Guild Wars 2

toxic thread is toxic. please close this thread before it sets the whole forum server on fire.

honestly, there doesn’t seem to be much to talk about until more info about the new versions of the systems is given by Anet…

/sticky

/bacon

as a mouse clicker myself… i really want the option to “fast cast on target” instead of being forced to press the numbers on my keyboard. i still feel like my control input style is being discriminated against.

fast cast on PC is input neutral, doesn’t matter if mouse click or number press
fast cast on mouse cursor doesn’t work for mouse clickers at all, since the cursor is on the UI, not on the landscape.

not me: “help me i’m scared of change!”

me: “take two of these and call me in the morning” /offers two strips of golden brown delicious crispy bacon

this seems very relevant:

Gaile Gray.6029:

The devs have been reviewing your feedback on the New Player Experience. While some bug fixes have already been made, the team will be making other updates in the future to address:

• Plot holes and story inconsistencies that may have been introduced with story realignment
• Replacing the missing profession mechanics UI for the Ranger and Mesmer professions
• Investigating issues that prevent players from retaining some skills (heal, utility, and elite) that they had previously unlocked
• Addressing an issue with bundles that prematurely unlocked utility and elite skills

Other aspects of the NPE are being examined, and your constructive feedback is welcome and appreciated.

basically: chapter 7 was changed: “my greatest fear” plotline was removed, and then the “cleansing of Orr” plotline was moved from the end of chapter 8 to replace chapter 7. it really made more sense before the sept 9, 2014 feature patch.

now, you can see that they’ve said they’ll fix it, but they haven’t said “how” they’ll fix it. i think we’d all prefer them to restore the personal story to how it was originally, and then if they feel that the restored chapter 8 is too long, they can split chapter eight into 2 or 3 shorter chapters.

i kind of like the idea that once the intensity limit is reached (25 stacks), that any additional “stacks” of that condition would add duration to the existing stacks. some bleeds add 20 seconds. other bleeds add 2.

but i also like the idea of allowing more classes to apply more conditions. for example, elementalist (without runes / sigils) can only apply bleeding and burning (in the way of damaging conditions. cripple and chill don’t do damage, and immobilizing a foe doesn’t damage them either (unless lightning rod is traited. cough fresh air cough), and most champions are immune to many disabling conditions.

i’d love to see, for example on ele staff, gust apply torment for 2-4 seconds, and eruption cause a poison field or smoke field after the blast. flame barrier (fire adept minor trait) could apply 2 seconds of confusion (instead of 1 second of burning) when the ele is hit in melee. the trait itself really confuses me. it’s a melee defense trait in the power line that is most often used in staff (ie ranged) builds, when most melee (dagger dagger) builds don’t spec into fire at all. yes, i know you saw what i did there. have a slice of bacon. ;-)

like what? boons applied to other players? combos participated in (both fields and finishers)? healing others? i’m pretty sure that people could find a way to to focus only on boosting their own personal ratings in those categories to the detriment of the team. can you imagine finding someone so focused on it that they’d lead the leaderboards in those stats categories, but yet have an overall 75% losing record? (ie they lose 75% of the matches they play because they’re too focused on making their stats look good instead of actually helping their team win)

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/The-logic-of-Defiance/first

yeah 3 members of my guild just got stuvk in disconnect loops trying to log back in while in silverwastes

Thank you Arenanet for listening to us about so many things! i was reading through some threads i had posted in over the past year, and discovered just how much our feedback about various things has made it into silverwastes.

1) event loot: based on event completion via bonus chests and prevents “fail-farming”

2) Breach boss fights that allow for certain control effects, without absolute defiant mechanics draining the fun out of the fights, while also creatively encouraging players to pay more attention in the battles.

3) better scaling at the low population end to allow for success with smaller numbers participating (pretty much fixing the main complaint about marionette)

4) Vinewraith meta boss, commonly and affectionately referred to as Marionette 2.0

5) bandit loot chests allows for loot trains (still encourages event completion to acquire shovels)

6) labrynthe allows for more loot trains (encourages breach and VW completion for greater nightmare keys)

7) an awesome jumping puzzle for those who love awesome jumping puzzles

8) [EDIT] and WvW features in PvE (dolyak escorts, siege at forts, air strikes) (thanks KG for reminding me of that one!) {/EDIT]

all these combined make for a very well designed zone. it allows for multiple ways of farming loot and rewarding event completion rather than “fail-training” and for the most part, the community loves taxiing players into specific instances of SW for Breach and Vinewraith, and even other instances specifically for bandit chest farming, while still allowing for chest farming during the “time-out” phase.

i also see people asking where they’re needed for the boss events during pretty much every 70% or higher foothold map. pretty much the only toxicity i see on the map is when the Mordrem own the coloured keeps, and an occasional frustrated player on a low population Vinewraith or breach attempt that doesn’t go so well.

i’ve also seen low population attempts barely succeed with seconds and a single siege carrier to spare! generally, people are giving out better tips in map chat on how to deal with specific champions, and people seem to be keeping their cool, and learning the fights better, too.

Bacon, ArenaNet, and again i say, Bacon to you, too!

well, maybe i should edit out the part about exotic junk…

i included it originally, because people in the other thread called it junk in relation to precursors ( 100s of gold) and the “rare skin” exotics that sell for 10g and up

Post Script: i started a new thread for this due to John Smith’s post in the RNG thread:

John Smith.4610:

I want to remind everyone that this isn’t a discussion about precursors or specific rewards, that’s a different conversation. This is a discussion of the pro/cons and philosophy behind different forms of RNG implementation.

[BASIC PREMISE}
One major reason why people perceive the RNG system to be bad, is that most of the loot received is “junk.” Even though level 80 exotic gear is on the loot table, it is perceived as “junk” due to the saturation of the market.

1) The market is saturated with all the originally available stat combos for exotic gear, such as berzerker’s, knight’s, and all the other stat combos that were originally available at launch.

