Guild Wars 2

Considering my own thread was hijacked by yet another mod looking to hide threads that show the game in a bad light I shall link it here. Feel free to reply here.

Click HERE

Having played since headstart and having just passed the 4000hour mark I feel the comments below should count for something.

I have had a lot of fun in this game participating in the living story, joining many guilds and meeting many new people in the process. The issue is that sentence is in past tense. Guilds broke up as players left in droves. ANET seem insistent on dumbing down their own game by creating a mindless zergfest. This in turn means that for the past 12+ months ive felt nothing for the game that I am playing.

In my opinion there is very little immersion in GW2. We get told whats appearing in the next part of the living story before we’ve even experienced it, we’re expected to zerg around maps auto-attacking mobs and participate in instances that havent changed (except one path in TA) since launch. Every item that could have been classed as a trophy has been destroyed by ANET (past skins available in latest patch, renaming of Mad Kings Slippers etc etc)….ANETs ‘give everyone all of the things’ rule has created a culture whereby players(myself) arent emotionally invested in the game anymore. For a game relying on the story going forward that should be ringing alarm bells.

The game couldve been so much more. Instead its catering to the casual because they bring in the most money and because of that it never realised its potential. On the surface its a pretty, varied world. Once you get deep down you see how shallow it is. The only reason im still logging on is the fact it doesnt cost to do so.

Umut.5471:

Megaserver system is the best addition to the game. The game had deserted, dead maps before. It’s an mmo now.

You seem to be missing my point. Map population could have been sorted in a number of different ways. Im asking why megaservers were deemed acceptable despite there being countless issues with the system.

I also think that megaservers just reinforce the stereotype that GW2 is a Zerg-based game. Why couldnt they allow players to choose overflows? I hate seeing hundreds of players trivialising what used to be fun events so why am I forced into high pop servers? Why cant I take a group of friends/guildies and complete events with just us?

ANET seem insistent on dumbing down GW2 and megaservers are a part of this problem. I think im justified in asking why.

Its easy to see who has read my thread and who has just read the title.

I’ll add a tl;dr to the top I think.

tl;dr Megaservers have fixed the population problem but have brought many new problems into the game. Why couldnt ANET just allow you to pick a server/overflow? Why are Megaservers the answer? Being clever for the sake of being clever maybe?

This has been bugging me ever since the Feature patch and I hope to once and for all get the answer.

So we knew there were issues with players finding certain maps baron and empty and so ANET decided to try something groundbreaking and possibly never before seen (I havent played enough MMOs to know this). Megaservers were introduced and with them all kinds of issues have sprouted up ranging from issues with guild missions (take for example the fact one person completed guild challenge in the wrong server yesterday meaning the entire guild on the other server didnt get rewarded) to overcrowding at certain events, contested WPs etc etc. You can read other posts for the list of faults.

So the main issue was that of baron maps. What do megaservers do that allowing people to pick instances cannot do?

This would solve the world boss issues once and for all. This wouldntve caused the issues with guild missions, contested WPs, overcrowding(zerging) and wouldve allowed players to play how they want to play. Pick a highly populated server or a baron one depending on your preferences. I cant help by wonder what the new maps are going to be like when released, with players zerging from one objective to another paying no attention to the story that is unfolding.

ANET seems insistent on turning GW2 into a mindless zergfest with no immersion and im not sure why considering theyre basing the entire games future on the Living Story.

Sartharina.3542:

However, they didn’t take anything from you, unless they opened up your account and took those skins you earned. The only thing they ‘injured’ is your overdeveloped sense of spite and arrogance.

Whats been taken ‘from me’ (and a lot of others btw) isnt the item, but the items value. What it represents…its exclusivity. The reward for completing certain content…..for staying loyal to the game at certain points (not logging in continuously each and every day for two years). Skins outside of the gem store are more than just shiny pixels… theyre trophies. Its this thats being taken away.

BTW my original post uses this issue with skins as one example of ANETs phylosophy of ‘giving people all of the things’…. feel free to discuss other examples. My main gripe isnt the skins being available, its the general feeling of ANET catering to the ‘casual’ going forward and my fears for the future of the game should this be the case.

phys.7689:

the main problem with your theory, is far as i have seen, it doesnt appear to be any easier to get them now than it was before. Many people are saying it is actually harder, So if you wanted less casual content and rewards, wouldnt this be in line with what you wanted?

now if i am mistaken and it is easier to get them now then sure, but from what i hear its not.

also note, progression is not competition, sometimes they are connected, but not always.
how hard something is has nothing to do with how competitive it is.

First person to scream bingo in a a room of 1000 people is very competitive, but its not very difficult, and has no progression tied to it

being able to shoot 30 3 pointers in a row, is fairly difficult, and has 30 degrees of progression, but it isnt very competitive, you can do it alone, with no opponents, and everyone can win eventually.

All right, let me put it another way. Why should someone be able to acquire a previously ‘unique’ skin (in the sense that it was available during a LS update only) that was themed to a particular LS update, in the festival update? Why have ANET made this possible? Its because people have moaned on the forums saying that they didnt have a chance at getting said skin at that given time. If you dont complete content you are not entitled to that contents reward, whether its time based or a permanent feature in the game (dungeon armour for instance).

