Guild Wars 2

20-man as a solution to easy raid mode desires?

The problem — if there is a significant one — is that people who want to get into raids can’t due to being unacceptable to PuG groups. The solution offered for that is that those people make the effort to form a group, develop a friends’ list or get into a guild that will do raids. The objection to that solution is that players want to drop in, join a group and raid with minimal fuss and inconvenience.

Having done 10 and 25 man raids elsewhere, the biggest differences for larger groups is the greater organizational challenge and greater inconvenience of waiting on more people. You need to wait for more people to join in, a single, “Need to AFK a minute.” usually leads to 5 or 6 more, a minute away stretches to 10, more people means greater possibility for dissent, anger and drama. I doubt people who are unwilling to wait, organize or be inconvenienced for a 10 man are going to be willing to wait, organize or be inconvenienced by a 20-man.

There would likely be no benefit at all for PuG’s. I can see some benefit for people who want easier raids and who already have a guild or group, but just don’t have the skill or will to deal with harder encounters. However, those people have shown little willingness to engage with the easier encounters, Also, how much of a joke would the easier encounters be with twice the players? We need only look at persistent world meta events to see the effects of outnumbering content.

Finally, there would, however, still be the spectre of rewards. Would 20-man offer the means to make L. Armor? If so, you’d see regular raiders farming those, following the path of least resistance. If not, much of the “want easy mode” crowd would not want to engage with the easier mode.

Nice try, but I don’t think so.

usnedward.9023:

So……. let me get this straight…. MANY people over the years have complained about loot filling up their bags and there has to be another way. In comes the copper and silver salvaging gizmos. Then the complaints went to too many runes and stuff so still have to make a pit stop to sell off those and many came here and still come here to post these random complaints or dislikes or what have you.

NOW you get stacking unidentified gear that I assume stack to 250 and now you have:
1. Option to salvage
2. Option to have discover the gear then salvage.

So ANET once again seems to honor those who have the issues and I see no harm done in it. If you salvage and it appears you risk salvaging a possible exotic or precursor….. um…your risk you take.

Personally I see it as a good thing of saving bag space during random runs through the forests and in my downtime I can go discover and then salvage what I like.

People will just kitten anymore about anything….

As someone who complained about this inconvenience feature…

• I never complained about bag space. I don’t even have all bag slots unlocked.
• Stacking UNID’d gear is only better than stacking loot bags because you can choose to salvage. They’re worse than loot bags because if you want to “open” them, you have to go someplace specific and spend silver.
• If this feature is meant to honor the requests of people who wanted not to have to deal with green runes and sigils, it seems like an odd way to go about it. Why not jsut make a vendor all option?
• Assuming there will be bag space saving, you’re trading possible gain in time between inventory management stops for either: (a) losing out on being able to actually see what loot you’ve gotten; or (b) trading that time for time spent going to a heart, doing the heart (assuming you don’t otherwise care to), plus silver spent per ID. This is a bad trade either way.

Now, maybe there’s some purpose to this feature that we aren’t seeing. Perhaps if ANet were to stop being cryptic and actually explain the feature in full, including what they hope to accomplish, I might change my mind. As it, though, I can’t see how this is anything but a bad idea.

LOVED
Hydras (look, mechanics, but agree w/ Edgar re head health)
Mount movement (heavy feel)
Terrain (usual ANet scene art killing it!)

LIKED
Other Mobs (variety, looks, fighting)

NEUTRAL
Bounty (Mechanics OK, too generic, spawned right as I first left town)

DISLIKED
Intro Story (on reflection, too generic/predictable)

HATED
Unidentified Gear (loot management did not need to become more involved)

Sojourner.4621:

IndigoSundown.5419:

Blood Red Arachnid.2493:

IndigoSundown.5419:

Blood Red Arachnid.2493:

DeShadowWolf.6854:

Blood Red Arachnid.2493:

I’m wondering if we’re really losing anything. If unidentified gear stacks, then how can the game identify which one is an exotic and which isn’t? Is there a secret, unseen list that keeps track of the identity of the items that have yet to be claimed?

From the sound of things, unidentified gear is just another die roll that drops on top of the kinds of drops you would normally get. Is there any proof that we’re missing out on rare and exotic drops that we otherwise would’ve gotten?

There is no list, it’s more RNG. The phrase “missing out on rares/exotics” is to indicate that if we salvage unids, those might have ID’d into rares or exotic.

In that case, I do not see the problem. If something we previously earned is being taken away due to unids, then there would be a problem. But if it is an additional system added on to loot that people are complaining about gambling on, then that is strictly an opt-in system. I’m going to salvage all my unids and never look back.

I’ve yet to see a definitive statement from anyone which suggests that we will still get the normal chance at rares and exotics as we get elsewhere. All I got was blue and green normal drops, but that might be due to a relatively small sample size.

It’s the other way around. You’ll have to prove that we’re losing out on drops elsewhere with the unids. It is a bit defeatists to assume a new system is inherently ripping you off via hidden changes to loot ratios mentioned nowhere.

This is ANet we’re talking about, remember. NPE? Adept traits available at L36 that unlocked in L60 areas? “Every player by level 80 should have max stat gear?” Not enough MP’s to be able to fully progress and avoid niche content on HoT launch.

I always, always, always assume the worst. That way I won’t be disappointed.

For me, the system kittens kitten. If I got an Unid’d drop I did not get a regular one at the same time. Paying to ID plus do heart plus go to vendor makes it more clicking and more tedious. If PoF needs to resort to this lame gimmick to keep people playing, ANet has sunk to a new low.

