Guild Wars 2

Nope. Dead. Horse. Seriously, please stop.

If you want to suggest much large PvP maps for that actual game mode, then have at. If you want to just have an open world feel to get into some fights with random people, play WvW on your server’s off times and go looking for fights.

Leave PvE as is.

i learned a long time ago that GW2 was not a friendly system for small guilds. There just seems to be a feeling that small guilds just have to be happy with whatever they can manage in GW2 and larger guilds will simply get all the perks. No way around that. If that also means guild halls then so be it. Or at least that is the feeling i get being the leader of a small casual guild. Basically do the content or peter out. :/

**Note: This is the third complete re-write as the prior versions were filled with far too much vitriol.

Speculation.

This is now what this thread is being reduced to as per Anet. Speculation of the “new system” that was hinted at by Colin. Sorry, the new “simpler” system hinted at by Colin. OK, I’ll bite.

Let me throw out some speculation based on Anet’s actions thus far and based on the info provided to us thus far regarding HoT. Currently, if Anet cannot get us any real dates for when we might be hearing any details about the trait update then that puts us exactly where we were when we were all asking for info regarding precursor crafting ages ago. A whole lot of, “we are working on something, but need to work out some details so can’t really talk about it”. Well, let’s continue the speculation then: if that was the general party line about the precursor crafting back then, and now the only way to access it is going to be by buying the xpac, then would it be safe to speculate that we also won’t see the trait change until after the xpac drops? Obviously Anet won’t do something as silly as make us pay for it as its a core game mechanic and doing so would probably kill a large portion of their player base, but what is their impetuous for getting it live before HoT? This is especially true if it has anything to do with the new mechanics being added into the game via HoT. If the trait update is still in the “getting worked on” phase and we are being told to simply speculate on it that logically means they have nothing to show us/share with us for some time (as has been their M.O.) so can we at least be told (honestly) if Anet doesn’t plan on dropping the update until after HoT’s release?

Its a pretty straight forward question. Can we get an answer to that?

See, at the end of the day that prior thread COULD HAVE been a great place to dialog with us. It could have been a great place to show which feedback was being considered and why, and why others might not have been. It could have been a great exchange of ideas. Instead, Anet leveraged things we said in there to guide the new content for the xpac (which I understand keeping close to your vest so i don’t fault any of that), but at the same time not ONCE went in there and said “hey we are definitely working on something to hopefully replace this system and once we can we will give you more details on this new system.” instead we got a post that sort of said that, followed by a post after HoT was announced that said, “hey we are definitely working on something to hopefully replace this system and once we can we will give you more details on this new system.” O.o

So, in essence we were told quite literally, no new information. Nothing. Not, hey we have something almost completed and look for an update in X window/time frame. Now if we are to take Anet’s policy on communication into consideration here this basically means that there is nothing of real substance here to talk about with us, since if there was, they’d be able to commit to a date to at least talk about it in detail with us. Seriously. Since April. After suggestions made literally helped guide the direction of these new systems in some way, and there STILL isn’t a concrete bit of info you all are willing to share?!

To say consumer confidence has been damaged would be an understatement. We are tired of speculation. We are tired of suggesting things. We want to actually discuss something of substance and frankly this thread just serves to yank us along by our chain some more.

ozmaniandevil.6805:

My main point is that I’m not spending another $60 because the game I have now is broken and I don’t trust that throwing more money at it is a wise choice. They break stuff then say “well we gonna fix it when you give us more money”. That’s what I hear. If you read through the entire article on mastery, all the good stuff goes to those who buy the expansion.

From post:
“The ability to train Masteries is unlocked at level 80 for all players that own Heart of Thorns. "

Mhmmm.

Well yes, to be fair the masteries as they envision it would be locked behind the expansion. Most of the masteries will no doubt have to do with things/mechanics/fights/maps that are all in the new areas to begin with. The bigger concerns under masteries are the Fractals one and the Lengendary one since those have a good chance of fracturing their player base, which was my concern over in some other threads. I can’t fault Anet for putting new content behind an expansion. My worry is them locking content they dangled in front of us as free features at one time now being locked, but thats all for another thread.

