Guild Wars 2

I’m looking to improve the in-game performance of my laptop for WvW, so I went and placed an order for an 18" MSI Titan SLI-055 12lb beast. Specs are as follows:

Intel Skylake i7-6820HK
16GB DDR4 2400MHz RAM
256GB SSD
dual GeForce GTX 1070 (16GB)

Question: Will this setup help me to play in T1? I’m sick of skill lag and graphic slowdowns. 3 way blob in SM always slows down my game. It’s also VR ready should GW2 allow it. I still have until tomorrow to cancel my order or change it to another laptop.

Anet should really mix up how WvW is played to keep things fresh and exciting. After looking at the leaderboard, I had an idea. Why not put the #1 server up against the rest of the world in a new WvW game mode? The mechanics would be similar to how EotM is played. Using current rankings, BG (NA) or Desolation (EU) would enter the map representing their own server in the Red Keep, and everyone else would enter as either Frostreach or Overgrowth (friendly to each other).

To make WvW popular, rewards would need to be overhauled. Participation in WvW would determine a player’s reward level. Top reward in this game mode would have to be juicy. If BG wins, the players with high participation % should get Gems. If BG loses, they simply lose points in their ranking, and the rest of the world players would get a chest of Exotics or something.

There are many types of quaggans in this game. But why is it that only black quaggans are found in Bitterfrost? From the dialogue of the NPC quaggans, they seem to be a lot tougher than the quaggans of the south. Are the black quaggans more like a warrior race? It’s like the killer whale look is a subtle hint that black quaggans aren’t pushovers.

I’m just wondering if someone could answer this for me. Why would Anet sell skins in the Gemstore that rival or exceed the looks or a Legendary skin? Legendaries are supposed to be the pinnacle of all items in game. They require a lot of time and currency investments to craft. But now, I’m looking at a really awesome Crystalline backpack. I want to buy it, but I already have the Ascension.

The way I see it, if Anet is going to sell something extraordinary in the Gem Store, that would take away the need to get Legendary skins. If this Crystalline skin came out before the Ascension did, I wouldn’t have bothered farming and grinding PvP for it. The same could happen if Gem Store weapon skins were as good.

I appreciate that Anet did release a Legendary back item. And I also appreciate that Anet is selling a really high quality backpack skin. But I think that if you’re aiming for quality, the Legendary skin should always be better. I suggest someone revamp the Ascension and make the auras larger, or increase the particle effects to make it truly worthy of being a Legendary skin.

From what I’ve gathered on Team Speak, if enough players don’t log in for a day or two, that will decrease server activity, and make it “not full”. But I’m still confused how blackouts work in that respect. If the server is overflowing with players, how do you convince everyone to not log in?

As for mailing the gold, they said they’re trustworthy because I could report them for scamming, and they don’t want their accounts banned.

I’m a roamer who lives in Hawaii, and my timezone is desirable because I’m active in the void between NA and SEA/OCX. People say they want me to come over to help with coverage. In order to go, I was told that if I pay certain players on the War Council on the server, I can transfer over. But I don’t understand how the server does that when it’s full. Can someone explain to me how server blackouts work? And is it safe to mail massive amounts of gold to these players?

IMO, none of these options are viable. BG, Mag, JQ, TC, Yaks, and FA are all established server communities with server pride. Taking away their name would be a game mode death move.

Stick to the primary server in a linkage to show their server name.

McKenna Berdrow.2759:

In this scenario, we would allow players free transfers to the new empty worlds for a period of time.

This wouldn’t be fair to servers like Maguuma. They just spent a LOT of money paying for the SOX guild to transfer from JQ.

I just achieved one of the grindiest achievements in WvW. After roughly 100 hours of pure Dolyak escorting from the camp to the Keep, I’ve hit the magical 2,500 tonite. There were times when I would pass out at my keyboard from boredom, but I soldiered on to get to my goal. It kinda feels like I beat the game! Now I can rejoin the TC zerg and do some fighting.

