Guild Wars 2

I’m changing my vote to: “Mr E” isn’t a person at all.

We all know skritt communicate with each other, and that makes them smarter when they’re together, right? Well, what if there’s a slower version of that, too? Ideas that sort and sift through them, like a meme passing through a group of people. Something happens, and it clicks on some small level that “this is important” or at least “that’s kind of interesting or odd”. So, when they meet the next skritt, it gets passed along, and they pass it to others.

The information changes and grows as it passes along, possibly encountering other “odd” bits of information traveling in the same way. Ideas fit together, and little bits of seemingly unrelated information fit together and suddenly, out of nowhere, comes something major.

Now, the skritt that has this happen in his head may not know WHY they’re suddenly doing something, and in fact that may even make them forget all about their actions later. But for that moment, the knowledge is there, and they act upon it. Maybe it makes them send a letter to someone. Maybe it makes them grab someone from behind (if they’re one of the larger skritt), and whisper something in their ear. Maybe it makes them drink a potion of human transformation and go into a cave to observe events.

Mr E can’t be tracked and doesn’t come forward because there is no “Mr E”. It’s just a very spread out and slow hive mind at work in countless bodies.

Becka Williams.4978:

Here, you want a suggestion: Make it so you can buy a coat box for 10k crests. YES, that’s a lot, and 10 times more than the other boxes, but this incentives people to do the boss, while at the same time, giving them a path to get the box, without totally having to rely on rng.

Do please stop and think about what you’re suggesting.

10K crests is just unreal. If you can really build up that many while trying and failing to get your chest due to bad luck, then where’s the fun?

Honestly, I’d hesitate to suggest even 2K crests for it. For a lot of people, this may be the last roadblock on completing a rather large collection of collections. To be blocked at this point would be like putting together a large jigsaw puzzle, only to find that one of the parts from the middle of the picture is missing. It’s not just unfun, it’s frustrating.

It needs to go onto the vendor, just like all the other parts, once you’ve beaten the boss once. If low numbers of players require a secondary fix later, then they can add it to the vendor for everyone that beats the final part of Season 2.

I’m going to guess now that any trait system changes are coming with HoT.

The good version of that is if they come out at the same time, as a general update to the game.

The bad version of that is if they come only if you buy HoT. I don’t think people will take kindly to having an important game system trashed, then being told that they can have a fixed version again if they pay more money.

Finally managed to get on this morning, after the launcher had a hard time connecting. Zoned out of Lion’s Arch and got stuck on an endless loading screen. Finally had to kill the game.

Yeah, whatever’s going on is pretty bad.

nexxe.7081:

Allarius.5670:

Who is the figure with the shield and sword at the end of the cinematic when Braham is speaking? It sort of seems to resemble Canach, but I’m not sure …

That’s who i thought it was also.

It seems most likely that it’s him.

I would say that, other than the player characters, there are three sylvari that are “safe” right now.

Trahearne, because of the sword he carries. Carrying it, he’s more protected by the Pale Tree than any other sylvari.

Caithe, for pretty much the same reason, only this time with the egg and Glint’s protection.

Canach is the third. His experiments included mind altering chemicals, and it’s quite likely that he’s far enough “off” to be immune to Mord’s control. This will also allow them a reason to cook up an anti-dragon serum to keep PC sylvari sane. To do that, though, he needs to be with them.

There’s enemies putting them out the second time. You can only hurt them while you have the fire.

Gaile Gray.6029:

Yes, I believed that this thread was based on a request to completely reset the Order, not move to a different storyline. There’s a difference, right? As Ic points out, there’s an incompleteness to the “work around” that doesn’t accomplish what I believed the OP was requesting.

Ah, I thought it did. My bad.

Tman.6349:

@DSavant: No offense to Gaile, but that advice is wrong. There is definitely a work around to joining the wrong order. Feel free to whisper me or mail me ingame and I’ll tell you exactly what you need to do to change over to The Vigil. It’s pretty simple really and shouldn’t take more than an hour or so. Maybe only a couple of minutes depending on a few factors.

Isn’t there a way to do it by doing someone else’s storyline as a party, then choosing mission complete or something? It sets you to whatever choice they made, right?

