Guild Wars 2

Blood Red Arachnid.2493:

You know, there’s a thread in the necro forum asking how conditionmancers should deal with classes that have heavy condition cleanses. The response is basically “layer up conditions during fear, or die”.

The fact is that the game isn’t balanced around 1 vs 1. There will always be a class who is best at 1 vs 1. Whether it is the Thief who pops in and out of stealth and resets fights indefinitely when they don’t burst you down. The mesmer, who is nigh impossible to damage while interrupting and bursting you down. The necromancer, who has statistical bulk and high damaging stuns + conditions to wear you down. The engineer, who can kite you endlessly while laying down high direct + condition damage with grenades. The guardian, who’s cleansing and protection uptime make them impossible to kill. The ranger, who solos you with the pet while dodging and evading everything you throw at them.

I’ve heard it all, trust me. The only class I’ve never heard as being “overpowered” is the elementalist. Even though warriors suck now, there was a time when they were top tier due to bulls rush + frenzy + 100 blades killing people instantly.

You do realize that by someone going full condition removal spec, they almost literally do 0 damage? The main issue with condition builds is that it is too easy to get tanky while stacking conditions. It’s uncommon to see condition mancers/anything to have below 1800 ish toughness.

I agree that this game shouldn’t be built around 1v1’s, but if there’s a class that is dominating in all areas, it’d be mesmer and necro.

I like everything here, but I don’t think it’s a matter of ANet not being aware of these feedback – rather, they simply need more time to implement them.

I do like hot joins, though. I do them all the time while waiting for tournament queue’s to pop (and filter for 5v5’s only, of course)

I feel many of these were listed on a whim and you didn’t think through them at all.

when a warrior goes to a temple, swears an oath on the holy book and starts casting meditation, con-

oh crap, that’s a guardian!

Oh, silly Grackleflint. IF arenanet didn’t listen to those top players, it would be balancing the game around the 0.000001% (themselves)

that being said, I thoroughly enjoyed the conversation with the devs and the players in this thread. This recent patch was excellent and it sure feels great to think that there’s more coming where this one came from…

no, he is not.

we are blind without our one and only light

Defektive hasn’t streamed in over a week.

I can only conclude that master has left dobby to rot in this mess

that’s just how it is with all the pvp chests, actually

and it really works well. you’ll love it when you roll another class, and you have the variety of pieces to choose from. If you’re completely sure you never would, you can salvage them and make the pieces u want…

obligatory gif

http://d24w6bsrhbeh9d.cloudfront.net/photo/aqmNNAR_460sa.gif

I also really love how this pushes me from PVP to PVE, to actually get some achievement points down. I never really cared for PVE but I actually have a reason to play it now

Jaw dropped every time I watch his stream. gotta bump

with OCD.

Seriously. It really bugs the hell out of us when we go to these farms and see that the watermelons, onions, etc. are not aligned. Please allow players the power to arrange critters and fruits as they see fit.

Thank you.

I’d recommend a mesmer or warrior or thief… one hand sword is very much viable for all three classes. You’ll most likely want to sword and board on the warrior but keep in mind that the only ‘viable’ build for warrior right now involves longbow as the swap weapon.

I’d recommend giving guardian a try with Silven’s meditation build except swap out 1-h mace for 1-h sword. It won’t be as much of a burst but it will definitely help you maintain pressure + gap closer.

Just my tidbit.

IndigoSundown.5419:

Why developers make few posts on official forums:

• Firestorms disagreeing with what the dev typed.
• Misinterpretations of what the dev typed.
• People getting into arguments with the dev because they disagree.
• Dev communications raise expectations which are then ruined when the reality hits – nothing inflames people more than disappointment.
• Developers are not professional communicators.
• Companies might discourage developers from posting due to all of the above.
• Posting a response to some topics might require getting concurrence from management on what to say. Typing a short response might take little time, but getting consensus on what to say might take a lot more time than a dev can afford to take. This last is probably why more of the posts that we do see on these forums are; “Ill look into this.” or “I know of no changes in the last patch that would cause this issue.” and not discussions of issues related to game direction, balance, or changes to features.

That’d be a real pathetic reason – not posting because they’re afraid of how it may be accepted or interpreted. Most likely that’s not why.

The devs don’t have to get into an argument. A statement is made because it’s a fact or their opinion.

Raising expectation and letting people down is already something they’re used to through both the manifesto. Didn’t have problems with them in the past, why now?