2) “junk” is typically defined as
a) not usable by my class
b) sells for little to no money on the trading post (say 50 silver or less)
~[edit] compared to “rare skin” exotics which typically sell for 10 gold and up, not to mention big money precursors. [/edit]
c) is a stat combo that my character already owns on gear, therefore i don’t need it.

[A ROOT CAUSE OF RNG PERCEIVED FAILURE]

there is a disparity in the acquisition methods of exotic and ascended level gear based on stat combos

1) stat combos that were available at launch (such as berserker’s and knight’s) have many more methods of acquisition by the player (crafting, loot drops, dungeon token barter, guild commendation barter, karma barter, badges of honor barter, laurel barter)
a) i have a chance at getting this gear i want from loot drops.
b) i have alternate guaranteed methods of earning this gear such as
1) crafting, recipes available at the crafting vendor NPCs
2) token barter, whether via completing dungeons, WvW, login reward laurels, event karma

2) stat combos introduced after launch (such as zealot’s and sinister’s) only have 2 methods of acquistion. (crafting, story achievement metas) with the exception of two sinister trinkets available at the bandit crest vendor in silverwastes
a) i have zero chance of getting this gear from loot drops
b) the only way i can acquire this gear is to dedicate many days of crafting, due to the much greater material and time requirements compared to crafting other original stat gear.
c) there is no guaranteed acquisition method for the crafting recipes, since they drop only via RNG in loot drops, meaning that ascended keeper’s (sinister’s) gear can be more expensive than precursors (700 gold for keeper’s heavy pants recipe)

[SUGGESTION]

1) loot tables should be updated with new gear stat combos, not just recipes
a) all new stat combo should be added to the loot table at all rarity levels
b) all new stat combos should be added to the loot table without the “account bound on acquire” tag, to allow for trading and prevent market stagnation.

2) alternate guaranteed acquisition methods should be updated with the new gear stat combos
a) all new stat combos should be added to all karma, commendation, laurel, badges of honor, dungeon, etc… vendors
b) all new stat combos recipes should be added to the crafting vendor NPCs

3) “select your own stats” recipes and gear should be updated to include the new stat combos

[HOW THE SUGGESTION BENEFITS RNG PERCEPTION]

obtaining a piece of (for example) exotic level 80 light armour gloves containing sinister stats from defeating Vinewraith or Shatterer (because the general loot tables would be updated) would solve several of those problems i listed above.
~ i would be receiving a new stat combo that my class might be able to use.
~ it would be a piece of gear that has not already saturated the market
a) gear that is not already saturated the market will be worth more at first
b) unsaturated gear that drops means that the gear that is saturated drops less often, so the price of the saturated gear will go up slightly due to smaller supply
c) unsaturated gear will be worth more based on supply and demand, (less supply, higher demand)
d) higher priced gear doesn’t feel like junk
~ newer stat combos have a higher chance of not already being owned and used by my character, and would feel like a better reward

[RISKS]

1) players will stop complaining about RNG
2) players will focus their RNG discussions on precursors, requesting alternate guaranteed method of acquisition

[SUMMARY]

New stat combos are not added to the the existing loot tables and existing alternate acquisition methods as they are introduced, therefore the RNG system gives the appearance of “nothing but junk loot”, especially for the unlucky.

eithinan.9841:

cassius.5809:

Didn’t know about this but might want to edit your first post. Comes off like just a stupid rant since it provides zero useful information. Important thread trashed before it begins.

Is this directed at me? I said please and dont think my OP was a rant. Im pretty sure 2 very short sentences does not qualify as a rant. Maybe at best an annoyed aside…

what Cassius means is this: your OP simply says “fix it.” your OP doesn’t say anything about what’s broken. Cassius is suggesting that you edit your OP to say that on-kill sigils don’t work in LS instances.

PS: i really hope you filed a bug report in game when you played through the LS instance. that bug report automatically includes specific time / server location etc information that would help the dev team see exactly what you are referring to.

i want to see no new ground-targetting skills until i can “fast-cast” ground-targetted skills directly onto my target. i’m a mouse clicker, and i feel discriminated against because keyboard number pushers get a fast-cast option to cast where the mouse cursor is.

right now i’m confused… did Caithe steal the egg from me because the Sylvari are tied to Mordremoth? after all we’ve been through for the last 3 years, taking down Zhaitan, ME being responsible for DE getting get together, she doesn’t trust me at all? she decides to abandon DE when they’re a Charr short, essentially learning nothing from Logan’s previous mistake?

episodes 1-5 combined together was really exciting and felt worthy of being called a season. but then episode 6-8 totally ignored so much of the setup from before just to focus on an egg hunt.

don’t get me wrong, i loved a lot of the lore and throwbacks to GW1 in the second half of the season. the trouble is, episodes 1-4 each had 5 story steps each, while episodes 6-8 only had 3 each.

episode 6 felt like i was finally getting somewhere, catching up to Master of Peace and the egg, (finally going to kick that football! when suddenly Lucy pulls it out from under me again, so i miss the kick… again, then laughs and laughs and laughs and calls me a fool for falling for the same old trick one more time.), and Caithe suddenly decides that unifying Tyria against the dragons is garbage? SHe decides she’s not a team player after all? She decides that she and she alone can guard the egg? when the Master of Peace died in front of her believing he could protect it by himself? After everything she’s fought for and against, especially the nightmare court, you expect me to believe she’d betray me like that? at least Scarlett had the excuse of looking into Ormadd’s Machine to cause her insanity. Caithe has NO excuse.

i also felt cheated inside that Forgotten Cave. i was expecting something in there would hold some key to something. Wynne’s secret could have been told anywhere else in the world and it would have had the same impact. it feels like the Forgotten ruins had nothing to do with the story at all. it was just an excuse to delay the “plot twist.” i feel like there should have been a giant runestone or magic artifact in that cave. something that would give me an advantage in a fight, or some indication that Mordremoth already Awoke and was setting a trap for the Pact. and then a fourth story step showing me race back to camp resolve to find the Pact had already left, and i was too late to warn them about the trap.

