Guild Wars 2

Id like to just drop a few quotes from Man of Steel here:

“You will give the people of Tyria a Laurel to strive towards. They will check off boxes. They will stumble, they will fall, but in time they will join you in the grind…”

“You think your class is safe? I WILL NERF IT!”

“My guildmate believed that if arenanet found my new farm spot, that they’d nerf it. He was convinced that it would ruin the economy. What do you think?”

“He’s a necro, they’ll kill him. " “How, he’ll be OP to them…”

“What if a player dreamed of something greater than what a developer had intended? What if a player aspired to something greater?”

“To farmers I say this: Surrender your farm spot within 24 hours or watch this world suffer…”

“I was bred to be a farmer. I farmed all my life, honed my skills. Where did you farm? ON A ..FARM?!”

“You will not farm… For every farm spot you find, we will nerf a million more…”

“Whats the RNG stand for?” “Its not RNG…on my world it means money..” “Well, here its RNG. How about Random—-” " ’scuse me? "

So.. Rangers got shafted? Haven’t rangers been complaining since day one? Who makes these decisions?

I haven’t really logged in since the first day or two of dragon bash so I don’t know whats going on.

I mainly play thief, necro, warrior, mesmer.

Zaxares.5419:

I feel that the frequency of the camp attacks needs to be toned down. Currently it’s like as soon as the Karka Queen is down, you look at the meta-event and all 4 settlements are contested again. That’s just not right. It should remain clear for at least 15 – 20 mins (maybe half an hour) after the Queen event is over to at least give players a breather and savour their victory.

I completely agree. It seems they are still running on the same frequency as when there were 100 people in the zone to defend all of them. There arent. Whenever I popped my head in there after the story ended, it was always 1/4 camps.

They need to tone down the mob activity to account for the significantly less amount of people in the zone. Not sure why they didnt see this coming.

Id say currently: No.
Aside from what you listed, the content being released is more in the world of temporary content (probably to test the waters to see how we would react to such things), RNG, and yes grind.

Sure, some things are beginning to stick and stay in the game..moa races? What about the molten dungeon and the new one? If the new one is temporary, which it probably is, Id say a definate no this game is not worth coming back to.

If you had your doubts before about the game, not much has changed. If you felt that the dungeons were not find, and it was a grindy game, nothing has changed concerning those two points.

Sadly if you did vendor it…incoming msg from anet: “Unfortunately we cannot retrieve lost items, sorry”. Because arenanet has no sort of backup and recovery system which is completely insane. Most MMO companies have the ability to recover lost items through log verification. But arenanet cannot.

Ive only ever gotten the normal reward.

It is about RNG. If you have luck, you will succeed. If you have no luck, you will be frustrated.

Eh, depends what you are looking for
Arenanet IS trying to move the game in..some direction. Whether you agree with it or not is up to you. I disagree and each time I say “Let me log in and look around..maybe I’ll want to do my dailys today at least..” I sign out within 30 seconds.

This is why I have no interest in playing this game currently. Id rather play neverwinter.
RNG is bad, very bad in any game. It isnt making this process of acquiring a legendary any more epic.

Why was this type of stuff put in the game based on RNG? You call yourselves developers? Was this mutually agreed upon and nodded on in some conference room over at arenanet? Did you really think RNG would sit well with the playerbase?

The negativity in the forums, im speaking of myself as well, is well justified. Arenanet, in the eyes of many here, has strayed from their core goals and values as to what this game should be. Many people hold them to quotes from interviews and blogs, and arenanet has done the exact opposite.

This game was meant to be a unique snowflake where once you have your exotic set, its all a matter of aesthetics, exploration, wvw, and playing the way YOU want to play. For many. this is no longer the case. Compelled to check off your daily list, compelled to get that ascended gear, etc. Farming for a legendary is as difficult as ever because farming spots are constantly nerfed.

Dont get me wrong, the game has enormous potential. But little by little, developers are driving it into the ground.

But dont let me stop you. You might enjoy every bit of it.

Get to 60, which is relatively easy..depending on your playtime 1-2 months at max. Run some dungeons/craft/purchase exotics off TP. Head into WvW and enjoy. Its easy enough to gear up in this game.