As for the topic of progression…. is that something I spoke about previously? I dont think so but in reply youre right. Sometimes its linked to competition, sometimes not. In the case of skins I feel like my progression has been lost because more players have the things that I have. Staying loyal to GW2 for this long and participating in all the LS story events has got me where? To the same place as those that logged in a few weeks ago. End-game is based around character customisation and so for the case of skins progression is definitely involved.

Im sorry but in a game where the sole purpose of end-game is character customisation, why give everyone the ability to get everything?

For those talking about ‘getting months of enjoyment first’ this is besides the point. I played certain content to EARN that skin. Certain skins were easy to acquire yes but again thats besides the point. I participated in certain events in order to use that skin and others should kitten well have to also. Hell, I think its laughable you can get dungeon skins from PvP now…. because dungeons are so hard and time consuming to complete (sarcasm BTW). Players should be forced to EARN rewards, not be given them for not playing the game.

Ive played this game since headstart. Over 4000k hours spent playing and i’ll admit ive had fun. But to see this sickens me… its a cheap way of saying “Stay with us and we’ll give you things for free”. The game is far too easy and I can only see it getting worse.

As ive said before, maybe im asking too much from GW2. All I know is that after 4000hrs of playing its not the content/story thats driving me away, its the design decisions made by ANET to make this game so ridiculously easy to play that my nan could give it a go. Still, its good for short-term business though. I just worry in the long run.

One thing I hope to convey is that I dont directly blame ANET. They, as a company, are doing what they think is right for the business. Maybe I am wrong to make a thread with my opinion because nothing good can come from this thread. I firmly believe ANET have made a decision and they made it long ago, that decision being to concentrate on what I call casual gamers.

By casual I dont necessarily mean those that cannot play often, although ANET has made things easier for those kinds of players. By casuals im referring to those that maybe have the time but refuse to spend it. Those that want ‘all of the things’ as fast as possible. Those that wont mind spending a few quid in the gem store.

GW2 hasnt been able to offer me the experience I want in an MMO for a long time but ive carried on playing because every now and then theyve beckoned me over and have said “Look, Dan, this is a good bit of story right? Play this and maybe later we’ll give you want you want. Some challenge!”. Well ive been listening for a while now and very little has come of it. Maybe its time to face facts- GW2 will never be the MMO I want it to be.

EDIT: Just to make clear, the issue of skins being available has annoyed me but its not about how hard it was to get the skins before. Its about the principle of the thing. Giving skins to people because they didnt log in at the time. Making it easier to acquire items in game because certain people moan on the forums. Its this ease that I have an issue with, and the reason my eyes are now open.

First off this isnt a ‘Im going to quit….wahhh wahhh wahh’ thread. Just me venting a little. Feel free to click the back button at any time.

Ive spent a long time hoping GW2 would bring a challenge. Two years of playing and the main reason im still here isnt that im having the time of my life, no. Its that im keeping the story fresh in my mind, participating in events that ANET throws at me in the hope that sometime in the not so distant future ANET will bring content that isnt just handed to us on a plate, with a side order of gem store.

Today I realised that this will never happen

So whats different about today I hear you ask? Not a huge amount if im honest. Its just ive had that moment where it has all slotted into place. The horrible truth. What was the final piece of the puzzle? Being able to buy past Living Story skins using festival currency.

What is the point in completing content for skins anymore? I mean give it 6 months and it’ll be back for you to buy. My backpiece, the Fervid Censor, took a lot of time and effort to acquire. A year or so later and its available for a few hours work because someone moaned that they wanted all of the stuff. Why complete WvW Season 2? I mean give it until Xmas and I can pick the skins up for a few hundred Magical Fairy Tokens.

This set my mind racing and the horrible truth reared its ugly little face. ANET want to give all of the people all of the stuff. It makes great business sense right? People ask for something, they give it and said people play said game for as long as they keep getting the stuff. Content will get easier because people cant deal with failing and will moan at ANET to reduce the difficulty. Gradually GW2 is going to be reduced to the MMO family’s immature cousin and forced to sit at the kiddies table with the likes of [insert Facebook game names here].

Ive defended the game to friends, guildies, strangers and my family dog (he was more interested in licking his crotch though). I cant do it anymore. Ive seen the future of GW2….and im not in it.

Mian.1945:

But this already happens?

I disagree. Sure you can choose to be more tanky, more supportive and more of a healer but can you actually say that those are roles in GW2 PvE? Even in the harder content ive never heard of a party living or dying by the addition/lack of a tank/heal/support.

I agree that the removal of the forced trinity is a great step forward for MMOs in general.
I disagree on the removal of the trinity.

The key word here is ‘forced’. I loved the fact that in MMOs of old you could pick a job, get experienced with it and then use your abilities to help others. Be it healing, tanking, tagging, buffing….everyone found a place for themselves. What I didnt like is that you picked a job and had to stick with it, whether you were good, bad, could get a party or not.

