Guild Wars 2

Last I heard this is’nt happening anymore.

Will try to find the relevant articles and post them here.From memory it’s just to hard to implement past-tense.

Edit:SAB will be back though.

:)

Jizmak.1489:

Aytheist.9476:

Solo players cannot advance in the new content, and any decent publisher would disclose such a fundamental change prior to taking your money.

That fact that you were even able to make a post is amazing in and of itself…. The game itself is called…..

Guild Wars 2 (nothing of which screams solo)
MMORPG (key word being multiplayer, not solo)

Get a guild, quit being a social misfit and git gud. I’m so tired of seeing dumb posts about QQ… I can’t solo.

…and yet you decided to click on a thread titled “unplayable solo”. I’d say that’s actually a pretty clear sign of intent that you are actively looking for such comments, only to then attempt invalidation of debate on a valid change to core mechanics that clearly doesn’t concern you.

You do realize that your talking to quite a large group of players, a group that helped fund HoT in the first place? I get it’s not your thing but segregating and ostracizing such a large groups effects the whole games health and prosperity.

As mentioned above soloing is not always an actual choice, it can often be forced on the player due to server/area/guild/friends list inactivity. Speaking as someone who plays in a timezone when the majority of the player base are in bed makes this more of an issue.

Outside any of that GW2 was marketed as being “solo” friendly from day one. They even changed the core PS this year to make that even more applicable. I’d suggest doing some research before over generalizing and simplifying complaint into “just gtfo and play a console” as the devs clearly don’t wan’t that given the history of encouragement directed squarely at solo play and really, if you want this expansion to have longevity and success, neither should you.

Still of the opinion BWE’s are to blame for much of the animosity and frustration, especially when used to market full price pre-purchase.

I don’t think anywhere near as many players would feel aggrieved if they hadn’t been given the full specs to play around with in the first place and had never had that taste of what the specs are like with zero effort.

Its literally stealing candy off a baby.

I’ve played a few games that do that, give you all the power early then retroactively take it away in an attempt to motivate players through content but in all honesty it just seems to annoy more players than anything.

ProtoGunner.4953:

fireflyry.7023:

Raziel.4216:

I’ve yet to see a MMO expansion where players log in and have all of their new skills in day 1 and I sure hope this isn’t the first one, don’t let the door hit you on your way out.

Factions.

Err, wrong. Yes you could bring your max level down there and levelling a new one was very fast. But you had to unlock the new elite skills via the game. Some were locked in one of the last instances (i. e. story mission in Raisu Palace), so you had to play through the whole story to get it.

I said core skills.

Basically you had your build…first day.All core skills and an elite. Within hours.

If you want to now get into semantics and include every skill in the whole game all good. I’ve got work anyway and these things never end with some of you.Ciao

Raziel.4216:

fireflyry.7023:

Raziel.4216:

I’ve yet to see a MMO expansion where players log in and have all of their new skills in day 1 and I sure hope this isn’t the first one, don’t let the door hit you on your way out.

Factions.

What? I had to unlock skills in factions.

Yeah…and it took all of 2 hours to unlock all the core class skills.

Amirite?

Raziel.4216:

I’ve yet to see a MMO expansion where players log in and have all of their new skills in day 1 and I sure hope this isn’t the first one, don’t let the door hit you on your way out.

Factions.

Blix.8021:

GW2: run around casually picking flowers, killing some mobs along the way, doing some hearts, viewing some vistas. Come across an event, do it, a couple of people show up, do it with you. Go back to your frolicking after event is over.

HoT: run past every mob because some of them can 3 shot you even in full heavy ptv gear, only do events with 10+ people because the mobs are so obnoxious the only way they are worth the hassle is if you can upscale some of them to champs to get bags and spawn extra to tag them for more exp for masteries. Once event is over, hope you have someone who pins and moves the zerg to the next event. Otherwise, afk at an uncontested wp until an event starts.

it’s not a “get good” issue, the entire pacing of the game was changed.

PopeUrban.2578:

If the idea of having people on a friends list, or guild roster, or asking around to see if anyone else needs to do the thing you also need to do or whatever feels like something you have to “Suck it up” to do, I can understand why that design is disappointing.

You are obviously of a different opinion, and that’s completely valid. I just don’t empathize with or even quite understand that point of view.

Another thing to keep in mind is that many people play in much quieter time zones.

Not all of us live in the NA or EU.

As an oceanic player from New Zealand this has always been an issue. Guilds, un-official “pacific time friendly” servers, mega-servers and the friendships I have formed in-game help this matter but we still have a vastly smaller pool of players to rely on for such content and the servers are usually at their quietest when we play.

