Guild Wars 2

Ashen.2907:

Can you do the dailies multiple times in order to get Laurels for multiple characters ? If not then it is not ALT friendly.

Can you open the same World Boss chest multiple times on a single character? If not, then it IS alt friendly.

Martin Kerstein.3071:

This thread is about discussing the post from Chris Whiteside, not the moderation on this forum. Please focus on the topic at hand. Any further posts discussing things not related to the original post will be removed.

If you don’t want us discussing forum moderation, perhaps it would be best for all involved if CC Danicia’s post about forum moderation were removed to avoid any confusion? It would be very easy for someone to assume that an ArenaNet employee’s post regarding forum moderation makes it fair game/on-topic.

Time gated content/rewards isn’t “player friendly”, alts or no alts. Aside from that, yes Guild Wars 2 is alt friendly. There are several PvE leveling paths available, allowing players to experience a new experience with different characters. There are several Personal Story paths you can choose, allowing players to experience a different story with different characters. Leveling is a fairly quick process, and PvP and WvW automatically scale you to the level cap. And most diminishing returns are character-based, not account-based. You have five character slots, you have account-bound Magic Find, you have shared bank space. Sure, there are things they could do to make the game a little more alt-friendly (account-based Fractal levels, for example). But for the most part, the game is very much alt-friendly.

xephire.8324:

Expansion=same kitten you’re getting right now.

Some things a Guild Wars 2 expansion would probably have:
– New zones
– Expanded Personal Story
– A coherent story

Some things a Guild Wars 2 expansion would possibly have:
– A new playable race

Some things the Guild Wars 2 Living Story absolutely hasn’t delivered:
– New zones
– Expanded Personal Story
– A coherent story
– A new playable race

Devata.6589:

The whole mini system in GW2 is boring because they put most of them in the gem-store so where is the fun in collecting them?

I agree. There are too many mini-pets, and there are too few available outside the cash shop.

Gnat.9405:

The thing that turns me off about this is the “personal story end reward”

That’s the one route I think the developers should go. As is, Personal Story is the only aspect of the game in which players wishing to craft their own Legendary must demonstrate dedication. As to your specific concern, I see no reason a token cannot be awarded after the fact.

In my opinion, the game is in need of weapon skills; not new weapons, not new utility skills, not various professions getting new access to existing weapons…new weapon skills.

After more than a year of using the same five weapon skills on your weapon of choice, are you not ready for something fresh? “Why not just use a new weapon skill?” I hear you ask. What if you’ve already sunk hundreds of hours and hundreds of gold into getting that Legendary you like so much? Now you’re faced with the decision of using the same five weapon skills you’ve been using for 14 months or mothballing the weapon skin into which you’ve so heavily invested.

Suppose you really like the look and feel of a certain weapon type, but you don’t like how it plays. Say you like the look of a hammer-wielding warrior, but you don’t see much use for a crowd control weapon in dungeons or Fractals. Or perhaps you’d love to run Bifrost on your elementalist, but you don’t want to be relegated to a support role in group play, or worse…you play solo most of the time and all of those support skills do you little to no good.

Or suppose you’re still happy with your weapon of choice, but the developers completely change a staple ability for the sake of PvP. You, a PvE player, now have 1/5th of your weapon skills rendered completely useless overnight. Wouldn’t you love the ability to change that weapon skill out for something more useful to your build? Better yet, wouldn’t you love it if the developers had an avenue through which they could add new skills without completely changing the existing skills you’ve to rely upon?

Finally, suppose each weapon had a dozen or more weapon skills with which you could customize your build. Would theorycrafting – or “deck building” – not be an enjoyable thing part of the game? Would having the choice to take one group of skills for PvE and another for PvP not be a good thing? I, for one, think the game would benefit tremendously from the having new weapon skills.

HotpepperX.8124:

There are 2 classes i can see them adding:
Monk-uses holy magic to base their moves around.
Demon Hunter- uses demonic magic compared to the necromancers undead. He could be a heavy armor user(i like to picture war from darksiders) and i could see him using a new weapon like a crossbow.
These two seem like they could separate themselves from the other classes well.
I know they sound like WoWs hero classes but don’t think of them like that.

