Guild Wars 2

Wow this is still not fixed? It’s been so long since I’ve checked, I had assumed the problem had been solved.
I guess it’s not the worst bug in the game, though. I still think that’s right-click targeting/target loss.

kurtosis.9526:

Just a minor clarification about this issue – you don’t actually retarget when you press the right mouse button, you retarget when you release it.

As if right-clicking targeting wasn’t already weird enough…

I don’t think it’s always that.

I know there have been some times when I didn’t even have my hand on the mouse and pressed one of the 1-9 buttons to activate a skill, and it changed my target.

Of course, that could have been something stupid like my target walked out of camera view and it auto-targeted something else for me, but I’m still not certain it’s always one thing or another.

I think the targeting system is so hopelessly nuanced that we can never be confident in our expectations of it.

EDIT: I still want a fix for the right-click targeting problem, whatever they decide the best fix to be (aside from no fix at all). Then I can move on to complaining about losing targets when they move out of my field of view.

Tuomir.1830:

Teleporting? Bah, that’s for them silly magic users. Give us engineers the ability to build bridges and ramps!

Or elevators!

Zikory.6871:

Just make it like a portal. Using Scorpion wire as the example. Guy A targets and shoots Scorpion wire at Guy B. Guy B now has to hit his action key to accept the pull. If Guy A or B move out of range the action is canceled.

Just like a portal, you have to stand on the portal and accept it.

One draw back for this (with WvW in mind) Mesmers wouldn’t need to try to hide in keeps any more. Thieves could stay stealth and when its clear pull up a Mesmer.

So, you’re suggesting a ground-targeted Portal?

I’d like to note that you wouldn’t be buying something with achievement points, since you wouldn’t be losing the points in exchange for the items. Instead, they had mentioned that we could potentially earn some currency (possibly laurels) based on the earning of achievement points.

So, it would be essentially the same idea, except your achievement points number wouldn’t go down as a result.

While I have definitely wanted this ability before, I strongly suspect that the mechanics of it would be far too complicated to be feasible.

If you look at the options in the F11 menu, you’ll see that they tend toward the “how things seem” rather than the “how your character behaves.” Autoattacking, targeting, camera movement… Basically, there are no options you can change that would be noticed by other players. This one would break that rule.

You can’t look at your screen and say, “That guy over there has fast-cast ground targeting enabled,” or “That sylvari is using the free camera setting.”

But if this idea were implemented, you can imagine the conversations:
“Dude, pull me up!”
“I’m trying, but you must have the option unchecked.”
“No, I don’t! Wait, where is it?”
“Hit the F11 key.”
“Oh. Right. Okay, I think I checked it. Try it now.”
“I can’t yet, the skill is still on recharge.”
“Ack! Some jerk just pulled me into the lava while I was waiting! I hate this game, everything’s so complicated!”

And so on.

So, not to sound like Ms. Downer, but… Don’t get your hopes up.

Geotherma.2395:

kurtosis.9526:

RoyHarmon.5398:

Last night, I was leveling up my warrior (if I continue, it’ll be my 6th level-80) and I kept accidentally picking up the Banner of Defense that I had placed. After a split second of confusion, I realized this was just another quirk of the right-click targeting system.

Isn’t that really a quirk of the F key? Eg you were trying to loot a mob but instead picked up the banner?

But in general I totally agree. Even a bandaid fix to the right click targeting problem would be much appreciated. It’s really annoying.

I spam F key like an idiot when farming, leads me to collecting many banners and dying while temp raising NPC’s :P

Yeah, I do that, too.

But, yeah… wasn’t farming.

kurtosis.9526:

RoyHarmon.5398:

Last night, I was leveling up my warrior (if I continue, it’ll be my 6th level-80) and I kept accidentally picking up the Banner of Defense that I had placed. After a split second of confusion, I realized this was just another quirk of the right-click targeting system.

Isn’t that really a quirk of the F key? Eg you were trying to loot a mob but instead picked up the banner?

But in general I totally agree. Even a bandaid fix to the right click targeting problem would be much appreciated. It’s really annoying.

It would have been, but I didn’t press it.

I wasn’t looting because nothing was dying. We were fighting a champion centaur.

Faux Play.6104:

Disabling right click targeting is just treating a symptom. The issue is the game allows you to both rotate AND change target with the same click (if the motion is done quickly). The same issue exists with the left mouse. If you use it to do a quick look left or right while you are running you will have the same problem. Globally fixing the mechanic so you can’t do two functions with the same click would cure the disease.

draxynnic.3719:

RoyHarmon.5398:

I suppose those of us with only one working finger would be hindered by the loss of that functionality.

Thing is, the request is not to disable right-click player aggravation, I mean right-click retargeting – it’s to provide the option. For those who actually like it – Lyssa knows why – they’d lose nothing. For those of us who hate it with a passion – which is most of the people who’ve posted in this 11 page thread – it would be a massive improvement in our fun in the game.

Seriously, it’s one of the top “buts” that I have to include when talking about the game to nonplayers, and the way I tend to swear at the game when I get kittened over by adjusting the camera only to lose my target has not been helping the game’s image with people I share a house with.

(Incidentally, if there’s anyone here who hasn’t already +1’d the OP, I’d recommend they do so. We really need to get the devs to understand that this is not a minor issue to be maybe looked into when they’ve got nothing better to do half a dozen months after it was first brought to their attention, but a major issue negatively impacting a lot of players.)

That’s a good point, but I’d still be thrilled with a nice band-aid fix.

Last night, I was leveling up my warrior (if I continue, it’ll be my 6th level-80) and I kept accidentally picking up the Banner of Defense that I had placed. After a split second of confusion, I realized this was just another quirk of the right-click targeting system.

Faux Play.6104:

In terms of auto attacking f makes no difference for me. When I right click and have an auto attack selected it attacks immediately on target selection. Left click will NOT attack immediately on target selection, unless I double click.

RoyHarmon.5398

…
I just want to point out that while right-click targeting does “something different,” it’s the same function as left-clicking and pressing F.

You are correct. I forgot about the autoattack.

