Guild Wars 2

TheGrimm.5624:

pdavis.8031:

This isn’t anything new. Block and report, move on.

Nope been around, what 3 years. But here is the difference. Gamer’s with disposable income will be deciding, as new games are coming out or as they have opportunity to invest that income in new games being developed, where that cash is going. Small things add up.

I am not sure I follow. Gold sellers have been around since the beginning. That part isn’t new. Purchasing gold from a gold seller always has been, and always will be a bannable offence. The advice given from Anet has always been block and report. That part isn’t new. If someone is silly enough to purchase gold from a gold seller they risk being banned. As the old saying goes “a fool and his money are quickly parted”. They stand a very good chance of losing the $50 they spent on the game (or less if it was on sale), either way they take a huge risk in losing their investment into GW2 by buying gold from a gold seller (as well as the money they spent on the gold).

However, as far as investing in other games, that isn’t contingent upon gold sellers in the PVP lobby, or gold sellers at all for that matter. People are going to invest in games they want to play. If GW2 is not captivating their entire attention, then it either speaks to other issues with the game, or their personal preference. It would be silly to toss away $50 (or whatever they spent) on a game simply because they got a few spam messages. If they are the free to play people, they don’t stand to lose as much (nothing really), but aren’t as likely to be investing into the game via gem sales anyway. (limited gem store items, limited TP items, etc.)

So in the end, it’s an annoyance sure, but they can be blocked and ignored. Although some measures could be taken to help prevent spam PMs like that.

This isn’t anything new. Block and report, move on.

Plus, Glint comes from GW1 so it’s not something that just came up from no where. Apparently She has been around for awhile, both helping and opposing our heroes

Yeah I kind of feel you. However, the new characters, and their stories, played out in Season 1 of the Living Story. Which turned out to be a rather ill advised way to introduce the story. As each chapter went for 2 weeks, and then lost forever, before a new chapter was released. Then we get into season 2. While re-playable, it does leave out some VERY key points to the story that were revealed in Season 1. However, until Season 1 is re-released, there are a great many challenges to doing that, they have thrown in an NPC in LA to help give a back story on who these people are, as well as the you tube videos.

Hasn’t this idea of lucky and unlucky accounts been debunked by the devs on multiple occasions?
And hasn’t the math on computer based RNG and it’s correlation with loot in GW2 been done multiple times, proving that accounts are neither lucky or unlucky?

While I enjoy a good tinfoil hat theory, there are some that just get tiresome…

Konig Des Todes.2086:

The Personal Story wasn’t really a cliffhanger. It was a closed arc, but left room for the future. There was no sense of immediately going after something else. The plot was done, the story was done, but there was the potential for more.

Season 1 was definitely a cliffhanger while also being a closed arc. The arc might have been done, but the story and plot were not. Season 2 was worse of a cliffhanger, as not even the arc was done – nothing was finished in Season 2. You cannot play Season 2 without playing HoT and have a sense of completion – it’d be like watching Star Wars Episode 4 only to where Obi-Wan dies and the others escape the Death Star.

HoT was also a cliffhanger, done in a similar style as Season 1. The arc and plot was finished, but they had already begun the next… with only one page’s worth comparatively to a book.

I do not expect S3 to end without a cliffhanger, but I do hope that the next plot – whatever it is – doesn’t end with one. Whether it means the next expansion or Season 3 or Season 4 or whatever.

ZudetGambeous.9573:

The cliffhanger is if there will ever be a season 3 or not.

My guess is it will get pushed back 2-3 times and then magically appear behind the paywall of the next expansion.

That wouldn’t be a Living World Season. And we’ve already been told that we’re getting it this year, with hints being that we get it before the Fall quarterly update (or at least it starts before then).

Though the sooner they begin releasing it, the better.

Obi-Wan dies!? Thanks for the spoiler!

(j/k)

Although I am generally not a huge fan of cliff hangers, I wouldn’t say that HoT was much of a cliff hanger. At most it left many questions un-answered. I thought that it wrapped up the season 2 story nicely (although not very well executed).

CrownedTheClown.3058:

i am lvl 11 necromancer using staff and dagger/focus.

what utilities can i get to help me in pve .

i know there is going to be traits later on and again i dont know what to build out of these traits.

and thx <3

Your best bet is going to be just focusing on leveling, learning how the different weapons work, and which sets you like the best. At such a low level, with so little unlocked there isn’t much you can do in the way of a build.
After you hit lvl 80, and have all the traits and utilities unlocked then start focusing on a build. For leveling up, you don’t really need a build, unless you are jumping into pvp.

BloodyNine.7504:

In our guild we have noticed a definite drop in active player roles. We have also spoken with leaders of some other larger guilds. They have also noticed the same. People that previously would play a lot are just not logging in anymore. They are still around in TS, playing other games. I am sure they will come back for LS3. But as soon as that is done they will dwindle again I am sure.