They really need to give us more info on this new simplified trait system they teased a few days ago and give the players time to try it out before HoT goes live however. it is in heir best interest to do so or they may lose way more people than they could imagine before Hot gets off the ground.

ozmaniandevil.6805:

This whole thing makes me really angry, having me as close to uninstalling the game as I have ever been. I read about the mastery and the trait changes. Seems I will be forced to buy the expansion in order to get something FIXED that is currently broken in the $60 game I already purchased. At this point… I’m so angry… I have no words that won’t get me banned.

The game makers are delusional if they think they’ll get another $60 from me to buy content that will probably be just as bad as what we currently have. HERE, go do this, this, this and this in this map at this specific time and you may feel the power!! Oh, wait, did you give us your credit card number first?

Ya. That’s how I’m feeling right about now.

That post was just about the mastery system. They have yet to give us any meat on the actual new trait system they told us they were going to implement. Only that it meshed better with these new systems they will be implementing with the xpac.

Now if you want to rage about precursor crafting being behind the xpac or possible the new WvW map (although they’ve not said yea or nay on that yet officially), then go right ahead.

I can’t hate too much on new mechanics I’ve yet to see, but I can say that if what i hear about the traits don’t sell me well, then I might not ever see those mechanics to begin with. Its like, i’d love to give Anet money again and have fun doing some new things, but not if I feel like I’m about to get messed with again.

Brtiva.9721:

Gilosean.3805:

Palador.2170:

Well folks, the blog about Masteries is up.

The ability to train Masteries is unlocked at level 80 for all players that own Heart of Thorns.

And that line does not sound promising. Lets hope that there’s more to come that runs counter to that line.

The blog: https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/reimagining-progression-the-mastery-system/

Hm. That makes it sound like the skillpoint shift on leveling won’t take place on accounts that don’t have the expansion.

I was thinking the same. Yet, they could simply disable skill point acquisition after hitting 80 across the whole game, and enable mastery point acquisition for those who get the xpac.

Seems more that SP gain will end (regardless of xpac ownership), and you will then gain mastery points in secret and won’t be able to do anything with them until/if you buy the xpac.

I want tops to be toggle-able. I have had a concept for a female norn ranger, but her look requires her to not have visible armor up top. trying to run her without a crucial bit of armor as a ranger only goes so far before things get too ouchie under the new system.

Brother Grimm.5176:

All of these people getting “upset” are doing so prematurely. There will be plenty of time for wailing and gnashing of teeth when we get some more specifics.

Unless Anet has once again failed at proof-reading their own press release for details, it quite clearly stated that the precursor crafting thing was linked directly to the Mastery system which is directly linked to owning the xpac. No xpac, no crafting precursors.

I’d love for them to come into any of the threads that have mentioned this and clarify, but knowing anet they will just hang back and see how the chips fall first.

nope. They’ve stated a few times that this wasn’t going to be a thing and there have been a few posts over the years talking about it and why it would be a problem.

So, yeah…

In short: don’t expect first person POV to ever be a thing in GW2.

Neural.1824:

PookieDaWombat.6209:

Didn’t you see though?! You can just buy the xpac when it comes out and then make one. But you know…have to still buy the xpac for the thing people wanted…for like…forever.

It’s called “Bait & switch”. They teased the playerbase for a long time over this, and are likely now going to stick it behind a paywall. Typical.

Oh believe me, I know.

What I’m hoping to see is for it to dawn on more people and see if Anet is going to actually respond to this or if they are waiting to see how many people don’t rush to buy the xpac then lose their minds when they realize they can’t craft a precursor.

Ohoni.6057:

I would hope that players that don’t buy the expansion would at least have access to the “old map” masteries, giving them some amount of progression.

My guess is “nope”.

Well, sorta lie. i think they might get messages that they’ve earned mastery points, but will have no way to interact with them, spend them, grow on those fronts until they buy the xpac. Imagine the trait system as it is now, with getting pop ups that you’ve unlocked a trait, but have no way to looking over it or doing anything with them unless you bought the update. I think that’s how it will roll.

Brother Grimm.5176:

Where have they said that old precursors will even be obtainable via the new method? (I might have missed that).

