Guild Wars 2

Matthew.5716:

Minoru.1237:

JQ is not full and locked. It’s a high population server throughout most weekdays.

^That.

And, have you ever been in JQ wvw beside prime time? If not please do not act like you know. And yes FOO was awesome enough to cover our leakage, but how much do you think 1 guild of Oceanic players can do in 3 BL and 1 EB? They probably keep switching around to help out the others and in the mean time the BL they just left will be attack right of.

Was? What do you mean “was”? Did FOO leave? I hope not… I was starting to love seeing those guys show up. Besides, I was still working on some catchy phrase for when enemies had to face the FOO-FIRE.

I admit I like this one as well. Weird thing is, the more I do the Fractals the more I like all of them… including the swamp one. What started off as a complete PITA is now becoming a more strategic challenge and easier to overcome.

You would be quite busy and welcome in Jade Quarry. We’re having population issues at the moment, the only reason we’re slipping a bit in Tier 1.

That would be wonderful. You may very well be treated to mango pies too.

Surbrus.6942:

SteepledHat.1345:

This is unbalanced, and if guardians are in fact as useless in a siege as mes then they need a fix too. It’s ridiculous.

My Guardian alt kicks the kitten out of my Mesmer in a siege, all that support. Guardians are even better at sitting on siege weapons since they don’t rely on active defences to keep them alive.

Not to say that Guardians are awesome in a siege, but they are way more useful than a Mesmer (unless the Mesmer is on portal duty).

I have a guardian alt as well, and I’m finding more and more fun to be had with that elite tome (the offensive one), even on sieges. Hit 4 to give everyone a quickness, then let them Feel your Wrath, repeatedly. 5 is great to blow people away from the door on the other side.

Hmm… trouble playing a mesmer at a siege now? Maybe you should simply focus a little more, get some feedback… yeah, they did screw up the phantasm with the line-of-site thing… even a speed bump keeps it from casting now and wastes the cooldown as well. But there’s still plenty to do effectively.

Focus 4 is fun.

Tommyknocker.6089:

I’d go with Sleigh:

(S)uperior, (L)ogistically , (E)ngineered, (I)ngenious, (G)yrocopter, Model (H).

Oh, you’re good. But mayby “Gyrocoptical Hovercraft” or the like?

It needs one.

I’d recommend “Toy Aerial Remote Delivery In Style” personally, but I’m sure you all can come up with something better…

You know how you catch a one of a kind rabbit?

Unique up on it.

Sorry, remembered that from… well, a long time ago. Unique, account bound items are exactly that, something your character can only have one of but can be shared by any characters on your account. One thing to consider before requesting a refund in doing what people have mentioned… using this on (or saving it for) an alt. Odds are this is work you would have done in the future anyhow for an alt, so think about that at least.

Some of the Norn bodies demand a Santa style jacket.

A whole month of it too! Wintersday in GW1 was always my favorite event from any MMO, really looking forwards to this.

I wonder if Grentches will be making a return appearance?

“Learn more” doesn’t seem to go anywhere as of yet.

I like it. It allows for a large growth potential in horizontal progression with the addition of new agony-like mechanics and new infusions for future sets of ascended gear and dungeons.

I noticed this during the Fractal where you’re a member of the Fire Legion… my mesmer has traited such that a dodge leaves a clone behind. When Charr’d, this trait isn’t working. I was dodging my posterial region off and no clones were being created on dodge.

This still works fine at all other times however, it’s only in that Fractal when I’m Charrified.

This is being fixed in the next patch. Invisible or Invulnerable players will no longer affect the capping circle.

I will be sad if candy cane shards don’t appear. I still have a bunch in GW1 and I’m trying to figure out a way to smuggle them into the HoM…

Mountain Man.7901:

Tusuri.3178:

Again: you don’t want to understand (denial) or you can’t understand.

I hadn’t considered denial. That certainly explains his strident objections.

When you can’t attack the argument, attack the person delivering the argument. Once again, that holds true I see.

