Guild Wars 2

score update?

10
Charr

Jayne.9251:

Elthurien.8356:

Jayne.9251:

Xirin.8593:

earendil.1290:

The issue BG is facing is that in T1 servers are obsessed with points and rank.
…
Good luck to all!

I just wanted to say that this post was awesome. Incredibly accurate and well written. And since it was written by an SBI player, I hope people will give it credence.

Anyway, good luck SBI/SOR/TC in your match-up. Sounds like you all are having a blast with the more balanced T2.

lol this was what was done to TC in Tier 2 tho. Or have you forgotten? It’s the mechanics of the game, the third place server will always be targetted and both BG and SoR did this nonstop to TC.

It’s ok, in the end you guys got what you wanted and moved up a tier, there’s no hard feelings because it’s what you needed to do to get there. But life has a way of showing you different viewpoints, given enough time, and what you’re experiencing in T1 right now is what we saw when we entered Tier 2.

There is a big difference between two dominating servers coordinating against the weaker ( What was described in an earlier post on SoS/JQ/SBI) compared to three servers fighting off each other and trying to capitalise on opportunities (BG/SoR/TC).

BG and SoR never ever cooperated to beat down TC. We were always fighting on two fronts. If the map looked like we were dominating TC borderland while BG borderland remained green it was only because BG were better defenders, they truly were a challenge on their BL and SoR also retreated to our BL each night and defended it to the last.

In reality, when it looked like you were getting teamed up on it was generally in retaliation from TC attempting to get a foothold and getting repelled. I can’t count how many times we started to push BGs corner in EB only to find TC trying to capitalise and invade Umber/Durios/Bravost. We would then return the favour by pushing you back and having those fun Pangloss battles.

That would be all fair and well … And completely logical if we didn’t see aberrations on our own BL …. Like SoR players escorting and defending BG yaks into newly claimed keeps …. Or witnessing three BG players WITH two SoR players go cap a supply camp and turn it green, all over the map. There were numerous events like this on our BL …. It was typically credited to SoR wanting BG to move up a tier … And none of us were ever angry about it, most times it just made us chuckle or scratch our heads.

I understand there’s some sensitivity right now given current challenges, but what happened to us on TC only helped us to learn and grow and get better. Perhaps this will happen for BG too.

Oh that’s hardly two servers working together, I must have read too much into your post or you might just make a bigger deal out of a few pugs doing things out of the ordinary. When someone says they were getting teamed up on, one generally thinks that it is large organised activity, not 2-5 pugs doing random pug things.

Jayne.9251:

Xirin.8593:

earendil.1290:

The issue BG is facing is that in T1 servers are obsessed with points and rank.
…
Good luck to all!

I just wanted to say that this post was awesome. Incredibly accurate and well written. And since it was written by an SBI player, I hope people will give it credence.

Anyway, good luck SBI/SOR/TC in your match-up. Sounds like you all are having a blast with the more balanced T2.

lol this was what was done to TC in Tier 2 tho. Or have you forgotten? It’s the mechanics of the game, the third place server will always be targetted and both BG and SoR did this nonstop to TC.

It’s ok, in the end you guys got what you wanted and moved up a tier, there’s no hard feelings because it’s what you needed to do to get there. But life has a way of showing you different viewpoints, given enough time, and what you’re experiencing in T1 right now is what we saw when we entered Tier 2.

There is a big difference between two dominating servers coordinating against the weaker ( What was described in an earlier post on SoS/JQ/SBI) compared to three servers fighting off each other and trying to capitalise on opportunities (BG/SoR/TC).

BG and SoR never ever cooperated to beat down TC. We were always fighting on two fronts. If the map looked like we were dominating TC borderland while BG borderland remained green it was only because BG were better defenders, they truly were a challenge on their BL and SoR also retreated to our BL each night and defended it to the last.

