Guild Wars 2

Jordy.1570:

the problem here, its no new content. i would like to play challenging content. but not an a boring drake i killed 100 times.
just a new mechanic wont solve the problem that u get bored playing the same looking stuff over and over.

on something new i would try till its down. but first its nothing new. and second u cant choose your player. u r forced to play 90% of the time on an overflow server where u cant even talk to everyone.

I agree with the overflow. Id rather play on my server. Not overflow.

Just think about it though.. how many times have they had to patch the game and nerf farming spots because people exploit…the speed runs in cof early on..hopping through some walls and skipping bosses entirely. Farming the first boss in TA over and over. Letting an event playout as long as possible just to kill the mobs in Orr rather than completing… They couldnt see this coming? Seriously? If youre QA team was worth anything or actually tested, you wouldnt have these problems. Or simple bugs for events, chains that get stuck, etc..for months..maybe 9 months with every patch they were fixing event chains that got stuck. It almost seemed like they would do this as routine. If they had a PTR they might have been able to weed out some of this before it hit live and frustrated players.

Its common sense. And its a testiment to your priorities as a developer. Do you want to have the ability to sit infront of the cameras and press and say “we are doing something no one has ever done, pumping out content every 2 weeks” or do you want to say “Our game is bug free”…or at least minimal in the amount of bugs and exploits.

So again, they will release content when its profitable for them..at a fast paced schedule to keep us checking things off the achievement list…rather than spending the proper time to QA the stuff and give us quality.

Everything youre saying supports the notion that they would rather pump out piles of dung in hopes to increase player concurrancy and money, rather than giving us quality experience.

And while games release the actual title when it is profitable…that is true..but after the fact, good games test their content. Not saying GW2 is a bad game ofcourse, but it definately has a quality problem with the amount of bugs and exploits they need to scramble to patch.

Vayne.8563:

cesmode.4257:

Vayne.8563:

Rebound.3409:

I still don’t see why it would be useless. Compared to making content very few like or fine tuning it based apon a general impression players have to suit their player base better. If guilds practice boss runs on PTR good for them…it’s their time spent on the same game. Anyone can practice if they want to…as long as it guarantees a better polished result custom tailored for this community

It would be useless because of Anet’s production schedule which is intense. Adding in a server wouldn’t give people time to find the bugs. Also there would have to be enough people on that server to stress test the content and that won’t happen till it’s live.

See, if it was a five person dungeon that was being tested, I would agree, that a test server would work, but you got stuff happening faster here than in any other MMO I’ve ever seen. More updates, more stuff being put into the game and changed regularly.

The ONLY way Anet will have less bugs is if they slow down the pace. There’s just not enough time to add another layer of testing. It would slow down releases and again, without enough people testing, it wouldn’t help the open world at all.

And if enough people were on the test server, you’d lose those people from the main game, which requires players to be there anyway.

So… what you are saying is that you believe arenanet is concerned with quantity over quality. According to your logic, they would rather haphazardly push out lots of content and forgoe proper testing.

No, I believe that Arena Net is releasing content too fast. That doesn’t mean they’re concerned with quantity over quality. I think they’re more concerned with keeping people logging in, which is quite a different matter.

Anet is probably looking to up and maintain concurrency figures (I actually know this to be true, whether you believe me or not). Concurrency figures are very important to Anet.

So anything that gets more people in and playing is something they see as good…but they don’t believe the releases they’re making aren’t quality releases. They’re just bug fixing them on the fly…and they do it fast. Much faster than most games fix these things.

You know, I had the same problem in Rift. They’d did updates like every single night for a very very long time.

And they had a public test server.

So..they are then concerned with player concurrancy. What happened to “we will release it when its ready” mentality. With that quote aside I still think that concerning yourselves with player concurancy contradicts the idea of quality. “Well, we need to keep these guys busy in the game…” “But Boss, Tequatl isnt ready, we need a few more weeks”. “Sorry, you dont have it. We need to keep players logging in. Prime it for live and get it out there for Sept 17th. You have three days. We will patch it later.”

Then overflow servers ensue. Bugs are realized. Possible exploits are realized. Forums are filled with negativity and frustration. Arenanet patches in a day or two or three…

Compound this cycle over the course of months or a year..and you have a bed rep for quality.

GrandmaFunk.3052:

C) PTRs effectively leak probable updates to the game. Having this information be available to some players ahead of most others would have drastic repercussions on the trading post and economy in general.

