Guild Wars 2

Zepidel.5349:

1. Dress up enthusiasts
2. Grind enthusiasts
4. ERP
3. A small PvP niche for those who enjoy the combat

5. People who enjoy just playing without worrying about rewards, optimal gold income and the like.

1. Exploration and map completion provides a ton of XP. With these already filled in, you lose a bunch of potential XP.
2. You can’t really go to most of the zones at level 2 and actually expect to be able to do anything, so why have it unlocked from the get-go? You’ll eventually go to these zones anyway.

Dabis.6240:

That’s really funny though, as doing hearts and leveling a toon from 1-80 is probably one of the activities I dislike most in GW2, lol. To each their own though, I’m sure some people out there like exploring the same zones that were available at release 2-8+ times to level their other classes.

I think Hearts are quite a good idea; permanent advancement, and the NPC’s remember you. It’d be nice if they added / changed what they had to offer from time to time though.

As for levelling, I don’t take much notice. I turn off all my map icons and just play. I find the experience more fulfilling that way.

Arnath.2319:

The only reason ArenaNet changed there mined is because they felt us the players needed “direction” when playing the game.

So basically the only reason levelling up exists in this game is because ArenaNet thinks were stupid….

It was the Alpha testers actually.

They complained about lack of direction, thus levels and Hearts.

Knighthonor.4061:

Progression doesnt have to be character levels though.
Nowhere is it stated that a MMO needs to have Character levels in order for it to be a MMO. UO didnt have character levels yet was the first MMO.

Agreed on progression doesn’t have to be character levels.

However, in place of character levels, UO had skill levelling. Given how it replaced it, there was probably content in UO that you couldn’t do without reaching a certain level of skill, right? As in, you couldn’t go to a hard dungeon straight off the bat.

In essence, they’re both the same thing; content gates.

Im Mudbone.1437:

I can compare the two games which is far from casual for the simple reason of it being an extension of GW1 and the fact that we were told, and I quote; “expect the best of GW1 to be in GW2” during the making of GW2 even if it was a bold faced lie.

Some people like this new method of acquiring traits which is more or less the Skill-Capturing with a bit more variety. Some people see this method of unlocking Traits as ‘grind’.

How do you take ‘everything you loved about GW1’ when everyone liked and disliked different things about it?

Not saying there aren’t more things they could have taken (for example, they could have taken how skills had more synergy with each other, or they could have used the method of Infusing for Fractals and Ascended), but to expect them to make what amounts to a straight-up copy of GW1 (how else would you get in everything everyone liked about the game?) is pretty absurd.

Lobo Dela Noche.5127:

Am I the only one wondering why they used traits to get people out in the world rather skills, preferably new ones. Why go and fix something that wasn’t broken. If they would have worked on creating new skills and added them to world events and then removed the cost respect traits I am pretty sure everyone would be kittening ecstatic. Leave the old manuals for level 20, 40, and 60 unlocks and just add any new traits to the list. They could have added an npc near each event where players could by the new skills just like in GW1 to replace the gold sink they tried with traits. It just seems like the more obvious way to do things but then again it makes the game more like gw1 and they sure the hell can’t have any of that.

In an interview with MMORPG.com, they said:

• Skills take longer to implement (since it uses more assets [animations, art ect]).
• Skills already had a progression model (purchase with skill points), while the actual aquisition of Traits didn’t (since everything was automatically unlocked when you bought a Manual).

Kaiyanwan.8521:

dekou.6012:

“Casual” and “hardcore” are stupid terms that don’t mean anything anymore. GW2 used to be a game for skilled people without much spare time. Now it’s a game for unskilled people with lots of spare time. That’s the big shift and TBH I don’t like it.

Well the game was advertised as a non-grindy game where everyone would have the same gear level and content was open for everyone, without raids or raid timers.

Didn’t work out. ANet adapted to:

A game that is grindy where only the people with tons of time have the best gear and giant raids on fixed timers.

Looks like every other MMO to me now. So this game is for everyone who loves classic style MMOs like WoW or similar.

1. The majority of them ‘raids’ were in the game at the beginning, and were on timers. There was no ‘adapting to’ in this respect.
2. That same content is still open to everyone (even more so if you’re in a guild).
3. I dislike WoW, but I enjoy GW2, so you’re partly wrong in your estimates.