In reality, when it looked like you were getting teamed up on it was generally in retaliation from TC attempting to get a foothold and getting repelled. I can’t count how many times we started to push BGs corner in EB only to find TC trying to capitalise and invade Umber/Durios/Bravost. We would then return the favour by pushing you back and having those fun Pangloss battles.

This is the best match we’ve had in months, I’m looking forward to knocking off work today so I can get amongst it again. Here’s hoping we have a few weeks together.

What is a zerg in sPvP?

Have you considered talking to or offering to group with the random players you encounter? The game is only as lonely as you make it. Give players the opportunity to immerse themselves on a solo quest to 80 and they will do it because it is the path of least resistance, but that doesn’t mean you can’t socialise and group with the people you meet along the way.

Edit: Sorry I re-read my post and realised it was a little condescending. That isn’t the intention. Point being, make friends and talk to the people you meet along the way.

I think the breakout NPC for the leading point scorer should be changed to Logan Thackery and instead of being incredibly hard to kill and being useful, he would spend the majority of the battle in downed state, running away or just emoting while shouting “Not the face!1”

I’ll still be here.
I would like to see more open world emphasis in future content and a reason for 80s to revisit down-levelled content. I didn’t buy this game for a lobby and dungeon crawl, I could play Countless other MMOs for that experience. I bought this game for the combat system, massive open world, WvW endless endgame and a restricted vertical progression.

All that being said, I think I would have enjoyed the game more if the level cap was 20 and every zone from Gendarren Fields and above was endgame. I think by having 80 levels and only 2 level 80 zones has made much of the mid level content seem like a waste. Yes you can revisit it as a side kicked 80 but there’s little point in doing so, the anti-farm code and lack of 80 rewards means the only reason to return to the lower zones is for map completion.

The only thing that will make or break this game for me will be if they introduce a big power creep (like 20% or more) or change the combat mechnics (like swg combat upgrade or AoCs itemisation upgrade).

This is what happens when a generation of gamers are brought up with DeadlyBossMods and other crutches.

• Spike Traps give a visual cue and in some cases trigger in a timed pattern
• One shot abilities have an animation telegraph before the big hit
• In Ascalonian Catacombs:
  • If a graveling tunnels underground, prepare to dodge
  • If a graveling has it’s arms swept back and has a glowing particle effect, prepare to dodge or interrupt
  • Kill Breeders First

Ascalonian Catacombs is a training ground to teach new players what
to expect. Honestly, I think it would be far better if res running were removed so If you wiped the boss fight resets. At least that way you are required to learn the fight instead of bashing your face against wall until you win.

Sporadicus.1028:

I would say toolkit is very helpful in ZvZ because you are one more person with a pull. Once you pull, you can hit them with Prybar and (if you use pistols) #3 static shot to add confusion to their current problems. You can also run in, toss your ranged attacks, and run out with a block to protect yourself.

This is what i’ve been running with for my new engi. Good for levelling in WvW because of high survivability, I mix bomb and tool kit with pistol/shield. I open with static shot, followed by magnetic pull to drag them into the zerg, then prybar and concussion bomb. Good defense while I level up in WvW with gear shield and regular shield.

I’m loving my engineer Mario Bros. Build.
Toolkit Pipe-wrench and pry bar combined with bomb kit and pistol shield for a tanky confusion stacking build is amazing fun in WvW and PvE. Then I swap out to grenades for tower defence and just lob crap over the wall. Great fun.

I <3 Owly pooh. I have an Owl named Alpaca/Yuno depending on which character Owl is playing.

Nayru.4537:

frOst.2198:

you guys created one of the most detailed and beautiful worlds out there..and yet you are intentionally pulling people from it and pushing them into dungeons.

really..wtf?

Its all about exploration. Please implement RANDOM DE’s that spawn spontaneously and reward you with unique components for crafted gear.

Things like dragon events that happen in random places that occur after someone does a jumping puzzle at the right time of day and activates an item that has a 5-10 minute spawn window.

