Guild Wars 2

I have always wondered how they ultimately control how many precursors can drop during a ‘set’ time period. Theoretically everyone could get a precursor from the MF in one day, however improbable that may be, it is still possible with pure RNG.
There must be some sort of check and balance to keep this from occurring.

^^All good points both from Vol and from TooBz. The main factor to consider in retention for these players that feel ‘unlucky’ is there anything in place to compensate for the losses either at the Mystic Forge or after +1000 hours of direct farming. Is there a way to break an unlucky streak or work towards a precursor. Supposedly we will be getting ‘something’.
I don’t play for the loot but at the same time I am envious of the extremely lucky. And when I say extreme I mean the kind that get multiple drops or multiple forges within a relatively short time frame.
I don’t subscribe to the philosophy that every player should get a precursor handed to them. But for those multiples that pay the way for the few, they only do for just so long if there’s no hope for change. Then when that threshold is reached, they move on.

I almost wonder if the new Magic Find consumable gotten exclusively from salvaging blues and greens will change the availability. I would say no because more greens will be salvaged. Then I realized that if you are constantly salvaging blues and greens to get this MF consumable then we’re less likely to use a costly salvage kit to do so. Many runes will be destroyed in the name of boosting account MF.
Just a thought.
Otherwise I agree totally that crafting these are ridiculously expensive and are much better bought off the TP.
EDIT: removed random characters. Also I just wanted to state that I don’t ever salvage masterworks for their runes but some may. And the fact that they can’t be bought from the TP as easily ‘because’ they’re being destroyed for the consumable means less supply.

I like the fact that a skin is only available via RNG at the start and then becomes an item that can be directly purchased at a later date. It’s a good model. HOWEVER, there needs to be disclosure about it first.
People will still gamble in hopes of buying cheap keys, coffers, etc. and getting the ticket for a skin. Some people will hold off and opt to pay a higher price but get a direct purchase. The gamblers have the potential to get a cheap ticket and/or an exclusive skin for a time.
It only falls apart if the gamblers aren’t told that there will be an option to purchase later on, or an option to trade the skin later on.
It’s a good model but this time it was a bit of a poor implementation.

+1
Thx for the suggestion Vol. I did mine on whatever character I clicked first. I wanted to switch to the guardian and wasn’t sure how to go about getting around the soulbound item.
Good to know we can do it again on a different character.

I only got into one original map and completed the event. Every other time was an overflow. Funny thing, me and other teammates were in overflow that had no event when the UI to ask us to travel pops up. We all eagerly click ‘travel’ and … we’re in another overflow with nothing happening. /facepalm.
We did get in an overflow with the event but there were so few that it failed miserably. The night was chaotic and no amount of party members trying to join the lucky ones to make it in, worked. We just got errors.
At least I did it once. Some people gave up after trying 3 or 4 times.

Five of us tried for hours to do this technique and we just got errors as well.
I and two of the others only got into one of the events. Scarlet spawned on me at the end, so I got really lucky considering how many overflow maps I’d been in prior to this one time bit of luck.
Afterwards it was just overflows with no events and finally our last attempt was an overflow and a failed event. I got through one good pass but wasted a few hours for it.

Until some sort of ‘streak breaker’ code is implemented, the RNG can go either way. Tons of good luck or tons of bad. Some of us skate the bad luck. I have played with some really lucky people. I am happy for them; I really am. I am also very jealous.
I don’t know how to change my luck other than just keep playing and hope.
I also have learned to minimize risk taking such as the Mystic Forge or purchasing keys for BLTC chests. My rule is to only dump rares that have dropped from mobs into the forge, and only if they are under 30silver. The best thing that ever dropped was an exotic staff ‘deathwish’. I keep it and any other exotic that has dropped in my bank.
I wish you better luck than you’ve had.

Thank you Colin. A very upstanding thing to say and do with both of your posts. This is a great show of support for your players/fans.

