Well, it’s only logical that if you don’t contribute to a guild’s ability to start events, you don’t get to leech the special rewards it comes with.
In itself, this is fair.
This is medium and large guild exclusive content, which means it is designed for members of guilds that have a certain size(or influence income rather). You could apply for the guild if you want to be part of them, help without expecting a reward, or stay the heck out of their way.
This is not fair, however, because the rewards are vastly superior to anything a small guild can achieve. Why should a playstyle choice be rewarded over another, equally viable playstyle?
You decide how you play the game!
I choose how to play the game, and I see that my choice is rewarded with paying 40 laurels and 50 Globs of Ectoplasm for an Ascended accessory, rather than completing 6 Guild Bounties (for 3 gold and 12 commendations) plus paying 2 more gold for the same Ascended accessory. I also see that my choice comes at a cost of not enjoying the increased chance of earning Legendary Precursors as a mission reward.
Apparently, my choice is a poor one in terms of rewards.
Apparently, my way of having fun is less worthy of loot.
Apparently, this game is not fair.
I’m pretty sure ANet said that other people would be able to help out any guild’s mission. I’m assuming that means you’ll be able to fill your large group needs from the general public.
Not unlike LFG right now…except with better payoff. And a chance to meet new folks?
How about you give it chance before spouting off about what it “might” mean? No one really knows at this point.
Yes, other people can help in guild missions. But no, these other people will not receive any special rewards, just experience, silver and karma. Other people will also know that guild members will receive guild commendations, rares/exotics and a lot more coin for a mission. Some people have already stated on this forum that they will refuse to help if the game doesn’t give them equal rewards.
Of course, that is assuming that a (smallish) guild can even muster the 80,000+ influence necessary to level up Art of War and Unlock Guild Bounty.
What I believe is the case here is that ArenaNet mistakenly assumes that “small guilds” are guilds of 10-20 active people, and that they believe that guilds of 3-6 people do not exist.
I recall seeing a developer post (pre-patch) stating that even the Tier 1 Bounty Missions could be easily completed by “small guilds of 15 people”. Earlier today, they stated that “10 players is an ideal number for Tier 1 bounties”.
(Sorry, I have no links right now.)
Everyone in game has access to a large guild somewhere with the ability to multi-guild. And where everyone shares loot, I really don’t see it as being an all encompassing issue.
Actually, I can see this issue driving the multi-guild system even further as we progress.
The problem is that you can only represent one guild at a time.
You only have access to the guild chat channel of the guild you are representing.
Many large guilds often require members to always represent their guild (and earn influence for it) in order to remain in good standing.
What this adds up to is that people in smaller guilds have to choose to EITHER represent the large guild and have access to guild missions, OR play with their friends in a small guild.
Also, while they choose to represent a large guild, they will not be earning any influence for their small guild, further delaying the small guild’s gaining access to guild missions.
As an addendum:
Even if large guild, like the threadstarter’s, do not require members to always represent, large guilds now hold a position of power of people from smaller guilds who want to play guild missions, and thus have an incentive to ask for payment or certain behaviour (like representing) in exchange. And people from smaller guilds have an incentive to pay or adjust their behaviour in exchange for guild mission access.
I’m not saying it’s a general fact. I’m saying that there are now more incentives in place to stimulate such behaviour.
(edited by Jornophelanthas.1475)
Funny thread. ArenaNet is asking for input but over the 5 days and 20 pages of input, there’s 1 response (there’s another one too but it’s just a quote of another post with no info).
To be fair, half this thread started after the patch went live, and their next workday started only recently. Still, I don’t expect a response today, because they will also need time to actually read the concerns presented here. And that may not even be at the top of their list.
Regarding race choices, there are no real game differences. Every race gets a handfull of racial utility and elite skills to choose from for your skillbar. The larger races tend to have some camera issues in tight spaces. The smaller races may sometimes be hard to discern in a thick crowd (not that there are many).
For profession choices, I will refer you to a post by a developer, with stated intentions fro class balance, made some time ago:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/info/news/Game-Update-Notes-December-14-2012/first#post999247
I cannot attest to best or worst servers. Just be aware that after selecting a server for your account, you can only move away after at least 7 full days have passed. Additionally, there is a gem cost for server migration (gems are purchased with either real money at a fixed rate, or with in-game gold at a variable exchange rate), unless your account has no characters on it.
