Guild Wars 2

Gaile Gray.6029:

Now, I think what you’re most curious about is how things will go moving forward. And it turns out, we do want to restore some of the skills that were reduced in the past. However, some effects, such as Auras, probably will remain as they are now, because the previous versions were considered to be too “loud,” and given the fact that their effect is supportive it needs to have a consistent visual effect across allies/enemies.

I really hope they do change the auras again to something more noticeable. They used to be fun visual rewards for pulling off an appropriate combo – both giving and recieving. And right now… they’re way too invisible. I mean… I might be able to notice one of them if I manage to activate the combo without any other distractions (Such as combat)… but who gets an aura when they’re not in combat?

The loss of the Fire Shield’s “Bubble of FIre” around my character really took all the fun out of the Longbow/Sword warrior I used to run.

Nicholas S Lin.6187:

I predict that in a future expansion we will see that the Charr invade Kryta and take Divinity’s Reach and the humans will only have Lion’s Arch and Ebonhawke. I won’t be surprised at all.

Your prediction is wrong, unless the “Charr Invasion” are as either an emergency response in coordination with the citizens of Divinity’s Reach to thwart a mutual threat (Such as Bubbles or Primordus invading Kryta), or in a wave of immigration when racial relations between humans and Charr improve to the point where social intermingling becomes normal. Or as a wave of customers when Sausagefest comes to town. (Sausagefest is best party ever)

… wait. I remember you. You’re that godkitten Separatist Sympathizer who was always going on about how Kryta should pre-emptively invade Ascalon back when the Race Forums were a thing.

Ananeos.4587:

leviathan.2148:

Steam takes about 30% of each purchase. They would be stupid to put GW2 there.

If that’s the case then why is GW1 even on there in the first place?

Because 70% of “Not very much” is still more than 100% of “Nothing At All”

Siobhan.5273:

• edit- Gloves are okay, but 500 gems for just gloves? Too pricey.

They are very, very SHINY gloves, though!

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

Dante.1508:

Man that last expac was horrible and i…….. oooOOooh Glowing hands…

“Official quote of Guildwars 2 Community”

Yeah, it’s so odd that people would find things to enjoy in a game even when other things might ruffle their feathers. Weird. o.O

On a completely unrelated note, did y’all know that grudges are the second-leading cause of early onset baldness in gamers?… just under Hot Pockets. /themoreyouknow

~EW

… Hot pockets cause baldness? I’m gonna have to change my diet, then!

Gerrand.3085:

Did I miss an Anet statement somewhere? Last I checked the Devs had stated that the gem store would only offer new outfits – as armor pieces were being reserved for in game rewards.

Seeing as the chaos gloves are armor pieces (and currently being sold in the gem store), I’m assuming Anet made some elaborate, frivolous yet sweeping statement on why they’ve decided to backtrack on this commitment -.-

Any links people?

They said now NEW armors in the gem store. Chaos gloves and other skins like that are returning armor pieces.

Ehecatl.9172:

Even before elite specs every profession had at least one traitline that was considered mandatory if you wanted to be competitive. All that has changed is the mandatory traitline is now called elite and gives you a cool profession icon.

Unless you’re a warrior. Then Defense is still the mandatory traitline, with Berzerker being a very close second.

Doggie.3184:

skullmount.1758:

We need less salad based stories (#BurnTheGroveDown), and more Asura/Charr centered stories.

No Asura because they ruined the chance of having Abaddon fractal. I ban them from being center plot.

Charr is possible. They could add a Charr villain who doesn’t stop using the Crystal Desert as a litterbox. Somekinda mad s***bomber.

… we should show up in the Crystal Desert to fight Kralkatorrik, only to find the job already done by Maverick. If you’re not a charr, there’s a brief introduction of why he’s the best fighter ever. If you are a charr and he’s not your warband survivor, he’s sorry that he never managed to get back to HQ after the battle against Barradin (Everyone was scattered, and he just kept going killing ghosts until he got lost), but incredulous that anyone could believe mere ghosts could kill him. If he is your warband survivor, he’s with the rest of your warband, and like “Hey boss!”

CMM.6712:

Where’s that -1 button when ya need it??

I think Destiny’s Edge has it.

CrashTestAuto.9108:

Miku.6297:

I’m 100% against limited skins, all they do is add to ones “special snowflake” status, which isn’t a good thing.

I don’t agree with the special snowflake thing. Partly because I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it, but also because having goals is important to the game.

If everything is easily gettable, then what are players supposed to do to entertain themselves during content droughts. The mechanics of the game are good, and the world is fun to explore, but after three and a half years things can get a bit repetitive. That’s why having targets to work towards is a good thing.

If people can just get everything really easily (SAB trib skins) or really cheaply (Halloween skins), then what is there to keep people coming back year after year? If you see something you like, you just get it, wear it and then… what?

Well, I know ONE thing they won’t be doing during content droughts – Getting limited items that are no longer available.

