Guild Wars 2

OK, so as one of those people that really wasn’t a fan of the “play as Togo” or whomever else missions from GW1, the thought of playing as Caithe is not really appealing to me.

I guess if that’s the route they want to go (and it does seem to be the case), then fine, but yeah. I have the toons i have because i like to/want to play them.

Is this next Ls step going to be longer than 20-30 minutes of actual play though?

I mean, I’d hope they are going to start getting longer/more involved. If that won’t be the case though, then I might not bother with it and just get the update on next tuesday then go back to playing some of my other games.

I honestly can’t speak to the new labyrinth they have in the LS as i was in there for a hot second and got one shot before i could even figure out what was going on and haven’t been back since. I do know that the stuff going on IN the main map has been pretty good for vet players as both a farm and over all non-stop activity with decent rewards for the time put into it.

That being said, as someone who was playing WvW fairly regularly until life and a server implosion occurred and as an alt-aholic, the trait changes have royally hurt my desire to play the game at all. For me its a major game changer, and while i am somewhat hopeful along with Vayne, I cannot say I am AS hopeful. i just don’t trust what Anet says with regard to that particular issue and to that end it completely sullies everything else they do. Also, although I know the LS is supposed to be bite sized chunks, these last two felt more like mere morsels and were completed way too fast. They would have been better served merging the 2 as one update.

Just also wanted to point out that the reason so many people have been begging for a “real expansion” is because in the same amount of time GW1 was out they delivered 2 additional campaigns. The LS content doesn’t come close to that.

It honestly won’t behoove them to do that. We’ve played nice and kept the discussion in this thread for the most part instead o flooding the boards with post after post on this issue. To close it would open the door for that, which they most likely do not want.

Rococo: If you have a bit of unpleasant work in front of you (for job or home) most people tend to want to ignore it. Its less stressful that way. As time goes on, i think this thread is basically that “thing” that the devs knows is there and are trying desperately not to think about/acknowledge openly since it causes them stress.

That being said, my overall sympathy on that front has worn thin to the point of non-existence. I “played” the new LS yesterday, and when my wife chimes in with, “That’s IT?!?!” then i know where this whole thing is headed. Seriously, if the LS content is going to be so easily done (WITH distractions mind you), and they are putting that much effort into it, then I can’t imagine how daunting this very real problem must be for them. Anet has created a problem with the leveling system that detracts from everything they have communicated about what they wanted their game to be, and we have consistently shown a light on it.

Sorry Anet, but a hole in the roof is a hole in the roof. Ignoring it won’t make it go away and the problem will only become more evident as time goes on.

For me, I’ve had the most fun healing on my warrior as both a shout and banner healer.

Redxon.6832:

As i said, warrior is my main…gonna ignore the trolls now, look at their post history they always trolling peoples threads instead of making any constructive posts.

maddoctor.2738:

Redxon.6832:

especially lvl 80 areas and i am fully geared and traited and achievements are pretty much impossible. hopefully things will change guess in the meantime ill go back to swtor, dont mind paying 15 a month if i actually enjoy playing the game.

What are you doing and you have a problem? And which Achievements are you talking about?

SIlverwaste its just ridiculously hard and all the events fail and even the story achievements i cant get a single one done.

Silverwaste is EXACTLY what a level 80 area in this game should be. It is MEANT for long time veterans that are looking for a small challenge in PvE content. And yes i said small challenge. I go out there with my guardian in full zerk mode and MAYBE get wiped once over a period of 2 hours and that’s only if i end up doing something completely boneheaded and accept that i made a mistake in who i fought and how I fought them. This is one area that Anet got 100% right in my opinion.

Seriously, I want to help you get through this, but something tells me you don’t think this is a L2P issue and more of a game design issue, and if that’s the case then…oh well, nothing any of us can really offer you here.

If it attacks me, it dies.

Aaaaand now my one reason for even trying to log in semi regularly has been eliminated (yay for dying/dead WvW), so I have even less of a reason to fire it up.

At one time i probably wouldn’t have cared since I would have gladly been in PvE churning out alts and the like, but well…

Have fun Anet.

