Guild Wars 2

aussieheals.6843:

I just read your thread. Then this happened
http://i.imgur.com/KaVvXtW.jpg

You jumped in time and got Wintersday achievements tracked?

Elegy.2159:

or destroys other AI controlled objects as well.

I vote for this one.

All PvP communities are toxic, because

Lishtenbird.2814:

Different kinds of players exist: those who prefer fair and healthy competition, and those who prefer fierce and unhealthy competition. The first are usually peaceful non-hardcore teenagers and casual grown-up players (which turn out to be the target audience for which GW2 was actually designed in the first place, with all the timidness of content, failproofness and cooperativeness in mind), and the latter are usually aggressive teenagers who are using online games as a sublimation for unsatisfied offline desires of being “better” than others, while not being constrained by offline moral and law limits. This usually leads to offensive behaviour, which can already be seen in both PvP and WvW (with as far as death threat whispers); such things are not tolerated in GW2. Open world PvP attracts the second type of players, and since many mature players already live a moderately risky life, they see their games as a comfort zone to rest in, and not a war zone similar to life, and want GW2 to stay as is.

GW2 has it far, far better than many other communities. The “report” function is working, and moderators do a great job. Still, you won’t be able to hide from toxicity completely, since people are people, and gamers are people who spend a lot of time in an anonymous online environment where your deeds are not limited by laws and norms.

xktzzz.7581:

So what you guys think ?

I think you will regret it in a couple of years, and absolutely hate it in 10+ years.

Tom Gore.4035:

Because in PvE there is hardly anything to balance.

Sure, when 3 classes can efficiently replace the other 5, everything is fine with balance.

Tom Gore.4035:

Of course if this was just PvE and WvW I couldn’t care less, but history has shown most of the sigils and runes find their way to sPvP sooner or later.

History has also shown that the entire huge PvE is balanced around a single PvP game mode, which rendered some of the so called “one man army” classes almost useless and frustrating to play (hint: mesmer, necro). Why should my class have been slaughtered in the first place if I, like hundreds of thousands of other players, couldn’t care less about PvP?

The three fused gathering tools are also on discount, 800 gems each.

http://guildwars2.tumblr.com/

ResJudicator.7916:

Seems like it just passively rewards more braindead passive builds, although I’d be fine with adding it in PvE.

Ahem… Celestial amulet? Yes, passive AI is the only bane of PvP.

ResJudicator.7916:

It’d be neat if there was a sigil that granted fury and might to companions (i.e. phantasms) when you successfully land an interrupt or something, though.

Unless it grants fury for 60 seconds and 25 stacks of might, that’s another vendor trash superior sigil.

Ross Biddle.2367:

Mesmers more have “standard” sigil choices (much like everyone), with a few extra options depending on build and/or weapon choices.

Standard being “Force”, “Accuracy”, “Night”? …accept that 40% of our damage is locked in phantasms which do not benefit from those sigils.

Ross Biddle.2367:

Nothing really for Phants, but phant damage is built in and is already very strong.

Yeah, phantasm builds are meta for PvP… not.
And phantasms hit for 24k on a single skill use… not.

NaotsuguLH.8915:

What about engies? Turrets?
Warriors?
Eles?

Trooper, Trapper, Ranger, Radiance runes are viable only on certain classes (disregarding the mini exploit).

Jerus.4350:

I do a couple dungeons a day, I delete a stack of empyreals or two a day

Was the Star of Gratitude quest too difficult?

fishball.7204:

But yes it really is Wanze’s fault :P

No, according to the topic title, it’s not Wanze but his evil twin brother Whose.

I also hope we will get it one day.

Had it listed as 69. Character-independent keybindings. about 10 months ago in this list of QoL improvements, and it’s been suggested earlier too, but still no info.

timmyf.1490:

Lishtenbird.2814:

timmyf.1490:

“Displeasing” is relative. WvW map completion may be displeasing to you and it may be enjoyable to me. I find gathering a full stack of each T6 mat to be displeasing, yet I don’t make threads here on the forums asking it to be removed from the process of creating a Legendary. Why? Because I can accept the requirements of the task set before me.

