Guild Wars 2

Magic 8 Ball says: Ask again later.

In this thread: revisionist history.

Expect more after Season 2.

I want to turn off the nagging Living Story stuff on the upper right portion of my screen.

Along with the nagging Personal Story stuff.

That is all.

Lamir.6702:

Am I the only one that came into this thread thinking it would be about allying with scarlet to kill trahearne?<

Nope that was my first thought.

I’m not sure I can actually ally with someone like Scarlet, I mean after all, she obviously went back in time and allied with the Flame Legion, causing The Searing. Skipped back further in time and was there when the Gods first came to Tyria and prompted them to plunk the humans smack dab in the middle of Charr lands, then hopped around in the time continuum to hand Vizier Khilbron the Lost Scrolls in order to sink Orr.

There are ancient artifacts in Orr which contain memories of her idiotic laughter, amd hidden artwork depicting her affiliation with The Six, which Trahearne is on the verge of discovering, hence her need to ally with us to kill him off before he actually determines their significance…..

Show of hands on this thread for those that have played DAoC and know what realm pride means.

/hand

/points at BG video thread

Bits and pieces of pixels?

Those are real people behind those screens. They care. So I care. About the server, the guilds in it, and the people there.

That’s what kept me and my guild up until 4 AM Pacific Coast time for over a week hanging out in EB, not able to round up enough folks to take back SM, but making sure we could do whatever we could.

Was not about just winning. It was about winning for them.

I also take pride in the Fortune 20 company I retired from. Much like my server here, I admired the values it promoted both in the corporate world, their industry, and their commitment to helping community (local and worldwide).

But then, I belong to the one-quarter of the world’s population that values people and communities.

I’m just happy that my “home” here in GW2 is a server of like-minded folks.

I know there are other players and other servers that feel the same.

Well said, Sarevok. Agreed.

In the end, the WvW organization is based on volunteer participation.

It is not a corporate structure, nor is it a military institution.

All three of those require vastly different management approaches.

Commanders who do not understand those important distinctions can alienate their volunteer fighting forces.

No.

And that has nothing to do with the fact that BG won because there are no guarantees for anything next season and it would be stupid to assume given the sheer amount of incredibly good WvW players across multiple servers. Season 1 is over, time to move on.

It has to do with the fact that our guild has been on BG since pre-release and we are both a WvW and a PvE community.

I don’t play just for the WvW playstyle.

I play for my community.

That’s a good question though. And I know there have been suggestions that maybe some of the large guilds on various servers may want to shift to a lower pop server to help. Curious to see where this thread goes, because in the end, the population balance will largely be up to the players.

Karma and loot bags are easier to get in PvE and more rewarding.

Keep and Tower Lords are ridiculously easy to kill with a 4-man swat team (easier than Explorable / Fractal dungeon bosses with the same 4-man team.)

“Defending tasks” are strategically employed usually by players who prefer to run solo/small group. Improving rewards may only peel off a few players from the main attack force, which would be overkill for the required manpower. And lead back to the issues (near release) with bot / farming.

Scoring system – what appears to be “an intuitive change to a complex system will inevitably leave that system worse off” – urban planning axiom from 40+ years ago.

WvW was designed to have those large attack forces at play. It’s quite an improvement over the “epic” lag clashes of the DAoC and Warhammer Online “era” when a total of 200 players congregated in one place would wreck havoc – with players’ frame rates.

If you’re looking for small group PvP, the answer is GvG. Or smaller gated battlegrounds found in other games. Not WvW.

Chris RJ.1843:

Hey at least they were respectful and kept their Living Story out of interesting content like Dungeons, Fractals, and WvW!

Um, you forgot to put /sarcasm at the end there.

And for the latest example of “respectful”, today’s release notes:

•Ho-Ho-Tron (aka Hobo-Tron) and Marcello DiGiacomo have returned, and they’re looking to collect coins and ugly sweaters for the victims of Scarlet’s attacks.