In GW2 I feel that no one has a job to do anymore and as such my place in the party isnt needed. Anyone could do what im doing and I feel somewhat less important. I personally would have liked every class to be able to forfill every roll, but there to have still been roles. Certain classes better than others at certain things, the choices you make in stats actually making a difference to whether or not the party succeeds or fails. But the chances of this being introduced are slim because, as it stands, we have no need for any role but DPS specialist.

Raeysa Penrose.8450:

That’s pretty interesting that you find a lack of “epic” in the game. I’d say I’ve found more of it here than anywhere else. Most MMOs feel plastered and trivial after a short time, or even right off the bat, as far as I’m concerned. GW2 has done an excellent job of pulling me in and making me feel relevant, yet it’s also kept my heroism in game compatible with social playing. I feel like part of a bigger whole, cooperating with a lot of other people. I think that feels more epic than a game that is more or less a single-player game with lots of people in it, which is how I feel about most MMOs.

I know for a fact that GW2 cannot offer me certain things that other smaller MMOs can. This is not ANETs fault. All I can say is how I FEEL about the game based on my preferences and the one thing that jumps out is the lack of personal stories that have come in two years of playing. By that I mean occasions that have awed me, given me memories and things to tell my friends about. While I cannot deny that the game is still fun (otherwise I wouldnt be playing), its for this reason that I can say that there is no magic in the game for me. No spark to keep me motivated.

Having read the responses (some great ones up there!) there is one thing that I feel GW2 has lacked for a long time and can agree with others saying- that feeling of epic.

The few smaller MMOs I have played all shared one common factor- challenge. There was nothing better than getting a group together who you knew and overcoming challenging content. GW2 brings that with the Wurm and Tequatl but with the issues of getting on the right server(and not DCing) in addition to the fact that this is two pieces of ‘hard’ content in two years means that ive felt underwhelmed since I have started playing. Easy content is great. Its a nice feeling to get rewarded quickly but its a very short term emotion. GW2 lacks the ‘moments of epic’ that really solidify the game as an all time great.

Ive been playing since headstart, clocked over 4000hrs and will state right now that I have no reason to quit the game. But the only occasions that I can honestly say that ive been moved are the first killing of Tequatl, the first Halloween event and the first time I played the personal story. I realised early on that I was not this games target audience…. and thats a sad thing to realise. Id love to get emotionally invested in GW2 but have to face facts that this will never happen. Sure, its a fun game… but to say it couldve been more is an understatement.

how have world bosses been affected since megaserver has been introduced?

Well to give my opinion, I feel that ANET have helped the community look a lot more populated with the introduction of megaservers. This system does have its merits. But with the introduction of megaservers came one huge problem- what to do with world bosses. The guild activation was introduced so that bosses can be activated when an entire guild is on a map. Has this solved the issue? No.

Disconnect and youre out of the map permanently if the map player cap is full. Dont want to spend 1-2hrs waiting in a single map youre out. Dont have a large guild and want to join another in their run? Good-luck trying to get into the same server. AFK players taking up spaces on the map youre on? Tough luck. Nothing has changed since before megaservers came in.

To me this feels like ANET wanting to be different for the sake of being different. This is great to see in a lot of circumstances- a company thinking on its feet and coming up with new ways to solve a problem. The issue here is that it has not solved the problem. I still, to this day, have not killed the Wurm. Why? Because waiting/queuing 1/2/3hrs on one map is not fun. I play games for fun. I would love to try the Wurm on a regular basis but all the messing around wastes my time.

Id love to ask why ANET are so insistent on not letting guilds open instanced bosses. The argument so far has been ‘well we cant fragment the community’…. im sorry but why is there a LFG tool in GW2? Use it to advertise free spaces as there are very few guilds that will reach the map cap limit without a few spaces here and there. If ANET can introduce such a complicated system as a megaserver, why isnt there a function to rejoin the map you were on after DC and a system to kick afk’ers more swiftly on certain maps?

Moderator.6840:

Hi everyone,

We understand that the purpose of this thread is to offer constructive ideas. However, as it could quickly turn into a discussion about other games, we will ask you to please focus your feedback around Guild Wars 2. All off topic posts will be removed.
Thank you!

Completely agree. This isnt a thread to compare games but more a thread to ask those that are complaining what exactly they have an issue with and how they would change GW2 going forward based on the post-launch models of other games.

In response to you Phys, can I assume that the main grievance you have is the lack of permanent content? I seem to remember reading that ANET were looking to make more LS content permanently available. Would this change your views on the LS model if this was the case?

As I have said I cannot answer my own question. What I will say is this- from the smaller MMOs that I have played post-launch content was limited to a couple of new maps/dungeons/raids per ~6months. If GW2 were to do this players would spend a couple of weeks playing before starting to complain about wanting more content. LS, in my opinion, is better for the game as a whole.

Okay so im hoping this topic will encourage some talk regarding the content GW2 has released post-launch as well as answering a question that has been on my mind for a while. Try to keep this constructive please! The more level headed we keep this thread, the more chance ANET have of taking note of it.

