Guild Wars 2

I would say it should not include most of those. Well, maybe a random black lion ticket skin as one possibility to make you feel like “whoa, that just saved me scrounging scraps or grinding gold!” Skins that show you’ve done specific content would not be on the AP loot table. Rarer champ skins, BL skins, sure, but not legendaries, ambrites, or even those super hard things like Infinite Light.

But then I’m hypocritical as I am very happy I got Stalwart Shoulders and Boots out of pre-Wardrobe AP chests when I don’t PvP. I used them in activities like Sanctum Sprint and now they are simply part of my clothing choices.

LostBalloon.6423:

Also, I know its not easy to get an exact number of people to do an activity at the same time, but that is not a challenge for the devs, but for the guilds. Scaling the content to different sizes of groups will really limit what the devs can do with the content they create. I really think that you need to pick a number that works well for smaller as well as larger guilds. (ex: 15 or 20 – no, I dont think they should cater to 5 man guilds (work with others) or large guilds that could just run multiple groups)

Scaling isn’t part of the discussion right now, I think we’re supposed to be talking raid mechanics (some of which are dependent on available manpower) and progression in and through raids.

However, while scaling isn’t a thing, in my opinion scale is. I’m in a small guild, we have yet to do enough guild stuff to unlock puzzles. I don’t know that we can muster 15 interested raiders, even! But there are guilds out there that do have massive numbers and have done amazing things with Teq and Wurm.

Maybe not the first created raid, while kinks are ironed out, but eventually I would hope for a number of raid options, including something meant for 150 coordinated people who get to choose who those people are. Sort of a progression of raids in size, as it were. There are quite a few dungeons, there are numerous ways to do WvW, I know sPvP folks want more styles, we can level up in PvE by many routes. Why not aim to have a number of types and sizes of raids? (By “raid” I mean “massive group coordination content” not necessarily “fighting bosses in big rooms.” Heck, there could be a JP raid a’la Zephyr Sanctum requiring people to navigate a 3D maze of terrain to disarm traps in the right order in a certain time frame).

Marcus Greythorne.6843:

about progression I want to ask you (players as well as devs) a question:

How do you feel about the agony resist system from fractals? Do you see any cons to this system? What are they and how do you think these could be fixed?

I really like the concept of agony, having an impact on the fractals only and no use outside of these mini-dungeons. I could imagine that this system would work fine in raids as well.

That touches on something that’s been … worrying? Mildly concerning? me about some of the “raid gear” comments. While I can see the reasoning behind it, and certainly do not demand it not be done, I personally have enough bag space issues — and always will, no matter how much bag space I get, I’m a packrat in games — that I shudder at the idea of a) having to haul around a whole extra set specifically for raids and b) having to remember to swap it out based on what I’m doing in game.

I think I’ve gone as far as Fractal 20, with just a bit of resist. More than that and the need for AR has been a disincentive for me to push any further. I could be alone in that, or I could be one of tens of thousands. I would prefer not to have a gear gate to being able to even participate.

Doing lockouts by individual advancement presents problems as well. Your 15 raiders have made it to phase three, hurrah! But then two of them have to go to a wedding on raid night, their slots are pugged, and the next session, what? Everyone has to stay in phase three until the laggards catch up?

I vastly prefer that advancement and progression rely on individual skill improvement in the encounters and scenarios rather than external obstacles to entry.

I foresee logistical issues with saved progress. Specifically, that just adds to the number of sessions where you have to get all the same people together before you can continue what you were doing. If it doesn’t have to be the same people, then there is the problem of who “controls” the save? Who gets to continue deeper in the raid when they feel like it even if those who helped get that far are left out?

If we need to have longer and more complex scenarios that do take several sessions, then perhaps it should be in the form of unlocks rather than saved stages. Even then I can imagine a lot of divisions coming from leaving some behind. Or should it be like the LS where if you’ve made it to a certain point you can invite others along regardless of their progress? Though that assumes the ones who missed a session will be able to find a large enough group to continue. And that they’ll be welcome in later parts of the raid if they didn’t help in the middle parts.

The more people you have to gather to do specific content, the greater the problem in repeatedly gathering them.

Here’s a minor thing using GW2 mechanics, just a throwaway thought really (I’m starving and have to go inhale sustenance before I fall over).

Terrain challenges.

