Guild Wars 2

I’ve been assuming Europe was the reason North America keeps having server updates smack in the middle of NA prime-time. Seems like every time this week I finally get through the queue to enter WvW we’re getting kicked out for an update.

There were some new NPCs that popped up with the patch. I’m not sure if this is one of them. I had not seen her before but it’s always possible that I may have just missed it. She may not even have anything to do with the Halloween Event, but she’s translucent and has that ghostly wisp effect steaming off of her, so who knows. For all I know that’s just how Asura cloaking or hologram technology works.

Does anyone know who Grand Advisor Bidda is? When I talk to her she responds like I’m in the middle of a task or event for her, even though (after checking several times for the past few days) there’s never anything going on around her and it’s always the same response.

Pic: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8465/8122275418_ea37fcbc3b_b.jpg

Completed it without much issue towards the end of a WvW cycle while fighting against a server that was pretty much dominating the map. Didn’t take very long.

A friend of mine had 759mb. It’s going to vary a little for everyone.

The percentage complete has always been based on the number of files, not the size of the download.

You can (for example) have two files making up an entire patch, one that’s 1 byte in size and one that’s 1 GB in size, and when it downloads either one of them (but not the other) it will say “50%” complete.

Reasonable hours to perform a reset are usually when there are the fewest number of players in-game. Typically that is not during prime-time in North America (on the North American servers, at least).

Some (I would say a majority, honestly) of Guild Wars 2’s events seem to break down and stop working as time passes between server resets. It seems like as more time passes by between resets, the more likely a large number of events will become stuck at particular stage or no longer trigger.

As this Halloween event is only available for a limited time, are you considering performing daily resets to minimize this problem? If so, at what hour will resets generally take place?

Some players have limited schedules, and the finicky event system can lead to at least part of the festivities being missed due to events breaking down. Likewise, I’ve noticed that many server resets of late have occurred during North America prime-time hours, which also hurts those same players attempting to participate in dungeon runs. I’d love to see resets happening more frequently (particularly during this holiday event) until the underlying problem that plagues events can be resolved. However, at the same time it helps when the resets occur at more reasonable hours of the day.

I can’t wait for the culling issues to be fixed. Most of the time I find that I’m finding an army of opponents that I simply can not see. It really completely kills any sort of fun I should otherwise be having in WvW. I would say the render bug is WvW’s number one issue.

I’ll just say this.

In the Priory headquarters there’s a classroom type area with a “teacher” at the front and a room full of Priory scholars positioned at chair+desks that cover the entire floor.

All the “students” are sitting on the floor, with their bodies obnoxiously clipping up through the chairs and desk above them. It’s ridiculous looking. I think it’s pretty bad when even the NPCs can’t be made to sit properly.

Guild Wars 2 is such a blast – for about a day after the servers are reset. During that short period, events are firing everywhere and they’re easy to stumble across. The result is the game world seems so very alive and at its best.

But roughly after a day following a server reset (and sometimes even less), most of the events start to break down. In some zones more events are not working than are. That’s just horrible, and it’s more than a bit depressing. For example, as a player I come across the same NPCs who spends 90% of his virtual existence stuck standing at the same remote locations, broken down mid-event. It’s like a huge eyesore I keep running across and a reminder of how buggy the events are. And because so many events chain off other events, whole sections of the game seem to just shut down whenever this problem occurs somewhere along the line. I look at this stuff and I feel like I’m playing the alpha version of a game, not a finished polished product.

I’ve heard the excuses that the short beta periods didn’t allow for the sort of testing necessary to uncover the types of problems that can occur when these dynamic events trigger over and over again. But a) that was your decision to limit the beta periods to weekend events and b) most of these events aren’t even remaining in a working state for even a day, and the beta weekends were longer than that.

I can not understand how, months after launch, this problem hasn’t been worked out yet. At some point the players can’t help but start to wonder if the entire setup is just doomed to always have these problems.. that you aren’t going to be able to fix them. And the Halloween update is supposed to add more events.. but what good is that if you haven’t fixed the underlying issues that are causing events to quickly break down? Why isn’t resolving this a priority (the kind or priority where solutions happen in days rather than months)? And why aren’t the servers being reset at least once a day to soften the severity of this problem in the mean while?

