation. However, at some point we decided to accede to her wishes and are actively cooperating with her. This is what I am talking about and no, I don’t see it as a strawman.

castlemanic.3198:

Djinn.9245:

First, I said “it is fiction” so I am talking about being fine with adults encouraging young people to put themselves into that situation in fiction – sorry that wasn’t more clear.

No worries

And I don’t care if it is in fiction, I still find it abhorrent that I am portrayed as encouraging Taimi to put herself at risk.

I don’t think the commander has EVER encouraged Taimi to put herself at risk. I think Taimi has always put herself at risk, even when every other person would suggest otherwise.

If my teenaged nephew tells me that he wants to come with me when I go out drinking at the club, I say “no”. To bring him along just because he wants to come would not only be irresponsible, it would be encouraging him. No one would have to worry about Taimi’s wellbeing if she simply wasn’t involved. It seems you are saying that just because Taimi keeps putting her nose into things, we should give in and let her have her way. Should I behave that way with my nephew? “He just keeps showing up illegally in the clubs I go to, so I decided I’ll just take him with me from now on.”

Menadena.7482:

Yes, it helps to know that. I usually use the UM sickles or an unbreakable but not one of those two. Strange anet would change the speed on some but not all. If I am not fighting a mob to get the bush though, someone else is fighting a mob there and it would seem a bit …. uncouth …. to run up, harvest, and run away leaving them to fight the mob themselves. On the plus side, my typical trips to bitterfrost net me 2,000 to 3,000 UM so there is that.

That is exactly what happens. I don’t do berry runs with a dedicated berry character. It is the same character I do other things with. So I get hit by mobs and I sometimes stop and fight them or they might gang up on me and I pay the price. I see exactly how many people will run by me fighting the mob to grab the berries. If each of them only contributed 1 shot to the mob as they ran by it would make my life easier lol.

castlemanic.3198:

Djinn.9245:

You obviously think it is fine for actual adults to encourage young people to accompany them into situations filled with the dead and dying, where that young person is very likely to become one of those statistics. I do not think it is fine, I think it is abhorrent. But as it is fiction, that is not my point. My entire point was that it wasn’t believable writing.

Now you’re the one putting words into my mouth. Please don’t do that. Never did I say anything close to that, I only pointed to the existence of people younger than Taimi performing heroic deeds in entertainment, I did not say anything close to what you are suggesting.

First, I said “it is fiction” so I am talking about being fine with adults encouraging young people to put themselves into that situation in fiction – sorry that wasn’t more clear. And I don’t care if it is in fiction, I still find it abhorrent that I am portrayed as encouraging Taimi to put herself at risk. And the fact that you not only are arguing FOR it but also provided all of the examples you did, seems to indicate that you are fine with that type of writing. If that is not the correct conclusion, I apologize.

But I still don’t find it a “believable” story, even in the world of Tyria, for adults to put Taimi in this situation. Apparently they are all extremely heartless.

Sartharina.3542:

There’s one big problem with the idea of trying to reject Taimi – She’s already Scarlet 2.0. She’s ‘still in school’ because of her age, not her ability, and her trust and friendship with the Commander and the Biconics are the only thing really keeping her allied with society. With her particular brand of research, depending on where the Commander tried to reject Taimi (And, given her youth, probably provoke an irrational, Braham-level act of revenge. Except powered by golems and ley-lines.)

Do we want a friendly ally content to stay in a lab or single somewhat-primitive golem and serve as mission control and tech support for the team, or do we want to try to face yet another existential threat-level villain protected by an automated army who’s usurped control over the waypoint and asura gate system, feeds elder dragons to each other for her own amusement, uses machines similar to Omadd’s to see and manipulate the world in a manner beyond the capacity of anyone else, and essentially be able to Ley-Line Nuke anywhere she sees fit? Because you can kitten well bet that’s what would happen. She has the leads on dragon and ley magic, and while it will take more experimentation and self-reliance on her caution, she’d also be freed from having to give a kitten about the rest of the world or its people, because they’re all kittenheads who need to die anyway (As demonstrated by the way they treated and rejected her)

Reality check: Taimi is not in charge of her story, Anet is

What I would like to see is Taimi not directing the entire story / operation with the Commander and Rytlok (before he had to leave) saying “how high” to Taimi’s every request. I would like to see a more believable story.

