Guild Wars 2

I don’t understand the thought that just because you liked the first game, it also means you will like the second. The only way that could happen would be if it was the same game as the first one, in which case you’d just be paying 60$ for a patch. Developers (or any kind of seller) who just gives you a similar product to the first one, are only doing it to make some quick bucks (Borderlands 2 is a perfect example of this). I have a huge amount of respect for ArenaNet because they have the kittens to leap forward, instead of just taking a small step.

Veteran MMO players are the only kind of gamers I know that actually needs a reason to play a game. If you’re so focused on getting rewards, I suggest you start playing some poker instead, were you can actually win or loss something of value. Games are made for your entertainment. That’s what you get in return for your money, just like when you pay to see a movie.

0/20/30/0/20

Currently playing it as a critical build with longbow and greatsword. I love the CC and condition damage removal in the Wilderness Survival trait line. ‘Shared Anguish’ and ‘Hide in Plain Sight’ are a really fun combo, as you both lose the control effect and become invisible at the same time. The grandmaster traits are also great, as you can either go for Empathic Bond to remove conditions, or Bark Skin against direct damage.

ColinJohanson.2394:

I feel like the sandwichmancer class remains horribly unbalanced, NERF IT ANET!

There needs to be a sandwichmancer costume for halloween. Make it happen Colin!

Both. Ideally, your toughness should be around 1500, and your vitality should be around 20000. Then if you feel you are being downed by direct damage a lot, you add more toughness. And if you feel like you are being downed by a lot of condition damage, you add more vitality and condition removal. But you should always have a bit of both.

It’s nice that you got all that out of your system, now get back in the game and try again!

Beraphim.3476:

Not really, since gems have to be bought and traded for gold by someone first. When you buy Gems (or sell gems) the currency you get for the exchange isn’t created, it is taken from other players.

Unless gems becomes largely sold out, and people decides to wait until they can get more gems with gold, instead of spending real money on gems themselves. A big income now, is always better then a small income over time. Time = money.

At the end of the day, it’s important to remember that people here on the forum are only a fraction of the whole. And that only few comment on something that they like.

I will be very surprised if we are going to be able to buy expansions with gems. That would mean ArenaNet/NCsoft would lose a huge amount of income, as we would be able to spend ingame gold to get expansions. We are already going to get new events and other big updates for free.

No I think it’s fine. You just have to stop using them, if you want the world to feel bigger. The only time I use waypoints is when other players are waiting for me at a dungeon, or when I am defeated. Other then that I always run from place to place, and collect mats/nodes on the way.

I watch them all, except in places were I know I mostly will be leveling alts in the future, just so I’ll still have something new to look at when I level them up.

I have high hopes that the perspective on professions in Guild Wars 2 will change, once an eSport metagame is established. The problem right now is that there are no “professional” players to look up to, so everyone are simply judging each profession based on their own experiences. Which is only good or bad depending on your own skill for building and playing.

I agree that the pet response time needs to be improved, but the pet should not be a replacement for the player. You should not be able to send a pet after a player in Worlds PvP, and then expect the pet to hit with all its attacks, and also dodge the opponents attacks (as other topics have suggested the pet should do). What makes the pet dangerous is not the pet itself, but the pet in combination with a player. Just doing something as simple as putting chill on your opponent, will help the pet to hit more. Your “job” is to make sure the pet is effective. That’s part of the learning curve of the Ranger. The pet is, and should always be, second to the player.

Jordan.9132:

No, it was meant as a joke build since rangers got their last good thing in pvp nerfed. But the thread was filled with bleeding hearts and it became into a serious baby thread.

Okay, so you made a purposely bad topic, and now you are complaining that it turned out negative? What did you expect was going to happen? Your point would have gotten across a lot better, if you had showed a good looking build, playing badly.

But this build isn’t viable at all. You stat for power, but you don’t add any precision. You use a shortbow and dagger, but you only have 300 condition damage. And your vitality is low as well. So basically you have a build with some great toughness, low vitality, and low damage. Have you considered that maybe the Ranger is bad, because your build it badly?