I understand that this game does not have tiered gear progression. They don’t want your stuff to become obsolete. But, as a game dev, if you are going to do that you need to release more content, faster. People want either new stuff or to progress. Sure you can grind out a legendary and it might be fun for the first one. But it doesn’t make you any stronger, faster, better. It is just shiny. Anet really needs to up the production speed on new content otherwise the slow hemorrhage will continue imo

This is true, and most likely what is happening here. However, this is not uncommon with any game of any genre, especially MMOs. Even WoW sees players bleeding off for quite awhile until a new expansion. Then a jump in numbers around launch time.
The same thing is happening here. People played HoT, got what they wanted out of it (i.e whatever masteries they wanted, skins, achievements, etc.) then took a break until the next LS season comes out. Once that does, they’ll be back, and leave again once they do what they wanted to do.
It’s difficult to continually come out with content fast enough to keep everyone playing all the time.
I personally am not worried about the state of the game, and how many players there are. There will always be more new players coming in, and old players returning, to keep this game up and running for years to come.

convenience.2057:

pdavis.8031:

What one thing people seem to be forgetting about grind and how it relates to GW2 is that it adds for replay-ability.

I feel this is an important point but a highly subjective one.
~snip~

And this is what the grindy/not grindy discussion boils down to. It’s all a matter of perception. You yourself stated that you “felt” that you had to change your play style to obtain ascended equipment. It no loner was fun, and it became more of a chore. Why? Because it was there. We all can agree that ascended adds only a small increase to your overall power. Thus the game provides a long term goal that caters to those seeking the ultimate progression. However, the game itself doesn’t require full ascended equipment outside of one specific are (high level fractals). Which again don’t offer any more rewards than can be obtained from lower levels.
So in the end, it’s all a matter of what players “feel” they must accomplish in game (which of course is subjective) In this way Anet has succeeded. If it took a minimum 120 hours (as you pointed out), that’s 120 hours Anet successfully provoked me to play. One certainly doesn’t NEED to grind for ascended, but it adds something to do.
Overall, it’s about what players feel they need to accomplish in game, not what is required to accomplish in game in order to achieve anything.

Astralporing.1957:

Also, remember, that all the PvP skins you had before are still available to you, as they were converted to the Wardrobe system.

Which is important to remember as some super rare weapons shared skins with pvp weapons (i.e. The Hunter). Nearly had a heart attack when I thought I had salvaged, or tossed in the toilet, a freaking precursor weapon.

What one thing people seem to be forgetting about grind and how it relates to GW2 is that it adds for replay-ability.
Imagine if everything was rewarded near instantly over the course of a single, maybe two play through’s?
Why would you need to log back on? You’d already have everything. Sure you could jump on to play some pvp, or wvw, but without anything to work toward, that won’t hold players for very long at all.

As for the ascended grind? Yeah not so much. I was able to farm and craft 2 full sets of ascended. That included lvling up the crafting professions in less than 6 months. This wasn’t spending 8+ hours a day, nor was it every day. At most I would do 2-3 hours, and 3-4 days a week, sometimes less. It’s not hard, it’s not “super grindy” I didn’t need to do the “same content over and over again” to do it either. (Although I did when I farmed for my legendary, some places give much better drops than others.)

More than likely there will be at least two candidates who would be considered to be leader from among the pact commanders. The PC will be excluded, as they have other duties elsewhere (or some other explanation). There will be another vote like Cutthroat Politics. Who ever is chosen will have a (minor) effect on the story line.
I don’t think it’ll be anyone from DE 2.0, or DE for that matter. But it makes sense to promote from inside the pact from among the commanders rather than bring in someone from the outside.

Here’s an idea. Since this topic about grind comes up every other week, can we have a “Grind” thread where each time this is brought up it will be merged?
It’s the same each time. “There’s so much grind! I have to constantly repeat X content in order to get materials to craft ascended! Please fix! insert suggestions about drop rates, fixing costs, and time gates”
This is met with the usual rebuttals: “It’s not require except high level fractals”, “You can easily get the materials just by playing the game”, “The stats are such a small increase it’s negligible”, etc.

Merging all into a single thread will help consolidate all such concerns, and be easier for devs to track. Just an idea….

There are TP bots available for download. I won’t link them, nor give the names. But a google search will reveal that there are some out there, specifically for the Guild Wars 2 TP.
Of course using such a thing is highly discouraged and should never be done, unless of course you want to get banned….

RoseofGilead.8907:

pdavis.8031:

RoseofGilead: While the Lunar festival may mirror, or have elements of Chinese culture, the in-game origin is Canthan.
(http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Canthan_New_Year)

Yes, I’m very aware of that. Cantha and their Dragon Festival, while obviously based around various Asian cultural things, had their own flair about them. However, the GW2 Lunar New Year is most definitely based on Chinese New Year, as well as GW1’s Cantha.

Which is my second point about fanasty/real life cultures. It adds that additional element of immersion.
Robert Jordan did an amazing job of this in The Wheel of Time series.

INB4 thread lock.