Start implementing things like this all over the map. This is the only thing that will save this game at this point…not fractals

Everything you are suggesting is already in game. (“Random Dragon Boss” – we have random champion events?)

People don’t do them because they get boring and are unrewarding, plus most areas are dead – so nobody to do the events with.

You are in that category.

I think unrewarding is the key point here. As always players will take the path of least resistance for the most rewards. If anything can be said to he constant over the last two decades of MMOs this is it. This doesn’t mean people enjoy running the same fractals day in/day out, it just means they do it because of the time/reward ratio is better.

Eddie.6701:

The rewards aren’t worth the time.

Honor tokens need to drop for every kill you get. Then just raise the cost of WvW weapons, and armor. If I’m going to do WvW for 10 hours, I expect to get an honor token for every person I kill, not 5 over the span of 10 hours.

It takes a week of AC clears (90m each) to get a full soldier set from Ascalonian Catacombs. The same stats that are on the WvW gear and yet it would take an unfathomable amount of time to get the badges required for the WvW set with the same stats. Ridiculous.

I got right into WvW for the first 500 hours or so but I rarely spend more than an hour a day in there now. My enthusiasm waned because of several factors, but mainly because there is no permanency to it. I play off peak but I don’t mind being outnumbered by servers with better coverage, I don’t like that keeps are so easy to take down when undefended. I have ninja’d a keep with a 4 man group before so I know how easy it can be.

Playing WvW just makes me miss Warhammer Online for the most part, WAR wasn’t perfect by any means but you felt like you were part of the world and even though things changed hands, the objective was the sack the enemy city. I miss open world RvR where I know my enemies by name, the same guys I fought since level 1. I wish that GW2 WvW was part of the open world, where Humans, Kodan and Norn are in an eternal struggle against the Charr, Dredge and Grawl while the Asura, Sylvari and Tengu attempt to hold the balance.

WvW was fun for me for a good two months, but it just doesn’t have anything to keep me there. I know that my enemies will change eventually, bringing in a new enemy, my keeps and towers will change hands far too often to even care about so it’s just a matter of going through the same motions week in/week out.

Zanshin.5379:

I would have loved it if it was actually an epic solo quest.
Something that requires skills, brains (with riddles and stuff) and, of course, time.

I agree with Zanshin.

It’s far too late for a design change that would not completely invalidate the time and effort spent by those that got legendaries, but I really despise the legendary grind in the game that specifically stated a zero grind philosophy in their design manifesto.

I just don’t find anything about legendaries to be the thing of legend. It’s just a horrible grind. While I still think that legendaries should be far out of reach for the average gamer, I think that they should have been acquired and crafted through playing the game, not playing the market. LotRO did it better.

how much gold does this take? just curious

I think intro’s are an industry standard put in place as a deterrent for gold selling spam these days. That being said, I would love the option to skip the intro.

People still spike in this game? I just mark target and my group continues to dps them down with the odd interrupt to stop them using their #2. It’s more fun too, especially when I’m on my ranger and I use hunters call to send the birdies in to devour the poor sod.

morrolan.9608:

Easy changes:

1. Winner of a tier goes to the next tier up loser goes down regardless of rating.
2. Orbs brought back with PvE benefits.
3. Make the minor changes needed to stop people using the exploits to get into Hills and DB.

This ^
As much as I love fighting Blackgate, I would prefer if the teams changed each week determined by who wins or loses.

I just wish the human did the melbourne shuffle and not the goofy party rock shuffle.

I can’t understand why a development studio would spend the better part of seven years making such a huge virtual world and then neglect it with future content updates by focusing on instanced fractals and dungeons.

I really want to see content continually added to mid level zones that attract mod and high level players. Something like Rifts zone events where invading monsters completely hijack Zones and establish footholds. The problem is that 80s are going to need that carrot on a stick to revisit old maps because currently all they do is fractals, a select few dungeons and farm Orr. Even if these zones provided comparable rewards, people will still only run the quickest and easiest, so are we doomed to fail from the beginning?