I’m thinking like the false floor in that pirate cavern JP in nw Harathi, where if you run across it fast enough you make it but it’s crumbling at every footstep, with lethal spikes waiting for you to drop on them. Woe to you if you’re running just behind someone else. Also in Sharkmaw there are false rocks you can actually walk through, and need to to get through the first part. In some dungeons and fractals there are rolling rocks you have to avoid.

Weaving in variable terrain like that could be an interesting factor in a raid, though not a be-all-end-all in and of itself.

/goes off to get brain working again via food

Nov 1, 2014

Tonight much of the US will set clocks back one hour. However, the daily reset time is not based on US time. Therefore if you are, say, East Coast and used to an 8 pm reset, it will now happen at 7 pm as of tomorrow evening (Sunday) and persist thus until spring. Every year that catches people off guard.

Likewise, if you are not in a time zone that sets the clocks back, you may see some of your friends doing things an hour later by your time. So if you are used to a friend showing up in game thirty minutes after their work day ends, in your time zone it will be an hour past your expected rendezvous.

I’d want one. In general I tend to go for more realistic minis, not that I collect a lot.

I do miss the PvP skins that came out of those. I have Stalwart shoulders and boots thanks to the AP chests, as well as a number of weapon skins of interest. I just opened my 12.5K chest and went “meh.”

I would love to get skins again.

I don’t think so. I think I tried to use a temp finisher at one point (not these) but as it was one of my few unlocked ones it simply didn’t work. Not that there’s any reason to use a temp one if you have it unlocked, then you’d just have to watch a timer instead of keeping it active as long as you wish.

It looks like I didn’t think to take screenshots the first round, but here is one from the June 2012 stress test when they repeated the event:

Yes, Illuminerdi, yes! Or perhaps the “kill the boss” isn’t done by dps’ing the boss, or not entirely. In one CoE path you have to have people simultaneously firing lasers to take a shield down, then hustling to get some dps in.

What if the “boss” (or other objective, doesn’t even have to be an individual being) is beaten by the raid coordinating action in a number of locations? It could get positively Rube Goldberg. The “boss” could be a Divinity’s Reach destroying bomb that teams have to go acquire various items and intel to figure out the deactivation method before the city is wrecked, for instance. Combat can come into it as the bomb-planter sets up traps and assault teams (and the latter can be fought, or perhaps, persuaded to give up because omg the bomb will kill them too!).

Though that’s just a sample idea, as we might want the raids to be tied into the world’s story so if a failed raid destroys the city and it’s not destroyed in the general PvE world there’d be some dissonance.

Baltzenger, that could be interesting as long as it doesn’t turn into a straight up rep grind “do this many things for this specific guild/faction in order to get access to X rewards from that faction.” What about a tweak where a raid offers the choice of “mission style” for the three Orders, with different objectives and benefits for the raiders depending on which Order they choose to run the mission for?

Valandil Dragonhart.2371:

Opened probably ~1500 bags (6 stacks, give or take) and got an everlasting halloween tonic. Wanted to sell it and the rate was only ~5g.

Nothing much other than some major sigil recipes and an awful lot of ascended mats besides that.

5 gold? OMG — /goes into game to check TP

Ohh … you meant the Halloween Tonic like you said. I really thought you meant the endless Batwing. I don’t know that I want to spend 4/5 of my money getting the Batwing no matter how much I want to own that thing /weeps

This is not the game you are looking for /JediHandWave

(( very tongue in cheek with that, I promise ))

Rasimir.6239:

runeblade.7514:

laokoko.7403:

runeblade.7514:

The level 32 Heart quest in Fields of Ruin is the most frustrating of all.

No ogre spawns there at all. Only a few ogre racks spawns with a long respawn timer plus it takes a long time to complete it.

Just pick up the char metal. All you need to do is stand in 1 place and pick up charr metal which respawn every 5*0000* seconds and it’s done in 100 seconds. years

fixed.

Nope. The heart in question actually has an incredibly short respawn rate for charr metal. Just run the smallest circle around the southern platform, and metal will respawn before you’re even half-way around. Just standing next to a pile and picking it up actually is a quick (if somewhat boring) way to get this one done.

That said, I personally am always happy when I find the event going on in that area, since that will give me plenty of ogres to fight instead of collecting metal, or better yet, the area taken over by the ogres, which, admittedly doesn’t happen all that often these days, since there’s always people around that try to do the meta event.

It took me a time or two on that heart to realize: Picking up the metal is a miniscule amount of heart credit. Carrying what you’ve picked up to the heart vendor is much, much more. Without a single ogre it can be done in two or three circuits of the metal spawn area — you just have to give the stuff to the vendor!