Behellagh.1468:

And that is what JS is saying. At some point the price will break the hoarding dam. Problem it’s a waiting game and unlike a real economy, players can choose to check out which would be bad for the game overall.

Yup. I can guaranteed you that I’ll be unloading my Mystic Coins once the price hits 1 Gold per or higher.

mauried.5608:

If there was a real money shop that sold gold , how would the exchange rate be determined?

That’s not my idea, but seph’s. My idea is for Account Bound items only. They have no value in game. Can’t be sold on the TP and can’t be gifted. Gem Store and Gem Exchange would remain the same. The “cash only” shop would be a completely separate storefront.

Back in the days of GW1, I paid $9.99 for a single outfit. I don’t recall people complaining about it then. Though I do admit that there could be a slippery slope if Anet started selling unique gear for $20, then $50, then $100. But as long as they’re only skins, I don’t think it’ll be as horrible as some people might think. Players with disposable incomes would get exclusive items, and Anet would get increased revenue. It’s a win/win.

WRay.2391:

Btw I always interested if Anet has a license for gambling?

We had a similar debate years ago. Let me cut and paste for your answer:

For Federal Lottery Laws, a lottery is a promotion that has three elements:
1) Prizes
2) Winners Chosen by Chance
3) Consideration

To avoid being classified as an illegal lottery, sweepstakes must ensure that at least one of these elements is missing. Because prizes and luck are central to sweepstakes where the winners are drawn at random, legitimate promotions can never have “consideration”.

Definition of “consideration”: In sweepstakes terms, consideration is simply payment for a prize. Generally, sweepstakes that award prizes by chance are not allowed to have an element of consideration. Consideration doesn’t have to be money; it can be anything that can profit the sponsor. For example, a company cannot require that entrants purchase a product to participate in sweepstakes (or, if they do, they must provide an alternate method of entry). You’ll hear the following a lot in the US: “No purchase necessary”

So purchasing Black Lion Chest Keys from the Gem Store requires the use of “Gems”. Gems can be either purchased via real money, or traded for with in game currency (i.e. Copper, Silver, and/or Gold).

Also, a few more things. Gems and all items either purchase or won from chests have no value, and are still property of NCSoft. You’re basically paying for the use of Gems and all items. Please refer to the User Agreement, section 4. “ACCOUNT AND PAYMENTS TO NCSOFT”

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/legal/guild-wars-2-user-agreement/

This isn’t to create P2W items. At this point in time, most players are at end game, and the only thing they want is cosmetics.

Now as for the Gold -> Gem exchange that exists in game, I support it, as it is an effective Gold Sink, plus it allows players to get access to Gem Store items without spending real money. But as I mentioned, Anet increased loot and rewards exponentially in this game, which is affecting real money purchases. In the last quarter investor report, GW2 is 2nd to last in revenue in the NCSoft family, only beating WildStar. And this is with GW2 China in the mix.

The idea of a “cash only” shop would give more reasons for players to make continued monetary transactions, and thus supports the live blood of this game.

Edit – and all purchases would be Account Bound.

Mr Godlike.6098:

emm…druid was hit super hard in pve builds….meta druid (Edit:pvp) seems ok

This is why Anet needs to do a PvP only balance. Hell, PvP is already it’s own game mode, so why not have all the skill changes make sense for only this game mode.

We need a microtransaction store with items that can only be purchased with real money. By hearing this, you might be saying “Penguin, we already have a Gem Store.” Yes, we have a microtransaction store, and yes it allows players to convert in-game Gold into Gems so they can make purchases. But here are two reasons why there’s a better shop opportunity:

Reason #1 – Encourage more real money transactions.

Here’s the current problem as I see it. Anet has increased the loot and rewards from the game so much, that it makes more sense to do Gold -> Gem conversions than to purchase Gems. Personally, I haven’t made any Gem purchases in over a year. With the idea of “cash only” items, it can encourage more spending from players who don’t mind making creditcard purchases.

