Guild Wars 2

Well, there are a couple of full proof methods really.

1. Task a member of the team to focus on the spores inbetween fighting enemies.
2. Have a member of the team use swiftness skills to run through.
3. Have a member of the team (after killing the spores) pull the enemies back to the team who are waiting in safe areas.
4. Have members of the team take condition removal skills, such as Nuff Field which work really well.

No amount of toughness will really save you from them, but HP does play its part.

Blitz.3627:

A tax does not benefit the entire Guild. In your scenario, it only benefits those who are able to break through the queues into the world.

Furthermore, your tax in no way reduces the requirement for you to “send X to Y” unless all of your Guild members are able to remove items and money from the Guild Bank and all have the instant Guild Bank at my feet upgrade.
Having a central fund means you have the ability as a leader to easily send funds where easily because you have the funds… it does not mean that you do not have to send money to the player needing to pay for an upgrade or purchase a character-bound blueprint.

There are plenty of casual yet organised Guilds with recruitment methods, rules, voice servers, websites, scheduled events etc etc. None of those things makes you professional.

It cannot be said enough: no Guild needs it since you can already achieve the same things in game by having your professional and hand-picked members donate to a central fund. A tax benefits in the same way (and no more) than regular donations would but it annoys a lot of people.

What a tax system does do is remove the hassle though, without ever having to fish or remind individuals to donate. A tax in my guilds circumstance certainly would benefit all, it’s a little assumptive to pressume it wouldn’t. Again, I’m not just describing a guilds tax system to the benefit of WvW but also crafting, perhaps the purchase of crafting ingrediants, rare armour or weapons for players who need them.

All this flexibility comes with it, with access again determined by the guild and its members. If need be, you could always add an option NOT to be taxed. I don’t see why that would be a problem

It’s about giving players and guild options.

Korrigan.4837:

Most if not all guild tax systems end in in benefiting a selected few at the cost of the majority. Democracy? You got to be kidding me. When the whole guild finances (e.g.) the siege engines of a part of the guild, then there’s no democracy, it’s called a rip off.
From reading his subsequent posts, I now know where the OP is coming from. And as a guild leader, I will never support such mechanisms.

And by the way, you have already mechanisms in place to make siege engines cheaper through guild influence. That’s all what is needed, and it benefits everyone don’t WvW without having to fork out personal gold.

PS: There’s no “professional” here. We are all players of a video game. Just to make this clear too.

How is it called a rip-off when its benefitting the entire guild, during WvW events? We hold regular such events. Instead of us always having to say “Please send X to Y”, a tax system removes all that hassle.

Professional is a term I was using to describe guilds that aren’t casual. i.e those with strict recruitment methods, hosted websites, ventrillo servers and regular events. Rather than those that invite anyone just from a /whisper. A tax system clearly wouldn’t be of much use to such guilds, considering it isn’t a rigid or structured environment.

Finally, and it cannot be said enough: if your guild doesn’t need it don’t use it.

Bolthar.4172:

Um if EVERY guild has the OPTIONAL ability to use it and I am in said guild BEFORE its done and I am not aware of it then it WOULD affect me. I can read just fine and your attempt to belitle my post because I replied as to WHY taxes are a bad thing just goes to show your trollish state of mind. Lay off the ayttacks on people who don’t agree with your ideas for a guild system and work with what people think “could” be viable options. I am not the only one posting saying that TAXES = Bad but DONATIONS for benifits = good.

Again, this clearly isn’t a option that affects you or your guild. With the option to turn it off, you wouldn’t be effected. Evidently however you’re struggling to grasp the option to tax guild members. What’s wrong with having such an option?

And no you aren’t the only one against it, but you are also one of the people here completely ignoring the positives and the ability to not use the system. Clearly you’ve also never played Warhammer Online and the success of such a system.

Either or, you’ve made your case against while failing to consider those of us who do want such a feature (of which there are many guilds: again, see WAR).

I’m struggling to understand the mindset behind opposing a system just because you don’t want it, despite it being optional. That’s like me saying I don’t want Warriors in the game just because I don’t like them.

Bolthar.4172:

There should not ever be a guild tax. I could see the ability to make it so you get a specific benfit based on the level of “donations” but a required tax guild is something I would never be a part of. I donate to a guild based on what I do with the guild, to tax me if I join a guild and have not done anything with them is just wrong.

Make it where the level of donations affect your level of guild benefits and I would be much happier than a “guild charity”. A tax by any name is still a tax. I could call it a “Guild cotton candy feeling fluffy bunny cute kitten support requirement” and it STILL is a tax.

So let me get this straight…

You wouldn’t want a system implemented, that you don’t have to use, just because you don’t like it? Even though a great many guilds would utilise it, and deeply appreciate it?