PS: my ranting here is rooted in deep passion for Guild Wars 2 and its predecessor. i still really enjoy the game. even though i’m disappointed and pointed out some things i think could have been done better, i am so thick into this game i’ve written some of my own fan-fiction for perusal by my guildmates.

PPS: i really love the silverwastes. the Vinewraith was a great addition to a solid map.

i think one problem with the RNG, is also that new loot is not really added to the general loot tables (not just zone specific tables). more specifically: when new stat combos are introduced (like sinister or zealots) those stat combos are not added to the existing loot tables for armour and weapons. only the recipes are added to the loot tables. (imo, the new stat combo recipes should be added to the crafting vendors, just like the original stat combo recipes.)

now, all the original stat combos are available through dungeon token barter, or from loot drops from kills and chests, or from karma vendors, or from crafting or from badge of honor vendors or from the trading post or in some cases, guild commendations. an exotic berzerker’s axe for example, could be obtained through any / all of the means.

the new stats, like sinister, are only available through crafting, and typically is time gated via daily charged quartz limit, or by requiring 6000 watchwork sprockets compared to 50 vials of powerful blood for one of the original stat combo sets.

there is a great disparity here. ALL exotic gear needs to be available by the same means, for all stat combos, at comparable amounts of time and effort.

if new stat exotic armour / weapons were added to the loot tables, this would alleviate some of the RNG issues (namely, that only precursors are worth anything and everything else is trash / unusable)

as for the RNG system itself… as long as there are alternative means of acquiring the loot i want, (like for exotic berzeker’s armour) for everything in the game, then i’ll forgive the shortcomings of RNG. but if RNG is the ONLY way to acquire the loot, then i won’t forgive the shortcomings of the RNG.

summary:
new stat combo gear is not treated like the original gear, and needs to be added to all the loot tables and vendors exactly the same way all the original gear / recipes already are. new exotic gear recipes also need to be reworked to require the same time / material efforts as the original exotic stat combos.

PS the new stats also need to be added to the ascended gear vendors as well, and added to the general loot tables as well.

you get your first carapace chest box from the kill-the-boss achievement. each one after that appears to be RNG. i’m currently bugged and can’t buy any more chest boxes from teh NPC, but i can buy the headgear box and the other 4 boxes just fine.

after obtaining the Carapace Chest Box through the achievement, the Bandit Crest NPC does not offer me the choice to buy another for bandit crests. (all 5 other boxes are available for barter, as they all unlocked correctly in the NPC’s menu.)

i’m playing this instance for the second time, (restarted due to the boss fight at the end), and both times i’ve played it, the spoken dialogue from several characters at different points is not queuing properly.

Rox spoken recorded dialogue and speech bubble,
kasmeer sppoken dialogue and speech bubble
marjory speech bubble but no spoken recorded dialogue,
then someone else’s spoken recorded dialogue,
then someone else’s not spoken recorded dialogue, etc.

in several of the conversations.

a lot of Wynne’s recorded lines aren’t queueing either during the memory sequence.

at the moment… i’m too angry to be able to give constructive feedback… but for starters, this dragon fight is way too complicated and way too reliant on professional level reflexes to be considered enjoyable. i thought this game was designed for general entertainment for the masses, not just professional athletes only.

wait… did someone say we;re getting dueling banjos? elementalists are finally getting a new weapon! elementalists are finally getting a new weapon!

seriously though:

[SUGGESTION] allow us to choose our minor traits as well? (the 5, 15, and 25 point traits) instead of setting them in stone, throw the minor traits into the mix of choices for the 10, 20, 30 point traits (sigh sorry, old habits die hard…) so the adept teir would now have 7 choices, the master tier would now have 5 choices, and the GM tier would have 4. the minor slot would become the same as the major slot: selectable. (so i would choose 2 out of 7 adept traits, 2 out of 5 major traits, and 2 out of 4 GM traits) this would allow more freedom to build more offensively or defensively as desired

specific trait lines i’m looking at for examples:

[elementalist]
fire line. the POWER line that forces defensive adept minor trait on me that i’ll never use. a fire aura would be more beneficial due to the might and aura trait synergies. or if i wanted, i could choose a different adept trait altogether! something that would benefit my ranged play style! also, i could replace sunspot, a melee spell trait, with a different master trait that fits my ranged play style better.

so imagine me taking:
burning precision, internal fire, fire’s embrace, pyromancer’s alacrity, burning rage, and pyromancer’s puissance. (i have to give up flame barrier and sunspot for this)

or for a defensive supportive build: flame barrier, spell slinger, burning fire, one with fire, blinding ashes, and persisting flames

[ranger]
marksmanship line: all the minor traits are about opening strike. sure, i kinda like the adept minor that grants me vulnerability on my opening strike. but it’s only good once per combat session. i don’t care for my pet having opening strike. (the master minor) i’d rather take eagle eye and piercing arrows as my master traits, and with 62% crit chance, i certainly don’t care about a guaranteed crit for opening strike. i’d rather take predator’s onslaught plus read the wind for my GM tier traits.

so imagine me taking:
steady focus, signet mastery, eagle eye, piercing arrows, predator’s onslaught, and read the wind…

OR for a NON longbow ranger: malicous training, keen edge, signet mastery, beastmaster’s bond, spotter, and predator’s onslaught

[slight change to trait acquisition]
each time the player earns a trait point while leveling up in the BPE, s/he gets to unlock 1 trait for free, without having to buy a book at the class trainer, and without having to earn it through completing the appropriate task. this would make up for the change of moving the minor traits into the pool of selectable major traits. there are currently 15 minor traits per class. earning 14 trait points would also grant the player 14 free traits (6 adept, 6 master, and up to 2 GM traits)

[summary]
~roll the minor trait of each tier into the selection pool
~allow the player to choose 2 traits from each tier’s selection pool
~the player gets to choose one trait to unlock for free each time s/he earns a trait point

pros: more build customizations
cons: possibly more balance concerns
imo: i think the trade-offs would be worth it, as the minor traits for each tier seem very comparable in power with the major traits of the same tier.

