Guild Wars 2

ProtoGunner.4953:

I am not a fan of the constant flow of those vanity items. But there it is: it’s vanity, you don’t need it and you can enjoy the gameplay without a legendary or a skin you can buy. That said: the game is at least fair and you can buy the items with ingame gold. Granted, since the exchange rate is extremely bad and even items like additional bag slots cost an insane amount of gold they should lower the prices or make items like bag slots, hair cuts etc. available via in game gold. I think that’s the price we have to pay without a monthly fee.

We still have to see what HOT has to offer. Yes, content doesn’t look much compared to other MMOs but even then you can sink lots of hours in it. There are games as short kitten -10 hours like The Last Of Us. But no one complains about the price tag of 10-15h.

The point I had in mind when I started the thread wasn’t that we needed new vanity items it was that we were told new legendaries were coming and we all thought: “Yay! Finally, new Legendary Weapons!” None of us thought it would be only 3 and two of them would be back items(Fractal Back item announced in a blog and a PvP back item announced at gamescom).

The Legendary weapons that were said to be coming literally years ago when ArenaNet themselves said they may never do an expansion are now behind a paywall of an expansion.

Think about that critically for a second. We were told on multiple occasions we were getting new ones and now not only are they behind a paywall, there may not be any new weapons. They may all be back items! The third one could be another back item(One new legendary requires us to do Fractals! Awesome! One requires PvP! Again, awesome! They are giving reasons to play this content and rewarding people with legendary items that like this content) The third one could require WvW play or the new Guild Battles or new map completion goals and it could be another back item.

No one was thinking about legendary back items. We were all thinking we were getting new Legendary weapons. Not only did they wait until the HoT character slot pre-order window was closed before announcing this, they haven’t even answered my original question!

My original question is: Are we getting 3 new legendaries at release and only 3 more after that, or are they releasing one at a time after the initial 3? Are they doing them in groups of 3? Are there any new Legendary Weapons?

I have some suggestions I’d like to leave today that aren’t about what’s in the next expansion, but about content leading up to the next expansion.

It was said while Season 2 was being made that a bigger team was working on something you weren’t ready to discuss that we all know now to be Heart of Thorns. I’d like to see those teams that were making this episodic content stay making said content right up until the x-pac hits. The episodic content could even be something that isn’t the main storyline.

• There are tons of side stories with characters that this could be done with to keep the content coming. (Examples: What’s Dougal Keane up to? Isgarren?)

• We could relive events of past content that isn’t currently available. You have tons of designed content we can no longer play. Bring it back for a spell! Put an NPC in town that palyers can talk to to transport them to instances of this stuff happening. Switch the events every two weeks(Marionette Fight, Aetherblade regional attacks, Tower of Nightmares etc.)

• SAB-The ball was dropped on this in not updating SAB to work with new tech.

• Big QoL patches for content. Personal Housing, Polymock, Dragon Bash, New Fractals.

The gap was too big in between the end of season 2 and the release of the x-pac. Even if the releases had to go to every month as opposed to every two weeks, it would have been better to leave some of the smaller “season teams” making content whilst the x-pac was being made. Again, it doesn’t have to be main storyline content. Flesh out the broader world of Tyria, making it richer and giving players something to do in between x-pac releases.

DanteZero.9736:

I know some of the legendaries are considered by some players to be too silly for them to want to create/buy, so I think Anet will address those particular legendaries first. In particular, Quip and the Dreamer are the “offenders.” I’m not sure if the Moot is considered silly enough compared to the Minstrel, but it’s a disco ball with trumpets so that may be part of the three.

Normally I would agree with you, but none of those weapons has been announced as a new weapon for an Elite Spec. I would imagine they would want to play up some of those with some new shinies. It’s too bad too. I am trying not to superimpose my desire on what ArenaNet will give us though. That always goes poorly.

Quells.2498:

Gamers are so spoiled these days.

A lot of people have been very patient over the years for the release of new Legendary Weapons. We were told ages ago that new ones were coming. We waited. We were told again, they were coming. We waited some more. Then they went and put those legendaries behind a paywall of an expansion. Fine.

