Guild Wars 2

Cancer.9065:

I’ve seen this happen to me on Dungeons (necro)

Think maybe I’m seeing a trend with these aggro issues.. what class, OP? When I play my necro, it happens to me, too. I run around, but can’t get far enough away to lose aggro, unless I leave the area entirely. Seems highly unlikely that necros are outdamaging everyone. I wonder if conditions cause more aggro?

chuiu.4985:

That or sarcasm.

Heh.. I’m usually fine at picking up on sarcasm. Oops

I think our sustained DPS is good, but the problem is burst. Minimal cooldown basic weapon skill burst. It’s just a pain, that it takes the necro so much longer to kill trash mobs, that other classes kill in 2-3 hits. Other classes don’t have to worry about cooldowns in basic PvE, because they kill before sustained DPS even matters.

Course sustained DPS can be much more valuable when it really counts, but it’d still be nice not to get bogged down fighting every little mob, when every other class I’ve played just tears through them. Without blowing any utilities.

In more of a trinity game, I understand the balance, but not sure why the same would apply here. and just to Necro.

chuiu.4985

I don’t know, it seems balanced. I mean we’re a light armor class and this is one of weakest melee weapons in the game. Naturally it should hit less enemies.

You have a funny idea of balance

Zedekiel.3021:

Yep, but having the same moveset as the thief is rather lazy (no really, same animation). We have projectile hands (that move rather slow), scepters that emit bleeding death, and twirling axes. The dagger doesn’t seem to fit in really.

Yeah, definitely.. just in terms of aesthetics, I wish we had a unique animation, at least.

[edit] come to think of it, though.. don’t really like that animation for thief, either. It’s too abrupt and repetitive.

Harkin.2160:

Plague is probably the most overpowered support elite in the entire game for Dungeon running..

Yeah, since posting that, I realized I was basically just using it wrong. The damage it does is a bit underwhelming for an elite skill, but it has been pretty useful, once I figured out when I should be using it. I think I even prefer it over Lich Form (course, probably just haven’t figured out how to use Lich Form, yet..)

Guess I’m just desperate for something that does some burst damage, and every time I’ve unlocked a new skill, I’ve hoped it would be it.

Yeah, Thief dagger #1 and #2 only hit one target. #3 is AoE, though.

Seems so odd to me that people care about this.. or why Anet even puts it in the game. I’ve never understood achievements, badges, and other completion stuff anyhow, though. I’ve read that was a big part of GW1, too..

I don’t understand how gear can be the issue for some people. It seems to be percentage based, so if you’re a lv.80 wearing lv.70 gear in a lv 8 area, your gear would be effectively lv.7 – that would be a big improvement over being 10 levels behind at 80. You’d have to have gear that was like 40 levels too low for it to even begin to be a real issue.

Unless I misunderstand how the system works?

That aside.. I have no idea what the OP’s issue is, either. My experience is the opposite, too. Lower level areas are often too easy, because we don’t get downleveled fully. The level modifier of being 1-3 levels above the mobs has more of an effect than anything else I can even think of.

Geff.1930

Mobs are supposed to reset if you kite it too far from their spawn or area where they are supposed to be located. Otherwise people would be kiting the whole map in a massive zerg of mobs following one person, that would be fun to watch.

Does appear to be the anti-kiting code at work, but it’s not working correctly, I’m sure. It often kicks in, when there’s no kiting whatsoever going on, and the mob is right next to its spawn point. When it happens on land, I can usually understand why it might seem like I was kiting (or maybe I actually was) but underwater, no, definitely not.

Koolthulu.9682:

Sounds like it isn’t really underwater combat that is the issue, just the usual bugs. Mob respawns need to toned down gamewide. Mobs bugging and instahealing happens everywhere, not just underwater.

In my experience, it happens a lot more, underwater. In the middle of a fight, mobs suddenly become invulnerable and swim three feet back to their spawn point to heal. Might depend on playstyle, or certain weapon skills, I don’t know, but it happens so much, it can feel gamebreaking. At least, the underwater part of the game.

The crazy fast respawns happen everywhere, but they severely compound the other issues of water combat, making it way too frustrating.

Psy

Axe 2 isnt really bad. It channels a lot faster than dagger 2 and has a real short cooldown.

Got a rare axe drop my level a bit ago, decided to give it another chance.. and bah, still can’t stand it. Feels like even dagger #1 has higher DPS. I guess it’s meant to get a boost from all those stacks of vuln, but even with 10 stacks on a mob, I don’t really see a difference in damage.

Asurans are always running around repeating that, and I’m just like, “what’s six feet tall? dakitten are you yelling about..”

Some classes lack pants, but others just have too many long tops that cover them.