Very well said, Blaeys. An excellent layout of how raids should feel.

Now the tricky part is designing it so they do feel like that.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/bltc/How-to-Dance-Vol-2/first#content

As I have no legendaries, and just 3 pieces of ascended collected for looks, not stats, somehow I think bag space will be a problem for me for a long time to come in that regard.

Nor am I the only interested raider who isn’t in full BiS. Please let’s not go anywhere near required gear checks to get into a raid.

… they don’t make money off gold spent in game, so “cash grab” is utterly meaningless in that context. Unless you are positing people will spend more real cash on gems to make up the difference from the rounding?

I’ve seen a couple of comments in the level-requirement discussion about the issue of bringing along underpowered members. I do think that is on the raid organizers, as they get to decide who to invite. What concerns me in it is the sentiment that raids won’t want inexperienced raiders regardless of power levels.

I understand this is a common part of the raiding mindset. I raided for several years in WoW, and my very nice, friendly guild still had a “progression team” that one had to be qualified for by gear, skill, and reliability. But there’s a catch-22 in there, if only experienced applicants are welcome, how exactly do they get that experience?

So I hope there is some way to do this content Tyria-style, in the cooperative, inclusive manner that goes to the core of the game. Some of the posters have posited an sPvP sort of normalizing. I can see the potential in that but would definitely want not only a gear-swap template if we’re talking raid-specific gear but a “holding” section of the hero panel for the alternate set, bag space being at a premium.

KorbanDallas.7389:

although it seems like being able to color your outfits (the costume ones) would be a thing.

It is a thing. Put on the outfit and go to your dye tab. The top box with four dye channels is for the outfit.

Right now it’s a little hit or miss as to whether it remembers your dye choices (I keep a Word document handy listing my dyes for each outfit for each alt for the frequent occasions when it reverts to gem store default). And when it does remember the choice, it applies that choice to every outfit you equip even if you want a completely different palette. (So that Word document helps if I swap outfits).

This would matter less if we had an alphabetical sort option for dyes instead of having to hunt through them all and remember whether a particular one is in the greens, browns, or yellows. Bronze, you sneaky dye you.

@Palador: Yes, that sort of thing was what I was getting at in my longer post above in my section on Splitting Teams.

Which isn’t to say I don’t like a big boss fight that contains the elements I mentioned, but I can have just as much fun on interesting “trash” as on a big bad if it promotes the things I enjoy.

In fact I don’t like the idea of trash as such. Why should there be any part of the experience that is considered a boring stumbling block? Why not build in interesting mechanics to every part of the dungeon? Of course we need lesser enemies to populate the place, preferably making sense for their location (Caudecus Manor does this superbly) but they should involve intriguing mechanics of their own where the answer is not just “dps the heck outta them and move along.”

I’m about to face plant but here’s a random example: The team enters a library. A certain pattern of books must be removed to open the secret passage to the next section. However the librarians keep putting the books back as well as getting violent (think the bandits and powder kegs in CM) and thus must be rooted or knocked back by some of the team while others yank out the books. Maybe even add in a “noise” bar similar to that blind dragon in WoW that will summon something nastier if the team gets too loud, which can be a fun fight in itself but slow down overall progress and possibly throw off timing such that not all teams get to the death trap shark pool in time to disable it …

Another point on Ogden, he has a little cave or dug-out house below the priory, it’s a POI. For all I know it’s a huge complex, actually, you get the POI without being able to go through the door. Perhaps that will be where we see that hourglass?

I loved that event. I missed BWE1 and 3’s end events because I simply could not stay up to 3 am on a work night. I think BWE2’s Monday was a holiday? So I got to play Corrupted, as I died pretty fast. It ended with three of us in my guild chasing a fourth who’d managed to stay alive the whole time. He was fleeing us in a swampy area, Mesmer blinking and speed boosting to evade our pursuit, while going “Nope nope nope” in /say. We almost had him — and the servers shut down.

Then they repeated the event, I believe in a stress test, and I knew much better how to live so I lasted far longer, but still died before it ended. Having a blast the whole time.

Palador.2170:

It might be better to go back to the very basics. What do people enjoy about raids? What do you want from them? What parts are fun? Once we know that, we might be able to find a way to deliver that without raids. If we’re going to see GW2 put their own spin on this, then we need to question everything instead of assuming that old answers are the right answers.

