I was there for the event. Read the reviews. Honestly, I think your time spent at work/school was probably the wiser choice for a fun time, so cheer up.
Clearly, the coding and infrastructure is not up for events like this. My advice is first to hold future events of this nature. One more like this and they will become a joke. I applaud the desire to deliver interesting and varied content. Take it back to the drawing board. Determine the kinds of things you can actually pull off given the limitations of codebase and infrastructure. GW2 is a great game and really doesn’t need monthly events anyway.
My advice to anet is to hold the events until you can support the events. The lag was so bad my spells didn’t even register as far as I could tell so I just spammed buttons—occasionally things fired off. It was not an enjoyable experience. I am happy with the ambition to provide interesting content but you have some basic foundational programming and infrastructure work to do before you can actually pull off something like lost shores. I will be sitting out the remainder of the event as I don’t want to go through anything like that again.
I am still having lag in the Charr starting area and the Black Citadel. When I created the character the lag was so bad I leveled in the Asura starting area and went on from there. Now that I’m level 80, I’m back to do my story. However the lag is still so bad (10 fps max) in the charr area I’m about to just give up on it. What’s up? I can play anywhere else without a problem, but on my home turf it’s unplayable.
Well, if you are having fun with the tanky Ranger, learning the capabilities, testing the limits, and meeting with some success more power to you. GW2 gives a lot more opportunities to stretch your profession than any mmo I’ve tried to-date. That’s really what a game is about.
BTW, thanks for the tip about the jellyfish. I just picked up a red and a blue one (collect them all!) and will have one out on my next undersea adventure.
“Actually, Rangers can make darn good tanks via the evasion mechanic. Sword and dagger combo is amazing for just such a thing. Greatsword also makes a darn good tanking weapon in combination with QZ. If you use greatsword AND sword/dagger you can tank like a champ.
[Edit: And I’m not talking about tanking trash. I’m talking about tanking bosses and champions.]"
Responding to your edit: You are talking then about standing toe-to-toe with a champion or boss for how long? Any cooldowns around evasion involved that might make tanking face to face with the full focus of a champion or boss for 10 minutes a bit untenable? We might be dancing around differing definitions of tanking.
“Actually, Rangers can make darn good tanks via the evasion mechanic. Sword and dagger combo is amazing for just such a thing. Greatsword also makes a darn good tanking weapon in combination with QZ. If you use greatsword AND sword/dagger you can tank like a champ.”
As you were posting I was adding an edit to my post clarifying what I mean by ‘tank’ and ‘tanking’ as all professions have the ability to deal damage in melee range. As I said I was speaking of played a ranged profession as ranged. And, technically, they are not tanking, they are striking and evading. They would last at most seconds with the focus of a Champion—they really are not designed for tanking—and, technically, no profession is. See my edited post.
“This isn’t WoW. The class is Ranger, not hunter. Pets aren’t meant to be tanks (although some tank better than others) and you should be able to tank and DPS better than your pet.”
Yeah, I was actually talking about GW2. And, the pet-tanking mechanic worked fine up until level 35. Every Ranger I’ve seen play in GW2 (at my level) had pets that tanked mobs for them. So, it was a surprise when one day the concept of pet-tank went away in GW2. Again, I was talking about GW2, just using an aggro example from WoW where aggro (once you are in combat—there is the notion of aggro range) is based on threat as measured by the amount of damage you are dealing relative to other combatants.
And, no, in GW2 (or any game I’ve played) a Ranger is not going to be able to tank anything beyond a trash mob or two. The first rule of ranged classes playing as ranged classes (i.e., with DPS) is you never get hit. It’s called kiting, whether in GW2 or any other game. If you see a Ranger standing still and ‘tanking’ you know that that Ranger does not understand his or her profession’s mechanics.
[Edit: I understand that Ranger’s can equip, say, a greatsword or sword and play in and around melee range. They are not ‘tanking’, they are striking and evading like a Mesmer does in melee. Tanking implies taking the focus of a mob, intentionally, and using abilities or build to avoid or mitigate damage and regenerate health.]
