Guild Wars 2

Jack of Tears.9458:

If a Champion is guarding a chest it should have more than a blue in it; the fact that I was able to sneak past it and snag the chest without getting myself smashed to bits shouldn’t have anything to do with the fact that I got it.

Can you imagine if I’d fought my way through the thing and only got a Blue?

Point being, a blue is a really lousy reward for getting past a Champion.

Maybe. I guess it depends on how many people you have with you. You see, if 87 people all show up, and take down the champion, it would be a lot easier. The rewards aren’t for soling, they’re just rewards.

Champions are guaranteed to drop at least a blue…that’s it. They have an increased chance of other higher drops as well, but blue is the minimum.

Sneaking past a champion for some professions is quite easy. Should a thief always get a rare, because he has stealth?

They said more minigames are coming, but that crab toss would be temporary.

Try at 3am, it’s usually not full.

I liked SAB, and the Molten Facility dungeon. I’m really enjoying the South Sun story too. I agree work needs to be done on the skill system, but it won’t replace the living story stuff.

Jack of Tears.9458:

Gotta say, I was pretty disappointed when I cleverly snuck my way past a Champion today to get at a chest and all it had inside was a blue what would have been useless 20 levels ago. Come on, least we should get from that is a Rare.

Why is the least you should get from that is a rare? I don’t really understand this comment.

Illysharia.7286:

Jaall.3420:

It doesn’t really upset that many people though, people don’t like it but these items aren’t needed.

When you build your game around collecting skins for cosmetics, then lock your cosmetics behind RNG, yes, it upsets people.

Jaall.3420:

If they were best in slot then yea they would lose a lot of players, but in this case they really are only sacrificing a small portion of players. I would also bet that while everyone says they’re going to quit over this, they wont and will keep playing for a very long time, because it’s human nature to dramatise a situation in order to see results, but is usually just all bark and no bite.

I think you are missing the big picture here. In fact, I know you are.

ANET made a lengthy song and dance in their pitch when they launched GW2 to herd all the jaded, burnt out gamers that were tired of the mainstream MMO status quo. It worked. That, combined with the reputation ANET had built up with the GW1 community made them the goose and this game their golden egg.

Following me? ok.

In comes Nexon and their monetization specialist. Now everything that is perceived as being valuable in the game is locked behind RNG. It is an effective way to make money, but this isn’t Maplestory. What people are catching onto is that there seems to be a shift to make GW2 more like a Nexon product than an ANET product.

You speak about sacrifice and small numbers, but you miss the point of reputation. A company is nothing without good street credit. Look at EA. ANET, in some people’s opinion, have taken that same path.

I don’t buy this at all. Anet said all along the cash shop would be a major part of Guild Wars 2. They never lied about it.

They said the cash shop in Guild Wars 1 was added as an afterthought but the cash shop in Guild Wars 2 would be more central to the game. I’m paraphrasing here, but it was said straight out.

Furthermore, there’s no pay to win in this shop, which for most people is the cut off point.

There will be people who leave, sure, I get that. But compared to other MMOs out there, this is a very mild cash shop.

That doesn’t mean I don’t agree with the RNG skin thing, but even in Guild Wars 1 I saw some things that changed. Like after they started adding costumes in the store, they stuff they gave away on halloween and christmas for free at events became crap.

Cat ears for Halloween? Oh good. Where is my mask? lol

We have a lot of older people in my guild. I’m 51. My wife plays too (she’s about my age). A few people in the guild are older than me, most are younger. Several people in their 20s as well. It’s a pretty good mix of ages…but a lot more older people than most would think.

I’d never go back to Rift. I didn’t like the game enough in the first place. Well, not completely true. I started off liking it, but ran out of like in a couple of months. I’ve already played GW 2 3 times as much as I played Rift.

LanfearShadowflame.3189:

tolunart.2095:

LanfearShadowflame.3189:

tolunart.2095:

I think people would enjoy this game a lot more if they were to process the idea that it’s not just another expansion to Guild Wars 1.

Many of us are aware of this, and still enjoy the game.

Many players are unable to move beyond “GW1 didn’t work like this…”

There will always be those that will draw comparisons. Veterans that played for years on end are probably more likely than not, and its not a bad thing necessarily. It doesn’t mean we don’t like GW2. Hell, I enjoy the game and yes, there are things I don’t like or agree with, but that’s standard in any game. I only really have issues when the designers logic seems to have gone out the window, at which point I’ll say something, and probably make the comparison too.

In this instance, its more than just GW1 though. I can’t think of any game that I’ve played that has been this wishy washy on trading.
Legendaries but not collectible skins (your example)?
All minis completely account bound and not tradeable?

Maybe it wouldn’t be so much of an issue IF you could get those things other ways, rather than only through the cash shop. And lets face it, the in-game drop rates for the things that have a chance of giving you those things are so negligible, that they may as well not exist.

“So convert in-game gold to gems” I hear people saying…ha, no thanks. Not at 4g+ per 100 gems. I haven’t found my cash cow yet to be able to sustain that insanity.

Most minis are tradeable. Just go to the trading post and do a search on minis. For the most part, the minis that aren’t tradeable are the ones from the RNG reward chests that you buy with cash. But all the other minis are…even the rare one from Flame and Frost that dropped in the dungeon.

laokoko.7403:

ya I dont’ like the living story thing. It’s like you spend a couple hours finish it(thanks to duffy) and there’s nothing left to do in a month.

the sab or molten factory dungeon is a bit better because it is repeatable.

You could always do what I do and not go to Dulfy, until you’ve tried it on your own or you’re absolutely positively stuck and running out of time. Dulfy is not a requirement to do content. In fact, when I was first playing games, there were no hint books, nor was there internet and you just had to figure out stuff for yourself.

When I was young, the internet was called books. lol

Dulfy is a very useful tool, but it can ruin the game if you allow it. Sure you can do everything in a day following dulfy..but it could take you a lot longer if you actually played the content instead of running through it.

killcannon.2576:

Which is exactly what your “The solution is already in game” solution does, fixes nothing. And Guild Wars 2 is an exception. The servers for this game shows accounts bound to a server instead of players actually playing on a server. So there is zero way for a new person to know which server is busy or populated because they almost always show as full or very full, while most if not all other mmos rank servers by players actually on server playing.

I’m not frustrated, I’m dumbfounded. I can go back through your posts picking out ones where you agree with equalizing rewards, disagree with people for bunching up, and various other issues where you sorta flip flop. I’m starting to think you just like to disagree with anything unless Anet puts a stamp on it.

Regardless, I’m done here. I made my suggestions and had a good debate with some people on this topic. I’m not getting into quote wars 3.

I think you take what I say out of context when it suits your needs. Every MMO has ways of keeping players in the same areas, and I’m not against that at all. I think it’s necessary. That’s that.

By the same token, I don’t like events like the dragon events which are completely trivialized by the number of people doing them. Why is this hard for you to understand?

It does get people into the zone doing other events, because the wait for the meta event is often long. So people do other stuff. It’s not a win/win situation, it’s a win/lose situation but it’s better than the alternative. People so spread out that there’s not enough people do do anything in any zone.

