Guild Wars 2

killcannon.2576:

Vayne.8563:

killcannon.2576:

I wonder if people understand that if you tell people long enough that they don’t need ascended gear to do the content, some of them might actually realize they DON’T actually need it to do the content? The day people realize it will be the day a number of people will stop logging in, and then Anet will make you NEED to have ascended to do content to bring back the players.

I disagree (surprise, surprise). You don’t need ascended gear to do content, and some people don’t care because they still want BIS gear. As I’ve said before some people will leave over this, if they can’t get it or cant’ get it fast enough, but most will stay. What a lot of people are looking for is the illusion of being better, whether they need it or not. They just want to see numbers go higher. It means they are “progressing”.

So if you’re stuck in that mindset, it’s likely you’ll be happy to pursue that particular carrot. I won’t, but you’re welcome to it if you need it.

I’m not saying they need it, I’m saying the exact opposite. I know you don’t need it for a fact. But they still “feel” it’s useful. Eventually people may catch on to this fact, and that little itch in their mind will disappear. And “poof” there goes the draw to logging in. I do think that people vastly overestimate the population who log in everyday for fun, and not to accomplish something though. All you have to do is look at the crowds at the World event bosses for that.

People who want BIS gear don’t want it because they need it. Some people are getting it because they want BIS gear and they know they don’t need it. They want it anyway. And some people, no matter what you say, will never believe it.

Some guy beats you in WvW. I bet he had ascended gear. That’s why he beat me. If I had ascended gear, I’d have beat him. It’s not going to be true most of the time, but some people will think it anyway.

killcannon.2576:

I wonder if people understand that if you tell people long enough that they don’t need ascended gear to do the content, some of them might actually realize they DON’T actually need it to do the content? The day people realize it will be the day a number of people will stop logging in, and then Anet will make you NEED to have ascended to do content to bring back the players.

I disagree (surprise, surprise). You don’t need ascended gear to do content, and some people don’t care because they still want BIS gear. As I’ve said before some people will leave over this, if they can’t get it or cant’ get it fast enough, but most will stay. What a lot of people are looking for is the illusion of being better, whether they need it or not. They just want to see numbers go higher. It means they are “progressing”.

So if you’re stuck in that mindset, it’s likely you’ll be happy to pursue that particular carrot. I won’t, but you’re welcome to it if you need it.

Jski.6180:

@ Vanthian.9267
Sry not to many are going to read what you posted its a bit too much for non math major. The point was that even if with the numbers as they are will not excludes you from content in the game making all Ascended WANT and not NEED.

This is the point of this thread beyond that your getting off-topic badly.

I agree with this. In other games, you need certain minimum stat requirements to engage in content at all. In Rift, at least back when I played, you had to have a minimum of a specific stat to queue for a dungeon. I played a Cleric and if I didn’t have the right amount of focus, I couldn’t queue for that dungeon.

That’s because the dungeon bosses were designed so that if you didn’t have that stat, you couldn’t damage the at all. So to get the stat, I needed to get more and better gear. But that number was constantly getting higher. So I’d need more and better gear to get to the next dungeon, the next raid, the next whatever.

In Guild Wars 2, I can enter Arah explorable mode in greens if I want. It’s a very different animal.

I didn’t know that. Probably because I don’t run CoF path 1 that often.

IndigoSundown.5419:

Shiren.9532:

Originally ArenaNet intended to create a fun game where fun was the only motivation you needed to play it. Now they are pushing the “Daily” agenda with grind progression and calendar gating to keep their numbers as high as possible and artificially extend content, not through playability and enjoyment, but through grind and daily limitations.

Yeah, that was the original, expressed intent. However, at some point the metrics became alarming because a large number of players raced through everything, got what there was to get, stopped logging in and loudly demanded more. So, yeah, ANet’s focus changed because a portion of their customer base asked for it.

Many game developers try to please as many of their players as possible. Maybe they shouldn’t have tried to do so, but that is business. In general, businesses that don’t listen to their customers don’t thrive.

I think it’s a pity that many people define fun in MMO’s as acquisition and that still more feel that the speed at which they acquire. I guess it’s just old-fashioned to think that fun is what’s important in a game.

I agree, this is what happened. Anet made a compromise. I’d have made the same compromise. I’m one of the people who really believe we don’t need that new tier of gear, but I see why Anet did it.

Love to help you out, but I’m not well today, and I’m not up to playing. Just waiting for the wife to get back with DRUGS. lol

Hmmm I’ll let someone else weigh in, but to my knowledge that wasn’t changed.

Not that I know of. As far as I know, you can still get 60 tokens on each character per day.

Shiren.9532:

Aristio.2784:

The only urge you’re feeling is just left over from previous games literally forcing you to log in or fall behind in stats.

It’s really not. I came from GW1 and the only dailies it ever had were Zaishen Quests, which were added four years into the game. I had played through three campaigns and an expansion without ever needing or wanting a daily. When they were added they could only buy you a special storage bag (which could be traded) and a bunch of cosmetic stuff. Nothing like more powerful gear.

I didn’t come from a game which had dailies that force you to log in or fall behind in stats and I still feel pressure to get all my dailies done. Dailies aren’t fun, they were never intended to be. They were just intended to get people to log into the game whether it’s fun or not.

I honestly don’t think there are that many people who think gathering 20 items is fun and the ones who do would probably be doing it whether it was a daily or not. It’s bad game design, but it helps ArenaNet push one of their primary goals, increasing the daily log in metrics and enforcing a hard cap on grind progression. This is what happens when developers lose their direction and integrity and get too focused on metrics. Instead of thinking “how can we make this game more fun and foster engaging and entertaining content” they begin thinking “how can we get players to play as consistently as possible for as long as possible”. Originally ArenaNet intended to create a fun game where fun was the only motivation you needed to play it. Now they are pushing the “Daily” agenda with grind progression and calendar gating to keep their numbers as high as possible and artificially extend content, not through playability and enjoyment, but through grind and daily limitations.

You should look up integrity in the dictionary, I’m not sure it means what you think it means.

Anet is giving people who are casual a chance to get stuff too. Those so fixated on the minor stat increase will never see it as just that, a minor stat increase. It’s only a big deal in your mind.

They need to make other recipes that use clovers, that’s all.

