Guild Wars 2

With a name like ‘daredevil’ I was expecting something more along the lines of a swashbuckler theme, which I thought would have been pretty cool.

Instead, we got something that’s more like a ninja. While I do think the new skills & abilities will be pretty cool, I think ‘assassin’ or something that evokes martial arts would have been a more appropriate name.

I could see this in a PvP/Activity map, and it could be a lot of fun. But not in the main game.

A few things…

The best way to learn the game, is to play it. People can give you all sorts of advice, but in the end you just have to play it and find what works for you. Try different professions, different weapons. Swap out utility skills and test them. Eventually you’ll find the ones you like best.

Also – don’t judge a profession till you’ve leveled up a bit and some time to get to know the profession. In PvE I would say most don’t really start to come into their own till around level 20, and most don’t shine till 40 or so. PvP dumps you into things already at 80, so things are a little different. But PvP is very much a game of skill, and you’ll need a little time to build those skills. If you’re having fun with a profession, stick with it. If you’re not sure, play some more and see how it works after you’ve gotten better at it. If you just flat out do not like a profession, find another.

Don’t be too concerned with the exact stats on your gear till you’re up in levels. You can gain levels in GW2 pretty quickly, and it’s not worth worrying over something that you’ll be getting rid of soon. Especially, don’t waste money on buying high stat gear till you’re 80 for the same reasons. And don’t feel you have to have specific stats to be competitive, you can be quite effective following an unconventional path if you know what you’re doing.

Picking and choosing which three trait lines you want to follow is part of the game balance. Picking which accessories you want to slot into your gear is part of the game balance. You can’t have it all. If picking one line makes certain runes obsolete, then pick new runes to replace them with.

As someone who runs a Mesmer, I never had much problem with mobility. I also didn’t pick the trait to reduce fall damage, nor used runes to speed up my movement – I considered other things more important. If falling is such a bother, then pay more attention to your surroundings and what you’re doing.

Chronomancy will certainly be one of my Mesmer’s traits – but that’s because of all the other abilities that come with it. It suits the way I play. The speed boost is just a bonus to me.

Speaking only for myself, but I can already tell there is at least one Specialization that I shall not pick – the Tempest. All of the skills/abilities in it are close range. My elementalist uses a staff, likes to keep a distance from the enemy. Tempestry doesn’t suit that play-style.

Part of the reason for the Betas is to balance the Specializations. Check the various threads on them, not everyone likes every Specialization. Not everyone is going to use them.

I welcome them because they give me more options. The ones I like I’ll use. The ones I don’t, I won’t use.

I would like to see things that are a bit more… realistic.

Don’t get me wrong, the artists on GW2 do fantastic jobs! But so much of what they make is really fancy and exaggerated. Weapons are huge and would require superhuman strength to life. Armors are covered in spikes/protrusions/whatever.

There can be an elegance in simplicity. A lot of my favorite armors and weapons are the more simple ones. They can still look really good, without looking overdone.

The Mastery system as it is now is too complicated. Earning XP to unlock a skill/ability is fine. Earning points to unlock a skill/ability is fine. Having to do both is unnecessary.

Picking one system of the other would make the experience a lot more fun.

What would also add to the fun would be to tie the various skill trees to a quest to unlock the tree. Learn gliding from an NPC, learn a language from an NPC, etc. It be a lot more interesting, and logical, than magically knowing something from killing a bunch of monsters.

I love these! They look good, all follow the same general style, but are also unique to each race. Well done, I hope we see more outfits that follow the same trend.

I still miss Town Clothes, though.

The tablet was not the easiest thing to manage… but by the end of the weekend I was kind of getting the hang of it. It helps if you map a key that’s easy to reach for your healing skill.

It’s not all that different from an Engineer’s healing turret, except the tablet is mobile! And I don’t think it’s possible to attack the tablet. Add those together and it has a huge advantage over the turret.