This game in no way caters to any particular set of beliefs or any particular (real life) cultural identity. Adding in such a thing, you bring an unwanted, and potentially harmful aspect into the game. No.

RoseofGilead: While the Lunar festival may mirror, or have elements of Chinese culture, the in-game origin is Canthan.
(http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Canthan_New_Year)
In my opinion: Fantasy cultures that have a familiarity with real life cultures add to the “believability factor”. Which does more to help immersion than anything else. It makes the player feel like they know and understand the people, and can relate more to them.

SkyFierce,

Let’s start at the very beginning.
What do you want to accomplish?
What is your preferred fighting style? Do you want to hit hard and fast and get the kill before the enemy really knows you’re there? Or be able to hit like a truck, yet take some blows? What about wearing down your enemy before you go in for the kill? How about providing support for your allies while being able to defend yourself?

Once you figure that out, the next step is getting gear. In all honesty getting lvl 80 exotic gear is not difficult at all. If money is a problem, you can run dungeons for tokens to buy the gear you want. Finding a rune set you want can be expensive, depending on which runes. Accessories and trinkets are also fairly inexpensive.

Finally, learning to play the chosen build(s) is probably the hardest part. Knowing which skills work best with others, when to use X skill, and when to hold off on Y skill until just the right time.

So, answer the first question for us, and we’ll see what we can do!

White moa: Smidvarg
Pig: Wilbur (Not really original…)
Black Widow: Child of Ungoliant

I like my pig as a pet, but Smidvarg as a name.

Love it!! It makes waiting around for the next match to start a bit more interesting. Been waiting for this for awhile. Thanks!

However, now that gliding is a thing, would it be possible to open up the HotM jumping puzzle? I know it got shut down with the removal of underwater combat. I was hoping to be able to glide past the wall into the jumping puzzle area, but the cursed invisible walls kept me out.
Just a thought…

Sansarah.3076:

pdavis.8031:

Sansarah.3076:

So I have a question, does ArenaNet outright say that using a DPS meter for the sake of oneself to perform better. Is actually 100% against the ToS and is indeed bannable?

I’m not using a DPS meter, but I, like probably many others, would like to compare builds for min/maxing purposes and dps performance in raids for instance.

So getting some real actual facts about what is permitted and not when it comes to a DPS meter. Would be very good to know.

Does someone have or can provide any real facts that is set in stone?

Being a third party add-on they won’t say one way or another. However, they will point to the ToS section talking about third party add-ons, and encourage you to use your own judgement. However, it is possible that using one, even as innocent as a personal DPS meter, may be a cause for suspicion and result in a ban. So using such things is at your own risk.

Yeah which is what is being said all out through the thread. But using such an item only to risk being banned isn’t worth it. I mean they went out in public and said that macro’ing music is allowed as long as it’s only for that purpose, why can’t they give us a straight answer here?

A simple No, that’s not allowed, don’t do it. Is good enough.
Or Yes, it’s allowed, go ahead and use it.

It’s not rocket science.. :P

I’ve asked exactly the same thing. Dev’s response was: We cannot, and will not, vet any third party program. Period. Any third party program is used at your own risk.

It’s really a matter of policy.
Let’s say the devs come out and say, it’s ok to use DPS meters. There are dozens at the very least, DPS meters out there, that work in a variety of ways. Turns out that several of them work with the game in such a way that leaves it open and easy to hack/cheat. This will of course be taken advantage of. Now, when an account is actioned due to said hacking/cheating, the hacker now has a legal claim, as DPS meters were approved, and as such he could not be held liable for what the program does, and his taking advantage of that.

Although this is my reasoning as to why they won’t outright state that certain adds-ons can or cannot be used, as well as copyright, licensing, and other legal matters. But it makes sense to me.

Arkanthor.2307:

I think he´s Rengar from League of legends. If you look closer he doesen´t have the horns or the four ears of the charr.

You’re right!
I didn’t even notice I was trying to place that sword skin :P

Also I don’t play LoL so wouldn’t know who that was anyway.

Here’s a REAL Charr cosplay.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/299630181433546235/

I don’t know who this is, but it’s pretty much amazing!

Great job!

Got to love the English language.

David.5693:

A couple of nights ago I stepped away from from my keyboard and got busy and sort of forgot I was logged in. My 4 year old (turned 4 years old last week) got on my char. He likes pressing the buttons and clicking on stuff, which has caused me no small amount of trouble. He knows he can press arrow keys to move and that number 1 make fire.

He got into an unranked pvp match somehow. He will click on anythign that pops up. So I realize after a while that he managed to get in PvP, so I go over there to check it out. His team was within 10 points of winning so I let him stay on, and they won.

I said all of that to say this. He did better than 3 other people on his team, and I know one of them was actively trying.

He literally ran around and pressed 1 over and over on my glass cannon staff ele and didn’t come in last place.

I never play pvp, but I am thinking I should start…

I kid you not this happened.

Can you imagine finding out you get reckt by a 4 year old spamming 1? I would pay real money to see the look on that face…..

Thats epic!

