Guild Wars 2

A fool with a tool is still a fool. Ascended or Exotic or Rare, a gear grinder focuses on grinding without focusing on understanding the class or on improving his or her skill in playing the class.

I can’t imagine why anyone with simple brain would not understand that gear grinding community simply does not mix well with GW community where people are looking for more skill based gameplay. Is this truly the MMO effect that is killing this franchise?

There isn’t any gear progression.The casual players got full exotic gear while only hardest of the hardcore got a legendary so they created something in the middle that would act as a threshold.Do research before you listen to rumors and complainers.
-Thread closed

There is no difference between exotics and legendaries as they exist today other than looks. How will you make something in the middle? A lil’ better looking item? <lol>

The easiest and simplest way to please the nublet crybabies was to add legendaries to drop in the fractal of the mists dungeon in an almost impossible to attain level. Just give those items new names and some new shaders. That will give them the feeling of achievement. They will keep grinding it till they get it. No power creep, no gear grind, everyone happy.

But, no. We need to make a WOW clone sooner or later.

Wintyre Fraust.6534:

I don’t think that player input had anything to do with this. A survey of the evidence at hand, IMO, indicates this was just a top down decision made by a few who simply believe that stat progression (power creep) is a fundamental MMOG requirement.

I don’t know if they came into power at ANET recently or if the whole “manifesto” thing was a con job from day one, but there’s really no way that live-game forum caterwauling by a few unsatisfied gear-treadmillers generated content that obviously has been in the works since before launch.

I agree. I believe, this was in the making for a while and was driven down by some out-of-touch 1980s gamer that climbed the corporate ladder at NC. The franchise just died for me because of the treadmill concept alone.

If you really look closely, there is really nothing going in as positive for a new MMO like GW2 other than looks. Combat is linear, lore is pretty much BS, personal storyline is crap, dynamic events tanked. Only thing that made real sense that you could play the game on and off without focusing much on gear accumulation but, by understanding the class, skill synergies and improving your playstyle while trying various weapons and setups. Now, that is some great stuff. If I were to look for lore, I’d rather play LOTRO. If I want a loot based game, I’d pick Diablo, If I am a raid nut, I will pick WOW, if I want gear grind, I’ll play Lineage or AION. Why on earth would I play GW2 if its not for it being a simply skill based game that does not have gear grind?

Kangee.7890:

In gw1 you actually did go obsolete when not playing for some months, not because of armor maybe, but because of the addition of new skills and the way the meta shiftet. You couldn’t just jump into any part of gw1 after being away for 6 months. That’s an after construction

This is not BS. This is beyond BS.

I still blame people for making weed legal in the West Coast. I mean without some serious weed, no one can come up with something as absurd as this.

So, the only way to beat this gear treadmill is to get a legendary weapon? Or, will we see super-legendaries in 3 months?

Let’s not even consider armors for now.

What an epic fail, ANET. Linsey, you could do better.

I generally run pugs to do dungeons after I get back from work. It generally takes me less than 2 minutes to fill up AC exp on Stormbluff. Last night it took me over 10 minutes. I gave up on HotW and CoE as no one was ready to do it. Both of which I could fill in less than 5 minutes in general.

My friend-list was pretty much at LA. I believe, it is the effect of wait and see as the new patch is in the looming. The effect got accentuated a bit more because of the introduction of items that will make current items obsolete. Thank you for introducing mudflation ANET.

Deimos.9285:

… even with full ascended sets exotics will be far from useless seeing as the power increase is so minute it won’t even be noticed, the only major increase will be Agony resistance which only matters at the absolute hardest levels of the dungeon.

Why do it then? Why fix something that is not broken? Why not merely add agony resistance to the existing armors after completing a story-mode version of FotM?

Please do not argue based on fallacies. ANET is introducing gear treadmill to please wow crybabies by deviating from the core principle of this franchise. That’s the issue here.