If they haven’t specifically stated that, keep in mind that your “valid argument” may be factor in whether or not they include old precursors in the new method….just to make your “argument” a moot point.

They said it during their live twitch talk from PAX South. Feel free to find it on youtube. They clearly say all precursors, new and old, could be obtained in this way.

Basically dangled a arrot in front of their player base ages ago, mea culpa’d after they over reached by talkign about it, said they’d have something in the works, and are now putting it behind a paid xpac.

People that have been wanting this since they said they’d implement it before the xpac was even a thing have every right to be upset.

zerorogue.9410:

lordkrall.7241:

zerorogue.9410:

If the mastery system was limited to the jungle there would be no issue. However if what was said is true, they are adding a system that will increase your combat abilities behind a pay-gate to into the game in general. Something like this will cause very serious issues.

As far as I read it the combat abilities seems tied to the enemies faced in the Jungle, so that shouldn’t be much of an issue.

I also still don’t see the issue, since clearly it is fully possible to play the standard game now without the Masteries, why would it suddenly become impossible after the expansion?

It says in the post that

Master Fractals: Uncover new depths in the Fractals of the Mists to gain powerful new abilities to overcome difficult fractal challenges, garner greater rewards, and unlock more powerful infusions.

If what is said here is true, that means Non-HoT players will not only be blocked from advancing any further in fractals, but any organized group will most definitely have “HoT Plrs ONLY” on their LFG. Something has to be a mistake in the article otherwise Anet has crossed a line they themselves promised not to cross.

My guess is they are planning on releasing Fractals content that requires the xpac to even get into so for those players that want to play on those maps (since they are instanced anyway), they will just not be available for players without the xpac and therefore won’t need those masteries. That’s my take away at least.

Didn’t you see though?! You can just buy the xpac when it comes out and then make one. But you know…have to still buy the xpac for the thing people wanted…for like…forever.

OK, so Colin. Just recently you came in here and said:

“In doing so: we’re going to be removing the current trait unlocking system currently on live and replacing it with a more simplified system that supports where skills-traits-specializations are going in the future. We’ll go into more details between now and the release of HOT on how skills, traits, and specializations will work in the new Gw2 world.”

Now that the Mastery info is out there, can you give us a time line on when you might discuss or announce this new traits system Anet is looking to implement? Especially since the Mastery announcement more or less states that SP gain after level 80 is going away. can we get some clarification on this?

lordkrall.7241:

PookieDaWombat.6209:

Not to mention that as it stands now it looks like they are taking the one thing they dangled before their playerbase long ago, and putting it behind the buying of the xpac. So the option is buy the xpac and you can quest to craft a precursor or don’t buy it (for whatever your reasons might be) and stay fighting with RNG or buying them for gold.

I’m sure this will go over swimmingly with the player base.

I think you overestimate how many that care about the Precursor hunt or who even knew it was a requested thing.

Don’t really see much of an issue with it either. Unless they remove to ability for them to drop and be sold nothing will really change for people that don’t buy the expansion (except possibly making it easier to get a hold of one due to lower prices on the TP).

I think you severely underestimate how many there are since it was Anet’s original talking about it and the player outrage after all of that which lead the company to develop its “not saying anything to anyone and anything” policy.

Not to mention the other concerning issues with it.

Who here will enjoy the idea of not being able to precursor craft/quest unless they buy the xpac?

That aside, all I can imagine now is, well, I don’t even know what to imagine since nothing in this post really speaks to traits other than at level 80 you’ll stop earning skill points, which under the current system severely hurts those trying to get traits unlocked.

Not to mention that as it stands now it looks like they are taking the one thing they dangled before their playerbase long ago, and putting it behind the buying of the xpac. So the option is buy the xpac and you can quest to craft a precursor or don’t buy it (for whatever your reasons might be) and stay fighting with RNG or buying them for gold.

I’m sure this will go over swimmingly with the player base.

I agree that the problem here is in the wording and I really hope now that Anet has done their post that they are also willing to actually answer concerns.

I have to say that I agree with the worry about the “need expansion for mastery” and the lack of SP gain could hurt people that have not bought the xpac. Sure there will be other ways to gain SP, but what if you have a new toon that hasn’t even gotten all your traits and had been relying on those SP for filling that out as well?

