Guild Wars 2

I loved it when ANet put living story achievements in OS. Oh the crushing of nubs and throwing them down the cliff when they FINALLY got through the arena. I still have probably 20 litres of tears stored in my cellar.

On another note, I’ve had some of my best duels in OS, too. And boy have I been showed my place in a few of them.

Lately it’s been more quiet there, but all the more reason to jump at every opportunity to crush the enemy. It’s such a cool place for PvP too, if you move around and don’t just camp the chokepoints (or just camp the start).

Opinions…

I like that the bows have strings. It makes them look like… um… bows.

Instead of just curved pieces of wood/metal/whatever.

Thrashbarg.9820:

It’s not something they can fix. Their servers are as top of the line as they can get, their game engine as modern as possible given development costs. The problem is the game is too complex for current tech. 80v80v80 results in billions of simultaneous calculations over 240 systems with varying latency. With combo fields/finishers, projectile physics, position/direction/velocity based calculations, boon/condition interaction/stacks/timers/power of sources etc. there is more going on behind the scenes than the combat in any other MMO.

There is no such thing as maximum calculation capacity. It’s just a matter of investment and if it’s reasonable to invest as much hardware when it’s only needed for maybe 5% of the time.

The really powerful and expensive computer systems are calculating important things though, like protein compositions, etc. Not silly computer games

The real problem with Zergs is that they make the game unplayable because of skill lag. That’s not the fault of zergs, of course, but ANets unwillingness to put in resources to solve that particular problem.

Zeldain.5710:

Everyone that posts things like this doesn’t realize because ArenaNet chose a free to play model, they have to design monetization tactics into the gameplay… that is quite simply what you are seeing with so much grind (and ways around it – the cash shop.)

Interestingly enough the cash shop will not help you in collecting the 500 pcs of ascended materials. It can help you to skip the other parts by converting to gold, but the ratio sucks.

For whatever faults I could attribute to ANet for not fixing the skill lag or introducing gear grind, I still have to take my hat off when looking at the gem store. They still don’t sell power or even measurable shortcuts. It’s still mainly cosmetics and convenience, just as it should be: People spend money on it because they want to support the game.

The day they introduce clear shortcuts to BiS gear or blatantly start selling it, I’m out, for good.

MikaHR.1978:

As long as they can show good concurrency/login numbers they will not care.

Hah! You think that’s how they really measure how well the game is doing? That’s just something to brag about and hopefully to attract more customers. Think about it for a second before blurting out stuff like that.

“Over 450000 concurrent users!”

vs.

“Over 20 million USD spent on our Cash Shop”

Now which one will attract more customers?

No, the day their revenue starts going signifigantly down they will have our attention. OUR attention who still play the game, but are no longer giving them any money. We are still spending their resources but somehow we don’t feel like the game is worth any of our hard earned cash anymore.

Only then they start asking us “Ok what do you want to make you pay for the game again?” and really caring about what we answer.

Could you tell me, in your opinion, where the string in that bow should be?

Do you know how bows work?

Talyn.3295:

I would like to see us get the weapon storage bags like where added into guild wars 1. This allowed for us to store gear and such. Although during that time we didn’t have nearly as many options for weapons/armors as we do or need now. Nor did we have the large bags for that game as we do now…

I don’t know if we have it better now then then.

We already do have equipment bags. Too bad they don’t differentiate between loot and your soulbound items.

There are some kitten fine characters in this thread, with some total disasters in the mix. I’ll post mine when I get home

I run kick all the time in my OS trolling build.

Khal Drogo.9631:

And if you are just doing a daily, probably in a year you would get your first ascended weapon.

If you are just doing dailies you have absolutely zero reason to get an ascended weapon, ever.

Olvendred.3027:

Chris.3290:

One thing you should note, however. WvW remains the best place to get Empyreals. A whole JP for 3, or you can run a karma train and get 3-4 per a camp and 5-8 for towers.

Except for the whole ‘20 per dungeon run’ thing.

Pwned.

Well yes, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to get WXP for capturing the points.