D) because play on PTRs leads to zero character progression or loot, both the number of players that would be willing to devote their time to it, and their ability to correctly find and document bug, would be very low.

Incorrect on all fronts.

I was an avid PTR tester in WoW for years.

We did not suffer an economy issues. Infact, the economy was much more healthy and people complained about prices a lot less. I cannot remember a time when people whined about prices on the auction house.

Sure, content is known before release, but it isnt a leak. It is common knowledge at that point. How is that different than Dulfy getting her hands on this stuff before release? When they announced that Tequatl is getting a remake, about two or three weeks ago, that is the time to PTR it. I would prefer a few more weeks of PTR, but again this quality over quantity mentality only works on conventional content releases, and not two week rapid fire crappy quality releases.

Any many people hopped on PTR. Im not sure the size of arenanets QA team, but I bet it is a fraction of the size of playerbase that will PTR. If they have 20 QA people, Im willing to bet that a game with 3 million players will have at least a few thousand willing to PTR.

Vayne.8563:

Rebound.3409:

I still don’t see why it would be useless. Compared to making content very few like or fine tuning it based apon a general impression players have to suit their player base better. If guilds practice boss runs on PTR good for them…it’s their time spent on the same game. Anyone can practice if they want to…as long as it guarantees a better polished result custom tailored for this community

It would be useless because of Anet’s production schedule which is intense. Adding in a server wouldn’t give people time to find the bugs. Also there would have to be enough people on that server to stress test the content and that won’t happen till it’s live.

See, if it was a five person dungeon that was being tested, I would agree, that a test server would work, but you got stuff happening faster here than in any other MMO I’ve ever seen. More updates, more stuff being put into the game and changed regularly.

The ONLY way Anet will have less bugs is if they slow down the pace. There’s just not enough time to add another layer of testing. It would slow down releases and again, without enough people testing, it wouldn’t help the open world at all.

And if enough people were on the test server, you’d lose those people from the main game, which requires players to be there anyway.

So… what you are saying is that you believe arenanet is concerned with quantity over quality. According to your logic, they would rather haphazardly push out lots of content and forgoe proper testing.

If this mentality is indeed the case, then the two week content schedule is a a terrible idea because any company that embraces quantity over quality is terrible.

From what I have observed over the past year: Arenanet has a big problem in gauging the speed and ability in which players consume and complete content. Either it is rediculous in difficulty(or HP sponges), or we eat it like cake. They worked on GW1 for years..GW2 has been one a year already. I think they should have a good idea of the happy middle where content isnt consumed so fast, and it isnt insanely difficult.

But I agree, hard content shouldnt be beatable in a day. But people are posting bugs about tequatl like crazy.

Vayne.8563:

Rebound.3409:

They are testing on us obviously.

A PTR system is way above their income apparently.

Or they’ve deemed it as useless as it would be.

How on this green earth would a PTR/PTS be useless? Having more testing is always better than not. And having it tested on the players that will play the game into the ground is a good way to go…BEFORE launching it live. GW2 claims to have a QA team, but I don’t think they do their job well at all considering all of the bugs and exploits. I always use WoW as an example, even though I do not play the game nor do I wish to, but Blizzard has had a PTR available for years. Their new content doesnt bug out and isnt as exploitable as GW2.

No, not having a PTR is either a budget reason, Arenanet feels their stuff is bugless and superior(laugh), or they just can’t be bothered with one.

A PTR would improve content at an alarming rate.

How was your lag?
My computer could probably handle it all pretty well, but Id imagine the average joe would have issues with 100 people.

Then…why did make the howler if you didnt like the howl?

Vayne.8563:

GOSU.9574:

MOAR GEAR STATS BEGETS MOAR BOSS HEALTH.

Film at 11.

This has nothing to do with gear stats. This has to do with bosses that were ridiculously easy. When was the last time the shatterer scared you?

Unfortunately, none do. The new Teq is going to be a challenge, but the others are still going to be pushovers. Ooo a bit more HP and a maybe a swirly vortex..? Thats thinking with your creative hats.

SirusDibley.3716:

An update that gives the bosses loads more hp and a time limit, how creative . No more guaranteed daily chests and drops from bosses and everyone does even more champ farming.

gg

Where did you read ‘no more garunteed daily chests’?

Id imagine that these are temporary ‘boosts’. Otherwise, its pretty pathetic.
More HP..yay. That makes for a fun experience.

