Guild Wars 2

Three-step process to being better than all those “casuals”

1. Attempt to zerg-rush a boss
2. Die over and over again while continuously zerg-rushing the boss
3. Come to the forums and complain that the fights are poorly designed.

The fact is, if you’d take a freaking moment to stop and analyze what the boss is doing, stay out of red circles, look for very obvious cues from bosses on what they’re going to do next instead of looking at your UI, and learn how to cooperate effectively with your teammates, you wouldn’t die at all.

But you guys do. And then come on the forums to blame the game for your shortcomings. And it’s hilarious. I wonder how fuming you would be if they just locked it down and didn’t allow you to hit up a WP when you die. None of you guys would have a dungeon run under your belt yet, and you’d be in here complaining about how dungeons are completely impossible.

Colin Johanson

Fun impacts loot collection. The rarest items in the game are not more powerful than other items, so you don’t need them to be the best. The rarest items have unique looks to help your character feel that sense of accomplishment, but it’s not required to play the game. We don’t need to make mandatory gear treadmills, we make all of it optional, so those who find it fun to chase this prestigious gear can do so, but those who don’t are just as powerful and get to have fun too.

That was posted on June 19th, just over two months before the game’s release. If you bought this game thinking that post-80 was going to be an endless cycle of getting better items, you bought the wrong game.

Zhaneel.9208:

I don’t remember where I read it, but apparently they are re-designing Mad King Thorn for the Halloween event and were also writing (or have finished) the lore behind his appearance in Tyria after 250 since GW1. I’m really excited about this myself!

:O

This sounds awesome.

I seem to recall Regina mentioning that holiday events like the ones you’re describing would be in the game back on GW2Guru.

A game can still have a branching storyline and still arrive at the same conclusion. From point A on, your goal is to kill a dragon. How you get there is what defines the storyline as “branching”. You’re attempting to pigeon-hole the term into what you think it is, despite the fact that it’s not solely limited to that. A little off-topic, but I’ve noticed this mentality a lot in people complaining about this game; they have deep-seeded preconceptions about what makes something what it is (i.e., if it’s not a race to 80 before you get to the real game, it’s not an MMO).

I can agree with you on the “grindy” aspect of dungeon tokens; I personally believe that one run should give you one armor piece or a weapon. That would yield a favorable reward for every dungeon run (unless you’re looking for some miniscule stat boost and progression gearing, in which case, you’re definitely playing the wrong game, because ANet said several times months ago that wouldn’t be in the game), while at the same time encouraging multiple runs of the same dungeon. However, if you don’t find the gameplay fun, that’s your opinion; many others, myself included, don’t share it. I get a great amount of glee simply from jumping between mobs with a greatsword and participating in a combat system that is easily much more engaging than most MMO’s.

I do agree about the repetitiveness of DE’s to an extent, but they are a good concept, infinitely more fun than traditional MMO questing, and will likely subside in monotony as more are added. And yes, more will be added.

Cascading events, contrary to what you said, do impact the game. Some events will not even be playable unless you succeed (or fail) the events before it. Most world bosses will not show up unless the meta-event chain succeeds up to that point. This affects the game in a very real way and makes the players feel like they’re involved in what’s going on around them for themselves and everyone nearby significantly more than killing 10 rats, doing dailies that involve killing x Champions, or downing Arthas.

Lord Jaguar.9504:

Because players EXPECT and DESERVE end game content.

Only the people who didn’t read the stuff ANet has been saying for the past three years expected the kind of endgame content that people here are complaining about the absence of. Uninformed consumers, every one of them.

Craven.5468:

DusK.3849:

They reviewed it thinking it would be WoW 2, just like a bunch of people came into the game thinking it would be WoW 2, despite ANet saying for years that it wouldn’t be WoW 2. That’s really the bottom line.

I refuse to believe that a “Pro-reviewer” would be satisfied with this level of ignorance. I mean, they are pro’s at playing a video game. This is serious stuff if the “pro” players are saying this.

Someone please take away my sarcasm hammer.

No more sarcasm hammer for you. You’re gonna hurt someone’s feelings with that thing.

