Guild Wars 2

Read the patch notes before complaining. Seriously…

Edit: Lol, so this guy deletes his post and now it looks like I created the thread or what?

Echo.3527:

Now we need a horizontal FOV

Given the same aspect ratio, increasing the vertical FoV obviously also increases the horizontal FoV simultaneously…

We need a slider and a higher maximum FoV, though.

Gazareth.7230:

What do you mean that’s my problem?

That you did not use the same camera position in your comparison.

Gazareth.7230:

with my camera in the same position (zoomed-in one ‘notch’ in the ‘changed’ client).

That’s your problem right there. The camera has to have the same position if you want to compare the FoV. Also, you can’t zoom out (= move your camera) one more “notch” with the FoV beta.

What you did is widening the FoV (by activating the FoV beta) while simultaneously zooming in (= moving your camera) so that your character has the same height on your screen. This is a well-known special effect in movies known as the “dolly zoom”. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolly_zoom

Here is a gif demonstrating the effect:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-0OFBVGsCDpc/Ts5vhIRNPuI/AAAAAAAAJMc/EriRwqu2pb8/w497-h373/HitchkittenZoom_Micael_Reynaud.gif

It’s better, but we absolutely need

1) a FoV slider (with a higher max value!)
2) the possibility to adjust the VERTICAL POSITION of the camera.

http://i.imgur.com/92Gms.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/i7VYq.jpg

We’ve heard players loud and clear on this one. But we’re not prepared to answer yet because we just convened a team to investigate, on Monday in fact, and we want to give them time to investigate. For example, there may be a bug affecting FoV calculations in widescreen resolutions. We want to know what’s a bug and what’s by design before we change the design.

Source: http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/11mz4k/i_am_a_programmer_for_guild_wars_2_amaa/c6nuoo1

The FoV is the most important annoyance for me right now, especially the widescreen bug. I really hope they implement a real solution and not just some lame, irrelevant change to silence us.

“Squashing your screen down vertically” doesn’t help with the vertical FoV btw.. This is NOT a solution.

Some kind of acknowledgement in the current AMA on Reddit. Incredible. (Don’t miss the top-voted response.)

http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/11mz4k/i_am_a_programmer_for_guild_wars_2_amaa/c6nuoo1

You mean an art design that “requires” you to “not see it” (at least with wide screens).

http://imgur.com/a/T9uVL#0

Then look at my screenshots with HUD if you don’t believe him. http://imgur.com/a/T9uVL#0

Or you could just read about it in the Reddit thread. It’s not like there aren’t enough sources to back his claims…

Interesting, and I definitely think that your min v_fov assumption is correct.

But as you can see in the following screenshots, there doesn’t seem to be a min h_fov. When narrowing the window, the v_fov is increasing, while the h_fov is still decreasing.

I’ve highlighted reference points at the top, left, and right of the image to clarify the effect.

http://imgur.com/a/T9uVL#0

This can’t be intended and might me related to the bug that wide screens get a lower v_fov in the first place.

I don’t think its about full-screen vs. window. It’s only about aspect ratios. It’s really odd, though.

The wider your screen/window/viewport, the smaller your vertical FoV until a certain threshold is reached. This happens somewhere between 4:3 (= 16:12) and 16:10. From then on, only your horizontal FoV increases. Your vertical FoV stays small.

So with a 5:4 or 4:3 ratio, you can see stuff in front of you. With 16:10, 16:9, and 16:3 (three widescreen monitors), you cannot see stuff in front of you. WTF?

I wonder how anyone would come up with such a counter-intuitive system. It has to be a bug.

Given a fixed aspect ratio, you can’t change the horizontal FoV without changing the vertical FoV.

You can see in the video that with a horizontal FoV of 100 you can see much more stuff in the distance because the vertical FoV also increases accordingly.

Take a look at the background at time 0:06. It’s incredible. You can actually see where you are. There’s context, and the image isn’t randomly cut off before you can see Divinity’s Reach (is it DR?).

Some people think a FoV of 100 looks weird and I actually agree, but that’s the reason we want a slider in the first place. A comfortable FoV depends on your monitor’s size, its aspect ratio, and your distance to the monitor. There’s so many variables that a fixed FoV (as we have it right now) just is not enough.

Someone on Reddit posted comparison screenshots that show that increasing your window’s width isn’t really solving the problem because the vertical FoV stays the same.

However, if you decrease the width, you can suddenly see stuff in front of you. Look how much more natural and less staring-at-ground-y the view in the 1:1 screenshot is. Of course, you won’t see things to your left and right.

We need a FoV slider now.

http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/116r5y/the_lack_of_camera_options_is_really_making/c6jsw3o

Normal games: Camera is close to the character (“zoomed in”), but you’re still able to see everything.
http://i.imgur.com/i7VYq.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/DlaA6.jpg

GW2: Camera zoomed out, can’t see puppy. Staring at the ground all the time
http://udba.org/gw2/gw061.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/HIbr1.jpg

GW2: If you dare to move the camera so that you actually can see stuff in front of you, you’re only going to see your back. (Don’t even try to look up.)
http://i.imgur.com/92Gms.jpg

I don’t understand how some people don’t see that something’s wrong with this game’s camera. Seriously…

Please, Anet, fix the vertical FOV and camera look-at point already. We want to enjoy the world, its landscapes, and its structures. Not the ground only.