I suppose those of us with only one working finger would be hindered by the loss of that functionality.

Evan Lesh.3295:

If you get nauseous from the follow cam, try using free-cam. This allows you to disconnect the camera from your targets facing direction by using left-mouse.

Yeah, but even when you can change the direction of the camera, it’s still subject to the motion of the player you’re following. If they run forward while you’re looking to their right, the camera moves to your left.

To continue my “riding in the car” analogy, it’s like sitting in the back of the car and turning your head; you can look in whichever direction you want, but if the car is still moving forward, looking around will only make things worse.

The only way I know to make it better is to let us roam the map invisibly. That way, we control our own cameras, but no extra models have to be rendered. I don’t know what kind of programming that would take, and I kind of doubt it’ll be implemented, so I’ve pretty much resigned myself to not spectating. No hard feelings, just nausea.

I don’t mean to cause a fuss; I’m just particularly susceptible to motion sickness. Even driving to and from work makes me nauseous, and I can’t do more than one jumping puzzle (if that) before I get sick and have to take a break.

jim.5380:

5) When u first enter the game u cant go to the mists if you don’t select a side or spectator.

I noticed that if you press “N” (or whatever key you’ve bound to the “instructions”) that screen goes away and you’re defaulted to spectating. Then you can go back to the Heart of the Mists.

I get really nauseous from spectator mode. The same thing happens when I look at my wife’s screen while she’s playing; if the screen moves around a lot and I’m not controlling that motion, it’s like riding in the back seat of a car vs. driving. And if I’m trying to pick out fine details or read anything on the screen, then it’s like riding in the back seat of the car while trying to read.
But if I choose one of the stationary observation points, it’s like watching a race: really exciting when they happen to run past, but pretty boring the other 99% of the time. If I switch points trying to follow the action, it’s almost as bad as the nauseating player-cam.

For these reasons, I’ve tried spectator mode three times. The first time, I thought, it could have been a fluke. Maybe I was doing it wrong, and that was why I got so sick from it. The second time, I thought maybe the stationary points would help. But after the third time, I knew this just wasn’t the eSport for me. At least not yet.

Engels.4058:

Amazing. The previous chapters unfold at the pace of an arthritic sloth with a penchant for procrastination, and then in the two weeks when I happen to be on holiday the final chapter is released and finishes. Thank you Anet.

I just want to congratulate you on your creative imagery. And the way you added a little alliteration.

I’ve noticed that, too. I generally end up pressing “P” and typing the name into the invite box.
I haven’t been able to spot a pattern yet, so I don’t know why it happens as it does. I can confirm that it happens to more than just you, though.

Faux Play.6104:

I don’t want the right click target disabled. It is useful as it does something different from what left click target does. I am just posting here to consolidate posts about a similar issue. The game should not allow you to both select a target and rotate the camera with a single mouse up/down cycle. Targeting and camera rotation are completely different. If they are going to force us to use the same mouse button for both functions it should not be possible to activate both functions at the same time.

As for the scope of the issue, look at all the facts before you try to downplay it.
1) how many threads in the suggestions forum approach the number of posts of this one? I counted 4. Linux client, Cyrillic, skimpy armor, and a general suggestion thread (which this issue was listed on the first page and multiple other times).

2) How many other posts are there? Here is a Google search if just the suggestion thread for “right-click” and targeting. EDIT: The linked search results were giving me problems but I used the following search string and got over 10 pages of results.
site:https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/suggestions/ “right click” targeting

3) I’d say a chunk of the population doesn’t know why they are losing targets or are stating the problem differently. Right click targeting is a subset of the issue. The same bug exists with the left button. Also, people have to do some analysis just to figure out why they are losing targets. EDIT: This one returned 5 pages of results:
site:https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/bugs target loss

4) This is an international game. Not all players that know about the issue can clearly communicate the issue in English.

Geotherma.2395:

…This problem only affects some people, of 1-2 million people this thread has under 300 who feel strongly enough to post about it. I’m not saying their claims are unfounded or untrue, just that this is what we were told…

I just want to point out that while right-click targeting does “something different,” it’s the same function as left-clicking and pressing F.

Jonnyguitar.1684:

LOL they STILL havent fixed this?

No other game i have EVER played does this, yet they still leave this gamebreaking design in effect.

LOL.

At least you get a few laughs out of it.

Geotherma.2395:

“I would like you to know that I personally reported your concern to the development team. The research may take some time, so we will really appreciate your patience while they are investigating your concern. "

There’s your Page 10 update (from support). It isn’t much but better than nothing. Maybe we get a response, maybe we don’t. We aren’t “entitled” to a response, we would like one, one would be great. But at no time are they obligated to respond all the time on the issue.

So it is being looked at, it is obvious that they can see this thread as it is always on top. So, sorry I couldn’t get something better, that’s all I can get right now. The recently added update for the camera turn is probably a step towards a fix. If you find constructive posts, or helpful information in the thread then +1 it.

I don’t know where your quote came from, but I do find it a little comforting. I tried using the forum’s search function (which should probably have its own complaint thread if it doesn’t already) but it only found your post.

I would be surprised if they were actually working on it, though, considering what Evan Lesh said a couple of weeks ago. From the way he said it, it wasn’t “being looked at” as much as “somewhere toward the bottom of the list of things to look at.” You know, based on his use of the phrase “low priority.”

I do agree, however, that 14,000 views <> 14,000 people in agreement, nor would the post count accurately reflect the number of people experiencing this issue (for a number of reasons).

I also agree that the recent “rearview” camera fix could potentially indicate that they might possibly be working on something in the general vicinity of what we’re requesting. But it’s hard to say if they won’t tell us.