How does this tie into a (hopefully) fixed traits problem that is supposedly on the horizon?

Also, please clarify Anet: Only people that buy the xpac and therefore unlock the Mastery system can hope to craft a precursor? If not they are still beholden to the RNG or buy it system? Are you really going to tell your game population that the one thing most if not all have been clamoring for (and which got many cheers during your Twitch event) is only going to be available to those that can or want to pony up?

morrolan.9608:

psizone.8437:

I don’t get it, either. In my mind, as long as it doesn’t lock people out of the base game, WvW and perhaps PvP being the main modes at risk here then by all rights, it should be locked.

Though guild halls being locked out for non-payers despite the guild leader having the expansion could risk the integrity of the guild system.

Certainly and lead to a schism in the game. There would be a huge outcry from those who don’t buy the xpac.

Plus there’s the issue of whatever they do with precursor questing. If existing precursors can be quested for only if you buy the xpac then again there will be a huge outcry. New precursors and legendaries it would be more reasonable to gate.

I hadn’t even considered the precursor questing! i know of a few people personally that would walk if they made it so the only way you could choose this route is if you buy the xpac. ESPECIALLY since it was something dangled out there by Anet LONG before talk of an xpac was even a thing.

I think it will give us a glimpse into the direction Anet will be going with traits, but not more than that. I’d hope they could tell us more but who knows. We’ll just have to wait and see what PR blurb we get today.

While having another Charr in heavy armor might be a bit redundant for me, I’m also lacking in another Charr toon. I might give Sylvari another go on that front, but most likely will end up being a human after all is said and done.

it sounds like they will be going that route (at least from the last news post), and that would be great. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my times in SW and think it offers the most for vet players when it comes to both difficulty and reward.

Donari.5237:

Actually they have mentioned something concrete today. Maps with phases a’la SW, Outposts, Adventures.

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/journey-into-the-heart-of-maguuma-in-guild-wars-2-heart-of-thorns/

I just read it, and while it sounds exciting to have more maps like SW (which I’ve enjoyed while there) I’m hoping their promise of more detailed info is actually that. Once again, i’m just going off of the info they’ve given in the past about prior changes to the game that fell short of what was actually delivered.

@Donari: While i do hope the info they give will be comprehensive, my greater worry is that it won’t be and people might actually want more info before putting money towards the beta and beyond (especially on those features like the WvW map and Mastery system) which may bleed into/affect the core game whether you have the xpac or not.

Also, with this week half over, i don’t see them mentioning anything until maybe next week, and I just don’t think they are ready to speak on it even then. I think the earliest we might hear anything from them is after any feedback they get at PAX.

Although tedious, i think getting full map of EBG will be the hardest as that area sees the most action, but the main BL maps shouldn’t be too hard if you’re in no rush to get all the points since your map color may change week to week making it a little easier perhaps.

Imp.5621:

Hello all, I am new to GW2 and I am going to ask a few questions below.
I bought the game around about 7-9 months ago forgot when.

1. How should I level up my character? Quests maybe?
2. Is there only 1 pet or can we find more around the world and tame them?
3. I am from EU, England.. is there a popular/active server I should join to see a lot of players around the world etc?
4. Is there a best class in-game or do they all balance out?
5. Should I join a guild and meet new people or get a highly rank character before doing this?
6. Is GW2 still an active game with a lot of players?
7. Is there a such thing as a rare item, such as armor, weapons etc? Do they have a different color from other items?

That’s all for now, I may post more questions later.
Thank you all.

1- Do everything you can when you can. This means hearts, random events that pop up while running around, gathering all the nodes, crafting your equipment when you can/want, opening maps, and doing personal story when it comes up. All of these things will speed you along with leveling.
2- A ranger cam tame a bunch of pets all around the world.
3- pass on this for someone from the EU side to chime in
4 – Play what suits you/try them all/learn them all
5- Join up to 5 guilds if you want, but be sure they are a good fit for you.
6- Yes.
7- Yup, although you don’t HAVE to get the most top tier armor, you can definitely work towards getting it.

Well, I’m trying to be hopeful that we will get some info regarding traits, their direction and how they will relate to the new Mastery System soon (read: please make this the first “deep dive”*).

