Guild Wars 2

DivineBeing.2086:

Wow? What servers are you guys on?

We’re on the servers everyone transferred to Blackgate from.

I doubt they’re going to want to be too specific, lest that give potential attackers information they need to take them down more effectively.

But indeed, however they handled it, they handled it well.

How many gear grind threads will I have to read before I get my gear?

Happy New Year!

May it be GW2’s best year yet!

They all fled to a magical land called “Equestria” many moons ago.

Ironically enough, Scarlet Briar is known there as “Twilight Sparkle”, a pony princess beloved by all.

Truth is stranger than fiction.

Such systems are easy to abuse, and empowering to “troll gangs”.

Discussion forums that use down-voting to hide or remove posts tend to squelch dissent and enforce homogeneity of opinions, which is great for marching in lockstep toward the perfect unanimity of ruthless groupthink, but at the cost of ensuring such communities are not bothered by new ideas or differing opinions. We could expect a similar chill in-game.

That said, it would be nice to have some way of filtering out the worst offenders without having to fill one’s block list, and perhaps ArenaNet can come up with something players can opt into that would simplify the process without smothering in-game communication.

I think if anyone could do it right, ArenaNet can.

Just tell him about all the LW content he’s missing and will never be able to play.

Or just wait a while and let his own curiosity make the decision.

During that time, GW2 will only continue to get better, and offer more for him when he eventually decides to give it another shot.

CC Danicia.1394:

No Dev Menu on the live servers. We get around the same way as everyone else.

Whoa… so maybe it really was Colin who was complaining in map chat about how expensive waypoint travel is.

Ayrilana.1396:

I do support the implementation of cutscenes sequences being tied to an in-game object (can think of it as a movie player). This was done with the Majory bar cutscene. Perhaps this could be done with the Tower’s explosion cutscene and others in the future. I also know they are working on a way to do a recap like done for the personal story.

Me too, and I think that would be a much more sensible solution than blithely referring players to YouTube or the wiki, or otherwise dismissing their legitimate concerns as paying customers.

I don’t think it’s unreasonable for players — especially new players — to want to be able experience the Living World content when their circumstances permit. Nor is it impossible, or even difficult, to make that happen. Computer technology has supported this capability for decades, books have been doing it for centuries, and GW2 already does it for such features as the Personal Story, dungeons, repeatable dynamic events and many other aspects of the game — including the Living World itself.

While the nature of the Living World does involve content that may not be easily be preserved for future players, the vast majority of it is quite suitable for access via instances and other means.

Making that content available to players using technology already widely used throughout the game would solve most of the content denial problems that have led to the thousands of threads like this one here and in other forums, while causing no harm whatsoever to players who participate in it while “live”.

As this thread and its countless counterparts demonstrates, there are a lot of players who would welcome this.

Why that must somehow be seen as an attack on the game which needs to be constantly countered, argued against or waved off as irrelevant baffles me, but I do honestly consider it absurd.

Ah yes, real life. That’s what we play MMOs to experience: reality.

Perhaps the best way to expose the absurdity of these arguments is to turn them into ad slogans for ArenaNet.

How about “Guild Wars 2’s Living World: Now Available Exclusively On YouTube!”

And “Guild Wars 2: Why buy it when you can watch it for free?”

I’m sure that will really pack in the new players.

You know, if they bring back these “expansions” we can’t play anymore, they might be able to win this exact same award with the exact same expansions in 2014.

Well played, ArenaNet.

Well played.

My character looks more fabulous than yours.

I WIN GW2!!!!!

gglolkthxbai

While there are quite a few things I’d like to see fixed or improved, Guild Wars 2 is definitely the best MMO I played in 2013.

Frankly, I still consider it the best game I’ve ever played, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty of room for improvement.

Iterate with pride, ArenaNet. My heart is with you.

Heck, why not just offer to kill the boss for a few dollars more?

Whoa, a POWER RANGER!

I’ll be she’s mighty morphin, too.

Nomin.5901:

But if you dont have time to play the most casual MMO I know, than I dont think MMO gaming is for you.

Exactly. Not only are people who don’t see things your way the problem, they shouldn’t be playing MMOs at all!

I appreciate your confirmation of my previous post to this thread.

Thanks.

Don’t like the Living World because you don’t like missing content? YOU, the player, are the problem.

