Guild Wars 2

I’m curious to know what would be gained by a new race. If it’s new maps, well that is applicable if the story happens to cover them anyway. If it’s lore, well it is hit and miss as to whether races are enhanced by being playable. Norn lost so much from what them interesting in GW1 and they became a much more generic race to fit them in with the Orders and the linear storyline. To some (albeit smaller) extent, the Charr and Asura also suffered.

The Kodan and the Largos are interesting races, but would they be better races for being playable? I suspect not. Seeing Kodan running around with Legendaries and sparkly armour and dresses would be immersion breaking. The same with Largos. Writing and lore for NP-races is often of a higher quality than for playable versions, where the flavour and uniqueness of a race can be explored much more faithfully and without compromise.

This isn’t unique as an issue to GW2 either – I remember when Lotro added Beornings as a race quite recently and suddenly this rare and unqiue race, was running around every part of Middle Earth – a rather significant piece of racial lore in a game which thrives on a well established and beloved World, thrown to the wind for the sake of adding something new.

If we stick a pin in the large and numerous obstacles for adding a new race, what is it a new race is bringing beyond a new skin that can’t be done anyway?

I am not aware of any previous Christmas Day sales or anything added on a Sunday. I would think Boxing Day if they decided to, although they dont really follow traditional retail sales trends.

When was the last time you played?

It’s certainly easier to gain gold than ever before, but coin drops from mobs are largely the same. Grind for cash still exists, but it’s perhaps a lot less than it used to be. You also get 2g from doing your dailies.

The VA currently is a lot of work for them, especially as they have ramped up the amount of dialogue. That on its own is probably the single biggest reason new races are highly unlikely. Scheduling plus costs as a non-trivial obstacle they would need to add into an already demanding amount of work they have to do.

No one is ruling out a new race entirely, although the likelihood is very much stacked against it still. As for what is stated in the OP, whether the race is built on existing framework is not entirely relevant, since races have individual details to consider – Charr and their tail for eg. Players want Largos, yet the “wings” cause issues there. And so on.

The fastest way to get presents ( I assume that’s what you mean since you don’t state what you are after) is either choir bell or the jumping puzzle (you need to be good at that JP to do it fast enough every time)

After about 1 min of the fight, a small white patch appears on the ground near the boss. When you move onto it, Aurene will move to the other and the boss will be damaged when you use your Mastery skill.

If one isn’t appearing, it could be a bug, but it’s not one I’ve heard about yet. Might be a new one that has crept in.

I fully support more underwater content, although a full map would be overkill I suspect.
The underwater exploration stuff has been a huge plus for me since launch and it’s sad to see it drop off so much. Southson looked to add more, but it was so laggy under those waters, it was almost unplayable.

I did like the swimming around under Bitterfrost though. They had a proper icy lake feel and was quite atmospheric swimming under the ice. It’s just a pity there wasn’t an event or two down there, but I think they were keeping it as a “safe spot”.

+1 to more content and new skins.

Vekk was always my favourite. Plus he was voiced by Maurice LaMarche, so that’s an extra win.

But, again, what sort of relevance are you after? Until that is laid out, it’s difficult to know how Anet can implement anything of value to those unhappy with the system.

Part of the story – it’s a flavour addition to show your bond with her as her Champion.

lol…just lol.

Great vid!

Love the fact it is 4 weeks. Puts many other MMO’s to shame!

Adry.7512:

Randulf.7614:

I don’t agree with most of this, although Guilds do need some basic functionality additions like improved UI, notifications, guild mail etc.

You don’t actually state what you mean by making it more personal or more relevant, nor are there any suggestions to improve the system. What is it precisely you are looking for?

Ive seen much disappointment in players towards guilds. I have attempted to join all sorts of guilds and every time i have also been disappointed. I am not looking for anything. This is a post informing players about what guilds mean in this game. Which would be a social network for whatever you would like. Kind of how people talk in map chat, well guilds is just another version of that with minor perks.

Guilds are their very essence were always meant to be a social network though. As for minor perks, that doesn’t really make a lot of sense. Guilds offer a great deal of perks for those who want it. Sure, not every Guild is right for every player, but fundamentally they do offer a lot for ppl.

