Guild Wars 2

Eh. I’d prefer more challenging and smarter enemies.

Now that I’ve been reminded of the benefits of the train, I can definitely see it being a boon. More high-level players in the same zone mingling with low-level players is a good thing, especially since I doubt new players actually will go with “Press 1 to victory” – they still have a whole game ahead of them to explore, and the desire to complete Renown Hearts and continue the Personal Story, if nothing else, (And now the horribad trait locking system) will pull them away from the train.

The advantage of “Autoattack to Victory” is that it frees up the keyboard, allowing people to talk and socialize while still playing the game and progressing in loot, karma, and experience..

Obsidian.1328:

Sartharina.3542:

…and the Inquest are one of the most devastating, tenacious, and far-reaching threats facing Tyria.

Huh?

You mean those guys in Metrica trying get peeps to join them? They seemed like a mix between a bad Army recruiter and a loan shark. They are supposed to be threatening?

They tend to be hit and miss. Then again, my experience with the Inquest is primarily in Bloodtide Coast and Blazeridge Steppes.

Becka Williams.4978:

Good idea. Now, instead of doing living world content, I just wait around a while, and pick up all the rewards afterwards, when it’s fair easier to get them!

And miss out on the fun of the Living World content and seeing the events happen.

There’s more to GW2 than getting loot.

Brother Grimm.5176:

The fact that the OP continually uses words incorrectly (like ILLOGICAL), brings all his arguments into question.

Seriously, this is a dead issue if for no other reason than there is no REASON for someone to need to trade directly with a stranger. The other reason is that Anet has made it abundantly clear this is not even something they would consider adding to the game (mostly because it is not needed). The OP needs to PROVE it is needed, not ask us to PROVE why it is not (can’t prove a negative).

Trading with others directly can be a more psychologically rewarding experience than trading with a faceless market. There’s also less Choice Paralysis than when dealing with the TP, if someone has something they want to buy or sell. Especially if it’s going to use immediately.

I can agree that they should make non-QD trains more profitable, or make systems other than Champ training effective and profitable.

LanfearShadowflame.3189:

I can agree with adjusting this event so she’s ‘not melted like butter’ as someone else put it. (Hmm, oddly, I’m hungry for seafood now)

I’d like to see it adjusted so that it takes a little more than just smashing 1 to kill her. Obviously there is a tiny bit of coordination to get all 4 camps, but her battle itself could use some more mechanics imo.

This is my stance as well. The world bosses need to be proofed against mindless zerging, even if they aren’t pulled to the same coordination difficulty as Wurm and Teq.

I hope they can resolve the issue with the servers being split up by Megaservers. The dynamic server merging is an awesome part of the system, but the splitting is terrible.

RP would have been boosted by more players in the world… at least the opportunity for spontaneous RP, that is.

I say the Ice Statue made by the Norn now being worshipped by the Grawl would win.

Or the Iron Legion.

I have two such characters. One’s a Norn Mesmer, the other’s a Charr Guardian.

(I probably should have gone Mesmer for him too, but wanted to see how fabulous I could make a Guardian). Charr can even have fabulous names, like Ryder Sparklepuff. They’re also extra-cuddly on top of that. In fact, I’m trying to build a Sparkle/puff warband to adventure with an entire team of flamboyant charr of all types.

The problem with the Norn is you need a long hairstyle that covers the shoulders, and it doesn’t stop him from having a hilariously deep, booming voice in cutscenes. (Or being built like a hulk, even with the most slender physique).

Unfortunately, the biggest barrier to enjoying such flamboyant characters is a lack of ways to initiate and express body language. And, the Personal Stories REALLY don’t go well for those races (Moreso for the Charr than the Norn. Norn are all about showboating, so being fabulous actually kinda works). THen again… maybe the reason nobody in the Blood Legion wants to serve under Ryder Sparklepuff is because they don’t want to be associated with the Puff warband or put up with his flamboyance, even if he is an incredible warrior.

Sylvari are the most traditionally fabulous, though.

I’ve been playing for a while, and am only just now level 80. It takes dozens of hours for me to level a character, and even then, I feel the pace is too fast. Even when I do have the character leveled, though, and I only rarely world boss hunt. If I’m in the area, I might. Otherwise, nah. If I stumble across one of RPcd’s Crusades Across Tyria, I join that (But do find Megaserver breaks those badly].

But, really, they just need to have strengthen server fidelity. Seeing more people when playing (I don’t call it leveling, though that sometimes happens) is an incredibly awesome thing.

If you’ve debased your experience to nothing but zerg training and world boss hunting, the problem is with you, not the game.