*note: I really hate this term because it just drips of PR speak and makes me cringe at the idea of the info we are going to get before the beta. I’d love to be a part of it, but if I feel as if i’m being sold on something with little substance then I’ll have to pass, which honestly hurts.

BrotherBelial.3094:

Every expansion ever has locked content behind a “pay wall”. And if you’ve played Guild Wars since GW1, you know the answer to all of your questions. As for driving players away, a big world full of nope. Everyone in my guild and that I’ve talked to ingame have said they are buying it and can’t wait for it. I my self want to know why I can’t buy it yet. I’ve played Guild Wars since Open Beta of Guild Wars 1. Have I liked every little thing ANet have done? Nope. But I have enjoyed every hour that I’ve spent in their the game. And to show that I’ve probably spent a lot since launch of GW2 on gems. I can’t give you a figure, as I’ve not kept track. But it’s probably about the same as you’ve spent. Possibly a lot more.

While i see where you are coming from i have to point out that the way GW and its subsequent expansions (which were full on games of their own which could stand and be played independent of the other titles) were delivered allowed them to have their content completely segregated from the other games. Each delivered their own new content while incorporating the lore and base classes of the primary game.

Conversely we’ve already been told that this expansion to the game (although getting both a digital and physical distro) requires the base game to be owned meaning it is tacking on additional content to the existing game and not delivering a completely encapsulated new experience. To that end, they are launching certain things like the Guild Halls and WvW map, and to a lesser degree the mastery system that would either HAVE to bleed in some way into the game for people that don’t have the expansion or risk splintering their player base.

I am not adverse to paying for an expansion, but what i am adverse to is limited communication about the release before the beta, in part because of the horrendous job Anet has done over just the past year of communicating big changes to core systems in the game which adversely affected their bottom line already. The numbers are there. I’m fully aware that certain things will definitely be locked out and should be. Specializations are basically new classes and need to be locked out, however are they only being allowed in PvE or are they considering the possible* game balance issues that might arise in PvP and WvW if those classes are allowed in those game modes? They’ve already hinted that Mastery will tie in with their updated idea for traits and if so, how will that affect players that don’t want to or can’t buy the expansion? If getting Halls are to be locked behind the expansion (which i understand and ultimately am fine with) can they confirm that those without the xpac can use them if they are in a guild that has one or are they SOL about getting into the Hall until they too buy the xpac?

I’d really like someone to explain to me why asking these questions of Anet and hoping for an actual answer outside of a PR announcement amounts to “wanting something for nothing?”

Dante.1763:

Dante.8456:

i think with Guild Halls it will be a case of just the Guild Leader needing the expansion. I reckon members can still use the hall without it

I hate seeing this, its so confusing xD

And yes im with this too, guild leader needs it, but everyone else can use it.

Wow, dude…my brain….

;)

Dante.8456:

i think with Guild Halls it will be a case of just the Guild Leader needing the expansion. I reckon members can still use the hall without it

And to honest, I’m ok with that on the whole since at the end of the day they still need to make money and that is the value add to be sure. I just hope they confirm that more leading up to the beta since I think being up front about it will win them more points than being needlessly vague as that will surely push those that are on the edge of walking over that point, which would not be great.

Wow, for as many misgivings as I might have for the game this post is just…wow.

We know nothing of the skills that will come from this update, nor the utilities. It might very well change how we play the game on the whole and develop a brand new meta for all we know. Frankly I’d love to see a warrior specialization be “Monk”. A true WaMo of old with some crazy ridiculous support and healing in lieu of damage and have the weapon set be dual daggers. As fort he Engie hammer, I’m honestly most excited about that prospect. And those small drones too. i want them. I want to name them.

Machiavell.7396:

I said it multiple times and I’m gonna say it again. ArenaNet created Living Story for us, giving us content every 2 weeks, for free. People were whining about expansion because content was not enough for them despite having really huge amount of it through these 2 and a half years. They listened to you, gave you expansion, NOW you cry that you gonna be gated.

Prepare to buy xpac or prepare to pay me and other heavy golds for items we gonna bring from there to you, You asked for it, you got it, cry us a river now you greedy never happy people.