UnitedChaos.8364:

I like the idea of using Signet of the Hunt, but that signet is probably one of the worst utilities in the game. The grandmaster trait, Remorseless, is the trait version of this sigil and grants 100x more of the sigils active. Sigil of the hunt needs at maximum a 10s CD. 8s traited, to be useful. Pretty much further explained by the quote below.

Signet of the Hunt’s greatest asset is the 25% passive movespeed for PvE. But giving it unblockable sounds like it would solve a lot of problems with it in PvP.

Re: PvP. I disagree. I find that Guildwars2 is pushing their pvp to the point where I would consider it the main game. Seasons are filled with players and the esl is actually building up some viewership.

Re: Barbed Arrows. I explained the change in a quote above. It was just for making all these traits in the same ‘master’ tier as well as some synergy with Choking Gas.

But Sharpened Edges currently applies to my Greatsword, too! I like that.

I think that both the Warrior’s Sigil and especially the Necromancer’s “NCSY!” are both way more powerful than what I proposed. You only gain the 5% boost for the duration of the unblockable buff.

They are more powerful than what you proposed, but sigils and traits is apples and oranges. I will admit – I main warrior, and would hate to see Warrior Shield 5 get rendered useless the way your trait rework adds it (Especially since it sounds invisible). But Signet of Might has extremely fierce competition for Utility slots due to the complete lack of utility on Warrior weapon skills (I think they have a single dodge, and all their boons are on a dedicated boon-granting weapon (warhorn) that is otherwise useless.) Ranger Greatsword alone provides more survivability than the entire warrior kitten nal.

EDIT: Wow… the censor hits a synonym for “collection of weapons”

UnitedChaos.8364:

Sartharina.3542:

UnitedChaos.8364:

Zenos Osgorma.2936:

UnitedChaos.8364:

Zenos Osgorma.2936:

if the reformed hidden barbs and Choking gas sounds like a very nice Addition but its simply a way to get a AoE poison effect and it Sacrifices the trappers expertise (which vipers nest causes a lot of Aoe poison anyway)

…

we kind of need more in depth traits not more Combo/complex traits which are required for other traits to even be viable just like our current steady focus.

Umm.. Thanks?

Steady focus requires near perma Vigour upkeep and evades so the enduance bar can be topped up its very Restrictive to many weapon sets and trait lines.

Seeking Arrows : 8seconds of unblockable attack is overkill most of the rangers burst damage comes from high spike or Rapid Multipul hits of which we can do both in a reasonable time , could you imagin a RF+Seeking Arrows chained after with unblockable pbs > pet f2 leap and then ancient seeds .

this trait would be the unwanted toppings that we simply don’t need .

I, for one, only use Steady focus when standing at range with my bow. Which means I always have 100% endurance and it guarantees a permanent +10% damage. Where as my suggestion was you only gain +5% damage and your attacks are unblockable when and only when an attack is blocked. So, there is a gate on this trait that an attack has to be blocked before you gain any benefit from this trait. Yes, an unblockable rapid fire sounds powerful, but it’s only negating blocks, not reflects, dodges, los, etc.

In general, for most of these traits, I feel that a “+5% damage and your attacks are unblockable” is more flavourful trait than a permanent “+10% damage.” If you’re playing WvW, for example, and you like standing on walls sniping players, if you’re not running a permanent +10% damage, you’re essentially limiting your dps. Whereas a trait that allows use outside of rangers standing at max distance pew pewing, is more useful.

Not “More flavorful”… it’s “Ludicrously overpowered”. As pointed out above, it turns defensive options such as Warrior Shield and Guardian Shelter into “murder me while I’m helpless”. Now, “Next Attack is unblockable” could be useful, but 8 seconds of shredding through defenses (On an ICD only slightly longer than those defenses it shreds) is obscene.

Signet of might and “Nothing can save you” I guess if other classes have it, rangers shouldn’t be allowed something equally as powerful…on a longer cd…

And require a utility slot (Of which you only have 3 at any time, instead of the 9 major traits you have), active activation (instead of reactive activation), shorter durations, and, in the case of the Warrior, an obvious tell, and in the necromancer, a cast time.

wQnxy.7529:

Ayrilana.1396:

wQnxy.7529:

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

Using the 1 clover/try recipe, there’s roughly a 4% chance you’ll need more than 300 tries using (assuming a 30% chance of success). Using the 10 clover/try recipe, there’s around a 28% chance that you’ll get less than 8 successes.

In other words, not only is the OP only reporting an example of bad luck, it’s not even extraordinarily bad luck.

True that. But anyway, chance to get clover over anything else should be slightly higher.

It is. You have a ~33% chance while any other item is in the single digits.

Chance for clovers should be higher. This is not recipe : get random reward from the list.

Yes it is. It just so happens to have clovers on that list.

penelopehannibal.8947:

Ardid.7203:

Lore-wise, they have everything except the gonads. The pale tree wished sylvari to be able to partake in most things human can…

They actually do have sexual organs

And they indecently flaunt them everywhere! Ladies and gentlemen, please cover your flowers. You don’t want us spraying our genetic material all over the place, why do you want special treatment for your pollen!?

