Guild Wars 2

JS has explained how the TP works, and that it was an intentional decision. It works well, so I don’t see any real need to change it.

That said, I DO kind of see the appeal in what the OP wants. It would be interesting to be able to really shake up a market by having the ability to sell to orders below the current highest offer. However, that’s getting more into the Auction House-style of trading, which I think could come with its own set of issues. (“Blacklisting” a certain seller or buyer through smear campaigns etc.)

The infinite tools were designed to offer convenience for a price (use 1 pick for everything, never bother with replacing said pick again). Of course anybody with a decent grasp of mathematics knows that buying picks to “win economically” is silly, for the reasons you mentioned.

The Watchwork Pick only raised concerns because it was the very first infinite tool to offer something ABOVE convenience, and it could have marked the beginning of a dangerous trend of gem store power creep that COULD lead to P2W (if players were OK with gradually increasing power levels of gem store items, eventually the items would just keep getting better and better until we would be in a situation where GW2 was P2W for all effective purposes).

I, and many others, expressed alarm and disquiet about this, and it seems that ANet has heeded our feedback and returned to offering only convenience tools, as evidenced by the Thresher. The Watchwork Pick was an experiment; I hope ANet has learned from our feedback and does not offer similar tools again.

Personally (and I say this as someone who bought a Watchwork Pick as well), I would still prefer it if the Sprockets got removed from the Pick, and players who are now dissatisfied with the Pick get their gems refunded to them, but I can live with the current situation as long as the Watchwork Pick never comes back.

I wonder if it might be gold farmers using the TP to “launder” their profits from one account to another… The connection between the buyer and seller would be extremely well camouflaged, except for those who had been told what exactly to look for.

I get a fair bit of Rugged and Linen from the Flame Legion in Iron Marches, and from the Pirates/Risen in Bloodtide Coast.

For T2/T3 cloth and especially leather, I’ve heard that the Ulgoth chain is an excellent source of bags and salvageable items.

Crazily expensive and not really worth it, in my opinion. Perhaps ANet designed them with the idea that “super-guilds” like TTS or TxS would pool resources to craft one of these for Teq/Wurm runs, but I think they’re getting by without them.

500 JC might be worth it alone to craft Ascended trinkets with an upgrade slot. I never underestimate how much min-maxers are willing to pay to tweak their stats for maximum effectiveness.

I sold my spare Power Cores a few days before the end of the event. Made a tidy 30g profit. Then bought one more spare Static Core which I was short on when prices tumbled after the patch was over.

I do think it’s entirely possible that ANet will include new ways to get the different Power Cores since Blade Shards are staying (players will definitely want to customise their look, so why pass up an extra chance for gold/mat sinks?), so my advice would be to sell soon unless you’re rich enough to absorb the potential loss and not be bothered.

Although I can see the OP’s point, I do think you’re taking it a bit too seriously. I don’t particularly care for getting run down by the zerg, or ganked by a havoc squad who then /laugh or /sit on my corpse, but I just shrug it off and waypoint back. It’s part of the risk of WvW; if you prefer not to experience that, run with your own zerg or don’t even enter WvW at all. I honestly would not even bother with WvW if it weren’t for the fact that I need Badges for some things and for map completion.

I have no problems with people getting a Legendary or Precursor for winning the Tournament. It seems like a fine way to acknowledge their skill, and with the removal of Glory, if a player wishes, they can also sell the Legendary or Precursor and get what they really want.

Yes! I’ve been waiting for this music to show up on Soundcloud. One of Maclaime’s best works, right up there with Sunny Glade and the Marionette battle music.

I have LOTS of Blade Shards and Bloodstone Dust to contribute to the reconstruction. Heck, let’s rebuild LA entirely out of Bloodstone Dust! Who’s with me?!

Drax Tinderstrike was still lying on the ground and moving when I last visited the camp. I might be mistaken, but I’m going to take it as a sign that he defied the odds and survived.

The upcoming Blade Shards vendor MAY possibly allow you to turn them in, so don’t toss them out just yet.

That said, I do agree that there needs to be better communication about whether we should hold onto or dump these things. I follow the forums quite closely, but many do not. I even did a PSA for my guild and TTS on the last day reminding people to turn in their Belongings/Heirlooms, and I was bombarded with lots of thanks from people who’d forgotten all about it or didn’t know.

