OP learned a lesson why it’s not a good idea to buy those keys. At this point I’d rather consider it a protest against putting the weapon tickets / scraps behind random gating. Others don’t have to agree, but I’m against it.
Queensdale is also good for dailies and monthlies due to many events that include veterans, champs and are on fast recharge. I spent some time in Ashford plains and it was much slower. Hoping ANet won’t simply tinker with QD but rather buff the event / champ rates for other areas instead.
Maybe an exotic barber could come over for the Queens Jubilee?
It’s perhaps too naive to expect ANet to release any vanity stuff for free when they can sell makeover kits in the gemstore.
Not that I wouldn’t love a barber feature, even if it was like 1 gold per makeover. That barber would soon be the richest person in Tyria…
If they want to make mini-games engaging, they need to make them fun, not put a load of achievements in them and hope people spend time in them just grinding achievements.
I wonder if the skins will be available for ALL champions or if it will be somehow level restricted. If all skins can drop from all champs, Queensdale will have even bigger zerg than now killing champs. But if only high-level zone champs drop good skins, I’d imagine Orr will see more play than currently.
After Anthony’s comment I’m now carefully optimistic about at least having a chance to get the rapier, if it will be tradeable via TP(albeit super expensive).
I would’ve much preferred the personal portal to be a free port to your race capital, like someone suggested (and to get some traffic off LA) or even a waypoint you can save to a waypoint of your choosing, sort of in LoTRO (1-hour cooldown). Either would’ve been a great addition.
A dev said its coming in the next patch.
Supposedly in some random box again? Sigh.
It’s such a highly desired item. It would be bad business not to take advantage of that and put it in the gem store.
I’m really tired of reading people defending randomness with “good business”. Isn’t it also good business to keep your customers satisfied? And why do we even need to care about “business” if we want to play the game, have fun and acquire a single item we want?
And ironically, I’d – again – be perfectly fine with putting it in the gemstore like some weapons they had. I’m just afraid – again- that it will be gated by RANDOM and a lot of bad feelings.
New zones to explore – not necessarily packed with content. There’s so much to explore just on the continent we’re currently on, so open it up for us! I know I’m probably in the minority here, but I’d love just to roam around in the world even without no grand and “epic” stories or rat-killing quests to go with it.
I don’t care about the personal story that much that I wouldn’t take the race change option for at least a few of my characters. I’d happily do the story again if needed, without rewards, or just skip it altogether. I would imagine they use the personal story a a reason why they won’t give us race changes, but they assume everyone cares for the story as much as them (for all I care you can reset the achievement points as well).
I would like smaller mini-content updates like the Living story every month or so, but I would honestly prefer expansion-type content updates with several new zones, game mechanics, instances etc. all released at once.
A dev said its coming in the next patch.
Supposedly in some random box again? Sigh.
GW1 did introduce the concept of elder dragons awakening and their corruption. Perhaps you were being sarcastic, but I would be rather hunting and/or researching for Primordus than having an election. Maybe even meet some dwarves during the process. Maybe it’ll come eventually, but with this current pacing, we’ll die of old age before all the dragons are dealt with.
I’m also disappointed that instead of going to face the threats that GW1 introduced and GW2 built it’s whole premise upon, we’re dallying with the living story.
For a while, it looked like they were making a Destiny’s Edge: The Next Generation with Braham, Rox, etc. I really hope this does NOT come to pass!
Well, Kiel will fit the role of the boring human of the party… Canach can be the rogue of the group. Now all we need is a spunky male asura and we have a gender-reversed 5-man team.
Looks like they changed her face to a unique face players can’t make instead of the generic one she had earlier as a “faceless” NPC. So it was not planned to make her a star of Living story from the get-go.
Call me a cynic or something, but I have real trouble believing that ANet actually would let this be a fair election and that they have not already decided who will win. And we have really no way of knowing the truth either way. One would assume that future storylines for living story is already being worked on and decided months ago for production.
But if indeed ANet has prepared the entire storyline until the end (or maybe they’re just making it up as they go along) branching from this point depending on who wins, then kudos, I guess. Other obvious choice, of course, is to make the election not really matter at all.