Exotics and rares still drop separate of the unID items in the demo.

OK, that’s fine. I wonder how drop rates are affected, but whatever. Still, ID’ing was done better in GW, where you could see the item rarity and thus make a better-informed choice. If it turns out the only value to IDing is to get weapon skins, then I suppose I can live with it, though I’m never going to like this inconvenience feature.

Blood Red Arachnid.2493:

IndigoSundown.5419:

Blood Red Arachnid.2493:

DeShadowWolf.6854:

Blood Red Arachnid.2493:

I’m wondering if we’re really losing anything. If unidentified gear stacks, then how can the game identify which one is an exotic and which isn’t? Is there a secret, unseen list that keeps track of the identity of the items that have yet to be claimed?

From the sound of things, unidentified gear is just another die roll that drops on top of the kinds of drops you would normally get. Is there any proof that we’re missing out on rare and exotic drops that we otherwise would’ve gotten?

There is no list, it’s more RNG. The phrase “missing out on rares/exotics” is to indicate that if we salvage unids, those might have ID’d into rares or exotic.

In that case, I do not see the problem. If something we previously earned is being taken away due to unids, then there would be a problem. But if it is an additional system added on to loot that people are complaining about gambling on, then that is strictly an opt-in system. I’m going to salvage all my unids and never look back.

I’ve yet to see a definitive statement from anyone which suggests that we will still get the normal chance at rares and exotics as we get elsewhere. All I got was blue and green normal drops, but that might be due to a relatively small sample size.

It’s the other way around. You’ll have to prove that we’re losing out on drops elsewhere with the unids. It is a bit defeatists to assume a new system is inherently ripping you off via hidden changes to loot ratios mentioned nowhere.

This is ANet we’re talking about, remember. NPE? Adept traits available at L36 that unlocked in L60 areas? “Every player by level 80 should have max stat gear?” Not enough MP’s to be able to fully progress and avoid niche content on HoT launch.

I always, always, always assume the worst. That way I won’t be disappointed.

For me, the system kittens kitten. If I got an Unid’d drop I did not get a regular one at the same time. Paying to ID plus do heart plus go to vendor makes it more clicking and more tedious. If PoF needs to resort to this lame gimmick to keep people playing, ANet has sunk to a new low.

biofrog.1568:

Hi All,
I see a lot of talk about getting pips for the WvW Skirmish Tickets, but personally I’m constantly surprised by the players who have really high ranks and WXP.

I’ve been using Celebration Boosts, Guild tavern 10% WXP boost and the occasional field XP banner but at best, even with putting in the hours (both before and after patch) to reach the diamond pip chests I’m still only netting around 200 ranks per month.

Was ranking up significantly quicker in Edge of the Mists? I do pretty well every night, tagging plenty, capturing plenty and getting reward tracks too, but I feel for anyone starting out now to try and reach ranks 1500-2000 for the WvW Legendary armor.

200 ranks/month
12 months/year
5 years since launch
200 × 60 = rank 12,000

People who’ve played a long time didn’t need to sustain that much rank gain to get really high ranks

Blood Red Arachnid.2493:

DeShadowWolf.6854:

Blood Red Arachnid.2493:

I’m wondering if we’re really losing anything. If unidentified gear stacks, then how can the game identify which one is an exotic and which isn’t? Is there a secret, unseen list that keeps track of the identity of the items that have yet to be claimed?

From the sound of things, unidentified gear is just another die roll that drops on top of the kinds of drops you would normally get. Is there any proof that we’re missing out on rare and exotic drops that we otherwise would’ve gotten?

There is no list, it’s more RNG. The phrase “missing out on rares/exotics” is to indicate that if we salvage unids, those might have ID’d into rares or exotic.

In that case, I do not see the problem. If something we previously earned is being taken away due to unids, then there would be a problem. But if it is an additional system added on to loot that people are complaining about gambling on, then that is strictly an opt-in system. I’m going to salvage all my unids and never look back.

I’ve yet to see a definitive statement from anyone which suggests that we will still get the normal chance at rares and exotics as we get elsewhere. All I got was blue and green normal drops, but that might be due to a relatively small sample size.

I guess I missed those in the demo. Heh, not sorry. Will miss them the same way once PoF launches, if I buy it. If I don’t I’ll miss them differently. Either way, I am not fond of minigames. At all.

Norn culture doesn’t really remind me of Scandinavian culture much. I’m pretty sure it was not intended to. Norn remind me more of a cross between: Dungeons and Dragons dwarves who live outdoors and have tall solid bodies rather than short solid bodies; and some generic shamanic tribal culture.

Deciding not to comfort Garm, well, that’s fine, I guess. I’m OK with it, though. The story makes me do a lot of things I would not choose to do given a choice, like hang with Braham. Or Rox. I used to think that way about Taimi, but she has turned into a fungus and grown on me.

I like the heavy feel of the raptor, and the way it stops with a bit of a slide/turn.

This is well said. The exodus to PoF is just around the corner.

JackOfAllGames.2409:

I’m sure others have said this by now, but I also love this feature. I definitely want it kept. Here’s why:
1. Gear drops in GW2 have gotten crazy over HoT. I’ve heard the term “Inventory Wars 2” used more than once. You’re constantly having to deal with all the garbage items that fill up your bags. Unidentified items let you find out what you’re getting LATER. In the meantime, they stack.
2. Your inventory is kept clear WITHOUT it slowly filling with useless glyphs/runes.