Danikat.8537:

It’s simple really, you have two options:

1) If you want to trade with a stranger you can use the trading post. You list the item you want to sell, or search for the one you want to buy and trade it. Because the transaction is anonymous and the two sides are distinct from each other it’s even more scam-proof than a trade window. Scammers can’t swap in a different item at the last moment or make false claims about the item they’re selling because the buyer will have searched for exactly the item they want.

2) If you want to trade with a friend you can use mail. It’s not secure but since they’re your friends you should be able to trust them.

I can’t imagine a situation where you’d want to trade with a specific person who is also a completely stranger you don’t know if you can trust, so the absence of a trade window shouldn’t be an issue.

I can think of several cases where I don’t fully know someone, but would love to trade with them. One of the best parts of Guild Wars 2 is the “Casual Community and grouping.” Being able to trade with other players when crafting in major cities or out in other crafting stations in the world would be good. Trading loot and consumables with people in a Zerg/Train during downtime between runs.

Then again… sending a random low-level character I meet a level-appropriate high-quality sword in a mail titled “It’s Dangerous to go Alone” is something I really need to try some day.

I don’t have any of these problems. The only thing I stack is bleeds, because Warrior Sword+Shield lacks attack versatility

The more I think about it, all they really need to do is make costume brawls more accessible, and allow people to go into costume “As themselves”, with their weapons converted to abilities that work within a costume brawl instead of as a real PvE or PvP effect.

Essentially, a way to let players fight each other for fun, but ensure that the fights are meaningless and prove nothing. And, with Costume Brawl mechanics, it prevents harassment because all the person can do is opt to start a costume brawl, and wait for others to join in, instead of targeting people for brawls.

Nick.6972:

You’re all missing the point.
QD train perfectly teaches the new players the core mechanic of this game – zerging and mindless button mashing.

That ISN’T the core mechanic of the game, though. That is the shell that remains after you’ve already depleted the fun content of the game and have nothing left to do.

I just explore, and talk with/humorously troll (Not maliciously) whatever chat channel I end up in with goofiness. Or go to a random zone and try the events that pop up, again and again and again. I once tried to see how many barrels of booze I could get in that one place in Shiverpeak, then see how fast I could deplete them all again in a game of catch.

Rage.9723:

Teq needs to be instanced already. This is straight up annoying.

No, it shouldn’t. There is no need to lock an event behind an instance wall just because it requires a modicum of preparation and coordination (Which can be handled in the pre-event warmup phase).

@Sartharina I’ve seen Tequatl failing even with full megaserver, but in the end, you need ppl with brains. Join TS if you want organized parties for Tequatl and if you want 100% success.

I have no problem with high rates of failure, and my post was entirely against the idea that events should REQUIRE massive numbers of people. Guild Wars 2’s unique scaling system should be used in a way so that a small group of well-coordinated players in a barren shard can take on Teq or Wurm with a chance of victory, while the encounters also scale up so that massive groups barging in on a Teq/Wurm encounter engage in an equal challenge. Failure should be caused by the players that show up screwing up and failing on their own, not because there aren’t enough players in the area. Incompetence is something that can be corrected. Low population isn’t.

elprimo.4398:

All those people disrupting the train on purpose… and enjoying it.

They do not want the train in the area, and feel it is detrimental to the server. So they do what they can to make zerg training in the area unappealing to as many players as possible. A player-driven solution to a player-driven problem.

NEOCROM.8957:

THIS DOESNT need a change, if you were in a weak megaserver with few ppl, then dont wonder why it failed. Tequatl can be defeated in like 8-9 mins. Learn to play and maybe get some friends to help you taxi to a megaserver with alot of ppl.

When the event fails simply because of population, it’s a problem, IMO. I’m all for having the event scale better in both directions than it does now. It’s not a nerf to allow smaller groups to defeat Teq and Wurm if the amount of coordination, timing, and knowledge of the event remain the same (And fewer people make it less forgiving, as well). When an event fails, it should be because the players screwed up, not because there weren’t enough of them.

Well, players disrupting Zerg Trains makes Zerg Training less lucrative and appealing to players. A player behavior-driven solution to a player behavior-driven problem.

I’m trying to find the post again. Oh: Here it is, but it’s talking about Teq/Wurm. General principal is the same, though: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/archive/madness/Well-I-defended-these-new-events-at-first/first#post3545393

Saylu.8271:

Sartharina.3542:

tigirius.9014:

Unfortunately when you look at progression that is all there is to the future of the game until they take the time change it. I’m speaking of course of Ascended gear end game crafting.

Well, players disrupting Zerg Trains makes Zerg Training less lucrative and appealing to players. A player behavior-driven solution to a player behavior-driven problem.