And why is this?

On Trait Aquisition:

I like the foundation of having a progression method for Traits, rather than simply spending 2g and having them all unlocked.

However, looking at the list, I feel more thought should have gone into where you get the Traits.

For example, Champion Rhendak the Crazed is an Elementalist. Why would he have traits for the other professions?

I can understand why they did it though (to increase traffic and incentivise that particular piece of content, instead of excluding 6 – 7 of the 8 professions).

On Trait UI:

The confirmation box when you click on a Major or Minor trait is pointless, given how it could easily be corrected.

I like how they’re now listed with the names though. IMO, it’s much more friendlier when trying to find a specific Trait.

On Trait Points Every 6 Levels, Starting at 30:

Although it doesn’t bother me personally, I can see where people are coming from, especially those in the middle of levelling.

Nope, there was always 6 Elder Dragons:

• Mordremoth (the one that you’re talking about)
• Primordius
• Jormag
• Zhaitan
• Kralkatorrik
• “Bubbles” (the deep sea dragon)

darkwindwalker.2479:

Naqaj.6219:

TiF.6589:

How do you lost 35% of your dmg output?

I run full Ascended Berserker set and I only notice my damage lower by around 10% in total.

That’s because you can do math, and he can’t

I’ll break the math down for you.
old 107% crit damage + 150% base crit damage = 257% damage on crit
New damage 222% damage on crit

so 257 – 222 = oh crap thats 35% damage

As for zerker being highest dps, yes it is still highest but the risk worth the gain and after the new stats no its not (for some classes/builds).

Maths 101: How to work out a percentage decrease.

Take the new total from the original. 257 – 222 = 35

Divide the difference by the original number. 35 / 257 = 0.1361

Times this total by 100 to get the percentage decrease. 0.1361 * 100 = 13.61%

35% would have taken you down to 167ish (in case you were wondering: 257 * 0.35, and take the result from the original)

I’d say leave your current character, but try starting anew, since there was a overhaul of the Trait system.

Warrior tends to be a good pick for a first class if you’re getting into the learning curve. Very simple to play, meaning you can focus your attention to learning other things.

As for bag space, I think I got a bunch of 8 and 10 slot bags I can wing your way if you want them.

1. No. You could always pick up some cheap armour and weapons, and transmute the look you want for PvP, then simply swap the sets out. Is it a pain? Yes, but you can still get two distinct looks.
2. As Lolindir said.
4. Why do you have to do PvE? The traits can be unlocked with skill-points and gold (if you so wish), which are things you can get from doing PvP now. As for why they’re doing traits like this, they said they wanted a method of acquisition for Traits (as an additional progression system), since Skills already have one.

One suggestion for Anet: Why not have Trait unlocks as a reward for completing PvP reward tracks?

Nutty.6812:

alwinp.2791:

Because they know the related PVE quests are a pain in the kitten . so you get the option to buy it with skillpoints/gold or gemstore.

With gold farming being nerfed that much more they are actually just after your wallet.

Which brings us back to the main reason for this patch…it’s nothing but a money-making scheme!

Huh?

• The wardrobe is simply a refinement on the old system, and because of account unlocks, it’s a net gain for the player (since you don’t need to buy a skin for every character).
• Account-bound dyes mean that players will have to spend less to get the characters the way they want them.
• Gold and skill-points are available through PvP.

It’s been made a dozen times, but here’s my take on it.

Give players the ability to save complete builds. Not just Trait setups, but also Skills and Gear as well.

As an extra QoL feature, any gear stored in a template is removed from the bag, and automatically equipped when the selected template is loaded.

wKmike.6318:

You have the option to use the skin immediately or store it in the bank. If you put it in the bank, you have to use charges to change it.

I used mine immediately without using any charges.

I’d actually say this is a valid complaint.

Before the new system, you didn’t need to use trans stones to apply the skin. I think these bought skins should have at least one use.

Felices Bladewing.3914:

earvinarp.6347:

Anet fan club and under the table employees should stop commenting on the forum. If a person expresses a bit of disappointment because he/she made arrangements to play a video game, least you can do is sympathize. Anet has released patches most commonly at 9am Pacific, which is 5pm UK. He/she has a right to be disappointed, if not necessarily upset about this one.

