IMHO the Southsun events as permanent content are a complete failure.
They are all always “on” at once, and there is no point in even attempting them unless you can put together a zerg of 20-30 players to all WP to Southsun together. I often have trouble putting together 5 players for a dungeon…
In places like Orr there are lots of players drawn to the area to do the smaller events that can be done singly or in a small group. Then these people can band together to do the large events.
In Southsun, no point even going there unless you already have a large group. That is not going to occur, as evidenced by the reality of what has happened down there since the “temp” event ended. Southsun is a ghost town on my server…rare to see even a single player there.
Whether Anet likes it or not, players learn very quickly which events are (or have become) an annoying waste of time. Take the “Risen Champion Abomination”. On my server it comes up, wanders around for a while, and disappears. No one even takes a shot at it anymore. There is no point.
In Southsun, they have created an entire world that is now completely ignored by the playerbase.
I find the easiest ones are simply the ones I have done the most. Then you never have to stop and think about where to turn for the “correct” path.
I find the Eternal Battlegrounds puzzle very easy because I have done it so many times pursuing badges for a legendary. As long as there are no enemy players I breeze right through it…
Funny though. The first few times I did it I thought it was an endless, impossibly difficult nightmare…LOL.
I have Predator for my warrior, but I rarely actually use it. I like the rifle interface with the engineer better, and I wish I had “wedded” it to my engineer. I don’t know why these weapons cannot be account bound….
I am working now on Juggernaut for my guardian…but it is going slowly and I am losing interest and have my doubts that I will ever acquire it.
More of a threshold question, OP do you play on a high pop server? Because what you’re describing with Orr doesn’t fit with my experience. On Dragonbrand, except at really unusual times of day there are people around to do many of the events. Indeed, there have been even more around since Dragon Bash started because people figured out you can rack up dragon coffers really quickly with the Cursed Shore events.
It’s true they’re not what they used to be – you have to mix it up more than sitting between Pen and Shelter, throwing in Plinx and a few of the escort events. It’s not amazing like it used to be but it’s a non-terrible option. And I think it’s only fair to say dungeon loot crushes open world loot in the sense that CoF crushes all other content in the game in terms of rewards; the other dungeons are fairly balanced in terms of effort v. reward when compared with Orr.
Im in FA…typically one of the busier servers I believe.
I really noticed the past few days how the events in CS have changed. I don’t think it is because of fewer players in the area.
For example the “veteran packheart” event used to spawn immediately if there was damage done during the Penitent event. Now, Penitent just stays damaged. Jofast was contested all day yesterday and the event never spawned to “free” it.
I would also estimate that the time lapse between the other events in the area has been doubled…at least. I am convinced these are all programming changes that occurred in the past couple of weeks.
They gradually made it more and more difficult and less rewarding to farm CS over the past few months…then a couple of weeks ago they drove the final stake through its heart…
At least that is my perception.
Despite all the nerfs and difficulty increases, Pertinent and Shelter aren’t too hard to camp. The real issue is the rest of CS is so boring which is why people stick to those places. Soloing CS on a necro is pretty trivial stuff though.
Southsun is harder by far since you usually need a nicely sized group for those Southsun camp events. I admit southsun stuff was sort of a fail given that settler’s equipment was very lackluster.
I have to disagree with you a bit…have you been to CS in the past two or three weeks? Not only are all the other nerfs (huge buffs to enemies) still in place, but the time between events has been hugely extended. IMHO it was this last change that killed the area and it is fairly recent. It you want to do the events in the Pent/Shelter area you have to stand around for 20 minutes or so between events….way too long.
As far as Southsun, it is completely unworkable, a ghost town. The events don’t scale, and cannot be attempted without a huge group. In that case I suspect it was just bad/half-azzed design.
(edited by The Stain.4169)
I would like this explained:
Why does Anet discourage farming of the sort that took place in Cursed Shore? Here you had events that involved some teamwork and strategy, had enough variety that they were not overly boring, etc. This is discouraged…
But at the same time, Anet actively encourages farming by running around mindlessly smashing pinatas or eating candy hundreds of times? Or by repeatedly battling “holo-creatures” wherein every encounter is exactly the same? Who would enjoy that sort of thing? It is utterly repetitious and boring.
No matter how I try to dismantle this, I cannot fathom why Anet is so in love with cheesy, simple, mindless temp content. Maybe it is seen as a way to keep players “engaged” while keeping programming/development costs as low as possible?
I try to be honest with myself…am I getting disgusted with the game because I am tired of it, or because of Anet’s constant tweeking of it to my detriment. I honestly think it is the later.
It is not exactly that I “like” farming (although it is relaxing in a mindless sort of way if kept in limited doses)but I am driven by long term goals in games of this sort. Be it legendary weapons, map completion, completion of all jumping puzzles, whatever.