Name: Alodar Dorin
Race: Human
Gender: Male

Alodar Dorin actually has quite a long history. I first created him as a necro in a MUD (Multi- User Dungeon, text based online RPG) game back in the 1990’s. Since then he has been a vast number of, generally, magic wielding characters, and even played a brief role in a short story I wrote where he earned the title “Lord of Shadows” after killing his mentor Yaxin. He briefly saw life (or rather un-life) as a vampire from the World of Darkness: Vampire the Masqurade RPG but the group fell apart and he never really got developed more then a short back story.

Sansarah.3076:

So I have a question, does ArenaNet outright say that using a DPS meter for the sake of oneself to perform better. Is actually 100% against the ToS and is indeed bannable?

I’m not using a DPS meter, but I, like probably many others, would like to compare builds for min/maxing purposes and dps performance in raids for instance.

So getting some real actual facts about what is permitted and not when it comes to a DPS meter. Would be very good to know.

Does someone have or can provide any real facts that is set in stone?

Being a third party add-on they won’t say one way or another. However, they will point to the ToS section talking about third party add-ons, and encourage you to use your own judgement. However, it is possible that using one, even as innocent as a personal DPS meter, may be a cause for suspicion and result in a ban. So using such things is at your own risk.

Harper.4173:

Because with a dps meter you’re no longer measuring spreadsheet DPS and you can actually prove your skill and ability even if your build is suboptimal for some reason.

Also – DPS is not something that matters all the time – most VG runs fail now not because of lack of dps but because people fail mechanics.

Which is one of the points I made earlier.

Either way, people will be expected to run those builds, or be considered (as you put it), lazy players that want to be carried. (Which again, is hardly an attitude that promotes working together….).

Harper.4173:

We already have this now – how is a dps meter a problem in this case?

A DPS meter won’t help improve the situation. If anything it’ll give more opportunity to discriminate against players that certain other players already feel are bad.

Harper.4173:

It would also give players a chance to test builds, and prove themselves.

Let’s face it – a lack of a dps meter doesn’t mean certain players won’t feel they’re within their rights to kick you and tell you your build is bad.

This is true, however with a DPS meter, those players will feel justified in doing so. In the end the only thing that a DPS meter will accomplish is separating the player base even more. Those who feel that the only those with the highest DPS are worthy, versus those who would rather just play the game and not worry about reaching a certain set of numbers.

So let me ask you this. If there is already this type of separation of players, how will a DPS meter bring those different groups together?

forum bug
/15 character limit reached

Sorin.4310:

pdavis.8031:

I’ll concede that it might help a person understand their build better. However, I still maintain that it will only be meaningful or useful to those who care about such things (i.e. those who value efficiency and numbers over just enjoying the game and having fun).

I don’t understand these kind of comments. Why suggest what someone should get out of the game? You seem to be under the impression “those who value efficiency” and “enjoying the game and having fun” are somehow mutually exclusive. For plenty of us, they are not. In fact, they are intertwined.

While these descriptions of different types of players are not mutually exclusive, it is important to note that “fun” is a very relative term. However, even in this thread, those who play to “have fun” (i.e. with non-meta/“sup par” builds) are criticized. We are called lazy, expect to be carried, bad players, etc. It is apparent that those who choose to play the most optimal way possible, and have fun doing so, seem to think that anyone who doesn’t play according to how they themselves have fun, that they are somehow “less than”.
They way this game is set up, with the various mechanics and again perhaps excepting raids, it doesn’t really matter what build you run. As long as you are a fairly competent player, know your build and how to play it, and a general idea of boss mechanics, you can succeed, and enjoy doing it.
As an example. I once ran a naked condi necro in PVP (no armor or runes). I was mocked and insulted, and criticized for it. I had my highest kill rate to date. Or with my cleric bunker guardian. Held points and had my lowest death rate to date. But it’s a “bad” build. It was considered “sub par”, less than useless, and because of which I was a bad player. Both were really fun to play.

In conclusion, fun means different things to different people. What one person feels is fun should not be pushed on another. Which is precisely what the “optimization” crowd does to the “PHIW” crowd. Giving advice or a build when asked is fine, but it’s not okay when people are judged on what build they run simply because it’s not what a person deems enjoyable.

Pandabro.8743:

TL;DR – Part of teamwork and cooperation is accountability and without tools like damage meters leaders can only make guesses at who’s doing their job and who’s not.

I can appreciate your point. And can see that in raids specifically, DPS meters could be useful. However, this is precisely why I said nearly all content.

Also the examples you gave are about what should happen, in an ideal situation. The reality is that the RL in the first example would be more akin to:
RL: “Whose the kitten that caused us to fail!?” -scans dps meter (assuming a public one)- Player X and Y you kitten noobs!! L2P!!! Get gud! /kicks

You see this happen in dungeons, and other group content that fails quite often (and this is without a DPS meter).