So it has been mentioned many, MANY times on the forums that a great number of GW2 players are disillusioned at the state of the game post-launch. Specifically mentioned has been the lack of content released. I will state now that I do not feel this is the case, having witnessed a lot of living story content both permanent and not. The issue here is that I do not have any guide to go by. I have never played another ‘AAA MMO’, instead focusing on smaller (more grindy) Korean titles.

So my question to you is this- In your personal opinion, when directly compared to other MMOs, what is GW2 doing wrong and how would you rectify this?

Nearly two years(or however long its been for some people) of doing the same thing will take its toll. Dungeons are predictable after a while and therefore become less fun the more you run them. But they are a good way to get gold and so people will skip everything that they can because theyve seen it all before.

Id suggest getting a group (or guild) that want to run dungeons the proper way. Failing that, advertise on the LFG as looking for no skipping. Until ANET put in unique drops from dungeon trash mobs this will never change.

Sirendor.1394:

I’m not sure if this is what Anet wanted, but I’m thinking most players have either quit playing the game altoghether or quit playing pve (and play pvp/wvw only).

Im sorry….I wouldnt normally reply but id love to know where youre getting your information from, that most have quit and its due to the wardrobe. Its laughable to think that a major plus point of the content patch has driven people away. Its a great addition to the game and in my opinion has helped to draw people back.

I understand the issues regarding the new system compared to the old but in my opinion I think you can use the term ‘greater good’ here. Plus you can still get charges from map completion, a fact many leave out when talking about the wardrobe.

In my opinion im happy with the 2 week content releases but with a slight twist.

Release each part in two chapters. The first chapter would last for the full 4 weeks and contain all the content people can ‘grind’ should they wish with a little of the story. Things like new maps/dungeons/instances/battles etc. The second chapter should be where the story has full focus. Instances with nothing but talking by the characters, information on lore and backstory detailing whats happened up until this point.

Would please pretty much everyone I think.

Lets ignore the fact that I was trawling through Reddit looking for when Colin said “No new areas or races this year” thinking this thread was new for a second….

Ok so one thing thats been mentioned with regards to a new race is the personal story. Certain races would not fit into the current personal story and so can be discounted right? Well think about it this way- why would a new race need the current personal story? Why not give it its own unique story? Would drive sales (either gems or expansion) and create a huge buzz. Those that were not that interested would buy just for the new achievements and lore….

Just seems logical.

Its so hard to pick just two things to ask ANET for but try! Which two things would you most like to see introduced to GW2?

1) Raid-Style Content.
Its been said many times before but I think this is something that could work in GW2. There are two main reasons why some people are hessitant about bringing raids into GW2- fragmentation of the playerbase and those that think every boss will be able to be zerged. Both, in my opinion, could be addressed.

GW2 raids could be introduced as larger scale, more challenging dungeons. 8-20 players are allowed and the raid dungeon scales with number of entrants. The raid dungeon would be challenging up until the boss which would be very challenging and based a lot on player movement and possibly puzzle solving (stepping on stones etc). Introduce a two tier reward system- one reward for reaching the boss (gold etc) and another for defeating the boss (unique skins, tokens etc).

Tier the raids- easy, medium and hard. Introduce leaderboards for competition and extra monthly prizes. Keep the world bosses (but add the ability to choose a server- megaservers are not the answer!).

2) Environmental Overhaul.
I think GW2 is one of the prettiest MMOs out there but I think it lacks hugely with regards to making you feel like youre there and part of a map. What I propose is a series of additions to bring the sense of adventure back to the maps.

a) Realistic weather effects including a possibility of seasons as time progresses in the Living Story.
b) More realistic terrain. If im walking over mud I should be slowed slightly, right?
c) Removal of 50% of the WPs in a zone. Yes, this is controversial but it would promote exploration on foot. You could start with the WPs that are now always contested due to the megaservers!
d) 1st Person camera. Isnt it about time?!
e) More things to read regarding the history of a map and its creatures so that you can better understand why the map is as it is and what happened to it in the past (Living Story etc).

For those that are arguing against the potential fix (im very glad of that fact BTW!) I would argue that I did not add the skin of one item to the other base stat item. I destroyed the base stat item and used all sorts of magics to reinforce the so called ‘skin item’.

Back in the day we had magical crystals of awesomeness, now we have pixie dust. Evolution my friends….

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Naming-Convention-for-Transmuted-items/first#post3918393

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Skins-being-renamed-Ascended/first#post3911949

Completely agree. So much so that ive written in two other similar threads (feel free to merge!). Items should be named by how they look, not what they started life as. Couple with that my rifle is not skinned with the Seraph Rifle, its the Potent Avenger. Was so annoyed when I realised something ive had since one day after launch had been effectively destroyed (as a trophy).

Posted about this yesterday but happy to post in another thread to get some attention from the devs!

I dont understand how if ten people transmute a a Zoija’s ascended armour set into ten completely different skinned sets they are all still called Zoija’s. How is this a positive addition to the game? A lot has been made of making things easier for new players to understand…. how is this easier?

