Guild Wars 2

chemiclord.3978:

And the problem is… Arena.net TRIED the every month bit initially. Players ground through it in three days and cried for the next three weeks they were bored. They are giving us what the majority wants.

I don’t think it’s a majority that wanted biweekly LW updates. I think Anet should have provided larger, deeper, and richer experiences, yes. But, when you give some mindless tasks, anyone can complete them in less than a week with endless play.

Furthermore, the players who have the free time to play and grind for more than 4 hours a day on a daily basis are not the majority. They are just a vocal group. No matter what content Anet makes, there will be a minority of players that will pour through it in an extremely short amount of time. They will have to deal with waiting until other players catch up for LW. There are countless other things they can get ahead on (Champ grind, legendary grind, PvP, WvW). If Anet updated at the pace these players go through content, it would essentially be daily.

It was said best on this forum a while ago that there are many types of MMO players. One group are just looking for the newest shiny to grind and then move on. There is no way Anet can keep these players long term. They will move onto other MMO’s to grind their shinies.

I am going to join in with the many people saying that the Living Story is being done poorly at this time. The Living Story (pardon me, Living World – we all know story is not involved) feels like content that would be developed for a FTP tap game on a phone, not an AAA MMO company. The story is nonexistent and the content is shallow, repetitive, and contains tons of real money or gold sinks – usually in the form of RNG boxes or material-heavy recipes. The content is rushed out as fast as possible with the idea that people logging in, people clicking at things (usually just the F button) equals quality content. Also, where are the dragons? Or the guilds in the story? Did I purchase an MMO about dragons and guilds, because I’m no longer sure.

In game, if you blink, you might miss the story for each LW update. This is unacceptable. Stories are printed on the website and blogs but not in game. Why not? In case Anet was unsure, you are running an MMO. That means the players are all required to view the game as you update it on your servers. Why then, is it acceptable to put a story on your website, but not in game? It takes the same amount of time to add in a book or npc somewhere easy to find that says the same story as what is written on your website. Copy anything said in game anywhere else you want, but don’t hide in game story out of the game. It seems like the most basic concept. Anet, you have a constantly updating game, why not utilize that.

Next, I will say that the current LW story arcs are shallow and boring. Scarlet is no dragon. That aside, she’s also not a good villian. The entirety of Tyria is currently united to fight the threat that is the dragons, and you’re saying a crazy lady with some henchmen is a threat. It isn’t believable by a long shot. Scarlet specifically is that Saturday morning cartoon villain that is evil just because. I’m sorry, that is in no way compelling or competent story telling. Give me motivation. Give me substance.

This is where I will join in the chorus and ask that LW updates be slowed down. It is clear that there is no planned end or goal to the current LW updates. Take your time and plot out a clear path for your writers to follow. Then take time to write an appropriate story with round, dynamic characters for that arc. It needs a rising action, conflict, and denouement. Every LW update can’t end with the bad guy slipping away and nothing resolvedand the world not changing.

That leads to my next point, change your world. Kill your darlings, Anet. Tyria is pretty to look at and a nicely done game. However, if these updates and the story is to matter, you will have to make permanent changes to the map. I don’t just mean fixing unfinished areas (like the collapse in Divinity’s Reach), but adding new, real zones (hearts, poi, skill points, dynamic events, regular events, vistas and all), and changing old ones in significant ways. Yeah, players will miss things that join later. And, so what. Life changes. A Living World should actually be living.

Next, please please please stop giving us shallow, repetitive tasks and calling them LW. Closing 100 doors, destroying 500 dragon pinatas, killing 300 minions, etc. etc. These are not good design or gameplay. I didn’t log into a vast, virtual world to complete the same, mind-numbing task over and over. The same goes for zerg gameplay. Content that is made to be zerged and made more profitable than the regular game should not happen. Scarlet’s invasions and the Queen’s Pavilion were embarrassments of design.

I am sorry I do not have many suggestions to fix these issues. I think the LW schedule is ambitious. But it’s execution is flawed to the point that I feel it is more a curse than a boon. I do not know how I would do a 2-week update schedule, but I now know what I wouldn’t do.

PVE

1. Quality of Life (includes bug fixes, better pve character balance, and more)
2. Living Story (why does it have to be so bad?)
3. Grinds everywhere (why for ascended, legendaries, and all LS stuff?)