Drew.1865:

Maximus Delion.8719:

Khal Drogo.9631:

This game isnt for me because the “community” it caters for isn’t for me. I have been told:
If I don’t like SAB or its 8 bit graphics, I am
- self centered
- not part of the time poor cash rich majority demographic of GW2 who are 25-45 living in developed countries
- I hate GW2

If I don’t like new AC, I am:
- a bad/nub player

Pro-tip: the best way to enjoy the game is to ignore the self-proclaimed “community” and play the way you enjoy. Don’t let anyone else tell you what YOUR Guild Wars 2 experience should be.

P.S. I don’t care for SAB either. I also have zero desire to get ascended gear, play fractals (though I have to admit, the one where you become a dolphin was pretty fun) or get a legendary weapon. Guess I’m a noob. But at least I’m a happy noob.

Maybe you’re both just highly intelligent and want to have fun playing the content you like and don’t have an mmo or gambling addiction? Addicts tend to be VERY defensive of the things they are addicted to :-)

Nice jibe. Well done.

Are you saying addicts can’t be highly intelligent? Are you saying you can’t have fun with this game if you’re not addicted? Are you saying you can’t have fun with this game if you’re not into gambling?

It’s true gamblers are often defensive. But it’s also true that most people are defensive of things they like…almost anything they like. I like science fiction. I have a friend who hates and belittles it. I’m not addicted to science fiction but I still defend it when he puts it down.

I know you’re joking, but joking about people with addictions is probably a sore spot for some.

ScottBroChill.3254:

Vayne.8563:

ScottBroChill.3254:

Vayne.8563:

ScottBroChill.3254:

Vayne.8563:

ScottBroChill.3254:

I just don’t believe in motivating people to play by making dailies that only give nothing but a numerical advantage. I just don’t see the reason behind it. The only reason I see is to make an already stupid and pointless thing (ascended gear) more easily obtainable and to become more wanted.

and, if they are completed just by playing regularly, then what is the point again. Why don’t you just put the rewards in the actual content instead of these silly, almost “quests”. Isn’t this the opposite of what they tried to accomplish with hearts?

It has no intrinsic value, that’s the problem.

The point is to help people who don’t have the time to catch up. At least that’s one of the points.

If you are really pressed for time, you might find dailies to be the only way to get ascended gear.

But, to me, that just seems pointless. Why not just stop at exotics? Maybe have your character earn the agony resistance, but why does it have to associate with armor. The dailies are a stupid solution to a stupid problem in my viewpoint.

Because people complained. Welcome to the big wide world of MMOs. lol

hahah and I suppose I’m part of the group… They just need to stick with one thing. If you try and please everyone you please no one.

Well, that’s the point. The dailies probably bother less people than they help. Most people don’t mind getting free stuff.

Did you see the thread about the monthly this month. Some guy was complaining it was too easy. I assure you he was in the minority. lol

That’s why I think they need to get the pvp more competitive and add more modes instead of using dailies. Dailies will end that day, but competition is really what keeps people wanting to play. Just look at Cod, it’s really popular because it involves competition that rewards you on playing well. That may be a horrible example… but I think it makes sense.

Yep, I agree. PvP needs more competition. A lot more.

Start saving for your second lengenardy? lmao

ScottBroChill.3254:

Vayne.8563:

ScottBroChill.3254:

Vayne.8563:

ScottBroChill.3254:

I just don’t believe in motivating people to play by making dailies that only give nothing but a numerical advantage. I just don’t see the reason behind it. The only reason I see is to make an already stupid and pointless thing (ascended gear) more easily obtainable and to become more wanted.

and, if they are completed just by playing regularly, then what is the point again. Why don’t you just put the rewards in the actual content instead of these silly, almost “quests”. Isn’t this the opposite of what they tried to accomplish with hearts?

It has no intrinsic value, that’s the problem.

The point is to help people who don’t have the time to catch up. At least that’s one of the points.

If you are really pressed for time, you might find dailies to be the only way to get ascended gear.

But, to me, that just seems pointless. Why not just stop at exotics? Maybe have your character earn the agony resistance, but why does it have to associate with armor. The dailies are a stupid solution to a stupid problem in my viewpoint.

Because people complained. Welcome to the big wide world of MMOs. lol

hahah and I suppose I’m part of the group… They just need to stick with one thing. If you try and please everyone you please no one.

Well, that’s the point. The dailies probably bother less people than they help. Most people don’t mind getting free stuff.

Did you see the thread about the monthly this month. Some guy was complaining it was too easy. I assure you he was in the minority. lol

Khal Drogo.9631:

This game isnt for me because the “community” it caters for isn’t for me. I have been told:
If I don’t like SAB or its 8 bit graphics, I am
- self centered
- not part of the time poor cash rich majority demographic of GW2 who are 25-45 living in developed countries
- I hate GW2

If I don’t like new AC, I am:
- a bad/nub player

Maybe the way you come off and how you express yourself makes you a target for ire. Sometimes it’s not what people say but how they say it.

For example, you accuse me of ignoring all negativity towards something, when in fact that thing is self-contained. It doesn’t affect anything if you don’t like it, only if you do.

I think maybe you’re seen as attacking the community. Naturally the community is going to defend itself.

ScottBroChill.3254:

Vayne.8563:

ScottBroChill.3254:

I just don’t believe in motivating people to play by making dailies that only give nothing but a numerical advantage. I just don’t see the reason behind it. The only reason I see is to make an already stupid and pointless thing (ascended gear) more easily obtainable and to become more wanted.

and, if they are completed just by playing regularly, then what is the point again. Why don’t you just put the rewards in the actual content instead of these silly, almost “quests”. Isn’t this the opposite of what they tried to accomplish with hearts?

It has no intrinsic value, that’s the problem.

The point is to help people who don’t have the time to catch up. At least that’s one of the points.

If you are really pressed for time, you might find dailies to be the only way to get ascended gear.

But, to me, that just seems pointless. Why not just stop at exotics? Maybe have your character earn the agony resistance, but why does it have to associate with armor. The dailies are a stupid solution to a stupid problem in my viewpoint.

Because people complained. Welcome to the big wide world of MMOs. lol

ScottBroChill.3254:

I just don’t believe in motivating people to play by making dailies that only give nothing but a numerical advantage. I just don’t see the reason behind it. The only reason I see is to make an already stupid and pointless thing (ascended gear) more easily obtainable and to become more wanted.

and, if they are completed just by playing regularly, then what is the point again. Why don’t you just put the rewards in the actual content instead of these silly, almost “quests”. Isn’t this the opposite of what they tried to accomplish with hearts?

It has no intrinsic value, that’s the problem.

The point is to help people who don’t have the time to catch up. At least that’s one of the points.