@Sotaudi

I wasn’t trying to explain the origin of the term ranger, but the similarity and origin of the fantasy ranger and the military ranger. The word ‘ranger’ it itself has many different meanings (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranger). My point was that the ranger, as it’s understood in a fantasy setting, is mostly related to the Rogers’ Rangers, i.e. the military ranger. A police officers job is to maintain order and avoid confrontation if possible, which is almost the opposite of what the fantasy ranger does. The fantasy ranger is often related to stories evolving war, and the ranger himself is described as someone who is sneaky, and has a very good knowledge of nature. All things that match perfectly with Rogers’ Rangers.

Yes, the war was of curse in the 17th century. I doubt that anyone here really cares about it though, but thanks =)

It’s not completely irrelevant to the game. In Guild Wars 2, guns are still new to the world, so within reason you can compare how we in the real world looked at guns, to how races in the game looks at guns. It makes sense that professions who are already using projectile weapons, would also be interested in guns and the benefits they come with. Of curse this is mostly a lore thing, but that is also what most of the negative comments are about.

My point is that nature and rifles are not two separate things. The fact that people are trying to enforce that guns are an opposite to nature, or bows, is only a testimony to their lack of knowledge when it comes to weapons. Rogers’ Rangers are the perfect example that rifles are not the “enemy” of the ranger.

First: It’s true that he has every right to his negative opinion of a ranger using a rifle. But that doesn’t make him right about his reasons to this statement. I.e. implying that giving the ranger a rifle somehow destroys everything ells about that profession, and turns him into a nature destructive class. And that the fantasy ranger is just a reference to someone who ranges. Also, giving a rifle to the Ranger does not take anything away from the ranger. You are not replacing anything, you are only adding something. So trying to argue that the Ranger should not have a rifle, is a bit upsetting, as it won’t have any impact on people who don’t like anyway. I don’t like the look of a staff for the Ranger either, but I would never try to argue against people who do want that. I have no reason to.

Second: This games success is based on us, ArenaNets consumers. Therefor it is smart to listen to what most of us wants, as long as it’s not something that causes any major changes. And no one are forced to use a rifle, so it can’t cause any major impact. New weapons are pretty much guarantied to be added to the game at some point, anyway.

I think the problem is that people relied too much on shortbow spamming cake with quickness cream on top. And instead of trying to find a new build, it’s much easier to yell nerf. But when so many players complain about such a simply style of play getting taken away, then it’s a good indication that it was the right thing to do. It’s basically ArenaNets way of trying force a deeper build gameplay on the Ranger.

Durzlla.6295:

@Kasma, it’s not his opinion on what the ranger is, it’s Anets, that would make people with differenting opinions WRONG in the tyria universe, they have flat out said where in the 250 year span some profs, like the warrior, thief and mes, embraced the industrialism and technology, where the rangers, ele, and necros shunned it and relied more on their ancient ways/embraced magic further, seeing as how this was said in a blog post or an interview (idk what one if you care that much you can go read through all of em) i’m going to say that’s a very good reason as to why rangers don’t use anything blackpowder…

The game is not set in stone. Items can be added if enough people want it, and it makes sense for the given character. And a lot of people want the rifle for the Ranger, which makes sense because the Ranger is a mixture of magic and power. I could just as easily see a rifle for the Guardian, or even a staff for the Ranger as well. It’s all about how you create the skills. The greatsword is a great example of that.

Also, technology is really a wrong word for a rifle. Engineering is a much more fitting, seeing as a rifle uses a mechanism that’s just as simple as a bow. You press the trigger to release the leveler, which fuses a spark that ignites the gunpowder, that then pushes the bullet forward. There’s nothing technically advanced about it. The first rifle dates back to 13th century China, and was called a hand cannon.

A ranger hunts – it’s in the nature of his profession. If he were to use a NOISY gun, he would scare all the animals away. Bows are quiet.

An animals senses are far more fine tuned then a humans. As soon as you fire that first arrow, the animal will hear it, and be gone if you miss. A rifle is a far better hunting weapon, as it can hit a target over a much longer distance, then a bow. This is also why bow hunting requires a different technique, which is to sit still and wait for the animal to come to you. Animals can be trained to get use to the sound of gunfire, that’s why you use hunting dogs.