Not everyone has to be professional communicators to make posts on the forum. Refer to Riot (devs of League of Legends) employees. Everyone – from engineers to CEO – joke around and throw a few hints here and there. No one gives a kitty about how much of a ‘professional communicators’ they are.

Amen. I’d have to agree with this. Take a page out of Aion armor designs, Anet.

I can’t comment on the GW1 point as I’ve never played the game.

But I agree with the number 2 and 3. I don’t think it’s a matter of GW2 not putting in resources or failure in design. It’s more along the line of overpromising and then underdelivering as a result. but hey – if it’s too good to be true, it most likely is.

IndigoSundown.5419:

Why do you presume that — lacking any numbers to bolster your position — you can better predict the future of a game than the people running it — who have those numbers?

Actually there’s many numbers out there if you care enough to search for them. I never even commented on ANet’s internal prediction for the future of the game. What I’m concerned about is ANet’s promise for bright future despite having failed with many promises that were given to us. Though I love the game, that much you can’t deny. For one, I don’t see the game even close to being a e-sport, and class balance is a mess.

Speaking of numbers, that would be one of the things ANet would share with us, if:

1. They were transparent

&

2. The player base is growing.

Video game companies releasing stats for growing player base is old news. The fact that they’re not transparent with it and all hush-hush with forum posts just indicates that they’re not doing as well as the face they’re putting on.

ilr.9675:

Queensdale constantly has an Overflow on NSP.

Most of teh Devs play on NSP.

Observations != Reality

I’ll keep it nice and short.

You contradicted yourself. Just because you see many players in Queensdale, in your specific server, it doesn’t mean that the game player base is growing and that the game is doing well. Observation != reality, as they say.

Behellagh.1468:

Jae.5138:

One thing that shocked me was that the team was so confident that the game can sustain itself without any expansions.

The sales dropped by more than half according to this year’s Q1 report. Where is that confidence coming from? As a game whose income solely depends on the box sales and microtransactions, announcement dismissing expansion + the rate of items being introduced into microtransaction + dropping box sales = headed for disaster

Of course sales drop from Q4 2012, when the game is still new plus the holiday season means a lot of game sales Vs Q1 2013 when new game sales in general fall post holiday and the game’s income moves mainly to Cash shop. Even Q1 sales is about doubled GW1’s best quarter.

On top of that the game has still not been released in Asia where GW1 did very well for a western game. NCSOFT is hoping for a China release in the fourth quarter for GW2.

And again if the Q1 2013 sales were from a standard $15 a month subscription MMO, we’re would be looking at an MMO with over 1/2 million players. There are very few that have reached those numbers. EVE just recently did.

Granted, the sales number was expected to drop. Obviously a game cannot continue its success since the first day and maintain or increase its sales, but it can do better than half the number.

I’m not quite sure why you’d be comparing the sales of GW2 to GW1. NCSoft would be pressuring ANet to start closing down the servers and wrap this disaster up if their sequel couldn’t even live up to the first game in terms of sales. I guess I see where you’re coming from in that yes, at least the game didn’t hit rock bottom, but that’s hardly the bright side, is it?

The expansion into Asia is definitely something to look forward to. But as an NCSoft stockholder and a player of this game, it’s actually not something that’s as exciting as you think. Yes, the initial hype and the sales are always great. But the retention of playerbase should always be the concern. You say that GW1’s done well for a western MMO, but you’re forgetting that there are other genres occupying the field that ANet would have to penetrate into, like LoL.

Please, PLEASE improve the mini pet system.

It is so incredibly annoying that it gets put into collectibles when you deposit collectibles. Yes, yes. You can invest in an invisible bag, but that bag can lead to even more frustrations as trash from mobs get put in there.

It’s also worth mentioning that despite many players having pets, I almost never see them being used. Why? Because they become un-summoned every time you port, you switch zones, you name it. Since you can’t keybind items in this game, this becomes extremely frustrating to resummon every time.

Improving the system would also increase pet sales, which means more money for you, Anet. Just a suggestion.

CryxTryx.9208:

They plan on releasing new content bi-weekly, with that I expect that will include new items to buy in the gem store.

Great point. I think giving more options for microtransactions for existing players is a great idea.

I’d really love to see new ideas and introduction of features that would help increase the number of NEW players, though. Yes – there’s trial and refer a friend and what not, but it seems that the number of players brought in through those methods are overshadowed by the number of players leaving.

One thing that shocked me was that the team was so confident that the game can sustain itself without any expansions.