Ba air.1372:

VOLKON.1290:

Astralporing.1957:

VOLKON.1290:

How can this be so difficult to grasp? FotM has the first tier of infusions, those that combat agony. The next dungeon will have the next set that combats a different condition. This is a perfect setup for horizontal progression.

Horizontal progression never requires new gear to open new content. In horizontal progression you never end up behind, without some key eq, because you were absent for a year.

That’s the beauty… you won’t be behind to get into the new content. You don’t even need ascended gear to enter the dungeons, and from what I hear agony isn’t even started until level 10 (someone correct if wrong, level 7 and haven’t seen it yet). You’ll only need the infusions, so they say, to get deep into the dungeons (deep as in high levels, high agony).

So, you can be gone a year, come back and hop into the newest dungeon, picking up where you left off. Then you can work the ascended gear/ infusions as you go, at the same pace as everyone else.

But will you be able to find a group to take you in a year? Will you honestly find it easy to get a group that wants someone at low dungeon level and not enough gear to progress as far as the levels will have reached in a year?

They’ve even stated that new content will have the agony mechanic, so you will be behind in every single one of those dungeons starting out if they don’t change that. This is vertical progression, you have no idea what you’re talking about. This is classic WoW stuff. There is a teeny tiny period where the average group will accept new people into a dungeon that requires increased stats.

It’s not so much if you’re actually able to do it in a year, it’s if anyone will do it with you, and that will be a tiny amount. You see it already with story mode dungeons. It’s hard to find a group for one because it provides little benefit to anyone but a leveling character. People are not going to want to do the lower level FotM a year from now, not in a great amount.

Why wouldn’t you be able to find a group? Exotics are exotics. To get in dungeons, that’s more than enough. Agony is a mechanic for this dungeon… expect new mechanics for new dungeons which quite simply means everyone starts fresh with the new content. Even if they carry agony over, it doesn’t kick in until level 10 I believe… you can go into Fractals now without agony gear, as everyone that has gone in so far has. You’re confusing the mechanics that allow deeper progression with power.

Astralporing.1957:

VOLKON.1290:

How can this be so difficult to grasp? FotM has the first tier of infusions, those that combat agony. The next dungeon will have the next set that combats a different condition. This is a perfect setup for horizontal progression.

Horizontal progression never requires new gear to open new content. In horizontal progression you never end up behind, without some key eq, because you were absent for a year.

That’s the beauty… you won’t be behind to get into the new content. You don’t even need ascended gear to enter the dungeons, and from what I hear agony isn’t even started until level 10 (someone correct if wrong, level 7 and haven’t seen it yet). You’ll only need the infusions, so they say, to get deep into the dungeons (deep as in high levels, high agony).

So, you can be gone a year, come back and hop into the newest dungeon, picking up where you left off. Then you can work the ascended gear/ infusions as you go, at the same pace as everyone else.

It needs to be enhanced to change all stealthed characters within 1600 yards of the mesmer in addition to the target. And it should work on the target even if they go into stealth while casting.

Knockdowns can be a pita, that’s for sure. However we also have a dodge mechanic now that should be used to help avoid those. Most PvE creatures have a pretty obvious tell before the big attacks… watch for those and you should be fine.

I think the dungeon is great as well, I have a blast in it. It’s unfortunate that there will be groups that are… less than impressive, I guess? I’ve had a couple groups fail and fall apart and some that blow through it quite well. Hopefully you and your wife find good groups as well. If you’re on Jade Quarry, look me up and I’ll join you on my guardian. He’s only around level 70, but the lower tiers are feasible at those levels.

Tusuri.3178:

VOLKON.1290:

Yikes.

They simply felt the need to add a layer of progression to fill the time gap that exists between getting exotics (next to no time these days) and legendaries. Exotics still are the big deal… legendary gear is only available as a ring and back piece and serve to allow deeper delving into Fractals. There’s no treadmill, simply a new tier with new horizontal progression possibilities that will, in fact, prevent a future treadmill from taking hold.

Relax. It’ll be ok.