Watch this video at 3:54 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZg9pCQswtA

The only problem I have with them is that there’s only one legendary for each weapon, which means we don’t have much of a choice. I realize that there goes a lot of work into designing and making legendary weapons, but there should have been at least two legendary of each weapon from the beginning. I’m just looking forward to seeing new legendary weapons at some point.

No. And people are crazy for thinking that the shortbow changes somehow makes the whole profession horrible. That’s like saying you only played the Ranger for the shortbow, which is kinda stupid.

Whatever you believe the Ranger to be is your rightful opinion, but why are you trying to take others opinion away? A lot of players expected that the Ranger would have a rifle, and a lot of people still want the Ranger to have a rifle. There is a time span of 250 years between Guild Wars 1 and 2, yet the Ranger is pretty much the exact same profession. That doesn’t make a lot of sense considering the progression other professions have made over the same time span. But regardless of that, even if the Ranger did have the option of using a rifle, your opinion of it would not be affected in any way, as you could simply just choose not to use it.
__

It might be that the literal term of a ranger means to range, but that doesn’t mean anything on it’s own, other then someone who walks a lot. The fantasy ranger is mostly related to the military ranger, or more precisely; Rogers’ Rangers. In 1955 during the ‘French and Indian War’, there was a British soldier who’s talent for military tactics were so effective, that a company was created based on his knowledge. His name was Robert Roger. What made him so brilliant was his knowledge and skill for “reading” nature, skills that he had taught from the native people, which made him able to travel and live out in the wild for months at a time. Something that wasn’t possible for the modern military before that time. Robert Rogers was quickly recognized as a great asset to the military, and a company was created for him so that others could learn his talents. They were called Rogers’ Rangers. The first of the military rangers as they still exist today.

Rogers’ Rangers were a rapidly deployable light infantry force, tasked with reconnaissance and conducting special operations (raids) against distant targets. They had their own code that they operated by, which of curse was created by Robert Rogers himself. Some of the rules were: “4. Before reaching your destination, send one or two men forward to scout the area and avoid traps.” – “12. If a rally is used after a retreat, make it on the high ground to slow the enemy advance.” – “13. When laying in ambuscade, wait for the enemy to get close enough that your fire will be doubly frightening, and after firing, the enemy can be rushed with hatchets.” – “22. When returning from a scout, use a different path as the enemy may have seen you leave and will wait for your return to attack when you’re tired.” – “24. When traveling by water, leave at night to avoid detection.” They also had special equipment: Uniforms that were colored dark browns and greens (original uniforms were red) to allow for camouflage. Hatchets that were not only meant as tools, but also for fighting. Dogs as company, to sniff out enemies and possibly also for hunting prey. And then they used cut down muskets, with a special load that caused shots to spread. Robert Rogers prefered the musket, even thought he had the option of using a bow.

But here’s the funny part: Tolkien wrote Lord of the Rings during WW2, at which point Robert Rogers was a very popular name for fiction. So much so that there was even made a movie about him in 1940, named ‘Northwest Passage’. Needless to say, there’s a high probability that Tolkien was greatly inspired by Robert Rogers.

Edit: Found a trailer for ‘Northwest Passage’. It’s quite funny: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns0X_OqcPgw

Xenos.1072:

Whats wrong with every class having access to every weapon? LB warrior and LB ranger are very different, same with SB ranger to SB thief. I want to see my ranger use a Staff, maybe give it some nature type spells to go with it or perhaps a defensive type weapon with various blocks and such. Staff on warrior and he could use it to smack people would be fun too. GS on a Elementalist would look cool too.

No reason every class cant make use of every weapon, they just have to make each one do its own thing and fill a roll or style.

Also need Great Axes please.

I think it has to do with two reasons: The time it would have taken them to create all the skills, and removing the possibility to add a wide variety of weapons to the game later on. But yes I agree, all professions should be able to use all weapons, as long as it fits within their respected playstyle. For instance, a Warrior with a scepter or staff would be very weird, since Warriors don’t use magic from a skill description point of view.