I’ll re-stress this for those struggling to read…

• You aren’t forced to use it.
• It’s optional.
• It is entirely the choice of the guild.
• You turn it off or on in the Guild options.

Guilds who do want to use it simply turn it on, and set the tax limit.

This suggestion won’t be for everyone or every guild I completely understand that, but professional, long term and dare I say “hardcore guilds” would definitely appreciate this.

My reference to Guild Charity was a joke by the way, it should still be called a Guild Tax

5 v 5 arena matches would be fine, but I’d much rather see duals implemented or capture the flag.

Serindial.8973:

GW2 design mantra is “is it fun”.

Well, in most people’s experience…. getting taxed isn’t fun.

Call it something else and you’ll probably have an easier time selling the idea.

Haha, OK. Let’ call it Guild Charity.

Temariah.9372:

–snip-

Phantasmal Haste sees the Warden’s attack cooldown by 50%, which places its attacks at 6.6 seconds. Other Phantasms have theirs reduced by 20%, to also fall in line with a 6.6 second cool down on attacks.

Professional tournament teams target any Phantasm, not just the Warden. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve summoned a Phantasm only for it to die before it even manages to complete a single attack even when the context for use is optimal.

In relation to the damage you’ve quoted, that actually strikes me as quite low in comparison to my own which leads me to believe you are condition damage heavy? I use a 10/30/0/25/5 build and my Swordsman hits for around 5.5k damage on a 9 second cooldown. I’ve had my Warlock hit for 8k before!

I will test further, but I’m positive he doesn’t move.

Shyanmar.5936:

I’m a guild leader myself, and I don’t really like the idea of this.

First of all, the siege plueprint argument is kind of a moot point, because blueprints are soulbound (which is something I think is all kinds of wrong, but there it is). If a guild leader uses tax money to buy siege blueprints, only he can use those blueprints.
Besides, who seriously actually buys blueprints? I run through the WvW jumping puzzles once a day provided I can get to them (I’m able to run the eternal battlegrounds puzzle in just under 4 minutes if there’s no interference by enemy factions) and I know many people who do the same, so blueprints really are kind of a non-issue. I have at least a dozen arrow-carts and flamerams in my bank, and even 2 golems. I paid for none of them.

That point aside, I think the risk of corruption is just too great. The members do not need to agree with the taxation, the guild leader could just put it there without asking anyone. Not everybody would be willing to leave a guild over this. To think that it’d all be a democratic happy-land is just as naive as assuming the same were true of the real world. Are we asked if we agree with the taxes our governments put on us and use0 for stuff we may not even want them to (like giving it to banks and all that instead of doing something useful with it)?
So how would you make sure that it’s different in a guild environment? That’s right, you can’t.

I’m all for giving members an easy option to donate part of their sales etc. to the guild or having a guild buff that lets members earn extra and give that extra to the guild. But taxes? No. Just no.

Then don’t use the tax system, Shyan?

I’m unsure of your guild, but my own (Semper Dius, a prominent EU guild that’s been going for many years) relies heavily on democracy and we always have (we never make a decision without guild member consensus). What would be the value of a guild otherwise? In the example you raise, a guild leader could distribute the money during WvW events for individuals to purchase Blueprints as jumping puzzles aren’t always available (certainly not with our WvW queues!).

I don’t understand however why you would be against such an idea that worked so wonderfully in Warhammer Online, just because of a risk of corruption when you don’t have to use it. It really is that simple.

If a guild leader put in a tax rate of 50% against the wishes of his members, what member would honestly stay? And if they did, then that is their choice (or stupidity). Players are part of guilds through choice, they aren’t forced to remain.

I know Dius ran a poll many years ago to agree to the tax rate for our Guild in Warhammer Online with people agreeing 20% was absolutely fine.

But again, I’m describing its use for wider purposes outside of WvW, such as supporting members crafting, item purchases or any other use the guild deem appropriate.

Lastly, the guild “gold” buff really isn’t an option as it would have a too greater impact on the economy. It has to be drawn from the source.

Thank you for that Tem, very helpful. I can honestly say I’ve never once seen a Warden move and I’ve been playing since September 2011! I think some of that may however be because of the fact after a single skill use; it’s highly likely he’s already been killed.

In relation to the damage, are you sure? If he gets his entire combo off his damage is respectable, but who actually stays within his field to suffer such damage? I know of no skilled tournament players who would (or do). They see him land and simply dodge away.

In relation to TP, it absolutely can result in pulling people towards the Warden but it’s highly inaccurate. As for confusion stacking, most Mesmers who specialise in Power and Precision obviously have very little Condition Damage meaning Confusion tends to only deal base damage (or a little over) of around 150 per stack (25 + 0.5 * Level + 0.075 * Condition Damage) this really isn’t much and is dependant on them actively creating a combo field or you placing one down (Null Field et al).