Then it became a handful of new legendaries in this post in March: https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/a-legendary-journey/ and it was buried all the way at the bottom of the page. People rightly assumed that meant Legendary Weapons and no one from ArenaNet thought to correct them. At least one of the three new Legendary items is a backpiece. That’s all well and good, but that should have been communicated in freaking March! No one was even remotely thinking about new legendary backpieces. We have been waiting for over two years for these new legendaries and now they are behind a paywall and it isn’t even a full set and they are being released incrementally over who knows how long a time frame.

With ArenaNet being a self professed “iterative company” all that could change in a heart beat and those could be thrown behind a paywall of the next expansion at a whim. You know, just like the legendaries, Fractal leaderboards, and Fractal weapon boxes that were supposed to be released int he Fractured update ages ago.

There’s no being spoiled here. Just thin patience.

And for the love of Pete, can I get an official response to my original question? It’s like pulling teeth getting definitive answers around here.

That’s really disconcerting. So it’s not like an expansion pack really. It’s more like a front loaded episodic content release that you pay for up front? Does that mean there will be a lack of armor sets to earn as well? Just outfits on the cash shop?

When we get ticked off at the development approach does it make sense to you? Like, can you see why this would be disgruntling when you bury information like “handful of legendaries” to hide it? We still have zero clue on how may maps are in this x-pac. Does that mean that you will release more maps before the next x-pac and call it part of the x-pac?

Why not call it what it is:
Prepaid Episodic Content Pack

It’s not an expansion.

I found this very interesting. We all know by now that there are only 3 new legendaries coming to HoT on day one. This article suggest that there are only 3 more coming after that. Can we get a confirmation on this? I don’t want to misconstrue anything.
http://massivelyop.com/2015/08/10/gamescom-2015-guild-wars-2s-new-mastery-system-details-revealed/?utm_content=buffer727f2&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Quote: Now there’s a fourth tier in here, because for the new set of legendaries we’re putting in, you’ll be able to go all the way to the full legendary item. Three new legendaries will launch on the day with HoT, and then we’ll add three more in updates over time.”

At first ArenaNet said that Stronghold and Conquest queues were going to be combined. They came to their senses and rectified what seemed an obviously poor idea. People have been saying we need solo/team queue splits for along time now. This is doubly the case with the unbelievably late addition of leagues(3 years into launch but announced as coming ages ago).

All of the above being said, solo/team queue splits have to happen. It’s not fair to really good solo players to have to get to a ceiling and then dwell at the bottom of the legendary rung kitten teams can farm them. That is exactly what is going to happen. That is going to get old really quick.

Playing solo for me is way more fun than having to join a team, wait for members, run at specific times etc. Stop taking two steps forward and one step back. Separate the queues.

While your at it, give us skill splits. It’s killing the different formats.

Anyone that has ever completed the guild bounty for Trillia Midwell has seen her version of “Tornado” and how amazing it is. I was absolutely positive that the Tempest was going to get that for their new Elite. They could have renamed it. http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Trillia_Midwell

On top of that the Ele is the only light armor class with access to only one two-handed weapon. Giving the Ele another off-hand which is arguably already the strongest part of an Elementalist’s weapon choices is disappointing.

The Tempest should at the very least get access to Trillia Midwell’s version of Tornado. Do Ele’s proud dev team!

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Two years ago I’d have been all over this. We were discussing this being in the game over two years ago.

ArenaNet, you guys dropped the ball.

Guys. You have it all wrong. You’re supposed to want to play Dragon Hunter. It’s a Ranger. With Heavy Armor. And best of all? No pet. It’s got traps too. And teleports.

We ask for years for no pet and what do they do? Give Guardian a Longbow and traps.

And I called this way back in March as well in this post: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/hot/New-precursors-still-be-obtained-using-RNG/first#post4924322

“This sounds to me like we aren’t getting a new legendary for every weapon in the game at HoT launch either. A “handful” doesn’t scream “full set” of new legendaries to me. It’s also quietly tucked into the text as well.” ~Me in March

So 3 Legendaries is a “handful”? https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/a-legendary-journey/

From the March 26th blogpost: “I know you’re all dying for more information on new legendary weapons, but we’d like to delve into them more with a dedicated blog post in the future. For now, I’ll say that we’ve been working kitten new legendary weapons, the first handful of which will be introduced in Heart of Thorns, with more to come in subsequent updates.”

So a fourth greatsword, a staff, and a longbow?

Don’t worry guys. They will then change this to: " We meant Fiscal Year 2015 Release".