I might log in to unlock the story steps just in case this trait thing gets fixed, but if not…it was fun while it lasted.

Maybe what we need is for the one Anet voice to do the challenge.

What say you? You’re an experienced GW player Gaile. Would it be possible for you to make 5 different toons (non-grandfathered in) and attempt to go through and obtain through actual game play, while anonymous to the gaming community, all of the traits as they are laid out in the game currently? If you are the one tasked with communicating with us, and then tasked with bringing the info back to the devs, then is it possible for you to take on this challenge as its been laid out? Walk a mile, etc, etc…

This would mean trying to find a guild to help and all that other stuff that a somewhat new player might have to deal with.

Tachenon.5270:

All that day he rode westward, ever westward, through rain and snow and zergs farming bloodstone dust, and when at last the sun began to ease its weary way down toward the far horizon, he reined in his trusty mount and said, “Aw, kitten, a gazebo! I hope it doesn’t see us.”

This post was brought to you by Mighty Mozz Riding Moas Incorporated, breeders of the best and fastest riding and egg-laying moas in Tyria since 1327 AE. “Moas: when you get where you’re going, have an omelet!”

Dude, I’ve not seen a gazebo reference in ages!

Azzer.8137:

I for one like the new trait system a lot, it’s like in Gw1 where you had to go out in the world and use a signet of capture, but i guess most people today are entitled little idiots who don’t like to work for anything at all.

Also this is insane i know, but i know a way to get a traid withouth doing the event/boss/veteran/whatever.

ok here it comes…..

you can BUY it straight of a trainer! OMG!!!!! so insane!!! whaaaat so you are saying that i can actually just buy them instead of crying like a little kitten ?

Yes that is correct.

I’m going to take it you have not actually read ALL of the very well thought out and well reasoned arguments against everything you just said in this post just so you could wax sarcastic, so to ensure that you maybe understand the issue here, I’ll recap for you:

For most long time vets the cost in gold usually isn’t a problem, and the skill point cost is annoying and is only there to eat up the skill point scrolls they might have. For new players, even if they played all the content and somehow got all the traits through gameplay (assuming they magically got an event that is notoriously bugged to work), they still a) won’t want to do all of it all over again on an alt, and b) won’t have the funds or the skill points to buy said traits as easily as you’d like to claim it to be.

Furthermore, the skill hunting via signet of capture in GW1 is not the same thing as traits in GW2. If they made it so i had to fight certain bosses to gain certain utility skills OR made it so I could buy them for a nominal fee, then yes it might be the same thing. Traits in GW2 are crucial to complete builds for the more competitive aspects of the game. your damage and survivability in those areas of the game depend on having those traits. in GW1, not having 30 different elites didn’t cripple you as a player.

Sadly, I think the only reason i still play at all is because a) I already had a billion alts at max level before this update and b) I still have people i enjoy playing with/running around with in WvW. I honestly cannot imagine a brand new player to this game wanting to play past level 60 if it dawned on them how much they had to do just to get fully traited, and even if they DID get a fully set level 80 toon I couldn’t see them making any alts. if they aren’t making alts, then they aren’t trying to get skins and weapons, or even trying all the content offered by Anet. They certainly won’t be dropping money on the game unless they buy gems to get the gold to get the levels and traits and skills on other toons.

If that last statement holds true, then I think its fairly obvious why these changes were even made.

The really sad part is that 2 months into this trait change I would have been perfectly happy with a modest price drop, aligning the adept and master level traits with more level appropriate areas/events and leaving the GM traits where they were. Now? No. Now i want a full reversion, and if that isn’t possible i want a FULL reworking of the system to tie traits to events and tasks that are MEANINGFUL to the trait being obtained/class it is for. Kill “X” amount of undead in the swamp in Gendarin to get some undead related trait for necros. Make it something that the player can say, "yes, I understand why this has anything to do with this trait.

Leveling used to be fun. now, I can’t be bothered to even consider it anymore. I have a slot that i use to painfully key farm now if i have more than 20 minutes to spare. If not, i might do my daily once a week, usually on WvW reset night, then don’t touch the game again until the next reset night.