Likely a panda’s feelings.

They reviewed it thinking it would be WoW 2, just like a bunch of people came into the game thinking it would be WoW 2, despite ANet saying for years that it wouldn’t be WoW 2. That’s really the bottom line.

Birdy.4816:

DusK.3849:

Birdy

Yea I asked you to provide a source for that claim last time, where is it? How do you know the active playerbase of both?

You missed that post? Or do you want to just pretend it never existed? It’s okay, I’ll post it as many times as you’d like.

Guild Wars 2: http://beta.xfire.com/games/gw2
World of Warcraft: http://beta.xfire.com/games/wow

Keep in mind, not a lot of gamers use Xfire anymore now that Steam kinda beats it, so those numbers apply only to people the Xfire client can track, but given the sample size of each, there’s really no reason to believe that fewer WoW players use Xfire on the whole compared to GW2 players. So when viewed comparitively, it gives a very accurate projection.

Sorry, bro. GW2’s kicking the crap out of Grind’n’-Raid. We’ll see where it goes after the 25th, but for now, deal with it.

Oh dear god….. this just sums you up to me really.

Xfire….. the program that says League of Legends has 100,000 players online and DoTA 2 only has 8000 , where it has 90k?

Im sorry, you don’t know how to use statistics, you have no real arguement, there is nothing here but raving fanboyism.

If you honestly believe you have a point then I pitty you…. and your age 10 debating ability.

Typical lack of reason. When a source proves you wrong, attack the source.

I believe it was Thomas Paine who said “Arguing with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead.” I think I’m done administering medicine to the dead today. I’m going to go back to playing my 80, doing content you insist doesn’t exist.

Birdy.4816:

Its you people that say “its fine, let them leave in droves” that are going to long term harm this game.

You know what would be even worse for it? If ArenaNet did a complete 180 on everything they’ve been saying for the past three years just to cater to a no-lifer minority that still thinks MMO = gear treadmills.

Me too. Honestly, I’m thinking they’ll bring Elona in first. They haven’t even named the dragon that’s cut Tyria off from Cantha, so that’s definitely gonna be a ways off.

Yeah, I just saw people LFGing for about every explorable dungeon in the game in Lion’s Arch chat just now. Yesterday, while working on map completion in Bloodtide, I met three other level 80’s. This argument that “nobody’s doing the content” is probably the most ill-informed thing I’ve read on the forums all day.

Gold just comes naturally if you play this game. I have no idea what you guys could be doing wrong. Waypointing like crazy maybe?

There’s plenty of insight into their philosophy on their blog. Lots of it, spanning several years. How did you miss all of that stuff?

Birdy

Yea I asked you to provide a source for that claim last time, where is it? How do you know the active playerbase of both?

You missed that post? Or do you want to just pretend it never existed? It’s okay, I’ll post it as many times as you’d like.

Guild Wars 2: http://beta.xfire.com/games/gw2
World of Warcraft: http://beta.xfire.com/games/wow

Keep in mind, not a lot of gamers use Xfire anymore now that Steam kinda beats it, so those numbers apply only to people the Xfire client can track, but given the sample size of each, there’s really no reason to believe that fewer WoW players use Xfire on the whole compared to GW2 players. So when viewed comparitively, it gives a very accurate projection.

Sorry, bro. GW2’s kicking the crap out of Grind’n’-Raid. We’ll see where it goes after the 25th, but for now, deal with it.

Birdy.4816:

Most people yet the most popular mmos are all focused around this, clever analysis there -_-;

If those MMO’s are so popular, why is their player count so low compared to this one? I can understand the zombie masses waiting for pandas, we’ll see how it all evens out on the 25th, but as it stands right now, GW2 has over thrice the active player count of WoW.

Birdy.4816:

Comparing RPGs to completely different genres and trying to make a valid point -_-

Mind blown.

You’re just angry because the point it makes is valid. A game is a game. You’re insisting that limitless progression is some aspect that has to be in an MMO. That’s like claiming going prone and weapon customization has to be in an FPS game before it’s an FPS game.

