Guild Wars 2

I agree to an extent. At the very least, I’d love to see more morally grey and mature themes touched upon. For example, why do my humans automatically fawn over Queen Jennah? Why is there no option to support Minister Caudecus? It’d tie in very well with the subtle political scheming supposedly going on throughout Kryta, yet instead we’re forced to agree with and aid everything Queen Jennah does.

I also believe that the Order of Whispers should have been darker. We got Tybalt (comic relief) instead of ruthless assassination missions for the betterment of Tyria. It’s not that the game lacks darker, mature themes either. There’s plenty going on in the background. Yet for some strange reason a lot of them go unaddressed – seemingly in favour of ensuring that the somewhat false image of a united Tyria is preserved.

It’d also allow those of us who regret choosing a particular step be able to go with an alternative route without the hassle of abandoning our current character to re-roll. It would probably work best as part of a character re-customisation service, I think.

They didn’t have a ‘right’ to take Ascalon back at all. It’s just a poorly thought out plot device considering it screws over the human race from a lore point of view. Whilst the charr get to strut around Ascalon, humanity spends most of its time fawning over Queen Jennah and her peace treaty when by all accounts they should hold much more contempt for the charr (and to a lesser extent the lesser races) and be reluctant to water down their culture and history further.

It’s been brought up countless times before, but why is it viewed as acceptable for the charr to bear a grudge for 1200 years and yet humans shift entirely in their viewpoint in the space of 250 when…most of their current issues can be pinned on the charr?

You do bring up a good point. An alarming number of fantasy settings seem to insist on destroying locations that fans claim to adore, only to then go on to give that particular region an unsatisfying fate. An excellent example would be either Ascalon, Lordaeron or Morrowind.

With that said, Arena Net have been very good with preserving a lot of the visual appeal of Ascalon, complete with many throwbacks and heartfelt references. Now we just need some of the Ascalonian ‘grit’ from GW1 to be applied to the humans of GW2 so they stop fawning all over Jennah and don’t just forget all their past conflicts for the sake of unity with races they really shouldn’t care all that much about.

Even a one second delay would ruin a lot of viable thief builds. In Orr, it’s already ridiculously awkward to deal with groups of enemies. I tend to run in, stack up bleed and poison conditions and then dodge until I regain initiative.

I’d really suggest that more people invest in getting a thief to level 80 and then offer feedback.

I’m led to believe that the ‘invisible’ option doesn’t actually work to hide from one’s own friends. I may be wrong, but I’m seeing people on my list who are ‘greyed out’ but still show as online. A bug, perhaps, or is the ‘invisible’ status intended to shield you only from being messaged by strangers?

Either way, I’d like a more reliable system. Even the best of friends (and lovers) want and need some time alone on occasion.

…any thief who blows all their initiative on a particular ability is going to leave themselves vulnerable as a result. The entire class specialises in hit and run assaults, we’re very quick on our feet and this is countered by how ‘squishy’ we are. We’ve very low base health and an incredibly strong demand for environmental awareness compared to other classes. Changing core mechanics isn’t going to end well and will result in months, if not years of ‘balancing’ as is the case in certain other MMO’s.

I’ll keep this short and to the point. I’m sure I’m not the only one who is sick and tired of browsing this board and certain others, only to see that countless threads are being made about how X or Y is overpowered/underpowered and should be nerfed.

The thing is, most of these threads aren’t even well presented even when they give the appearance of being constructive. Many are made by people who have very little knowledge about the class in question, which becomes obvious as the discussions progress.

So please, Arena Net – can we see some stricter moderation regarding ‘nerf’ threads? I believe it’d help make the community a better place and it’d also discourage people from demanding that something is changed when they could invest in learning how to counter it instead.

That would only serve to erode away much of what makes the thief class so enjoyable – the fact that combat is so so fluid and fast paced. We’re not even overpowered, people just need to learn how to counter predictable and gimmicky builds. Why punish the majority for the actions of a minority?

