Guild Wars 2

People often mistake “Progression” with items or gear. That was never mentioned.

Progression can mean, wealth, stats, items (decor for player housing, guilds, etc) and yes, gear.

There’s a lot of ways Progression can be added to an RPG. When the progression dries up, content is gone. When the Progression is placed out of reach for much of the player base or is not tiered in a smooth “progressive state” complaints for no content pop up.

Gear Treadmill is not the only “Progression” out there; it’s just the most popular thanks to ickie WoW and MMOs before that.

Edit: I would like to add: A story line can also be “Progression” as it unfolds. As I said; lots of potential for “Progression” in RPGs and the best DMs/GMs know and understand that and play to that core feature.

Progression is a core feature of RPGs. Without progression we have a simple Action title. GW2 sold itself as an MMO*RPG* not an MMOAction game.
RPG progression goes as far back as PnP D&D and is not going to change from that. I see these threads pop up now and then and wonder why someone who doesn’t like “progression” is playing an RPG. It’s puzzling to me.

Players wanting a non-progression title would probably be happiest looking outside the RPG genre. Even in the MMO field, lots of Action, Racing, Shooters, etc are out there now. MMOs have a lot of market share now.

And Josher has it well said: Grind bad; Progression good.

Far as I could tell, this was a topic of conversation; not a growing petition to have GW2 altered. Unless I missed the “By posting here, you are signing a petition” message.

Conversations among people that share a hobby or interest is “OK” far as I know.

1) as well. I assumed they would take the best of GW1 dungeons and add on too it with the tokens.
Run a dungeon, get pieces of gear themed FROM that dungeon then spend the tokens to complete the set as you needed.
Boy was I wrong on that one. Dungeons = Token Farm. Bout sums up that content for me. bleh…

Armor that is fitting to the race/profession from the START. This one has bugged me since BWE1. In GW1 my class looked like the class I chose. The character also looked like he/she belonged in the game world when standing next to the NPCs/henchmen/Heroes. It made me get into the story and immersed me within the game world.

The armor in GW2 simply does not fit in with the game world unless you are a human or invest in Racial Armor.
The dungeon stuff looks like it got ripped out of WoW or some other “toonish” game in many cases. The armor with “wings” looks like Aion kicked it out. It just doesn’t fit in and I find it 4th wall breaking.

Anyway, I miss the ability to setup and easily get a character themed and looking like I want in a matter of days vs a month. I never quit GW1 soon as I got the look I was after; in fact, I played it and enjoyed it even more AFTER I had the look I wanted.
Now the looks are a long term goal that by the time I have “earned” it, I’m tired of the labor, grind and effort and don’t want to play as much.

I miss “adventure” being the goal of the game. They allowed with ease the ability to get our gear “out of the way” and let us focus on beating the story line bosses. In other words; we got to finish up the content while we looked like heroes.
In GW2, it’s backwards. We finish and experience the content THEN look like heroes.

I actually laughed when I beat Zhaitan. My thief looked like a scrub as she had since level 1. Nothing heroic at all about her.

Eh, that’s my opinion on what I miss at least.

Alexnssilent.3690:

I’ve been trying to fraggin kill the risen priest of balthazar for about 3 days now so I constantly follow up the escort quests from both southern and northern invasions, every single time I finish such events, I always get the same amount of karma as prior to the DR fix, at best I believe whoever is having this “DR bug” are those who constantly do events after events in a very fast paced manner, a good example will be the massive zerg that took place in straits of devastation, that was just a zerg train going from event to event killing stuff, so maybe, those that are having issues with this need to play…less? or do chain events that take a while to complete.

Playing less is certainly what has happened to me when I see my rewards drop to double or single digit pay outs.
Finished my dailies in Frostgorge the other day. Claw of Jormag event started. I joined it. No issues at all.
Switched over to my new alt and completed one event; got DR’d. Logged off to watch a movie.
Had planned on map clearing a new zone on the alt that evening with a friend (one of the few rl friends that are still playing). :/

It’s buggy, as they said. So not much I can do till they fix it or get rid of it and try a better system.