I’m trying to find the post again. Oh: Here it is, but it’s talking about Teq/Wurm. General principal is the same, though: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/archive/madness/Well-I-defended-these-new-events-at-first/first#post3545393

Guild Wars 2 isn’t about crafting Ascended gear. What the hell do you think this is? World of Warcraft and its loot treadmill?

Guild Wars 2 is about exploring Tyria, engaging in fun open-air battles with foes across all level zones (I HATE the nerf mobs got, and if it’s a result of the changes to the trait system, then it’s more proof that said system needs to die), finding people to help and form spontaneous groups with, and wiping at world bosses until you learn how to fight them. And getting in costume brawls for the heck of it, and fighting to defend the places you care about from Ghost/Undead/Centaur/Inquest/What-Have-You incursions, and taking back reclaimed areas. And fighting for your server in WvW. And proving the might of your team’s kitten in sPvP.

Ascended gear is just an extra slapped onto everything else.

You are kidding. Guild Wars 2 might be new and exciting when you are starting out. But when you get to your 8th character to lv 80, there is nothing new and exciting to explore. It is just a massive grind for ascended or legendary.

Maybe it gets dull and grind for ascended/legendary gear for long-time veterans… but it shouldn’t be the gameplay expected or conditioned into new players and characters.

Another terrible thing the trait system did was require a nerf to world mobs, taking what used to be fun, engaging combat and reducing it to a simple faceroll without payoff.

I’m struggling to find redeeming qualities in the new trait system, but come up blank.

tigirius.9014:

Unfortunately when you look at progression that is all there is to the future of the game until they take the time change it. I’m speaking of course of Ascended gear end game crafting.

Guild Wars 2 isn’t about crafting Ascended gear. What the hell do you think this is? World of Warcraft and its loot treadmill?

Guild Wars 2 is about exploring Tyria, engaging in fun open-air battles with foes across all level zones (I HATE the nerf mobs got, and if it’s a result of the changes to the trait system, then it’s more proof that said system needs to die), finding people to help and form spontaneous groups with, and wiping at world bosses until you learn how to fight them. And getting in costume brawls for the heck of it, and fighting to defend the places you care about from Ghost/Undead/Centaur/Inquest/What-Have-You incursions, and taking back reclaimed areas. And fighting for your server in WvW. And proving the might of your team’s kitten in sPvP.

Ascended gear is just an extra slapped onto everything else.

Cactus Brawler.7415:

Aidan Savage.2078:

God forbid there be content that’s hard enough you cant simply mindlessly zerg it. Teq is easy enough as it is. If you want to beat it, you’d look up tips on how to beat it, and you’d devote the necessary effort to try and coordinate. If you dont want, or refuse, to do either of those, you wont beat teq, simple as that.

Oh, duplicate thread by the way. I doubt the one already dealing with this issue has even left the first or second page.

Now lets say I do that (I have by the way) that doesn’t mean anyone else on the map I’m randomly placed on, has done it.

And given what servers I play on, even if I was so driven that I would commander up and explain, it might just put me on a map where people don’t speak my language, or even the same language as each other.

Content like this shouldn’t be open world, its its content that relies on other people not screwing up it should be instanced, so that you know people can learn it and do it like the raid its supposed to be ~_~

And the developers have stated that the goal is for players to self-organize and NOT lock away this sort of content behind instances. If you don’t know the encounter and don’t want to look it up, talk about the encounter and try to learn a good place and strategy for your inexperience during the wait for the event to start, and pay attention to the commander’s orders.

Even if you start off getting grouped with people who haven’t taken the time to learn the event… that will change and they will learn. Either from getting frustrated like you and being determined to beat it (Then learning the strategy), or deciding it’s too much effort and going to do something else.

On the other hand, I’d prefer people to raise/rez dead/downed players in Teq and Wurm more, instead of waiting for them to WP. DPS goes down by less the fewer people are out of the battle, and, from what I’ve seen, those two battles aren’t entirely about DPS anyway. And, “mass rez” such as a warrior’s Battle Standard get even more players up and able to fight, so taking one guy out of the fight long enough to throw down a banner or whatever that cool thing Guardians do gets five or ten people back into the battle far faster than waiting for them to WP back.

Also, mechanics that encourage people to help each other recover from mistakes are far better than mechanics that cause people to despise, condemn, and ostracise others. This ain’t a MOBA. Can we please send the toxic community back to LoL and DotA?

The zerg trains create a toxic environment in PvE, wreak hell on the game’s infrastructure, and teach new players that Zerging is the ‘best’ way to play, even though the game is much more rewarding when approached without a “Farm/Grind all the things” mentality that the constant trains provide. This isn’t Progress Quest. Counter-training proves to and teaches players that trains AREN’T effective or reliable in farming experience, karma, and cash, and encourage zerg to break up and find new content, and not rely on others to try to have their fun.