Aside from ascended gear…gokitten ascended gear.

Edit: I played WoW for 6 years, Aion, LOTRO, Eve, Warhammer, Tera, SWTOR, Rift, GW2, now Neverwinter.

I bought this issue up in the forums in september/october and then again the chris whiteside in november.

7 months later. Nothing. We get little temporary pieces of content. Yah. Nothing for medium armor.

Im going to stay far away from this thread because I’ve been infracted a few times today…and this post has infraction written allll over it.

But in the interest of constructive posts, I would say that these are small things to do every month. I guess this might lead to bigger more perma content? I think/hope they are getting that hint, that we want things to be perma.

Hi,
It seems that my guild transferred servers to dragonbrand after I had taken a break from the game. I come back, and follow them. Now they are inactive.

Looking for a small guild (10-30 members), casual but active. I primarily play PVE but will play WvW eventually as I really enjoyed that when I was playing it non stop.

I am east coast.

Leave me a line here or PM me. Thanks!

Hold on, let me scroll up, wolfy. I have been busy.

Edit: I read your post. Not sure what to make of it to be honest. Maybe my brain is shrinking and I couldnt follow, but maybe youre thoughts were incoherent when written.

What I gather from the post is : “What is stopping you from exploration”. My answer: The carrot. Im a normal human being…or at least I think so. Give me some water, and I’ll be content with water. Give me some beer and other mind-altering substances(not that I partake in these), and I’ll want munchies.

My point is, I was fine with the game as it was. Once they introduced better gear, more currencies for better gear..I am obssessive compulsive in that I must have it. Even though I dont need it, I want it. I want BiS gear. I got 5 toons to max level, geared out three of them with full exotics. And I was content with that to just sit back, explore, play some dungeons and run around WvW..happy. Content. Sublime. The current content was all that they gave me and I was content. There was nothing more. Then they dangled that first carrot in front of me, ascended back pieces/rings. I must have it. Mentality changed.

And I wouldnt consider it arguing. Rather, it is time well spent. Any time you have the chance to compare brain pans and spar with me, go for it

I don’t think people will like TESO. People loved Skyrim and Oblivion because it was an RPG game that carved out its own niché with combat, crafting, dungeon delving, etc. Trying to put these two types of games in an MMO format will frustrate players.

You’ll have players hoping that this format is translated into an MMO format…but then get frustrated because things are just so different than the traditional MMO styles like combat, tanking, healing, questing, etc. Then you’ll have people that hope it isnt translated into an MMO format and want the traditional style..and then complain that it just doesnt feel like skyrim, oblivion, etc.

In my eyes, these games were more of the adventure, and ocassionally come across a camp of two or three bandits that required some time to kill. And these fights were spread across the world, but there could be 10,15 minutes or even an hour before another fight. It was more about the journey and exploration, the story..than it was about combat gear and rewards.

It wont work. But I am definately going to try it out.

Bright.9160:

cesmode.4257:

God that manifesto was such bullkitten. Every word of it. Effect things around you..we dont want to build the same MMO everyone else is…each decision you make has perma effects around you…Killing centaurs in a field isnt what we want to do..ugh all crap. All lies all BS.

Well, honestly, the one thing they didn’t lie about in their Manifesto was the art… Gotta give them that. The visuals in this game are pretty kitten good. The guy with the funny accent deserves props, because he was the only guy in the video who wasn’t lying to his teeth.

Oh the art is amazing. The world is amazing. The detail is amazing. I give that team a 20 out of 10. Its absolutely stunning and I love it. Honestly, the world/art/environment is one of the reasons I keep coming back to the game. Its just so pleasing to look at and it its own right has the potential to completely engulf you. But then you get bogged down with everything else

Half dozen eh? Hahahaha. Youre a huge forum goer here. I expected you to see that this forum community is at least 50/50 on these subjects. How come any guild that I’ve been in(and still am in) is emptied..deserted, inactive?

All friends have stopped playing(all too familiar story). My contacts list remains grey with noone ever online. There are reasons for this.

Minos.3450:

Vayne.8563:

Don’t get your hopes up.

yep, this is the best way to get disappointed.

Like the way we got our hopes up with this game?