Its just not fun anymore.

The way I look at it, its just another RNG thing anyway so I just put in 7 in to it. Figure its no different than trying to put in 2 or 400 so yeah.

And people wonder why I cite that clipping really isn’t an issue for the design team when i bring up capes. Ah well. At the end of the day there will be clipping.

I still don’t have the trait for defeating that flippin’ giant in herathi on my second guardian. Every time I’ve tried it, no one else has been on the map or was only there for the bigger champ event thing and then they left, leaving me to try and solo him on an under traited toon.

Yeah, not fun. its just annoying because i should be able to get my trait this way instead of buying it, but I’m most likely going to have to buy it since soloing him means him getting past one of my cool downs and then cheesing me to death again.

Only about 3 map completes from the original change were altered to be “fight random chain event boss here” to get those traits.

As others have stated, can we get some feedback as to what suggestions are in the “nope” pile and ones that are in the “we can consider this” pile, so we can at least make informed decisions about what we discuss here and maybe find out just what direction the devs/Anet are taking on this one.

That really isn’t too much to ask.

If the answer to this is still just silence on the part of Anet, then I think it is safe to conclude that this whole thread and the line about the devs looking into any of this is nothing more than a farce to keep people on the hook while the LS team tries to crank out enough things to hopefully hold onto players that already have a foot out the door.

I could not stop giggling when I saw this update. There will be so much QQ in places like EoTM with Engies blasting people from the world with this thing and getting into towers in WvW will be a bit more fun too on defense.

Oh those pewpew rangers. Yes, I think its time for some more engie in my life.

There was some random NPC that showed up in the middle of the first LS when LA was wrecked and everyone was relocated to the Vigil keep. I don’t remember his name, but he said he was vigil without ever wearing their uniform and was very flip about the whole thing saying that he came and went as he pleased a lot. He also knew a lot about us even though we never met before (according to the convo had with him). Does anyone else remember this person?

While I too appreciate the response, after much complaining, I do have to wonder where this actually ranks on the Dev-meter.

Its akin to going to a doctor, having them grab your arm in a way that hurts and after screaming for 10 minutes that it hurts the doctor turns to you and asks if it hurts and if there is anything he can do to make it stop hurting. You then proceed to tell them about 10 different ways to ease the pain including the option of just stopping the action, and after another 40 minutes of pain the doctor asks you to recap your suggestions because he could barely hear you over your screaming cries of pain.

All while still holding your arm and not letting you know if or when he might change his course of action or acknowledging what of your suggestions he even heard in the first place.

This is what this thread is like, except in this analogy we’ve also seen other patients getting heard and treated by other doctors with no problems in communication.

So, is there any way to get a confirmation that any of this will actually be addressed in any of the next 3 update cycles or will this be something that lasts through the end of the year with no movement? Surely one of those 2 options can be spoken to. Either there is something in the chamber (even if its a small tweak) or nothing is going to happen until the new year. Which is it?

nightwulf.1986:

kitten .9460:

ANet acknowledging GW1? LOL YEA RIGHT

I’m with you man. It’s sad to think that the Temple of Ages is nowhere to be found in the game. In fact, there’s no references to the underworld anywhere! That epic quest for the Black Moa chick in GW1, completely forgotten. The heroes I adventured with 250 years ago like Ogden Stonehealer and Jora aren’t mentioned anywhere in the game at all. No skill names were brought back, nothing. I just wish they would acknowledge GW1 just once! It would make me so happy.

I give you internet cookies now.

Is OP trolling or have they just not responded back on the thread for a reason? Just don’t know of a single PvE map that cannot be solo’d let alone simply run through. This includes the lab (minus the main bosses which are not really solo-able).

I can honestly say I don’t ever recall giving or getting hit by a level up blast.

I’ve said this before in other posts, but i’ll say it here as well since it seems to need repeating.

I am a long time GW player going way back to the start of GW1. I still remember the old health bars that didn’t change color to depict the kind of damage you got from way back then and the arenas at the various outposts.