I’m not, I’m thinking of them as Diablo 3 classes.

Kugron.5128:

Why are we not able to dye backpieces?

There’s a reason backpieces are being used as rewards for Living Story content…they’re easy to make. They don’t have to do a lot of work to make them look right on all five races, and they don’t have to do a lot of work to make them dye-able. Because of this, the artists are able to keep up with the frantic Living Story release schedule.

Vol.5241:

Anet gives something for free and people still complain

Unbelievable.

Dude, we get it. “Thou shall not criticize ArenaNet.” But if you don’t like what people have to say…if the criticisms bother you so much, wouldn’t it be better for everyone involved – yourself included – to just tune it out? In the long history of mankind, complaining about complaining has rarely resulted in anything worthwhile.

So right before rewards are handed out for WvW performance everyone is given the opportunity to jump to the best WvW servers at a discount? Gotta say, not a fan of the timing for this move.

Marcus Greythorne.6843:

Why is there so little functionality in this forum? Why so much emphasis on simplicity? Reddit makes it possible to downvote trolls, in other forums you can vote on an answer, etc….

A down-voting system leads to everyone getting down-voted for their opinions (which shouldn’t be punished). You like the Living Story? Down-vote. I like traditional expansions? Down-vote. You praised Soldier’s gear? Down-vote. I praised Berserker’s gear? Down-vote. I’d like to think this community would be above such pettiness. But the reality is this is the internet, such behavior has to be expected.

Twelve days until this thing does live, so let’s recap the most important issues:
– DO change Rapid Fire and Hunter’s Shot back to their original forms.
– DO change Mug back to it’s original form.
– DO NOT change Unsteady Ground.

Vol.5241:

When you guys think of expansions, I bet you’re thinking of new classes, maps and a lot of content.

Actually I’m thinking of my character speaking. Crazy, huh?

Mirta.5029:

Living story i going to introduce races and places. So expansion pack is not needed.

Ah, yes…“nothing’s off the table”. Gotchya.

Vol.5241:

No.

I think the content provided between an expansion and living story can be equal

Expansion = content all at once
Living Story = gradual progession of content

In the end we get the same amount of content. I prefer the latter because it keeps people interested in the game and engaged. If we went the expansion route, we would have long periods of no content being released.

And considering that we are following a B2P model rather than subscription, Living Story is much more profitable.

It’s about the quality, not quantity, of content. Even if the Living Story provides the same quantity of content an expansion would over the course of months, I can’t imagine too many people would consider the quality to be equal.

For example, we have a new antagonist in the game in Scarlet. We know almost nothing about her. She shows up, ruins a party, then runs away. Her motivations for her actions are? I’ll tell you what they aren’t…presented in the game. The story being presented through the Living Story is disjointed at best.

Then we have the whole “filler vs fun” content divide. Traditional expansions can have their share of filler, but at least I’ve never seen anything in other MMOs as menial as breaking pinatas or burning effigies or riding in hot-air balloons. When you strip away the fluff from most of the Living Story content, most of it boils down to “click F a bunch of times”. If you think that’s the kind of content delivered in traditional expansions then you haven’t played many MMOs.

bromi.7809:

Is it me or people didn’t read her short story at all?

I must have missed it. Where in the game can it be found?

BobbyStein.2315:

We haven’t revealed her motive yet. I can understand the confusion and/or frustration surrounding that so we’re looking at ways to accelerate the plot and implement some features that will make it easier to track Living World content. The first phase of that system will be implemented before the end of the year.

That sounds to me that Scarlet is going to be around for a long time. That, to me, is very disappointing news.

Benjamin.8237:

Ascended was never meant to be part of the game, however Anet wanted the end game gear to be hard to get. They wanted people to spend months rather than days getting Exotics, so they added ascended after. There shouldn’t be any new gear for the next however many years after this. So err, deal with it.

That’s absolutely false. You couldn’t be more wrong.