These dynamic events are the meat of your PvE content. When they aren’t working.. that means your game isn’t working.

I haven’t yet met a class that can not kick all kinds of rear underwater when played properly. Just fix the invulnerability issues and underwater combat is fine. When I’m not running into that problem I have loads of fun in the water.

Meeooww.3742:

Don’t push your beliefs into others. Other players might feel the opposite way you feel.

This is kind of a two way street. If you dislike using waypoints but hook up with a group that is teleporting everywhere and starts complaining when they notice you’re hoofing it to each location, guess who is starting to feel pressured to abandon their playstyle then?

It makes me also wish there were no waypoints.

OnionXI.6735:

These are very important people. They need to be seen.

Their need to be anything should pretty much stop when it bumps up against another player’s needs.

Why are commanders showing up on my mini-map outside of WvW? I was certain I saw another thread about this somewhere but the search tool isn’t finding it (although that thread was more about the commander tags above players heads).

Anyway, what I’m referring to is commander icons on the mini-map. I don’t want them on my mini-map outside of WvW. The mini-map in the PvE world points out a few important things: lets me keep track of my personal waypoints, events, NPC scouts, reknown tasks, resource nodes, party members, and vendors. And the last thing I want cluttering that display up further are icons tracking the position of other players I don’t care about who are across the map.

I’m fine with it being there if it has to be in PvP, but not in PvE. I realize someone paid a 100 gold for the commander title but I simply don’t see how that buys them the right to force their icon onto my radar display when we’re in the PvE world. What benefit am I gaining from information on their location in a PvE zone? It’s useless additional information my client is tracking all the time. And if they’re in the same map as you it’s always there.. not just when they’re within range of you, but all the time hugging the edge the of the “radar” display indicating their direction from you. I don’t need nor want that information in the PvE game.

Is there a way to turn this off on my end?

Received two last night in less than an hour. :/

Mob aggro ranges are also influenced by the level difference between you and the monsters in question. If you are a lower level character trying to make their way through a much higher level zones, mobs will come after you from much further away than normal. And when I say “lower level character”, I mean relative to the level of the mobs in your area.

Let’s not try to figure out excuses for it. The Lifetime Survivor is simply bugged. If a developer really needs it for proof I can go through the bother of uploading a screenshot and linking it here, but I have a character (and screenshot) at level 23 showing zero deaths and 0 / 200,000 XP (for the first tier of two) towards the Lifetime Survivor achievement. How does that happen?

And I took that screenshot yesterday, so it’s still broken.

There are negative GW2 reviews? Lowest score I can find is an 80; did I miss one? I hear the word “review” and I immediately think of editors who review games for a living.

If you’re talking about the posts players make on game forum, those are called “opinions”. And everyone has a different one. Some people, for example, are actually of the opinion that smoking is a smart idea. So, that’s what you can count on with opinions.

GW2 has a few problems which really need to be solved yesterday, and we can certainly come here and complain about that, but I would hardly call that a review of the game.

xewi.9810:

So, i ragequited today thanks to the fourth time i got 1 hitted by a normal mob (lvl 36). The thing is that i can tank like 4 mobs at the time UNLESS they got greatswords. If they have a greatsword they can 1 hit me with their spin. makes sense? NO. im playing on a offensiv warrior atm and i dont have that bad gear but this keeps happening to me. Some1 please help with hints cuz i cannnot dodge all spins :S

You’re pretty much going to have the same result with any single attack that does damage across a duration if you stubbornly remain in the spot the damage is occurring the entire time. Spinning greatsword attack, spinning dual-axe attack, poison cloud, burning patch of ground, dual pistol unloading, whatever.

Still receiving in-game mail from gold sellers. Still seeing gold selling spam in chat. Still watching them running around in packs, “hunting” out in the wilds. Still reporting, for whatever that’s worth.