Maybe it’s because you’re in the US and you play at US hours. But there are people all over the world playing this game, and if you do it your way, no one outside of the busiest hours will ever have anyone to play with…without some way to draw them all together in the same place.

You think your idea will work and make the game better. I think your idea would be disastrous for the game and it would make the game worse. No, I don’t like over-crowded events that are trivialized, but I don’t see any logic in the solution you propose. Maybe if you proposed something I thought would work, it would be different.

tigirius.9014:

Vayne.8563:

You forget that the temples in Orr and in fact Orr itself has recently been made harder. And all you hear are the farmers complaining they can’t farm it anymore. Farmers aren’t necessarily casual players. They’re players with a particular play style. They don’t care about or particularly want challenge. They want faceroll content that they can farm. The new changes kitten them off.

It’s not casuals who are necessarily the ones insisting content be easier. There are many different demographics that contribute to this.

Farmers are just as much players as anyone else. We bought the game like everyone else. Now that that’s said….The people who farm events aren’t the same calibor as the type of farmer I am.

I farm mats so that I can craft or sell the mats so I can actually make some money, but with DR and the problems that it imposes it makes it impossible to farm even events not because they made them harder but because after only a few kills suddenly the event enemies put us into DR without any way of knowing how long it will last, how to get out of it, and in some cases it’s account wide.

I can see why now you are so against threads about loot, makes sense to me now, misanthropy is not pretty.

SNIP

I’m not using the term farmers for people who just gather stuff. I’m talking about people who find the most profitable thing to do in the game and just do that over and over and over again,. because that is the entire game to them.

While that may be fine and dandy because they bought the game too, the truth is, Anet has always had a love/hate relationship with farmers. They’ve always added things to stop speed clearing for example.

On one hand, yeah it’s great, they own the game they can do what they want…on the other hand, if you remember what Orr was like until recently, none of those events could really be enjoyed because of people farming them constantly. That’s all they did, over and over.

So you follow this game, you get to Orr, and all you see are walls of players taking stuff down so fast you can’t even tag it. You have to learn how to do these events so that you can get some credit. Is this the best use of the game? Is this great for new players getting to Orr, where Orr was simply a walk in the park because there were so many people there? Where is the challenge or drama?

So Anet makes Orr harder, because it is supposed to be the hardest content in the game. It’s supposed to be Zhaitan’s undead domain. And as soon as Anet makes it what it was supposed to be (and wasn’t), who starts complaining? The farmers. I can’t have my fast gold! I can’t have my easy run! I can’t make as much money an hour as I used to.

But Anet didn’t put Orr there just for you to make money. It had a purpose within the design of the game that was trivialized by the farmers. So yeah, I’m glad they made Orr harder and I hope that it remains hard. Not because I don’t like farmers, but because that’s what Orr was always supposed to be and that’s how I’d like to experience it. And like it or not, I think that’s how Anet wants people to experience it too.

I’m thinking it may be added to dungeons in a special hard mode. Just a guess though.

Diva.4706:

For my friends and I, the “Hard” content in GW2 is too hard. Even the new southsun cove story line has us fighting Karka, which we simply hate. We like content that 2 or 3 of us can actually have fun playing, without dieing all the time. If we die all the time, it just makes us not want to play. If we don’t play , we don’t spend money.

Three of you together should generally be able to survive on Southsun. Just make sure you run away from the big Karka and target the little ones. And when your’e fighting stuff like the Reef drakes, stop attacking when you get confusion on you. You’ll enjoy the zone a lot more.

sostronk.8167:

Vayne.8563:

sostronk.8167:

Vayne.8563:

Morfedel.4165:

Well, I’m in an odd position where I havent been working, but I’m getting paid anyway: see, my new employer needs a state license to do what I do (he is expanding his business into my line of work), and he desperately needed someone so he could justify starting the licensure.

But the licensure, and required accreditation we have to get after the licensure, takes an average of 3 months. Which means I can’t work for 3 months.

Which means, for some, its a paid holiday… but I’m bored out of my freakin mind!

So I’ve been playing all day, every day… see, I’m also new to the area, haven’t been having much luck making new friends and finding things to do (never had that problem before, but its been a struggle here), so I’ve been gaming almost nonstop since mid march.

And I’m sure thats a major part of the burn out. I desperately need to find other things to do.

So, I joined a gym, gonna try to start working out, maybe do some camping, etc etc.

Well, that was the plan… and I just found out we are probably getting our state licensure Thursday, which means they can partially start working me now, at least, until the accreditation comes through… lol!

Join a cool guild and get some social contact through there. This game is much better played with friends anyway. Sure it’s not the same as real life friends, but I moved to Tasmania, Australia from NYC and most of my friends are back there. I’m significantly far enough away from being able to meet people in real life, so I get most of my social contact online.

It’s not 100% ideal but it’s a lot better than feeling lonely.

You must be young Vayne. When you get older, “friends” aren’t really a thing.

How insulting. There are always people who are more social or less social, depending on their personality and upbringing, having nothing to do with age. I’m 51 years old and yes, I like having friends. I grew up in a big family in a crowded neighborhood. There were always people around. You get programmed by stuff like that so when there’s not people around, everything seems too quiet.

Friends aren’t really a thing for you, but a lot of people like companionship. This is particularly true if you’re not going out to a job every day.

You may not realize it, but humans are social creatures, like all primates.

You seem offended by the concept. Its pretty easy to understand. In general, the older you get the less tolerance you have for other people. Im not sure why you consider 51 to be old. Also, there is a big difference between friends and companionship. And for the concept of “social creatures”, the topic we are discussing and how it is stated in science are not directly related, in fact it goes with my point. Human beings are social creatures because they learn as they grow up through social interaction. And that is the reference your making to human beings being “social creatures”, which completely contradicts your point.

I actually find myself far more tolerant as I get older. When I was younger, I’d have been furious at these forums. Now, not so much. lol

As you get older, at least for some people, it’s easier to put things in perspective. Also, the definition of friend here is questionable. A good friend is not a friend. But someone I hang out and play games with is certainly more than an acquaintance.

I talk to many of my guildies every day. We talk about real life stuff, in game stuff, all kinds of stuff. Do I consider them friends? Some of them, sure. They’re friends in the same way people I used to play poker with were friends. Didn’t mean I wanted to have their babies. It only meant that they were fun to hang out with, and we enjoyed each other’s company.

So yeah, I think your whole premise is skewed. I don’t think as you get older you want friends any less. In fact, I know several people in old age homes who are lonely until they make friends. My mother was like that. She moved from an old age home in Florida to one in California and didn’t know anyone. She was miserable.

Most generalizations are false to some degree anyway. I just don’t see how anyone can think I’m young for wanting to socialize or have friends.

killcannon.2576:

Vayne.8563:

killcannon.2576:

Vayne:

As has been stated before…numerously.