For me it’s teamwork, camaraderie, figuring out puzzles, and seeing interesting settings. Also variety of activity within the course of the run. Getting cool looking gear and titles is a plus as well, along with the triumph of mastering a challenge.

That last is so subjective, however. Everyone has a different point at which challenge becomes agonizing frustration that makes them quit rather than keep going.

So much discussion! Alas, having been out the past two nights I have not been able to keep up However, I have noted a lot of good ideas and want to add my voice to them.

Splitting Teams (My favorite core concept)
This was the glory of the Marionette. While I’d want fresh ideas in a raid rather than just changing the window dressing on essentially the same fight, the Marionette was absolutely brilliant. It kept me coming back long after I had all the achieves just because I loved the fight itself. Many people had to coordinate yet at any one part of the fight it came down to a handful of combatants doing it right. (There was the issue with griefers deliberately failing it; hopefully in a group who teamed up specifically for it, that wouldn’t happen. Or at least the griefer would lose future access to runs with that team).

Many people in this CDI have suggested variations on this idea. I love the concept of having different teams doing different things. Now, under that system, rewards could not be in any way tied to dps. They’d have to come from participation in all aspects of the fight. (Or not fight, necessarily. What about a raid that is a stealth rescue mission, or uses a lot of Zephyr crystal skills to reach levers to pull? Heck, what about having parts of the story of the mission where you’re doing Whispers secret stuff, akin to the DR party in the recent LS?). Yet many resist having their professions neutered by altering the skill bars, so there should be necessary profession action to pass various points, albeit different methods for different profs that achieve the same goal.

Non RNG Rewards
I see nothing wrong with a token system. The account wallet lets us accrue tokens towards a specific purchase based on relevant activities, without using up inventory space. If I want plant armor, I run TA. If I want temple armor, I work up my karma. It’s in line with the zone-specific reward system we see in Dry Top. Every time we put the effort in towards that activity, we progress towards the desired reward at a visible rate.

Sure, toss in random chances for precursors, ascended boxes, exotics, rares, and lesser loot. The same psychology behind Junk items applies. Much as some complain about it, it still makes you feel you got something for the kill. But make the special rewards definitively available for every player for the same amount of skill and effort.

Accessibility
I know this is a Guild Raid CDI. Yet I find myself agreeing that guild membership should not be an absolute requirement, though creating a raid instance might be guild-triggered. There can be a Raid Chat channel to allow text coordination with those invited along who are not in guild chat. (Or, as I’ve been begging since forever, give us custom chat channels. Those can be used in all aspects of the game and created on the fly for a raid, then deleted if desired. How to moderate them is a whole other issue, though). Just keep the social flexibility this game offers and avoid artificial barriers to entry beyond skill and finding people that want you in their raid.

Thus, no prereq’s to unlock raid entry, please. Especially not character based. Maybe a level requirement, as bringing a level 1 would likely be insane. And if issues with scaling can be worked out, let things be flexible moment to moment as to size of the raid.

I do want skill to be a factor. I chewed my fair share of glass in WoW raids and had the time of my life thanks to a supportive guild that laughed off wipes instead of going rabid at each other. I have no problem with a steep learning curve; the win is so much more rewarding when you get good! But I don’t think it needs to be split-second perfection over 30 minutes on the part of 20 to 40 people — that’s hard-core and not this game’s style. I .. am likely rambling to the word limit, so I’m stopping.

I don’t think she’s pretending. It is possible to love one’s job, y’know. I recently resigned from a job I stayed in for 19 years and while in the end I left due to a management change, the work itself was vastly rewarding despite a lot of negativity towards it.

You can’t know how often a public defender hears “I want to get a real lawyer.” But then there were the people who thanked me for what I did (even if I lost a trial, they were happy I fought so hard for them) and the judges who sang my and my colleague’s praises, and the knowledge that I was helping to uphold the Constitution.

Gaile gets the chance to interact with gamers and developers, to enjoy a game she loves in a fun work place. I’m pretty sure her enthusiasm is genuine.

Each unique daily task counts just once to the meta.

There’s still hope! I never touched the Prince instance (I might head for it if I feel like it, but I did it and its achieves last year) but I got the meta by spending time in the Labyrinth and doing all the daily task options. Not even that much time in the maze, an hour or two a day if that. I think I got maybe 5 or 6 of the event achieves and filled out the rest with dailies? Don’t give up, you can do it if you push just a little.