Wintersday? Really? Did they need to insert Scarlet there as well?

/collective guild sigh

SmoothHussler.6387:

Irony.5203:

The video has been up on our forums for a day longer than it has been here. The decision to post it here was pushed by the community as a whole.

Anyone else get the feeling that bg likes to think of themselves something along the lines of this???

Actually, I tend to think of myself more like this:

But that could be because I play an Asura. /shrug

Yoe Dude, as someone who is actually over age 50, I found your attempted forum troll was not quite believable although some parts were slightly amusing.

SgtJanitor.3164:

I’d just like to say that the blanket comments in regards to blobbing, lack of skill, etc. really don’t hold much water and are somewhat disrespectful in my opinion. I mean, as a server, we are not infallible in the slightest. Blackgate is a huge community and has arguably the largest amount of coverage in NA due to the overtime that some guilds are willing to pull during off-peak hours and makes us susceptible to blobbing during primetime hours, sure, but don’t write off the exceptions to this.
APeX, RIOT, oPP, etc., have always ran low numbers and play just for fights just as you all say that you do. If you’ve seen us on the field, you’d probably agree.

While I don’t personally give a gorilla’s musty kitten that we won Season 1 of WvW, Blackgate did put in an effort to achieve that title and it was earned no matter what anyone says. If you’re like me and don’t care, then why bother insulting them about it? Just enjoy what you play the game to enjoy; there’s no harm in that.

Congratulations Blackgate on your victory.

The playing experience on Blackgate is vastly different depending on what times of day and different days of the week, probably just like any other server.

Trust me, playing until 3 and 4 AM, trying to provide coverage has nothing to do with blobbing. Not everyone runs in large guilds. Or even medium size guilds for that matter. Any server is vulnerable to the old-time 3 AM “relic raid” hit at that time. We couldn’t muster up enough people to take SM.

Playing mid-morning to early afternoon is where a lot of the real skirmishes happen when smaller groups are capable of fighting on a open field. Those are the best of times.

And then yes, primetime late afternoon to early evening you get the huge zergs. And not just ours.

All of those playing conditions have trade-offs. All of those situations have downsides. All of those playing conditions require different strategies, especially to keep new WvW players focused and contributing in an optimal way. (Thanks to all those who came out to help, who ventured into WvW for the first time and were willing to listen and follow. And thanks especially to the leaders and the commanders for their patience.)

The fluctuation in players on field and the corresponding adjustment in strategies are the way most RvR and WvW games have functioned for over the last dozen years.

At least that’s been my experience.

ChocPudding.6128:

It has been a long and bumpy seven weeks for everyone. There is a story for every server to tell.

Here is what we have put together to thank everyone who have fought hard for Blackgate.

We thank you as well as our opponent for the great times and wonderful memories that we have created.

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdecWAAJcMQ

Thank you for the video! Wonderful to watch.

You won’t see [KyA] there, our 4-man swat team guild, taking keeps and towers. Like the good little ninja’s we are, we are invisible.

It’s been an honor and a real pleasure to be part of the Blackgate community from day 1.

/salute

And a shout out to all the opposing players who fought so well: GG.

To be honest, I’m not sure. Oh, not about WvW, but about a “top secret reward”.

Not sure what else I could possibly want that a second set of achievements/reward would provide.

I WvW for what us old DAoC players call “realm pride”.

I’m happy with the title (hope it stays unique). I’m happy with the mini dolyak (it’s gravy). The other goodies were an unexpected surprise.

I will be out there in WvW defending my server’s “title”.

If achieves happen, they happen. Not why I’m there.

Redenaz.8631:

stof.9341:

Paulytnz.7619:

Duuuuude, Norn are not overweight, big boned or whatever label you want to give them. Neither does this armour make them look so – it’s all that extra padding to help keep out the cold, they do live in the cold areas after all!

Extra padding is for weak humans. A real Norn can sleep naked in the snow in the middle of a blizzard and he won’t catch a cold !

A REAL norn will catch a cold.