What I don’t like is that Anet keeps “changing the rules” and making long term goals less and less realistic…bordering on impossible… It is sort of like having people on a long, difficult hike and constantly moving the finish line.
Most of all, I dislike the feeling that we are being manipulated. I know Anet needs to make money, and they have every right to do so. But they seem to be finding ways to do so that are completely indifferent to what the majority of players want.
Meh, our opinions of the changes to the game are well known here. I am sure Anet has read most of them. Apparently our opinions change nothing. In my case I think it is time to either stop complaining and play the game, or dump it and find another one. Simple as that.
My feeling, and it is just a feeling, is this. I think it matters little to Anet if people who have already purchased the game are playing anymore, unless their playing is bringing in revenue (gem purchases). Since they already have the purchase price of the game, the goal now is to somehow increase gem purchases even if they alienate players in the process. Why should they care if players leave who are no longer generating income?
I am not trying to be overly cynical, I think the changes to this game have simply been the result of nuts and bolts business decisions about how to keep the game earning.
Maybe they are right….because they already have my money for buying the game. Unless they can somehow manipulate me into buying gems they are not going to make any more from me. That’s business.
I am hesitant to start another thread critical of this game…in a forum already buried in them. But I tried to play off and on today and just found myself shaking my head… At least as far as PVE is concerned.
Farming has been completely nerfed everywhere. Southsun is deserted of human players with all 4 of the major town events perpetually active (contested). The simple fact is that these events cannot even be attempted without a zerg of at least 20 players. And the WPs don’t show contested, so it is all too easy to WP in and insta-die. What is the future of Southsun? Is this it? As it stands now it is nothing more than a waste of bandwidth…
Curse Shore is all fouled up. Many events are completely gone…others are so messed up that no one even attempts them anymore (Risen Abomination, Grenth, etc). Today Jofast was permanently contested with no events spawning to deal with that. The few events that still start up in Cursed Shore are so far apart that there is no point even in waiting for them. If you do try to do one, you will be almost alone.
So Anet, what are PVE players supposed to do? You don’t want us to farm, I get it. So are we supposed to run around Lion’s Arch endlessing smacking dragon Pinatas and lighting fireworks? Is that NOT farming in the new GW2? What is the point in endlessly eating dragon-taffy and making upset stomach sounds? To hopefully earn holographic dragon wings? Seriously? I am completely bored and disgusted with the “Dragon Day” crap already and it only started a couple of days ago.
The game is still OK if I can manage to put together a dungeon group, but for me that is usually not an option. WVW is probably still OK, but I wouldn’t know because I don’t play much of that.
I guess I have made my point. From my point of view, single player PVE has come completely off the tracks. It has happened because of totally counterproductive changes that I do not understand the reasons for. If this was the same game it was 5 months ago I would be happily playing and avoiding negative forum posts….
(edited by The Stain.4169)
I have been very unlucky in general with the RNG with this game…
But I got a voucher this time around in roughly the 15th dragon festival chest I picked up. So now I have the dragon GS skin… It has changed my life. If I die today, I will die happy…
Do events ever fail? Do events ever FAIL?
Grenth has failed the last 6 or 7 times I have attempted it. The Shelter’s gate event fails frequently nowadays…it’s like the game incorrectly assesses the number of players and spawns an unstoppable horde of champions and vets.
I would say Temple of Balthazar is failed 3 or 4 times for every time it succeeds.
The problem as I see it….
If they leave the events as is, no one will go to Southsun anymore. Several of those events require a HUGE zerg of players to have any hope of finishing them.
The other issue…as I am sure others noticed…dying is impossible to completely avoid there. I don’t know if it is a glitch, but several times the game allowed me to WP into a contested location and insta-die. Or 5 dozen karkas would just “materialize” around me in a location that was peaceful seconds ago.
I don’t mind challenging content, but Southsun’s current mechanics involve dying no matter how skilled or careful you are.
I went in and tried it again, killing 100 sharks to get a nice round number for statistical purposes…
10 T5 scales
36 tail fins
That’s it!
I personally am of the belief that the RNG is constantly manipulated…but on what basis I have no idea. If the odds were the same for every player every time, the inconsistent results that emerge would be statistically completely impossible.
I just killed exactly 150 sharks in this area. No MF equipped except Omnoberry bars.
From those sharks I got:
1 rare hammer
1 T6 armored scale
10 T5 scales
6 “white” pieces of armor or weapons
32 tail fins
1 black lion chest
If you do the math, for me it was obviously not a huge moneymaker. I would estimate the 150 sharks took 35 minutes. So if you tally the above…I would say it would bring 50 silver at most…
So, I call BS on this thread.
I would say it’s not worth it.