As an RPer, I would say that the events aren’t widely known or considered for my RP use until after the weekend, at least. Give everyone a chance to play it, even those that can’t play during the week. THEN let it seep into RP.

I deleted the insane sylvari I had (key farmer, but I was considering keeping him anyway), and my other sylvari has always been a bit off the norm. So for me, it’s actually going to be business as usual, even with what happened.

Okay, as of today’s patch, NOW we can say that ANet is fueling the hype train.

Same thing here. Very annoying.

Check out the world boss event timer here: http://dulfy.net/2014/04/23/event-timer/

Some of these are pretty easy events, and you can do them once a day for a halfway decent reward. Get the waypoints, and when you have a few minutes to kill it never hurts to check and see if an event is about to happen. If it is, waypoint over and go for it.

(A couple do require more than just show up and shoot, the Evolved Wurm and Teq. I’d not try just jumping into those right before it’s time.)

Xillllix.3485:

can they lock new pvp maps and new items?

The PvP maps might be hard at a glance, but what if they’re options for custom arenas? THOSE they can lock, or make custom-only. Then people have to pay to use them.

As for new items? They can easily lock the ability to equip them behind a pay wall. This would work best with weapons, especially ones that are already used by other classes. Imagine rangers being able to use a staff, but only if you’ve paid for the weapons selection expansion. Sure, you can loot a staff as a ranger without it, and select the new ranger staff traits if you want to for some reason, but you can’t equip it until you pay. That would make it VERY tempting for some people, being that close to having something new to play with but not being able to quite yet.

Gaile Gray.6029:

Hey there,

Colin Johanson and I had a chat about this thread today. He actually brought it up because he wanted to make sure that forum members know that the dev team is very aware of the concerns that our players feel about traits, and also to let you know that the devs read and refer to this subject (and particularly this thread) quite frequently. We’ve said it before, but it remains true: Your voices are being heard and your input is valued.

We wish there was more to say today, but please take heart that this subject is part of current development team discussions and we’ll let you know more as soon as we reasonably can do so.

Where I work we too have problems we talk about. We talk about them, complain, say what we’d like to do about it, and then… nothing. We move on and do what we’re told to do, and the problems dumped on us by someone else’s bad choices remain because we’re told to just put up with them.

I hope whatever you guys come up with “soon”, if it makes it out to the live servers at all, is an improvement. For the sake of your own sanity, if nothing else. Me? I’ve given up hope on you guys.

Wanze.8410:

DeceiverX.8361:

darkace.8925:

Wanze.8410:

Its probably a free expansion.

And those people that asked for a paid expansion for the last year and a half will be disappointed anyways because they didnt get what they wanted.

To a lot of people, price and delivery mode of new content aren’t nearly as important as quality and quantity.

It has to be free, though, otherwise ANet runs a risk of losing substantial profits.

Of course there is a group of players that would like to see more quality content at a faster rate and is willing to pay for it. But i think that is still the minority and if Anet would follow their suggestions, they might alienate a big part of the player base and more importantly, new players. I dont think it will do the game any good in the long term to split the player base by gating content behind a pay wall.

IF (and that’s a big if) they go this route, I more expect the “expansion” to be free, but some aspects of it (new race/class, for example) to be locked behind a pay wall. That way you have everyone still playing together, but there’s stuff that brings in cash as well.

I’m going to go with the tomes. I have far too many alts, some of which are lagging behind due to the concept not really working until I can get them all the traits they need.

Vlad Morbius.1759:

I highly doubt that the CEO and Director would stand there for 90 minutes without having anything substantial to say.

I could see that, actually. They just stand on the stage for 90 minutes looking vaguely uncomfortable with nothing to say. It would make Andy Kaufman proud.

EnemyCrusher.7324:

BrotherBelial.3094:

There great for leveling alts, and if not, they are skill point scrolls for a level 80. What’s not to like about them?

Skill points are basically useless for those of us with all of the skills, hundreds of extra skill points, and hundreds more scrolls of knowledge.

They can be used to gain gold though, if you know how.

Maybe we need a more direct way to turn skill points into profit? Would that help?

I love them.