Next Day player X and player Y are in group
RL: kicks on sight

It is also worthy to note that both examples are in a guild group, with a good guild leader. Not all guild leaders would even do that with most of their guildies. Heck, one of the first guilds I was in, the guild leader and some other members were actually saying some nasty things about me because I didn’t want to pay to transfer servers. Until they discovered I was on TS with them… (but thats a whole different story).

With pugs I am sure that this wouldn’t be the case. After all, they are “just pugs”. It’s easier to justify kicking someone you don’t know, than it is one of your friends/guild members.

Also here is an interesting article about DPS meters in general:
http://blessingofkings.blogspot.com/2015/10/dps-meters-and-player-behavior.html

Aenesthesia.1697:

pdavis.8031:

No. An in-game DPS meter will only serve to stoke the ego’s of those who live by such things, and do nothing to promote cooperation, teamwork, or build diversity.

Cooperation, teamwork, and build diversity, can only come as a result of people knowing what each one is doing and how well it works.

You have no idea how well the meta builds work in the hands of average players, but still people are told to use the meta builds because ‘they are better’.

No, i don’t think damage meters are there only to feed the ego of tryhards. What i am really realising, is that lazy players don’t want damage meters because then the rest will see that they only want to be carried instead of actually using teamwork and cooperation for the good of the whole team.

I disagree.
Cooperation/teamwork: As it stands now, cooperation and teamwork rely on knowing the mechanics more than anything else (for group content). Knowing when to dodge, when the right time to use an interrupt is, watching for certain animations, etc.
If one knows and understands such mechanics, nearly all content can be completed without incident, regardless of the builds being used.
With the addition of a DPS meter, that cooperation and teamwork go to the way side in favor of having the best possible DPS. So where it didn’t matter what build you had, as long as you knew the fight you were fine (with the execption of the speedrun/meta only crowd). With a DPS meter, now it matters what build you have. Just as there are those who will kick or exclude anyone not running what they deem to be the most optimal builds, there will be those who kick and exclude those who are not outputting the most optimal DPS. How is that promoting cooperation and teamwork? It’s the exact opposite of promoting such things.

Build Diversity:
Sure, at the beginning a DPS meter might encourage people to take a new look at different builds. But once such builds have been examined, there will emerge another meta, or it will remain the same. Either way, people will be expected to run those builds, or be considered (as you put it), lazy players that want to be carried. (Which again, is hardly an attitude that promotes working together….).

So once again we would be back in the same place we are now, but with more of a reason for players to feel superior, blame others for mistakes, and be a general kitten to other players they deem to be “bad”. If anything a DPS meter would just legitimize their being kittens. All with a shiney new meter flashing numbers on your screen.

morrowson.9245:

I’m trying to play HoT but its taking forever to get to hero points and level my masteries and stuff. It’s taking hours just walking around to find out how to get to the hero point/mastery locations. Wut do?

It’s supposed to be hard. Folks have been clamoring for “harder, more challenging” content for quite awhile. It was delivered, and yet people are complaining “it’s too hard!”. Can’t please everyone I suppose.

However, try looking at youtube. There are plenty of videos that show exactly how to get those hero points.

Good luck!

Thaddeus.4891

1)That not true that only try-hards are min/maxers care about that. Most people care about having a decent build. Only a small portion of the community want to min/max between assassin and zerker or take the expensive versatile +5stats, etc. That’s the minority. Just like only the minority don’t give a kitten about their build effectiveness at all. The majority is in between. They want a build that they like, but want to make that build a minium efficient. They want to have fun, while having not too much problem beating the game and they surely want to feel like they help their team, not drag them down.

Define decent build? One that does the most damage possible? Or one that a person enjoys playing? (The two are not always the same). Also, it’s impossible to determine how much of the player base is a minority or a majority. If going by the forums, than it might be considered a minority of a minority, which is a very small portion of players.

Thaddeus.4891

2) Seriously? You are still thinking about the almighty zerker gear? Ya Assassins, Sinister, Viper and Zerker isn’t enough to change the way these people talk? Could you guess at least start to talk about glassy gear or offensive only gear and stop with the zerker gear?

Point taken, although my point was that only certain types of gear/builds are acceptable by a certain type of player. All others are deemed useless, sub-par, and the sing of being a bad player.

Thaddeus.4891

3) That the point. People know what is the meta. Having number for the meta isn’t a problem you idiot. They are all over the internet. A dps meter would not help determine how the meta is good. We already have a lot of people doing the math on these build. What a dps meter would help to do is first to give dps data on OTHER BUILD THAN META. Nobody take the time to calculate what is the dps of a minion master or a Marauder Elementalist or a Celestial Engineer. We just know they are less so we assume they are bad. What how much dps they lose? 50%, 30%, 10%?? We don’t know really. Secondly that will give a tool for people to improve themselve. kitten in theory I could do 20k dps, most people show that they are able to reach 18K in-game, but I only do 15K dps. What can I do to improve. Is it my build, my rotation, my positioning? And third and most importantly, that will show to people following the meta like crazy how much they might still do a terrible dps. They will realize that they would do better dps with some non meta build because they have a simpler rotation or work better in the content you are doing, etc. It will show that meta are usually build in a bubble or in the hands of elite players and that the result are not the same in the hand of an average players or in the reality of a fight.