A point I’ve made before but feel is germane to this thread: These forums are not toxic or overwhelmingly negative. Sure, I can see that some of the complaining does scare some people off (at least, some folk post “I looked at the forums after a hiatus and based on them I’m still not coming back.”) Yet there are also fun threads, civilized debates, CDI’s, and truly nasty posters getting infracted and banned.

My paid AA time isn’t up for a couple of weeks but it’s been a couple of weeks since I logged in. Any time I vaguely get the urge I just look at the AA forums and bam, the urge is gone thanks to the foulness there. Whereas I am frequently urged to a GW2 session just because someone posted something interesting to see in the game.

Most of the complaints here are constructive. The ones that aren’t get pointed out as ridiculous, with a remarkably low amount of bile for such a large online community. Rejoice, I say! Rejoice in how nice this forum is!

I haven’t used it myself since I generally prefer game sounds but I understand there is a custom music option in this game and has been from the beginning. Ask in the Audio subforum for details. It lets you put in whatever music you want for various triggers, as I understand it.

Huzzah! We’re off and running! (Yay TTS). I have to leave any second now, darn Tuesdays, so I’ll hold off on any proposals I might have until I have time to write them.

Meanwhile, I think the TTS proposal above is a strong way to modify current content. However, I hope we’ll be brainstorming brand new content that would come under the Guild Raid heading.

I’d go with:

“We’ve designed the fix and are testing it now. I’ll be at a review in an hour to get more information. If all goes well we’ll have it out by tomorrow; our goal is to have it out before the Halloween event ends at the latest. I’ll let you know if any problems arise in that schedule.”

Lots of conditionals, but lets us know the current status. Then if bugs happen, you can update it with “Sorry, but the fix is breaking other parts of the BLTP. We’re ironing those out / and still hope to get this to you while Halloween is active/ OR / but it’s a major issue so it’s no longer likely we can do it that quickly.” And possibly extend gem shop item availability until such time as the fix is in.

You don’t have to say what is breaking, or to the hour when you’ll patch, but none of what I proposed breaks any corporate secrets imo.

Are you NA? I’d be glad to come in game and join you in the fight to help you out.

They said in Points of Interest the first half would be recap, and they weren’t kidding. It’s not just recap, it’s old footage. The dragon forcing its way between plant trunks is seen several times in the fight in the Omphalos Chamber at the end of the chapter.

The flying dragon in the crystal area is from the vision the Pale Tree gives you after that fight.

The new footage with teasers for what’s to come begins with the airship.

The Gobbler looks pretty cool, though I don’t tend to boon up so much. The Gramophone is a disappointment because it’s just a set of 10 sound clips, not a playable instrument or jukebox-like item as I thought it might be. Even as an avid roleplayer I’m having trouble thinking of many ways I’d want to use those sounds. I do like the touch they added of having little pops and hisses; I grew up with LP’s and have heard actual gramophones used as well in LARPs set in the 20’s and 30’s.

It almost looks like the Priory’s getting blown up.

I have a vague recollection of this coming up before and someone official saying LFG is not a trade chat and using as such would be reportable. Dunno about guild recruiting, though map chat seems to work for that. (Me, I join guilds of friends with RP themes. I can’t fathom wanting to just net in total strangers without even a probationary period to see if they fit. But I know some guilds prize numbers).

DreamyAbaddon has a sixth sense for people in need of help and he charges headlong at them

Yes, I’ve said it before. ANet dropped the ball on feline models imo. They do exquisite canines. Yet their cats are chunky, blocky, arthritic things. Even a plump cat RL has more fluidity of motion than these.

I guess the ANet artists are just dog people

Edit: Here is one of my cats, from when she was less than a year old (not a kitten but not yet a grown cat) and from this year showing her being plump but not clunky.

I can deny most of those without kidding anyone, least of all myself.