Agadar.4931:

Durzlla.6295:

Elthuzar.9478:

Agadar.4931:

Elthuzar.9478:

Agadar.4931:

3 seconds? Hell no. The white circle indicating a combo field literally flashes for less than a second before vanishing.

Read the description. It’s three seconds.

Read my post. In practice, it ain’t three seconds.

What about the Carrion Devourer? The poison field is 5 seconds, that’s 2 seconds longer than the Cave spider.

There’s also the warhogs foraged venom sack which lasts for like 10s (or it feels that long it’s there for freaking days), we have AMPLE poisons fields and a bunch of snakes creating a poison field just makes no sense…

And Spiketrap doesn’t have a combo field either, does that mean it’s “broken” too? Maybe we should make it an etheral field because why the kitten not? we don’t have any of those other than the throw gunk from warthogs!

You’re missing the point. Viper trap is currently as useless as our spirits are due to the fact that the only thing it has going for it is the poison debuff. All the other traps are way better, solely because those traps provide combo fields. Making Viper trap create a poison field might result in it being actually used.

Spike trap is one of our better if not arguably the best trap we have. It does decent damage and also cripples, making it very proper even without it creating a combo field.

Poison deals more damage than bleeding per tick AND reduces healing by 33%
Multiple ways to apply poison is great. The only reason I take Fire trap over Poison is because it has a shorter cooldown and I utilise cave spider and devourers regularly. Again, we just don’t need the field, Poison trap is fine. All ranger traps are fine, great in fact. Even better when traited.

Sunspots.9861:

I think for next week we should change our name to The Zombie Coast! Whenever we beat you, just know, we are eating your brains!

Separate the head from the body or destroy the brain.
Would you guys slow walk as a zerg for me? Shambling zombies are so
much cooler than ADHD zombies

JaredKincade.9761:

I am going to make a simple point, try to get what I’m saying and not misunderstand.

This applies to all servers that have > coverage than their opponents, not just BG.

There is an assumption that when we win because we have more active players in WvW (coverage) it means that we do not deserve or earn it.

This is NOT true!

Everyone acts like numbers on BG is an accident. All guilds on BG have worked TIRELESSLY to actively recruit players into guilds across all timezones. We recruited from PvEers and WvW PuGs to fill all timeslots. You act as if its some sort of random draw. We EARNED the coverage we currently have, because we worked for it.

We did not start receiving server transfers until after three weeks of winning with said “coverage”. These guilds, while making us stronger and we appreciate that greatly, were not here the first three weeks we beat SoR and IoJ. They are a RESULT of beating SoR and IoJ, not a CAUSE. These transfers happened because there are guilds that recognize that BG plays the long game (timeslot recruitment) as well as the short game of continuing to make our existing guilds stronger, more numerous, better geared with better tactics.

Do not come into the forum, and act as if we do not deserve our wins because we outnumber our opponents. We have tirelessly recruited and trained in those timeslots. Its an insult to all server’s night crews when you downplay the importance of their timeslot, including your own.

The longer BG stays the color green, the more we will recruit and train. There will come a day when we switch to red. That day, we will see how we hang with the best servers in the game. Until then, SoR and now TC will continue to push us and make us keep one step ahead of you, and competition breeds excellence.

The BG guild alliance is in this for the long haul.

As someone who is an off-peak player on SoR would you be surprised that I agree with you?

This groundhog day whining needs to stop. We play a 24/7 Objective based game of war.
Does Blackgate have better coverage? Yes
Should SoR or TC feel cheated because they don’t? No
Blackgate deserve the win, why? because they beat our score.
It’s not that hard to accept.

It irritates me to no end seeing people trying to undermine their victory every kitten week. I’m disappointed that a select few people continue to reignite the same pointless debate and every week this thread deteriorates in the exact same pattern.