Algreg.3629:

Garrisyl.7402:

Algreg.3629:

repetitive griefing of targeted specific players

Ah, yes. This is an interesting claim indeed. Can griefing the griefers be considered griefing? Have they deserved it? Isn’t it better to grief two guys before they can grief the entire Map? Is it just of me?

So many questions, so few answers.

The champ train is toxic, and something should be done about. This chat isn’t what new players should have to see.

No, that is quite a clear claim, not interesting at all. Yes, it can. And google “vigilantism” if you find any time in between your griefing endeavours.

And properly-targetted vigilante activities in-game, just as in real life, dramatically improve the quality of the world for everyone who isn’t a scumbag.

The problem with Guild Wars 2 trying to add expansions, I think, is that the base game is ‘too strong’. And, they can’t just backload the game and hide new content and higher levelcap behind a paygate.

The classes are too diverse and well-balanced to add new classes to the game. I doubt they’ll add new races or weapon types either, for similar reasons. Then again, a new set of weapons balanced against the current set might actually be cool (though it might require renaming the current weapons in case there’s a risk of redundancy).

The original GW managed to launch several expansions without having paygate problems by having each expansion be able to stand alone or play with each other fairly, by introducing a complete suite of classes capable of mixing and hybriding with the normal ones, a completely new storyline independent of any previous ones, and a new set of maps.

I don’t see Guild Wars 2 being able to do any of this.

Lord Kuru.3685:

The game is designed to be played by zerging. So it’s perfect that there’s a zerg going around in starting areas — let’s new players learn how to zerg.

No it’s not. The developers have outright stated that the Zerging is a problem from both a technical and gameplay standpoint, and are trying to find ways to reduce it without penalizing smaller-scale spontaneous groupings.

Nicholas S Lin.6187:

Look at the awesome-ness of the Charr High Legions and the Technological and Scientific brilliance of the Asura. The is no way that the Humans of GW2 as they are now are remotely comparable.

The charr High Legions are caught up trying to recover from a stalemate with Ebonhawke, and are perpetually bogged down in a war with the Ghosts of Ascalon. Sure, there are a lot of jokes about how ‘simple’ the ghosts have been contained and the Charr are using them as target practice – but it’s clear in the field that they’re suffering heavy losses as ghosts destroy entire warbands… and the ghosts are back every few weeks if not every day. On top of that, they’ve got the flame legion rebellion continuing, and the Separatists wherever the ghosts aren’t. And all three legions suffer serious trauma and losses in the Brand.

The Ebon Vanguard alone has a military presence on par with any of the three Charr Legions, at least in terms of area coverage. The humans also have the Seraph, that, despite heavy losses, are still holding strong and defending against the numerous Centaur tribes assaulting Kryta, in addition to outposts in the Shiverpeaks and . The centaur attacks are also much more manageable than the Ghost problem facing the Charr. And, unlike the ghosts, every centaur killed stays dead.

As for Asura Scientific “Brilliance” – The asura have just escaped destruction and been driven from their homeland, and are just getting started on devising a way to rule a new world they feel entitled to because of their superior intellect. However, that intellect works against them just as often as it works for them, and the Inquest are one of the most devastating, tenacious, and far-reaching threats facing Tyria.

Necromancer and warriors require the least skill to play decently, but fall behind when people learn how to actually use the other classes, and then require more skill to get back up onto the same level. Yes, it is the most newbie-friendly class, but that’s not a bad thing. They suck again once everyone stops being newbies without serious investment in learning how to play them.

Nicholas S Lin.6187:

Sartharina.3542:

Not Anti-human and Pro-Charr. Just not Pro-Human at the Expense of Everything Else. Humans have to fight for what they want to have, just like everyone else. Even then, they’re still one of the strongest and most populous races in Tyria. They’ve just been pared back to everyone else’s level for now. There’s no “entitling” at all. If anything, the entitlement is for humans believing they are owed and entitled to land they have proven incapable of holding. Your own argument is that non-humans are not entitled to claim any land they hold or have held in Tyria because they are not humans.

My views have never been Pro-Human at the expense of other race if the passing of the last 200 years between the events of the two games was reasonably balanced and fair. For the most part it has been, with one major exception. Human vs. Charr.

In the case between the two it is the humans that have lost all the ground, lost all the land. The only time the Charr suffered a major lost, humanity lost a comparable amount in exchange (Note: the blame for the Foefire event depends on which race you side with).

This demonstrates that your point of is without merit and has no basis in lore.

That’s because Humans had the most to lose, and Charr had the most to gain. Yes, the history between them is in Charr’s favor – but that’s because Humans were sitting at 99% influence, and Charr were at 1%, The humans needed to take a dive in power in order to enter an equilibrium with the other races, and Charr were the only ones they were directly antagonistic to.