Except it isn’t. Random white, blue and green stuff still drops independent of Unid’d stuff. There are still containers independent of Unid’d stuff. All Unid’d is is an additional class of drop that — as far as limited play showed me — hides the access of drops of greater rarity than green behind a do-heart/extra-step(s)/pay-silver wall.

3. You can still salvage the items without identifying. At least with the greens (the only ones I’ve found so far…maybe the only ones that exist), weren’t you going to do that anyway?
4. You can vendor them as normal (if that’s your thing).

If drops of greater rarity than green are exclusively in Unid’d, as per my limited experience and others’ claims — then say goodbye to ecto’s unless you ID.

5. If you DO wish to identify the items, you can do so in bulk. At a heart vendor. It acts as a small money sink and you do occasionally get nice/collectible stuff for the trouble.

I had the same knee-jerk reaction when I heard about the identification system being introduced, but it actually DOES serve a purpose here. It’ll greatly improve MY quality of gaming and I bet it’ll do so for most others too. I’d love to see this system added to older zones as well – as many as is feasible.

Doubtless more info may be needed, but your claims are not supported by my experience and the testimony of others. So far, it looks like a hit to quality of play rather than a benefit. The problem is, that if we say nothing now, this system, which solves no problems but does create them for players, will go live.

1. Aesthetics: Top notch, as always GW2 landscape art is very well done.
2. Mobs: Hydras! One of my favorite mobs from the Crystal Desert in GW. In fact, I can’t say I found a roaming mob in that limited area that I did not enjoy fighting.
3. Story: Just did the intro, not even sure that there was an option for more. Pretty generic, tbh. Props for village rescuing as was done in the tutorial for NIghtfall, but alas no corsair ship.
4. Bounties: I took one, not knowing how they worked, and then wandered outside of town. Mr. Whoever popped up straight away. I thought, “This is probably meant to be a squad-based iteration, but what the hey.” Fought him for around five minutes (pays to be a ranger sometime, because I’m surely not a solo-Lupicus type of player). Pets and cool downs burned through with maybe 10% of his bar gone (maybe less, I did not have the % indicator enabled so I’m guesstimating), and I got that I was right. Now, I don’t have a problem with these things being for larger groups. However, the way this one worked, brace for complaints about bounties from some of the people who take them unknowing and get stomped.
5. Raptor Mount: I don’t seem to have the motion sickness thing discussed elsewhere, though I had to shelve ES: Oblivion and drop Unreal Tournament due to same. I also like the way the raptor moves. The jump distance, however, does not feel all that special.
6. Identifying Loot: Oh, kitten, no! Nuke this feature from orbit before release. It’s the only way to be sure. Whoever thought this would be fun … well, I won’t go there because this is only a game … but this was the only thing I encountered in the demo that made me think maybe I won’t buy PoF. Making already cumbersome inventory management even more involved, with more clicking, turns what was a chore into a really annoying chore.

Sartharina.3542:

IndigoSundown.5419:

Now, if only there was some way to do instanced content without having to randomly group with people with different expectations than you. Oh, wait, there is. Sure, it’s more effort to find a guild of like-minded people, develop a friend’s list, or start your own group. I guess people prefer “log in/LFg/do content” because they think it’s more convenient. At least, it’s more convenient until you get kicked because a random grouping tool grouped you with randoms with meters.

>Start group
>label it a casual run
>4 players join,
>Start Fractal
>Get kicked for low DPS anyway.

This is why I believe in group ownership. If I were designing it, it would be immunity to kick, and would pass to the first person admitted if I logged out.

Also – There really needs to be a “Confirm Group Merge” in LFG. I keep getting people merging with groups I form when they have completely different goals:
Start an event map in Silverwastes? Get merged with a kitten Chest Train
Look for a casual fractal run for achievements? Get merged with people trying to speedrun dailies.
Looking for a specific dungeon path? Get merged with people who want to do Storymode.

Yes, for a convenience tool, there are some really inconvenient aspects. I’d also favor a Confirm Merge option for the group starter.

Of course, my preferred option for people to get the experience they want is to avoid the LFG. Pug and ugly have letters in common for a reason. ;P

Now, if only there was some way to do instanced content without having to randomly group with people with different expectations than you. Oh, wait, there is. Sure, it’s more effort to find a guild of like-minded people, develop a friend’s list, or start your own group. I guess people prefer “log in/LFg/do content” because they think it’s more convenient. At least, it’s more convenient until you get kicked because a random grouping tool grouped you with randoms with meters.

marelooke.9708:

…more busywork, more clicking and at a higher cost.

This sums up this bad feature in a nutshell. Who at ANet sat with a straight face in a planning meeting and said, “Hey, this will be fun for players.”?

ANet has done a lot of things to the game since launch that I’ve disliked. However, I could always see the point behind it in terms of what other players might want, even if I did not care for it myself. This one, though, is a really bad decision with no upside for players. If any player thinks this is a good idea, I encourage them to examine the consequences critically. marelooke has summed them up.

The more I hear about this system, the more I dislike it.

Nihevil.8024:

Al Menia.4570:

Why is it bad?
At least it can stack, and that’s handy!

It costs 1s 68c to identify each piece and if you don’t you’ll lose out on precursors and other nice exotics that sell for decent amount of gold.

This makes IDing necessary, a necessary evil. After reading the myriad of complaints about the amount of clicking needed to manage one’s inventory, who could have possibly thought that adding more clicking would be a good idea.

Send this kitten to the oubliette, now, before PoF launches.

Wow. If there was something this game did NOT need it was more clicking in relation to loot. Even if the drop rates for anything actually desirable go up the tiny fraction there is room for without devaluing too many things thought desirable now, IDing loot is simply going to be another chore. The game already has too many chores.

