Guild Wars 2

That wouldn’t necessarily expedite the issue, only transfer it.

Corvindi.5734:

plasmacutter.2709:

Corvindi.5734:

Since Ascended gear will create the standard WoW-style haves and have-nots and worse, will put those who don’t have it at a disadvantage in WvW, I’m against it for the same reason I’m against corporate and military power being used to oppress the poor and powerless.

Although I’m less concerned about Ascended gear than I am about real world bully tactics, since I’m %99 positive no one is going to actually die from Ascended. Unless, of course, someone really does try to farm up all those mats. Hopefully no stories of people found dead in their chairs with the GW2 loading screen on their monitors will surface.

We need a hitler video where he raves about ascended…

I still think the bigger issue is the following combination:
Ascended + high FOTM challenge levels + FOTM gating = lots of people feeling compelled to do something they don’t want (emptying the rest of the world and making for VERY testy players), and the FotM gating mechanism preventing people trying to group for it from gaining optimal outcomes for each person.

I dare say the fact Ascended is not available through every means like exotic is a much greater problem than the simple presence of Ascended, as gear seems to be a much smaller factor in this game than others.

How do I put this delicately? Gamers are stupid sometimes. Why should we feel compelled to chase this gear at all? It clearly isn’t fun to get, so I’m not going to try to get it. Nor will I try to compete against it in WvW or for teams in PVE. I’m just going to wander solo until I find something better to do.

I am not a hamster, after all, and I will not act like one. I wish other people would stop acting like hamsters, too, maybe then finally we can get a decent MMO that doesn’t treat us like hamsters.

That’s the thing: this MMO treats you like a hamster for as long as you think of yourself as one.

Maybe it’s because their priorities are being skewed by an ultra-reactionary community.

Astralporing.1957:

Aleaf.8174:

Merthax.5172:

Casca Longinus.3168:

once again, you want the reward without the work

Let’s say I invite a friend to play GW2 with me. How long should it take them to start a new character, get to maximum level, and get max stat gear? What is a realistic amount of time where they have “earned” it?

This is a game, which I play it for fun. Once it has devolved into work, I know it’s time to move on to something else. If it’s work, I want to get paid for it.

This is an RPG. RPGs are known to have some form of work to show off an achievement. This “work” is often called a grind. It’s the genre.

Nope. RPG’s – as their name tells you – are games that entertain you by letting you play a role. Preferably as different from the real life as possible. Crpg’s have often lot of grind only because they had originally problems in converting RPG experience into a computer game. Some people may think this is part of a genre, but in reality it is just an old flaw they are repeating without even remembering where it came from.
RPG’s are not about achievements. They are about roleplay.

Which is a moot argument anyway – there is not very much of roleplay in today’s MMO’s. MMORPGs are not RPG games, contrary to their name. They have lost the genre connection long ago.

There wasn’t much roleplay in traditional RPGs either. The progenitors of the genre itself barely featured dialogue, and featured heavily the aspect of “grinding”. Let’s look at Final Fantasy. No, not the overly-cinematic anime-culture ones these days. The original one. Who were you? A warrior of light. What were you supposed to do? Kill things until you’ve saved the world. And that was the role you played. To accomplish this, one would, out of necessity have to fight many enemies in order to increase one’s level, in order to fight bigger and badder monsters until you’ve accomplished all there is in the game. This is the traditional RPG at its very core. Interestingly enough, this sounds very dissimilar from the game you describe. Perhaps it is instead modern RPgs which lost the genre connection.

Veltoss.9135:

TsukasaHiiragi.9730:

Aleaf.8174:

TsukasaHiiragi.9730:

Veltoss.9135:

They already said they’re adding more ascended gear with more ways to get it, including from dungeons and more fun ways as well.

source?

“Ascended and infusion rewards will be available in both PvE and WvW over time, and be made available through all sorts of content around the world including existing content.”

Source

Oh I read that already ~ its all smoke and mirrors without an solid information. I wouldn’t put too much into that.

How the kitten is that not solid when it comes straight from them? You people are just trying your best to have a reason to freak the kitten out and keep your conspiracy theories going.

