Guild Wars 2

I would love if they added more mini’s as B-day gifts like they did for each of your characters in GW1.

But for some reason I feel that there will be people saying “OMG why am I being punished for not having GW2 on launch, I want these mini’s NOW!!!” and “More punishment for not having alts!”

Nick.6972:

The way Manifesto Trailer promised.
That, and more strategic, more team play, no zerging – less active more chess like.

asperbianca.3196:

I’d love to have a more strategic war system than what WvWvW is at the moment. I’d also like to be able to find a spot and farm there until my heart’s content without being penalized for it.

It’s good to see that people are inclined towards the Skill basis of things. I think that “Skill” and “Fun” can overlap in “playing the way you want”. To be honest, I’m quite weary of the loot basis of things that I’ve seen on the forums.

I want to relearn who my character is. Everything was too new and mystical at the beginning of the game when I started that I didn’t focus to much on what was going on. So yes, +1 to this!

Nick.6972:

This game doesn’t allow me to play the way I want to play it, it’s impossible.

How do you want to play?

Vayne.8563:

I don’t know. I went by the definition Anet gave when they explained it. It means that you can get to max level and max gear in a variety of ways. For example…

You can get exotic armor and weapons by doing WvW, or by doing dungeons, or by doing world events, or even just staying in a starter zone and doing dailies (though you’d eventually have to go to Orr to get the karma exotics with it).

That’s what Anet said it means in more than one interview. Why shouldn’t I believe them?

I think it’s a shame that there are some people on the forums that don’t consider what Anet believes is the definition, then go about complaining that Anet are liars (of course, there are some legitimate complaints on other topics). But I guess it’s because "Play the Way you Want is much like the words “Grind” and “Fun”: it can mean something completely different among different people. Anet is acting on their beliefs of what these terms mean. To me, this is completely fine.

I’m just making the generic gifts and just waiting for whatever precursor comes my way (if it ever does). Then I’ll work from there.

Either I’m not looking hard enough, or there hasn’t been an explanation behind this yet.

I thought I heard somewhere that there would be lore behind the Monk Profession being absent from the game (the lore not necessarily needing to be in game).

Do one of the GW books talk about this? Is there a blog post or article? Did Monks really blend with the Paragon to make the Guardian?

Nerifes.4931:

I take it you haven’t noticed all the Ravens in the game. The reason why the steelers aren’t is because the Ravens are better.

<3

You Win. I give you high-tail salute!

I think having solo-able dungeons, particularly for EM, would create a great learning environment for those who want to learn the encounters and mechanics of a dungeon. For group mechanics, perhaps NPC’s can take the place of players for that part, for example:

In COF 1 you have the switch that needs to be destroyed and the posts that players need to stand in to keep the gate open. In a solo-run (if ever implicated), the solo player could be assigned to stand at a post so an NPC can destroy the switch, and maybe even reverse the role in a different room so that the NPC is at a post and the player is at the switch. That way, if the player should decide to go in a group run, they will know what to do without needing someone to explain it to them mid run.

As for story mode , I wouldn’t mind them being solo-able for the sake of having access to explorable.

Vayne.8563:

And it makes you a better player in a lot of ways…having to adapt to either the strengths or the deficiencies of other players. Both can be challenging.

I often like playing with players who are better than me, because it means I have to step up my game. And I like to play with people who need help because that’s good for the game generally. It helps build community.

In the end, I get a lot of enjoyment from helping out others.

I wish more players thought like this. I’m not saying that we’re lacking these types, but this line of thinking would definitely encourage group play a lot more. Cooperation has the potential to bring much more than competition

I like to play for the social aspect. I like to help people like the OP does. Playing with others is a whole experience that extends beyond the game.

In the end, you will always learn something when playing with others: You’ll learn how to play, who to play with, and most importantly who NOT to play with lol

Is this about WvW or the whole game in general? I’ll assume the latter.

The population density that the game provides (High, Medium, even Full) means nothing without numbers. Of course, ANET can’t be giving that information so openly as it could stir up a whole ’nother storm.