PS: if it’s too complicated to balance for PvP…. then this would be a great horizontal progression tool for PvE, where we already have access to extra race skills.

my objection is simple this:

i want to be able to explore every inch of Tyria on my own. i’m already disappointed that Arah is only accessible in a dungeon. in my opinion, Arah, as such an historical and important part of the human past, should be accessible as a landscape zone, just like Cursed Shore, Malchor’s Leap, and Straights of Devestation.

perhaps Arah landscape zone could be a new dry top / silverwastes style zone, eventually.

then let’s agree to disagree. i’ve said my piece and counted to three.

i think you may want to edit your OP to change your insight, though. saying that the two events may have originally been intended to be the same, is a lot more interesting from a development standpoint than hypothesizing that the events were in fact the same.

in other words, originally intending the events to be the same, and then changing their minds, would make for an interesting discussion of the design process. i’d be much more interested in the thought process behind the changing of the original ideas. and by thought process, i don’t mean methodology, but rather the train of thought, inspirations, and possibly homages or personal influences from the lore-writers.

boy do i feel like an idiot! i claim bacon deficiency again… nothing to see here move along… i might as well delete…

Please delete… BDD sux…(Bacon Deficiency DIsorder)… my apologies

pros·trate
(pr?s?tr?t?)
tr.v. pros·trat·ed, pros·trat·ing, pros·trates
1. To put or throw flat with the face down, as in submission or adoration: “He did not simply sit and meditate, he also knelt down, sometimes even prostrated himself” (Iris Murdoch).
2. To cause to lie flat: The wind prostrated the young trees.
3. To reduce to extreme weakness or incapacitation; overcome: an illness that prostrated an entire family; a nation that was prostrated by years of civil war.

adj.
1. Lying face down, as in submission or adoration.
2. Lying flat or at full length.
3. Reduced to extreme weakness or incapacitation; overcome.
4. Botany Growing flat along the ground.

[Middle English prostraten, from prostrat, prostrate, from Latin pr?str?tus, past participle of pr?sternere, to throw down : pr?-, forward; see pro-1 + sternere, to spread, cast down; see ster-2 in Indo-European roots.]

pros?tra?tor n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

the attached picture shows Doric kneeling and begging, not prostrated.

Zera Allimatti.2541:

Vayne.8563:

LucosTheDutch.4819:

I don’t see why this thread even exists. This has nothing to do with Guild Wars 2 and shouldn’t even be in ‘Guild Wars 2 Discussion’.

This thread also achieves nothing and I wonder if the OP thinks he’s some kind of special snowflake (<- yeah, add that to your list if you want, I don’t care) that his “pledge” deserves a thread.

Not to mention the words that are on the OP’s list. “Toxic” and “complainer” are on there? Really? My advice to the OP would be to grow a pair.

No seriously, grow a pair.

Thank you for illustrating the need for this thread. In one post you accomplished more to forward the cause of this thread than any of the people who support it.

He does have a point though. That guy’s pledge is a personal choice that he is kind of imposing on the rest of the forum. ‘Personal’ pledges like these are supposed to be personal, not public. Of course, no one is expected or required to take in that personal choice. More power to people that try to not be ‘rude’, but honestly, everything that is ever said, done, or thought about is offensive to someone somewhere. For example, simple and non-vulgar words like ‘complain’ are being considered offensive now. That is not ok. One norm is offensive somewhere else, and vice versa. It is impossible to be non-offensive to everyone, so stop trying.

1] in no way does the OP or any other forum user (who is not a moderator or administrator or the like) have the ability to enforce any such pledge on others.

2] personal does not mean secret. personal (as it relates to the pledge) means that the person making the pledge will not hold anyone else to it, unless they ask him to hold them to it.

informing the public of the personal pledge is not an act of “forcing others to make the same pledge,” but rather a public statement given for accountability.

in other words, if the OP keeps the personal pledge a secret, then the pledge is a lot easier to break. but if the OP makes the pledge public, then others can pledge to help him keep his pledge, if they choose so out of their own free will.

PS, my use of the male gender pronoun follows the common practice of using the singular male gender pronoun as a singular gender neutral pronoun. the word “they” is a plural gender neutral pronoun, and i used it incorrectly above (paired with the singular gender neutral pronoun “anyone else”) simply to differentiate between the the OP and “anyone else.”

3] there is a difference between accidentally offending someone and intentionally offending someone. the OP is clearly stating that he will not condone or respond to forum posts that are obviously INTENTIONALLY offending someone.

there is a difference between saying “All those jerks complain about everything.” and saying “there’s been a lot of heated discussion lately.”

the first of those statements is name calling, and name calling is an intention choice to slur someone, sometimes with the intention of angering the recipient of the name being called. that is the very definition of intentionally offending someone.

the second of those statements simply states that heated discussion exists, without condemning nor condoning the discussion nor those participating in the discussion.

4] i disagree with the stance of “everything you say is going to offend someone, so you might as well offend everyone on purpose to begin with.”

angry people tend to do many destructive things, and pushing people into anger, and then pushing them so far into anger that they start damaging things or hurting people is not a good thing. it very easily leads to fist fights, divorces, shootings and stabbings, etc…

considering the magnitude of the destruction of the spell, and the location of the casting, there is no rule that says the caster of the spell couldn’t have targetted the center of Arah. an elementalist can choose (up to 1200 range away) the epicenter of Meteor Shower. Vizier Khilbron probably did the same from his tower: chose the epicenter of his spell.

However, Nightfall clearly indicated that Vizier was using one of Abaddon’s spells, and therefore the spell essentially had a booby trap: it turned Khilbron into The Lich. it’s also very possible there was a second booby trap: to destroy what the caster was trying to protect. basically, Khibron targeted the Searing cauldrons and the spell backfired much to Abadon’s delight.

Abadon literally means Destroyer, and there is a definite reason why his magic was forbidden and hidden by the other five gods.