Hey John! 20 pages or so of people not caring much for the RNG in this game and you add ecto gambling? You can do better and should do better.

starlinvf.1358:

Probably. Legendary weapons require WvW badges, but edge of the mist gave us a viable alternative to obtaining them on uncompetitive WvW servers.

Kind of like of all their scavenger hunt ideas, initially they’ll try to shuffle us around to under utilized game modes, eventually stop upkeep on them, and introduce an alternative so they don’t have to fix the underlying problem of the primary method. This won’t stop the intrepid players, but they will pay a higher cost as a result.

^ A microcosm of the GW2 design philosophy.

Good on you for letting us pick a fractal weapon. This was announced in the “Fractured” update years ago with “Fractal Weapon Boxes” and then they dropped it and wouldn’t even discuss why.

I adore Fractals and am glad that this stuff is finally happening. Although this should have happened ages ago when it was first supposed to happen. It’s so frustrating to have to wait ages for stuff that was already said to have been coming and then to have it thrown behind a paywall is awful.

Does all this stuff require Heart of Thorns to have access to? The Fractal weapon choices at the very least shouldn’t because you guys already said this stuff was coming when you announced “Fractured”. If it doesn’t require HoT then a big kudos from me. If it does require it, you guys should know better.

But pre-order it digitally when supply is no issue and do it before a certain date! That way you won’t know when you are getting it or if it’s actually a value! Just be excited and buy it!

We’ve been talking about this for years OP. It’s past time to fix it. I still log in daily but what it boils down to is all of us have been given the illusion of choice. Sure, you could run Assassin’s gear. Or Keepers.

I had a blast with this game for a long time, but even making a bunch of different statted gear viable after so long doesn’t change the fact that they are building open world PvE into a Dry Top/Silverwastes hybrid group zerg.

We won’t ever get new dungeons again and might not get new Fractals. They announced a Fractal mastery track but does that mean we are getting new ones? Who knows. They are mum on a lot of pertinent info and want me to pre-order? Give you money for this thing before a certain date to get a character slot without all the information? I don’t buy anything like that. No thanks.

“Well golly gee. I think I am gonna pay real money for a game so I can go beg for fake money in it.”

Maybe the dude is rp’ing that he’s a Tyrian panhandler. Why you guys gotta be so judgmental?

I don’t really have much to add to this except that I couldn’t have said it better. Well done.

https://huntersinsight.wordpress.com/2015/07/23/consistently-inconsistent/

lordkrall.7241:

Iason Evan.3806:

She has also said stuff about giving us new armor sets to earn in the game to balance out the loads of cash shop outfits. Until it happens, I’ll believe it when I see it.

So, when did we get the last armor skin in the gem store as opposed to in-game?

When Leah said it she was talking about the ratio of gem shop outfits to earned in game armor and saying there needed to be more parity because we get more outfits on the gem shop as opposed to armor sets we can earn in the game. It’s an issue. People like to have things to play for. The last earnable armor set was when Silverwastes came out. That’s a long time ago. We have had several outfits on the gem shop since with little to no content to speak of.

I said as much in my post that it was “cash shop outfits” to “new armor sets to earn in the game”.

She has also said stuff about giving us new armor sets to earn in the game to balance out the loads of cash shop outfits. Until it happens, I’ll believe it when I see it.

Choosing to make a playable race have the ability to turn “evil” is a bad idea in a game where you are supposed to all be heroes. If only the NPCs do it, why do none of the players. Ill choice all around.

Disappointed that they went with an off-hand when Ele’s offhand options were arguably the best overall already. Point blank: Ele could have used another two-handed option.

I am not saying that the warhorn isn’t great. It could be amazing. That’s not my point. My point is that they are bolstering that which needed no bolstering. If they really wanted a frontliner like they say, give us an option for mainhand outside of Lightning Whip.

lordhelmos.7623:

The flashy animations are going to be a giant kill me sign for stunlock slayers like war thief and mes.

When I see a solar nimbus on my screen that looks Captain Planet taking a radiation bath in the center of an exploding nuclear reactor, I know who is going to eat my bulls rush > 100 blades

^Tell me more about the radiation bath for Captain Planet. It’s research for my bathing Captain Planet fanfic.