Reason #2 – Brings more exclusivity to the game

With “cash only” items, Anet can sell items that cannot be obtain anywhere else. There’s already places were exclusives exist. PvE Raiders have Legendary armor. PvP has mini llamas. WvW has, um, server pride when you defeat two other servers. Giving a chance to purchase exclusive items, it rewards those players who spend real money and support the continued development this game.

Phil.8901:

Nerfs are huge.

There is a really big difference before/now

Mobility is nerfed a lot for more CD on AG and heal, and the CA more CD gives less sustain, less stealth and a longer condi removal.

The actual meta build is really nerfed, dunno if other builds are better or it’s always the best build for druid.

But Anet hit very hard, without any doubt is the most nerfed build for this patch.

Engis got nerfed hard, so 1 v 1 with a Druid is still in the same place. It’s a forever battle having to fight a healing class in PvP.

juno.1840:

It’s also a possibility that the prices are rising due to Anet taking “a step back” from market controls per JS’s message a few weeks ago.

Anet hasn’t done anything to ectos in a long time. The only reason why prices were up is because all the AB multi-map farmers are now doing Mad King lab runs. It’s more profitable to do Lab, because there’s no DR, and all enemies drop valuable ToT bags. After this event is over, they’ll return to AB farming, and ectos will flow once more.

Gaile Gray.6029:

A message from the Skills Team:

One of the most notable changes being made is to the healing values of the Druid as a primary healer. Base values for the Celestial Avatar heals will be reduced, while the healing power contribution will be enhanced significantly. The reasoning for these changes is that while we are excited about the Druid being an incredibly strong healer, we would also like to see that role as one of many choices in your attribute build.

I’m thankful the Devs realize the problem with Druid healing. But even with the planned CA heal nerf, how does “healing power contribution” buff factor into the changes? Does that mean Druids who spec for healing will get even more benefits? Or will the healing be the same as previous base healing should a player spec into healing?

Ensign.2189:

John Smith.4610:

Kind of ironically, his work is more applicable to a game economy than a real economy.

I don’t follow – Keynes’ insights flow from introducing transaction lags and breaking the neutrality of money via finance, neither of which applies to a game economy (at least, not to the GW2 economy). What parts do you think describe the GW2 economy well?

I think John’s speaking more along the lines that government (Anet) intervention is necessary to keep the economy in check. This is true with GW2, since Anet is always making adjustments behind the scenes to artificially influence prices. Example: Over abundant Silk? Increase the cost to make bolts, and introduce Ascended recipes that make Silk highly desirable, thus increasing values.

So for Anet to take a step back and let us move the economy on our own, that’s basically anti-Keynesian.

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Why stop with cat tails? Surely gw2 is crying out to have horse tails to swish. Dog tails to wag. Dragon tails to thrash. Peac’ock tails to display. And of course the attendant ears, hooves, claws or paws for each one. It would be a surefire gemstore feature.

I like where you’re going with this. To further the cosplay ideas, I’d love to be able to turn my toon’s lower body into a snake’s tail. The animation is already programmed into the game via Krait. Just take their lower bodies, and put them on a female human.

Paralux.6714:

I love the cat ears! <3 But tbh, a tail too? That would be too much.

You don’t see the bigger picture. All those female human meta toons with both cat ears AND tail would turn DR into a paradise for RPers. It would be a purr-fect world!

John Smith.4610:

Kind of ironically, his work is more applicable to a game economy than a real economy.

As a business nerd, I can appreciate your sick Keynesian burn you just laid down.

If we still had the Holy Trinity of Tank/Healer/DPS, then I could say having a Druid with near unlimited sustain is ok. But I agree that all classes should have a chance to win against other classes, minus skill.

If you have a player that knows how to dodge and interrupt, hey more power to you. But if you have a class that can simply spec to outheal or negate your damage, then something is inherently unfair.

I know when we had the WvW polls, we were allowed to vote once for each account we owned. But since PvP is much smaller section of the population, I wasn’t sure if we’d be allowed to do the same. So say if someone owns 30 accounts, will we be allowed to vote using each, or will you only count it as one per person/account owner?