HyDraLiNsK.2470:

This game is 100% better than most I’ve played, 120% better than other MMOs (IMO), and 150% better than D3.

Everyone was kittening about not having a gear treadmill and that aesthetic weapons/armor are pointless.

I am just curious how you got your percentages.. 100%, 120%, 150%. What kind of metrics you obtained to come up with your conclusion.

Also, I’d like to know how you determined “everyone” wanted a gear treadmill. Did you ask “everyone”? No, that’d be impossible. So you’re just winging it.

People like us who have stayed with this franchise, believed in the company that does not want to please the WOW crybabies. This franchise survived without gear treadmill. We are merely asking them not to yield to the demand from certain demographics who want a gear treadmill.

If they do not listen, they simply will not have our dollars to fund their next xpac or projects. If we have to choose treadmills, we will move to better and established gear treadmills.

That’s all.

In November we’ll unveil the first Ascended items. This new rarity type falls between Exotic and Legendary on the spectrum of rarity and has slightly higher stats than Exotics.

Source: https://www.guildwar...-ascended-gear/

For me, more acceptable approach should have been as follows:

To bridge the Exotic to Legendary gap:

1. Introduce slots on existing items.
2. Introduce different upgrade components like runes that provide variety of effects, defense (such as KD resists, daze resists etc.) and offense benefits (Less chance to miss owing to elevation differences, more critical chances etc.) without impacting the stat numbers.

Why I hate this “slightly higher stats” concept?

1. It introduces power creep and way too early in the lifecycle of this MMO franchise. Given how old this game is, its like Nightfall just happened too early for this franchise.
2. The game is easy enough. Why would you introduce higher stat weapons that will simply murder the difficulty level of the current world mobs? I’d not even touch the issues that will impact the current dungeons. There are just too many existing already.

Why I hate this “Agony” condition?

1. Limiting this condition to only to the Fractal of Mists dungeon funnels the whole playerbase to one area/dungeon leaving the already empty world to its own fate.

Players will be able to acquire Ascended Rings in the Fractals of the Mists dungeon

2. It also marks the begining of the shift in the core of GW franchise philosophy.

The new additions in November are just the start of our item progression initiative. As we introduce the new high-level content, we’ll also roll out complimentary Ascended and Legendary items (to say nothing of the other rewards you can earn by playing the content).

Yeah, more gear to grind to grind more gear! And Mudflation begins..

What probably would have been sufficient for now?

1. Add “Storymode” dungeon content where players could get infused, much like GW1’s infusion mission mechanic, without resorting to grinding new gear.

2. Improve availability rate of the Legendary precursors.

We also have plans to add more fun ways to acquire Legendary precursor items with a more “scavenger hunt” feel than they are acquired currently.

Then… work on to

3. Add more PvP content – formats and maps. GW is a great game not because it had great PvE Storyline or missions or had more mobs to kill. It is a fun game because you can hop in and do any format of PvP that you want without having to dedicate a massive amount of time to enjoy it even when many formats were quite difficult to master.

4. Rethink WvW and make it so that more and more people participate in it without being motivated to complete the World Exploration or to do monthly or to farm BoH by doing jump puzzles while enjoying the content without being killed by invisible enemy zergers.

I did not spend $149 on this game to master the art of out-gearing 99% of the population as fast as I can so that I can grind more gear. I am very disappointed that GW2 has chosen to become another gear grind MMO. Is this WoW 2.0 since there are no Guild Wars in GuildWars 2?

It’s really very disheartening that ANET has decided to yield to the gear grind philosophy of every other MMO.

WvW maps should not be part of PvE achievement. Problem solved.

Why do I have to solve puzzle or marvel at scenery when I have a battle to win? No offense to the puzzle solvers or nature lovers is intended.

Can we have GW1 style aesthetic slots in the Hero panel where we can put different types of armor that we do not want to transmute and lose permanently; for example, T3 cultural armor?

