Guild Wars 2

The fish analogy is perfectly fitting … when teaching a child to walk or how to tie shoelaces, how to complete homework assignments or take tests, how to drive a car, etc. … and i will agree 100% that such things cannot constantly be performed for the other person because they need to learn to be able to do such things for themselves. It’s part of their development into independent, fully-functional adults.

However, I think it also fair to bear in mind that this is a game, generally played for entertainment. While I understand some people find competition enjoyable, and even thrive on it, I think there are at least an equal number of people who log on just to kick back and relax at the end of a day in which they’ve already spent hours pushing themselves to prove themselves better than their peers to receive promotions, raises, and achievements of true, real life value.

I’ve often found it odd, when reading some of these posts, that so many seem to believe that snagging first place time and time and time again actually proves anything about themselves, other than that they’ve beaten other people at a video game race time and time and time again? Is it really that much of a rush and does it make you feel like you’re that much better a person for it? Or would you feel better about yourself and with yourself if you saw someone struggling to even complete the race, much less place first, and you lent a hand with your expertise?

There is not a winning lotto ticket at the top of the mountain. There isn’t a corner office, or a CEO title, free mortgage payments for a year, a cure for your child’s disease, or anything even remotely of real value. And before the rush of “don’t tell me what’s worth my time/what right do you have to tell me what should be important”, c’mon, really? If you’ve gotten first place once, you’ve gotten the title already, is there a point really to winning it over and over and over?

Altaholic here — i’ve got dupes of all plus a third warrior … and while i know ANY char of a particular profession can use any weapon available to that profession (meaning any ele can go staff, s/f, d/d, etc.), I look at each toon as an individual, essentially speciliazing in a particular weapon-set style …. so i have a staff ele and i have a d/d ele … staff ele will never use anything but — just that char’s thing … same with the d/d ele — will always be a d/d ele.

Sounds weird, I know, but i prefer my chars a lil more defined, even if its just in my own head, then a jack-of-all-trades.

I think for me, the most memorable was finding my first vista during the last beta … when it went to the cutscene and the music for it played … i was definitely smitten.

And I second JustTrogdor — the biggest help has been the innumerable times someone stopped to rez my sorry kitten after I’d gone and done something not particularly bright.

Ahhh, but GW1 had all the political fun and excitement between the Shining Blade and the White Mantle.

Tachenon.5270:

I would have gone with wits instead of tongues…

Meanwhile, in Kings Landing, Varys and Tyrion were racing around the council table with Littlefinger in hot pursuit yelling, “I’ll lick you yet!”

That … would be awesome … and I do apologize — as one poster pointed out, the series is indeed Song of Fire and Ice, and I’ve read them all, but fail to see where any serious magical elements come in … but I’m an old school AD&Der, so when someone says magic, I think Fireball or Lightning Bolt.

I’ve got a total of 14 chars and I agree with Lanfear — each one is unique, newborn, hasn’t “been there, done that”, so I kinda think re-discovering it all is the point? I’ve only leveled 3 of those to 80, so if there’s some type of intense content I want to hit up, I’ll roll with one of those, but when I’m playing any of the others, for me, it’s the process of, “Oh, yeah, I remember that now — that was cool!” … And then seeing what different events, skill point challenges, etc., are like with each char … Unlocking WPs per account? What would be the difference between that and unlocking trades on an account once a char had maxed one out? That char discovered that WP … only makes sense the same would apply to each char.

I think it’s more a question of what the OP considers to be fantasy and there are “degrees”, to a certain extent. I’ve actually talked to quite a few people about the Game of Thrones series and how it is described as fantasy, but aside from the white walkers, the dragons (which haven’t yet played much of a role in any of the books other than as much sought after trophies), and a few other minor elements, it’s more of a medieval political thriller. George RR Martin himself has said it’s based a lot on the War of the Roses.

I think the OP is looking at in terms of your more “classic” or “sword & sorcery” type fantasy if you will, with the fate of the world at stake, as in LOTR, Dragonlance, etc. And I think what he means, and I’m just assuming here, is that he thinks an adventure into the mines of Moria would be more exciting than a seat at the table watching Tyrion, Littlefinger, and Varys have a battle of tongues.

