Guild Wars 2

yeah, nah, im jaded and anti social at this point, my 2 fav guilds out of a plethora i joined ….2 full lists 450 each….all gray. so i keep a guild with only me now for vault space, i didn’t choose the pug life, the pug life chose me.

@Vayne yeah, me too, i tend to have fun even though they want me to pvp like a ninny for this version. this version is excellent for adventuring and for collecting shiny fluff, though i really would like the henchies back so i can do dungeons with em……people are all good and fun till they take hours to make teams then boot you because it’s your first time in that dungeon.

anet needs to save me from their professional cave dwellers, else i’ll never see a dugeon.

so you think it’s best to wait ? i’m split on waiting, not sure i want to get into beta because characters usually get re-rolled and they might add new deals – plus i have to spend wisely ….if anet said ’ awww man, come on, back me up’ then i’d buy it….but they ain’t saying that and i’m on a mission to make pvp intelligent again so i have to look like i aint buying.

yeah, what do you think, this is a game ?! – wait ..i’m on the players side again. let me catch up on complaints ….

gah, it’s past midnight, now i gotta side with the players!

when are we getting ring of fire?! ^.^

yeah, that’s why i’m not quick to call it corporate greed -

this session alone, do you have any idea how much it costs to hire an orchestra at union scale ? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex9McZRWi40

and this was for the living season, not an expansion. I’m pro music, and can tell you this session alone required a heck of a lot of character slots to be sold to recoup. it was certainly not a band-in-the- box production.

yall have the best team around, no questions – this is not dissing other teams …but these guys are definitely top shelf, that doesn’t come cheap :p

the question is now ….How do we keep them well fed without going broke ourselves!! lol

it’s almost midnight, i’m still defending anet, i’ll go back to siding with the gamers and talk about how my poor poor build got mangled.

naw, i’m trying to consider it real world / realistically – we didn’t factor in ncsoft, then the costs of marketing – traveling to events – then there’s corporate taxes…so you know that kitten got trimmed

further you are going way back to 2009 – it would seem logical that’s what they were using to fund them to get where they are at now. that money gets spent fast while inflation doesn’t care. things happen

http://www.therichest.com/rich-list/most-shocking/5-billionaires-who-went-from-filthy-rich-to-flat-broke/

did someone forget to carry the one and include salaries for 281 people, 3rd party studio rentals, marketing, server costs, healthcare ? all while keeping investors happy and entertained ? for 3 years ? maybe ? -smh-

what they did is the wisest choice for a game imo – i use a 3d software – iclone that once did 32 bit dx9 …then emulated 64 bit dx 9….then went full 64 dx 11

the result, the program was way more resource intensive, so many upgrades will have to be had

the speed was faster in 32 bit, but the visuals were also less rich – it was nice, the 64 bit emulation allowed us to make bigger scenes while keeping smooth real time performance….. the detail in all 64 is intense, huge jump in quality……but now it needs more of a gaming machine and higher video card benchmark with 2-4 gig ram to do big scenes smoothly. Laptops struggle more and get hotter faster, to see full quality in real time they have to tone down a lot of features to get better usability.

now the next question is how will it perform in windows 10, dx12

and if guildwars ever went dx12, would they give us a director mode for making machinima like gta 5 ^.^

would be nice to beat someone down in wvw and make a movie about it, slow motion fights n stuff -shrug-

that’s a perception of material depreciation carried over to software – if Anet made guildwars 2.1 2.2 2.3 – it would retain it’s value.

sell limited editions of things, watch the price appreciate over time – what makes it depreciate is over abundance.

No different than music, no such thing as a collectors item in an mp3 format….the value has dropped to practically zero because it can be copied over and over.

I was just talking about this with my friend today – Death increases the value of life.
that is a fact.