Point being solo play is not always merely a choice and group play is not always an available option.

As such this even being mentioned as an issue 3 days after release is a far bigger issue to some players than others.

Early days.

I’d imagine they will release some type of mechanic in the future to cater for this like experience scrolls or some such with the intent, for now, to have players focus on their favorite classes first time around.

I only roll 2 mains, my alts are just mules I jump on if I’m really bored or for sPvP, but I have a lot of friends with multiple accounts and virtual armies of alts. I would be surprised if this isn’t a short term mechanic with a long term alternate option already in the works unless Anet have no issues annoying altoholics that have spent thousands on the game.

Not exactly good business practice.

smekras.8203:

fireflyry.7023:

Metacritic is kittentated it’s either angry players spamming 0/10 or fanboys spamming 10/10. I’ll wait on some actual gaming journalists to comment.

…since when have gaming journalists been reliable or neutral?

I’d take their critique over the player base any day of the week.

Metacritic is kitten.

As stated it’s either angry players spamming 0/10 or fanboys spamming 10/10. I’ll wait on some actual gaming journalists to comment.

The spamming of 10/10 reviews concerns me more.

Two sides to the coin.

TheFibrewire.6845:

hence you are supposed to socialize, talk, chat, voice chat and make friends, MMOS are not for introvert or solo players.

You underestimate the percentage of the player base that plays this way.

Anet has always embraced and encouraged solo play. The change to allow the vanilla PS to be soloed is just one example.

Just stating what you like about HoT would have more impact and relevance, at least to me.

Not sure why so many players are unable to do this without also having to attempt invalidation of the concerns of other players at the same time. Whats so hard about simply stating what you like?

Take it with a grain of salt.$10 says they dropped this thread then logged back in.

It’s the mechanics at fault as you aren’t rewarded for selfless play, outside the “warm fuzzy glow” of having done a good deed for the day and a title nobody really cares about and already has. Basically people have better things to do and limited timesink to do it in, especially when the content is so new and everyone is out chasing shinies like headless chickens.

Rezzing afkers is a kitten too. I have to admit this puts me off rezzing anyone unless I see them drop myself.

The sad thing is if there was a shiny reward, more AP’s, a daily, or some such tied to how many resurrects one did a day you would probably be rezzed in seconds.

If you aren’t part of the solution and all that….

If it was that good you would be busy playing it as opposed to wasting time here attempting to invalidate others complaints.

Critique is healthy and should be embraced as much as praise, it tends to make for a better game and hey….that is the sole intent of forums, a medium for customer feedback, both good and bad.

If you love the game more power to you but to complain about critique on a gaming forum a few days after a content release? Seriously?

Batelle.1680:

Ronin.7381:

Aytheist.9476:

GW2 playability has been fundamentally altered with HoT – there is no arguing that fact. To suggest the issue is that casual players “Get Better” is bullkitten. They changed the game, didn’t tell us, and took our money.

No, they told us. You may not agree with it, but many of us watching the updates knew the changes that were coming our way.

That being said, using one’s own skill level to cry about people crying is rather silly.

When did they tell us that our Elites could only be unlocked by grouping with others? When did they tell us that event scaling for bog-standard events would be ridiculous- three knockdown-happy vets and an elite + a handful of regular mobs simultaneously spawning for two players on a (very short) timer?

I’ve been mostly fine on the maps themselves, and have even been able to handle challenges above my paygrade. But Anet was far from transparent regarding not only access to content, but also how demanding the content would be to players who don’t play GW2 for a Dark Souls-esque challenge or open-world events that play more like raids than anything in the pre-existing levels.

I think a lot of people who are so desperate to invalidate the feelings of those who aren’t happy with how HoT turned are completely missing the larger message. This discontent isn’t just one thing that we can pinpoint and fix ourselves. It’s more than just the new mechanics, or the mob density, or the grind, or the wonky map, or the fact that it can be incredibly difficult to find other people to be successful enough to actually make progress. It’s a slurry of all of those things, depending on taste, and a few intangibles as well.

I mean, congratulations to everyone who thinks everything is awesome (well, those who aren’t being snide jackholes). Chances are you’re going to get a lot more specific-to-your-preferences cool things down the road, because that’s the direction Anet seems to be heading.

I just think your expectations are a bit out of wack, more so given the rushed feel of the whole release. If this is still a concern in a month I’ll be as grumpy as the next player but not even a week after release….not so much.

It’s an MMO release not even a week old…yeah….