Because of this change ive actually lost two keepsakes of mine- the Mad King Slippers and a rifle skin ive had since Day 2 called the Potent Avenger. Both are now named after the thing I transmuted them to. Whats even worse is that because they share the same skin as a common item (Human T2 rifle I think and the generic heavy boots) the name has even been removed from the Skin Name listed on the item. All I now see is ‘Seraph Rifle’ as the skin, which isnt true.

My full ascended armour set is called Zoija’s despite the fact that it clearly is not. Same goes for all of my weapons that have been transmuted. I just dont understand how this ‘feature’ helps us as players. It doesnt make things clearer for new players as it shows that multiple armour pieces that look different have the same name. If not to make things clearer why make the change in the first place?

Has there been any mention of this bug so far from ANET?

So im enjoying the patch until I read this post….and realise something horrid. Since about level 20 (a day after the games release?) ive owned a rifle obtained during my personal story called the Potent Avenger. Ive transmuted it onto every rifle ive owned including my now ascended rifle. The name….is now no more.

Is this a bug or a permanent change? If its the latter ANET have taken away probably the most important item I own in GW2. If this is the case i’ll be asking for the original Potent Avenger back as I was not told of this change prior to the patch.

Transmutation Stones/Crystals, I presume, are being removed and replaced by Transmutation Charges. Changing looks will use one charge per change so, technically, not much is changing except the ability to collect and keep skins.

We’ve known for a long time that the major world bosses (dragon champions) will receive a revamp at some point so that they closer resemble the difficulty of Tequatl. What we have long speculated about is how ANET see the state of world boss participation and whether changes are incoming in that respect.

For a long time I, and many others, have championed the addition of GW2-style raid content which would alleviate both the queues and the lack of participation. I wont bore you by posting the details but im wondering whether ANET have taken note and agreed with what has been said. Whether or not that means including raid content I dont know…. but any change is a step forward in my opinion.

Im looking forward to reading the next few blog posts!

Thanks for the great offer. We have spoken in the past about a possible transfer but over half of us wished to stay so I must decline but thanks for the interest and good luck

Im not one for long speeches so I hope to keep this short and sweet. The once proud guild [Noes] has fallen. Ravaged by the hands of time itself, its members spread across time and space creating a void that longs to be filled….

I cant carry on typing that, im sorry! Put simply im here on behalf of my friends and guildies. We once had a thriving community but most have quit the game so now we’re just a small pocket of like minded individuals. Things are fine but fine isnt something you should settle on. My guildies deserve more so im here to make a proposal.

What are we looking for? A large guild to merge our current active members with. This guild must be very active, offer many events during the week including PvE and WvW/EotM and must be interested in running large scale events such as patch day content, Tequatl/Wurm runs and possibly even getting some server based events running such as Balthazar.

What can we offer? We have 10-20 active members and a roster of around 40 others that log in periodically. We would bring with us experience in co-running a guild (we have operated democratically since our leader left), experience leading events such as weekly raffles, guild missions and PvE events such as Hide & Seek and, given the right motivation, may be willing to livestream and/or produce Youtube content for the guild (can provide links to past Noes events if needs be!)

There is one catch however- I would like the ability for our members to represent Noes. Some are quieter than others and have requested the ability to rep/stay with Noes. I understand this could be an issue but I have to respect the wishes of those that choose the quiet life.

So if anyone knows of any guilds wishing to take us up on this offer feel free to reply here or send me a mail in game and i’ll reply when I can! Thanks for your time!

Im all for GW2 style raids and have written in many threads concerning the subject, THIS being my latest one.

I personally would not tie GW2 raids to the guild mission system currently in place. There are many that prefer not to be in a guild. Not allowing them access would be harsh in the extreme. Instead just allow Squads within the game to be chosen. Im talking open world PvE, WvW, EotM and raids….allow commanders to be able to invite players to a squad. Add a squad-finder to the LFG tool, allow commanders to kick squad members (afk’ers etc) and voila! Youve got a way to fill up a squad with randoms. This is GW2… its not like it matters whether the 40th man/woman is a Mesmer or a Warrior!

Additions like a scoreboard (showing total time and things like NPCs saved, areas captured etc) for both the server and regions would enable some competition. Players would be willing to enter multiple times per week just for the competition, regardless of whether there was a limit to rewards (which IMO there should be). Do the same with Hard Mode dungeons!

The main opposition for raid content in GW2 is the thought that hiding content behind a wall would mean that content wasnt available to everyone but that simply isnt the case. Do we say that dungeons are unfair because theyre instanced and only allow five people inside? What if I wanted to solo the dungeon and complete it? Is it unfair that I cannot? No. Instanced content is a great way to tell a very controlled and epic story and its what GW2 needs in order to progress. Open world bosses are great and all but for someone that doesnt want to spend two hours saving my space in a map by running into a wall only to have a few idiots ruin the fight for everyone…..theyre not ideal!

Voice acting within the games industry fascinates me and there are a few questions that id like to find out from those in the know!