“Everyone, including casual gamers, by level 80 should have the best statistical loot in the game. We want everyone on an equal power base.” – Colin Johanson

I’d love to pick this thing up, but with just three dye slots…it’s just not going to happen. I propose either adding a fourth dye slot so the tabard and the trim on the tabard can be dyed separately or just make the trim on the tabard gold and unable to be dyed. As it is, most of the colors used on the tabard create a fugly color for the trim.

Deimos Tel Arin.7391:

notice how many times “can we” is mentioned?

they tried?

the problem is the players, not the developers.
the players left the game because there was not enough grind.
the players felt boring because there was not enough grind.

etc.

I firmly believe that the kinds of players who stuck around for carrots, treadmills, and grinds are the exact kinds of players who are going to jump ship the moment the next flashy MMO hits the market. I doubt they were ever in it for the long haul regardless of what changes the developers made. If I’m right and they do leave, that leaves a game designed for players that no longer play. Just as bad, that leaves a portion of jaded players who otherwise would have supported the game long-term with a game they no longer enjoy.

With the next-gen consoles, several AAA MMOs, and an inevitable WoW expansion all around the corner, we’ll see soon enough whether I’m right or wrong. For ArenaNet’s sake, they’d better hope I’m wrong.

Vile.5678:

This is an awesome change imo. I hope they don’t increase the cooldown too much. But it’s going to be fantastic for landing my AoEs in a 1v1 fight, something staff ele desperately needs.

I’m glad you like it, but as a non-PvP/WvW player it’s a nerf. It’s not a huge nerf (of the kick-to-the-crotch variety), but it’s definitely a nerf.

You know, TC, you raise an excellent question. I’d actually love to see a developer justify ascended armor after they told us ascended weapons were only being added to “bridge the game between exotic and Legendary”. If there’s no Legendary armor, then what gap is there to be bridged? I actually find that rather insulting.

Which of the following statements do you guys find to be the most insulting?

“ascended gear is to be a bridge between exotic and Legendary”

“everyone, including casual players, should have the best statistical gear by the time they reach level 80”

“we didn’t expect players to get exotic so quickly” + “we intended to add ascended gear from the start”

“we want everyone to be on an equal power base”

“we don’t make grindy games, we leave the grind to other MMOs”

“we don’t have to add content to keep players playing as long as possible” + “we can focus on what’s fun”

“in this game, the grind is all about cosmetic upgrades, vertical progression”

Mesket.5728:

They can’t charge you for fixes. They can charge you for gems to buy hairstyle.

I don’t think it’s as cut-and-dry as that, but on some basic level, yes. Addressing clipping issues with charr is a problem that’s going to take a lot of resources to fix. And for this investment of resources ArenaNet doesn’t see much (if any) financial return. New hairstyles, on the other hand, are assuredly going to move the various makeover kits available in the cash shop.

Seras.5702:

Didn’t Anet recently apologize for making a drastic change/removal of something with little/no warning? And didn’t they just say that in the future they will endeavor to not repeat their mistake again?

Yep.

DiogoSilva.7089:

You complained above about how Anet has been nerfing elementalists,

No, I didn’t. I said, “God knows I’ve been hit with enough nerfs because of PvP already, this one would just be adding insult to injury.” I have more than one character, only one of which is an elementalist.

DiogoSilva.7089:

but now you don’t want them to buff the profession as a whole just because of a single build with an obscure combo that is hardly ground-breaking.

Obscure combo? The staff is one of three main-hand weapon options for the elementalist. Surely I’m not the only one stacking Chill and Cripple with +Condition Duration?

DiogoSilva.7089:

Casting frozen ground and unsteady ground in the same place is and always has been a bit redudant. You can get a few more stacks of cripple, but for what big purpose?

To keep the enemies out of melee range longer than they otherwise would have been.

DiogoSilva.7089:

A pvp player will just cleanse through it, a wvw player will cleanse it or, versus zergs, it’ll only affect up to five of them, including whoever evades/ blocks through it due to a new restriction this patch might bring (if those changes in the leaked notes are to happen),

Remember when I said, “I REALLY hope this change isn’t being made because of PvP”?

DiogoSilva.7089:

and finally for pve, chill is more than enough – and not even needed – to kite the AI.