Again, you’re puking their PR BS before even chewing it. Following your logic (time gap to fill) they could have added another -really cool- cosmetic tier with different same-level stats combinations and effects (lighting, fire, poison, whatever…) – anyway, we had the Mystic Forge and precursors to fill that “time gap”…

On the contrary, the introduced a new tier WITH addition of stats —> Vertical Progression.

Again: you don’t want to understand (denial) or you can’t understand.

Regards

They could have chose something different. They didn’t. They added one more level to get horizontal from. No one denies this one last tier is vertical. Expanding in the future within this tier, as they’ve stated, is horizontal. New tiers with more power… should that happen they’ll likely lose me as well. (I’ll still play, but be grumpy.)

I appreciate the italicized irony however. Made me giggle.

Tusuri.3178:

@ Volkon

Dude/dudette, I apreciatte you being positive and enthusiastic about the game. But still you don’t make sense. You keep playing with semantycs, misusing concepts and displaying incorrect data.

Vertical Progression (AKA stats addition on gear, ergo more power for the “new gear” wielder) is already implemented in the game as is power creep, the unbalance impacting open world, pvp, crafting… at this very moment. There is not middle term. Same thing for infusions, their stats (off/def/omni), their impact is gonna be felt in the open-world (check the info!).

Also, they’ve made pretty clear in their statements that this is just the beginning – personally, keep some faith that they’ll revert the changes, reason because I still post on the forums…

I could agree with you if you said “I love the change because I’m fond of vertical progression”. What I cannot agree with is self-denial a/o logic-myopia.

Dude. Thanks for checking.

Yes, there’s one new “power increase” added with the new tier. No one is denying that. But look where they put it… between exotics and legendary items and, if I understand this correctly, legendary gear will be the equal to ascended in power.

Now, it’s reasonable, based on other MMOs out there, to worry about a power progression beginning to take shape. However, all they’ve done is fill the time gap that existed between exotics and legendary items. One more small step in power, then flat line across with future ascended items.

You worry about the impact of the new power tier, and that’s a valid concern. But, look again. The increase is marginal at best. Let’s put it in perspective… when WoW puts out a new tier of gear and you go up against someone in that new tier while you’re still wearing the prior tier… what happens? Usually the guy in the new tier is doing something unmentionable to your corpse while you formulate a complaint about being one-shot. That’s not the case here. Let’s say someone gets the backpack and ring and goes into WvW. They will not be rolling over anybody there. Skill will still trump the marginal gear advantage. Plus, in the future, there will be additional ways to get ascended gear, and WvW was specifically mentioned as one place it’ll be available. Nutshell… it’ll be available to all that wish to put the time in to it, and future expansions of the tier will be lateral, not vertical.

I understand the concerns. Believe me, if they add a new tier after legendary, for example, I’ll have the same concerns as the fanboy in me gets crushed. But I don’t see that happening, based on what they’ve shown and said. The rage, it is premature.

Kirani.2690:

I am tired of people saying if ascended gear only impacted PVE it would be ok. I hate PVP and will never do it. I bought this game because I was promised horizontal progression in PVE once I got my exotic armor. I played GW1 for five years and loved it because I was never in a vertical treadmill. I bought GW2 because I expected (and was promised in the manifesto) that I would be able to play GW2 for years (including expansions) without a treadmill. Now after only 3 months the game I bought no longer exists. The company I thought I could trust no longer exists.

Yikes.

They simply felt the need to add a layer of progression to fill the time gap that exists between getting exotics (next to no time these days) and legendaries. Exotics still are the big deal… legendary gear is only available as a ring and back piece and serve to allow deeper delving into Fractals. There’s no treadmill, simply a new tier with new horizontal progression possibilities that will, in fact, prevent a future treadmill from taking hold.

Relax. It’ll be ok.

Mountain Man.7901:

VOLKON.1290:

Vertical implies a power progression, it’s that simple.

Having to grind out upgraded gear to take on new game content is vertical progression. It’s that simple.

No, it isn’t. Vertical progression is power increase. This is not power increase.