Please rethink this. More fun. Less chores.

Chadramar.8156:

Forced dismounts do absolutely nothing to prevent some tosser (or ten) AFK-camping their mount on NPCs.

No, it would not stop deliberate attempts to hinder access. It does, however, prevent accidental access hindering. I’d bet that there are a lot fewer who want to be annoying than there are people just playing the game.

Chadramar.8156:

Plus, the constant mount/dismount animations contribute to motion sickness for some people due to the flash and the forced zooming.

There’s a current thread about the motion sickness issue. While I agree it’s a problem, ANet is looking at the issues and seeing what can be done. I also think “constant” is a bit of an exaggeration.

Boogiepop Void.6473:

This behavior rapidly turns mounting into the most annoying thing ever

Dwayna forfend you ever have a real problem, but congratulations on the Hyperbole of the Month award.

STIHL.2489:

How ironic, don’t you think that the “gamer” definition has no relationship to the actual definition . Wonder why that is?

Subcultures rarely form languages of their own. More often, they continue to use the language(s) that their members use for non-subculture interactions, but will adapt the meaning of various terms to better communicate what matters to the subculture’s members. This can result in terms meaning very different things to them than they do to those who are not members. Similar types of language evolution can be seen anywhere subculture slang or regional slang develops, though of course the actual terms that change will be different for different groups.

Gaming is a subculture which consists of millions of people. It stands to reason that gamers were going to develop terms to be able to discuss what they are interested in. Someone standing outside the gaming subculture looking in may find the use of such terms perplexing, but to those inside it’s just how it is.

Good luck with the game. I hope you find PoF to be to your liking. Based on the trends I saw in Living Story Season 3, I think there is at least a chance you will.

STIHL.2489:

Don’t you find it odd that there would be other ways to define “casual” I mean, pause and ponder this for a moment. If you say to someone ’’I’m going for a casual stroll" they don’t think there is some time constraint to the walk, nor do they wonder how sure footed you, might be, or your ability to equip yourself for a walk Everyone instantly understand that it’s a leisure activity, something done for the enjoyment of it, never a question of your capacity to walk, or now much time you have to invest into it, but its fully understood that it’s all about your approach to taking the walk.

Just the same as if someone who is going to go on a casual boat ride, or a casual drive., there is no inclination of question their ability drive a car or a boat, the quality of the vehicle or how long or often the activity is undertaken. Its universally understood that what makes it casual is the mindset of the individual taking the cruse.

Which now begs the question, if we always understood that “casual” was a mindset when talking about any other activity, why do we suddenly get so confused when it gets applied to games?

Perhaps because there is a specific definition of the word casual as it is used in video games which states that either skill, time commitment or both are defining factors.

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/casual

Words evolve. We either adapt and use them as they are being used in specific contexts or we don’t. Stick with your definition if you like, but you will continue to be misunderstood by some posters and some of the information you get will be unhelpful as a result.

STIHL.2489:

IndigoSundown.5419:

OP, while you may self-identify as casual, there is little agreement among all who so identify. Some think of the word as meaning preference for easy content; others for limited time spent playing; still others for solo-only play. There may be as many understandings of what “casual” means as there are people using the term.

“Casual” is a mindset, or more aptly put, an approach on how someone plays the game. In simple terms, “casual” defines their motive and drive, as opposed to being serious about the game, or hardcore. Truth is, being “Casual” is irrespective of skill or time played. As how many hours someone invests into a game or how skilled they are at playing a game, have no bearing the mindset they have or how they approach the game.

In short, a “Casual” is not looking for a something serious that they have to work at or treat like a job, they are looking to escape into a fantasy world as someone might take a casual stroll in the woods to escape the daily grind of life.

OK, so that is your definition. That’s fine, as long as you realize that not everyone is using the word that way. Frankly, the unhelpful comments you complain about are the result of your using the word casual rather than describing your preferred play-style.

Hopefully, the other comments that you snipped from my post were helpful.

Being dismounted to gather materials is standard for MMO’s that offer mounts. Immersion over first world convenience. “Super annoying?” “Horrible?” Smh.

While I see no immersion issues with talking to NPOC’s while mounted, it’s likely a matter of preventing accidental burial of NPC’s by a bunch of larger model mounts. It won’t stop deliberate griefing, but it will at least remove accidental griefing.

Dawdler.8521:

Elite specs in the gemstore will clearly cross the line of what constitutes p2w in a cashshop, regardless of any gold conversion.

I play GW2 because it isnt an Asian MMO.

Please dont try to make it into one. Lets stick to expansions.

Not a bad point. Doubtless such accusations would be made, as we see them any time ANet puts something in the store that someone doesn’t want to have to pay for.

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

• They won’t create a new Personal Story for Tengu.
• They won’t create a new starter area and tutorial for Tengu.

This reminds be a bit of Death Knights in Wrath. They got insta-leveled to 50 or 55 and had a short starting story. Then they went out into the world. Nothing would stop ANet from starting Tengu characters in similar fashion, if they wanted to. I suspect they don’t, for reasons pertaining to armor issues (even if Tengu got no access to existing sets) and voice acting. However, there would certainly be options to incorporate them into the narrative if they wanted to. In fact, since the Tengu have not yet come boiling out of their refuge, putting them into the personal story would be immersion breaking.

OP, while you may self-identify as casual, there is little agreement among all who so identify. Some think of the word as meaning preference for easy content; others for limited time spent playing; still others for solo-only play. There may be as many understandings of what “casual” means as there are people using the term.