That explained why I was getting dizzy. heh. I didn’t know why that was.

I ended up moving the monitor further back, added a new desk lamp and turned off the FXAA and I wasn’t as dizzy feeling. But, seems some of that may have been un-needed.

But, I know that Anet already addressed that they would not change the FOV, so I think info like this is helpful to players in finding ways to address it IF they are getting dizzy. The video does talk about placement and distance; so that might be a good place to start on the user end.

And of course, standing up away from the keyboard/monitor every 30 minutes. Stretch and look out a window WILL go a long ways in helping health too.

I’ve had a pretty good time in meeting up with random people all the time. I rarely accept random group invites without a polite “Hey, wanna group?” first. I find the group request without asking first rude – not really sure why though, I just do.
So, applying that logic to others, I find simply asking “mind if I tag along?” or “Are you after ____ too?” will net me good results in meeting up with people.

Met up with 3 other people in one of the snowy areas the other day. We seemed to be the only ones in the zone outside the resident bots; so we teamed up to get 100% of the map done. We never “grouped”; just joined together. I honestly hadn’t noticed we weren’t ever “grouped” until we were almost done. O.o Anyway, had a blast.

Gratz! That looks really good. I’m working on my 3rd 80 now. Hope to have the Norn t3 as well. Having some cash flow issues though.

Good stuff; thanks for linking.

I had 2 keys as rewards yesterday from map clears. I was clearing them for the T-Stones which I find useful. The keys… not so much.
I opened the two chests and got… tonics (which I instantly destroyed), an armor buff and a strength buff.

Needless, I wasn’t pleased to not get my T-stones.

And back on topic: I like the idea of having some kind of use or function to these chests. I’m sitting at around 90 of the things in my bank. The ideas in the OP are pretty good.

Until more content is released, there’s a few things that can be added to really “add” more content.

Remove DR. It’s simple. If the players can focus on getting their shinnies, they are entertained. If “OMG! They got a legendary already!” is an issue… add more legendary items as time goes on. New shinnies, new sinks.
Additionally, players are more opt to enjoy repeating content there is IF they are now wielding their shiny new toy and prestige armor. (Far as I know, players in GW1 didn’t suddenly quit when they got their weapon skin they wanted and Obsidian Armor.)

Progressive Dynamic Events: Currently, many of the events are stuck in an always WIN state on the players side. With each player win, the event should start ramping up the difficulty.
Let’s look at Shelter Gate for an example. If players Win, by fighting back the Risen; then the next time the event starts; add more Veteran mobs. If Players continue to keep winning, have the event start spawning Champions.
Many players (I would dare say, most players), seem to enjoy the champion challenges and flock to them to take them down.
A progressive system would give us 1) challenges 2) more content as it would eventually force a loss and enable the player base to see the other side of the event chain.

Add more armor sets: Players of the GW series are used to lots of armor choices. GW2 has lots of armor… in tiers. And if we are in medium armor we have trench coats, trench coats and a few more trench coats to choose from. That’s great if we like lack of diversity, but eh.
The tiered armor system means at any one time we have one or two options at best. We should have at least 5 options from the start and expanding on from there. Diversity is key and yet another sink for time and money for armor collectors (ie. Content)

Anyway, that’s my quick list for the topic.

As for profession/class – I would like to see the ritualist or variation on monk return.

Rit with the spirit spamming and spike damage was always fun.

Monk would need a re-make though. Perhaps go back to it’s martial arts theme (dances and aesthetic design). Add in some unique weapons to it, like a Bo or such. Game play could reflect Thief like mobility with a dash of magic. Could be interesting and fun.

Tyrestian.8602:

I would love Hylek or Skritt, but I’ve been told that according to GW lore, Skritt and Hylek are too ‘primitive’ and are ‘lesser races’ not capable of higher cognitive thought, and thus not candidates for player characters.

Kodan, on the other hand, would make sense and are also armored bears which makes them automatically 100% kitten.

My spouse often claims I am of lesser cognitive thought… can I apply to play a Skritt?

Seriously though, would love to play a Skritt. The GW2 version of “Leeroy!” could be “Shiny!” – then dash off to get killed.