Merge servers- according to you there are not enough people per server to make it seem busy, it was one of the suggestions

Also, as you like to point out- you have no idea if removing clumps would make it seem more lively or not, because there is no way to track populations except by looking at them in the clumps

snip

By making zero changes, as you keep wanting, no one benefits and eventually new players will become more and more frustrated with a lack of a populated world, old players continue to clump up more and more in only certain areas, and the game dies from attrition.

Even WoW understood this, and made substantial changes to it’s leveling areas in order to pull people back into beginning and leveling areas. This game has even better core mechanics to accomplish this task. If it continues this trend, it will have the same layout as any other MMO, despite any kind of mechanic that may be new or interesting: Players in starter areas, a wasteland in the middle, and farming/new content at the end. It’s fine if you enjoy that, but I can get it anywhere.

I appreciate your attempts to do whatever it is you think you’re doing. I’m sure you think you’re being helpful in some way. I know you care about this game, and the community. But essentially the impression you give me is of an individual throwing their hands up in the air and saying “Oh well, what can you do!! Let’s not do anything!”
Put that mind of yours to work and add something useful to the discussion like some others have done, that’s what the forums are here for. I want it to succeed, so I’m trying, why won’t you help me?

I don’t believe the world was much busier before the world events became must do. As I recall there have always been these world is empty posts.

Orr, however, was busy as hell. Before this all happened, everyone was farming Orr, instead of spread out in multiple zones. I think the world is either busier now (at least on my server) or around the same. I’m certain it wasn’t busier back then.

But then, back then guesting wasn’t available and people couldn’t guest, so maybe its’ guesting that’s the problem and not these events.

Merging the servers is replete with problems too. For one thing, for the purposes of WvW servers must be in multiples of 3. That means merging at least 6 servers, because people don’t want to guest.

The solution is in game to go to busier worlds. It’s not hurting anything for anyone to do so. Instead you propose a solution that may or may not solve the problem anyway, particularly if guesting is the problem.

Ok then. You have nothing to add. Guesting makes the problem worse. Here’s your plan:
“Hmm, this zone/server seems dead. I think I will just guest somewhere” minus one population for current server, plus one to busier server
Another player comes along who might have just seen the player who just left to guest to another server but instead sees no one “Hmm, this zone/ server seems dead. I think i will guest to a busier server”
Ad infinitum- servers eventually get merged anyway

“Hmm, I’m not getting very good rewards for doing this content. I wonder where I can get better rewards, plus it’s sorta boring here anyway what with no one around. I guess I will just join the world event train”
Again-ad infinitum

No problem here, move along folks.

I’m not saying that it’s not a problem. I’m saying I don’t believe your solution will work. First, they’d have to take away guesting…they’re not going to do that. People will always gravitate to the highest population servers, this happens in every single MMO. Guild Wars 2 isn’t the exeption…it’s the rule. This always happens. Ask anyone from any game. People gravitate to where the most players are. Anet just made it free to play there.

The solution you propose, making every zone equally rewarding won’t stop people from guesting to other servers, particularly the busier ones. It’s just human nature.

So what you’d have on your server is less people spread out over 25 huge zones, and seeing no one. Why? Because most of them will have guested over to TC anyway. Or Sea of Sorrow. Or Blackgate.

The thing is, while I understand your frustration, I don’t believe that the measure you’re suggesting will fix the problem. Right now the problem is that people may not know about guesting and they’ll see an empty zone. But the solution to playing with others is already in game.

And a fix that fixes nothing, is not a fix.

sostronk.8167:

Vayne.8563:

Insidious.3720:

In before all the people telling you that you just aren’t playing the game right or in the right area to see people because, based off their experiences, people are everywhere and you are wrong.

Ok then, the population has dropped fairly significantly. There’s just no other way to say it or sugar coat it. You can try switching to a higher pop server, i.e. a server in the top 5 for wvw. Personally, I am just killing time until FFXIV is re-released. After that, I’m Outtie 5000 again.

You have zero evidence of this. It’s literally unprovable. And there are always trolls on forums (not suggesting that you are one of them), that love to come in and say how bad any game is doing.

But it doesn’t make it true.

Anet has the figures. There is 0 evidence. Why? Blizzard tells people how many subscribers they have. Anet thinks its better not to give this kind of information out for GW2. Why do you think that is?

Anet has said how many people bought the game at the three million mark. Both Blizzard and NCsoft are public companies and they have to report stuff to stockholders. That’s why Blizzard does it.

But Anet has no subscribers, because there’s no subscription fee. So Anet has zero subscribers. I can guarantee that Blizzard will always have more subscribers than Anet because Anet has none.

Blizzard is bleeding subscribers. It’s not about how many they have, so much as how many they’re losing…and it’s a bad look. They were down to 9.1 million subs (from a high of 12.4 million) before the launch of MoP. It went up briefliy but now they’re down to 8.3. That may seem like a lot of subscribers to you, but it’s showing a downward trend. I promise you Blizzard isn’t annoucing this downward trend to brag.

Arenanet’s profitability isn’t dependent on subscriber numbers, so they just report income, which is a matter of public record. It has to be because NcSoft (which owns Anet) is a public company.

Last we heard the game has broken the 3 million sales mark. I assume we’ll hear about it when we break 4 million. It’s probably getting close.

The biggest investment firm that gives odds on things predicted that Guild Wars 2 would sell 3.2 million copies in the first year. Well it’s not a year yet and we’re pretty sure that number has been beaten….meaning that game is successful from a stock holder point of view.

I sent you an in game mail too.

killcannon.2576:

Vayne:

As has been stated before…numerously.

Merge servers- according to you there are not enough people per server to make it seem busy, it was one of the suggestions

Also, as you like to point out- you have no idea if removing clumps would make it seem more lively or not, because there is no way to track populations except by looking at them in the clumps

Another thing I would like to mention is that five or six months ago before the drastic changes to world event chests, the world was much busier. So the choices are either;
A: The population has stayed the same or grown and has moved to farming
B: The population has decreased and has still moved to farming
Either of these leads to solutions stated within this thread. If A is true, then removing clumps and equalizing rewards across all zones and play styles would stabilize the population. If B is true, then merging servers and again removing clumps would stabilize the population. In either situation, having more players in the open world, even if only ten or twenty per zone, would increase the amount of players seen, increase the idea of a living world, make zones more enjoyable for everyone.

By making zero changes, as you keep wanting, no one benefits and eventually new players will become more and more frustrated with a lack of a populated world, old players continue to clump up more and more in only certain areas, and the game dies from attrition.

Even WoW understood this, and made substantial changes to it’s leveling areas in order to pull people back into beginning and leveling areas. This game has even better core mechanics to accomplish this task. If it continues this trend, it will have the same layout as any other MMO, despite any kind of mechanic that may be new or interesting: Players in starter areas, a wasteland in the middle, and farming/new content at the end. It’s fine if you enjoy that, but I can get it anywhere.

I appreciate your attempts to do whatever it is you think you’re doing. I’m sure you think you’re being helpful in some way. I know you care about this game, and the community. But essentially the impression you give me is of an individual throwing their hands up in the air and saying “Oh well, what can you do!! Let’s not do anything!”
Put that mind of yours to work and add something useful to the discussion like some others have done, that’s what the forums are here for. I want it to succeed, so I’m trying, why won’t you help me?