Based on what little you’ve told us, I’m going to guess your definition refers to dislike for vertical navigation and maybe dislike for HoT mob difficulty, thought the latter is a leap.

What I can do is tell you a few things.

• Living Story Season 3 zones moved a bit away from HoT design parameters in some ways, but not in others.

1. There are event chains, but no over-arching map meta such as we see in the 4 HoT zones. Participating in events is more on a drop-in basis, as we saw in core, and less dependent on consulting timer sites and hoping to use LFG to get to the one or two active map copies.
2. Mobs in LSS3 zones are not particularly difficult, with a few exceptions. Some of them do have what I find to be annoying mechanics (When you “kill” a White Mantle Mesmer, for instance, it turns out you’ve killed his/her clone, and then need to kill him/her, all while it and then s/he are spamming the bright pink beam of Mesmer Greatsword 1 at you).
3. There is still a vertical component to movement in LSS3 maps, but I find getting around in them to be quite a bit easier, as there is a lot less of the trademark ANet, “Can’t get there from here.”

Perhaps those map designs are going to be indicative of what see in PoF, just as Silverwastes and to some extent Dry Top were precursors to HoT.

As to PoF, we know little. There will be huge zones. There will be bounties. There will doubtless be events. There will be Elite Specs and doubtless some means to unlock them. There will be mounts which have unique movement capabilities, and those capabilities will be necessary to get to some places on the maps. Mounts look to be obtained via Masteries, though we do not know as yet if there will be any major substantive changes to how Masteries are acquired.

As to whether any of that constitutes “casual-friendly” or “casual-unfriendly” to what casual means to you, well, only you can answer that. Bear in mind that the preceding is some amount of pattern analysis and some amount of guesswork coupled with the facts revealed in the PoF announcement. The best, and only really reliable indication of whether PoF will suit you or not is going to be trying it yourself, and the only cost to try the free beta weekends is the large download.

Obtena.7952:

IndigoSundown.5419:

The ability to choose where UI elements are on screen was available in GW from the moment I started playing it. Still can’t do it en masse in GW2 after almost 5 years. While I do not hate the UI, I would like to be able to move stuff around.

Also, Carighan and Hannelore made some good suggestions.

Obtena.7952:

UI changes have a very low return on invested development time, especially if they aren’t all that necessary.

A lot of changes ANet has made to the game were resource intensive and payoff poor. Take the NPE. It required a lot of changes and failed hard at its stated purpose.

… and those are the ones Anet decided to make. There are lots of reasons to change something. UI changes are necessary? Funny … if they are necessary, how do we play the game?

It might not be the best UI, but it’s certainly not so bad that Anet needs to waste time changing it. Any UI improvement is a ‘luxury’ rank change; hardly needed.

1. Ah, the “ANet decided” sacred cow again. Maybe one day you’ll realize that as defenses go, that one is kitten poor?
2. Where did I say UI changes were necessary?
3. Many thousands of players have asked for changes to the game since launch. Many of those requests have been honored. With few or no exceptions, such requests are always met with status quo defenders dismissing the request because of the status quo. Status quo defense means zilch. All you have to do is look at the history of changes to the game.

jheryn.8390:

If experience was the way you gained everything, then why have any content other than “killing stuff”?

Why have dynamic events, boss fights, personal stories where you are required to do certain things, dungeons, any instanced content at all? Why have meta events or dailies or collections or anything else other than killing creatures? You can’t just “play the way you want” and get those rewards without doing those things.

All of those things have rewards for doing them that you cannot get unless you do them. Masteries are not made to be “experience” driven. They are made to be content driven so you have to get them in a new, different way rather than just killing things.

If XP were the only currency for Masteries, various types of play would still be desirable because different people like different things. How can everyone play as they want if there are no options? XP, especially in GW2, is a wide-open system. Masteries are a closed system (the XP is useless without the points). XP comes from so many things one can do, I wonder why you even bother to make the “just killing things” reference.

I have zero issues with rewards exclusive to specific content. If I do not like the content, I am fine with foregoing that reward. I do question whether rewards (Masteries) that are needed to do certain things in game should be gated by content that has nothing to do with the Mastery or the things one needs a Mastery to accomplish.

Were I a developer, I could see the attraction of putting MP’s behind content I thought large numbers would avoid. I’m not a developer. As a player, I think it kittens.

jheryn.8390:

IndigoSundown.5419:

jheryn.8390:

I’m curious about how many “ways” you think that they can make available to obtain things so you and everyone else can “play the way you want”?

There has to be limits in ways of obtaining anything. For every person in game, each one will want to play a little differently. I don’t see a way they could accommodate everyone.

They could have had Masteries mimic the level-up experience in expansions. That way, no points would be needed. I’d have preferred this. They could also have tied where you gain XP to specific lines. Want Itzel, gain XP in VB. Want Nuhoch, gain XP in TD. Want Exalted, gain XP in AB. I’d have been happy with much more XP needed, too, as long as I didn’t have to jump through hoops that hold little interest for me.

OK, but that still doesn’t answer the question about how you think they could have done it so that it would appeal to everyone. Just because you or I or anyone else might like something, there will always be someone who doesn’t like it that way.

Then those people do not get to play the way they want. The company has to decide on a path and go with it. There is no possible way they could account for every person’s likes and wants. It just isn’t possible in any game or situation.

Gaining experience is a standard feature in every MMO. Faction benefits which require play in specific areas are standard features in many MMO’s. Tying the main progression system for an XPac to mini games and off-the-wall achievements is decidedly not standard. Anyone who wants to miss and poan about having to gain XP in an MMO is playing the wrong genre. Complaining about closed progression systems makes a lot more sense for the MMO genre.