(edited by Raine.1394)
" i dont use the bear anymore after someone pmed me and called me a bot"
I know. But 10,000 bots can’t be wrong on the proper pet for PvE, it’s probably a science to them. I use a polar bear to try to set myself apart from the bots; and, it helps to name it. Bots never name their bears; it’s always ‘Juvenile Brown Bear’. Yeah, being a ranger with a brown bear can get you reported as I’m always with bots it seems. I’m often thankful for them, actually, as they sometimes help with DE’s unwittingly when no one else is around. BTW, I went and tamed a shark and an armor fish for my underwater combo. The shark actually holds up quite well himself.
Loki, I did listen to you and said it would be a problem if what you were saying is correct. That is, a damage dealer, dealing damage, should be higher on the threat meter than a player at 1200 range not dealing any damage. I say that as one who has played mmo’s for years, though not GW and that is perhaps where the dis-connect lies. I guess what I’m saying is GW2 aggro, if it truly is working like this is counter-intuitive. Potential threat really shouldn’t outweigh actual threat, i.e. players or pets actually dealing damage. I don’t know if you played WoW, but if Omen had you at the top in terms of threat you simply backed off the damage-dealing or used an ability to decrease threat or re-direct it to the tank.
Whatever, I tried an experiment. I went into Lion’s Arch and retraited. I left power/precision/crit traits the same but put 5 in Beastmastery. The experience is now like it was yesterday and the pets now hold aggro normally. At least I can now progress without the pain. Thanks for your input.
I’d really be interested if someone higher level with good gear has any input on this. From level 1 to 35 I have had a normal pet aggro experience and have been in Mastercraft gear from level 14. The only difference between yesterday when the pets held aggro was an upgrade to a rare set. Again, if I’m at 1200 range and send in the pet without firing, the mob comes straight for me, i.e., I’m higher on the threat meter doing no damage at 1200 range than my pet in melee dealing damage.
It was a significant gear upgrade to a rare set at 35, but Loki, that would be a real problem if what you are saying is factored in. Like I say I’m at max range, outside the mobs aggro range, not firing. If I’m above the bear, who is attacking, on the treat meter, then something is wrong with the game.
So, up until this morning everything was mostly fine with this ranger and his pets. Having played a hunter for years in WoW, GW2 pets leave a bit to be desired, but that’s another thread. Overnight all my pets have lost the ability to hold aggro. I’m in the same area with the same mobs. Yesterday I could send in my bear and open up and the bear would hold aggro. Today, if I send in my pet and hold my fire even, the mob comes straight for me.
Nothing has changed on my character except a gear upgrade (I’m level 35) overnight. But, like I say, it happens when I send in my pet and I’m at max range, i.e., outside aggro range.
Has anyone else had this experience? Having played this class for years (WoW hunter), I’m not interested, at all, in playing it if the pets can’t hold aggro at a basic level (liking when I’m not attacking at all.
Interesting since I came to the forums to QQ about my pets not holding aggro. What’s funny is they did yesterday but now if I send my pet in and hold fire, the mob comes straight for me. I’m in the same area with the same mobs…totally different experience today.
Yes, I believe it should be removed. It was a real head-scratcher upon first coming to GW2. Exactly what state of being is modeled by the downed state? I mean, IRL, I’m using my skills to fight until I’m dead. The downed state seems artificial and counter-intuitive. Just not clear on the advantage of including this in the game. I agree with OP on this one.
While the TP was up but not working last night I was getting the ‘did not match a current item’ error when trying to purchase items. I tried several times and it appears, looking at my pick up tab today, that all that ‘failed’ last night actually succeeded and I have multiples of all the items I tried to order. Caveat emptor, if the TP tells you it failed don’t believe it. Sure will be nice when it actually works—especially when it’s up—it’s potentially a great feature of the game.
I think that it would help to stop referring to it as ‘maintenance’. For anyone who has been close to IT, they know that maintenance is a set of routine IT activities with a bounded timeframe. I think what is happening with the BLTC is more break-fix. The service is broken and you are working to restore service. I know maintenance is a better sounding word, but it’s not what is happening.
Haha. This game has made me a complete altoholic. I’ve purchased 2 additional character slots but still had to delete many characters as I wanted to experience all the races and starting areas. Overall, I’m having fun and enjoying the game. Sometimes it has concerned me that I’m having trouble sticking to one character, lol.