Indeed, but at least keep it civil on both sides.

I remember the blog post where they say those features are coming down the line in development. It’s fairly far down in there but it’s there.

Why don’t you answer your own question and go into the game development industry and see exactly how many hoops you need to jump through and how much work it takes to get even the most measly of updates okayed and delivered to the customers.

This is why Ascended exists. People can easily get exotics. People might not have the time or the inclination to work towards a Legendary. This is the gear gap.

The only semi-accurate statistics in existence are censes, which are mandatory. Unless you can get a mandatory questionnaire to the entire population of Guild Wars 2, none of the statistics you present will ever be able to be construed as representing the population or even a microcosm of the population.

NaughtyProwler.8653:

As others have said, ascended gear uses the same mats as legendary gear, so it’s a waste of time to even pursue unless of course you have unlimited time to spend grinding or you don’t want a legendary for some reason. Fake gear gap is fake.

Is this not a paradox? It’s a waste of time to pursue something with limited time whereas an item which costs more in the end with the same limited timeframe is more acceptable?

Keep in mind Ascended gear does not, in fact, require the same “mats” as Legendary gear. Legendary gear, among other things, requires 100% completion of the map, as well as 200 skill points.

Keiran.1896:

60 of any dungeon token = 1 Dungeon Shard.
100 Fractal Relics = 1 Fractal Shard.

10 Dungeon Shards + 2 Fractal Shard + 50 ectos + 1 Eldritch Scroll = Ascended Gear.

Simple and you got your players playing everything. Not just fractals.

Why not?

Perhaps because the whole system is still in the process of being implemented.

There’s plenty of reason to leave Lion’s Arch. Like the rest of the game. Or are you implying that you are so shaped by the beliefs and opinions of others that you encounter a physical boundary upon reaching the city limits?

Minus.3478:

I will agree. The outdoors are pretty empty right now and most everything is contested and will stay contested. LA has turned into the FoTM LFG channel… quite sad really.

We are now locked into never having to leave LA for anything. Goodbye giant world of adventure, hello dungeon waiting room LA.

Yes, because the patch put up invisible walls around Lion’s Arch which you cannot at all leave. I, for one, continue to play outside of dungeons and in the open world, and I find a plethora of players on my travels who do just the same.

So you blame a corporation for not only patching a game but influencing your thought processes?

“The gap” is not necessarily in reference to a statistical gap. For all the crying about the game not having to be about statistics, you certainly don’t look past the statistics.

Space Cow.2431:

Vermillion Hawk.9037:

They don’t need to make it. YOU feel they need to make it. They can just do whatever the kitten they want and they don’t need to say anything about it. $60 is pretty cheap for a leash to a company.

Yes, I as a customer feel they have broken the promise they made me and to keep ME, they need to make a statement.

Your implication is they don’t give a flying kitten. Which may very well be true, but it just proves my point.

Incidentally, if you aren’t attached to your 60€ feel free to paypal me.

My implication is that they shouldn’t give a flying kitten.

Crater.1625:

Vermillion Hawk.9037:

I’m still not understanding how one extra tier between exotic and legendary constitutes a gear treadmill.

Before Ascended gear, having full Exotic gear meant that you were at 100% of the game’s maximum power.

After Ascended gear, you are at less than 100% of the game’s maximum power.

To get back to exactly where you started (100%), you have to ‘run’ (grind) until you get the new gear.

That’s why it’s a treadmill. You have to run forward just to get back to where you started.

Previous content is not adjusted for this though. You can still complete previous content with exotic gear, and I’m sure you can complete future content with exotic gear – you just need ascended gear to do Fractals of the Mists. You’re not running to get back to where you started. You are given the option of diverting from your path in order to complete extra, additional content.

They don’t need to make it. YOU feel they need to make it. They can just do whatever the kitten they want and they don’t need to say anything about it. $60 is pretty cheap for a leash to a company.

That’s the thing: it’s a question. We don’t know whether or not this sets a precedent for the future of development.