1 — Who knows? I don’t main warriors, just got 2 to 80 and let them sit.
2 — It may have been small, or too incremental for you to notice, and I’m not saying it’s a massive expansion or anything, but they definitely have added permanent stuff. There have been many threads with people listing it in detail.
3 — They don’t tell us what they’re focusing on (possibly a problem there) but I’m sure they’re listening to it all. It’s their lifeblood to know what people are saying about their work.
4 — Very few people can question the needs of balance without having access to full metrics. However I recall quite a lot of commentary about the “nerf” pointing out that it wasn’t a huge reduction, just a rebalancing.
5 — Subjective opinion. I know I haven’t bothered with trait unlocks on my current leveling project, a necro. I’ve seen people praising and criticizing the NPE. It’s hard for me to have faith that it’s all good, there, but I’m a veteran who hoovered up the alpha and beta videos, commentaries, etc., after many years of MMO play. Maybe the pre-NPE would have bewildered me if I was new? I’ll lean towards “does not improve the game” from my subjective view. I won’t say they have a continuous record of degrading game play.
6 — It does seem like they are fixing it. I’m hopeful we’ll see that new custom button tomorrow that they have outright said they are putting in.
7 — It’s all just speculation but there are some hints and rumors they are in fact listening about an expansion. They could have been working on it for over a year, them not telling you they are doesn’t mean they “never listened.” They just never spoke.

It’s an off hand weapon used by various casters. Usually a large clunky object of some sort. You can search for a focus on the TP.

You can get the Old Pillowcase for under 5 silver on the TP. That doesn’t mean the mini shouldn’t be somewhat more obtainable but please don’t miss out on the collection because you were waiting for the Pillowcase to drop.

A kind person at the Pink Day event gave me one and I had the whole collection done a few minutes later thanks to having the various consumables already on hand (or craftable with my Chef). That gift was when I realized it was a) tradeable and b) selling as cheaply as you’d expect some old cloth scrap to go for at a thrift shop

That CDI had better start soon or this thread is going to turn into it.
/grin

I’m loving the discussion so far, I simply want to wait for the coordinated CDI thread to add any small ideas I may have. That’ll be the thread that consolidates the debate and brainstorming.

Would that still give it the lovely swish and swirl at the hem?

The more I use the gown, the more I like that my legs cannot be seen above the upper calf. I just imagine it as a froth of dark petticoats. Because not every woman running in a full length skirt has it blow up so high you can see her upper thighs! That’s bothered me in a lot of the garments in Tyria, actually, how much they expose while running.

Not because I’m prudish, I’m not and I have a few alts that go for the skimpy gear, but because I’ve done enough sewing and costuming to know cloth doesn’t -do- that. Plus it seems a tad chilly in cooler climes … anyway, I find myself embracing this feature as making the dress much more suitable for my noble mesmer.

I say play what feels good to you, but I’ve seen enough snide comments about “staff guardians” to know you’ll get lambasted for relying on it as a main weapon. My dungeon guardian is mostly scepter/focus (the guardian focus has a lot more ‘shield’ properties than the shield does) with sword/shield for when I get bored or need a knockback. Now, she does no dps, but she’s stellar at condition removal and damage absorption for the group, as well as the occasional timely healing of everyone back to full.

Of course, I run with guildies, not PuGs. I bet I’d get raked over the coals for PuGging with her in today’s zerk or gtfo climate.

Note — no one is meant to be a tank. It can’t be done. Support comes from giving your team boons and damage mitigation, not from saying “Hey you! I’m here, hit me inna face!”

As in each individual daily task. If you have any you haven’t done at all, do one of those towards your daily and you will get a step increase.

They’re all on Kindle. You don’t need a specialized eReader, just the free Kindle app. I use my tablet to read books now as my Kindle started dying after a couple of hours. It works on phones, too. (I am sure they are on other publishers besides Amazon, that’s just my prime book source and I got all of them that way when they came out).

Titles:
Ghosts of Ascalon
Edge of Destiny
Sea of Sorrows

MithranArkanere.8957:

I disagree.

Women should be able to participate too in the entire of the game’s content. No exceptions.

Nothing should be for men only.

I am extremely confused by this post. Did anyone say anything about gender affecting ability to join content? If not, are you saying that women can’t handle hard content? This just came out of left field in this discussion.

For the actual discussion, I maintain the need for inclusive content. Not that everyone should necessarily be easily able to succeed at it — I myself will never beat the Clocktower, and I’m fine with that, nor has my guild ever gotten to guild puzzles — but the only bar to completion should be skill and willingness to put in the effort, not gear/trait checks.

Though as we get into the Guild Raid CDI, I’ll be agreeing that there is no definition of “raid” that allows for solo completion. (Not in the GW2 context, anyway, WoW’s gear treadmill means that now things like AQ can be swiftly soloed when they used to take 40 people a few hours of pain. No treadmill, no stat inflation here, thus ideally no trivialization of content). So there will be some sort of numeric bar requiring you to find enough people willing to join in the activity. Which will still not definitively eliminate any player’s options to join.