This is still an issue. Too bad, I really want the Sky color.
There is nothing wrong with vertical progression, i played a lot of games with vertical progression in the past, but the problem is when you add vertical progression in a game that was advertised without it (or is better to say, without a mandatory gear grind).
If someone tell you that a new drink is the thing you will love if you hate coke, and then the new drink taste EXACLTY like a coke, someone will surely love it, but the original buyers the ones that thrust on the advertise, have all the rights to be concerned.
This.
There is nothing wrong with vertical progression. It gives an illusion of “progress” and serves as a motivator for continued play for many. What is it? Vertical progression “progresses” by periodically increasing the power level of players, usually and predominantly through the addition of a new tier of gear with higher stats. So, before the new tier all players are at power X. The new tier is introduced and everyone hops on the treadmill. When they get off they are all at power Y and can now do new content at power Y. There has been no change in relative power before or after the treadmill between players vs. other players or between players and environment. This is why it’s called a treadmill—the reality is no one has gone anywhere; they’ve just gone for a treadmill ride. It offers an illusion of progress and requires that you perform a grind to attain the new power level.
Again, nothing wrong with this. It’s worked for WoW for years. The problem is statements by Anet pre-release that assured players that GW2 was going to be a different MMO that wouldn’t have a gear grind. There’s the problem. Some of us have grinded our lives away for years and realize that the emperor really is naked—there is no progress in vertical progression—there’s no reason for a grind in an MMO. Some of us wanted that different MMO.
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Guys, this represents results from one gaming retailer. Suggesting this represents any broader reality is akin to suggesting all players are upset because the forums rage. Let’s test reality and avoid jumping to conclusions one way or the other.
I agree with maintaining a skimpy option for both male and female character armor in light to heavy armor. To me, especially for light armor wearers, skimpy just looks right.
The Guardian was my most recent character leveled to 80 and I loved it all the way. I ended up going with a Greatsword/Staff power-crit build for leveling. I used all weapon combos and the staff is pretty underwhelming, but the swiftness skill was just too handy for getting around the map through the leveling process. And the Greatsword skills are really all you need unless you need to drop to ranged for a bit if you are getting too much attention. With the Guardian your health will drop in a tough fight then 10 seconds later you’ll find yourself near full health again. Plus, you are a boon factory for the allies you are playing with. It’s just a great leveling profession as well as a great one to play at 80. Good choice, though they are all fun.
We are a less accurate sample, but an adequate one.
No, not adequate at all..
Absolutely adequate even if not quite totally scientific.
An adequate sample would represent the total playerbase with decent accuracy. This is absolutely not the case with the people who frequent forums.
The sample size is far beyond what is used it almost every type of user/player/consumer research imaginable.
It’s adequate enough to predict a trend, and that trend is decline.
Having had a year of statistics and quantitative methods, I can tell you the sample represented here is not adequate to predict anything. We are a self-selected group of players. It would need to be a random sample selected across the player base to be valid and have any predictive value as to what players think. That doesn’t mean that the the forums are unimportant. They are the official medium for 2-way communication and as the mod post suggests, they consider the feedback to be important. The only thing certain is that the population of forum users represent the population of forum users 100%. What is in the majority or minority here is the only thing that really matters in this population. Again, it’s an important population, but it shouldn’t be confused with the population of players.
Hey, just want to come back and thank you, OP, for the heads-up. First time I’ve seen everything open, nice.
mine load smoothly no invi player, everything load fast. 120hz at wvw no problem. get a real computer man or a better graphic cards a better connection maybe. that mean you Yareon.2835 and your gf.
This isn’t a problem that some players have and some don’t. You put players in the same situation and they all will experience the same problem, i.e., it has little to do with rig. I have a full-blown gaming rig and I experience the problem with any large event and periodically throughout the world. So, it’s a valid question from OP and the answer is no, it hasn’t been fixed yet.
So, you seem to be asking what’s the big deal with issues being raised around grind, population, and ascended gear. The issues have been clearly articulated and I hesitate to respond, but it’s a cloudy, cold day outside and I have little else to do.