Again, the fact that one can play any game mode to get T6 mats and even sell extra stuff and buy those from TP gets conveniently omitted.

You’re missing the point entirely. The process of acquiring a Legendary may include both “pleasing” and “displeasing” elements. That’s subjective and based on the player. They shouldn’t remove part of the process simply because some players dislike it.

• Champ bags.
• Account-wide wallet.
• Account-wide karma. Karma added to more game modes.
• Account-wide ascended.
• Account-wide dyes.
• Account-wide items.
• Non-laurel ascended stuff.
• Nerfed Escape from LA tiers and Assault Knights.
• Nerfed Dredge fractal.
• More meaningful level-up rewards.
• Guidance for new players.
• PvP reward tracks.
• Buffed SW rewards.
• Merchants can access crests and other tokens which are stored in bank.
• Stacking gathering tool boxes.
• Exotic rarity aquabreather.
• Tomes of knowledge and XP writs for alts.
• Precursor hunt.

Countless examples of things changed from “displeasing” to “more pleasing” based on the feedback from players.

It’s a game. It is supposed to be enjoyable, and there is a fine line between making something “challenging” and creating tedious displeasing “grind”. If the line is in the wrong place, changes should be made. And unlike mount or duel requests which originated from other games, WvW completion is a genuinely GW2 issue that is still being raised by the many non-competitive PvE players to which GW2 caters.

Trait/build templates have been long requested and even discussed with Devs. High chances are that this feature is on the way, probably as a part of Specialisations.

timmyf.1490:

“Displeasing” is relative. WvW map completion may be displeasing to you and it may be enjoyable to me. I find gathering a full stack of each T6 mat to be displeasing, yet I don’t make threads here on the forums asking it to be removed from the process of creating a Legendary. Why? Because I can accept the requirements of the task set before me.

Again, the fact that one can play any game mode to get T6 mats and even sell extra stuff and buy those from TP gets conveniently omitted.

timmyf.1490:

This is a hilariously bad argument, as was the earlier statement you made that the game is 92% open world PvE.

As for 92% of PvE, see another poster’s calculations above. 92% or not, only an oblivious player would disagree that PvE is the main game mode which got most content and most updates.

As for hilarity, I’m simply making the same “logical” conclusions as the ones defending the current system here. If something from the Mists counts as “world”, then what about the other parallel worlds in the Mists? What about Southsun, Dry Top, Silverwastes? What about the moon above our head? What about Earth, since we from Earth know that Tyria is not the only inhabited planet? Why it tells us “100% world completion” if all those locations haven’t been explored by us?

I can respect people who argue that challenge-reward balance is fine in this achievement (“Legendaries should be acquired through legendary feats”).

I cannot, however, take serious the arguments of something being less displeasing as long as it is “optional”, or arguments of someone deserving to suffer in a video game because they themselves suffered more, or arguments which appeal to common sense but omit the places where it currently fails to work.

Zomaarwat.3912:

Because completing something means you did all of it, not 80%.

Oh… So since all borderlands and battlegrounds in the Mists should count for “all of it”, how about requiring us to do PvE map completion on all of the 51 servers, and not just one of them? Because completing something means you did all of it, not 1,96%. And yeah, add all the new zones too.

Olvendred, since I agree with Galespark on this,

Galespark.7835:

But seeing as you completely missed the point of my analogy, I can only conclude that you do not understand this principle, or more likely, are being purposefully dense in order to be able to keep your stance on this.

I won’t be continuing our discussion.

Like in law, in video game design there is a letter and there is a spirit, and since video games are about the balance of challenge and reward which leads to enjoyment, sticking to the letter and ignoring the spirit won’t work.

Olvendred.3027:

Lishtenbird.2814:

Olvendred.3027:

Galespark.7835:

Olvendred.3027:

Lishtenbird.2814:

The game was and is advertised as friendly, cooperative and casual, and WvW map completion is nothing more than a forced method of making people go to WvW.