Logun.2349:

Edge.4180:

Truth is, these are all just symptoms of a problem people have been complaining about since beta. What you’re all saying (and I agree with it) is that the content in this game is much more fun when there are fewer people around.

I have an addendum to this the mechanics of the game breakdown when more than 40 players show up to an event. I can’t fault the game for that this is primarily a symptom of the launch wave making it’s way through the game for the first time.

This game actually plays best when you have between 15 to 25 players working on events in the general area, less than that and the pace of the game slows down, more and the big events start to feel trivial.

Unlike other MMO’s where 90% of the open world content can become trivial with just 2 players working on it.

As the OP pointed out now that the population of the game is more fanned out the early zones play much better the second time round.

I honestly think events are at their best when no more than 5 or so players are present. The higher you go over that, the more elements like combo fields and players shifting into specific roles as needed go out the window in favor for damage, damage, damage, and the mindless “if it’s a target, AoE it” zerg. A tactic that, sadly, works all too well.

The pages past the first news page appear to be broken.

Example: https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/page/2/

results in this error message:

Foo! Quaggan cannot find page!

Quaggan has been looking and looking but quaggan cannot find your page, only 404.

Quaggan does not think your page exists.

Quaggan sad.

The result is the same for pages 3, 4, 5 etc.

Truth is, these are all just symptoms of a problem people have been complaining about since beta. What you’re all saying (and I agree with it) is that the content in this game is much more fun when there are fewer people around. The problem being that the combat in events because far too easy and mindless when a lot of players are involved in the mix.

The NPC scaling for larger crowds is just balanced poorly and the design isn’t holding up. More players come in, and more mobs are added and their levels increased as a counter. The problem is, that only really equates to more danger (and often instant and unpleasantly surprising death) for the front-line fighters. It’s pretty hard to survive when a dozen NPCs 3 levels over you decide to use you as their pincushion all at the same time.

Meanwhile, the ranged players in the back don’t notice a change in the difficulty because whether it’s 2 mobs parked under their AoE ranged bombardment or 20, they’re all dying at the same rate anyway (especially since the latter is paired with more players performing ranged AoE attacks).

The game desperately needs to handle large battles better. Otherwise they literally feel like a mindless zerg.

Just wanted to add that the email notification for the level 40 dungeon, Caudecus’s Manor, triggers when you reach level 40 with your character, regardless of whether you’ve even started your personal storyline or not. So, while the level 30 dungeon notification is triggered by your storyline progression, the level 40 dungeon notification is triggered solely by your character level.

This might help explain why there is some confusion regarding what exactly triggers the emails.

WasAGuest.4973:

IMO; the most dynamic system I’ve seen in play was in Tabula Rasa. AI would attack player outposts in attempts to take and control them. Players would take to the walls, the gates, etc to defend these places. If players failed, the AI would boot the players out of the area.

I remember that. That was fun. GW2 can already be like that (it tries to, actually), but it’s just too darn difficult to fail an event. I don’t think, for example, I’ve ever seen the Seraph not occupying all the contested outposts in Kessex Hills. The Centaur can’t even rebuild the bridge.. the players always stop them effortlessly. How are they (the Centaurs) ever supposed to get to the stage where they’re assaulting the town across the bridge because of that?

It seems like today is my day for receiving infractions, but what exactly are they and how do they impact ones account? I have a number of questions regarding them now that I appear to be accumulating them rapidly.

A while back I received my first infraction here: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/account/Multiple-Tickets-Don-t-do-it/first#post37916

..because multiple pages of various users posts created in this thread were (at someone’s request) removed so only the original post remained. Around launch (when I posted in it once) it was being used as a discussion thread regarding ticket problems, but eventually those were cleared up and the entire thread cleaned out. That’s fine, but I received an infraction when all the pages were cut simply for having posted in the thread at some point. That seemed like a bug to me (heck, even Gaile Gray was given an infraction for creating the thread), so I contacted support to appeal the error, but (as far as I can tell) nothing came of it. In the end I just let the matter drop.