Whatever happened to GLHF at the start of the week and GG at the end?
Instead all we see is crying and trying to justify losing to save face by pretending the winner got a hollow victory. That kitten don’t fly.

Congratulations BG and welcome to the new Tier TC. Now lets get back to more fighting and less crying.

Lysico.4906:

Elthurien.8356:

brogarn.8723:

Elthuzar.9478:

Came up as a bad Link El

The board adds an extra carriage return in long links like that. You have to copy paste it.

This comes up SO often. I’m thinking of adding it as my sig. :P

Still failed, even when I copy/pasted & removed the Anet header and added the forward
slants back in. Not to worry, I’ll figure it out.

I’m still currently using Sword&Warhorn though, I just love calling in the hawks before switching to shortbow then switching pets for quickness. So many hits in so little time.

so many poor little hits though..

Torch would be better. #4 to burn, #5 for aoe burn field.

I’ll have to wait and see when I reach 80 and gear up. I’m only using warhorn while levelling and combining it with flame trap so there’s little need for the torch at this stage when flame trap is on such a short cooldown. The little hits from hunters call and shortbow auto combined with quickness are quite good at my current level with my current crit damage. I will most likely switch to torch once I get to the berserker gear stage (currently only at the mid range gear that only has two stats). I’m not sure how the flame field will go in WvW though, it seems very avoidable, reminding me of black powder on my Thief.

brogarn.8723:

Elthurien.8356:

Still failed, even when I copy/pasted & removed the Anet header and added the forward
slants back in. Not to worry, I’ll figure it out.

Ya, I just verified the link works with copy paste. Did you make sure you got both lines? Not sure what’s going on otherwise. Good luck!

At work at the moment, I’ll give it another shot tonight. Chances are it missed copying the end section. I got as far as the website but no information so that’s probably the case.

Rhino.9607:

sorry rangers are NOT to be traps, thats a rouge or thief trait. only in GW2 I have seen this and I have been playin MMO’s for 20 yrs now

Sorry but traps suit a ranger/hunter/wilderness theme a lot more than they fit a thief.
I don’t even think thieves should use traps or venoms, neither of those thigs have anything to do with being a thief and I’ve never seen a rouge in an MMO.

brogarn.8723:

Elthuzar.9478:

Came up as a bad Link El

The board adds an extra carriage return in long links like that. You have to copy paste it.

This comes up SO often. I’m thinking of adding it as my sig. :P

Still failed, even when I copy/pasted & removed the Anet header and added the forward
slants back in. Not to worry, I’ll figure it out.

I’m still currently using Sword&Warhorn though, I just love calling in the hawks before switching to shortbow then switching pets for quickness. So many hits in so little time.

BS is a one trick pony. I do think that stealth is very very borderline in being OP. Try playing a Thief without the luxury of Shadows Embrace and Stealth, It’s doable but it’s just not viable. Not since Pistol Whip and Assassins Signet was nerfed anyway.

I just wish #3 didn’t have pathing problems on Y axis. Same issue as the Thief Flanking Strike where you just fly off in some random direction and don’t hit anything.

Littlefeather.8623:

Try rallying without it, GL

Did it in the first month after launch with no problem at all. Was easier to rally back then because there were no commanders so people followed you based on your performance.

Whats worse is seeing people with the commander icon activated while running around solo picking herbs.

I use a mix of midnight ice, nightshade and black. I don’t see the need for abyss
although knowing me, I would still use it if it dropped instead of making money from it.

Farzo.8410:

Still wondering why we have a horrible system like transmutation stones and not appearance slots.

It’s an MMO without a subscription, they need to generate revenue from somewhere.

TA has all the cool looking plant armor.

Tumbero.3945:

Im still waiting for a pvp game, like a new lineage or a new ultima online and others over there that promises a lot.