[BACK ON TOPIC]

there is a single massive structure that reaches into the clouds, presumably arching into the center of Arah. this structure can be seen from Caer Shadowfain Waypoint in the north of Cursed Shore. (from the waypoint, look to the northwest.) it’s the tallest structure i’ve seen in game.

EDIT: Also, Arah has been underwater for some 150 years (148 actually. Orr sunk in 1071 AE, and rose in 1219 AE.) that is plenty of time for the water’s currents to move sand around and bury buildings. that doesn’t even account for the massive displacement of of water and the consequention erosion, by the sinking of Orr, and then the second displacement and further water erosion during the rising of Orr…

i dunno… torch seems like a great offhand weapon for wards… the number 5 skill in each attunement would be a ward (based off the original GW1 wards), and the number 4 skill in each attunement would apply a different point blank or ground targetted AoE condition or boon…

ah, yes… thank you for pointing what what i forgot to, that the Centaurs were not in Kryta in GW1… i didn’t even consider that my post may have implied that they were. it’s evident even in the side stories of GW1, that centaurs were not in Harathi Hinterlands, as that’s the area where Saul D’allessio, with the help of the Mursaat, defeated the Charr who were attempting to invade Kryta.

as a special note, it seems that the Centaurs are moving their troops through the hills and caves of the zone borders, where we players are unable to go. it’s the only explanation for them having such a large presence in Kessex and Queensdale without totally destroying all the Seraph forts at the zone portals.

for the Overlord’s Greatcamp and Earthwork Bluffs, even though they are recent, i still believe they’ve been around at least for a few decades. i base this presumption on the sheer size of the camps, which are clearly Centaur design and construction. the Centaur could have easily come in from the area north of Brisban Wildlands.

i really need to tour the various Centaur camps again. there probably were a lot more Harathi in Kessex than i’m thinking.

as for my comment on “surprise offensive”, i wasn’t trying to imply that no one saw it coming… but rather, like D-Day, the surprise was the overwhelming force of the drive that pushed through. i also presume that the bandits trained maybe only during the previous year or two (say 1323-1324 AE) also increased their attacks on supply caravans and other targets at the same time as the centaur push.

it just seems strange to me that a village in the middle of centaur territory to the south had no defenses prior to being destroyed. and that lack of defenses at Greyhoof Camp Village leads me to believe there was little to no danger before the main push. a false sense of security due to low hostilities in the area. which is also why i applied the “surprise attack” monicker to the offensive. granted, the lack of defenses could have been arrogance on the part of the village, like the fall of Claw Island. it’s very possible that Fort Salma discovered large troop movements and tried to warn the Village.

i imagine the offensive flowed thusly:
1) starting at Overlord’s Greatcamp, based on intel from Wallwatcher’s Camp
2) crossing the bridge at the river
3) destroying Greyhoof Camp Village
4) perhaps meeting up with more centaur from earthwork’s bluff
5) crossing the zone border through the cave system, emerging at Heartwood Pass.
6) proceed northwest to Altar Brook Crossing
7) taking Altar Brook Trading Post to the east
8) possibly meeting up with more reinforcements from SE Queensdale at ABTP
9) taking Shaemoor Garrison AND attacking Shaemoor Village the day human PC starts PS

i would view steps 6-9 to be the major “surprise push” occurring in a single 24 hour period, since Heartwood Pass is a built Centaur fort.

(taking into account the human personal story, the attack on Shaemoor Village was definitely a surprise, otherwise the DR gate guard wouldn’t have let the PC leave DR to begin with.)

Greyhoof Camp used to be a Krytan Village, evidenced by the stone ruins at the top of the hill. so i naturally wondered about the history of this village, which appears to be a casualty of the Centaur Wars due to the nature of the dynamic events in Kessex Hills.

i cross referenced that_shaman’s historical map of tyria ( http://thatshaman.blogspot.com/p/historical-guide.html ) to find no village during the time of The Searing through the War in Kryta (between the White Mantle and Shining Blade.) the only village around at that time was Dukutu Village, where presently resides Wallwatcher Camp to the southwest of the river, aka Halacon Cataracts.

[my observations and comments about the site]:
~ i counted the ruins of 9 stone buildings on three tiers of the hill. i will admit, however, that it’s difficult for me to be sure on that number due to the nature of the ruins. there may a building i counted as two, or maybe two that i counted as one…
~there is a well on the lowest tier to the east near the easternmost ruin. this well location leads me to believe that the lower tier contained fields for the crops.
~all the fences appear to be of Centaur construction
~i presume the villagers never built a wall due to the cliffs to the south, and also due to Fort Salma’s and Claypool Township’s nearness to the west.
~also due to there being no defensive wall, i presume that at the time the village was inhabited by Krytans, there were probably not any large scale battle in the area.

[my presumptions about the Centaur Wars based on the above observations]

~i presume that for many years, the Tamini probably had an uneasy truce with Kryta, or rather weren’t actively at war as a tribe. they were essentially bound to the Overlord’s Greatcamp and Earthwork’s Bluff settlements, or cities if you will.
~the Tamini settlements grew, but due to the lack of major conflict in Kessex Hills, the majority of the Seraph forces were directed to the Harathi conflict north of Beetletun.
~at this time i believe there were also Tamini in southeastern Queensdale as well, probably as refugees hiding in the cliffs, building there strength, and then building up the other nearby camps, such as the Cliffwatch Camp.
~the Tamini were also secretly training Bandits at Kenna’s Bandit POI in Firemane Hills, preparing for their major offensive. during this time they set up a few hidden camps in caves.
~since the majority of the Seraph were fighting the Harathi in northeastern Kryta, the Tamini’s surprise offensive went unchallenged, leading up to the attack on Shaemoor in 1325 AE (starting the human personal story)
~during this surprise offensive in early 1325 AE, i believe one of their first targets was the village at Greyhoof Camp Waypoint.