I made a complete magic find setup for my engineer…and I mean everything…jewelry, armor, weapons. Even threw in consumables. I don’t remember the actual boost in magic find numbers but it was obviously substantial.
I used it for about a week, when farming, and I honestly noticed no difference in my gold intake. Nothing scientific to my method mind you….it just seemed like my rate of finding loot, and the quality of the loot, was about the same as before.
Perhaps I should have tested it longer, but what I hated was how much longer it took to kill enemies. That difference was unmistakable. So I figured even if the MF gear ultimately proved itself, I hated using it too much to continue with it.
I also hated having to swap out (and carry around) a complete gearset whenever I wanted to switch from farming to other activities such as dungeons.
So I salvaged all the MF gear and moved on.
I think ATM Southshore is the best place…just run from event to event with your karma booster on.
I used to think Cursed Shore was best…but right now there are so few players there it seems like the event rotation has slowed. And events like Shelter’s Gate now spawn such tough mobs it is actually difficult or impossible to finish them at times.
WVW is great if you can get into a large group running around destroying everything in its path….but hopeless if you are outnumbered.
I have certainly not done every dungeon, but I have done several of them.
I see your point about balance issues, and with a zerker warrior/guardian group I agree you can blow through COF path 1 pretty fast.
However with a PUG group containing a ranger and a couple of thieves/necros/whatever I don’t think COF path 1 is as easy as some say. I have been in several PUGs that struggled a bit to finish it. I have died in COF 1…in a couple of places. Like not running away from the acolyte mobs fast enough…or choking on the rolling stones puzzle. And I have been in groups that wiped on the final boss.
I know the reponse will be “well you and those groups sucked”….and I know we did. But that is sort of my point…some of the people who play this game are not particularly skilled.
For logistic and scheduling reasons nearly all my dungeon play has been in PUGs…and it would be nice if there were a few dungeons to run that would not be brain damage when you are running a PUG with rangers, a thief, a necro….and maybe a couple of players who are not level 80.
I think it would be logical if all the dungeons had path 1 relatively easy…then two and three getting progressively more difficult. Something like that.
I don’t think COF path 1 is too laughably easy unless you are doing it in a specialized group dedicated to speed running it. But in that case, I think there are many easy dungeons. SE paths 1 and 3 for example…
Honestly, I don’t see what the big deal is with some of you that COF path 1 is easy. So what?
It gives lousy players (like me) or casual players a dungeon they can run without dying 6 times.
Why is that a big deal? Seriously…I want to understand….
I think the Engineer is a beast with a rifle…particularly if well spec’d out with “firearms” traits. My engineer with rifle IMHO has one of the best ranged attacks in the game.
But if you don’t like the look of the “Predator”…I can see the OP’s point.
I think you should take it to the next level.
If you die in-game, then you die in real life. Just think how careful we would all be! I would spend the game in Lion’s Arch, maybe discover points that have no altitude, and that would be about it.
It would be awesome!
I think the OP’s post is right on the money, and while the quote from Total Biscuit is more subjective, I certainly understand what he is saying. I have received thinly veiled accusations of “lying” when posting factual experiences I have had with this game, by those who have “drank the coolade” and defend GW2 largely no matter what. There is some merit in what TB was saying, as I do not think these defenders are on Anet’s payroll. I think they blindly defend the game because things have gone well for them and at this moment in time it is in their interests that the game do well… Period.
BUT, I do think we all have a tendency to talk too much and take too little action. None of what is discussed here is news to the game producers. I would wager a month’s pay that EVERY WORD on this forum is read at least once by Anet employees (in fact I am surprised the OP’s post was not deleted, frankly).
My point is this…Anet knows full well from the beginning that they are manipulating us in order to make more money…they are good with that as long as we keep coming to the party. I imagine they have some idea what they are doing and it is largely working for them. Our outrage or complaints here are not going to change anything.
As always, money talks. If we don’t like what is being done with the game the simple answer is to not give them another dime until things are corrected. The forum might be useful in giving Anet some understanding as to why the cash cow is dying, but complaining here by itself is not going to change anything.
We already have the game…we certainly don’t have to invest any more real money simply to play…
(edited by The Stain.4169)
Lot of good advice here…but I think the best is using an alt to roam the maps and gather the skill points. Most of them are very easy to get, and that would go far faster than trying to get 200 from leveling.
It doesn’t matter which alt gets the Bloodstone Shard…because it doesn’t matter which gets the Legendary weapon. It is not soulbound until equipped so any alt can get it….
I too have had unbelievably bad luck with clovers…throwing your stuff in the Mystic Toilet can drain you of supplies really fast.
I agree completely…I dragged my feet when FOTM first came out, and so now I am hopelessly behind the curve to get into most groups. So I really don’t even try anymore.