You would also think that a serious company like anet would have the patch finished and tested long before release date. But this last minute hold up makes players nervous because they fear, and rightly so, that the update will not be a finished product and patch after patch will follow (say when you are about to cap SMC).

So, in short, sorry for the wasted day, my friend. Everyone else, start your own thread if you feel so inclined to express your condescending opinions in this forum.

He is absolutly right! there may even be some guys who took the day off or managed to have time today because of this. the latest updates was at around 9pm MEZ afaik and they have been 2 hours late so far, which isn’t a big deal in my eyes it woundn’t even a big deal for me if it goes live tomorrow, but a brief info is at least something we could expect!

I wouldn’t say he’s right:

• They don’t give a set time that the patches are going live.
• The date is obviously going to be in their timezone.
• The issue could be with loading the build. Remember, they’ve rearranged their server architecture, and issues do crop up.

That being said, info would be nice.

Stephanie Harper.5103:

Alex.9268:

It’s now officially april 16th.kittenanet.

Try to understand. Try REALLY HARD.

Arena Net is in EST. GMT -5:00. They said it would be out on the 15th. That is /IN THEIR TIME ZONE/.

I know it’s a phenomenally hard concept that it’s not the same time everywhere on the planet at the same time, and that the company is going to use the time /they’re in/. But I’m sure you can understand if you REALLY try.

Isn’t ANet in the PST timezone? That would make it 2:30pm by their time.

Stephanie Harper.5103:

Alex.9268:

It’s now officially april 16th.kittenanet.

Try to understand. Try REALLY HARD.

Arena Net is in EST. GMT -5:00. They said it would be out on the 15th. That is /IN THEIR TIME ZONE/.

I know it’s a phenomenally hard concept that it’s not the same time everywhere on the planet at the same time, and that the company is going to use the time /they’re in/. But I’m sure you can understand if you REALLY try.

Isn’t ANet in the PST timezone? That would make it 2:30pm by their time.

tigirius.9014:

Randulf.7614:

As above. They put no time on the patch and it’s based on their day not our day in the UK.

It’s just a video game, it’ll be ready when it is ready.

If that were true than they shouldn’t give a date.

Or, because people can’t understand that they work by their own work day, and not the work day of say, Paris, they should put the date and the timezone.

Dusty Moon.4382:

The Dervish is an enchant profession. Since there are no enchants in GW2, it would be hard to have a Dervish.

Two words: profession mechanic.

Something akin to Virtues, but with no passive effects, short duration profession boons, and skills that have additional effects if it consumes one of these boons.

Flytrap.8075:

The only new skills we have gotten were one healing skill per profession, whereas new utilities, elites, and weapon sets (aka the real stuff) are still M.I.A.

Legendaries and precursors, although I honestly could not care less about this feature.

Don’t even get me started on WvW; there is a laundry list of updates that have been asked for since this game was in beta that still have not been implemented.

As for sPvP, we’re still missing functioning Leaderboards and a more robust Spectator mode, and we’re just now receiving reward updates.

Keep in mind that tournaments have since been shelved and that the whole eSports idea is laughable.

I get that development takes time and that things don’t appear out of nowhere, but I’d prefer no blog updates rather than a carrot on a stick that is over a year away.

Isn’t that moving the goalposts a bit on some of them?

We had new skills, regardless of what skills they are.

Something being asked for, and something ANet said they’d be implementing are two entirely different things, surely?

Also, ANet have already said this is why they don’t go into what they’re planning, and as such, a lot of people complain about lack of communication. When they did do it (with precursor crafting), people hounded them every month, despite being told it wasn’t actively being worked on.

Catch-22, right there.

Flytrap.8075:

We must have different definitions of content; I personally don’t think that a laundry list of dry and tedious achievements tied to PvE zerg fests counts.

That being said, the Zephyr Sanctum update was awesome and I would love to see the Living Story go more in that direction rather than the Scarlet hoopla.

I dunno. Among those there was some nice content.

At any rate, I feel the quality improved as time went on (there was a vast improvement from the first LS patch the the more recent ones).

I_________O_________I

This big.

