What I’ve asked for isn’t oppressive.
No, but it is intolerant. You don’t seem terribly sympathetic in other people’s choices and options, only your own.
Not even sure why I’m back here. I don’t particularly want bathing suits, but I would never tell people they can’t have them. Honestly, I’d just like my shorts back, and to be able to wear them with whatever shirt and shoes I choose. I’d like them to make more fun shirts, shorts and shoes.
Immersion? When I put my staff away, it hovers 6 inches over my back. I can open a map (presumably on my smart phone?) and then select a designated point on that map to travel to, and then I’m instantly there. Although…sometimes when I get there, I’m in a parallel reality. Or…was where I wanted to get to the parallel reality, and I ended up in the real one? Wait…is the Spock there, or Spock Prime? There’s a giant candy corn outside the orphanage close to where my home is. Where is my home? I’m pretty sure I’m from somewhere. I think I grew up as a noble, must be a nice home! I have a friend that is just a commoner, I wonder what their home is like?
That’s all very relative, now, isn’kitten 
I’m sure there’s plenty of room in the world for everyone, and choices and options.
Luckily, ANet, at least now (live team vs development team differences?), would seem to agree with you, as they have slowly been chipping away at what was originally created. Clothing, running animations, anything to keep western children safe to pursue NASCAR and Free Markets and Gordon Gekko and Bernie Maddolf. So, you have little to worry about, it would seem.
Just a bit more about how I came to think about all of this because it seems some are mistaking me for an elitist who hates noobs when its quite the contrary.
Well, I read this with an “I’ll show you!” attitude, and went back up and re-read it, and now I’m here to apologize, because I did mistakenly read it incorrectly the first time, at least the attitude that I attributed to you.
So for that, I apologize, and I’ll leave my rant intact as a cautionary tale and a reminder to myself.
Having said that (uh oh…here comes the but!), I still disagree that it’s inherently bad content. I think it’s fun content on it’s own merits. Outdoor world bosses where everyone and anyone that is around can come participate in and feel like they participated. There are lots of reasons why the ‘open world organic grouping’ content is attractive to many folks. I still find them very fun, and I hope they add more.
I ‘also’ hope they add more types of fractals, more dungeons, and maybe even give in and create some more challenging instanced content that scale to larger groups (10-50?) can do as guilds, or however else you feel like organizing.
And I do think that the mega is attributed by you, and others, incorrectly. I don’t think they even call the bosses mega bosses? Well, except maybe Teq and New Wurm? But all the other ones are just called ‘world bosses’. They are bosses, that are in the world. That so many people show up at them mean any number of things:
1. There’s nothing else to do.
2. It’s one of the few places in the world where you can, once a day, get some sort of guaranteed reward that doesn’t involve having to go do a grouped instance (some of us really, really just don’t enjoy doing that – unless we have exactly 4 other real life friends that we can play with)
3. Other?
Where I disagree with you is just calling them inherently bad. I don’t think they should be changed such that they alienate people that enjoy them on the skill level they are. We need content too, I don’t see any reason to take away content (or anything) from people. Choices and options (be it content, armor, [cough] running animations [cough], avatars, etc). If there needs to be more content where people are personally responsible, mechanics are harder, less people, controlled environment…which sounds like more dungeons and raid-type content, then by all means ‘add’ that content so you have something to do that is more enjoyable to you.
Solving a problem by offering more options while removing existing choices for other people seems like it’s a path to intolerance.
But again, I do apologize for my initial read and assumption about where you were coming from, in case that got lost up there somewhere (I have a tendency to ramble).
Attachments:
Well, not all of us have to agree with your postmaterialistic ethos. And I´d reverse the nature vs nurture positions. But anyway, this is probably not the place to debate individualistic vs. collectivistic philosophies. Still, rewards given to someone who is better at something does not mean they are “taken away” from the less skillful, slothful, whatever. That is an old socialist parlor trick.
But that’s the whole point.
Why is that the thing that shall be rewarded and not other things?
Why do we not reward all things, and then you pick that thing that is most exciting and challenging and fun for you to obtain your rewards, and I’ll do those things that are the most exciting and challenging and fun to obtain my rewards?