To some extent this is a problem for all the dungeons. Even if you know a lot of people who play GW2, schedules and real world lives being what they are, it is difficult to get 5 together to run dungeons.
PUGs are a risky proposition…you might end up with obnoxious idiots, a 3 hour struggle through the dungeon…or complete failure to even finish the run. I have seen all of the above in PUGs (along with some great groups as well).
If you can get into a group of people you know… even failure becomes more of a fun LOL than a stressful occurence. But I usually can’t pull it off and it’s PUGs or nothing…
For these reasons, much as I love dungeons, I very seldom run them.
I would like it if all the dungeons had a single player route…like the current event in Southsun.
Anyone spent any time in Cursed Shore since the latest patch?
After all the prior nerfs to the Pent/Shelter area events, it seems like they have taken it a step further. Unless it is my imagination, it now seems like the events initiate WAY less frequently than they used to. There also seems to be way less risen hanging in the area…it’s almost “friendly” now.
Anyone else notice this?
I guess Anet has acheived its goal. Very few players in the area these days. Why that is their goal, I have no idea.
I dunno…I like the Engineer for PvE….
As others have said, ranged weapons are the easiest to use. An Engineer with zerker gear and speced well for guns does amazing damage at amazing range with a rifle…the kickback and net will usually keep an opponent at range until they are dead. And the rifle takes no skill or concentration whatsoever to use.
Against mobs? Flamethrower! IMHO this is the best AOE weapon in the game, particularly for farming. If timed correctly the exploding fireball will do unbelievable damage to a mob. The flamethrower can be a bit tricky though, as it has no long range ability and it is also weak at melee range…but if you can keep enemies at medium range it is absolutely devastating.
The only thing the Engineer lacks is good melee ability….but the class comes with lots of tricks to avoid melee combat.
I have leveled Engineer, Thief, Warrior, and Guardian. I think the Thief is the worst in PvE.
I feel no need at all to micro-manage other peoples play styles and will have to leave it to the play police among us.
Exactly.
I cannot believe everyone coming on here complaining endlessly about how OTHER people are playing the game, particularly considering it usually has no impact whatsoever on them.
You will NEVER have a game with complete equality of every class in every situation, and without “exploits” or paths of advantage that some will use. And even if you could, would you really want it? Sounds like a very boring game to me.
I just pray that Anet pays no attention to these sorts of complaints. If they respond to them, the changes will only make the game worse and the complainers will find something else to complain about.
I learned the same lesson…
When I was a newb doing COF P1 the first few times, my guardian fully outfitted in Knight’s gear used to die from time to time in the portion where you have to stay in the brazier circle. It was embarrassing….no one else was dying there.
I tried the same path with my zerker warrior, and the light dawned…I could cut right through the mobs.
I learned two things:
1. My defensively speced guardian was drawing far more of the mob to my kitten than the other players were dealing with.
2. The rate of damage dealt out by the zerker warrior was FAR better at keeping me alive than any amount of toughness I could build into the guardian (I even tried Cleric’s gear…I am embarrassed to admit).
Now I run full zerker in all four my classes…warrior, guardian, thief, and engineer…and have never regretted it.
As others have mentioned, I think if you play the game long enough everyone will eventually come to this conclusion…this game rewards offense FAR more than defense.
One of the most obvious problems with the nerfs to the Pent/Shelt area…
The enormously buffed up Champs and Vets who keep spawning and have massive hit points, drop no more loot than the regular, easy to bring down enemies. Not to mention the vet spider hatchlings that drop NO loot. So why waste your time (often most of the event duration) to bring down a champ to earn a blue, when a “regular” risen bad guy will give you the same or more?
I mention this obvious point to make another point. Why would Anet introduce such an obvious problem with gameplay balance unless their intent was anything other than simply driving players out of the area?
I think it is Anet’s constant attempts to manipulate the WAY we play the game that are kitten ing me off
(edited by The Stain.4169)
Who has found farming SS Cove to be lucrative?
I put in a good 2-3 hours there yesterday…and really the returns were pretty low. Nowhere near would I could earn from the Pent/Shelt area events before the nerfs…..
The OP’s (Vol) post is a bit long, but sadly I agree.
The nerfing of the farming locations is ruining this game for me. I don’t farm all the time, but when I have 30-45 minutes to waste, and don’t feel like the hassle of putting together a dungeon group, I like to farm. There is something relaxing about the repetition and reward of farming…particularly when I am not in the mood for challenging content.
For Anet to pretend “you’re not supposed to farm in GW2” is disingenuous…everything about the game from the ground up encourages farming, almost demands it, and they know it. I honestly believe the nerfing of all the farming is just an attempt to increase revenue to the Gem shop….nothing more.
I suspect they figure if they lose players who get gold by farming rather than buying gems, what have they lost?