I have some characters that don’t work very well without all the traits, and they’re a pain to gain levels on. Now I can set them aside and use others, and they’ll eventually still get to 80. Yes, I’ll still have to deal with the trait system, which is awful, but it’s still a huge leap forward in finishing the characters’ builds.

I’ve already made my feelings on this topic known in other threads, no need to repeat myself here, I would think.

Instead, I offer this thought: For all we know, ANet has already done work on adding Dueling to the game. Maybe they found too many problems with the idea that kept them from working on it, and it’s been tossed onto the back burner for now. Maybe they had an idea for how to make it work, but couldn’t get the game to do it without huge bugs. Maybe the idea’s been tried and scrapped, and we’ll never know.

Or maybe it’s coming out next week.

It’s an old topic, and I’m sure ANet has at least looked into it by now. In fact, I’d say it’s likely that a decision has already been reached that will hold through the foreseeable future. We just don’t know the results of it yet, that’s all. So please, don’t get too worked up in this discussion.

I think it sounds like a solid rework of the concept, but I don’t think ANet will go for it.

I honestly get the feeling that there’s something they’re not telling us with the trait changes, something that keeps them from improving the system.

Tachenon.5270:

How is the Living Story any different, beyond its release schedule, than, for example, the ‘Issues’ that City of Heroes/Villains used to get?

Clarification: now that it’s no longer temporary, that is.

It’s more akin to the Signature Story Arcs they were doing before the game was killed. An ongoing story in arcs, with a few missions each time a chapter was released. Free if you were an active subscriber, or for purchase if you were not. We never got to see the end of the second one, but the first one was impressive and the second was off to a good start.

Comparing the two makes me wonder, are Rytlock and Caithe about to play the same roles that Statesman and Sister Psyche played in “Who Will Die”?

Thorgal.1296:

Secondly , if this is simply the announcement of S3 of living story which continues in the same fashion kitten or another feature pack ,why then is it not done via a YT video or an article as they have been doing now ?
Why do they feel the need to have the PRESIDENT OF ARENANET and Collin there to anounce it at PAX up on the Main stage for over 90 Minutes ?

Guys , You can be the most Cynical person on this forum and be as angry at ANET as you like , but even you would have to Admit that something big is coming .

::sigh::

Okay, look. Yes, they plan to do something big on that stage. Maybe it wasn’t the stage they wanted, maybe it was. I don’t know.

What I do know is what they’re saying on the forums about it. Which is … nothing. No “You’ll want to be at PAX South! Make plans now!” or anything. It’s only a couple of weeks away, you’d think they’d be talking it up to us … if it was aimed at us. But what if it’s not?

PAX is a very large gathering of gamers, many of them not GW2 players that ANet would love go grab. So, they do what they can to gather a large group of non-GW2 players and do a sales pitch. They have 90 minutes to fill.

• 10 Minutes: Introductions of who they are and what the Guild Wars franchise is.

• 20 Minutes: Talking about the basic game, and what makes it different than most MMOs. The 5 races, personal story, active combat, crafting BIS gear and so on all go here.

• 30 Minutes: Talking about the Living World story. Both how it’s done, and how they’ve improved it during the time its been running. Scenes from previous chapters are shown, plot is somewhat explained, and hints at where it’s going to go are given.

• 30 Minutes: Talk changes to how they’ve improved the game “beyond the Living Story”. They sell the PvP contests they’ve had, the expansion into China (yes, they can make that sound like a good thing), and so on. Talk about the NPE and how it’s an improvement for the players new to the game and teaches them the basics (supposedly). They can even cover the trait system changes, saying something like: “In our old system, traits were unlocked by just going to a vendor and paying gold. That was pretty dull, and the players wanted something more. We listened, and now you unlock traits by doing things in the game world. Doing specific events, or exploring the game world at large will unlock traits as you actively play.”

And there’s your 90 minutes on a big stage. What do the current players get out of it? Nothing, but it’s not aimed at us.