Sigh. No. Just no.

- 1 title and 20 AP, the first time (only 5 AP from actually being in WvW, as it is 5 AP every 25% of world completion. So really, half of one daily).
- A little star you can’t even see yourself.
- 2 Gifts of Exploration, which are only useful for crafting a legendary.

Not forced. Not even a tiny bit.

It is a method to force people who want any combination of the things you listed, who would otherwise not play WvW. Just because you don’t feel these things are important does not mean it is not forcing. I personally do not feel that this is necessarily a bad thing, minus my little gripe posted above, but it does force part of the playerbase.

Not forced. No. Option to complete specific content to get specific reward, sure.

The rewards are either very small, or very specific.

Not forced. Not even a tiny bit.

Title, exclusive star next to name, and a direct non-TP access to top-tier visual items in a vanity fashion game? Indeed, not necessary at all.

Are all titles “necessary”? Cause you have to do a lot of WvW to get all of them, as well as a vast amount of other specific content. Silverwastes, SAB, PvP, all sorts of holiday events, huge amounts of AP (which itself requires doing vast amounts of specific content), collections, crafting, dungeons, buying skins, buying minis, world bosses, activities, and of course, a whole other game, GW1. Have you been “forced” to do all of these things?

There are plenty of skins that require specific content to obtain. Are they all “necessary”? Is buying all the skins on the gemstore “necessary”? Is unlocking the skin of every single legendary “necessary”? Or is it only “necessary” to get a small component of two?

Or is it the star? Is that somehow “necessary”?

No, of course not. Calling them “forced” or “necessary” is ridiculous hyperbole.

All these things are optional rewards for completing optional content. If a player wants to get the specific reward, they have to do the specific content required for it. In not way are they forced to do anything.

As people mentioned in the Halloween mini and Wintersday tonic threads, when someone advocates video game mechanics which are displeasing to a lot of people instead of satisfying by saying that it’s “optional”, there is a problem.

Do I feel forced grinding SW for the exclusive title? Yes I do. It is repetitive, it is tedious, there is too much RNG, but I need that title because the title perfectly matches my “light” themed character. In an RPG with no gear grind, making my character perfect is end game.

Do I feel forced grinding WvW for completion? Yes I do. I cannot opt out of WvW even if I do not want to do it.

Do I feel forced grinding for ascended? No I don’t, I can do it naturally by playing stuff I want.

Mamatereza.1709:

Any info if any of those additions will be in the expansion, or if there will be any UI additions/changes in HoT?

No info yet AFAIK.

I also posted a list of 150+ QoL features almost a year ago which was largely composed from forum request, but almost nothing actually made it to the game.

On topic:

I would prefer to have the 2 gifts of exploration split into 2 parts: the first (plus title and star) given for all PvE, and the second given for all PvE plus WvW. That way, PvEers won’t farm only WvW for gifts, and the WvW part would feel more rewarding.

Olvendred.3027:

Galespark.7835:

Olvendred.3027:

Lishtenbird.2814:

The game was and is advertised as friendly, cooperative and casual, and WvW map completion is nothing more than a forced method of making people go to WvW.

Sigh. No. Just no.

- 1 title and 20 AP, the first time (only 5 AP from actually being in WvW, as it is 5 AP every 25% of world completion. So really, half of one daily).
- A little star you can’t even see yourself.
- 2 Gifts of Exploration, which are only useful for crafting a legendary.

Not forced. Not even a tiny bit.

It is a method to force people who want any combination of the things you listed, who would otherwise not play WvW. Just because you don’t feel these things are important does not mean it is not forcing. I personally do not feel that this is necessarily a bad thing, minus my little gripe posted above, but it does force part of the playerbase.

Not forced. No. Option to complete specific content to get specific reward, sure.

The rewards are either very small, or very specific.

Not forced. Not even a tiny bit.