I think the luxury of being small…. is being small… and harder to target/being seen…. I’m not sure how this didnt occur to you lol

ArenaNet has said many times that no one race should have an advantage over others. That’s why they made hit boxes the same size for all races. So it would seem odd if ArenaNet went against that and made the name on the asura characters lower, to purposely give them an advantage of hight. I think having a lower name tag is an advantage that they didn’t consider.

I had these two ideas for team recognition that I posted during BWE3, but I figured I’d post them again now, to get some ideas going about possible replacements for the armor colors we are currently using. It needs to be replaced so the armors we win in sPvP has greater value when it comes to appearance. Feel free to post your own ideas or just add to existing ones.

Flags
This idea I got from samurai movies, and is really as simple as it reads: Give players flags on thier backs, that are either colored blue or red. Like this image: http://www.eastofindia.com/images/samurai.jpg

This idea has a few additional benefits:

• Flags could prevent the advatage of the asura’s small hight, by making flags a little taller for asura
• You could make the flags not only different colors, but also different shapes. Like this: http://image.made-in-china.com/4f0j00avUEgGrITWpw/New-Combination-Backpack-Flying-Banner-Beach-Flag-Backpack-X-Banner.jpg
• Different shaped flags could be used to better distinguish NPCs from players
• You could give players the ability to put their guild logo on the flags, and choose between different flag shapes as well. Maybe even sell different shaped flags in the gem store?

Icons
This idea is much more simple. I noticed when watching footage from you devs playing, that you have the ArenaNet logo next to your name. So why not simply make different logos for each team as well? For instance, the red team could have a circular red logo next to their player names, and the blue team could have a square blue logo next to their player names.

Speaking of player names, is there a reason why our player name is lower down on an asura character, then on taller characters like a norn? I think it makes more sense to have all player names at the same hight above the different characters, so the asura don’t have an easier time hiding. Unless they are suppose to have that advantage of curse.

Doesn’t matter to me, I’ve always preferred the longbow. But it’s funny to see just how many people are relying on the shortbows bleed spam. I think it’s a pretty huge sign that something is wrong here. Either the shortbow is too good, or other weapons are bad. I’m leaning towards the first option.

What do you mean ‘stuck with Guild Wars 2 as your only gaming outlet’? There are plenty of fantastic cheap games out there. I don’t understand why you are forcing yourself to play this game if you can’t truly enjoy it?

The greatest motivation for playing a Ranger should really be the pet. The pet can do things like chase your opponent all over the map, and can often get behind enemy lines in Worlds PvP as well, because everyone ignores the pet until it starts dealing damage to them. Next to that the Ranger is pretty versatile, and can do a bit of everything. They also have a pretty big choice of weapons.

Again, I don’t get why people exist on fighting this? If someone suggested to add a staff to the Ranger, I would be more the happy to see that happen. I would never play with a staff, though, because I have no interest in playing a druid Ranger. But why I should stand against something that only adds more versatility to the profession, just because I don’t like it? I hated the greatsword for the Ranger at first, but now it’s one of my favorite weapons. I think you guys need to be more open minded, and stop being so overprotective about a weapon that you don’t even have to use.

Also, it’s pretty much a given that all professions are going to get more weapons at some point (probably in an expansion). No one here is suggesting that they give the Ranger a rifle tomorrow.

Rizzy.8293:

Because rangers are elitists who uphold the old way.
Rifles are weapons of industry and destruction, which is against the way of the ranger who is intune with nature.

I have already had a long discussion about this in a similar thread, so I’ll just make it as short as possible:

• There is absolutely nothing anti-natural about a rifle. A rifle can be made of materials that are all found in nature (wood and metal). Even gunpowder is made of elements found in nature (sulfur, charcoal, and saltpeter). And the fact that a rifle is loud does not make it anti-natural on its own. Animals can also be trained so they aren’t scared of the gunfire sound.
• Whatever the “original ranger” is suppose to be like, has no meaning in Guild Wars 2, as it’s a completely different fictional universe, with its own rules to write. Implying that fantasy has some kind of rule set, that’s suppose to be carried over from one story to another, is just ridiculous.
• It makes sense that Rangers, in Guild Wars 2, realized the benefits of a rifle, just like we did in the real world when rifles were first created. Why would Rangers be stubborn about it and go “oh, I can’t use this weapon to my benefit, because I like nature magic”?
• Hunters in real life use both rifles and bows for hunting. Each weapon has it’s own advantages and disadvantages. What you choose is simply a matter of preference.
• If we only had weapons in the game because we needed them, it would be a pretty boring game. Why have daggers when we have torches, or greatswords when we have the swords, then?