[my fanfiction account of the village, barring any official word from Anet]

i’d love to write in that fanfiction as how it really happened, but then if Anet ever expands on the lore of that village, i’d have to go back and rewrite.. and to be honest, my fanfiction isn’t the reason i posted. i’m much more interested in the flow of the Centaur War and the official history of the village

~any more speculation out there?
~is there any NPC dialogue i’ve missed that speaks of the town?

all i gotta say is: after that kitteny kitten rant (and yes i actually spelled out k i t t e n y k i t t e n), i will never ever ever share any bacon with the OP, ever.

and guess what? i don’t like some jumping puzzles, but i like jumping puzzles a whole lot more than PvP or speed-clear metas for dungeons. i won’t be interested in any new dungeons until either a) trash mobs are removed from dungeons, or b) all trash mobs must be killed before the next boss will spawn. (i hate the speed clear meta that much.) WvW? eh it’s okay, but i’ll only spend less than 10% of my total annual play time there.

personally, i’d like to see new guild content before anything else, but i also understand that i’m not the only one playing this game, and it takes time and resources to make the content i want to see, so i’ll patiently wait for it. and i’ll also be glad for the improvements to the other game modes that i don’t enjoy, because again, i’m not the only one playing this game…

That’s cool, too Wanze… one of my favorite things about the Edge!

Since one of the new offerings in the gem store is the mini Pact Airship. (There’s also the toy balloon airship on a string, like the kites.)

i was thinking how awesome it would be if we could press a hotkey to start a mini “air-strike” animation. It’s so cool to watch the full size airships circle a fort in the Silverwastes, firing all 20 cannons from one side, obliterating mordrem hordes. ‘Twould be just as cool if i could queue that animation on the mini as well. (perhaps even at the feet of my character’s target?)

P.S. I am not below bribing with bacon (or virtual bacon) to encourage this addition, even though that bribe could result in further complications in my battle against Bacon Deficiency Syndrome.

Gaile Gray.6029:

if we had a working #%^&#^ search engine.

i thought this was Guild Wars 2, not Qbert… unless you mean you’re trying to hire Qbert to rewrite the search engine… in which case i would remind you to seek Ralph’s and Felix’s permission first, since Qbert migrated to their game for the bonus levels…

/endgeekcredjoke

the only way to have an actual fair trial, would mean that more people would become aware of Glint’s egg… and considering there’s still an unknown Mordremoth spy within the Pact, making more people aware of the egg increases the chances that Mordremoth will learn of it. and if Mordemoth learns of before the spy or spies are rooted out, then it’s “Game over, man! Game over! What are we gonna do now, man! what are we gonna DO!” Trust me, building a fire and singing a few songs won’t help…

considering that
~ episode 7 is only 3 main story steps, and
~ we’re given 2 new areas (the far silverwastes and the skritt cave)

it really seems like there should be another story step before planting the third memory seed in the far silverwastes. for continuity’s sake:

i imagine the follwing:

~ after talking with the NPCs in Camp Resolve, we learn we need to get to the Far Silverwastes to continue the story.
~ on our way to the northern silverwastes, we could have been introduced to the mysterious skritt stranger that’s been watching us from the cliffs above
~ the skritt could ask us for our help defending the entrance to the skritt cave (incorporating the new event there)
~ after succeeding at the event, we enter the cave to be properly introduced to the village, and essentially forging an alliance with the silverwastes skritt
~ this alliance could mean pact soldiers assist with the Topsy Turvy, learning more about the vines from the Skritt, hints at possible Forgotten presence in the silverwastes, and story reason for access to the skritt tunnel system. (leading into the Centaur story step)

~ this alliance could also tie into the previous Personal Story steps involving Skritt (from the order’s chapters), whereas the player character suggests the silverwastes skritt meet with the skritt from the personal story
~ forging an alliance with these skritt obviously gives the Pact a boost in numbers and resources, and continues the “Tyria Unite!” theme of season 2

the GOOD: so far i’m loving the back story of Caithe, Faolin, Wynne, the Centaurs, and the other first- and secondborn. without getting into spoilers, i’ll simply say that i really love the lore in these instances.

The BAD:: being forced to play a thief, when thief is my least favorite class, and being forced to play stealth missions when i prefer to drop meteor showers. even when i tried the run and gun approach, i was so unfamiliar with the modified thief melee stealth build that i wanted a full refund of every gem i’ve ever purchased.

i absolutely hated the stealth mechanic of the asura lab instance. it wouldn’t have been so bad if i knew the skillbar inside and out. if i was on my own character, i would have chosen the combat option, but as a melee thief (which is the playstyle i am absolutely worst at in GW2) i wanted to throw the GW2 servers into the Pacific out of frustration.

[SUGGESTION] whenever forcing players to NOT play their own character through story instances… buff the power of the skills to compensate for the player not being familiar with the skills / playstyle being forced upon them, like how the enchantment in the priory defense of lion’s arch gives more powerful skills to compensate for the player not being familiar with them. in other words: leave the challenges for when i’m playing as my own character, with a build i’m familiar with.

The UGLY:: after combating the Centaurs in the Far Silverwastes, something broke my instance when i was tracking Wynne. after i died enough times to cause 2nd stage armour breakage. my quest tracker says to continue tracking Wynne. but i can walk up to her and talk with her. Faolin lost interest and simply stands a good hundred yards away. no matter what i do at this point, nothing updates and i’m stuck. this happened immediately after i died, and had to run back from the checkpoint.

so now, i have to replay the mission using a skillbar and playstyle i despise and sux at just to conitnue the part i really like: the lore