Title, exclusive star next to name, and a direct non-TP access to top-tier visual items in a vanity fashion game? Indeed, not necessary at all.

To whoever presents the “I am a WvW player and have to do PvE, so eat it!” argument:

it’s hypocrisy.

You know you’ve bought a game of at least 92% cooperative PvE, so if you were so interested in open world PvP that you kept playing the same 2 WvW maps for more than 2 years, then probably you should’ve bought a PvP game in the first place instead of complaining that “you have to do PvE stuff”. You know, it’s like coming to a steak house and saying “Geez, I have to eat meat here if I want a full dinner!”.

The game was and is advertised as friendly, cooperative and casual, and WvW map completion is nothing more than a forced method of making people go to WvW.

1) Ctrl – Shift – H
2) Press left mouse button and rotate
3) Zoom in
4) Press Print Screen

Why add something that’s already here?

Brother Grimm.5176:

So you consider your Dungeon runs the definition of what makes a PvE build pointless?

Good to know.

Outside your narrow view of the game, Mesmers can run these pointless builds and not worry about being disregarded by nitch-only players.

Ah, so in open world group world bosses or solo heart completion condi mesmers are shining?

Actually, I started the game as a mesmer with a condi build because I really liked the concept. I tried enjoying it for some time, but whatever I did, I saw how astonishingly inefficient and slow I was; for one, killing one mob in Orr took ages, and that’s after analyzing all the options through wiki and tailoring the build; other players running past me just mowed those down.

I finally scrapped that idea, grinded some gold and rolled a direct damage phantasm build. From that moment, I never ever went to condi builds in PvE.

Rauderi.8706:

Pooling skill points? Not such a grand idea.

Chameleon Dude.1564:

To me, skill points aren’t a currency, they’re a form of each individual character’s progression. If they choose to convert some of that into an item and craft something with it, then so be it.

For one, the new Masteries are account-bound and apply to all characters.

Brother Grimm.5176:

This change was made to specifically help buff a quite weak (in PvE) condition to improve the option of using Confusion in PvE. (yes, mostly for Mesmers). Anyone that wants to argue that Mesmers were somehow OP in PvE will have a tough time doing so.

I don’t really take my direct damage mesmer to group content anymore since it can be easily replaced with way more efficient ele and guardian, and some minor CD reductions on TW and defensive utility won’t change anything. More so that confusion improvement, an unnoticable buff to a pointless non-existent PvE build.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Jormag%27s_Claw_Fragment →
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Jormag_Defense_Guide →
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Jormag_Defender%27s_Kit

Not even remotely worth to open it IMO.

I would like it, too. Jumping from my playable main to 500 specific profession crafter and back makes little sense.

I remember suggesting skillpoint extracting because of the new Trait system, but no one felt even closely interested and it will be phasing out soon anyway.

Travis the Terrible.4739:

You’re all making a big deal about something that was implemented because the playerbase asked for. Now youre complaining on how they did it.

Surprise: “you” who asked and “you” who complained can be two different people. They can also be the same person, but unhappy that a requested feature rendered a previously useable feature highly inconvenient.

I’m sick and tired of the modern “intuitive” UIs in the programs I paid for and use every day which suck out my time because they want it “pretty” and never tried to use it themselves on a daily basis. So no, I’m not eating silently every inefficient UI improvement anymore.

Travis the Terrible.4739:

Its honestly fine.

“It’s fine because I do not care” is not the same as “well-designed for everyone”.

Mini chickenado and the carpet are also on sale.

Travis the Terrible.4739:

That doesnt fix the underlying issue of how conditions stack. Thats literally putting a bandaid on something that has had its stomach cut open.

Between nothing at all for most likely ever, and a giant bandaid very soon, I prefer a giant bandaid.

Some more info from http://www.pcgamer.com/guild-wars-2-heart-of-thorns-interview/ and other articles mentioned on reddit:

• Sounds like all maps will have their masteries.

• Hang gliding (most likely) will be limited to the new region.