However, today I received another infraction for creating this thread:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Can-a-developer-please-clarify-condition-mechanics/first#post397876

The problem with this one (as was explained in the infraction notice) was the word “developer” in the title. Apparently “using staff names/ArenaNet” in your thread titles is a big no-no. I thought I was just using proper sentence structure and using respect by saying “developer” instead of using the title “Can you please clarify..”. Apparently the latter would have been fine as there are numerous threads happily existing which are clearly implied to be addressed to the developers, they just don’t use the word “developer”. I think I’m more sad that the thread was locked as a result, which pretty much killed a legitimate discussion and question I was seeking answers to. I would have happily edited the title if someone told me, but I was never given the chance.

Finally, I received another infraction today for posting in this thread:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Feedback-Mobile-Two-Factor-Authentication/first#post399372

..because I asked if there were plans to sell those physical authenticators type-keychains that other MMOs use. Apparently that was considered “off-topic posting”. I thought I was supplying feedback on authenticators (as I don’t use a smart phone and want my account to be secure, and am willing to purchase a physical authenticator to add to the collection I already have on my desk).

So, by my count now I have three infractions. Which begs the question: what impact does that have on my account? Is there somewhere I can go to see an infraction tally on my account, or am I expected to keep track of them manually? Are there limits to how many infractions you can receive before some sort of action is taken against your account? Do they expire over time? Finally, can forum infractions impact your game account (I would definitely like to know this as I’d probably just stop posting altogether if that is the case.. they just seem too easy/random to incur).

The description of this (the Account Issues) subforum is “report account problems and ask questions about support policies.”. So, hopefully I’m asking these questions in the right place.

I prefer to think of the events as being dynamic (in no small part) due to the fact that they can play out differently every time. Not just in that you can win or lose (which is rare; events are too easy once too many players arrive on the scene, but that’s another topic), but that some wins are harder or more exciting than others. There are even different ways to respond to each event.. nobody is forcing you (for example) to always choosing the same spot to defend the same pair of tools on the ground from thieves when there are ten or more laying about.

You don’t even have to perform the same role in any given event. You can repeat the same event several times by focusing on damage one time, support another, etc, simply by swapping out your weapons.

Point is, you have at least some power to shake things up a little. It’s kind of like being presented with the task of walking from point A to point B and being told that there are a dozen different ways to get there, but choosing the same route each time and then complaining that it’s boring you. Try things a different way.

I have to say.. fixing a weapon animation issue that then results in a 7% loss of damage and being ok with that unintentional nerf remaining in place seems odd.

The other attacks on the shortbow, particularly quick shot, crippling shot, and concussion shots, are very situational abilities that players would probably prefer saving for a time when best needed, and not something they’re going to toss into their attack sequence just because one of them happens to be off cooldown.

Even if the nerf remains in place, this change is not going to suddenly make me play in a manner that (I feel) is unwise by using my other shortbow skills when I don’t need them. So, if the intention is to coax me into using something other than crossfire and staying on my target’s back while using a shortbow, this is the probably wrong way to go about it.

In case a “we’re-planning-to-introduce-an-authenticator-app-for-mobile-devices” response is coming, I’d like to head it off with a “what about selling a physical authenticator” question first.

I originally posted this question in the “Players Helping Players” forum, but it’s become clear that the players there (while helpful) can only offer their best guess. But when it comes to mechanics like these.. truth is, how they work should be crystal clear.

I don’t think anybody wants to spend trait or slotting choices on a hunch; we like making informed decisions. And since it’s not clear from the text provided within the game, I think it’s ultimately the responsibility of the developer to clear up the confusion when it comes to how certain mechanics are intended to work. Otherwise, how do we know they’re working correctly (or at all)? In this particular case, it’s a question regarding the mechanics of condition removal.

So, let’s say you have three abilities and/or traits equipped which offer the same passive ability: “Cures a condition every ten seconds.” And then you zoned to a new map (thus zoning into a new map with them all “active”).

How exactly does that work? Would you..

A) ..have a condition cured every 3.33 seconds?

B) ..have three condition cures firing off at the same time every 10 seconds?