There’s more than enough leather in the game. Anet really can’t do much because a majority of leather mats are being hoarded up by players. If drop rates are increased, then there’s too much leather. There’s no reason to unload our stacks into the TP, because no one wants to be caught with their pants down should a new recipe requiring leather mats be released.

Zelulose.8695:

With that credibility established I would say I highlight op or broken features on every class regardless of which one I like to play because I want player to have to use skill to win. Druid is only one of many brain dead builds in the game. I would have it fixed along with mesmer, perma evade thief, resistance condi warrior, DH, and scrapper.

I admit that Mesmers are pretty strong due to the clone army they spawn and explode. But the problem with them is that they’re weak without clones and illusions, so it’s hard to nerf without crippling their builds.

Perma evade Thief is basically a glass cannon. If they get hit a couple of times, the Thief will run away.

Warrs are broken, IMO. Traditionally, Warrior classes excel in physical melee. Being Condi strong makes no sense.

DH are 1-trick ponies. Most players know how to avoid pulls and traps, but get hit like a truck if caught off-guard.

Scrapper is fine. Just get rid of Stealth.

Going back to Druid, they have too many options for sustain. Maybe not touch outward heals, but reduce self-heals? Or lower their base Toughness to justify the need for so many heals? And make their pet stats follow the build of the Druid.

While a big Thank You should go to Anet for listening to player suggestions to release Cat Ears, I think it’s a cat-astrophe to not also have a Cat Tail. Cosplaying RPers in Divinity’s Reach all want to complete their furry looks. Adding an animated tail appendage that’s able to wrap around and grip things is what this game needs. I mean, you’ve got to be kitten me that the Devs overlooked this potentially claw-some Gem Store item. There must be a way to purr-suade Anet to add in a Cat Tail. Cosplay RPers should all demand this addition be released right meow, but do so in a paw-sitive way.

The matchup that just happened a few minutes ago doesn’t seem to make sense. How does the matchmaking algorithm put #2, #4, and #6 together. Aren’t the ratings differentials way too far apart for this to happen?

Again, I’m not a maths expert, so my apologies for not understanding how Glicko works.

I really don’t understand how Glicko ratings work, how they’re calculated, and how upsets affect scoring. So if any maths experts are out there, hypothetically, what would happen if a #4 rated team beat the #1 team with technically a 250 points difference? I wonder because Anet manually adjusted the ratings, so I’m confused with how artificial increases factor into the overall calculations.

RyuDragnier.9476:

But they aren’t the same maps. <_<

You do realize that there are 3 servers on each map at all times, right?

So poor matchmaking + forced 50/50 ratio x bunker healing Druid = need for Druid rebalancing.

RyuDragnier.9476:

…it’s called map chat. MAP CHAT. As in a single map instance’s chat. Meaning the answer is no.

Actually, the idea is called “Map Chat”, as in the ability to chat to everyone on the map, regardless of what server you’re on.

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

As for the Devs never saying there would be no mounts, they actually did, before release.

http://guildwars2.cz/otazky-odpovedi-pro-guildwars2-cz/2/ (link from GW2 Wiki FAQ)

As far as I know, the Devs haven’t stated anything about reversing this stance.

That’s sad to hear.

Does riding other players still count as a “mount”? I really like the idea of teamwork fighting, with different players controlling different aspects of a fight. Plus you could add racial bonuses. Mounting a charr would give you a speed bonus, and mounting a norn’s shoulders would give you reach and power bonus. Something like that.

Since Grouch confirmed a balance patch coming out later, I’d like to take this time to remind Anet that Druids need a good looking at. Bunkers are fine if there’s a limit to the amount of heals and sustain. No need to remove runes or ammys. Adjusting a few skills here and there, or increasing recharge could be just enough to bring balance to this class.

Mounts are a wonderful idea! Forum Mods need to sticky this so Devs can see how much love we have for riding animals. Heck, I would love if we could mount other players. That way one player controls the direction, and the other player controls the combat.