“Rabbit who chases carrot”

Spiral Architect.6540:

Bottom line? ANet designed a game to have horizontal, rather than vertical, progression. They were not able to deliver on that goal, so they adapted, and changed their goals. Now we have a game that is full of grindy check-off tasks, vertical progression, and no new permanent content.

Is this good? Bad? That’s up to the players to decide. I decided to bow out, and leave the grindy “content” to other players. I have better things to do with my time than chase shiny things so I can chase more shiny things.

Have I given up on GW2? Not entirely. I’ll be keeping an eye on further developments; it’s conceivable, albeit unlikely, that ANet may steer the game back toward a model I find more to my liking. If that happens, I’ll come back. But in the meantime, every day I’m away I miss the game less and less.

I kind of feel the same way. I have logged in two or three times in the last three or so weeks, for a grand total of 10 minutes. Im missing the game less and less. I logged in last night and saw everyone in map chat whining about ascended gear..it was disheartening. I logged off because it reminded me why I have stopped playing.

I will keep an eye on the game, like you, to see if the game is steered back on course for aesthetic progression.

darkace.8925:

Vayne.8563:

darkace.8925:

What percentage of people who bought the game did so because of ideas like “everyone should have best in stat gear by the time they hit the level cap” or “we don’t make grindy games” or “our measure of success is ‘is it fun’”?

I’d wager it’s a far lower percentage than you think. FAR lower.

I’d take that wager in a heartbeat.

Vayne.8563:

I mean I heard those same words, and though it was nice, it wasn’t the reason I bought the game. It may have added to the list of reasons, but other reasons were far far more important to me.

That’s nice. Irrelevant, but nice.

Id probably take that wager too. I believe many people bought the game thinking that when they hit 80, it wont be a hefty grind for max stat gear. Once they have their max stat set, they play for fun and for aesthetics. Thats what I was hoping for.

Hi,
I am looking for some guidance on whom to email about forums? The email address that is given to you when you have been infracted or a thread you have posted in has been closed never receives a response. Ever. I am actually looking to converse with a human being that will take my concerns into consideration.

Please do not immediately lock this thread without providing me guidance on where I can speak with someone about the forums. Locking this thread arbitrarily and copying/pasting the canned response is exactly what I feel needs to change in these forums. Im not looking for the ’run of the mill canned response that is given to people about how to get in contact with the forum mods because a response is never received.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,

Ive been thinking this for a month or two. Black Lion Salvage kits have not been giving me a nice supply of ectos from rares or even exotics.

I think this should warrant another investigation

My feedback: (will be worded summaries and not ‘by the numbers’.)

Warriors:
Nerf greatsword warriors. Being able to dish out 15-18k in two seconds is a bit overpowered when compared to any other classes best burst ability. I dont know what your data says but most people play greatsword warriors, at least in PVE. Id like to see more axe/axe, or shield warriors.

Guardians:
Make other builds, such as sword/torch more viable in PVE. All I see are greatsword guardians and I hardly see a sword/torch guardian running around.

Thief:
Make P/P thieves a bit more interesting other than unload spammers. Perhaps create a trait that will give us a nice damage boost if we are standing in a blind field or something.

Finally, some real work into the game instead of the fluffy living story junk.

Although, Warriors are probably in a better place than a decent place. And 9/10 warriors are greatsword warriors. Never seen anything else really, and I NEVER see a shield warrior. Some work into this would be good.

And some work into P/P thieves would be nice. Other than spamming unload.

AnthonyOrdon.3926:

In Guild Wars 2, the monsters raid you.

Also, check out Guild Missions

Guild missions…hardly compare to raids.

jweez.7214:

Colin Johnson plans for this to be the last tier of gear. Exotic was just to easy to ascertain and anet had collectively come to the decision to try at it again. Googling quotes doesn’t help your cause. We all know what they said and they know what they said.

If exotics were too easy to acquire, why not focus on that then? Work the problem. Dont come up with a solution you know will enrage lots of players. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to see a few steps down the road with this one.

Work the problem, dont change the situation.

I agree, I think the damage has been done for many. Question is, what will that ‘many’ do? I havent played since the recent SAB patch..2+ weeks. Seeing that the game is headed in this direction, I dont have plans on playing again. I don’t think this is the game for me anymore. It was, for a solid three months. And I tried to make it work up until Living Story came out. Arenanet, in my eyes, went against their core principles and continue to play word games with us. It is no unique snowflake in the MMO community. Other than pushing out poor content every two weeks, it is the same as every other MMO. Every piece of ascended gear that is released can be compared to the time it takes to acquire most of a raid tier in wow. I’ll play other games that do gear treadmills better.