Problem solved.

Telling players how wrong they are is how better games are made.

…

N.B. Thank goodness ArenaNet actually embraces the exact opposite of this benighted philosophy [see “iteration”] and are already working on ways to improve the Living World experience, despite what some self-styled “defenders” of the GW2 status quo would have you believe.

Change is coming. Patience is counseled.

ZeftheWicked.3076:

No chickens in asura home!

How about Robot Chickens? It would be very much in-theme for the Asura…

Restless Hearts

I would like to see all hearts and their related activities be repeatable in all zones, and be repeatable as often and as many times as players want.

The repeat rewards should probably be less than the first run, but not necessarily, if they are calculated with repeatability in mind.

Being able to repeat hearts without restriction would allow us to gain modest rewards for doing whatever things we like to do most, and would help repopulate some areas that players currently visit once and never return to.

“It’s extremely important that we stay true to our philosophy that you should be able to play Guild Wars 2 the way you want to play the game in order to reach the most powerful rewards.”

— Colin Johanson

I agree. Let’s open our hearts!

I could go for this, but only if the Centaurs come in pretty pastel colors and have flowing, brushable manes.

I think it’s great. They’ve been working extremely hard all year and deserve a breather.

And hopefully the next chapter will be the best so far.

I’m a very harsh critic of the Living World, mainly due to the time-limited, exclusionary nature of it and how that negatively impacts not only LW, but the rest of the game (with “timeritis” creeping into all events being the most pernicious).

However, I will always admire the immense talent that oozes from every aspect of Guild Wars 2, and that most certainly applies to the Living World as well. I’m also a big fan of the incredibly rich and entertaining dialog found throughout Tyria.

Despite my disappointment with LW’s early days, I’m encouraged by comments made by Colin and other members of the staff indicating improvements in future LW installments. Hopefully the lessons learned from 2013 will lead to better offerings in 2014.

As the saying goes:

“True success is 1% iteration, 99% more iteration.” — Researcher Irkz

Here’s hoping 2014 will emerge as a turning point and triumph for the Living World, and a stronger, more enjoyable Guild Wars 2 for all its many different kinds of players.

And if anyone from ArenaNet should chance upon this post, please know I love you guys. You do, after all, make the best game I’ve ever played.

Leveling to 80 in the starter instance isn’t any sillier than climbing a mountain.

Why do it? Because it’s there.

Given the amount of resources ArenaNet devotes to the Gem Store and its promotions, it would be “daft” to ignore it as a key source of income.

You seem to acknowledge that it’s optional, but seem to miss the rather obvious point that the very fact it IS optional means ArenaNet won’t gain any additional revenue from unhappy players who don’t make any additional purchases from them.

So please do explain how, exactly, ArenaNet’s business model benefits from unhappy customers. Or, for that matter, how your own brand of “irritating and illogical complaining” contributes anything worthwhile to the discussion.

OrianZeta.1537:

Also it would be more fun if the trains had to travel to new zones for new elite/champion chaining. Just officially incorporate this mindless farm into lore, such as energy fluctuation or pockets of dark energy disturbing the land and increasing hostile presence.

After a time, long champ respawn timers would kick in on Frostgorge, for example, as the “disturbance” moves to a new zone with new events and champs. Keeps things fresh, moves players throughout the world and clears the trains out of exhausted zones.

This basically describes Scarlet’s Invasions, but since those events are unpredictable, don’t scale properly and now have absurdly low rewards for the effort, almost no one participates.

Personally, I see champ trains as symptoms of other, deeper problems with the game, rather than problems in themselves.

Scaling debacles and reward missteps like Scarlet’s Invasions and Tequatl suggest a strong need for the various development teams to get together and work out a more consistent vision for the “meta game” and bring it to the players.

As things stand, GW2 is something of a monument of lost potential. But with a clear vision (hint: they got it right the first time with the Manifesto) and a steady hand at the helm (that is also willing to change course when headed for the rocks), I’m hopeful my favorite game will finally get on a more even keel in 2014.

Lettuce prey.

Well, it looks like we have an official ArenaNet position on champ trains.

Given the fact that the latest Living World chapter, The Nightmare Is Over, IS a champ train, I think it’s fair to conclude they don’t have a problem with them.

Champ train haters, your nightmare is only beginning.

