If they tailor content so that it’s of the correct difficulty for Exotics then it will be too easy with Ascended. Those with Ascended gear are Anet’s loyal and longtime customers (you wouldn’t have Ascended gear if this weren’t true). They will complain loudly.
In the end, content will have to be created so that it’s of the correct difficulty for Ascended gear. Those who are new or have alts will just have to work a bit harder or spend a bit more time to get through the content.
This is how vertical “progression” always works out in the end.
A majority who plays tPvP would prefer they actually kittening balance the game before moving on to other gametypes in my mind.
baaaaaawww…
Balancing our other two modes as much as they have already, just for you guys, wasn’t enough…. No you need even more changes until not even the number crunchers can point to a couple of mathematically superior builds. …Never mind that our 2 modes only have 1 build that’s ever worth running
Can you shut up? Do you honestly think it’s fun that a spirit ranger autoattacking does just as much work as an ele switching attunements, preparing combos, waiting for burst? Loads of players are leaving because of the last patch – in fact the game is practically dead because of the meta – and it’s ok?
Maybe if it completely dies they can stop balancing the game over a game mode that nobody cares about. I think most people would be OK with that.
A better solution would be to split and balance everything, so everyone would be happy. A lot of people want to play tPvP because of it’s competitive small man approach, you know this. Instead anet kittens everyone over by failing to balance anything.
Anet is too stubborn to split the skills. And thus it’s better if sPvP dies now — since it will anyway — so that WvW doesn’t have to as well.
NSP doesn’t seem to be throwing the match, at least.
They’ve actually got a pretty significant number presence, especially in the evening. Hell, NSP has curb stomped YB several times that I’ve seen when YB was running their large zergs.
Anyway, if NSP stays in the bronze league, I can imagine it will suck really, really hard for the rest of the people there. NSP actually has the numbers to compete in silver league, and they will most likely receive a massive influx or transfers Oct 17th if it looks like they’re going to be at the top of the bronze bracket.
Our primetime crew is good sized, but our nightcrew is really really small. It’s lost a LOT of people recently because we’ve been fighting servers 6 ranks above us in 4 of the last 5 weeks.
Looks like we’re gonna be in Silver league — so the pretty much the only way to have fun outside of primetime for the next 7 weeks is roaming and “violating the game mode.”
First, make conditions fire and forget: in other words, make the damage-per-tick depend soley on your stats at the instant the condition is applied.
This would greatly reduce the number of computations/data retrievals needed for condition damage/duration calculations and would allow larger stacks (or even removal of condi cap) thus allowing more than one condition build per party.
Maybe this isn’t a bug at all. Maybe this IS intentional.
Hear me out. In Borderlands 1, there is a Class Mod for the Berserker. In said class mod, one of the buffs you get from it that gives you “-39% Bullet Damage Resistance”. Now you may think this REDUCES your resistance to bullets, but it actually decreses the damage bullets cause. People thought it was a bug as well, but they were told that it decreases the damage you take.
Now, totally different game, I get it, but maybe it works as intended, but the wording is just poor?
I seriously doubt this is intended (that the problem is actually in the description).
However, I think it may be better this way. We actually have a true choice as to whether we want to use the potion when it has both positive AND a negative consequences. Otherwise it’s a no brainer — always use the potion, which is not as interesting.
I strongly suggest you put these ‘what do you want to see’ type of threads in appropriate forums. Part of the problem in the past has been class forums are completely ignored so players are forced to air class issues in the sPvP forum because that’s the only one you visit.
If you’re going to make threads, make class specific ones in each forum. WvW one in the WvW forum. sPvP in the sPvP. And so forth. Otherwise we’ll all just be fighting amongst ourselves in a single thread. ‘Im not overpowered, you are!’ stuff.
That’s a really good idea which raises an interesting point. i am well versed in the game globally but not necessarily in the specifics of certain areas. So here is what i will do, i will post one in general asking for PVE specific feedback and then nominate two other members of staff to do the same in WvW and PvP and we can go from there. Note i am not going to do this over night as i do want to create some guidelines (set by me) for what the team can answer and can’t that way you guys can be frustrated with me rather than a specific developer (-:
Put simply though we don’t comment on specific dev. content that is in the pipe unless we are confident about it internally.
Chris
PLEASE, for the WvW person, recruit someone who is NOT on the WvW dev team but does play WvW. The WvW dev team is SERIOUSLY OUT OF TOUCH and needs someone with a new perspective. The game mode is in real danger of dying.