Well I’ll be kitten ed. That one went right over me :P

Thanks for letting me know.

Flytrap.8075:

TheDaiBish.9735:

One thing I noticed is that they’ve also seemed to add coloured boarders to items, showing their rarity

That’s been there for ages.

It has? Is it a toggle?

Link to video

One thing I noticed is that they’ve also seemed to add coloured boarders to items, showing their rarity shown at this point.

Yep, this patch got me to buy character slots and has perked my interest in SPvP again.

digiowl.9620:

Seems that most of this thread failed their reading comprehension test…

And i don’t think it has been a conscious decision, but instead a bunch of little unintended consequences that has snowballed since their initial concept stage.

for instance, Defiant is pretty much a “oh snap” addition to counteract stun locking on big mobs.

And a large part comes down to trying to balance PVE and PVP at the same time, while mobs pretty much ignore game mechanics.

Defiant definitely needs to be changed. Whether it decays or only triggers if you don’t interrupt an attack.

Also, good point about the SPvP. As such, mobs I feel should be designed in the exact same way as players. Given the same tools and everything (weapon swap, traits, runes, ressing ect).

Heck, if mobs and bosses in Dungeons had about 3 – 4 builds, and they randomly spawned with one, I think that’d be pretty interesting.

digiowl.9620:

Pretty much. When dungeon runners can with full honesty claim that having any in the party run a defensive build ups the risk for everyone, you know something is badly messed up. Logic dictates that having someone in a defensive build should reduce risk, not increase it.

I feel it works when you’re doing content that is level appropriate and for the first few times while you’re trying to get the mechanics down, when you don’t have the raw power to burst through.

My hybrid Warrior worked quite well when doing the lower level dungeons for the first time. Tonnes of immobilize and CC, while others in the back took them down, or at least chunked their health.

Now? Not so much.

The mechanics are there to build the character you want.

The encounter mechanics, however, either just deem them unnecessary or make bringing certain things along a hindrance.

Yazkin.6179:

TheDaiBish.9735:

What ‘normal’ level 80 armour? Nothing will be changing outside of Ferocity replacing Crit Damage.

In terms of stats, Exotic is a step down from Ascended and Legendary (which, statwise, are equal), but is higher that Rare, Masterwork, Fine and Common.

But isn’t this upcoming patch changing that stat-wise?

Crit damage will be lower, but aside from that, everything will be the same.

What ‘normal’ level 80 armour? Nothing will be changing outside of Ferocity replacing Crit Damage.

In terms of stats, Exotic is a step down from Ascended and Legendary (which, statwise, are equal), but is higher that Rare, Masterwork, Fine and Common.

You’ll have some people who’ll say yes, and some will say no.

I personally still enjoy it.

One bit of advice; don’t rush to cap, at least on your first playthrough. Also, if exploration is your thing, turn off map icons. I personally find it more fulfilling.

Zepidel.5349:

GW2 PvE is a (failed?) experiment in no trinity gameplay.

Can you really say it’s failed if it hasn’t been fully utilised and tested?

Outside of a few things (Defiant beign one of the main ones, Conditions in the open world), it’s encounter design and the lack of enforced mechanics that’s the main issue.

Playing the game?

Pretty much everything you do nets you XP:

• Killing stuff
• DE’s and Hearts
• Map Completion
• Crafting
• Gathering
• Daily and Monthly

Khal Drogo.9631:

Err no, it has new zones added after one month of release – not just the zones that were in the release.

As if you weren’t swinging the sword over and over again and mashing the F button in GW2 quests.

I dont really want to discuss ESO on a GW2 forum – but its my honest opinion about that game. I dont know how many people can realistically play two MMOs simultaneously though.

Question: How do you know the new zones aren’t simply content that was supposed to be there for launch but didn’t quite make it, rather than a content update that was planned for a month after launch?

Also, I play a number of MMO’s on and off, depending on what takes my fancy (different setting, different types of gameplay ect).

In terms of the active population (after all, it’s hardly worth counting someone who hasn’t played in a year), whether it’s rising or falling, only ANet knows.

To be honest, I can’t blame them for not releasing numbers:

• Numbers lower than a year ago = THE GAME IS DYING!!!!
• Numbers only marginally bigger or steady = THE GAME ISN’T THRIVING!!!!