I think it’s something that will come in time … if I remember correctly, there weren’t initially special crafting component spaces for the candy corn, chattering skulls, the snowflakes from Wintersday, etc. … those were added in later … and hopefully in time there will be separate sections/tabs/whatever for living story items, festival items … personally, i’d like a separate section just for food … i’ve got a few different chars maxed on Chef, and it seems like a waste to craft it all and then sell it for next to nothing on the TP …

As I read through the five pages worth of opinions here, a couple of issues struck me as slightly unusual …

Catching up for new players is something that’s been mentioned more than once, but to me, it seems more like this situation — I started a new job eight months ago, Bob the New Guy started a new job two weeks ago, I’ve got that eight months’ worth of paychecks stashed away and Bob the New Guy has only one paycheck. We can get tons of stuff with our paychecks — wine, luxury sedans, suits, etc. But since I’ve been working longer, doesn’t it only make sense that I would be able to afford these things sooner/acquire more of them than Bob the New Guy? And, even moreso, does me having these things truly affect Bob the New Guy so much so that he feels he’s being “cheated”, “punished”, etc? City of Heroes had a system in place where you received a title and rewards for hitting 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, etc. Should new players have had the access to those from day 1 so they wouldn’t feel as if they were missing out?

In regards to how daily/monthly APs affect ranks on the leaderboards … as many people have pointed out, a significant percentage of the player population likely never checks the boards to begin with. I know I never have and I’ve been playing since betas. I don’t think I even know HOW to check the boards, and if, for whatever reason, I happened to me in the top 500, the top 50, or even the top 5, personally, to me, I’d shrug and go back to whatever I was doing.

Which brings me to people feeling the APs should be based on skill rather than time spent in-game. If there’s a need to feel superior, more skilled, etc., isn’t that what PvP is for? To be able to pit yourself against an opponent whose skill could equal or even surpass your own that isn’t based on an AI that can be learned in time? Do you truly feel a sense of accomplishment for having killed 5000 “x”? Besides, there are at least a couple of title you can display if you feel the need to flaunt your prowess — there’s Dungeon Master, Been There Done That … I agree there should be more, if for variety’s sake if nothing else, but much like the leaderboards, titles aren’t really something I notice/pay attention to.

Anyway, long story short (i know, too late) the only way we’re truly going to know how the system will operate and what types of rewards will be offered is to wait and see next week.

Nkuvu.2570:

Personally, I just accept the fact that I’ll never complete the content. Simple as that, and it’s not a complaint.

This. I’m a soloist as well, and once I found out the dungeon was a 5-player instance, I just accepted I wasn’t going to do it and moved on, much like I did with the 5-player part of Southsun, Molten Factory, end of the personal story, etc. I enjoy being part of a massive, living world, but I like doing the things I want to do the way I want to do them and when I want to do them. Perhaps sounds a bit self-centered, but in truth, this is a game I play at the end of the day to relax.

I think it’s all a question of the developers’ abilities. At present, there’s more than enough content to keep the majority of “casual” players happy (not all, as has previously been stated, there are varying degrees of casual) and, again, most have reconciled themselves to the fact that certain aspects of the game will be out of their reach/interest. I’m one of those — I don’t do dungeons, WvW, PvP, not worried about a legendary — I just play to play.

What I think you find moreso on the forums, and if that’s a fair assessment of the HC player-base as a whole, is a lack of challenging group/skill based content that pushes players to the edges of their limits in ability, coordination, etc. And this is where I think it becomes a question of the developers’ abilities. I think more intense dungeons/raids/whatevs is completely within the realm of possibility, and there could be equally, specific rewards for those, whether it be a higher rate at obtaining T6 Mats, specific armor sets, etc. Would there be backlash from some of the casual-base opining they’re not able to obtain said shinies because they’re casual players? Sure. But I think I’m man enough to accept that if I’m not willing to run to the top of the mountain, I’ll never get to see what the view is like. And for those of the opinion that said shinies should be available to everyone, I guess my response would be is that they are — if you’re willing to do the content.

So can there be peace between the two? Sure, I think so. It just depends on what the developers can provide.

Creeper.9360:

AlexisRosewood.4210:

They’re called RANGERS for a reason they fight at range.

Actually that’s not what Ranger means.

True … I believe the origin in the term comes to play in their tendency to “range” far and wide, much along the same lines that Aragorn was called “Strider” … but, not to belittle the point, it has become almost cliched that a ranger in any fantasy-set game is going to use a bow and have a pet.

Enewia.1356:

mojowalker.3798:

Not sure about the hatred on the Ranger changes yet; haven’t been able to play (working; gotta pay them bills). BUT, from reviewing some of the discussion, I’m not positive it will phase me all that much … mine is a LB/GS Ranger (dunno why, just like the animations more?) and a I run a bear as my pet, which, unless I miss something, didn’t get touched at all. And with said setup and said pet, I’ve been able to solo champs without too much trouble — time consuming, sure, but doable. And that’s something I’ve never been able to do on my zerk warrior, which, of course, is probably due to by lack of hand to eye coordination rather than the build itself. But until I have the chance to run the patch and play around a bit, not sure if it will be as cataclysmic as the comments I’ve seen so far.