Skritt are also a hive mind race. Apply that to players and we could have an interesting racial buff in play. The more Skritt around, the better the buff. No other Skritt around, no buff.
Could be as simple as a Chest finding aura on the map. The more Skritt around, the larger the radius. They love shinnies after all.

Icecat.4528

“Problem 1 – the cost to buy gold legally is prohibitive. Do the math.
Problem 2 – the game economy leaves many players nearly broke most of the time, creating demand

Fix the economy. Stop nickle and diming people to death for porting, repairs in wvwvw, and improve loot drops in dungeons. Address the demand side the the issue and gold sellers won’t have a market."

^This and create a better value with the BLTP on the exchange. When the Gems to Gold Ratio is a better value to players; the gold sellers will have no customers. Anet will have taken their market away.

When players can make enough gold on their own AND have a better ratio via the Gems; Gold Sellers will have no market in which to sell. Basic competitive market situation.

Gehenna.3625:

All in all, I haven’t felt connected to my characters much and the story even less. Half the time I don’t even remember why I am doing a certain personal quests because I totally lost the background behind it.

This is a severe issue for myself as well. Connection to character and character connection to game world.

When I first tried a Norn back in BWE1, I lost all “immersion” (connection) with my character the moment I saw him standing there dressed like a human. Looking around, I saw Norn NPCs everywhere. But not my character. He was standing there, out of place looking like an over sized human.
I didn’t care what the story had for me, all I knew was that I felt like the content was “broken” as it didn’t look or feel right.

Now that I have purchased the Norn T2 armor for my Norn, I am amazed at finding I’m no longer distracted by the human armor design – the first story part, Hunt or something was a fail cause I didn’t have access to the Norn Armor; but since then. I am enjoying the Norn story finally.

Anyway; distracting from the thread a little; but it applies slightly due to the nature of how it made me become un-caring about the story due to the “broken 4th wall” effect the armor design has.

non-playable:

Fav = Skritt. (Shiny! – dashes off to get killed)
Least favorite – Risen (if they are a “race”). I’ve never disliked something this much to the point it drags the entire game experience down. If Risen doesn’t count, then I gotta go with Krait.

Playable:
Fav: Asuran – love the way their heads throw them off balance when they stop moving. Cracks me up.
Dislike: Sylvari – The cabbage patch kids, weeds, pod people… whichever todays’ name for them is; not a fan.

After the first time; I usually stop after getting the to the Order parts of the story. After that, it’s all the same and seemed to fall apart a bit. I was playing to be the hero; not the side kick of a “cabage patch kid” with a Final Fantasy sized sword of uber-ness. hehe

Seriously though; it was OK. I found the story in GW1 to be a bit better. AND, in all honesty, I have never loathed an enemy as much as the Risen. So the design of these things really drag the game down to annoying (IMO). So as soon as they become a core of the story is when it tanks for me.

Risen = most annoying, un-interesting mobs in an MMO… ever. (IMO)

I’m glad they finally said they knew/know it’s buggy. That’s been my guess since it first hit me. It seemed so random and all.

I’m also amused at the use of “entitled” in this thread. The DR system is in fact a socialist system that favors the “entitled” mind set. ie. Don’t step up and “work” for something, just sit back and with time, it will all be handed to you.
The people that are complaining about the DR are asking to be allowed to work – this is the opposite of “entitled”. #amused

I still toss out my guess that the DR system is “glitchy”.

I played a good while on my main yesterday, finished out my daily. Ran some DEs expecting to get my hand slapped. Never happened; though it usually does.

Jumped over an alt and 3 DEs later, in the Norn starter zone of all places, 3 Karma for the Shaman Event. Doh!

Wish I had the fore thought to screen shot it for laughs, but I was tired and logged to watch a movie instead.

[100% opinion and personal experiences]

I really enjoy GW2 so far. Yes, there’s a few things the devs are doing which, if not un-done will severely limit my longevity in the game, but I’ll not go into that here.

It’s interesting to me, some of the “Innovations” in game I actually saw, and saw them done better, in Tabula Rasa. I’m not saying GW2 does them poorly, just that TR did them better.