…crumpled up the tinfoil and tossed it in the trash. :P

So the warhorn would be great for my alma mater. We were the USC fighting Gamekittens (darned filter for a legitimate word) Gamecooks it is. Woot for the college reference.
Oh wait…

I have felt limited in build diversity for other reasons. If you want to change stats after you start the ascended gear grinding you are ‘out of luck’. That is a lot of wasted time if you realize your build has been neutered/negated in the last balance patch. Or you just feel it’s boring and would like to try out new builds. The Heart of the Mists is a good place to get familiar with it, but not a proper substitute.
BUT did you see the mention of Legendary armor. Colin said it wouldn’t be implemented anytime soon. Quote:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Is-legendary-armor-coming-out/first
“You won’t see legendary armor any time soon, you will see Ascended Armor in 2013 for sure though, yes.”

However, when it is, how much do you want to bet that the stats can be changed just like the legendary weapon’s stats? At that point it’s only a matter of switching out your runes.
As someone that hasn’t gotten even close to a legendary though I began at head-start; I won’t be getting legendary armor either. Just thought I’d mention that legendary armor is in the game database and is on the table for the future. If you like to switch out your stats, well then there is your pinnacle of armor. Whether it actually makes it in, is anybody’s guess.

I don’t deny this is happening on the larger servers. Personally I can’t confirm the “Champ farm”. I am now on Crystal Desert after leaving Blackgate and I went to Cursed Shore Meddlers WP to check the griefing out for myself. Risen crickets chirped and I only found 2 other live souls around.
The Ember farm there doesn’t exist. Now there may be another location on CD that Champ farming/intentional failure exists but I’m not seeing it. I think this is problematic to certain servers and not others.
There are many solutions I’ve seen proposed in other threads that don’t involve the giant nerf hammer and still allow for events to be finished as intended. I hope Anet finds a solution such as this. I for one would have to guest to experience this huge increase in gold income and honestly I would rather not. I get by on what I make and though zerging can be fun, too many zerglings and only those with the highest DPS get kill credit.

I believe this is a bug but it’s not been confirmed.
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/bugs/Hint-Completion-STILL-bugged/first#post2420083

I and many others have tried to get this last hint to register as completed, to no avail. The mail that counts actually appears as an envelope (no stars or hearts icons count) and the tip at the top will tell you how many you have until your mailbox is full. Ie. 8/10 or when full 10/10 <— even if you have two in queue it will still just say 10/10.
I tried to buy a cheap item from the gemstore but did not receive the item because the mailbox was full. I had to delete two messages until I got the item and still the hint did not complete.
GL and if nothing suggested works please report this so that Anet can confirm.

1 – Lvl 80 Norn Ranger – Main
2 – Lvl 80 Sylvari Ranger
3 – Lvl 80 Human Warrior
4 – Lvl 80 Charr Guardian
5 – Lvl 80 Asura Necro
6 – Lvl 30 Human Theif
7 – Lvl 22 Charr Engi
8 – Lvl 19 Asura Mesmer
9 – Lvl 15 Sylvari Ele

If we get a new profession it will have to be a Norn to balance it out. That is unless we get a new race. Then I’ll have to get more slots.

I am curious about this.
1- I keep Signet of Rage on auto-attack for my warrior because I constantly forget to spam it when it’s off cool-down (even in town for the swiftness) and it’s not something I remember to take off of auto-attack while doing mundane town chores like going to trading post, bank, crafting stations.
2- Is it possible to circumvent the inactivity timer by using a utility skill on auto-attack? I never even thought to check this out because the most I leave a character unattended is a few minutes, not long enough to trigger it.
3- do people really think by putting a utility on auto that a person is a bot?

I recently made my ranger into a shout based build and keep one shout on auto as well for the swiftness and regen. So this really does matter to those of us I guess you would call ‘too lazy’ to just spam the utility instead of using auto. Fights get too hectic for me personally and I like to micromanage my pets so using a utility with auto is helpful.

justkoh.4073:

Hey, I was wondering if this would work out as a suggestion.