Let’s consider the concept of gear grind. And, let’s start with a statement from the manifesto:
“So if you love MMORPGs, you should check out Guild Wars 2. But if you hate traditional MMORPGs, then you should really check out Guild Wars 2. Because, like Guild Wars before it, GW2 doesn’t fall into the traps of traditional MMORPGs. It doesn’t suck your life away and force you onto a grinding treadmill; it doesn’t make you spend hours preparing to have fun rather than just having fun[…]”
Anyone familiar with grindy games understands that GW2 is being advertized as an MMO that’s different, one that doesn’t fall into the trap of other MMO’s with tired elements like gear grinds. So, Anet has made it clear that we can expect GW2 to not have a grind.
But, with the introduction of a new tier of gear in GW2, Ascended, we have an increase in the power level and are told in the AMA that “we will have vertical progression moving forward with the focus on zero grind and a very low power curve.”
But what is vertical progression? Vertical progression progresses by periodically increasing the power level of players, usually through the acquisition of a new tier of gear. This basically is what defines a gear grind or treadmill. Before the introduction of a new tier, all players are at power level X, new gear is introduced and they all hop on the treadmill. When they hop off they are at power level Y. Meanwhile the environment has also assumed power Y, so there is no relative difference between players before or after the treadmill. That’s why they call it a treadmill—no one has really gone anywhere at all. It has only given the illusion of progress while it “suck[s] your life away” while preparing to have fun at the new power level.
I see you want to minimize the introduction of vertical progression by noting that on the first 3 pieces the power difference is minimal. That fact is, the degree of the power creep in the first 3 pieces is irrelevant to the issue at hand. The issue is the introduction of vertical progression. Remember, vertical progression gives the illusion of progress by periodically increasing the power level. When you apply the stat difference to the remaining slots, Ascended will represent a significant power increase. Does it stop there? Not if Chris was telling the truth when he said that moving forward we will have vertical progression.
The problem is not really vertical progression. Many people like it for it’s illusion of progress. The problem is reconciling the promotional statements about GW2 with the introduction of vertical progression less than 3 months after release. There you have it.
No matter how they are organized internally, development resources are always scarce and the competition for them is intense. The game is a new release and I cut them a lot of slack here—I don’t expect a game that doesn’t have bugs. But, this monthly content schedule has me truly baffled. How can they continue to release buggy new content in the face of buggy existing content. They’ve proven they can’t do both and my vote is for them to work on new content with a longer release cycle (one that includes a PTR) and focus more resources on stabilizing the game now.
“We’re not going to rest on our laurels now. We started this company to innovate and bring players new experiences. Guild Wars 2 is the perfect game for Guild Wars players, but it’s not just the same game repeated again. We took this opportunity to question everything, and we have some exciting answers for you today.
The first thing you should know about Guild Wars 2 is that, this time around, there’s no question that it’s an MMORPG. It’s an enormous, persistent, living, social world, filled with a wide variety of combat and non-combat activities. There’s so much depth here that you’re never going to run out of new things to discover.
So if you love MMORPGs, you should check out Guild Wars 2. But if you hate traditional MMORPGs, then you should really check out Guild Wars 2. Because, like Guild Wars before it, GW2 doesn’t fall into the traps of traditional MMORPGs. It doesn’t suck your life away and force you onto a grinding treadmill; it doesn’t make you spend hours preparing to have fun rather than just having fun; and of course, it doesn’t have a monthly fee." – Manifesto
This pretty much. GW2 shouldn’t be GW1 with better graphics. But, it should build on the DNA of GW1 in terms of how the franchise is evolved. Those aspects of GW1 that worked and made it unique, not so much in general mechanics, but game culture and atmosphere should be retained. It should really be a unique MMO that earns the Guild Wars name and that doesn’t fall into the traps of other MMO’s with the addition of tired elements like gear grinds. I think Anet had this right and the Manifesto was one of the main reasons I bought the game.
There have been lots of fixes and I would say that, apart from the addition of vertical progression, the game is improving.
Population is a tricky question. I’d suggest you go out into the open world on your server and see for yourself. I had to do a server transfer after the last patch to a higher pop server. New server is better and adequate for general play in the open world.
Melchior has provided some good questions to help determine your preferred playstyle and narrow the choice. I’d suggest you narrow the field and give several a try. I’ve played them all and like aspects of each. I’ve focused on 5 which I have leveled to 80: Guardian, Warrior, Elementalist, Mesmer, and Ranger. I enjoy both melee and ranged fighting and have both covered. I sometimes like feeling invulnerable and powerful (Warrior, Guardian), other times I like a more complex playstyle that has me on the edge of my seat (Elementalist). Some people like a bit of variety and the game makes that possible. Give several a try; you will benefit from the experience by knowing a bit about the professions, in PvE and especially in PvP. You really can’t go wrong by trying them all over time.