… that looks like a fun build, but I’d trade Restorative Strength for Death From Above if you’re running Healing Signet. Great for if you misjudge your height when gliding, and also a great combo WITH gliding to land precisely for maximum fun and impact (I suggest right in the middle of a pocket raptor swarm, before hitting the axe whirls to make them pulp and every other player around totes jelly. Warrior privilege ). Besides, Healing Signet is best slotted then ignored.

UnitedChaos.8364:

Zenos Osgorma.2936:

UnitedChaos.8364:

Zenos Osgorma.2936:

if the reformed hidden barbs and Choking gas sounds like a very nice Addition but its simply a way to get a AoE poison effect and it Sacrifices the trappers expertise (which vipers nest causes a lot of Aoe poison anyway)

…

we kind of need more in depth traits not more Combo/complex traits which are required for other traits to even be viable just like our current steady focus.

Umm.. Thanks?

Steady focus requires near perma Vigour upkeep and evades so the enduance bar can be topped up its very Restrictive to many weapon sets and trait lines.

Seeking Arrows : 8seconds of unblockable attack is overkill most of the rangers burst damage comes from high spike or Rapid Multipul hits of which we can do both in a reasonable time , could you imagin a RF+Seeking Arrows chained after with unblockable pbs > pet f2 leap and then ancient seeds .

this trait would be the unwanted toppings that we simply don’t need .

I, for one, only use Steady focus when standing at range with my bow. Which means I always have 100% endurance and it guarantees a permanent +10% damage. Where as my suggestion was you only gain +5% damage and your attacks are unblockable when and only when an attack is blocked. So, there is a gate on this trait that an attack has to be blocked before you gain any benefit from this trait. Yes, an unblockable rapid fire sounds powerful, but it’s only negating blocks, not reflects, dodges, los, etc.

In general, for most of these traits, I feel that a “+5% damage and your attacks are unblockable” is more flavourful trait than a permanent “+10% damage.” If you’re playing WvW, for example, and you like standing on walls sniping players, if you’re not running a permanent +10% damage, you’re essentially limiting your dps. Whereas a trait that allows use outside of rangers standing at max distance pew pewing, is more useful.

Not “More flavorful”… it’s “Ludicrously overpowered”. As pointed out above, it turns defensive options such as Warrior Shield and Guardian Shelter into “murder me while I’m helpless”. Now, “Next Attack is unblockable” could be useful, but 8 seconds of shredding through defenses (On an ICD only slightly longer than those defenses it shreds) is obscene.

But not Tribal armor? ;_;

What bothers me about it most is how little it seems to have to do with Charr or their vigilance over the Brand… and the helm doesn’t even properly fit Charr anatomy. Why the hell are the Sentinels making armor that doesn’t even fit them?

Fermi.2409:

Let’s play investigators!

I miss the old kids..
“Let’s play Destiny’s Edge!”
Charr Cub: “I’ll be Logan Thackery… and run away!”

I’d love this change. It would keep me from losing my valuable harvesting tools (Like my molten axe and pick) if I accidentally leave them on a character I quickly remake. I’m still waiting to hear back from CS about that…

Swagger.1459:

These improved rewards are for the greater good.

Sorry for meme, but…

penelopehannibal.8947:

As far as the stupid ERP jokes that narrow minded people have put on there, I’m pleased to say that there hasn’t actually been as many of those as I expected, though there were a few in the beginning, but hopefully the joke is wearing thin now, so genuine RPers can use it.

Unfortunately, I forgot to screenshot the “Hot Flame Legion” RP add that went up as soon as the patch hit. I got a lot of laughs out of them, but hope the jokes do end. And that they’re jokes.

traviswrdunbar.4780:

Dwarves, and elves, are the ‘dead horses’ of fantasy fiction. They’ve been used so often, with so little innovation, that they are just boring. Everything people usually like about dwarves is included in the Norn, except being short.

And the rest of what makes Dwarves great that clashed with Norn went to the Charr.

I can hardly wait for the Krait to complete their genocide against the Quaggan – those things are obnoxious, and need everything everyone ever wished upon their cousin-from-another-franchise Jar Jar Binks upon them. Seriously, they’re that obnoxious…

Skritt, on the other hand? Roll skritt, yes?

Cedric Ambidexter.9174:

Sartharina.3542:

Cedric Ambidexter.9174:

Crossaber.8934:

Cedric Ambidexter.9174:

Crossaber.8934:

Agemnon.4608:

Their claws and weapons didn’t magically become less lethal.

They do if you become sufficiently durable. In Dragon Ball for example Goku becomes stronger by the season. If Super Saiyan Blue Goku went back to the first episode Raditz would be so far outclassed that he’d endanger himself by hitting him.