As to possible responses about GW2 being different, it is also supposed to appeal to MMO fans, and has made many concessions to those fans.

The ability to choose where UI elements are on screen was available in GW from the moment I started playing it. Still can’t do it en masse in GW2 after almost 5 years. While I do not hate the UI, I would like to be able to move stuff around.

Also, Carighan and Hannelore made some good suggestions.

Obtena.7952:

UI changes have a very low return on invested development time, especially if they aren’t all that necessary.

A lot of changes ANet has made to the game were resource intensive and payoff poor. Take the NPE. It required a lot of changes and failed hard at its stated purpose.

jheryn.8390:

I’m curious about how many “ways” you think that they can make available to obtain things so you and everyone else can “play the way you want”?

There has to be limits in ways of obtaining anything. For every person in game, each one will want to play a little differently. I don’t see a way they could accommodate everyone.

They could have had Masteries mimic the level-up experience in expansions. That way, no points would be needed. I’d have preferred this. They could also have tied where you gain XP to specific lines. Want Itzel, gain XP in VB. Want Nuhoch, gain XP in TD. Want Exalted, gain XP in AB. I’d have been happy with much more XP needed, too, as long as I didn’t have to jump through hoops that hold little interest for me.

KryTiKaL.3125:

Maybe some day it will, maybe some day they will add Tengu as a race. Maybe they won’t. Continuously calling for it is not going to change the fact that unless it fits within the narrative of the story they are telling in the world they created then they are not going to pull a justification for it out of thin air.

When, or if, they feel it is justified and appropriate to include the Tengo as a playable race then they will. Until then…stop.

I don’t care about the Tengu as a race and would not play one if they were introduced. However, if players stop agitating for the race to be added, there would be little incentive for ANet to add a justification to the story of the world.

I’m sure that some things get added to the game because the narrative requires them. I’m equally sure that a metric ton of stuff gets shoehorned into the narrative because the business’ primary goal is to make money, and satisfying player demand accomplishes that.

That said, I also believe that money and resources are a significant factor in the decision not to add. That would take the form of needing to mold new armor skins to a different frame, requiring another two (assuming male and female) voice actors to story making, etc. As a business, they’d have to believe that the return would justify the added expense.

Fatalyz.7168:

Iason Evan.3806:

nekretaal.6485:

HoT is only $20 if you bought POF. I guarantee you that if anet ever sold what you’re asking for it would cost more than $20.

idk. seems to me $5 per spec seems a reasonable price.

But yet they just released a 2k gem insta-80 boost, and you are expecting an elite spec for 400 gems. Not gonna happen.

Elite specs in the Gem store most likely won’t happen because Anet will want real money for those, not people trading gold for gems. At your suggested rate of $5 per, that’s all anyone would do. You’d be looking at just over 100 gold per spec (this is taking into account the current conversion rate of 27 gold 64 silver per 100 gems, 100 gems is $1.25), that is ludicrous.

In other words, if Anet did take your suggestion, it wouldn’t be at $5. As Nekretaal alluded to, Anet would charge way more than $5 per.

This.

Anything that can be purchased via gems will be bought by at least some players who spend gold. While the gems they’re gaining via the exchange were purchased with real money, the more gems the player needs for whatever it is he wants, the better it is for the gem exchangers and for ANet. More gold in the exchange raises the conversion rate, which makes buying gems to get gold look more attractive.

Vayne.8563:

Celtic Lady.3729:

Vayne.8563:

Celtic Lady.3729:

Well, I already know how often the Dragon Stand meta runs. I know how long the maps last and when they turn over, but it doesn’t do me any good. Even when I watch for every new map beginning, there is still no way to get into a fullish map. Either the maps are empty or they’re “closed” or “full.”

Trying to get the meta for weeks. I don’t need the condescension of people saying “Well, I can run DS 15 times a day every day whenever I want.” Great. But this is not the reality for everyone.

I cannot play 24/7. I can play usually between 6-10 pm. This is when I watch for events. And I’ve been able to find nothing for DS during this time for weeks now. It is not from lack of watching the times or trying.

How can I do this multiple times a week, and you can’t g;et in at all. Obviously one of us hasn’t figured out how to do it. You’re right in the fact that it’s not something you can just know, it’s one of the values of joining a knowledgable guild. Guilds share this kind if information. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve taken on their first dragon stand run, one of the reasons I’ve done it so much.

The trick is to get there before it starts…when the old map is closing. You join a squad. If there is no squad at five minutes too, use the looking for group tool to join a squad.

When the map closes you’ll die. Immediately waypoint to the first waypoint in the zone, right click on the commander in the squad and choose join in dragon stand. That’s assuming you’re not already in the same map. In case you haven’t joined a lot of squads, if the box with the commander’s name it is in green, you’re on the same server. If it’s clear then you should right click on his name and click join in dragon stand.

Once you’re on the map, you’re good to go. Just stick with the commander.

Again, I haven’t done this once or twice. Iv’e done this dozens of times.

The entire game is on timers, btw, including the world bosses. A site like gw2timer.com would be of great help. There are also overlays you can download if you prefer.

I know all of this already. I know all about world boss timers. In case you don’t realize it, Dragon’s Stand really isn’t a boss like the Shadow Beast. Not the same thing at all. It hasn’t helped. It’s as simple as I’ve gotten into dozens of maps at the exact right time before the event starts. There are maybe 15 people total. Over and over it happens, assuming I get into a map at all. Nothing gets done.