I’ll keep an eye on the game to see if it improves, and frequent these forums until Arenanet decides they have had enough of my blabbering. But I don’t think they can climb out of this hole. Regardless of their playerbase…visit any fan site or MMO site and people bash GW2 and arenanet for being dull, and abandoning their core. Im starting to agree, sadly.

Oh, my adventuring thief could have been awsome!

Um, these are the two best looking legendaries out there. Bolt especially. That lightening effect that comes from the blade and goes out into all directions around your character…makes you look boss.

Not sure what more you want.

No Walking.6349:

They don’t require ascended accessories now, they won’t require ascended weapons later. So chill.

Thats pretty naieve.

Can’t tell me that people that love speed runs will request only people with highest statted gear to pump out maximum potential in dps.

Well, I don’t like living story. At all. Getting rid of living story is a step in the right direction. Next would be achievements..do we really need a set of new achievements each patch? Stop this. Pressures the player to get it all done. Third would be ascended gear…re-think it entirely.

Then people like me would come back.

@OP: Only you can decide this. If getting a precursor really motivates your gameplay, and if that process creates an experience that isnt fun, then quit. I myself gave up my quest for a precursor/legendary a few months ago..I came back and really enjoyed the game up until Queens Jub and invasions. While they added some good combat and gauntlet fights, instead of the run of the mill pixie dust LS events, the game quickly morphed into "Zerg until your eyes bleed…this activity is a precursor to Ascended Weapons to which youll need a lot of money and time to grind. " I see where the game is headed and at the current moment I cannot and will not support it. In the last two weeks Ive logged in for a total of 5 or 10 minutes to look around.

Im having more fun in Defiance and casually playing Neverwinter. Thought of rebooting a wow sub if I get bored of defiance, but thats extreme.

Vayne.8563:

MikaHR.1978:

Vayne.8563:

MikaHR.1978:

Vayne.8563:

MikaHR.1978:

Vayne.8563:

MikaHR.1978:

And the only thing that changed since last year is ascended gear, amirite?

rofl

game is not gaining popularity, unless you redefined gaining popularity to mean: you sell 5% of what you sold before.

I’m totally amazed by this statement. You’re talking about something I happen to know something about, from business. Entertainment products, particularly games, sell 90% of their total in the first three months of their life. It’s pretty well known in the industry. That’s because those who REALLY want it, buy it right away, and that leaves those who aren’t interested, or might eventually become interested. Naturally that number is going to be smaller as a game’s life advances.

You can pick up any piece of software and with VERY few exceptions (maybe something like Skyrim), 90% of the sales occur in the first 3 months.

Guild Wars 2 sold 3.5 million copies more than any other MMO besides WoW, and more than WoW in the same time period. That makes it fairly successful.

What the business model is based on is how many people are spending money in the cash shop and how many people are playing the game now. Many people have come back..some of those have probably left again. But the bottom line is, if the company wasn’t making money, they couldn’t have four times working on living story content. I wouldn’t constantly be on overflow servers either.

You see, youre not making any sense, especially related to what you quoted.

Next time concentrate on what you quote instead of ranting and PR.

My experience with gaming has to do with being a game buyer for a computer store. I know very well how well games sell. Maybe you should do some research. It’s interesting stuff. You’d quickly learn that my figures are accurate.

Uh-huh rofl

When you redefine “popularity”, sure, anything can stick.

But again, i like how you, on your own accord…dismiss your own claims

And again, concentrate on what you quote, since you STILL havent adressed what you quoted back then one may call that a spin

I don’t understand a word you’ve said. Maybe in your desire to insult me, you dropped a decimal place or something. You should recheck your calculations maybe.

TL;DR:

Vayne (V): GW2 is gaining popularity
MikaHR (M): no it isnt
V: long diatribe about irrelevant stuff aka spin
M: thats irrelevant to the quote
V: i haz teh numberz
M: still irrelevant
V: kitten , spin didnt work

there you go

Ah, I see. So you really don’t get it.

First of all, I never said the game was gaining in popularity. That’s your words not mine. I said the game is busier now than it was back in November. That’s a bit different.

A lot of people who used to play have come back to the game. I don’t know how many or what percentage. I do know that I’m on overflow servers far more than I used to be.

