Guild Wars 2

I really enjoy seeing everyone’s pictures.

And now some older pictures before I knew about using /sleep (so my characters are in the frame):

Tired of thinking about the newest updates and the changes they made to the game. So I decided to go back through some of my pictures. Here are some more from the Grove:

Malkavian.4516:

That’s the thing though, every MMO (and everything else) is someone’s first. I can see the logic behind this but I think the execution in of itself is severely flawed.

This.

I think that the solution was a real tutorial that did not change the already great game play. One of the forum mods suggested that a real tutorial was complicated and expensive to make and that introducing concepts in increments was the better way to learn anyway. I disagree. The tutorial did not need to explain every single nuance of the game but could explain the basics and give direction for those who need it. And the tutorial should definitely be optional.

I think I had an easier time learning the game than some people who had played other MMOs because I had no preconceived ideas of how the game should be played. (My experience with open-ended single player games was probably more beneficial.) So the tutorial would need to spend some time on dispelling those expectations of experienced MMO players.

But any tutorial would have probably been better than the hot mess we have now.

Guhracie.3419:

Lazuli.2098:

I am not a role player but I think you could work around this. You could type in so that the end result reads like this :

Hystery: I am posting a thread on the forums.

(in other words forget about the “/me”)

The difference is the previous style reads like a book written in third person. This suggested style reads like a screen play happening right now.

No, if you do a custom emote, it includes your name twice. “/emote pats the puppy.” now yields the following: Guhracie: Guhracie pats the puppy.

Could you leave of the “/emote” so it comes out: Guhracie: pats the puppy

I’m pretty sure in screen plays stage direction and actions are usually delimited so they can be distinguished from dialog.

Maybe something like: Guhracie: pats the puppy Nice doggie.

It could be confusing for awhile until a standard convention gets adopted but I wouldn’t count on Anet reverting.

Good luck.

Edit: Well OK. I guess they will fix things. Here’s hoping they fix traits sometime.

I am not a role player but I think you could work around this. You could type in so that the end result reads like this :

Hystery: I am posting a thread on the forums.

(in other words forget about the “/me”)

The difference is the previous style reads like a book written in third person. This suggested style reads like a screen play happening right now.

Ragion.2831:

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Why veterans who have gone through the leveling process before, some several times are complainign when you can automatically get to level 80. Isnt it better to play the personal story and play the end game content without your alt feeling like a gimpd version of your main?

With this new trait system that’s the only way to play that appeals to me now. Although I just leveled my 10th, and last of my grandfathered characters to 80 last night there is still a lot I haven’t done yet. But I will miss the old leveling process since I found that fun.

Fay.2357:

Yeah, I’d struck off ever creating another alt back when they changed the trait system at feature patch one. This update just puts the final nail in that coffin.

Exactly. Same for me.

Those who think this new leveling process is better because it is faster probably didn’t really enjoy the leveling process before. Speeding to the climax is not always the most rewarding experience. Savoring the process can add much enjoyment.

I guess since the new leveling experience doesn’t seem that much fun then getting through it quickly is better than it taking forever so using scrolls might make it palatable. But I’d rather just say no and wait for a more appealing situation.

I never played the story as I was leveling up. I’ve now got a few of my level 80’s into the 70’s and 80 of their personal story. The rest of my level 80 characters I’m only interested in getting them access to the asura gates from the orders’ headquarters. Does it occur about the same place in the story?

Becka Williams.4978:

They eventually get kicked out anyways. You only get an hour, then anet forces the shard to shut down. At least, I think that’s what it said. I read it kind of fast.

Yeah that’s basically the message I got too.

What benefit are they? What are their armor stats? Are they only worn when crafting? What are their purpose?

Maria Murtor.7253:

New players will deal with it, because they do not know better. Veterans have tomes for quick leveling, so I do. I couldn’t care less.
…

I don’t really care but that is because I will never be using it. No more alts for me.

I think the outcome will be that experienced players who do not use this system will not be able to help new players, creating yet a bigger gap between new players and veteran players.

Dutch Rental.8360:

My fine looking characters Thief and Guardian

What top and pants are your guardian wearing? They look good. I like both of your pictures.

Lucia The Lightbringer.2568:

These are just a few of my favorite spots (I’ll have to find more screenshots later :P )

That’s the lighthouse that I have a picture of getting stuck by lightening. How did you get up there?

I haven’t looked for high places to take pictures before but I think I might be pursuing this in the future.

Bel Geode.8129:

The one, the only… Bel Geode- THE Purple norn…

Accept no substitutes.

Nice shot of him and the scenery. I happen to like purple.