I’m not saying that’s what WILL happen, just what MIGHT happen. It’s bad enough when ANet can’t live up to their own hype, but they don’t seem to be trying to hype this one to us. Take that as a warning, and lower expectations. If we do get something big, then it will be a pleasant surprise instead of something that almost lives up to expectations.

skullmount.1758:

Just watched this (was retweeted by GW2 twitter, though without the starting time)- http://youtu.be/GWftbufww3M?t=25m10s , and if they are correct, that the hall this panel is in is the biggest, then this must have some kind of really big announcement.
Or it could wind up being the next biggest disappointment.

It’s always possible that they took that stage because that was the only one open when they asked for a spot.

Please people, remember that it’s not ANet hyping it up this time. It’s the players. Go in with an open mind, but low expectations.

Slowpokeking.8720:

I think that giant flower is part of Mordremoth.

It has been stated, as I recall, that the vines ARE Mordremoth. So, if the flower is growing from the vines, then yes, it’s a part of him.

And now, I can’t help but imagine a slight change to one of Captain Hammer’s lines in Doctor Horrible.

While I’m enjoying the QL jokes, I think I’ll give a serious answer.

The sword wouldn’t have opened a hole to some random point in the mists, it would have gone to a point strongly related to the magic in use at the time. Basically, the part of the spirit world/mists where the curse is centered. It’s likely that he can see the curse of the Foefire there, as if it was a physical object. He might even be able to affect it somewhat.

This could be his one and only chance to find out what it takes to break the curse and do it. I think he’d consider that a higher priority than returning home is.

A skritt with a lemonade stand.

…no, really.

But, as you buy gems with real money (not convert gold to gems), he would start to carry other things as well. Special skins, perhaps some of the GW1 ones that didn’t make it over yet.

Yargesh.4965:

In two years I have never ever done this, could you clarify why you would want to do this?

Make a new character, and in the intro that’s really all you can do.

No utilities. No weapon skills 2-5. No profession skills, F1-F4 do nothing.

I guess you can heal, but apparently you can’t be killed in the intro.

I’m not sure if it will help, but have you looked into foot pedal controls?

A quick search shows them to come in a wide range of prices, but even a cheap 1 pedal control could replace something like “Jump”, right?

That said, I hope you get results with ANet as well. And if you do jump into SPvP, might I suggest a Turret Engineer with a pistol and shield? Make yourself tough, and give yourself traits for staying alive, and the turrets staying around as well. Grab a capture point, drop your turrets, and defend it. Even if they kill you, they’ll likely have to work for it, giving your team a break while an opponent is trying to deal with you. And the turrets control themselves, so even on a bad day they’ll still fight just fine.

I’d think that if the sylvari made spaceships, they’d be more like the ships from Jurai in Tenchi Muyo.

Basaltface.2786:

Neural.1824:

Basaltface.2786:

I somehow got a very bad feeling about this specialist program…

It does not bode well for any forum to be giving special tags out when it is already so heavily fractured into divisive groups.

thats exactly why i think that way man… this is destined to backfire horrible for all sides.

Agreed, and I hope they don’t do it. But if they do…
::grabs popcorn::

Behellagh.1468:

I did mention professional skills, underwater and off hand skills in my post. That isn’t eliminating choice, that’s simply level gating for new characters.

Now maybe it’s because I came from an MMO where your weapon skills were level gated from the start and down leveling removed the skills for that level, so I don’t see this as a choice issue but a tutorial design issue. If it was only limited to your first character of that profession it wouldn’t be so bad. It’s a lot like switching to a low level character and realizing how tough some event is when you aren’t a down leveled, fully exotic out level 80.

My point with traits is we’ve had 5 months to “acclimate” to that overwhelmingly badly implemented change. It’s not new and it’s lazy to include that when disagreeing about the changes that came out in September.

Do keep in mind that this is a thread about the NEW player experience and first impressions. Saying “it unlocks later” is pointless when they never get that far because they got a bad impression of the game.

Look at it like this: When you roll up a new character, your first choice is race, and your second is gender. What’s your third? Class.

But, that’s actually not going to have a real effect on them, save starting weapon and armor looks. A Warrior and a Guardian are pretty much the same. Elementalist, Mesmer, and Necromancer? Same. The only one that stands out is the Ranger, and that’s because there’s an NPC running around near you fighting.