I’d like to close with this brief summary of the discussion:

Everyone: Right-click targeting is so bad! It’s crazy horrible, and they should have fixed this months ago. Why aren’t they at least acknowledging it?
Gaile Gray: We’re working on Karka Island right now, but after that, we might take a look and see if it should be changed.
Everyone: Okay, so it’s still really bad! I can’t stand how frustrating this is! Are you fixing it yet? You really need to fix it!
Evan Lesh (in another thread): The targeting system is a controversial topic, everyone thinks they know how it should work. It’s low-priority, sorry.
Everyone: Oh, come on! It desperately needs to be fixed! It’s the single worst thing in the game, including thief balance and engineer bugs!
Geotherma: Calm down, guys. They said they’ll look at it! I’m sure they’ll fix it soon.
Everyone else: It’s been 8 months, and they’ve never once said they were working on it! How can they ignore this problem?
Geotherma: Hey, look! I’m not affected by this. See? Here’s a video or three of me not having your problem! So calm down and wait patiently, just like the engineers and ranger pets.
Everyone else (probably a bit jealous): But it’s so bad!
Geotherma: Yes, calm down. We know. They know. It’ll be fine.
Everyone else: But it’s SO BAD!!!

Geotherma.2395:

It is low on the list, it was to be looked at more detailed after the living story. You can be patient or impatient, it doesn’t affect me either way. Just shining light on the fact that no person here has more knowledge about the game than someone who works on it, or even someone who knows programming.

In the original quote from Gaile Gray, she wasn’t talking about the current Living Story updates. She was talking about the Lost Shores. The comment was made on November 9. See below.

Gaile Gray.6028:

Our development team reviews play input on a regular basis. They are aware of this suggestion, but have not yet reached a decision on what changes, if any, they will make to targeting.

There is a lot going on right now with the upcoming event, but after that, the team will take a look at a lot of different game elements, and may make some changes in the future.

Sorry I don’t have more specific information, but you can be sure this is not being ignored or rejected without due consideration.

Thanks for understanding.

marnick.4305:

Syncourt.5906:

Are you trying to tell me that these toggles are harder to create than new content? If the only part of my post you can focus on is the fact I called it easy, when comparing it to the hundreds of other things being implemented then I think you have missed the point entirely.

Whether or not it’s harder is not really relevant. Whether or not it’s worth it to put a manweek into it … that’s the one million question.

Are you kidding me? I’ve put over 1,300 hours into this game already, and every battle just serves to emphasize the need for attention to the targeting system. I think it would be worth several man-weeks, at least.

It’s true that they might not get the kind of awestruck reviews for a reliable targeting system that they would get for new content, but what would you say about a basketball team that was adept at the double-dunk yet couldn’t dribble the ball? We need to work on fundamentals here, folks. With some urgency, if I had my preference, but it would seem they have their own priorities.

Geotherma.2395:

Syncourt.5906:

TheBlackLeech.9360:

It shouldn’t be just “on the list” It should be in the next available update.

It should have been in the last 20 updates.

The fact that they have just swept this under the rug for this long is simply absurd.

It NEEDS to be changed. There is no discussion here.

Exactly.

I’ve been playing almost every single day since the release and I just cannot get past this decision to delay such an easy toggle fix. My single biggest gripe in the game as it stands is how easily you can lose your target. It really is pathetic.

But this isn’t all that makes the GW2 targetting system so horrible. It could be made incredibly user friendly for all playstyles by adding just a couple of toggle options:

- Enable/Disable clearing your target by clicking on the ground.
- Enable/Disable aiming target area fields with the center of the camera (still showing a field and requiring a confirmation click/skillpress if fast cast is on or not).
-Enable/Disable target cycling whith closest target key (or just make a new hotkey altogether).

These would improve how well the game controls dramatically. Some people don’t like the targetting system at all, adding alternatives and a little customization based on player preference would be a really good idea.

But for now after so long playing as it is, I would seriously be excited just to hear about something as simple as un upcoming option to disable right-click mouse targetting. Even more than ANY of the content updates.

The “easy toggle fix” part. The button seems simple yes, in theory. Now program it to work, code it to work with every other code strings, make sure it doesn’t glitch something else, and send your idea to Arenanet. Thats how easy it is. ^^

If the developers had worked on it enough to know it wasn’t an “easy toggle fix,” they’d probably have told us so, based on the kind of feedback we had with WvW culling, POV issues with the camera, SAB weapons, etc.

I know that programming isn’t always as simple as it seems, but until they offer testimony that they’re working on it, I don’t see a reason to use this as an excuse.

DaMunky.6302:

That said, I am totally expecting we will be ‘fighting’ Primordious in the traditional sense. If that one isn’t a Warrior I don’t know who is.

Maybe, but I think he’d have an elementalist secondary professon. Remember, he predates GW2, so he can have a secondary profession if he wants one. Secondaries didn’t go extinct until after the Eye of the North expansion.

And I SWEAR TO GOD if they give us another “throw rocks at the boss” battle I am going to be super irritated.

Please, not the super irritation! Spare us!

I do like your rewrite, though. I love the way we worked together with the members of Destiny’s Edge to get everyone out alive. And the floating hyenas were a nice touch!

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

Isn’t that skill points? =)

Oh. Well, that could be. I don’t actually know; I’ve just been watching my progress go up as I unlock more skills. I guess I’ll have to pay attention…

As I wrote my original post, I was thinking of a remark made by one of the developers about how many skills (I don’t remember the exact number, but it was more than just “hundreds”) there are in GW2. That same developer remarked that the reason most folks don’t see so many skills is that they’re spread throughout the different professions and the game world, largely on environmental weapons and such.

I don’t know about anyone else here, but when I want more skills, I just whip out a consumable weapon. Whether it’s my trusty Hylek Blowgun, a Golem-in-a-Box, or an experimental laser gun (a personal favorite), I’m always equipped for those unusual cases in which my normal skill set just doesn’t seem sufficient.

I’d like to point out that there are many more skills in GW2 than there were in GW1. Many of them are bound to weapon sets, yes, but those should still count.
There’s an achievement track called “Skillful” in the “Hero” category. It requires you to learn 1,000 skills. I’m at 807, I think.
And I don’t believe that counts skills on environmental weapons.

Mad Queen Malafide.7512:

After doing the Molten Facility this evening, the targeting again came to bite me in my backside. So I just had to tell my story on this forum.