Not really sure why this has to be explained as much as it does:

This has nothing to do with greed or wanting or not wanting an xpac or the living story. This has to do with the fundamental structure of the game itself and Anet’s stance of not alienating their player base. In this case two major things that they spoke of with regard to the xpac (Guild Halls and new WvW map) are two things that given the current game structure would be IMO prblematic for them to gate behind HoT.

As was stated above, they could possibly gate the obtaining of the Guild Hall behind it, but that just means that guild leaders would have to buy the xpac to unlock it for their guild, but they can’t realistically lock it out from members of that guild from using it if they don’t have the xpac lest they want to drive a wedge in their player base.

Same is true for the new WvW map. Aside from it being something that many have wanted for a while, if half of the current players and some new players only buy the core game and they only make that map available to people who buy the xpac you will have a huge gap in the player base in a major game mode.

If their proposed change to the traits system is going to be as closely married to the upcoming mastery system, then there will need to be some kind of bleed through of that to people that maybe don’t have the xpac.

psizone.8437:

1. Guild halls will probably be locked and only upgradable etc if the guild leader has the expansion (those without the pack can go in if they leader has it).
2. Revenant will be locked, it seems like this is one of the definite ones.
3. Specialisations might not be locked considering their stance of having this system to balance the game more and add more customisation in general.
4. Masteries probably won’t be locked except the ones that directly involve the jungle, those would be locked.
5. The new area will definitely be locked, as will the events and stories tied in with it.

I was thinking this might be the case as well, and although I don’t necessarily like the idea of number one personally, I can see that being a thing and can totally understand it from a business standpoint. I really do hope they also give more specifics along these lines with their deep dives, but historically they have been fairly bad about it, hence my post in the first place.

BTW, thank you for actually discussing the topic.

To be fair, dodging isn’t the only defensive mechanic built into the game or the professions. If you want to run full glass then to HAVE to learn all of the other ways to mitigate damage from blocks, blinks, evades, invulns, applying weakness and protection at the right times, boosting your vigor when you can and also knowing when to dodge. ALL of those things combined with certain self heals and stealth are all the tools needed to survive across the professions as full glass. Obviously you can spec for something more tanky and heal based and give yourself a bit of a safety net at the expense of damage, but then you need to learn how much long certain fights might take and how that can affect your cool-downs over all.

Coglin:

You must be new here. Aside from the fact that it has been Anet who has touted that they want to be more open about communication, and has fallen horribly short of that just this last year alone, let me talk to some of your “points”.

Their deep dives have historically been sparse when it comes to giving any real info and usually amount to standard promo fluff and at best some well delivered info that tends to leave out the things that would be most problematic to the players on the whole. Perfect examples of this were the trait update, wardrobe/outfit update, megaserver update…just to name a few. To want more communication before the deep dives on some of the above questions is a perfectly fair request. Please note I said request since at no point have I “demanded” anything nor could I.

Secondly, I do in fact know how much I’ve spent on this game as i was averaging anywhere from 25-75 dollars for both myself and my wife on gemcards for this game as well as an additional 50 for my stepson per month for the first year it was out and a little less through the second year. I’ll let you do the math on that one for yourself. Furthermore, the reason i was even pointing that out in the first place wasn’t to give the impression that this somehow gave my words more weight, but rather it was in direct response to the notion that just because someone brings up a potential issue that they’d like feedback on doesn’t mean they have not nor will not drop more money on the game.

For as many people that have jumped on the idea of the expansion there are just as many that have long since left and are cautiously watching, and many others on the brink of leaving the game from feeling “burned” by Anet that also would walk and stop dropping the money they had been on the game. The financials for the game and company (which are also publicly available) have already shown a steady drop over the last few quarters and those drop offs are not something to be ignored. Their bottom line has already been affected by their actions over the last year and I was just pointing out that certain things, if gated, could further hurt that bottom line.

Lastly, no, I’ve not said “I want” anywhere. Quote and bold the times I’ve said it in whole before you make such specious claims. All it does it make it seem as though you can’t or refuse to read the posts in front of you.