I don’t believe the world was much busier before the world events became must do. As I recall there have always been these world is empty posts.

Orr, however, was busy as hell. Before this all happened, everyone was farming Orr, instead of spread out in multiple zones. I think the world is either busier now (at least on my server) or around the same. I’m certain it wasn’t busier back then.

But then, back then guesting wasn’t available and people couldn’t guest, so maybe its’ guesting that’s the problem and not these events.

Merging the servers is replete with problems too. For one thing, for the purposes of WvW servers must be in multiples of 3. That means merging at least 6 servers, because people don’t want to guest.

The solution is in game to go to busier worlds. It’s not hurting anything for anyone to do so. Instead you propose a solution that may or may not solve the problem anyway, particularly if guesting is the problem.

Crazedwolf.7652:

Vayne.8563:

Crazedwolf.7652:

Vayne.8563:

Crazedwolf.7652:

I’m trying to return too…although i’ve never had a max level character yet, but the leveling seems rather slow and boring to me, and since i’m more of a pvper i see really no reason to level unless i want to do WvW…but i’m more of a competitive arena/spvp type player. I really think they need to copy wow (though i hate saying it ) and add actual arenas… they will be balanced compared to wow’s and be a better way then Spvp. Cuz you could do 2v2 and 3v3 without the stupid capture points objectives…

Plenty of private dueling arenas have been set up now.

How would that work? Even though they are custom…they are all still capture the bases aren’t they? The match doesn’t end just cuz the team dies…

No one goes for capture points, you enter the arena and you fight. When one team dies that match is over and you can play again in the same arena. You simply ignore the score Anet gives you and you kill each other till your heart’s content.

That could work, but i much more prefer a set ruleset that ends the match the moment a team dies…not you having to do it yourself lol… but idk i guess.

What difference does it make? Plenty of people use those 1v1 2v2 arenas for just that purpose.

Anet, in my opinion, won’t offer better gear for significantly harder challenges. The amount of work it takes to program something like that, compared to the percentage of the population that will actually see it is not high enough.

Ghost Crawler said only 5% of the WoW population ever sees the hardest content. I can’t see Anet make that kind of investment in time and resources. They’re not nearly as large a company as Blizzard, and don’t have the same resources.

Crazedwolf.7652:

Vayne.8563:

Crazedwolf.7652:

I’m trying to return too…although i’ve never had a max level character yet, but the leveling seems rather slow and boring to me, and since i’m more of a pvper i see really no reason to level unless i want to do WvW…but i’m more of a competitive arena/spvp type player. I really think they need to copy wow (though i hate saying it ) and add actual arenas… they will be balanced compared to wow’s and be a better way then Spvp. Cuz you could do 2v2 and 3v3 without the stupid capture points objectives…

Plenty of private dueling arenas have been set up now.

How would that work? Even though they are custom…they are all still capture the bases aren’t they? The match doesn’t end just cuz the team dies…

No one goes for capture points, you enter the arena and you fight. When one team dies that match is over and you can play again in the same arena. You simply ignore the score Anet gives you and you kill each other till your heart’s content.

No one knows yet what is temporary and what is not. According to the devs, some of the content will stay behind.

Crazedwolf.7652:

I’m trying to return too…although i’ve never had a max level character yet, but the leveling seems rather slow and boring to me, and since i’m more of a pvper i see really no reason to level unless i want to do WvW…but i’m more of a competitive arena/spvp type player. I really think they need to copy wow (though i hate saying it ) and add actual arenas… they will be balanced compared to wow’s and be a better way then Spvp. Cuz you could do 2v2 and 3v3 without the stupid capture points objectives…

Plenty of private dueling arenas have been set up now.

killcannon.2576:

Vayne.8563:

r z.7261:

Vayne.8563:

Insidious.3720:

In before all the people telling you that you just aren’t playing the game right or in the right area to see people because, based off their experiences, people are everywhere and you are wrong.

Ok then, the population has dropped fairly significantly. There’s just no other way to say it or sugar coat it. You can try switching to a higher pop server, i.e. a server in the top 5 for wvw. Personally, I am just killing time until FFXIV is re-released. After that, I’m Outtie 5000 again.

You have zero evidence of this. It’s literally unprovable. And there are always trolls on forums (not suggesting that you are one of them), that love to come in and say how bad any game is doing.

But it doesn’t make it true.

Just because you say the game has not lost population, does not make it true.

2 way street.

I’m not saying the game hasn’t lost population. I’m only pointing out that saying it has is just an assumption and nothing more. The game MAY have lost population, but you don’t know.

Vayne is right. There is no way to tell. I don’t think the game has lost population either. It’s just that the population is clumped in certain areas making it seem that there are far fewer players than there actually are. And mostly it’s not because most players want to be in those areas farming the same place day after day.

I’m sure that most players would like to be able to experience whatever part of the game they like and still get the same rewards as they would as if they spent that time farming pent/shelt or running world events. Truth is, they can’t. It’s why they are drawn to those events and areas in the first place.

I finished the living story for May today in Southsun and walked away with about 6 or so rares, two nice back pieces, a couple gold, and a very entertaining time for about two hours running around just doing stuff that was fun. Didn’t have to stop to farm or wait for boss respawns once. There were plenty of people there and all the events had plenty of participants.

But, I don’t get that experience in the rest of the world. I could have spent two hours in Ascalon where I went to finish my daily and maybe have gotten a rare, two tops if I’m running MF gear and food, been lucky to run into ten people, never get more than one or two at an event that doesn’t offer a chest, not get any gear related to the zone, and generally want to end my time there asap because it just isn’t as fun to play a mmo alone as it is with groups of people. And this is what new players are going to experience, regardless of how they level if they want to complete zones, or want to see the entire game.

And even without the stuff going on in Southsun, it would have been like that. Because the game itself is set up to clump people together. The rewards system concentrates players into doing certain events or certain areas. Meanwhile it discourages players, especially new ones, with obscure labeling systems on it’s servers so they don’t know at first glance which server actually has active players and which ones don’t, with systems that can leave leveling areas feeling devoid of players, and hiding the best content behind a Guilds system that punishes or entirely negates some small and medium guilds.

And as I’ve said before, numerous times now, if you didn’t have the game set to clump people together, if you made every zone equally rewarding so anyone could go anywhere they wanted…

there wouldn’t be enough people to fill each zone on each server. Instead of guys like you not having people around you’d have EVERYONE not having people around.

The game world is simply too large for that to work. How many people do you really think are in each server, playing at the same time at any given point in time?

And what about the people who play at off hours. Without this “clumping” mechanic, they’d have no one to play with, because there are so many less people playing at those hours, then spread all over the world.

I understand what you want in theory. I’m simply saying that I don’t believe that if everything was equally rewarding it would solve your problem. It would just create a much bigger problem in my opinion. Everyone would think the world is empty because we’d all be too scattered.