I have been a major fan of the series. I complain about the things I complain about now BECAUSE i care. i care A LOT about this franchise and the world of Tyria. I care about the lore and the NPCs and my role in this world. I care about the overall success of the game. Its because I care so much that I take so many of the recent bad changes so personally since it honestly feels like Anet has been collectively saying “this game is no longer for you”.

I still log in to see if there is anything else I can suggest and to test new content so i can give feedback, but lately all it feels like is if i were talking to a wall. It feels like the only thing that truly concerns Anet devs is whether their bottom line will be affected by a given change, and if the answer is yes, then they put all hands on deck to “fix” it and if not, then well…you get posts that go on for 58 pages and people leaving game modes because nothing of note has changed since launch.

I’d hoped that GW2 was going to deliver this awesome dynamic world, and early on it looked that way. Now, not so much.

Is it one of the prettiest games out there? Yes. Does it have a great combat system? Sure. Does it still grab me? Not really. :/ That makes me sad.

Also remember that the same orb and circle layout was used in GW1 as the map of the realm of torment so there might be something in that eternal alchemy way of looking at things to show the link between worlds and realities.

Lord Kuru.3685:

Dawdler.8521:

Anet need to make GW3. GW2 is done. Now make a new GW on a 100x larger scale in a modern open world MMO. And it wouldnt hurt to bring in Guild Halls, no.

No one in their right minds are going to buy GW3 (or any future Anet product for that matter) after seeing how GW2 has gone.

Yeah, no kidding. When GW2 came out, I couldn’t get in here fast enough. Beta and early weekend, i was so there. For the first year I was definitely drinking from the same punch bowl as Vayne, but now…not so much. If things keep on this trajectory I can’t see myself buying/playing a future iteration of this game.

Been looking at playing GW1 again though. Also spending way more time in TF2 and ME trilogy again.

Yep, i believe that WAS Glints little shard realm. makes sense what with the Zephyrites being her children’s protectors, etc.

Yeah, don’t sweat it. Just have fun. See you out there.

I have a healing warrior that goes back and forth between healing banners and healing shouts depending on the content I’m doing. Healing banners is frankly OP in PvE stuff and healing shouts is a great boon to groups in WvW. just my quick 2 cents.

So, Anet. I still think my prediction holds true that we won’t hear anything until mid November on this (if at all) since i know the devs are focused more on the gems/money/gold thing at this time.

That being said, I just want to address some other things here that have been said:

Trait unlock account bound – Although I am also a huge advocate for this, they will never do it now since it will be followed immediately by a deluge of people screaming that they want the gold they already spent on traits refunded to them. We’ve seen it happen before. This is the equivalent of Anet painting themselves into the corner since they have taken so long to even maybe consider this as an option.

“Balanced builds” and “pro-gamers” – Wow, that was really sad to read, but i can understand the urge to BS oneself over the sad state their characters are in thanks to not really getting proper trait load outs. i do hope they were being sarcastic though.

I saw on another thread here someone talking about “just buying” the traits and instead of spreading the info out i will try to quickly go over why this is not a thing we should have to do (or can do):

If you are a casual or semi casual player, but want to also try multiple classes (lets say 4 for argument’s sake), there is no way on one account you are going to get enough skill points per character or gold across all 4 toons to buy your traits. in fact i will wager you won’t get enough to buy half of your traits on each toon. Why? Because there are other things that people spend their money on (especially at level 80) if they really want to kit themselves out in decent gear. The cost is simply NOT feasible. Its not. Period.

Looks like abbs to me, which would be an odd thing to bring up in GW2, but well yeah…there you have it.

Actually no, the thing that took me the longest (especially by the last update to the LS) was the final fight with the dragon, but the text did not take me long to read, nor did the jumping around the map. maybe the first part of this living story took me a bit longer to explore through, but that part had way more fights and dialog to get through. The subsequent parts were not very long and only seemed to feel shorter in their delivery.