C) ..have three condition cures firing off at different times, each on its own independent 10 second timer, which is completely based on when you slotted each ability/trait, regardless of zoning to a new map afterwards.

Clearly (in my opinion) “A” is much more useful than “B” (and even “C”), as the latter can more easily allow conditions to land and expire naturally between cleanse points.

It has also been suggested that condition removals are always immediately ready to cleanse a condition as long as they have not done so in the prior 10 seconds. That it isn’t a “pulse” that fires every 10 seconds, but instead a state – either being in a mode where it was recently used (passively) and in the process of recharging over a 10 second period, OR being ready and instantly available, but remaining dormant until a condition presents itself for removal.

That’s a nice thought, but is it accurate? And even if it is, the question of how multiple condition removal skills interact remains. What if you have three such passive skills/traits running? Do they all react, cleanse, and then go on to a 10 second cooldown over the same single condition (which is a big waste of two of them), or is the system more intelligent than that with 2 of the 3 cleaners remaining dormant since only one needs to react to cleanse the problem?

The latter, for example, would allow someone to instantly cleanse the first three stacking application attempts of a bleed as they’re each applied, where as the former would waste three cleanses on the first bleed application (allowing the following two bleed applications to successfully apply).

I (and I believe other players) would really appreciate a definitive “this is how the system works” explanation. I know some developers prefer to leave things a mystery and prefer players figure things out, but how an ability works (particularly traits, which we can only choose so many of) should never be one of those things that players have to guess about.

Doesn’t matter, one retracts and another site makes another erroneous report. Now instead of a link between PlaySpan and Guild Wars, it’s Guild Wars 2.

http://www.theverge.com/gaming/2012/10/10/3483962/guild-wars-2-world-of-tanks-and-eve-online-playerkitten-by-playspan

That above link should say “players-” and “hit”. Yay, filters!

ReginaBuenaobra.6953:

ArenaNet does not use PlaySpan for its micro-transaction services in Guild Wars or Guild Wars 2.

We do not share account credentials with PlaySpan or any other company.

The various news organizations reporting this breach are claiming that PlaySpan and Guild Wars are linked in some fashion. What is leading the press to believe that?

Blacklight.2871:

True. Folks shouldn’t be sitting around, twiddling their thumbs in WvW. That’s not what it was designed for.

However, the flaw here is that it’s necessary to be there in order to complete certain achievements like map completion. It was well-known to the developers that a significant number of their potential players are not only disinterested in PvP, but actively dislike it. Just look at how severely the two game styles have been separated mechanically. Yet they chose to put objectives there that PvE-only players would need to get to, in order to attain certain achievements.

That’s not going to make someone who doesn’t like PvP, suddenly change their mind about it. If someone turns out to be amenable to PvP, they would likely have dipped their toes in on their own, when they felt ready to. They don’t need a push in that direction. For the rest of us who remain disinterested or who still actively dislike it, it only serves to irritate and frustrate. But it doesn’t take away our desire to complete those achievements because that particular metagame is independent of either PvE or PvP.

So we sit. We wait. We cybersquat on those coveted WvW slots, making sure that WvW enthusiasts have to wait that much longer to play, because we really haven’t been given an option to do otherwise. And no one wins.

This was ArenaNet’s decision and they dropped the ball with it. It’s a social engineering failure.

I have a number of friends playing the game who are normally not interested in PvP who “dipped their toe” into WvW only because they “had to” for the achievement (which isn’t necessary to begin with, but some players insist is) and the end result was that they ended up being pleasantly surprised with how fun WvW can be and now play there often because they want to. So, I can hardy suggest ArenaNet dropped the ball – I’m pretty sure they got exactly what they wanted with that one.

There will always be players who are not happy with something. Your comment regarding cybersquatting just sounds like you want to make sure others feel your displeasure. That’s not on ArenaNet, that’s on you.

I’m reading this too and wondering who PlaySpan is and why they have my Guild Wars account information to begin with. Are they a division of Arenanet or NCSoft?