For Dynamic Events such as this one, the ‘champ rewards’ are not awarded or lootable immediately but accumulated in a buffer (or whatever the proper term is) for each player. If the event succeeds, everyone involved gets whatever they’ve earned in the buffer. If it fails, you get only the karma and XP. This way, zerg groups will still get their rewards and players who want to complete events in CS will get help from the zerg.

Farmers will probably not be happy but they should also realize that the current situation cannot be maintained without change.

I was going to suggest that the timer for a failed event was aligned with the exact same of that with a successful event. However I like your ‘buffer’ idea better. It would not be considered a nerf except in the most negligible way as to the time factor.
Hopefully something like this will be considered because as others have said so much of the game is tied to gold acquisition. Last time I checked no one was failing anything purposefully to garner more Karma. ( I know that’s impossible but just an example of a currency that is mostly ignored)

I know your pain. My guild self-imploded in a similar way. They got all of us to move from a tier 1 server to the lowest ranking server in the game. No problems it was a fun move and not too bad of a cost. However after the move we went from a PvX guild to a very strict WvW guild and it alienated a whole set of users (The ones I played with the most). Even though I loved going to WvW with the group, I just didn’t like being ‘forced’ by threats of being kicked if I didn’t go to WvW.
So the small sub-section moved again to a mid tier server. Cost quite a bit more to move that time. Now the 20 or so people are nervous that they don’t know anyone on this new server and that it may be a mistake to have moved, etc. I can’t move again. I can’t afford to move again because if I do I’m going back to the original server I started on first day of release. That would be the most expensive move of all.
Anet could not trivialize the cost because people would server hop if the cost didn’t prohibit it. I just wish it was a tad bit lower because any more moves and I could have had a second copy of the game at the cost it was at release.
EDIT: And for what it’s worth even if my friends decide to move I may just stay where I am. I am meeting new people and have enjoyed playing on a server where it’s not over-crowded nor desolate.

Anet can apply a simple fix for intentionally failed events. The next iteration of events spawns no champions. If farmers want to continue gathering champ loot they have to succeed.
I do enjoy the patch and I do like to run with the zerg at times to grab a little loot. It finally feels like I’m progressing at gathering some mats. However I do disagree with intentional fails to keep spawns coming at faster intervals.

@Castaliea – I do agree with you on all accounts. I too feel like I’m finally able to earn my own mats, making progress so to speak. And the problem with forced spawns by intentionally failing events can be easily fixed.
If the event fails, no champions spawn during the next iteration. Simple fix to keep those that think a reduced timer is more important. I would much rather see this kind of fix than an overall swing of the nerf bat.

Nuka Cola.8520:

you can’t nerf a toilet

This ^
Made me LoL hard. :P

Looks amazing, congrats.
So much blood and those eyes. Even 10 is hard enough to come by.

If only healing power scaled. Make it heal a percentage rather than a set number. But then that would get dangerously close to the trinity role.

If anything this update should give Anet an idea of what skins people find desirable based upon cost on the TP. I love the fact that you can get specific drops from specific champs. I think they should expand this idea and make the most desirable skins drop from champs in the emptiest of zones. I’m looking at you, mid-level zones and champs.

Not a bad suggestion.
I need more incentive to get the last 3 classes to 80. I try to get motivated but sometimes it’s just hard to talk myself into moving into those mid level zones devoid of players.
Besides it can be done by purchasing slots with gold→gem conversion. A small tier reward of 5pts per class. would add up nicely. And everyone has the opportunity to get at least 5 classes to 80 for free.

I too save up greens to throw in the forge. And after about 100 items I am seeing far less rares than usual. BUT, a couple of people doing this at such low sample rates does not make a stealth nerf.
The only thing I consider interesting about this is that a large majority of people are doing exactly what you and I have been doing all along. And I can’t help but wonder if the forge has its own quirks of DR or RNG. If only 1000 players are actively using the forge in a certain time period maybe they see a better return as opposed to 100,000 players all using the forge and getting the exact same potential as the lower number only it’s spread across a larger player base. (Edit: as in the number of successes is a percentage success rate until it reaches an invisible cap.)
And that is my conspiracy theory for the day. No merit, no substantial numbers and no facts to back it up. So don’t even run with my idea unless you have a way to throw some facts in.
PS- Aside from those that will come on here and call you a whiner, it’s okay to post this kind of thing. You’re just checking in to make sure it’s not a trend. We all have our whiney days.