A game can stand on its gameplay and not need a carrot chase. If a carrot chase is for you, then by all means, go back to the games that provide that, but please stop insisting that it’s somehow needed here for everyone just because it’s necessary for you to enjoy the game. Not everyone’s you.

Nashiem.8932:

1.An ever changing world, the dynamic events are good, but are always the same if they had changing dynamic events it would make for a better playability experience.

This is coming, in addition to new areas to explore, new dungeons, new everything.

Nashiem.8932:

2.High lvl cap not easy to achieve. The 3rd day I played gw2 I saw lvl 80’s walking around I remember when I started playing wow it took me 2 months to get to lvl 20. (I got so bored I only played for 8 months. played Guild wars for 5 years)

Those people raced to the top and skipped all the content. Those are often the same people you see here complaining about how there’s no “endgame.” For most of us, leveling to 80 took over 100 hours. Nobody in their right mind would call that a “short amount of time”.

Nashiem.8932:

3.Almost endless lvl cap content. when you do get to the top of your class the game should expand to almost unlimited possibities. I like side games like in FFVII. (for instance) there were so many things to do besides playing the game it made it so much fun.

There are lots of additional things to do past 80 in this game. WvW, map completion, and dungeons are the big ones.

The only post-80 thing missing from this MMO is the thing we’ve known wouldn’t be in this MMO, gear treadmills, and for good reason; most people find that horrendously boring and stupid. But apparently, that’s why a lot of people play MMO’s, and that’s fine, but they should go play those MMO’s instead of trying to change this one into something most of GW2’s players don’t want.

Dradiin.8935:

GW2 has been advertised as a MMORPG and when i get into MMORPGs i have certain expectations about it.

A lot of people are making that mistake, it seems, expecting this MMO to be just like every other MMO.

Untouch.2541:

DusK.3849:

Birdy.4816:

Problem is you progress through the game so fast it doesn’t feel epic or lengthy.

A trip to 80 takes at least 50 hours. If you don’t think that’s lengthy, it might be time to go outside.

50?
Doing what?

You could craft to 80 in a relatively short amount of time, though it’s extremely expensive. And boring, imo.

My trip to 80 took me over 200 hours. I can’t really describe the trip as anything but lengthy and epic.

Guys like Birdy are still stuck in the “I gotta race to 80 because that’s where the game begins” mentality, and in doing so, they skip most of the game. He bought this game thinking it would be like every cookie-cutter WoW knockoff out there, and is now complaining about it, and trying to turn it into the very thing it was made not to be. It’s a lot like playing CoD games to the point where you actually believe every shooter in the world is like that, then buying UT3, then complaining about how the action is too fast and you can’t prone in a corner for an easy win.

Birdy.4816:

Problem is you progress through the game so fast it doesn’t feel epic or lengthy.

A trip to 80 takes at least 50 hours. If you don’t think that’s lengthy, it might be time to go outside.

Birdy.4816:

Gaming has “shifted” no it hasnt, its always been about rewarding players for challenge, only in your head has it ever been otherwise.

All MMORPGs focus around this. all RPGs do aswell, progression and reward.

Seriously, stop defending this game because so many people are dissapointed with the direction it took and rightfully so.

One more time for good measure: We knew about the direction it was taking months, even years ago. Why didn’t you?

If you’re getting rocked going back to lower level zones, it might be time to stop looking at what might be wrong with the game, and start looking at what might be wrong with you, because most people are not having that much of a problem. I plow through lower-level content, personally; if anything, I’d make downscaling a bit more strict.

Swagman.9013:

I want to know how gaming has shifted to everything you do requires a shiny trinket at the end.

It hasn’t, these people just want this MMO to be like every other MMO, which is ironically why many of us hate those other MMO’s. As if a game can’t just stand on its own merits in terms of gameplay or anything.

What they don’t understand is that this MMO was made that way intentionally, to change the way we look at MMO’s and to give us something that’s different than grinding a dungeon for gear so we can grind some more dungeons for gear so we can grind some more dungeons for gear. And they would have known this before they bought the game if they had just given the ANet blog a little peek instead of going, “Well, it’s an MMO, and all MMO’s are the same, so this should get my rocks off until pandas.”

