Guild Wars 2

This most recent update announcement has elicited quite a confusing mess of emotions from me as a Gw2 fan. When I first heard the news I’m like YES! This is going to be sooo awesome! We get new weapon skins, something to work towards and spend time on AND Legendaries will be getting an upgrade! Sweeet!

aaaaand then I started thinking about it too much : I…

The first info on this update came when they also announced that we would be eventually able to craft precursors, which I was absolutely stoked about. This is because I have absolutely NO luck in this game. I feel like I rarely ever get anything good regarding drops, from ALL sources. Ive put tons of money into the mystic forge with nothing but empty inventory space as my reward. I’ve spend at least a cool $100 JUST on black lion keys in the past which left me with 5 ticket scraps and nothing much else good. The point is that when I rely on RNG, I am almost 99% guaranteed to be screwed by it. And believe it or not, this isnt so much a complaint as it is a statement of fact. I have no luck, so I must rely on other means to get what I want/need. This is why the precursor crafting excited me. I wouldnt have to be lucky, I could just put more time into the game and eventually I’d get a precursor!

I assumed that with this crafting update, we would be able to craft the precursors as previously mentioned. This is not the case, which makes the Legendary updates just that much more depressing. I mean it’s great that theyre getting new looks and stats, but from where I’m standing it seems like I’ll never reach that goal. I’ve put 2,200 hours into the game through training characters and whatnot. I have 8 lvl 80’s. And yet it still feels like I’ll never get my shot at making a legendary.

This new update feels like its putting me even farther away from reaching that goal. With the changes to legendaries, the price of precursors will rise again, far outside of availability given my luck.

This probably all makes me sound like a whiny little B——, but I cant help it. It’s just so.kitten .depressing. I needed to talk about it and so here I am. What do the rest of you feel about this? Do you have problems with your luck? I feel that after putting in as much time and money as I have, I ought to have gotten a bit more back from the game, but perhaps I’m wrong.

Thanks for reading and I’ll see you in-game.

Oh and P.S. : Traehearne still sucks, let’s trade in his life force and use it to resurrect a certain Order of Whispers operative…

Pretty straightforward post

I recently made a second warrior and was hoping if someone could tell me whether or not the axe/mace builds are still usable for PvE or if they’ve been nerfed. If theyre still reliable, could someone show me a build for that combination? Please list the correct equipment stats that I need if you can. and shouts are always fun!

I’m not buying the b-s you people are throwing me about how I shouldn’t be angry about this. And yeah, I think you ought to complain Penguin. Maybe youre all satisfied with throwing extra money at the game and getting nothing of value, and “that’s just how it is.” I reject that sentiment. This game is free to play and if you spend as much money as some of us have on trying to support it’s future, then you ought to get something of value from it. The game shouldn’t be a lottery and I’m not going to lie down and accept it.

lcpdragonslayer.7895:

I got 10 scraps out of 50 or 51 Black Lion Chests (bought 30 keys, the remainder were from world completion), but RNG is RNG and it’s not really a valid complaint to say the equivalent of you played the lottery and didn’t win. I think most of us who were happy to throw money at it were doing it for the lols, just to see what the drop rates were like, and we have expendable income. You really ought to know after opening ten chests that ticket scraps aren’t going to be raining from the heavens, which would have only been 900 gems, and you could have used the rest of the gems to convert to gold for your skin.

I didnt open Ten chests, I spent 2400 gems on black lion keys and I only got 3 scraps.

Lily Miranda.5407:

I bought my aetherized weapon from the trade house for 37g.

No RNG for me. I have no doubt I made the cheaper and safer decision.

I just made a thread about how I spent like $35 on gems. Trust me, you did.

Allisa Wonderland.8192:

When I read that scraps are now a “common” drop from BL chests, I used my 5 saved up keys, I got 2 scraps. Ok, that sounds reasonable… So I thought, that’s common enough to warrant a 5 pack of keys from the gem store. Of course, anyone who follows the RNG threads already knows what I found..none. Not one. How is that common? I guess common is still “unlikely.” I had received 2, or even 1 more, I would have probably sprung for another pack… But ah we’ll, I guess that covers my gem purchase qualification for the next time ArenaNET gives a free gift to customers.