If what is missing is that fun thing for some people, then by all means, lets add that! More content types for more people, choices and options, that’s my motto!
It’s when it starts to turn the way of, “Ok, now that we have that new content we asked for that some of us like, let’s pick ‘that’ as the type of content you get the Sword of Tal Fortgang.”
Because if that’s all that it’s about, then you are admitting it has nothing to do with wanting challenging content for the sake of challenging content that is missing because it’s fun in and of itself. What you want is to implement an economic system that favors what you like and are skilled at.
In America and some other Western-esque cultures, I suppose you could get away with saying, "Well, Free Market, that’s just how it works, you gotta get on board or get out, sorry, this has been building up for 1,000s of years … " (well, 100s if you are a Creationist, I suppose) " … and this is where we are at now and there you go."
But to take something that is nothing and build that into it on purpose is kinda sad and mean and selfish.
Don’t get me wrong here! I mentioned these rewards as something that “enhanced” the joy of defeating these challenges. It’s merely a secondary thing at best in my opinion.
Currently when I ask people why they want to skip as much of the dungeons as possible, I usually get the answer that they do indeed just want the reward. To me, that is skipping all the fun. I think this is tied to the fact that the dungeons are so easy! I think that this culture becomes less and less of a factor the more challenging something gets.
Still though, rewards makes things a bit more fun.
It’s path of least resistance.
If dungeons were truly fun, and not just in this game, ‘any’ MMO, since…we’ll say UO, just to give us a start, then you would be able to put metric collecting sniffers on a game, and give the same amount of monetary/token/item reward with dungeons, making a house, building a ship, tending to a farm, writing in a pretend book, fishing, dynamic events, doing quests, living world, keg brawl, WvW, PvP, RvR, GvG, [Consonant]v[Consonant], gathering, and I suspect the metrics for doing the 5-man dungeons would be considerably less.
I think there are 3 types of folks that like a 5-man (as an example of a place you usually find the challenging type of content you are referring):
1. People who truly love the content for the sake of the content and the reward is so secondary that if you could also get those same rewards through other means, it wouldn’t matter, because they choose to do the dungeon to get that reward vs the other thing because it is truly the most fun thing for them to do.
2. People who subject themselves to the dungeon, because it is the only way to get any sort of decent reward, and given free will and other means, would gladly choose another way to obtain that money/item, as it is not the most fun thing to do.
3. Could be a subset of 1 or 2, this is about obtaining the wealth/item, but not so much that they obtained the wealth/item, but that they know that a great number of people don’t have that same wealth/item, and that is what gives them their satisfaction or euphoria more than the item or wealth itself. Their winning is defined more in terms of someone else’s loss, so to speak.
Now, if you spread rewards around such that ‘all’ activities are reward equally (perhaps based on time alone, or I would even concede to a formula of time and some perceived value of risk reward, where you make people who don’t like the labeled ‘difficult content’ spend a little more time than the people doing the ‘difficult content’ to receive the same reward), 1 and 2 people should be super happy. 1 gets to continue to do the thing that is so much fun for them to do. 2 gets to do something else.
It’s the 3s that take exception to this. Whether they enjoy the dungeons or not, you have taken away that way for them to win at the expense of others. I have, but more importantly, you do not have.
So as long as your original request is all about being a 1. Then I support you, and hope you get your content.
If we’re talking about those 3s, then I hope you do not. And that’s not because I don’t wish for you to have your content, but because it starts creating this divide between haves and have nots based on some arbitrary, perceived activity that should be rewarded more than other activities.
Now, if that is all the better we all are. And the number of 3s we have is far bigger than I even expected…and growing, then by all means, lets let the bees have a shot at it, because we’re done.
And it is nurture vs nature. We don’t start this way, we learn it. There’s no reason we can’t end up like this (and hopefully do).
So sure, if it’s challenging content for challenging content’s sake, I hope you get it.
Thanks =)
In an Mmorpg, I feel that the “euphoria” of defeating a challenging encounter is enhanced if you get some sort of token to attach to your character as a proof that you’ve accomplished it. It’s primal pride, but in a rpg, it’s a fun part of the game!If I could get that same token by doing 100 events, or something else, does that somehow remove the euphoria you would get from defeating that challenging content and receiving your token?