Humans took a dive, going from dominating 80% of the world down to ~32% of the world. The Asura and Sylvari managed to carve out ~10% of the world each for themselves. With the absolute destruction of the dwarves (Humans can’t kitten about their losses), the Norn managed to expand to about 15% influence over the world, and drove the dredge down to 5%.

The Charr, on the other hand, started with 2% of the world, and with the help of the Flame Legion jumped to 18% of the world. Humans are still stronger than they are, despite the near total loss of Ascalon. Even then, it’s not complete, because humans have enough influence in Ascalon that the remaining Separatists are just as big a threat to Charr sovereignty as the Ghosts and Branded, Ebonhawke and its surrounding lands are still human territory, and the Ebon Vanguard are significant contributors holding the line against the brand.

The Charr now have 90% (Discounting uninhabitable areas caused by excessive ghost infestations, Separatist strongholds, Dredge fortress-mines, and draconic corruption) of Ascalon. The humans still have Kryta, Elona, Cantha, and 10% of Ascalon (Discounting uninhabitable areas caused by centaurs, pirates, plague, dredge, grawl, and draconic corruption).

The only reason the humans have “Lost all the ground, lost all the land” is because they were the only ones with ground and land to lose!

Devata.6589:

Astralporing.1957:

Devata.6589:

If you think the chance would be less then 50% at a 100 times where it drops 1/100 then you have a problem with math. At 100 tries it would be close to 100 but will never be 100.

Actually, you both are wrong. At 1% chance of item dropping, the chance to not get it within 100 tries is about 37% (36.6something). So, the chance to get it is higher than 50%, but nowhere close to 100%.

I did mean closer. Did not do the math myself. Are you however sure it’s 37% to not get it.

Anyway the exact numbers aren’t even what it is about. All I was saying is that on average a drop would take you x hours and grinding gold to buy it would then also take you about x hours.

And my point is that those X hours have value, and they’re better spent on doing something you find fun in itself than something you’re not having fun doing in preparation of getting what you want and waiting until then to have fun.

Disrupting the trains is fun.

I think a big problem with DPS is because it scales so aggressively and well. If Precision, Power, Condi Damage (For PvP) and Ferocity were toned down in how they scale, it would bring more balanced math to the game and allow more build diversity because they don’t overshadow everything else.

Devata.6589:

Beldin.5498:

Taygus.4571:

Ok let me rephrase;
the main problem isn;t the grind, it’s that it’s the SAME grind for everything ingame.

And personally, as someone who never has luck with RNG i like that much more because when i grind for gold i can play whatever content i want and see a constent progress, while when i need to grind maybe Mob X for item Y i can do that 100 hours and in the end get nothing. And of course i don’t have the choice to play whatever content i like and must maybe play what i really dislike if i want that item.

No,
If you want one specific mini that is account-bound then yes you need to do that specific content. But first of all I am not saying that they all should be account-bound. Some might be many won’t. So grinding your gold is still an option for most of them. (just like now)

The gold-grind will also not help you to be more likely to get it. The amount of gold you make often still depends partly of RNG. And if a mini drops 1 in a 100 times then you can be pretty sure you have it before you did it 100 times.

To get the correct amount of money you might also need to do something else about 100 times. So that does not change a thing.

Stuff that is hard but gives a guaranteed drop would most likely be account-bound.

No, there is no guarantee that you can be pretty sure you have it before you do it 100 times. In fact, I’m pretty sure the actual chance is less than 50%.

And, when going for Gold instead of farming specific mobs, it doesn’t have to be the SAME event 100 times. I can do whatever the hell I feel like whenever I want for however long I want, and eventually get what I want, having fun the entire time.

I actually prefer “Gold Grinding” over having content be locked behind farming/specific events. It means that I can have fun doing whatever the hell I want in the game and buy whatever rewards I want that I’ve earned through my goofing off and getting paid for it, having fun my own way, instead of having to submit to whatever an individual game designer arbitrarily decides what needs to be done to get something I want. The current trait system is the worst of both worlds right now, though.

I do need to figure out how to use my alternative currencies like Karma and whatever else I get from events.

I wonder if he mistook my name for yours, after my comment about playing the game for reasons other than Zerg Training/Loot acquisition. That said, I am in agreement that the current system does discourage not rushing to 80 because of the difficulty in acquiring traits – the ones that veterans have unlocked for being veterans should be unlocked for everyone, and not be treated as something special. And that’s a crippling mark against the game. I used to be able to play how I wanted and fight whatever I wanted to fight wherever I wanted to (Assuming I was high enough level) simply for the thrill of the game (I actually got sick of leveling too fast to enjoy all the content at a level-appropriate pace. Being overleveled takes too much challenge out of the game, even when it’s just at the top of the area!), without having level-appropriate content deprived from me (As trait locking currently does), and having each level (or at least level range) provide enough tools and toys for me to enjoy playing around with in level-appropriate content (Which the 70 dead levels, and too-late access to traits, have taken from me.)