MikaHR.1978:

I would like to point out little phrase “vote with your wallet” but since you cant do that, vote with not playing, not logging in.

Of course you can vote with your wallet. Do you think they are running the game with holy spirit? Thousands and thousands of people are spending money on the gem store every day.

I have so far spent at least 150€ on this game, including the box. I have made a decision I will not spend any more until they fix the skill lag in WvW. Thus I have voted with my wallet.

Guild notice board. Guild event calendar. Guild halls…

The list is long. Guilds have got no love since guild missions were introduced (but I admit that update brought a ton of stuff for guilds).

LordByron.8369:

We need market regulations….macroeconomy can be good but most players have 0 benefit from that and sees the TP as broken as the worst inflated economy.

Nah. We just need listings to be timed, with longer listings costing more than short ones. In addition, I would also time buy orders and move some of the sell order fees to buy orders (maybe 2% listing fee on buy orders and 3% on sell orders).

I’m actually happy that capturing these points do not give any rewards besides the buff itself. We have enough running after loot piñatas in WvW already, to the point where some commanders are deliberately avoiding enemy zergs in favor of flipping more towers/keeps.

I don’t know how this is a problem. You didn’t get any before while doing the same activity you’re doing now. Now you do. If you don’t do crafting, is deleting them such a chore?

Everyone can imagine their dream MMO and put it into words. Unfortunately, those words are meaningless unless you go ahead and create that game.

I’ve noticed that Obsidian Sanctum is the best place for 1v1 or small group combat.

Olvendred.3027:

I largely agree. My own prediction is that the large, organised guilds, who already station scouts in keeps and towers, will simply designate 3 more people to sit in the cap points to stop them neutralising, and to shout out for assistance from the main force if they’re attacked by more than they can handle.

And that is bad, because…?

If people are willing to stay on a bloodlust point / tower / keep to act as sentries, it’s working as intended.

My crystal ball shows a lot of small skirmishes here, but obviously taking the points will require a larger force to be able to hold them for that 2 minutes. Which will bring more non-siege large combats, which is good, right?

I still wish they’d fix the skill lag before they introduce this. Fat chance, I know.

Someone seems to be angry because his listings are sitting there forever now and he’s going to have to relist them, losing the deposits.

Queensdale is a special place for special people.

Navi.7142:

http://gw2dragons.com/temple/of/balthazar

lol… that doesn’t seem alright.. Balthi is just a temple like all the others, but only open on two worlds right now, whereas the other temples are open 6+.
Yeah, that must be the right difficulty for Balthi.. -.-

Well to be fair Balthazar has the most wanted karma items so it should be the most difficult, too.

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

I really enjoy the invasions. And, yes, ‘yay, Champ loot’. I’m not much of an Orr person, so it’s great, in my eyes, to get those high-level mats from the loot bags/boxes. Plus, getting a named exotic is always an ‘Oh, yes!’ moment. Now I am looking forward to one of those Ascended gear boxes. =)

This post pretty much sums up why the game has become what it has become. People don’t mind if the difficulty is trivial. In fact, they’d rather have it trivial as long as it comes with a big, fat loot piñata.

They don’t want to earn anything. They just want to have everything.

Coinspinner.5691:

FFXIV ARR is a far superior product. I would suggest playing that.

It’s quite impossible to get a copy at this time. Maybe when they open digital sales again AND after the initial re-rush dies down. I am inclined to try it out, but I will probably wait until the first “free” month is over and the locusts are gone.

Brother Grimm.5176:

Tom Gore.4035:

GW2 is good, no doubt, but the latest trend of grindy updates is worrying me. How long until you can start buying items that skip the grind from the gem store?

So option 3 is that they just give out all the best stuff when you log in for the first time?

I’m not sure how any game can have “rare” equipment that players want and not have ANY grind to obtain them? The Devs have NEVER said grind does not exist, just that is not NEEDED to play all aspects of the game. You don’t NEED full Ascended gear and Legendary weapons to actually play end game areas.