Helps that I like mesmers too. Here’s a picture of my 3rd mesmer:

Support looked into it and sent another Recipe:Gift of Blades that worked this time when I double-clicked it. Not sure what I did wrong last time but now I need to keep making those Elonian leather squares.

Thanks again everyone.

Michael Walker.8150:

… just tried to get on top of the head and I found you can just walk up one of the beams on the left (I remembered you saying left :P ), it’s the last beam believe.

did you wait for the lightning or does it strike often there? 3rd & 5th I’m gonna steal the perspective hehe
…

I will have to try getting up by the beam next time I have character in that area. Did you jump off to see what happens?

In Bloodtide Coast I was across the way getting the vista in the rain and noticed the lightening periodically striking all over the place. I took 3 or 4 pictures of just missing the lightening. I finally noticed there was thunder before the lightening so just managed to catch it when it hit the central tower area.

So I completed Divinity’s Reach, The Grove, Rata Sum and Bloodtide Coast on my Charr engineer today. Here are some of the pictures I got:

Michael Walker.8150:

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@lazuli
you gotta show me how to get up there, looks really good! is the shot of the watchwork knight from atop there?

When facing the bird (not sure what kind it is, maybe eagle or hawk) go around on the side walk to the right until the wings touch down. At the second or third panel take a running jump to get up on the wings. You have to hit it just right. (You can probably get up there from the other wing too.) Run all the way up to the top edge and then go toward the center and the head. I captured that picture from close to the tip of the wing.

check out the upper floor of Logans’ office next time you’re there, the throne room has few spots that work as well
…

I was just in there today getting 100% completion on my last character that I’m leveling to 80 and taking pictures. It was harder keeping my Charr engineer out of the shots. I’ll have to go to the second floor next time I’m in there.

I’m on a picture taking frenzy since reading this thread and finding out where the screenshots are saved and using /sleep.

Love looking at all your pictures and everyone else’s.

Met someone who showed me how to get up on the pavilion and then what happens when you jump off the nose of the bird. Got some nice pictures from up there too.

Thanks to Michael I tried using /sleep while taking pictures in Divinity’s Reach.

Khisanth.2948:

Are you sure you bought the Leatherworker version of the recipe sheet?

I’m pretty sure, but no way of telling now that it has disappeared. If it was the wrong one would it have let me double-click it? Anyway I’ve opened a ticket so maybe they can tell me what happened.

Thanks everyone for your help.

Esplen.3940:

If you were looking at your bank while you double clicked, it may have entered your bank.

Not there either.

Esplen.3940:

The Gift of Blades is not a Mystic Forge recipe. The Gift of Blades is used in the Mystic Forge.

Assuming your Ranger has Leatherworking at 500 (which I would guess s/he does), then you should see the recipe in your Leatherworking somewhere. Again, if you can’t find it, type Gift of Blades into the search bar.

On a side note: All Mystic Forge recipes are like cousins to the Discovery tab, all of which are able to be used as long as you have the materials.

Yes, she is at 500. I did use the search feature but “gift” doesn’t show up. (Thanks by the way that will really be handy when my cook starts cooking again.) I guess I can always get another recipe for gift of blades but if I don’t figure out what I did wrong this time it could just disappear when I double-click it too.

Here is one I took from the top of the jumping puzzle in Frostgorge Sound:

If you are still missing an area name for the explorer achievement try looking on all the maps for grayed out areas for your character(s). If you have more than one character this can be a chore. If nothing shows up that way you can go to the wiki maps and find areas that have no poi, wp, skill point or heart. Then go to your character’s map and see if the area name shows up. Again a chore if you have more than one character.

Good luck.

Thanks all. I created my Vision Crystal.

Now I have a different issue. I had the recipe for Gift of Blades but when I double-clicked on it there was a bright flash and it disappeared. Since it is a mystic forge recipe I hope the MF knows my character has it.

I’ve got all the ingredients for the gift of blades except the 15 elonian squares that I’m in the process of crafting one each day. Then hopefully my ranger will be able to turn the advanced spinal blades backpack into the tempered one for my mesmer.

StinVec.3621:

I’d play it. Might be the only mini game/activity other than bell choir (and the mythical Polymock) that I’d actually enjoy.

I like bell choir too although I was pretty awful when I first tried it. Hope it comes back with Winter’s Day this year.

Aliven.4056:

@Vayne
Oh i know they are aware lots of people dont like the new traits, they are not blind. Im just saying they dont give a crap about this as long as people play. Hell i see posts here that say “i dont like it but will play regardless”. So they get a message “we dont like it” from this topic and yet nearly everyone is still playing, and sometimes even make a new character to play. Spend gems. What that say to them?
Hmm they dont like it but nothing changed, 5 months and they still playing.
Actions, not words will make a difference.