1) What is the primary way in which voice actors are assigned jobs within the AAA games industry? Are voice actors headhunted based on their previous work within the industry or is there a central database of potential voice actors similar to modelling agencies whereby the actors put themselves on show?

2) What would you say is favoured most within the games industry- an actor with a few very unique voices or an actor with many fairly similar, but distinct voices?

3) Are there any tips you could give to someone wanting to get into video game voice acting with regards to training? Are there certified vocal teaching courses that would help someone break through?

4) Do voice actors within the games industry consider working full time for a specific company or is the work mainly on a freelance basis?

Thanks in advance

As much as I like the idea Wildstar has beaten GW2 to it

One thing I should make clear because I think its been lost in these replies (thanks for the discussion by the way) is that my main problem is the queuing up and waiting. The difficulty is great, the boss fights are incredible and the overall feeling of being part of something epic is what drives me. But I am not prepared to guest to another server and stay on a single map for 1-2hours waiting for a boss to spawn. My time is more valuable to me than that. In addition to that many low pop servers cannot participate. My idea of ‘raid style’ instanced content is an idea to alleviate that problem. If you have any alternate ideas on how to remove the queuing and enable more people to take part then feel free to suggest them!

A few replies to the various statements made about the idea of raids:

1) Adding raids would mean less people will participate in these (open world) events and more segregation. – Not if the rewards were different for each and a system was put into place to help randoms join up. This isnt WoW… players rely on skill and not class in these fights. Groups will allow randoms in to fill the spots left free by afk’ers (have a ready-up button) and no-showers.

2) The “abuse” of the overflow system is the current way for large guilds to try and mimic a raid scenario. – I fail to see the hram in implimenting a raid-style dungeon then. You could add mechanics to make the experience more fun such as leaderboards.

3) Why not join a boss killing guild? – This doesnt solve the queuing issue plus why should I have to? Why cant my guild join up with another guild and tackle these bosses together?

4) You can have a good time, win or lose. – I fail to see how hacking at a bone wall for 20 minutes is fun. These bosses are impossible without a set number of coordinated players.

5) The main perk of open world bosses is that anyone can jump in and help. – True to an extent but if there is still space on the map after the boss is up and running the chances are the fight will be a fail. Plus im not saying remove open world bosses…

There have been many here that have made assuptions of the type of player who wants raid content and the nature of boss fights in this game but I hope I can now point out that not everyone thinks the way you think they do.

1) I enjoy content that isnt 100% win. I love the thought that I can fail but there also has to be the thought that its possible to win. Tequatl and the Wurm are amazing boss encounters for well-coordinated groups, I understand this. But the truth of the matter is I cannot even participate in these fights without guesting to another server/overflow. The argument ‘Elite content for Elite groups’ is surely AGAINST what ANET are trying to do with open-world boss content. The purpose is so that everyone can participate but the way things stand that isnt the case.

2) To an extent I dont care about loot. There must obviously be a reward for your time but that doesnt have to take the form of high monetry value items. Introduce a scoreboard and im sure many would play for the competition alone. Throw in some unique accountbound skins via a token system and voila!

3) Private instances are already in use by Teq killing guilds. This change would essentially be a beefed-up QoL patch surely? (slight exageration!)

4) Regardless of what server you attempt the boss on there is the major issue of queuing. This is my BIGGEST issue. Surely I should be free to actually play the game while waiting instead of running into a wall, afk for over an hour? Instances would sort this.

5) I accept that not all content is for everyone. I love epic world boss fights and yet here I am making a thread about why I cant participate in them.

6) There wouldnt have to be a choice between open world and instanced. Have them both, give unique rewards for both.

7) Scaling would have a minimum and maximum number, as in every other MMO.

8) Saying that instanced content is hiding the boss fight behind a wall is not true. The open world bosses remain, and the instanced raid versions could have a solo queue for those that want to fill up the gaps. If there is a hundred slots to an instance what are the chances all 100 will be taken? There will always be the odd gap here or there.

The replies above have, in a roundabout way, mentioned a key issue here. In making open-world content impossible to succeed without a coordinated group you alienate a large proportion of the playerbase which is the exact thing the devs wanted to alleviate by refusing the idea of raids!

Open world battles are great and I so wish that they worked well in GW2 but, certainly in my opinion, ive come to see now that they have their flaws. Only a handful of servers try and succeed and some guilds even create their own ‘raid instance’ deliberately.

I dont see an issue in allowing people to pick between instanced and open-world. The only real negative is the feeling that people could be on the ‘wrong side of the wall’ but with a solo-queue type system, raid instance caps and the maintenance of the open-world versions of the bosses I cant see how anyone couldnt have access to these bosses.

Quick note on rewards- have the raid version drop tokens to save/spend on unique skins, mats and other bots-and-bobs and cap the raid instance with entrance tokens to avoid farming. Add a scoreboard showing points relating to finishing time, NPCs helped, events completed etc and itll have guilds queuing up in droves.

This subject has been brought up time and time again but I do feel that previous threads have failed to answer the questions that are spinning around in my head, namely the reason behind NOT implementing instanced versions of world bosses. So I will start off with what I consider problems with the current model.