While it might help improve builds other then the meta, a DPS meter would also reinforce the same meta, or establish a new meta. The whole “meta way or the highway” mentality wouldn’t change.

to be continued….

Coulter.2315:

pdavis.8031:

No. An in-game DPS meter will only serve to stoke the ego’s of those who live by such things, and do nothing to promote cooperation, teamwork, or build diversity.

Actually a DPS meter would allow you to tweak and understand your build better, know when best to burst and what could be tightened up in your rotation. As someone who has used a DPS meter in WoW it was the most useful tool to improve my play, having real and accurate data on how your performance translates to damage would be a really helpful thing for the game (esp now raids).

I’ll concede that it might help a person understand their build better. However, I still maintain that it will only be meaningful or useful to those who care about such things (i.e. those who value efficiency and numbers over just enjoying the game and having fun).
As much as this game caters to “casuals”, and the complaints of too many casuals in this game, I don’t think a DPS meter would be well received. It sets a “standard” by which players feel they must play. Instead of running a “fun” build (like my cleric guardian build. It does kitten for damage, yet it’s fun to play) which would produce low DPS numbers, thus implying IN GAME that they are running a “bad” build, and as such shouldn’t be running that, or that that particular build isn’t contributing to the content in any way. The very nature of a DPS meter in game goes against the “Play how you want” philosophy of the game.

zorokai.1486:

SORRY FOR SPAM I THINK ANETS FORUM WENT WEIRD

Diamond is full of people who are maybe emerald level at best, due to them smurfing their way up the ranks for most of the season. Changing the algorithm now, when few people in diamond and above have any idea what they’re doing is completely ludicrous and makes no sense.

For example, I just got matched with four hotjoin level diamond solo queuers who spent the whole match dead, downed, and rotating like blind seals – vs a 4 man diamond and legendary queue who outclassed them in every way. This is unplayable and even worse than before.

Please, just revert yesterday’s changes. The season is almost over, you can carry out your experimental adjustments then. This really isn’t fair on your players

Just want to stress they got Outplayed by RUBY Division….

And just for clarification, you are certain beyond a doubt that they were able to “smurf” their way up the divisions? And how can you tell this? Because they played terribly for a match?

You did mention they were solo-queuers. So it seems like terrible communication, and bad decisions more than anything. Or they just decided to troll their team for whatever reason. But it seems rather far fetched to claim that they somehow abused the system to get to a higher rank

Figlilly.3907:

Hi and welcome back pdavis. I remember you

I think it is healthy to take a break from a game now and then otherwise we get burnt out and bored. I too had a rest from GW2 for about eight months and now I am truly loving it again. I can’t wait for gliding in Tyria either.

Don’t know about Season 3. I don’t know if much has been said about it yet.

Woot!!! I’m famous!!

Yeah I just saw that it was coming. Nothing more than that.

Why not undead runes instead? A loss of <200 power, and a gain of ~300 condi damage, as well as increased toughness? Also with corrupter’s fervor, you gain more toughness, as well as more condi damage the longer you are in the fight.
Also wells, and Blood Magic might be a good choice as well. Vampirec wells are nice to have. I also would take Lingering Curse over weakening shroud. An extra 150 condi damage is nice to have, as well as increased condi duration.
But thats just me…

You do realize that only those who really care about having a DPS meter are the meta try-hards and the min/maxers right? People get enough flak for not running the almighty zerker gear. What we DON’T need is a sure fire way to come down on other players for not playing a way that someone thinks they should play.
Besides, nearly every bit of content, with perhaps the exception of raids, can be completed in the worse possible build setup ever.
No. An in-game DPS meter will only serve to stoke the ego’s of those who live by such things, and do nothing to promote cooperation, teamwork, or build diversity.

I don’t know about anyone else, but I took a break for awhile from GW2. While the expansion was fun, with all the neat stuff, I was starting to get bored. But now with central Tyria gliding, season 3, and more it looks like it might be a good time to come back. I’m excited to see whats coming down the line.

Also, concerning season 3. Is it going to follow the same model as before? As in if you log in during the time it’s live you unlock it forever? Or something else entirely? I for one would be really sad if it was only available through the gem store or something.

Anyway, I am really looking forward to delving back into the wonderful world of Tryia!

Sundar.1735:

It doesn’t make much sense to me that maps like Southsun Cove and the new HOT maps (only for players who have HOT) do not count towards world completion. i understand that this would make world completion significantly more tedious but it just doesn’t feel right otherwise. For some reason, I feel all of the newer maps feel somewhat disconnected from the vanilla maps. I’m not sure if this is the reason or if it has to do with the design of those maps. Any thoughts?