The graveyard and the Memorial were the first things in-game to prompt spontaneous RP from me in ages. Many other players about me were doing the same. Kudos, ANet.

There are actually signs of this in-game already. Speak to Captain Tokk at the Bloodtide Coast refugee camp (pro-Sylvari), and there’s one refugee at the Lornar’s Pass refugee camp who’s hostile to Sylvari. Also, if you speak to Ellyna Graidy as a Sylvari, her reaction is… well, I’ll let you see for yourself.

It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out.

As someone who enjoyed the ES games on and off (never got that strongly into it due to a variety of issues), I can say that I have zero interest in ESO. The main appeal of the ES games to me was the opportunity for total immersion in a rich RP world. Despite some flaws, you really got the sense that Tamriel was a living, breathing world that went on despite what you did or didn’t do.

You simply can’t get that sort of immersion in an MMO. You’ll get players with inappropriate names like “Xx Legolass xX”, “Darth Vader 69” and “Captin Jack Sparrow” that ruin it, not to mention thieves going around picking pockets of every NPC in sight, or a player running down the street chased by 50 guards after incinerating every NPC in sight. (And the fact that you could DO those things in the game, followed by reloading, was part of the appeal of ES.)

Maybe ESO will be a success, maybe it won’t be, but it completely missed the point when it comes to providing the type of gaming experience I would want from an ES game.

And as far as the 10 day break is concerned, I’m glad for it. I needed a break after the breakneck pace of the LS, and I’ve been able to spend time doing dungeons, WvW, and mapping, that I simply couldn’t get to while the LS was ongoing.

My Human Female Mesmer: “This is for all those lives you took in Divinity’s Reach, Scarlet! For the Queen!”

My Norn Female Ranger: “And so it ends. -cleans off blade-”

My Asura Male Elementalist: “… I’m sorry, Taimi. This is for the best.”

My Charr Male Warrior: “Time to die, Scarlet. Die die die! Rrrraggghh!!!”

My Sylvari Female Necromancer: “Goodbye Ceara. Mother will be waiting for you.”

My Charr warrior went, “Hey!” when Kasmeer said that, but admits it’s probably true. XD

How are we even supposed to get the darn things to unlock?? Mousing over doesn’t do anything, clicking doesn’t do anything, entering the coordinates directly into the fields doesn’t do anything… Sometimes some points will randomly unlock when I zoom in and out of the map, but this is hardly a fun or effective way to disseminate information to us.

If we had a choice between this and the old release pages, I vote for the old release pages. At least they were easy to navigate. >.<

Mystic.5934:

Zaxares.5419:

Mystic.5934:

then use them to make mystic kits! that is, if you salvage a lot of stuff.
the only viable alternative for them is it throw them in the MF with some other cheap exotics.

I do! But I only use my Mystic Kits for Rares (I save my BLK’s for Exotics). I don’t want to get tons of green upgrades back; that just got super annoying when the Matic was bugged.

I salvage my Rares for Ectos, and nowadays I salvage my Exotics too since I need Dark Matter, so there’s not much to use my Stones to combine with.

Most exotics you should use mystic/master on. As a general rule, I’d say that you need to get 3g worth of potential stuff out of the item to merit using a BLSK (maybe an expensive sigil, maybe an insignia, etc.) unless of course you are just overflowing with BLSK and can’t find another use for them…

Got 10 BLSK’s sitting in the Bank. XD The main reason I’m using them for Exotics is because they supposedly have a higher chance to extract Dark Matter, which is what I’m primarily after when salvaging Exotics. (So far my personal experience is not bearing this out, but I’ve not salvaged anywhere near enough Exotics for a decent data set.)

While I will never, ever give up my Longbow, I do echo the advice above that you should always have a melee weapon to supplement your ranged weapon. Longbow will not be effective in all areas (curse you mobs with unstrippable reflects!); sometimes you will need to go melee. Insisting on using ranged in situations that call for melee is what get other players upset at you.

I do see what the OP is saying, and I do think that the LS could have been so much more, but at the same time, I do like the Biconics, and so I’m satisfied with the LS for the simple reason that I now count Rox, Braham, Kasmeer, Marjory and Taimi among my character’s friends. I feel more connected to them than I ever was to Destiny’s Edge or even your Order mentors.

