Guild Wars 2

Personally, I wouldn’t want to join a guild in GW2 to pretend to be folks from another game. I’d want to focus on Tyria.

Similarly I wouldn’t want to die to all of the various bosses and tough fights in Dark Souls pretending to be one of my Tyrian heroes.

I think the above players are right to advise you to consider the guild within the context of GW2’s lore and world.

edit: That said, I for one hope you’re helping praise the sun throughout Tyria!

Zeefa seems to be on the right track.

Here’s what I think the pieces are:
shoulders -- PvP Feathered Mantle (PvP only skin as far as I can tell)
chest -- Stately (PvE and PvP skins are the same)
hands -- not sure here, as there are a few different simple gloves that could match (e.g. magician’s, apprentice, etc.), so pick any of them
legs -- Tactical (PvP skin name; skin can also be bought from karma vendors in Straits of Devastation and Fireheart rise, and the skin is also available from WvW vendors)
boots -- Twilight Arbor / PvP Nightmare Shoes

edit: attached a preview with those pieces

Huh.
So folks with a GW1 account that asked for a refund on GW2 can never link their GW1 account / Hall of Monuments rewards if they later get the game again?

I would see if it’s possible for support to offer you a new serial or something and mark your existing one as invalid. I suspect such a process, if they have one, isn’t quite that straightforward, but the way I see it doing something like that would keep whomever you gave out your serial number to from trying to claim your account as theirs much better than just changing emails/password combinations.

Rather than give players even more pats on the back for logging into the game, maybe make the overall activities available engaging on their own.

Hmm.

The game client can direct my browser to wiki pages. Why was this implemented as a stand-alone web page and not integrated with the in-game map (i.e. put the map into atlas mode) that redirected to the wallpapers and images if you clicked on them?

Perhaps with that integration if your atlas was "active" you would get a little ping or an icon would flash if you were exploring in a map near a Living Story zone or historical point.

As it is, this is kind of a neat little project with respect to its appearance but it doesn’t add anything for me.

Are you rummaging through the same 16 piles? For what it’s worth, I thought I could get away with that having started right before reset and continuing right after it when I worked on the achievement. I quickly found out I had to check other piles to advance the counter despite the increase in heirlooms in my possession.

edit: Oh, sorry, I saw no replies when I clicked to make my post. I just said the same thing they did.

From a charr, that might be quite a compliment with respect to his fighting and ferocity. I thought it was appropriate, given their growing partnership in action.

I also grinned when I heard Kasmeer’s sound-effects. She and my mesmer are more alike than I expected when I first saw her in Southsun.

Ah, for me I like to save my real cash, as gold in a video game can’t help me out anywhere else. My trouble then, of course, is trying to apply it toward both fun toys in the store and progression in-game.

But if you’ve got gems to spare / regularly purchase gems anyway I am sure it’s much more appealing, indeed.

That’s a nice chunk of gold, almost enough to hop up to 500 in a craft. Seems a waste to use it for closer-together access of things you can already get to for free.

But maybe you’ve got all kinds of gold and, unlike me, really benefit from that quick back-and-forth between bank, crafting stations, trading post, and forge.

People who’re AFK in the Escape From LA event bug me not because they aren’t doing anything but because there are probably at least a few folks on an Overflow who’d love to be on our home server as we clear 1200 citizens.

Otherwise they’re pretty harmless, though I’ll admit it’s a little frustrating when they use zone chat to tell us all that they are leeching.

We’re worse off when folks zerg around the escort events in the trade district and ignore citizens, locals, and guards that need evacuated or the miasma/defense events.

Ganathar.4956:

Canonically the event only happens once I reckon. We can obviously enter lion’s arch again but I think it’s just for gameplay reasons. So maybe scarlet’s minions evacuate as well?

It’s been my assumption that this is the case if it’s deadly to them, or they’ve been equipped with anti-toxin. Evidence between the tower and now suggests that there isn’t really an anti-toxin, though, so I suspect they would pull out once their work was done.