Arguing With Authority

RustyRhino.9854:

I need to be blunt to you. Anet doesn’t create content for EXTREME casuals like yourself. If you dislike that, this MMO isn’t for you.

I need to be blunt with you and everyone else who falsely labels players who dislike temporary content as “extreme casuals”, then blithely repeats this tired fallacy as if you and they speak for ArenaNet: You’re wrong.

Says who? Says Game Director Colin Johanson:

I wanted to take a moment and address this, it’s a totally fair question and something as a player (removing my GD hat) I’d wonder the same thing as well. As I covered in my blog post last month, a major focus of our living world releases in the second half of the year will be on focusing our living world releases on content that has a larger sense of persistence, and more permanent effect on the world.

And just in case that’s not clear enough, he goes on to say:

We’re also looking into options that would allow players to experience the story sequences that will go away as the story moves forward for those who missed them, but this is still a ways off as we look at various options.

There’s the long-term plan. Compare and contrast to “this MMO isn’t for you.”

And while you’re at it, ask yourself if you honestly think “this MMO isn’t for you” is something ArenaNet would ever say. I strongly recommend reading Colin’s entire post (and that entire thread) if why you’re wrong isn’t crystal clear at this point, because it’s important.

I’m sure it’s tempting to try to lend your opinions some weight by presenting them as official ArenaNet policy, but in doing so you are actually positioning yourself against ArenaNet’s stated interests and gutting your own credibility in the process.

You are not ArenaNet.

The Quest For Misunderstanding Continues

Again and again, in this thread and countless others, I see players say they don’t understand why so many players despise the temporary and exclusionary nature of the Living World, then go on to blame them for not liking it without making any effort to understand why, despite thousands and thousands of detailed explanations in this forum and around the Internet.

I don’t speak for ArenaNet, but I’m pretty sure they would appreciate it if more players would stop misrepresenting what they say and refrain from trying to drive other players away from the game.

If it’s your goal, despite ArenaNet’s repeated and consistent encouragement, to take it upon yourself to discourage honest feedback about Guild Wars 2, then I admittedly can’t stop you from keeping at it.

However, I can offer you this appeal: if you truly care about Guild Wars 2, then please learn to respect the fact that other players — and ArenaNet itself — will not always agree with you, and when that happens, it’s not because we or they are automatically wrong.

ArenaNet has made it very clear that they want Guild Wars 2 to be as successful as possible, and no successful business chases away customers.

Please don’t devote yourself to doing that in their stead.

It’s just wrong.

Time, Gentlemen. Time

The real problem is time-gated exclusive content, and problems like these are an inevitable consequence of its growing prevalence in Guild Wars 2.

“Exclusive content” — content that is made available only to some players, whether on the basis of time or other mechanisms — is toxic to a game like GW2.

Time-gated “now or never” exclusive content (e.g. the Living World) is particularly pernicious because it punishes newer players simply for being new and, in so doing, discourages growth of the player base. As more time passes and more exclusive content comes and goes, it actually works against the success of the game as the playing field becomes more and more unleveled and any semblance of fairness or balance becomes impossible to maintain.

Arguments over limits on daily achievements would have no reason for being if not for their time-gated, exclusive nature. As this thread demonstrates, even players who enjoy such things will eventually succumb to the pressure of having to play every day to keep up, particularly when it’s explicitly made into a competition.

It becomes a test of endurance rather than skill. How “fun” is that? No one can keep playing the game nonstop forever. And when the crash comes, it comes hard and fast.

Once embittered, players leave, and tell their friends.

There is no meaningful solution to this problem other than removing time-gated exclusive content from GW2. Anything else is just rearranging the deck chairs while the ship goes down.

And every day that passes only makes things worse.

On The Level

Although Mike O’Brien did leave the door open for a level cap increase at some point, the realities of the design and nature of Guild Wars 2, and the player community it has attracted with the Manifesto, are such that raising the cap would probably be disastrous.

The introduction of Ascended gear has given us a taste of what to expect. Despite being slowly phased in to become the “new normal”, just adding another gear tier caused such a massive uproar that I believe ArenaNet was truly shocked by it, and are treading very carefully as a result.

Raising the level cap by any amount, and under any pretext, would make the controversy over Ascended gear look like a drop in the bucket by comparison.