A few examples (quickly): AI dynamic raids against outposts. In TR, the outposts were much like they are in WvW. Players would man the walls and fight off wave after wave of AI that tried to capture the outposts. Losing the outpost meant losing a waypoint, merchants, and mission givers.
When the AI captured an outpost, it dug in. And players had to then re-take it. The AI would man the walls, turrents, etc just as the players had done.

Later levels had massive “walkers” that were as tall, if not taller than the Giants we see in Orr – but these things also attacked the outposts.

We never knew when such raids would happen. Only the sound of the raid sirens would alert us and the static sound of calls for help (NPCs) would let us know (if we were close enough).
TR did have it’s mission hubs like most MMOs, but the constant push and pull of the front lines made them more interesting as you never knew whether your goal would be over taken, and then turning it in often resulted in having to re-take the outpost.

I think another area that is often called on as Innovative goes to another title. No gear grind. I feel Champions Online takes the win here. You start your character exactly like you want them to look and can “finish” the game with mission rewards. Want to edge out a small % boost? There’s some top tier items players can grind out for. But it’s clear there, the goal is to get the players completely lost in the comic world and not solely focused on their own players “looks”. I’ve spent more money in Champions Online than any other MMO simply because I am pulled into it’s game world… and it has less content than most MMOs. – That one, simply made for “fun”.
Champions Online also had a Dynamic system in play. Flying around the city for example, one might suddenly see police cars swarm around a bank. Bank Robbery “Event” went into play. It was less scripted as a start time too. Sometimes I would see it twice a day, other times I wouldn’t see it for days. [Fair disclosure: I have not played Champions Online much since Perfect World got their mits on it. But that’s more for lack of time than many of the changes there]

As for GW2 brings. Well, I think it will eventually bring back that old open world feel once they get the kinks worked out. Exploring the world right now results in cool scenery, not much else. And that’s ok for now; but eventually I’ll want to know that finding some hidden nook will yield me “The Dragons Trove” of shinnies or that I’ve awoken a sleeping nasty.

Yeah, these things are a nasty bit o’work. But, IMO, it’s nice to have a mob now and then that sticks out from the Three Stooges act most of the mobs are. The ones that have the gimicks are the interesting ones. The ones that run all over the place doing whatever it is they do are the forgettable ones.

It will be interesting later on when the more patient PvEers (aka the ones that can farm almost endlessly) will camp in WvW waiting for that PoI to come open. Gather enough people with that mind set; they will not “join” together and zerg. Nor will they help (as they are feeling forced) as they will, out of spite, sit there and wait… taking up a spot in the queue.

I’ve already gotten my 100%, so I am curious to see how this turns out as time goes.

@Fozzik – Interesting. I’ve never gotten (not once) a level 80 drop in a non-level 70+ zone. And I’ve gotten 100% complete now.

… and jumping puzzles. Not a fan. I’m epically bad at judging distance though. So if it’s one of those that mean I go splat from a missed jump it’s a horrid gold sink for me… although a comedy scene for anyone that might be around me. lol

If Anet’s goal is to have players spread out, punishing players for not doing so isn’t going to work. Rewarding players that do, however, will work.

I’m old and grumpy; someone slaps my hand I wanna punch em in the face. Distract me with shinnies and I turn into a Scritt: “Shiny!”

I look at a lot of the content and wonder why they designed it certain ways.

Dungeons for example: I assumed they would have bosses drop unique items (ala GW1) or that each chest would have a piece of Dungeon Specific gear in it. Tokens would then be used to purchase the remaining pieces of the set the players couldn’t get to drop.
Of course, the “unique” pieces would be the hook to keep coming back – just as they were in GW1. – This is what I assumed would be the case. When I learned the dungeons were just a token farm… I lost all interest.

This same thinking applies to the Champions and Veteran mobs all over the game world. They reward the same karma and coin as the far faster events do; so stopping to help may be a limited (early game) enjoyment. Without the drops, many players will, and have already started, just ignoring them as they aren’t worth the time. Why hit up a big event that takes 10 minutes, when you can hit up a chain and complete 3 events in that same time frame? (time frame made up to make a point).