This will help people who mix and match armor based on runes and insignias to try out different setups without looking like Steven Tyler or Lady Gaga. I know the store sells transmutation stones but, the cost of T3 piece is prohibitive of repeated transmutation.

Thanks.

What’s up with so many jump puzzles in this game? I am not totally opposed to jump puzzles but, I have acrophbia in real life and some of these puzzles do make me somewhat uneasy.

So, I am wondering why ANET is not choosing to keep this fun element (for many players) as an optional quick-path in dungeons (for example, jump puzzle of Theobomos Lab in AION, another NCsoft game)instead of forcing it as a mandatory element in the dungeons?

Definitely a very well-written OP. I may not agree to all of what was said there but, I can’t deny a lot of it. Hopefully, Devs take note of the points raised in the OP and act accordingly.

I want a house next to the Grape Farm in Lornar’s Pass. Can I haz?

uflyandy.6392:

I spent about $100 trying to get the items in the black lion cheat

Black Lion Cheat!

All NCSoft US Servers are probably in the same datacenter in TX.

Promega.7628:

I think you just need to reword your argument from “grind” to “character progression”. Once you reach 80 with a full set or two of gear you are basically done.

I’d understand that argument if it were a gear grinder. But, how can one be done from a character progression standpoint when getting the end-game gear w/ max stats does not necessarily mean that the player has mastered that character as far as gameplay is concerned. I have a fully geared ele with almost all possible armor, weapon and trinkets combination. I am quite certain I have not completely learned how to play ele with so many variety of combinations of skills/weapons/situations.

I think, when people start focusing more on gameplay than on the shinies, they will get the essence of this franchise. If someone feels that the gameplay is dull and boring, maybe this is not the game franchise for that person. But, the game really began after 20 for everyone in GW. Here, ANET went further and made leveling to 80 a somewhat good experience as well.

tl;dr: GW’s character progression actually comes from character maturity where a player learns to know how to effectively use a character to take advantage of the situation and its possession.

Cezton.2415:

-snip-.

The OP quote is essentially QQ about legendary items in disguise. Hence, I snipped it. But, on his side-topic, I believe, Karma should be used for other items including to obtain cultural armor similar to cultural weapon.

The whole concept of karma was basically as a character your deeds reflect who you are; you gain renown; people know you for what you did and eventually you get rewarded for your good deeds thru karma. As a human, or a norn, or a sylvari etc. the good deeds should reflect the essence of your culture. As an ambassador of your culture you should be able to sport a weapon or ethnic dresses proudly. Karma should be the currency for it as your toon is gaining it on its own but, not thru accumulated wealth (aka gold) of your account.

I think ANET decided to stay true to the karma concept as it applies to the role-playing scenario by keeping karma by character instead of the account but, realized that it may become a prohibitive element (needless grind) to use it as a currency for both cultural armor and weapon. So, they used karma as a currency for the weapon only.

But, to OP’s interest, maybe ANET can rethink that and give options to the players to buy it either with gold or karma depending on the player’s choice. That way OP will get something to grind.

However, pity on OP for buying a product without checking what it stands for. GW franchise does not stand for gear grind to gain advantage over another player. We all play this game because we like that concept. If you don’t like it, sorry, you got trolled.

Risingashes.8694 – Congrats!

Zenyatoo.4059 – lol man. PMSing much?

Crashes w/ white screen and constant random disconnects at various zones or dungeons. Did not get any error message that popped up. Hodgins bugged on path 1 prior to scepter search.

Spec: i7 920 // ATI HD5870 // 6GB RAM

They need to take pointers from both LoTRO and GW1 for the appearance revenue.

1. Have a wardrobe system like LoTRO. They can do that utilizng EoTN HoM type vendors and/or thru PvE Lockers in this game.

2. They should have alternate/aesthetic slot for each armor pieces like they had in GW1 or EQ2, as someone else mentioned.

Right now, transmutation stones are very limiting and poorly implemented, IMHO.