It is possible to “guest” at up to two servers other than your home server, giving you access to all parts of the game on that server EXCEPT WorldVersusWorld.
Finally, you should know that it is NOT possible to have characters on the same account on different servers (except through “guesting”). Your home server is home to your ACCOUNT.
Welcome to the game!
(Don’t mind the turmoil in the forums. Yesterday was patch day.)
Playing in large guilds is a playstyle.
Playing in small guilds is different playstyle.
The guild mission system rewards the first playstyle, but not the second.
Sure, if you are in a small guild, you can still pay 50 Globs of Ectoplasm for your Ascended accessory, but guild missions also give an increased chance of finding Legendary Precursors that is unavailable to people who have no access to guild missions.
Let me repeat a point I made a few pages back in this thread:
With guild missions and their entry barriers, it will be next to impossible to start a new guild with any hopes of it growing beyond its founding members.
Additionally, if an existing guild (of any size) with any guild upgrades decides to switch servers, they are basically set back by months. If they already have guild mission access, they will likely never move to another server, even if they intensely dislike the crowd on their current home server.
What it comes down to is that the large guilds we have now (or that will spring into existence as a result of mergers during the next week or two) will be all the large guilds with guild mission access there will ever be.
This is working as intended. For people not representing the guild, it only counts as a regular dynamic event.
The problem is that people in small guilds feel like people in large guilds have received a reward to their playstyle, because guild missions give far better rewards than any other game content right now.
Ascended accessories for large guild members cost 12 guild commendations (earned over 6 missions) + 5 gold (3 of which is earned during those same missions).
Ascended accessories for everyone else consts 40 laurels + 50 ectoplasm for everyone else. This is also intentionally more expensive, to encourage players to try the new guild content.
(https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Holy-kitten-Cleric-Ascended-Accessory/page/3#post1516124)
The people who do not play in large guilds (mostly by choice) feel penalized and resentful towards people in large guilds, even though all people in large guilds is some fun new game content to enjoy.
Hey all,
Instead of complaining about the issue I suggest we work towards a solution. Let’s throw idea’s out there and hopefully some stick for those at Anet.
The first thing that needs to be acknowledged is the new guild missions only honed in on an already existing problem. The larger the guild, the better the experience. You’ll have more people to play with and constant bonuses activated. It’s impossible for guilds smaller than several hundred members to be appealing with the current system. The route we are heading is only going to reduce the amount of variety in guilds.
So how do you fix it? The influence system needs to either be reworked or replaced with something else. A percentage based system is one solution. For example: “x Guild Mission unlocked for 10% of current influence”. This way, it won’t matter how much influence a guild has. Perhaps an even better suggestion is to consider having dynamic guild objectives to unlock upgrades. These objectives would scale based on a guilds size and activity. This can be worked in as a guild daily. Upon completion the guild is given 1 point towards unlocking an upgrade with upgrades varying in points.
Whatever they choose they need to make guild upgrades even across the board no matter what size the guild is.
The real problem is that the guild mission content was intended as a sink for all the excess influence that (larger) guilds have accumulated over the past months, with no real way to spend on anything other than more karma and MF banners than they can use.
While the guild missions now successfully fulfill that purpose for the larger guilds having excess influence, it also threw up a prohibitive entry barrier for (smaller) guilds WITHOUT several tens of thousands of excess influence points.
Your solution, while friendly towards the smaller guilds, does not solve the solve the problem of taking away the excess influence from large guilds, because a 10% influence tax to unlock guild bounties still leaves 90% of a very large influence pool.
Add to this the potential for abuse by small guilds without an excess influence pool. All they need is to save up for Art of War 5, empty their influence pool by paying for it, and then get Guild Bounty Mission Unlock for virtually nothing.
(Also, given that build times for guild upgrades are based on influence costs, variable prices for guild upgrades would be greatly unbalanced in probably very unpredictable ways.)