With his bear hands.

Then unleash it on his enemies, drive them sneezing before him, and add to his legend.

ROFL!

/thread

leprekan.7248:

Those “real WvW” people aren’t being honest … everyone cares about loot. I have been part of a mad feeding frenzy when someone got a Dusk drop … we zerged ALL of Eternal battle grounds in the hopes of another.

Those “real WvW” people spam the snot out of the F key if about to die. Loot.

The rewards sucked (sorry, Anet they did) no spin will change that. Basically the ball was dropped when they matched up the leagues AND allowed transfers. They were left with alienating those on low pop servers when they got meh loot or basically giving EVERYONE meh loot. I personally spent over 1k in guild cats etc trying to do my part to get my server into 2nd. I could have spent nothing and coasted to the same reward. Overall I would have done WvW without the reward … don’t dangle a carrot though and have it be rotten.

Lol, I must not be a real WvW player because I’m constantly forgetting to loot, leaving bags scattered as I head off to the next objective. Could be because I’m not looking for a legendary. There’s a running gag in map chat about one player who is looking for his legendary screaming “Don’t let that enemy get away, he has my precursor!” Great tension breaker.

I won’t say what our guild spent on siege. If we weren’t constantly “splurging” on siege every chance we had, it meant we weren’t playing to win. We took our guild vault gold supply to near zero several times in the last two weeks, turned around ran dungeons and farmed to build it back up again only to be able to use it again in WvW. We didn’t do it for anything other than that old thing that DAoC players call “realm pride”. And we’d do it again. And probably will.

Didn’t have a problem with the contents of the chest. I really hope they keep the season one title unique.

I do agree that keeping the chest contents “mysterious” was a manipulative thing to do and in the end, I think that was a bad call. It’s inconsistent with the way they treat Living Story achievement rewards. I hope they look at reversing that policy.

I think the biggest problem was building player’s expectations that the rewards would be “big” and then not letting them judge ahead of time whether the rewards actually were meaningful.

For those who were there just for the rewards.

PS: “ouch” on the amount you spent on guild siege. I admire your dedication. /salute

If you don’t enjoy it, the loot will never be worth it.

Sorry to hear you did not find it fun.

WvW is one of only 3 things that can possibly keep me in this game. (The other two are movement based combat and 5-man dungeons.)

Love the community feel of WvW when the server works together. Love being a swat team that can ninja keeps and towers from underneath the enemy noses. Love the tactics and more importantly the creative strategies that can be had there, (something the last decade of MMO’s don’t allow). Nevermind it is constantly situational play.

Winning small battles and skirmishes is a reward. Having fun while doing that is just gravy.

I won’t do jump puzzles for rewards. No matter how good the rewards. I hate them. I don’t believe they belong in an MMO.

I won’t do some parts or all of some Living Stories. I skipped the entire Queens Jubilee.

There’s an old saying, “Those who marry for money work VERY hard for it.”

Sounds like you were working (for rewards), not playing (for fun.)

Sorry to hear that.

One. Hopefully.

Because that’s the character out of 19 level 80’s that I have had to choose to take to WvW. Already has ascended trinkets, backpiece and one ascended weapon. All of my other 80s are in exotic, 1 has ascended trinkets/backpiece (for dungeon play – including Fractals), 6 more have bits and pieces of ascended trinkets/backpiece. They are probably just going to stay that way. Won’t even bother with the 5 extra Vials of Condensed Mists Essence just sitting in my vault because I will need to focus my materials and gold leveling crafting plus the ascended armor pieces.

Sitting here laughing at the irony of ANet adding ascended armor just as they are opening WvW ranks back to account-wide instead of limiting to one character. :p

-Wondering if their right hand knows what their left hand is doing or if that’s just another way to get players to spend more resources…

PS: If I was going to stick with this game for years, I could see leveling the rest of my weapons crafters and armor crafters to 500. I’d have to believe I’d be investing for the future. I’m not confident enough in this game, nor trust the developers enough at this point to do that.