What people hate is ranger weren’t good at all for dungeons before. Now they may as well come naked it won’t change a thing. In Open World I don’t think it will bother people that much because they chose to play their character. But in a game where you get kicked because you’re not useful, they basically killed the Ranger in Dungeons.
Rangers might still be viable in Spvp and WvW, I don’t know I don’t play either of them, but when Anet said You can play the way you want it’s bullkitten.

Gotcha … yeah, I’m not a dungeon-runner, or a WvWer or PvPer — strictly PvE. BUT, that being said, if i ever choose to check out a dungeon or whatnot, I’ll bring my necro along instead.

Haven’t been able to check them out myself, but I’m assuming their account/soul bound upon acquisition, so no chance for people that find them to be fugly to still buy them in an effort to send the message that RNG is the cement paving the bricks laying the path to hell and sell ’em on the TP?

Not sure about the hatred on the Ranger changes yet; haven’t been able to play (working; gotta pay them bills). BUT, from reviewing some of the discussion, I’m not positive it will phase me all that much … mine is a LB/GS Ranger (dunno why, just like the animations more?) and a I run a bear as my pet, which, unless I miss something, didn’t get touched at all. And with said setup and said pet, I’ve been able to solo champs without too much trouble — time consuming, sure, but doable. And that’s something I’ve never been able to do on my zerk warrior, which, of course, is probably due to by lack of hand to eye coordination rather than the build itself. But until I have the chance to run the patch and play around a bit, not sure if it will be as cataclysmic as the comments I’ve seen so far.

Morrigan.2809:

Rouven.7409:

Please, do take your time to include the “A”. It is a courtesy to mention the full name
That said I’m more an Isaac Asimov kinda guy.

I agree with the sentiment (of doing the right thing just because and not expecting gratitude) – yet I don’t think it’s wrong to mention that showing your gratitude is the right thing to do as well. As in a friendly reminder, not a form of rebuke.

So, as to keep the wheels turning, cheers.

hehehe!
To Robert A Heinlein, Isaac Asimov and all the greats, good manners and general goodwill, Cheers

LOL, cheers indeed to both of those and Douglas Adams as well! Can’t have science fiction mentioned without Hitchhiker’s being involved!

And to quote something similar, “God created alcohol to keep the Irish from taking over the world”.

killcannon.2576:

If you’re going to help, help. Do it because that’s the type of person you are, not because you need a pat on the back to make you feel better about yourself. And then posting it in the forums…oh my.

Common courtesy is doing the right thing without needing the recognition for it.

I would disagree — doing the right thing is a question of morals, while the expression of gratitude is the courtesy aspect of it. That being said, no I don’t believe stopping/not stopping to rez a downed player is an indication of one’s morals — this is a game, not RL, and I would hope that if most people were walking past someone who had tripped, fallen and couldn’t get up, they’d lend a helping hand because it was the right thing to do and not because they were looking to get a pat on the back.

It’s not that I’m looking for the thanks, because to me that belittles the point of assisting in the first place … hey, look at me, i’m helping you … but, as the thread suggests, it’s the details … a simple TY, you know? you took time out of whatever the hell it was you were doing and slammed into that thing, consequences be kitten ed, and because of that, the other person was able to achieve whatever it was they were attempting to … every time i’m downed and someone takes the time to rez me, I toss out a TY, TY … type that out, go refresh my drink, and all is good in the neighborhood, so to speak … dunno … maybe it’s old school mentality? I still slide a chair out for the woman i’m going to dinner with and let her sit down before I do …

Anvil Rock, Vayne … and I have to say, having spent a bit of time wandering the forums, I sense a kindred-spirit type of familiarity … you play because you truly do love the game, and I am of the same opine … perhaps a move to TC is warranted, lol?

I’ve got 3 lv 80s and over two dozen alts ranged from mid-teens to mid-forties. And while I tend to be one of the abhorred and derided soloists, who would LOVE henchmen for dungeons because I won’t set foot in one otherwise, and who ghosts around the edges of most things, one particular thing I will say I ALWAYS jump in on is when someone pings a map chat request for help. “Anyone able to help with _ skill point, anyone able to help with __ DE” … no worries … I’ve got all the WPs most of the time and it’s not much more than a matter of seconds before I’m there, lunging past the person asking for help, doing what needs to be done, even if it means going down, so they can get that SP, POI, Vista, etc. It’s no biggie — glad to help. I’ve done ’em all, so I know some of them are a pain in the kitten.