I do see the potential for new, locked ‘adept’ and other low-level traits to be intended for high-level or determined low-level characters that need something more complex or powerful in their earlier trait slots that don’t compete for the highest trait slot available, but not all traits should be locked like this. The original array of unlocked traits gave players enough to mess around with and explore different playstyles before having to need to hunt for new ones, and I’d like that back. Even if we don’t get all traits unlocked, there should be at least 3 or 5 ‘free’ traits in each tree of each tier.

On the subject of buying traits (And other things people want locked behind gameplay content) – the fun is in doing the tasks that give you the cash/skill points that you spend on the stuff you want. I actually think I like the game using Skill Points as an alternative currency measuring player accomplishment.

Lolindir.3518:

Vague Memory.2817:

Teq and Triple trouble have failed in all the pugs I’ve done. Teq usually fails at the megalasers or before that, the last two I did a tag didn’t even show up for it. I asked in chat if anyone had completed Teq, most hadn’t or did about 2 months ago. Compared to Karka Queen these events are hard if the pug is composed of people that have never done them, or only once, because it involves co-ordination, which pugs in general aren’t very good at.

Without organization, yes. But if everyone even just slightly cared about defeating Tequatl, they would read the online guides and they would know what to do by now.

If the event fail it’s because people think that you can just stand there while pressing 1 and 2 like the karka queen.

There is a BROAD gulf in degree of dedication between “Stand there pressing 1” and “Have to close/leave the game, or spend non-gaming time to go to a website and study the encounter and One True Strategy in detail.”

While I don’t want anything taken from Teq and the Wurm, I’d like other world-boss encounters to be redesigned to be unwinnable vs. “AFK with 1 pressed”, yet be completely manageable if players spend pre-event time talking and coordinating a general battleplan, and are forgiving enough that trial+error (And learning from that error), and some dynamic need for coordination (With windows of opportunity wide enough to get an actually-there zerg swarm to react to, but narrow enough to remain a challenge). Also – they should encourage zerg swarm attempts to have players break off from the engagement to raise fallen players.

Lolindir.3518:

Vague Memory.2817:

Teq and Triple trouble have failed in all the pugs I’ve done. Teq usually fails at the megalasers or before that, the last two I did a tag didn’t even show up for it. I asked in chat if anyone had completed Teq, most hadn’t or did about 2 months ago. Compared to Karka Queen these events are hard if the pug is composed of people that have never done them, or only once, because it involves co-ordination, which pugs in general aren’t very good at.

Without organization, yes. But if everyone even just slightly cared about defeating Tequatl, they would read the online guides and they would know what to do by now.

If the event fail it’s because people think that you can just stand there while pressing 1 and 2 like the karka queen.

There is a BROAD gulf in degree of dedication between “Stand there pressing 1” and “Have to close/leave the game, or spend non-gaming time to go to a website and study the encounter and One True Strategy in detail.”

While I don’t want anything taken from Teq and the Wurm, I’d like other world-boss encounters to be redesigned to be unwinnable vs. “AFK with 1 pressed”, yet be completely manageable if players spend pre-event time talking and coordinating a general battleplan, and are forgiving enough that trial+error (And learning from that error), and some dynamic need for coordination (With windows of opportunity wide enough to get an actually-there zerg swarm to react to, but narrow enough to remain a challenge). Also – they should encourage zerg swarm attempts to have players break off from the engagement to raise fallen players.

DPS is only “king” because it determines how fast a party gets through a dungeon or boss, because every dungeon has a set amount of HP (And regen) that needs to be chewed through, regardless of game or system. DPS by definition gets through them faster. Of course, a different approach to encounter design could allow the game to re-emphasize control and support to keep the DPS flowing, by having enemies effectively be able to keep pressure on players if they aren’t controlled, and have players be unable to take on the enemies without Support.

I think the healing power stat needs to be re-examined, and possibly be changed to “Healing/Boon Power”, to allow it to be useful for all types of support players, and scale with actual Healing Power better. As it is, Healing Power would almost be useful for tougher characters that rely on maintaining healing over time, such as Healing Signet warriors and Vampire Signet necros if it weren’t for the terrible return on investment in the ability compared to the strong starting ability. By extending it to include the power of all types of boons, it makes it appealing to everyone who uses boons, whether they apply them to themselves or others.