I agree. I appreciate that Arena Net have a huge workload, so this may be an excellent compromise. There’s people going out of their way to deliberately make skill point related NPC’s vanish from the visible map, which is likely to be an issue that is not going to go away in the future.

Good points, Moragauth! I’d also like to add that I don’t find the undead boring, either. I believe they’ve been done exceptionally well in this setting and are actually creepy rather than comical as is the trope often embraced elsewhere.

Did the charr truly advance, or were they simply given convenient plot devices that made other races seem incompetant? They were pretty savage and tribal back when we first saw them and that wasn’t too long ago, yet mysteriously they’ve become a much more organised and formidable force with technology on their side.

Which would be perfectly fine if humanity had advanced as well. The strongest selling point of humans in this setting is supposed to be their determination, religion and ability to adapt.

So with that in mind, it’s a real shame to see that the religion aspect is currently just flavour now that the Six have mysteriously vanished (though it may be addressed at a later date) and the ‘determination’ and ‘ability to adapt’ involves fawning over Jennah and her peace talks or ending up branded as an enemy.

It’s perfectly possible for a particular race to be playable and still be mysterious, though. They could easily be developed over time and as we see and hear more regarding the Largos it wouldn’t be much of a stretch to have them join the fight against a much bigger threat.

As it stands, this game is sorely in need of a handful of additional playable races to appeal to a wider range of tastes. I’m not bashing the current batch, I enjoy what some of them have to offer, but some more variety and unusual races would be nice.

The entire argument surrounding the charr taking back their land is pretty flawed, considering they were prepared to wipe out humanity as a whole and indirectly caused both Ascalon and Orr to be destroyed.

That is something that has gone largely unacknowledged in favour of forcing the charr into a faction that doesn’t really suit them when they retain so many aspects of their past behaviour. It wasn’t so long ago that they were eating and torturing prisoners.

Are humans perfect? No, far from – though they erected a wall to keep the charr out and only went out of their way to try and annihilate the charr after they destroyed two of their kingdoms.

In addition, it baffles me that we’re meant to believe that Ascalon has been forgotten by many humans after 250 years when the charr spent roughly 1200 trying to reclaim it.

Zii The Mad.2563:

Many many people moaned duing the BWE’s: “The game is too hard, the game is too hard. We will never develop any personal skill, so please make it easier”. Now it is easy, very easy, and we are all left with an empty feeling inside.

Sadly. It also doesn’t bode well for the future if things continue to be toned down to appeal to the vocal portions of the community who demand that everything is accessible. I enjoy a challenge and I’ve found a fair few already in this game, though dynamic events become very predictable and many are quite similar. It’s the mechanics that make a ‘boss’ intriguing, so we need to see more focus put on them rather than allowing people to just stand around and attack something for ten minutes whilst dodging now and then.

I don’t see an issue. The game world is meant to feel dangerous and you’re meant to try and be constantly aware of your surroundings. Doing so keeps you alive in pretty much every aspect of the game.

If we’re lucky, they’ll be a playable race. Definitely one that intrigues me, at least!

bobyd.4698:

So? By your logic everythin has to be in the way you like and cant be changed? Not everyone has the money, nor time, to grind money for dyes you know?

You said it by yourself, things change, so this can change too.

…then don’t get them, simple. They’re a luxury item, not a necessity. Most dyes already sell for a pitifully low price on the trading post, their price would become even more laughable if they became account bound since there would be even less demand.

In regards to the political intrigue, it’d be quite nice to see a ‘wildcard’ or two that causes some subtle difficulties for both Queen Jennah and Minister Caudecus. Perhaps it could even be done in a way to highlight Caudecus’ better side, assuming I’m not mistaking in believing that although prone to scheming, he does care for Kryta in his own misguided way?

On a more shameless note, I’d like to see more of Demmi Beetlestone, Countess Anise and Logan Thackeray. Opinions may differ, but those three stood out quite a lot during my personal story (especially since as a human who joins the Order of Whispers they can be perceived as constantly being involved in the ongoing politics strangling Kryta).