I can sum up my feelings on Chronomancy thus:

I love, love, LOVE Chronomancy!

I had already been playing a well Necro for some time, so it took me almost no time to adapt to them on a Mesmer. It was like a perfect blend of the two.

The shield also proved to be useful. Not sure if it’ll replace a pistol as my off-hand weapon in the end, but it was fun playing with a shield. Or I might wind up switching between the two depending what I’m expecting.

Mesmer was my favorite in GW1. It became my favorite in GW2, and now they are even better!

The new Mastery system could use some tweaks. It just seems redundant to have to fill an XP bar to unlock mere access to a skill, AND earn mastery points to spend to fully activate the skill. It’s an unnecessary level of complexity. Choosing one or the other should be good enough.

runeblade.7514:

Tregarde.6031:

It will never happen. Your Personal Story is tied to your race, the choices you make at creation.

Also, this forum is for Heart of Thorns feedback, not general GW2.

Only Level 1-30 personal story is tied to race.

Not entirely true. You meet characters from across all the Personal Stories up to the end in Orr. Some characters you only meet at first depending on choices you made at creation. In Orr, sometimes it depends on which mission you pick. If you come across a character you encountered before, they’ll acknowledge it.

It may be a minor detail, and not something that really effects anything beyond a few lines of dialogue, but it IS tied to the Personal Story.

The biggest challenge to the enemies came at the start of the weekend, when I didn’t know how the enemies act, and I was testing out brand new skills and weapons (and a brand new professions).

By the end of the weekend, I was doing pretty good against them. I had learned what new skills and abilities worked for me. I had learned what to expect from enemies. I was able to solo most things of Veteran status, only really having trouble when there were other enemies around.

For group events, it really just came down to people working together. As long as people worked to take down Vine Tenders at the same time, the giant vines were a breeze (though I do think the Tenders could lose a little health). Other events worked in similar fashion – as long as people worked together, events could be beaten.

I think, overall, the enemies this weekend had a good challenge, without being too difficult. Sometimes, we just had not yet worked out the best way to deal with a particular enemy/event, but we shall given a little time.

The Dragonhunter is such a mixed bag. Like others have pointed out, nothing about it says “I hunt dragons,” nor do the new abilities feel particularly original – Rangers have had bows and traps since the beginning. It really does feel like like a blend of Guardian and Ranger more than something unique.

BUT… I did find the new stuff to be useful. I didn’t spend much time playing with traps, but what I did seemed helpful in some situations. I can easily imagine the trap that reveals stealth will be a huge bane to Thieves in PvP.

I also found the bow fit my play style a lot better for ranged combat than the staff ever did. It certainly gives Guardians some versatility they didn’t have before.

Overall, I liked playing with the new Dragonhunter stuff.

I have one criticism about the Tempest: I play my Elementalist with a staff – I like to keep my distance, laying out AoE’s, direct damage, and support as necessary. Almost everything associated with Tempestry is designed for close range. Which means, it is pretty useless for my play style.

But, I can see how others, particularly dual dagger elementalists, will love the Tempest. Lots of good stuff for them.

I don’t expect this to change for Tempestry, but in future content I would like to see some love for us who prefer to keep some distance from enemies.

It will never happen. Your Personal Story is tied to your race, the choices you make at creation.

Also, this forum is for Heart of Thorns feedback, not general GW2.

The new Mastery system could use some tweaks. It just seems redundant to have to fill an XP bar to unlock mere access to a skill, AND earn mastery points to spend to fully activate the skill. It’s an unnecessary level of complexity. One or the other should be all that is needed.

wabat.9817:

I started playing GW2 for the first time at the beginning of July…

I think I see part of the issue right there. You’ve only been playing GW2 for one month. You haven’t had time to fully learn the game and how to play your chosen profession(s). GW2 isn’t a complex MMO like some out there, but it does take time to master it. You may have had time to level up to 80, but that is only the beginning.