And if you were around in any of the charr starting zones for the last two months, you’d have seen tons of people there, because that’s where the last Living Story installments were set.

Rangers have had a little love, custom arenas are in beta, observer mode has been released.

There are no guild halls or any new PvP styles…not sure when you left but there may be another map. There have been some changes to WvW, the biggest of which is the elimination of culling.

You should probably check it out yourself, and see, rather than depend on other people, who might have different tastes.

Crazedwolf.7652:

Vayne.8563:

Well, the reason they removed the jumping puzzle from the map was so that there would be more spaces in WvW for people who want to compete, instead of doing the jumping puzzle. It really hasn’t changed at all, except that if you enter the jumping puzzle, you’re not taking an EB slot from someone else, so the queues for EB will be smaller.

As for the trap thing, I don’t really have a comment on it, but I love the EB change.

That actually makes alot of sense when you put it like that… Didn’t actually think of that…

Although i never knew anyone to join WvW just to do the jumping puzzle lol but yeah makes sense.

My main concern is how much love do they put into this game nowadays is it worth getting back into? I’m just looking for a game to hold me til ESO or something comes out

The people who go to WvW to do the jumping puzzle are often people who don’t like WvW, but like PvE and they’re working on a legendary. It’s one of the best ways to get the 500 badges of honor you need for the gift of battle.

I got most of my by killing people but to each their own.

Supply crates are not gambling in the legal sense of the word. They are however gambling in the English sense of the word. You get a chest with the idea that it will give you something you want.

By the same token, you’re gambling every time you try anything that could fail by the English definition. Asking a girl out is a gamble. She might say yes, and she might say no. So yeah, it can be construed as gambling in English…so what? lol

I’m against the RNG for skins in chests, personally, but not because it’s gambling. It’s because it’s just a bad look for the company.

Well, the reason they removed the jumping puzzle from the map was so that there would be more spaces in WvW for people who want to compete, instead of doing the jumping puzzle. It really hasn’t changed at all, except that if you enter the jumping puzzle, you’re not taking an EB slot from someone else, so the queues for EB will be smaller.

As for the trap thing, I don’t really have a comment on it, but I love the EB change.

Caedmon.6798:

Vayne.8563:

Caedmon.6798:

Vayne.8563:

Caedmon.6798:

Flissy.4093:

Assyrian.4827:

We have players under the age of 18 if they do buy it is that illegal(online gambling).

It’s not gambling. You are GUARENTEED to get something, just maybe not what you want.

I guess lucky dips should be illegal for children too.

It is gambling.The item you want is not guaranteed when opening the chest,you buy the chests to get a chance on the weapon skins,and nothing else..How in the world are you missing the fact that this is gambling ?

Gambling “. To take a risk in the hope of gaining an advantage or a benefit.” " An act or undertaking of uncertain outcome; a risk: I took a gamble that stock prices would rise."

It’s not gambling, because you don’t have to buy it for the skin. The skin is just one possible item that you can get. It’s like buying a raffle. You get a raffle without any guarantee of getting anything except that you get nothing for buying it and only get something if you win. In this case, you’re buying something which contains something. It’s not TECHNICALLY gambling.

If you put a dollar in a slot machine there’s no guarantee you get anything out of it. If you buy a consortium chest, you get something for your money.

I mean for years, cereal packets have random prices in them. Collect all the toys. Collect all the stickers. We’ve seen McDonalds have a monopoly game where you have to get different pieces to get a chance to win.

Gambling? Nah, not really. But it’s still annoying as hell. lol

.Read the definition of gambling,because it is.And dont even compare gambling to cereal packets,wich you buy to Feed yourself and the toy is a little extra,you dont get a chance to get food,you get food for 100% and a chance on a toy.In this case,i would buy the chest to get the skin since im not interested in getting anything else,now if im buying 100 boxes because i want the weapon skin and i keep getting something else,How is this not gambling….? You can keep telling yourself it isn’t,but it is.

Again..Gambling; An act or undertaking of uncertain outcome; a risk
I buy those chest to get a weapon with uncertain outcome…it’s a risk……

By your definition then, running a dungeon for tokens is a risk too, because there’s no guarantee you’ll complete it. It may be gambling in your mind, it’s not gambling by law. And that’s sorta what matters. You can’t regulate something that isn’t gambling.

Baseball cards have random cards in them, you buy them in packs for real money and there’s no guarantee you’ll get a good card. It’s not considered gambling.

It’s not by my definition,it’s by the Dictionairy’s definition,wich you can’t seem to grasp.

I can grasp that…sure, but it weakens your argument. Because by the dictionary definition, asking for a raise is a gamble, submitting a piece of writing to a publishing company is a gamble (I know I’ve done it…won some lost some), asking a girl out on a date is a gamble. The word gamble is widely used to mean a lot of things.

The problem is, the way you want to apply that to this is simply misleading. The gambling other people seem to be talking about is that of the illegal kind. And ALL of this really weakens the only real argument that can be used here.

Is it a bad thing for them to do? Calling it gambling doesn’t strengthen the argument against it, because it’s so easily dismissed. Calling it illegal likewise.

Calling it greedy, on the other hand, is a lot harder to refute. If you’re going to argue against something, using the wrong word doesn’t help you win.

In all fairness, this game IS losing players. I know this for a fact. I’ve met people who used to play who no longer play. Ergo this game is losing players.

However, this game is also gaining players. There are plenty of new players in game, I know this from guild recruiting. Just yesterday, a guy joined our guild who has been playing the game for one week.

And I know for a fact people have come back to the game and are now playing it, even some who said that they’d never play the game again.

No one but Anet knows whether more people have left than are currently joining. So people should say they’re speculating when they’re speculating, so I could stop refuting them. lol

r z.7261:

Vayne.8563:

Insidious.3720:

In before all the people telling you that you just aren’t playing the game right or in the right area to see people because, based off their experiences, people are everywhere and you are wrong.

Ok then, the population has dropped fairly significantly. There’s just no other way to say it or sugar coat it. You can try switching to a higher pop server, i.e. a server in the top 5 for wvw. Personally, I am just killing time until FFXIV is re-released. After that, I’m Outtie 5000 again.

You have zero evidence of this. It’s literally unprovable. And there are always trolls on forums (not suggesting that you are one of them), that love to come in and say how bad any game is doing.

But it doesn’t make it true.

Just because you say the game has not lost population, does not make it true.

2 way street.

I’m not saying the game hasn’t lost population. I’m only pointing out that saying it has is just an assumption and nothing more. The game MAY have lost population, but you don’t know.

Caedmon.6798:

Vayne.8563:

Caedmon.6798:

Flissy.4093:

Assyrian.4827:

We have players under the age of 18 if they do buy it is that illegal(online gambling).

It’s not gambling. You are GUARENTEED to get something, just maybe not what you want.

I guess lucky dips should be illegal for children too.

It is gambling.The item you want is not guaranteed when opening the chest,you buy the chests to get a chance on the weapon skins,and nothing else..How in the world are you missing the fact that this is gambling ?