- Make WvW grouping a lot easier
- Guild Missions, which reward both Guild and player
- A customisable Guild Hall, which Guild depending, anyone can chip and help build and design
- Make it easier to find groups for raids and fractals. And for completing objectives. They are fundamental to how many ppl learn new mechanics and solve each new instance or open world boss. It’s Guilds who often take the responsibility to train others in raids and help the community with things like Wurm. I believe it was Guilds who led/commanded the first TEquatl kills.

For every person who complains about Guilds (and the number is quite small), the vast majority are probably just getting on successfully with Guild life. There are always improvements that can be made to Guilds, whether it is better functionality, improved UI or even more Guild Missions, but ultimately you paint a rather bleak picture of Guilds which I find unrecognisable to the reality of what is in this game.

I don’t agree with most of this, although Guilds do need some basic functionality additions like improved UI, notifications, guild mail etc.

You don’t actually state what you mean by making it more personal or more relevant, nor are there any suggestions to improve the system. What is it precisely you are looking for?

I know we can have music from the starter cities, but I rather like the music for Wintersday in Divinity’s Reach and the Halloween theme in LA is quite cool as well. It would be a nice feature to be able obtain those for our Guild Hall. Since many Guild will decorate their Hall for each festival, it would add an extra, optional ambience.

Khisanth.2948:

Randulf.7614:

I share the frustration and the map bonuses are unlikely to generate enough slivers for the decorations unless you solely grind them and nothing else, by which time most of Wintersday will be over.

Some of the scribing costs need rebalancing again so that festivals become less about grinding out enough materials and more about encouraging creatvitiy in decorating via making them more accessible.

Which is why you need to prioritize. Get the time limited stuff first and leave the rest for later … but I view all decorations equally I don’t care about seasons and festivals. Still need to acquire vast piles of snow.

I don’t think that is valid though. All Wintersday decorations should be acquired fairly easily through the festival. It should be about how creative you are with the decorating your Guild Hall, not money sinks or grinds or farms or economy balances or any of that – not when it comes to festivals. I personally don’t think it is the right approach to look at decorations being something to aim for next year rather than this.

I share the frustration and the map bonuses are unlikely to generate enough slivers for the decorations unless you solely grind them and nothing else, by which time most of Wintersday will be over.

Some of the scribing costs need rebalancing again so that festivals become less about grinding out enough materials and more about encouraging creatvitiy in decorating via making them more accessible.

Not that i have seen beyond those being destroyed. Maybe there is a limit on what can be built and new toys cause old ones to despawn?

Yes, Santa Charr sent me a kind mail and gift set as well, with a mini I also lacked (how did he know???)

Happy Wintersday!!

Wanze.8410:

you could have made that snowmaker all year long for less than 20g…..

Where would you get the snow piles from? The vendor only trades them during Wintersday?

That is pretty great. Might steal some ideas from this thread as I am really struggling, what the the prohibitive costs and they way Gilded Hollow tends to swallow up and impose over decorations.

Is that a building behind the waypoint?

Palador.2170:

Sadly, all I’m seeing is torn letters. I can’t do anything. Anyone else having this problem?

Are you looking at the correct letters? The torn ones might be from the other letters achievement.

Spook.5847:

Randulf.7614:

Felahr.9830:

Randulf.7614:

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

I thought the ‘Meta’ is the one that gives 100 AP. It just seems easier to do. At least the first 5, so the first 50 points. Only takes 5 days of Dailies.

It seems to give the same reward as last year. Or I expect the choices will be the same; who knows? Maybe more choices.

Correct. The meta just works differently this year – it is only linked to dailies, but you can get up to 100 points this time

id rather have a cool item than 100 ap

You do.

Last year the meta was either an old toy mini or 100 gifts. This year are brand new skins.

What meta this year? I am not even seeing one :/

It’s explained a bit further up in this thread, but I’ll recap.

It’s not a conventional meta, more like a meta for the dailies to circumvent having to activities some players find abhorrent. There is an achievement called A Season of Merriment. You complete 3 Wintersday dailies each day and after 5 days, you get 10 ap up to a possible 100ap. You also can get one of the weapons in the below link as a reward.

http://dulfy.net/2015/12/16/gw2-2015-a-merry-wintersday-achievements-guide/#Daily_Achievement_A_Season_of_Merriment

This was sort of explained in the patch notes.

Basically any achievements from last year that you completed that counted towards the Wintersday shoulders collection have saved in the Wintersday achievement panel since the collection is current and active. Basically it’s tracking what you have already done, in an easy to view place.