Ominous.7583:

Stop being cheap and buy the expansion or quit playing then. At least your not paying a sub fee for this game. GW1 released 2 editional campaigns you had to pay for and 1 expansion pack you needed one campaign for and you got a massive amount of good content with each one of those.

Not sure if you’re actually addressing this towards me or not, but if so please understand a few things:

1- This post is more for trying to elicit an actual response with info from Anet itself (although the general discussion of such things i believe to be necessary for the community as a whole).

2- I can safely say that I’ve personally spent about 1000 dollars on this game in the way of gems since its release and have been with the franchise since the beginning of GW1. I can also safely say that recent Anet decisions have left a bad enough taste in my mouth that I am apprehensive at best about putting any more money towards them until they can speak more openly about their plans.

3- As some others have stated, gating something like Guild Halls behind the xpac would drive once loyal players away from the game faster than anything they’ve done to date, which will hurt their bottom line and their community.

I love this game immensely and have hated every one of the decisions in recent months that have colored the game in a bad light for both new and older players and simply want more open communication about these things before the beta for HOT even drops so the community can weigh in and help guide the game to a bigger and better place.

Apologies up front if there are already other threads about this. Since the search feature doesn’t work I figured if this needs to be merged later with another thread then so be it.

I was thinking about all of the things that Anet has said will be dropping with this expansion and how a good many of those things are not technically expansion specific. What i mean is that while the new maps and zones and mechanics for those zones as well as the revenant class are all things that I can expect to be locked behind the expansion things like specializations (to a lesser degree) and Guild Halls, and the new WvW maps to a much greater degree I have a hard time seeing gated behind the expansion.

Is it Anet’s stance then that your guild cannot have a guild hall unless you buy the expansion? Are WvW players just out of luck when it comes to the new map if they don’t pony up money for the new xpac? Are masteries just going to be something that older players are going to be cut off from, and by extension, specializations as well?

If so, will those specializations only be applicable to PvE or all game modes?

OK, so I have to share this because its fairly relevant here. This is a warrior I just recently got to level 80 by simply playing the game/PS. I am currently sitting on about 5 gold in hand, with I think maybe another 8 in the TP waiting for pick-up and maybe about 50 more gold in my “rainy day” guild bank. Bear in mind that she still doesn’t have any exotic accessories or armor (only rare or masterwork) ONE level 80 exotic weapon (thanks to WvW reward tickets) and I’m fairly certain she still has at least 2 more skills to get if she was to be considered "complete on that front. Note in the image that one of the major trait slots is empty. Not because I couldn’t decide what to put in there, but because I don’t have any of them unlocked for that slot and at least wanted the minor for that line.

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/109536577180521040712/albums/5970674476312664465/6111629688744166466?pid=6111629688744166466&oid=109536577180521040712

Anet: Instead of having us re-watch something that barely informs, can we get a news post regarding more details about upcoming features (as you said you would do) and possible and more related to this thread, more info on this new trait system and what we can come to expect from it. Also, let us know if we are going to see it implemented before the release of HoT or if you are only rolling it during the proposed Beta.

Stealth, itself, is not the problem in this game. I can safely point to a few classes that can do “X” thing that are horrendously annoying/cheesy/whatever. it doesn’t mean it needs to be nerfed into the ground.

Sure, there are some things regarding stealth that are broken (like stealth off of doors and walls in WvW) but that is more a bug issue than the mechanic itself being countered.

Is it annoying that a good stealth player can break off and get away when they are about to lose? Sure. It can be argued that its just as annoying for that stealth glass cannon thief when they try to fight the super tanky Guardian with the 100000 blocks and aegis and blinds they have rendering that one trick pony thief useless.

Bernie.8674:

runeblade.7514:

Gregori.5807:

runeblade.7514:

Bernie.8674:

It was brilliant until they screwed it up with this alt-unfriendly trait system. I’m optimistic that it will be brilliant again.

I have many alts, I never once thought it was alt-unfriendly.

3) On the post April 15th alts, how many traits do you have unlocked per toon
4) On alts rolled after April 15th, how many traits did you buy vs unlock

3. 20 of them unlocked everything. 4-5 did not unlock everything.
4. I bought somewhere around 0-4 traits for each character because I didn’t like the traits I got. Then I hunted down the rest.