Look at how long you have to play before your class becomes your class. When does a Necromancer start doing what they’re supposed to do? Guardians? How far do you have to go before your Thief can actually steal? When does the Elementalist begin to live up to that name? When does the Engineer actually do engineering?

Your sig mentions CoH. Think back to that. When did a Blaster begin to feel like a Blaster? When could a Mastermind start summoning minions? When did Scrappers feel different than Stalkers?

This is the real problem. GW2’s NPE removed the “hooks” that pull people into wanting to play that character, or explore that world. Yes, vet players know the hooks already and can play until we hit them, but new players are a different story. They don’t get the hooks right away that they used to, and it’s easy to conclude that the whole game is like that. This time, the new player came here and asked for feedback, but we all know that it’s a supposedly low percentage of players that even come to game forums, so how many are we losing without a word due to this? Those choices removed are the hooks, and saying “they’ll come later” is meaningless.

ANet said that retaining more players was an important issue, and that’s why they made the NPE.

Given that, the lack of support to refine and adjust the NPE is bad, bordering on horrifying. If this is how they deal with a major game development initiative, then there’s something going seriously wrong somewhere.

Behellagh.1468:

Pardon me but how did NPE take away choice? Don’t say traits because that was a change implemented some 5 plus months before. What NPE is is a tutorial you can’t escape from. So we went from no tutorial to a tutorial with no escape. Yes it’s annoying you don’t get your profession skills or your off hand weapon right away or your underwater skills that’s not removing choice.

Traits AND the rest of the NPE were both made for the China roll-out. We just got them in two parts. Don’t kid yourself, they’re both part of the same thing.

But let’s look at what you said isn’t removing choice. You CAN NOT use your off hand weapon until level 7. You can’t even equip one before then unless you go to the HotM. That’s a lost choice.

You can’t name your pet, select a new pet, or even change to a second pet if your first goes down in battle for several levels. That’s a lost choice. (A few lost choices, actually.)

You can’t fight underwater until you hit the right level. They had to make some underwater enemies non-aggro because of this, and flat-out removed others. You used to be able to fight underwater as soon as you left the intro mission, now you can’t. That’s a lost choice.

You can’t choose to change to water attunement in the intro.

You can’t choose to unleash adrenaline in the intro.

Or use a virtue. Or your toolbelt healing skill. Or steal. Or shatter. You can’t choose to do ANY of these until the game unlocks them later. How is that NOT a loss of choice for lower level players?

Gaile Gray.6029:

We have not made a final decision on this. What’s your opinion? Is there a reason it should be one or the other?

I see pluses and minuses to either choice. I can’t help but wonder how the forum membership as a whole will have faith in a specialist who uses an anonymous account.

That statement, and the one the link goes to (also by you), do tend to conflict just a bit.

That said, if you go ahead with forum specialists, I think they should post on their current accounts. If you make it two separate accounts, it’s only a matter of time before someone forgets which they’re logged in as and post under the wrong one for the situation. Let’s just avoid the whole “pulling off the mask” moment, and keep this as open as possible.

And if it works well, maybe you’ll change your mind about naming the moderators.

Hopeless.5403:

I think this game can learn that force feeding player housing is a bad idea.

Let’s be honest, here. When players feel forced into ANYTHING it turns ugly, even if some of them would love the change if it was optional.

Even the NPE and trait system revamp (disturbingly enough) have people that enjoy them over the old versions. The backlash comes from there being no real choice, it’s the new stuff or nothing.

In the CDIs, I tried to make it clear that I feel that Guild Halls (and personal housing) should never feel or be required, even if your guild wants to do GvG. And, by exchange, GvG should never be required for anything like Guild Halls. Everything should be optional and stand on its own.

I don’t play WoW and I don’t know what they’ve done that has you so upset, but it sounds like you feel you can’t ignore it. THAT is the mistake, I’d think. That you feel they forced onto you something that you didn’t want.

But, Skritt are adorable!

And with Rytlock gone, Destiny’s Edge needs a new member. We can call him “Skrittlock”!

Dyonisian.8610:

So please help me find ways to make this experience more “fun”, since the game refuses to do that for me. I discovered the random events already. Besides that so far I’m just following arrows and doing side quests that involve killing 20 of something. Does this end? When does this end? Is there any other alternative to progressing in the game and hopefully getting somewhere better? What else can I do except be the NPC’s kitten?