[SUGGESTION:] please add a [Living World Instance] option to the bug report menu so i know what category to report the bug under

with respect, i’ve been paying pretty close attention to GW2 announcements. (though i admit i may have missed an important announcement given as a scoop to a magazine), and i have seen no official statement by anyone at Anet saying that episode 8 is the finale of season 2. i say this not to be hostile. i say it asking for a direct quote i may have missed. i ask for this quote because the interviews to the magazines during the “mid-season” break (including gaming blogs, etc) all officially said and i paraphrase: “We’re not going to tell you how many episodes are left because it’ll ruin the suspense”

source: http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=35267

The last question we asked was in regards to the cadence of releases. Last year GW2 championed its two-week cadence, but this year the releases have been in small chunks separated by long breaks. We asked if this half of the season way going to be another set of four releases and if that is what the studio is aiming for. Meelad Sadat, Head of PR at ArenaNet, jumped in to answer our question. He compared it to a movie, where if you know that there is only 10 minutes left in the movie it can clue you in to how and when the plot points are going to end instead of keeping the suspense. Therefore he didn’t want to say how many episodes are going to be left in the season, but did say that starting with the Halloween episode they are back on their two-week cadence up through Wintersday on December 16th before going on holiday break. As to what is going to happen after that, Meelad said that they will keep players informed of when there will or won’t be a patch, like how they announced the Halloween and start of each half of Season 2 well in advance.

my point in mentioning Doctor Who was intended to imply that Anet’s marketing department may be using the word “half” very creatively in order to keep us in suspense. episode 8 could in fact be the end of the second “half”, without being the “finale” for the season…

i’ve seen no posts in the Dev Tracker or official announcements saying that season 2 will end before wintersday. (Edit: after checking the dates, it seems that episode 7 would be dec 2nd, wintersday would start dec 16, which would place episode 8 in january, after the holiday break.) but i also admit i don’t watch all the Ready Ups or Points of Interest episodes, nor read all the blogs and magazines in the world. i would think that an official statement about the season 2 finale would definitely end up in Dulfy’s notes about the episodes though, and i keep up with her GW2 newsfeed… i would also think that Anet would make a big announcement concerning the final episode of Season 2, and i have seen no such announcement yet… and again, i’m not trying to be Bert, Tom, or Bill… just curious because everyone is so 100% sure about ep 8, that i must have missed the official word…

P.S. thanks for pointing out the wardrobe preview feature (as in previewing new skins before they’re actually released). i had totally forgotten about that,,, pun intended.

first: comments on the length of the season.

i don’t see the logic of why people say that episode eight will be the end of season 2… oh yeah, the term “mid-season break.” that doesn’t mean that both “halfs” of the season have to be equal in length. look at Doctor Who season 7 (Matt Smith’s Doctor.)
first “half” was 6 episodes, and second “half” was 8, not including the 50th anniversay episode and Christmas episode which technically count as season 7’s 3-part finale… bringing the second “half” of the season up to 10 episodes.

ANET already said there will be 6 pieces of armour added for the silverwastes. since they’re giving us 1 piece per update, that means 6 episodes. so the season would end at episode 10.

for those who would argue that would take us into 2015… keep in mind that season 1 started in spring 2013 and ended in spring 2014, so a calender argument is not only invalid, but would be stronger evidence that season 2 could even be longer than 10 episodes, especially if they’re planning a 3 or 4 part finale like how season 1 ended. you know. part 1 Scarlett invades LA and we rescue civilians. part 2 we attack the ground troops. part 3 we attack the generals and confront Scarlett herself. part 4 being the celebration and cleanup, aka epilogue.

so optimistically imagine 1st “half” of season 2 is 4 parts. second “half” is 6 parts, and the “finale” could be 4 more parts

Second: my speculation

i think episode 8 will culminate with us fighting whatever is in that 3 lane area* on the far west of the Silverwastes map.

i think that episode 9 will take us to another new zone where the final showdown of season 2 will occur.

we may even guilt-trip Ellen Kiel and Captain Magnus into helping during the final assault, since we killed Scarlett to end the assault on LA, and they’ve been notably absent during the rebuilding efforts…

P.S. i’m still disappointed that i didn’t get to keep an Aetherblade airship after assaulting Twilight Arbor Aetherblade Path. my character definitely would have taken one to use against Scarlett, considering how the Pact wasn’t involved, and 40 airborne cannons plus 6 more forward deck mounted turrets would have made a difference in the Scarlet War… especially considering how effective “air support” is in SIlverwaste defense events.

[SUGGESTION] new F5 PvE skill: Request Air Support!

could work as a trigger for a mini dynamic event during regular dynamic events. first person uses F5 to launch a signal flare, starting the event (which scales based on player numbers in the area) requires 5 total flares to complete (or more as the event scales up) within 15 seconds. if successful, calls in a Pact Airship to bombard the area centered around the active dynamic event. / world boss / etc.

to be honest… i would advise against only using the word “hardcore.” it’s still too vague. someone can be “hardcore” into dungeon running, yet hate speed clears. someone could be hardcore into WvW havoc roaming, while the guild that tries to recruit them is hardcore into organized zerg vs zerg, while another guild could be hardcore into large scale siege of The Castle on EB.

in other words, be more specific about what you really enjoy. saying that you…

like to occasionally RP,
occasionally EotM,
really love to organize “end-game” PvE (like triple trouble, or Balthazar Temple Runs, or Dry Top Tier 6),
join solo queue in sPvP one day a month,
and spend every minute of every saturday taking your time to get lost in the lore of explorable Arah dungeon

will give guilds a better idea if you’ll fit, then just saying that you’re hardcore PvE, who sometimes dabbles in the other game modes.

i’m just sayin: please feel free to open up and actually say what you like to do, instead of trying to “sound cool” with TLA’s (Three Letter Acronyms) or vague jargon. it’s okay to ramble on a little about yourself and game interests in your Looking For Guild post…

one of the things i love about Sylvari cultural armour is that parts of it change colour based on the colour of the Sylvari’s own skin.

i would love to see more armour designed like this.

i would even love to see animations of the armour growing or receding / retracting, but that may be asking too much due to the limited resources.

on a positive note…

in The Silverwastes, there are 3 lanes leading back to where we assume the map boss will be located. since there are three lanes, we may have a new fight inspired by the twisted marionette.

the other reason everyone is hanging out at amber (according to what i see in map chat) is trying to kill The Executioner for the achievement. the Executioner seems to have a really low spawn rate compared to the other legendary bosses…

i’ve personally seen the annihilator and tormentor 3-4 times each and never seen the executioner. that includes people announcing them in map chat. and the continual “Still no Executioner?” type comment.

i’ve been pretty much defending the Amber Fort in Silverwastes all day, and the Executioner hasn’t spawned the whole time i’ve been there. however, i’ve noticed in map chat that the Annihilater and Tormentor have been spawning pretty much every attack cycle.

this is just a little frustrating as the Executioner is the last achievement for Silverwastes that i want…

Crystal Reid.2481:

moiraine.2753:

Chris,

I want to ask you something.Will Defiance be redesigned?Is there any plan for it at all?Because right now it is removing the need of any CC in the fights.If raids come will interrupts,stuns,fear become an actual mechanic?Will they be more useful from now?