Quick Mouse.7635:

I have also been getting a lot more whispers lately. All I can say is:
Just keep reporting and blocking. Anet will ban the accounts. Gold sellers will buy new accounts = more money for Anet.

Usually those accounts are stolen. Big headache for ANet.

Best thing is to block/report so ANet can collect info to help them track down locations.

And yes, it’s really annoying to get them with that frequency. Especially in WvW.

Fernling.1729:

Anet was willing to give away 5000 free accounts just for submitting a video of yourself taking the GW2 oath.
Why didn’t you people submit a video to get a free account for a friend, family member or even for yourself as a storage?

Because I’ve already paid for family accounts (beta), already have a 2nd account and have stopped recommending this game to friends.

UrMom.4205:

I’ve never understood why people run the queensdale train instead of the frostgorge train. Whenever I run the frostgorge train i get significantly better loot. Is there a real logical reason to do the queensdale over frostgorge? serious question.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Queensdale-champ-train-profit/first#post3254559

This question comes up with surprising regularity about every 2 weeks.

There are multiple reasons, including those listed in this thread and all the threads linked in this thread.

Exxcalibur.6203:

Players will also gravitate towards these kinds of simple mindless loot opportunities when they are in the game.

Unfortunately, this leaves many other engaging group events in the world untouched and other zones desolate.

While I applaud the players resilience for staying with such a dull manifestation of the game, I feel Anet should take an approach akin to paternalism* and remove the Queens zerg, in order to force change and diversity.

This may upset some players, who feel they should be able to play how they want to play, but sometimes the world demands an authority or organization to guide us gently towards perfection.

Who is with me?

NB:

**"Paternalism" comes from the Latin pater, meaning to act like a father, or to treat another person like a child, limiting some person or group’s liberty or autonomy for their own good.

Some of us do not need the definition spelled out.

Some of us believe there is already enough “paternalism” already occurring in game and on the forums, thank you.

This has nothing to do with objections one way the other regarding the Champion Train in Queensdale.

Immensus.9732:

goldenwing.8473:

19 level 80s.

Have only finished it twice.

First time to see what the story was like. (Shakes head sadly).

Second time to get the annoying text off my screen.

If ANet does not give us a way to customize our UI, or at least click the dang PS story off the top right of our screens, I may feel forced to do it one more time on what is now (finally) my main (thanks to ascended gear).

Yes, I’d like some cheese with that whine, thank you.

Yeah there a big amount of players asking for UI customization since BETA!!!

Yup. I’ve been one of those standing in line since BWE1; not sure it will ever happen. Of course, there’s plenty of other things on that to-do list that ought to have priority.

19 level 80s.

Have only finished it twice.

First time to see what the story was like. (Shakes head sadly).

Second time to get the annoying text off my screen.

If ANet does not give us a way to customize our UI, or at least click the dang PS story off the top right of our screens, I may feel forced to do it one more time on what is now (finally) my main (thanks to ascended gear).

Yes, I’d like some cheese with that whine, thank you.

I’d side with the little known, secretive clan of techno-artisans that hide underneath Tyria.

Those Artfully Nuking Engineering Technicians have immense power and seem hell-bent on quietly, systematically destroying the world. Word is, they’re the ones responsible for the silent disappearance of several dragons, including Jormag!

Woe betide any who oppose them! They are force to be reckoned with.

Older MMO’s (you know, those games around before WoW and its clones) used to require creativity, exploring, experimenting and thinking.

There was very little to no “lead the player by the nose” directed play, or logging in to the game and within 2 minutes demanding the latest OP FotM class, spec and gear setup. Often rudely, with a sense of entitlement.

Heck, some games didn’t even have zone-wide chat.

Yes, GW2 does not provide pre-set “cookie cutter” builds and I hope it never does.

Got a question, ask in chat. It builds community.

Need specifics? In-game /wiki <topic> will almost always get you what you need. Need walk-throughs? Like every single other MMO since 2004, there are videos easily accessible just one internet search away.