Levels in RPGs are the equivalent of DBZ power levels. Sure you don’t gain enough stats to become a moon buster but a base toughness of 5 may correlate to an average person whereas a base toughness of 20 means you’re bulletproof to regular bullets, but still as fragile as a wet paper bag compared to endgame level dragons.

But how to justify levels from a lore standpoint in Guild Wars 2? Maybe we can justify it as we’re back in time and each level represents a different place in our timeline whereas level 80 represents us in the present at our strongest. The polar bears of low level zones are no longer dangerous to our present selves, but they’re dangerous to our past level 10 selves and whenever we visit that map we’re effectively going back in time canonically.

It is the reason i stop reading dragonball combat right after the first super saiyan mode is out. The story us getting stupid, the number of the energy level is overdone. I love the 7 dragonball series where fighting tactics is important, instead of unlimited powerceep in the story.

The level scaling is perfectly fine, reason?

A traditional mmo a maxed lv player is limited to have meaningful combat in endgame zone only, while GW2 a maxed lv player, the whole game any map can have meaning combat. GW2 have some flaws, but this is a feature that make GW2 GREAT.

I can see your point, if you are someone who has big needs, but as a level 80 character you should be focusing on playing ‘meaningful’ content in zones for your area, not low-level zones. Why would anyone want to do that? The map is huge. How much more space do you need?

The arguments players have presented in this thread (most in repetition) just do not justify leaving out the traditional leveling/combat system which true players enjoy.

It’s all about… “I prefer this….”, “…but it’s better this way because..”… NO it isn’t!

Making every zone into a complete access-for-all monopoly is WRONG WRONG WRONG imo.

It also sets a very bad example for the up and coming novice gamer about how to tackle no-win situations in a gaming community.

What % is your map completion when reaching lv80?

None of my character reached 45% when they hit lv80. Are you telling me all my lv80 should only stationed in Orr, dungeon, fractial or raid upon hitting lv80? Maybe you are fine with the the higher lv the less contents to play with kind of style.

Well i am not, i enjoy revisiting some low level map, or some place i never visited. I enjoy party with low level travel around the world helping them on their jounery without killing their joys. I understand that i will be extremely boring if some high level one shot everything cross my path when i am leveling.

The scaling system provide lv80 the replayability to every single corner in Tyria, this is what matters to many of us. We all see that the Traditional MMO style is a classic yet outdated mechanics which seems to make the early maps into desert.

Classic, yes. Outdated, no

You can’t re-design a classic game mechanic in the hope to achieve a better game, when in reality the original design is what drew players in. What you’re asking for is a safety-net for your level 80.

… sorry, but the classic leveling design that Anet rejected is NOT what ’Drew players in". What drew players into the genre in the first place was the ability to play a single game with countless other new and experienced players in a persistent world to explore through. And WTF are you rambling on about a “safety net” for? The only person in this thread asking for a ’safety net for their level 80" is the guy who thinks his level 80 should be invincible.

Cedric Ambidexter.9174:

EragamerLG.2390:

Cedric Ambidexter.9174:

I have the best armour and stats at the moment, and i’m happy with everything. But I just sat back in horror as I watched a level 15 icebrood elemental in a low-level region remove half my health in a few seconds.

If they ever decide to make a gw3 I hope they get rid of that stupid scaling system, because it really makes the game look like child’s play.

Even if my health suddenly drops from 20k to 1.5k, I would expect a low level enemy to struggle against a level 80. My suspicion is that levels are actually meaningless in this game.

I’ve posted on this topic before, and I’m posting again because this is something that is still bugging me.

ADDENDUM: some of these mobs are actually killing me quicker than level 80 mobs.

You miss the whole point of GW2. Off you go now, generic MMO is that way.
Nothing to see here folks.

Gw2 misses the point I am trying to put forward.

That’s not a point, though. It’s not even a double-eraser. It’s… hell, there are spheres that put out better points than you.

Hey, I want a real leveling experience. Note the keyword here, “real”. That doesn’t include a ‘manipulated’ one, or one that is serving a purpose. A safety-net is for high level players who want the reward of enjoying themselves at will in low-level regions.

There is no such thing as a ‘Real’ leveling experience. It’s all just a game. The game does have a leveling experience, anyway. As you gain levels, you acquire stronger weapons (going from one stat, to two stats, to three stats, and progress from white to blue to green to yellow to orange to pink/purple gear), more traits and traitlines, and more utility skills. That’s all a leveling experience really needs.

I think that Bubbles and Kralkatorrik should be killed off by a team of NPCs from outside Core Tyria (Possibly from Elona or Cantha)… and come across as every bit self-centered and dismissive of the player characters and their accomplishments as we are likely to be of theirs (And our own allies). But making them actually credible in a fight would probably be too much effort, and most people would just be kittened off at them.

Dante.1508:

Sexy Ranger gear, sick to death of trench coats and ugly gear.

And it needs to be sexy on Charr as well!