As another poster mentioned recently here, I think necros are forced to depend too heavily on their utility slots. They can do ok damage.. but not with any weapon skills. Axe and dagger #2 are pathetic, compared to what other classes get, but if you drop wells and stack bleeds, etc, etc, they do an passable job of contributing to that.

It would be nice if we had at least one good single target burst skill, for when we’re not AOE farming events, and just want to kill individual mobs that get in out way, without needing to make the choice between it taking embarrassingly long, or blowing utility cooldowns.

Think uprising is exaggerating a bit, but my experience has been similar, especially at off-peak times. When the game was new, there were always lots of other players around, even at 4am. Now, not so much.

and the events don’t scale down that well, as far as I’ve seen. I’ve done escort missions solo, and still get pretty much swarmed by mobs. Maybe some scale better than others, not sure. Course, any involving a champ, forget about it, and new players will even have trouble soloing veterans. Then you’ve got the collection events, where they seem to need a hundred of an item, even if you’re the only one there to run around gathering it.

I just don’t see the scaling they claim is in place. It’s hard to be sure, but if it is working, it’s not as big of a factor as I’d expect.

You know you’ve been playing too much GW2, when you misread a title like this, and think its going to be a thread about Skritts not wearing pants.

Apathy.6430:

Feycat.4370:

Vzur.7123:

I’ve wondered this, too..

Why not an armor system that works like the weapon skills? e.g. You can choose light, medium, or heavy, but that comes with different benefits and penalties, based on class. Or something more interesting and fitting to GW2 like that, rather than just a tired old armor trinity system.

That’s certainly what I was thinking, yes.

And I have no trouble believing that many people would go full plate. But if there were speed and dodging penalties to wearing plate, in a game with no mounts? I think people would at least consider balancing their suits a bit.

On the other hand… so what if people wore all plate? Who cares? That would be people’s choices to make.

If everyone is wearing the best armor, then there is no choice.

Just means they need to make sure heavy armor isn’t the best. There are all sorts of things they could do to balance it. Instead of just effecting movement speed, or endurance regen, it could even effect damage in some way. Cooldowns, casting speed, crit chance, whatever. Just a matter of tweaking it, until it becomes a real decision.

its guild wars-duh.of course they are going to tack on "pve"to attract some cash.welcome to marketing.at least the kids will be gone soon and we can pvp in relative peace.there is no room for crying in war

If anything, it seems to me like its the PvP that’s tacked on. I bet the vast majority of resources went into the PvE game.. and that’s where to vast majority of players are.

Although I will say that as far as longevity goes, I’d bet the people who do get into the PvP are a lot more likely to stick around, for a lot longer.

This is why I wikitten [wish. it. lol] were better integrated together (ala DAOC, realm abilities, etc) -there are lots of players who enjoy both, but only if they’re rewarding enough. Keeping them so entirely separate also keeps the PvP irrelevant to the rest of the game.

I’ve wondered this, too..

Why not an armor system that works like the weapon skills? e.g. You can choose light, medium, or heavy, but that comes with different benefits and penalties, based on class. Or something more interesting and fitting to GW2 like that, rather than just a tired old armor trinity system.

I don’t mind trenchcoats necessarily, but I hate not having alternatives. If that’s not the style I want for my character? Too bad, it’s what Anet envisioned for thieves and rangers.

I see you’re using Well of Suffering. Works pretty well, throw that down, and anything else you do will seem like ok damage. Slow cooldown though. I find that I can only use it maybe once every three fights, and of course, opponents can just jump out of it.

Why would I care what I look like after I get to 80??

I just think its weird that some people seem to think that the only real roleplaying is sitting around in a room, using a game as 3d chatroom.

It’s not that I don’t like underwater combat. I think it’s great. Problem is, it’s kitten hard.

A few classes get good enough ranged abilities and can keep moving, taking advantage of other players getting killed trying to tank. Mostly though, yeah, forget about it. Not worth dying repeatedly, hoping enough people come along.

Lately I’ve been playing Necro most, and for some crazy reason, they don’t get any underwater ranged attacks, nor any defensive block skills or anything like that. Vets are especially difficult now, but champs are just instant death.

I was just going to post about this, myself.

It seems like a cool idea. It’s the only minion I like using. In theory. but in reality, they die in about 3 seconds, and even if it does hit anything, it does no damage. More than one at a time isn’t possible, because they’re on a long invisible cooldown (30 seconds?) It is 100% useless.

If it’s just for flavor, it would be better if it were a cosmetic pet, that just did a little dance on the corpse that spawned it, before disappearing.

I wasn’t using any minions, until the elite skill. Even that, just because none of the other 10 pt elites seem worth using (why is Plague so weak?) and I don’t have the 30 pts to test the next ones, yet.