Of the choices you gave, Tengu.
Other favorites of mine would be Kodan or Largos – if underwater combat could be polished and fixed for some professions. I love their style.

Neural – did you notice a difference in the preview before you purchased the celestial? I am just curious if you can see a difference in the preview that then does not show when you actually apply the dye.

Yes please, me too. I am about 20 kite fortunes short of a skin but I keep getting support tokens.
:)

Been there done that entirely solo. BUT in cursed shore, and some other tricky parts of Orr there are some skill points that are difficult. You can still do them solo but it helps to have some people around, just in case.
I had all the PvE maps done before they toned down Orr so it should be a little easier than I remember.
Oh and WvW will take people to help or at the very least you’ll have to keep an eye on the color rotation of your server and grab the places you need when you can.

I like playing underwater although some of my characters are not so polished for that type of combat. My biggest gripe is the bug in which if a mob knocks you into shallow water and downs you, there are no skills (downed or otherwise) to use. That is a situation where you must simply wait to die.
I think with some polish on the professions that are very weak underwater and possibly a separate, save-able build for this type of combat, it could become more popular.

Before the laurels were added to the rewards of completing a daily; a daily was an afterthought or an added bonus when it popped up. (Unless of course you were farming the karma).
At this time the reward of a laurel is essential for some to complete their goal. I see no issue if Anet would allow players that miss days during the week, an option to catch back up with some sort of weekly check list.
Each day of the week and their rewards are in the UI for the user to attempt to complete. If they miss only one day then they can focus on it. If they miss more then… you get the picture.
I am quite sure we will have plenty of daily chores to complete once crafting for ascended is implemented. That can easily act as incentive for high level players to log as often as possible.

mtpelion.4562:

I think that ideally, MF items should have a 100% chance on salvage to drop the new MF consumable that permanently increases your account MF stat.

I’m not sure if the code allows for upgrades (jewels, infusions, etc.) to be detected for salvage purposes but I would think so.

While I agree with your idea; I worry that the implementation will be complicated if not impossible.
I did get an amulet and MF infusion for my open world PvE warrior. That was 30% MF added to the armor, trinkets, rune set, weapons, & sigils. All told that character has about 176% MF without food or other buffs. I don’t see any way Anet would justify giving an entire account that kind of buff. (it is only one character) Nor do I see a way for me or others to be happy with a solution that doesn’t even come close to the percentage we paid to achieve.
Before others say: “Well you’re getting paid with loot now so quit complaining and enjoy it while it lasts”
I don’t use that character often. I only use it if the guild is going to specifically farm for an item. Ie. Armored scales in Southsun.
That is when I get ‘paid’ with 8-10 scales in an hour. And since I am not loaded and need them for upgrades, wishful-thinking-legendary, etc; I don’t sell them.

I don’t envy Anet on this fix. I believe it is a great change, I just wouldn’t want to be in charge of the forums when the announcement is finally made.

MrRuin.9740:

I’m wondering if this wallet will simply replace the bank for the achievement. Some of us don’t have the golden title yet (getting close)

Been playing since launch and I am finally 10g away from the title. Don’t scare me like this.

Besides the speculation, this announcement has to be the best QoL improvement I have heard of. I am so happy this will be implemented.
Now if only the gemstore item we heard of long ago to increase max stacks to 500 is also made available… I will have room for the increase in crafting level. All crafting professions maxed means that I am holding on to my base recipe materials and extra mats. I am running out of room on a bank that has the slots maxed.
At least the wallet removing tokens, relics, and all other currencies will ease the strain on my bank

Don’t forget the possibility, that with the new rewards from champions being mats, that low level champs will drop low level mats. There will be a much better incentive for high level players to seek out the champions that drop high level mats instead of the starter area champs.