Gambling “. To take a risk in the hope of gaining an advantage or a benefit.” " An act or undertaking of uncertain outcome; a risk: I took a gamble that stock prices would rise."

It’s not gambling, because you don’t have to buy it for the skin. The skin is just one possible item that you can get. It’s like buying a raffle. You get a raffle without any guarantee of getting anything except that you get nothing for buying it and only get something if you win. In this case, you’re buying something which contains something. It’s not TECHNICALLY gambling.

If you put a dollar in a slot machine there’s no guarantee you get anything out of it. If you buy a consortium chest, you get something for your money.

I mean for years, cereal packets have random prices in them. Collect all the toys. Collect all the stickers. We’ve seen McDonalds have a monopoly game where you have to get different pieces to get a chance to win.

Gambling? Nah, not really. But it’s still annoying as hell. lol

.Read the definition of gambling,because it is.And dont even compare gambling to cereal packets,wich you buy to Feed yourself and the toy is a little extra,you dont get a chance to get food,you get food for 100% and a chance on a toy.In this case,i would buy the chest to get the skin since im not interested in getting anything else,now if im buying 100 boxes because i want the weapon skin and i keep getting something else,How is this not gambling….? You can keep telling yourself it isn’t,but it is.

Again..Gambling; An act or undertaking of uncertain outcome; a risk
I buy those chest to get a weapon with uncertain outcome…it’s a risk……

By your definition then, running a dungeon for tokens is a risk too, because there’s no guarantee you’ll complete it. It may be gambling in your mind, it’s not gambling by law. And that’s sorta what matters. You can’t regulate something that isn’t gambling.

Baseball cards have random cards in them, you buy them in packs for real money and there’s no guarantee you’ll get a good card. It’s not considered gambling.

Deified.7520:

Vayne.8563:

You forget that the temples in Orr and in fact Orr itself has recently been made harder. And all you hear are the farmers complaining they can’t farm it anymore. Farmers aren’t necessarily casual players. They’re players with a particular play style. They don’t care about or particularly want challenge. They want faceroll content that they can farm. The new changes kitten them off.

It’s not casuals who are necessarily the ones insisting content be easier. There are many different demographics that contribute to this.

Now don’t get me wrong, those are fun. But there is little to nothing to show for completing them. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve ran those, and I’ve maybe gotten 3 exotics from the temples (since release). The most expensive one was 5g? Give players who actually do these for the servers titles at the very least. Any items that drop from them only can easily be bought on the TP for less than 10g, and they have very low drop rates (for me at least).

The temples are great, though they should find a way to better reward players for doing them.

When I do them right now, my biggest issue is finding players that want to listen. None of the “hardcore” PvErs want to do them because they feel it is pointless.

It is just the temples are in Orr which as a pretty boring look, and after doing them countless times they get really boring. I’d love to find events of the same difficulty in the shiverpeaks, or perhaps the maguuma jungle, maybe event kryta, etc.

So what you’re in sense saying is that with better rewards you’d be happier doing that content more. In which case hard content is reward dependent and not challenge dependent.

I agree this game is more geared toward casual players, though. I just think hard core stuff is a large waste of time and money, at least while the game needs this much work. Not even people do that content,. and not enough people want it.

Look at how many people run AC since they made it more challenging.

Saldonus Darkholme.5680:

Vayne.8563:

Saldonus Darkholme.5680:

Vayne.8563:

Saldonus Darkholme.5680:

Vayne.8563:

Saldonus Darkholme.5680:

Wow, Rascal! You really know how to stir up the fanbois!!!

I read the OP, and, while I do NOT agree with every point, I DO agree with his assessment: GW2 failed!!! It has become nothing but a gem store with a game added to it. In my opinion, they focus MORE on selling product in the gem store than they do ANYTHING else! I’ve become so disillusioned by it, I haven’t signed on to my game in months! Hell, I can’t even play GW1 any more, it’s bugged me so bad!

Oh, by the way, Rascal: the grind was added for a reason: the longer the fanbois play, the longer they sign in and farm, the more opportunities the game has to sell them more crap in the gem store! THAT is the REAL purpose for the grind.

LMAO! 1/10.

You obviously haven’t looked at what OTHER MMOs have in their gemstore. Go check out Lotro, DDO, AoC, any PW game. You really have no clue about how good this gem store is compared to many others.

It was a nice try, I’ll give you that. lol

Why the hell would I have to look at how other games wring money out of their players to know I don’t like this game doing it?? That’s like saying I should like the way YOUR drug dealer sells drugs because he does it better than the rest!!!

Nothing to do with drug dealers. I don’t like the RNG system for skins from chests and I won’t support that. But there’s nothing in the cash shop I have to buy to play the game and I can, if I want, farm gold to buy the few things I’d consider essential, like more chest space.

However, games don’t exist in vacuums. WoW has a monthly fee and a cash shop. Some games rent mounts for a weeks time. Some games have buy to win items, where you can buy stats or better gear in the cash shop. The Anet cash shop is relatively mild.

If people are too immature to resist spending money on stuff, that’s their own look out. I disagree with the RNG, but it’s not game-breaking by any means. This is a very mild cash shop compared to most.

The problem with it, though, is that they focus more attention on the cash shop than anything ELSE, imo. I would go so far as to say any content that is added to the game is MORE thought of as a way to introduce you to new things to buy!

You know, once the ascended gear crap was introduced, there was a HUGE backlash from the community about the company going against their manifesto and all that. Frankly, I think they threw that manifesto out WAY before THAT. The cash shop reflects that!

Ascended gear though is case in point. Not only is it not attainable from the cash shop but it’s not attainable from the trading post. That means, to get BIS gear, you can’t spend money. It’s contrary exactly what what you’re saying.

Yes, the skin greed is bad. But that said, legendary items weren’t done so that someone with money could have them and someone without can’t. For a lot of people that’s what’s really important.

Vayne, I think you missed the point I was trying to make about the ascended gear. I wasn’t saying the community was up-in-arms about buying the ascended gear: I was saying their argument was that it went against ANet’s manifesto. I was saying ANet went against their manifesto when they decided to create a cash shop and make a game around it.

It is my opinion that, when they created GW1, their goal was to make a great game that their customers could enjoy and they could be proud of. I think, when they created GW2, they STARTED with that similar concept, but then their focus shifted AWAY from gameplay and enjoyment TO the cash shop… and it is apparent to me, and several others…including yourself! Afterall, what do you think the REAL motivation is behind those RNG boxes, hmmmm?

Ascended gear in NO WAY went against the manifesto. It did go against a couple of things said in a couple of interviews however.

Anyone who thinks ascended gear went about the manifesto is simply taking a single line of the manifesto completely out of context. People have every right to complain about vertical progression entering the game if that’s what they hate. But saying it goes against the manifesto is demonstrably false.

The ONLY line in the manifesto it could have gone against was the line about grind. However, when you actually read the entire paragraph, the type of grind Colin is talking about is crystal clear. This was an example of people using misleading evidence to try to support their claim and frankly I think that weakens anything else they say.

Caedmon.6798:

Flissy.4093:

Assyrian.4827:

We have players under the age of 18 if they do buy it is that illegal(online gambling).