Edit: I should add that if I absolutely had to pick one to play it would be the Mesmer. I have the most fun with her. Adequate power, fun combat mechanics, both at range or in their face with a power-crit build. But, I’m glad I don’t have to pick just one.
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It is a problem in the sense that the design doesn’t make sense. If we want level 1s to be able to mine top tier mats why do we restrict everything but a few specially available picks with a level requirement? Clearly the basic system contemplates level gating. There are just a few items that ignore the gating mechanism. They seem like an oversight.
What exactly would be the advantage of having a level 1 mine the node, assuming you could get it there before it made level 2? Why not park a level 80 that you aren’t currently doing anything with? I understand what you talking about in terms of design, but I’m also interested in the specific problem we’re trying to fix here. Just, what is the problem?
It takes time to get a character to 80. How long does it take to get a character to level 2? 10 minutes? A fresh character can get to that Ori and mine it in 15-20 minutes, depending on load times & speed buffs.
What is stopping that person from deleting that character and doing it again?
Think about what you are saying. Why would they delete the character and do it again rather than just leaving the character parked at the node. What possible advantage would that give. I have 5 level 80 characters. If I’m going to park something in a level 80 area it would be a level 80 character. There is no advantage to parking a level 2 character in Southsun. That was my whole point. Perhaps you can address specifically the advantage conferred by using a low level character. Perhaps you are addressing a player who doesn’t really play the game and only creates characters to function as locusts on one node in Southsun.
Just got done leveling a guardian and the bots are still there. But, yes, credit where credit is due, they are far less obvious and obnoxious than they once were. They tend to be either teleport hacks or bots running two-by-two. I didn’t see a single ranger/bear train while leveling the guardian which was refreshing.
It is a problem in the sense that the design doesn’t make sense. If we want level 1s to be able to mine top tier mats why do we restrict everything but a few specially available picks with a level requirement? Clearly the basic system contemplates level gating. There are just a few items that ignore the gating mechanism. They seem like an oversight.
What exactly would be the advantage of having a level 1 mine the node, assuming you could get it there before it made level 2? Why not park a level 80 that you aren’t currently doing anything with? I understand what you talking about in terms of design, but I’m also interested in the specific problem we’re trying to fix here. Just, what is the problem?
I love the responses. Some argue that it’s for leveling only and not to generate player wealth. Others are making gold hand over fist. One thing for sure is that crafting has not found its home in GW2. And, having supported myself well in another MMO through farming/crafting, I can tell you the farming/crafting thing just is not happening in GW2 at the current time. What it takes to farm mats is not even practical given the crafting recipes if you are not playing 12 hours a day.
So you have a complaint with those who have a complaint? And, you are complaining about them complaining, is that correct?
One thing I notice with those who have a complaint about the game as opposed to a complaint about the players, is that they usually have specific complaints about specific game elements. And, I think it’s more helpful to engage with actual issues being raised than to address people in an ad hominem manner. Engage the issues, not the people.
IMO the reason they have Magic Find gear in game is to give some sort of a “risk VS Reward” gameplay which other games do in much more serious ways.
How is Magic Find “risk VS Reward” you may ask? Well you take a risk using it if you are in med-high areas (as well as low lvl areas surrounded by many enemies) because you simply can’t survive as long as you can in other armours in tricky situations. The reward being you have a “chance” at getting better drops.
Yes, this is the way that it is usually justified. By sacrificing, to some extent, survivability you are rewarded by increased chance to find loot. I personally don’t like the concept whether in Diablo or GW2, but I know others do and it’s not a big issue for me.
Really don’t see an elephant or lesser problem here. Sounds more like people are just mining the node.
I’m sorry but console game expectations or MMO game expectations really have nothing to do with people’s dissatisfaction with the state of the game. It’s been clearly articulated that people were “expecting” the game to be and remain the one clearly articulated by Anet. That’s really the only issue in play here.
We too readily chalk it up to human nature and fail to see that aspects of game culture can be influenced by game design. Consider another element of game design where it’s easy to see like competitive vs. non-competitive resource nodes or quests. WoW and GW2 create a very different feeling around seeing other players on the map. In one game you are happy to see other players, in the other your own faction members can be your worst enemies. I’ll leave it to you to discern the elements introduced in GW2 that could be contributing to bad behavior in dungeons.