You can’t just shove an i3 into whatever socket that E2220 is in, and you’re not really gonna find a video card more powerful than that HD 4650 that won’t bottleneck due to your slow CPU. It’s time to get a new computer.

They have posted about this on their blog. It was a really long time ago. I’ll see if I can find it, but the gist of it is that they wanted to get rid of fluff and make every skill feel really powerful, as well as eliminate the possibility of bad builds by locking 5 useful skills onto the weapons, giving every player a good self-heal, three skills to help them in certain situations, and an elite that’s intended to make an otherwise impossible fight completable.

Simply put, they wanted to stop the game from being Build Wars.

In my recent explorable CM run, Asura path, I died about 6 times, and each time I realize what mistake I made right after it happened. In story mode dungeons, I’ll die maybe once, usually not at all.

how 2 dodge?

You played a thief knowing full well what its armor class was. You can’t just sit there and take damage, and expect some “tank” to take that boss off of you, because it’s not that kind of game; roll those big attacks, apply blind, back up and let someone else manage aggro while you go support or control after you’ve taken a bit too much damage. You can’t go brain AFK in these fights. Don’t just stand there and die.

Battle Rifles.2965:

As I’ve said multiple times, I hope they alter it so we canboth enjoy it, but I’m not so entitled as to think it will actually happen.

And rightly so, as many things you suggest are against the ideas that the game was founded on and, therefore, would equate to ArenaNet giving a big fat middle finger to all the people who bought the game and, unlike every single complainer I’ve seen on these forums, actually knew what they were buying when they did it.

Tyqer.6413:

WvW is primarily a ranged fight. There is no argument against so. Most of the time in large scale battles anyone that’s bad scuffling into Melee will get killed.

Fixed that for you, because I prove that point wrong every single time I play WvW. I wreck in melee. I’m in a guild full of adamant WvWers, more so than me, many of whom also wreck in melee. If so many people are seeing success, and you’re having trouble, the problem’s most likely between your keyboard and your chair.

I understand if ranged is more your playstyle, but that by no means somehow indicates that melee is broken. My notches beg to differ.

Cawesome.1580:

trainwreck of endgame

Fine as it is, which is exactly like they’ve been saying it would be. Educate yourself about the game you’re buying before you buy it next time.

Nobody knows because guesting is currently absent from the game.

People use the term “casuals” as an insult and still expect to be taken seriously? What is this, a forum for an FPS game?

You think those wild punches are bad, Yak, you should have seen him yesterday. His jimmies were definitely rustled.

If you really think that’s the case, keep a thread about it alive in the Elementalist sub-forum.

Yes, Bassario… the people running the game right now would never have access to the data they’d need to make those graphs.

Seriously, where are these people coming from?

If you really want to focus a little more on the support aspect of the game while playing your character, that’s great, but you should never completely forsake the damage and control elements of your character. This game is nothing like WoW: you can’t just take one job during combat and completely ignore the other two. It doesn’t make you better at one; it just means you’re doing a third of what you should be doing.

That being said, if you enjoyed playing TF2 medic and engi a lot, you should definitely try Engineer. Healing turrets are great, as are those medkits they drop that are a free heal to any player that runs over them. Staff guardians are also great for healing and buffing allies, and the Tome of Courage elite is pretty much the most powerful support skill I’ve ever seen; it basically turns the first five skills of your skill bar into ridiculously powerful heal and buff skills for 20 seconds, including powerful AoE ground-target heal in skill 1 and a full-party max heal in skill 5.

It’s a little irritating, yeah, but it’s also typical of an MMO release. Give it a bit of time; today’s complaints will be tomorrow’s history.

I’ve played a guardian to level 80 and have been there for a week, and I can’t really bring myself to play any other class. I love the way this class plays the greatsword; it’s nimble, effective against multiple enemies, and 5 is some amazingly useful multi-target control. I currently use a build that focuses on increasing damage to burning targets and doing lots and lots of burning. I carry a staff as well for support, mainly for dungeons, so I can duck back and let someone else handle the boss or mobs for a bit while I beef them up, give them a little health, and stop encroaching melee. The Tome of Courage elite is amazing for boss fights; nothing says “last push” like a full-party max heal.