Feanor.2358:

Djinn.9245:

I think its funny how so many people put words in others’ mouths. I don’t recall anyone in this thread saying “I can’t play in HoT.” What I do see is people saying “I don’t like it.”

Now here’s an interesting thought: you literally can’t create content that everyone would like. People are different and so are their tastes. Try to appease one and you’ll upset another.

Creating different content aimed at different players is ultimately good for the game – it expands its potential player base.

My comment was about people putting words in others’ mouths. But I’ll bite – it’s a universal adage that you can’t please all of the people all of the time. So: “of course.”

But I disagree that adding different content to a game is ultimately good. GW2 started as a game that encouraged exploring, play your own way, and was fairly easy ramping up to difficult in Orr / Southsun (talking about my standards). Truly challenging content was relegated to Dungeons (talking about the past), Fractals, and some Story boss fights. (Sad that I have to put disclaimers that this is my POV in my own post. And people will probably still argue with it.)

The player base for GW2 obviously enjoyed the game or they would not have played it from 9/2012 to 10/2015. When a new expansion was announced, I assumed it would be on the same level as what was already proved a success and enjoyed by the players. Instead I got platforming, 3D maps that I could not find my way around, and packed with deadly mobs with cc (remember, this is my POV). I had been introduced to a more 3D map with Drytop and I didn’t even like that. HoT is an order of magnitude worse. I was stunned that Anet created an entire expansion that was so completely different from the core game. And very disappointed that there wasn’t more of what I already was enjoying.

There is also an old adage: “jack of all trades, master of none”. As you said, you can’t please all of the people. In trying to appeal to everyone, GW2 doesn’t have enough content that any particular player base enjoys. Why would players that are looking for a challenging MMO come to GW2 which was comparatively easy for 3 years? On the other hand, GW2 had a good player base which enjoyed what it already was doing. But has now provided those players with no expansion to date that they enjoy.

At this point, I only go back to HoT for a daily or because I need something for a collection. I did a Tarir meta last night that actually failed the first try (3 wings were slow while one burned blindly away) – something I had never seen before. I actually left Tarir at that point because I didn’t know there was a recovery from that. Luckily there were a couple of vets who knew what to do and we eventually succeeded (at the last possible second). I see people in Map chat begging for help with various HP. In that same map there was only 1 person attempting to do the pylons for one of the directions. Etc. Apparently there aren’t enough people who actually enjoy the HoT maps to keep them populated on a regular basis. Wasted content – so no, I don’t think it was good for Anet to add this different content.

zoomborg.9462:

….gold is so easy to amass in this game…just play efficiently and u can have the gold for a glider combo really fast. Besides they would never make a glider cool enough to compete with the gem store ones otherwise it defeats the purpose of selling gliders for gems altogether.

I don’t agree that it’s “really fast” to get enough gold to change for gems for a glider. Not everyone likes to grind either.

castlemanic.3198:

Djinn.9245:

Tony stark is a grown man, not a disabled teenager. He can make his own decisions about risking his life.

Taimi’s independence (sprouted from both the deaths of her parents and her ability to manage life even with a degenerative disease) from any sort of authority figures (seeing her constant escape from Zojjas custody) means that realistically, she would make her own decisions about risking her life rather than refer to someone older than her for permission.