I agree, although I’d argue that it’s also partly down to the fact any decent mechanics aren’t enforced enough (The Lover’s in AC, for example, was nerfed to the ground [added boulders were you can KD-lock them], whereas before, it was quite a challenging fight where you needed to keep them apart).

Another issue with the open world fights isn’t the mechanics (if you do these fights with just 10 players, you need to pay attention) so much as the mechanics don’t scale depending on the number of players, thus the mechanics can be ignored by the larger number of players doing the event. The Shatterer’s healing crystals, for example. If you have 10 or 100 people, it still only spawns a set number of them crystals.

Now, if the mechanics did scale (say, 1 extra healing crystal per 3 players), players would have to pay attention to these mechanics.

Another recommendation I’d make is that more than one mechanic happens at a time.

Taking the Shatterer as an example again, say the Healing Crystals and Imprisonment Crystals mechanics happen in tandem. What does this achieve? The large mass of players will have to divide themselves up to do 2 jobs at once (take down the healing crystals, and free other players, since you’d also need their help to take the crystals down because of the scaling), thus bringing an element of organisation to the fight.

So, to TL:DR:

• Enforce mechanics more.
• Have open-world mechanics scale.
• Have more than one mechanic happening at once.

Aidan Savage.2078:

Unlike GW1, GW2 is not instanced at all. This means you need to have everything downloaded for the game files otherwise things can be problematic for you if you try playing with 1/2 the client files downloaded (you dont know WHICH half was downloaded).

Except GW2 is instanced. It’s not a seamless world where you can go from one map to another without the game requiring to load files, thus it should be possible, simply by having the downloader download all of the basic files (assets, character creation, starter map enemies ect) and the starter maps, and then prioritise the next set of maps, lower level dungeons and so on.

Dark Catalyst.1028:

Haven’t you been paying attention to the forums? Anything from WoW is evil and bad, no matter how much it might improve this game. #sarcasm

Where did they say it was a bad idea because WoW implemented it?

Speak for yourself. I personally play MMO’s so I can play with my friends; not so I can level up and then kill mobs simply by sneezing at them.

Also, if you look at it the other way; when you were level 5, there’d be no way you could beat a level 20 mob. Now you can. Surely that shows you’re getting more powerful?

Finally, have you thought that the issue is you? Have you actually looked at why your dying, and what you could possibly do to help prevent it? Maybe saving your dodges for the big attacks? Swapping one weapon or utility out for another, or maybe going down a different trait line?

Dark Catalyst.1028:

But roleplaying a zergling and being forced into one gear set and a small handful of trait builds is apparently fun?

As opposed to being forced into one of 3 roles and gear sets?

The main problem with the game isn’t the core system; it’s the encounters not fully utilising the system.

The future’s bright.
The future’s Orange.

I’d have to agree with Fyrebrand.

I’d say that they’ll take what they learnt from S1 and apply it to S2 (IMO, a smart move. Better to make mistakes on ‘filler content’ instead of jumping straight into the main story and messing it up).

Fyrebrand.4859:

Come on, it’s obvious what the big news will be: a new $60 boxed expansion, including:

- flying mounts
- new race: elves
- new profession: death knight
- new gem store items: DPS booster, race change, sPvP invincibility tonic
- “holy trinity” overhaul
- berserker gear given 100% damage buff
- ranger pets removed from game, longbow damage halved
- thieves no longer can stealth
- CoF path 1 now gives double gold
- elementalist attunement swap now on 120s cooldown
- subscription fee

You forgot gear-gated raids and level-cap increase.

Stephen McBeaven.5640:

I think a repeatable achievement tied to completing every dungeon or every jumping puzzle might be a better suggestion if you want to incentivize branching out. The problem with books is you have to always remember to bring them and you hate yourself forever if you forget.

On the other hand, repeatable achievements need some small fixes to be less annoying, like not showing up on your nearly-completed list…

If the ‘books’ are integrated into the UI, you don’t need to remember them. It’s just a case of going to an NPC when you’ve done what you want, they’ll see how much you’ve filled in, and reward appropriately.

This allows players to set themselves specific goals for rewards they want. For example, one player might need some T3 crafting mats, while another player might be aiming for the Krytan Hero weapon skin.