The devs basically said (can’t manage to find that quote right now) in an interview that asked about a lot of the features that were in GW1 that GW2 is a different game, they’re not re-making GW1 and if people liked GW1 better, they are free to play it. (the Microsoft route.) So I wouldn’t hold my breath to see all the great features and locations that we loved in GW1, it’s clear that they’re going the different way here with the emphasis on the RNG gemstore and living story.
Tengu would be interesting, they have lots of lore with the GW setting and they have their own mysterious capital / starter zone. And there’s enough variables to make them look different from each other. Shape of the head, different peaks, feather decorations… there was excellent concept art on different types of Tengu by Daniel Dociu, but I can’t find it right now.
We don’t really know all that much about Kiel despite she has been in the “spotlight” for a few story updates now. I guess she’s meant for us players to symphatize with, but I just can’t get anything from her. She’s quite bland (like, unfortunately, much of the Living story & GW2 storylines in general too. IMO.)
In fact, I much rather would like a twist where she is just hoping everyone to take her lightly and wishes to amass power in the shadows, but I think what we’ll get is another Treahearne.
I usually have 2 or 3 opponents running after me trying to kill me while I’m in low health while the rest of my team delivers the crystal to our homebase. People are too hung up with the kill=good mentality than running crystals.
I managed to solo Evon T4 this with my mesmer now as well. It was bit hard, since the plunderer that spawned from the right-side spawnpoint all the time could not be aggroed without having to aggro a few other mobs too. In the end Evon and his buddies saved my hide. Running a berserker shatter build, 20/20/0/0/30.
It does get very old very fast, I may try for Kiel T4 as well but I don’t really feel like playing this too much.
(edited by Traveller.7496)
I don’t know how you can solo this and not have aggro. By the time you run back, plunderers have spawned and possibly more enemies as well. They spawn quite in the back as well near the spawn-sites. I only had ample time to kill the runners in the beginning, they I started getting mob aggro.(sylvari mesmer)
I would actually prefer if they ditched the whole spirit thing from the survival game. IMO it takes away from the actual gameplay a lot.
The stories are connected. You’ll find out more later this year.
I have no idea what is happening in this game. I could talk for hours about the lore and story of GW1 but this new GW2 ‘story’ is just page 6 tabloid filler.
I honestly don’t see how you are planning to tie the story together in any sort of coherent and meaningful fashion. It’s so utterly fragmented as to be nonexistent.
I’d have to agree. What’s funny is that there’s plenty of interesting GW2 lore as well. You know, dragons? The best story idea I saw recently was when someone on these forums said that Kralkatorrik should smash the Sanctum as an event finale. Now THAT would be epic. You can also reveal that Ellen Kiel is secretly an agent of the dragon (taking Sarah Kerrigan approach here) and is behind the whole conspiracy, using it as leverage to score a point in the council, grew her influence and then TAKE OVER THE WORLD!
Erm, that is, I’m sure we get something boring instead.
I managed to do the Borderlands JP’s despite there being always someone from the enemy servers. I just did the JP normally and waited if they would attack me, and since they didn’t, we just did the puzzle normally. Tried Obsidian a few times, it’s the last JP I need, but there have always been so many enemies there I can’t focus just on the JP.
I’m defending RNG because I’m being reasonable here. Anet needs to make money…
Hey, I’m totally reasonable too. I have paid for the game. However, I don’t feel like I’m obligated to crowdfund ANet, which is a financially secure major corporation and not some 5-man software company who desperately needs every penny to survive (whereas the “they need money to make more content for you, you ungrateful wretch!” – analogy might’ve sufficed).
This whole discussion is ironic in the sense that I have said I would GLADLY spend money in the gemstore if they would sell the item I want to buy, not the CHANCE to get it. Do you see what my point is here? This is the mechanic I’m opposed to.
But everything you listed besides the TP is still random. You have a chance to get weapon ticket scraps, I don’t think every BL chest will give them. Same with the events, you can get them. Oh, I will open a few chests with the keys I have spare, and I will do the actual events too. I’m just not putting too much hope on getting a skin from those due to my past horrible experiences. That’s why it’s good that there’s a surefire way to get the skin, even if you have to pay – be it gems or in-game gold.