The thread is still here, but it seems bugged.

VakarisJ.5619:

To ulukaiulukai.2584, I don’t see what the possibility to view the sky while playing has to do with motion sickness.

It’s one of the consequences of a too narrow vertical FOV, which – given a fixed aspect ratio – is directly related to the horizontal FOV.

Or in other words: Even if you don’t suffer from motion sickness, you’d benefit from a greater FOV. You’d be able to appreciate the art. Even Orr isn’t really that dull if you don’t have to look at the ground all the time.

loot scaling does work, because i got a lvl 76 exotic rifle in queensdale.

You can’t get level 77+ items, though, at least I don’t know anyone who has.

If you move your mouse wheel in GW2, the camera’s position is changed. Nothing else. You can call that “zooming” if you want, but it doesn’t change the FOV. This is not “zooming out” in the sense of pressing the zoom button on your digicam.

I play with a maximally zoomed out camera, looking at an angle from the sky.

You can’t see the horizon, however, and that’s not normal for 3rd person games.

Look at this: http://i.imgur.com/i7VYq.jpg
The camera is NOT parallel to the ground. It is tilted, BUT you can see the horizon and stuff in front of you. It is also CLOSER to the character (“zoomed in”), but STILL you can see everything.

Same here: http://i.imgur.com/DlaA6.jpg
Tilted (non-parallel) camera, still able to see everything in front of you.

Now this: http://udba.org/gw2/gw061.jpg
In GW2, if the camera is NOT parallel to the ground, you CANNOT see the horizon or stuff in front of you. It is “zoomed out”, the character is small, but you don’t see stuff properly. There could be a really big castle on the other side of the river, but you would not see it.

In every GW2 screenshot, the top of the image seems to be cut off, because the (vertical and thus horizontal) FOV is so small and the camera’s pivot is odd.

http://i.imgur.com/HIbr1.jpg (ignore the text, it’s an example)

Now, if you force GW2 to adjust the vertical FOV by horizontally resizing the window, you can see stuff in front of you and the horizon as well. Except for the obvious disadvantages to force this behavior (narrow window), the view is much more natural and doesn’t feel limited/cramped/cut-off. Note that this is an extreme example to demonstrate the FOV adjustment in general.

http://udba.org/gw2/gw060.jpg

Well, the DE rewards could be adjusted to the easy design. Easy DEs → small reward, hard DEs → big reward.

I don’t know what a legitimate downscaler is. It wouldn’t hurt if it was a bit harder for downscaled players. They have more traits, skills, experience, etc.

Also, since in lower zones lower stuff can drop as well, the overall level 80 item drop rate would still be worse than in Orr. However, at least there would be a chance for them to drop.

Ixal.7924:

Have all lvl 80s flood the starting zones as they are the most easy ones.

In this case, downscale players one, two, or three levels lower to make it harder.

Nelien.7968:

Also, my suggestion doesn’t cancel out yours. Both would work perfectly well together.

I agree and I also like your suggestion.

Allow level 80 in drops in every zone, adjust DE rewards in every zone (based on level), allow high level crafting materials to spawn in every zone. Problem solved.

Zooming out in GW2 is changing the camera’s position, not its lense.

Don’t you think people zoom out all the way already? If they didn’t, they wouldn’t see anything because their character would be in the way. http://i.imgur.com/92Gms.jpg

I don’t even know what to respond if you think dizziness, fatigue, and nausea are good or acceptable.

I’m not affected by motion sickness btw., but I know that many people are and that there is no reason not to help them. You can get a better FOV with multiple monitors and you can change the FOV in probably every other “competitive” game out there (e.g., Counter-Strike, Quake, Battlefield, …). There is no reason not to include such an option in GW2.

Porting to Lion’s Arch, all the capitals, and even Fort Trinity is free.

VakarisJ.5619:

there’s absolutely no way it may cause any health issues

That’s simply not true.

Motion sickness : Smaller FOVs tend to exaggerate camera movement, whilst larger FOVs tend to minimise its effect on the image. Thus setting a wider FOV can sometimes help to reduce motion sickness during gameplay.

Source: https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Field_of_View

VakarisJ.5619:

and if you don’t like it – just zoom out. That’s literally all you have to do to get a bigger field of vision.

FOV has nothing to do with just zooming out.

VakarisJ.5619:

Most just use the default 90 degrees, just like this one.

GW2 uses about 75 with a 16:10 or 16:9 monitor. You only get a bigger FOV if you use a wider aspect ratio (as is the case with multiple monitors or in windowed mode).

So the FOV is going to stay and the smoothing is being looked into, but what about the other issues?

The camera needs to be moved awkwardly close to the ground just to look at things in front of you. However, then your character is in the way. Looking up is almost impossible.