Also on the Iron Man front, there are plenty of characters who are younger than Taimi who risk their lives. Miles Morales, Riri Williams (the new iron man, she calls herself ironheart), Kamala Khan, Shazam/Captain Marvel from DC, the teen titans, Peter Parker in his younger days, if you want to go with fantasy the wheel of time series starts with the three main protagonists not even being of age, there’s all the young adult novels, there’s that superhero novel called “The Ables” by the cinemasins guy which has a blind protagonist with telekinesis that’s in superhero high school, isn’t Frodo from Lord of the Rings very young for a Hobbit? There are all sorts of examples of people way younger than Taimi deciding to risk their lives for the greater good, so Taimi is well within her own rights to make a decision about risking her life to save the world.

You obviously think it is fine for actual adults to encourage young people to accompany them into situations filled with the dead and dying, where that young person is very likely to become one of those statistics. I do not think it is fine, I think it is abhorrent. But as it is fiction, that is not my point. My entire point was that it wasn’t believable writing.

I think its funny how so many people put words in others’ mouths. I don’t recall anyone in this thread saying “I can’t play in HoT.” What I do see is people saying “I don’t like it.”

voltaicbore.8012:

While I was able to (relatively quickly) make the transition from core to HoT without the benefit of LS2, I can see how that would be a great bridge between the core game and the expansion.

A Living Story season is temporary. An expansion is permanent. I played LS2 but still do not like HoT for the same reasons as April.

castlemanic.3198:

Djinn.9245:

It doesn’t matter how good someone’s mind is, if they can’t hack it physically you don’t take them into combat. That is why all military organizations have certain physical requirements. Apparently people are completely unrealistic when it comes to Taimi so I’m not going to argue the point anymore. But in my POV (which is all I have been talking about), the story regarding Taimi and the Commander’s party is silly and unbelievable.

As for hiding “her” research, the room we discovered with the dragon research is not hers.

It’s basically as unrealistic as Tony Stark taking on the Hulk

Tony stark is a grown man, not a disabled teenager. He can make his own decisions about risking his life.

castlemanic.3198:

You’re free to dislike Taimi

Please don’t put words in my mouth.

Cyninja.2954:

ZerotheFang.5890:

welp then what the point of going there if i can get 50 from a track on another mode >.< they need to add another ascended ring to next map or something.

At 200 Winterberries and 2k unbound magic you can grind 1 ring per day

Wow, that is some grind. I cringe to think about it lol!

Healix.5819:

Amaimon.7823:

My request, or rather, a suggestion, would be to have an end goal rewarding 1 or 2 glider skins for ingame effort, rather than outright purchase.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Ad_Infinitum
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/The_Ascension

I think it would be nice to have one for open PvE as well.

Amaimon.7823:

To add to Castlemaniac’s comment, I think it’s because of the neurodegenerative disease that’s all the more capable on her own. Remember, she doesn’t want to be pitied or take extra care. So she’s always moving many steps ahead to make sure she’s just as good, if not better, than her fellow asura. So I think she’s very adaptable and not keen to give up. She’s propably preparing for all kinds of worst case scenarios so she won’t fall behind.

As to the last point you raise, of phlunt taking the waypoint recalibrator, there’s a good logic behind it:
I am a biochemist and from experience I know: Everything I do, find out, research, discover, etc, belongs to my supervising professor. As long as I am I their student, everything I do belongs to them. Even if I discover something on my own without any of their support, it’s theirs. To some this may seem unfair, but it’s the harsh truth of this world. As long as you’re an underling, even if you’re abroad, all you can earn are accolades.

It doesn’t matter how good someone’s mind is, if they can’t hack it physically you don’t take them into combat. That is why all military organizations have certain physical requirements. Apparently people are completely unrealistic when it comes to Taimi so I’m not going to argue the point anymore. But in my POV (which is all I have been talking about), the story regarding Taimi and the Commander’s party is silly and unbelievable.

As for hiding “her” research, the room we discovered with the dragon research is not hers.

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

It’s a math problem.

• If the instance is nearly full, it soft caps, to allow for guildies & friends to join.
• If there are no other instances available, a new one is created, so you’re placed in an empty instance.
• People in an empty or near-empty instance would rather join a nearly-full one, so try to taxi, instead of trying to start their own LFG.
• If someone does start a new LFG, that instance becomes crowded, meaning new players end up in yet another newer map.