Cedric Ambidexter.9174:

Crossaber.8934:

Cedric Ambidexter.9174:

Crossaber.8934:

Agemnon.4608:

Their claws and weapons didn’t magically become less lethal.

They do if you become sufficiently durable. In Dragon Ball for example Goku becomes stronger by the season. If Super Saiyan Blue Goku went back to the first episode Raditz would be so far outclassed that he’d endanger himself by hitting him.

Levels in RPGs are the equivalent of DBZ power levels. Sure you don’t gain enough stats to become a moon buster but a base toughness of 5 may correlate to an average person whereas a base toughness of 20 means you’re bulletproof to regular bullets, but still as fragile as a wet paper bag compared to endgame level dragons.

But how to justify levels from a lore standpoint in Guild Wars 2? Maybe we can justify it as we’re back in time and each level represents a different place in our timeline whereas level 80 represents us in the present at our strongest. The polar bears of low level zones are no longer dangerous to our present selves, but they’re dangerous to our past level 10 selves and whenever we visit that map we’re effectively going back in time canonically.

It is the reason i stop reading dragonball combat right after the first super saiyan mode is out. The story us getting stupid, the number of the energy level is overdone. I love the 7 dragonball series where fighting tactics is important, instead of unlimited powerceep in the story.

The level scaling is perfectly fine, reason?

A traditional mmo a maxed lv player is limited to have meaningful combat in endgame zone only, while GW2 a maxed lv player, the whole game any map can have meaning combat. GW2 have some flaws, but this is a feature that make GW2 GREAT.

I can see your point, if you are someone who has big needs, but as a level 80 character you should be focusing on playing ‘meaningful’ content in zones for your area, not low-level zones. Why would anyone want to do that? The map is huge. How much more space do you need?

The arguments players have presented in this thread (most in repetition) just do not justify leaving out the traditional leveling/combat system which true players enjoy.

It’s all about… “I prefer this….”, “…but it’s better this way because..”… NO it isn’t!

Making every zone into a complete access-for-all monopoly is WRONG WRONG WRONG imo.

It also sets a very bad example for the up and coming novice gamer about how to tackle no-win situations in a gaming community.

What % is your map completion when reaching lv80?

None of my character reached 45% when they hit lv80. Are you telling me all my lv80 should only stationed in Orr, dungeon, fractial or raid upon hitting lv80? Maybe you are fine with the the higher lv the less contents to play with kind of style.

Well i am not, i enjoy revisiting some low level map, or some place i never visited. I enjoy party with low level travel around the world helping them on their jounery without killing their joys. I understand that i will be extremely boring if some high level one shot everything cross my path when i am leveling.

The scaling system provide lv80 the replayability to every single corner in Tyria, this is what matters to many of us. We all see that the Traditional MMO style is a classic yet outdated mechanics which seems to make the early maps into desert.

Classic, yes. Outdated, no

You can’t re-design a classic game mechanic in the hope to achieve a better game, when in reality the original design is what drew players in. What you’re asking for is a safety-net for your level 80.

… sorry, but the classic leveling design that Anet rejected is NOT what ’Drew players in". What drew players into the genre in the first place was the ability to play a single game with countless other new and experienced players in a persistent world to explore through. And WTF are you rambling on about a “safety net” for? The only person in this thread asking for a ’safety net for their level 80" is the guy who thinks his level 80 should be invincible.

Cedric Ambidexter.9174:

EragamerLG.2390:

Cedric Ambidexter.9174:

I have the best armour and stats at the moment, and i’m happy with everything. But I just sat back in horror as I watched a level 15 icebrood elemental in a low-level region remove half my health in a few seconds.

If they ever decide to make a gw3 I hope they get rid of that stupid scaling system, because it really makes the game look like child’s play.

Even if my health suddenly drops from 20k to 1.5k, I would expect a low level enemy to struggle against a level 80. My suspicion is that levels are actually meaningless in this game.

I’ve posted on this topic before, and I’m posting again because this is something that is still bugging me.

ADDENDUM: some of these mobs are actually killing me quicker than level 80 mobs.

You miss the whole point of GW2. Off you go now, generic MMO is that way.
Nothing to see here folks.

Gw2 misses the point I am trying to put forward.

That’s not a point, though. It’s not even a double-eraser. It’s… hell, there are spheres that put out better points than you.

After masteries, they should return to giving the ‘cycling levels’. Or make it a repeatable 0-point mastery. And each one should give a level tome. Or even just a writ of experience, so you can get Spirit Shards or level alts.

Fivedawgs.4267:

Ozzrel.9825:

Cataca.3867:

I dont get it, how does discipline force you to use a longbow?

Landing your burst skills becomes much more important if you don’t use a berserker build. Missing one due to a random blind can really screw you over, especially if it is the first burst skill you use in a fight (which would delay your adrenal health).

But who uses his burst skills without intending to land them?

Not so much ’not intending to land them" as much as ’Not losing everything if the opponent counters". If they blind? You lose everything. If they dodge? you lose everything. If they block? You lose everything.