As it stands now i’m thinking I will have to deal with spoilers that will come up in map or the forums and just wait until they’ve delivered all of the content of the rest of the story before playing it through so it feels substantial.

Kudos for adding…something, but its stats and the cost in mats make it one i’ll pass on for a while. Sorry.

i liked the writing that went into the clues and all that, but with everything else that needs fixing in the game I just can’t be excited enough for this item.

The thing it, I think it already HAS done perm damage. Unfortunately I think it will end up slowly driving away players as opposed to a mass exodus, so they might not even realize the slow bleed of population. :/

Seriously the trait thing (among others) has soured the game so much for me that I only barely show up for WvW anymore either since just being in the game for too long irks me. i don’t play games to be annoyed by them and not being able to experiment with alts has severely hurt my playing experience.

Sadly, Pourekos, I think you may be right, although i think the combination of the complaints and those metrics you stated helped them make that correlation.

As it stands right now, the only reason my post traits change necro is still alive is because i tied her existence to a GW1 toon of mine, and that’s it. That is what is keeping her from becoming another key farming slot. Now she basically helps me clear dailies if it calls for condition damage and cleanse. Other than that she really doesn’t do much.

Labjax.2465:

barefootstep.7026:

Here’s another suggestion: replace the skill points needed to buy the traits with gems. I hear they are really easy and unconfusing to get these days, especially for new players.

…kitten, I just realized that that is still an implementation actually superior to what we currently have.

sad now.

Don’t give them any ideas. :P

Sadly it might be only way to get “the right” people outraged by the trait system since all of us talking about it now for 7 months don’t seem to hold as much weight as those people over on the gem exchange post.

Or maybe the only ones that have something to do with contract anything in the south of LA are the Southsun Consortium guys.

Deal with the devil(s) indeed.

So, since this last update came and went without a peep or an actual update to traits, and I am going to assume that the fixes to the gem conversion debacle are going to eat up resources to fix THAT problem, that we probably won’t see any movement on anymore Trait updates or work until Nov. 18th at the earliest. Is that a safe assumption at least or is there ANYTHING in the chamber that can be spoken about before the next update?

Anything?

Bueller?

I’m honestly a bit dumbfounded.

Maybe its just ease of making the tweak. i don’t know. Maybe. i hope it is anyway.

Honestly though I think it has more to do with gems to gold and vice versa and how Anet makes money. The gem thing gets addressed?!?!? So quickly??!!?

Wow.

Did we not complain enough and did we not offer up enough suggestions to help fix the trait system for the better???

Except we didn’t really get 2 maps. We got one map. Drytop. And any content that takes 2 weeks to deliver and 15-20 minutes to get through where 80-90% of it is reading and errand work isn’t really what I had in mind when they talked about adding new content.

I want a full map at once. I want the ability to explore it AND have things happen with the LS on that map that help encourage that map opening. I want the content to be something that I have to come back to through out the 2 weeks because I can’t blow through it in one sitting while waiting for my dinner to cook.

OK. So, here’s the thing. I know it has been said over and over that you all won’t communicate about things that are not 100% for sure about to be released. That being said, I think its safe to say that you know the road map for the remainder of season 2 LS, and so to that end I’d like to know if you are going to either:

A- Piece meal open one more map over the course of bite sized new content (like Drytop)

B- Actually give us one or 2 new maps to explore in Maguuma with all the stuff we can expect from a proper map opening in level 80 zones

C- Get a bit more than travel to waypoint A and listen to 5 minute convo B before repeating 5 more times around Tyria before fighting something for 5 minutes

I just want to know if it will be worth my time playing out each part of the story as it releases or wait until all of it is released (and deal with spoilers) just so the content feels substantial or is this next part going to be more robust than the last.

I know you won’t want to hear it, but you may have to wait until your server is a different color to easily cap those other points and Vistas. :/

So, 56 pages in to this thread with some recent requests to get SOME kind of feedback, whether it was yes smething might be updated in the next patch or nope, not yet but still looking at options or SOMETHING, and still nothing.

Yet a post about mail doves and conditions get a nod.