1) The difficulty. Now the bosses themselves are absolutely perfect and the few times that I have participated in the fights ive enjoyed myself. But the bosses are too difficult for unorganised groups to complete and this means that the vast majority of servers will not take these bosses down. Now you may say “well show some initiative and organise” but the truth of the matter is many cannot, many will not and many do not have the time to. If youre talking about beating the boss as a server, then the server itself does not deserve to win. But for players like me who would love a crack at the boss, only to see his server not even bother 99% of the time, it creates an issue. Which brings me on to….

2) The guesting situation. Im the first to admit that the few times ive beaten Tequatl its been on another server. I accept that I am taking the space of a resident of the server but its necessary in order for me to have fun killing/trying to kill that boss. I am not alone….there are probably a hundred plus players trying to get into that particular server so in order to make sure I keep my spot….

3) I have to queue ahead of time. We’re talking an hour or maybe two before the boss arrives. Thats an 1-2 hours of afking/gathering/mob farming which could be much better spent elsewhere having fun.

Ive given up on Tequatl and the Wurm. My time is gradually getting more and more important to me and so afking for 1-2 hours for the CHANCE of completing a boss, for a CHANCE to get decent drops isnt worth it. These are encounters that I would LOVE to participate in (have never beaten the Wurm) but the game mechanics have effectively locked me out.

My Solution?

The ‘R’ word pops up time and time again and it gets shot down by those saying “This isnt WoW” but I fail to see how something can be bad just because its been in another game. No one complains about Greatswords yet theyve been in many previous MMOs. Introduce a GW2 style Raid.

Majority of the map with randomised events leading up to the main boss fight. Have it scale to the number of players entering and have it drop unique loot/tokens at the end of each run. Limit farming by introducing a ticket system (gain one/two tickets a week, maybe more for completing tasks), have a fail mechanism including (but not limited to) a timer, have optional events to rally NPCs on the map to come help you fight, enable a solo queue for those that are in smaller guilds…..I could go on. Do all this IN ADDITION TO the open world model.

I fail to see how this is a bad idea. Sure it needs tweaking but raids in GW2 would alleviate so many of the problems facing those, like me, who would love to fight these awesome battles but cannot.

In order to actually enjoy the game in the best way that I can, spoiler free, it seems I have to pretty much cut myself off from the social aspect outside of the game itself. The trailer combined with social media (Facebook in particular) and the forums have completely spoiled the surprise of what should be a great patch so in order to preserve one of the few enjoyable parts of the game I need to cut myself off until such a time that things change.

Its a shame as there are some interesting things posted to Facebook and the forums are great way to spend a few minutes (hours) reading but hey, I guess im in the minority in wanting to experience content in game rather than a week before launch in a video and in screenshots. How long before people stop logging in because theyre shown too much and decide the content ‘isnt for them’ instead of experiencing it first hand?

In order to actually enjoy the game in the best way that I can, spoiler free, it seems I have to pretty much cut myself off from the social aspect outside of the game itself. The trailer combined with social media (Facebook in particular) and the forums have completely spoiled the surprise of what should be a great patch so in order to preserve one of the few enjoyable parts of the game I need to cut myself off until such a time that things change.

Its a shame as there are some interesting things posted to Facebook and the forums are great way to spend a few minutes (hours) reading but hey, I guess im in the minority in wanting to experience content in game rather than a week before launch in a video and in screenshots. How long before people stop logging in because theyre shown too much and decide the content ‘isnt for them’ instead of experiencing it first hand?

I honestly think that there should be MORE exclusive items that arent tradable in the game. Players should be encouraged to look unique and making rare items that only select people have is a step towards this. I currently wear my Fervid Censer with pride because its a reminder of a living story patch I enjoyed, its relatively rare (compared to other backpieces anyway) and fits with my overall theme of my character.

Id even go a step further and say that people who have proven themselves in certain disciplines should have unique skins. Similar to the achievement system but with things like jumping puzzle completion, dungeon master, certain PvP and WvW ranks…. and more harder content when (IF!) its released.

Six months and still going! Looking to add to our ranks once more so feel free to contact one of our officers if you have any questions about joining our friendly and helpful guild

Xeno Mezphy.3145:

So wait, it really sounds like what you’re explicitly asking for is Anet to make the trailers JUST vague enough so that no one will speculate and potentially ruin the story for you. My suggestion is to avoid the forums about the new content until that content is out. If the trailers spoil too much for you don’t watch them. If the forums spoil to much for you don’t read them. If you like having arms, keep them out of the wood chipper.

Speculation is great and is something id hate to see lost. Showing significant patch content in trailers is my issue. As for using the word ‘me’ this thread is based on my opinion of the trailer and I try not to assume that there are many others feeling the same way that I do. What I do know is that a few friends feel the same way, and the trailer could be made more vague which could lead to an increase in people logging in and could lead to a small increase in gem sales as a result.

The simple answer a lot of people use is ‘just dont watch it then’ but this doesnt apply because ive given valid reasons why trailers are generally good, valid reasons why changing them would work in the games favour and just the plain old fact that I shouldnt have to avoid content when alternatives can exist.