It’s very disappointing that after years of experience balancing in GW1, Anet is still so poor at it. And they’ve basically shown that they’ve given up by putting such heavy restrictions on our choices.
We agree completely with the issues relating to score and population. We have some ideas for how to address this, but nothing is ready to be discussed yet as we haven’t moved beyond the idea phase. In my opinion its the single largest issue that still faces WvW and one that we intend to make major strides to address as soon as we can.
Now, 1 year after launch, WvW devs finally agree that coverage is the biggest problem facing the game?
At launch and for weeks afterwards there were hundreds of posts complaining about off-peak capping winning matches. Anet’s response at the time was: “deal with it”.
I’m glad they’ve changed to their tune, but man if it’s the biggest problem facing WvW now, why wasn’t it the biggest problem then? (Like their entire player base was screaming at them that it was).
The funny thing is, this answer is their usual “we want to do something and are thinking about what to do” which, by their track record, means absolutely nothing. We’re still where we started, except with one more quote to use against them when they end up doing nothing.
For zerker: Anet needs to create bosses that have more than 1 shot mechanics. If you get 1 shotted anyway, there’s no reason to bring any defensive stats. Just look at WvW. Zerker stats are not dominant — and that’s because gameplay is much more varied.
For conditions: Conditions should be changed to fire-and-forget. In other words, damage and duration calculations for conditions should only be calculated when the condition is applied — as opposed to every single second the condition is active. That way there would be far fewer calculations and data retrievals almost certainly removing the need for the 25 stack limit.
The only negative: For the zerker issue: the thought of having to grind for more Ascended weapons with different stats makes me sick.
The condition fix you propose is nonsensical.
Conditions are designed to do damage ( or give an effect) over time.
If they deal their damage when they’re applied then :
1)What’s the point in having them? they’re just normal hits.
2)What happens to condition removal? It no longer factors in? Because 1 stack of bleed will deal all its damage when it is applied, so having condition removal is now rendered useless.
3)What happens with condition effects ( see poison) ?
That’s just not going to work.
You misunderstand (perhaps I wasn’t clear enough). What I meant was that damage per tick should be calculated only at the time the condition is applied and is never recalculated again (hence “fire and forget”) — as opposed to what we have now, where it’s recalculated at least every second.
My idea lies somewhere between fully customizable weapon slots (Anet could never balance this) and Anthony.7219’s suggestion of “set A” or “set B” (nice but I’d prefer more customizability, especially for 2-handed weapons).
I just want alternate weapon skills that are tied to a particular slot.
So for each weapon and slot (e.g. necro focus and skill #4), you’d have 2 choices — the current #4 skill and a new one.
Supposedly we’re getting more skills. It’d be nice if we got alternate skills that we can choose to slot for #2 – #5.
For example, it’d be nice to have 2 skill #5’s to choose from for each weapon.
Currently, choosing a weapon locks you in on a bunch of skills. Invariably, some of these skills you don’t really use, but you’re stuck with them. This way of making new weapon skills allows much more customizability but is restricted enough that balance is still possible.
For zerker: Anet needs to create bosses that have more than 1 shot mechanics. If you get 1 shotted anyway, there’s no reason to bring any defensive stats. Just look at WvW. Zerker stats are not dominant — and that’s because gameplay is much more varied.
For conditions: Conditions should be changed to fire-and-forget. In other words, condi duration and damage per tick calculations for conditions should only be calculated when the condition is applied — as opposed to every single second the condition is active. That way there would be far fewer calculations and data retrievals almost certainly removing the need for the 25 stack limit.
The only negative: For the zerker issue: the thought of having to grind for more Ascended weapons with different stats makes me sick.
Let’s hope we (NSP) get to fight Kaineng next week. If we’re gonna get bumped up to Silver league, it’d be nice to at least have the pleasure of being the ones who push Kaineng down to Bronze.
By the way, has anyone even seen Devon online recently? Or does he not play when we’re in a bad matchup?
Mindless searching though a terrible UI for the item you want to craft.
Crafting unfortunately isn’t going away — at least make it so that we only have to click one button to get it over with because the act of crafting (refining, making item parts, discovery) is NOT FUN AT ALL.
For a total of 226 Ranks. Sadly there is no way possible to outfit them all in Ascended gear so most will no longer be used in WvW. As more and more people are getting fully upgraded with Ascended I am finding those toons of mine that do not have any Ascended gear are no longer quite as viable. It is forcing me down to three toons that I play in WvW now and that could dwindle more as time goes on.