But at any rate, I can definitely feel these changes draining my interest in the game.
You guys are sort of eluding to my point here…
I don’t think it is RNG…or at least that the RNG does not work the same all the time, for all players. The statistics seem to support what I am saying. Some players get virtually no clovers, and others are scoring over 50% (even if they don’t want clovers). As long as the statistical sample is large enough (debateable I suppose) that pretty strongly supports that something is going on besides RNG.
In my case, I was going for my second legendary, when the MF kicked my kitten Maybe the system knocks the percentages waaaayyyy down in that situation? I kept pretty close track the first time around and scored around 25% on the clovers…which was doable.
Now I am close to 1%…which is not doable at all. Since clovers are the only ingredient to legendaries that MUST come from the MF (you can buy precursors), it makes sense that Anet would manipulate the odds of them coming out of it,if for whatever reason they want to control the number of legendaries that can be obtained.
This is the first MMO game I have played. One of the things that has most surprised me about GW2 is Anet’s determination not just to fix glitches and provide new gameplay through updates, but also to try to manipulate and control the way people play the game. I refer to the constant nerfing of farming locations, attempts to force level 80 players out of Orr, and things of that sort.
I am of the opinion that the same sort of thing is going on with the MF. I think RNG from the MF is different with different players at different times….dependent on a wide range of factors I could not even theorize on.
In my case, maybe already having a legendary changes the odds of getting clovers…and makes it virtually impossible to accumulate enough for another?
I would dearly love to know how ANETs random number generator works.
I don’t pretend to know how this sort of thing works, but I think the odds of probability of a certain outcome from the MF are constantly manipulated by Anet, in order to steer the game in the direction they want it to go. For example, it has been widely reported that Anet felt people were getting far too many legendaries, far faster, then they had intended when the game was developed. With that in mind, have you ever heard of anyone pulling a precursor from the MF in the past 6 months? I sure haven’t. AFAIK people who really want a legendary bite the bullet and buy the precursor from the TP (where THOSE come from I have no idea).
Along the same lines, my near 1-in-100 rate of pulling clovers from the MF would statistically be EXTREMELY unlikely (not impossible, admittedly) if indeed the MF spit out clovers at the 33% rate that is widely believed.
Not to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but I think Anet messes with the odds in the MF based on whatever direction they want the game to go. Even if I am wrong, the perception is the fatal flaw with the RNG system…it inherently breeds frustration and distrust by its very nature…because there is no accountability between effort/investment and results. Why would you deliberately introduce those factors into a game that people play for enjoyment?
There’s nothing wrong with having the forge, but i would like to see it as a secondary thing. It’s such a primary crafting tool, it’s a bit silly.
Thats kind of my main point… The MF is too central a part of the game to be this “broken”.
I have done pretty much everything PVE and WVW that there is to do in the game. Chasing legendaries was about the only thing left. I guess you can buy a precursor (for an insane amount of gold) but legendaries need clovers, and there is no way to get clovers other than to play the MF.
I am also arguing that the RNG odds have to be deliberately manipulated on some basis. I “rolled the dice” too many times with too few resulting clovers for it to simply be “bad luck”.
I’m not sure why a few of you are doubting my story… What reason would I have to make it up?
It was not quite 1 in 100….I ran 90-something shards…not sure the exact number. But the odds were horrendous for sure.
And yes, I made a ton of gold out of the experience…by selling a lot of high level crafting stuff that kicked out of the MF. The problem is that gold will not buy shards and it won’t buy crystals/stones.
What I learned…since getting a legendary (precursor and clovers) is heavily dependent on the MF RNG….that is a venture I am DONE with…for sure.
I guess I wised up late but at least I wised up.
I know this is not a new topic…and I will forwarn you this post is little more than a rant.
Having said that, yesterday I ran just shy of 100 shards, ectos, and coins, along with a similar mountain of crystals and philosopher’s stones, through the Mystic Forge. For my trouble, time, and gold, I got one clover…
Now, it was my understanding that clovers were supposed to be roughly a one-in-three return, whereas I got one-in-a-hundred. Rolling the dice nearly 100 times should be a large enough sample that something close to the true statistical odds should be emerging here…so something was amiss.
At those odds, I would need something like 1,500,000 karma and thousands? of skill points just to grind out the clovers needed for a legendary…nevermind all the other requirements. Utterly ridiculous.
The problem with RNG is that it can be so easily manipulated by the devs, because we have no idea what is really going on. I might have been completely wasting all my time gathering the materials to get clovers. Say Anet decides there are too many legendaries in the game….they simply manipulate the RNG for clovers…then BANG…no one is getting a legendary. This obviously would not be posted in the update bulletins, just like the constant manipulations of the Orr farming locations are not posted.