Need a little more than that? Like any other game, check the forums. There are multiple stickies at the top of all the forum subsections. Some of the stickied thread titles include:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/players/OMG-If-you-only-knew-this-tips-for-new-players

which oddly exists in the Players Helping Players forum. Another good place to get information.

I agree the temporary content is the worst addition to an MMO since gear-centric play. Other players love it. The concept is fantastic. The execution has been overly debated here.

You will always find “toxic” players in any MMO community. WoW and RIFT had some of the worse by far. Blizzard developers are responsible for a lot of that, and the blight of those kinds of players on the entire MMO genre. See: Jeff Kaplan, NYT interview for only one example.

Also, overall, communities and their cultures differ from server to server. The server I and my guild play on is one of GW2’s best.

Balance issues occur in every MMO. Especially those that contain both group and 1v1 PvP. WoW and RIFT had horrible issues there, many of which negatively impacted PvE.

As far as roles, there are multiple threads covering this concept, how players view them, how they execute them. If new players to the game are not open to exploring, experimenting, thinking and learning and instead, they are just hoping to find more of the same from WoW, RIFT and other clones, then yes, they may find the game feels “inaccessible”.

fadeaway.2807:

Just something I’ve noticed with most people I speak to.

Those who purchase gems are always the guys who get nothing from MF, whereas people who never purchase gems are swimming in precursors.

It would make sense for anet to reduce your internal ‘luck’ or precursor drop chance based on how likely they think you are to purchase gems instead.. but do you think they would stoop that low?

Obviously this isn’t fact, duh. I’m looking for additional anecdotes.

PS: Anecdote:

I’ve spent over 2k on this game. No, not on a legendary or any component thereof. Legendaries need to be account bound so they cannot be sold on the TP.

Before somebody goes “wow”, that includes 5 games (family) and 46 character slots for me.

MF is fine. Drops are fine.

No, I don’t own a legendary and don’t ever plan to. I don’t like how they look.

Good luck to those of you who are still trying.

PS: I did have an Abyss dye drop on my birthday. I suppose you could call that suspicious.

Majic.4801:

I wake up each morning and the sun comes up. Conclusion: the sun comes up because I wake up each morning.

Correlation does not imply causation — assuming there is a correlation, which is doubtful.

Just sayin’

:)

There’s the classic true story about a small town in Russia where a lot of citizens were getting sick and many were dying from small pox (long before innoculations). Doctors came to town as more people got sick and died. Before the doctors arrived, people were pretty healthy. Therefore, the villagers deduced, the doctors were the reason people in the small town were sick and dying. So they killed all the doctors.

Scarlet turns out to be Trahearne’s father’s brother’s nephew’s cousin’s former roommate.

I don’t dislike her. That would require caring. So I don’t really care what they do with her.

Trahearne on the other hand…. yeah. Cannon shot. Dragon. Mouth. Choke.

Anything to silence him.

Actually, you know, if they’d used Scarlet as the perky cab driver in the MMO Migration vid, yeah. That might have made her interesting.

lol.. everybody piled in and posted at the same time!

Love this community.

Welcome to GW2.

One of the better MMO communities (despite the forums)

Some quick links worth investigating:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/players/OMG-If-you-only-knew-this-tips-for-new-players

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/players

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/guilds/lfguild

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/guilds/recruitment

Check out forum stickies as well. And there is also a profession forum worth checking out once you decide.. or IF you CAN’T decide which profession to play!

Have fun!

Welcome again.

Moshari, Avster, I agree with both of you. The terms that both of you are using revolve around respect. Respect for the players and their time investment.

What I’ve observed, for about the last 11 months, appears to be a consistently growing inward focus from ANet. They explain things (when they actually do), in terms of THEIR process and THEIR issues, and less and less in terms of their customers. From a business viewpoint, there could be multiple reasons for this (many of which would be speculation). The bottom line is however, ANet appears to be losing care for their customer’s experience. Not a healthy direction for a product that is basically an entertainment service.