What I am saying, that is completely pertinent is that game sales are NOT the way to tell if a game is popular or not, particularly after the first three months. The only real way in a game like Guild Wars 2 to tell whether it’s more or less popular is concurrency numbers. According to Arena Net concurrency has been going up steadily since Christmas. That’s obvious a relative vague statement.

But citing falling sales for a game to try to say how popular it is is definitely a form of spin.

Well, you could also argue that more people are leaving the game these days due to the direction it has taken in the last month or two. And you are on overflow maps because arenanet funnels 90% of the players to one or two maps. You aren’t on overflow because Timberline Falls is such an awsome zone for people to run around and complete content(it is a good zone though).

Artificial population inflation when you hit overflows on world maps.

stemare.2578:

cesmode.4257:

But this system makes an unlucky player feel extremely frustrated.

Fixed.

I don’t see what’s “legendary” in a weapon that can be achieved by a lucky man in few days.

I was being extremely sarcastic.

g e o.2589:

If you can afford 3 THOUSAND greatswords why dont just buy the precursor.

Just buy the legendary.

Vol.5241:

My forge timeline:
-Spent appx 1000g on forge, didn’t get a single precursor
-Then spent about 200g on forge, got two (Spark & Dusk)
-Then spent 800g on forge, didn’t get a single precursor

RNG is RNG, you win, you lose.

But this system makes a legendary feel legendary.

Good question, no idea. I was curious about that when i read it as well.

Well, at least its not some goofy themed patch revolving around LS like..every..single…one.

I might log in to check out teq and some other world bosses but Im pretty sure I’ll be logging out afterward because I dont want to play a game where ascended gear exists.

Vayne.8563:

You seem to think people remember every word they say and never had a change of thought. But this wasn’t a restaurant built around that one thought to Colin. This was a restaurant built around that one thought to you, and players like you.

As pointed out in another post: We remember what they say because they are the only developers that I can remember that make bold statements prior to launch about what their core game will be: Everyone will have the same power and grind less (to name a few). This is not the case anymore. And if the game was built around the players, then why do so many players hate the new changes and why are so many players on the fence about living story? So many people, in game and on forums, dislike or are uneasy about living story(yes there are a large amount of people that like it too), yet arenanet loves to say that LS is a great success in front of the cameras..when, it is not a slam dunk success. Sorry, but it isnt. Even if 30 or 40% of the playerbase are not sold on LS makes it not a slam dunk success.

They can’t please everyone, but they alienate more than they should.

I agree with Vayne that some reasoning behind their decisions would be nice. An AMA would be great.

I must disagree with Vayne on a few points because..well it is what he and I do. Disagree

You said you can’t think of an MMO that has changed. True. But I take WoW, regarded as the most successful MMO ever created in terms of profit and longevity (while I loathe and despise it now).

Vanilla WoW compared to BC WoW…not a lot of change. A few QoL systems added maybe..maybe changing the size of raids from 40 to 25 man, with one 10 man raid in there too. But it was largely the same. The lore of the game flowed so well from Warcraft 3 Reign of Chaos/Frozen Throne to WoW to WoW Burning crusade. They didnt invent new crap. They took what was already there and we LOVED it. We loved playing out the conflict with Arthas, and Outland and Illidan. Because they were important characters of lore. We felt connected. The only thing from the BC expansion that was vastly different and a game changer was soon after the introduction of heroic dungeons, came dungeon tokens. This changed things for ever. I didnt agree with it, but I went with it. One huge change didnt stop me. The game, fundamentally, was still the same.

Leading into WoTLK, now this is where the game splinters a bit and starts to look different. I took a break from WoW toward the end of BC and during the beginning of WoTLK. I came back and saw people pugging raids. I was amazed. Suddenly, raids could be pugged. Blizzard changed the direction of the game so more casuals could get into raiding and more content can be experienced by all. This literally changed the face of the game to what it still is today. Raiding was for the best of the best..but kitten rewarding experience not only extrinsically but intrinsically. You felt REAL accomplishment once you cleared SSC or TK. Most guilds got stuck on A’Lar. Now, in WoTLK, groups were pugged, people bringing in alts after alts for raids. NOW they even put hard mode raids into WoTLK and changed the raiding format from 25 to 10 and 25(remember, it started out as 40 man in vanilla). Not soon after, LFG dungeon queue system put into place. Another game changer.