Or, equally valid to me, is that she doesn’t care once she’s in there and focused on what she’s doing, leaving them to their own devices (i.e. they either choose to leave or die in the process).

Hey, if people want to spend real money to not have to stare at a loading screen once in a while for these few weeks, I don’t see a problem. If it helps keep ANet trucking along, great. Buy tons of them.

I still find it a waste of money / in-game gold, but that’s only relevant to my own decision regarding the pass.

Dialogue had a low priority throughout Living Story, it seems. I expect that stuff to still be around even if LA is permanently changed, though it’s also quite likely LA will end up still being a functional city just with some different geography (needing no real change to that kind of NPC fluff).

FWIW, I often stream Twitch, Netflix, and/or Youtube during play sessions, and others in my current household have not had trouble doing Typical Internet Things (email, browsing, on-demand video of their own on other machines/the television) when playing GW2 (or other games).

The actual amount of data needed for a player’s client and the game’s servers to communicate is not as much as you might expect. Part of the reason the client is so large is to avoid having to stream textures, animations, etc. in order to minimize data usage.

edit: Really with your listed speeds I’d wager any slowdown that was specific to the usage of folks in your household/on your home network would be from multiple video streaming services or if someone was torrenting a lot before I’d point my finger at games.

I rotate through playing each of my characters, depending on what I am in the mood to do or what kind of powers I want to be using. I’ll always prefer my mesmer over the others, I think, but for me it’s not about a main and alts so much as it is about exploring everything and running a team.

It was even tougher in GW1 to claim I liked one over the others. I think it often depended on when you asked me, as I might be in the middle of a ranger kick or laughing maniacally as I spread SS over everything or wailing on people with scythes, etc. (or, dare I say it, healing on a monk or rit or ele or whatever!)

I do know that my engineer, who I’ve put off leveling forever, is going to do a lot of sitting around. That’s one class I have not enjoyed nearly as much as the others.

Hello!
If it matters at all:
Crystal Desert
Personal Story Mission “Early Parole”
instanced version of Shire of Beetletun
current character: level 50 charr engineer (though I believe this happened the same for my human thief months and months ago when I leveled her)

The level 53 personal story mission for Whispers members who have chosen to free Benn Tenstrikes, called “Early Parole”, still has a cutscene timing issue.

At the start of the mission, the player and Trahearne are directed to one of Beetletun’s entrances to bluff past the guards. Upon doing so, you can wander through the town and take note of the various mercenaries patrolling around on the way to the house in which Benn is imprisoned.

However, it is not until after you rescue Benn and sneak past the additional layer of mercs on patrol and head across the small bridge back to the aforementioned entrance to leave the town that a cutscene is triggered. This scene floats the camera over the streets to show the patrols of the enemies, while Trahearne observes that the soldiers are not ordinary mercs — they are alert and ready for action — and advises that combat can be avoided by not attracting their attention. The cutscene finishes as the camera swoops through the town into the doorway of the house that holds Benn.

But at this point you’ve already done all of that and are on your way out of town. The cutscene looks like it should trigger the first time you cross the bridge.

In other words, I believe the cutscene should occur right as you enter the town and the “Enter Beetletun and find Benn Tenstrikes.” objective becomes active; instead it appears to trigger while “Escort Benn safely out of Beetletun.” is active and as you cross the bridge to leave the mission.

As an aside, many of the patrolling mercs do not have any circles around them, but once the additional troops are called out after you save Benn from interrogation they all have them.

This does not prevent mission completion.

Delvoire.8930:

Portals?

Who needs portals? I have Way Points.

Not when they are contested.

On that note, Scarlet is getting all of her troops inside LA so that they can complete the dynamic events around the city’s waypoints and make them friendly again.