It’s not a problem ANet can ‘solve’ because it’s not a technical issue nor a design issue; it’s a human behavior reaction to the math.

ANet could design maps that have metas that are less epic and less interesting with 100 people. And they have, for the new LS episodes. Some people love those maps, because they are simple, often farmable, & and never require much time commitment.

Another strategy would be if ANet used the Silverwastes system more often, that is independent of the clock: do enough pre-events and the meta starts.

Unfortunately, in the end, each mechanic is great for some people and dull for others, so the “best” solution for the community is for ANet to have a bunch of different maps that use different methods to attract people to come back again & again. And, as it turns out, that’s pretty close to what we have in game.

You make a great point. However when you are trying to do an achievement/crafting that requires one of the HoT metas, it comes down to having to deal with that frustrating issue or just not do the achievement/crafting.

Menadena.7482:

Djinn.9245:

Amaimon.7823:

IndigoSundown.5419:

So, what does Taimi do???? She’s (apparently) really smart, sees all the answers that no one else can see, and devises solutions no one else is thinking up. She’s Wesley Crusher.

If that’s not an indictment, I don’t know what is.

what taimi does is research how magic works and how it can be used against the elder dragons since they like it so much

Yes, we know that. But look at the entire structure of Asura culture. It revolves around competition to be the best in your field and invent the best things in your field. During this time of war, why is the most effective group of people fighting the dragons (the Commander’s party) toting around a young Asura who hasn’t even finished school? Why don’t we have someone from the top ranks of Asura culture who has already proven themself?

And frankly no one should be allowing Taimi to do this research. If a college student discovered a secret building with alien technology, the grown-ups he knows would not allow him to keep it secret and go in there and play with the technology. Especially someone who has essentially been a NATO commander. They would tell the relevant authorities.

In real life, the entire group would be brought up on charges for keeping this information from the Asuran government during a time of war. But in GW2 Taimi’s research will save the day so everyone will overlook what she did and how we helped her hide it. This is why the Taimi writing is nonsensical.

Not having access to earlier story chapters may make things not be making sense here. The commander’s group came across Taimi in season 1 and she wound up hanging out with them. She quickly started pulling her own weight (both intellectually and sometimes quite literally since she had Scruffy). Any story is very much about personal interactions so they would never do something like turn someone over to the authorities without trying to correct things first.

I completely understand the story. It never made sense to me that we decided to take some disabled kid with us to fight dragon minions. I don’t care that she had Scruffy, he’s not indestructable.

And I don’t understand your reference to turning someone over to the authorities. My point was that when our group found the dragon room in Rata Novus, we shouldn’t have kept it to ourselves and not told anyone else in the rest of the world. It is extremely irresponsible.

Muy.3170:

What I see with the outfit system is really only gem store exclusive use. It’s sad because this feature could be expanded to almost incredible lengths!

I was just glancing at Gw2 Style, a 3rd party website that hosts tons of skins and themes all player created. Then I was thinking of the outfit system! What if we could save a character’s look and apply many other looks with the use of total make over kits! Let the players create their own outfit which would save the armor, dyes, weapons, with the characters skin, face, hair, and eye colors!

It’d give tons of people creative control over their main characters without having to create an alt of the same profession with all the hassle of leveling it and gearing it!
You’d get your total makeover kit and it’d allow you to allocate the makeover to an open character outfit slot! Then you select your weapons, armor, face, hair, eyes, skin, body, and dye! Save with spending the total makeover and there you go! A the full complete outfit that you made and can swap to for that specific armor type!

I think it would be wonderful if Anet could add tabs to our Wardrobe where we could save a complete outfit. I’m not certain that it would be possible to include weapons or physical characteristics since they are not part of the Wardrobe system, but saving the clothing and dye combos would be a great start. Anet could give us one free tab and then sell additional tabs. I’d pay for them.