As mentioned in other comments, it has everything to do with already gained rewards, greater requirements, and accessibility. To those who choose not to buy the expansion (and future expansions) they will be prevented from ever acquiring a legendary weapon. Those who already have 100%, do they lose their title as well as the gifts for making a legendary? Or do they get the benefit of receiving those rewards without having to fully complete the task? Is that equitable?
However, map completion on new (HoT) maps provide their own rewards that are only obtainable through map completion. This way makes it so there is incentive to complete the new maps, but not punishing people or removing their rewards, for having not done it yet.

Diovid.9506:

pdavis.8031:

I think this is the picture you are referring to. The second one is the globe in the Chantry of Secrets. To me both maps look very similar. I wonder if the globe and the wall map are essentially the same thing?

Nope. The Chantry of Secrets globe shows major threats, while the other map shows ley line hubs.

True, but it does seem odd that the two maps are similar looking. It would be interesting to see if the flattened out globe with the major threats marked was in anyway similar to the ley-line hub map.

Plus, making such a connection between the two maps would be rather easy to do in game.

But consider this:
/tinfoil hat on
You can’t really trust anything the Order of Whispers says. you don't even know who the leader is until later in the story
The Order knows much, and they are aren’t exactly forthcoming about what they know.
It is entirely possible that the Order has been monitoring Ley-Lines for quite some time, trying to pinpoint the exact locations of the Elder Dragons. Which of course would constitute a “major threat”.
So the Order has a map of Ley-Line hubs they tell people “it’s for major threats” as a means of distraction (which they are masters of). But really they are watching and monitoring Ley-Line hubs. They suspected where Mordremoth was, based on their globe, but didn’t want to reveal just how much they knew. Lest they be held responsible for not taking action much sooner. Instead, they watch and wait. For reasons only known to them. They knew about Rata Novus, they knew about Mordremoth, they know about Kralk, Primordius, and Bubbles. They just are keeping their mouths shut about it. Why? Because they are in league with Lazarus. By keeping knowledge of the ley-lines and their hubs, and what lies at those location hidden, they help Lazarus bring the vengeance he swore upon Tryia.
/tinfoil hat off

Liquicity.3621:

Or is this some Anita @ UN cry?

This made me happy Thank you

I think this is the picture you are referring to. The second one is the globe in the Chantry of Secrets. To me both maps look very similar. I wonder if the globe and the wall map are essentially the same thing?

Either way, it would be interesting to see what those other points on the first map are.

Tigaseye.2047:

No, people know what THEY want.

Problem is, a minority of them, continually, try to impose what they alone want, onto the majority and games companies these days seem to just roll over immediately and, passively, oblige.

People ask for this stuff, either because they don’t fully comprehend the unintended consequences of their requests; or because (even more alarmingly) they actually like the idea of removing basic stuff from other people.

In this case, stuff that people have already worked for and acquired.

It is still the games company’s fault, because it is their job to sort the wheat from the chaff, to work out what is a reasonable (and not totally selfish) request and to foresee any unintended consequences.

If they can’t, or won’t, do that, anymore, they are failing us all, really badly and do not deserve our custom.

So kind of what you are doing? A minority who wants things their way? (i.e. easier upgrades for small guilds). As one who is opposed to having gaming companies “roll over” for the vocal minority, it appears that you want them to “roll over” for you, and those you agree with.

I don’t know, but to me at least, it seems a bit odd to criticize a company because they cater to minorities, yet want them to cater to you. Just sayin’

Swagger.1459:

True leaders lead from the front, not behind. I think there needs to be a change in mentality from the top to make this happen. If the top would focus more on supporting their development team properly to help produce better stuff for us customers, then they would naturally see bigger green numbers on their monthly and quarters reports… If this were to happen, then everybody wins right?

Actually, the best leaders lead from the back. You did mention one key aspect of a good leader, and that is supporting their people. A leaders true goal and responsibility should be serving those under them in order to achieve the task, what ever it may be.
This is coming from 4 years of advanced leadership training, as well as nearly 10 years of actual leadership experience. (Of course this being the internet, that doesn’t really mean much). But even doing a cursory search of what a great leader is, and you’ll find the servant leadership model is the most effective and most successful.

Rooms Of Ruin.1965:

Solomon Darkfury.3729:

read point 1…

“This includes posting insulting, offensive, or abusive comments about players, repeatedly sending unwanted messages, reporting players maliciously, attacking a player based on race, sexual orientation, religion, heritage, etc.”

This has absolutely nothing to do with someone getting killed standing around afk. The enemies in the open world exist for the SOLE PURPOSE of killing people. How they reach their target makes no difference, whether by accident or on purpose. Go report the devs who coded the AI I guess.

Let me solve this problem for you since it eludes you:

1. Hit I, double click on your HoM portal stone, go make your tea.
2. Click the PVP icon, go to HOTM, go make tea.
3. Click M, WP to the town of your choice, go make your tea

or alternatively you can:

1. Stand around in the hostile world where people are actually playing, get caught by a stray mob, die, waste devs time with senseless reporting, go complain on the forums…

Don’t forget you can also open up the guild tab and go to the guild hall (assuming your guild has a guild hall) and afk there for days without worry. As well as the PvP lobby, or WvW. Why you would want to afk in the open world is beyond me…

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/info/devtracker

There has been some. However, with Thanksgiving in the US it is likely that this past week they took off of work (which is not uncommon). But they are and do remain active,

Dejavu.2349:

I am a huge GW2 fan – I’ve brought many people to the game and have been playing since beta, but the reasons I’ve had to come back to this game between every other MMO are pretty much gone.