Felahr.9830:

Randulf.7614:

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

I thought the ‘Meta’ is the one that gives 100 AP. It just seems easier to do. At least the first 5, so the first 50 points. Only takes 5 days of Dailies.

It seems to give the same reward as last year. Or I expect the choices will be the same; who knows? Maybe more choices.

Correct. The meta just works differently this year – it is only linked to dailies, but you can get up to 100 points this time

id rather have a cool item than 100 ap

You do.

Last year the meta was either an old toy mini or 100 gifts. This year are brand new skins.

Yeah, it made it look too toyish for me, didn’t sit right with the weapon. Used my ticket to sell a skin instead of keep one because of it. A lot of people like it though and now it is in the game, I can’t see them taking time to recolour one piece on each skin.

Thanks for the heads up. Didn’t know this had been added

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/lwd/Small-plea-for-wintersday/first#post6423726

Whilst I do agree it should be fixed, it unfortunately is not a simple fix. I am surprised it is still an ongoing issue, but at least they have been upfront about it.

Malediktus.3740:

The repeatable achievement for doing the dailies seems to be similar to the one from SAB where you can earn Kaiser Snake skins. So I would not count it as a meta achievement? Anyway you need to do the wintersday daily 50 times, so it likely will take 3 years to get the maximum AP.

There is a new title for this year, but it got moved from the meta to a random regular achievement.

It’s certainly not a meta as in the traditional sense no, but it does appear to replace it. I suspect they have done it this way due to the complaints of having to do the JP or having to choir or relying on a successful snowball mayhem pvp group etc from previous years. For better or worse, this way is more accessible to more people.

Dantert.1803:

why not also fixing the BUG that prevents people to play with their friends in toypocalypse??

It’s not a bug. It requires a complete redesign of the instance due to technical reasons and the potential to cause more serious bugs elsewhere.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/lwd/Small-plea-for-wintersday/first#post6423726

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

I thought the ‘Meta’ is the one that gives 100 AP. It just seems easier to do. At least the first 5, so the first 50 points. Only takes 5 days of Dailies.

It seems to give the same reward as last year. Or I expect the choices will be the same; who knows? Maybe more choices.

Correct. The meta just works differently this year – it is only linked to dailies, but you can get up to 100 points this time

It’s a bug which is being fixed.
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Bug-Wintersday-Instancing/first#post6429125

Gaile Gray.6029:

nottsgman.8206:

Randulf.7614:

Ah, I remember this bug from a previous year. Thanks for the heads up!

so do I. such fondness!

good to know it’s still around though

It’s nice that someone can look on an old bug with fondness. Thanks for sharing your holiday spirit!

I am just happy there is a work-around and that we can get where we need to get, even if it may take a few tries.

philheat.3956:

Am I the only one to not see the meta achievement?

Some old wintersday achis appeared already completed and no meta achievement.

Hi,

I just asked about the meta achievement, and one of the devs said that there is no permanent achievement, but there is a daily achievement and a repeatable in the non-daily group that tracks how many daily metas you do.

Hope that helps!

Yep, found it. Edited my above post anyway, but the equivalent of the meta from dailies is called “A Season of Merriment”. For some reason I didn’t see it despite looking multiple times…

Perhaps someone threw a snowball in my eye..!

philheat.3956:

Am I the only one to not see the meta achievement?

Some old wintersday achis appeared already completed and no meta achievement.

No, I can’t see a meta and the Wintersday Cheer one says there should be one there in the Festival tab (unless it is a text bug again)

edit: The “meta” referred to by the Wintersday Cheer daily is in there as “A Season of Merriment”. It’s just not static at the top of the acheevo list like traditional metas.

Ah, I remember this bug from a previous year. Thanks for the heads up!

From patch notes

“Tradeable Wintersday gifts now have a chance to drop all over Tyria.”

Patch is live

Saurian Slayer
Karka Slayer

To be honest, I don’t think any slayer acheevos have been added since launch that I can remember, so I don’t find it surprising more were not added in HoT

There have been some strange blips occurring today. I had one just a moment ago which when I logged to a char select, gave me an error message and shut the client down. When i logged back in, it ported me to a previous zone, then back to the map I was in, but in a completely different corner.