Edit: The virtual goods monetisation platform is used in more than 1,000 games to power virtual goods and currency transactions, including titles such as World of Tanks, Eve Online, APB Reloaded, Aion and Guild Wars.

I’ve done transactions in a few of those games and am curious why I never saw any mention of this company being included in the loop when giving out my personal information.

I’m actually having a difficult time testing this because, as far as I can tell, the whole condition removal process seems to happen with pretty much no fanfare. Am I wrong in thinking this?

To explain better.. what I’m not seeing is me receiving a bleed, and then suddenly it’s cleansed a second later. I guess that makes sense since you wouldn’t want the bleed to even get a tick of damage in before being removed. So, I’m assuming the condition is negated the moment it attempts to apply?

But, if that’s true, then you’d never know when your condition removal has actually done something, only when it has failed to do something. This would be so much easier to test if we had access to player dueling, but with random PvE mobs I’m having a difficult time guessing at when one tried (and failed) to apply a condition to me.

I look at WvW as more of a shared PvE/PvP experience as the opportunity intentionally exists for both there. If you want pure PvP, or pure PvE, there are other areas of the game for that and you’re welcome to play there instead. You shouldn’t go to WvW expecting to PvP or PvE exclusively, nor complain when you see a player participating in one or the other.

However, as the visitor space is limited.. I would prefer they enforce that players are doing one or the other while on the WvW maps. AFK or have a conversation in guild chat somewhere else, as it is neither a PvE or PvP activity. There’s no “versus” element in gabbing.

I feel many events are simply too easy to win, and improving on that problem would make things more exciting for me, personally. I’m just looking for more of a steady pace of challenges.

helladoom.4317:

@Edge
“…any character can effectively level in any zone that is around their level or lower. You can be level 50 and thinking “I’m tired of Shiverpeak snow-themed zones”, and go play in Queensdale instead.”

For high level characters the xp they get from low level DE’s and Hearts is very small relative to the amount of xp needed to gain a level. Yes a high level char can level up in low level areas, but it takes for ever.

No, it doesn’t take forever. I have several characters, but two of them currently get the majority of my time. Despite spending much less time on one of them, he is higher level (and richer, and has ridiculously more karma) than the other. And that is because he spends almost all his time adventuring in lower level zones instead of the higher level zones the other is hitting. I haven’t even touched his personal story for rewards. It’s all about the frequency of easy-and-quick-to-complete events in lower level areas.

Here’s a real example:

Level 61 character completing a level 56 event: 4,314 XP, 270 Karma, 1 silver 33 copper reward.

Level 61 character completing a level 2 event: 1,158 XP, 158 Karma, 78 copper reward.

Level 2 character completing a level 2 event: 254 XP, 27 Karma, 13 copper reward.

As you can see, the level 61 character is earning much higher rewards than the level 2 character, despite the fact that they’re both participating in the same level 2 event. And, yes, the level 61 character would be earning higher rewards in the level 56 event, but the amount of time required to complete a level 56 event is much longer than the time required to complete a level 2 event.

Tharjax.9068:

@Edge

MMO = Massive Multiplayer Online, I didn’t buy an MMO so I can see 1 or 2 people here and there.

I like this game a lot and I don’t expect people to “flock” to the zone of my picking. I actually expect there should be people already in the zone for me to play with, not me having to chase down players in other zones.

If a zone is empty there is something wrong, maybe the zones quests are to boring, maybe the zone itself is ugly? Who knows it can be a multitude of reasons. But I still expect to go to any zone in this game and see people playing there.

Also there is only 2 level 40-50 zones and like 1 45-50. Why wouldn’t there be a good amount of people in this zone, especially if I play on a “Full” server.

One of the points I’m trying to get across is that, in addition to the 3 zones you just mentioned, there are 13 additional zones someone in that level range can go play in to level up thanks to the scaling system. And that’s not even including the PvP side of the game which adds several more maps, dungeons, or cities. And the options keep increasing as you get higher in level.

There’s only so many bodies allowed on each server. Essentially, your complaint is that we have too many areas to adventure in, or too much freedom to choose where we level. I, for one, am happy that we aren’t just confined to a couple zones at any given level.