But, none of these changes happened until..4 or 5 years after the launch of the game. We had 4 or 5 solid years of core World of Warcraft gameplay before it was diluded into the junk that it is now. And most people you ask will recall that Vanilla or TBC were their best expansions. WoTLK was diluded, Cata was a failure according to many, and MoP was the most controversial expansion. So many people were on the fence about it and WoW is still bleeding subscriptions.

So, my point is..the game was alive and bustling for 4 or 5 years with a great repution, devoted playerbase, solid core before it changed its face. Guild Wars 2 changed its face three months.

Theres your difference.

Vayne.8563:

I could go to ANY MMO, no exceptions, and find a dev quote that isn’t true a few months after it’s made.

Other mmo’s/mmo developers do not make such bold statements as:
“We leave the grind to other games”.(Mike O’Brien)

“…Yeah and since legendary is the same as our highest tier of gear, exotic”(Eric Flannum I believe)

“We dont want to make the same MMO everyone else is making” (I think this one was Ree?) <- With the insertion of Ascended gear, the game left a cosmetic ‘grind’ and entered progression grind…like every other MMO. Even if it is handled in a different way. GW2 is no unique snowflake.

My point is, that with most, if not every other MMO developer, they aren’t making bold statements. And they didnt come out with a doctrine in a manifesto telling you whats what. Take Wildstar…unless you can prove me wrong(which I welcome you to, I very well could be), I don’t see the wildstar making any huge statements about the core of their game. They say that the game will have housing, raids, telegraphed mechanics, difficult fights. But they aren’t saying “Our MMO will not have a grind”, or anything like that. Take TESO, they haven’t said anything like that either, to my knowledge.

I think this is why a lot of people hold arenanet more accountable for the words of their voice(rather the text on the screen) than most developers because they were so bold, confident and forthcoming with what will and wont be their game when it is released. But what we found was a lot of grey, a lot of fine line walking, a lot of clarification on what they really meant, and more and more people are realizing that these bold statements they made prior to launch were nothing more than marketing ploys and we feel “lied to”..bait and switch…let down.

I agree with the OP nearly 100%. He is spot on with everything.

You can still say a skilled player with greens will outperform a skilled player with ascended. I can say that a skilled player in ascended will outperform a skilled player in greens.

You can say "no one is forcing you to do this’. I say that no one forces you to do anything in other MMOs either. Whats your point?

You can say that “every MMO is about adapting, re-inventing itself, changing, etc”. I’ll say why? Why can’t a developer have a set of principles and adhere to them. Yes, you make money, but I would imagine you would be a much more liked game if you adhered to those principles and let the hardcore elitists leave the game. You’ll be left with a more dedicated and happy community. And you’ll see less negativity on these forums as well as fansites where people say..all-the-time.. that Arenanet has abandoned its core principles.

I agree OP, I agree. I approached the game the same way and it all sank with the Lost Shores patch.

Vahlen.9508:

I never realized how much I hated the idea of the “gear treadmill” until today. I thought it might be fun to boot up GW2 and kill stuff as I haven’t been able to play in a couple months, been at the police academy.

It was at that point I realized that all the weapons on my warrior that I spent so long running dungeons for were now the equivalent of what rares used to be……………..do you know how crushing that is? What do I have to look forward to? An extremely large grind for just a single weapon, forget the fact that I’m warrior and use like a dozen.

This isn’t an I quit post or anything, it’s just a post from a guy that is extremely disappointed with the path you (Anet) has chosen to take this game. I know my sole opinions means little, but hopefully I’m not alone in my sentiments.

You are definitely not alone. Since November, the game has slowly slid down hill. The last two updates, while they had some of the more substantiative combat content that arenanet has pushed out as part of the living story, has been nothing more than a zerg to farm money. Farm with the zerg, or be left behind in terms of $$. And now, ascended gear is a bit of a grind to get the new BiS weapon stats. Ascended armor is on the way this year. And arenanet has not turned away from the idea of legendary armor either.

Yeah, the game falling from grace toward gear grind, grind in general, zerg gameplay as “engaging” content, RNG, cash shop grabs, etc.

Ive stopped playing.

This is why I havent played since a day or two before the patch. Lame direction like this. Guessing you wasted nearly 10 gold or more on materials or purchases from TP for this.

It would be humerous if someone chimed in and said “you didnt read the disclaimer? Theres a Salvage pack you need to buy off the gem store in order to garuntee dark matter”

Id rather see full blown expansions once a year or even mini expansions once every three months or so. No living story. Pace of content is too fast, you feel rushed to complete the temporary portions, and the quality definately suffers.