You misunderstood me. What I meant is that the content in both Queen’s Jubilee and Clockwork Chaos were extremely grindy, repetitive and boring, IMO. The only exceptions really being the Gauntlet and the Playhouse.

The last patch, added a lot of grind with Ascended Weapons (however unnecessary they would be). At least we got SAB and it looks like the next patch will be rather un-grindy as well.

True. Most of them do, however, and for anyone who hates dungeons and/or WvW opening these chests is the only way to get Empyreal Fragments.

Besides, I find discovering and documenting these chests a ton more fun than running the same 6 chests in Queensdale every day

Another one added to Lornar’s Pass.

Added one more chest for Lornar’s Pass.

NOTE The purpose of this thread is NOT to tell people what is the most efficient way to farm Empyreal Fragments. If you don’t like exploring or hunting chests, please go to another thread.

Calling all Tyrian Explorers!

We know that Empyreal Fragments drop from chests all over the world, and that we have a nifty list of the chest locations here:

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/List_of_basic_chests

However, the list is incomplete! There are plenty more chests in the world. I found two myself with only a bit of searching and added them to the list. It’s a wiki article so you can edit it yourself. However, if you don’t want to do that, just post your findings in this thread.

All you who love exploring and discovery, let’s unite and fill this list to the brim!

Nothing to see here. It’s just the forum server getting skill lag. Business as usual.

I’m excited to see what they have done with the new Tequatl fight. Hopefully there will be no safe spots anymore and people actually have to TRY to win the event.

Lostwingman.5034:

Tom Gore.4035:

event tracker websites.

Do they track the events when they start?

No, and that’s the problem. They only show up when the last event (which gives the daily chest) starts.

I guess it is still good in a way that they bring enough people to finish the meta event. With 3 people around it would be a pain to bring ulgoth down.

Grab transmutation crystals (or stones if the gear is below lvl80 atm), buy white armor pieces, transmute the skins onto the white armor, put into bank, take from bank with alt, transmute into the final armor.

Yes, it will take quite a bit of transmutation crystals/stones.

Probably. I’d like to be able to get more empyreal from JPs as they’re my favourite thing and I hate dungeons. Guess we all have to make some compromises, don’t we?

Vayne.8563:

Tom Gore.4035:

Vayne.8563:

And MMO with absolutely no grind is an MMO that won’t get played. The grind is what keeps people playing.

Maybe true with themeparks, not so with sandboxes. UO had pretty much no grind at all and I have played it far more hours than I’ll probably ever spend on GW2.

Adding grind is the developers way to keep players playing when they have no substantial content coming into the game. It’s a trick that they use instead of saying “we won’t have any good content coming out for another half year or ever”.

I’m still totally baffled why developers choose to go this road instead of creating tools that the players can use to create their own content. I’m not just talking about huge creation tools such as the Foundry in Neverwinter or the terraforming tools in Minecraft, but also simple tools like player faction PvP, simple event creation tools, or even just books/letters you can write on and pass to other players.

Sad truth is with Foundry Neverwinter will probably outlive GW2, even if the game itself has much lower production quality and an invasive P2W cash shop.

You’re right. In sandboxes, it’s not grind that keeps people playing…it’s also true that theme park MMOs get far more of a population than sandboxes….which is why people keep making them…and Guild Wars 2 is most definitely a theme-park. All the content is created by Anet.

I mean a game like Eve Online is considered amazingly successful with half a million subscriptions, the highest number they’ve ever had.

The problem with sand boxes is, though they dont’ have grind, you really do have to be married to them to get anywhere. People complain about the grind in themeparks, but it’s often sandboxes that are far more of a job, at least where MMORPGs are concerned.

Sandboxes are only grindy if you make them. They don’t have to be.

On the other hand, themeparks need to be grindy because there is no dev team big enough to churn enough content for the players to keep them playing without time sinks.