Yep. So, anyone else have any “fun” trait stories to share. My test necro hit 80 and is still running around with the hodge podge of traits she’s acquired forcing me to play in a way I don’t care to play until I map open some more and do more of the personal story. I’m frankly terrified to take her into EBG for 3 of those traits as she is right now and have yet to really test her in some of the other higher level areas. Oh well, I guess I should just stop trying to think that I could get any freedom to play this toon the way I’d hoped without dropping serious gold on her, and since farming on my 80s isn’t a fun idea to me…

John Smith.4610:

Cakemeister.5792:

I just want magic find to make a difference.

Magic find makes a huge difference.

No it doesn’t.

I literally had about 200 more magic find than about 5 other people (between boosters, etc) when running around with them, and I saw maybe 2 rares while 2 of them got precursors that night in WvW. Magic find makes no difference.

I look at it this way. I have frankly lost count of the in game money I’ve “lost” while salvaging items for essences, to increase a stat that is utterly meaningless. I should not have a MF rating well above someone else that I play with semi-regularly and they get precursor drops like they were candy and I am “happy” if I get some random non-level 80 rare amidst a sea of greens and blues. About once every other month I might get an exotic piece of medium armor which I already had since I had to buy it originally for my ranger.

Magic find is a joke, and RNG is a bigger joke. Actually no, if it were a joke I’d be laughing. Its insulting as a system since it basically says that it doesn’t matter the hours you log or the effort you put in. Imagine if every tennis match was played and then ultimately decided with a roll of some dice and there you have the RNG in this game.

Tachenon.5270:

Found another build I’d like to try on my NPE ele. Guess what? Can’t. Don’t have four of the necessary traits. Two of them require map completions, one requires my ele to befriend the dredge in WvW, and the other requires the defeat of a Risen High Wizard in Orr.

How does that make experimenting with and learning new builds easier?

Seems to me it makes experimenting with and learning new builds a bore, a chore, and not particularly fun.

So. Any communication about this coming our way anytime soon?

My guess is no.

If something is going to be done, they may just slip it into the next patch and it will be something like “Kill this other guy instead of the first one we had you kill, and do this event instead of open this map.” Mind you, this is just based on past updates they’ve made to the trait system without ever communicating it with us in this thread, even though it was in the chamber ready to go so there would have been no conflict with their communication strategy to mention it.

tl:dr: no. we won’t hear a thing it seems.

So, let me get this straight, the next update is essentially reloading the Halloween event from last year (so new players can experience it I guess) and more gemstore items.

…

Lazuli.2098:

PookieDaWombat.6209:

I was at my local store recently and swung by the electronics section. Oddly enough, they seemed to be completely out of gem cards. This has been the first time I’ve ever seen them without gem cards in this store. They had TONS for other games on their shelves, just none for GW2. I just found it interesting since I am pretty sure there wasn’t someone buying them out of these cards.

…

One possibility that comes to mind is the store may have seen a decrease in gems cards being bought after April so cut back on their orders. But with recent free trials there may be an influx of new players who are now buying gems cards.

Thing is, I’ve NEVER seen them without a stack of those cards, and my wife and I used to buy them somewhat regularly. The display was most recently restocked with all kinds of cards from various games that offer them, and the GW2 gem cards were nowhere to be found. Just seemed odd to me.

I was at my local store recently and swung by the electronics section. Oddly enough, they seemed to be completely out of gem cards. This has been the first time I’ve ever seen them without gem cards in this store. They had TONS for other games on their shelves, just none for GW2. I just found it interesting since I am pretty sure there wasn’t someone buying them out of these cards.

Is this a shift in how Anet/NCSoft are selling gems for the game? The timing of it just seemed a bit off is all, as we are entering into the holiday season and just came off of a free weekend for the game itself. i truly wonder if the trait and other changes that have come about have actually hurt Anet’s bottom line and are now showing an outward effect is all. If so, can we PLEASE get someone to answer us in this thread again.

Once again, a simple “Yes we have a few more changes coming in the next patch”, or “No, we have no more changes coming to Traits in the near future.” Fifty-six pages is simply absurd.