First of all, this simply may not be the game for you. If so, nothing we say can change that. However, let’s try to make it a bit more fun for you by getting you out of the “tutorial” zones.

First, you’ll need to find the Black Lion Traders (the market). There’s one in each major city, and scattered throughout the world. If they don’t show on your map, just ask around in town and someone will point you towards them.

Second, buy a “Minor Sigil of Bloodlust” and a “Minor Sigil of Speed”. These are pretty cheap, so you should be able to get them. Bloodlust is the important one, though.

Third (optional, but recommended), check the market for the best weapons you can equip at your level. These will likely be ones with the name in blue. Get the one/set that looks best to you (greatswords are always a solid choice), and equip it.

Fourth, go to your equipment screen (Hero Pannel, shortcut is the “H” key), double click those sigils, and put them into your weapons. (One each for two one hand weapons, both into a two hand weapon).

You’re now equipped with a weapon that gains power as you kill (up to 25 stacks, giving a bonus of +125 Power), and makes you run faster for a bit after each kill. Go back outside, turn on the arrow (if you’ve turned it off), and let it lead you around as you lay waste to everything that crosses your path.

When you reach level 10, do the personal story that pops up for a change of pace and some rewards. If you replace your weapons, I suggest you sigil the new ones as well.

When you reach level 15, you’re ready to head on to the next group of zones. These will show you more of what the game is really like.

Thanatos.2691:

Redenaz.8631:

Personally, I’ve been collecting them to build a suit of “drop armor” for jumping puzzles. I don’t know yet how much I’ll actually use it, but if this lets me jump from newfound heights like a madman and survive, I figure there’s something fun there.

I can’t see them being broadly useful, but they’re something different, anyway, and that appeals to me.

Drop armor. That sounds amazing! Lol I think I’m going to have to make a set of drop armor myself just for exploration/puzzles. Drop armor!

What class would be the best for that? Necro?

JustTrogdor.7892:

^^This^^. Plus there is already a merged thread on expansion talk on the front page. Please respect other forum members by posting your thoughts in the appropriate threads.
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Expansion-Thread-merged/

To be fair, he’s not addressing the expansion idea so much as asking them to clearly smash the idea if they can and avoid an impending backlash. Communication, not game additions.

Zoso.8279:

Man idk if i should apply or not X.X i’ve always wanted to keep this game as a just for fun thing so idk if having that little bit of extra responsibility is ok or it might be too much. Lol I’m always on the forums anyways so idk……. man ill flip a coin lol let lady luck decide for me

Don’t do it…yet.

Let those that really want to do it take the first round, and let them be the ones that get hit with any problems. Then, when it’s more developed and the bumps are smoothed out, reconsider.

Windsagio.1340:

Thing with Mawdry is you get a unique skin, an ascended back (usually costs 15 damask + other crap) and the dust eater.

That’s why it’s so expensive, you actually get a ton with the package

The problem is that the people that are most likely viewing dust as a “worthless” reward are the ones that are also least able/likely to jump through the hoops to get Mawdry.

They need a separate dust disposal item, or a second way to get JUST the dust eating version.

/facepalm
We know we’ve all wanted to do that at some point.

/dice
Pops up a dice with a number 1-6, at random.

/sit1
/sit2
/sit3
Some different sitting poses for different situations. Let players position themselves, then do the emote that makes them sit in the correct pose for that situation.

/passout
The character faints/collapses, as if overly drunk or shocked.

/blahblah
The character acts disrespectful while doing the ‘chattering mouth’ gesture with his/her hand.

Donari.5237:

Palador, I think you may be getting automated messages saying you’re infracted when in fact you have not been (this happened to me, and Gaile set me straight). I posit a software issue, not moderators being putzes. I did a followup on my appeal to let them know there might be a problem there.

Until I know, can you blame me for feeling paranoid?

I could give a cynical answer, but I’ll give you a more practical one instead.

When you’re playing a musical instrument, that’s pretty much ALL you can be doing with it. There’s no actual difference (from the dev PoV) between someone silently crafting, and someone crafting while their character plays a harp. And aside from crafting and opening bags, there’s little else you CAN do while playing an instrument.