In terms of stealth, you need to ask whether it creates more options for both players (and more interesting gameplay) not just whether there is a counter. Watch the video and you’ll see. This is one of those videos you really wish the developers of your game were watching and thinking about. This is were game design gets creative and interesting, as opposed to simply managing the “progression” of power creep.
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This young man will not be making your mistake when he gets to GW2…
A PTR would be impractical with an event per month, just not enough time for them to fulfill their purpose and finish the release. It would be good for the game to cancel the monthly events for now. They are a great idea on paper, but don’t work in real life.
Definitely do some research on servers as they define your experience, especially getting started. After the last patch I had to transfer and have found Yak’s Bend to be good. Take note of the suggestions, make a list (as you might have trouble getting into a full server), and select a populated server. Best wishes; you’ll have a blast starting out.
I got one this morning so they are out there just very, very rare. I have about 186 black lion chests at the moment with 5 level 80 characters participating. I won’t buy a key as, from what I’ve seen, it’s not worth the gamble. Same with the forge…no interest in gambling when the odds are that bad.
Edit: Oops. I was actually mixing in personal story and doing maps with my latest 80. Don’t remember, but it could have been a story reward. Sorry.
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They got a lot of things right with the game. Game world is stunning. Combat system is a little clunky; but, not considering the bugs, it’s adequate and fun. Story is not bad. I loved the Brevik quote about the Diablo story being tacked on at the end: I don’t really look for good story telling in video games. I also got hooked by the vision for GW2 and the features that support players playing well together. It’s been refreshing after WoW. I know they’ll iron out most glaring issues and I’ll definitely stick around until the vertical progression kicks in fully. I have no interest in grinding in GW2, just not what it was supposed to be about.
I honestly don’t think it’s a conspiracy. The devs are just not familiar with vertical progression and how a gear grind works—you do the grind, you get the gear. They will learn over time. You don’t go from not making grindy games to a smooth WoW-grind without a few bumps in the road.
I would rephrase that. It doesn’t benefit botters, but gold sellers. Anet are legal gold sellers in their own game via the gemstore, so they benefit as well.
Agree as the botters are gold sellers. Bottom line is the players are not benefiting from reward for playing the game beyond the general reward of gameplay.
All valid points OP and things a lot of players are thinking and feeling right now. I do love the game world and general gameplay (sans bugs) but wish the character build was a richer experience. It’s part of a general dumbing down that seems pervasive right now. The more serious problem for GW2 is the introduction of vertical progression and especially in the context of an economy where, yes, only botters benefit. The game design rewards botters, not players. If you’re not grinding 24/7 there’s just not a lot of reward coming back to you. The gem store could work but not filling it’s present role. Most people would prefer to be rewarded for playing a game; I know I would.
I agree. Reward in a game should come through playing the game. It’s fine to play the TP as that is a provided game system. But, most people don’t want to play TP Tycoon; they’d prefer to play GW2, and there should be some reward somewhere besides the reward of the gameplay itself. In an MMO you need gold and it’s got to come from somewhere. Sadly, it’s just not happening right now in-game.
[snip]
Level a profession? I don’t have the money to do that. Have you seen the prices of materials on the Trading Post? Since I’m honest and don’t bot, I don’t have the mats or the money. I don’t have the time to farm up all the stuff needed. I’m a working adult, yada yada. I just wanted to casually log on for a couple hours after work and play around in the world, just like I used to do in Guild Wars.
[snip]
WAKE UP ARENANET!
Yes, agree with everything and especially the above about mats and crafting. It simply doesn’t work. The mats you gain by adventuring (or hardcore farming) are a pittance compared to what is required to level a crafting discipline. It just isn’t happening in this game without the gem store. It would probably take a year to level one discipline naturally in line with how they’ve tuned the economy. That’s a problem in an MMO as you generally need a way to support yourself. Cash seems to be the way they’ve chosen. I would much prefer a subscription to a rewarding game than to have to pay hundreds of dollars to do anything meaningful in the game. They are obviously no longer guided by a vision of making rewarding games to play and that’s sad. They were really good at the vision thing, at least the statement part of the vision thing.