I think it’s a valid complaint to feel like Ele was pretty solid in the off-hand department. For me it feels like lazy design. It’s the least amount of skills they need to design. It’s also the least needed. I’ll be honest and say that I was disappointed by Sword mainhand when those rumors were swirling. Mainhand needs more love than off-hand but we have one 2-handed option and to get another two-handed option would have been my cup of tea.

I have decided to wait until the next x-pac is released and see what’s in it and purchase that since HoT will be included as well with that purchase. As a consumer I feel like I will be getting a proper value going that route. This x-pac feels light on content.

Sure, I main Ele and Ranger, but new weapon sets not being to my taste isn’t reason enough for me to not buy an x-pac. The million other little things that seem to be missing and the platformy/zergy hybrid they are making this x-pac are the main reasons I am foregoing this one.

phokus.8934:

Shirley you jest that it was removed from WvW…

I never jest and stop calling me Shirley.

In the RNG thread that John Smith(ArenaNet’s economist started)players are all pretty down about RNG in this game and what does he do? He adds another gambling mechanism. GG, bro.

$10 less for the x-pac than the base game is fine IF the amount of content and quality of content is similar to the base game. That’s a high bar. The base game of GW2 is one of the best MMOs ever made. Period.

Do I think that’s the case? No.

Why? I think anyone can look at a bullet point list of what was in the base game for $60 and look at the bullet point list of what’s in this for $50 and see for themselves.

The only reason we have spirit shards is because ArenaNet wanted to get rid of skill points. Just ignore them in your wallet OP.

MiniEquine.6014:

Iason Evan.3806:

I added what I meant about pre-order deadline. Character slot stuff. My bad on forgetting that info. When I say deadline pre-order though, most people get what I meant.

That deadline still only applies to you if you bought the game between Jan 23rd and June 16th of this year. If you bought it prior to that, you have up until the expansion launches to get the pre-purchase bonus character slot. As I stated in my comment, it’s an awesome deal if you bought the game within that Jan-June timeframe, at least in my opinion.

My second account would require that. Hence me wanting more info. This is the first time I haven’t felt fully convinced to buy an ArenaNet game in ten years sight unseen. Them releasing the skill update in such an unfinished state among other myriad issues points to quality control issues. What state is the x-pac going to be in? How much content is in this thing? All valid questions. Thanks for the clarification though.

Ayrilana.1396:

Iason Evan.3806:

Come on. The deadline for pre-ordring is close to two weeks away and idk what my fave class’s new weapon is yet. How many new maps are we getting? I don’t care that they are multi-layered. It’s not my question. How many maps are in the expansion. Not new cities.

Explorable. Maps. to. play. in.

How many sets of armor can I earn by playing. Weapons? Glider skins?

Is there one of each existing weapon getting at least one new Legendary skin?

How many new collections are there? New exotic skins? New Cultural Armor sets? Are there new additions to the Achievement section? New dyes? New PvP and Borderlands armor and weapon skins exclusive to those formats?

Why should I buy this x-pac when I don’t even know half of what will be in it? What new weapon is Thief getting? Warrior?

It’s not on me to just buy your game. It’s on you to sell it to me. So sell me on it.

That isn’t the deadline to pre-purchase. Everyone has up until the day it releases to do that. Until they announce the release date, you still have plenty of time.

I added what I meant about pre-order deadline. Character slot stuff. My bad on forgetting that info. When I say deadline pre-order though, most people get what I meant.

Come on. The deadline for pre-ordring(with bonus character slot)is close to two weeks away and idk what my fave class’s new weapon is yet. How many new maps are we getting? I don’t care that they are multi-layered. It’s not my question. How many maps are in the expansion. Not new cities.

Explorable. Maps. to. play. in.

How many sets of armor can I earn by playing. Weapons? Glider skins?

Is there one of each existing weapon getting at least one new Legendary skin?

How many new collections are there? New exotic skins? New Cultural Armor sets? Are there new additions to the Achievement section? New dyes? New PvP and Borderlands armor and weapon skins exclusive to those formats?

Why should I buy this x-pac when I don’t even know half of what will be in it? What new weapon is Thief getting? Warrior?

It’s not on me to just buy your game. It’s on you to sell it to me. So sell me on it.

NiisanSora.6289:

The point was that Staff with Ventari maximizes the healing/support role that has been given to the Rev and that the current loot system doesn’t support that role.