For whatever reason, some of the zones are more populated than others. This seems perfect as some players prefer less populated zones in their MMOs and some prefer more. Since nobody is forcing you to play in any particular zone, the power to be or not be around plenty of other players is completely within your hands. In your case, you just have to go visit the proverbial mountain rather than waiting for the developers to move the mountain to you.

Lumines.3916:

If you go to any other zone, you’re rewarded with karma according to your SCALED level and not your actual level.

That is not accurate. A level 80 player in Queensdale scaled to level 5 will see much higher rewards at the end of events than a true level 5 player in Queensdale. He will not see rewards as high as he would seen in a level 80 zone, but that’s because the events in the lower level zones can be completed much quicker than their higher level counterparts.

Tharjax.9068:

@Edge

But regardless of the “reasons” behind why, the fact still remains that the zone is empty so it makes the whole zone not even worth trying to level in.

In what way? Outside of events with champion/boss mobs and maybe the highest level zones, they’re almost all supposed to be doable by a single character.

Seriously, I wish I could play around on more empty maps, and there are plenty of players like me who prefer less adventurers around them to more for a variety of reasons. So, if you’re running into zones where there aren’t many people playing.. to some of us that’s a good thing.

If you don’t like being in a particularly empty zone, you can always move to one with a larger population. There are a ridiculous number of zones that can take you to 80. You would have better luck with that than insisting on playing on a particular map and expecting everyone else to flock to your preferred location.

I was in a mid level zone this evening and saw an abundant number of players, as normal. There were so many people around me during events I was having problems seeing key NPCs.

What you’re assuming is a server population problem may actually be simply the result of a large game world combined with fact that any character can effectively level in any zone that is around their level or lower. You can be level 50 and thinking “I’m tired of Shiverpeak snow-themed zones”, and go play in Queensdale instead.

In addition, this is a game where people are enjoying trying out new character races/professions, and thus the lower levels zones are seeing additional traffic. Not everyone is choosing to level at the same speed as you, or doing it in the same zones. Maybe people are just playing in places and ways they like best.

Bsquared.3421:

Edge, I’m not sure what Maximus said is correct. When I first used Signet of Water (which clears a condition every 10s) I found this:
http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/45599-utility-signet-of-water/

I haven’t personally tested this, but I believe the signet waits for the 1st condition to come up, immediately clears it, and then goes on a 10s cooldown. It doesn’t “pulse” every 10 seconds based on when you slotted the trait, entered the map, etc.

So if you have 3 skills like this, they’ll simply wipe the conditions as they are applied, and go on their respective cooldowns. In this manner you could wipe 3 conditions immediately, and then have 10 seconds of no clears. Someone else may offer additional clarification, but i’m about 99.9% certain they are not “pulsing clears” on a set timer…

Huh, so a reactive trigger that clears a condition and then is offline for 10 seconds. Once the 10 seconds is up it just goes dormant again waiting to instantly clear the next condition that lands on the player?

That would actually be a nice way to work if true (although the thread you linked brought up a good point about stacking bleeds).

But what if you have three such passive skills/traits running? Do they all react, cleanse, and then go on to a 10 second cooldown over the same single condition (which is a big waste of two of them), or is the system more intelligent than that with 2 of the 3 cleaners remaining dormant since only one needs to react to cleanse the problem?

The latter, for example, would allow someone to instantly cleanse the first three stacking application attempts of a bleed as they’re each applied, where as the former would waste three cleanses on the first bleed application (allowing the following two bleed applications to successfully apply).

While I agree it’s irritating to see stuff like this, I just want to point out that these types of problems are not exclusive to GW2.

Heck, in WoW, I used to walk into Stormwind and.. right there in the plaza area between the entrance, bank, and auction house.. we’d have hack users teleporting their characters up into the sky and allowing them to fall and die on the pavement below. They would do that uncontested by Blizzard’s support, hundreds of times, until they spelled out their gold-selling website in huge letters via carefully placed corpses – right there on the pavement in Stormwind for everyone to see.