I’m not a big fan of minion classes. I like the flexibility of GW2, in that I can make a non-minion necro build (more than I can say for Ranger). I just wish they’d balance its viability a bit better.

Drintar.1246:

Vzur.7123:

It’s not that black and white. There are degrees of success, and the more successful an MMO is, the more likely it is to expand and evolve – into something worth playing longterm.

Lots of MMOs are still in business, but don’t make enough money to keep growing. Nobody wants to pump development money into a game, if there won’t be a decent return on that investment.

So it really depends on how you define success. Is it just being able to stay afloat? Or much more than that?

While to a degree you are correct there are plenty that do still grow, Anarchy Online had one of the worst launches in history, it’s still going, still releasing expansions, and recently I heard it’s getting a graphics engine overhaul. EvE never has had HUGE numbers but they still pump out new content/expansions regularly and the playerbase in EVE has continued to slowly grow.

Guild Wars 1 is still going so I think ArenaNet have an idea how to run Guild Wars 2 to be profitable and successful for THEM. See it doesn’t matter if players think it isn’t successful, if it sustains a large enough base to keep the dev team employed and get new content and still make a profit it’s a success in business terms.

Depends on the size of the project, I think. Older MMOs like AO were practically indie games by todays standards. Keeping them growing was probably a lot more affordable. EVE was an indie game, so relative to its development costs, its been a HUGE success.

TBH, I don’t know for sure why things have changed so drastically post-WoW. I just know what I’ve seen over the years, playing almost every major MMO since UO.

Well, to me “dead” means “no longer in business.” Companies that are spending more than they make quickly close. I just looked up Age of Conan and Warhammer Online, two games that are generally said to have “died” soon after release, and there are announcements regarding server maintainance and game development for Sept 2012. Clearly, even if “you” are not playing these games, someone is.

They do fund some development, but it tends to be negligible. Takes forever to see any real changes made in a lot of these games. Even when they do get real expansions, they all too often turn out to be disappointing minimal and lackluster. Just something the skeleton crew of devs threw together to drum up what little hype they could.

Renegadeimp.8439:

Dopplegangr.9678:

tolunart.2095:

“I don’t play X any more” does not mean death. It means you choose to spend your money elsewhere. How many MMOs have actually shut down all their servers and closed up within six months of release? A year?

I’d say pretty much every MMO besides WoW is dead. I don’t know anyone that still plays AoC, Rift, Aion, Tera, SWTOR, etc. I’m guessing the same will be true for GW2 soon.

You need to know more people then. I know plenty that actively play all those you named.

Just because the games arent as popular as WoW doesnt mean that none of them are a success.

It’s not that black and white. There are degrees of success, and the more successful an MMO is, the more likely it is to expand and evolve – into something worth playing longterm.

Lots of MMOs are still in business, but don’t make enough money to keep growing. Nobody wants to pump development money into a game, if there won’t be a decent return on that investment.

So it really depends on how you define success. Is it just being able to stay afloat? Or much more than that?

My wife was really looking forward to buying a weapon from the hidden karma merchant in Lions Arch. It was one of those little milestone achievements that she spent a number of levels looking forward to, and I guess it helped keep her going.

Then, at around lv.47, she had enough, spent all of it, on one single weapon (skin), and hasn’t played since. It’s kind of depressing when you need to sacrifice so much just for a little reward. With no karma left, she couldn’t even look forward to saving up for another item, without it feeling like a crazy grind.

Me, I save all my karma. Never spend any of it, except on the occasional ingredients for cooking discovery. I’m still playing, but.. I’m not sure which is worse.

It’s an absurd mockery of a reward system. Maybe it’s meant to be, I don’t know.

I found that it’s attainable IF you don’t spend any before then. I think it’s a poor system that encourages players to hoard karma, rather than spend it on different merchants along the way.

Yes, I love the game, but I find that a bit concerning as well. People playing less en masse tends to be a precursor for people not playing at all.

People will try to say its all doom and gloom nonsense at first.. but I’m sure ANet has the real numbers, and they look awfully similar. I hope they have some sort of ace up their sleeve, or this will game will tank like every other MMO in the past few years.

Disagree with some of your interpretation though. I doubt GW2 has more Xfire users than other MMOs. I think it does have a much higher percentage of fans that bought it at launch though, whereas TOR’s initial losses were offset by large numbers of casuals who bought the game later.

I’d like to see them integrate WvW with the rest of the game better, rather than have it as this irrelevant thing you have to queue for, that most players couldn’t care less about.

I hate instances too. I miss when dungeons were public places full of other players.

Story does absolutely nothing for me in an MMO, anyhow.

I agree. Just wish they’d randomize events in various ways, so players would never know what to expect. It’s all way too scripted, and that’s not really what comes to mind, when I think “dynamic event.”