ZerotheFang.5890:

welp then what the point of going there if i can get 50 from a track on another mode >.< they need to add another ascended ring to next map or something.

You get guaranteed rubies from doing events. I don’t try to get rubies only from nodes. Those are just a bonus if you get them.

Many shoulders are just ridiculously large but I hadn’t noticed the hovering (except the Zodiac which I believe are supposed to), until now. That of course makes them look even larger.

Moonyeti.3296:

As someone earlier mentioned, they would have to address the issue of people hanging around fishing accidentally scaling up nearby events that they are not taking part in. But if they found a way around the issue, sounds like a fun thing to add.

In some MMOs, there are fishing “nodes” which deplete so there is no reason just to hang around in one spot. That is similar to the gathering that we already have and so wouldn’t have to impact local events any more than gathering already does.

Cyninja.2954:

Djinn.9245:

In real life, the entire group would be brought up on charges for keeping this information from the Asuran government during a time of war. But in GW2 Taimi’s research will save the day so everyone will overlook what she did and how we helped her hide it. This is why the Taimi writing is nonsensical.

Starting area of the asura one of the very first event chains: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Protect_Orl's_research_krewe

Somehow I think you got asura backwards, they strive for knowledge but reluctantly share it (this was very evident in GW1 already where part of Eye of the North was convincing different asura to cooperate). So no, even in this respect Taimi is in character.

No, I fully understand, but what I’m talking about is whether the writing of Taimi is believable. When someone who is the equivalent of a NATO Commander decides to work with people, he can’t just pull some college student into his group without people asking questions (normally). And what would really happen is that the Asura would deal with the situation. Whether that would end up better or worse isn’t what I’m concerned with.

Cyninja.2954:

You keep comparing Taimi and GW2 to real world situations where there is already established precedent that some of those aspects are handled differently in Tyria.

Yes, there are other questionable and forced situations in the writing. But (again) I am talking about believability. It seems that many players don’t care that Taimi’s writing isn’t believable and that is perfectly fine. My responses are to people who keep stating that her writing is believable.

I think it would be fine to add fishing with “nodes” in shallow water like other games. They add recipes frequently and hopefully will be increasing Cooking to 500 so why not fishing?

Amaimon.7823:

IndigoSundown.5419:

So, what does Taimi do???? She’s (apparently) really smart, sees all the answers that no one else can see, and devises solutions no one else is thinking up. She’s Wesley Crusher.

If that’s not an indictment, I don’t know what is.

what taimi does is research how magic works and how it can be used against the elder dragons since they like it so much

Yes, we know that. But look at the entire structure of Asura culture. It revolves around competition to be the best in your field and invent the best things in your field. During this time of war, why is the most effective group of people fighting the dragons (the Commander’s party) toting around a young Asura who hasn’t even finished school? Why don’t we have someone from the top ranks of Asura culture who has already proven themself?

And frankly no one should be allowing Taimi to do this research. If a college student discovered a secret building with alien technology, the grown-ups he knows would not allow him to keep it secret and go in there and play with the technology. Especially someone who has essentially been a NATO commander. They would tell the relevant authorities.

In real life, the entire group would be brought up on charges for keeping this information from the Asuran government during a time of war. But in GW2 Taimi’s research will save the day so everyone will overlook what she did and how we helped her hide it. This is why the Taimi writing is nonsensical.

AliamRationem.5172:

Djinn.9245:

I do think that they use Taimi too much to the detriment of the other characters. It’s funny that Anet styles our PC as “the hero” and yet what we have done this Season is be Taimi’s assistant. People talk about making a believable story but the former Commander of the Pact is not going to run around at the request of a young one with no position. Even if the Commander is a really nice person and doesn’t mind Taimi asking him to do things, he would be too busy dealing with leaders, planning meetings, or leading battles for this to be actually realistic.

This on top of my general complaints that Dragon’s Watch should not be babysitting children (Taimi or Braham) while we are trying to save the world.