• Masteries will indeed work like WvW points:

PCG: Looking at the masteries, one thing you said was that mastery points were account bound. Does it follow the World vs. World system, where you expect characters to specialise in masteries rather than trying to collect them all? So you have one character focused on a particular thing, and another maybe another?

Colin: The World vs World ability system is in some ways a template for what the masteries system provides. But I’d say the mastery system is a more advanced, more expansive system than that—built on things we’ve learned both for what we want to do with PvE, and some of the things we learned from the World vs. World system as well. And we’re actually going to make some changes to the World vs. World system to make it a little bit more like the way the masteries system is going to function.

• Specialisations will indeed fill the role holes for professions:

PCG: So philosophically, with creating these specialisations, was the idea to fill gaps a profession wouldn’t normally be equipped for?

Colin: Yeah, I think that’s a fair description. We definitely looked at each profession and asked what are some of the things that we think this profession doesn’t currently do that we’d love for them to be able to do? What role do we want to try to expand on that they can’t do, or what gameplay would be really awesome to add to this profession? In some cases, we went way outside the box to go with some stuff that I think people are going to be pretty shocked and pretty excited when they get a chance to see how some of this stuff works. It’s definitely trying to create a wider variety of roles for players in combat and with their profession. That is a big part of the specialisation system.

http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/2tuxtq/daily_login_reward_displayed_in_achievement_panel/
http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/2tuzs7/the_new_achievement_panel/

Two threads on reddit with similar comments about the new UI of the panel.

There’s a quick and dirty fix to the condi issues in PvE which doesn’t require fixing what should but cannot be easily fixed (condition stack caps), and it’s been suggested by me and other people before:

To all non-player characters in the game, all damaging conditions do +33% more damage. Or rather, all players have a permanent “condition resistance” of -N% (like 33%).

Here, I fixed it! Suddenly, running condi builds in PvE makes some sense!

The Confusion buff set a precedent and showed that it can be done and is worth doing. (Unfortunately, this negligible buff will still change nothing – apart from the fact that officially the issue has been addressed and something has been done.)

We can even go further and convert conditions applied to Structures to a universal Magical Degradation debuff which turns all applied conditions into a single damage over time effect. It can still be less efficient than direct damage, but wouldn’t exclude condi builds completely from content involving structures (especially since there are no “condi only” counterparts in the game whatsoever).

Gaile Gray.6029:

Yes.

:)

Dragon Bash in renewed LA confirmed!

It’s not like you can’t survive in the game if you do not buy it, right?

Tip:

Reading what the game says takes about 10 times less time than writing a post about how basic features in an established 2-year old game are wrong.

Agreed, it’s terrible. There are a lot of good things about this game, but definitely not UI.

Please leave “summary” alone for the recent and almost completed achievements. I need the summary easily accessible since if you have any achies tracked, you can’t easily see if you have completed the daily. While we’re at it, I would appreciate it if recent/almost completed achievements get increased to 5 points.

Please put log-in track into a separate category, or at least move it down under the recent and almost completed achievements. I already see it every day and can’t miss it since I have to accept it, no need to repeat it.

I don’t really care about skins/percent buffs as I use them like a couple times a year at most.

I swear decoy and mantras on mesmer sound differently, probably a bit lower higher than usual and echoed. I guess a bunch of sounds have been updated.

Requesting merge with https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Mounts-merged

My summary of the previous 100500 “mount” threads if you’re interested:

Lishtenbird.2814:

[~] Threads for reference:

• Mounts Megathread – main “mounts” topic, merged by Gaile Grey from 7 threads
• Suggestion: Mounts?
• Mounts {12}
• Mounts {2}, Mounts {8}, Mounts {10}, Mounts {11}, Mounts {13}
• Incoming Mounts??
• What Would Mounts do for this Game?
• No Mounts?