The death of a version of software, increases the value of it’s next update. since guildwars is perceived as the version that was released after beta, it is perceived as the same original version, that is simply not true. Anet would have to release the original version they put out right after beta for the community to really “appreciate” the current version. Since anet never really distinguished it, it’s the same old software simply because it’s the same name.

which btw, I’m using the word “appreciate” like a bank, when you appreciate something, you increase it’s value. I actually learned this concept from a self help / lecturer / author / successful banker….it’s actually changed how i look at life…I try to ‘appreciate’ as many things as I can to make my view of life richer. gotta love the play with words :p

I’m saying too much, I may have to go back to defending the community tomorrow rofl :p <3

I want this to be the best game and community the world has ever known, so i have to fight all of ya, sorry :/

chaotic neutral FTW – i sure hope at least 1 person from anet knows what that means :p

yes, i want those alignments in gw …it’s a big deal and will plant a seed for serious roleplaying. I’m absitively popsolutely sure of this. If you doubt me, you don’t know what you are saying lol and yes, it should affect the spells and particle effects …some people use light, others use darkness…and then there’s the gray area. i’m on whatever side benefits me the most ..natural born merc for hire …-poker face- each with their own exclusive missions and places the other can’t get to.
you don’t send a whiteknight to the darkest kittens in the pit. they might not only die, but get their character permanently deleted – too bad it’s the only way to get certain soulbound items. ( that expire after a year lol ) segway into friendly fire in wvw rofl – you have to admit, making wvw just a tiny bit ffa might address the match imbalance issue – especially when 1 server is too busy having a huuge civil war hahah!!

this will also teach people to play together ( or not ) if they want their server to win – evils and goods have to work together to win as a server – but if there is no treaty …then there is a problem. and someone just waiting to turn an ant hill into a mountain! ^.^ what is the probability of a whole server turning entirely evil ?

IndigoSundown.5419:

@ Ricky

I agree on not sneaky, though not sure subtle works, either. I’d say, rather, that the company puts its public relations foot in its mouth due to communication issues they’ve demonstrated since shortly after launch.

You’re spot on with regard to this being a perception issue. I think that players attaching a value to core GW2 that ANet no longer is are focusing on a sideshow. To me, the cost of HoT is going to be $50 until and unless sometime past launch there’s a sale. That price will prevail even if complaining players force ANet to demonstrate the price is $50 by unbinding core from HoT. Based on what they’ve said, and past practices, HoT will still cost $50.

At that point, some of the same complainers will be back here, except they’ll be asking what ought to be the real question all along — does what HoT contain justify the price.

I say subtle, because they did not force gem sales. They encouraged them by providing more product. but if for example, you could play free….but you had to buy downed state time by the hour ….else you would instantly die – that would be more provoked. ie – Good ole snake oil…..“This oil will prevent instant death and give you a chance to recover!!” a bottle lasts one month!!

they don’t play that.

adormtil.1605:

I know a lot of people think that rarity is value which is understandable they have something other do not and makes them feel special.
But anet will never do that because they will go bankrupt if they do that.

no they wouldn’t lol ….all they’d have to do is create different colors ….

only 500 gold finisher bundles …….then 500 blue, then 500 black . green, red etc – people will appreciate the value of the colors.

It’s all about perception…….something has to be limited in quantity for it to appreciate in value. limited supply creates increased demand.

giving their work away free will make them bankrupt.

@IndigoSundown.5419 – understood and agreed, but this is also what is causing a bad perception – aka people saying anet is being sneaky. Imo , they weren’t being sneaky, they were being subtle about recouping those costs.

I’ve been observing anet for a long time, nothing sneaky about them, if anything, they have been very generous, but the overall presentation did not cause the audience to understand the value of the time invested. if you throw it in a bag, it’s considered part of a package …..it could be twinkies or a rolex…but the package is whatever is bundled in the paper bag lol

if they sold limited copies of expansions at 100 dollars each, you can be sure they’d sell out in minutes. only 1000. get them while they last.

test it – make a secret cow level….and sell it 100, only 1,000 copies ^.^

there is a reason legendary weapons are so expensive in the trading post.

if anet wanted to increase their value, they should only sell 50 copies of this expansion lol

would be a riot if nothing else heh!!

but they have added a ton of content, just because they didn’t flat out sell it, doesn’t mean it wasn’t new content without value. Perception, perception, perception! they devalued themselves. We didn’t devalue them, they gave us content and didn’t charge extra, so we took it free and didn’t see the value. They would have had to not update the engine at all since release, for people to “appreciate” ( increase in value ) the new content and changes they did add.

does a song lose value because it’s 20 years old ? no, some cd’s become collectors items.
but that’s different ? is it really ? or is it just a matter of perception. they haven’t added new instruments or lines to any old beatles songs and they are old. they should be free.