This. Eventually, you’ll quit because of burnout from being able to play only one toon competitively. And Anet will lose another customer.
Pretty sure I knew this was coming the first day I used them. It was never a matter of should you nerf but when, how, and to what extent you nerf. Color me prophetic lol.
Anet almost always nerfs around the problem and/or over-nerfs. So expect to see either:
Confusion itself being nerfed and not the runes (e.g. confusion damage nerfed again)
The runes nerfed so hard that no one will ever use them again.
Right after you left (I believe) they introduced the stat treadmill that is Ascended gear.
You are now WAY behind because you’ve missed tons of dailies and thus “laurels” which you use to buy Ascended trinkets.
WvW is in a terrible place with its own version of vertical progression (World Ability points). People with Ascended weapons and Guard Leech and/or Applied Fortitude abilities will be running around with far more stats than you. For a PvP-type environment, this is a disaster.
Portals have a 20 max capacity.
I’d be interesting if you made a follow-up post at some point giving your perspective on the changes!
The problem is not Berserker gear. People will always gravitate towards the best possible gear. If Berserker were nerfed, some other gear will replace it — maybe Assassin’s.
The problem is that pretty much all bosses are designed in a way where it’s better to use Berserker’s gear than any other type.
In the end, this is kind of a positive because the thought of having to grind out multiple sets of Ascended gear makes me sick.
+10% damage is not insignificant. That’s what ascended weapons give.
Content will have to be made harder to compensate (for example, bosses may be given 10% more health) which means those who don’t have ascended gear will be at a disadvantage.
Definitely a power creep. And totally awful for WvW.
Not for some stupid titles. If Anet put more time into making the actual PvP more fun instead of skinner box gameplay, we would be better off.
The World Ability points really puts it over the top causing new players and alts to be left way behind. Not to mention the totally OP flame ram mastery.
I have played on HoD, ET, GoM, TC and BG. In all of those cases, the population in PvE has matched WvW. In HoD, ET and GoM it is rare to see more than 20 people in Lion’s Arch during primetime and that is also the case in WvW. We couldn’t get 50-60 players for Tequatl during the first week at most times.
In BG and TC there are players everywhere including dozens upon dozens in Lion’s Arch.
I don’t buy the whole WvW population doesn’t match server population. In most cases it does. There are a few exceptions where a smaller server has a dedicated guild that carries the server in WvW. (I believe Yak’s Bend is a good example of this) But those are the exceptions not the rule.
NSP has a low WvW population, but a pretty active PvE population (very large temple zerg every day, for example).
I wonder if it’s an exception, or whether my idea of “large PvE population” is wrong! (Haven’t guested anywhere else.)
I think if Anet had done the LS properly, with compelling storylines, interesting gameplay, and truly changing world, they could have got away without releasing actual expansions.
As it is, LS now has a connotation of being rushed, bugged, with shallow gameplay and nary a story. It’s going to take the magic word “expansion” for people to come back and take another look at GW2. And no, “expansion’s worth of content” will not cut it, Anet tried that lie already.
If they opened up Kralkatorik and the Crystal Desert along with 4-5 areas, a new story arc, new weapon skins, new skills, and new infusions/upgrades to defend against Kralkatorik’s attacks they would come back. Isn’t that why Ebonhawk is where it is?
I don’t care if they want to give it to me for free, its an expansion.
Edit: And yes, that’s what I expect soon-ish. (a year maybe?)
But for those who have quit already, a new “Living Story” with all that you mentioned will not bring them back. However, an “Expansion” with exactly the same content will.
It’s just that “Expansion” has a very powerful connotation within the MMO community while “Living Story” has developed an arguably negative connotation.
I think if Anet had done the LS properly, with compelling storylines, interesting gameplay, and truly changing world, they could have got away without releasing actual expansions.
As it is, LS now has a connotation of being rushed, bugged, with shallow gameplay and nary a story. It’s going to take the magic word “expansion” for people to come back and take another look at GW2. And no, “expansion’s worth of content” will not cut it, Anet tried that lie already.
“Join Kiel for a mission to capture the deadly, desperate Canach! In this all-new story dungeon, you’ll enter Canach’s Lair on a subterranean solo mission under the island.”
I love the idea of doing activities to get skills — activities customized for the particular skill. There’s way too much mindless ‘F’ clicking in this game (don’t even get me started on the abomination that’s crafting), I think this would be a good start towards more interesting gameplay.