And anyway, you say that the RNG “wall of randomness” is the cause of your angst, but Anet is clearly on your side by making the skins tradeable. You’ve won. You can avoid the headache of RNG entirely by proceeding directly to the TP. You should be celebrating and you’re not.
Well, that is what I was asking. If it indeed is so that the skins can be sold on the TP, then I am pleased (however I have a feeling I won’t be after I see how much the rapier is going for).
But even if I personally didn’t want to buy these skins, I’d still oppose “random” as an element of item sales. Even with in-game loot it’s not good. That’s why ANet gave us dungeon tokens, instead of randomly dropping some dungeon skinned items from the end-chest. You say business strategy, I say greed – maybe the truth is somewhere in between.
You can argue that it doesn’t make “business” sense to you for them to do this, but they are doing it nevertheless, so it’s fairly safe to assume that there are legitimate reasons and that these are not merely arbitrary decisions designed to aggravate players.
Legitimate reasons in this case being that they have estimated that it makes them more money than selling them separately in the gemstore, hence, my original point about greed.
I do admit though that I am not perhaps being as objective here as I would usually be, mostly because I have failed in the randomness challenge to get myself the skins I wanted for the last few events. And now, I really, really, want that rapier, since it’s the weapon of choice for my mesmer, has been even before the game launched. I’m so disheartened to have it locked behind a wall of randomness and spending real money that I’m very bitter about it, and I can admit it. I guess my only chance is that if they are indeed tradeable, I can at least try to farm some gold and buy one in the TP (can we get confirmation on this?).
Making money =/= being greedy.
But we have nothing to compare to. What if they put the skins themselves on sale in the gemstore and see how much people buy them compared to the randomness? (yes they do this with the armors, but for the most part, they are fugly. Most people want to buy the weapon skins for this round and the previous one.)
I would guarantee you players would be much happier too. Or do you think players would instead complain that now that they took the randomness away, they have nothing to grind and waste money on?
I can’t understand how some people support ANet over this so sincerely. You don’t have to lecture me about how ANet is a business and has to make money either – I don’t think that their whole existance depends on selling Black lion keys on the gemstore. (if it does, their business model is designed probably by some Skritts.)
However I agree that the tradability is a good thing. Does that mean they can be sold in the TP as well?
Why do they have to be so greedy they won’t sell the weapon skins in the gemstore? That worked just fine for GW1.
We all know Mesmers want mainhand pistol, so please ANet, give it to us! Illusionary Gunslinger, here we go!
Why can’t we play several MMO’s if we so desire?
Keep it up! I’d love some other video game and popular tunes that suit the flute well. I’m trying to figure out how to play Concerning hobbits but I can only get the beginning so far.
I really don’t see any way for them to do expansion-level content updates with Living story. Unless the whole thing progresses really, really slowly, like, one new zone every month. But along with an expansion, there’s usually a lot of new game mechanics added, let’s say in GW2 context, a new, playable race (Tengu?), new weapons for each class to use, new minigames, new areas and personal story, class balance…
I find it curious that this deep into development cycles they “haven’t decided” on whether they will have new expansions. Personally I feel like they almost have to. I wouldn’t really mind the next big zone to be Crystal Desert and from there, moving to Elona for a confrontation with Kralkatorrik and/or Palawa Joko. I really can’t see something of that magnitude being released on a two-week cycle of living story.
Living story so far hasn’t got much significance with the personal story or the dragons, though. That’s one of my biggest complains with it – it feels like they have ditched the big plot with the dragons (the main storyline of GW2?) and and constantly introducing new things, people and places. Hopefully they will return to the Dragons sooner than later.
I bought the flute and immediately thought it’s the silliest thing I’ve ever spent real money on, but I loved the in-game music system in LoTRO and playing the flute was fun.
However, I do hope they add some more functions to the music system (again, similar to LoTRO) where you can record a tune and then have it playback automatically and maybe sync with others to form your own little orchestra. Or even if they don’t and it’ll remain a fun curiosity, it’ll be fun playing the flute. Just add the violin next, or a guitar!