During the final boss battle, the game would never hold a target for any longer than a few seconds. Of course there’s a lot of running circles involved, and manually adjusting the camera constantly. So every second your target is gone (using T to target was the only thing reliable).

But if this wasn’t bad enough, pressing C to target the closest enemy is also very unreliable. If the opponent is too far away, or slightly off screen, it doesn’t work! How did they mess this up? This used to work fine in GW1. Now I can’t even reliably select my closest target, without looking directly at it? Then I might as well left-click the boss! What’s the point of targeting the closest enemy, if I still have to look his way? Same deal with TAB to cycle through the targets, it doesn’t select the boss if he’s off screen, regardless of how close he is to me.

So at the start of the boss battle, we keep having to repeat pressing T to target, because constantly the boss is deselected. Couldn’t they at least add some sort of sticky target option, along with an option to disable right-click targeting?

I have this happen all the time! Why did they make the decision to only let us target the things our camera is facing? I can understand the whole “can’t cast fireballs at things behind you” idea, but why not let us target stuff behind us? If we want to attack, we can just turn around. The camera/targeting system is the single buggiest thing I’ve found in this game, and I’ve played nearly every day since last year’s April beta.

Any time you turn your camera too much, your character suddenly forgets what he’s doing and stands there without a target. If there are NPCs or neutral creatures around, moving the camera will probably target them instead.
It’s enough to make me want to avoid movement and stand still while I cast. So, yeah, I guess I should level up my warrior.

The only thing that gives me hope for this issue is the comment made during the last State of the Game interview: “Next month we’ll be focusing on bug fixes.” What bigger bug is there than this (barring the “crashing after latest update” issues, of course)?

Geotherma.2395:

TheBlackLeech.9360:

Five months since anyone from Anet has said anything about this issue.
…and all we got then was a “maybe we’ll do something…. maybe we won’t”

The targeting system needs to be fixed.

What is the hold-up?

Why should they keep posting the same generic post that they haven’t figured out or worked out a fix yet. They already stated they have seen this problem and are working on it, would it make you feel better if every 48 hours a mod came back in and posted the generic “We have advised the team of this issue and it is being worked on.”? Or even better, how about they just lock the thread and say “As this problem is already being addressed, we close this thread. Thank you for the input”?

People are posting how/when/where it happens, that feedback is being seen or sent to those responsible for fixes etc. Posting and complaining just for the sake of complaining does nothing for the effectiveness of this thread.

They don’t appear to be working on it, though. The only response we’ve seen in the past 6 months was that it was “low priority.”

I just want to point out that I’ve noticed times when I wasn’t even clicking anything and still lost my target. I took my hand off of the mouse, just to be sure I wasn’t accidentally putting pressure on a button.

Maybe my target was on the edge of the targetable (is that a word?) area, and its attacks were making it move outside of that range. I re-targeted the same enemy (I can’t remember what it was), took my hand from the mouse, and soon lost the target again.

My point: I think the whole targeting system is messed up.

Targeting system, how do I loathe thee? Let me count the ways:

1. Right-click targeting (see previous 8 pages of discussion)
2. Inconsistent left-click targeting (“I’m clicking it, why isn’t it selecting?!”)
3. The limitations on “target nearest enemy” (meaning only those directly in front of my character)
4. Insane frequency of lost targets (for whatever reason)
5. Automatic target selection’s failure to prioritize hostile creatures over neutral ones (“Thanks, autotarget, I needed more things to fight…”)

I honestly don’t know how I manage to keep playing the game. I guess it speaks well of the rest of the game for me to love it so much I play it anyway.

lLobo.7960:

Mark Katzbach.9084:

As was mentioned earlier in this thread, we have stated that we are unable to provide a reply to all suggestions posted in the suggestion subforum.

We do, however, regularly read the suggestions forum and deliver feedback to the design team on a daily basis. Just because you haven’t seen a reply does not mean it’s not being read.

Could we get a “dev +1” so we know a dev has checked the topic and we can feel all warm and fuzzy inside?

This is exactly what I’ve always wanted! (TL;DR below.)

If I suggest something, that means I feel as though I have something to contribute. In fact, it means I was so moved by its necessity that I chose to spend several minutes searching for existing threads, articulating and revising my words, and then trying to come up with other ways to improve my suggestion before finally hitting “Create Topic.” I know others may not give it that much thought, but if I’m putting something on the Internet, I usually try to think it over a bit. Usually.

All I really want is to know that my suggestion has been seen by someone who might consider doing something about it. I don’t need a detailed response, and I’m not even asking for an opinion on whether or not they like my idea. They’re busy people, and if they spend as much time on their posts as I do (I’ve been on this one for nearly 10 minutes already and revised it several times), I’d rather they spend that time doing something more productive than talking to me.

I want to know I’ve been heard, even if they don’t agree with it. I want to know that in some meeting later on, when someone in some meeting mentions right-clicking vs. left-clicking, it might bring to mind that post about the abhorrently broken targeting system that galls me so. Or maybe when they’re playing the game, they’ll see a really interesting trinket at a karma merchant and think, “Too bad I can’t have that on a level-80 trinket— oh, hey! I read a suggestion about that once. I see what that guy was talking about!”

Even if they never act on my suggestion, I would love to somehow know that they had glimpsed it, if only for a minute. Otherwise, I have no reason to believe it hasn’t slipped through the cracks. (I’ve seen responses to fresh posts about old issues in which it was obvious the developer had been completely unaware of it previously.)
That makes me suspect that I just wasted 15 minutes that I could have spent doing something fun, and that maybe if I had spent less time on spelling, grammar, hyperlinks, or facts, I wouldn’t be so annoyed that they instead chose to respond to someone with a full mailbox complaining about not getting their gem store items. (But honestly, why is that still an issue? Either fix the counter, make that “Temple of the Silent Storm week” message stop counting against the queue, or— and here’s the good part— make the Black Lion deliveries exempt from the mail queue! What harm would it cause if people waited a while to pull their Black Lion Keys out of the mail? Do you think they would buy so many items with gems that it would overload the mail system? Are you really afraid of that? But I digress…)

And now, because I know that was a lot to read, I’ll even throw in a…

TL;DR: It would be incredibly mollifying to have a way of knowing that a developer had actually read my suggestion. Since it’s claimed that they’re reading these things anyway, why not just have a little check mark that they can click to let me know I’ve been heard? That wouldn’t take more than two seconds out of their busy developer days, and it would make me rant far less. Everyone wins!