Flipje.8172:

You’re an optimist, aren’t you? :P

Yes indeed. I was on Maguuma for a longtime before transferring to TC a couple of years back. On my old server, we were the hardest working, most friendly community. There were times when we would have a 3-way in Garri, but then stopped to allow some server v server between the other two. We’d put ourselves on the roof and not interfere, and we’d /cheer for whoever won. Good sportsmanship like that is hard to find.

Emotes are area wide, and that’s our only way to show our love for other servers. If Map Chat would cross servers, then it would be like PvP were we can say “GG” to each other.

Yeah, instead of stopping, I wanted to see how far a bigger sample size took me. Unfortunately, RNG + more attempts = big loss.

To me, 60 globs is a pretty decent size, considering the cost. The patterns of 25 gold + 50 Ecto were pretty common throughout my attempts. Each of those came out to a loss of 75 Gold and 200 Ecto. If memory serves, 90% of my attempts resulted in a loss. I cried on the inside, which is why I deleted my spreadsheet in frustration. I did score some larger Ecto drops, which is what lead to a “profit” of ~500 Ecto.

Cascabel.5806:

Make a charr.
__

I already have a female charr with a dress. I would very much like my female human mesmer to have ears and a tail. It would be more real life.

Since Team Chat now works across your server maps, I would love it if we could have Map Chat work across servers for all 3 opponents. It’s so difficult to communicate with your enemy after a great 1 v 1 or GvG. The only option is to join the same party, or do the block/get account ID/whisper. With this, there could be an expanded chance for our different communities to be friendly with each other.

Examples:

• BG says in Map Chat to JQ “Jolly good game chaps!”
• Maguuma says to TC “Great defense on Garri! You sure had us on our toes!”

I like furry things, and would very much like to cosplay with my in-game toons. Is there a way we can get a Gem Store Outfit that gives us cute cat ears and an animated tail? We already have bunny ears, and love it, but I have Gems to spend.

Love you Anet!

I’ve been extremely bored lately, so I decided to have some fun with Tarrktun. Purchased roughly 60 Glob of Destabilized Ectoplasm. Opened them all, spent about 30 minutes formatting my spreadsheet over the results, but deleted it and decided to share a TL;DR version.

Cost: ~8,000 Gold and 20,000 Ecto (because I lost count of globs close to 60)
Received: ~5,000 Gold and 20,500 Ecto

Result: -3,000 Gold and +500 Ecto. RNG is a beast. Buyer beware. A LOT of the globs gave me only 25 Gold and 50 Ecto.

While I lost 3k Gold, the rush of opening the globs was exciting. I kept on losing and losing, and now I’m pretty much broke. I still have over 2k Laurel that I could convert into Gold, so I may just do that for more Tarrktun fun. As long as people fully accept that RNG can be both in your favor and not, mini games like this are good to have.

Swagger.1459:

How about we nerf Engi because the Druid couldn’t kills you right? I mean, even with all those things you want to nerf on Druid, that player couldn’t get the job done solo and obviously would need back up… See how that works out?

The only reason why a bunker Druid can’t kill an Engi is because he gave up all his Power for Toughness, Vitality, and Healing Power (through runes and ammy). So your attempt to justify an Engi nerf fails the test.

Power Hammer Engi is not weak. It’s just that Druid playstyle has too much sustain under a bunker build. I can take out pretty much all classes 1 v 1. Druids are a pain, and they’re designed that way.

Jeknar.6184:

Transfering is the major cause of imbalance in WvW and you want to incentive more transfers? This forum never cease to amaze me…

That’s only if the player is hardcore enough to pay Gems to transfer. But Anet benefits because of the increase in Gem sales.

But as a compromise, the weekly winner of WvW for 4 consecutive weeks could choose another server’s reward. That gives incentive to play hard and win.

So Condi Necro is easier than DH trap build? I would love to learn your skill template and experiment with it in Ranked. Could you share?

Mr Godlike.6098:

Do you need reminder that conquest is team player game? Killing somebody fast (and with high success rate) who caries his team by heals and has means to ress people fast under weak pressure isn’t important?