[+] Arguments in favour:

• That other game has it; we’ve seen it done there and enjoyed it.
• Aesthetics: mounts are cool. Riding a mount is another pleasant experience which a videogame can give to a player who lives in real life. You can use existing animals and even create new ones – that’s a base for new content.
• Speed: you can travel faster. You can use waypoints if you like, or mounts if you like the experience.
• Progression: buying and upgrading mounts gives you stuff to do, and more stuff to do is what this game needs.
• Flying mounts are even more fun then terrestrial mounts. Flying mounts will make exploring Tyria easier and more enjoyable. Flying mounts will let you look at Tyria from a new angle.
• Since underwater combat exists in GW2 (same z-axis gameplay) and Tengu are still to make their move, a map with flying mounts makes sense.
• Mounts could be constrained to a single map, similar to Dry Top, or exist as a PvP-style activity.

[-] Arguments against:

• GW2 is not that other game and was not designed with mounts in mind. That’s why we feel mounts do not belong here, and adding them will feel forced (“added because others have it”, not “added because we needed them”).
• Aesthetics: mounts will look silly with GW2 races and animals (giant norn on a pink moa). Mounts will make GW2 even less serious and more visually annoying than Moot, Quip and pink unicorn bows. Mounts will contribute to visual clutter.
• We already have cosmetic mounts: broom, carpet, sonic device. We already have a minor speed “mount”: the Dry Top kites.
• Speed: waypoints are superior in terms of traveling. Maps are small enough to even travel by foot. We already have mobility skills and speed boosters for that.
• Progression: the game was advertised as having (next to no) gear grind, and people love it for that reason. Introducing mounts as an obligatory item (“grind for it or you lose”) will cause the same uproar as ascended armour.
• Like jumping would ruin a game designed with no jumping in mind, flying mounts will ruin GW2 maps (for example, think about jumping puzzles, or vistas on mountains, or easily traversing areas which are supposed to be filled with foes). Furthermore, maps were designed to look cool from the ground, not from above; you can see how many problems flying mounts will bring into map design by googling off-map videos and looking at the map attentively.
• Things like mounts will require a lot of development resources to adapt to all races and body types; clipping will be a very serious issue, too. These resources could be spent elsewhere.

[=] Current state of affairs:

• Most “mount” threads are met with negativity (and a gif of a jokey beating a dead horse), because this topic has been discussed countless times. Still, new “mount” threads appear every now and then, showing that there are players who are actively wanting to discuss the addition of mounts.
• New “mount” threads are known to be closed with the reasoning of numerous threads on the subject already existing:

Moderator.1462:

This suggestion has already been made. Please refer to the threads in the suggestions subforum on this topic for the discussion. Thanks for yout understanding. This thread is closed

CC Eva.6742:

This topic has been widely discussed here already and there are still threads popping out in the Suggestion subforum from time to time so we would kindly request you to search for them and contribute with your thoughts there in order to avoid duplicates of the same topic.

CC Danicia.1394:

As numerous threads regarding this topic have already been linked, we’ll close this thread and request that you point your discussions over to them.

Moderator.8539:

Hey there, as others pointed out, there are quite a number of threads on mounts already. Please use one of these existing ones to add to the discussion.

Moderator.8539:

Since there is a number of threads on the subject already, this one is now closed.

I am more confused by the Masteries. It totally looks like instead of gear grind, we will get skill grind. But on paper? Yes, “no gear treadmill”.

Test.8734:

Ascended = grindy as hell.

YMMV. “I should get everything tomorrow” =/= optional long-term goal.

maddoctor.2738:

Is there any particular reason why you believe specializations will automatically translate to being an “efficient” dungeon build? It’s a specialization, not a level cap raise, a level 80 Druid won’t be more powerful than a level 80 Ranger, they’ll just be level 80 Rangers with different skills and waving staves.

The main reason is that specializations and new weapons will most likely fill the profession holes – such as mesmers lacking AoE, or necros giving nothing to dungeon parties. Because it makes sense and because adding weapons which do exactly the same is pointless. Like AoE attack shield mesmer, full melee Hammer engineer, power GS necromancer. If no one ever wanted a necro in a dungeon, they might need GS necros now; a chronomesmer could actually support a party better than a guardian in certain scenarios, and so on.