Kraag Deadsoul.2789:

RoyHarmon.5398:

Can anyone tell me what the “target lock” keybind does? I’m sure I would have heard more about it if it could fix the problem, but I’m curious about what it actually does.

Target lock (with default binding) works this way:

1) Select target.

2) Press CTRL+T to “call” or “suggest” that target to your party members. This places a big red target reticle over the target.

3) Anyone in your party can then press T to automatically target your called target. This permits party members to all rapidly acquire the same target for better focus fire.

This even works for you, the original caller, and is one workaround I use for the rotating camera-plus-targeting issue. Let’s say you’ve selected a target you wish to attack. You then press CTRL+T to target lock that opponent. You then play the GW2 mini game, “spin-the-camera-and-win-a-new-target”. Congratulations; you’re a winner! You now have a target selected other than the locked target!!!

Now press the key you’ve set up to take a called target (T by default I believe; I changed my default bindings) and you’ll return to targeting your intended target. Slow, clunky as hell, and a poor substitute for a true fix; but at least you’ll be hitting your intended target with a little greater frequency as compared to not at all.

No, that’s “Take target.”

I meant the one below that, “Lock autotarget.”

Okay, I found a screenshot or three. I don’t appear to be immobilized, though I could have been prior to this happening. I guess I didn’t try my remaining shout, but the weapon and heal skills were definitely unresponsive— you can see me trying to spam the #1 skill.
Skill #2 was a sort of leaping attack, so it might have done something different, I don’t know.
Regardless, it doesn’t appear to be the same bug. I just wanted to post these so you knew what I was talking about.

I don’t think I understand. What does the attachment show? I don’t see the green-blue 3D model without texture. Where in the picture should we see it?

dreadlocked.3794:

As they said they are looking into changing the name’s format I’ll drop my sugestion:

Just display the WvW rank as name in the colour of the server they represent

I’d like something like this in PvP as well, though I guess it means nothing in the WvW forum…

Honestly, what’s the point of being on the “red team” when the “blue team” players show up in red and your own team shows as green?

You are, in fact, very much NOT the first person to notice this. It’s a major bug that’s been discussed ad nauseam since the game launched, but it’s still “low priority” to the development team. You can read more about it here for a lengthy discussion, here for one of the proposed solutions, here for a developer response, here for a Reddit discussion, and in so many other places I couldn’t begin to list them all.

I don’t mean to suggest that you should have known about this; quite the contrary, this has received so little attention from the ArenaNet team that it’s understandable that one could be unaware of the fervor with which this topic has been discussed.

Many of us are more than a little bit irritated that a significant number of people (I have no idea how many, though I suspect there are many who don’t realize what’s causing their target loss) have seen an issue with what appears to be a glaring design flaw, and yet the developers don’t seem to notice.
They’re very busy people, I know, but this issue has been an immense pain in the neck for far longer than we ever expected. I’ve heard that there are some people who don’t actually have this problem, and I guess the developers are included in that group.

Otherwise, surely someone would have realized how incredibly frustrating it is to lose your target constantly in a game that can essentially be summarized as “use skills on your target.”

Maybe this is what’s been happening to me. Are your characters able to use other skills when it happens? I noticed last night that my level-80 guardian was completely unresponsive for about 10 seconds or so while a bandit in Queensdale kept smacking him, but there was no stun effect or anything. I could bring up whatever UI screen I wanted, but my skills didn’t seem to work; I can’t remember whether the shouts worked or not, but I have screenshots on my home computer and I’ll check on that when I get home. I couldn’t seem to do anything else at the time, so I snapped several pictures. Maybe one of them will be helpful.

It’s also happened to me on other characters, though I didn’t take screenshots then. My wife has complained about it before, too. I really need to check those images…

Curo.2483:

So this is why my targets keep changing! It happens ALL THE TIME to me. Would love to be able to turn off right-click targeting. I almost NEED to use auto-target because of the amount of times my target randomly becomes an ally that I’ve right clicked on while moving the camera. I wouldn’t get most of my spells off if I didn’t have auto-target on. And I hate auto target!

I agree completely! I hate auto-target, but it’s the only way I can play the game. Otherwise, my elementalist’s fireballs smack the ground ten feet in front of him, and my guardian looks blind. At least with auto-target, people may assume I somehow intended to attack that other enemy/moa/armorfish. You know, instead of the open air or ground.

Last night, I tried using Tab to select targets. I was already aware of it and used it some, but I tried relying on it a bit more. I found it annoying, but it was relatively effective in small encounters. I don’t like it, though I can imagine it would be nice for those who don’t mind cycling through every single mob on the screen before finding the one they actually wanted. For me, it adds valuable seconds to my reaction time. The only way I could see it working in larger battles would be the decreasing significance of your target choice; if you’re surrounded by enough enemies, it doesn’t matter so much which of them you’re attacking, as long as something is taking damage from you.

Can anyone tell me what the “target lock” keybind does? I’m sure I would have heard more about it if it could fix the problem, but I’m curious about what it actually does.

Geotherma.2395:

Gaile Gray.6028:

Our development team reviews play input on a regular basis. They are aware of this suggestion, but have not yet reached a decision on what changes, if any, they will make to targeting.

There is a lot going on right now with the upcoming event, but after that, the team will take a look at a lot of different game elements, and may make some changes in the future.

Sorry I don’t have more specific information, but you can be sure this is not being ignored or rejected without due consideration.

Thanks for understanding.

Isn’t the end of F&F may 16th’ish? Maybe they will have time to do a fix in end of May patch or June patch.

That would be awesome, but I would be surprised to see it happen. That quote is more than 5 months old, and they’ve had something like 5 monthly updates since then. In fact, the “upcoming event” she mentioned was actually the Lost Shores update, if that tells us anything.