If you are really pressed for time, you might find dailies to be the only way to get ascended gear.

morrolan.9608:

CorruptedSave.2570:

I get my dailies just by playing the game the way I want to.

You typically have 25 aquatic kills in a day or interrupt however many times……….

The idea that dailies are something you get from just playing the game is false, you actually have to go out of your way to complete at least part of it. It may not take long but you wont just get it purely from playing the game. Having said that I prefer the GW2 dailies to WoW or swtor.

Monthlies are different, I got my monthly already from just playing the game and without going out of my way to complete anything.

Actually you only have to pick 5 of the 9 dailies to finish it so if you get aquatic killer and you’re not spending time in the water, you just don’t do that one. Most of the time, you can do it. Remember, gathering is one every day, so you only need four more.

stof.9341:

Thobek.1730:

This daily system is the best I’ve come across, they reward you for logging in each day and keeping the game world alive. You can choose how you want to complete the dailies, not the same repetitive task over and over again. You should check out the WoW forums and see the pain they are going through. We have it 100 times better here.

GW1 dailies were MUCH better. They rewarded you more for hard things. More for taking handicaps. They were very specific and unless you had already completed the game at 100%, they had a great chance to be something you never did.

GW1 dailies converted to GW2 would be like :
- Go do this specific instance story path. Bonuses if you do it with an handicap.
- Go kill a specific champion. Some of those were instances end bosses. Bonuses if you do it with an handicap.
- Go vanquish a map. Basically, you had to play in hard mode and clear a whole map of all hostile life. Those were very rewarding in money and reputation points which you had to grind too for various reasons. Doing the daily at the same time gives you extra rewards.

GW2 dailies hold 0 comparison in the level of interest they provide. They are unfun as possible except the WvW component. For those that like PvP. They are a pure mindless busywork to keep us playing.

Your chances of completing a Guild Wars 1 daily without trying at all were pretty small. You had to go get the mission, first of all, and it had to be the mission up that day (or the vanquish).

In Guild Wars 2, there’s a relatively decent chance to complete dailies without even trying. It’s only busy work if you “try” to do them. Finishng them off after playing usually only takes a few minutes.

They serve completely different purposes at a different stage in the game’s life. Guild Wars 1 dailies were added when the game was 5 years old and most people had done everything. They gave you encouragement to revisit places you’d not done for a while for additional reward.

Guild Wars 2 dailies are here to serve a different purpose. They’re there to get people into different areas of the game…and it works. You’ll see far more people in lower level areas doing these things than you used to.

Comparing a daily that was created for one purpose five years after the game came out, with a daily that serves a different purpose for a relatively new game is probably not a fair comparison.

Shifty.5187:

Vayne.8563:

The question is, by percentage, how many people really object to what has to be the easiest dailies of any MMO? I’m think even though most people feel they should do the dailies, most people don’t dislike them.

I see your point and yes, that is a function of the Dailies; I just think it is not necessary in the least. After hitting 80 there’s still exploration, PvP, WvW, Ascended gear, Fractals, achievements, etc. to get. If you are not inclined to pursue these other areas of the game, and you need something explicit such as Dailies to guide people there, then I think that’s an indication of failed game design.

If you want people to participate in a certain area of the game, make it fun. If you want people to log into the game, make it fun. Nothing else is needed.

You’re assuming most people are self-starters. Most people are anything but, unfortunately.

In the beginning, they tested this game with just dynamic events. No hearts. No direction. So this dev is watching someone play, and they run right past a burning building. And the dev asks, why did you run past that building. And the test player said, I didn’t have a quest to go in there.

People have gotten so used to MMOs telling them what to do that they can’t function without it. You may not believe me, but it doesn’t make it less true. For me, Guild Wars 2 leads you around by the nose too much as it is, so I turned off my map markers. I like the game much better that way.

But for most people, all they’re really looking for is busy work. That’s why games like Farmville on Facebook are so popular.

ScottBroChill.3254:

Vayne.8563:

Jski.6180:

ScottBroChill.3254:

Um, no. The numbers are higher on ascended gear than exotics. That’s true. I don’t want my gear being better than other peoples in terms of that and I don’t think other peoples armor should be better than mine. Now, it’s an OPINION whether you think those number difference matter. What’s the point of adding higher stats if they don’t matter, or at least give an advantage?

But there more to it there must be a reason for 5 to be greater then 4. You can simply say something is more then the other but if there no reason for it so what? What is the point of it being greater when it comes to a real world application.
We KNOW for a fact that you can get every even in the game done with only 4 gear (but the one and the 5 > 4 logic has nothing to do with the fact of getting high level fractal). If you can prove this wrong then your views are right but can you?

I can’t “prove” it wrong, but I can make an argument against it. In golf people play with a handicap. The better you are, the higher your handicap to even things out. Because some people want to be challenged.

So if you find the combat easy already, getting that extra point is only going to make it easier, but easier isn’t always better. Some people in real like will challenge themselves by doing things the hard way. Climbing a mountain without oxygen is more dangerous and harder than climbing one with oxygen, but there are people who do it.

Having you ever heard someone say I can beat that guy with one hand behind my back? Why do people do one-handed push-ups when they have two hands.

In a game where the content isn’t that overwhelmingly hard to begin with, I can’t imagine why someone would feel better stats automatically will make the game better.

You can’t make the fact that some people decide to challenge themselves a basis for everyone. And in real life no one is equal either, everything is skill based. There aren’t numbers for stats in real life, but numbers for stats in achievements. What about that new olympic swimsuit that allowed Michael Phelps to beat so many records? Unless you had the specific suit, you were at a disadvantage. They banned the suit because in the olympic games it created an advantage that had nothing to do with skill. Give people the same easily acquirable tools, and then skill determines the rest.

I didn’t make it a fact. I didn’t try to apply it to everyone. I simply offered another point of view which works for a percentage of people. You’re saying that doing something with an advantage is always better than doing it without. I was offering examples of how that’s not always true for every person.

There are stats in real life btw. I was in sales for most of my adult life and trust me, there are stats in real life. I simply don’t see how having an extra +1 is always an advantage.. On the surface it is, but if it doesn’t increase my enjoyment of the game it’s meaningless. And if it can decrease my enjoyment of the game by making content even easier than it already is, well then it’s a detriment.

You asked for something that is contrary to what you’re saying and I provided it…nothing more.

TooBz.3065:

Well, practically speaking, there can be no need in the game. It’s a game. I could read a book or watch a movie or play another game.