That’s provided they’re actual skills, and not useless gimmicks like racial skills which got overnerfed because E-SPORTS!

maddoctor.2738:

Eric.6109:

i got a nasty feeling that the new mastery/specialization will be locked behind ridiculously tedious tasks that you have to do for each character.

If I recall from the livestream mastery is account bound.

Which sounds like WvW rank points.

Lifestealer.4910:

Whats the point of a paid expansion if they give you most of the features for free?

“fullrun zerk exp ritu chrono druid sniper show skills or kick”

laokoko.7403:

It’s not like you need to be have masteries to finish COE.

I presume people with masteries and without can play together. Or masteries is only for new areas.

You can complete dungeons even in Nomad’s. But who among the veterans will want to complete it with you when they can get an efficient party? Calmly AFKing waiting for a proper party for a smooth run is not that rare; at some point you agree to spend time to wait just to avoid the annoyance of playing with how-I-wants.

You can make a post, upload an image, click “preview” and upload another image again. Same should work for editing.

One problem about separate game updates which always worried me is how the people who were left behind for whatever reasons get integrated into the new system. The Masteries and Specializations, as announced, are such things.

In other words: after I master the new area and update my build in the new zone but go back to, say, the old CoE dungeon and meet the expansionless people, will we be able to “play the same game”?

So far I’m assuming two things. Masteries:

• Are only available in the new zone. (The same will apply to the other expansions/zones.)
• Have absolutely no use in the old zones.
  • The announced “special skills” are similar to FoTM agony and Toxic Alliance hallucinations and only do something sensible in appropriate content.
  • Gliders, obviously, only work in the new zone, similarly to environmental weapons and Zephyrite aspects.
  • Language masteries have no combat effect so they don’t have to be limited to the new zone (provided that we do have readable languages in the old ones at all).

Specializations:

• Are available to everyone in both games. (The same will apply to the other expansions.)
• The old Traits system is replaced in both games.
• All new skills are available in both games.
• All new weapons are available in both games.

I think the above would make most sense. Other options do not really look nice to me:

• Specializations and Masteries will only be available to those who buy HoT, so if you want a staff on ranger, precursor hunting and an efficient dungeon build, go buy it!
• Specializations and Masteries are only available in the new zone. When you go back to the old one, you play the same old game with the same skills and weapons, and have to virtually work with two different builds on each character. (Yay, no need to rebalance stuff!)
• And what about new profession, Guild Halls, GvG game mode, WvW map? Are they also HoT only? If so, how do you segregate people efficiently?

I hope that ANet won’t descend to the tactics of “buy or be left behind”, especially after such a focus on no gear grind and level cap increase in the presentation. The “base game” wording in the HoT FAQ also gives me hope:

Q: What is the expansion bringing to the base game?

A: Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns is an expansive new MMO experience introducing unique features such as our re-envisioned character progression system. You can visit our website at http://heartofthorns.guildwars2.com for a full rundown of features, and be sure to check back regularly as we will continually reveal new details.

Well, they have done a rather good job being “honest” with how they monetize their work, but who knows?

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Alert-In-Game-Mail-Scams/first#post4658690

Orpheal.8263:

Guardian = Patron getting Main Hand Shields and if theres another Specialization, then also Augmentor getting Longbows

The previous thread about getting warhorns as “Guardian gear” from log-in rewards and this video hint that they’ll get warhorns.

yanipheonu.5798:

Seriously though, an Apple style “we’re releasing something today” would be cool. Not the whole kitten ed expansion-thing but maybe some precursor patch.

They did some world-changing stuff during beta, so…

Premises:

• “We have been looking into new ways of delivering content.”
• “Living World was just a beginning.”
• People diconnecting and losing progress in Lion’s Arch and Silverwastes.

Conclusion:

• Mordremoth invasion is coming to LA and SW online during PAX announcement. All of Tyria plunges into chaos.

#HypeTrainGotNoBrakes