I was somewhat dismayed by Ascended gear, given GW2’s oft-purported commitment to horizontal progression, but it wasn’t a dealbreaker for me. Raising the level cap, on the other hand, would probably be a bridge too far.

I still have two lifetime LOTRO subscriptions that I don’t use anymore because GW2 ruined LOTRO for me. One of the things I got sick of in LOTRO was the constant level cap increases that would, in a stroke, render all the gear on all my many alts obsolete.

Being repeatedly set back to square one gets old quickly and devalues the benefits of a persistent game environment. Why not just play on an Etch-a-Sketch? Or more germane to GW2, why not just start fresh in a different game, if we have to start over anyway?

In my case, if confronted with a GW2 level cap increase, I would be forced to consider starting the gear grind over in GW2, which has added little persistent content in the past year (the most persistent aspect of the Living World is all the worthless junk it has left behind in my bank vault), versus going back to LOTRO, which has added a great deal of persistent content I can play at my own pace, whenever I want. In that scenario, GW2 loses, given the spectacular disappointment the Living World has been so far.

Add sliding level caps to GW2 and it becomes more like the “generic” MMOs it’s supposed to be superior to. It would then find itself competing against other games that do “generic” better (such as LOTRO) on their home turf, and would not compare favorably.

.

tl;dr version: Thanks to the persuasiveness and appeal of ArenaNet’s MMO Manifesto, the GW2 community is extremely sensitive to and hostile toward vertical progression schemes. Raising the level cap would most likely be GW2’s equivalent of the infamous “New Game Enhancements” of Star Wars Galaxies.

I don’t recommend going there.

Chewablesleeptablet.3185:

If you can’t find time within 4 weeks to complete very easy , very quick content then MMOs in general are not a genre you would enjoy.

This comment both illustrates and misses the point about time-gated content.

You’re right. You don’t understand.

Fanboy thread? Count me in.

I have no shortage of criticism to offer regarding the game, ankitten ot shy about offering it, but I also consider Guild Wars 2 to be the best game I’ve ever played, ankitten ot shy about saying that, either.

GW2 has ruined other MMOs for me (I have two lifetime LOTRO accounts still gathering dust since GW2 launched), which is why I expect so much from it.

ArenaNet has left me nowhere else to go, so fix everything already!

While I’m not personally a big fan of champ trains, I very much understand why they exist, given the chronic problems with other elements of GW2 (Living World monotony, difficulty scaling, risk-reward ratios, etc.) and the glacial pace at which the developers fix them.

However, I’m not seeing how basing design decisions on the behavior of an obnoxious minority will result in a better game for anyone.

That case has not been made.

Despite the various tweaks, Orr is still ultimately designed to keep players out, and it still works.

Good thing hyperbole doesn’t run rampant in threads like these.

I wake up each morning and the sun comes up. Conclusion: the sun comes up because I wake up each morning.

Correlation does not imply causation — assuming there is a correlation, which is doubtful.

Just sayin’

Sylvari cultural armor on a Charr would be so awesome.

I want Leafy-cat!

LEAFY-CAT NAOWWWWW!

In GW2, Support isn’t about carrying other players, but empowering them.

Heal-spamming and other traditional fare don’t really belong in the game, because it is designed to reward players for paying attention, knowing their enemies and mastering difficult situations with limited resources.

I don’t think Support needs to be buffed per se, but I would like to see support activities given credit toward kills and events. That player who buffed the hell out of you and rezzed you twice may not have done as much damage as you did against the boss, but that doesn’t mean those things didn’t make all the difference.

Supporting other players shouldn’t mean forfeiting gold and getting silver or bronze for an event (or nothing). That’s just wrong.

So nay to introducing heal spamming to GW2 (there are many good reasons why ArenaNet doesn’t want to go down that road), but yea to rewarding players not just for standing around pounding on bosses in a DPS race, but for for contributing to a team effort and working together to succeed.

That’s always the right thing to design for in a game.

Spoiler Alert

Trahearne is Scarlet’s ex-boyfriend, which pretty much explains everything so far.

They split up after Scarlet, whose wry sense of humor is often tragically misunderstood, swapped Trahearne’s Miracle-Gro™ plant food with Roundup® weed killer, which yellowed his leaves and nearly led to an untimely demise. After a lengthy recovery in the intensive care greenhouse of a nearby nursery, Trahearne made good his escape by stealing away to Orr, and Scarlet has never been the same since.