LorVan.1029:

Mh I’m pretty sure it wasn’t that much. I collected them from the boxes I saved from the last three invasions I participated into (and didn’t opened until the new patch), and that must be about 80 boxes. About three hours of gameplay. Plus two days of normal world bosses routine, that perfectly fits a few pauses from my studies, and makes for about a couple hours each day overall.
About mats and things, I didn’t took notice of the exact amount, but I guess I’m not more than 30-40 g richer than a week ago, and cumulating mats to get over 400 crafting.

The fact remains that my 450 mat piles keep getting higher, even by casual gameplay, without a mean of using them.

Then just level to 450 crafting. To 425 you get by refining orich and ancient wood. The rest you will get by discovering 7 exotics.

30-40g plus the mats you have should be plenty.

Used to be much worse than that. Previously one step on a stairs height difference and you would miss with it. It still isn’t perfect and I wish I could jump from the battlements and hit ppl down there with the earthshaker, but I guess it will never happen.

Vayne.8563:

And MMO with absolutely no grind is an MMO that won’t get played. The grind is what keeps people playing.

Maybe true with themeparks, not so with sandboxes. UO had pretty much no grind at all and I have played it far more hours than I’ll probably ever spend on GW2.

Adding grind is the developers way to keep players playing when they have no substantial content coming into the game. It’s a trick that they use instead of saying “we won’t have any good content coming out for another half year or ever”.

I’m still totally baffled why developers choose to go this road instead of creating tools that the players can use to create their own content. I’m not just talking about huge creation tools such as the Foundry in Neverwinter or the terraforming tools in Minecraft, but also simple tools like player faction PvP, simple event creation tools, or even just books/letters you can write on and pass to other players.

Sad truth is with Foundry Neverwinter will probably outlive GW2, even if the game itself has much lower production quality and an invasive P2W cash shop.

Rewards are balanced. End of discussion.

Now eat your skill lag porridge and be a good boy.

Personally I’m done with WvW until the skill lag is fixed. I might go to OS to kick people off ledges and camp the arena to vent my frustration, but that’s it.

White Raven.4368:

I see more commander tags in Deso Lion Arch than all of the maps of WvW these days.

Well I rest my case. You have all the people and commanders to do it. They just choose not to do WvW.

OP has not played WvW recently I see.

Take the skill lag we have today, then multiply it by 5-10 and you can imagine what it would be like without the cap.

And Politsu, graphics have nothing to do with it. It’s a purely mathematical problem with too many calculations in too little time.

Seveleniumus.5973:

GW2 is undeniably the best MMO out there, so you might as well give it another go.

I agree, but I also add that it tells more about the state of MMOs today than about anything else…

GW2 is good, no doubt, but the latest trend of grindy updates is worrying me. How long until you can start buying items that skip the grind from the gem store?

So around 110-150 chests for one ticket. You must have some nice disposable income lying around to spend that much on a single weapon skin

Dude you just necroed a thread that had the last reply 23 days ago. I think the stress problem for this particular commander is already solved.

Alleluia.1320:

That may be what the update is called, but I really doubt that it is just to introduce a rework of a boss fight. That can’t be all that’s in it. That’d be more bare bones than the original Queen’s Speech update.

We’re getting an LFG tool and WvW is getting the new Bloodlust mechanic.

It’s quite a bit of content for a 2-week release, actually.

LorVan.1029:

I’m sitting on 8 piles of bloodstone dust that just take bag space. And I don’t have enough money yet (or t6 mats) to get to 450 crafting and get anything useful out of those.
A way of converting those accountbound thingies in lesser materials (say, a few T6 materials………..) would be extremely, EXXTREEEEMELY appreciated, Anet. Seriously.

So what did you blow all the mats/money you got from those 150+ champion bags/boxes into? What about all the other stuff you gained from mindlessly farming that many champs?

kingcragus.6810:

Flogging a dead horse

It’s not dead until it’s fixed or they close the whole WvW. So I’ll keep spamming every thread regarding this as long as it takes or they ban me.

WvW is just unplayable with the skill lag problem and they are about to introduce Leagues into it.

Competitive and unplayable don’t really belong in the same sentence in my books.