I’ve come back from reading this particular thread:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/dungeons/Solo-Dungeon-option-end-forced-grouping/page/1

And it left me thinking: What does the phrase “Play the Way you Want” in GW2 mean to the players? I’ve pondered 3 potential definitions that I believe to be the most prominent. Of course, if you feel that there are other definitions, please post your thoughts, or just go down to the TL;DR

These are my POTENTIAL definitions. I do not consider them to be the only ones:

1) “Play The Way You Want” means wanting to play the game for the fun-filled experience.
This is probably the most “innocent” definition, and was the aim of many early video games. I think this is also what ANET originally had in mind in early development, which is seen in this blog post: https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/is-it-fun-colin-johanson-on-how-arenanet-measures-success/. This is tricky to measure since Fun is Subjective

Does GW2 have things you would want to play for fun? There certainly are plenty of things to do. But if choosing this definition, does the game satiate your need for a good adventure? Is it something you want to brag about to your fellow players (I beat such-and-such and it was an awesome fight!)

2) “Play The Way You Want” means “Wanting to be awarded items the way you want to be awarded.”
Here’s where I open the can of worms. I believe the core of MMOs’ designs is the need to provide VISUAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS in the form of ITEMS to the players. GW2 is no exception. What makes this a volatile topic is that not everyone wants to do the same thing as others would do it. There will be different opinions and methods of how people will go about acquiring things in game. But when taking this definition, it all comes down to this : People want stuff. Period.

Does GW2 award you with items they way you want to be awarded? There are certainly different means of obtaining them. But if choosing this definition, does the game satisfy your need of simply having an amazing item? Do you want to show off your item to other players, or simply keep it as a testament to yourself?

3) “Play The Way You Want” means wanting to have the highest score in some in-game activity that you enjoy the most, and you can work towards this high score the way you want to.
I think this definition applies more to WvW/sPvP/tPvP activities, particularly Leaderboards and Rankings. Who didn’t like having their 3 initials with a score of 1,000,000 at the top of a local arcade machine When taking this definition, fun and items are secondary; what it comes down to is your Skill or Dedication of the game and a title to show it somewhere.

Does GW2 provide you then environment to test your skill and dedication to the activities you enjoy? The game has titles, achievement points, PvP/WvW rankings, Leaderboards and whatnot. If choosing this definition, does your title/rank earn you that sense of accomplishment that you want, like scoring 1,000,000 on Asteroids or Centipede or Minesweeper?

TL;DR: What does “Play The Way You Want” in GW2 mean to you (The Player): does it mean wanting play for the Experience, the Items, or the High Score? All three? Something other than these three?

I think its cool that each Minion in GW2 has its own visual aesthetic. However, some of them look kinda goofy. I mean, the Shadow Fiend looks very huggable rather than scary; just look at the way it bobs around when it moves <3

redhand.7168:

Balanced group planning for instances was a key part of the game. I understand this can’t be done in GW2 because the basic PvE content, being open world, can’t require such coordination because players would whine that things were too difficult.

I agree with this. I think one thing that prevents more manipulation/control gameplay from taking off in PvE is that the common enemy, due to the nature of the game, need to be designed for the “everyman” to be able to solo. Just imagine going out into the world just focusing on applying Chill, Weakness, and Knockdown (It’s not possible, but what if? :p).

I do appreciate not feeling forced into playing one type of role and can change on the fly, but as the game gets older, people start finding the “best” builds and will start to revolve around that. In GW2, it seems that these builds are either damage-based, or focused on surviving that damage and wearing them out with smaller packets of damage. Either way its sliced, I still feel that stuff like pull/push/weakness are not as game-changing as I’d like.

The mini-games that I have played in GW2 are, without a doubt to me, very fun. However, I feel that it is hard to design the ‘reward’ outside of simply having fun due to many players wanting to obtain loot. If the rewards in mini-games were the same as everywhere else but required less effort, then these areas ‘everywhere else’ would see a decline in favor of an easier way to obtain such loot.

I think SAB was one of the best implementations of a mini-game since you could work your way towards getting Obby Shards that wasn’t too far off from obtaining them normally. Plus, it was a lot of fun. People want to feel as if they are working towards something worthwhile, and they need a variety of methods of working towards it to remain entertained, especially for a video game.

digiowl.9620:

• Mobs do not have endurance, making weakness at best a damage reduction.
• Bigger mobs have defiant, reducing the utility of CC.
• (Most) mobs don’t heal. There may be the odd one, but i can’t recall the last time i ran into one.