Large guilds would not be happy with this difference in cost, and would start complaining about a system like this ON TOP OF the smaller guilds who still have insufficient members to actually complete the missions that they unlock. End result: MORE people are unhappy, not LESS.
I don’t have any ready-made solutions, but I’m sorry to say that your solution, while admirable in its intentions, does not make the game a better place.
Thank you, that solves it.
I have two questions:
1. Are these waypoints accessible without actually participating in a guild mission?
2. Are these waypoints required for area/world completion?
I have seen an ArenaNet representative post on this forum stating that this was an oversight and will likely be fixed in the future.
Then let me be the next to provide a link to this excellent post outlining what we perceive to be the problem, as well as possible solutions:
Honestly, every page in this thread should have this link (except the page that has the posts in question).
@Mungrul:
Regarding “Large Guild Power Abuse”, I believe this would be limited, unless players really want to punish themselves to EXPERIENCE the guild content.
Because the ascended accessory rewards are also sold by the laurel vendors. They cost 50 ectoplasm apiece in addition to the laurel cost, but they ARE available to those who do not play guild missions.
Any power abuse by large guilds could not exceed a total (lifetime) value of 100 ectoplasm per character towards a member they want to exploit, or they would not be able to get away with it. And that is not counting the influence of non-abusive large guilds recruiting those players.
But indeed, it is a concern that large guilds may start charging a membership fee of, say, 1 ectoplasm per week, in exchange for starting a bounty every hour.
@Tobias Trueflight:
I invite you to read the following post (earlier in this thread), because it sums up people’s concerns very well.
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/New-guild-missions-opinions-concerns/page/14#post1522077
The author also argues that the situation is FINE and EXCELLENT for the larger guilds. If you are a member of such a guild (or care nothing for guild content at all), then you indeed have nothing to complain about.
However, people who are NOT a member of a large guild and DO care about guild content, are put in a difficult place, as pressure is put on them (and ONLY on them) to choose between new guild content, and playing with their friends. How large this group is, I dare not say, but I also dare not regard this group as insignificantly small.
If you must disagree with some of the concerns brought forward in this thread, please address the arguments people bring to bear. If any of those arguments do not relate to you or how you play the game yourself (or the people you play with), then please just admit that you are not in a position to comment on it, and leave it at that.
I have further thought out my above post on what this update will mean for future guilds, and provided some more arguments.
Because current large guilds will have early access to guild mission contents,
(1) players no longer have an incentive to start and upgrade new guilds, unless the guild does not have the ambition to ever unlock guild missions, and
(2) players looking for a guild (not consisting of their close personal friends) no longer have an incentive to become a member of a newly started guild.
As a result, once the current set of large guilds have unlocked all guild missions, no new large guilds are likely to emerge, ever. Only small guilds that manage to stick together and manage to slowly unlock ALL guild missions (after maybe a year), AND that are willing to then open their doors to new players, may experience a sudden, explosive growth after a grinding for influence for close to a year. This is an unlikely scenario, and speaks to the determination of such individuals, seeing that they could just have joined a large guild instead.
Therefore, very few new guild will be founded in the future, and those that do will likely never grow beyond their founding members.
@Laughing Crow:
I think you just identified a new potential problem related to this content update:
What incentive do players have to start a new guild? And what incentive do players have to join a newly-founded guild?
Playing with real-life friends is the only consideration to even start a new guild now, but unfortunately doing so precludes you from joining a larger guild with guild mission content unlocked.
(Why? Because larger guilds do not like it if their members do not represent, and because representing guild A closes your access to guild B’s guild chat.)
Carrion ascended gear is not in the game at this time. The only guaranteed way I personally know of is to craft it at Tailoring/Leatherworking/Armorcrafting 400.
The only way to fall and die is to run right past the reward chest and out of the exit.
@tmorrow:
It’s in the patch notes from the January update. Enough said.
Unless you believe all Elementalists should receive separate in-game mails for every single skill or trait change, owners of Legendary X should receive in-game mail that the particle effect of their Legendary is no longer bugged, people entering AC dungeon should receive in-game mail that the bosses have been revamped, etc.
Addition:
I also cannot report or infract any posts.
(And I cannot edit my original post to add this information.)