I still have hope for the game but at this point it is just going off in a direction that is difficult for me to follow, despite its enormous potential. And this began in November.

God that manifesto was such bullkitten. Every word of it. Effect things around you..we dont want to build the same MMO everyone else is…each decision you make has perma effects around you…Killing centaurs in a field isnt what we want to do..ugh all crap. All lies all BS.

Mkalafut.1273:

I’ll just drop this here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35BPhT-KI1E

Ugh..Each time I watch this(which is only the 3rd time maybe), I feel more disappointed and let down. This game was hyped to be the explorer’s dream come true..Gear for aesthetics. Explore. No grind. No stat increases. Come back in 6 months and pick up where you left off.
Such a let down I feel so deflated watching this.

I still have high hopes…maybe one day.

I envisioned playing this awsome looking game, at max level..standing around in some forest in some zone just looking around. Seeing a couple players battle some mobs in the distance. I sit down in game, look up at the moving sky, and continue watching their fight. Oops, they went down, time to go help. Hey! We killed the mob! Oh look at that, a cave was behind him. Lets check it out.

Instead….:(
K, I’ll check off these 5 items to make sure I get my laurel for the day. Ok, done. Hmm, lets check the website for meta events. None? Ok. I guess I’ll go farm for that legendary…cant even find a good spot anymore. Hmm, maybe I’ll try my luck in the mystic forge for The Lover. Ok now I feel really deflated..no luck. I just dropped 30 gold this time. Ugh, I don’t want to invest myself into WvW at this point in the game just yet because once I do thats all I’ll do. So what should I do. Ok, GW2lfg.com, COF P1..(so many zerker parties..sigh, elitists). 9:50PM Yippe, a group. 10:01PM K, done. Wait wasn’t that supposed to be extremely difficult? Thought I saw that somewhere. Anyways, kind of bored. I guess I’ll go watch cute cats on youtube…

Seriously, thats reality. Sad but true. Some of you can play just to play and I commend you. But the vast majority has been conditioned otherwise for YEARS by other games to seek that reward. And when arenanet put these things in the game, it diluted the desire to just explore..play..

Meglobob.8620:

JSmooth.7654:

Remember the Mad King’s Clock Tower? That’s the way to reward people… Imagine if the chest a the top rewarded one of the dragon weapon skins… I’d be ok if you could only do it once per account. Right now, getting a weapon skin all about luck.

You would get a storm of protest from the 9/10 who couldn’t do it…

A lot of people would quit with GW2 being renamed Jump Wars 2…

Because the game is already dubbed Daily Wars 2, or Grind Wars 2.

I am having a hard time understanding the logic behind rng boxes. Do the devs sit around a conference room and say “Hmm, this is such a success. they love RNG boxes”.

@xenon: Im willing to bet that they are going to increase the level cap. Even though they didn’t in GW1, Colin (as well as other devs) have pubically stated(even in the forums here), that GW2’s design allows them to do this while GW1 design did not. Therefor they said they are open to increasing the cap which would negate all of your gear when you hit that new cap unless ascended gear scales.

With the way the game is going, I would bet the gear doesn’t scale so we have progression to look forward to.

The skins from wintersday were terrible. The ones from the Southsun event in May were pretty good. Had the game not been rolling in a complete RNG/push to gem store direction, I would have purchased a skin on my own accord.

Rising Dusk.2408:

Didn’t we get this all out of our system back in November?

Well, thats what I thought when I saw this thread. But if people are speaking pro ascended gear, I must voice my opposite opinion.

Vayne,
I could still raid in blues if I wanted to(other than LFR).

In WoW I could level to max level and regardless of what gear I had, I could run any dungeon or heroic(up until cataclysm when the dungeon finder placed ilvl requirements on dungeons). I could experience every dungeon in whatever shoddy greens and blues I had. Much like GW2 where you can experience every dungeon with whatever gear you have on.

If I wanted to raid, I could still go to these raids. Much like Fractals in GW2….provided I have the appropriate fractal level and my group accepts that, I can go into those fractals. In either scenario, you would be one shotted by a boss mechanic in WoW or the lazy-agony mechanic in GW2. And only THEN is when gear really comes into play. Proper gear to be able to stand up in raids vs a certain agony resist to be able to stand up in fractals.