That said … if you’re asking someone for a hand because you’ve run into something that just totally brickwalls you, and someone takes time out of whatever they’re doing to run over or spend the coin to WP to jump in, I think the least you can do is offer up a simple thanks for the gesture. I love the game, and have been a supporter of it since the first beta, RNG and lacking living story updates aside, and I don’t tend to kitten much on the forums, but tonight was the fourth instance where someone pinged the map chat for a hand, I went over and pitched in, and the person disappeared afterwards with so much as an abbreviated TY.

You took the time to ask in map chat for help … usually in a lengthy description of what you needed a hand with — “Can anyone help me with ____ skill point”, “Vets hanging by this _ and they’re just killing me over and over — can anyone jump in and distract them?”

Cool, no problem. There as quick as I can. But nothing sours that more than doing it and having you skip away the moment YOU get done what you needed, and the other person that took time out of whatever they were doing be kitten ed.

TY?

Took less than a second to type. C’mon, I know you can do it. My KIDS can do it on their phones with two jerks of their thumbs. I love to help, but when I do it and then the person I’ve helped just skips away like my assistance amounted to a handful of kitten in their eyes … really? A map chat TY? … Especially given I tend to play from midnight until 4 AM CST, so I can’t imagine these are KIDS I’m responding to for the most part?

We’re better than that. Happy to help. Always will be. But there’s a difference between a friend and a chump.

TY.

Makes all the difference.

Astral Projections.7320:

mojowalker.3798:

I’m an altaholic with 17 chars, so I guess I suffer from multiple personality disorder?

(I have 8 level 80s, one of each profession and I try to play them all equally)

Hello, I’m Astral Projections and I have multiple personality disorder.

HI ASTRAL!

I am pleased to meet you!
And so am I!

Unfortunately, the more I thought I about this, and I truly enjoy the way the new story arc is going, I knew I had heard of a mysterious Mister E before … not sure if this adds new wrinkles to the whole “what if it references something else” investigation, but, food for thought … this is from wikipedia on the latest incarnation of the Scooby Doo series that was on Cartoon Network a year or two back:

“In addition to the traditional cases they always solve, the team finds itself being nudged into the uncovering of a dark secret that is hidden in the past of Crystal Cove. Following cryptic hints from a faceless mystery-man known only as “Mr. E.” (a play on “mystery”)"

Already +1000’d this on another thread, but doing so again here … this was indeed a breath of fresh air! Engaging, intriguing, you name it, it was here … and definitely give the writer behind this a big kittening raise and a corner office and an admin and anything else he/she wants so long as this type of content keeps coming. First time in the game ever, and I’ve been playing since the first beta, that I reached a point where I was like “Aw, c’mon! I can’t track down the other two suspects tonight! I hafta wait? But I don’t wannnnnnaaa!” … That type of edge-of-the-seat anticipation has been lacking, but was there in spades with this living story installment.

And I have to give a big thumbs up to the voice actress for Marjory … regardless of how cliched aspects of her character might be, it was FUN, and the voice actress nailed every beat:

Investigator Ellen Kiel: No kidding.
Marjory Delaqua: Not even if you ask nicely.

Bring us more!!!

+1000 … this was a huge step in the right direction! I really, really enjoyed the feel of it, as well as the follow-up “investigative” work done tracking down the missing suspects.

Ainianu.5693:

like mojowalker i play many characters and i never consider any to be my main… yet being a long time pen and paper roleplayer i do have an ‘attachment’ to each one of them and spend a lot of time giving them all a unique look and build that is fun.

This … I have 2 lv 80s (necro, warrior) and a ranger almost to 80, with chars of all the other classes spread out from levels 14-40 something. But it was pretty much random as far as which one hit 80 first — just happened to be the chars I got into a groove with for that particular period of time.

And am I multi-tasker IRL? Perhaps that might be it, but I also think it has to do with me being a writer and my novels having an entire host of characters rather than just a single main character.

I’m an altaholic with 17 chars, so I guess I suffer from multiple personality disorder?

I am one of the soloers, so while I appreciate the inclusion of this type of content, I completely agree that there doesn’t appear to be any reason it can’t scale, ala Brahm/Rox, which worked fine for both soloers and groups. It should be something that players can tackle in the way they see fit to — alone or with friends/partners/guildies, etc.

Black Regent.5897:

Lonewolf Kai.3682:

Black Regent.5897:

This game has the biggest concentration of whiners I’ve ever seen.

Holy crapola, this x10, x100, x a gazillion!
I wish I could +1 this post that many times.

And please for the love of everything good and decent stop all the whining!