I’ve seen others report weird things happening in map chat today too, perhaps there are intermittent problems somewhere. They seem very isolated though, so worth trying again in a bit maybe.

Fluffball.8307:

Randulf.7614:

I’m not a good enough player to solo dungeons or fractals and use that as a gauge.

You are now, with the breakbars and power creep they’re stupidly easy.

/offtopic

Haha, I doubt it, but I’ll bear that in mind!

Karka, especially those big veterans, mordrem and saurians. The champ centaur in snowden is a pretty good gauge for me. If I cant solo him on a downscaled toon, Im usually set up in an unbalanced way.

I’m not a good enough player to solo dungeons or fractals and use that as a gauge.

DIdn’t Target Shooting essentially move to Verdant Brink?

Dungeons are yes. Doesn’t mean you have to play that way (our Guild plods through them slowly), but most pug groups will whizz through them quickly.

Fractals (similar to dungeons but in shorter bursts from a central hub in Lions Arch) tend to be a different matter since they are the mainstay of instanced content and are better designed than the core dungeons from launch.

The 10,000 drinks achievement is active all year round, so it wont be lowered otherwise it will be unfair to those have been at it since last Wintersday.

Hopefully they have learned from the overwhelming feedback of last year and Halloween to not make festivals about excessive material grinds

Pretty much what Danikat said. Play and enjoy your class and ignore those subforums entirely. There are some great things in there, but they usually get buried by a lot of hyperbole. Necros are not useless in any game mode, but that doesnt mean any necro build will work. That I am sure you are prob aware of anyway and is true of any profession.

It also tends to flare up a lot around the time of balance patches and the next is Tuesday, with the changes already published, so reactions are a bit more lopsided than usual

You already have the basics which you need. Each LS3 new map introduces a new mastery to train, which you will need to do in order. They aren’t essential (except the first Ancient Magics which you do need), but they make life easier. You may need a Nuhoch line completed for the HoT Story, but I forget to be sure.

Leyline gliding is another useful one to aim for, simply for the improved navigation in the new maps. You also need it for 100% map completion in HoT. Poision Mastery is also required for reaching certain small areas.

A lot of the Masteries are just convenience enhancements to improve the experience and the maps are designed with this in mind. Maxing out gliding will make a lot of difference to your play for example, whilst maxing Exalted Lore will provide minimal advantages. You do not “need” to max everything out though.

Danikat.8537:

Zedek.8932:

The only thing I hate is the fact I have to get a group for the personal story in Orr. Since I can not and do not wish to play with total strangers (extremely bad experiences that really ruined my faith in gamers) I have no idea what happened except for some bits and conclusions I can make out when starting HoT. Suddenly, there are new characters, suddenly a fleet has crashed etc..

Do not come up with “This is an MMORPG”, yes, but in the end I have yet to find bearable people that are more than the typical “lolwtfroflcopters” folks that go rage mode when you want to talk a bit ’bout politics or economy. So far, I will never know what is going on in those missions. I am in this state since 1.5 years. . .

Excelsior.

You don’t need a group for the story in Orr. They changed it about a year ago to be a solo instance like all the others.

Just highlighting this, since it appears many still are unaware of the change from those I have spoken to.
Orr Story Dungeon is now a solo instance or a 5-man dungeon depending on what you select.

As for what the OP is saying, I imagine it is a very difficult balance and I don’t think splitting things into easy/hard mode is necs the right answer – it’s just potentially double the work for each story release.

The devs will have better metrics about who is playing the content Vs the target audience of 4 years ago, but I do wonder how many of the casual playerbase the game was very much aimed at, has been lost with the advent of improved difficulty in Open World. I prefer the harder mobs and think it validates the game’s progression more, but I can sympathise with those increasingly turning away because of it.

I do like Brahams set. I don’t find the Aegis causes any issues, but then again, the blue effect compliments the colour scheme I have as well as the eyes of the wolf on the shield

It used to be Halloween for me, but so much has been taken out of Halloween over the years it has become a shadow of its former self. Wintersday wins it for me.

Plus Snow > all

I found Chaos too long, plus the fact that it took elements from many fractals made it less unique than the others.

I think my other worst, now that Dredge has been improved, is the Aetherblade one. I just hate that last fight with the spinning forcefields etc. It’s not that’s it is badly mechanically, I simply don’t enjoy it even at low tier.

Cliffside will always be my fav though. It’s just such a cool scenario.