As well as this, for those who want to utilise it, it will show what events / dungeons / creatures you’ve completed (since it’s more specific than ‘do 5 events’).

That being said, they could:

• Add these title tracks into the Achievements (Hero of Kryta, Hero of Ascalon, Hero of Magumma, Krytan Explorer ect).
• Improve the Achievement UI to show exactly which events you’ve done.
• Reward at certain points (although the downside to this is flooding. If players have their progress reset when they claim a reward, then it reduces the amount of rewards flooding into the economy).

BigfootArisen.6509:

The only quests that I would like to see, though, would be instanced story-like quests. I don’t wanna go off on a mighty adventure to collect 5 Moa Feathers or 37 Bear (Rumps).

I agree. Like I said, as well as adding content, old content (dungeons) could be utilised as well, where it changes depending on your Order. For example, OoW agents have noticed ammasing forces:

• Vigil members try to thin the ranks.
• OoW agents look for intel as to their plans.
• Priory research and dismantle the ‘weapon’.

Other quests that everyone can do would encourage people to pay a little more attention to the world. A random drop from a mob with a bit of flavour text (“The initials T.D. are inscribed in the back”), a piece of the environment (“Ancient runes are etched into the wall”) or even just overhearing an NPC (“Now where did I put that sword…”), while are small things, help immerse the player a bit more.

Heck, different things could interact with different Orders. For example, while Priory members will understand ancient writings, thus being able to pinpoint the exact one more clearly, OoW members can identify secret caches and codes.

In short, a lot of the ‘quests’ could just be short things that encourage people to get immersed in the world, since there isn’t a way to ‘gather’ quests, so to speak.

Stephen McBeaven.5640:

Aren’t the achievements associated with dungeons, jumping puzzles, and slaying different kinds of monsters already the “books” you’re looking for?

This is more about replayability than anything.

Look at most dungeons. Players only play a few paths, or the champ trains where players kill the same mobs over and over, simply because it’s the most rewarding, lootwise.

Offering something for branching out, rather than restricting for repeating (read: Diminishing Returns), is a better solution in my eyes.

They don’t neccesserily have to be an item. Maybe a way to integrate it into the Personal Story UI, which resets when you speak to the corrsponding NPC?

Apologies for the briefness of the suggestions. I’m typing them up on a phone dated from the Dark Ages.

These suggestions are simply suggestions for little things that I feel could add to the game:

Quests

Quests, tasks, missions. Call them what you want, they’re most commonly called Quests.

There could be a number of different types of quests. Before joining an Order, the player could get requests from the organisations that they help / are a part of (for example, Warband quests for the Charr). After selecting an Order, players could start recieving quests from their respective Order, themed around the Order. For example, Vigil members may have to eradicate Flame Legion from CoF, while OoW have to gather intel in the form of battleplans, while Priory members need to research artifacts.

As well as these, place some in the world, but with a twist: don’t put a marker above the NPC’s head, and give the players a quest log where they can make their own notes. For example, one NPC may be looking for a child of theirs. Speaking wouldn’t give an indication that you’re on a quest, but if you speak to that child, it’ll have the option to tell them to go home.

These sort of quests could be hidden in the world as well. You see a pillar engraved with runes, and going back to some Priory researcher, he tells you he’s searching for some ancient text, if you’ve seen it, then you have the option to tell them where you saw it.

Collectors

Collectors are vendors that take your vendor junk in exchange for goods, such as armour and weapon skins, mats associated with that item (broken lockpicks to ore) and so on. These vendors would be around the world, but not marked (or marked, but an option available to switch the icons off).

Amaranth

While this NPC is already in the game, she’s fed up of sticking around the Black Citadel, and the wanderlust has set in again. She’d be the GW2 incarnation of Nic the Traveller.

For those who don’t know who he was, he was an NPC that travelled and requested a different item each week, in exchange for random rewards. In a sense she’d be a travelling collector whose item and location would change weekly. Heck, maybe she’ll wander the zone she’s in for that week.

Tales of an Adventurer

Different NPC’s give out different books, such as:

• Events
• Jumping Puzzles
• Area Beastiary
• Dungeon – Story Mode
• Dungeon – Explorable Mode.