Yeah, this happened to me the other day too. I logged in, said a few things in Guild Chat. Rezzed someone, they said “Thanks”. I tried to be polite and answer with “Your welcome.” and then ask if they wanted to team up… Got suppressed.

First chat in /say that day. lol

Tad bit buggy that system is…

Bots are like roaches on my server. Pretty sure that doesn’t need more explaining.

Every zone I have gone into in the passed few days, there’s always at least one spot per zone a group of them sit and farm events or mobs. There’s been a few areas where the bots out numbered the players I saw. I’m sure there were more players around; but I saw more bots than players.

As I understand it, “The Entire Game is Endgame” applies, at least partially, to level scaling in that all areas remain a challenge.
As a level 80, we are more powerful than when we were in those lower areas previously. Add in traits and more utility skills and a better understanding on how the profession we chose works, lower areas are easier.

Granted, there are a few spots that are rather humbling (Charr Effigy I’m looking at you and that Fire Elemental in the Asuran area) – those resulted in a pleasant “Oh.” then chuckle from myself.

At any rate, I personally like the level scaling – it’s the scaled rewards that need to seriously be looked at and normalized like the players costs. Costs scale towards the player level. Rewards seem capped per zone. This combination results in players wishing to gain prestige gear or in need of coin being filtered into areas where rewards are highest for their time. This feels at odds with the basic idea of “Entire game is Endgame”.

Update was pretty nice; want to clear up in case anyone assumes I’m “complaining” – I’m not. I was merely stating I liked the GW1 update at leisure a lot better. Set up here is different, and it probably wouldn’t work here; so: What about a 60 minute restart limit?

Would give a larger window to make sure everyone has finished what they were in. I can’t imagine being almost done in Arah Story and having to suddenly have to restart. Or almost done with a dungeon and getting nothing for the effort cause of a quick “3 minute till restart”. Hasn’t happened to me, but ouch.

Congrats

Been keeping my eye out for a nice looking dagger(s) to work towards soon as I complete my tier 3 set here.

I liked the system in GW1 a lot better. A new build would roll out and instead of kicking me; I could finish what I was doing and then re-log.

I’ve been in the middle of a story mission and gotten that before; then had to restart it. The old system was just a lot more user/customer/player friendly.

I agree completely on the Dungeons. Tokens should be used to help complete or finish off a set that the players have been getting as drops within the dungeon. Not as the sole method of acquiring the dungeon gear.
Farming tokens lacks the “Sweet Shiny!” appeal.

World Bosses should be added to the Daily Achievement list. Within that Achievement Chest it should come with an Exotic item. (Anet wants people to migrate – with this, now they have a reason too really get to moving)

Just two ideas I feel would motivate me more.

zityz.6089:

There is a TON of armour in this game.
8 dungeon armour sets(24 total sets)
3 tier’d culture armour for all 5 races (45 total sets)
3 42k Karma sets
3 Durmand Priory Sets
3 Order of Whispers sets
3 Vigil sets
3 PvP sets….

FOR BOTH MALE AND FEMALE!

That’s way more armour than all of gw1 combined, and if you don’t find 1 of those armour sets to look good? You sir need new eyes because yours are broken :P

EDIT: This is not including the beginner sets, the first lvl35 dungeon sets and the karma sets you find along the way throughout the game.

I must need new eyes. Out of all those, I’ve found only 2 I like. Both are racial mixed sets. lol

Anyway, IMO – the dungeon sets are the worst looking ones out there. Some too “WoW” like (glowy stuff) or cheap k-grinder stuff (Wings? really?) for my tastes.

Some people like that though, so good for it.

Stevoli.8795:

WasAGuest.4973:

To me, “End Game” is the period of time after one has finished the core game, or core goals.
For an “End Game” to have value or replay, there still has to be progression.
Progression, however, does NOT mean a gear treadmill nor does it mean faction grinding. Progression is simply the forward movement or acquiring of items/wealth/score for the purpose of “fun”.