I guess that’s one way of looking at it. I think Taimi has proven distinctively useful to the team. It’s not like we’re out picking up her laundry.

My past couple of replies have been responses to comments that the Taimi writing is believable. The fact that she has turned out to be useful has nothing to do with the fact that the writing regarding Taimi is the least believable of all of the Commander’s party members over the seasons.

Ayrilana.1396:

Djinn.9245:

Ayrilana.1396:

There’s a portal scroll for a nominal cost of 1,000 UB which can be earned very quickly. I also doubt that people not getting into the map with alternate characters would noticeably contribute to the player population of the maps.

Who are you responding to? And I don’t recall that all of the maps being discussed have a portal scroll.

It was you, I think. Every map has a portal scroll.

This may be worth bringing up at the next AMA to see if Anet would give us an explanation why the maps were cut off compared to season 2 and why episode 3 was different.

Ok, the reason why I was asking who you responded to is because I was talking about having to do the story to get into the map in the first place, not only about alternate characters being able to access the map.

Cyninja.2954:

Djinn.9245:

Silmar Alech.4305:

What? Taimi is our sunshine. If not for the dragons, for her alone I would walk through whatever she sends me.

She might be your sunshine, but she’s not mine lol.

Silmar Alech.4305:

She (and Canach) are the best developed and believable current story NPCs.

You find it believable that a young asura who hasn’t finished school yet is allowed (by her people AND the Commander of the Pact) to join a team in the field battling dragon minions? Nevermind the danger to herself, why would anyone choose her over any number of more proven “geniuses”?

No, this isn’t “believable” – this is an artificial situation created by Anet in order to get this “cute” character into the story for the “awe, so cute” factor. Whether I think Taimi’s character is cute or not, nothing about the story treatments that include her are “believable”.

Taimi is 17 so it’s not like she is an infant. This is reflected nicely in her character as I had mentioned earlier. Her not finishing school has nothing to do with it, who knows what it actually means to finish school as an asura.

Yes it is an artificial situation with a disabled and young character who is ment to require the player characters aid. We can’t have all those war heroes constantly messing up asking for help, sometimes it actually has to be someone were it makes sense they would be in need.

I don’t know what your answer is supposed to do with my post. No Elite Seal Team is going to take a disabled person into a high-risk combat situation. Period.

Now add to that she’s a 17 year old who is still in school (i.e. isn’t a child super genius already on a think tank) telling the Commander of the Pact what to do. If she was really that smart, why didn’t her government scout her ala Good Will Hunting?

And we don’t need an artificial situation to introduce someone who needs our aid – the entire planet already needs our aid.

Not only is this situation with Taimi not believable, I laugh at the silliness every time she is involved in the story.

Ayrilana.1396:

There’s a portal scroll for a nominal cost of 1,000 UB which can be earned very quickly. I also doubt that people not getting into the map with alternate characters would noticeably contribute to the player population of the maps.

Who are you responding to? And I don’t recall that all of the maps being discussed have a portal scroll.

Silmar Alech.4305:

What? Taimi is our sunshine. If not for the dragons, for her alone I would walk through whatever she sends me.

She might be your sunshine, but she’s not mine lol.

Silmar Alech.4305:

She (and Canach) are the best developed and believable current story NPCs.

You find it believable that a young asura who hasn’t finished school yet is allowed (by her people AND the Commander of the Pact) to join a team in the field battling dragon minions? Nevermind the danger to herself, why would anyone choose her over any number of more proven “geniuses”?

No, this isn’t “believable” – this is an artificial situation created by Anet in order to get this “cute” character into the story for the “awe, so cute” factor. Whether I think Taimi’s character is cute or not, nothing about the story treatments that include her are “believable”.

Consistency is always nice, but closing these maps to characters who have not gained access through the story just means that as people move on to new content, those maps will be less and less populated.

As I said previously, if they wanted to encourage people to purchase the episodes, they should have some other incentive.