These are my biggest beefs with disruption in PvE. Things seem very damaged based, and I feel that control is under appreciated in the format. I can understand defiant, lest champions and similar enemies become too trivial. It does open up a little team based thing when facing them (like considering who deserves to activate their CC on them in dungeons when defiant goes down).

It would be cool if you happened to interrupt a boss in a certain way (after removing stacks of defiant of course), it opened an opportunity to follow up on it with like a coordinated group attack mechanic. But I think that’s a different story.

Coming from GW1, I have mixed feelings about the transition.

My absolute favorite thing about Manipulation in GW2 is all of the movement control: it allows interruption, disabling (even if for just a second) AND disrupts positioning, both in PvE and PvP. You can even pull/push them into a zone filled with traps/AoE etc. Weakness is my favorite condition, in that it is both offensive and defensive: it can prevent enemy damage and somewhat punishes enemies for dodging.

However, I find that trying to interrupt specific skills is much harder to pull off (I’m not whining about this. It SHOULD take effort to interrupt that healing skill), while punishment is too easy do; I would prefer a little more difficulty but with a much larger payoff when used correctly. However, with the lack of the hex system, I find it hard to add skills that have something like “The next time your target does (some action) they suffer (some effect)”.

Being able to manipulate movement is just too good to pass up, and I find myself going out of the way to do it for the lolz. But many times I find myself thinking “did that pull/push do much of anything?” especially in team fights.

Am I happy with the transition overall? Yes.

Can GW2 use more modes of disruption/ control? I certainly think it needs more. What exactly? Perhaps adding skills that emphasis on skill timing or inflicting effects outside of damage or applying damaging conditions.

Hello,

After noticing all the threads regarding the Trinity, I’ve been unsatisfied with the lack of discussion regarding the type of combat that I liked most, that is, combat outside the trinity. Since I’ve only played GW1 and GW2 seriously, I will only be talking about those.

What I mean is, in GW1 I loved the professions that were clearly designed to revolve around disruption rather than Tank/Healer/DPS. They involved intrinsic skill to play effectively. I loved the elements of things such as

• Energy Denial
• Manipulating recharge times
• Energy Management
• Hex Manipulation
• Interruption
• Enchantment Management
• Condition Manipulation
• Punishment for skill use
• Weakening Block/Heal effectiveness

Obviously, I leaned towards the Mesmer, Necro, and Dervish professions. I felt infinitely more satisfied when I landed a Power Leak or nailing an entire group with Lingering Curse than if I were to pull off a successful Eviscerate spike or an Assassin chain.

There are manipulation elements in GW2 as well, as seen with:

• Stamina Management (Vigor/Weakness)
• Tons of Movement manipulations/Interruptions (Pull/Push/Launch/ Fear)
• Punishment (Confusion/Retaliation)
• Lessening Heal Effectiveness (Poison)
• Condition timing/removal
• Boon timings/removal
• Dodging
• Area Targeting

So I guess my question is this to both GW1 vets and/or GW2 only folk:

Are you satisfied with GW2’s combat regarding manipulation, disruption, and control? If you came from GW1, are you happy with the transition?

Yes, I was booted out while playing about 30 minutes ago and an unable to log in (42:6:3:2158 error)

In GW1, a similar “Daily Tasks” system was implemented that provided Zaishen Coins similar to laurels (in that they were provided daily, and that you could exchange these tokens for exclusive rewards). Some Z-Quests were very Easy/ALT friendly (Tihark Orchard, Imperial Sanctum, Random Arena); others were very intensive (The Black Beast of Arrgh, any Z-Vanquish, GvG).In addition, they provided experience, Gold, and sometimes other rewards based on the nature of the quest (Racial points, Imperial Faction, Balthazar Faction, etc).

For those who do not know about Z-Quests
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Zaishen_Challenge_Quest

I think that the GW1 Z-Quests were not “truly” a daily in that you could store up to 3 Quests of a particular category to complete at the player’s leisure. Also, I think that being able to sell the reward tokens made some purchases trivial to those with lots of gold.

I was just curious as to what the (this) community prefers between GW2 Dailies or GW1 Z-Quests

I recently aquired a “PvP Gargoyle Scythe” in tPvP, but I noticed that when I equip it the Staff skills 1-5 are unavailable.

Below is a comparison between the “PvP Gargoyle Scythe” and a “PvP Staff”.

Perhaps I am unworthy of such a weapon O.o