Mountain Man.7901:

VOLKON.1290:

Mountain Man.7901:

VOLKON.1290:

Mountain Man.7901:

VOLKON.1290:

Mountain Man.7901:

VOLKON.1290:

there’s no indications they’ll keep pushing further and further tiers out there to keep you chasing the unobtainable.

This is, in fact, exactly what they’ll be doing.

“This is just the beginning. In November, we’re only adding the first level of Infusions and Ascended Rings and Back slots, so that leaves us a lot of room to build upon these levels of Item progression in future content.

“As we release more new end game content in the future, you’ll see more Infusions and Ascended item types being added to the game. Eventually, you’ll be able to kit yourself out with a full set of Ascended gear and high end Infusions to help give you the edge in end game content.”

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/linsey-murdock-unveils-new-high-end-ascended-gear/

You’re reading this wrong. This is exactly the opposite of what you claim. This is horizontal progression, not vertical. More infusions and ascended items is expanding the tier horizontally, not pushing a vertical treadmill. I stand by my statement and use your quote as evidence… there’s no indication that they’ll keep pushing out new tiers of gear and having you perpetually chase the uncatchable.

I am not reading it wrong. They explicitly state that the current Ascended gear and infusions are only “the first level” (read tier) and that they plan to “build upon these levels of Item progression in future content”.

The only way that could be any more clear is if they outright admitted that they’re adding an endless gear-grind and vertical progression to the game. That they’re doing this after selling the game on the promise that the end-game would be based around horizontal progression is a slap in the face to their customers.

How can this be so difficult to grasp? FotM has the first tier of infusions, those that combat agony. The next dungeon will have the next set that combats a different condition. This is a perfect setup for horizontal progression.

I’m going to assume you have no idea what “horizontal progression” means, because what you just described — having to continually upgrade your gear in order to take on new content — is the exact opposite of horizontal progression.

I also think it’s ironic that you earlier said that “there’s no indications they’ll keep pushing further and further tiers out there to keep you chasing the unobtainable”, and now you’re arguing they’re going to do exactly that.

Ay carumba. Having the option to change infusions or to pursue a new set of ascended gear for a new dungeon is not vertical progression. It’s lateral. You’re not becoming more powerful, just changing to equally powerful gear specialized for a task. You’ll have agony gear, and maybe you choose to have a gear set for the next dungeon as well. If you wear either set into, say, Arah you’ll be equally powerful there.

And how is any of that unobtainable? You’re not making sense. Right now, you gather agony gear to allow you to go deeper into Fractals if you wish. Later you gather… vampiric… (making that up for conversations sake) gear to allow you to delve deeper into that dungeon. Later still, a new infusion, new set of gear if you wish. Maybe you only want one set and choose to change slotted infusions instead. Your choice. Power curve is flat. Progression is lateral.

Yeah, what you’re describing is not horizontal progression. You’ll have to constantly jump on the treadmill and grind out a new set of gear and/or upgrades in order to take on new game content. Sorry, champ, but that’s a textbook example of vertical progression.

Vertical implies a power progression, it’s that simple. This is not a vertical progression. It’s horizontal. Hell, you can probably buy the infusions off the TP if you want.

Different infusions won’t make you more powerful. It’s that simple. They’ll simply tune your character to specific dungeons. This is not a treadmill. This is horizontal. With the classic treadmill scenarios, you basically dispose of your gear as you progress into new tiers. That’s not the case here. You keep your ascended as you go along. Maybe you tweak it, maybe work a new set. You don’t climb the power ladder. It really can’t be stated more clearly than this.

No no NO! We do NOT want to go down that path. That’s what will lead to forced roles and a more trinity like playstyle that this game is not based around. Dungeons and other content would need to be re-balanced to account for targeted healing, which would in turn balance things away from everyone else. Bad idea.

KeeVasha.5874:

Love the pic Luna Yes, yes I would love to have this butterball as a pet for my ranger.. woot! He can gobble the mobs to death LOL

Ah, as a mini-pet perhaps, for us non-ranger types?

cesmode.4257:

Harbard.5738:

Seriously, this is baiting negativity for the sake of it. Stop, people.