What really irks me is that people will gripe about things like this that basically just boil down to “WAH! I want the reward but I want it now and without having to actually do it because I don’t like it!” while there are actual, legitimate reasons to be irritated like, say, the messed up communication on the Dragonball achievements that led to tons of AFKers messing up DB arena for people who actually wanted to play it.

It’s like these people never played an MMO before. OMG! You have to tap F next to a couple of pinatas that respawn quickly and reliably in one place! So terrible! I mean… you LITERALLY have to break, what, 6 Pinatas a day each day to get the achievement? That entails breaking all the Pinatas in the area of the Mystic Forge once a day! I can’t be bothered with such a horrible burden! It would take almost a full minute to do that! And if I wanted to do all the Pinatas in Lion’s Arch it would take me a whole FIVE minutes! THE HORROR!

Meanwhile, I remember doing the Fire Festival achievements in WoW that required you to not only run around to your own towns and light bonfires, but forced you into PvP by making you go into enemy towns to extinguish there’s. Can you imagine the crying if people in GW2 had to do something like that? And god help them if they ever saw the ones that required you to actually go into the populated enemy cities.

I mean, I get that some people want ANET to focus on longer development of more in-depth content and that’s fine, but the whining because they actually have to do something to get the little achievement popup is so freaking annoying….

Based off the OPs initial comment, I would think he/she would find the situation described (putting out bonfires in own town/extinguishing those in an enemy’s town) to be very preferable to whacking pinatas 150 times. I don’t believe anyone was suggesting that the time involved was inconsequential, whether done in an hour or stretched out over the next three weeks. I believe the observation was that the task itself, on top of 300 candies on top of 100 fireworks, on top of 300 holo creatures (which is different, albeit, then simply pressing F) is rather trivial and inconsequential and something a little “meatier” is desired.

Again, I mentioned accumulating pages/memories during the Halloween event which was still a collection quest, and broken down to its basics, was still gathering x amount of x, but in the end, the pages/memories were combined to provide the player with the backpiece. Somehow, I think more people preferred that than even doing what you were suggesting, which is, while I’m in Hoelbrak, I might as well whack these pinatas. It’s not the time involved, but the point, I believe is being brought into question.

And if there is no real point to it — if it’s merely content for content’s sake — why have it be 300, 150, or 50 even? Why not 5 or 10? Those who will burn through new content will do so regardless of the number, and those who won’t will attest to there being the sufficient amount of time to tag one here or there as they happen upon said task in their wanderings. And I think that was the point to the OPs post — the desire for content with a point/purpose/deeper meaning. Yes, this is a “Bash” rather than a living story update, but aspects of this were very similar to the early stages of F & F as well.

On a sidenote, I personally agree with your method of doing it as my play-style is very similar … I don’t have map completion, no legendary, never been in a dungeon, in no rush to do anything … hell, i have 17 chars total at levels all across the board. No rush to get them decked out in dungeon gear with ascended this and that, wielding Twilight or Bifrost, etc. … so if i happen upon a holo or a pinata, i’ll do it, but i’m not going out of my way to do so …

I think some people look at the actual achievement as more of an ordeal and approach it in the same manner as dental work — if you’re going to have x amount of cavities filled, might as well get em done as quickly as possible.

I’m not sure the OP was suggesting there was a lack of time in which to complete the achievement, nor that he/she had rushed through it and was now left without anything else to do … I believe the observation was moreso that additional content being included in the game is a repitition of the same action — find object, interact with object, run to next object, repeat … 50, 100, 300 times in a row …

I think the way they did it with collecting the memories during the Mad King Halloween event made more sense — you were running around to different places, collecting different objects, not running around to difference places repeating the same action … so, if by me bashing 150 pinatas gave me a 150 pieces of something I could use to construct a dragon-themed backpack or something along those lines, I think it would seem more purposeful.

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

Gee, the first thing that came to mind for me was Out of Character, and I don’t even RP (Role Play) much, if ever. Lol. (Laugh out loud.)

OOC – out of character was my first thought as well, wayyyy back from the text-only RPG chat rooms on AOL.

This is due to the growing prevalence of “textese”. It’s gotten to the point entire conversations can be conducted without ever actually typing/speaking a single word and instead it is a string of abbreviations. The first time I encountered “tl;dr”, I had to google it because I had no clue what it stood for.

I can see abbreviating in the midst of combat to convey a thought with minimal typing, but in other situations? Not so much … and whether the abbreviation is common or not, I do not see how it is anyone’s “responsibility” to know what it means, nor, even, where one might go to keep up with the constant additions to this new language.