Basically, playing an instrument is an easy indicator that the character is being (more or less) non-productive at that point in time.

Allowing macros at any other time runs the risk that they’re being used to some game play advantage. There’s no easy to track flag to show that it’s not.

Kuldebar.1897:

The Star of Gratitude is on par but requires the Jumping Puzzle game mode which I do not do.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’ve heard that world chests in the same areas as the JPs also have a chance of dropping the items you need.

Gaile Gray.6029:

Palador — you’re sounding a tad sensitive about the whole moderator thing. Don’t worry, no one’s going to remove your post — it’s sensible, moderate in tone, and presents a couple of valid questions. It’s fine!

Gaile, I can’t talk about what the Mods may or may not have done (against the rules, you know), but I can (hopefully) state that I have recently sent in two infraction appeals. Look at the most recent and tell me if you see something seriously wrong there or not.

THAT is why I’m “a tad sensitive”. Paranoia.

Kuldebar.1897:

Um, it’s a cheaper Mawdrey II for those who can stomach Jumping Puzzles…but like M2, it’s woefully ill-equipped to handle the task at hand.

Come on! 3-6 stacks of 50 a day? And Mawdrey 2 costs about 100-150 gold in mats to craft. SoG maybe be “cheaper” but it still is just as anemic.

Just let me put four stacks of this crap in the Mystic Toilet for RNG rewards already!

Problem solved.

I think that the SoG is for more casual players (like me) that never intend to even touch Ascended crafting. SoG was a good, fun item to earn and we don’t have stack after stack to dispose of.

Mawdrey 2 was… poorly done. For the more casual players, it was expensive enough that it was still better to just scrap the bloodstone dust rather than try to make this thing.

I think they want the more serious players that have stack upon stack of these items to go ahead and plunge into crating Ascended, that’s why the items can’t handle disposing of all that much.

(For what it’s worth, I have the SoG and I love it. I had a lot more bloodstone dust, though, and after looking at what it takes to make Mawdrey 2 I just destroyed it all. Seriously, not worth it.)

I’d post my thoughts on this here, but… yeah, you know.

However, as Gaile is reading this thread, I’d like to take a moment to address a Moderator “problem”.

The problem is that the Mods are “faceless minions”, if you’ll forgive the phrase. This makes them really easy to hate. Have you (given that this seems as if it should fall under your control) considered giving them different names so we can tell them apart, and letting them post more than canned replies?

Even if it’s just “Moderator 8” or “Moderator Sigma”, separate names would let us know who we’re dealing with, make them seem less faceless. By the same token, having them post something in a thread before it’s closed or edited so they can say why they’re doing that will make them seem more open, especially if it’s not a canned response.

I realize the response to this is most likely “no”, if you even read it before one of the mods takes their own action against this post. Gods know they don’t seem to like me lately. Still, I think it’s something worth considering and it might help to slow some of the bad feelings that build up on these boards when the moderators come to call.

OMNIBUS.2913:

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

Hey, I don’t have a problem with that. If it can be lured/forced onto dry land for us to take on with a (sensible) method . . . or with a reason such as “to remove it from its element and fight it on our battleground of choice instead of its” . . . I could get behind that.

. . . I mean, why on earth if you had the choice of doing that or fighting an underwater dragon in its home . . . would you do the latter? Why on earth would you intentionally try to take on a dragon in its lair instead of outside it? This is how D&D adventuring parties become dead meat.

The only reasons it worked against Zhaitan were -

- It didn’t seriously think the Pact could do it. It really seemed to think it was invincible even when it was busy shrieking at us from a pillar as cannon fire tore it apart.

- The entire Pact turned up for it with a weapon tuned to pretty much disrupt dragon energy.

- Its element wasn’t something intrinsically dangerous like lava or extreme cold or deep water. It was controlling dead corpses.

You could also come up with a bunch of reasons why we would have to go after it. Just like zhaitan :p You never know how anet will write the story

Nah. When there’s only one Elder Dragon left, they’ll say that it trying to contain all the magic overloads it and makes it blow up. No fight, and a wave of magic washes over Tyria, making way for GW3.