If you would not begrudge my token, then I’m fine with it.
My concern is measuring wealth relative to what other people don’t have that you have that concerns me.
That we continue to make MMOs like that, to mimic what Western civilization has nurtured us away from, rather than exploring something new to see if it could be done better, is a missed opportunity.
And who knows, maybe that’s what the planet is trying to tell us, and it’s just prepping itself to let the bees have a crack at it next.
Well, I’m thinking of these rewards being some kind of cosmetic trophy for completing specific, challenging encounters. It almost makes having trophies like these redundant if anyone can get it by doing something else entirely. The purpose is lost. Almost every other cosmetic item in the game can be acquired by doing pretty much whatever you want. I don’t see any valid reason for not having cosmetic items that represents your defeat on a specific, difficult challenge. It comes with a sense of pride, and I think that’s really important in an Rpg.
Thanks for responding. This is exactly what I’m getting at. Wanting difficult content is usually not so much about wanting difficult content for the sake of difficult content because it’s fun. It’s about wanting a structure that rewards that and doesn’t allow other people to achieve it through other means. That euphoria isn’t about achieving the task, as putting rewards, money, wealth, power, social status behind that task. A task which few people can do or enjoy.
I used to ask that question all the time in other MMO forums. The paradigm with the 5-man dungeon. Ultimately, it seems like it’s not that the 5-man dungeon is fun. Hooking up with strangers to get yelled at by mall cops turned weekend generals and being called badz and all that, just to be able to get a piece of armor you might want, or some gold to buy something else you want, because that’s the only place to make money isn’t particularly fun. People would do it because it was the only way to make money.
So what if ‘every’ play style was equally rewarded with similar tokens?
I personally wouldn’t complain if a PvP player or hard core player that hates, say, housing could achieve “The Uber Sword of Awesome” by doing something other than placing a rug on the floor of their house (which, as it turns out, is the original place The Uber Sword of Awesome was rewarded).
Conversely, it seems like people that like to gate rewards and awesome items behind ‘only’ the paradigm of the old 5-man dungeon, aren’t as keen on my getting some money for placing the rug in my house.
And that says a lot about the character of those different types of people.
In my opinion, of course.
So sure, if it’s challenging content for challenging content’s sake, I hope you get it.
Thanks =)
In an Mmorpg, I feel that the “euphoria” of defeating a challenging encounter is enhanced if you get some sort of token to attach to your character as a proof that you’ve accomplished it. It’s primal pride, but in a rpg, it’s a fun part of the game!
If I could get that same token by doing 100 events, or something else, does that somehow remove the euphoria you would get from defeating that challenging content and receiving your token?
If you would not begrudge my token, then I’m fine with it.
My concern is measuring wealth relative to what other people don’t have that you have that concerns me.
That we continue to make MMOs like that, to mimic what Western civilization has nurtured us away from, rather than exploring something new to see if it could be done better, is a missed opportunity.
And who knows, maybe that’s what the planet is trying to tell us, and it’s just prepping itself to let the bees have a crack at it next.
If you want challenging content for the sake of challenging content, so long as it doesn’t take away from existing not-as-challenging content (i.e., Tequatl change bad; New 3 Wurm in Bloodtide good), then I’m all for that, and hope you get it.
However, I think deep, deep down in some souls (I dare not say all), the need is to have said challenging content then provide rewards which can not be obtained in any other fashion (gem store, time gated, many-many X more casual content), with the ultimate reward being your favored play style being rewarded with things other play styles are not.
That Starbelly Sneetchification, Free Market, America, NASCAR, Gordon Gekko, Bernie Maddolf -Esque view of reward is disturbing, and I think it’s sad and unhealthy that some games want to mimic that side of human nurture (not nature, as studies would suggest we’re born with the instinct to share and we learn to be greedy).
So sure, if it’s challenging content for challenging content’s sake, I hope you get it.
I tried the RMB trick, and that didn’t seem to work. Of course, if I ‘move’ the mouse while the RMB is down after the move, it’ll re-position the camera, but it doesn’t do it on it’s own.
I do not have ‘Use Free Camera’ checked in my options.
Edit: Actually, I think the ‘About Face’ works, I just don’t have a good binding for it and was hitting something else.