Lokki.1092:

eisberg.2379:

Banquetto.9521:

eisberg.2379:

Collect the stuff yourself and it is significantly less than 200G

If you collect 200G worth of stuff yourself and use it, then the opportunity cost of leveling crafting was indeed exactly 200G.

If you collect the stuff while you are doing stuff that is fun, than it cost you nothing. How much you can potentially make by selling the materials are irrelevant, if you are going to use it anyways.

No its still costs you something. It costs those items, they have a value associated with them. That Value is 200g. How do people not understand the concept of Instrumental value. If you obtain a car worth 5 grand and you trade that car for an ice cream cone, the ice cream wasn’t free! It cost you a car valued at 5 grand!

Just because you didn’t sell your goods first and gain the money from those goods to then pay for the Items you want doesn’t make those items free. You just cut out the middle man.

If somehow people still don’t understand this imagine taking your gathered raw materials, now sell them all on the TP. You now have 200g, Now following a guide you buy the most cost effective parts to get to crafting 500. They cost you 200g total. So you aren’t out money but it still cost you a value of 200g to get the levels no matter if you sold your goods first, or used them yourself.

Not to mention you pay to collect those goods. Putting you at negative monetary value of said goods if by your thinking, they are valued at zero.

I look at every item like this. When i acquire, lets say armored scale…Well, I can save it and put it in collectables. Or sell itnow, make 30 silver and spend that 30 silver on something else. Or, make 30 silver on it, and hope for the scale prices to drop to 25, so I can then buy the scale back at 25 silver.

Or, pull it out of my inventory and craft something with it. Doing this essentially cost me 30 silver, since I could have sold it for 30 silver.

@Shadowpuppet: I completely agree. I said that back in November/December. If Ascended gears true use is within fractals, why increase stats at all if all is needed is an infusion slot? Why go through the coding effort, design effort, and then listen to us complain on the forums?

Or, simply allow current exotics to be “enchantable” or “ascended”<-verb, via a rune that we double click and apply to an item to add an infusion slot. This way, people don’t even need to have two seperate gear sets…one for fractals, one for everything else.

Im a mere player, and I have provided a reasonable solution that satisfies most everyone with little backlash.

Unless, part of the reason for ascended gear is to bridge the time gap between exotic and legendary…but I argue that only a small % of your playerbase has even interest

But this is the kid of thinking that arenanet lacked during the inception of ascended gear. This idea could have solved nearly everything with minimal uproar. I believe now it is too late to impliment this idea. How do you compensate players who spent ectos, laurels and time getting the current ascended.

Handling of all ascended gear is/was atrocious. Sorry, just terrible planning as a whole. If it is needed in the game, whatever. But they released it into fractals only from the start..and player-gated fractals at the start. Could only join fractals of your level. Soon, people are left behind and noone to play with. They addressed, this but this was the first sign of short-sightedness from Anet.

Then, people whined about how fractals were the only place to acquire ascended. So, laurels are introduced and you can get a myriad of ascended gear from there…and you can get gear from laurels that you cannot obtain in fractals(which is backwards since fractals are the only place you need ascended gear).

Now, you need a crapton of materials from farming, champ zerging, etc…
The acquisition of a complete set is ALL OVER the place.

Uniform it:
Instead of requiring the player to burn laurels for ascended, burn ectos for ascended, run fractals for ascended, and farm materials to craft ascended…

Allow ascended gear, not mats, drop from Champs and has a very rare chance of dropping from any other mob. Ascended materials to craft the gear drops from anything. Any piece can drop from fractals.

Allow the actual pieces to drop. Who flippin cares about more currency and materials farming.

Done.

Hrithmus.2583:

Here is a simple fix my 7 year old son came up with.

“Dad, why not put the ascended gear on the trading post?”

“Well son….ummm…Good question?”

MIND = BLOWN

Give this kid a job. Its a better solution than anything Arenanet has come up with.

Tachenon.5270:

cesmode.4257:

Chuo.4238:

<yawn>

Can we get back to arguing over the quote that the OP posted, please?

I agree, thank you

Mike Obrien says they don’t make grindy games. Discuss how GW2 is not grindy.

There are no grinds in GW2, and, unlike many who make this claim, I have verifiable proof!

I queried coffee on the GW2 wiki and this was the result: “There were no results matching the query.”

Source:

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/index.php?title=Special%3ASearch&search=coffee

So, clearly there is no coffee in GW2. Therefore, there are no grinds in GW2.