Not sure how this transformed into a discussion on what intelligent/creative people may or may not find stimulating, or how it’s relevant to the thread subject, wherein it was asked if anyone played as the OP does, and not why, but now I digress …

I share similarities to the play-style described … I think the phrase “not all who wander are lost” is quite appropos and suits me well. I lack a main, lack a legendary, lack a single foot stepped into any of the dungeons, as I am one of the dreaded “solo” players in a MMO. Bet eh, that’s my thing — I’ve no particular desire to group up with a bunch of folks to do this, that, or the other DE/quest/etc. I know, I know — why would I not just satisfy me entertainment needs with Skyrim or (insert random single player game here), but there is a certain appeal to playing in a world populated with other real people, even if I never stop to exchange a single word with any of them. I will help where needed, rez downed folks when I see them, whomp on a beastie that may be running amok through the wilderness … but I feel no obligation to DO any of it necessarily.

That’s what the rest of my life is about — professional and familial responsibilities. Tasks, duties, projects, etc., that necessitate completion, thoroughness, dedication. When I log into the game at night, I am seeking an escape from that, not a repitition of that.

I know there are those that argue that repitition (aka grind) is all GW2 is about, but I can personally attest to not feeling pressured, forced, or anything of the kind, into doing anything over and over and over again. I can farm blood, scales, coffers — hell, i can farm carrots if i want to, and do it over and over and over again, but that is a choice I’ve made, not an obligation or a necessity. Since I’M (and I stressed it being something I feel) not concerned with BiS gear, skins, or anything of the sort, it makes such dreary treadmill type effort irrelevant.

So … how do I play? Kind of like when I was a child and I had my box of action figures and their assorted vehicles and whatnot … wherever my imagination took me. And the same applies to how I play GW2 — wherever the game (which is a mixture of what I imagine and what has been imagined for me) takes me …

I can see the OPs point — it would basically be like meshing together the instanced sections of GW1 (be kind of hard to claim the vanquisher title if everything in a zone kept respawning) with the open world feel of GW2. And it would def give it a more immersive feel to it overall. I’d venture to guess it would take a HUGE amount of development/programming to reach a point where every possible situation like the one example of the alpha wolf cave then becoming the den of a champion troll could come into play, but as was mentioned, if the beasties can re-spawn with a “do-not-drop-loot” marker tagged to it, could it not also be set to having been “vanquished” for lack of a better word and cannot aggro or be aggroed for 2 hours/4 hours/24 hours, etc.?

Not a farmer, never been a farmer — no interest. No legendary, no dungeon armor, etc., etc. I tend to wander and do whatevs … but, by the same token, I have noticed over the past few months that the “shinies” don’t drop anywhere near as often as they once did, and I’ve been playing since beta. While the acquisition of said “shinies” has never been a goal, it does significantly reduce the, “oh, hey, cool!” reaction to what’s obtained from slaughtering this, that or the other thing. So I have to second Indigo’s reaction in part — the nerf was more to the fun of it for me, that it how it affects my ability to successfully gather “x” amount of “x”.

Duelist chest, glove, and boots, wolfborn leggings, and pirate hat.

Fiontar has the right of it … say there’s a million folks playing, and 1% of those are willing to spend $100 on coffers. That’s $1,000,000. A nice chunk of change. But, if 30% of those million players were willing to spend $20 on a skin, that’s $6,000,000. I’d certainly be one of those willing to spend gems on a skin, perhaps even a few. But run the RNG roulette and spend RL money for candy and other edibles? No thanks.

I can understand the novelty of possessing a “rare” skin — I’m not one of those people and can truthfully say I don’t really spend that much time checking out other chars armors/weapons/etc. As long as my toons look good to me, all is well in the world.

But those who are obtaining them because of the rarity of the skin, the I’ve got it and no one else does philosophy, will most likely be looking to do the same with the next release of skins locked behind RNG boxes so they can say the same about that, and so on and so forth.

I tend to think, though, that the vast majority of players aren’t concerned with one-upping the other players, and just want the skins because they like the look. And if that is accurate — if most people aren’t worried about the uniqueness of it — then there’s really no reason for them to be almost impossible to obtain. I have to think the designers of the weapons didn’t envision their efforts going to waste, but at the moment, that is really what’s happening — their design being seen and appreciated and enjoyed by a significantly smaller percentage of people than their efforts would be, if the skins were available in the gem store or on the TP.