Explanations:
1. The most important thing to me, by far, is QoL updates. I cannot stress strongly enough how I think this game should devote more resources to fixing bugs. This includes even small bugs like all armor on Charr. (On a side note, please don’t say you don’t care about a problem because not enough people play that race or job.) This also includes bank stack updates (why do I have such a low stack limit when I need thousands of stuff for ascendeds and LS stuff.) Crafting of useful stuff at 425, 450, and 475 fit here. It is boring and painful to grind to 500 as it is now.
I would also like to have more integration with the wallet or bank and the rest of the world. I have heard that stuff in the wallet cannot be taken out to do recipes and such. Why not? Why can’t we get a wallet tab when crafting or using the Mystic Forge. Furthermore, why can’t I just choose from my bank when using the Mystic Forge, like I can for crafting. The Mystic Forges are rarer and only near banks. Why make it so Draconian that I have to get stuff out of the bank to walk over to the Mystic Forge. The same is true for vendoring stuff out of the bank. Why can I not vendor straight out of the bank? The guy is feet away! Finally, I would pay real money to have stuff I buy on the Trading post be moved to my bank with one click, preferably from anywhere in the world.

2. The quality of Living Story has been embarrassing this last year. I hear bragging and see commercials stating that GW2 updates more than any other MMO. That may be true, but so much of it is poorly written, full of bugs, and the simplest of quests.
I know there is story going on, but it’s so hard to find. Why is the LS on webpages and not in the game? I realize some players groan at watching a video or seeing talking NPCs, but it’s story. That’s what story is. Metal Gear Solid 4 was all cutscenes, and people still loved it. It is difficult to strike a balance between too much and too little with storytelling, but I will say GW2 LS has so forth been far beyond the too little on the in-game storytelling.
Furthermore, every update is full of bugs and broken content. I understand with an MMO that most updates will have bugs. But, when you stake your name on making constant updates, then it’s time to step that bar up and do more quality control.
Finally, why does LS feel so much like a grind? Every LS update, a majority of the achievements require you to kill X enemies or do X things. And, the numbers are often painful and repetitive. Why do I have to bash so many dragon pinatas or kill so many minions every update. This is lazy design. The rewards for doing so are also lame. I understand there are hardcore players. On that note, there will always be hardcore players that will finish the content within hours, accept it. But, if you’re going to make grindy achievements, at least include reasonable achievements that the average player can get enjoyably during some of their playtime. Heck, I would be fine with a graduated system that gives more rewards as you finish more achievements. Also, don’t be afraid to give out decent things for rewards (not all skins, please).
The biggest thing I can say here is: IF YOU CANNOT MAKE GOOD CONTENT FOR UPDATES EVERY TWO WEEKS, DON’T.

3. This dovetails nicely into my last point: why so much grind? I am not against working hard for endgame content, but why must it be a grind. I would happily do map completion plus a long quest rather than run champ trains all day for a month to get a legendary. The same is true for ascended. There has to be a better way, even if it means some players get good items that would not normally have gotten them. I won’t even talk about the current Halloween stuff. Thousands of items for just one thing, so painful and expensive. Some grind is ok, but having everything requiring grinding at the endgame is painful. Again, this is another one that requires a light touch and a good balance. Neither of which GW2 has right now.

Overall, the game has been great. Doesn’t mean I don’t want to see improvements!

I have to agree that, while I like updates, I also want to play the regular game (you know, the one that took years to develop) without feeling left behind with these grindy LS requirements.

I am no dumb player, I like gold and loot. What’s the best (and frankly easiest) way to get those things – Living Story every time. And when LS allows for an endless grind, I am no longer playing GW 2. I am merely playing the LS.

At this rate, ANet could just create instance maps with an endless grind (i.e. the Crown Pavilion) and disable all the other stuff. It would save server space.

The Kingdom of [Shu] guild is recruiting in Devona’s Rest!

We’re a smaller guild looking for new players and experienced people alike. We’re mostly casual and play for fun. We have a guild bank and other services. Send me a message here or in game (in game preferred) for more info or an invite.

Thank you so much, Anet!

These kinds of updates – simple, universal, and useful – are worth ten Living Story updates.

My teammate and I are not getting messages sent to each other. We send them and they say sent successfully, but are never received.

Problem solved. It seemed we needed to delete messages from each other to free up space. However, we did not know about the problem because our mail icon never went red and it always said “7/10” for my mail, so I assumed I had space. Perhaps this is poorly designed.