However, if you want to maximize your toon, then you need to do dailies.

If you want to maximize your toon, you will need to do dailies for 30 days, or dailies for twenty days and the monthly once. Then you have maximized your toon.

And you can do exactly the same stuff you did with it before you maximized your toon.

Shifty.5187:

Vayne.8563:

Causes CERTAIN players to feel like they have to. Not all players. For one thing, certain players enjoy having that direction. For another thing, certain players don’t care. If you’re the type of person that feels you have to get them, then I feel sympathy for your plight. But they can’t design a game just for one type of player.

Making them weekly wouldn’t be a solution for a lot of players, because some players want something to orient them every day. You can’t please everyone.

As dailies go, these are about as easy as they get.

I dare to bet more people feel obliged to do the Dailies than there are people who would otherwise miss them because they can’t figure out what to do in the game. The people who want to play every day are probably very adequate in coming up with reasons to play, and therefore things to do in the game.

What must be considered is alternatives. It’s easy to do something besides Dailies that does not force you to log in every day and still provides you with plenty of goals to strive for.

I agree with what you’re saying. There are more people who feel obliged to do dailies than those who would otherwise miss them. But here’s another question.

Are there more people who feel obliged to do them that MIND doing them when combined with the number of people who feel they need something to tell them what to do.

Most games have a breadcrumb trail that tells you how to play them and what to do next. Guild Wars 2…not so much, particularly at max level. So for the people who need a bit of help and there are plenty, there’s things like dailies and monthlies. Because some people need something to work for.

Some people don’t, but they still like having that option, like me. I not only don’t mind the dailies but I like them. I don’t need the direction, but again, I find it’s an extra reward for stuff I’m likely to be doing anyway.

The question is, by percentage, how many people really object to what has to be the easiest dailies of any MMO? I’m think even though most people feel they should do the dailies, most people don’t dislike them.

Theoretically you’re getting ready for the next dragon. If you finished your personal story you’d know there are dragons still out there. Zhaitan is just one of them and not nearly the most powerful.

All the same problems for the races exist that existed before. You’re getting ready for what comes next.

I mean, why does batman get ready for stuff, after he catches a criminal? Because there’s always another criminal out there.

Jski.6180:

ScottBroChill.3254:

Um, no. The numbers are higher on ascended gear than exotics. That’s true. I don’t want my gear being better than other peoples in terms of that and I don’t think other peoples armor should be better than mine. Now, it’s an OPINION whether you think those number difference matter. What’s the point of adding higher stats if they don’t matter, or at least give an advantage?

But there more to it there must be a reason for 5 to be greater then 4. You can simply say something is more then the other but if there no reason for it so what? What is the point of it being greater when it comes to a real world application.
We KNOW for a fact that you can get every even in the game done with only 4 gear (but the one and the 5 > 4 logic has nothing to do with the fact of getting high level fractal). If you can prove this wrong then your views are right but can you?

I can’t “prove” it wrong, but I can make an argument against it. In golf people play with a handicap. The better you are, the higher your handicap to even things out. Because some people want to be challenged.

So if you find the combat easy already, getting that extra point is only going to make it easier, but easier isn’t always better. Some people in real like will challenge themselves by doing things the hard way. Climbing a mountain without oxygen is more dangerous and harder than climbing one with oxygen, but there are people who do it.

Having you ever heard someone say I can beat that guy with one hand behind my back? Why do people do one-handed push-ups when they have two hands.

In a game where the content isn’t that overwhelmingly hard to begin with, I can’t imagine why someone would feel better stats automatically will make the game better.

Scala.1340:

I never found the story to be all that interesting. The only story I’ve actually liked in an MMORPG was in Star Wars the Old Republic, mostly because it reminded me of other single player bioware games (which I enjoyed a lot more than the swtor).

In this game, I am not sure why I am leveling. What is the point?

I think having to read most things at the small font sizes is also taking me away from the game. My vision isn’t so good, so reading lots of stuff gives me a lot of eye strain. I want everything to be twice as big.

Stop thinking about leveling, and you’ll be happier. I don’t play the game to level. I play the game to play the game. Every single race has something going on in the starting areas. Humans are at war with centaurs. Norn are having problems with Sons of Svanir, who are getting grawl to worship the dragon Jormag. Charr have problems with Ascalonian ghosts and the flame legion. Sylvari are having problems with Zhaitan’s undead and the nightmare court. Asura are having problems with the Inquest.

Instead of saying why should I level, just think in terms of what the story you’ve played in the tutorial is telling you. Leveling shouldn’t be a focus in this game, it makes the game significantly worse. Play it as a story. Explore a world. I’ve played a lot of MMOs where levels matter…but in this game they matter a lot less.

And make sure you have your sound on. 80 plus percent of what there is to read is also being said.

Kakeru.2873:

I swear the majority of people playing GW2 actually don’t like the MMORPG genre at all, and are constantly coming up with ways to push GW2 out of the mmorpg genre and turn it into an Action Adventure Online Game.

First, the roles and dissolved and almost removed to the point where, 9 times out of 10 someone is playing a damage dealing role. “soft” classes that can do everything. Next we remove the need for grouping and social interaction to tackle content, next we remove levels and make this a Action World Simulator Online.

@ the guy who mentioned monster hunter, MH isn’t an rpg of any sort and also there kind of are levels (there are HR ranks) but they don’t effect your character in anyway they just allow you to face harder monsters.

In some ways you’re right, except for how you phrase it. What you mean to say is some people don’t like the MMO genre as it stands. That’s presupposing that MMOs as they are are somehow the best MMOs can be. But a lot of us really didn’t like MMOs as they are.

I’ve long been a fan of the MMO concept, without having found an MMO I like. A lot of the changes made in this game as positive, from my point of view, to the MMO genre. Some of them didn’t go far enough, but I think future games will.

MMOs are tragic in a lot of ways, in their limitations. But you can’t compare a game like UO with a game like WoW, even though WoW was more popular…and they’re both MMOs.

In addition to Anet moving the genre forward, to some small degree, it also returned to some of the original MMO values (like making exploring a rewarding thing).

Emosewa.9731:

The majority of people are missing the point in this thread. It’s not that anyone HAS to do them, or NEEDs to do them….it’s that the design creates a situation that causes players to feel like if they don’t do them they are missing out on something they need to get what they want. Does that mean the world will end? Of course not…but that doesn’t make it good design either.