I can tell you I am not wasting my time with the Mystic Forge any longer…it would be idiotic to do so. I just wish I knew that before I blew the time and resources already.
Of course this doesn’t even begin to touch upon the issue of getting the precursor…at this point I would not even attempt it.
I find the situation infuriating, personally. Not the way to build a loyal game-base, Anet.
Thanks for indulging my rant.
(edited by The Stain.4169)
My biggest issue with the changes to Pent/Shelter in this last patch is that the events are no longer fun. I thought they were very fun and appropriately challenging after the previous change to them that added the champions and veterans.
The only reason I can see for them having made the changes they did was to encourage people to get away from Pent/Shelter, but I have a huge problem with gameplay design that moves from “We don’t want you to just sit here and mindlessly spam buttons to get loot” (which the previous changes addressed) to “We don’t want you doing this at all and to get the point across we’re going to make doing the content punishing.” At first, I thought champions that don’t despawn, have ridiculous HP, and can one-shot people had to be a tuning mistake, but as my wife pointed out, the fact that the veteran hatchlings don’t drop loot makes me think this was intentional, and a way to say, “You’re not welcome to farm in this area any more. Thin out or the event will become undoable.”
I mean, do that many people really farm there any more? After CoF1 became huge, the farming population already dipped pretty low, to the point where the events frequently fail during the day even on my very populated server. This seems kind of like shutting the barn door after the cows have already escaped, and it’s spoiled an event that was legitimately fun to do with a group of people. If we’re not supposed to be at Shelter, just…deactivate the event at Shelter. There’s already the escort that runs there, so just leave that one and Jofast’s up. Don’t try to chase us out.
I totally agree Bonefield.
Particularly at Shelter. Add to the practically infinite hitpoint champions and veterans, now you have mobs of veteran spider hatchlings that are a real chore to kill, and don’t even drop loot when you do. And the enemies no longer die when the event ends, so you might be fighting them off for two or three minutes after the event ends. I have even noted that the Champions/Veterans spawn now when there are far too few players there to have any hope of dealing with them. I see groups of players going down with no one who can res them….
It’s clear that Anet doesn’t want us doing these events anymore, and with regard to Shelter their wishes are about as subtle as a train wreck. It’s not that my game play is dependent on farming there….I know lots of other places/ways of getting loot and my needs for it are no longer that great anyway….
No, what bugs me is the blatant manipulation of Anet constantly changing the game (that we paid for) to make us play the way THEY want us to play. With Shelter, it is very much like Anet collective egos are out of control, and they are trying to show us that they are in charge, and we WILL play the game the way THEY want us to! Or else!
I find myself going back to Shelter/Pent just out of spite….even though the events pretty much suck now. The changes make me think that Anet have subconsciously fallen into the trap of thinking this game is THEIR entity, with a life and importance independent of the desires of the customers who purchased the game and play it. True or not, that is how their actions can be interpretted.
(edited by The Stain.4169)
Well said Fenrir. I agree 100%.
Anet is being disingenuous and inconsistent. They build a game that from the ground up is based on farming and the in-game economy. Then they gradually nerf most of the efficient means of earning.
In the process, many aspects of the game are becoming very irritating. As I mentioned above, if you have not done so recently try the Shelter/Penitent events. Half the creatures in the mobs that spawn in those events now take longer to DPS down than some bosses. And these 1,000,000 hit wonders don’t drop kitten in the way of decent loot….
But you can still buy gems from Anet…Coincidence? No….
(edited by The Stain.4169)
I have to say I have a pretty strong opinion on this subject…
It is complete nonsense to say that this game was designed to discourage farming. The entire PVE side of the game is really nothing but farming.
I find it amusing how some of the reasoning seems to go in this thread. Many seem to define “farming” as running through the same dungeon 30X a day to get gold. But these same posts seem to imply that running the same dungeon 2X a day for many days to get gold is not “farming”. They are the same thing. The only difference is the time it takes and the efficiency of the endeavor.
This entire game is built around farming, if you are honest about how the term is defined. Yes, I suppose you could play the game and level without even thinking about gold/karma/dungeon tokens/etc. But you will never (in a reasonably number of years) be able to obtain any of the spectacular gearsets that are central to the game.
It is so contradictory to have legendary weapons, cultural armor, and other high end gear that will take immense ammounts of repetitive “resource gathering” (farming) to obtain. If someone runs COF once a day for a month in order to obtain flaming armor or weapons, and another player does it in a day…BOTH are still farming. Basically any event/dungeon/whatever you do in this game, after the first or second time wherein there is a challenge to completing it, is farming. You are doing it for gold, karma, or loot of some other kind.