But progression in other MMOs is just gear checks, you aren’t actually getting any better, it’s an illusion to make you keep grinding.

Not to mention it’s a played out mechanic to keep you playing when subscription fees are involved.

That’s interesting you say that. I would classify that as part of the “Failed End Game” as I listed. I never applied any part of my answer towards any game at all actually. That you may have applied GW2 to any part of that (besides a success) is interesting.

Edit: I would also like to add; in an RPG (MMO, Single Player, PnP – doesn’t matter) there must always be a level of progression. Players are playing the “role of a character”. People don’t suddenly stop learning once they reach a certain point. However, MMOs technically can’t provide infinite growth. Therefore, progression must come in other forms.
I listed the three I felt are the most important. Items/Wealth/Score.
Items can be different sets of armor. Weath is the simple measure of gold or coin.
Score can be for those that enjoy PvP, or “Rank” if you will.

The moment we no longer have progression is the moment the game is no longer an RPG; but rather just an action title… at least, that’s how I see it.

To me, “End Game” is the period of time after one has finished the core game, or core goals.
For an “End Game” to have value or replay, there still has to be progression.
Progression, however, does NOT mean a gear treadmill nor does it mean faction grinding. Progression is simply the forward movement or acquiring of items/wealth/score for the purpose of “fun”.

A successful “End Game” is one that allows the player the freedom and/or choices in how one acquires their chosen progression. And of course, having lots of options in progression makes it even better.

A failed “End Game” is one that dictates or limits the players, not only in content or choices, but in how they can acquire their chosen progression.

That’s how I describe “End Game” at least.

Revenant.2691:

From what I’ve been told, GW1-style capes are in the works and were even intended for release, but they ran into a lot of clipping issues with them so they decided to hold off until they’d look good. So, backpacks for now, capes when they’re ready.

And in the meantime don’t give them the idea of making us pay money for them if they’re gonna give them to us fo’ free ;p

Oh, didn’t know that. Will keep my mouth shut. lol

I agree with the OP. I was able to get the 100% on my main by doing what is suggested here; swapping servers. But it’s an odd setup; which later, servers like Kaineng (did I spell that right?) will have severe issues getting 100% unless they enter the Gem Shop. I honestly don’t think it’s a fair system at all.

My experience with it was rather annoying too. At first, I didn’t want to switch servers. Felt it was the “Cheese” way out. So I stuck with my server and tried to help it out. Here’s the problem: The areas I needed, we never seemed to get.
My server was Blue. I needed areas in Green and Red. Two weeks I waited and jumped in trying to get the areas I needed. It was NOT enjoyable. It was frustrating and annoying. I simply do not enjoy PvP in games like this. I find it dull (gimme Planetside 2 instead – for example. It’s a personal preference).

Anyway, I think a smarter approach will be needed down the line. Removing the PoI and Vistas from behind locked gates OR changing the way the Green/Blue/Red system works – have it change every week regardless of scoring (keep the ranking match ups, but simply rotate colors).

Either of these keeps the WvW maps in the completion aspect; removes the future “need” for Gem Shop migrations (if the game will be dead in a few months, this isn’t an issue; but a year down the line when there is a charge for server swapping?) and makes it possible for ALL servers to have the chance to get completions.
Additionally, if a player needs just one more PoI; he/she may be more likely to try WvW out vs needing half a dozen and then giving up.

#just_an_idea

PS. I also find it an odd setup that they require someone who doesn’t really enjoy it to take a spot away from someone who will really enjoy it. Increases the queue times… that is odd IMO.

Game needs more armor in game – not Gem Shop only stuff. So I partially disagree with that one. Now, if they added armor that costs Coin AND Gems; that would be a fair trade. – There’s not much to work towards at this point.

What I would buy (All items must be account unlocks as I will never buy single use items or per character items – this is a personal rule of mine):

Old GW1 Guild capes
Talbards
Town Clothes that are on par with some of the ones the NPCs are wearing
Dances
Emotes

Jack of Tears.9458:

No, every person who fights the monster gets the same chance of a drop – in theory – so if they get a good drop and I don’t … well, I’d probably have got a weak drop anyway and that’s life. In the mean time, that person was tryin’ ta help me out and unlike some mmos you can’t really steal xp or loot from the other player in GW2, so I appreciate the help.