I’d rather see more normal hairstyles that fit in with the setting. You can tell which were added for the sake of appeasement based on the number of NPC’s sporting them.

Why wouldn’t Kryta be concerned for Ascalon, especially if the charr can be concerned about Ascalon for over a thousand years after losing it themselves? Orr, too, should have played a much bigger part than it actually does currently. It’s the place where the Six first entered Tyria and the human race as a whole is meant to be deeply religious. The fact that it was the charr that contributed heavily to Orr’s destruction should be a pretty major plot point. Instead, like Ascalon we get the silly plot device of a corrupted/desperate human destroying their beloved nations.

The flavour text is a nice touch, but we need more than just flavour text. We need some action and memorable characters that aren’t turned into convenient villains the moment they disagree with Jennah or Logan.

It’s the unfortunate consequence that comes from heavy handed attempts to make a former enemy race into an ally. We’re constantly being shown and told how awesome the charr are, how they reclaimed Ascalon for themselves and how technologically advanced they are – second only to the Asuran race.

…and what does humanity get? A huge story arc about how awesome Queen Jennah is for supporting a peace treaty that makes much of the races’ past redundant. As someone else pointed out, it makes no sense for the charr to want to reclaim Ascalon for 1200 years…only for the humans to largely forget about Orr and Ascalon within the space of a year.

It feels forced, all for the sake of having the token beast race become playable when logic dictates that if this game had factions, they’d still be the enemy. Had they too been severely weakened and in a proper stalemate, it’d be much more manageable.

Both PvP and PvE players are catered too just fine. The main issue is that no matter how much content is offered, an alarming amount of players have way too much free time on their hands, rush through it and then have the audacity to complain that there’s nothing for them to do. Arena Net aren’t running a business to keep people entertained 24/7, they’re running a business to allow gamers to indulge in a hobby.

Acewings.6872:

Rhanoa.3960:

This is a great example of players needing their hands held more!

Folks who can’t really think for themselves. Always needing help or guides, leaves very little room for improvising or imagination to say the least.

Well maybe if they didn’t make the game so frustratingly lame…

I wandered around in LA for 54 minutes trying to find the PoI that was in the sewers. They made this game one giant maze, and there needs to be some more simplicity for the casual players.

Oh yeah, in regards to your handholding comment…funny how I didn’t need my hand held in Guild Wars 1, way to admit that this isn’t a worthy sequel.

No need for the passive aggressive responses. Nothing forces you to do jumping puzzles or find points of interest. If you’re as casual as you say you are then you wouldn’t be bothered by missing out on them.

Sounds like you’re a perfectionist though instead of working for stuff you want your hand held at every turn. There’s guides out there for how to do vistas and such so why not look at them if you really feel the need? No need to cry and scream for the game’s exploration to be eroded away to appease people who can’t be bothered going off the beaten path.

Keep up the excellent work Arena Net and please don’t cave in to the vocal portions of the community who demand sweeping game changes to appease them.

This game isn’t linear. If you don’t want to explore, don’t – just don’t complain when a core game mechanic isn’t to your tastes. This is why people should extensively research a game before they buy it instead of buying into hype and then complaining when they realise it isn’t to their tastes.

I love the fact that exploration is rewarded in this game. Definitely one of the major appealing points for me.

I prefer most of the aspects of the human story, particularly everything surrounding Ebonhawke and the political intrigue and power struggle between Minister Caudecus and Queen Jennah.

I just can’t get into the charr no matter how much I try. They reek of some of the same special snowflake tendencies and lore team favouritism that made another token beast race (namely orcs) in a certain other setting get far too much unexplained power, prowess and focus despite the existence of numerous other races.

Funnily enough, both races where initially villains and failed to make a smooth transition into ‘ally’ territory due to the insistence on preserving their nastier side whilst ensuring every other race mysteriously becomes meek around them.

It’s not that the other races are ‘boring’ but rather that the charr seem to be getting too much attention and focus. Whether that’s from the community itself or the development team, I’m not entirely sure. Though I am getting weary of seeing them praised as the best and most original race in the setting.