Finally, I really don’t consider him viable on point control. As I’ve stated previously, in his current form no tournament team will leave him to swing on a point- he’ll be targeted and killed instantly by AOE.

Thank you for the trap tip, but I do believe that it is currently bugged for the Warden

MithranArkanere.8957:

Lewis Burnell.2493:

.

Why would people stay in such corrupt guilds and/or why would new players to such guilds not know, or be informed?

[…]

Knowledge. If they don’t know that the leader and/or officers is skimming, leeching off their members, they can’t act on that.

It’s not as if the leader has receipts of anything they buy with that money.

And if influence was available for use to get things in WvW, or even commander tomes, I assure you people would still ask for taxes, because they don’t want the gold for stuff that’ll benefit the guild. They want it for themselves.
Humans are greedy.

Why would anyone join a guild they know nothing about? You’re confusing casual guilds (which really have no genuine need for such a system) and those that are more organised (have a recruitment process, website etc).

MithranArkanere.8957:

Influence is used for guild unlocks, so why taxes?.

You may say otherwise, and you may even be an exception, but taxes in most games lead to corruption, as leaders keep part of them for themselves.

I’ve even seen cases of newbies getting taxes even though they didn’t know of it, and so their first much needed coins were reduced, greatly slowing down their initial progress.

If you need money from your members for a blueprint, just ask for it.

If you ask me, there should be a way to use influence to purchase those things as an alternative payment method, instead a tax.

Why would people stay in such corrupt guilds and/or why would new players to such guilds not know, or be informed?

Again, there would be an option not to tax. If you don’t want it, don’t use it. If you use it, have your members agree on the figure. If your members don’t agree to it, they can leave.

I also think it’s sensationalist to suggest anyone would miss 5% or even 15% of their income. A credible and serious guild supports all new players.

Haldir is exactly right. This is about wealth distribution and sharing a burden. Considering a Golem costs 1g, I’m sure we’ve all encountered the situation where no one wants to purchase it, despite it being invaluable. Or, it’s always the same people putting their hands in their pockets.

It’s much better that 1g is spent from many members contributions over a period of time, rather than a single person.

In relation to the WoW system, it would unfortunately have economic reprocussions as it is physically generating wealth rather than taxing at the source. 100 people generating 15% additional income (out of nothing) which can then be withdrawn would really have an impact on the economy, hence why taxation at the source is the better solution.

In addition, the only abuse of the system is a rogue Guild Leader or Officer but I doubt that guild would last very long in such a situation. Considering its been used in Warhammer Online for years, to great success it really is a no brainer.

Korrigan.4837:

Taxes are a bad idea. I don’t agree with the leader being able to literally “steal” any amount of money from his guildies. And I am guild leader.

What I would like to see is a system like in WoW, a guild perk you can gain with influence which INCREASES the gold drops of members by 5% or 10% (there can be different tiers) and the additional money goes in the bank. Then yes, I agree. But in no way I agree with reducing the member’s income.

1. How can it be stealing if it’s down to members to agree the taxation or if they’ll even use the system in the first place?

2. The perk you described is a tax system; you have simply shifted the goal posts.

3. Many members (if not most) would actually save money:

• They’d have no need to buy blue prints in WvW from their own money.
• They’d have no need to make large purchases as the guild bank could support them.
• They’d have no need to spend their own money on keep upgrades.

In reality, would you honestly miss 5% of your money? If you sold a sword on the Trading Post for 50copper, you’d automatically donate 2.5copper. This is hardly ground breaking for all the positive benefits.

If you would miss this money, then don’t use the tax system.

If you run the type of guild where members are unwilling to share wealth for the greater good, this clearly isn’t aimed at such people, but allow those of us who want to coordinate funds properly within our guild to have it.

Please don’t dismiss a feature because you don’t like it, especially when there would be the ability to turn it off or on dependant on the guilds choice.

thebigredone.1269:

The Tithes is a good idea, Tax is somewhat enforced though.

Well yes they are, such is the purpose of a tax

It is down to each guild and its leadership to determine whether they even use the tax system as well as to determine the tax rate to ensure A. Guild members agree and B. That the tax level isn’t unreasonable.

Many guilds in Warhammer Online had Tax levels above 20% asmembers knew they would also benefit from such taxation, and as individuals realised they didn’t actually miss the money, it benefitted everyone.

Please can you implement a Taxes and Tithes system for Guilds?

Taxes: Allow Guild leaders to set a percentage of member income to be given to the guild. This would automaticallybe drawn from all members sales or pick-ups based on the tax rate and placed into the Guilds Bank.

Tithes: Allow all members to increase their donation percentage at will.