If it is an account wide reward then please allow achievements to be account wide as well. Ie. Story mode is completed on your main, it’s counted as completed for all characters.

edit: grammatical error

I play almost everyday, even if for only a short amount of time, and I am still behind & sometimes lost.
Dulfy is a great site to visit when you get that “OMG what am I supposed to be doing here” feeling.
GL and have fun.

Too costly for my blood. The only upgrade I did was to the Sclerite back piece exotic—>ascended.

and of course I just buy the +5 agony resist with fractal tokens

There was a ‘rumor’ that stack size was going to be increased to 500 max by buying a Black Lion TC item. I am hoping for this ASAP. With max leveled crafting of all professions and a near future increase on crafting level; I am loathe to sell/destroy base components. (Chef says hi)
I have maxed the bank slots and am working on replacing 12 & 15 slot bags with fractal bags but it will take awhile. In the meantime I would love to see this item at the gem store. It would alleviate the cramping in the bank from tokens, crafting components, mats above the 250 stack limit, and special skins.

EDIT: The make your own guild suggestion sounds promising. One question about that. How costly is the guild bank upgrade or do you get one automatically and only need to upgrade to increase the amount of space?

Before I ran with a coordinated WvW-centric guild, I had the same issues as OP. (Especially while I was playing on Blackgate). In fact our entire guild moved to a much smaller server after we had been on Blackgate since last August. Queue times are much much better now.

When first starting out in WvW a new player doesn’t know all the hazards. They may not even have their settings in such a way to see the giant zerg ahead of them. Repairing constantly was and is no fun and can be costly. It limited my time in WvW.

I made the decision to learn the tactics, to build my char appropriately (more toughness), to get on TeamSpeak for the server and listen to what was going on and where.

The OP has a valid argument, especially for people just starting out in WvW. And by removing repair costs it just may encourage more people to try out and stay in WvW. There are still plenty of gold sinks within WvW without it.

Quoted: "I guess what really surprises me is that you cannot farm these locations either for rare drops that have unique zone related skins, or possibly unique zone related items you could collect XX of to trade in for zone specific skins.

This game is suppose to focus on the visuals for characters, and yet there seems to be so few “rare” options for armor, while continuously releasing new weapons skins. I honestly think instead of a new mini-game, people would love new full armor sets… although I guess that requires a lot of work on the graphics side of things for clipping and such. Backpacks, and weapons don’t really suffer from clipping issues." – Rennoko

I’ve made this kind of suggestion in multiple threads.
The sclerite skins weren’t the most popular but if Anet wanted to add incentive for players to return to Southsun, they could make the sclerite skins a rare drop for the island. That is only one example.
Mid-level maps have large and intense event chains that you are loathe to find anyone doing. If Anet added rare skins as a part of loot drops for specific areas and/or event chains, people would start doing them again. I could think of a few events and bosses that adding Tribal armor skins to as rare drops, would make me farm forever until I got them.
Region specific, boss specific, event specific rare armor/weapon skins would bring out the treasure hunters.
I have tried to go to Southsun and at least clear a couple of the events but it is an exercise in futility without manpower.

If it’s used as a currency it should not be an item that is stored. And yes I have maxed my bank slots and char slots for 9 characters. I DON’T have 20slot bags on all characters, yet.
Once you max all crafting professions and especially the chef, it is very easy to fill up banks slots. Add to that tokens from dungeons & WvW, special skins, crafting components beyond max stack 250 that are needed. I’m sure this list can continue to grow. With the future lvl increase to crafting it would be foolish to get rid of supply.
At the very least currency should have it’s own area in the UI and better yet add crafting base & components as collectibles. At some point they need to allow us to expand bank slots further, allow larger stack sizes, or take some of the items out and add them as collectible or true currency. All that is just my opinion though, so take it as you will.