Check the threads for people who have spend hundreds of dollars for “rare” chances.

I was ready, so I am not submitting to make a complaint, but it help make people aware than even common can still mean nothing!

RNG on in-game stuff is one thing but we’re talking about REAL money here! I mean if there’s any ONE place in the game that anet should strive to make people feel satisfied its the frieking in-game purchases! We’re supporting your game, can’t you make this fair to us anet? The fact that the first reply to this thread is someone who has already been through this should SAY something.

Also, if I had just transferred all of those gems into Gold, I would have basically had enough money to buy one of the skins off of the TP. If you people at ANET are trying to tell me not to buy black lion keys, youre doing a kitten good job of it. This is what I get for trying to support the frieking game.

I Just spent $35 dollars on gem cards and used ALL of the gems on black lion keys. I only got FIVE ticket scraps out of all of the chests I opened. Are you telling me I need to spend $60 to get an aetherized weapon skin? Ridiculous.

Not exactly the biggest in-game issue lol, however I’d love to know if the design was intentional or if the shoulders are SUPPOSED to look like the back got crunched with a hammer. I think they would look a lot better if they were more similar to the male design. The end result makes female charr look like they have sticks for shoulders.

Antara.3189:

lordkrall.7241:

They will most likely not add a whole continent in one release, but it is fully possible to release one part at a time.

The only reason expansions can do that is because they takes a long time before they are released, what ArenaNet is doing is simply cutting it into pieces and giving us some of them here and there instead of a big chunk once a year.

That entirely seems boring and would have to have a lot of backend work. The anticipation factor in an expansion or large update is the fact that you have so much to explore, learn and do. One map at a time? Meh, it would become repetitive and timely just to explore. I don’t plan on spending a lot of 6+months trying to explore and do everything in an new continent. How can that even be explained in a lore sense? “Oh you can’t go any further, closed off until future notice” Two weeks comes, boom unlocked and then blocked again.

A continent or large map introduced in a lump sum is exhilarating imo. Granted, they can easily expand the story in the maps with the living story, but simply giving us one map at a time would created an increased grind to run the map over and over, until the next one is released. then jump to the next. Leaving behind zones such as southsun that no longer serve a purpose besides randomly running through.

I could settle for a group of maps being introduced at once, to give players that explorer sense. For example in southsun, the first time I was in the map I was ecstatic to run around check it out, was eager to find out what awaits us in the areas beyond. But now I lost that eager feel, and it’s out of sight, out of mind kinda deal.

I can agree with you about the “one map at a time thing.” I can see why that would be too slow. However from what people have told me in this now AWESOME thread is that it’s more than possible to release a large chunk of places like Elona. How large? I cant answer that for sure, but hopefully large enough to avoid what youre talking about.

Also, I find it HIGHLY unlikely that if they released content for Elona such as a new map, they would NOT remove it again from the game. I’m already seeing that the content we’re getting now is constantly modified due to our input and it seems a lot of people are dissatisfied by it’s temporary nature. Elonian and Cantha-based content would be of greater importance and thus unlikely to be removed.

zityz.6089:

Nightingale.9714:

FlamingFoxx.1305:

Colin has also said they haven’t decided one way or the other on Expansions.. The whole “No expansions ever” has been widely misquoted and the context forgotten. The dev who said this initially was trying to say that they want to explore the viability of the living story and hope to get it to a point where it can actually replace the function of expansions. By having content released every two weeks they could actually uncover parts of Cantha in a meaningful and realistic way for example. But honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if an expansion is in the works…

Something I just thought of: Even if they can release Cantha/Elona areas through living story content, what will they do in regards to the world map? Do you think they’ll expand it or will it be another map entirely? If the latter, do you think it can be done through Living story content? Thanks for your contribution.