It’s sad to see that happen.

Vena.8436:

Moshari.8570:

The question was not whether the fractals 30+ had value…the question was does the time you put into it have value? Your opinion on whether the Fractals example has value does not actually further the question. It could be tiddlywinks that you spent 300 hours collecting. Does that have value even if it is meaningless to other players? Should that time-value be a concern to devs?

Tiddlywinks have been changing in value with every patch cycle, everything in this game has been fluctuating in value since launch since nothing is off the table for being used, re-used, retired, or un-retired.

There is no universal “time-value” to try and develop around such a non-universal concept is impossible. To some people, Fractals as they were, were stupid and adding new rules actually make them “not the same thing just with bigger numbers” is a positive step that gives higher value to their time. To others, like yourself, it comes at a cost of losing some time value on what they had already achieved.

goldenwing.8473:

Yes. In a “normal” MMO they do.

No they don’t.

EVE is the only game that fits your criteria. Any other MMO doesn’t give a rats kitten about how much time you spent or will spend beating a raid/dungeon before introducing the next set of gear which trivializes past gear and, particularly, devalues the harder to achieve gear.

The new gear introduced in expansions (for multiple MMOs) is required for new content. This is consistent with progression in a gear-centric design. The old gear has not been taken away, is still available and still useful for old content (PvE).

Signing up for those games based on that design, the customer is aware, expecting and usually wanting that style of progression. Levels are not taken away.

- Final response to you.

Moshari.8570:

goldenwing.8473:

Wethospu.6437:

Moshari.8570:

I’m also trying to understand the mind-set. For me, losing my fractal levels was a huge blow because I felt like I worked very hard to earn them. But honestly, this is the first game I felt that way. When I played WoW, it never bothered me when they added another tier of armor…I just got started on that one…even though I worked countless hours on the one I have. Maybe its because my time is more precious to me now that I have a career, a job, a family…so I have less time to play and as such, my time is more valuable to me now?

Its been something I have been asking myself. WHY does it bother me so much now, when it never did in the past?

Perhaps because the rules changed. If you know there is going to be new tiers at least you know what you are getting in to. And old gear still gives you an advantage. Imagine if they actually took away your gear.

Yes. Arbitrarily changing the “rules of the game” is a concern for multiple reasons, not the least of which is trusting the Game Master. This can lead to the question: “what next?”

I have to admit, that’s what goes through my mind….what next? Should I bother?

I’m coming to understand that ANet really meant their “nothing is off the table” comment. If I view this game, not as an MMO, but as game where I should expect the unexpected, then I will be able to adapt faster to the churning they are doing. It’s getting to the point where I’m getting curious to see what and who they will upset next. Almost farcical, a game within a game. That sounds terribly jaded. Yet, I’m finding there is real humor there.

I still enjoy my server community, outdoor raids, WvW and a lot of old school MMO moments of players working together without the need to compete.

That will have to be enough, in spite of the developer.

So yes, as someone posted above, I’m changing my perspective, or maybe I’m just reaffirming my perspective that those are the things that I really value in this game. And the rest of it can just be unimportant in comparison.

That time, the time I spend in those moments with my guild and my server community matter.

I know that’s not the original question you are asking. Should time that customers invest matter to the devs? Yes. In a “normal” MMO they do.

Vena.8436:

goldenwing.8473:

Yes. Arbitrarily changing the “rules of the game” is a concern for multiple reasons, not the least of which is trusting the Game Master. This can lead to the question: “what next?”

But Fractals past 30+ were nothing more than arbitrary number changes. You could have just as easily replicated the experience by taking off a piece of armor to simulate being on level X. To change the rules by actually adding rules… would usually be deemed a positive change.

This was discussed exhaustively on a very long thread regarding Fractals.