Yeah, once it became clear that vertical progression was here to stay I stopped purchasing gems. It really makes no sense to chase the next step on a treadmill with RL currency. At least the WoW treadmill is a free ride. I was wondering whether there were others like me out there.
This problem is easily the most irritating bug-feature that continues day-in day-out everyday. Not only is it tedious dealing with the mobs, there is also the background knowing that this just ain’t right and why don’t they fix it. I would trade a lost shores or wintersday for it any day.
Back when there were top esport people publishing about GuildWars, the Divinity runes were popular, especially if you had 5 of another and wanted a 6th.
But the OP is comparing ruby jewels which aren’t available to pvp players.
Divinity is awesome, an excellent gear choice particularly for characters who don’t have separate sets for different roles. They cost what, 100 times the price of jewels, tho?
Yeah, a lot of the top players have used Divinity. I remember Taugrim using them and he is a thinking gamer if ever I saw one. Divinity is great and allows me to cover the roles I need to in the game nicely on my guardian. All my characters have different runes. Divinity is a great rune and it’s reflected in the price.
I use Rune of Divinity on my guardian because they help me eke out the minimum HP/toughness I want while allowing me excellent kill power.
Care to provide this minimum number and your gear? Let’s see how rune of divinity will hold to actual optimizing.
Yes, the minimum HP I arrived at was 16868 unbuffed which gives me the survivability I need (but not as much as I desire). I have a mix of zerker, valkyrie, and knight pieces. You suggested that a glass cannon could just avoid enemy damage. If you had played dungeons at all you would know that unavoidable damage is a fact of life and that everyone takes it from time to time. Survivability is an important consideration for those concentrating on damage as a dead player does no damage. I imagine many of those I rez share your philosophy.
Let me be blunt: only bad players use rune of divinity.
In dungeons, using divinity means you don’t understand what the strong sides of your character are nor how to maximize them.
In wvw, healing is only worth a fraction of a full stat and your build’s correct playstyle will favor power or condition, not both. While vitality and especially toughness are never lost, trading 60 of them for a lesser damage potential is questionable. Especially on glass cannons maximizing your damage and avoiding enemy damage altogether is the way to go.
In spvp your question would be moot.
However, rune of divinity being bad doesn’t make rubies good though. Runes like scholar/eagle/air will generally outshine them, depending on your exact build.
A bold statement that falls flat as some of the very best players use them. Runes are important but do not determine the build; they are just one stepping stone to get to the overall numbers that you desire. Good players know this. I use Rune of Divinity on my guardian because they help me eke out the minimum HP/toughness I want while allowing me excellent kill power. It’s not a question of being a glass cannon or defensive in a build. You want an optimal build for your playstyle and Rune of Divinity is an excellent choice that good players use to get there.
I would actually prefer an MMO without leveling at all as it feels like a forced game element. What I would prefer is a relatively short tutorial story that gets you equipped for adventuring in the world of Tyria and then releases you into it. This is where your adventure and achievement begins, not ends.
Think of it as relief from having to run like a sissy in a level 80 area. We are heroes after all; it’s nice to have the environment reinforce that fact somewhere. I actually agree that a level 80 in a starting area is OP, but I’d much rather they address the sissies we are in a level 80 area , than the heroes we are at level 3.
It really has nothing to do with impatience with a new game. GW2 had a tremendous amount of goodwill prior to 11/15/2012. Sure it had bugs and balance issues, but they were being sorted out. No Problem. The forums were relatively healthy prior to then with only complaints from some who bought a baseball and now want to play football with it, i.e., complaints that it wasn’t WoW.
Then, inexplicably, with the Lost Shores patch everything changed. At least everything I thought I knew about GW2. I, like many others, played WoW for years and I, too, can smell a gear grind. GW2, from the company that doesn’t make grindy games, became the mother of all grinders on 11/15/2012. The requirements of the initial pieces dwarfs the WoW grind in time and gold—no comparison. So, not only did they decide to change course, they went full steam ahead. So, OP, this is what’s happening, and we are all perplexed.
Interesting choice of word-concepts. I think Anet had a lot of goodwill built up going into Lost Shores. Sadly, post patch, they are now running low. Sad, as it’s still a great game at it’s core. Sure, there are technical issues that need work, but it’s a new release and when you’ve got a lot of goodwill there’s no need to be concerned about the title. For many players they are now operating in a post-goodwill phase and they need to focus on not squandering what’s left. If I were them, I would weigh potential further loss of goodwill with every decision I made.