In both games, you are able to do all content until you get to the raids/fractals. (This is also speaking of every expansion up until cataclysm when ilvl requirements were in place..which was what..5 years of WoW without gear/ilvl requirements to experience all of the content?)

My arguement is still valid.

Vayne, hi

I look at ascended gear, and the frequency of its release like this(assuming GW2 releases an expansion and increases level cap):

WoW/Rift raiding and gear treadmill:
-Gain Tier 1 set (takes approx 1-2 months to acquire)
-3-5 months later Tier 2 is released
-Gain Tier 2 set (takes approx 1-2 months to acquire)
-3-5 months later Tier 3 is released
-Gain Tier 3 set (takes approx 1-2 months to acquire)
-Expansion is released, level cap increased
-Level up to new level cap, all gear acquired in previous expension rendered useless.

GW2 Ascended gear:
-Gain Ring/Back slot ascended gear (approx 1-2 months to acquire)
-2 months later amulets are released (I think this was next)
-Gain Amulets (One month of laurels?)
-1 month later accessories are released
-Gain Accessories (One month of Laurels + ecto?)
-Expansion released level cap increased rendering all previously acquired ascended gear useless.

In both scenarioes you now re-start the grind.

So if you compare the two styles, its the same thing. Every few months a new tier, or new ascended slot, is released. It takes approx 1-2 months to acquire the gear in either scenario. This process is repeated several times over the course of a year or 1.5 years. Eventually, expansions are released, level caps are increased. All gear in both scenarios are useless (unless ascended gear scales with level at that point).

Its the same thing in my view. Arenanet just masked it differently.

But Colin, you’ve said yourself you’re not a good PVPer. And who takes engineers anyways?!

Id like to acquire some currency for time spent in the game(even if that time is sitting in LA awaiting a dungeon group, or farming in some zone for two hours). Once I earn enough for playing the game I the way I want to, I can purchase these items.

Instead, I need to check things off a list in order to make sure I have completed requirements set forth by arenanet in order to acquire the currency needed to purchase these items. Sometimes I play the way I want to, sometimes I dont.

OP: You are wrong. Flat out wrong. Chris Whiteside stated that ascended gear was always meant to be in game, they just didnt release with it. And they knew that there would be backlash releasing it after launch. This was stated in his AMA. Scour Reddit for it. You’ll find his quote, actually it is a respone from him to my personal question.

So yes, they always intended to have ascended gear, according to him. It wasnt an after thought.

I get a bit nervous with each new announcement. It seems I dislike more and more with what they develop.

First it was ascended gear and how fractals were initially handled.
Then came Guild Missions. (I dislike the idea of this because I am forced to plan my life around a game if I wanted to run these with my guild. There is another word for this: Raids and there are other games that do scheduled guild content 10000x better).
Then came RNG.

Jeffrey Vaughn.1793:

I know that I play on Live, but usually only a few hours per week. (What with work and all.) I also don’t always represent the Arena.net guild, since it’s nice to just play sometimes. And, no, our game accounts aren’t the same as GM accounts; we don’t get special items or anything like that.

Here is the million dollar question:

How many Arenanet employees have a legendary or have had acquired a pre cursor?

Im pretty sure this is the case for any precursor. I myself have thrown about 300-350 rare shortbows and about two dozen exotics in there for The Lover.

With 0 success.

I do also think that the events themselves are becoming generic.

While it is less of the Kill X Collect Y variety, GW2 has created a new set of generic…content(s).

-Defend X place against Y people
-Escort Z NPC
-Protect A NPC for B Minutes while they perform C tasks.

Its becoming generic.

Vol.5241:

cesmode.4257:

To be honest, I dont know if victory can be had here. Do we want face-roll content? This appeases farmers, but not the people that want to be enganged. Then they ramp up the difficulty and the farmers revolt. But the people that are looking for fun engaging combat suddenly have it. Yet, the content remains under-utilized.

I am in between both worlds. I always am actively seeking materials for a legendary, so a just reward is needed for me. But I do tire of mindlessly dropping wells and AOEing things down.