“The core game has no value. "

totally and completely oblivious to all the man hours put into keeping it up to date.

today, i’ll defend anet – maybe tomorrow i’ll go back to defending vets ;p

I want a peaceful medium, because i enjoy the game and community. so I have something to say for everyone <3

well, i have to agree with that …in an abstract way …..to us …it looks like nickel and diming …to them it’s keeping up with the rising costs of running a business.

rather than ‘myself’ say nickel and diming….I’d rather say transparency to avoid bad perceptions and conspiracy theories……I’d rather hear …“OMG” the local electric company is charging us 30 percent more to keep our servers online, and " i cant find a decent IT guy for less than 80k a year and we need 3 of them!! ahhh " than watch them come up with all sorts of sales strategies trying to cover that extra rise in operating costs.

Let’s just say, their electric company is not going to lower the cost, or have bundle sales,to keep the anet servers online, because their generators are 20 years old lol

imo , what backfired on them was making the game lower cost …..sure you can call it a 3 year old game …but the truth is , the engine was constantly updated ….so it’s an uptodate game.

Had they done that, selling the core game for 49.99 and giving the expansion pack for free would have had a better reception.

But since they devalued the core game because of the “Time made it old” illusion, it seems like less of a bargain. If you consider the man hours put into keeping the game updated with new content, the core engine is in fact very up to date. – else we’d still have old problems. just like an old game bought on CD after it gets finalized – then the ‘old’ perception would be correct. But gw2 is an ongoing effort.

when and if they make gw 2.1 – ie 64 bit dx 12 – they should never devalue it again. sale bargains, yes, depreciate no. perception is everything. it’s the difference between a tree and a door :p

it actually makes sense in a cold statistical kind of way -

since the gw franchise started – 10 years ago, that generation of gamers have grown up….some moved on with careers and others are parents…..so my guess would be they are looking for next generation gamers. It would be a logical approach to constantly look for new players rather than older players.

now while this may seem cold, it does seem logical

it would be nice though if they grew into a family type game, where the past generations pass this on to their kids / next generation.

I’d also hate to say it, but it seems that trying to recover some of the older players doesn’t seem to have a positive outlook because a whole ton of them already left….
some for the reasons I stated before, and others because they are trend gamers ….that go for the newest game of the moment.

It would be nice though if anet took a heritage type approach while looking for next gen gamers, it would seem that’s what nintendo has done, ie – mario bros, i’m quite sure many of today’s mario bro players, have parents that played the first mario bros or donkey kong.

the rpg genre in general is a heritage type game ….as the first rpg game was dungeons and dragons everything after has been modeled around that ‘adventure / chance / strategy ’ concept. the rpg genre is very very rich in culture, it’s more than just adventuring and pvp for that matter……it’s a mix of war gaming and role playing – dating back to pencil and paper gaming.

and ironically enough, the pvp aspect of rpg gaming is in fact a very social aspect of the genre, no different than playing card games. PVE is actually a form of solitaire, and pvp is a game of poker, or gin rummy. you don’t socialize playing solitaire even if you filled a room of 50 people playing solitaire at the same time.

they could try to emulate 64 and have the choice of 32bit or 64bit. the extra ram would help a ton. the graphics would look far more intense in true 64 bit dx11 though. but expect many laptop tears because true 64 dx11 is a resource hog.

Dx12 will eventually be a huge deal though, because then the amd based video cards will be on equal footing as nvidia but more cost effective.

it’s a big deal, but not mainstream news yet, that’s a revolution ready to happen :p

https://community.amd.com/community/gaming/blog/2015/05/12/amd-enables-incredible-directx-12-performance-in-new-3dmark-api-overhead-feature-test

I’ve thought a lot about this today – so a few more thoughts, in a way that hopefully a developer with pvp in their blood can appreciate……not just a pvp’r …but someone who understands the social aspect of a ‘true’ and ‘hardcore’ pvp community – for the record….a true pvp community ….is much friendlier and closer than a pve community. Much like high level martial artists have nothing but love and respect for each other and praise peace. we may talk smack in forums, but that is nothing more than a stare down before a fight, we study and analyze each other regularly….that naturally leads to closer ties.