Wethospu.6437:

Moshari.8570:

I’m also trying to understand the mind-set. For me, losing my fractal levels was a huge blow because I felt like I worked very hard to earn them. But honestly, this is the first game I felt that way. When I played WoW, it never bothered me when they added another tier of armor…I just got started on that one…even though I worked countless hours on the one I have. Maybe its because my time is more precious to me now that I have a career, a job, a family…so I have less time to play and as such, my time is more valuable to me now?

Its been something I have been asking myself. WHY does it bother me so much now, when it never did in the past?

Perhaps because the rules changed. If you know there is going to be new tiers at least you know what you are getting in to. And old gear still gives you an advantage. Imagine if they actually took away your gear.

Yes. Arbitrarily changing the “rules of the game” is a concern for multiple reasons, not the least of which is trusting the Game Master. This can lead to the question: “what next?”

Proposition to replace “kitten” with “Scarlet” ?

It bothers you because TIME is the important investment in an MMO.

It is the “coin” you have. It represents the effort you put in, including the effort to find the time to do so.

Having that dismissed capriciously negates everything you did, everything you cared about and in the end, you.

You and your time do not matter. Only your cash.

This game has moved from honoring the two cornerstones of an MMO (persistence and time investment) into something more closely resembling an old video arcade game: just insert coin to keep playing.

The (failed) economic model of the gemstore appears to be the thing that is driving decisions. Even at the expense of integrity.

Scarlet is a paper cutout villain from a 40 year old cartoon. Nothing about her, her story, her antics are compelling. She’s an annoyance. She is cheap content. She could blow up every major city in this game, and my response would still be the same:

“Frankly my dear, I don’t give a d@mn.”

I’ll admit, I turned the ad off at the point people were talking about rent. Not planning to go back and watch the whole thing.

Agree with the poster who said: not sure who the target audience is.

It was very unprofessional.

As much as I rolled my eyes at the time, William Shatner and Mr. T ads. “Classic”.

Bloodwork.1572:

GW2 has always been installed, but I just don`t really feel like turning it on. I hoped for some new things to see or do but I guess it`s better business catering to the core playerbase than getting back people that left. They would probably leave again some time later anyway.

Some more permanent content wouldn`t hurt though… Any news on an expansion pack or something like that?

Not really. I wouldn’t expect any info on an expansion in the foreseeable future.

Julie Yann.5379:

I can’t believe you necro’d a 5 month old thread.

You beat me to it.

Poor horse. It has been beaten enough, don’t you think?

Yamagawa.5941:

…
Igsnay on the ountsmay please.

It’d be a status symbol, one that would carry serious racial implications in the game. More significantly, it’d quickly become THE status symbol, being obvious above and beyond armor and weapons.

Yes, the golden only mount for the Asura isn’t going to cut it for a Norn.

//Portable Corpse

So, you’re saying you don’t think a Norn would look fantastic on a Glyphic Pogo Stick?

<straightface>

Just think of the missed opportunities:

Cultural Mount Vendors
Gem Store Mounts
Living Story Mounts
Achievement Mounts
Achievement Titles (The Horse Whisperer)
Mount-related backpacks

-all opportunities for ANet to make money and/or keep players in the game.

Let’s stir up WvW and put mounts there as well. MOST of the keeps have ramps and if a battle mount can’t make it up a set of stairs, well, then it’s not battle worthy.

And that adds one more thing to spend badges on: WvW model mounts.

If you’re gotten this far and your blood pressure is up, I’m kidding.

If you’re gotten this far and you’re excitedly going, “yeah!”, I’m sorry, I’m not serious.

GW2 doesn’t need (any more) arbitrary speedbumps, time sinks, or status items. That’s what mounts usually are.

Unless those advocating for mounts would like to remove waypoints?

People don’t necessarily run the QD champ train for gold.

They are running it for:

1) Karma

2) ease

3) daily

4) monthly

5) to be social

6) other: __________ (insert here)

endless.1376:

Is that it is a pain in the butt to level. I have to practically do everything I can in a zone in order to progress. This concern is not at all mine alone. I have read many other concerns as such and hate having to chase down events, world bosses, and do all the exploration and story content I can in order to get enough xp just to get to the next zone. I would love it if you guys at Anet instead let people pick and choose their content and give them the xp boost they need to level faster just doing what they like.