For a great many players, dailies control what they do in the game…in a game that specifically made “play the way you want to play” their log line! And yes…it affects the more casual than the less casual. Take three groups of players:

The very casual that only have time to log in a few times a week…are screwed. They’re not going to get the items via hardcore routes as they are probably still level 5 or 6 in fractals. They’re going to get laurels very slowly as they may not even finish the monthly, let alone a daily more than twice a week. And when they DO get to log on, they feel compelled to do the daily as it’s the only slow path to getting what they want.

The average player probably has time to log in most nights, but not for a long period of time. Maybe an hour a night. For these people they are given a choice between doing the dailies or doing what they want to do. The problem is, a great many of these people will feel compelled to do the daily because they want to work towards progressing their character, and they get stuck in a rut of feeling like playing for fun costs them getting what they want on their character…which is not fun.

For the hardcore player…none of this matters. They are going to get the gear via other means, and they play so much that the time it takes to do a daily doesn’t matter. In fact…they play enough that they probably don’t even have to look at the dailies because they just happen.

Pro daily arguments that come from a stand point of “they just happen”, “it doesn’t take long to do them”, etc…are really irrelevant because those arguments support a play style that is completely unaffected by dailies.

Arguments of “they don’t give you much so it’s not a big deal if you miss them”…miss the point. As long as they are the ONLY avenue to attaining a currency that gives things people want…they pressure the player into playing a certain way and that is bad design.

Causes CERTAIN players to feel like they have to. Not all players. For one thing, certain players enjoy having that direction. For another thing, certain players don’t care. If you’re the type of person that feels you have to get them, then I feel sympathy for your plight. But they can’t design a game just for one type of player.

Making them weekly wouldn’t be a solution for a lot of players, because some players want something to orient them every day. You can’t please everyone.

As dailies go, these are about as easy as they get.

Khal Drogo.9631:

Vayne.8563:

Don’t you know it’s against forum rules to say something positive about this game? lol

Actually it’s nice to see the occasional positive post. I really like SAB too. On the topic of the Living Story, it would have been a lot better, to me, if they didn’t promote it heavily. It raised people’s expectations.

Part of the reason SAB went over so well is no one expected it. No one was waiting for it. It came out of left field and it was cool. If they’d done that with the Living Story and not really explained it, it probably would have roped more people in.

At very least, more people would have been speculating about it.

Perpetual blinkers on, quietly ignoring SAB negative feedback.

I didn’t really care about SAB until I read the forums and realized there is an active campaign for more of this stuff. I paraphase from someone else in the forum that said that SAB did “violence” to the aesthetic and the immersion of the game. Then I read the word “mutilation”. To me that word pretty much sums up the feeling I get when seeing the grinning 8 bit cloud that mocks me everytime I go to GW2.com and have to bear with it until April is over. It then proclaims in no uncertain terms that if I hate SAB, I must hate GW2 and if I bought GW2 for GW2, I am part of a poor minority demographic from a non-developed country that the Devs intensely dislike and furthermore I am typing in a language that is apparently automatically translated into English by the forum.

SAB is self contained in a single portal in a single city. Anyone who says it does violence to the aesthetic of the game is clearly someone who’s looking for something negative to say. It’s as easily ignorable as those who don’t like SPvP. Why focus on something that you never have to do or look at?

But for those who like it, it adds something to the game. I’m not ignoring those who don’t like it. I’m ignoring those who don[’t like it who are so self-centered that they think every single thing in a game must be for them. Every single upgrade must be enjoyed by them.

There are people who love jumping puzzles and people who hate them. The people who hate them have far more of a real reason to be mad at the game since some zone completion elements require jumping puzzles (at least two of the vistas are at the end of jumping puzzles. For these people, they have a legit gripe.

For people who don’t like a single box in Rata Sum. Mountain, meet molehill.

Try something like a ranger before you go. A lot of times, the difficulty isn’t as difficult as you think. There’s a learning curve for sure. But the ranger pet helps equalize things, particularly at a low level in open world PvE.

TooBz.3065:

Vayne.8563:

I can’t even think of a day when it should take more than half an hour, max, to do all the dailies..

And if you only have two hours to play, that’s 25% of your play time your spending doing boring stuff, which to me, if bad.

Ah but that’s the real beauty of it. Because when I do interesting stuff, I incidentally get dailies anyway. Let’s say you have two hours to play and you like fractals. Well, doing the fractals will get you a percentage of your dailies on most days. Kill variety, etc.

So then, when you’re done with that, maybe you only have to do gathering and crafting. The total of those two should take you ten minutes.

if you like to PvP, you can get your daily doing just PvP.

If you like to WvW, most of your dailies can be gotten just running around. At the end of your play time, look and see what’s left.

Then you can do what you like and STILL complete your daily every day, usually in only a few minutes.

Zosk.5609:

They are not a friendly design to players… they not only stack rewards on hardcore players but they don’t really accomplish what should be their goal – "To get people to log in for a bit and see what their guild is doing and participate’s. While it is random, many days they are way too long and restrictive and people with limited time are stuck doing their dailies INSTEAD of those guild/world activities that would be more fun. The coin and laurel is way too valuable especially currently, when methods of getting ascended items are still very limited.

But here comes a bunch of people to defend them… for some unknown reason!

Weeklies and Monthlies are/would be much more interesting and less likely to cause you not to do things you want to do just to race the clock. If they must have dailies, they really should just be a ‘did I login and participate for a bit’ and not these totally random affairs that can’t take 10 minutes one day and an hour the next.

We must be playing very different games. I’ve yet to see a daily that takes an hour….any of them. You only need to pick 5 of the 9 and one of them is always gathering. Anyone should be able to do that easily anywhere.

Which leaves four of eight. If you can’t find four of eight easy dailies that take a few minutes each, you’re doing something wrong.

Admittedly some stuff you may have to learn or look up (you can ask in map chat too), like where certain veterans can be found, but really, beyond that it’s very easy.

On most days there are kill variety, sometimes they’re crafting (which is as easy as making 10 wood planks), some days there’s kill 40 in a certain area (go to the lowest level zone and do it, it’ll take five minutes) but I can’t even think of a day when it should take more than half an hour, max, to do all the dailies.

Considering almost every day you can do most of them in a single zone.

I don’t know a lot of people seem to make money running dungeons and fractals. If you can’t figure out how to get a group ( gw2lfg.com is your friend here) or you don’t want to join a guild with like-minded players, that’s a problem…but it’s not necessarily Anet’s. I have over 160 gold at the moment, so I know it’s possible to make money in this game. But yeah, it’s not all that fast.