Sorry, but I don’t think that someone who has time to level 20 alts in less than nine months, let alone unlock every trait on 20 alts is typical of the GW2 player base. Maybe when I win the lottery I’ll have the time to dedicate my entire day to playing the game. Until then I’ll have to settle for sneaking in posts on these forums from time to time and getting in 0.5-3 hours per night of play time. After seeing those claims it’s pretty hard to relate to anything you say.

Not to mention the luck to be able to get in on notoriously bugged events and other timed events that often. I literally lucked into a cohesive build on my test necro and the warrior i just tried leveling through the system…well, I’ll post her current state of being trait wise once i get home, but its goofed up.

Support/Heel warrior can be beastly when done right and its fun watching people get confused by the insane healing ticks it can provide. I say as long as you’re having fun play how you want.

MartinusDraco.8379:

I see similar responses in many posts…seems everyone is down on Necromancers. Why?

Not really sure since i was chewing through some dudes on my necro in WvW recently and in PvP. Had to get about 4 people to focus me hard to even get me down.

Colin: First, thank you very much for that update. It appears I was right when i said the changes incoming would have something to do with the new mastery thing and I greatly appreciate that things we have been saying in this thread have lead to these changes to the system over all.

That being said, I want to state that i REALLY hope these changes come to us in advance of the release of HoT for a few reasons:

• Giving players a chance to play with/work out the new system to see issues that devs maybe couldn’t see during the dev process BEFORE a major release will only help the major release go off smoother and allow the devs more time to put towards HoT related issues that might arise
• If the system is a hit with the many players from this thread and the rest of the community you stand a better chance of evangelicals jumping on board with HoT and bringing people back into the game.
• Conversely, if you wait to release WITH HoT you run the risk of many of us not buying any expansion and possibly being more critical of anything you DO release and…
• You also run the risk of having to deal with new system fallout from both us and new players trying to take in all of the new info/mechanics all at once.

Darkness.9732:

yes guys but please stay on the topic We are talking about F skills. Don’ t you think warrior F skills are 10000 times stronger than ranger F skills?^ XD
Please don’ t lie and don t make me mad ah ah

LOL, good laugh. Reminds me of a thread a while back some of us had fun with regarding bear bow being overpowered. Fun trolling is fun, but really.

Its called a burst skill on warriors for a reason, and NOT burst skills on other classes for a similar reason.

For everyone else, stop feeding the troll. Or play along.

It should run just fine on that.

If Anet fixes known problems and charges 20-30 for it then maybe. If they charge any more than that or if those other problems aren’t fixed then no.

Not going to happen.

Brtiva.9721:

naiasonod.9265:

Kumion.7580:

I was hoping the big announcement would mention traits. I was ready to give them money for a new account, ready to make new alts, buy skins, etc. Without a fix to traits though, I will not make any new characters.

Ditto. I’m stoked about the expansion stuff, but if they don’t get traits out of this mudhole, I don’t see myself even trying to level one of the new class when that’s out.

I won’t be able to play with its traits, and I SHALL NEVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES go doing a bunch of stuff I don’t wanna do, or lower myself to buy them all.

Won’t do it. Simply won’t. No discussion to be had. Isn’t a negotiation.

Not only this, I have no desire to get the xpac with the existing quagmire of a trait system. I have not made any alts since the patch hit with the traits change, and will not.

Nor can I get excited about an xpac without a reversion of the trait system. Let alone no interest in making a new character, I have no desire to get involved with the xpac. I do not seriously expect a reversion, so I will continue to simply use gw2 as little diversion from my other game. I have tried to hold hope but it seems less and less likely. And specialization and mastery will no doubt strike me as similarly tedious.

Sadly, the game feels very unlike the game I loved.

This about sums it up for me as well.

Actually, at this point, I’d rather they just account unlock them for accounts that already have at least one fully traited alt.

They already tipped their hand to show that they CAN do it and WILL be doing it regarding the new masteries so they can get on making them account unlocks and just moving on from this particular quagmire.

I’m done giving more suggestions. This is the only one I will endorse now that i know their plans for the mastery system. Its the only solution that makes sense, is fair, and is easiest to implement for veterans while still giving new players something to work towards.