Then again, part of the Guild Wars 2 manifesto wanted to discourage emphasis on builds entirely, and instead emphasize the abilities of the player and style. Maybe other attributes need their impact and extent reeled back to be in line with Healing Power’s instead?

lakdav.3694:

I have no illusion that they will roll the system back, even for a time while they get it to work as it should (even though i wish they do that). However, i think it is important to point out how mindless their development process and how unpolished and not at all refined their actual releases appear to be each and every time. That is a thing to improve as well, not just the actual releases.

No, it isn’t important or even productive to “Point out how mindless their development process is and how unpolished and not at all refined their actual releases appear to be each and every time” – People don’t like being told that they’re ‘mindless’ for spending hundreds of hours working on and developing new systems, code, mechanics, assets, and everything else involved in an update, and it leads to criticisms getting ignored. If it’s a problem with their development process, figure that out and offer suggestions/feedback from there, instead of using dismissive generalizations.

Kylden Ar.3724:

Seraphina.6859:

The new trait aquisition sytem is in conflict with everything they wanted to achieve with it: providing new players with a more simple and transparent system, encouraging experimenting, giving players a better feeling of achievement.

Personally, it enourages me to never create new alts. The whole system is a chore and needs to be fully revamped.

It’s not all a chore. I’ve been leveling an alt under the new system while playing with a friend who never knew the old one, and the solutions are pretty apparent. Really, reading thru this again, it boils down to about 3 simple things to solve it;

1) Distribution of trait points – 1 new = 5 old is fine, but when we get them is the problem. Should be 1 point every five levels starting with 15. That gives you 4 trait points by the time you are level 30, and gives something in the space between skill slot at 20 and your elite. Adept unlocks at level 15, Master at 40, Grandmaster at 70.

2) Location of places to quest for major traits – Not hard really, just move them to zones and events that match their levels as above. Find master traits in areas from Level 40 to 70, and Grandmaster traits in 70+ zones.

3) Costs to learn and early options – Simply put, it is STUPID EXPENSIVE to learn traits and you have very few options to play with traits at lower levels. All Adept Traits (I-VI) should unlock for free by default at level 20 (when you’d first have the option to slot one as proposed in one above). Master and Grandmaster should have their costs to learn at a trainer halved (both coin and skill points) and the quests to unlock should be as above in two.

Seems like from the context of these 19 pages that would make the most people happy.

This would DEFINITELY be an improvement over the current system, and one I hope the devs are paying attention to.

Lalangamena.3694:

basic healing (with zero healing power) should be much much lower, and scaling with healing power should be better.
this will not break PVP, but make PVE better.

I definitely support this. Healing Power should matter as an attribute.

Building for reactive damage mitigation is part of a skill – Sure, some say that it’s better to dodge/block.. but sometimes, you need to be able to stand your ground to keep pressure on the enemy in face of pressure against you, especially in PvE where enemies have enough HP and never dodge, instead allowing them to stand firm and keep pressure on in face of the party’s onslaught.

blakdoxa.7520:

Lord Kuru.3685:

• Run EoTM karma train until you’re 80.
• Look up a build on the web and with the gold you’ve earned, buy only the traits you need.
• Spend the rest of your gold on gear.
• Begin to play the game.

This is pretty much how Anet wants people to play the game now.

Luckily, I was grandfathered in, don’t waste any time with ascended, and create my own builds.
For everyone else that needs to level… kitten I feel bad for you guys…

Sartharina.3542:

I think people really don’t understand how Guild Wars 2 is supposed to be played, given how much they’re treating it like other MMOs.

Am I the only one to hang around whatever area I feel like simply because I enjoy the scenery and find the enemies fun to fight?

Not everyone has the same motivations. :/
It’s nice to look at and enjoy with the background music for a few times but I don’t understand how you’re “playing the game” if you’re just “looking at the sights.”

The graphics are game assets that create a rather beautiful world, and just moving the camera/avatar around to explore the world and graphics is part of the gameplay. Furthermore, combat is very much part of the game as well as a (usually) engaging and fun standalone system that functions independent of the advancement system and loot lottery the game also comes with. It’s a Hiking Simulator, Action-Adventure game, Virtual Gambling Game, social network, 3-D platformer (Albeit lackluster in this regard, but it’s still fun finding out how to get from Point A to Point B regardless of obstacles in the way), and RPG all wrapped into a single package, to say nothing of the minigames and events scattered throughout that are/can be fun in their own right.

Unfortunately, there are no bar brawls. We were promised bar brawls. They even made a promotional comic advertising bar brawls during development, and there are none in the finished game

Unfortunately, this clusterkitten of a new trait system completely wrecked the RPG progression holding much of the game together.