Vawn.3041:

Tonight I was out in Brisban killing mob after mob after mob. And I mean mob after mob after mob. I had a moment of clarity, paused, and said to myself, "Wait, wasn’t I doing this in Southsun just last week? Why was I doing it? (the answer to that is not “to get those skins”, but the reason behind these crazy grinds) Was it fun? Is it fun now?" But more importantly, I’ve accepted that this is how it is here and going forward, I expect more of these casino-like systems. But I am not a gambler, will not become one, and am out-of-place in a world whose most appealing and exclusive items is designed to reward gambling. Neither is it wise (for me) to continue rewarding the company with Gem purchases for less desirable items, like wooden swords and staves (my Wintersday greatsword skin still sits in one of my character’s inventory, unused. I also bought the Staff and Longbow.)

-Vawn

This, very much so, and I was doing almost the same — I was wandering Brisban with my ranger (one of my many, many alts), and rather than doing the vistas, POIs, hearts, etc., I found myself constantly checking the map for the little holo symbol. I do like the fact the coffers drop much more frequently than they did in Southsun (never ONCE got a crate from a drop), but between holo/mob chests and those I bought off the TP (mostly out of curiosity), I opened over 500 last night and received little more than the candy, assorted food items, and a few of the minis and potions. The skins are very eye-catching and I wouldn’t mind one, but all-in-all, I’m not grinding out chests for the chance at one of the tickets. Would I like one? Sure! If I don’t get one, though, I won’t be heartbroken.

That being said, however, I quoted you Vawn because I agree — there’s a certain feeling, let’s say, in the game of a shift now to these RNG driven events. I understand a company needs to bankroll its employees, etc., ad infinitum, but this shift in focus is seriously affecting the overall ambience of the game, and it’s not a beneficial one. I think it would alleviate tensions, grief, and give an overall sense of relief if either the skins became available in the gem store, or if the tickets themselves became tradable. Or both. But one way or the other, I think the rule of baseball is going to apply for a significant number of folks … we had Southsun, now we’ve got the Dragon Bash … if the next event comes with a new set of RNG boxes, I think it’s going to be three strikes and you’re out.

I think the point being raised about the mutliple currencies that are available to use for purchasing exotics (armor or weapons) is a valid one — we have coin, karma, laurels, tokens, and that’s just naming four … i don’t see why any one of those couldn’t be used to purchase the new armor available on Southsun, since it isn’t technically new per se — it just has a new stat set.

Now don’t get me wrong — I’m not saying I think that unique armor/weapon skins should be available for purchase via any means available. The dungeon armors were designed with the mindset that only people willing to spend the time in that particular dungeon, obtaining the necessary numbers of tokens, would be able to purchase them, and that’s fine. I get that — you want the Arah armor? Do the dungeon. (Though personally, I think players could make a killing off of being able to sell dungeon tokens on the TP).

But for armors like the ones being offered on Southsun that share the same skins as others armors? Doesn’t make sense for it to require the karka shells. If it were a skin unique to Southsun, sure, I get it — shells all the way, like dungeon tokens (but then shells would prolly be account or character bound).

We’ve got all these means to accumulate different forms of wealth, so to speak … there should be multiple ways to spend them.

Not sure why it isn’t possible to obtain the skins from a number of different methods — as drops from the supply crates, from tickets that could be purchased via gem store, or the tickets/skins themselves being tossed on the TP by folks that don’t like/want them … that way people that never intend to spend any RL $ can still shoot the odds at picking up a ticket for a skin from the supply crate, folks that don’t mind shelling out a bit of cash or trading in some gold for gems can pick it up from the gemstore, or they can just snag it off the TP.

Many people have raised this point as well, and I think it one that absolutely defies logic — why have devs spend the time designing the skins if only .00001% of the player population is ever going to rcv one? If it’s meant to be frustratingly impossible to obtain simply because it forces players to either spend hour upon hour trying to get the crates or spending dollar after dollar in the gemstore only for a minority to ever rcv them, well, kitten … is it any surprise it’s left a foul taste in a lot of mouths?

I still think making the skins account or soul-bound upon use rather than acquisition would solve a lot of the dissatisfaction. People that have gotten tickets that don’t want them could sell them and people whose luck with RNG crates is horrendous could then buy them. I understand this would reduce the number of crates being bought, but, by the same token, if it was filled with items that I could sell rather than items I’m stuck with, I might be more inclined to purchase more crates. For example, with the BLC crates, I always seem get mystery tonics … i’m not doing anything but stockpiling them right now, but i’d happily sell them if I could. If the wintersday skins and the halloween skins can be dumped onto the TP, why can’t the molten and sclerite skins?

I was wondering about this as well … looks like at first it was per character, but that appears to have changed now, but it’s a lil unclear whether it’s something that’s a 1 shot deal, or if it can be repeated once a day per account.