HiddenNick.7206:

Was it your first ever watched trailer?! A Hint: DON’T watch trailers!

Trailers that show the rough outline of whats coming up are great at bringing attention to new content because they get people guessing as to what they will see/experience in the next part of the living story and therefore more will log in because no one is sure whats happened. Trailers that show many detailed images of what the player will experience are just spoilers. As I say, im not against trailers but I am against spoilers.

We’ve already got people on the forums combing through every little bit of detail from the trailer and posting detailed summaries of whats happened and what we will experience. This is a week before the patch hits. Telling me to avoid looking at trailers is baffling as id have to avoid looking at the forums and any related Youtube videos. Had the trailer been more cryptic id have been enjoying reading/listening to the theories being bandied about, wondering whats going to happen next.

I know roughly whats going to occur, who is involved and what happens to large parts of LA. Whats left? Oh, the achievements. Goody. Im feeling rather flat about the penultimate Scarlet living story release instead of being excited and that isnt right, surely?

The issue is the cap, but the cap cannot and will not be changed so a completely different system is needed. It would take a hell of a lot of work to create a new system because of balancing and im guessing thats why a fix hasnt been created. But it seems to me that it doesnt take a rocket scientist to suggest ideas… its the implementation that’s the sticking point.

What if mobs were given special condition damage stats? The max stacks that could be placed on a mob by each player would be based on those stats. Each conditions damage would then be based on the amount of stacks placed by that player onto the mob in addition to base condition damage. The lower the stacks placed on the mob, the higher the intensity of the condition.

For example dungeon mobs would have a condi-stat of 5 so that each player can only place 5 stacks onto the mob. If the player could normally place 10 stacks of bleed on the mob for 5 seconds then you would get 5 stacks at double bleed damage for 5 seconds in this case. If condition-bursting is an issue link the condi-stat not only to a change in intensity, but also to a change in duration. Same example as before only instead of 200% damage per bleed it does 150% and the duration is 50% longer.

This would require a hell of a lot of balancing… so much so that I wouldnt hold out hope. Id love condition builds to be viable but theyd need to be rebuilt from the ground up- something I dont see ANET doing.

(FYI world bosses would have a condi-stat <1)

We’re all entitled to our opinions and this is mine so im really not trying to win people over here. All I am saying is that you could make a trailer that showed less and still satisfied all.

An example of a trailer done well- the Karka invasion of LA.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2ddErJ2c5I

The trailer shows the (then) new map of Southsun, some of the mobs there and then a monster rising from the deep (Karka Queen) and plonking itself in LA before a fade out. This shows exactly whats in store but doesnt give away too much. It got people logging in because they didnt see the destruction it caused (which wasnt much in the end but it could have been) and wanted to see how this beast impacted LA. We didnt know if it was going to destroy buildings, players or even eat the mystic forge! The trailer was a reveal but not a spoiler.

The same could have been applied to the latest trailer- have the Aetherblade pirates roll in, fade out and then back in to shots of the attacking enemies (with some dramatic music) and then out again to the title.

Im not surprised that LA is going to be attacked, im annoyed that ive seen a lot of the devastation without even seeing it in game.

As said in my previous posts had you taken the time to read them, im not so much annoyed by the spoiler of the story because we knew LA would be attacked from the previous living story release. My issue is showing exactly what LA looks like post-attack, not letting us experience the jaw-dropping carnage for the first time IN GAME. Its not the trailer ive got an issue with, its the content of the trailer. Put simply it shows more than it NEEDS to show and its all but ruined the experience for a fair few of us.

Sure I didnt need to watch the trailer but I didnt know it would show the amount that it did. Past trailers have done the same. I know whats happened, I know what map is involved, ive seen the carnage and the mobs and the build up. All from a trailer. What if the makers of movies suddenyl decided to place all the key story scenes into their trailers revealing exactly whats going on. Why watch the movie?

This trailer may as well have been an aerial shot of LA with a bullet-point list of whats going to happen and where, involving what. Maybe im in the minority in wanting some suspense but in my opinion its one of the main things holding GW2 back and one of the main reasons why my attention is being swayed towards other MMOs. Theyre new so I dont know whats around the corner.

Starscream.6498:

Thereon.3495:

So here’s an idea of how I would change that trailer- keep the LA part at the start but replace the Aetherblade pirate ships with the sound of one then fade out. Fade back in to screams and to the odd bit of burning rubble, fade out to the title. This tells the watcher roughly whats going to happen but doesnt throw images of a burning Lions Arch at us.

I honestly don’t see how that would change anything. If you make the simplest connection you would again conclude that Lion’s Arch is going to get destroyed.

Was an idea off the top of my head. I do understand that spoilers are inevitable as anyone with a brain will figure it out from a promotional trailer but its the detail of spoiler that is starting to annoy me. I dont think its needed to sell a product and I actually think that its detrimental to the game to show too much imagery. Leave people guessing as much as possible and youll have more logging in checking it out.