I am sad about this It would save me the trouble of having to play a Warrior every time I want to use a rifle. Also, rifles look amazing with medium armor!

I still think it’s funny that some are trying to fight this, like it’s going to have huge impact on the profession and it’s “nature aesthetic”. Giving a rifle to the Ranger can only ever make it better. You are only adding something, not taking anything away.

This forum was primarily made to get direct feedback from players. That’s why there isn’t any off-topic section. So if developers didn’t read this forum, there wouldn’t be any point in having it open, since there are already plenty of fan forums around. Also, I do believe it’s actually part of someone job description to read our comments, meaning that removing this forum could then make him/her obsolete, and possibly out of a job.

I don’t use the warhorn. Swoop on the greatsword is a faster traveling skill then the warhorns Call of the Wild, and next to that my bird also gives me swiftness whenever it attacks.

These are all the speed buffs/movement effects that the Ranger has (I think this is the fourth thread I’m writing this in now):
Swiftness:

• Warhorn
• Shortbow
• Rampage As One (With a 120 second cooldown, this is viable to use in Worlds PvP)
• Storm Spirit (With the “spirits can move and follow you” major trait)
• Tail Wind (A minor trait that gives you swiftness on weapon swap, when in combat. But getting in combat is easy enough; just send your pet to attack a nearby mob)
• Birds (Aim at a target that’s a great distance from you, and then call the pet back as soon as it gives you swiftness, if you don’t want to agro the mob. Use the major trait Concentration Training to make the swiftness last 15 seconds instead of 10. Practice makes perfect)

Other:

• Signet of the Hunt (10% increased movement speed is great)
• Shortbow (Use the ‘turn 180’ key to make the jump move you forward, instead of back)
• Sword (Same as the shortbow; use the ‘turn 180’ key, this will make the first attack roll you forward. Then, as you are rolling, turn your character around again, and then use the second attack to jump forward)
• Greatsword (Swoop makes you leap forward. This skill will actually move you forward faster then the warhorn, because of the short cooldown)

Or said more shortly: A good player finds a solution, where a bad player only sees a problem =)

I like problem solving.

I think it says more about you, then it does about the game. No offense meant, just something to think about.

They should just remove quickness from the game all together, in my opinion. The skill effect ruins the dynamic and longevity of combat, and burst damage relies too much on it. And the game doesn’t need it.

I’m sure there will be more legendary weapons eventually.

Great post Jenna. I think you are a great example of the type of gamer Guild Wars 2 is primarily made for.

Immobilize and stun are meant for two different things. Immobilize is meant to prevent opponents from moving, stun is meant to prevent opponents from moving and to interrupt them at the same time. Stun is basically immobilize and daze put into one skill.

A simple ‘remove condition’ skill will remove immobilize, but protection and invulnerable are also a great help against it. You can also still deal damage and teleport while immobilized.

Raging Bull.5048:

Lore or not, griefing or not, be aware that many, MANY people chose PvP servers in WoW. When I say many, I mean at least half of the 14 million player base. People LOVE open world PvP, even if you don’t. If you found your refuge in GW2, it’s also one of the main reason people avoid that game or get bored of it quickly.

Blizzard already came up with a solution – offer people both PvE and PvP servers – to each their own. I wouldn’t mind BEING ganked or BEING griefed. I wouldn’t mind getting attacked during a DE. How things are at the moment – the GW2 is a drag, a bore, a care bear paradise which I am starting to despise.

ANYWAY, I only asked for an explanation for the technical aspect of the problem, it wasn’t an open invitation for the fan-boy community to flame and go berserk. Calm down.