Actually, the way to Iron Man Mode Guild Wars 2 is to buy the Ironclad outfit, put it on an Engineer, dye it red and gold, then keep yourself nearly perpetually intoxicated while acting like Robert Downy Jr. in chat.

Cedric Ambidexter.9174:

Sartharina.3542:

Cedric Ambidexter.9174:

Fluffball.8307:

What’s especially hysterical is this guy is talking about core Tyria maps. Er, ya. Level 80 maps are a joke in core Tyria and this guy can’t handle Wayfarer Foothills.

I hate it when people cry troll to anyone with a dissenting opinion, but I think that’s what this is.

How am I cry trolling?

I have my own beliefs about what type of progression system an MMORPG (and especially gw – since I’m a fan of the first instalment) should follow.

And, frankly, your beliefs are not in line with either the developers nor vast majority of the player base’s… and frankly, looking at how other RPGs are going, especially tabletop, it’s starting to look like the whole genre is moving away from “Nothing but bigger numbers” to a more horizontal progression system.

Unfortunately, you must be right – regarding the horizontal progression.

But where you mentioned the vast majority of the player base – I think you might be stretching it quite a bit. I believe the current fan-base are those who dissented against true MMO’s, or who haven’t played the original GW, or who haven’t played any MMO at all before this instalment. Those who “ran away” from gw2 after first spying it were not going to be led in the new direction.

:)

They can be free to hide in their P2W grindfests where nothing matters at all.
“If you like MMO’s, you should check out Guild Wars 2. If you DON’T like MMO’s, you definitely should check out Guild Wars 2” – ArenaNet’s Marketing of the game.

No, Guild Wars 2 isn’t a “Classic” MMO – it’s better than the classics of yore. It is a game that provides meaningful progression, but in a manner that doesn’t lock you out of content. Others brought up WoW. The biggest complaint I’ve seen over on their forums is a “lack of content” – Yet WoW is the biggest MMO on the market, with more content than any other game out there. And yet… it’s all left behind, and absolutely meaningless because of the leveling system (Did you know it had a zone full of Dinosaurs? And there are a lot of interesting questlines – like blowing up a mountain range!)

An MMO is about progressing in a massive, mostly-persistent world shared with others – nothing more, nothing less. Guild Wars 2 excels in that regard with its world, and the ability to play with anyone you meet, regardless of level, and a sense of progression in trait/stat/skill acquisition, on top of gear grinds for exotic skins and desired stat combinations.

So what exactly do you get from killing an enemy npc in a low level region?

A suitable challenge while following unique storylines and world exploration. The ability to play with other people without completely eclipsing them to the point it stops being fun for either of us, crafting materials for ascended and legendary weapons and armor, the ability to revisit fun events and challenges at any time, instead of being forced to roll a new character and enjoy for only the brief window of time it’s available…

Cedric Ambidexter.9174:

Baamoink.4281:

Cedric Ambidexter.9174:

You are clearly not a true MMORPG fan then.

What exactly is a ‘true MMORPG fan’?

I enjoy the scaling, because then I can jump in with a friend who’s at a lower level, and not one shot everything before they get a chance to tag anything. No fun for them.

In a true MMO your friend will start to have fun when he reaches your level, or close.

So, you’re saying that a True MMO is designed to NOT be fun? I am so glad the True MMO genre is dying off so fast.

Cedric Ambidexter.9174:

Fluffball.8307:

What’s especially hysterical is this guy is talking about core Tyria maps. Er, ya. Level 80 maps are a joke in core Tyria and this guy can’t handle Wayfarer Foothills.

I hate it when people cry troll to anyone with a dissenting opinion, but I think that’s what this is.

How am I cry trolling?

I have my own beliefs about what type of progression system an MMORPG (and especially gw – since I’m a fan of the first instalment) should follow.

And, frankly, your beliefs are not in line with either the developers nor vast majority of the player base’s… and frankly, looking at how other RPGs are going, especially tabletop, it’s starting to look like the whole genre is moving away from “Nothing but bigger numbers” to a more horizontal progression system.

Thuggernaut.1250:

Akkeros.1675:

Are most of the posters here upset because of the loss of pierce in choke points or on walls? Damage is still decent and you can still melee and kite with a aoe burst…so really doesn’t seem all that changed tbh other than killing clusters in zergs.

Yeah, mostly upset about the loss of piercing. The damage nerf was pretty substantial, but the removal of piercing totally destroyed the skill. With correct positioning you could line up double or triple kills in WvW.

That’s the job of Killshot (Which frankly needs its cast time reduced), not Gunflame, IMO. Let the bursts be different. Gunflame is for blowing up stacked groups of enemies.

… sorry, can’t put my wood on the TP, I need it for tigers. Also, I’m now buying wood, for tigers.

Cedric Ambidexter.9174:

I have the best armour and stats at the moment, and i’m happy with everything. But I just sat back in horror as I watched a level 15 icebrood elemental in a low-level region remove half my health in a few seconds.