Thanks folks!
Edit 2: The issue is that it works, but it’s ‘slow’ to react trying to use it immediately after a move, it would seem I need to wait a second or more, which isn’t ideal.
I’m a PvE player, and usually nothing too complicated (at least with this character). I can’t imagine what PvP must be like.
(edited by notebene.3190)
The move I have in question is number 3 on the sword for a Ranger: Serpent’s Strike, but I know other classes have weapons with similar abilities. I seem to recall seeing something like that on the Thief knife? I don’t know, I use super-easy Sword/Pistol and Pistol/Pistol.
At any rate, I was trying to do something different with my Ranger (largely so I would stop getting laughed at for liking my longbow and bear) and I’m trying a build someone posted that used a Sword/Horn and a Longsword, and some different skills and pets than I was using.
So with that out of the way, this is really not specifically a Ranger question, but to anyone with ‘one of those’ types of moves where you run around and get behind something.
It’s a frustrating move, because I end up looking at myself. ‘About Face’ keybinding doesn’t really work, because then it spins you back around the other way, the way your camera is already facing.
I’d like to get the camera back around behind me quickly without having to LMB/RMB + drag mouse to do it.
Was wondering if anyone had any suggestions.
Well, your casual seems to be more about time than style, whereas mine is more about style than time, but at any rate…
There are 6 world events I like to try to do every day: Shatterer, Jungle Wurm, SB, Maw, Fire Elemental and Claw. While doing that, I usually get nearly all of the 6 dailies available to me done, so I’ll spend a little time finishing that up, and try to do it in the context of doing something else fun I might want to do.
If I feel like playing much beyond that, I might try out a new build with a character to see if I like it (and I’ve saved up enough money to outfit myself with new exotic weapons, armor, sigils and runes).
I started a 7th character recently, Engineer, just starting to level. I think I’m 3.
I’ll be sure to get the 2 rocks/trees materials in Frostgorge. I don’t like to farm Orr, because I hate Orr, mostly because it’s ugly. If it looked like Queensdale, and had more Queensdale-esque themed events and such, I’d spend a lot of time there.
I might try to farm for some T6 materials for a little bit, maybe with a character I’m trying a new build out on, but usually get discouraged after a half hour. :\
That’s about it. Usually just log out at that point and run each of my 5 60s in MH to get some Odin marks to save up for Legendaries. Nothing is as much fun as Squirrel Girl these days.
Then I watch some TV I need to catch up on, and fall asleep, and then wake up and then maybe try to think of something else to do in GW2.
I really need to go to Arah, because I’m actually relatively close to being able to make Bifrost, but I’m a bit timid about going. I’d even be willing to do one of the pay groups, but not really sure how that works or who to trust.
Made a new healing set for my Elementalist, which was fun. Just trying it out today.
Oh, and I always try to do the Queensdale, Frostgorge and super-easy Southsun jumping puzzle (plus little ship chest) every day to keep in those materials. I still have 4/6 crafting to take to 500, with the remaining sitting anywhere between 425 and 475.
With the Megaserver system it has become impossible to gather Ori or Ancient Wood with multiple characters since you will get placed on a different server everytime. The only possibility is to have a “Anchor” , a player who is willed to stay on the map for the length of the gathering process (which can take up to 1 hour if you have 8 characters or more). But most of the time you wont find anyone willing to do so or at least not for free.
Ah, I see. Thank you for the explanation.
Zerg content sucks. It’s basically I suck or I’m lazy so carry me. You can’t shine like in smaller 5man content. I can go up to shatterer start auto attacking tab out and back in for easy loot then onto the new boss. Even if I somehow die there will be dozens of people to ress me. Tequatl and jungle wurm would be very easy if it was instanced and players had control over who can come or not. But nope anet has to please everyone so that the bads get carried and feel good about themselves
Shine.
Putting on Beserker gear and stacking.
Don’t burn out all at once there, Master Fortgang. You still have 3 years of college left.
Why can’t there be a little bit of everything for everyone to enjoy? How does my enjoying the Fire Elemental or Shatterer preventing you from shining your 5 man or joining a Fraternity/Sororiety of Tequatl or Super New Wurm? Why does the game have to be about wanting content only for you, and wanting ‘all the bads’ to not have any enjoyable content?