The old version vs the new is the difference between standing-and-blasting vs kiting. Kiting while attacking with ranged attacks, while effective, isn’t very fun. And kiting prevents the casting of Meteor Shower.

DiogoSilva.7089:

Not only is the line-knockback generally more effective (except on bosses, to be fair), but it’ll create plenty of new tricks, like forcing players to fall from high places in wvw and pvp,

Remember when I said, “I REALLY hope this change isn’t being made because of PvP”?

DiogoSilva.7089:

or to create a new rotation with this skill and shockwave.

I can’t see it. I mean I can, I just can’t see how it’s going to benefit me more than the current version.

DiogoSilva.7089:

At the current state, it’s redudant to use both skills at the same time,

They’re fairly long cooldowns, so it’s not like you can’t stagger them so that one is always off cooldown.

DiogoSilva.7089:

I understand the frustration of seeing your own build getting slightly nerfed due to this, but this kind of stuff happens with every single balancing tweak change, but that doens’t means those changes aren’t goog or needed for the game as a whole. And the elementalist profession, as a whole, will greatly benefit from this change, even if your build doesn’t.

I get it; but as someone who recently had 1/5th of my ranger’s weapon skills rendered 99.95% useless, it’s still frustrating when it happens.

DiogoSilva.7089:

Please, explain me how that 2s movement-cripple is more important to keep foes away from you than a 3s movement denial plus interrupt + knockback. This is a straight buff to any elementalist build I can think of, and you can synergize it with shockwave to immobilize.

Frozen Ground = slower movement across Unsteady Ground = more ticks = longer Cripple duration + +Condition Duration = enemies closing ground at slower rate for much longer than the 3 seconds of Crowd Control the new version will offer.

DiogoSilva.7089:

It’ll be far more effective at keeping foes far from you than the current churning earth can ever hope for.

False.

LanfearShadowflame.3189:

I think what we need to consider here is that ‘fun’ is subjective. If you watch the Twitch streams, the developers do very much seem to enjoy their game. They are having fun with what they’ve made. They are happy with it, and this is probably somewhat how they gauge what is fun and what is not. Which is fine.

That said, what is fun for one, is not necessarily fun for someone else…

I honestly can’t imagine anyone would find charging Quartz Crystals at a rate of one per day fun. I honestly can’t imagine anyone found running around Lion’s Arch breaking dragon pinatas fun. The list goes on for quite some time, so I’ll spare us all and get right to the point: there are so many things being implemented via the Living Story that fly in direct contradiction to the spirit of what was said in that article.

Karl McLain.5604:

Unsteady Ground: This skill no longer damages or cripples enemies. It will now prevent foes from crossing the area, knocking them back a short distance. Lasts for 3 seconds.

As someone who utilizes Condition Duration with Cripple and Chill to keep foes away from my elementalist, this change GREATLY disappoints me. My elementalist has the smallest health pool in the game, wears the lightest armor in the game, and has no secondary weapon to which I can swap if enemies close the ground; that Cripple was kind of important to my survivability.

Edit: I REALLY hope this change isn’t being made because of PvP. God knows I’ve been hit with enough nerfs because of PvP already, this one would just be adding insult to injury.

lordkrall.7241:

darkace.8925:

So why not fix it with something that appropriately thematic? Whey inject Scarlet into yet another area of the game where her presence is not required?

Have you played the new Path?

Do I need to play it to know that what was once a sylvari/Nightmare Court-themed dungeon path has been replaced by something with Aetherblade Pirates?

marnick.4305:

Don’t think you do. Passing judgement at this point would be premature. If it were a court case, it would be a flagrant violation of defendant rights.

Something tells me you wouldn’t have said that if I were praising the Living Story. But since I’m criticizing it, somehow I’m out of line? Yeah…

marnick.4305:

The Living Story is just starting to become interesting. furthermore, Scarlet had absolutely nothing to do with the Zephyrites, Tequatl and SAB.