If they ever decide to make a gw3 I hope they get rid of that stupid scaling system, because it really makes the game look like child’s play.

Losing half your health to an enemy is child’s play? I agree! Just not on the part of the game, and more on the part of the player. The scaling system is awesome, and keeps the entire world fun to explore.

Even if my health suddenly drops from 20k to 1.5k, I would expect a low level enemy to struggle against a level 80. My suspicion is that levels are actually meaningless in this game.

Your suspicions can be confirmed. Levels are more of a lightly-oblique (More horizontal than not) system used for gating skill/trait acquisition than a vertical “Bigger Numbers for the sake of Bigger Numbers” one, though it still has those as a vestigal remnant of the old (And IMO boring) leveling model.

I’ve posted on this topic before, and I’m posting again because this is something that is still bugging me.

Maybe you should have paid attention to that widely-touted detail before buying the game?

My problem with mounts in other MMOs is that:
1. They’re useless for anything but travel. Once you get in combat, the mount goes away. But, they’re not only available when travelling
2. They’re MASSIVE, easily doubling the size of a character’s model in the worldspace, and occluding that much more terrain/objects. Furthermore, being land-based, they occlude the useful parts of the game (Other players, NPCs, interactive items, and platforms)
3. They compete with/detract from the aesthetic of the rider more often than not. Furthermore, unlike Back Pieces, the mount is the first and largest thing seen.

Meanwhile, gliders manage to avoid most of the shortfalls.
1. They are only visible when actively using them, so they don’t occlude the gameworld around them
2. They are used in a space where there’s rarely anything else worth looking at, so they don’t disrupt the game world around them
3. They are much easier to coordinate with the user’s appearance, and are generally occluded by the wearer, not the other way around.

Horrorscope.7632:

Where’s the sense of adventure?

Burned out on the first three to four World Completion runs for most people, I suspect.

Hollisterz.1690:

Yeah I got the expansion !! Thanks guys just didn’t wanna waste time doing story if I don’t need to I want shiny new armour and weapons , were do I get?

The Silverwastes. Then Go West to the Heart of Maguuma to get your glider, and a few new armor and weapon skins exist there as well.

Hollisterz.1690:

Hi I’ve just started playing again and I already have a level 80 but thought it would try with a new class. I’m wondering what there is to do now at 80, do I need to complete the story??

You can. You don’t need to. You don’t need to do anything. You don’t need to feel you can’t do anything beneath your level. You can run fractals. You can explore the entire world. You can do all the jumping puzzles. You can play PvP. You can fight in the Silverwastes or Dry Top. You can make a legendary weapon. You can win the fashion wars. You can spend all day dancing in Divinity’s Reach. Or murder Tequatl and the Shatterer. You can streak through Ashford or Queensdale.

The only thing you cannot do is eat Green Eggs and Ham, because those are not an available food item in-game.

BrotherBelial.3094:

BrotherBelial.3094:

At 80 you can do just about anything. So just do what you want to do.

I want to go east past Blazeridge.

/s

Go east? Oh please. Here’s a better idea

I don’t want to see mounts as personal screen-clutter. But I wouldn’t mind seeing Planetside/Battlefield-style vehicles added to WvW, Ascalon, and other maps as part of a new expansion mastery. But those would be a pain in the kitten to balance and ensure are in limited supply for the map, without creating competition for them. Everyone wants to drive a tank out of Exterminatus HQ to run over the Flame Legion with in Ashford on the way to the Brand in Blazeridge Steppes (Or more Flame Legion or Ghosts in Iron Marches), but the map DOESN’T want to have dozens of tanks rolling over everything and clipping through the scenery and each other. And we most certainly don’t want them taking up space around the banks and Trading Posts in the Grove and Divinity’s Reach.

Why would anyone want that waste of money and money?

Ashen.2907:

Sartharina.3542:

kurfu.5623:

simplesimon.2084:

The only way I could see that happening is if they added a new race with a city, personal story, and differnt zones going all the way from 1 to 80

That would be an actual expansion.

… such as the Tengu, in the Domain of Winds, finally joining the five other races against the Elder Dragons?

TexZero.7910:

Expansions aren’t about ‘new’ players, they are made to help retain existing players and bring them back to playing the product.

If an expansion isn’t about attracting new players, the best it can ever hope to do is slightly stave off death from an ever-dwindling playerbase.

Isnt that pretty much a fact of life for any MMO?

Hmm, any entertainment product really? Sure some TV shows last for 26+ years but we all know that the Simpsons are going away eventually.

WoW expanded rapidly over the course of its first two expansions, before dwindling again after Cataclysm released (Which also coincided with the ‘end’ of the MMO Golden Age)

But that aside – an MMO needs a constant influx of new players, because lots of people who quit will NEVER return, no matter how shiny the expac is. Or they’ll return and leave again. Without new players, the death of the game is much faster.

But, unfortunately for the world, the Simpsons will never go away.