All I can say on this is we have been talking about it internally and trying to come up with different solutions that make CC valuable without allowing players to “stun lock” creatures (which would be a very real problem if we did not have Defiance). I can’t say any more on that at this time, so here’s a better question for you:

If we removed Defiance, how would you propose a replacement that makes CC (interrupts, stuns, fears etc) valuable without creating a situation that allows players to CC a creature to death.

i’ll see your quote, and raise you my quote from another thread, since it seems relevant here:

Forgotten Legend.9281:

[BRAINSTORM ABOUT DEFIANT STACKS: DIMINISHING RETURNS]

(a) a more script intensive idea would be to give diminishing returns to successive uses of successful control effects with specific time periods.

examples: once you knockback a boss, the next knockback within 10 seconds is only half the distance, et cetera… until the full 10 seconds expires without knockbock. another example would be immobilize the boss for 4 seconds, but then if any other immobilize skill is used against the boss within 10 seconds, whatever the immobilize would have been, is cut in half. if immobilized a 3rd time before resetting, then halved, and the result would be halved again.

(b) there would have to be an additional rule that any effect lasting less than 1/4 second is just plain ignored.

example: boss gets stunned for 4 seconds, 5 seconds later, a 2 second stun hits the boss, so it’s halved, so it’s a 1 second stun. 3 seconds later, a 3 second stun hits the boss, but it’s halved, and then halved again (diminishing returns diminish per stack), so 3/4 second stun. 9 seconds later a 2 second stun hits boss. gets halved, halved and then halved again, so it’s a 1/4 second stun. 4 seconds later a 4 second stun hits the boss, gets halved 4 times. so 1/4 second stun. if the diminishing returns aren’t reset at this point, the stun duration will be less than 1/4 second and won’t stun the boss.

(3) now, the diminishing returns would be exclusive and independent to each control effect, not a global diminishing return for ALL control effects.

examples: so if diminishing returns affected stun duration, and nobody dazed the boss yet, then diminishing returns would not apply to daze yet. and since each control effect has it’s own independent diminishing return, daze could be at level 3, stun could be at level 6, knockback could be at level 2, immobilize could be at level 9, all at the same time.

but that would require a LOT more scripting than simple defiant stacks. and this doesn’t address any of the “build up to large attack at x stacks of y” mechanics

[RELATED UI SUGGESTION]
as a side note: UI could be better customizable for me to relocate my target’s healthbar to a place on my screen where i can actually pay attention to defiant stacks and such. i have a 30 inch monitor. my target’s healthbar is always at the top of the screen, where i never look during combat. allow me to move it somewhere i can monitor it better please.

if players can’t even see the target’s buffs / debuffs during combat due to UI restrictions, of course they won’t be actively thinking about things like defiant. and if they’re new to the game, they won’t even KNOW about defiant unless tutored on it.

[TUTORIALS BOOKS AND IMMERSION] (semi-related, but edited out due to character limit. can read this section in original post in other thread)

i’ll be honest with you.

i don’t like dungeons in their current form for one reason: the trash mobs.
a) trash mobs are a waste of time
b) trash mobs are skipped because they slow down the completion time of the dungeons.
c) bosses are the fun part

why are trash mobs built into dungeons to begin with?
a) the dungeons are built in large landscapes, so something has fill up the landscape in between boss rooms, right?

i propose
a) raids will have smaller landscapes than dungeons
b) minimum number of trash mobs (preferrably none)
c) make the raids focus on the boss encounters
d) trash mobs should only be part of boss encounters or mini boss encounters, because most groups skip non-boss trash mobs anyway

if i were to illustrate what i mean with a raid from another game, it would have to be from Lord of the Rings Online’s Ost Dunhoth raid. this raid had good design for trash mobs (and they couldn’t be skipped.) incoming wall of text in the spoiler tag

TL;DR
trash mobs (like in the GW2 dungeons) are boring. make trash mob encounters fun and interesting or leave them out of raids.

wait… i’m not sure what OP is asking. is it a) or b) below?

a) does the OP want sigils / traits that afflict an enemy with confusion when the player swaps attunements or kits? (but not on weapon swap)

or

b) does the OP want confusion to damage an afflicted player when that player swaps attunements / kits but not when the afflicted player swaps weapons?

as for OP response above… with respect, if you’re going to ask other peoples’ opinions of your opinion, and then refuse to answer questions asking for more clarification of your thoughts, then frankly people will take insult. after all YOU are the one who suggested this thing. so YOU are responsible for the proposal, and YOU are responsible for convincing people of the merits of the proposal.

my 2 coppers? i’m against the damage from confusion proccing on swaps for 2 classes, but not on swaps for the other 6. the rules have already been set by ANET so that attunement and kit swaps = weapon swaps for game mechanics purposes (for sigils and traits) therefore conditions must treat those three swap types the same as well. if it’s to punish players for swaps, it should punish ALL players for swaps.

the question remains OP, WHY do you want to change that rule? without further commentary from you, people will simply think you are discriminating against 2 classes.

honestly, i think nobody will discuss your suggestion of confusion damaging on swaps if it doesn’t treat all swaps equally