We are missing so much of the beautiful art in this game because we are always looking at the ground and not into the distance.

The camera points/looks at the character’s chest while it should point/look well above the head.

http://i.imgur.com/92Gms.jpg vs. http://i.imgur.com/i7VYq.jpg

The camera’s position is an equally important issue right now and I’d like to hear Anet’s opinion on that. Until now, they only commented on the FOV.

At the moment, the camera looks at your chest. It should look at a point above the character’s head (as is the case in other 3rd person games). That’s the reason why we can neither see what’s in front of us nor the horizon/sky (except when moving the camera awkwardly close to the ground).

http://i.imgur.com/92Gms.jpg vs. http://i.imgur.com/i7VYq.jpg

So we are supposed to not see the horizon while moving? Because right now the only way to see what’s in front of you is to constantly pull the camera “down”, but then your character is in the way.

Doesn’t sound very intentional to me, so maybe it is indeed a bug.

Now that we know that the FOV isn’t going to change, is there any official word on the camera’s pivot (“look-at point”) at all?

The camera should look at a point above the character’s head. Right now, it is looking at the character’s chest, no matter the race.

The consequence: We can neither look into the distance nor up. You simply NEVER see the horizon/sky while moving around.

Look at this old DAoC screenshot as an example. You can see what’s in front of you, because the camera is above the character’s head.

http://i.imgur.com/DEb6O.jpg

In GW2, to see the horizon and stuff in front of you, you have to lower the camera to the ground (awkward) and even then can’t see stuff, because it looks at your character’s chest.

http://i.imgur.com/yUsK6.jpg

souldonkey.9534:

This is not how the game looks at all times so stop pretending it is.

This (or similar) is how the game looks if you try to properly see stuff that is taller than 3 meters (10 ft).

Tik.2381:

I may be wrong here, but doesn’t using three monitors just increase the aspect ratio and not the full FoV?

The vertical FOV is fixed, so changing the aspect ratio (in this case “increasing the width, but not the height”) will change the horizontal FOV.

JonPeters

FOV in GW2 is 75

This statement doesn’t make sense because in GW2, the vertical FOV is fixed and the horizontal FOV is adjusted accordingly (as seen with multiple monitors and windowed mode). The vertical FOV, however, is not 75, but more like 45.

JonPeters

2) art suffers

I really like that you care about the art, but it won’t suffer from an increased FOV. Why would it? Instead, it is suffering RIGHT NOW, because we can’t see tall structures at all. Most of the time you are looking at the ground because the vertical FOV is so small and the camera is placed so that you see your big Norn back all the time.

Ditto. Moving to the SSD doesn’t help.

Rewards (weapons, gear, karma, XP, coin) are not equal through the entire world when you are 80.

That’s the problem right there. I don’t care about (or maybe even favor) diminishing returns. People should get out of Orr and populate the world!

However, it should be possible to get level 80 gear in every zone (if you’ve reached level 80). Make the content harder by downscaling one or two more levels and then remove the differences in rewards.

It would be nice if a dev could tell us if this is being worked on.

I’m having a hard time deciding on which stats to get for my Ranger.

I like the shortbow, but with the current bleed implementation (stack limit), condition builds don’t seem to excel in PvE nor WvW. Positioning to apply bleeds with the shortbow is also very important, maybe annoyingly so. You can’t always flank people.

Some Rangers seem to choose the typical glass cannon gear (power, precision, crit dmg) in combination with bleed on crit and some (but not much) condition damage. Is this viable using a shortbow? Are bleeds even useful without much extra cond dmg?

What about survivability? I’m thinking about a build with crits and toughness, but without condition damage.

In short: Is the usability of a shortbow dependent on condition damage? Is a non-glass-cannon, non-condition-damage build possible?

You can’t get a good view because of the horrendous FOV and camera position. This needs to fixed first (not to say a first person view wouldn’t be nice).

You can’t really see anything that’s a little bigger than you at the moment.

Axe damage is ridiculously low compared to shortbow or greatsword.

It’s also not very pleasing to hit stuff with axes in this game. They lack the fast PEW-PEW single target feeling of the shortbow and the slow BAM area damage feeling of the greatword.

It’s just a generic, short-range, slow attack speed, low DPS weapon. I hate it.

Why isn’t there a dev responding? This needs to be implemented ASAP and shouldn’t even be too hard.

The camera’s position seems to be odd as well. Most of the time I can only see the back of my character, but not much of the beautifully designed world.

I always have to move the camera “to the ground” to be able to see large buildings properly. Thus, I often miss interesting structures while walking through a zone, EVEN THOUGH (or because?) they are really big.

It’s annoying and not that bad in other 3rd person games.

I agree. You just have to stand there with ranged auto-attack. I haven’t died once while fighting a dragon.

What’s more bothering, though, is the fixed spawn timer. It’s ridiculous that you KNOW when the dragon will respawn. Where’s the fun in that? It’s supposed to be a Dynamic Event. At the moment, it’s a static, predictable, boring one.