Is there a happy median? I dont know. They are trying but it could be all for nothing.

Yes there is a happy median.

Create a spot for both farmers and a spot for challenging content.

We already have challenging content in the game. They include Arah (such as P4) as well as high level fractals.

How about farmers? What do we have to farm? Nothing.

What about the guy that wants some difficult content, but be rewarded for it just as much.
If I spend 10 minutes beating on vets and champs, I would like to get something like 2-3 dusts, 2-3 armor scales, 2-3 bones, etc. Vs 10 minutes of simple killing.

Wouldnt that be the ultimate goal?

Harbard.5738:

*Thanks for taking the time to answer this thread. *

I could care less about the new trinkets you guys are gonna add to orr and it bothers me immensely you have to focus so much in rewards to actually run an mmo. (just Ctrl+F the word “reward” here: https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/colin-johanson-on-guild-wars-2-in-the-months-ahead/ for instance). Don’t let this game boil down to “reward systems”. Please. It has too much potential to just turn it into a skinner box.

But as long as the focus is fun mechanics, encounters and an active zone, go for it. Bit skeptical but I’m looking forward for the next 6 months.

I like this post. Ultimately, I think instrinsically fun content is its own reward. Why should we get laurels, commendations, materials, etc etc. Who cares as long as we are having fun? However, maybe this line of thought brings to light the elephant in the room that people are unwilling to talk about. Could it possibly be that GW2 content is just stale and is not what was promised?

The DEs were hyped up to be zone changing events. Either help the camp defend against centaurs or not. Next time you roll through the zone, it could look completely different than before, and you could have a completely different experience. Thats simply not true. Pass/Fail on the DEs have 0(Zero) impact on the surrounding environment. And are ultimately a bit…lackluster.

True, the DEs are difficult to code and are definately way better than the traditional style of questing. But if we are going for “fun” as its own reward, then the events and our choices and successes/failures better be apparent within the zone. If we failed, I better see that town get taken over, and the NPcs killed. If it is still left unchallenged, hordes of centaurs better be roaming around looking for the next camp. Not necessarily a new DE, but because the initial DE failed, the enemy centaurs should be expanding their new territory and it is on us to drive them back.

This holds true for any zone and I think players would quest and play in their favorite zones if: drops truely scaled with player level, difficulty truely scaled with player level, the general focus of the game shifted from extrinsic value to instrinsic, and the DEs actually mattered.

To be honest, I dont know if victory can be had here. Do we want face-roll content? This appeases farmers, but not the people that want to be enganged. Then they ramp up the difficulty and the farmers revolt. But the people that are looking for fun engaging combat suddenly have it. Yet, the content remains under-utilized.

I am in between both worlds. I always am actively seeking materials for a legendary, so a just reward is needed for me. But I do tire of mindlessly dropping wells and AOEing things down.

Is there a happy median? I dont know. They are trying but it could be all for nothing.

ColinJohanson.2394:

Based on responses I’m not sure some of you read my post past the first paragraph….I’m agreeing with you, thus the:

“The one thing that’s really missing is the rewards to help make playing in these locations more even exciting and rewarding than they are now.”

And no, we’re not putting in a new currency, we have plenty of those

Ah thanks. I was halfway to the ER until I read your response.
Now if I could have you sign here, here and here promising me you’ll never put another currency into this game, and sign here as well to promise me that I have an increased chance at “the lover” drop…that’d be swell! If I had that precursor, I would be in game a lot more

It just seems like such a lost cause at the moment. But I digress from the topic.

OMG
More unique rewards? I hope it is just increased chance at T6 mats, precursors, etc….

Please dont tell me youre putting in a new currency. I will flat out lose my mind..lose it. We wont be able to find it. Like Waldo, you won’t ever find my sanity if there is one more type of currency added to this game.

And please do not throw in RNG boxes to these events. “Now when you complete XYZ chain, you have the CHANCE at a rare Crate that has a chance at some unique and exciting rewards”. <— Words I dont want to hear again as a player/paying customer.

Parlourbeatflex.5970 said it best.

Currently, pass/failure of DEs means squat. Which is hardly what was touted in interviews and before beta.