I’ll probably get infracted for naming another company but if you liked UO/EvE or would like to see a FFA fantasy themed sandbox check out www.goblinworks.com or search for Pathfinder Online on Kickstarter. It’s a few years away but looks promising and the developers are totally transparent with their design direction.

If you want to feel like you earned it try leading without it for a month. If people follow your command without that little blue zerg magnet, you will know it’s money well spent.
Or you can do what Vodka said, I think 1000 Badges of Honour would be a less extreme idea though.

The grass is always greener.
I hope ND find the end of their rainbow, will they be chasing the dragon? Only time will tell.
You will be missed ND.

Draeka.5941:

The Punisher. That is all, there are none that can compete—price wise, at least.

I use the Punisher also.
For those that played Vanilla WoW, There was a level 30 hammer with 4.0 speed in Alterac Mountains that had a really small chance to drop from a super rare spawn ogre there. I used it on my Shaman to devastating effect way back when I played it in 05. It was also called the Punisher and looked identical to this one. It hit a nostalgic point with me which is why I use it.

Pink Moa: Pink Invader
murlow: Ren Hoek (From Ren and Stimpy Show)

What trait builds & skills do you use with Sword? I’ve been mixing up all my weapons while levelling my new ranger (level 46 now) and trying various combinations to get a good “pure” melee build. I’ve been enjoying Sword & Warhorn the most lately for the birds and fury.

Jeknar.6184:

Jahn.7019:

Score Update

BG is slacking off… I’ve never seen SoR have so much territory late night. (It’s 1am 12/21/2012 GMT -3 or 8pm 12/20/2012 PST)

Might that be Gaiscioch’s Trinity event?

bomber.1540:

Ensign.2189:

bomber.1540:

say your fighting someone in melee with daggers or sword, you can hit c+d, swap to pp and move out of the danger melee range and open up with a sneak attack then unload at a relatively safe distance. . it works surprisingly well.

You could also just backstab and autoattack them for 2 seconds for significantly more damage, with less initiative spent, and you won’t have to close the gap again if you wanted to keep doing damage.

Your missing the point entirely.. I’m talking about when u need to get out of melee range so u don’t die.. Backstab is also harder to hit then sneak attack… And u clearly have no idea of the damage potential of pp.. As I’ve mentioned a number of times a sneak attack followed by unload can hit for 9k at a safer range.. Arguing this point is pointless to ppl who haven’t used pp extensively.

It works out to be more than 9k as they get 6 stacks of bleed from sneak attack. Even in full berserker the bleed ticks for 50 damage over 6 seconds (is it 6?) That 6 stacks equates to 300dps for however long the bleed lasts for.

If you use Roll for Initiative in that combo you get back the initiative from C&D, gain ground and open up 9k Sneak&Unload and should have enough initiative for a second unload. RFI is a great skill for p/p that many people ignore.

There is also that great 3/4 second animation of a thief casting C&D before they steal. Perfect time to ready your defence, counter attack or dodge.

Rissou.7213:

Would be nice if they fixed so attacks that have channel time gets cancelled when you stealth.

I just get disgusted when i see a ranger shoot with his rapid fire and hitting me while i run around in stealth, that skill last forever.. its like seeing him shoot you for 1 hour while you are in stealth >_>

Not just in PvP either. I wont go near Lost Shores because the karka machine gun outlasts one full dodge and goes through stealth.

People fear what they can’t see and fear leads to hatred.

…and hatred leads to the darkside.