I am absolutely stunned at this post.

GW2 has, hands down, the most stupidly easy leveling process in any MMO I’ve played in the last 13+ years.

8 hours to level 80 by crafting is an established metric.

Average leveling time 1-2 months around release was 1.5 – 2 weeks for first level 80.

Food has 10% exp booster built in, there are exp boosters avail via gem store, personal stories…. just playing normally…. very easy to level out of the zone before completing every scrap of heart/event etcetera in the zone.

Running around the 5 major cities plus Lion’s Arch: Divinity’s Reach, Hoelbrak, Rata Sum, The Grove, The Black Citadel, non-combat, just picking up waypoints, and Points of Interest, can earn a couple of levels (especially starting at level 2).

Don’t like stories? Don’t need to do them. There are multiple zones at the same level and the ability to pick and choose which hearts / zones are appealing.

Don’t like PvE? Level up in WvW. It might be a bit frustrating even if you’re up-ranked to level 80, or on a low-pop server, but it is certainly doable.

I hate to toss in the age-old, “join a guild” here. There’s a lot to be said for a helpful group of like-minded players who would be happy to run dungeons at the appropriate level. Doing dungeons at level the first time grants almost a full level.

@OP: if you don’t like stories, hearts, events, bosses, what kind of content are you looking for?

-Seriously confused

-Owner of 45 alts, 19 at level 80.

NinjaEd:

There are an incredible number of assumptions being made about bewhatever’s spec, playstyle, and utilty bar in that post.

There seems to be a fixation about a very specific, narrow set of circumstances.

There also seems to be an erroneous conclusion that constantly stating an opinion as truth passes as fact.

Whether ALL downstates for all professions need review is another thread, this thread seems to have run its course if posts are just being repeated over and over again.

-leaves thread

Would love to see this as well. I’ve got trinkets sitting on characters I will never use again as I’m being reduced to using only one in WvW and further reduced with my PvE characters as well (ascended weapons/gear).

I would even pay a fee on the gem store to be able to have these account bound.

However, realistically, that means a reduction in the effectiveness of laurels as a motivator for causing customers to log in on a daily, long-term basis. That’s something I doubt ANet would willingly surrender. For obvious reasons.

I would settle for a gem purchase that refunds the laurels at a less than 100% exchange rate, and would be happy to continue doing dailies to get back to the full amount required to purchase a new item from the laurel merchant. I would take 50% exchange rate. Would be better than having items that are just sitting there getting absolutely no use.

-I am allowed to be unrealistic occasionally, aren’t I?

LanfearShadowflame.3189:

Ascended gear will work the same way the rest of high end gear works in this game. Once you equip it, it belongs to the character wearing it.

As to this game being alt-unfriendly…. Go play GW1. Go play WoW. Then kitten about ‘alt unfriendly.’ This game functions no differently then essentially any other MMO in these regards.

Soulbound seems to be the trend in the last decade. Wasn’t before then. The question isn’t: compare GW2 high end gear acquisition to other MMO’s. The question is: “will Ascended gear (GW2) be alt-friendly?”

The answer is “no”.

Yes, you can say Ascended gear is not any more (or less) alt-friendly than other current MMO’s.

The comparison being asked was GW2 Ascended armor to GW2 Ascended weapons.

The core of that question rests on:

The “freedom to play the way you want” as a concept has been increasingly negated as ANet puts in more directed game play and incorporates more mechanics that move the game closer to those games many of us left, hoping for something refreshingly different.

Abyss dye dropped on my birthday from farming spinach. I had just gotten the human cultural Tier 3 armor for my guardian.

3 months later, another dropped at the same spot on the day my guildmate needed the exact amount it sold for on the TP. Was fun to just hand him the money without thinking.