Well what they did in the first game was with Cantha it was a boat trip to a new island. Since they already have the boat mechanic set up for going to southsun/ cliffs I can see them doing it this way. With living story it will be possible. With Elona they will just make it a separate map again, even though it’s the lower have of the crystal desert area and is apart of the main Tyrian map, it sections it off because it’s its own country.

To be fair though as much as I love Cantha and -somewhat- Elona. I would rather worry about the rest of that large map we have now to be filled in. Until we have finished fighting all 5 dragons, seen fire islands, crystal desert, isle of janthir and the northern shiverpeaks (where the HoM is currently located) The inclusion of Tengu playable race and maybe the inclusion of largos, then we can worry about what then crazy kurzicks, luxons and palawa joko is up to these days.

I’m happy to see that youre as excited as I am for this kind of story content. Truth is though I didnt mean to make this post all about those continents, they just happened to be what got discussed. I agree with you on the dragons and races. I want to see ALL OF IT DUDE! >:D As I just told another poster I just hope we dont have to wait too long. Feeling a lot happier about living story now thanks to you people. Thanks for your post.

@ Marcus.

WOW dude. That was one impressive post. I agree on the temp content, I REALLY want it to be permanent and I’m impressed by your solutions for it. Thank you very much for the quotes and the link to that article about Cantha and Elona, you really lifted my spirits. You seem very well informed and I’m more than satisfied by your response. I just hope we dont have to wait too long for it! xD Thanks again for putting so much time into your post and comforting a weary old man…. (I’m actually only 23, but it sounded appropriate)

You cant possibly be done with leveling, crafting and gear progression. I’ve got 7 80’s, working on two more and still getting different gear and levels for all of them. SO much to do.

lordkrall.7241:

Nightingale.9714:

Mmmm… like I said, Cautiously Optimistic. I REALLY hope youre right. On another note, you said that it’s possible. Now i’d like to ask if you personally think it will happen that way, and if youre looking forward to it : )

Yes, I think it will happen that way and I am indeed looking forward to it.
I personally prefer new additions to a game that actually makes sense in the game-world, not just suddenly discovering a whole new continent just like that with an expansion pack.

Ah, yeah I can see what you mean by the “making sense in the game world” sort of context. I’m personally hoping that it will be a Whispers operation for Elona or something. Like: we finally found a way to smuggle you into Elona… are you prepared? q. Yes. then LOADING SCREEN, then: ELONA MAP! WOO HOO! ^-^

Aguri.2896:

I do fear this game might not last.

I love the idea of the living story. So far I have had a great experience with it. I normally procrastinate and wait forever to get things done, but I can’t here. This gets me living in the present, hanging out with friends and making memories. And it leaves me filling accomplished… somewhat.

But I worry that the living story will not bring in enough permanent content… I want to see new races, classes, skills, dragons, maps, character options and more. Most importantly… I want this game to last.

So I hope they can pull it off because it’s a great idea… but they must be careful. This could crash and burn easy and it already seems to be upsetting many players. Expansions are something we are used to and gives us something we can look forward to. I would LOVE to have good, solid content I can look forward to.

So, basically. I fear that the Living Story method of adding content could kill GW2… but I’m on board with the experiment. I like the fact that they are trying new ideas and being innovative. I just hope that if it does fail they go back to expansions.

Aye, a number of players seem to be concerned with the temporary nature of the living story content. I would personally be happier if it was a permanent addition, almost like another campaign all strung together. You’ve said basically everything I wanted to hear. Thanks for your contribution.

FlamingFoxx.1305:

Colin has also said they haven’t decided one way or the other on Expansions.. The whole “No expansions ever” has been widely misquoted and the context forgotten. The dev who said this initially was trying to say that they want to explore the viability of the living story and hope to get it to a point where it can actually replace the function of expansions. By having content released every two weeks they could actually uncover parts of Cantha in a meaningful and realistic way for example. But honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if an expansion is in the works…

Something I just thought of: Even if they can release Cantha/Elona areas through living story content, what will they do in regards to the world map? Do you think they’ll expand it or will it be another map entirely? If the latter, do you think it can be done through Living story content? Thanks for your contribution.

lordkrall.7241:

They will most likely not add a whole continent in one release, but it is fully possible to release one part at a time.