“Interesting” is a matter of subjectivity. Where you find Scarlet interesting, I find her dull and trite. And to say Scarlet had absolutely nothing to do with the Zephyrites is false. The Sky Pirate were very much a part of that Living Story chapter, and as we all know the Sky Pirates are nothing more than Scarlet’s minions.

marnick.4305:

If you don’t like the Living Story, don’t play it. There’s at least 3 full games outside of it (regular PVE, WvW and sPVP) none of which are affected by Scarlet.

“If you don’t like it, don’t play it.” I see this come up often. So say a player has accomplished everything he’s set out to do in PvE (100% map exploration, completed Personal Story, desired weapon and armor skins obtained, etc) and they’re waiting for more content in that vein. They don’t care for either incarnation of player vs player, and they hate the kind of content delivered via the Living Story. Your advice to them is “don’t play it.”

That might be good advice IF the developers weren’t pouring every resource into more Living Story content. But since they are, that leaves the player with nothing new to look forward, and nothing old that still holds their interest. So when you say “If you don’t like it, don’t play it,” you’re essentially saying “go find another game to play.” Is that really the kind of advice you want to give someone who greatly enjoyed the game?

lordkrall.7241:

Polluxor.5970:

Since all the 3 paths were separate versions of the story, there is absolutely no reason lore-wise to remove one of them.

But that might be one of the issues they have discovered.
As far as I know TA Explorable is the only dungeon which have 3 patch where only one can actually happen at the same time.
All other dungeon paths can all happen independent of each other, but the TA only ONE can happen due to how they are built, and maybe they have decided to start fixing that?

So why not fix it with something that appropriately thematic? Whey inject Scarlet into yet another area of the game where her presence is not required?

wizzy.6871:

so, when Scarlet dies/goes away next year, this path will be redone again? gj

The frightening prospect is Scarlet never will die/go away.

Kaiyanwan.8521:

MikaHR.1978:

Kaiyanwan.8521:

MikaHR.1978:

Kaiyanwan.8521:

If you don’t see the difference between quality-of-life changes and a grand strategy for a game that struggels to seperate itself from all others, you are delusional.

ANet is running a fair risk with the LS, they wouldn’t adapt it if it wasn’t directly related to lower sales.

You finally relized its pointless to discuss when someone cant discern even simplest of concept and ideas.

I have to admit it is hard.

Look, people like me just don’t buy stuff anymore. We are above that “get it now or it will be gone” attitude.
I am not alone, at least that’s my impression. The game is financed mostly by the in-game store at this time. Actually, I am hurting ANet by playing their game without buying stuff (they have to pay their bills anyway).

Whatever, with the LS going on like this, I will not buy anything in the near future. I have more fluff than my bank can hold anyway. What is the point of spending money?

By playing and not paying you actually send completely different message – you like the game but dont find interest n cash shop, not really resulting in desired effect.

The ONLY way to get your message across is to stop logging in, otherwise only thing you will get is more intrusive cash shop.

No, by using their bandwidth and causing costs, while not buying stuff off the store and not playing the LS, I’m just fine for now. Will the game go anywhere this way? No. But I keep my money and all options for the future. I AM a potential costumer, waiting to spend money, I AM potential.
(make an expansion hint hint)…

You’re mistaken if you think you’re hurting them by logging in but not spending money on gems. The number of players logging in on a regular basis is almost as important to them as the amount of money they’re making in the gem shop.

Vayne.8563:

Ah my bad. I apologize.

No sweat; misunderstandings happen from time to time.

Vayne.8563:

Mind you, I really like the living story, you’re still hoping something I really like to fail…

Unfortunately that’s the nature of the beast. If you like A and I like B and we can’t have both, then I’m hoping I get what I want even if it means you don’t. It’s nothing personal, of course…just human nature.

That said, I’m not against the idea of the Living Story, I just loathe how it’s being utilized. If it were being used to deliver more of the things I originally loved about the game (things like wonderfully crafted zones to explore, Dynamic Events, expanded Personal Story, etc.) then I’d be it’s biggest supporter. Sadly, for the most part I see it being used as a system to deliver the kinds of things I hate about other MMOs (the kinds of things the developers originally wanted to avoid).