I think it’s great you got Tequatl. I wish they didn’t ‘take away’ content to make it, and would have introduced a new super sub dragon for you to fight, like they did with the super wurm. I don’t begrudge content that seems more suited to you. I simply don’t partake in it if it’s not to my liking, and enjoy the content that is more suited to my tastes.
Any reason not to reciprocate?
Because the Zerg swarms crawling around the map are depriving content from small teams. They’d be just fine if every 3rd or 5th or so run of a world boss was a zerg train, letting others take shots at it and experiment with the matches on their own, but when the Zerg are taking every run of every worldboss and major event, then the problem pops up.
That is a perfectly valid concern and issue.
The vitriol I responded to didn’t seem to share your valid concern.
Yes, even for someone like me, who likes more casual and open world, organic grouping for content (vs old, structured 5 person parties, holy trinities, monster and resource node tagging, et al), the megaservers have created a bit of an overkill, where it can be a little underwhelming, to the point where mechanically it’s breaking down handing out proper rewards for killing some of the champions involved at the activities.
Hopefully it’s something that can be addressed by tuning the number of people that it takes to spawn new instances at world events, as well as maybe creating ‘raid’ type mechanics where ‘groups of groups’ can form together and spin up their own instances to do world events with smaller groups of people. Lots of options to consider.
‘Bads’ and ‘Shines’? Not so helpful.
Yes
Edit: Guess that’ll teach me to not read the body carefully.
Subject: Yes
Body (last question): No
And mostly because I think that the alternative that some of you want (I wouldn’t presume to say all) is some America, NASCAR, Gordon Gekko, Free Market, Bernie Maddolf, Starbelly Sneetch game where there’s only a few winners, and everyone else is a scrub and should just quit, because we clearly weren’t riding dinosaurs 6,000 years ago like you were.
I’d much rather be playing this game, where it’s not about comparing rug burns.
Is Vanguard still open? I think that was created by some fellow that thought we all needed to be playing Everquest again? Final Fantasy XIV reboot went military industrial complex (ruining it) in addition to other changes the game needed, that might work?
(edited by notebene.3190)
I’m going to be a Virginia.
Is China a venue? Probably be a good show.
For what it’s worth, I see they are selling that pack of spring animals they released last year that has the 3 I bought individually (white kitten, lion cub, black bear cub) as well as 2 others.
It does ‘not’ appear to have an expiration date either.
Effin scary looking. Prefer my HoM Kitty
That is a great cat, and I’m jealous, but beggars can’t be choosers. 
yeah, I didn’t mean to make is sound like your question wasn’t fair. But it’d be really disappointing if there wasn’t something special with these mini’s other than “yeah, everyone will want a kitten, lets put the price up”
Oh no, you didn’t at all. Understood, and used as a spring board to add detail as to ‘why’ I was asking. Not to be argumentative.
well at 400 gems it better \=
It’s terribly inconsistent, which is why I wanted to know.
The plush griffon used to, then it couldn’t, with a developer saying it was “immersion breaking”, which aside from being a great pun, is just plain silly. It’s laziness.
The mini black bear, lion and white kitten from last March’s “here’s a pet a week, hope you all go broke” event all swim.
The awesome puppy (was that from around the holiday? I forget.) does ‘not’ swim. He’s basically the same frame as the lion cub. What is up with that?
So thus my question, and hope for proof, before I get the pet.
Self Style Hair Kit
Change it so if ‘all’ you change is your hair ‘accessory’ color, it does ‘not’ burn the kit.
This would allow us to buy one and bank it to change ‘only’ the hair accessory color from time to time (to match our clothing dye changes, as an example) without having to spend $3.13 each time.
If we change our hair style, color, anything else related to our hair, then it burns the kit as it does now.
Might ultimately encourage a few more sales, as you’d have to buy at least ‘one’ kit from the gem store to give yourself a perma-hair accessory color changer (if you will).
Seems like it would be a ‘relatively’ inexpensive thing to implement, adding code to check to see if all you changed was the hair accessory color, then not do the step that then removes the item from inventory.
Food for thought.