Guess I know which server I’m guesting to tonight for the achievement then. XD

Yeah, the blades sticking out of the quiver (plus the roughhewn quality of the arrow fletching) made me ultimately decide not to get it, but I think it would look great on some ranger types.

Minions (as well as pets, clones and all other summons) are completely immune to Agony now. So no, don’t think they’ll be completely useless in Fractals.

There are some Fractals and situations where a MM is not ideal, such as the Dredge Fractal boss (since the boss can aggro onto the minions and thus not follow you under the lava pots), but on the whole MM is perfectly viable in Fractals as long as you play smart.

In some cases, they can make bosses such as the Thaumanova boss laughably easy because the boss spends all his time glaring angrily at your minions (which can’t fall through the floor anyway), leaving the rest of your party free to beat him up without any trouble whatsoever. Another example is the Aetherblade fractal, where your minions are completely immune to the laser walls. (Seriously, it passes straight through them as if they weren’t even there!)

Nothing some condi-removal can’t fix! XD

My sympathies for the losses, but Inculpatus has your solution right there. Create a rank for New Members, and do NOT allow New Members to withdraw items from the Guild Bank. Move New Members to a “Verified” rank after, say, a month or two, when you’re reasonably certain they’re not a thief.

Word from the Chinese beta-testers is that the Kongzhong version is drastically different from the Western version of GW2. That VIP item that got datamined a while back? That’s in the Chinese version. Trait point allocation has been changed a lot (apparently you only get 52 at level 80 as opposed to 70. Someone claimed the remainder has to be bought via gems, but I don’t know if that’s true), elite skills are unlocked at level 50 rather than 30, and weapon skills take a lot longer to be unlocked.

With all that in mind, I think it’s safe to say that the Chinese and Western GW2 player bases will never, ever meet. They’re literally playing two different games.

Sure, I’d support more skimpy options for male characters too. Male hetero gamer here, but why can’t female/gay gamers get some appealing choices as well?

I’d probably be willing to drop some gems on more appealing underwear/swimwear for my characters too. Those bright yellow bra/panties make me cringe.

Not supported for the rainbow colored skin tones for every race though; I feel that’s part of what makes the Sylvari unique.

Yeah, kudos to Leif (and to Maclaime) for the work they’ve been doing with the music. It’s really awesome quality stuff.

I still like the Marionette battle music over this one though. XD

Actually, are people still getting Blade Shards from the sprocket node? I haven’t gotten a single one for the last 3 days, which makes me wonder if perhaps they were removed.

Heh, I’m in the opposite situation to the OP. After the generally unflattering trenchcoats that Medium armor keeps throwing at my Ranger, I’m glad that the Norn Cultural armors at least have some variation and skin.

Marjory still feels like the weakest of the Biconics to me, although hanging around and listening to her dialogue in Lornar’s Pass and at the Lion’s Shadow Inn have made her more believable as a character.

Kasmeer had a good introduction, where she came off as a “pretty face, but there’s something more to her” in Southsun Cove. She then took a bit of a dive during the Queen’s Jubilee where she seemed to be shaping up as a stereotype, but she’s come more into her own in the recent chapters.

Stacking helps. This lets you overlap fire fields for Might stacks/Empower, Spotter, Time Warps etc. You really want to have the players fighting the Knight in two large balls:

a) One melee group, if they are confident in their ability to survive, since melee does do more damage
b) One ranged group, for anyone else who doesn’t feel comfortable in melee

Both groups should stay balled up to maximise their bonuses and to res more quickly when people get downed. Staying in the same spot also means the Knight doesn’t run out of AoE fields and the like.

Berzerker gear will also help boost your DPS, so switch to your Berzerker set if you have it.

Magic Find is a cleverly disguised grind/gold sink. It’s only beneficial to players with a certain playstyle (farmers, or those who kill a lot of enemies). It is of minimal use to people who farm World Bosses or speedrun dungeons, which is how a lot of PvE players acquire their gold.

I’m on Tarnished Coast and I feel we are one of the friendlier, welcoming servers. We have our share of trolls, of course, but every server has those. As the unofficial RP server for NA, we’re also a lot more accepting of different playstyles.

Well, Sylvari do have the advantage of being:

a) infertile
b) immune to any mammalian STI’s due to being plants, and vice versa.