The correct term you’re looking for is “particles”, not “animations.”

This is an idea I can’t really say I’m opposed to, even though it really doesn’t both me, mainly because I’m not new to particle-heavy action games and I don’t game on a toaster. Turning the flash off would really be more of a taste thing.

From what I gather, there’s a big update coming in a few hours. That could happen along with a server reset.

Leiloni.7951:

GW2 is very casual friendly as well as being hardcore friendly. It has something for everyone.

That’s basically what I was saying; that you can’t really brand this game as completely gear towards one type of player.

Ironangel.1548:

melee is bad, stop defending bad design.

You’re bad, stop blaming the game for you being bad.

Ironangel.1548:

quit my 80 warrior because pve and pvp is trash as a melee and horribly designed.

There is no advantage to being melee.

There is no fun being downed all day.

There is so skill to be melee, you either range or you die.

There is no melee in pvp, you either range or you die.

There is no condition removal for melee, you get immobilized, you die.

It’s just trash and this game favors ranged only, so I am a lvl 5 ranger and the game is actually worth playing now, for the meantime.

I play melee. I find an advantage in being able to take on up to five enemies at the same time and be able to give each of them equal attention, as well as being able to deal greater damage and control to a boss than many classes, especially ranged classes, are capable of. I’m not downed all day because I don’t suck. There is an immense amount of skill required to play melee effectively, notably regarding situational skill use, placement, and use of damage mitigation, things that people completely disregard because they mistakenly believe that walking into a fight with a greatsword means that you’re supposed to stand in one spot, take every hit, and do as much damage as possible. I’ve killed significantly more players in PvP than have killed me, and many of them were ranged characters; I did this using both damage and control effectively. There is condition removal for melee, just because you choose not to use it doesn’t mean it exists; tell me what profession you play and I’ll gladly list all condition removal utility skills available for that profession.

TL;DR: L2P.

Battle Rifles.2965:

Now, I expect a sequel to be an improved, evolved, better version of whatever came first in the series.

And you’d be wrong. There are a lot of game sequels that have been drastically different from their predecessors.

So far I’ve seen several map completion-preventing bugs in Iron Marches, Timberline Falls, Straits of Devastation, Malchor’s Leap, Cursed Shore, and Bloodtide Coast.

Stark, I love this game as much as the next fan, but let’s be objective; there are broken skill challenges, dynamic events, and renown hearts all over the place. Thankfully, ANet knows what’s up and they’ll be rolling out fixes tonight and another big fix on the 24th.

how 2 read graph?

Seriously, I’m laughing quite a bit right now. Also, if you think Eve’s economy is some shining example of how to do it right, take a look at a graph of PLEX prices over the years. You might notice something.

Well, the problem is that it is a sequel. These people didn’t want a sequel, though. They wanted the original with upgraded graphics.

The items, gold, and if you’re leveling, experience can be a good motivating factor, but for me, it’s just the fun that makes me wanna do it.

Gray.9650:

DusK.3849:

Elthurien.8356:

I have no problem as a melee Thief in dungeons, PvE or WvW. I use my utilities
to blind, stun and daze to completely avoid damage, If I get aggro I take measures to lose aggro and continue to melee while controlling my incomming damage with smoke and avoidance. Melee is more challenging but it is far more enjoyable experience because of this.

Gentlemen, this is how you play a melee class. Take heed, especially if you’re playing thief. He knows what’s up.

too bad blind and CC doesn’t really work on champions and above, and even the instance trash can oneshot you in melee.

nice theory tho for everything up to veteran (which you can usually solo, so…)

Instance trash can only one-shot you in melee if you’re standing in one spot while he reels back a power attack. Anything else than that will smack you for a third of your health.

I have a couple of alts, but have a hard time really getting into them. Every time I give my thief or elementalist a go, I’m reminded that I just like playing a guardian a lot more, and I find myself back at the login screen clicking his portrait in less than an hour.