DanteZero.9736:

synk.6907:

If we lose, “By Ogden’s Hammer, what savings!”, I will make sure I follow Scarlet throughout Tyria and the Mists and end her.

Can you imagine him running towards the bank screaming:

“By Ogden’s Hammer, MY SAVINGS!”

You are terrific.

I started at the Krytan entrance and recorded as I re-explored the city, catching the sights and NPCs -- though a few of the notable ones didn’t feel like talking when I came by -- and even two of the jumping puzzles (was running late and ended up skipping Troll’s End, even though I love it. I should go get that one).

Unfortunately I only have screenshots for Halloween, the Dragon Bash, Wintersday, and other similar events. See attached -- that poor fountain was no match for Thorn!

I’m not emotionally attached to LA, but at least now I can show people How It Was.

If we lose, "By Ogden’s Hammer, what savings!", I will make sure I follow Scarlet throughout Tyria and the Mists and end her.

Maybe she made her own Infinity Ball...

Where will Mad King Thorn visit us in October?

"ugh. No photography, please."

General Almorra Soulkeeper may have been an inspiration when the Orders came calling for her service.

Cush.4063:

What’s different about the thief"s dodge roll? Lol. I don’t see it.

Is your thief by chance asura? They don’t get the thief dodge blur/sound.

Uber.7623:

Here’s Ninnko. He’s pretty cute.

I realize I am weeks late, but that picture of him kicking the door open is amazing. Thank you for sharing that.

Huh. Her and Rox must be big fans of Maybelline.

I’d wager her face won’t be an option, both because she’s a unique NPC and since she’s younger than player-characters. Hair is definitely a possibility though, like Rox’s horns or Braham’s hair.

I found myself nodding along as I read the skill issues described, having experienced several firsthand.

I’ll also add that I’ve had the Swap from Illusionary Leap plant me in/under the ground similar to Blink or Phase Retreat.

dace.8019:

wow such suggestion

I don’t really like the doge meme overall, but this was a terrific response.

Also I want to put in that I would love having mesmer-specific rolls, and I probably wouldn’t be upset about ones for other professions.

That said I do like how thieves are unique in that regard.

Have you never bought any weapons or armor with karma prior to trying this? As combative as that sentence may seem in response to you, I actually am surprised if that’s the case. I learned that karma gear didn’t salvage almost immediately in a starting area. It sucks that you’ve learned that on end-game exotics.

They removed salvaging from karma very quickly after release, as LastDay noted.

Tman: Many months back, there was a sticky [that I belatedy read] with personal story missions that would trigger this. I know the last mission in the Racial Sympathy section of the personal story are ones to do solo or to reject completion for to avoid switching Orders, but there may have been others.

Jeffrey Vaughn.1793:

I hope that makes sense.

Definitely. When I had this happen to me and had sent a support ticket in to learn more, the chance to get an idea of how the backend (e.g. how characters’ information is stored and manipulated as we play and advance; if a GM is capable of altering the character’s information, be it a data blob or fields in a table, to set her back on the Whisper’s path) works was just as interesting as figuring out what it meant for that character with respect to Order vendors at level 80 (i.e. would I be able to access Whispers vendors or only Vigil ones now).

edited out the random discussion/questions I posed, as for this thread all I am really curious about is the following: given that this happens in these missions, is it all right if we make a character and do this on purpose?

MasterMc.7543:

My recommend is if you want high end graphic is desktop, but if your dead set on laptop then as you look around pull up the benchmarks for the cpu, and gpu. As a side note mmo(gw2) generally use more cpu, while other game generally use more gpu.

This is basically what it boils down to -- unfortunately, laptops are typically not as versatile as desktops with respect to customization and the ability to swap out parts, such as the video card, to boost performance. Often one is playing catch-up with a laptop rather than setting a foundation for future game releases, not having the ability to upgrade components after purchase.