It’s not gambling. You are GUARENTEED to get something, just maybe not what you want.

I guess lucky dips should be illegal for children too.

It is gambling.The item you want is not guaranteed when opening the chest,you buy the chests to get a chance on the weapon skins,and nothing else..How in the world are you missing the fact that this is gambling ?

Gambling “. To take a risk in the hope of gaining an advantage or a benefit.” " An act or undertaking of uncertain outcome; a risk: I took a gamble that stock prices would rise."

It’s not gambling, because you don’t have to buy it for the skin. The skin is just one possible item that you can get. It’s like buying a raffle. You get a raffle without any guarantee of getting anything except that you get nothing for buying it and only get something if you win. In this case, you’re buying something which contains something. It’s not TECHNICALLY gambling.

If you put a dollar in a slot machine there’s no guarantee you get anything out of it. If you buy a consortium chest, you get something for your money.

I mean for years, cereal packets have random prices in them. Collect all the toys. Collect all the stickers. We’ve seen McDonalds have a monopoly game where you have to get different pieces to get a chance to win.

Gambling? Nah, not really. But it’s still annoying as hell. lol

You forget that the temples in Orr and in fact Orr itself has recently been made harder. And all you hear are the farmers complaining they can’t farm it anymore. Farmers aren’t necessarily casual players. They’re players with a particular play style. They don’t care about or particularly want challenge. They want faceroll content that they can farm. The new changes kitten them off.

It’s not casuals who are necessarily the ones insisting content be easier. There are many different demographics that contribute to this.

Saldonus Darkholme.5680:

tolunart.2095:

Saldonus Darkholme.5680:

The problem with it, though, is that they focus more attention on the cash shop than anything ELSE, imo. I would go so far as to say any content that is added to the game is MORE thought of as a way to introduce you to new things to buy!

In a sub-based game, new content is introduced in stages as a way to get people to maintain their subs longer. Is it wrong to charge for an expansion because you also have to keep an active sub to play the game?

You’re going out of your way to criticize Anet for being a for-profit business. Every such business tries to give their target market what the people want and do it better/cheaper/faster than their competition in order to make money and remain in business.

It’s like you’re condemning a lion for hunting prey. If it does not, then it will weaken and die. If Anet did not bring in money through the cash shop, they would have to charge a sub fee or they would not be able to maintain a game of this size and complexity, let alone post regular content updates in the first place.

Also, manifesto… lol not even going to talk about that one. Did you see the “everything I read on the internet is true” commercial?

No, they could fall back on their ORIGINAL plan: put out a quality game, and put out new chapters annually. If the game is good enough, people will buy it. GW1 was designed on that concept, and the company got over $1,000 from me, purchasing 5 accounts, 3 chapters each, plus GWEN, mercs, etc. THIS game? They got $60 from me, and that’s about it.

I’ve spent more money on Guild Wars 2 than Guild Wars 1 and I’m a supporter of both games. I think Guild Wars 2 is a quality game. I think Guild Wars 1 was a quality game too. But they’re DIFFERENT games produced at different times, having to compete against different products.

When Guild Wars 1 came out, there was VERY little competition compared to now. Games that have more exploitive cash shops (and there are plenty of them) have income to create more content. Games with monthly fees (like WoW which still has over 8 million subscribers) have tons of money to create new content…and new content is what keeps people playing.

The only way Anet could get a level playing field TODAY is to make enough money to compete. Otherwise, they’ll never be able to compete.

The MMO scene 8 years ago when Guild Wars 1 came out, and the number of competitors is huge. This is big, big business now. Back then it wasn’t.

Big business means you need big dollars to compete. It’s a sad truth…but that doesn’t make it any less of a truth.

Saldonus Darkholme.5680:

Vayne.8563:

Saldonus Darkholme.5680:

Vayne.8563:

Saldonus Darkholme.5680:

Wow, Rascal! You really know how to stir up the fanbois!!!

I read the OP, and, while I do NOT agree with every point, I DO agree with his assessment: GW2 failed!!! It has become nothing but a gem store with a game added to it. In my opinion, they focus MORE on selling product in the gem store than they do ANYTHING else! I’ve become so disillusioned by it, I haven’t signed on to my game in months! Hell, I can’t even play GW1 any more, it’s bugged me so bad!

Oh, by the way, Rascal: the grind was added for a reason: the longer the fanbois play, the longer they sign in and farm, the more opportunities the game has to sell them more crap in the gem store! THAT is the REAL purpose for the grind.

LMAO! 1/10.

You obviously haven’t looked at what OTHER MMOs have in their gemstore. Go check out Lotro, DDO, AoC, any PW game. You really have no clue about how good this gem store is compared to many others.

It was a nice try, I’ll give you that. lol

Why the hell would I have to look at how other games wring money out of their players to know I don’t like this game doing it?? That’s like saying I should like the way YOUR drug dealer sells drugs because he does it better than the rest!!!

Nothing to do with drug dealers. I don’t like the RNG system for skins from chests and I won’t support that. But there’s nothing in the cash shop I have to buy to play the game and I can, if I want, farm gold to buy the few things I’d consider essential, like more chest space.

However, games don’t exist in vacuums. WoW has a monthly fee and a cash shop. Some games rent mounts for a weeks time. Some games have buy to win items, where you can buy stats or better gear in the cash shop. The Anet cash shop is relatively mild.

If people are too immature to resist spending money on stuff, that’s their own look out. I disagree with the RNG, but it’s not game-breaking by any means. This is a very mild cash shop compared to most.

The problem with it, though, is that they focus more attention on the cash shop than anything ELSE, imo. I would go so far as to say any content that is added to the game is MORE thought of as a way to introduce you to new things to buy!

You know, once the ascended gear crap was introduced, there was a HUGE backlash from the community about the company going against their manifesto and all that. Frankly, I think they threw that manifesto out WAY before THAT. The cash shop reflects that!

Ascended gear though is case in point. Not only is it not attainable from the cash shop but it’s not attainable from the trading post. That means, to get BIS gear, you can’t spend money. It’s contrary exactly what what you’re saying.

Yes, the skin greed is bad. But that said, legendary items weren’t done so that someone with money could have them and someone without can’t. For a lot of people that’s what’s really important.

sostronk.8167:

Vayne.8563:

Morfedel.4165:

Well, I’m in an odd position where I havent been working, but I’m getting paid anyway: see, my new employer needs a state license to do what I do (he is expanding his business into my line of work), and he desperately needed someone so he could justify starting the licensure.

But the licensure, and required accreditation we have to get after the licensure, takes an average of 3 months. Which means I can’t work for 3 months.

Which means, for some, its a paid holiday… but I’m bored out of my freakin mind!

So I’ve been playing all day, every day… see, I’m also new to the area, haven’t been having much luck making new friends and finding things to do (never had that problem before, but its been a struggle here), so I’ve been gaming almost nonstop since mid march.

And I’m sure thats a major part of the burn out. I desperately need to find other things to do.

So, I joined a gym, gonna try to start working out, maybe do some camping, etc etc.