You get a…3/10 . You did make me laugh.
Eh, 4/10. You made the effort to do the google.

Hahahaha. Ooohh, Ahhh, oh noes..no Karma?

What SHOULD have been done is that all of your rewards are given at the end in a chest or something. Not per drop per kill type of thing.

Edit: Reading this seriously made me laugh.

Cowrex.9564:

marnick.4305:

It’s called “The Rising” and has following features:
- Tequatl Overhaul
- LFG System
- parallel overflow bosses
- world wide dragon warning (currently limited to tequatl and invasion)

Wow that’s some amazing features coming up to GW2

Hm. You don’t 3 million players telling you for an entire year, that bosses like Teq and SB are HP sponges. This could have been in for launch, or shortly after. Not over a year later.

A LFG system that really..isnt LFG. Its gw2lfg.com put in the game with a UI. And again, a Quality of Life feature that could of and should have been in game at launch. Most AAA MMOs launch with one these days. At least the MMOs released in the last two or three years.

Chuo.4238:

<yawn>

Can we get back to arguing over the quote that the OP posted, please?

I agree, thank you

Mike Obrien says they don’t make grindy games. Discuss how GW2 is not grindy.

ophidic.1279:

marnick.4305:

Gobhoblin.7582:

Vayne.8563:

Sirendor.1394:

People … it’s time to say farewell to Guild Wars 2. Tag me if you know another good f2p mmorpg to play instead (i’m 100% serious, can’t keep up with this grinding crap forever).

And you’re going to find a free to play MMO with less grinding?

That’s pretty funny. Good luck with that.

GW1?

Not an MMO. Try harder.

GW2 has the least grind of all commercial AAA MMOs I’ve played. As for GW1, let’s not forget the amount of money or time it took to fill the HoM, let alone max Luxon. But it was all well spent.

How is it not an mmo? It’s massively multiplayer, online, AND an RPG. What am I missing here?

Since GW2 launch, arenanet themselves dismissed the notion that GW1 was an MMO.

azizul.8469:

i wonder why they are not made available through Fractals run or Laurels/Commendations trader…….

That would make too much sense.

Cloud.7613:

cesmode.4257:

marnick.4305:

Gobhoblin.7582:

Vayne.8563:

Sirendor.1394:

People … it’s time to say farewell to Guild Wars 2. Tag me if you know another good f2p mmorpg to play instead (i’m 100% serious, can’t keep up with this grinding crap forever).

And you’re going to find a free to play MMO with less grinding?

That’s pretty funny. Good luck with that.

GW1?

Not an MMO. Try harder.

GW2 has the least grind of all commercial AAA MMOs I’ve played. As for GW1, let’s not forget the amount of money or time it took to fill the HoM, let alone max Luxon. But it was all well spent.

Can you tell me what AAA MMOs you have played longer than one or two months?

For me, it is:
WoW, Tera, GW2, Neverwinter, Rift (all longer than two months).
GW2 has the most grind, by far. Tera is a close second, but I still give it to GW2.

This is personal opinion, you cannot state something that has so many variables. I have 3 legendary weapons, 3 level 80’s and all decked out in mostly exotic/ascended gear, all professions and 3 extra level 400’s.

In WoW I was only ever able to grind to max gear 2 times before new tier was introduced. I only ever got one legendary weapon and spent 4-5 years getting it. I’m sorry but it’s not even close. GW2 is by far the less grindiest MMO I have EVER played. But that is my opinion, it’s not a fact, don’t spin your web of lies spider man.

How is WoW grindy? Did you play during WOTLK? My god everyone had epics. Evverryyonneeee. 10 man and 25 man raids. You can literally burn through ICC in one or two nights without breaking a sweat. I had a rogue, druid, mage, and warlock.. all running the ICC raids, that tournament of champion raid..all with various amounts of epics. Not to mention the crap you got from heroic dungeons and crafting. It was just rediculous the amounts of BiS gear one could accumulate. The bosses in WoW dropped two or three epics each, and you were competing with MAYBE one or two people for the items, if they needed the same one as you at all.

In GW2, this is time gated. And its a grind. Its not fun to kill things over and over and hope for specific materials to drop. Being part of a zerg, a nameplate in a swarm of players pounding a troll into submission..(at least I think its a champion troll, I cant tell with the hundreds of effects going on). Boring. Grind. Boring.

Yes, opinions vary. Especially if you don’t have your glasses on.