Ranlares.2513:

fireflyry.7023:

Zomaarwat.3912:

Massive
Multiplayer
Online
Role
Playing
Game

Solo play has always been a huge part of the player base or have people forgotten about GW1 heroes already?

Point being this has always been a franchise that embraced and designed core mechanics around this style of play, many players have supported the franchise for 10+ years as a result. You can’t just use “l2p” as rebuttal.

MMO’s have to embrace this else they risk losing a large slice of customer pie, as Anet has come to realize with gear grind options BUT the door still needs to swing both ways.

Making grouped content feel forced in open world while alienating solo players is just bad design.That’s what raids, fractals and dungeons are for.

A gradual change would have been fine but it’s this sudden switch in mechanics that seems to have aggravated things.

GW1 and GW2 are VASTLY different games. Comparing them is like comparing GW2 to Everquest.

No kitten sherlock but that doesn’t change the main focus of complaint. The switch from vanilla to HoT in this respect.

Zomaarwat.3912:

Massive
Multiplayer
Online
Role
Playing
Game

Solo play has always been a huge part of the player base or have people forgotten about GW1 heroes already?

Point being this has always been a franchise that embraced and designed core mechanics around this style of play, many players have supported the franchise for 10+ years as a result. You can’t just use “l2p” as rebuttal.

MMO’s have to embrace this else they risk losing a large slice of customer pie, as Anet has come to realize with gear grind options BUT the door still needs to swing both ways.

Making grouped content feel forced in open world while alienating solo players is just bad design.That’s what raids, fractals and dungeons are for.

A gradual change would have been fine but it’s this sudden switch in mechanics that seems to have aggravated things.

Yeah!!GG Anet!!!

Tobias Steele.2071:

fireflyry.7023:

Weird you don’t get your the minority op.

You have no idea what you’re talking about. Just because you say something doesn’t make it true.

Hypocrisy obviously eludes you.

nikdik.1934:

This is supposed to be a grind-free game. Why are you defending A-Net for falling back on their promises?

Weird you don’t get your the minority op.

Who buys an MMO expansion on release?…seriously….why?Shinies?

I’d rather re-rock Skyrim while everyone tanties for the next month.

Muppets.

FinalPatriot.8034:

For a “casual” player with 5 alts (all level 80), these changes have all but killed the game for me. After 3 years, I think it’s time to find another MMO to play.

GW2 was always fun because I could jump on any of my characters and build/play them the way I wanted to play them. That’s no longer possible.

Don’t jump the gun.It’s release window sucker time.Basically peeps payed money to be beta testers.

Check in 2-3 months from now.All good.

Needs more cowbell.

RIP and much love to you and yours.

Great to see some positive vibes.

Maybe.7180:

HoT is amazing and was totally worth my money by so far. I see nothing to grind for – you can do anything you want and still get it, as said. And if you mention the time it might take… well, they are MASTERIES. You need to learn hard to be the very best, that’s the whole point of it. Now you’re just crying you can’t get the black belt in one day and have to work for it and get better? Wtf

After less than a week release…….in the genre….“Wow it’s awesome”……..you really have no idea.

Fo4 hands down.

HoT will rock….in like 3-5 weeks.

Substance E.4852:

You’re better off getting it now to be honest. Many of the events are designed as group content and Verdant Brink feels much less fun with fewer players than it had during the beta.

I don’t know if everyone is in the other maps or if the overflow system is bugged (I had heard this may be the case) but it will only get worse the less people show up to play in it.

I’m not going to pay full price based on that.If such areas are populated purely because of release hype…I’ll pass.If as a consequence I miss out 2-3 weeks from now it must have been crap.

Windu The Forbidden One.6045:

mulzi.8273:

Omne.4603:

What does MMO mean?

No where in the definition of MMO does it state that that people have to play together. It merely means that alot of people are on at the same time. It is their narrow minded folks that assume that it means ‘must play with other people’.

misterman.1530:

The more I read, the less I will play, and the less chance there is I will ever buy HoT.

I’m in agreement but I will buy HoT at some stage.In a month or two it’s just great value at half price or less.

Thing is the points of valid critique vastly outweigh the rebuttal.

I started a guild in GW1 by myself, outside my main guild….it’s still live I think. It was just a fun buzz, had spare time and gold and I dig solo play. By the time I left the game I had 60 members who, just like me, wanted a cool cape and a place to sell and trade easily without normal guild drama.

A hub without drama I guess,

As such solo players should hopefully have the freedom to have a guild. More so for couples who play the game together.

Sylent.3165:

But gw isn’t gw anymore. We have to many people now who are these awesome epic elite people who quit other mmos because of problems, then came here demanding things in this game which were the reasons they quit the other games to begin with.