I really wish the people who claim to be quitting or have quit already would leave the forums be. How hard is it to show some respect for those of us who enjoy the game and want to enjoy it and discuss it here without being labelled ‘fanboys’ on the official site of the game in question?

Do these people go to football matches and say they think football is stupid in front of a thousand or more fans?

It’d be very useful. Underwater combat has a lot of potential, though for various reasons it ends up being a lot more clunky than it should be.

Illushia.3721:

You can do perfectly fine in dungeons wearing magic find.

If you’re getting squashed wearing magic find, you’ll get squashed wearing any other gear, because you’re standing in the bad that’s squashing you either way.

The main issue with that mentality is that people are deliberately stacking magic find and then missing out on other useful stats that would directly benefit everyone in the team, including the player in question.

Not to mention, it means dungeon runs become longer than they need to be simply because people do not have the stats required to kill things more swiftly or gain better utility.

Yeah, the monthly reward should carry a bit more weight to it. Perhaps there should be a handful of miniatures that are only available as a small chance from the monthly rewards? This would encourage people to do the achievement in question as also spawn more trade on the trading post.

This isn’t something that needs to be censored. It’s not even offensive unless people choose to be offended by it. Not to mention, there’s countless settings that have fictional religions and references to gods and goddesses. Some of us enjoy that sort of thing without having it shoved down our throats by people who read far too deeply into it.

Funnily enough, pretty much every religion out there promotes tolerance rather than censorship. A shame that that aspect is ignored in favour of forcing particular views on other people.

I’m still not even sure why the charr were so intent on getting Ascalon back, considering they were willing to destroy it almost entirely. It’s a shame Ascalon didn’t remain a ruined, barren wasteland so that the charr didn’t actually suffered themselves for resorting to the Searing.

Then the Foefire came and the charr still managed to hold on to Ascalon. Why? How? It seems as though the numbers of the charr are endless, considering they should be just as endangered as species as humans are in Tyria. The whole peace treaty would work much better if both races were shown to be on the brink of extinction.

I really wish Arena Net would forbid people from creating threads intended to spread misinformation regarding class mechanics and their alleged power. Constructive criticism is often used to thinly veil a lack of knowledge or competence regarding the game itself. A shame, I do hope this game doesn’t end up falling into the trap of changing class mechanics and abilities on a patch to patch basis so the vocal portion of the community can be appeased.

Lethal Stranger.5093:

Shadow huh? Could very possibly be a reference to the GW1 character

Possibly, especially with the significance the Shining Blade holds for Jennah.

As a tip, remember that you can get to any major city for free simply by teleporting to the Heart of the Mists PvP hub. After that, just run through the Lions Arch Asura Gate and from there you can hop over to the major city portals. That saves a bit of time getting around Tyria!

Teleporting is a luxury, not a necessity. Simply participating in a dynamic event or two will earn you back the money you’ll have spent, anyway.

It’s an issue that exists in countless aspects of society these days. More often than not, law and rule abiding individuals find themselves directly or indirectly screwed over due to the actions of a few.

Of course, steps should be taken to ensure that cheating is dealt with…but there needs to be compromise as well. A lot of people are still settling in and getting used to the game, sweeping changes are going to ruffle many feathers no matter how well intentioned.

Are people ever going to learn? It doesn’t matter how much content a game has if they’re going to spend their time rushing through it. They haven’t done and seen everything the game has to offer, they just happened to rush through it due to a mixture of too much free time and tunnel vision.

I agree. I assumed it would be the case as I progressed through my personal story, though for now it is not the case!

It does feel unfinished. Perhaps Arena Net will adjust it and add an additional phase to give him a battle fitting for what is otherwise a very fearsome foe?

I’m going to give it the benefit of the doubt for the time being, though if things haven’t settled within a few months then it’ll be very evident that the issue needs to be looked at in-depth. It is pretty irritating to have to vendor most of the stuff I acquire though, simply because it sells for more than it would on the trading post.