What I resent about the constant nerfs and manipulations of the game, is that it is hypocritical on the part of Anet to do it. They are taking a “we know what style of play is best for our customers” tone. It is condescending and irritating. If they were making changes to legitimately improve gameplay or fix glitches, that would be great. But that is not what it is about. The recent changes to the Orr events at Shelter’s Gate and Penitent Camp are perfect example. Now the enemies that spawn in those events are just boring and ridiculous…millions of hit points each so that anyone who desires to participate in the event has no choice but to grind them down with a thousand hits. They don’t do anything new or interesting….they are just practically endless to burn down. Does this improve gameplay? No, it makes it much worse. Does the change control the amount of gold/loot that can be earned from the event? You bet it does! Is part of the intent here to increase the amount of gold (gems) that are purchased from Anet? I have no proof….but I would bet a month’s real world pay that is part of the intent of the changes.
I am not complaining about the original structure of the game. To some extent I enjoy farming. I enjoy putting in the gameplay to earn rewards, buy cool gear, etc. I also enjoy going into WVW or whatever and just enjoying the game with friends. What I do not appreciate is Anet’s constant tweeks to the game that are designed to manipulate us into playing the game in the manner they think “is best”, or the one that provides them with the most income from gem purchases.
(edited by The Stain.4169)
I’ve had similar results with the same class and same gear makeup. Though I believe my math got my magic find gear even higher.
I farm Orr events on my engineer in magic find gear. I get more rares farming Orr mobs in my Zerker gear on my Ranger.
I don’t get it…
Maybe you do more damage faster on your ranger, so you’re tagging more targets that then qualify you for a reward? Just a guess.
If one person has 100% MF (doubling the drop rate) and another with zerker gear, but the capability to kill twice as fast as last guy (to the millisecond) it will be equal. I find they generally balance no matter how you balance your stats.
This is a good point…kill speed definitely drops with the magic find gear…
But when mob farming in Orr, inevitably in a large group, all that matters is scoring a “hit” on the target before the group brings it down. It matters not how much you actually contribute to DPSing it down. That is where the flame thrower excells…you can easily damage the entire mob.
Apologies if this has been beaten to death. I brought up the topic because I don’t think magic find actually works the way we are assuming it does….
LinkR….
You are right about random chance…
But the laws of stats say that if you do indeed have a 100% improved(double chance) of something happening, given enough statistic samples, that is exactly what will happen. If you flip a coin enough times, you will indeed wind up with exactly heads half the time and tails half the time.
My contention is that I have done enough farming that the results from a 143% improvement in magic find would have to be apparent. They are not. So I am wondering if I (we?) have an erroenous understanding of how the magic find system and the stat bolstering works….
You can be unlucky, yes. But statistically…not forever. If that makes sense.
To the others, I have only used the gear mob event farming in Orr. I would not take it into dungeons, as I suck more than enough with my other gear….LOL.
(edited by The Stain.4169)
For those of you who run “magic find” gear on occassion, what is your opinion of it? Do you wonder how(if) it works?
Here is why I ask…
Like many of you, I spend a fair amount of time farming events for gold and Karma. I typically run from event to event in Orr, picking up loot from dead Orrians.
That being the case, I thought it made sense to make a set of magic find gear for my Engineer, since I think the flame thrower is one of the best AOE/farming weapons in the game. Through armor/rune/jewels/weapon and omnoberry bars, my math tells me I should be running a 143% boost in “magic find” with the gear set.
The way I assumed magic find works, that means I should be finding more than twice as many valuable items, given an equal number of kills/“opportunities” to do so, than I would with my normal gear. Right?
The problem: I have used this gear set extensively, to give it an honest statistical chance to pan out as I assumed it would. I am talking several weeks of use, switching between this gear and the normal zerker set I use for farming. I am telling you, it is NOT panning out. I have noticed absolutely no difference between the amount of gear dropped, and the relative quality of it, when I am using the magic find gear vs other gear sets. If anything, I honestly seem to do better on the loot farming with the NON-magic find stuff.
I know it is dangerous to make conclusions based on antecdotal evidence when dealing with statistic probability. But the gear should give me a HUGE statistical boost in finds (more than 2X), and I have given it an honest long try to do so….I’m telling you…it ain’t working. At least, it isn’t doing what I assumed it was supposed to….
Anyone else experienced this? Do I misunderstand how magic find is supposed to work?
It would be interesting to keep stats based on the number of kills made in-game, vs the number of total items found, their relative quality, etc….when using magic find gear vs normal gear. But I am wayyy too lazy and indifferent to do so. I can tell you that in my case the numbers have not been panning out, and I have no idea why.
(edited by The Stain.4169)
Thanks…I think based on your explanation and a couple others I was indeed missing some factors in the equation.
There’s other things you’re missing.