with that said ….the problem with sPvP and why it’s not e-sport ready is because….
‘drum roll’

a level 20 gw1 55 monk would destroy a level 80 GW2 warrior.

that is blasphemy!

also know, i’m saying this because i’ve been a part of this genre since it first stepped foot online as a graphic interface. So I humbly, yet confidently AM an authority having been there, done that, lost 1st place to hackers lol :p

so it’s with a sincere care for anet, recognizing them as a true and respectable rpg game developers, you are the best example of what rpg was, is and will be…as far as this vet is concerned, you rightfully hold that torch…… …pvp or pve ….. that i post this.
( if you wanted to throw in an elven cloak and character alignments i wont complain btw… )

GW1 was guildWARS GW2 is guildADVENTURES…..nothing wrong with that, and hopefully my comments will help you consider an rpg mmo vets point of view. I simply LOOOOVE being a noob, so i’m born again with a new name :p

if you can find a way to marry Gw1 with Gw2 from what i’ve said above, that would be like yin meets yang – not a gray area, but 2 distinct views of the rpg genre in dx 11 or 12 even – 64 bit!

which btw, I’m saying this analytically ……simply because I want to understand what “I’m” finding frustrating, truth is I’m starting to feel exhausted from it.

show me one thing in any of the expansion deals that is intended to appeal to a strategic pvp’r / wvw’r. There isn’t any. A new wvw area is not going to fix unbalanced matches, but it will give players a new area to ‘adventure’

just calling the game “Guildaventures” gives me a sigh of relief, and anet is state of the art with adventurers.

The title seems to be a conflict of interest, as more and more content is focused on adventurers ……and the adventurers are very happy.

Anet might be happier focusing on the audience they are catering to. They may say they want to cater to e-sport, but their packages say they want to cater to adventurers.

That is very confusing for someone looking for a good e-sport game.

Study the forum arguments, a majority of them is pver’s vs pvp’rs. You will not find a hard core pvp only whiteknight. you just wont.

further – as an adventurer, i’m happy…..as a pvp’r i really don’t feel i have a game to get into ‘bragging rights’ type pvp ……the exhaustion factor is making me come to terms with that….and I may just start calling guildwars – guildadventures for myself just so i don’t get myself worked up on a pvp debate.

after studying this forum and it’s white knights, it just dawned on me, everyone who is white knighting for anet, are pve’rs. The name of the game is guild “wars” which suggest pvp.

as silly as this sounds, it’s quite misleading, almost every major complaint I’ve seen comes from people who love wvw / pvp. While there are places you can player vs player, the mechanics aren’t really cutting edge pvp.

So, I’m starting to think the issue is more fundamental than just pricing, because the price and new additions aren’t really so bad at all ….for an adventure game.

The bigger danger i see in all this, is fatigue – we debate about superficial stuff, but the core issue appears to me that the overall game truly caters to adventurers. While there is no problem at all with guildwars being an adventure game – it’s exhausting for some one that wants guild WARS – aka pvp ….thus so much white knight favoritism that falls on the pve side.

as a pvp vet, I’m saying this because no matter what deal we get ….the game still favors adventurers …….. if the game were called Guildadventures, I’d be much less inclined to be hopeful of a state of the art pvp arena, there would be no need to ask for extra bargains on my part that address this point. Bottom line, it will be easy for the pvp community to get exhausted from frivolous debates that have nothing to do with the real underlying issue.

As an adventurer, the new changes coming up are really exciting – as a pvp’r – i have fixed skill sets, unbalanced matches in wvw and a need to grind for the best stats …that’s not going to change no matter how this expansion is repackaged. Realizing this just makes me realize that debating the white knights is a dead end argument, even if we win, we don’t have a real strategic pvp game.

despite my frustrations, i’m trying to be somewhat nice lol i could say a whooole lot, but i do care very much about anet, so I say enough :p

with that said, the best thing I can think of at the moment is

Dear Anet,

I just want you to be a greater you, not a different you…I already liked you a lot. -segway to billy joel song-

gw1 55 monk level 20 vs a gw2 warrior level 80

who’d win ? ( i dread the thought of any new anet developer saying “whats a fifty five monk?” )

it doesn’t have to be the same exact system, but it needs to allow the user to really tweak his build to his own unique personal touch. he needs to be unique to watch, not just in skins but in fighting styles / tactics / strategy – players and teams need to be study-able, just like they were in gvg matches. it shouldn’t be you’ve seen one fight, you’ve seen them all.