Filling in these books would reward different things, depending on how much is filled in. For example, one page would yield T1 mats, while fully completing a book will give the players a choice of an armour / weapon skin, and a title (For example, completing all of the dynamic events in Kryta would award the title Hero of Kryta).

Lishtenbird.2814:

Hermes.7014:

What I’m asking is for that type of skills to interrupt just finishers, not every skill, if that’s your concern. Finishing an enemy should require you to stay put in one place.
The way things are now, classes with shadowstep skills have an edge over others when finishing enemies in PvP/WvW.
All I’m asking for is balance.

Did you know that a full DPS-traited Mesmer with all phantasms up and doing everything he can provides as much damage as your meta axe-mace Warrior pushing 111111 on autoattack?

Yeah, it’s “balance” you’re asking for.

What’s that to do with anything?

I’d have termed it ‘counterplay’.

If that mechanic can completly negate the downed state (shadowstepping out of range), then it leaves no room for counterplay.

Ftom this thread:

We want to let you know that the ability to build your precursor will not be in our upcoming Feature Pack. The way progression and rewards work in Guild Wars 2 have changed quite a bit since we initially talked about that feature, and our main horizontal progression systems are about to get some additional updates in the upcoming feature pack. Because of that, we are looking into several ways to integrate building your precursor into our new updated reward and progression systems we’re working on, which is requiring additional development time and iteration. As always, we’ll share details on this system once it’s far enough along in production we’re ready to discuss it.

Have you done any of the mini-dungeons?

Also, I found that simply switching the UI and all of the map icons off and just wandering around, doing events as they came, was quite nice. The goal was simply to immerse myself in the world, not worrying about gold or whathavenot.

Soap.6124:

The loot isn’t fun. There’s very little variation when it comes to items, besides aesthetics. While leveling up this isn’t too much of an issue, it kind of dulls the experience at max level.

Sure, I don’t have full Ascended gear, but I’m also not very compelled to put a ridiculous amount of time and effort into getting them due to one, these items don’t really have a meaningful impact on gameplay, and two, there’s no gameplay that really merits them.

The whole point of the variation was supposed to be aesthetics.

I do however agree about Ascended. They could have made it more about the part of the game that it was supposed to be for, and designed the acquisition around it.

Soap.6124:

Nobody really does dungeons; they skip them. If people are going out of their way to skip content, don’t you think there might be something wrong with the content? Most dungeons contain too much filler and lack real “loot” for your efforts; that doesn’t create a challenging, rewarding, nor immersing dungeon experience.

Agree. I feel that they could a) cut down on the amount of trash in dungeons, b) give groups of trash interesting mechanics and c) randomise what sort of trash group (pre-tailored to work together) spawns. As for loot, instead of having individual, rewarding loot, add non-compulsory experiences to the dungeon, and reward chasing after these. For example, Vanquishing.

Soap.6124:

Build diversity and overall balance could be much better. Nowadays, it seems like nobody likes you unless you’re full Berserker, using your classes “best” weapon. Doesn’t that seem a little strange to anyone? If balancing between PvE and PvP is difficult, why not just balance them separately?

I honestly believe that the lack of build diversity isn’t down to the actual lack of pre-defined roles, but down to content that doesn’t really get players to fully utilise the tools at hand.

Soap.6124:

World events should be more… worldly. Off the top of my head, one of my favorite world events is when that huge Giant runs over that low-level Charr town in one of their zones. I like that event because there’s repercussions for not dealing with him; your town is pretty much useless. What good are world events that really don’t have any weight within the world around them? Would be pretty fun if towns getting attacked was more of a regular thing; it makes the world seem more dangerous.

As well as this, I feel that events should ‘evolve’. Show some emergent AI. for example, if an attack fails, they ramp up the attack by also bringing along, say, catapults, firing at range. These mechanics should then scale depending on the amount of people in the area. For example, 1 catapult if there’s 5 people, 2 if there is 10 ect ect.

Flytrap.8075:

The Living Story concept is not a terrible idea; however, the way ANet chose to implement it most definitely was flawed.

I somewhat agree.

LS, in my eyes, should be small amounts of temporary content used to deliver larger, permanent additions to the game in an immersive way (rather than simply download the patch and suddenly something has appeared).