Why should Anet care if people quit playing? You’ve already paid them to play. But if people stop giving them additional money it may get their attention. New character slots usually translates into more money spent – inventory upgrades, BL keys, boosters, skins, etc. I think Anet has already noticed since they had that sale on character slots.

Ykfox.3825:

My Guardian that I’ve had since day 1. He’s always been my main character, as proven by all the money invested in him.
…

Fantastic.

I’m playing but not starting any new characters.

ButterOfDeath.2873:

…
However, mesmer’s out of combat mobility is either limited or hinders build possibilities (hi centaur runes).
…

I’ve got 3 mesmers (I guess you can tell they’re my fav). My main has travelers runes (a 25% boost). One of the others has a sigil of speed which gives swiftness ( a 33% boost) every time she kills. It stacks in duration so after a big fight she’s speedy for quite some time. If she’s running through a area and is out of speed I just kill any random creature or mob to get a boost. I’m probably going to get a sigil of speed for my other mesmer. I use sword/focus as one of my weapon sets on all 3 so they all have access to speed via focus 4 too.

Alts that are not being used actively can sit at a jumping puzzle treasure chest and each day open the chest. Higher level characters get higher level loot in general (not sure about treasure chests). If they do and you plan to park your unused character at a treasure chest then a level 80 would be best.

Esplen.3940:

Have you tried typing in Vision at the crafting search bar?

What crafting search bar?

Edit: I found it at the crafting station. Thanks.
It was in crafting components between the exotic components and the ascended ones.

I used the obsidian shards to turn the bloodstone dust into bricks, the empyreal what-ja-ma-thingies into stars and the dragonite ore into ingots.

zenleto.6179:

…
Looks like we’ve picked almost the exact same look for our Sylvari thieves. Here’s mine, Skink Longleaf. I like this look for him though. He’s just a travelling Sylvari who enjoys seeing whats what and helping people out. The thing I like most about the coat is that the shirt underneath it looks like it could be a plain old cotton one.

sidenote: The coat skin is the exact same skin since I bought it from Tor. I just kept using it every time he picked up a new coat. He’s over a year old so it was “exoticised” well before the wardrobe.

Yes I like that coat but today I did some research and found where I could get the duelist’s chest piece (may go back to his coat though).

I’ve got my leatherworker to 500 and the 5 bloodstone bricks, 5 dragonite ingots, 5 empyreal stars and 1 augur’s stone. It’s not an automatic recipe and I can’t discover it at the crafting station. I went to the Mystic Forge and can’t add in the components. What am I not doing right?

zenleto.6179:

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And I don’t mind the odd use of overcoat since its cold in them thar Shiverpeaks but there are just so many of them.
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I love the overcoat on my Norn ranger, Aurora Wildborn. Hate it on my Charr engineer, Pyanfar Cherryh (she’s only 71 or 72 and wearing whatever armor that’s best, no skins, waiting until she’s 80 to get a look I want). I don’t really like it on my level 80 Sylvari thief, Dyvid Fernleaf, but tell myself he’s using it to hide all the stuff he’s managed to steal. Truth is I have several other level 80’s I’m working on getting their looks the way I want that I like better. Still if there were some jackets and not just skimpy vests all of my medium armor characters would probably be wearing them, or at least the Charr and the Sylvari.

You could use a description of what they do.

Dhuum – God of Death and Darkness
Dhuum, Reaper or Dhuum the Reaper

Menzies – Lord of Destruction and Shadow
Menzies, Destroyer

Abaddon – God Water and Secrets
Abaddon, Hidden

Melandru – Goddess of nature, earth, and growth.
Melandru, Fecund or Melandru, Verdant (probably should wear green then)

Lyssa – Goddess of beauty, water, and illusion.
Reminds me of Narcissus who fell in love with himself when he saw a reflection of his beauty in a pool of water. Maybe Melandru, Radiant or Melandru, Glamorous because a glamor is an illusion

Grenth – God of darkness, ice, and death
Grenth, Frozen —- not very god like. I think of living close to the arctic circle when there are long nights that last for the whole winter. Maybe something about the underworld. Grenth, Underlord

Dwayna – Goddess of healing, air, and life.
Dwayna, Renewing

Balthazar – God of war, fire, and challenge
Balthazar, Battlelord

Kormir – Goddess of order, spirit, and truth
Kormir, Harmonious

Don’t delete this character if there is any chance you may come back and play it again. Leveling was a lot easier before the April 14 patch. Now all traits are locked and leveling will take a lot longer and not be as much fun. If any of your “mule” alts is the right profession do several name changes so you don’t have to slog through the new leveling process. If none of your mules are the right profession and you don’t have an empty character slot delete one of those lower level characters and do the name changes.