Well, that was the plan… and I just found out we are probably getting our state licensure Thursday, which means they can partially start working me now, at least, until the accreditation comes through… lol!

Join a cool guild and get some social contact through there. This game is much better played with friends anyway. Sure it’s not the same as real life friends, but I moved to Tasmania, Australia from NYC and most of my friends are back there. I’m significantly far enough away from being able to meet people in real life, so I get most of my social contact online.

It’s not 100% ideal but it’s a lot better than feeling lonely.

You must be young Vayne. When you get older, “friends” aren’t really a thing.

How insulting. There are always people who are more social or less social, depending on their personality and upbringing, having nothing to do with age. I’m 51 years old and yes, I like having friends. I grew up in a big family in a crowded neighborhood. There were always people around. You get programmed by stuff like that so when there’s not people around, everything seems too quiet.

Friends aren’t really a thing for you, but a lot of people like companionship. This is particularly true if you’re not going out to a job every day.

You may not realize it, but humans are social creatures, like all primates.

Saldonus Darkholme.5680:

Vayne.8563:

Saldonus Darkholme.5680:

Wow, Rascal! You really know how to stir up the fanbois!!!

I read the OP, and, while I do NOT agree with every point, I DO agree with his assessment: GW2 failed!!! It has become nothing but a gem store with a game added to it. In my opinion, they focus MORE on selling product in the gem store than they do ANYTHING else! I’ve become so disillusioned by it, I haven’t signed on to my game in months! Hell, I can’t even play GW1 any more, it’s bugged me so bad!

Oh, by the way, Rascal: the grind was added for a reason: the longer the fanbois play, the longer they sign in and farm, the more opportunities the game has to sell them more crap in the gem store! THAT is the REAL purpose for the grind.

LMAO! 1/10.

You obviously haven’t looked at what OTHER MMOs have in their gemstore. Go check out Lotro, DDO, AoC, any PW game. You really have no clue about how good this gem store is compared to many others.

It was a nice try, I’ll give you that. lol

Why the hell would I have to look at how other games wring money out of their players to know I don’t like this game doing it?? That’s like saying I should like the way YOUR drug dealer sells drugs because he does it better than the rest!!!

Nothing to do with drug dealers. I don’t like the RNG system for skins from chests and I won’t support that. But there’s nothing in the cash shop I have to buy to play the game and I can, if I want, farm gold to buy the few things I’d consider essential, like more chest space.

However, games don’t exist in vacuums. WoW has a monthly fee and a cash shop. Some games rent mounts for a weeks time. Some games have buy to win items, where you can buy stats or better gear in the cash shop. The Anet cash shop is relatively mild.

If people are too immature to resist spending money on stuff, that’s their own look out. I disagree with the RNG, but it’s not game-breaking by any means. This is a very mild cash shop compared to most.

While in the past I’ve bought black lion keys, I’ve made the personal decision not to buy keys or chests, because I dislike the cash for RNG thing.

I’m not calling for a boycott, but I am choosing to express my personal displeasure.

Shame too. I really like the new skins..but not enough to play the RNG game for them. Maybe I’ll get one from a chest drop.

Aeonblade.8709:

brainlessant.3641:

I just started 2 days ago, and I didnt know that F&F was a temporarily event.
I was just starting out, and didnt know what was going on.
So i played by my own pace, ignoring F&F event thinking that “Meh, I’ll do that when i get the hang of GW2”

I didnt care that F&F ended as i didnt know anything about it.

However, upon reading the content in F&F from the wiki. I got to say that I’m quite disappointed that I did not get to experience the F&F.

All i had from F&F was the achievement from the bonfire…Lol

Maybe Anet could allow newcomers like me or future players to experience F&F in a different environment…Maybe in a server where the world is stuck in a timeloop with F&F event.

No, they are pretty dead set on screwing anyone who buys the game after release, that’s the stance I think they will stay with. It sucks, but I’m ready to write off the first Living Story as a beta/failed experiment and move on myself.

Yep, screwing everyone with new content every month. How DARE they! Absurd! Put out new content and make it temporary.

It’ll bother completionists (like me) true. But most people will just be happy to have stuff to do.

My guild uses commander tags during Guild missions quite frequently. Different people are scouting different zones for bounties and when we find out which ones we have, they’re often not near a waypoint. So we have to get everyone together as fast as possible.

When no commanders are on (we only have a couple in the guild), then we have to resort to trying to describe where we are.

Run south from the waypoint…south-south east, but you have to go left around the big rock. ..where are you I can’t find you…We’re more east now and heading directly east

It’s so much easier with a commander.

I’m not sure how the current brand of SPv kitten o different from Alliance battles. I play them exactly the same way (varying only for the sub-strategies of each map).

My guild socializes a lot…but we’re a social guild. Though admittedly you’re better off being in our mumble channel than guild chat (though both are used by different people throughout the day).

I really don’t like RNG weapon skins either. It just feels greedy to me.

Most of you will know me as a big supporter of Anet…but when they get it wrong, I’ll say so.

Most recently, they gave people two days to click on a bonfire on the beach to complete the last achievement of their Flame and Frost story. The problem is, in an article on their website:

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/a-guide-to-flame-frost-retribution/

They said that this bonfire would be available until the 16th…not the 14th. If there’s a bonfire still in game, I’d appreciate it if someone would let me know.

The problem is the article was published with the 16th. We told the guild the sixteenth, some people logged in today to get it, and it’s not there. And it’s annoying. They’ve done everything else in Flame and Frost, but they can’t get the last achievement because Anet changed the schedule.

As you can see in the article the 16th at the top is crossed out (but it wasn’t when we read the article).

I’m not sure why the bonfires couldn’t have stayed for a couple of more days, but a couple of my guildies are quite annoyed (and rightly so) that the date has changed.

I hope Anet gives the people who missed it the achievement they missed. Not a big deal for a lot of people, but it’s a big deal for some people.

I’m going to go to Southsun and see if I can get any of the crates to drop on the island. They drop in game, apparently. Not sure how often, but it’s worth looking at. I won’t be buying any of the new chests, because I don’t agree with how this content is being offered.

Saldonus Darkholme.5680:

Wow, Rascal! You really know how to stir up the fanbois!!!

I read the OP, and, while I do NOT agree with every point, I DO agree with his assessment: GW2 failed!!! It has become nothing but a gem store with a game added to it. In my opinion, they focus MORE on selling product in the gem store than they do ANYTHING else! I’ve become so disillusioned by it, I haven’t signed on to my game in months! Hell, I can’t even play GW1 any more, it’s bugged me so bad!

Oh, by the way, Rascal: the grind was added for a reason: the longer the fanbois play, the longer they sign in and farm, the more opportunities the game has to sell them more crap in the gem store! THAT is the REAL purpose for the grind.

LMAO! 1/10.

You obviously haven’t looked at what OTHER MMOs have in their gemstore. Go check out Lotro, DDO, AoC, any PW game. You really have no clue about how good this gem store is compared to many others.

It was a nice try, I’ll give you that. lol