Okay I have nothing to say to that. I haven’t missed getting into a map in probably a year. I’ve done it at least dozens of times. I’m not sure why you’re having a different experience than everyone in my guild who runs it, but obviously something is going on.

I’m in Australia, I run it at US times and sometimes at Australian prime time Haven’t had a problem getting into a map in forever

You say people end up on different servers, that’s why you join the squad and specifically join on the commander.

Perhaps Celtic Lady is playing in EU at off times?

I like the Masteries. I like the experience requirement. I’d even gladly pay the XP requirement many times over. I find Mastery Points on the other hand, to be horrid.

I’m sure some of that is my particular situation. I’ve been slowly working towards getting them, but I’ve hit a barrier that is insurmountable for the moment. There’s still a fair number locked away in story. However, the game is DCing me as a matter of course during the last part of the story step, while long winded NPC’s gradually wind their way to whatever conclusion they’re eventually supposed to get to.

Couple that with my distaste for putting MP’s in adventures, and needing to burn my finite supply of teleport to friends to get into the new zones to be able to access at least some of the points there…

I hope you see why I’d prefer an XP only system, even if it was ten times the XP.

There were also a lot of players who bought the game with the expectation that it would offer content they found challenging. While dungeons did fill that role at first, that did not last long.

Sure, but most of those players left pretty fast, and good riddance. They were corrosive to the culture of the game.

Some of them stayed, despite not getting all they wanted. Some may have come back. You’re labeling them en masse because they want exclusive rewards and you don’t. Both desires are selfish and in conflict. There is no moral superiority in the idea that you have to get every reward you want despite your unwillingness to engage with the content those rewards were designed to be incentives for.

I also happen to believe that the best thing for the game is for players in general to accept that every aspect of the game may not be for them.

And that’s fine. I can get 100% behind that, so long as two conditions are met:

1. Said “not for everyone” content cannot block progression towards earning rewards that “maybe everyone” players might want. Rewards are “for” anyone who wants them.

Good thing all rewards are for all players who choose to pursue them.

Thing is, you want the reward via an alternate pursuit. To this point, ANet still considers PvE to be a single game mode, and that game mode includes anything that isn’t in the sPvP or WvW modes. Whether they’ll bend in that stance I don’t know. I tend to doubt it. It’s a slippery slope. Give in to one group, the next thing they know, someone else will be demanding they give in to their particular brand of unwillingness.

Necro minions to be targeted next?

Yet another case of “I want it now!” conflicting with “ANet thinks gates are better for the game.” Fyi, “I want it now!” usually loses out in such conflicts. Don’t hold your breath.

This may be true, but is completely irrelevant. What ANet intended with the launch dungeons is beside the point, they launched how they launched, and people who came to the game liked what they were, and played for several years under the expectation that this was how the game should be, that this was the best possible state for the game. Then raids were added and were something else entirely, meant for a completely different audience of players.

There were also a lot of players who bought the game with the expectation that it would offer content they found challenging. While dungeons did fill that role at first, that did not last long. Once people figured out what a coordinated group could do, they were able to make short work of a lot of the paths. That propagated down through the skill continuum, abetted by nerfs and build changes until dungeons reached the state that you describe. The thing is, the people who wanted challenge have been begging for it for far longer, and in far greater numbers, than those who are asking for easy tier raids.

While I can understand the desire of raiders to keep raids from being diluted by the formation of an easy tier, that is not my objection. Mine is selfish, though no more so than theirs, or yours for that matter. The resources to make easy tier raids would have to come from somewhere. It would either take away from existing raid development, or from some other aspect of the game. I don’t want to see that. I also don’t believe that the number of people who want to raid but are unwilling to embrace the current setup is sufficiently high to warrant taking away from areas that do see a lot of interest.

I also happen to believe that the best thing for the game is for players in general to accept that every aspect of the game may not be for them. The more players restrict what they’re willing to do, the more likely they will need to foster that acceptance. You, of course, will disagree, as well as continue to fail to demonstrate that what you want has the numbers behind it to prove it would be good for the game.

@ Gullig

While English may not be your native tongue, I found your narrative to be compelling and interesting. There were strong indications that despite the frustration, you are trying (and succeeding, unless I miss my guess) to make lemonade out of the Arkk lemon. Were you to want advice, I’d suggest focusing on the tongue in cheek rather than the frustration. Regardless, if you do decide to move on, I hope you find other challenges and fun wherever you go. If you decide to stay, there is no problem with foregoing something you don’t enjoy in favor of doing the paths you do enjoy.

P. S. I hope your arm gets better soon.

Blaeys.3102:

Because the design and implementation of raiding that Anet chose in antithetical to pretty much every part of the GW2 PVE experience.

Other than party size and needing to know mechanics, which was not always true in dungeons, raids are very much like explorable dungeons.

For the average player moving from the open and flexible systems in something like fractals or the open world to the walled off and shortsighted experience that is GW2 raiding is jarring and encourages elitism.

There are assumptions here, like: the average player is not already doing raids and/or the average player gives a kitten about raids one way or the other (my take is that the average player doesn’t care, and includes a whole host of players who came to GW2 to get away from raid-only endgames and who are avoiding raids); no attempts are made by the raiding community to teach players new to raiding (that one is just plain false); there is an insurmountable difficulty barrier in raids (ANet has made easier, moderate and difficult raid encounters).

And anyone that claims otherwise is immediately belittled, called lazy, ignorant, greedy or other such nonsense in the raiding subforum.