@Mungrul:
I am guessing it will count as a regular dynamic event for you. If you are still needing those for your daily achievement, you could join in.
For some time now, I have been unable to edit my own posts, quote a different user’s posts, or use the allegedly new “+1” function to approve a post.
Several months ago, the icons intermittently appeared for me (most often right after I posted a reply in an existing thread). But for some time now, they simply never appear anymore.
All I ever see at the bottom right of any post is the “permalink” icon, which has never malfunctioned for me.
Is this an account issue, a bug on the forum, or some setting that I seem to have missed? I would appreciate any help I can get.
Unfortunately, the guild mission system runs counter to a very simple tenet that is required for any successful game:
It must be easy to access, but difficult to master.
Easy access is necessary so that players get involved and engaged in it.
Difficult mastery is necessary to keep players challenged, so that they will keep coming back for more.
The guild missions are NOT easy to access due to the prohibitive cost for unlocking them. Accessing this requires:
1a. More guild influence points than a small guild (5 people) can muster;
OR
1b. Joining a larger guild, which may run counter to some people’s preferred playstyle;
AND
2. At least 10 active players to participate in any guild mission.
YES, small guilds CAN unlock guild mission content eventually, but will only start doing so months after larger guilds do so.
But NO, they will not be able to complete even the most simple mission without at least 10 players.
YES, players in small guilds CAN join larger guilds (without giving up their membership in the small guild), but if they do not like playing with large groups of strangers (and only prefer grouping with their close or real-life friends), they may not enjoy themselves, even if they would otherwise enjoy the content.
Unfortunately, because of the access barriers imposed to guild mission content, some players will never be able to earn any guild merits. And these players just happen to be exactly the casual players that are Guild Wars 2’s intended target audience.
Therefore, I am hoping that the next month or so, the developers will see the impact the current system will have collected feedback both in-game and out-of-game and will be able to adjust the system accordingly in order to please as many players as possible.
(Of course, on a personal note, I am hoping that they will add reduced-scale guild missions with a lower unlock cost for small guilds to earn (small amounts of) guild merits.)
As stated in (I believe) the patch notes on January 28, Lionguard Lyns would stay until “late February” and then “return to her regular duties” We were advised to spend our Captain’s Council Commendations by then.
Short version: her shop is permanently closed, because it was meant to be a temporary thing anyway.
(We can hope she will be back with a new shop after a new world event or something.)
Is there something you want to discuss, or a question you want answered, or are you just venting/complaining?
If you are just venting, this thread may get closed by a moderator soon, because if you did not create it in order to seek a constructive discussion, this forum is not intended to be the place for that.
Still, if you have a concern you want to discuss with other players or (if we’re lucky) an ArenaNet representative, I’m willing to read and respond.
The place was also used during the Halloween event, as one of the ghosts with a tale about Mad King Thorn’s early years could be found there.
If you want your own character to be the party leader and have speaking role in dungeons, all you have to do is to be the first one to enter the instance (thus creating it).
I did that on my first (and so far only) playthrough of Arah story mode, and I liked seeing my own character participating in the dialogue.
Ronan apparently found the Seed from which the Pale Tree grew in a cave, with more such Seeds close by. He only took the one, and planted it in a part of Maguuma Jungle named Arbor Bay. And the rest is history.
Some notes:
- The Seed must have already been pollinated when Ronan found it.
- One of the Sylvari personal storylines (level 11-20, based on the choice “Where life goes…”) hints that there may be another sylvari tree somewhere out there. Perhaps this other tree is male? Perhaps it grew out of one of the other seeds in the cave?
Also, the intended order to play the dungeon storylines is:
1. Ascalon Catacombs (where you find out about Eir’s idea)
2. Caudecus’s Manor
3. Twilight Arbor
4. Sorrow’s Embrace
5. Citadel of Flames
6. Honor of the Waves
7. Crucible of Eternity
8. The Ruined City of Arah
If you play them out of order, you might miss some of the motivations for some of the Destiny’s Edge members in the later parts.
You need to have Eye of the North expansion to Guild Wars 1 and actually have the Hall of Monuments unlocked by visiting it for the first time.