There are some nice looking skins in the game, there will be more over time, just like all new MMOs.

The crafting thing you definitely have a point on though. Crafting usefulness is far more limited than I’d like.

Rizzy.8293:

I like to judge the size of community by the amount of machinimas found on youtube.
Excluding those annoying music videos of people doing random emotes that dont fit with the songs.

Gw2 only has one episode of
Torund Needs Butter!

Which is not very big, when you compare it to stuff like..

The Illegal Danish
Oxhorn: Various
And countless other Machinima from that one game

That one game has had many many years to develop it’s machima community. If it didn’t have a bigger fan base than Guild Wars 2 at this point, it would be sad indeed.

tolkien.6317:

Vayne.8563:

Yet Runequest was a pen and paper game without levels that worked marvelously. It had a skill based system, where individual skills increased in power as you used them, without having a level for your character. So you could get better at various things you did, but it wasn’t dependent on an overall level.

That’s ironic, because Runequest is my classic example of why it doesn’t work, and is why the system never took off. It was way too clunky and difficult to manage, and in a world where everyone cast spells with equal ability it was unwieldy in all ways. This underscores my point – it sounds good on paper, but just doesn’t work in practice.

I devised my own system, based largely on Runequest, but I did make quite a few changes to both combat and magic. My friends and I played it for years. Just because the rest of the system didn’t work (they didn’t go far enough with the change) doesn’t mean it can’t work. The core skill system wasn’t clunky at all. In fact, it was very intuitive. What they did with the magic didn’t work but that’s easily remedied (as shown by the fact that I was able to remedy it myself lol).

tolkien.6317:

I actually sat on a “next gen” MMO in the formative stages and tried to do exactly this – come up with a system that worked without levels. I already knew the problems from years with pen and paper systems, and playing all early CPRGs and many MMOs. I argued from the beginning that it wouldn’t work, and if it did it would be difficult to understand and pick up. After 3+ years of fruitless development, they hit crunch and changed everything to be level based (then they closed down a few years later due to enormous stupidity and mismanagement, but the point remains).

There are just so many reasons that levels make sense, raw coding prerogatives included. You need a way for players to be able to easily make power comparisons (I still favour EverQuest’s “con” solution), as well as a thousand other things that need a number to relate to. As has been said, level-less (and classless) systems have all been attempted many times already, with varying results, none of them too good from what I’ve seen. Levels + class are the way to go in RPGs IMO. And that’s after decades of experience with this stuff as a player. It’s subjective, but not completely.

Yet Runequest was a pen and paper game without levels that worked marvelously. It had a skill based system, where individual skills increased in power as you used them, without having a level for your character. So you could get better at various things you did, but it wasn’t dependent on an overall level.

tolkien.6317:

There are other ways around the problem though without artificially deleveling. In older systems like Rolemaster, the more of any mob you fight simultaneously, the more dangerous it is. A single rat is trivial, but 30 of them could pose a serious risk. It’s not a flat level vs. level check (i.e. greying out a mob). It’s dependent upon whether you’re attacked from the front or behind or the side, or above, the size and number of the mob attacking, the type and speed of attack, the type of defense etc. etc. These things are tedious with dice, but simple with computers. If it’s realism you’re after there are much better ways to do it. Deleveling is an inelegant solution that creates as many problems as it solves (IMO).

That works great in pen and paper games. In a game like Guild Wars 2, it’s simply easy enough to look at your abilities relative to the area. It’s a mindset.

You’re not actually level 80, because in Tyria there are no such things as levels. I bet you know NPC ever comes up to you in game and says I’m level 80. It’s a thing for players that doesn’t exist in Tyria. With that thought process, you can see level as relative to area, instead of level as relative to you and the whole problem evaporates.

I don’t see myself as deleveling. I am the best I can be in a certain area, relative to the content in that area. Most of the time this means the content will be easier…often a lot easier.

Hope you guys bug-reported it.

I think that if you can’t die, really can’t, then the zone is pointless and it might as well not exist for you at all. Sure the first time you go back to an MMO and see all the creatures grayed out and not attacking, you think..this is cool. I love this.

Until you realize your game has just become a whole lot smaller. For me, that’s the tragedy of most MMOs. By making early zones obsolete, you make the playable world much smaller.

Not to mention the potential for griefing. There was an event in Rift, a werewolf Rift, that you had to lure the wolves to special stones so you could kill them. Higher level players would come in, kill the stuff in one shot before you could lead it to the stones. They’d grief the event so you couldn’t finish it.

Even as it is, it’s hard in starter zones for new characters, if there are a bunch of high level guys around. No need to make it any worse for them.

unseen.7245:

Vayne.8563:

They should find another small guild and agree to help each other with guild missions. Why not?

Because you can’t effectively communicate with everyone in the said guild? There’s no mechanism for communicating between the guilds like there was in GW1 with its alliance chat. The only way you can speak to the other guild is either by whisper (1 person, poor speed), or inviting people you don’t know to your TS3 server (not gonna happen any time soon).

Okay this is really simple. You create a guild rank. You give that guild rank no permissions. You call those guys allies. They do the same. We have such a rank in our guild.

For the duration of your guild mission they rep you. For the duration of their guild mission you rep them.

For half an hour a week you rep each other. There’s no security risk. They don’t have permission to take anything out of your guild bank for instance.

During the event you have guild chat. Why must everyone make things like this so difficult?

It’s all in the mind. Anything you feel you have to do becomes a chore. I have chores that take me 20 minutes that I find eminently not enjoyable…I do them but I don’t enjoy doing them.

People who have convinced themselves they MUST do dailies won’t enjoy them. But if you don’t focus on dailies a lot of the time you get them anyway, without even trying.

The whole daily thing is just a mindset.

ScottBroChill.3254:

Dynamic events aren’t engaging though and I’ll take quality over quantity any day in terms of missions. I’d rather do a few missions I straight out love, than many mediocre missions.

In gw1 I felt like I was on a journey. I felt like i was part of gandalf’s crew to destroy the ring. You can say dynamic events are actually part of the real world, but they all reset and it takes away from the experience making them not really feel like true dynamic events. (which is somewhat impossible which is why I don’t care for the idea.)

the storyline and the way it is told is also rather important to the missions, and not just whatever path your following and waves of mobs your defeating. The cut scenes and story made me actually want to beat the missions to figure out what was going on next, they actually gave me emotions and goosebumps. they did this while also being able to include light heartedness. Too many bad in game racial slurs can get rather annoying between the asura and charr…

They have also stated many times that they don’t have plans for expansions and only want to keep adding the new content slowly. I’m more of an expansion guy because the content from expansions always feels more tightly knit and better put together, but I can see how others may like the other way.