RNG
Farming nerfs
Making precursors a requirement for legendaries
Guild Missions
Ascended gear/Agony resist
Laurels

Well, I dont know much about Cantha… but return this game to what it was supposed to be. Return it to what people hyped it up so much on the fansites and gaming sites.

sostronk.8167:

Its not worth coming back. Take up a new hobby and/or video game. Honestly, if the game didn’t keep you the first time, it’s not going to keep you for long now. It hasn’t gotten much better. There isn’t much new content.

Id have to agree. I came back, enjoyed it for a few weeks but then realized the new direction of the game: RNG gating toward cash shop.

I first left the game for two reasons: Ascended gear grind just became…annoying because it has no place in this game. Also, I likened Guild Missions to raids, scheduling my RL time around a video game to make sure I am online to see this content with my guild. No sir, I’ll go to WoW for that.

I am breaking from the game now, sort of, because of RNG/Cash shop grabs. If you want a skin, you have .0000000001% chance of getting it from an RNG coffer/crate. Otherwise, buy it from the cash shop! Find a good T6 materials farm? It’ll get nerfed because, hey, we want you to buy gems from the shop to convert to gold to buy off AH.

Summation:
-Scheduling RL time around a video game is a no no for me these days
-Ascended gear/treadmill has no place in this game
-RNG
-Gating us toward the cash shop at every angle. (Ive noticed this more and more over the last two months).

I think Play the Way you want means:
-Not feeling like you must participate in a particular activity that you do not want to participate in
-Spend your time in game however you want and still be even-keel in terms of character “power”.
-Be able to obtain BiS gear in multiple ways, each way in similar in time spent or resource spent.
-Do not feel like the developer is “encouraging” you to participate in any content/system that you do not want to participate in.
-Take time off whenever you want to come back and not feel “behind” in terms of lore, story, gear, items.

Daily Wars, Grind Wars, Casino Wars…Like Krutoisis said above…all of these make Guild Wars 2 everything it wasnt supposed to be.

I won’t play Charr(or Tauren in WoW) because I wont like the way they run or the way they look in armor.

In terms of the meta events(dragons, etc..bosses with chest loot), you’ll find tons and tons of people doing these. So much that you might be thrown into overflow.

In terms of regular DE events, such as events in Orr…I think people are spreading out a bit more now with Southsun being viable, and the monthly events just take people of the previously populated zones and sticking them in ONE. For Flame and Frost, most people hung out in Wayferer and Diessa. For the southsun, people hung out in Southsun and Orr was a ghost town. Now with southsun events staying with OK farming, and the dragon event happening in Lion’s Arch, Orr is still empty.

It seems every monthly event takes people out of all zones and sticks them into one.

I…generally play less. I’ve been playing Neverwinter a lot more. While farming DOES get boring, it is one of the only things to do(for me). And if it isnt profitable, I won’t do it.

The game itself is fun and enthralling. But only for so long and this can only take me so far. After 1-2 hours, the fun wears off and I dont want to play anymore because it also is no longer rewarding.

Honestly, if I had my precursor, I would find myself logging in 1000x more because I KNEW eventually I would have my legendary. It would really give me something to work for and log in for. But when the game starts to become stale, with no light at the end of the tunnel(no precursor), I find little reason to keep playing.

I dont want to see an expansion.
Expansion will most likely mean more levels which means my gear is outdated which justifies every rant on these forums about this game straying from its core and heading toward gear grind/treadmill/gear progression.

But if I had to choose:
-New class/weapon abilities
-New zones
-No level increase, no gear/stat increase. Just skins, obtainable relatively easy without 3 months of grind, RNG, or spending in the cash shop.
-More personal story
-Solo/Duo mini dungeons.

This thread should be locked as it fosters discussion outside of Guild Wars 2.

Come on mods..at least be consistant.

However, I agree with the article. GW2 should be atop the list. Im glad neverwinter is one there. Bumpy start, but it is a solid completely 100% free game to which the combat is addictive and the environment is unique. WoW should be on there with MoP, even though its the worst expansion to date in terms of response. Surprised Age of Wushu and Darkfall were on it. Rift needs to be on there. Tera, maybe.

I stop playing because theres not much to do but legendary grind, fractals, or wvw.