The only reason expansions can do that is because they takes a long time before they are released, what ArenaNet is doing is simply cutting it into pieces and giving us some of them here and there instead of a big chunk once a year.

Mmmm… like I said, Cautiously Optimistic. I REALLY hope youre right. On another note, you said that it’s possible. Now i’d like to ask if you personally think it will happen that way, and if youre looking forward to it : )

lordkrall.7241:

So, you didn’t actually read the article that announced the “no expansion” thing then?

They made it quite clear in that very article that they will add new areas and stuff found in expansions via the Living story (they already added an area this way, back in November, Southsun Cove).

I would personally say that this is a BETTER way to get all those epic stuff out, since an expansion will always be somewhat limited, but releases every 2 weeks can add quite a bit of side-tracks or whatever without people having to wait a year or so.

Aye, doesnt surprise me that I missed an article or two. I get most of my information from in-game players. However I did understand that they planned to add more areas via the Living Story. Perhaps what I’m doubting is exactly how much content they can add with this method. I mean if you tell me" they can add the entire continent of Cantha" then I’d be doubtful but optimistic

When the into trailer for this game first appeared, I can safely say that a LOT of people were excited. There are all these different dragons, each of them having a different effect on the world. As players, we would get the unique opportunity to face them in battle and someday rid the world of them entirely. There are whispers of events in both Cantha and Elona, Palawa Joko has taken over Elona, and Cantha has gone silent. Seeing as these two continents were featured in GW1 expansions, some people (myself included) assumed that we would personally explore these regions and solve their respective problems.

So Guild Wars 2 comes out and I work my way through the campaign and finish the main story. I personally felt it was disjointed, the main villain (Zhaitan) was faceless and flat, they took Tybalt from us and replaced him with the same kitten in every character’s story that so many have come to loathe (you know who i’m talking about.) BUT there were things I liked. Some of the characters had unique personalities and we got nice little snippets of lore and hints at the future. Obviously I wasnt completely satisfied but that was fine… Because I knew that they had plenty of chances to impress me in the future with many more dragons and two more continents (if not more new ones) to explore!

It seemed like I had even more evidence of big content in the future from the new and fun living story content that was being released. The Molten Alliance, Aetherblades, Karka Raging: to me and many others, this pointed towards a larger more important future story for the game. Most likely an expansion. It all had to be leading up to SOMETHING, right?

And THEN: (and youll have to forgive me if I’m late in getting this news, I made a lot of assumptions and wasnt expecting it) Anet announces that there might NEVER be an expansion to this game. To me, this was devastating news. All of the multitudes of options that seemed so DEFINITE before, so certain. They seem to have all faded. And for the life of me I cannot understand why they teased us with this seemingly glorious future with so many secrets to learn and enemies to conquer and then just DROP it all! Besides the fact that it probably sold a number of game copies of course…

All of my hopes for this game seem to have vanished. No new races or professions, no new continents, no new dragons to fight, no more personal story (and the living story doesnt count, it’s highly impersonal by comparison.) What happened to the… the EPICNESS of a legendary story of a hero working to free the oppressed people of Tyria? To me it seems gone.

I’ve talked to other players about this. Some of them are happy, for various reasons. Some feel that expansions will divide the player base (and in some ways I can agree that’s a possibility.) Some are appeased simply because expansions cost money and they dont want to pay it. Some are content because they are fine with just playing endless World Versus. World matches and PvP material. And others like myself, are extremely worried for what this means for the future of the game. I’d like more opinions on this. More postulation. More options. And if I can get it, a response from Anet that gives me some measure of comfort regarding my concerns in this matter.

I want to respect everyone’s opinion on this topic and in return, I’d like you to try and respect mine. If you bothered to read all of this then you understand that I have strong feelings on the subject. Try not to dismiss my opinion on this simply because you don’t agree with it and i’ll do my best to do the same for you. Engage.