I’ve been playing GW2 for 3 years, and I’m still learning. Heart of Thorns wasn’t made for beginning players. I’m hardly an elite player like some out there, but I didn’t find the content in the beta too difficult. Yes, it was a bit rough at first, but that’s because I had not yet learned how the new enemies act, and I was testing out new skills and weapons. Once I got used to the new stuff I started to do pretty good. By the end of the weekend I found things challenging, but in a good way.

The new Mastery system could use some tweaks. It just seems redundant to have to fill an XP bar to merely gain access to a skill, AND earn mastery points to spend to fully activate the skill. It’s an unnecessary level of complexity. ANet should pick one or the other.

If you’re able to handle the open world content that’s already in GW2, especially the Silverwastes, you should have been able to survive in HoT. I’m hardly an elite player, but I was able to adapt. The biggest challenge was in first exploring, when I didn’t know how the new enemies behaved, nor how the new skills and weapons I was testing worked. By the end of the weekend, I doing pretty good.

Undoubtedly, some things need to be tweaked. But, overall, I think things in this beta provided a good challenge without being too difficult.

dazydee.1509:

- Quest to get/make a glider: There is enough debris to salvage and enough pact ship engineers stranded. Why not do a questline around “We are stranded here and have no means to get around if we don’t have any means to get airborne. Let’s salvage the wracks and see what we can come up with.”…

I fully agree. I know this was just a beta, and we can’t expect everything to be in its finished state, but on release I would very much like a real quest to earn a glider. It’ll make acquiring a glider so much more interesting than ‘suddenly, wings.’

After spending a couple hours exploring the new Lion’s Arch I feel it’s a bit of a mixed bag. There certainly are a lot of new places with very high RP potential. I do like that there is a mix of architectural styles.

BUT… I think ANet went a little overboard with making it “new and shiny”. I would like to have seen more of the old LA still present, even if only subtly… to see that the new was built on top of the old. I would like to see more in the style of the guild building – new, but still harkens back to the previous atmosphere. So much of the old sandstone is now covered in white.

AND WHERE’S THE FOUNTAIN? Why was the Crow’s Nest destroyed and moved, it survived the attack! They were practically historical landmarks! And seriously, they couldn’t rebuild the statue of Cobiah Marriner, instead building a huge green monument around it?

New LA is a bit too open, it feels too much like a huge park, not a city. I suspect some of that was to address how some people had poor performance in LA. But still… they could kept it a little more interesting.

Ah well, it is what it is. I’m just being really critical because I LOVED the old Lion’s Arch. It was special, unique. There was something about the spirit of never giving up, making do what you had in the makeshift construction. There’s good stuff in the new. I’ll adapt. But I’ll miss the old Lion’s Arch.

papry.8096:

Tregarde.6031:

Let’s break it down, assuming typical numbers…

WoW, EQ2, etc:
$15 per month for a year = $180
$40 for an expansion
TOTAL – $220 a year (assuming 1 expansion per year)

GW2:
$60 for game at release
No monthly subscription
$50 for 1st expansion in 3 years
TOTAL = $110 over 3 years, or average $36.67 per year

So, over 3 years, the typical player would have spent $660 in WoW, EQ2 or any typical subscription game. But only $110 in GW2. Does not seem like a bad deal to me. The only criticism I have is that, with a new Profession coming out, I feel all editions should include the free character slot.

Cashshop…..cough cough…

Cash shop is completely optional. No one has to use it. There is nothing game-changing in the Gem Shop. Any money you, I, or anyone else used to buy gems was by choice, not a requirement.

Let’s break it down, assuming typical numbers…

WoW, EQ2, etc:
$15 per month for a year = $180
$40 for an expansion
TOTAL – $220 a year (assuming 1 expansion per year)

GW2:
$60 for game at release
No monthly subscription
$50 for 1st expansion in 3 years
TOTAL = $110 over 3 years, or average $36.67 per year

So, over 3 years, the typical player would have spent $660 in WoW, EQ2 or any typical subscription game. But only $110 in GW2. Does not seem like a bad deal to me. The only criticism I have is that, with a new Profession coming out, I feel all editions should include the free character slot.