So you’re agreeing that in order to kill off a highly bunker class, a team needs to 3 v 1? You don’t even touch on the fact that your idea also means the other 2 people on the team needs to fight 4. Fighting a 2 v 4 because your team has to focus on a target is the reason why Eles were balanced to how they are now.

Swagger.1459:

“I can’t kill Druid and Druid can’t kill me so nerf Druid”…

Yup, pretty much sums it up. Anet didn’t want to have a class that’s so bunker, that they could spec into all defense. Pro League players rage quit a tournament due to this. So in response, Eles were nerfed, and certain Ammys were removed from PvP.

Swagger.1459:

Op plays engineer and says “stealth only supposed to be for thief and Mesmer so get it off Druid”, but forgets scrapper sneaky gyro…

Good Engis don’t use Stealth Gyro. If they remove it, that’s fine.

Swagger.1459:

“Nerf Druid heal by 25%”… Learn to interrupt.

Engis have only 1 long range interrupt and don’t have weapon swap. If the Druid decides to fight in melee range, then we have more options to interrupt.

Swagger.1459:

So instead of some of you getting better, just make a thread asking for the devs to nerf something so you don’t have to put in the competitive effort.

Not sure you PvP much against bunkers. Defensive spec’d Druids can out-heal an Engi’s DPS. If we had more gap closers like Warrs or Thieves, then we could have a better chance.

With Skirmish rewards coming into the conversation, I wanted to see if people would be interested in rewards that show off server pride. Sort of like a Skirmish Track, but the bar only moves with 1st place skirmish victories. For instance, Maguuma players could work towards a Greatsword skin that’s only available to their server. TC could get a Staff skin. BG could get a Sword skin. JQ has a Torch, etc. They could be unique, and near Legendary quality due to the difficulty of getting them.

Want to collect them all? Just gotta transfer servers. That would give players an incentive to purchase Gems. Anet would benefit from happy players due to the new reward, and have a new source of Gem revenue to pad their sales figures.

Sartharina.3542:

And the developers cheated with dishonest geometry.

I’m with you there. The JP could have been challenging, but with a clear direction to go. Take the JP in FotM. Yes it’s easy, but the point about it was that you knew which direction to go, and could actually see platforms. Chalice of Tears has both blind jumps and hidden landing spots that look like you shouldn’t be standing on in the first place.

And I didn’t even know the steam vents were checkpoints. I feel bad for all the players who don’t use Dulfy’s guides. Once they got to the end, no achievement or chest because one or more of the vents weren’t walked over.

While Anet acts as an independent subsidiary of NCSoft, they still need to follow orders from the top brass. I’m sure if Cantha was in the works, every image and name would been to be thoroughly vetted to make sure the content doesn’t offend China.

In game since the Zephyr Living Story, they’ve been hinting that their next stop was supposed to be Cantha. But then Mordy attacked and downed the fleet. That gave them an out, since the Zephyr Sanctum was the only thing that the Emperor allowed in.

Mr Godlike.6098:

Druid MELTS under proper 3 man burst

So you’re saying that in order to kill off a Druid, you need to put 3 guys on him? Wouldn’t that put the team at a disadvantage, since the other 2 on the team still have to take on the 4 remaining opponents?

No class should require +1 or +2 in order to fight. That’s what it took to kill off Eles before Diamond Skin was nerfed.

Supreme.3164:

You still passively stack 25 might like nothing, still have aoe CC, moa, aoe stealth, etc etc etc omfg if you want to see what a profession never played by the devs looks like go try an ele! You’re made of paper, you do no kittening dmg and have the lowest stats in the game just to make sure you’re free kill for the rest

Eles were the strongest class in PvP. I’m sure you got a ton of your wins when Eles were basically immortal with Diamond Skin. Anet then heard the cries of the forums, and decided that bunkers were not healthy to PvP. So in that same mindset, Druids are slowly creeping to the levels of Ele.

I’m not asking for game breaking nerfs to Druids. Just some adjustments to pull them back down to a nice balance.