( and i didn’t mean to overlook the female pvp’rs ….or “hers” some of yall are mean and I have the respect to add this :p )

well, it depends who has the zerker build and the heavier armor….and who runs faster and dodges alot lol – amirite?

a gw1 necro build would make a gw2 thief cry. even as a level 20 vs a level 80…ascended.
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/List_of_necromancer_skills

if you really, honestly, and truly wanted to make this vet happy………… ^.^

#bringdatbeatback

it’s missing strategy, a unique – this is my own custom, one of a kind attack. it’s not possible to be a pvp celeb if you fight like everyone else. the gw1 arenas had that ….I had my own custom random fights blend…i had a lot of pride in it ……it was one of those things where you shared a winning recipe with pride. in fact, I have a necro pvp only character …that i had since the game launched and just kept tweaking builds till i had a signature build.

In gw2 – i use a greatsword. and that’s pretty much that.

my signature strategy to a new player wanting to know how i do it …..
“keep attacking, and dodge alot”

pve secret formula for soloing boss’s
“keep attacking and dodge alot”

The best pvp guild in game, how do they do it ?
“get on skype, keep attacking and dodge alot”

any special combos maybe ?

“everything has cooldowns and is pretty much self explanatory, just hit them when they become available, and dodge a lot”

oh, 1 more thing. and this is important.

Don’t get hit.
-pats noob on head-

Good luck!

you know what i find fascinating ? Dota 2, according to steam stats, they have a daily peak attendance of +800K audience, and you can verify this by the steam app – Under the store link there is a stats link that shows you the game attendance stats, updated every 48 hours ….even when grandtheft auto came out and spiked in audience – dota2 held on strong as if gta v was irrelevant….

I never played the game before I saw that stat sheet, i’ve never seen an ad, I played it – hated it ….and even though it’s free, i deleted it. Guildwars is infinitely superior ….

how does a game like that get so insanely popular ? with little to no promotion ?
sure, it’s an e-sport, but from what I understand, it didn’t start that way.
while the game isn’t better , it sure seems the players are very happy and supportive of it.

whats even crazier, is their forum has thousands upon thousands of threads …not 1 locked ….and some of them blatantly complaining about the game lol
fascinating – (in spock voice )

might be interesting to start a thread on their forum "what does this game have that gw2 doesn’t ? "

it’s crazy, watching the fights on youtube looks like the old Hero’s ascent fights.

the funny thing, is that many businesses become very big by word of mouth, shouldn’t the better question be, why isn’t everyone telling their friends anymore ?

I was happy for a moment, but now i’m back on the fence because someone with a trigger finger reminded me of things i’ve grown to really dislike.

technically consumers aka “Patron consumers” are investors though. We invest, and expect a return.

i dunno, i don’t think anyone should have to just shut up and pay..thats pretty harsh don’t you think ? that is how i often feel when i come here…just shut up and take whatever. You would think we’d be the ones getting paid for this lol

unfortunately “features” is a buzz word.

an off button is a feature, tires on a car are a feature…. shiny windows is a feature….a suntan is a feature.

if a person is buying a bundle, by definition a bundle means more than 1 product, so that means more than one key, anything else is not a bundle.

yeah, i think the customer needs a little more representation. will come back later with some awesome sauce debates for you.

Fair is fair #triggerfingermustpay

white knights are totally useless and are usually people that want or already got freebies.

You have to be gray, you have to consider all sides of the picture to create a real harmony between players and company. you can’t build trust on bullkitten…from neither player or company.

in my RPG alignment – I’m chaotic neutral, i’m the perfect peacekeeper….gray as kitten.

Some people need to start being concerned about Anets well being, while others need to get real and understand players are customers that keep Anet afloat.