^This

More so in forum debate. New players are arguing points and they don’t even understand what attracted players to the Guild Wars franchise in the first place or have any semblance of understanding in regards to the core philosophy.

Exxcalibur.6203:

Yeah… I am not going to rationalize it, but I turned off today and I hate it. so…

It’s totally rationalized on both the history of this franchise and what I have seen and read here and in game. Assumption…..

Baclavaman.9054:

When i see these numbers i know some people with deep pockets would actually prefer to pay that amount than grind the 400 points.

That is so kitten wrong.Only because it’s so kitten true.

What the hell happened to this game?

Drayos.8759:

Saying “the majority are annoyed with the expansion” is bluntly wrong, GW2 hit top 4 on Expansion Release day, If anything its brought even more players to the game kitten many positive reviews were made in twitch chats across the majority of the Streamers who streamed HoT Release.

That means nothing. Release hype is release hype. Anet could have released a wet fart and it would have made top 4.

Pre-purchase is just a hustle.

It’s that simple for me, I won’t pre-purchase any game.It’s a kitten concept that embraces the release of inferior product. As far as gaming goes…no…I won’t pay to beta test your product regardless of the shinies you offer me.

Outside that I was concerned about the gear grind and by most accounts it sounds like HoT raids will be full ascended gear…with a side of “lf druid then go”.

I’ve played since day one, Prophecies. This was never meant to be a game mechanic.

Now I hear we have to grind out access to skills….SKILLS.

No thx.

ShelBlackblood.7826:

I feel very happy I’ve waited so far :o

I feel much the same.

Forums are often a bad barometer for such things.

People happily playing the game are busy happily playing the game not QQing here. In saying the weight of negative response vastly outweighs anything positive I have seen on the forum.

Outside that all my in-game friends are gutted and that speaks volumes to me. Peeps I have known for 10 years since Prophecies release are throwing their toys out of the cot and leaving the game, at least for now till Anet sorts it out.

I’ve been playing this game for 10 years and never seen the like.

Join a good guild my friend.

Any guild worth it’s time will help you through a dungeon.The fact it’s not the cash cow it was doesn’t change much for new players as they have not been pug friendly for a long time.

It’s just a smokescreen for an adjustment to level cap.Period.

Xoei.1597:

Stoaga.8190:

“Never preorder” – Confucius

Words of wisdom.

I don’t get threads like this.

If your cool with everything just play.Then again there is a trend with threads like this, the OP just vanishes.

Keegan.2964:

IMO, the fun went out of this game on June 23, when they ripped the guts out of the trait system and made it more restrictive and I couldn’t find builds I liked to replace the ones I’d lost. There was also the fact that my gear no longer fit with my build and had to be replaced. Since then, I took a 3 to 4 month break. I’ll come back from time to time, while waiting for a new game to come along, to do jumping puzzles and to level a new toon. As for HoT, I probably wouldn’t have bought it even if the content DID justify the high price because of the horrid trait system that’s currently in place.

Agreed.

I think this issue got lost in the HoT hype but it’s still valid. Most of my in-game friends moved on after the trait change.

Test.8734:

Gaile Gray.6029:

Please read the topic of this thread. The subject is: “If you did not purchase HoT, are you still playing (or will you continue to play) GW2?”

Ok.

My answer to the above question is, no, I won’t continue to play GW2.

That’s mostly because I cannot continue to support ArenaNet. They have clearly spit on their players’ faces by releasing HoT with so few armor and weapon skins, at the same time they add a bunch of new skins to the Gem Store, with the preposterous price of 2000 gems.

This is a clear example of ArenaNet’s priority, and a sign of how greed has overcome their concerns about the well being of their players.

This was not the first sign, though. ArenaNet went from “we will release content when it’s ready” to releasing HoT with lots of vague promises about adding features “later”, without even a hint of when said “later” will be. New Legendaries? “Later”. New squad system? “Later”. Raid? “Later”.

And again, they cannot add the legendary skins to HoT at release, but they can release a bunch of skins buyable through the Gem Store.

I simply cannot have faith or support ArenaNet with this kind of behavior, when they act with such spite regarding their players.

And thus, my very much on topic answer to what has been clearly stated as being the subject of this topic is: no, I won’t.

^This

Sorry to hear it man. Not to sound like a prick but I’m a long time player….bugger if I’ll buy HoT any time soon. The core game is good enough for me atm, I’d rather avoid the expansion till they sort it out.

It’s cool you enjoy it but gloating at long term customers that have valid complaints just makes you look like a tool.

Pretty sure the mods will sort this thread out.