The only other developer response I’ve seen was this one from Evan Lesh.3295:

1) I agree that targeting has been a point of contention around here since everyone has a different opinion on how it should work. We have not forgotten about this issue, but it is pretty low priority, unfortunately. This polish would fall under the umbrella of a combat team.

That was about two weeks ago, so at least it does show that they may be somewhat aware that some of us have a problem with it. Maybe. The “it is pretty low priority” comment makes me think it won’t be coming up in the near future, at least not before someone else from ArenaNet comments on it again.

The “everyone has a different opinion on how it should work” remark makes me wonder if he’s talking about the same issue. Even those who don’t seem to have the problem don’t disagree that some sort of toggle would be an improvement.

I guess this seems like a big deal to me because it adds so much stress to an activity that I expected to find stress-relieving. Consider it for a moment, and try to imagine experiencing these problems… Add together the problems with losing/changing targets due to right-clicking, inconsistent left-click targeting, auto-targeting the wrong thing (like neutrals), the ‘©losest target’ button’s erratic behavior, bringing up the context menu by accidentally right-clicking my PvP target’s name while trying to turn quickly, and occasionally realizing that my attempts to rotate the camera were only panning (maybe marking) the minimap, and you may begin to see why some players feel so frustrated with the targeting system overall.

Most of these problems could be solved by making some distinction between a simple click and a click-and-drag motion. Selection and options could be tied to a click-and-release with negligible motion in between, and any click with nontrivial mouse movement could be exclusive to the camera turn.

And, of course, many players have suggested the “Disable right-click targeting” toggle, which would also help immensely. I’d be thrilled with that, too.

But yes, “everyone has a different opinion on how it should work.” “Pretty low priority.”

And what is a “combat team”? I don’t remember hearing about them before. What other kinds of things do they work on, exactly? Is it more like skill animations, balance, or UI? PvP tournaments and spectator mode, perhaps? I’ll be honest, “combat team” sounds like it could cover just about anything, and it’s only through context that I feel confident he isn’t referring to a party of players.

Geotherma.2395:

The fact that I provided visual evidence that it doesn’t happen to everyone is not anecdotal. The fact that i don’t experience the problem, nor do 400 guild members, and 35 friends, is not anecdotal. It may be a small sample, but still provides context. But I could say the same to you. 300 people, yourself included are not qualified to judge what Arenanet believes is a fix that needs implementation RIGHT NOW. They have far more experience and knowledge on the subject, but aside from that the forums are free to post on. And I haven’t once belittled, put down, or called any members a liar. People like evidence, statistics, and other ways of confirming a problem so that it can be seen/felt. I’ve proven I’m willing to take hours, days, weeks of my game time just to help the community, if you lack that understanding feel free to check my BLTC thread about salvage kits. To say i have no opinion, no say, no voice in this matter does not add credibility to your statements.

Again, you like others found a way around it, so there IS a way until it is fixed. Inability to log in, classes being unbalanced, game bugs so severe people cannot progress, those things come first.

I also play with my wife, but she doesn’t experience this issue either. I have no problem with people explaining a problem or bug in the game and asking for attention to it. It is when people try and tell devs what is important and how they should patch the game. On top of that they insult people who work for the game, toss out names like angry children, or simply bring no information to the thread whatsoever other than to say “games dying/game sucks”. There are some well thought out posts here, but they are the minority. But I think some people seem to think I’m somehow against the idea that this needs to be fixed or that “oh it doesn’t happen to me, so no one cares”. But that’s simply not the case. As I’ve stated, I take it on myself to help the community with visual evidence on just about any topic, whether I agree with it or not. And if that doesn’t somehow deserve me (along with owning and paying $ for microtransactions) some reasonable amount of space in this thread then maybe your right and I’m wasting my time responding.

I apologize if you felt belittled by my comments. I didn’t mean to imply that your evidence contributed nothing. It was very solid evidence that during your video session, you encountered no apparent target switching due to this issue. This proves that it is possible for some players to avoid the problem somehow while many others encounter it multiple times per play session.

However, it is still anecdotal evidence in the statistical sense, because it is a very limited sample size. This isn’t something you did wrong. You can only offer your own experience, just like the rest of us. Unlike your BLTC experiments, you can’t increase your own sample size.

I have no issues with that aspect of your posts. You gave evidence, limited or not. My disagreement was with your apparent unconcern. I may have misinterpreted your comments, but the message I read in them was, “Well, it’s not affecting me. Chill out, guys. It’s not a big problem, they have more important things to do.” To those who are affected, it certainly does seem like a big problem, and one that should be addressed immediately (or sooner).

The most fundamental game mechanics (choose target, use skill on target) are thrown into disarray when the target is randomly lost or inadvertently reselected, and this can be incredibly frustrating. I don’t approve of the verbal abuse employed by some members of the discussion, but I do think it’s something that should be fixed.

The fact that it has been present in the game since launch suggests that the developers, like you and your wife, are somehow immune to this phenomenon. I won’t deny that I’m curious as to what could be preventing this in your case (Special mouse? Unusual keybindings? Overlay software? Left-handedness?). If you can think of some difference between your own system and those of the rest of us here, then by all means, please tell us. If we can’t expect a fix from the game developers, then I’m sure we would appreciate one from you.

Geotherma.2395:

RoyHarmon.5398:

Geotherma.2395:

Obsidian.1328:

Yeah…I’d add that it doesn’t always change target when releasing the right-click. It’s random as far as when it does or doesn’t. At least that’s been my experience. :/
And autoattack, while fine for PvE I suppose, is not good to use in W3.

I think what upsets peeps the most is both that it seems like such an easy fix, and that ANet doesn’t seem to want to address it. It’s a pretty large thread for a minor problem.

I attempted several times and didn’t see the sometimes factor, but that was just me. I know left click could be some part to this whole thing.

As far as the thread itself, if you delete the “X game is coming out soon, the heck with this” “game is dying”, there is a lot less pages. Also minusing the people who just see a big thread and want to contribute to help whether or not they actually know whats going on. Again, not saying the problem don’t exist, but I don’t think its a “need right now” kind of fix, just a fix that hopefully they are working on for those having troubles with it.