I wanted to help long ago, but anet wasn’t feeling my gray. lol…Good….makes me laugh when i see days like this, but I do care and ready to help when the mods finally decide get over their white knight trigger fingers :p

it’s not a risk, the anet guys are masters at game development. We just need to refocus them :p

trust me, you have the best in the biz listening to you. They just need to stop experimenting so much and build on the tried and true methods that got them here, improve those. Everything is a remix. You aren’t discovering something new, just presenting something that worked in a new way.

time to go back to our roots :p

and for the record, I do enjoy gw2 also, I love rolling with zergs

but we need some of that gw1 mojo back.

I insist the developers make 2 teams and revisit hero’s ascent for some good old fashioned arrow to the knee battles!

I sincerely believe that if the new players understood where we came from, while gw2 is a great game as is, it would be infinitely better if new players knew how to form a gw1 team

the debates about areas would be much different on the forum then, guilds would be too busy thinking about how to win gvg fights in mid air more than wondering how much new content we got. Math majors with their calculators and charts would be working over time on the latest tactics, team builds, and specializations ….that would be a HUGE deal. But the new guys don’t get it.

build wars kept the developers on their toes! -snicker-

that was the the time the developers had to get face rolled with us to understand how to balance the game. We had the meta builds and it was easy enough to create a collection of them.

but that means this is a different game , different genre.
It went from hard core team strategy, to casual loot loving kite flyers ? there was a formula.

we need to school our kids on the glory and passion of guildwars. -randomly zaps a noob-

how many old players would come back if it were the case ?

I’m confident of my position no matter how many agree with you

Gw2 is built on the passion we had in Gw1 – the loot was so easy to get that it didn’t matter , what mattered was skill, teamwork and tactics. Good old fashioned pride!!
what do we have to show for it, a sword that looks like it was on fire and doused with water ? no…just no.

i disagree,

The right thing to do would have been to make those hall of monuments prerequisites for special legendaries.

1 – legendaries and titles should mean something, not just bought

2 – these new players are green behind the gills because they have NO idea how the real gw tactics work….now we just have a bunch of people running around in circles, healing and screaming for more loot. Honor should be more valuable than loot!

nah vayne, i’m not buying it, i’m still upset that legendaries glow prettier than the hall of monuments stuff from gw1 – how many years and how many hidden areas did i have to grind to get it ????!

I’m a fan , but i aint rolling like that ….i should have been glowing with particle effects coming out my ears from beta….

and the other option is let the game fall ?

sorry, I’m a fan, and I really meant it. I’m buying the next version, not because i’m bored, not because i can’t wait to see whats next ….but because i’m a fan that believes they need my support too.

although, i won’t lie, i’m waiting to see what else yall can bargain, I’m still a bargain hunter too lol – but in this case, their well being comes first for me.

my only hope, they stop and take back all the times they infracted me on the forum…..sure sure…yall had this forum under control lol – i know my pvp people, we fight….that’s what we do! asking for peace in a war game is not logical :p

can you imagine trying to keep a staff of 280 paid weekly, paying server / operational costs, offering health insurance and overtime for an art team, a developer coding team, an IT team on call 24/7, a marketing team, a pr / forum team, all while keeping corporate investors happy with a gem store selling kites and skins ?

try to understand their side when negotiating so you know what can be reasonably negotiated. I couldn’t begin to imagine the amount of stress they have to endure just to keep up with lifes demands, let alone this forum ….and me …heck, I can be a handful all by myself !! lol

my thoughts, they waited a looong time to put out an expansion. Hopefully now they will keep them coming out on a regular schedule so they don’t have to play catch up with prices next time :p

Duke Blackrose.4981:

This community can never be pleased.

you wouldn’t want to be part of a pvp game where players refuse to fight.

something must always be wrong so we have a reason to fight, it’s for our own good!

I don’t know about the other vets, but i like new players, i still need lower tier mats so i farm them. new players are especially good for linen, silk and iron ore those are rather costly at the black lions. so thank you new players <3

what i think they need to do is rebuild the value of the core game back to 49.99 and give the expansion free to new purchasers…that would squash one confusion….

everyone will eventually own the upgrade because it will go down in price over time, anet does great work and you can be sure there will be something insanely fun to play when you are ready for something new. The vet players will already be there complaining about everything that needs fixing….. i had to admit i’d eventually own it, but even now that i’m cool with everything, i’m still waiting a few to see how it all pans out. beta weekends aren’t for a while, the game isn’t going to be released in a while and they are still revealing new stuff.