I am welcoming positive and negative feedback. Its all opinion. Everything is welcome, no one is wrong.

If that’s true, then ideally you’d remove the negativity from your post and instead ask the question in a neutral manner. By listing nothing but things you opine as negatives you’ve “poisoned the well” as far as the direction of the conversation would be driven. If you do need to give what you consider negatives regarding their capabilities, you should also include positives, such as a new tier of gear designed to bridge the “time to acquire” gap from exotics to legendary, a new and ridiculously fun dungeon, a new jumping puzzle that most people I’ve seen think is a blast, new recipes for crafters added, new sPvP map added, new content, things of that nature.

If you want a balanced conversation, begin with a balanced post.

Mountain Man.7901:

VOLKON.1290:

Mountain Man.7901:

VOLKON.1290:

Mountain Man.7901:

VOLKON.1290:

there’s no indications they’ll keep pushing further and further tiers out there to keep you chasing the unobtainable.

This is, in fact, exactly what they’ll be doing.

“This is just the beginning. In November, we’re only adding the first level of Infusions and Ascended Rings and Back slots, so that leaves us a lot of room to build upon these levels of Item progression in future content.

“As we release more new end game content in the future, you’ll see more Infusions and Ascended item types being added to the game. Eventually, you’ll be able to kit yourself out with a full set of Ascended gear and high end Infusions to help give you the edge in end game content.”

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/linsey-murdock-unveils-new-high-end-ascended-gear/

You’re reading this wrong. This is exactly the opposite of what you claim. This is horizontal progression, not vertical. More infusions and ascended items is expanding the tier horizontally, not pushing a vertical treadmill. I stand by my statement and use your quote as evidence… there’s no indication that they’ll keep pushing out new tiers of gear and having you perpetually chase the uncatchable.

I am not reading it wrong. They explicitly state that the current Ascended gear and infusions are only “the first level” (read tier) and that they plan to “build upon these levels of Item progression in future content”.

The only way that could be any more clear is if they outright admitted that they’re adding an endless gear-grind and vertical progression to the game. That they’re doing this after selling the game on the promise that the end-game would be based around horizontal progression is a slap in the face to their customers.

How can this be so difficult to grasp? FotM has the first tier of infusions, those that combat agony. The next dungeon will have the next set that combats a different condition. This is a perfect setup for horizontal progression.

I’m going to assume you have no idea what “horizontal progression” means, because what you just described — having to continually upgrade your gear in order to take on new content — is the exact opposite of horizontal progression.

I also think it’s ironic that you earlier said that “there’s no indications they’ll keep pushing further and further tiers out there to keep you chasing the unobtainable”, and now you’re arguing they’re going to do exactly that.

Ay carumba. Having the option to change infusions or to pursue a new set of ascended gear for a new dungeon is not vertical progression. It’s lateral. You’re not becoming more powerful, just changing to equally powerful gear specialized for a task. You’ll have agony gear, and maybe you choose to have a gear set for the next dungeon as well. If you wear either set into, say, Arah you’ll be equally powerful there.

And how is any of that unobtainable? You’re not making sense. Right now, you gather agony gear to allow you to go deeper into Fractals if you wish. Later you gather… vampiric… (making that up for conversations sake) gear to allow you to delve deeper into that dungeon. Later still, a new infusion, new set of gear if you wish. Maybe you only want one set and choose to change slotted infusions instead. Your choice. Power curve is flat. Progression is lateral.

cesmode.4257:

Try not focusing on me.

Isn’t this a thread about whether or not your opinions about ANet’s capabilities are true or not? Seems like it, and I say they’re not as evidenced by what ANet has done to date.

Pochibella.8394:

VOLKON.1290:

A few level 85 champion turkeys running around that drop handfuls of exotic poultry meat would be a nice touch.