I found it rather amusing. Yes, it would be nice to be able to turn it off, but for now I’m going to enjoy it.
~makes airplane noises and runs off~

Personally, I had a good time running around. I remember when having airplane arms was an infrequent bug, and now they turned it into an April Fool joke. Even added sound effects and aviator helmet.

Seriously, I’m having a blast with this. WvW as an airplane? HAH! Okay, it would be nice to be able to turn it off, but for now I’m going to enjoy it.
~makes airplane noises and runs off~

I found it rather amusing. Yes, it would be nice to be able to turn it off, but for now I’m going to enjoy it.
~makes airplane noises and runs off~

Undoubtedly, some in the Nightmare Court. would embrace Mordremoth. But not necessarily all. Personally, I would love to see a scism happen within the Court As has been pointed out, the Court was founded because some sylvari felt their lives were being too constrained and rebelled. I can easily imagine some of the Court basically saying “Oh, hell no! We didn’t give up being slaves to Ventari just to become slaves to a Dragon!”

Imagine encountering this splinter group and becoming de-facto allies against Mordremoth – “enemy of my enemy” type situation. Of course, this does not mean any of the Court becoming “good”, only finding common ground against a more pressing threat. So much potential for good story there.

We have to remember, it’s certain the Court does NOT know about sylvari connection to Mordremoth. As Caithe points out at the end of Season 2, if the Court had known they would have used the knowledge. But how well individuals with the Court take this knowledge once it does come out… we’ll have to wait and see.

As for Caithe’s orange glow in the past…

The “memory” sequences in Season 2 all had a very noticeable sepia tone. Re-watching the scenes (thanks Youtube!) I believe the sepia tone tinted Caithe’s glow so it appeared orange-ish.

But I do like the theory that two sylvari with a close bond could develop a similar glow.

BobbyStein.2315:

…Because of the PC’s assumed rank in an organization that deals in fighting dragons, and that such knowledge isn’t really a secret (but isn’t widely known as characters in the world have no reason to openly discuss it until now)

Even if we can’t all be The Commander, many of us DO play members of the Pact and/or the Orders. Or our characters know people in the Pact/Orders. The Elder Dragons have been a huge topic of conversation among many. I think it only makes sense that anyone who’s been interested in the topic, or even just been around when others have been talking about it, would have heard the name.

I believe the ‘failure’ of Town Clothes is because ArenaNet never fully understood what to do with them, and how much potential they had. I love the idea of Town Clothes. It makes perfect sense that people would dress differently when not adventuring… they dress in clothing, not armor! Similarly, costumes are effectively clothing, not armor.

But instead of giving us a good variety of clothing, we had a very limited number of items. Each armor weight class had many, many more times the number of pieces. With each patch, I kept hoping for more Town Clothes. I kept hoping we might see some of the things that we only see on NPCs, or something equivalent. I kept hoping we’d see a variety of styles from basic peasant to high nobility.

But what did we get? A couple costumes (though I will admit the Wintersday and Halloween sets were well done), hoodies, shorts, and a couple shirts.

Still, even with the limited number of items, I know many people who bought them. Many who used real money to buy the gems for the items, including me. Because we wanted them, and we wanted ArenaNet to know we wanted more! Just counting the number people I know who bout Town Clothes items, that means many thousands of dollars!

Perhaps Town Clothes were not selling ‘well’, but they were selling, and I have no doubt ArenaNet made a profit.

So now we’re being told that we shall no longer be able to mix Town Clothes pieces. Now we’re being told that, despite how illogical it is, we’ll be able to wear clothing into combat. Now we’re being told that we won’t be able to customize (dye) the soon-to-be former Town Clothes items…

How is this making the game better?