Clone on dodge can be very useful no matter what build your mesmer has.

When running through an area that you don’t want to stop and fight the mobs, dodge forward by double tapping “w” to leave a sacrificial decoy behind when under attack. The real mesmer usually evades and the clone takes aggro so you’re not pulling a whole train of mobs behind.

Many skills and traits have added power or benefit for each illusion up so try to keep 3 up at all times (edit: during a fight). You could swap weapon sets but if the weapon set you have is the one you really want then don’t swap just dodge to get another illusion if your current skills are in cool down.

And then of course shattering is great to finish off a mob or to use periodically (edit: only after your cool downs are over and you are ready to pop up 3 more illusions) during a big boss fight.

EDIT: But Hayashi and others are right. Leveling a mesmer with this new trait system wouldn’t be much fun at all. It was bad enough just having the tier unlocks pushed back so many levels and all traits grandfathered in.

kiwiburner.2186:

…
Yeah, that stripping their games and re-selling them as expensive DLC sure seems to be working out for The Sims: http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/the-sims-4

I think we should be thankful anet don’t emulate EA’s disgraceful model.

I think they stripped it down and made the program code much smaller so that it could be run on a tablet. If so it will expand their market. I’m not getting sims 4 though.

This is a picture of my sim, Jan, who is based on my Norn guardian.

If there are so many people excited about mini pets why don’t they use them in game. I can go days without seeing a single one (not that I’m complaining).

Puma D roronoa.6784:

…
Sorry for all the links, I’m not sure how to add multiple attachments, unfortunately.

After placing the first picture select preview. The picture will show up and you will have the option to upload another.

MrOptimistic your elementalist looks very good indeed.

Here is a close up I got today of my best looking character (also an elementalist), Amber Everglow:

TheBlackLeech.9360:

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The reason why Anet is doing this is because players are amassing several fully leveled, complete lvl 80 characters, which can be created, fully leveled and fully geared in two minutes. (through the use of tomes and gold)
I, like you, have many fully leveled and geared toons (10)…. and the two most recent toons I created were both level 80 on the first day of creation. No depth whatsoever. ..

It was your choice to play such a shallow game. No one forced you.

oxtred.7658:

There’s no difficulty in open world. But leveling a mesmer is much more of a pain than leveling, say, a warrior or an ele, especially at low levels.

I disagree. I guess it comes down to what one considers a pain.

Leveling a mesmer is the most fun I’ve had in the game. I’ve got 3 level 80 mesmers. They were all fun to level, although this last one not so much. My second one I couldn’t wait to get to level 40 so I could get clone on dodge. My 3rd one was started before April so all traits were grandfathered in but I had to wait a lot longer to get that clone on dodge.

If to you pain means not killing something as fast as possible then mesmer may not be for you. Although in open world pve when approaching a mob from a distance my mesmer’s GS skills will often kill the mob before the warrior in the party gets to them to get in a hit.

Edit: Also although I love playing my elementalist it was more of a pain leveling than a mesmer because I died more frequently. Still both of them were more fun leveling than a warrior for me. I’m certainly glad I did not pay attention to any negative classifications of the professions so I could enjoy playing all of them and deciding which ones I liked for myself.

GOSU.9574:

Lazuli.2098:

Love the diversity in looks among all the fantastic pictures of rangers in this thread. I’ve updated my ranger’s look slightly. Still going for the “blend into the background” look. My norn ranger, Aurora Wildborn, showing off her new quiver of swift flight:

I like her basic forester look. I also like the quiver, having finally managed to make mine recently. It’s a wonder what the lack of underboob can do for a bit of uniqueness.

Thanks.

ozmaniandevil.6805:

JonPeters.5630:

Thanks. I’ll pass this on.

So, this is how it works? Cherry pick ONE PERSON’s “list of things I don’t like”, while ignoring 40 pages of really good feedback and ideas? OK. I’m done with this thread.

From this response from JonPeters and his initial post it is obvious that Anet is not going to fix their new leveling process or trait system except the individual tasks themselves.

I’m discouraged since I used to like leveling new alts but can live with just playing my level 80s instead.

Edit: Also I will be playing other games more now too. Family that introduced me to GW2 have gone back to WoW. I’ve just started playing that with them a few months ago and although initially I didn’t like WoW that much I will probably be playing it more now.