Please, Arena Net…can you make it against the rules for people to repeatedly step into a forum with the intention of asking for nerfs? I’ve already had to avoid the class and PvP specific boards in other MMO’s for that very reason. I’d hate to have to do the same here as well.

Gimmicky builds are going to pop up all the time. Learn to counter them and they’re ridiculously easy to deal with.

clubbernaut.3805:

In a game that really has no end game content, where the point is to hit 80 , farm , sell, farm, sell , farm sell, get gold, level your proffs, make gear, having the trading post down as much as it has been can really halt what you are doing. Lets face it after 80 and maxed proffs the game is really just dress up.

…uh, only if you go into GW2 with the mentality that certain other MMO’s have forced you into. There’s plenty to do and see and it’s certainly not the developer’s fault if people rush to reach level 80 as soon as possible and skip the journey and sightseeing along the way.

Raine.1394:

I think that it would help to stop referring to it as ‘maintenance’. For anyone who has been close to IT, they know that maintenance is a set of routine IT activities with a bounded timeframe. I think what is happening with the BLTC is more break-fix. The service is broken and you are working to restore service. I know maintenance is a better sounding word, but it’s not what is happening.

I see your point, but ‘maintenance’ is pretty much the standard word used whenever things go awry in almost any company these days. I’m sure there’s a lot of legal stuff they have to adhere to when engaging in PR, so generally companies don’t tend to stray from such terms.

It’s a nice idea. We’re definitely in need of something that gives us reliable rather than situation 1200 range, after all. It also fits in very well with the whole ‘dirty fighter’ theme we have going for the profession. Plus there’s snipers in the game already in Caudecus’ Manor!

Why do people find it so easy to whine and yet so difficult to work together as a team? I don’t have numerous contacts to call upon whenever I want to do a dungeon, so I rely on picking up people who want to do it and my experiences have been overwhelmingly positive.

Why, you might ask? Simply because I’m willing to invest and take charge. A dungeon in this game isn’t something to be done lightly, so don’t rush into it expecting to be finished in ten minutes. Instead of wasting time hoping for the best, plan out battles before you engage in them. Learn from your mistakes and more importantly keep your team informed.

I’ve turned many a ‘terrible group’ into a successful run using the above logic. Sadly, it seems as if there’s a lot of people who’d rather rant and complain than improve on their tactics and skills.

It’s logical. I loathe the ‘trinity’ system because it makes no sense. This is a tactical game and the enemies are attempting to kill you, not just knock you out.

Perhaps there should be a mystic forge recipe for a piece of equipment with a backpack model? One that uses four of the most expensive to make bags? I know the engineer has an option to start with something similar, though I’m sure there’s many players wanting various other ‘supply bag’ cosmetic equipment skins.

I’m just baffled that humanity has become so meek, yet we’re meant to believe that the races’ greatest and most intriguing trait is that they never give up no matter the odds? I can accept the peace treaty, what I struggle to accept is how almost everyone who disagrees with it finds themselves thrown into villain territory. Not only that, but we’re forced to smile and agree with everything Jennah does.

Of course, those of us who role-play will make our own minds up regarding what our character thinks and feels about such things. The political intrigue in this setting is very well done, though I’d urge Arena Net to take it a step further and directly encourage players to take sides and even disagree with the decisions of major lore figures from time to time.

That’s not to say we shouldn’t work together, but it’d be nice if there was a lot more room for grudges to prosper.

For what it’s worth, I think the concerns regarding people not wanting to use Facebook and Twitter should be taken a lot more seriously. Even those who have nothing to hide can have genuine issues for avoiding using them, such as stalkers. Not only that, but not everyone buys into social networking. That shouldn’t mean they should potentially miss out on important information.

As a compromise, what about some sort of in-game tab that is updated with news of major issues to let people know which bugs the Arena Net team are aware of? It’d do a lot of good as it would alleviate a lot of the stress that comes from things going wrong for both employees and customers alike. Plus, as a bonus, there would be less people making support tickets about issues explicitly stated as being known.