I would personally just want big zones like the The Falls in original GW1 where you could just roam around and explore everything and find little out of the way places. Everything does not have to have a huge, epic, story or EPIC EVENTS tied to it! There’s a huge world out there with lots of lore, let us explore it!
Ellen has a chance on the swimsuit round, but otherwise I support Evon all the way.
We don’t want that stuff. We want to play the game. Those charas are made to take those roles as, as a player, those rewards are not rewards at all.
I would have been satisfied that my character became a God after Nightfall or the Lord Commander of the Pact forces in GW2. Instead of, like, the best friend of the hero of the movie who gets the girl and you get her ugly cousin.
The steampunk weapons being hidden behind another RNG ticket system is a bit bothersome. I know they are based on http://raidwarning.com/backend/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/4713599.png being a ticket image, and not a single set has been released as a normal unlock/free save for those Toy Weapons of Wintersday (7 months ago).
Oh man, why?? I saw an awesome rapier-style sword in the previews I’ve been longing for my mesmer ever since the game was released, but you’re telling me it’s behind some random boxes…? My only explanation for it is that ANet hates the players (or at least wants us to spend a lot of potentially pointless money on the gemstore).
(edited by Traveller.7496)
Well, it’s obvious they want Kiel to win (WP costs vs. BL key discount? Come on!) but that would make it even funnier if the playerbase would rally behind Evon and make ANet change their plans.
I did get a chuckle out of “loved and cherished” living story though.
I tried it, but the PvP mystic forge did not accept any of the PvP skins. I don’t care for medium/heavy armors or weapons I don’t use, but I would like the chance to get different light armor pieces for PvP use, if just for stuff like Sanctum sprint.
I agree that it’s quite fun. But like many others I think that there needs to be more ways to harass people in the lead. Currently you can’t really catch up very effectively. Maybe make the skills effect every person on the track instead of close range? I would like it more if the rankings would change more dramatically during the race and the distances weren’t so big between racers.
In Super Mario Kart there is the blue shell that automatically hits the leader (and everyone in its path), perhaps something like this so the winner isn’t always determined by who gets a good start. The checkpoint boost item is a good way to catch up but if you miss a few jumps you’re in the bottom and you stay there.
I wish they got rid of “random” and “chance” for what is simply just weapon / gear skins. They had the right idea with dungeon gear, even if it was a grind, hell, you could get all skins you wanted. I don’t really care if something is “prestigious” or “unique”, I play the game to get the gear I want, not to look or even care what others may have.
Didn’t like seeing the word ‘chance’ in there. I’m tired of ‘chance’. What does it mean, a ‘chance to earn’? What’s wrong with just earning something and leaving ‘chance’ in the ‘been there, done that, it sucked’ bin?
This. I can understand that they want to keep some reward items sort of unique and so that not everyone will have them, but the other side of this coin is the incredible frustration of opening thousands of dragon coffers in hopes of getting the ticket.
I would like a system that if I do X content enough times I’ll get my reward. I don’t mind if it’s even a bit of a grind, if I’m certain to get my item/skin/Quaggan butler in the end.
It seems to me that the blogpost is written by the marketing department, especially this sentence:
" We’ll create events that change the landscape of the world forever, leaving behind epic monuments, destruction, new playable content, and fantastic memories in their wake."
Somehow I don’t feel like the actual content is as epic as ANet depicts it. Personally, I wouldn’t mind waiting longer for permanent content, new areas in our existing world to explore. I feel like there’s a too large focus on storyline here, when I feel like the truth here is that if you give players content and good rewards, they will do it no matter if the storyline would be written by a 7-year-old. That’s why I’m kind of wary of the whole Living story and why ANet is pushing it so hard. I’m not a fan of 2-week rushed temporary content, I’d prefer expansions.
It doesn’t make it film noir if you have a narrator and a black and white setting.
All in all the quality of writing in GW2 has been quite forgettable so it’s good to know you’re actively looking to make it better. I would still say, though, that majority would prefer fun content without any “story” attached to it than just a lot of story with little content.
I would like the option to purchase the skins from the gemstore directly for those that aren’t as lucky as the rest of us or simply don’t like to gamble. I’m sure there are others like me who won’t buy RNG boxes but would spend money to get the skin we want, even if it would be a bit more expensive.