There is a fair bit of that. Not to excuse rude behavior, but neither side is looking at things from the other’s perspective. A lot of the difficulty in finding a raid group comes from the use of LFG. The “open and flexible” system in the open world is part of the problem. People get used to the idea of, “Open LFG, join, play, win.” The difference, though, between raids and open world meta events is that ignorance (using the real definition of the word, which is “lack of knowledge or information”) means failure and wipe in raids, whereas in the open world, not so much. So, while some LFG users want to drop in and play just as they do in the open world, the LFG makers are looking for people who have more commitment than that.

The reason behind the introduction is crystal clear – marketing to an audience from other MMOs – hardcore raiders – that they were not addressing before. Unfortunately, in doing so, they had to, imo, compromise on core tenants of what GW2 was.

ANet planned to cater to that demographic from launch. Explorable dungeons were supposed to be raid equivalents. The reason raids may seem to be a departure is that explorable dungeons did not work out that way for the most part. So, no, core tenets were not in any way compromised by raids. Raids fulfilled an expectation that people who bought the game before launch had to wait over three years to see.

That decision has been harmful to the game and has created an unfriendlier environment in the community – even though there are alternatives (multiple tiers, as an example) that would have made much more sense.

“Harmful to the game” is an easy accusation to bandy about, but a hard one to prove. What it boils down to is that you and some other people want to do raids but choose to believe you can’t unless there’s an easy tier. Some other people don’t want to fail because failing is not fun, so they want an easy tier. Still others want the ease and convenience of, “log in, open LFG, join raid squad, complete raid, collect loot, log out.” Those peoples’ intentions are thwarted because they want something that raids are not. That does not mean raids are harming the game. As to an “unfriendlier community,” there were more exclusion complaints in dungeons than I see for raids.

See italics for responses.

To end, I’ll ask the same question I asked in a different thread, to which you have chosen not to respond. “Have you tried to do any of the easier raid bosses with your guild members? If not, what stops you?”

Endless Soul.5178:

IndigoSundown.5419:

One of my best friends bought the original Guild wars game. Then, another friend bought him a Droks run and gave him the Plat to get armor. Left to his own devices, he then grabbed a bunch of henchmen and at level 4 or so wandered out into the Shiverpeaks which was at the time one of the hardest areas in the game for max level (20) characters.

ANet, since GW first released, has been fond of making their games and seeing what people do with them. The more info put into the game as to the best ways to do things, the more they would limit player inquisitiveness and ingenuity. To me, that makes for a far better game than one in which everything is on rails.

Obviously, the OP prefers a lot more more structure. For me, though, I had absolutely no trouble figuring out what to do in GW2. In fact, I could have done with less structure, particularly after the NPE was put in to try to make the game more accessible to those who had never played an MMO.

You know, that sounds a lot like me when I was playing Guild Wars in 2005. I had no idea what I was doing, just one map after the next, one mission after the next.

I bought Elite Noble for my mesmer because it looked great on her/ Never bothered to put sigils or runes on her or her weapons, because I had no clue about them really. And I somehow beat Prophecies like this…just using henchmen. I never grouped with anyone.

EDIT: Actually, I did group up in one mission, where you have to kill the leaders within a minute of killing the underlings?

Ah!! Thirsty River. Good times!!

Do we know if mounts will move faster than swiftness allows a character to move?

• If not, and if mounting and dismounting is that big a deal to you, use a perma-swiftness build.
• If so, well… games cater way too much to players’ constant demands for more convenience. Players demanded mounts, now let them deal with the tiny consequences, if there even are any.

The OP may think that he is not overstating. However, this request falls so far beyond the realm of first world problems that it is in its own category.

sephiroth.4217:

Has the expansion been released or is this all theoretical?

People are apparently drawing conclusions based on seeing video released by streamers who ANet invited to test snippets of PoF, including at least some of the Elite Specs.

Balthazar is apparently being naughty. Being aligned to him is a matter of religious observance rather than a real tie, and characters who are so aligned gain no benefit.

Stand The Wall.6987:

lol, its a pve mechanic that they never really modified for wvw. I wonder what their reasoning is for why they refuse to do so.

They sell finishers.

maddoctor.2738:

If a training mode for Raids would make the normal raids more accessible then why isn’t that happening with Fractals? There are multiple versions of Shattered Observatory, including the regular fotm 100, yet they mean absolutely nothing for accessibility.

Are there FotM rewards exclusive to highest level fractals plus CM, or is it the same rewards only with a better chance the harder it is designed to be?

One of my best friends bought the original Guild wars game. Then, another friend bought him a Droks run and gave him the Plat to get armor. Left to his own devices, he then grabbed a bunch of henchmen and at level 4 or so wandered out into the Shiverpeaks which was at the time one of the hardest areas in the game for max level (20) characters.

ANet, since GW first released, has been fond of making their games and seeing what people do with them. The more info put into the game as to the best ways to do things, the more they would limit player inquisitiveness and ingenuity. To me, fostering ingenuity makes for a far better game than everything being on rails.

Obviously, the OP prefers a lot more more structure. For me, though, I had absolutely no trouble figuring out what to do in GW2. In fact, I could have done with less structure, particularly after the NPE was put in to try to make the game more accessible to those who had never played an MMO.

• The HoT story has its moments.
• The Elite Spec collections offer unique skins, if that matters to you.
• Also, Living Story Season 3 has a dual unlock requirement. If you’ve been playing enough (i.e., you logged in at least once during each story step’s debut period) you’ve fulfilled requirement one. Requirement two is owning HoT.