With a new cooking recipe for Roasted Butterball. The only downside is, after you eat Roasted Butterball, your character’s movements get slower and slower until they unbutton their pants and fall asleep watching keg brawl!

OK.. that redefines win.

Considering they’ve given us two great updates already, kicked the living… um… let’s go with “kitten”… out of the bots, fixed numerous bugs and continue to do so and in general produced what I see as the best game on the market the answer is a resounding yes regarding their capabilities, regardless of whether or not you’re trying to use your biased against opinion to spark a negative, ANet bashing thread.

Perfectly on topic.

A few level 85 champion turkeys running around that drop handfuls of exotic poultry meat would be a nice touch.

cesmode.4257:

Ofcourse the thread is going to be people’s opinions. Thats the whole point. I’ve restrained my self from providing my own opinion in this thread. I think Ive done enough of that recently. Im just trying to start a civil conversation, for and against.

No, your post is opinion based.

With the recent patch, the overwhelming bugs and lag, the overwhelming negative feedback and response to Ascended gear, Fractal levels, Legendary handouts, with the underwhelming response that has been provided from arenanet to address our concerns… Do you think Arenanet, as a development studio, has the resources(financially, personnel, infrastructure, creativity, skill) to maintain/support/appease the game and the playerbase? Does it have its “virtual finger” on the pulse of the community, providing what we want, in accordance to what they think is best for the game?

Opinion. I don’t see these" overwhelming bugs and lag. I see a handful of people complaining about ascended gear based purely on misconceptions. I don’t see a problem with Fractal levels or with people getting precursors for legendary weapons. I don’t see an “underwhelming response” from ANet regarding things that I don’t see as issues in the first place. ANet continues to be impressive in their development and progression of the game. In, of course, my opinion.

But you can’t state your opinions as facts to base a conversation around.

cesmode.4257:

Hi,
First off, I this is not a post for or against arenanet. It is not meant to be derogatory, trolling, or attacking.

With the recent patch, the overwhelming bugs and lag, the overwhelming negative feedback and response to Ascended gear, Fractal levels, Legendary handouts, with the underwhelming response that has been provided from arenanet to address our concerns… Do you think Arenanet, as a development studio, has the resources(financially, personnel, infrastructure, creativity, skill) to maintain/support/appease the game and the playerbase? Does it have its “virtual finger” on the pulse of the community, providing what we want, in accordance to what they think is best for the game?

I will not add my own opinion just yet. Just starting a discussion.

In other words, concerning all aspects of developing and maintaining an MMO, do you think Arenanet is up to the challenge?

Moderator edit: removed CoC infraction from thread title

Practically this entire post is based on opinion. They’ve already shown they’re up to the challenge as they continue to improve upon an already great game.

No Fractal 7 groups yet… dang, hopefully I’ll find one this evening.

I think you made up the player Y and Z part.

Mountain Man.7901:

VOLKON.1290:

Mountain Man.7901:

VOLKON.1290:

there’s no indications they’ll keep pushing further and further tiers out there to keep you chasing the unobtainable.

This is, in fact, exactly what they’ll be doing.

“This is just the beginning. In November, we’re only adding the first level of Infusions and Ascended Rings and Back slots, so that leaves us a lot of room to build upon these levels of Item progression in future content.

“As we release more new end game content in the future, you’ll see more Infusions and Ascended item types being added to the game. Eventually, you’ll be able to kit yourself out with a full set of Ascended gear and high end Infusions to help give you the edge in end game content.”

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/linsey-murdock-unveils-new-high-end-ascended-gear/

You’re reading this wrong. This is exactly the opposite of what you claim. This is horizontal progression, not vertical. More infusions and ascended items is expanding the tier horizontally, not pushing a vertical treadmill. I stand by my statement and use your quote as evidence… there’s no indication that they’ll keep pushing out new tiers of gear and having you perpetually chase the uncatchable.

I am not reading it wrong. They explicitly state that the current Ascended gear and infusions are only “the first level” (read tier) and that they plan to “build upon these levels of Item progression in future content”.