What chaps me is when I help someone who obviously needs it and they don’t even say “thanks” …

Every once in a great while I get perturbated when I’m just squeaking through a mighty battle and someone comes in and steals the end from me … not because of the items, but because I worked so hard and really wanted to say I’d done it all on my own. But, meh, I’d rather people help than not.

This always bugged me too, till today. Help someone out and not a word. Revive someone, not a word.
Then today, out of the blue I was trying to tell someone “Thanks” and got a system message that I had been suppressed for excessive messaging. Considering, I hadn’t said a word outside of Guild chat all day (a whole 30 minutes of play at that time); I was a bit taken aback.
So, now, when someone doesn’t say anything; I am left wondering if that not be part of the issue.

Reported it as a bug and went on; but wow. Really? I can see something like this in a town/city. But not in the open world where communication is kinda needed from time to time. lol

There’s an added stress or concern on costs that do effect the way I play in lower level areas.
In 80 zones, rewards cover the costs of that “Oops” moment, and often gather up several mobs and wipe them out.
In lower levels the rewards don’t scale equally to the potential costs. So I play a lot more carefully – which often results in a lowered dps.

Maybe this is also a case for yourself (OP)?

The DEs can also be a bots worst nightmare if Anet expanded on it more.

Instead of simply restarting constantly, have the DEs progressively get more difficult with each player success.

Instead of simply spawning and re-spawning normal mobs with a few vets thrown in; have the event start spawning more and more vets then eventually a Group Boss mob.

Players will fall back and regroup, bots will get destroyed (and be nice targets to give players a chance to withdraw).

A progressive system like that breaks up “farm spots” too. Players can band together to take on the foe(s) and enjoy doing it. Bots however, rely on a constant behavior to maximize their time (not effort). If they are outted now and then, their earnings decrease greatly while at the same time, players are more entertained.

^ Pretty much just that.

If they ever offered HoM rewards even in the Gem Shop; it would be a massive slap in the face for us long time fans and players that put in the hours to get those rewards too.

GW1 can still be purchased though if you/anyone really wants those rewards.

I’m surprised I didn’t see notice of how poor the AI handles being kited.
Melee mobs in general seem to almost bug out when strafed against. My main, a thief, can round up 4 or 5 melee mobs (player races are usually the easiest to do this with; but any melee mobs work), circle strafe to the left and they all follow like lemmings (They seem to prioritize getting into position over fighting). An application of caltrops and Death Blossom gives a bleed + cripple so now they can’t catch me. Dodge back (more caltrops) and then reverse course, strafe to the right. They seem to bump into each other, not knowing what to do most of the time.

I can do similar on a low level warrior with a greatsword. It’s not as effective, I take a few more hits, but they drop faster.

Mobility in circular motions is key. The AI will do what I assume is out flank me… but, eh… yeah. It’s great damage mitigation as it simply wont fight back as often and fumbles about trying to get in front of me, behind me, or whatever.

I actually showed another player this once, and they said “GW1 had Benny Hill AI. GW2 got The Three Stooges.”

I know I’m not that good a player, so it can’t be just me that sees this as silly behavior… can it?

[Note: The bigger melee mobs do not have this behavior. The ones that singularly focus on destroying the player. Ettins, and Effigy for example: They just bee line to me while trying to smash me in the face rather than run around oddly.]

Zenith.1234:

There is reward it just doesn’t make you OP crazy one-shotter. Also this is not a PvP game and to think so is absurd. PvP is always an attachment to a PvE game. People need to let the gear treadmill mindset go.

Unless I am mistaken; no one is asking for the Gear Treadmill (ala WoW). It’s a tiered “Look” Progression that is missing; and that comes from lack of diversity in armor design – a complaint that has been around since BWE1.
From level 1 to 80 (on my thief) my character looked almost exactly the same… ugly, broke, poor, a beggar… it was dreadfully dull.