If I remember correctly, you only get those points for linking accounts if you activate the Monument to “Honor” by applying a Monumental Tapestry to it.
(Don’t worry, you receive a Monumental Tapestry upon first discovering the Hall of Monuments, and the primary quest of Eye of the North will take you there as your first real stop.)
@pptkreg:
I just sent you a PM. I do not wish to post any personal contact information on the forum for all to see.
@John Widdin:
Ah, now I understand. I retract my disagreement with Windwalker.
@Mesket:
Hence my structured argument why the original post by Blood Red Arachnid apparently disregards Toughness and Vitality, and ostensibly postulates that these may be entirely replaced by play skill.
@Windwalker:
You are wrong. Extra Toughness provides a percentage decrease of the absolute damage figures that are dealt to you. It has no direct relation to the number of hitpoints you possess.
In Guild Wars 2, no single profession is FotM. Instead, this game has a whole Dungeon that is FotM. It is called “Fractals of the Mists”.
Having said that, just play whatever profession you like. Some are more difficult to play than others, some experience more bugs than others. All are playable, some just are more challenging.
Having said THAT, if you want as little challenge as possible, play a Warrior.
@Blood Red Arachnid:
What I am saying here has already been said before, but I am structuring it in a more formal, logical sense.
—-
One of the things you are saying is the following argument:
1. Dead monsters do not deal damage to player characters.
2. Having higher Power (and/or Precision, Critical Damage %) results in killing monsters sooner.
3. Therefore, having higher Power (and/or similar stats) results in monsters dealing less damage to player characters.
Let’s call this ARGUMENT 1.
However, you do not invoke the corollary to this argument:
1. Dead player characters do not deal damage to monsters.
2. Having higher Toughness, Vitality and/or more play skill helps to prevent or postpone player character death.
3. Therefore, having higher Toughness, Vitality and/or more play skill results in player characters dealing more damage to monsters.
4. Therefore, ARGUMENT 1 is only true if players possess sufficient Toughness, Vitality and/or play skill.
Let’s call this ARGUMENT 2.
However, in your 4th concluding statement, you invoke a slightly similar argument:
1. Dead player characters do not deal damage to monsters.
2. Having more play skill helps to prevent or postpone player character death.
3. Therefore, having more play skill results in player characters dealing more damage to monsters.
4. Therefore, ARGUMENT 1 is only true if players possess sufficient play skill.
Let’s call this ARGUMENT 3.
In my opinion, your reasoning is inconsistent to the extent that you invoke ARGUMENT 1, but ignore ARGUMENT 2. Instead, you only invoke ARGUMENT 3, which is an incomplete (and therefore flawed) version of ARGUMENT 2.
This does nothing to diminish the value of your mathematical calculations, however. Only the conclusions attached to these.
I’m not telling you to quit the game, but to focus on what YOU like. Having someone else tell you how to have fun is a surefire way to NOT have fun.
Since you have apparently tried out all 5 races and all 8 professions already, you surely already have an opinion on each of them. It would be helpful if you included those opinions in your question. Because your original question contains absolutely no information on what you are actually looking for in the game, and what kind of challenges you like.
The differences between the 8 professions are based on that: some are very straightforward and relatively easy (like Warrior), some are quite complex, easy to learn to play decently, but hard to master (like Elementalist), while others are more about timing and speed than about complexity (like Thief). That is why I recommend you read the post I linked, because if any of the descriptions by Jonathan Sharp appeals to you, that may be a sign that you should try to stick with that Profession.
By the way, if you want to try out a profession, you are better served to stick with it until level 30, because then you unlock the elite skill slot, which is the last new feature you receive for your character. (Not counting trait points, which you continue to receive until level 80.) Before level 30, you will not have a complete impression of a profession, although you will already a halfway decent idea of its playstyle.
For advice on what the (intended) strengths of each profession are, see the following developer post:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/info/news/Game-Update-Notes-December-14-2012/first#post999247
For race/gender, just go with the combination that is most visually appealing to you. You will be looking at it a lot. Also count in the player character voice, as it can play randomly whenever you gain a boon, a condition or use some class-specific skills (because if you find your own character’s voice annoying, you probably made a wrong choice). Finally, choose the race that has story options that seem interesting to you.