The only way that could be any more clear is if they outright admitted that they’re adding an endless gear-grind and vertical progression to the game. That they’re doing this after selling the game on the promise that the end-game would be based around horizontal progression is a slap in the face to their customers.

How can this be so difficult to grasp? FotM has the first tier of infusions, those that combat agony. The next dungeon will have the next set that combats a different condition. This is a perfect setup for horizontal progression.

Tusuri.3178:

VOLKON.1290:

It’s still horizontally based progression. Yes, they’ve added a tier between exotics and legendaries to fill a time-to-acquire gap, but they’re beautifully positioned now to expand laterally in the future with additional sets of ascended gear, introducing legendary gear (and more sets of legendary in the future) as well as adding new infusions to customize ascended (and legendary) gear down the road. Here’s how I see it now, and may ANet smack me with the Hammer of Idiocy if I’m wrong

With all due respect: This statement is contradictory in the extreme. (bold is mine)

I suspect that either you havn’t put too much thought into it or you just have no clue on what you’re talking about.

More ascended gear along the same tier. Similar stats, new skins, new infusions. It’s not that complicated. FotM ascended gear will be comparable to new ascended gear from the next dungeon, but there will likely be new infusions to go for. Instead of agony gear, maybe vampiric gear or something. Similar stats, different mechanic to account for.

Mountain Man.7901:

VOLKON.1290:

there’s no indications they’ll keep pushing further and further tiers out there to keep you chasing the unobtainable.

This is, in fact, exactly what they’ll be doing.

“This is just the beginning. In November, we’re only adding the first level of Infusions and Ascended Rings and Back slots, so that leaves us a lot of room to build upon these levels of Item progression in future content.

“As we release more new end game content in the future, you’ll see more Infusions and Ascended item types being added to the game. Eventually, you’ll be able to kit yourself out with a full set of Ascended gear and high end Infusions to help give you the edge in end game content.”

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/linsey-murdock-unveils-new-high-end-ascended-gear/

You’re reading this wrong. This is exactly the opposite of what you claim. This is horizontal progression, not vertical. More infusions and ascended items is expanding the tier horizontally, not pushing a vertical treadmill. I stand by my statement and use your quote as evidence… there’s no indication that they’ll keep pushing out new tiers of gear and having you perpetually chase the uncatchable.

You know, a level 2 on a ballista will still rip you and your ascended armor a new one, right? Just food for thought on the day before Thanksgiving…

Mountain Man.7901:

Southern Lord.7254:

99% of the game is the same to how it was 1 week ago.

1% of the game has now caused upset.

It literally makes no sense. You can choose not to get the new gear, or wait until it is available via different means. Everyone has chosen to spam the forums instead.

Good work guys.

It’s because that 1% represents a dramatic shift in design philosophy that flatly contradicts the manifesto that ArenaNet loudly trumpeted when marketing this game. There’s really no doubt that future content will feature similar gating through arbitrary gear checks that will take considerable time and effort to overcome, and many of us who bought this Guild Wars 2 based on promises of grind-free gameplay are reasonably upset about it.

No it doesn’t. You’re grotesquely overreacting here. I’ve explained it earlier in this thread, unfortunately people choose to ignore common sense and instead regurgitate unfounded arguments. They do not contradict the manifesto in any way, shape or form. There is no carrot on a stick being introduced… these are carrots you can actually reach (in time) and there’s no indications they’ll keep pushing further and further tiers out there to keep you chasing the unobtainable. You have exotics, the quick gear. You have ascended, the gear that takes a moderate amount of time to get and has minor improvements to help entice people to go for it. And you have legendaries. You’ll most likely see these tiers fixed now, with lateral progression within the tiers (new ascended sets with new infusions, legendary gear may be introduced). You won’t see “hyper legendary godly” gear coming in a future release that renders all legendaries obsolete.

It’s a nice system. You can have a sense of progression, and they’re eliminating the endless gear treadmill as promised. All you have to do is step back from the emotional hyper-reactions and look at the system logically. There’s an elegance built into it now that can last for years to come.