Or at least make them soul-bound or account-bound upon use, so that way those that do get them in the first 10 crates they open and don’t want them can just sell them on the TP. Regardless of how much they’re asking for them, there are players who will buy them.

Halcyon.7352:

mojowalker.3798:

I think this is suffering from some of the same issues Orr is seeing with over-powered vets. I’ve done this several times before with different chars, and while more challenging than convincing nearby skritt to drop the toxic stuff they’re running around with, it was still soloable. I went in there the other night with my necro and I didn’t even see it attack and I was suddenly downed. Couldn’t have been more than one or two hits tops, but I didn’t see anything indicating it was even attacking, nor what the attack even was — just WHAM! Its hits hurt before, sure, but I don’t recall it ever having an attack like a one-shot.

Definitely not.

The issue in Orr is that damage scaling rises exponentially with the number of players, due to a non functioning difficulty scaling cap.

The Chaos Beast here has always hit pretty hard.

Honestly, I’ve never had issues fighting it regardless. It’s only a veteran and susceptible to any range of control effects you can throw at it.

I don’t think it’s just a question of exponential scaling in Orr either … I was there a few nights ago, solo and there were no other players around to cause anything to scale, running around, cleared out the risen chickens, the giants spawned, and with a couple of those eggs, i was done … and most of the time, i didn’t even see the eggs coming, so it wasn’t a question of being to dodge them — can’t dodge what you can’t see. I’m fine with taking damage from things I’m too slow to dodge — shame on me for my horrible hand-to-eye coordination, lol … but when those things are dishing out 10-15k with a single egg and you can’t even see them coming? …

LOL, I ran into this one last night on Anvil Rock … didn’t realize it was a Champion when I was running down the stairs, entered the room, saw that he was a Champion with a whole bunch of friends … needless to say, I tossed out Grasping Dead in the hopes I MIGHT slow down some of the mob and get out of there alive, but that dude’s got mad jumping skills … and he followed me all the way up the stairs and finally nailed me right before I was able to get out the doorway into the sunshine … and I believe he one-shotted me at that … so, sure, let him be a Champion, but unless he’s the smug, pompous type that needs a lot of beer buddies around to make him feel better about himself, is there any reason he needs a whole team of cronies?

Many terms could be thrown around to describe the Charr and Asura advances in technology, and I don’t see how using steampunk is erroneous, since it’s defined as: “a subgenre of science fiction and fantasy featuring advanced machines and other technology based on steam power of the 19th century and taking place in a recognizable historical period or a fantasy world.” And, interestingly enough, wikipedia includes this description on their steampunk page: “The massively-multiplayer online game Guild Wars 2 has a race known as the Charr, who live in the non-specific steampunk capital city called the Black Citadel. The city is heavily mechanized and industrial and their focus is on the building of war machines.”

Now while I’ll agree I don’t necessarily see the Charr or Asura technology being steam-powered per se, I think the other aspect of the definition definitely fit. But if you wish to find the correct term? What exactly is magitech? Magepunk? Cyberpunk? You can mash any two words together to create a style description, like, i dunno — technogoth? What is it? Dunno, just made it up. But I’ll bet once you read the term, different images immediately popped into your head of what it might be, and I think the same applies to those deeming the Charr to be steampunk.

But, back to the main point, I don’t think the abundance of technogical advancement would be quite so apparent if there was an equal amount of magical/mystical advancement that went hand-in-hand with it in ways that have already been mentioned. As it stands right now, it’s really only the Norn areas that seem to have that type of slant. And perhaps the Sylvari, but I can’t bring myself to hang around Caledon much … I always feel like I’m at a gardening nursery.

I think this is suffering from some of the same issues Orr is seeing with over-powered vets. I’ve done this several times before with different chars, and while more challenging than convincing nearby skritt to drop the toxic stuff they’re running around with, it was still soloable. I went in there the other night with my necro and I didn’t even see it attack and I was suddenly downed. Couldn’t have been more than one or two hits tops, but I didn’t see anything indicating it was even attacking, nor what the attack even was — just WHAM! Its hits hurt before, sure, but I don’t recall it ever having an attack like a one-shot.

Atlas.9704:

mojowalker.3798:

Def still dropping … not sure what a black bear was doing with one, but he dropped it, and that was only one of the three I picked up last night.

The Bear must have eaten some artist who was painting or collecting plants for dyes.

Certainly explains that while no matter how visually stunning the lands ofTyria are, you don’t encounter artists out painting landscapes … the bears eat them all.

Def still dropping … not sure what a black bear was doing with one, but he dropped it, and that was only one of the three I picked up last night.