If it is the typical Gear Treadmill of needing Gear X before I can qualify for Area B – then count me out. I am tired of that set up as well.

I think if Anet would normalize the rewards/drop to the player level in the same manner they do costs (WP, repairs, etc) it would go a long way in getting players to spread out.

There’s lots of complaints about Orr in general because of the way Risen were designed. Given the chance (with equal rewards) players will likely leave Orr and go else where.

Course, that leaves issues with people getting Orr “done” – but the same issue is applied when one looks at WvW and the PvE only players trying to get 100% map complete. Some servers simply are going to have a harder time getting 100% complete then say SBI or HoD.

I agree with the OP. The lack of options is disappointing. I liked in GW1 where different outposts had different looks and two tiers of a look. Really, really miss that.

[Opinion] -

On my thief:

I found the karma vendors to provide ugly, ugly and ugly. Drops that scream “Yarr! I be a pirate!” and so on. That said, there was NO armor look progression for my thief from level 1 to 80. The look changed, yet stayed in something I didn’t like. So I felt almost pushed forward to finally get something I did.

On my mesmer, completely different. I liked the Order Armor and was able to get it easily and early. So from there, I have had a lot more fun kicking back and “enjoying the ride”.

Also finally was able to make a Norn. Not a oversized human, but a Norn. I saved my coppers and picked up the Tier 2 armor for the New Norn Engineer and am finding it a blast (pun intended). Whereas before, the armor was such a distraction I couldn’t enjoy the Norn at all.

Ahh. So “Mists” is different from the “Battlegrounds”? I had no idea. Assumed by talking to the NPCs they were two in the same.

Not a big fan of PvP in games like this; so totally missed the difference. Thank you very much! Big help.

Corian.4068:

What do you want? A tunic and stockings?

…I meant that mockingly and then I realized that any number of players would kill to be able to look like Link. You guys.

Hey, I saw a bald player with the Gem Shop Shades and a dyed black trench coat named “Flash Man” – can’t beat that IMO.
But Link… that’s as bad as armor with wings. (my opinion of course)

1, 2, and 3 can be addressed easily by a) lowering Way Point costs for level 80s – right now the cost can be near 5s to go from high level areas to low ones. Which brings us too b) scale the rewards and drops in low level areas to match that of the high level areas.

Combining “a” and “b” we will have a system that allows high level players the freedom of movement WHILE still earning drops and income equal to what they might get in Orr or Frostgorge.
Failing to combine those two, however, means a single Waypoint will take at least 4 to 5 events to recoup the costs of getting there (and more to cover the cost of getting back) and few too no level’d drops for them to use.
In the end, it’s not worth it for a level 80 to return at this point.

And Phy is right. The lowest areas are still packed. Some of us that have 80s have parked them for various reasons and are bringing up alts.

This was and has been an issue since BWE1. That and the fact that only humans have racially themed starting armor; everyone else gets to start off looking like a human.

I don’t think this will change anytime soon. We may get new armor sets pre-expansion in the Gem shop. But until expansion; it’s Yarr Pirates and Cowboy Long Coats… or those dungeon grinder sets.

In the theme of being as helpful as I can be; have you looked at some of the racial stuff? Some is “OK”, I like a few of them and I’m one of those that really dislike the trenchcoat look. So might give those a look. A full set of Tier 2 isn’t too hard to get. Tier 3 is a bit of a chore, but doable with the time.

Well, unless I misunderstood the original goals; part of the “End Game” was being able to return to any area and play around in those zones – the downscaling meant it was to be kept at least semi challenging.

The problem is: rewards don’t scale. As a level 80 with a 100% map clear, I was rather annoyed when clearing some areas and getting coppers and low level items – yet my out going costs (WPs, repairs for that Ooops moment… and the Charr Effigies that humbled me quickly O.O ) were scaled to 80.

Unless the scale the rewards to match the level of the player like they do the costs; then I agree. There’s no reason at all to return to low level areas.
Some might argue “For Fun” – but a person can not dictate what another person finds fun, so it’s an empty suggestion. I find getting shinnies fun; so no shinnies means a dull night. /shrug