I liked the armor system of GW1. You got the looks and were free to mod the way you wanted on demand. In GW2, the preset stats make the armor system more static. You have to get multiple version of them and transmute to make sets for mix-n-match looks and stats. I think Gem Store played a major role in this decision of putting stats on armors.

I buy everything off T/P for mid-levels and then use crafting to get goodies for level 60 or above. Many times, I just go with the drops and rewards only.

My problem w/ the T3 cultural armor is not really the cost but, the meaning of it.

A character wearing T3 cultural armor – what does that mean to others?

1. Someone who farmed a lot of gold to buy it.
2. Had some spare change to get it.
3. Likes the look.
4. Had no other better use of the moolah?

I don’t know. To me, cultural armor should represent the deeds that the toon has done to benefit its race. It should not be “Hey, I am rich and I can sport a versace suit or a gown (Cultural Armor in case of GW2)” while others doing a lot of DEs to keep their homeland free of evil, keeping disorders at bay in dungeons etc. end up buying them from Wally world (Karma/Dungeon Vendors).

I wonder why the story-writers/designers went the gold route w/ cultural armors in the game. There could have been zillions of gold sinks in this game given how many there were in GW1. I expected GW2 rewards will be more achievement-driven rather than gold-driven.

@Cod Eye – Please name those games. I want to play them.

+1 to OP. I enjoyed the environments were treated as characters and most of the areas are pretty well designed. I, however, do want to relive the feeling of visiting pre-searing Ascalon again. I never found that kind of a feeling in any area in GW2. And yes, I miss baby Gwen and I am not a pedo.

Is it Honey Boo Boo, the Kardashians and Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire?

We are the NOW generation!

Your attention span on any game has outlived Kim Kardashian’s marriages. So, go figure.

LoTRO has a good grouping system; however, the AUTO-grouping feature in their dungeon finder was bogus. I think once you have discovered/explored the dungeon you should be able to enter it from anywhere.

Hello,

Yesterday we faced two bugs in Ascalon catacombs that pretty much spoiled my evening as I have very limited time to play which, in general, gets spent in completing 2 paths in a dungeon.

First Bug: Path 3 – Warmaster Crest got killed when players were clearing the burrows. The quest log updated on upper right but, all gates remained closed even after Crest was revived. We could not find a way to complete that path.

Second bug: Dungeon Reset – We were killing Howling king when one of the team members got disconnected. Howling King was killed and before we get the cutscene and the reward, the disconnected player logged into the game with a different character (don’t ask me why, I have no idea). The whole team was thrown out of the dungeon and we did not get any reward whatsoever.

Please address the dungeon reset issue as I am sure it is possible to happen with any dungeon and can be exploited as a griefing technique. If this is a duplicate report, please merge/delete.

Thanks.

In WoW when Vanilla launched they did a great job of building a sense of
Server community, in the end of the levelling process i had 25-30 friends on
my freinds list.

….. At the end of the GW2 leveling process i still had Zero friends on my friends list. Why is that? Because in GW2 you simply dont need friends or a guild to complete the content, its easy enough to get a group for anything you want to do that is currently ingame.

I have exactly 37 friends on my friend-list in GW2 and on an average, I have around 6-8 active during the time when I play. I have a guild with exactly 1 active member and some friends who are representing other guilds. I PuG regularly and I am quite happy to say that with the exception of only 2 times, I never had any problem with any PuG. I am a level 80 Ele in full exotics and have multiple sets of armors and weapons. I also get invited to participate in WvW time to time by my friends from other guilds. So, I can’t really say that there is a lack of server community feeling because the game is too easy. I’d rather say there is no real strong foundation in this game to make this a guild-based game. I believe, ANET succeeded in making a game that is quite PuG-friendly.

In any online game environment, it’s the friend-list that counts. I do not believe that a hard content makes anyone to seek out friends when someone does not like to mingle out of one’s own volition. It comes by the nature of the player.

He is probably looking at LOTRO model where you can buy expansions and quest packs using Turbine Points.