Trust is reciprocal. I trust that Anet won’t utterly transform the game into the opposite of what is set out to be. On the other hand, I also trust that the changes they do make are in the best interest of the game itself. I’m not so pretentious as some to believe they can just accept all the suggestions and ideas from individual players and incorporate them into a dream game.

I’m still not understanding how one extra tier between exotic and legendary constitutes a gear treadmill.

Eibl.8592:

I think the problem is that their ‘manifesto’ is purposefully vague, and the vast majority of the consumers interpreted that as they liked.

Now what response would really placate the community?
“we’re sorry but the changes are final”?
“we’re sorry and will throw away all the content in our large content patch”?
“Turns out our manifesto is not profitable, sry”?

A lot of people are really being quite selfish here, and they want Anet to just fold and do what they want and disregard anyone who likes the changes but doesn’t post about it on the forums (the silent majority)

Precisely. People misinterpeet or overinterpret and instantly begin the crusade against the evil, horrible Anet who stole the sunshine and happiness out of their lives.

It’s caled rhetoric, Glorious Anti-Anet Comrade.

Don’t make it more confusing for the sake of making it more confusing. It’s Buy to play. Le fin.

In order to obtain rewards from the Hall of Monuments there are quite a few tasks you must complete in the first game. Check the Guild Wars Wiki for more info, but don’t expect it to be easy.

It’s not FTP. Also, in terms of buying it and notl iking it, there’s an antique Roman phrase which I feel will survive unto the end of a market society for how well it expresses the inherent centre of a consumer culture. Caveat emptor . Buyer beware.

You’d be surprised.

I never said it wasn’t controversial. Controversy does not necessarily imply mass dissent on the matter, however. As I said though, I don’t think there is a majority here.

Did your exotics really just become obsolete? Are they now absolutely useless? Are other new dungeons going to use the Agony effect? The answer to all three is no.

Why do people complain? A good question indeed. A simple answer would be to say that people complain out of necessity. Here we face unique circumstances, however. Here, we have a population of gamers who risked nothing but $60 to play this game, a one-time fee. This $60, apparently, has made some feel as if it pays for not only the game but for a leash around the neck of the lead developers of this game. When their little fragile expectations of how amazing and ecstasy-inducing this game will be are shattered like so much glass, they abuse this supposed right of theirs to legitimize a campaign of hate against their so-called oppressors. Others join in this complaining in order to feel as part of a community, with the youth culture, and culture in general these days being primarily composed of dichotomies of hate.

11k posts, but many from the same people. Once again, not indicative of a majority or a minority. As of now, I doubt anyone can even say whether there is a majority.

It’s buy to play. Guild Wars 1 was buy to play. People need to get their facts straight.

People are always trying to convince themselves, MrD.

Speaking of microcosms, this forum has thus far been quite an entertaining one of Edmund Burke’s political theories.

Malefactor.2971:

Forum goers themselves are a minority of an MMOs playerbase, an even smaller number than that bother to post. While it’s certainly possible that the views here could be held by a “majority” of players, it’s equally possible that they are not.

What we do know atm though, is despite all the moaning on these forums, the servers are jam packed, with overflows in many zones, which might suggest that the majority have no issue, or at least not enough to cause them to stop playing the game, with the recent changes.

Better watch out with those stats, you might hurt someone’s brain trying to convince themselves the game’s dying.

MrDmajor.7084:

Vermillion Hawk.9037:

What DegoLocc says is true. Players who enjoy the game are probably going to play the game instead of waste time crying on the forums.

Because people who play computer games don’t open browsers, and look at forums for hints tips and information on the game. They’er not facebook and twitter either. They’re too busy being dumb happy, while the vocal minority are fringing about.

Read the second bit.

What DegoLocc says is true. Players who enjoy the game are probably going to play the game instead of waste time crying on the forums.

But since you guys like numbers, let’s do numbers. If one takes the sales figures (well over 2 million) into account, and say that maybe for every person who cries on this forum, there are 3-4 who share their opinion, that’s a mere fraction of the total people playing this game.

I’d like it so that when you see a person in the field, instead of just showing their effective level from the effects of whatever area they happen to be in, it shows something like their effective level in green, and then their actual level in brackets beside it. This is just a slight suggestion, for cosmetic reasons. This will allow people to more easily pinpoint experienced players in lower-level areas.