Both factors mean having a Sylvari lover means you can engage in any kind of bedroom activity without any fear of long-lasting consequences.

EDIT: Well, unless you’re dating a Nightmare Courtier, that is.

I don’t think there’s really any point to continuing this argument. Both sides are firmly entrenched in their position and nothing the other side says is going to change it. If you like/dislike the Marmeer kiss scene, just post your feedback, and leave the final decision to ANet.

From what I hear, the rules for Chinese GW2 are drastically different too. Trait points are allocated much differently, and you don’t unlock your elite skill slot till level 50. I guess that puts to bed any idea that we’ll be playing alongside the Chinese market; they’re literally playing a different game.

Regardless, I hope it’s a success in China.

Mystic.5934:

then use them to make mystic kits! that is, if you salvage a lot of stuff.
the only viable alternative for them is it throw them in the MF with some other cheap exotics.

I do! But I only use my Mystic Kits for Rares (I save my BLK’s for Exotics). I don’t want to get tons of green upgrades back; that just got super annoying when the Matic was bugged.

I salvage my Rares for Ectos, and nowadays I salvage my Exotics too since I need Dark Matter, so there’s not much to use my Stones to combine with.

The Zephyrites could always just dock their airship above LA itself, and unload goods straight down to the city. No harbor required.

Agreed. This is a GREAT step forward, ANet. Please keep doing this for future temporary content items/tokens.

And of course, I’m stuck at work right now. XD Hopefully TTS will be doing more 6 Min runs tonight when I get home; I’m going on holiday this weekend, so I only have till Friday to get the achievement!

Great news that the bug is finally fixed! Now to see if I can cajole TTS to do a 6 Min Knight run this evening instead of Teq or the Wurm. XD

I think Braham is a strong male character. He’s not perfect, but that’s the point; he feels like a real character. He has his strengths, his flaws, and some issues, but so does everybody.

I really liked the scene where he broke his leg, yet encouraged Rox to go ahead and kill Scarlet, because it showed he knew just how much joining the warband meant to her. He didn’t want to deprive her of that opportunity, even though he knew that doing so would mean he would hardly ever get to see her again. That, to me, showed that he was a true friend.

Yes, I wouldn’t mind seeing some more well fleshed out, believable male characters, but I primarily want to see fleshed out believable characters, full stop.

The answers to the Living Story are all there in the game, but the trouble is that they’re scattered across many different NPCs, so unless you’re assiduous about talking to everybody and/or follow a guide, you’ll probably get very lost, especially if you take some time off.

And that last bit is what I totally agree with the OP on. The pacing is just a bit too fast. There’s no time for players to play at their own pace; you have to log on every day, read up on forums/reddit/dulfy to know what to do (because players will scream at you if you try to do Marionette/Knights etc. and not know what to do from the start), and you can’t ever take a break (because otherwise by the time you come back the content’s either gone, or the zerg has moved on and you can’t get any help completing the achievements).

I admire what ANet is trying to achieve, but I honestly feel that the rapid-fire pace of the LS is doing more harm than good in terms of player burn-out and a less friendly, welcoming atmosphere. Everybody knows that time is limited, so everybody’s trying to get their stuff done before it disappears. Time spent teaching or helping new players is time that you can’t spend on farming/achievement hunting, so why do it?

Same. XD Good to see that the Iron Legion has very liberal recruitment policies!

Siobhan.5273:

tmakinen.1048:

Autumn Frazee.3158:

Hopefully with the difficulty changes, it will also make it easier for a good server to get ‘Six Minutes to Knightfall’.

Methinks that when an official representative starts talking about “good servers” and alleges that features of the game have been specifically calibrated to exlude those people who dare to stay on an un-good server, then it’s high time to cut losses and respectfully uninstall. Could be just me, though.

No, I get what you’re feeling, and I don’t think you should go anywhere. I think staff that speaks of customers that way should think about apologizing, rather than alienating them further.

Easy there, guys. I think what Autumn meant to say is a “skilful, well-organised map”. It wasn’t meant to be an attack on smaller servers. Poor word choices do happen.

I agree that GW1 Kryta was inspired by Polynesian and perhaps Mesoamerican cultures. (The Mesoamerican style of the Sovereign weapons lends strength to this theory.)

You’re both wrong. Swim Speed Boosters are where the real money lies.