Dynamic events aren’t engaging TO YOU. You can’t say they’re not engaging, because they engage me. I’m looking at the stories of zones. I love, for example, taking back outposts. I’m completely engaged when doing that.

When I hit a DE that is like part of the battle between centaurs and humans, and there’s a ton of guys coming in and not much of us defending…yeah that I find engaging. If you don’t, that’s okay…but it doesn’t mean it’s not engaging. Only that you don’t find it so.

I had a similar experience in Rift, defending stones from attacking invaders during zone-wide events. Me and my wife would defend stones against increasingly large numbers of invaders. Sometimes it was just the two of us. It was a rush. Sometimes it was the last portal stone standing.

I didn’t find most missions in Guild Wars 1 engaging, and many of the quests were just filler anyway. How many times do you have to run back and forth to Togo and Menhlo outside of Maatu Keep for example. Run back talk to them, to run back to talk to the guard to go to KC to talk to the Emperor. Sure there was a story there, but not an engaging one.

unseen.7245:

MaxLothor.3568:

Always ask into map chat if someone has seen your target, if someone replies only send 1 person at the target to confirm. Sometimes people lie, GW2 in game community is normally friendly in my experience but not always.

Yeah, not always. My experience with that so far:
Me: Anyone seen Prisoner?
Random 1: Yeah, he’s here.
Random 2: We’re following him.
Me: Where?
Random 2: Obviously, not where you are, n00b

Asking rarely helps as those who found the targets usually keep them to themselves. They either say nothing, give you a wrong location or simply insult you and tell you to sod off.

Yeah, communication and cooperation is key indeed…

MaxLothor.3568:

Same ideas apply to Tier 1 as well. We split into 2 groups of 5 and each group takes a different target.

What if a guild doesn’t have enough people for “2 groups of 5 each”?

They should find another small guild and agree to help each other with guild missions. Why not?

ScottBroChill.3254:

All of my GW1 guild mates have all quit GW2 and the three random people that happen to get on are always representing other guilds. GW2 just has no spark, it’s very visually stimulating and the combat is fun at first, but in an mmo the combat is tedious for how much variation there is. It almost makes it more fun to have the auto targeting because then I don’t feel like I have to dance around to avoid a stupid misquito and put too much work in for something so little.

I can’t say I really like GW2, but I also can’t say I dislike it. It’s just bland after you get over the initial differences in combat and the attention grabbers.

When I play pve, whenver I get to the mission points I usually just log off because the missions are zero fun and offer no cool rewards. There are no unique drops in missions and there about the same as any other mmo. The pvp can entertain me for awhile, but it ends up becoming mundain with the same skill rotations being used, It’s like having a gw1 assassin skill chain but you aren’t able to mix and match the chains.

I also found the elites in gw1 to be more impactful. They were more usable and really determined how you played. I don’t feel gw2 elites are really all that epic besides the visuals for them, but a lot of them are gimmicks. (Fiery greatsword/Tornado anyone?).

Honestly Vayne, your arguments could be used in the reverse direction in terms of players making the game. And the Thunderhead keep mission, yeah that sucked, but theres only a very few bad mission for how many great ones there are. How many missions can you name from GW2 that are memorable and enjoyable? for me its none, hopefully it’s different for others though.

You’re missing the point here. Guild Wars Prophecies had 25 missions, period end of story. That’s what it had. I don’t really remember any memorable quests…very few anyway. So you have 25 missions. If five of them sucked and I’m pretty sure at least five did you had 20 repeatable quests.

Guild Wars 2 doesn’t have 20 repeatable quests. It has dozens upon dozens of little personal story missions. Some people actually do like the Battle of Claw Island for example (I"m not one of them). But there are other individual instances that I did like. Some of the Charr stories I liked, SOme of the Asuran stories I liked. But they’re not like missions.

More to the point, there are dynamic events I like and they’re repeatable. Even if you liked a quest in Guild Wars 1, let’s say, for some obscure reason, you liked Althea’s Ashes. You did it and it was over.

But there are dynamic event chains I generally like. Probably as many as missions I liked in Prophecies. Factions only added 13 missions to the mix. Nightfall added another 20. Some of those were good, some weren’t.

I’m willing to wager there are as many specific dynamic events that I like in Guild Wars 2 out of 1500, than there are missions I liked out of 58. As I said earlier, EotN was my favorite Guild Wars 1 product, because I liked most of those story quests better than the bulk of the other missions. But even with that, it took years for that amount of content to be out.

By the time Guild Wars 2 has three expansions out, how much more enjoyable content will there be?

Out of curiosity what do you think you’ll be doing when you get to the end of the game?

killcannon.2576:

Vayne.8563:

killcannon.2576:

Vayne.8563:

I don’t know any single MMO that discusses exploits though. Even the discussion about them gives people ideas. It’s like having a convention talking about how to break into houses. It’s not done because we don’t want people breaking into houses. Maybe at a police convention they’d have a discussion like that.

Anet is not going to talk about exploits, because it’s their policy not to do so. A policy that every MMO I’ve played in has adopted.

Which unfortunately means all we can do is speculate.

The exploit was closed, supposedly, as was stated from the update. They discussed the snowflake exploit quite openly. And finally, closing an exploit usually doesn’t affect a large chunk of the player base, and when it does, they have posted why they have removed it. There are examples of them discussing exploits in the dungeons forums, pvp forums, wvw forums. It’s never been a black or white policy about discussing exploits, especially after they are closed, regardless of what the terms of service or usage state.

So, there is no reason not to let the player base know why they made their decision.

Can you show me a quote of Anet themselves discussing the snowflake exploit? I didn’t see them discuss it, just other people.

And yes, it is policy not to talk about exploits, even if they decide to sometimes do so. I say it’s policy because that has actually been stated on this forums, if nothing else by mods.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/account/Bans-for-Snowflake-Jewelry-are-unfair

There ya go, they discussed it. Can find more if you need em.

This isn’t Anet really talking about the exploit at all. It’s Anet talking about the bans which people were complaining about. This is a community manager talking about damage of something that everyone else is already talking about. Obviously the exploit was well known at that point and this post revealed zero. Nothing. This is not an example of Anet talking about an exploit.