+1. Could not have put it any better. The devs don’t get this at all. I think a lot of that stems from design being made for PvP and not thinking about how PvE would work with it big picture.

ArenaNet: Skill splits. I have been asking for it for 3 years. It’s time. It’s past time. Stop making weapons and skills useless in PvE because WvW and PvP would break. Split skills for PvE so that skills in PvE are fun and viable.

I would have gone for Rev being OP and got people all hype to pre-order. I don’t remember feeling like any of the classes I played in the original weekend events 3 years ago feeling sub-par. Oh well. I didn’t pre-order because I haven’t seen enough of what’s on offer to warrant it. I’d say it’s disappointing but this seems to be how things go these days in Tyria.

Bottom line is that there needs to be a wide selection of glider skins in HoT that are part of what we are paying the box price for the x-pac. Same goes for armor and weapons. I will be thoroughly disappointed if there are only a few of middling quality and we get a few added week 1 or 2 to the cash shop that are awesome looking. I never saw armor and weapon and glider skins as part of the box price for HoT so I am skeptical that we will get a chance to earn any of these.

It will be really amusing to see what this x-pac theoretically costs after buying new skins that come out in the gem shop after the game is released.

If things aren’t saved why would people torture themselves by using the mystic forge with their Revenant? That’s masochistic.

2 words? Didn’t preorder.

VaLee.5102:

You guys need to go out more often.

^ /thread? yeah, /thread

Rata Sum is the most convenient town and always has been. Just go there and sight see in LA if you ever get the urge. The last thing this game needs is LA ever seeing hundreds of hours of dev time being thrown at it. Wanna design a map? Design a new one with stuff to do in it. There. The issue is settled and we don’t need to ever talk about it again.

For someone that has played multiple characters to level cap and has them fully geared it’s really nice to not have to play though the base game again. The tomes are awesome as is craft leveling, pvp leveling, regular leveling etc.

Now if they would just get rid of this arbitrary gating system(masteries)all would be rosy. Not really, but it would be a good step.

with all stats on gear now too it will be a pain to run 2 legends that don’t compliment each other and that limits options just like the specialization system itself in a nutshell.

The bigger issue in my opinion is how many weapon skins will be in the x-pac for our characters to go out and earn through game play. We are paying for a product that should include as many skins as the base game for the price we are paying. It won’t surprise me in the slightest if there is a lack of new weapon skins in the game or armor sets. It won’t surprise me if there aren’t any new kitten Cultural type sets that we can earn. It also won’t surprise me to see myriad options of these types of things on the gem shop on week #1 of release of HoT. Double dipping at its finest.

Any ETA on fixing the things you know but decided to throw on the live servers in a 3 year old game like it’s a PTS?

“The story is so much better in this game than in ESO or SW:ToR.”

ArenaNet seems really loathe to put content in the game that requires planning on the part of the players and a modicum of skill. It’s too bad. I love Fractals and dungeons. I really wish they had kept adding more of them into the game or updated the ones they have. The stuff they added to the Sylvari dungeon was a blast. Same goes for the fractals they added.

WP had some really good ideas on what they could do. ArenaNet sees the metrics though and those metrics seem to point to players wanting to stack and kill open world bosses and get loot chests that Magic Find has no effect on(unless you are in SW of course).

I adore the group content in this game. The only reason I don’t play anymore is because I have done it so many times, it’s lost its appeal. They really dropped the ball by not doing Season #3 before heading into HoT. It also seems that their design direction is more open world boss fights in a map that resembles a Dry Top/Silverwastes hybrid. No thanks.

a bunch of us have been asking for skill splits for years. it’s never gonna happen. it’s depressing.

I love how our character calls the items the vendor has, “relics”. They are forgotten.

I think this video sums up how a lot of people feel about RNG in games and also about replay value. If enough game makers keep preying upon the gambling proclivities of their user bases maybe they can convince the players that the only way to make games “fun” is through the use of RNG and hiding really desirable items in gambling boxes.

Put desirable items back into the game via playing the game.

http://www.gamespot.com/videos/the-point-destiny-the-hardcore-gamers-slot-machine/2300-6425852/

There really should have been a season this year and then the x-pac and killing Mordy in it. I figured the reason they didn’t do a season 3 before the x-pac was because it was coming really soon. Now I can’t be bothered to play except for login rewards.