The only faction I see that’s had strong gender roles is the Flame Legion, and they get a lot of kitten for it (To the point of revolution). However, that said… their ‘backward’ stance on female place does explain how they manage to consistently stand against the other three legions combined – they’re not getting their females killed in battle. Terrible policy for rights and freedoms, but frighteningly effective for creating resilient populations – A population with five males and fifteen females regrows much faster than one with ten males and ten females, which grows far faster than fifteen males and five females. Of course, to prevent these sorts of allowed population imbalances to result in a shift of power toward the female, the culture usually systematically enforces oppressive/restrictive expectations on the females to keep them from uniting their voices. The question now is “Did the flame legion learn their lesson from the rebellion?” Which I doubt, but it’s possible without the other legions caring anymore, once the issue turned from “They are abusing women” to “They worship false gods that keep us down and are destroying our homeland and lives”

Do Charr even have anything like Marriage? I know this is the human forum, but this sort of subject doesn’t come up over there. As far as I can tell, Charr just dump whatever kids pop out onto the nearest fahrar (or is it primus?) ASAP to be raised by the legion in a new warband-to-be, and get back on with their lives – no strong connection between parents and offspring to bother with family units or the institution of marriage as we know it. (They’re probably also capable of carrying multiple births, but Iron/Ash/Blood legion mothers-to-be only carry one at a time to further keep reproduction from interfering with their duties)

chris.9142:

Yes fix this anet it no wonder few people play char if there effects are so poor Like my predator can barley see it

Can we please fix the tail clipping and texture stretching on all lower-level armors first?

arjeidi.2690:

Sartharina.3542:

I think people really don’t understand how Guild Wars 2 is supposed to be played, given how much they’re treating it like other MMOs.

Am I the only one to hang around whatever area I feel like simply because I enjoy the scenery and find the enemies fun to fight?

Are you surprised people get bored of fighting the same things in the same places and are now forced to go do specific things in order to get a trait? And have to do those exact same things on every single post-April15 character they ever have?

My post was not a defense of the terrible current trait system – if anything, it was a criticism of it. It was more an observation on the way people keep talking about the end payoff as the be-all-end-all of the game, notably the statement that “Zerg Train around, get perks, and spend them on pre-researched trait trees.” You’re not playing the game if you’re not doing anything, and might as well be better off “playing” a game like Progress Quest.

Only a worker ant in a hive of thousands if there are too many in the zerg. Forty or even 100 aren’t always too many, depending on the encounter. Even then, when I step in to do something, it means someone else doesn’t have to. And, nobody provides silly chat like I do, but sometimes we can build amusing banter together

I’d like to see all world bosses get treatment to make them immune to auto-attack zerg, but not necessarily as hard as the Wurms and Teq. Just enough so that, when the content is zerg rushed they still need the horde to be adaptable and somewhat coordinated.

notebene.3190:

RoRo.8270:

Zerg content sucks. It’s basically I suck or I’m lazy so carry me. You can’t shine like in smaller 5man content. I can go up to shatterer start auto attacking tab out and back in for easy loot then onto the new boss. Even if I somehow die there will be dozens of people to ress me. Tequatl and jungle wurm would be very easy if it was instanced and players had control over who can come or not. But nope anet has to please everyone so that the bads get carried and feel good about themselves

Shine.

Putting on Beserker gear and stacking.

Don’t burn out all at once there, Master Fortgang. You still have 3 years of college left.

Why can’t there be a little bit of everything for everyone to enjoy? How does my enjoying the Fire Elemental or Shatterer preventing you from shining your 5 man or joining a Fraternity/Sororiety of Tequatl or Super New Wurm? Why does the game have to be about wanting content only for you, and wanting ‘all the bads’ to not have any enjoyable content?

I think it’s great you got Tequatl. I wish they didn’t ‘take away’ content to make it, and would have introduced a new super sub dragon for you to fight, like they did with the super wurm. I don’t begrudge content that seems more suited to you. I simply don’t partake in it if it’s not to my liking, and enjoy the content that is more suited to my tastes.

Any reason not to reciprocate?

Because the Zerg swarms crawling around the map are depriving content from small teams. They’d be just fine if every 3rd or 5th or so run of a world boss was a zerg train, letting others take shots at it and experiment with the matches on their own, but when the Zerg are taking every run of every worldboss and major event, then the problem pops up.

Frankly, I actually like Teq and the Jungle Wurm as Zerg Rushed bosses on both sides of the issue – The constant failures tie up the trains long enough for others to enjoy content without them dominating the landscape, while those within the Zerg can re-evaluate, try again, and improve strategy and on-the-fly communication between runs until they get it right and get the rewards.

I think people really don’t understand how Guild Wars 2 is supposed to be played, given how much they’re treating it like other MMOs.

Am I the only one to hang around whatever area I feel like simply because I enjoy the scenery and find the enemies fun to fight?