ArenaNet are aware that people love open world PvP, that’s why you are able to level up to 80 in Worlds PvP, when you are level 2. Next to that, ArenaNet has mentioned that they aren’t interesting in splitting servers up (this is also why there’s no RP server), and that the point of the game is to make players work together rather then against each other (this is why they don’t allow rude behavior, and why gathering nodes are instanced). There’s nothing wrong with open world PvP in itself, it’s just that it goes against what ArenaNet are trying to create with Guild Wars 2.

You do realize that there are 53 different skins for each weapon, right?

http://donoftheslum.minus.com/me94NvrnK
http://donoftheslum.minus.com/mJ52oEMna

This is why I put pet attack (F1) on my middle mouse button. Also, this is why you have control skills in the game. A well placed chill or interrupt skill can stop a Thief from being effective in stealth.

It’s mostly because we aren’t forced to play together, whenever we need a healer or a tank to proceed with the game. Removing the holy trinity means that people aren’t forced to talk with others, but can choose to play with people that they like. This means that conversations are generally more private, rather then public. The fact that ArenaNet don’t allow any rude behavior also means that there aren’t as many arguments, and this also has an impact in how visible players seem to be in the world.

No. ArenaNet has said many times that Worlds PvP is what they consider open world PvP. And apart from PKing/griefing, it’s the same thing.

I remember ArenaNet talked about a preparation skill for the Ranger, a long time ago, that would make stealth players visible for a short time. But that was when the Thief’s stealth skills lasted 30 seconds, and not 3-5 seconds like they do now. There doesn’t need to be a stealth detection skill though, as you have everything you need in the game to prevent stealth from being a big benefit. Chill for instance, will make stealth much less effective, not to mention just simply dealing AoE damage. Pets are also excellent at detecting opponents coming out of stealth, much faster then you can.

Classes in games are generally created about the different types of individuals who play games. You can actually tell a lot about a person simply by looking at which profession he/she players, or rather, how he/she is playing that profession. For instance, a person who doesn’t have a lot of patience, will stick to professions that look easy to play, or pick a playstyle give fast results without much work. A sympathetic person will pick a profession that can give a lot of bonuses to allies, or have a playstyle that involves a lot of reviving and healing. And a profound person will pick a profession that can have a lot of potential roles, or have a playstyle that offers many different roles, or simply play all professions. So if you’re going to write a phycology essay, then MMO gaming is a good topic =)

And yes, my profession fits with who I am as a person. I play a Ranger, and I mostly stick to myself while playing the game, as I find people tend to be more of a distraction in games then anything ells. I only start talking more with people after a few months of playing. But I’m also a sympathetic person, so I tend to have at least one support skill equipped, and I often fall into a support role when playing dungeons.

Either level a profession up to at least level 15, or go into the mist and make a couple of different builds with each profession.

The Elementalist is honestly overrated when it comes to how hard it is to play. Each element has it’s own bonuses, which makes it easy to get an overview. Fire is about power damage and use mostly burning, Water is about healing and use mostly vulnerability, Air is about critical damage and use mostly blind and swiftness, and Earth is about protection and use mostly bleed. No doubt that it takes some practice/skill to play an Elementalist, but that can be said about all professions.

A lot of it has to do with being good at reading the auction house. Buying items that you either can predict will go up in price, or buy items that you can turn into higher value items in the mystic forge. But people go mostly for karma first, since you need 525.000 karma for a legendary, so you will have plenty of time to get gold next to that..

If you are looking for burst damage only, the Ranger is not you best bet. The Rangers damage is balanced around the pets damage, so your maximum damage potential will always be split in two. That’s not to say the Ranger isn’t capable of burst damage, but a Thief or Elementalist can do it a lot easier.

Yes, I get this sometimes. It’s really annoying. It’s like my character has a life of his own.

I would like to add “fix the pet skills and descriptions” to that list. Most of the pets F2 skills has a wrong skill description, and a lot of skill don’t even work probably. The drakes Tail Swipe skill is never used, the white moa only does a 1 second chill and the description says it’s a regeneration skill, the blue moa has a protection skill that’s suppose to last 10 seconds but it only lasts 4, none of the pet bleed skills says how many stacks they add, and it just goes on like this. Basically, all the pet skills needs to be checked.

Thanks for the link!