So, you can take a look at gaming-focused laptops and see where their video cards (for gaming in general) and processors (a definite focus for MMOs like GW2) fall. examples:
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html (http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GTX+770M&id=2534)
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

Offhand, I’d say that Toshiba will handle what’s out fine, but will it give you ultra settings for everything that comes out in the next year or two like a desktop would? *shrug* There are laptops with dual video cards and are billed as desktop replacements, but they also are going to be significantly more expensive than a ~1200 dollar Toshiba.

In STO, there’s a chat channel for folks to respond to red alerts and players’ needs for assistance in-character. I think it would be entertaining, at least now and again, to ham it up when world bosses spawn and the like. I mean, like, as a group and not the kinds of things I have been known to shout randomly in MMOs during raids or adventuring.

In any case, I suspect you’ll need to find a group first, and how RP is done may differ from situation to situation/group to group. Map/zone chat is likely to never be used for that, so unless you happen to run into something happening locally...

I remember exploring Ebonhawke and finding several people hanging out. You never know what might be going on in those bars and taverns throughout towns and cities of Tyria unless you go looking :P

Some of the most helpful players in those kinds of events haven’t had tags. I like to try to be one of them.
That said there are some class-act commanders, in WvW and in PvE, on Crystal Desert, at least.

edit: but that’s not really relevant, I guess. I think the crux of the "problem", such as it is, is the difficulty of coordinating at the scale required for some of these boss encounters. It’s certainly more exciting than the stand-and-attack-a-toe fights, but it can be frustrating when a significant portion of participants don’t do what is needed or are unaware of what’s going on and don’t seem to be reading chat.

This really seems to be a human-centric problem. You see all kinds of colors and shades of fur, skin, and bark across Tyria.

They cannot even move your character back to the appropriate order when a game bug causes you to switch orders, why would they let anyone change something as drastic as race with all of its associated elements that permeate throughout the character?

Thanks for posting this thread, Isscha. I had this happen on a character who was a member of the Whispers, and now she’s in the Vigil as a result. But if she has access to both vendors at the end of all of it, I won’t worry about deleting her to fix it.

Jeffrey Vaughn.1793:

Did you play any of the steps with another player? If you play co-op and choose to accept story progress at the end of the story step, it will put you on the same storyline as the other player, even if it doesn’t match your own.

This is such a weird way to do it. Either it’s the same mission, aside from which NPC mentor is gallivanting around with you, or they are technically unique missions.

Why does this happen if they technically are separate? Since player race dictates which recruiting missions are available, the game enables us to group up from different orders and still receive the "Accept Progress" option. In other missions, this is not an option for party members unless they are in the party leader’s order and on the same step.

If it is the same mission, with some logic based on the party leader to dictate which NPC mentor appears, why was there not additional logic to ensure that story mission completion worked correctly for all party members instead of blindly following the party leader’s? There aren’t that many potential cases for which mission should be next, it’s a little baffling that folks are allowed to group for these and then not prevented from bouncing off their chosen path.

One way to look at it is that, as GW2’s open world is fairly fluid, anyone in the same map as you is a potential group-mate/party member. With or without setting up a party itself you can always come together for content and split back up as needed. Since the game avoids a typical mob tagging system, no one loses out in impromptu collaboration.

I will chime in that the dungeon finder has been a nice addition. Previously, a large amount of dungeon group forming was facilitated by a third-party website, but now that the game has its own means of enabling grouping it’s pretty easy to get into dungeons whenever you’re itching for some fun. So keep that in mind for when you level a bit more.

It does appear to be true that most of us aren’t milling about in lower-level areas like we all did back in the first months. By now many of us have several max level characters and/or have done all the world exploring already. Much like how the majority of WoW’s server population is often found inside the main capital or running raids/PvP, Lion’s Arch is usually the most full of people when we aren’t running a boss train, playing activities, or meeting others in battle in PvP or WvW. That said, there are likely people still in each map zone, even if you might not see them all or they might not be saying much in chat.