The sales dropped by more than half according to this year’s Q1 report. Where is that confidence coming from? As a game whose income solely depends on the box sales and microtransactions, announcement dismissing expansion + the rate of items being introduced into microtransaction + dropping box sales = headed for disaster

We do – the monk class

Fernling.1729:

Facebook likes.

Good point. Though I must say… the level of activity by ANet social media team is so low that it reflects badly on the company when people do click on the page

Though I’m in no position to ask for such answers, I think I speak on behalf of many players when I ask for some transparency from ANet.

With the number of players falling and falling with hardly any online advertisements seen for GW2 nor any expansions planned, I’m curious as to how ANet plans to sustain itself. As a GW2 player this is certainly a concern as falling players mean falling sales, meaning less and less man power + content.

Thanks!

what I absolutely love bout WvW and some aspects of Aion online was that there was PvPvE.

I love how if we help some faction or destroy certain faction in WvW, they help you out, etc.

What kind of bugs me is that when a pvp fight breaks out in these areas, these monsters hardly matter.

I’d love to see some champions and veterans in these zones that really put the pressure on players so that the players are forced to position themselves and really do have to feel as if they have to handle PVE and PVP at once.

that’s an awesome idea haha

I’d love it if each skill had more than ‘press this button to activate X’

For example: warrior’s adrenaline skill

Since there’s three bars, you can click for a single use weak burst that consumes one out of the three bars, or you can charge it by holding the button. Each 0.5 sec held = 1 bar consumed and more bar consumed does exponentially increased dmg:

1 bar single click = 100% dmg
2 bar held = 225% dmg
3 bar held = 350% dmg

like so. (can be charged while moving)

I feel like ranger would do great with charged skills as well. Like the knock back with long bow. If you could hold the skill to charge for a further knock back, (decreased mov’t while charging) it’d be great.

Conan.8046:

Top play doesn’t mean they have no bias or that they are clever.

nor did I suggest kitten

but it suggest they have greater insight than most others and certainly better ideas in regards to how to balance the game

Mammoth.1975:

Aside from sotg, they regularly chat with top players in hotm about the game, and I’ve seen them guest people too.

You’ve no idea how happy that comment made me, Mammoth!

Neare.9703:

Well, because no matter how much you may think they are above it they will be like everyone else, wanting their class buffed and all others nerfed. You really need a objective viewpoint to properly balance.

I think that’s dismissing it too easily. Many of the top players play several classes and they genuinely would like to see the PVP in this game grow into an e-sport. Many players are very aware that by helping balance the game rather than having their class dominate, they secure a brighter future for themselves in the game rather than having that one patch of one-sided glory.

But I definitely agree in that many players will be tempted to do so. That’s why I think it should be an open discussion where both the players and ANet are really transparent, rather than a one sided feedback submission.

this would obviously be quite difficult to add (maybe) but I’d love to see colour effect change options for some class skills

like necros. All necro skills are green based but it’d be really cool to buy a cakittenem that turns it into red base, or a blue base. Just a thought!

Also, please bring in end game content

<3 you guys

Colin Johanson should shave off his stache

Thanks so much for your kind replies, guys I’ll check out your stream for sure, empathetic. I’ll check out the older threads by Silven as well.

no one at all?

I’ve seen great elementalist players (zoose, Phantaram)

necros, rangers, even warrior (defektive)

but I’d love to hear stories of guardians that really excel among others

That latest stream was crazy. Keep’em coming!

defektive have my babies

my god. watching him play single handedly made me ignore all those QQ posts on the forum and consider rolling a warrior.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone that comfortable with his class

I would love some advice on viable sPVP builds right now, both bunker and as a carry

Stealth.9324:

Really?Did not see it mention on the patch note. Can u quote it pls ?

look in game, silly

I know many of you are aware but I wanted to tell the world that arcane shield now removes stun. It’s amazing! ( I love using it in pvp). Would love to see you theory crafter pull out some arcane builds

I disagree. No other MMO’s have downed state and that didn’t affect their casual player base. If the travel from point A to point B may cause huge inconvenience for the players maybe they should consider an alternative that wouldn’t change the duels themselves.

for example: a portable reviving point that can be placed x distance from the base. When you die, you have the option to revive there instead.

To be more specific, didn’t exist in WvW.

I see these great players who put videos of themselves handling like 2-3 players at the same time and owning them in every aspect, but it doesn’t even really matter since they just rez each other. I think people would be more motivated to do some great solo or small group pvp action on the field without zerging all the darned day if it wasn’t for down state. It would also encourage people to actually try and master PVP, and reach that state where you’re able to handle a few people at the same time rather than ‘oh well they’re just gonna revive each other anyways.’