And so I’m hoping it either evolves or goes away. For that to happen, unfortunately, players have to stop logging in in the numbers they’re doing. It’s my hope that this happens in sufficient numbers for the change I desire to happen, but I’m not hoping it happens in such large numbers that the game as a whole or anyone working on it suffers. It’s a precarious position to take, but I’m hoping the nose falls off so the face might survive, so to speak.

Vayne.8563:

darkace.8925:

I pains me to say this, but I hope it blows up in their face. If the quality of content we’re getting in the Living Story is the future of this game, I’d rather fail spectacularly. I’m hoping the players will send ArenaNet the clear message that quality, not quantity, is what matters when it comes to content. But as of now I don’t think enough players share my opinion on the Living Story. So I have to bide my time and hope that enough players jump ship to the AAA MMOs on the docket for next year so that change can be effected.

Wow, I used to like you.

So you’re saying you hope those happy with the game get screwed, because you don’t like it. That’s rough.

The programmers should be unemployeed and have to find new jobs, because you don’t like it.

That’s just wrong on so many levels.

You might want to re-read my post AFTER you’ve had your morning coffee. I in no way said I wanted the game to fail or anyone to be out of work. I said I wanted to Living Story to fail and the direction of the game to change. It stands to reason those changes can’t happen if the game is shut down or the developers are laid off.

I’m not sure where your indignation is stemming from. You yourself rightly said, “And because people are logging in and playing, they’re giving feedback just by doing that.” So if I’m unhappy with the Living Story, then obviously I have a rooting interest that people stop logging in and playing it in sufficient numbers that ArenaNet reconsiders the way they’re adding content to the game. That’s a far cry from wishing the game would tank or anyone get laid off, wouldn’t you agree?

Kaiyanwan.8521:

ANet is running a fair risk with the LS, they wouldn’t adapt it if it wasn’t directly related to lower sales.

I pains me to say this, but I hope it blows up in their face. If the quality of content we’re getting in the Living Story is the future of this game, I’d rather fail spectacularly. I’m hoping the players will send ArenaNet the clear message that quality, not quantity, is what matters when it comes to content. But as of now I don’t think enough players share my opinion on the Living Story. So I have to bide my time and hope that enough players jump ship to the AAA MMOs on the docket for next year so that change can be effected.

Am starting to view the Living Story in the same light people used to view SWG’s NGE.

Boomlinxs.9513:

I too am sad they have had to remove content in order to give us something fresh and exciting

The sad part is neither Scarlet nor the Molten Alliance nor the Aetherblade at this point are “fresh and exciting”. They’re the same stuff we’ve been getting jammed down our throats for the last six months.

Raziel.4216:

They wouldnt release a new update every 2 weeks if people didnt like it.

They don’t care if people like it, they only care if it keeps players logging in and – by extension – spending money in the cash shop.

DaShi.1368:

Hardly.

Hardly what? What part of my post are you disputing?

DaShi.1368:

I suggest some patience before passing judgement.

I think I have more than enough evidence on Scarlet – and the Living Story as a whole – to pass judgment, thanks.

rfdarko.4639:

The decision was made to replace Twilight Arbor forward/up with the new, level 80 dungeon. I personally strongly disagree with this decision, but I’ve read and recognize the reasons Anet gave. However, there is one part of this that is very frustrating – we are being told less then 24 hours before the patch.

The 24 hour notice is 24 hours more than we got before the karma booster changed. Let it never be said I’m not an optimist.

Draco.2806:

I heard very few people have Legendary weapons. They should probably remove them from the game…

And Dynamic Events. And Renown Hearts. And a ton of jumping puzzles. And Orr. And all mid-level zones. And Keg Brawl. And the playable charr. And the engineer profession. And…

You know, by the time we’re done the only things left in the game might be warriors, guardians, mesmers, greatswords, Lion’s Arch, Queensdale, Frostgore Sound, and Scarlet’s Invasions. Now THAT game sounds fun, doesn’t it?

haviz.1340:

They should remove crafting because every person I know kittening hate it.