Other than this, it is not really important. If you can’t choose, just go randomly for any of the five races and two genders.
What weapon sets to use is NOT something others should tell you. Some weapons have very situational skills for some classes (like the focus for elementalists) that may be very useful in specific situations, but mostly worthless otherwise. Experiment with ALL weapons for your profession, and decide to play with what you like best. Make sure to revisit every other weapon every 10 levels or so, because the quality of the skills may have shifted in the meantime.
If you REALLY INSIST on having others tell you what to play, then why do you even want to play at all?
Because it can be fun to challenge yourself?
Recently, a long-running bug has been identified that put the threshold for receiving credit for killing champions (and veterans) as part of events too high. Especially champions have a better chance at dropping high-quality items, but if the game does not give you credit for the kill, you also won’t receive the loot.
The good news is that this will be fixed in next week’s update.
Exotics CAN drop from open world enemies, but the chance is astronomically small.
You will also receive 2 exotic items for zone completion in high-level zones.
These are all generated randomly, though, and may not even be level 80.
A more reliable way to acquire them is through the Orr temple karma vendors, dungeon karma vendors in LA, through mastering a craft and creating them yourself, or through transmuting items into Mystic weapons in the Mystic Forge.
ArenaNet has stated that they want to change (dungeon) boss fights to be more interesting (more in line with Fractal bosses), and I believe Colin Johanson has even twittered that all the Ascalon Catacombs bosses have been redesigned in this way and will be released with the February 26th game update.
Furthermore, it is my personal belief that Guild Wars 2 intentionally stays away from any content that requires organized groups of more than 5 persons (“raid groups”). Their philosophy is that such content can only be enjoyed by players who are willing to organize themselves in large guilds, and they want to make as many parts of this game available to ALL players, not just the most organized ones.
This does not mean that there will be no events suitable for large groups of players, but these are all non-instanced, i.e. either dynamic events (where anyone who happens to be in the area can participate), or special world events (like the Flame & Frost living story). Even the announced “guild missions” are said to be open-world content initiated by a given guild, but any bystanders can still participate / help the guild complete the event.
Since any percentage is a relative number, the default magic find value is 100%. Any increases to magic find are added to this.
This does not mean that you have a 100% to find a magic item on any drop. This only means that if there is an Y% chance to find a magic item on a given drop, and you have +8% magic find gear, then the chance of finding a magic item is (Y x 1.08) %.
So what is the Y%? That is not disclosed, but it is probably dependent on character level and the specific loot tables of any given monster or chest you loot.
Also, don’t be under the impression that the fun only starts at level 80. You are supposed to enjoy the ride to maximum level, because there is not a lot of level-80-exclusive content.
This is by design. Guild Wars 2 just introduces the fun BEFORE the leveling is over.
True, but karma merchants only offer rewards appropriate for the level of the zone, and not the level of the character.
What has not been mentioned yet:
- Buy gathering tools, equip them and harvest all nodes (saplings, ore, plants) you encounter. This gives experience and provides materials for crafting. Some materials are also quite profitable to sell on the Tradepost (commonly referred to as TP).
- Try out the crafting system. (It is intended to be interesting to start crafting at level 10.) You can make weapons or armor to improve your equipment as you level up. Additionally, crafting also gives experience. There are 8 crafts. It is possible to have 2 crafts at the same time, but you can always start a new craft for free. Returning to a craft you have already started will cost gold, though.
- There are jumping puzzles hidden throughout the world. Each explorable zone will usually have at least one puzzle hidden away somewhere. The city of Lion’s Arch even contains 3 of them!
These puzzles are not for everyone, but you won’t miss out if you decide they’re not worth your time. The usual reward is a chest at the end that contains a few uncommon items. You can find/earn the same or similar items by doing other things (like killing monsters).
Finally, something that has already been said, but that bears repeating:
Leveling your character while doing things you like is a major part of this game. Just racing your character through all 80 levels in order to reach the level cap is NOT the best way to go, as you are cheating yourself out of all the enjoyment of exploration and gradual improvement.
Just play the game to have fun, and you will hit level 80 before you know it.