There was a hotfix just today that included the following:

• Fixed a bug where the launcher would get stuck updating at 99%

Did I ever have this problem? No, not at all. Do I know anyone personally who had this problem? I don’t, in fact.
Does this mean it’s not a “need right now” kind of fix? Well, certainly not for me, but I expect those who were affected might feel otherwise. The developers apparently agreed, since they went to the trouble of fixing it in a non-monthly patch.

Not sure you can compare a bug that literally blocks you from logging in, to a button press style of some players that are still able to actually play the game ^^

I’ll give you that one, yes. Being unable to target things consistently is a more subtle frustration than not being able to log in, but you’re missing my point.

The fact that you don’t experience the problem means you’re not qualified to judge its severity. The only contribution you could offer is the anecdotal evidence that some people, including yourself, do not seem to experience this issue. Many others (in this thread, in other threads in this forum, in threads on other forums, and presumably some who don’t use forums or haven’t seen these threads) have experienced the problem to some degree.

Many of us lose target several times a day due to this issue. Some of us may find ways to adapt; personally, I’ve just gotten used to not having a clue which potential target I’ll end up hitting, and I’ve adjusted my playing style to account for that expectation of randomness. If the various issues with the targeting system were fixed (“select nearest target” being another egregious offender), I would be much happier with the game.

In the meantime, I just do my best to point the damage in the right direction and try to use skills that won’t reach outside of aggro range, just in case. Can I coordinate my skills with my party for maximum synergy? No way! I can’t count on hitting the right target half the time. But can I hit the button and expect it to do damage to something that already wants to hurt me? Yes, as long as there are no neutral creatures, friendly NPCs, or other players on my screen. Such is my Guild Wars 2 experience, thanks to the glitchy targeting system. I’m glad your experience is better, because I do enjoy the game (I play it with my wife, who has also commented on the quirky targeting), and though I want others to enjoy it like I do, I don’t expect everyone to tolerate the kind of haphazard targeting that I’ve come to expect.

Geotherma.2395:

Obsidian.1328:

Yeah…I’d add that it doesn’t always change target when releasing the right-click. It’s random as far as when it does or doesn’t. At least that’s been my experience. :/
And autoattack, while fine for PvE I suppose, is not good to use in W3.

I think what upsets peeps the most is both that it seems like such an easy fix, and that ANet doesn’t seem to want to address it. It’s a pretty large thread for a minor problem.

I attempted several times and didn’t see the sometimes factor, but that was just me. I know left click could be some part to this whole thing.

As far as the thread itself, if you delete the “X game is coming out soon, the heck with this” “game is dying”, there is a lot less pages. Also minusing the people who just see a big thread and want to contribute to help whether or not they actually know whats going on. Again, not saying the problem don’t exist, but I don’t think its a “need right now” kind of fix, just a fix that hopefully they are working on for those having troubles with it.

There was a hotfix just today that included the following:

• Fixed a bug where the launcher would get stuck updating at 99%

Did I ever have this problem? No, not at all. Do I know anyone personally who had this problem? I don’t, in fact.
Does this mean it’s not a “need right now” kind of fix? Well, certainly not for me, but I expect those who were affected might feel otherwise. The developers apparently agreed, since they went to the trouble of fixing it in a non-monthly patch.

LumAnth.5124:

Ashley Segovia.8276:

Hey FireBat – Thanks for the update! Let’s start simple; I would like for you to navigate to Documents\Guild Wars 2 and delete the local.dat file. Next, please try the following to repair your Guild Wars 2 installation:

1. Navigate to your Guild Wars 2 installation folder.
2. Right-click on “GW2.exe” and select “Create Shortcut.”
3. Rename this shortcut to “Guild Wars 2 Repair.”
4. Right-click on this shortcut and select “Properties.”
5. Edit the “Target” line to include -repair at the end.

Note: Please make sure -repair is outside of the quotes

Correctly Formatted Example: “C:\Games\Guild Wars 2\GW2.exe” -repair
Incorrectly Formatted Example: “C:\Games\Guild Wars 2\GW2.exe -repair”

6. Once completed, click “Ok” to save your changes.

If you get an error trying to save, your target line may not have the correct format. Please try step 5 again.

7. Right-click “Guild Wars 2 Repair” and select “Run as Administrator.”

Allow the repair to run and once completed, “Right-click” “GW2.exe” or your Guild Wars 2 Shortcut and select “Run as Administrator.”

Once completed, please try starting Guild Wars 2 again.

I’m having the same problem and MSCONFIG and this method have failed me now

That happened to me in January, but I was able to resolve the issue by deleting the Gw2.dat file and downloading it all again. Not the most convenient of solutions for those with a slow/metered connection, but it was certainly effective for me.

Interestingly, it reduced the total file size from 17.4 GB down to 15.2 GB.

Stormcrow.7513:

Unreal!!!
With the April 30th patch notes they decide to do this:
Fixed mouse-based target selection while using the “look behind” key.

But they cannot put a toggle into the options! YOU WERE WORKING ON THE SAME CODE!!!!

Neverwinter here we come…I am done..

I assume, then, that the problem still exists when not using the “look behind” key? I’m still at work and haven’t been able to test it myself.

Mad Queen Malafide.7512:

Clicking is a logical thing to do, since tab simply cycles through to the next target, where as clicking is supposed to instantly select the target you click on.

During a battle like with the Jade Maw, you really don’t want to cycle through all the targets until you finally find the correct one. Clicking is faster… if it would work reliably.

Yes, clicking… but left-clicking.

Kraag Deadsoul.2789:

Evan Lesh.3295:

1) I agree that targeting has been a point of contention around here since everyone has a different opinion on how it should work. We have not forgotten about this issue, but it is pretty low priority, unfortunately. This polish would fall under the umbrella of a combat team.

There is no point of contention. Those posting in this thread are largely unanimous in their criticism of mouse right-click targeting. If the devs feel there is some advantage to keeping it the way it is, then simply add a toggle for those of us who don’t want it.