And heart events. And a ton of jumping puzzles. And Orr. And all mid-level zones. And Keg Brawl. And the playable charr. And the engineer profession. And…

You know, by the time we’re done the only things left in the game might be warriors, guardians, mesmers, greatswords, Lion’s Arch, Queensdale, Frostgore Sound, and Scarlet’s Invasions. Now THAT game sounds fun, doesn’kitten

So let me get this straight. They’re removing sylvari related lore from a sylvari related dungeon with sylvari related aesthetics and they’re replacing them with more of Scarlet’s minions!? And their reasoning is, “meh, we just felt like it”!? And the lore behind all this isn’t even presented IN THE GAME!? Just when I thought the Living Story couldn’t possible get any worse…

I’ve got to be honest with you…this is pretty weak, even for a company who considers pressing F 150 times to be “content”.

TexZero.7910:

How about they are removing and changing the game because a portion of it was garbage and needed to be fixed ? I suppose that’s not rational enough for you and you’re rather play that content than better polished and more refined content.

So you’re one of those guys, huh? I’m glad TA F/U is garbage because you say it is. I suppose that if you didn’t enjoy it, none of us should be able to enjoy it. If your opinion the barometer for what should stay in the game and what should be removed, I really hope you don’t dislike my favorite professions, races, and zones.

TexZero.7910:

How about they are removing and changing the game because a portion of it was garbage and needed to be fixed ? I suppose that’s not rational enough for you and you’re rather play that content than better polished and more refined content.

So rather than – you know? – fix it they just deleted the entire thing? Yeah, that makes TOTAL sense. When was the last time you deleted an entire report because you didn’t feel like fixing a typo or two? “I’m painting my living room, but I missed a spot. Rather than touching up that spot up, I think I’ll just plaster some really ugly wallpaper that almost everyone hates over the whole thing and call it a day.”

Vayne.8563:

Percentage of players who play charr and engineers combined. My guess is less than 25%.

Percentage of players who ran TA F/U? Low. I sure hope charr and engineers don’t get the TA F/U fix, where they’re removed from the game and replaced by something from the Living Story.

MastaNeenja.1537:

darkace.8925:

You guys realize that killing Scarlet means the developers will just come up with an equally unbelievable and boring villain to replace her, don’t you? The Living Story will go on, and it’s going to need an antagonist. So we might – and I hate to say this, because I think she’s a terribly developed character – be better off with the cardboard cutout we know than the cardboard cutout we don’t.

Nah I’ll roll those dice. I want them to try harder.

The current villain will become old news at some point and we can all fondly forget or remember her as we like. To me she’s just a thin personality with stack of numbers I have to deplete to get the thing, what ever that is supposed to be. What she represents is the personification of the Living Story most of which is a quick fleeting distraction that quickly turns into boring, repetitive, mundane tasks. The rewards we get for doing that are pretty much the same.

I agree with every word you said, especially “Nah I’ll roll those dice. I want them to try harder”, but I don’t think they’re going to try harder. Even if they cared about delivering a well-written and developed antagonist, which I’m not entirely sure they do, the short turnaround for Living Story releases makes fleshing out any character – villain or not – difficult to do.

You guys realize that killing Scarlet means the developers will just come up with an equally unbelievable and boring villain to replace her, don’t you? The Living Story will go on, and it’s going to need an antagonist. So we might – and I hate to say this, because I think she’s a terribly developed character – be better off with the cardboard cutout we know than the cardboard cutout we don’t.

The point of this wasn’t to say that I prefer subscription fees to buy-to-play models, I don’t. The point was to say that I hope it’s not too late for the developers to get back to the ideals they had in mind when they set out to make this game (those expressed in the linked article). If they’re “all in” with type of content we’ve been getting in the Living Story, then so be it. But I don’t feel it’s too late to get back to what I feel made this game special in the first place. And so long as I feel that way, I think its worthwhile to voice my opinion here, in a constructively critical manner, in hopes that we can get away from the design philosophy of “spending all this time racing to add as much filler content as possible to keep players chasing the carrot” and back to the business of “creating fun”.

As always, I invite you to share your thoughts on the subject; but I ask that we keep our discussions civil and our criticisms constructive.