She didn’t explain the exploit. She didn’t specifically say anything about the exploit. She talked about how much money people made from exploiting it, how it would have ruined the economy and thus why they were banned.

I think there’s a clear difference between someone coming on to defend banning players and someone coming on to explain an exploit or a decision on how they closed an exploit, more specifically.

ScottBroChill.3254:

i would like to say that whoever started playing the game after Eye of the North came out never really experienced the true game. By this time, PuG’s were for the most part dead, Anet said they scrapped the expansion and settled for EotN, and they made it so heroes and henchies were more reliable than other players.

When GW1 was first out I couldn’t stop playing. Currently I can’t log in because I have no idea what my 100 character password is, which is ridiculous on it’s own, but the last time I did everything was dead. Even random arenas. You can’t go to a dead game and expect to get the same impression from a game that’s currently being focused on and is lively. When EotN came out, no one was playing anymore to play the game. They were all playing to farm and speedclear to get real rich because Anet made all the older content obsolete. I enjoyed GW1 more without all the EotN dungeons than with them. I enjoyed the two big faction dungeons, in which the first run I obtained Urgoz’s longbow which was my first real rare item and made me want to do the difficult content even more so, for the chance of sweet items. Without this inherent “chance” factor, it all becomes work and grind. It never feels like a grind when any moment could be “The moment”.

Certain armor/weapons required specific materials that were rare and usually had to be farmed. Some people enjoyed the farming because they could get what they want, or use there time to sell for something else and gain a profit. Other’s, like me didn’t. I went through the game doing dungeons, gathering my money slowly and obtaining a few rare drops along the way in which I could keep or exchange for what I want.

In GW2 I have to do everything the way they want me to in order to obtain the items I want. This is even more restrictive than before!

But in all seriousness, any GW1 veteran will have you know that you didn’t experience the true guild wars. The true guild wars was a competitive, fun, and engaging game that never made you want to quit. You literally never got bored of the game. You experienced the grind wars, in which they implemented all the new various titles which bear a very similar resemblance and role to all the currencies in GW2, except now they take up kitten loads of inventory space and everything is cluttered. This game feels so unorganized it’s almost overwhelming.

I never run with pugs in any game. I had a pretty active guild in Guild Wars 1. In fact a few of those guys are here in game with me in my current guild. I was actually in two guilds in my time in Guild Wars 1 and people from both of my guilds are here in Guild Wars 2.

For the most part, we like this game better. In fact, I don’t think any of us liked Guild Wars 1 better than Guild Wars 2, though we loved Guild Wars 1.

I didn’t just play with heroes. I played with real life players too. And we had a great time playing together, but I realize that a lot of the actual stuff I was doing wasn’t “great content”. It was great because of the people I was playing with.

I generally liked the Fissure of Woe for example, I thought that was good content. I didn’t love DOA, even though I beat it. I particularly didn’t like Slaver’s Exile, even though I beat that. But I liked a lot of the other dungeons.

But as I said, no matter how many people you played with, there’s no justification for something like Thunderhead Keep. I thought the mission was poorly designed. They’d give you enough time to kill the guys even if you sucked, so if you were good, you just had to sit around and wait for the next group to get to you. Not fun in my book.

I didn’t like several of the missions, but really liked other ones. As a game, Guild Wars 1 was uneven. For everyone person who loved the game, there was someone who wanted to kill Rurik or Komir. There was someone who suggested making a minipet of Alicia that dropped dead every ten seconds randomly as well.

Maybe it would have been a better game if I were a PvPer, but at heart, I’m not. And it was still one of the best games I’ve ever played. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t like Guild Wars 2 more.

Zahme.7802:

I started last weekend to play GW1, since I want the HoM Points.
At the beginning I wanted to do all 30 Points, but now I’m happy when I get to Level 10 and get the 3 points from linking the accounts.
Sorry, but I can’t see whats so great about GW1.

I wouldn’t be so fast to sell Guild Wars 1 short. One of the big problems with the game isn’t really a problem with the game at all.

Guild Wars 1 is what I call a slow burn. It doesn’t really kick in right away. Not everything has to. There are books that jump into action right away, but they’re not the only kinds of books. There are books that also build over time and by the time you get to the end of them, they’re as good or better than anything else. Babylon 5 wasn’t all that impressive during the first season but the third and fourth seasons were some of the best scifi I’ve seen on TV.

The same is true of Guild Wars 1. Compared to most MMOs it’s a very slow progression,. particularly if you started in Prophecies. Faction was relatively fast, Nightfall was slow again.

But what Guild Wars 1 had that MMOs don’t have is that the entire game was like your personal story. Everything in the game was more like an RPG than an MMO. It was your story about your character.

In Guild Wars 2, you don’t really have it on the same level. Part of the reason for this is because you don’t see the same people over and over from the beginning to the end. It makes it harder to stay involved. If you start a Sylvari you meet Trahearne a lot earlier in the piece, but other than that he just feels thrown in. It wasn’t like that in Guild Wars 1.

The original designers of Guild Wars 1 weren’t looking at MMOs for their skill system either, but something more akin to Magic the Gathering. You have to build your deck to really be great at the game. That mean getting the skills you need unlocked.

It takes time and patience, something the modern gaming community doesn’t have in huge supply.

ScottBroChill.3254:

honestly, you started playing the game way after it’s peak and I don’t want to say what your saying is invalid, but you missed the golden ages of gw1. Everything that was a part of HoM never really interested me unless it was something I wanted to do. It reminds me of the daily achievements in gw2, except I was working for something tangible in game.

The problem with the golden age of anything though is that sometimes revisiting it doesn’t make it all that golden.

I’ve played plenty of awesome games that didn’t change at all, only to go back to them and feel totally bored. If I started playing Guild Wars 1 six or so years ago, that means the golden age would have been before that.

That’s a long time and a lot of memory. I’m not so sure things were as rosy as you paint them. Well I know they weren’t for certain people since both my sons left Guild Wars 1 back during the golden age for WoW.

I still don’t know about this. Take the longer auto attack time of the long bow over the short bow. The short bow does a much better autoattack but the long bow otherwise has much higher damage skills. Taking in the whole picture, it might be possible that the short bow’s strong auto-attack compensates for the significantly lower damage otherwise.

As for Anet having tools to parse stuff, they have referenced having such tool, but they didn’t go into specifics. It might not affect this sort of thing, I don’t know. But I do know they have, according to them, a number of tools at their disposal to parse stuff.

It would be sort of silly if they didn’t.