Being a max lvl’ed chef will eat up your bank slots. I have one full dedicated to those I use the most. With the future increase in lvl of crafting professions to 500; I am loathe to get rid of them.
I 100% agree with you that ANY crafted item that is used as a base for another item, should have it’s own collectible slot. I hope that Anet is working on this for the future. All crafting professions maxed can be a trial in sorting the bank and character bags to hold onto crafting materials for the future lvl increase.

EDIT: And while they’re at it maybe they’ll allow for us to have collectible slots for all items used as currency. I heard a rumor that they were going to add a Gemstore item to increase stack size to 500, but nothing since. That may help some but not for chef base items.

Don’t forget that there are some players with 10’s of thousands of gold in the bank. They can easily afford to throw away a couple thousand gold worth of exotics into the MF and walk away empty handed or loaded without injury.
If you’re like me and have barely scraped together 100gold, don’t try it. A resulting bad streak of RNG luck could be devastating.

Guildmates have confirmed a celestial dye in the laurel unID dye pack. Buy at your own risk as it is entirely possible to get nothing good. However you do have a chance at any of the rare dyes.
Hope that helped.
Personally I’m saving them and only using laurels on the characters I take into WvW or fractals. Our guild changed servers and lost all upgrades so at 22guild commendations I will be waiting for the ascended earrings for a while. Don’t waste your ecto on those unless you are swimming in stacks of them.

That fact (Meteor Shower doesn’t show a red circle) should be the basis of the complaint and not that Ele’s are OP.
I have been playing in WvW actively for a while now and it’s been a long time since meteor shower has downed me or guildmates.
I have noticed that there are a lot of people running around in WvW with PvE gear on(zerker or power-centric) and they are squishy. It’s not really a LTP but more of a: You know all those badges we’ve been getting lately? Use them to buy some WvW gear with a good bit of toughness and use that set in WvW instead.
And I do know it’s expensive to get a new gear set solely for WvW but with the new achievement chest rewards that cost just dropped significantly.

+1 for boon duration and condition duration. Small amounts of both or a large amount of one or the other.
There is very little gear that has either of these stats and this would be a nice addition to celestial.

So exactly when are they going to implement the Black Lion item that allows us to increase the stack of items from 250 to 500? My bank is at max and almost full. <- And that’s all I can complain about.
I am a happy player.

I love the change. However I don’t like the idea that my Warrior’s MF gear with it’s ~150% MF (without food buff) will be gone. Not that I spend a lot of time farming but when I need mats this character is guaranteed to get me ~10 T6 in an hour.
I too spent the laurels on the amulet and the MF infusion only recently. When they do implement the change, I won’t want a second set of gear, just a refund of laurels and some compensation for the loss of the stat on the gear & runes. Maybe a decent boost in account MF sort of exchange.
I wouldn’t want to be Anet trying to figure out how to please all their customers who have invested a lot of time and currency into MF gear.

Charandir.4701:

I will contact them. But i have the insignia unlocked on both professions, one in each character. I think that, although it’s marked as “account bound”, currently is some kind of “character bound”, but you can transfer it to other characters.

Then definitely report it as a bug. As I said there aren’t a huge amount of crafters able to make the items yet. So, gratz on finding it so soon?

Sigh… I know about the candy corn. I lost out because my 7stacks were used up making mad king runes and ice cream. Not that they weren’t helpful to the character I put them on and profitable for the items I sold but…
Yeah I am not that wise on speculation nor willing to babysit the TP in order to profit like I should. I made 20g total through a little flipping (10-20 items or less) and from crafting but nothing like the big dogs do.

Pretty soon there will be a secret society of “Free Mason’s of Tyria” that control all the markets and the gold. I will just be one of the conspiracy theorists that wishes she had membership.

PS- I hold no contempt for flippers. Anyone can do it if they have the time, patience, and innate ability to sniff out a good or upcoming market for items. You don’t even have to have a lot of gold to get started. I may get flamed for this opinion but I have come to the realization that ‘this’ is present in real life as well as online communities. Live with it, work with it, or resent it. Your choice I guess. Cheers