I, for one, wish it was both a Long or Short bow. I want to use it on my Warrior. And my Guardian, and my ranger, and my thief.

kurfu.5623:

simplesimon.2084:

The only way I could see that happening is if they added a new race with a city, personal story, and differnt zones going all the way from 1 to 80

That would be an actual expansion.

… such as the Tengu, in the Domain of Winds, finally joining the five other races against the Elder Dragons?

TexZero.7910:

Expansions aren’t about ‘new’ players, they are made to help retain existing players and bring them back to playing the product.

If an expansion isn’t about attracting new players, the best it can ever hope to do is slightly stave off death from an ever-dwindling playerbase.

I think the reason they changed it was to allow the trait to do reasonable damage after they nerfed the Chill duration, because, seriously, Chill is the most crippling condition in the game to be afflicted by.

Ross Biddle.2367:

Fara.9835:

Ok , i can confess you are right BUT 1,25 sec man !!! it’s so huge , check the heal of the mesmer / rev / necro / thief ….

Every truly good Mesmer learned from the early days- Cover your heal cast.

But the Warrior’s healing signet active isn’t a heal – it’s a ’disable heal to avoid ohkitten conditions"

Brent.1580:

While the gunflame F1 damage nerf is reasonable, the lack of additional utility / damage across the the rest of the skills makes this spec much less desirable.

What if we just ditched the rifle #2 “aimed shot” skill? i always found it very boring, and just another shot with minor conditions tacked on. We could bake it’s effects into the auto and #3 skill and add some additional damage/support to #3. This would leave the #2 skill open for some much need survivability. I also always felt the #4 skill could start the evade nearly immediately when you fire the immob – there is too much delay at the moment to use it like a 3rd dodge reactively.

It would look something like this:

Rifle skill #1 (Fierce Shot): Now also applies 1 stack of vuln for 6 to 8 seconds. *(if using volley/gunflame as well, your target might sit at 3-6 stacks of vuln from autos.

Rifle skill #2 (Barricade): Drop an immoveable barricade with 25k health in front of you (maybe half the width of an ele’s staff earth skill #4) that blocks enemy fire, but let’s the warrior fire over it. Lasts 15 seconds or until health is depleted. 30 second CD. Enemies cannot run through it / stops leaps/charges toward the warrior. Possibly add a rifle trait to blow it up for a knockback?

Rifle skill #3 (Volley) : The first of the five shots applies 5 seconds of cripple. The remaining 4 shots give 5 seconds of Might to the warrior and allies in 300 range per shot. This would give a small damage boost to Volley, and a small amount of support. We could also move the “gain bonus adren on vulnerable targets” to Volley, now that the auto applies vuln.

Rifle skill #4 (Brutal shot): The evade now starts immediately when shooting the immob. The skill also now rolls back 600 distance.

Rifle skill #5 (Rifle Butt): This might be perfect. But maybe if it was unblockable – it’d be great to knock those revs out of hibernation.

Anyway, just trying to add some more utility and survivability into rifle… it’s a fun spec and playstyle, but since the burst damage is toned down, we need to up it’s utility to make gunflame remain a viable spec! Also – making extra skills fun rather than mundane does so much for a spec. Anyway, lemme know if you like the ideas.

I’d prefer it if they replace 4 with that ‘barricade’ skill. I absolutely loathe the added dodge on 4 because it knocks me out of position, takes too long to activate the dodge, and also generally knocks me out of range as well. If I wanted to dodge, I’d hit the dodge key.

mauried.5608:

Not sure why you would want to change them.

Action Camera!

I’d like to set RMB as Weapon Skill 4.

Horrorscope.7632:

As far as new people coming into GW’s and going straight to 80 and forgetting the past lands to me is a mistake for them. They should enjoy the first romp through, it’s great and with mega server there are still plenty of people out there, plenty.

It is very possible they would like those lands more than HOT’s twisted verticals as well, it’s much more traditional.

The free 80 I rec’d makes a great option for a new 80 after I have done one manually I feel, as someone just said, to test out the other builds.

Plus how awkward is it to start a new mmo and have a max’d out player? You’d be some shadow 80 with about 2% of the knowledge you need and then head straight into HOT? Yeah, to me that isn’t the ideal path for a new player. The game is plenty fun for a new player to start fresh from level 1. This isn’t like a standard mmo with truly abandoned lands that take forever and a day.

Just think when they are done with HOT then what? You start from say Queensdale, you still have Season 2 and Hot when done and not there with a finger in your bum… this is imo the best way to go for a brand new player and as another said… “they’ll play now because they can join me in HOT” we all know leveling is fast and don’t you want to level up another character to play with? Just start another and play with your friends.

Not poo poo’ing, but I’m not sure that a brand new player, straight to 80, straight to HOT is in their best interest. The old lands are super great at least the first time through. But whatevers.

That’s why New Players don’t get HoT, and enjoy the free core game for a while. Or, if they’re feeling bored, they jump straight into HoT and crash-course through it, learning quickly.