Hell hath no fury, and all that.

Scarlet vowed to regain Trahearne’s affection by defeating all the Elder Dragons, and pretty much everything else, but to do that she needed hired muscle, which is what all the _______ Alliances are about. Once all the dragons are gone, Scarlet plans to capture Trahearne and make him her love slave once again.

So really, all you Trahearne haters out there ought to pity the poor sap, because if there’s anything worse than being Scarlet’s love interest, it is not known to the learned scholars of Tyria.

This is the story of the wolf who cried “buoy!”

It’s simple math: three sets of checklists to complete are three times as entertaining as one set of checklists to complete.

To fail to appreciate that is to fail to appreciate the brilliance of the Living World.

A truly living world grows and changes. Most of Tyria is pretty much the same as it was in beta, and it hasn’t really grown much at all.

I love the game — I consider it the best I’ve ever played — but it just feels increasingly stale as time goes by.

I would log in and play more if the list of new things to do was longer than the list of things I can no longer do.

Indeed. Please fix “Nearest Enemy” so it targets the nearest enemy.

Thanks.

coglin.1867:

The best solution I can think of it to have turrets attack “called targets” by attacking the ones I call in group with that puts the icon over the targets head.

Or they could just use the same targeting logic Ranger pets use. I haven’t seen this problem with any of my Ranger pets.

Not to say Ranger pets are problem-free, but I’m pretty sure they don’t have this issue.

Guild Wars 2 is loaded with bugs, deviates from its core (“Manifesto”) philosophy more than it should and is in need of a lot more iteration, and it’s still the best game I’ve ever played.

I think that’s pretty awesome.

I’m sorry I don’t have anything more concrete or helpful to say, but I really, really love it when you keep us in the loop like this.

Thanks for letting those of us who’ve been seeing this, checking our ping times, monitoring our client performance and occasionally shedding some hair that we’re not crazy (well, okay, not because of this, at least).

Fair winds and following seas, dear friend.

GUILD WARS 2: THE LIVING WORLD™
Come See What You’ve Been Missing! *

Welcome to Tyria! Guild Wars 2 brings a rich, vibrant world of adventure and fantasy to life. Stunning, award-winning artwork, cutting-edge FPS-style combat, personalized storylines and innovative cooperative gameplay mechanics combine with a dynamic, living world to offer a compelling, immersive, ever-changing experience that will keep you coming back for more, over and over, again and again. And now, for a limited time, you can play the fastest-selling MMO in human history, absolutely FREE!

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* NOTE: New players cannot actually see what they’ve been missing, because it’s gone now, removed from the game. Please be advised that most of the new content added since launch is no longer available. But don’t worry, there will be new content that will be available for brief periods before it is also removed. Say, have you ever looked into Zen Buddhism? Guild Wars 2 is like the embodiment of impermanence, an explicit embrace of the transience of all existence. While we cannot guarantee all players will achieve satori or any other form of enlightenment, we do offer a gameplay experience, or lack of gameplay experience, which no other online game can offer, or not offer. So what are you waiting for? Download Guild Wars 2 today, forget about the past and celebrate the ephemeral, nihilistic insignificance of our shallow, transient being in a way never before possible outside a monastery!

How could prospective players not see the obvious value proposition?

After about ten fails in the first couple of days, I started going only if a daily achievement required it, but after wasting more time on it tonight, I’ve decided a single achievement point isn’t worth it.

I applaud Anet’s attempts to make world bosses more interesting, and wish them the very best as they work things out, but this business of timed events is wrong on too many levels to tolerate.

Until that and other poor design elements of these encounters are fixed, I’ll pass — and there’s no time limit on that.

The wings are indeed cool, and I could also go for a slower animation.

Given the crazy workload at ArenaNet, I won’t hold my breath, but if an animator ever gets a chance to slow it down, I’m sure a lot of players would appreciate it.

It was my idea to make Tequatl this hard, and ArenaNet stole it from me.

I proposed they make amends by renaming the event “Majic Presents: Tequatl Rising, featuring Majic,” but so far, they haven’t gotten back to me on that.

If we take the thread’s premise at face value, then we may infer that removing or changing these causes of death will allow thieves to never die.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and speculate that guaranteed immortality isn’t what the developers have in mind for the Thief profession.