I’ve played every major MMO from it’s launch through it’s content at launch. Some games (SWTOR, for instance) I get done with all available content before they’ve even finished the intended starting content, so I leave… and I don’t come back. Ever. Other games take a while longer (like WoW expansions, which I stopped buying after Cataclysm or Rift), but when I left, I left. It was done. Finished. Over. GW2 has been my mainstay since it’s launch and, sadly, it won’t be for much longer due to the fact that I can no longer experience all it’s content without being in a guild. A big guild, at that.

The primary reason I kept coming back to GW2 was that I could see all of it’s content without having to deal with people (I’m always a guild/raid leader in other games and that just wears me down) and still be as relevant as I was when I started a break – sometimes a couple of weeks, sometimes a couple of months; I knew the same great game would be waiting for me when I came back. And I put a lot of hard-earned cash into this game because I loved it so much and it earned it.

That has changed and this is why:
https://goo.gl/ZXBiva
I made a little spreadsheet of the required materials just for Resotration 1-affiliated builds in the Guild Hall. This isn’t nearly a quarter of the materials needed to get to the actual content like Weaponsmith 2’s, which require completion of nearly all builds in restoration 2 and a guild level of 40.

So, basically, not only can my small guild not even claim it’s own Guild Hall with it’s 2 or 3 people (family – pretty much the only people I can stand any more), but we have to get to guild level 40 and get an insane amount of materials – like completely impossible within the expected lifetime of this game (my kids will be through college before I was able to grind out all materials)- in order to fully experience the game.

I’m done.
I’ll play until I leave (again) for another game, but this time, I’ll have a WHOLE LOT LESS reason to come back. Right now, the MMO field is pretty sparse and dry, so I’m good for a while…. But I’m extremely disappointed that my refuge game is now just another game in a pile of grindy games that require I pretend to like other people. I just won’t do it. Unlike some people, I’m not a pretender… I really am incapable of feigning interest any more.

I get that you are frustrated with the inability to be able to do much with Guild Halls being of a small guild. However, reading through this post, it seems that you are most upset by the fact that some minor things (i.e. banners) were removed, and still more is locked behind either guild levels and/or a massive mat collection.

You, and others who have posted either in here or other similar threads, seem to be under the impression that the devs just came up with how Guild Halls function, the effort and time needed, and so on, simply because they were having a bad hair day, it was Tuesday in Seattle, or they just don’t care/out of touch.

Fortunately this isn’t the case. Many of the functionality and features we see in guild halls today are specifically what players wanted. They said they wanted upgrades to take time and effort. They wanted them to be gated. They wanted a place to choose where they can easily and instantly travel to from anywhere in the game. They even made many suggestions about using mats to upgrade, and that the amounts and costs should be a deterrent to super guilds from just being able to buy their way to the top.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/cdi/CDI-Guilds-Guild-Halls/first

If you want to be angry at anybody. Be angry at them. Just glancing over the thread, you can see that many of the things suggested were in fact implemented. The devs just gave the players what they asked for. But it turns out the players in general don’t know what they heck they want.

Lynnie.7213:

pdavis.8031:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vREQNAW7YnMbCN3glbCW3A0biliBTqoN0Oax7whYSMKAMASAA-TxRAABzobADlgfcBAA4JAImyPm2fIU1fIFwkitA-e

If you are going condi try this. It has high toughness, and high condi damage. The added toughness from Corrupter’s Fervor increases your condi damage with undead runes as well as Krait Tuning Crystals.

Also I would consider using epidemic as well to take care of any annoying adds. I am not sure about the raids, but I was able to hit 12k/tick burn, 8k/tick bleed, as well as 2-3k poison in DS. Epidemic is awesome!

12k burn + 8k bleed at same time? On your own?

Through Epidemic.
1. Target legendary/boss with tons of conditions on him.
2. Wait until adds get close.
4.Use epidemic.
5.All the conditions and stacks transfer to adds.
6. Watch them melt like butter in the microwave
7. ?
8. Profit.

Without epidemic I routinely get 3.5k-5k bleeds and a little less than half that with poison. Which isn’t bad just for myself. And that’s not including weapon damage, or damage from any minions I may have.

It may not be as good as power as far as damage numbers, but I enjoy it.

zaced.7948:

@pdavis:
~snip~

So in short it’s a matter of time. If you don’t want to spend the time doing what you need to do to get the mats, but would rather get the gold and buy them because it’s faster, of course it’s going to be expensive (not you specifically, but the general you).

Like I said, I did my full set just by farming. It took 3 months. It’s a long time, but it can be done.