Using just the gold you gain, assuming you have these as defaults (Gilded infusion for +20% and Omnom for +40%) you can make
-16S from Slave Driver
-10S from the first chest, always
-25S from the searing legendary
-6S for completing the dungeon(if youre at the maximum DR)
for a total of 57 SilverNow that’s without including
A: The item drops
B: The bag of goods, which give 2-3S a piece
C: Random $ drops from bosses (which is usually nothing but still)So every two runs, you will make more than 1G gurantee
If every run takes 10 min(assuming), thats 3G every hour (again, assuming it takes that long and you don’t factor in items)
That means every 5 hours you can make 15G(Assuming thats the most someone can play in a day)
Which means in a week, you can make 105G a week with just default money you get.But the main thing, is the tokens you receive.
1. Save up 1200 or 1560 to gamble with exotic daggers and GS with the mystic toilet(doesn’t take long at all)
2. Buy the 30 charr carvings rare helmet and salvage them all for ectos, then sell themBut heres the big money make IMO
The karma.
I have made more than 3 million karma with all the drops and dungeon completion.
With all that karma, I spend it on Orian boxes, which have a chance to drop lodestones, and with that many boxes you’re bound to get a lot. That includes charged, which sells for 3g a piece. Not to mention the unidentified objects which sell for quite a bit.It’s the best way to make money by far.
Now I get it better than I did before (I asked a similar question below)…I never factored in salvaging the items you can buy with the dungeon tokens. Thanks for the explanation..
The difference for me is running in a PUG rather than a dedicated COF farming group. I think it typically takes us 15-20 min to get through it (never really timed it though). And I have been hoarding the tokens, not sure what to do with them. Now I know…LOL.
I have done my share of runs through COF P1, when I thought the flaming armor/weapons were cool….but now I have flames coming out of everywhere and don’t see much need for the dungeon tokens…
So my question, why is this path seen as such a great farming route? On each run I typically get a few blue items…maybe the rare green or yellow…and a little bit of gold/karma…but I don’t see it as lucrative as some seem to.
I have never mathematically compared the two, but it seems to me I do FAR better running from event to event in Orr, farming there. On a good day I can earn 3-5 gold an hour, better (I think) than I ever could in COF P1.
So what am I missing? Is there something I am missing that is critical to COF farming?
Great tips!
Thanks guys…have to give it another go now.
Looking for some strategy on this dungeon.
We tackled path 1 last night. No major difficulties, until we got near the end.
My question…how do we deal with the HUGE mob of bandits/thugs that line the path to the last boss (Frost). Not only is this a huge mob (maybe 100 of them) but they are pretty tough individually too…like mini-bosses. We tried running past them…(fail)…we tried kiting them out and killing them in small groups (which might have eventually worked but would have taken hours)…and wound up giving up right near the end of the dungeon (which I hate doing).
Anyone successfully tackled this portion? If so, how?
Thanks for any input.
What you forgot:
- Using defensive Equipment (P/V/T or similars).
I do not know any situation in whole GW2 Dungeons where berserker’s equipment wouldn’t be the best choice by far. You just screw down DPS to survive longer yourself. Nothing else. It’s same as doing fight’s ranged that are easily doable melee.
I don’t pretend to be an expert, and I am certainly not the most skilled player (I probably suck by many standards) but this is not good advice for me. There are many places where I would die way too much running Zerker gear.
For me the zerker concept only works if you know the whole team is doing it. Doing the zerker melee thing doesn’t work for me at all when the rest of the team is rangers and theives using a ranged attack….it simply gets me killed.
Again…maybe this is a skill issue with me….but the very point of this thread is how less skilled players can get along and play with more skilled ones, right?
I am a relatively casual gamer who has run some dungeons, in my case always with a complete PUG, or my being the outsider in a relatively established group
This thread highlights the basic problem with dungeons…particularly when run with full or partial PUGs….
Those with more experience in the dungeon in question nearly always want it run in a very specific way, with specific tactics, etc. Yet in the vast majority of cases, they are completely unwilling to communicate ANYTHING about what these expectations are. All they do is get kitten off because the other members of the group are not doing what they want them to do. Once again, it boils down to communication or the lack thereof. Useful communication takes effort, and it is apparently easier to remain silent and then kitten when things don’t go according to the “silent plan”.
I have pretty much learned to avoid PUGs for this very reason. They work OK if everyone in the group is relatively relaxed and can keep the game in persepective, but you never know what type of personalities are in the PUG until the difficult parts of the dungeons arise…then you are either greeted with effective leadership/useful suggestions, or confronted with rage and finger pointing. No offense to the OP because he makes some good points in this thread, but I strongly suspect he is of the “rage/finger pointing” type. I have no desire to even play with people like that, every bit as strongly as I doubt he would want to play with me.
So the best advice is to avoid PUGs if you can, that will keep all types of players happy.
Got my shards, thanks PAO!