This would allow for:

• Greater coordination in the purchase of Blueprints for WvW/Keep upgrades.
• Greater ability to coordinate the purchase of Commander titles.
• Greater ability to support guild members with particular purchases
• Greater ability to organise guild events that might cost a degree of money

This worked incredibly well in Warhammer Online. Please replicate it

SoulstitchMMO.1396:

In WvW, my Warden is a must. The damage it does is amazing, especially when you find a stationary target in the middle of the crowd, or using it on siege equipment to help drop it, or doors.

With Fury and Bleed on Crit, the Warden does the most damage of any other skills when used properly.

What would you describe as amazing?:)

I’ve 55% crit chance without Fury and use the bleed crit trait and numerically, I don’t believe it’s anywhere close to Warlock or Berserker. I’d also add, who in a crowd would remain stationary long enough to be damaged by it, that’s if said crowd doesn’t AOE bomb it.

Seige equipment, it’s fine but then so are every other Phantasm

Carighan.6758:

Oh no, I meant in WvW. Organized as in: You are running around with 4+ people on voicecomm.
The raw amount of projectiles flying around in any engagement upwards of 20 people per side already leads to a lot of reflections. You are correct ofc that a dropped bubble would allow the warden to move, but it’d be … I dunno, weird? The reason he deflects is the way he swings around his weapon, how does he do that when he moved away? :P

Well… it could be justified that he’s created the bubble with his swirling arms? Like a spell?:D

Carighan.6758:

Why would it not be possible in PvP? I see it work quite frequently. Yeah well, the Ae spam might eat the Warden, but then the AE spam eats everything all the time, just requires flanking instead of joining the frontline.

Ok to rephrase that:
It works in organized PvP engagements. Take 4-5 people, flank the enemy front line, the moment the front row turns to you use Warden against the closest person, disabling a fair amount of ranged fire from them, then follow up with Feedback or Temporal Curtain to block or reflect further projectiles.

I’m part of organized PvP, as a member of Dius and having lost no tournament matches since Guild Wars 2 launched (despite the chest bug – grumble) its an incredibly cumbersome and inpractical skill. Having it create a physical bubble on the ground where it appears would be so much more useful.

Temporal Curtain when Traited is just so much better and quicker.

Carighan.6758:

I don’t really think the Warden is supposed to be used much for his damage in PvP.
His bubble is very powerful though, since you can easily hide a large number of players behind it (it’s not target capped!). Small as it may be, it helps.

Ofc a ground marker would be quite cool, to make it more clear which area is the bubble.

It can be OK in a PvE environment, but that would never ever be possible in PvP which is a real shame as TC and ITV are incredible in PvP.

Mesmers are amazing in Dungeons. Null Field, Feedback, Time Warp, Moa, Illusion of Life and Chaos Storm are all incredible skills for dungeon parties.

It isn’t all about DPS…

I love the Focus and consider Temporal Curtain one of the most useful skills in a Mesmers arsenal, especially Into The Void. What I do feel lets the weapon down however is Phantasmal Warden. In comparison to Swordsman, Warlock or Berserker it’s pretty terrible.

The Area of Effect caused by the Warden can be OK if you drop a Time Warp or Null Field over the top, to create a combo field. However, the fact the Warden is stationary makes it obsolete outside of a PvE scenario, it also doesn’t synergise well with The Void, as this can knock players far away from him.

The only viable use at the moment is to use Signet of Domination or use Illusionary Leap (and then the Warden) to hold players in place. Casting the Warden amongst a group of players to deal AOE damage is also impractical due to it dying instantly.

Finally, the defensive bubble is too small, has too shorter duration and requires you to literally hug the Warden.

I would suggest the following:

1. Have the Warden attack the targeted player like any other Phantasm, this includes the ability to chase them.

2. Have the defensive bubble as a ground effect that occurs where the Warden first appeared. i.e. If you cast Time Warp at your feet, you see the radius of the effect and can stay in it, or move out of it at your leisure to receive haste. The Warden’s defensive bubble should work the same but graphically, could be a similar dome to that of Null Field. This would then provide you and your team a clear and identifiable defensive area.

That’s it

Lewis B

How can it lack “upfront damage”? Mirror Images > Mindwrack > Blurred Frenzy > Illusionary Duellist/Swordsman. No mobs can survive that.

They’re absolutely fine. I use Staff + Sword/Sword with Power/Precision gear and can’t say I’ve ever struggled at any point. I also use Nullfield, Mirror Images and Decoy or Blink. Oh and Timewarp.

It’s a great profession played poorly by the wrong people

The AOE is small, but the skill is fine (but could be a quicker animation). Just use Illusionary Wave to knock a player down, then hit them.

You already have a ranged weapon in:

Scepter
Great Sword
Staff

The main hand pistol would serve absolutely no purpose when its role has already been filled by another weapon.

What the Scepter does need is a few tweaks to actually make it desirable.

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