Hsinimod.5784:

Isn’t LA north of the equator of Tyria? So, it can be fitting to have snow.

I’m not sure if they scrapped it, but GW2 was supposed to have weather. I’m slightly expecting the world to have snow for a few months. But it is very very slight.

A lot of places south of the equator have snow too.

Lion’s Arch has always been the hub of Wintersday, it would be sad to see that change. However, I wonder how it’ll play out with the gods being silent and all that… Dwayna and Grenth going at it each year is just the way it’s always been.

Amen.2630:

i would stop to play this game and wait for it to get stabile and fixed

I stopped all other games to play this game, so I think I at least half agree with this post, more or less.

Yes, get exotics of course. They’re easy to get and will make it so you can actually get deep enough into Fractals to pursue ascended gear if you so wish to do so. Also, as mentioned, there’s only the back pieces and rings available right now as it is.

Exotics will always play an important role in your characters progression. They’re the frosting on your cake. All ascended is is the extra sprinkles put on the frosting.

Right now there’s only back pieces and rings to shoot for anyhow, and the only time you should see anyone “requiring” those are groups heading deep into Fractals, so if you’re not doing Fractals you’re effectively ignoring nothing and it really shouldn’t have any detrimental effects on your game.

tkalamba.2541:

delmarqo.5038:

notebene.3190:

But because it impacts WvW, it would ‘seem’ like it might create a have/have-nots scenario and impact people in other areas because they chose not to participate in that sort of game play. That is what makes it game changing, in my eyes.

I haven’t been paying very close attention to Ascended, so had been assuming Infusions were only for Agony events and that other, Ascended gear was only 4-6% better stats than Exotics.

Is that what affects WvW (where 4-6% can add up to a lot when one side has more players in it than the other)? Or is there something else about Ascended I am missing?

Infusions can give a +5 to a single stat aswell, but otherwise you are correct. Fortunately for WvW it’s already very unbalanced, and the stats will not win over strategy, communication, and actual skill. Coordinated servers will always win regardless of Ascended.

Not only that, but a level 2 on a ballista will still rip your 80 in Ascended a new one.

It’s still horizontally based progression. Yes, they’ve added a tier between exotics and legendaries to fill a time-to-acquire gap, but they’re beautifully positioned now to expand laterally in the future with additional sets of ascended gear, introducing legendary gear (and more sets of legendary in the future) as well as adding new infusions to customize ascended (and legendary) gear down the road. Here’s how I see it now, and may ANet smack me with the Hammer of Idiocy if I’m wrong:

Exotic gear: Level 80 high end gear that’s easy to obtain and sets you up to handle practically all content (save, currently, high end fractals). Can be achieved practically as soon as you hit level 80.

Ascended gear: Moderate time to acquire end game gear. You have to work a bit for it, but the lightly enhanced stats and the need for agony resistance to progress deeper into the Fractals will make it worth the time investment for many people.

Legendary gear: Quit your day job, you’ll need the time to fully set yourself up with these items. Currently weapons only, but I’d personally expect to see legendary armors and the like in the future as well. Stats may be comparable to ascended or slightly better still. Won’t be necessary for any exclusive content… it’s pretty much purely for show of dedication. May require multiple Gifts of Ascension, for example (it should be able to be infused, after all… people will want to wear it in fractals).

I like this set up. It allows even more casual players to get the gear they need for the vast majority of the content (let’s be honest, not too many casuals will be deep in the Fractals, and if they are they’ll be getting the gear to run Fractals), it allows more “hard core” people a tier to work for and there’s still the beacons glow of Legendary items out there for us all to fantasize about.

If they hold fast at these tier levels and don’t add more later I think they’ve ultimately nailed down perfectly exactly what they’ve said all along… no endless carrot on a stick grind yet enough gear to progress towards to satisfy most people.

Separate Fractals and Dungeons? Well poo, I thought that my Fractal runs would have me covered. Hmm… to dungeon, or not to dungeon… that is the question. Whether tis nobler to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous bosses…