I’m getting progress on it now. Thanks Anet!

I’m pretty sure this achievement is bugged. Haven’t been able to gain progress on it since the game came out.

No, it’s not to show off your GW1 stuff, that’s what the GW1 Hall of Monuments was for. All it is now is a receptacle for your rare pets and item skins.

If there’s anything one can learn about the average person from this thread and American politics, it’s that people are uneducatable.

Change the topic title to “Why isn’t everything in life handed to me on a silver platter”?

Considering you can modify both the existence of visual effects and thecamera angle to your heart’s desire, there’s no real issue there. Do you have anything better to do than going around and ruining topics with off-topic misinformation, Avatar?

All entirely subjective, Avatar.

Before that question is answered one must first define “raid”, as it changes from game to game, person to person. If you’re talking about soul-crushingly difficult missions, then yes, Guild Wars 1 had plenty of these. Most, however, came long after release. Dungeons like Sorrow’s Furnace, the Fissure of Woe, the Underworld, and the various ones in the Realm of Torment (they certainly would live up to the name for an unprepared team) all provided significant challenges, and equally great rewards for players who wanted a challenge. I have no doubt that they will include similar challenges somewhere down the line.

That’s the thing – they don’t want you to grind. You don’t have to grind. You get all your level 80 gear for a reasonable price, and levelling is a pretty smooth progression for the most part.

Cosmetic, extra, bonus, UNNECESSARY items? Hell yes you’re going to have to grind. To think that there are some people out there who are complaining to no end about the lack of an “endgame”, who conversely start complaining that they have towork for these items.

At times, it’s like beating your head against a brick wall, trying to educate people on this subject. You don’t NEED these items. If you want them that bad, then expect to put in some work to gain them. Perhaps you’ll learn something as to how things are acquired in life while you do it. All I know is I’m certainly not going to go out of my way to get these cosmetic items like some people evidently feel the obsessive-compulsive need to do so.

They’re certainly not forcing writers to cease writing guides directly, but they’re inadvertently doing so. Due to the influx of video guides available, the question is begged as to whether or not it is worth it to continue writing guides with all the oversaturation in video guides. Thus, they are slowly eliminating written guides through forced apathy, and pandering to this generation which requires something flashing and moving in front of their face to “learn” something.

Personally I love the long trenchcoat look. I do agree that’s it’s oversaturated, however.

Positioning certainly does matter, several monsters have attacks which only hit a specific area, without dodging I’ve found it easy to read and then find the right plces to avoid these attacks. Attacks like the Minotaur species’ charging attacks, Dredge/Wyrm tunelling, and most Area of Effect attacks can all be avoided without dodging at all.

The thing is though, if you don’t want to use video guides, it’s hard, since they’ve gradually been replacing information you once could have found in a written guide. Therefore, are you, then, dictating what guides people should use?

I’m going to start using some free time to contribute to the wiki. I’ve 100% completed several areas in the game that have little or not information on them in the Wiki.

Yes, there will be an element, precluding the free (read: free) hat giveaway (coincidentally exactly what they had in Guild Wars 1) that involves extra weapon skins and buyable costumes. Where is the problem? If you’re feeling like you’re being gouged for these items, that you absolutely positively MUST get these items one way or another, then the problem isn’t the game’s design, it’s YOU.

The items aren’t absolutely integral to gameplay. They’re skins. They exist solely for vanity purposes. You don’t NEED to get them. Thus, if you DO want to get them, expect to put in a little work for it. They’re not just going to hand you everything on a silver platter, like some people seem to think. If you want these EXTRA items, WORK FOR THEM. They’re not “gouging” you for anything. Your obsessive personality is causing you to think they are, since in yourm ind you absolutely ust have them.

More than one pose for sitting in a chair? You’re hard to please, virtually 90% of games would likely fail this “test”.

Snowden Drifts, reference to Catch-22 (which I highly recommend reading).

Also, a lot of the place names have some fairly clever wordplay. For example, a location in Dredgehaunt Cliffs, Dissun’s Mine.