In a game in which a large portion of it is devoted to killing virtual foes, the ability to accurately and consistently target a foe and remain locked on that target is a fundamental precept; not a polish issue.

Some other fundamental precepts:

1) Don’t tie two unrelated functions (such as targeting and character movement) to the same control by default. Instead, tie each function to a discreet control. For example, you don’t press the H key open your hero panel and witness your inventory panel open at the same time, right? So why are movement and target selection tied to the same mouse right-click?

2) Allow players to customize their controls as they see fit. This way, if #1 is violated, then at least players have the option to correct the situation by changing the default control setup.

Perhaps the devs have some sound reasons for tying mouse right-click targeting and movement together. I can’t personally think of a good one, but I’d be curious to hear their arguments in favor of it. Instead, all we get is it “has been a point of contention around here since everyone has a different opinion on how it should work”. Care to share those opinions with us so we – as players – can then discuss the pros and cons?

The only reason I can think of – outside of simply running out of time before launch and it being pushed down the list as lower priority when compared to game breaking bugs – is they don’t want more seasoned players with the skill and experience to target while in motion having an advantage over more casual players. Thus, the two functions were tied to one control and made immutable so as to level the playing field.

As far fetched at that sounds, in the absence of dev feedback it’s the only explanation I can think of outside of technical limitations (which would be a lame excuse) or simply running out of time to implement it before launch (which would be understandable; but after 7 months it’s time to fix it).

That summarizes the feedback I’ve seen for #1. I’ve never seen a response aside from “We have more important things to work on right now than being able to attack the right target consistently… like making titles display for everyone!”

I mean, really… Who thought it was a good idea to tie character rotation and target selection to the same button? If they feel strongly enough for it to be “a point of contention,” then they really ought to explain it to us— because I just love having my world map bound to the same key as my heal skill, and having “dodge” bound to the Esc key. Being able to do so many things with a single button is awesome, right?

Evan Lesh.3295:

1) I agree that targeting has been a point of contention around here since everyone has a different opinion on how it should work. We have not forgotten about this issue, but it is pretty low priority, unfortunately. This polish would fall under the umbrella of a combat team.

Is there really a substantial portion of the population that finds right-click targeting useful? Because there have been many of us complaining about this for the past 7 months or so. In fact, there are currently 8 pages of it.

I guess it’s possible that if you’re standing next to a vendor, it could be more convenient to right-click on them than to left-click and press F.
However, I would think this minor convenience would be crushed by the colossal inconvenience of unintentionally mis-targeting in combat.

I would go into greater detail, but really, I have little to say that wasn’t covered in the linked thread. All I would add is that many of us feel very passionately about it.

I can’t address the entirety of your post, but I do offer the following:

To my knowledge, Jeremy Soule hasn’t composed any of the Guild Wars 2 music after the original soundtrack. Other artists have contributed to the Halloween and Wintersday scores, Southsun Cove, the Super Adventure Box (of course), and probably more that I’m forgetting. Check the ArenaNet SoundCloud page for the full list.

mercury ranique.2170:

RoyHarmon.5398:

Ayrilana.1396:

If the wp becomes contested then it will port you to the nearest one. This may be the issue but then it may not.

No, I had that happen a few days ago, so I’m aware of the situation you describe.

That’s not what happened here. The place it sent me wasn’t a waypoint, it was the place I had been standing when I first tried to travel to the waypoint. The waypoint was uncontested both before and after, and I traveled there successfully on the second try.

I think this is actually the issue. The whole waypoint is contested thing is bugged bigtime and causing all kinds of simular bugs.

This is a bug and I agree with Ayrilana that I suspect as well that it has to do with the buggy waypoint is contested mechanic.

It’s possible, yes, if the bug is that uncontested waypoints intermittently attempt to act as though contested, but fail to do so and return you to your starting position while taking your money.

Ayrilana.1396:

If the wp becomes contested then it will port you to the nearest one. This may be the issue but then it may not.

No, I had that happen a few days ago, so I’m aware of the situation you describe.

That’s not what happened here. The place it sent me wasn’t a waypoint, it was the place I had been standing when I first tried to travel to the waypoint. The waypoint was uncontested both before and after, and I traveled there successfully on the second try.

Still broken on Borlis Pass, sort of. My wife and I killed him twice (along with everything else he spawned), and then we gave up. About three hours later, I commented on it in map chat, and then I watched as someone else was able to kill him on the first try.

I guess he has his favorites…

I encountered this problem twice over the past weekend, once each in the Iron Marches and Blazeridge Steppes.

While trying to travel to a waypoint within the same zone, after the loading screen, I saw a flash (1/4-second or so) of my intended destination, but then was returned instantly to my original (pre-waypoint) location.

At first, I thought maybe it was because something had attacked me and prevented map travel, since I was under attack after it happened. The second time it happened, I had been auto-running, and maybe the price changed between my clicking the waypoint and clicking the “yes” button. However…

The unsuccessful map travel still took my money. I wasn’t level 80 yet, so it didn’t break the bank, but it was still frustrating. I hadn’t been moved at all (net effect, I mean— there was that brief glimpse of my intended destination, but it didn’t stick), but I still paid full price for the waypoint.

If I had been trying to cross the map on a level-80 character, I’d have been out 2-4 silver each time. Not much for a CoF farmer, perhaps, but since I make it a point to help my guildmates and never play in a way that I find boring, I accumulate wealth very slowly.

I don’t expect a refund, obviously, but I wanted to let you guys know that the bug exists. I don’t know what caused it, exactly, though I did mention a couple of ideas above. I’d have thought I had accidentally clicked “No” on the confirmation, except I clearly saw the brief flash of the end-waypoint, and of course, the money (~1 silver each time) was gone from my inventory.

I think I’d be content if the “Play Now” button stopped putting me into a 1v1 in progress.

That way, all the “duelists” could duel and I wouldn’t even have to be aware of it.

Maybe an exception in the match-join algorithm that prioritizes other servers over the “2/16” ones?