Challenge and fun are a difficult balance in a game. I believe the devs are probably aware that the level 75-80 areas are not fun to play. Not fun for the challenge, not fun knocking out the last levels, not fun for farming at 80. The thought of going there immediately leads me to think about what other things I might do instead. This isn’t how a max-level area should feel. Remember, we’re heroes. I always feel the music should switch over to the Benny Hill theme song when you cross the Straits—that’s what’s playing in my head as I try to run through.
It’s almost toooo simple.
If you thought it was a grind before the Lost Shores patch, I don’t have good news for you. They took what was a bit of a grind to level 80 exotics—then they doubled it.
While Anet has done an admirable job banning botters, they will always be present in a successful game, i.e., one with players playing it. Just life in the online gaming lane.
The only unacceptable answer is nerfing legit players because of them. Games are supposed to be fun for players. And, absence of gold making opportunities in a game is one of the primary motivators for people to buy gold. The only game I’ve played where botting was not a large problem had an economy where gatherers and crafters could make sufficient gold through playing the game. That is the answer, make the in-game environment such that there is sufficient reward for playing the game, then there is no need for outside sources of gold. Problem largely solved (see first paragraph).
However, this easily gets messed up when you mix in RL currency. But that is the current method of generating revenue, so we live with messed up economies in games.
Edit: To be clear, what I am saying is the problem is not the botters. With an in-game economy that worked, they would be present for lazy players, but not be gamebreaking. The problem is in a game design that penalizes players and rewards botters/gold sellers.
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The issue really comes down to the fact that we will never know. The manifesto was just vague enough for there to be multiple interpretations. There are other things that point in different directions that, when added together with the manifesto, paint a very different picture.
Regardless of what could be lies or what could not be, there is a very clear issue. They admit that they knew this would be a large issue. They did nothing. They told players nothing. They haven’t done anything to alleviate it. There is a large amount of fallout inside and outside of the game that could have been mitigated to a very large degree.
Many of the things that they did tell players would be in the game are still not anywhere to be found. They instead focused on adding something that was never mentioned in an extremely poor, incomplete and rather snide manner.
To put it bluntly, they earned every bit of this regardless of what the truth is.
The problem is that how much flak anet takes, not matter how much we whine/complain/demand. You’ll always get players who’ll steadfastly defend them or just troll, such is the life of a regular forum poster.
Whilst, I agree with you that they did indeed earn all this negative attention, and bluntly put, this game does not deserve the game of the year at all, except maybe in the graphics department =P But the company as a whole is not listening carefully enough to the players, or not taking enough interest in very valid concerns – the standing joke is that you can’t criticize the game in forums without risking an infraction. Well, I say poop to that ~ I personally think if you like something, and want it to succeed then you fight for it. GW2 still has the potential to be a great game, no it is a great game but it needs some very significant changes to happen, most of all ~ anet needs to win back player confidence first.
Your comment on the artists (graphics) has occurred to me as well. They have done an outstanding job deserving of nothing but praise. It’s sad that their work is considered within the context of the overall game direction. They deserve more.
This is true. If you use gems to buy gear, as I did, you must be prepared to continue shelling out dollars to buy gear as vertical progression progresses. There is no in-game economy by which you can support yourself as in other MMO’s, sadly, so it’s buy gems or simply don’t keep up with the gear progression.
To answer your question, let’s take a quote from the manifesto:
“It all gets back to our basic design philosophy. Our games aren’t about preparing to have fun, or about grinding for a future fun reward. Our games are designed to be fun from moment to moment.”
Does vertical progression require you to grind for a “future fun reward”? Let me remind you that vertical progression “progresses” by periodically increasing the power level. That’s what vertical progression is. It requires you to, periodically, hop on the treadmill and catch up to the level of “progression”. Again, that’s what vertical progression is.
Let’s take a quote from the AMA from Chris:
" we will have vertical progression moving forward with the focus on zero grind and a very low power curve."
Here Chris states that there will be, not the addition of Ascended gear which should have been there at launch, but rather vertical progression. Of course the statement is a contradiction in terms as vertical progression defines a gear grind. Again, an increase in power level requires you to grind to achieve the new power level. That’s what vertical progression is.
I think it’s clear that the Manifesto is not reflected in the game as it currently is conceived by the developers. As to whether that speaks of broken promises, I’ll leave that to you to decide.