I just came back after quitting for half a year and…. it seems that despite many patches, I still see the exact same sort of complaints in the forums.

This is quite different from the scene I’m used to with WoW PVP. Usually in WoW, it’s a complaint regarding the classes taking turns being op. But in GW2, there doesn’t seem to be much of a change.

This is reflected in the sPVP as well. I guess in some ways it shows how meticulous the ANet team is in balancing but I think they must realize that their meticulous thinking before applying minor changes is causing frustrations for the player base.

I see warrior forum and still see that the class is not viable in PVP, limited by the class mechanics that only allows it to focus on a single aspect.

I see that the elementalists are still completely bound to S/D and D/D with no real other viability for damage

I see that the rangers are still complaining about long bow mechanics and the pet AI still hasn’t been addressed (I think Sims has better pet AI)

I see that many features were added to sPVP but still not the ones necessary to turn it into an esport.

I have no problem with ANet being careful with the balances (as it should be, since it is a delicate procedure) but I believe I speak for the PVP community when I ask that the company be more transparent with the player base when it comes to balances. There’s many ways this could happen – whether it’s a PTR or a pre-released patch note (without us having to find ‘leaked’ versions).

Just my bit of feedback & discussion ideas.

Jaall.3420:

Jae there are plenty of games out there that have what you’re asking for. Guild wars isn’t even a year old and you’re expecting full on end game to the likes of other MMO’s that have been out for years and years. I suggest taking a break from this game, stop complaining and come back in a years time if you can’t enjoy the game for what it is now. There is end game but if it is not to your tastes, they are your problems and you should be the one to take action and not ANet who are doing a fantastic job so far. The only action you can take for yourself is to quit the game for the time being and wait it out, like I said, plenty of other MMO’s to go play. Unless you want to go get a job working for ANet and actually realise how difficult it is to satisfy everyone at the same time. I’m sure then you wouldn’t be complaining.

You make some great points there, but there’s something I’d like to point out there. When I was mentioning the things I would love to see in this game, I wasn’t making a reference to other mmo’s I love. Rather, they were things that ANet had promised us before the launch, only to be met by many disappointments, including my own.

You’re definitely right in that they have released plenty of exciting content since the release. But sadly, there doesn’t seem to be much to look forward to in the next year or so. Currently the priorities seem to be based on pumping out new PVE content as well as some pvp features. The resource as well as the talent the company has workin gon the new content is amazing, but the management as well as the direction in which the game is pointed towards seems like it’s headed for yet another disappointment. But this last part, of course, is just a speculation on my very pessimistic self.

LHound.8964:

In the end, the team is correcting some huge mistakes they did upon release. Those corrections may not be faster as the players might want, but they are being done! If it’s not of your liking just move along as a lot of players did.

/Cheers

The problem with innovation is that you’re the first to try it and as a result, you’re the first to fail, as well. ANet has clearly done some things right in abandoning the old trinity system. But was it successful? While you may argue that it’s up to your personal preference, in the adults’ world, this is not so. If they’re intent on keeping this system – where every man’s for himself – the boss mechanic would have to be more complex to address that. Unfortunately, that is not the case right now.

What’s really sad about this whole issue is that many of the GW2 team members have that same attitude – the ‘if you dont like it, leave it’ sort of attitude towards their creations. It’s important to take pride in what you do. But the above quotation is one you can repeat until your game finally has reached down to its last single player remaining. Any good company – not just gaming – knows how to take feedback and turn them into strengths. Your childish ‘take it or leave it’ attitude will, ultimately, destroy a potentially amazing MMO like the GW2.

Bloodstealer.5978:

These problems you speak of… I don’t see and have not seen, certainly since pre-launch. It’s merely a p[roblem you have on something that does not fit your own playstyle and beliefs.

Taking away the Trinity is a bold move and one I have welcomed.. the only thing I would say ANET need to consider is how they add in the opportune ity for players to take a more trinity focused trait line should they want.. but as it is currently I think it works fine.

As for your notion that this is the only game where you can be downed, ressed and run back in… you may want to take a better look out there at how others do exactly that and always have. Heck many allow players to carry portable shrines for all to res up en mass.
As for PvP well I am not that focused on it, but I will say GW1 and GW2 seem to do things better than most – not by any means perfect but to date not at all bad. They have a lots of balancing of classes/skills to polish for sure and perhaps downed state needs a little tweaking around the concepts but its far from a priority 1 issue except maybe to you.. that just your opinion and is not shared by all me thinks.