Keep in mind that you can join WvW at a low level; your character will be "upscaled" to 80. You will still be a lot easier to kill than an actual level 80 character, but if you can find your server’s large group (zerg), you can often run with them to capture towers and camps on the maps, leveling in the process. It’s another idea for times when you feel particularly alone or the like.

I recently started playing again after taking a break in November, and I had two characters still in the no-longer-existing Tower of Nightmares and one in Kessex. All of them loaded fine, and I ran around in Kessex a bit with one over a couple of sessions (i.e. logged out and left her there once or twice). I have not been to Caledon recently, though.

I am not sure if this information is of any help, but it suggests to me that it’s not necessarilly the zones but something with the characters. If so, your others should be fine to move around.

I hope you can get to play the affected 2 soon, though!

I for one was a little disappointed when I first hit up Kessex to chase a Toxic alliance member and have a nearby centaur shout at me and just start fighting me as if nothing was different.

Are the centaur still under the illusion spell? Do they not even see the tower?

I don’t know; at this point I’m pretty used to the comically-bad rubbing animation, like we’re just giving downed and dead players a sarcastic *pat-pat* "There, there, buddy."

But an actual animation of some kind that implied bandaging or healing or an incantation or whatever would be pretty great.

Speaking of bandaging, that downed-player skill should be renamed, if not updated. Holding out one hand and calling for help has nothing to do with dressing wounds.

She’s currently up on Crystal Desert. I’m staring at her, but not about to try it solo.

edit: She’s down. A couple others showed up, and we ended up killing her. If I pass through again I’ll try to remind myself to post here if the other event(s) are up or if she is.

What do you gain by adding more levels?

I’m inclined to agree that Tequatl participation has dropped dramatically.

Maybe the world(s) would be better off with the older-style Tequatl fight to come back, spawning on the regular timer as usual, but make it some lesser dragon champion.

Then if it’s been killed/the fight is not currently active, an organized group can come down to the area and trigger Tequatl. Maybe they do something that gets his attention, and he comes in kind of like, "Hey, what happened to what’s-his-face that I sent here? I guess I will have to show you the power of Zhaitain" (only what we hear is just a loud roar before he punches everyone in the face and/or sends waves all over the place, since he doesn’t talk).

The fight is pretty rad. The scheduling issues are not -- both the lack of people being there when he arrives and the inability of prepared groups to enter the encounter when they can/are organized and online are problematic, imo.

With the praises of their mentors filling their heads, and the riches of battle filling their bags, the heroes ran by, slaughtering the centaur and pursuing bandits throughout the Krytan lands.

"But we must stop the Blood Witch in Viathan Lake," a few voices cried out.

But the heroes didn’t listen.

"There’s no profit in that. Let the krait have their small cave in the lake. No one swims in these waters anyway."

"I must get to Orr and stop Zhaitan!"

"Scarlet’s minions don’t swim; oh, there’s a champ!"

Oh, the fools, how little they knew...

---

I haven’t been to Kessex in a while. I am very intrigued.

I am upset to read that the town is gone.
I will be pretty sad if Webb can no longer retrieve his heirlooms (http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Protect_Webb_as_he_recovers_his_heirlooms).

Rainbow Sprint.3215:

This has happened since release, you can tag an event but not do enough damage to the mob to tag the mob itself, which is what the achievement is for.

I got the horror and lich on my first try but had to beat the viscount twice to get the achievement for him.

That’s a good point, and one I often forget as I rarely don’t get tag credit, or whatever term. The Horror did pop up while we were fighting the other one, so I likely didn’t swap soon enough.

For what it’s worth, on CD I got the Lich and the Grand High Viscount. Despite getting gold for the Horror (as far as I can recall, at least), that achievement remains unrewarded.

Runehand.9368:

Worst. Juggalo. Ever.

This was my first reaction, as well. Maybe magnets confuse him, too.

Most difficult character design to take seriously since Rox’s eyes.