Between the hacks used to control their elevation in the air, and the time spent on their advertisement for gold selling.. there was more than enough to be frustrated about. And it went on in all the different cities for weeks. It was simply ridiculous. It leaves you wondering “how can this huge company be so powerless to stop it?”. And that was Blizzard in its prime.

I have to admit, that screenshot is showing some pretty lame stuff.

I’m not sure what the second post has to do with the first, other than perhaps pointing out that the methods mentioned in the second post don’t appear to be effectively stopping the problems shown in the first. I doubt that was the intention of the copy/paste, though.

Thanks for the information, although I’m curious to know what that answer is based on. Personal observation/testing? Developer explanation of the system? Best guess?

CharrGirl.7896:

GW2 makes the same mistake virtually every other MMO does out there: it doesn’t place animals in a realistic way. You never see deer running away from you in the forest or a pack of wolves hunting across the map. The pretty much just stand there and like you said, wait for AoE as an excuse to attack.

I’m no animal expert but I think they should have made it more realistic. Especially with animals like hyenas or other predatory mammals. They just don’t wander around in the open waiting for you to come along so they can attack you.

Credit where it’s due.. I have seen plenty of wolf packs roaming around in-game. Not everything stands in one spot.

I’m also a fan of the way predatory animals will attack weaker animals that they would normally consider food. I think there’s plenty of realism in the game if you watch for it.

As for the idea mentioned further above about AoE attacks not damaging “yellow” mobs unless they are hit with a single-target attack first, while that may sound like a good idea it would actually be a pain for players who purposely open up with an AoE attack on clusters of these animals. I believe almost all (if not all) of them drop materials used in crafting and cooking, and thus purposely hunted by players.

Everything you can kill usually has a purpose. Very little seems to be there just because someone thought it’d be neat.

If something has to change, I’d prefer “yellow” animals just scatter in the opposite direction whenever a battle starts against something other than them (unless they’re flagged as the type of mob that would purposely assist the target). It would cut down on the friendly fire and that would at least make some sense.

Let’s say you have three abilities and/or traits equipped which offer the same passive ability: “Cures a condition every ten seconds.” And then you zoned to a new map (thus zoning into a new map with them all “active”).

How exactly does that work? Would you..

A) ..have a condition cured every 3.33 seconds?

B) ..have three condition cures firing off at the same time every 10 seconds?

C) ..have three condition cures firing off at different times, each on its own independent 10 second timer, which is completely based on when you slotted each ability/trait, regardless of zoning to a new map afterwards.

Clearly (in my opinion) “A” is much more useful than “B” (and even “C”), as the latter can more easily allow conditions to land and expire naturally between cleanse points. Anyway, I’ve been searching for some clarification on how they work, but am not having any luck finding answers.

Repo.1925:

I’ve started alts and am having fun with the exception that NO ONE IS IN THE LOWER LEVEL ZONES… Feels like a single player game now.

I just don’t get this comment. I frequently play in lower level zones and I usually can’t look in any direction without seeing other players cluttering up the scene.

I wish it felt less like an MMO in terms of population. Seriously.

(Group-A enters a remote cave)
Party Member 1: “Kind of spooky in here. Looks abandoned!”
Party Member 2: “How exciting!”
(Groub-B, C, D, and E run past)
Party Member 3: “Not so much.”

All I can add is that those screenshots are from today, post last night’s patch. If anyone else has tried crafting several of the same type of dye (e.g. brown common) today, and then identified them one after the other and revealed the exact same dye each time.. I’d love to know as well.

I tend to believe (from the results I posted) there is a bug at work there, perhaps in the manufacturing of the dye, perhaps in the identifying (as I’m not really sure when the color of a dye is actually determined), perhaps in the fact that I identified 3 dyes in less than 5 seconds.. who knows.

It may even be something that can be reproduced and manipulated. I’m sure the wheels have already started turning on some exploiting mind out there somewhere, which is why I’m kind of surprised a developer hasn’t looked at those screenshots and checked into this.

Or, it was just dumb luck and I should have played the lotto today.