I use a combination of p/d and sb for dungeons with 10 points in deadly arts, 30 points in Shadow Arts, 15 Acrobatics and 15 Trickery. I use Caltrops, Shadow Refuge & keep my third utility slot as a variable for specific situations (smoke screen, Roll for Initiative or traps). The purpose of this build is:

• Long duration application of poison (33% poison duration in DA),
• High stacks and long duration bleeds with p/d and caltrops on dodge
  • Combined with 2 x Rune of Krait, 2 x Rune of centaur & 2 x Rune of Affliction for 45% bleed duration
• Easy condition removal via Shadow Arts
• Regenerate health of self and allies via Shadow Arts with refuge and the option of blinding powder or area stealth combo with smoke screen
• Good avoidance through 15 points of Acrobatics
• Might stacking through Acrobatics
• Bleed stacking via sneak attack, caltrops, uncatchable, cluster-bomb and vital shot

This build isn’t for everyone but it works for me and I enjoy being able to contribute to the team in dungeons. With 1k condition damage it does consistent damage over time instead of short bursts (1200 condition dmg = 200 poison ticks and 100 bleed ticks). I have the option of staying at range or engaging in melee, I consider p/d to be melee/range hybrid due to C&D.

I would love to see a variety of plush toys to go with the plush charr.

• Griffon
• Quaggan
• Hylek
• Asura
  Give them that itty-bitty cuteness like the plush griffon in the game and you’re set.

I have played every day since launch (not counting beta weekends) and I still have plenty to do and I’m still having fun. I still don’t have a legendary, I still haven’t done sone completion and I still haven’t done every dungeon, jumping puzzle or mini-dungeon. I’ve only dabbled in sPvP and I only have two level 80s. I can’t tell the OP how to play or how to enjoy the game, everyone is different, I just do what I feel like doing at the time (I did spend a lot of time in Wv3 in the first two months though.

I do wish Wv3 was more like planetside2 though. Objectives would be better if they could only be captured by holding multiple control points at the same time for a certain time frame and only after certain prerequisite objectives had been completed.

Creeper.9360:

I disagree with every point there except for the last point.

I felt the same way. There were a few things I agreed with and that was that the story is bland and disconnected, and side-kicking could be better.

I disliked the story and the NPCs of Destiny’s Edge, I just don’t feel that there needs to be NPC heroes in an MMO. One example is when Eir disturbs the ghosts in Ascalonian Catacombs, personally I think it would have been better if YOU the player disturbed them in a solo mini-dungeon and when you go back to the Group Dungeon, it is YOUR actions that caused the disturbance and YOU need to gather friends and fix it.

Side-kicking is a great concept, I love that lower level zones are intended to be a challenge for a level capped player, I just don’t think it’s challenging enough and there is no reason to go back because Orr, Dungeons and Fractals are more rewarding.

Those two gripes aside:

• I love the way levelling is handled with tasks and events instead of quests, the best thing about it was that I wasn’t lead by the nose or as the article put it “forced” into the next zone. I adventured and explored and naturally progressed in places that I naturally felt interesting enough to explore. Not once did I feel like I had to stay in one sone longer than I had to and I levelled at a natural and enjoyable pace from 1-80 on 2 characters.
• I love that I had to find my own way with profession mechanics and learnt what worked for me and what didn’t. Even now I’m still finding myself collecting gear for new build ideas.
• Crafting and gathering is the best I have seen. I’m sure there are better systems (SWG & VG) but I haven’t had the privilege of trying all of them.
• I love that there is no trinity and actually find dungeons to be more about a group of adventurers exploring a dungeon and less about a guy in heavy armour that magically forces monsters to attack him while soaking up all their damage, being backed up by a magical religious nut and his three sociopathic friends.

There are a few things that I would add to gripes from a PvE point of view (Wv3 is a different kettle of fish):

• Chest rewards in dungeons don’t have the cool items that you purchase from a vendor, it would be better if there was both systems, tokens AND chance to get it from chest.
• Weapon skills or lack thereof. I wish that each weapon had more than one option that we could interchange, don’t like pistol whip on slot three? replace it with Blade twist for a condition attack.
• No option for having a free offhand. I really wanted to play a thief with just one dagger but it’s not viable due to loss of stats and only 3 skills.
  The article raised some good points from the opinion of the author but it is an opinion nonetheless.