If you do not see any of those problems mentioned, I’d say you’re the minority here. Like I had said, a new game like Guild Wars 2 should be aiming to increase its player base more and more, with every patch coming out. The game is dying in that the player base is decreasing. There’s no denying this. When a game is losing its player base despite its young age, this is never a good sign.

Yes – the notion of being able to be ressed and jumping into the fight is a good idea. The execution is poor. This is where the poor boss mechanics are not balanced well in addressing this down state notion. Many bosses hit like feathers, but take 10 minutes to kill. When they do have a killing blow, they do it in a manner that can be dodged easily, or not at all (with almost no visual warning). Instead of the tank and spank mechanic, you now have a pure burning the boss down mechanic. To say one’s superior to another would hardly be a comparison, as the latter clearly fails in this regards – again, judged by the player base.

Now, by this point you may have noticed I keep going back to the player base and the number of players. You may argue that it isn’t important that the Guild Wars 2 is losing its players, or that its player base is not as strong as some of the other mmo’s out there. While you may tell yourself that you love the game, everything about it, and everyone else can go kitten themselves, that is what the game’s success is based on. Its player base. This brings in the investors. This brings in the income. This brings in the future content, the bread for the employees. I do hope ANet has big plans to bring back its player base, a better one than simply giving a 30% discount on their game.

The first step to fixing a problem IS to admit there is one. However, there’s the other side too. There’s seeing problems that are only problems for certain people with certain play styles. Assuredly if you’re a hard core raider, this game is FILLED with problems. From other play style points of view though, those problems don’t exist.

People who come from say Skyrim to Guild Wars 2 don’t feel the lack of end game as keenly as hard core raiders. Hard core PvPers have a completely different set of game requirements than casual PvPers.

So yeah, problems definitely exist for certain play styles. Hell, problems exist from my play style too.

But I’m willing to wager they’re completely different problems than the ones that you see.[/quote]

Well said, Vayne. You’re definitely right in that we have to see the other side too, and realize that no gaming companies – including ArenaNet – can please everyone. Now, the problems with GW2 isn’t that it is different. No trinity system? That’s excellent. No end game? No problem. the problem is what was meant to replace these older, well established ideas. While it may be true that many people like to hit max level then go back to lower level areas for the 100% completion, do you honestly believe they’re targetting the majority of the gamer population with that mechanic? Do majority of gamers want to hit the highest level in the game, only to go back to helping farmers collect bunnies?

The core problem with the PVP – since we’re on that topic – was that it catered to neither the hardcore pvp gamers, nor the casual ones. It didn’t cater to the hardcore pvp gamers in that it simply didn’t offer enough. Sure, there were some aesthetic rewards, but these were only obtainable by grinding pvp, hardly a bragging right for a pvp focused player like myself. For casual pvp gamers, they would never be able to get those armors, since the glory was a pure grind system. Of course, ANet is doing many things to change this, so it’ll be much more exciting for the future.

But I’m not here to discuss in which ways ANet has promised us things that they failed to deliver since launch. Rather, I’m here to discuss what sort of process ANet has made so far in keeping their promises to the player base, and what sort of changes are coming. The reason why I stick around is that because of the hype as well as the fun I had with the game, it’s quite sad to see the game change so little in addressing those problems that are making the game lose more and more players.

First step towards fixing a problem is admitting that there is one. You can close your eyes, block your eyes, and refuse to see the problem, but the dropping sales of the game speaks for itself. Any game company that aims for the top, like Arenanet, would take feedback, rather than thinking that ‘most do’ based on personal preference.

The problem isn’t the lack of trinity system. Rather, what was done to replace it, and if it’s working or not. Right now most dungeon fights – especially in the lower level ones – are just zerg fests. It’s chaotic, unstructured, one guy falls, he’s just revived, or runs back after reviving himself.

What the game needs right now isn’t simply an improvement on its strong points. And you’re pathetically naive if you think that will lead this game to be the leading mmo on the rpg. ArenaNet was late in addressing the problems with structured pvp, and look now – what pro gamer pvp community is there in the guild wars 2 pvp right now? And before you deny it – yes, the pvp community is important. The bigger the pvp community, the more attention the higher pvp players receive, which means sponsorship, which means media coverage. Every game involving PVP had this pattern, and you better believe that ArenaNet needs to identify the problems in their limited pvp fanbase.