Also, the waves come only one at a time, prolonging the time it takes to clear it enough for Scarlet to come out. Presumably they did it to reduce the farming, but it just means most invasions will fail more from a lack of interest as well.
This. Ever since they alternated the machines and the aetherblades/molten guys, I’ve seen fewer and fewer people even bothering to show up for the event.
The event itself is simply not compelling enough for people to do it for fun. So most are there for the loot. If you get rid of the loot, you’d likely end up doing the event alone.
IMO, there is no way they won’t have an expansion. When MMO players who have quit a game hear the word “expansion,” they almost instinctively come back to try it out. It’s a tried-and-true way of getting people back and excited about a game again. The word has too powerful a connotation that Anet will not be able to resist.
Just buy the ranks with lulrels and badges. Any casual can at least logon for the ~30 mins to do daily every day and usually does PvE with monthly etc.
TLDR: Buy them with laurels.
I’d recommend against buying anything with laurels. You’ll need them for Ascended gear, which if you don’t start working on now, will put you even further behind than you already are.
you have a good point, but no one will read your post if you don’t go and edit some paragraphs into it.
I feel superior rams (and superior siege in general) are already broken. Add to that ram mastery and there’s basically no defending towers in way too many situations. If you’re in the lower tiers during the night shift, OP’s story happens all the time.
In the end, it diminishes play for everyone (except for those who are just there for the karma).
Personally, I think superior siege should be severly nerfed and maybe even banned in the lower tiers. Ram mastery was a huge mistake what with the reduced incoming damage and increased outgoing damage via gate vulnerability. Either it needs to be nerfed or gates need to be buffed.
We were hoping originally it would take days/weeks for players to defeat Tequatl instead of 12 hrs.”
kind of gutted i didn’t notice this at the time as i would have def asked why they’re now designing content to not even be completable in the short time the living world is available for.
tbh i kind of tuned him out after the first few responses were PR BS
Interesting point! I’d guess that they’re simply lying in that quote.
Have we tested this on Magic Find foods as well? Do they actually make you get less cool loot?
That would be hilarious! I’d guess the bug is probably because there are two parties and the damage stat was just applied wrongly — we’ve seen this happen on several skills (wells healing foes, for example).
Exotics are already good enough for all gw2 current content (minus fractal 50+). If you optimise your build you can win way more that 8%. (I tweaked my build and now instead of 30k 100b, i do ~45k 100b and close to 60k in perfect condition)
“Current content” should be emphasized. Future content will surely be scaled toward people having Ascended gear or else content becomes too easy. So you’d better get your Ascended gear sooner or later.
As for optimizing your gear: if you optimize your gear AND have Ascended gear, your build becomes even better — so why not do both?
I’m pretty sure if they nerf Guard Leech and/or Applied Fortitude — which they definitely should — they would refund points as they’ve done in the past when changing abilities.
Anyway, if you’re just a casual WvW player you’re pretty much screwed. Those who play more than you are gonna leave you way behind in abilities.
However: though getting Ascended Knights gear would be an improvement over your current Exotic Zerker gear, you have to consider power creep.
Content will eventually have to be made harder as more people have better gear (and it naturally gets harder in WvW as other players gear up with Ascended). Your Ascended Knights gear won’t cut it compared to Ascended Zerker gear.
Having to do the unholy grind for Zerker after having done it for Knights is an awful thought — so may as well get Zerker gear now.
It’s hugely annoying for WvW players that dragonite is extremely hard to get in WvW.
And WvW players are arguably those who need Ascended gear the most.
Anyway, NSP has a temple zerg every day starting at 5:00pm pacific time.
These temporary events are fun and I see no reason why they shouldn’t continue them. This argument that just because Anet can’t cater to your personal schedule they shouldn’t do it is silly. When The Walking Dead airs on TV, what do they do? They say “Sunday @9PM”… My schedule doesn’t come into the equation. If I want to see that show… I better freakin be there on Sunday at 9. This doesn’t seem unusual or strange to me.
Interesting example, because even television is moving (or being moved) away from the be-there-or-miss-it model. DVRs, watching online, netflix series model all allow you to watch whenever you’d like.
One problem in an MMO is the fear of having so much content available that everyone is spread out making the game feel single player.
For old content (if made available!): I think players understand if they must do it alone or with like-minded friends — it’s similar to watching old shows by yourself.
New content has to made compelling enough that everyone wants to participate (we still have people tuning in for premiere airings of shows despite DVRs).