Anyone need a bard?
~wink and waves~

Jeffrey Vaughn.1793:

We’re listening. That area was never intended to be accessible, but we’re looking at other changes we can make that won’t confuse players trying to visit their home instance or continue their story, and won’t get in the way of RPers. I don’t have an ETA for when a change will go in, though, sorry!

Thank you for listening. There is a finite amount of open, uncontested places in GW2, so when we lose access to one that so many had been enjoying it can be a blow. I’m sure people will understand that it may take a little while, but we can be patient.

Having access to un-instanced Salma District wasn’t hurting anyone. It wasn’t giving anyone an unfair advantage, it was accessible to anyone. It wasn’t giving anyone access to anyplace they couldn’t find from instanced Salma – it’s difficult to even call having access to un-instanced Salma an exploit since it didn’t reveal anything, nothing was hidden – since both use the exact same map file.

Yes, it was originally intended to be blocked from players, but some adventurous souls found ways in. And once players found ways in they did something remarkable – they USED it! Players found places they could use as homes. They found an open tavern. They found a hospital (the only real one in the entire game). They found an orphanage. And they USED these places, because un-instanced Salma allowed more than 5 people, because un-instanced Salma allowed people access without needing an invitation. You could find people there constantly. Un-instanced Salma District promoted fun.

And isn’t that what Guild Wars 2 is about? The main reason I became interested in GW2 was because, back when the Manifesto Video came out, it seemed like the devs got it! They understood what fun is, what is fun in an MMO and what is not. And it seemed like they wanted to make the most fun game they could.

Accessing un-instanced Salma may have been accident, but it was a good one! People had fun. Taking it away diminishes the fun in GW2.

Having access to un-instanced Salma District wasn’t hurting anyone. It wasn’t giving anyone an unfair advantage, it was accessible to anyone. It wasn’t giving anyone access to anyplace they couldn’t find from instanced Salma – it’s difficult to even call having access to un-instanced Salma an exploit since it didn’t reveal anything, nothing was hidden – since both use the exact same map file.

Yes, it was originally intended to be blocked from players, but some adventurous souls found ways in. And once players found ways in they did something remarkable – they USED it! Players found places they could use as homes. They found an open tavern. They found a hospital (the only real one in the entire game). They found an orphanage. And they USED these places, because un-instanced Salma allowed more than 5 people, because un-instanced Salma allowed people access without needing an invitation. You could find people there constantly. Un-instanced Salma District promoted fun.

And isn’t that what Guild Wars 2 is about? The main reason I became interested in GW2 was because, back when the Manifesto Video came out, it seemed like the devs got it! They understood what fun is, what is fun in an MMO and what is not. And it seemed like they wanted to make the most fun game they could.

Accessing un-instanced Salma may have been accident, but it was a good one! People had fun. Taking it away diminishes the fun in GW2.

Honestly, I’m fine with keeping armour restricted to certain professions. I can not think of a single reason why my Mesmer or Elementalist would be wearing plate armour. And allowing heavy armour professions to wear lighter armours would be unfair.

What I would like is more town clothes. I could even see town “armour” for people who want to be shiny while strutting around a city.

I also wouldn’t mind if Fine Transmutation Stones were a little easier to obtain.

Interesting, but as you describe it, it seems a little complicated. While I have always supported a random number generator, I think something simpler would fit the spirit of GW2 better.

To use EverQuest 2 for example, there is the /random command. By default it produces a number from 1-100.

Add a number after the command, it will now use that as the maximum. For example – /random 20 would produce a number from 1-20.

Also, when generating numbers, they are only visible to people who are grouped together. This makes it impossible to spam general chat with random numbers. Of course, in EQ2 you can have raids of a couple dozen people whereas in GW2 the largest group possible is 5. But I think it would still be a good idea to limit a /random or /roll command to only be seen by people in a group.