I’m enjoying the game, no question.. just, was kinda hoping it would be more successful. I mean, sure it sold well at first, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to keep growing. I thought there was a good chance it would be the first MMO to do that, since, well, 2004.

Some armor types get nothing but pants. Others get nothing but dresses. It’s annoying, getting locked into certain styles like that. I wish “player choice” had been part of that manifesto…

I’m only familiar with the light armor choices for my sylvari and I’ve found them a bit disappointing as well. They show some cleavage and there’s a couple skirts open in the front to show off the panties but nothing that shows off the butt. It’s all long skirts in the back. Since you spend 99% of your time looking at your character from behind they could’ve at least put some clothes that show off the butt.

I’d be embarrassed to be so direct about that, but yeah, it’s kind of uncanny how often, even the skimpiest armor has coat tails or drapes of some sort in the back. Same with all different MMOs. Makes me wonder if the devs have some odd reason for it.

How can I trust that list, if whoever wrote it doesn’t know that crabs and thundershrimp are totally different? :P

Did you play other MMOs before it, like EQ or AC? I think that sort of levelgrind was just the norm back then.

I’ve been playing them for 15 years now. I started with UO in 1997.

Didn’t mean to come off like I was asking for your “MMO cred” – just whether you were familiar with other games of that time. Themeparks, really though. UO was a lot different. If you were coming from UO, I can see why DAOC would have seemed like a huge grind.

Ragnar Dragonfyre.1806:

Vzur.7123:

DAOC was the only MMO that really had a good endgame, IMHO. I don’t feel like typing up a lengthy elaboration, but I think anyone who played it knows what I mean… WoW and its gear-grinding clones don’t even come close.

I played it at launch.

It had one of the worst grinds to cap I’ve experienced in any MMO ever and I’ve been playing them for 15 years now. I made it to around level 40ish before I burnt out entirely. Considering how much of a grind it was just to get to cap, I can’t imagine what sort of a grind would have been awaiting me at cap.

Nostalgia is a powerful force.

Did you play other MMOs before it, like EQ or AC? I think that sort of levelgrind was just the norm back then.

Mujen.5287:

Vzur.7123:

DAOC was the only MMO that really had a good endgame, IMHO. I don’t feel like typing up a lengthy elaboration, but I think anyone who played it knows what I mean… WoW and its gear-grinding clones don’t even come close.

Then I don’t believe your post has any valid grounds. And since I’ve never played DAOC I can’t say that I believe you.

Yeah, I figured as much. Sorry about that. It’s just kinda complicated, and I’m not up to typing it all out right now.

It’s all too easy to say it was the faction PvP, but there was so much more to it than that – from the reward system and how it managed not to be a grind, despite taking a massive amount of time to cap – to how in spite of its benefits, it managed to be optional and consensual, yet integrated with the PvE, rather than being marginalized by being kept completely separate.

Or even 2h swords. Why not a katana style 2hander? Most game devs don’t even seem to realize that the katana is a 2h sword. Something more agile looking like that should at least be an option.

DAOC was the only MMO that really had a good endgame, IMHO. I don’t feel like typing up a lengthy elaboration, but I think anyone who played it knows what I mean… WoW and its gear-grinding clones don’t even come close.

I don’t think it’s just about rewards, per se, but having cool stuff to look forward to. We get all our skills up front, so that leaves it all up to gear. And level after level, too much of the gear is the same. Then at 80, it’s even more of the same.

What I mean is that I think it’s just good gameplay, when there’s more of an evolution of content involved. When things change, when there are milestones to look forward to. Often in the form of reward, but not necessarily. That’s not the important thing. The important thing is keeping the content from stagnating, by changing it up here and there.

Fun read. I would say that a 7.5 would equate to a C overall. At least that’s what a 75 was back in school.

Getting an A in school is a perfectly realistic goal. To get a “A+” average rating, almost everyone would have to rate the game a 10. That’s just not realistic.

This is the nature of forums, people mostly use them to discuss issues, and that naturally covers the gamut from constructive criticism to blatant hating.

I’d just like to mention a good thing I’ve noticed – dev communication. Really like the way the devs show up and comment here and there. I haven’t seen that in many MMOs. Often its all up to the CSRs and sometimes that’s even a matter of policy.

So for that, I just want to say thanks, ANet. It’s much appreciated.

Every class has its issues. That doesn’t mean they’re all equally big issues.

I play six different classes, and I’d say the necro needs the most help. Yet, that doesn’t mean anyone should quit playing it, if they’re enjoying it. I still play it, myself..

I still feel pretty strong in lower level areas. Almost too strong. Especially since we’re often down-leveled to be +1 or even +2 above mob levels, and that makes a significant difference in this game.