Guild Wars 2

I think the OP’s issue is not so much the lack of reward but rather the system works. He is saying that PvP has a system that guarantees you a reward commensurate with the effort you put in while Fractals is completely random.

I’m surprised no one mentioned that the game isn’t free to play.

I’m hoping that you don’t actually get to defeat Mordremoth at the end of the season. I think it’s still too early to be taking down another elder dragon. What would be nice is a climactic battle with one of Mordremoth’s champions. It could even be the Shadow of a Dragon again except with new and interesting mechanics.

Sarathiel.6374:

I couldn’t agree more. At this point the lack of new content has basically driven my guild to an all time low and myself away from the game. Waiting 4 months for 2 months of mediocre content isn’t worth investing time into.

The irony of this statement is that you actually end up waiting longer if ArenaNet stopped doing Living Story content and instead focused on releasing an expansion.

Vayne.8563:

Elsdragon.5109:

Not saying it’s a bad idea all around, I’m saying the current system (the LS system) is probably the better choice than having a huge chunk of expansion at one point then long pause in between.

The LS season 2 is from my point of view, their alternative to expansions, and a very suitable one I have to say. If your thread is about how to implement expansions in GW2 and what they should consist of, I will say the current system is doing great.

It’s a big gamble though, because you don’t really know if enough people will spend money in the cash shop to pay for the creation of that content.

New expansions bring new people to buy the original game as well. That’s an influx of cash big enough to pay for an expansion. That’s why I say only Anet knows what they can afford.

It’s true that only ArenaNet knows their own finances. The question then is, do they take the risk of producing an expansion? Or more accurately, do they take the risk of holding content they are already working on back so they could release it all at once in the form of an expansion?

With their current strategy, they may not be making massive gains but they are supposedly getting cash flow to keep themselves afloat. The Living Story is probably better at retaining players than large patches or boxed expansions. They wanted to emulate television shows and keep players interested over an extended time. Whether that has been truly effective so far is debatable.

Considering the massive marketing potential an expansion has and the number of players it can bring to the game (possibly bring players back too) it would seem like a really smart move. I think ArenaNet has learned that this is a trap and they likely fell into it before with Eye of the North to know it’s too good to be true. They certainly will see a spike in the population but that number will dwindle relatively quickly as many players will complete the content and then leave. This has happened with this big name MMORPG even.

Now if ArenaNet can somehow release a boxed expansion while staying on top of the Living Story then there certainly is no reason for them not to release an expansion. I just think that would be too difficult considering their limited resources.

Swish.2463:

here’s the Final questions, just to see what the community thinks and can come up with…

1. What Should a full paid expansion Contain?

2. How can you fairly implement it into the game without Fracturing the player base (aka, what aspects of it should come “free” as a general Patch to the game)?

3. What aspects should be maintained behind a “Pay wall” while still providing a sense of Value? (Basically, what shouldn’t be available to those who do not pay while still making your investment/money seem well spent.)

---

Keep it Clean.

I don’t want to turn this into a living story vs expansion debate so I’ll just assume that ArenaNet has the resources to deliver both.

1. I think this is one would be quite difficult to answer. Some people will expect new races. You might find some novelty in that but it won’t add to the longevity of the game. Some want new professions. I think that ArenaNet believes that the current professions already cover all class archetypes. They could definitely add new skills to flesh out the existing professions. New zones have been traditionally associated with expansions. It wouldn’t make sense to break the mold so ArenaNet should include new zones and regions.

2. See, this is one of the major challenges that would make releasing an expansion difficult. They could do what they did with Guild Wars 1 where each expansion was a stand-alone game. The expansion would basically take place on a totally different continent that you can only access with the expansion. If you bought only the expansion, you can’t access the old zones. That way they wouldn’t have to raise the level cap and players wouldn’t feel like they are forced to pay for new content. When you take the living story updates into account, that is when it gets iffy. Supposedly ArenaNet would have to create neutral zones that are free such as Dry Top and release living story updates only in these neutral zones.

3. I sort of answered number this question in number 2. Basically, if ArenaNet chooses to create a whole new region with its myriad of zones and maybe races then this content would have to be paid for. Any features or living story updates should be available to all players regardless of whether they paid for the expansion or not.

Like many others posting here, I had experienced the same thing. Until ArenaNet implements some kind of permanent solution, you will have to use a workaround. The first thing you want to do is advertise in LFG. It’s likely that there are other people out that are stuck on the same story step as you. I managed to find two people to help with doing the event and that was enough. It was difficult but we managed to do it.

Second, you want to disable normal and map chat because you will most certainly receive verbal abuse. I don’t think that it applies to all farmers but there are some that make the majority of farmers look bad. If you get whispered with hate messages then definitely report them.

Third, you want to position your group somewhere in the capture point but somewhere where you won’t draw as much aggro. This will allow your group to slowly pick off the enemies. Don’t expect any help from the zerg though. With that being said, there’s nothing they can physically do to stop you either. Try your best to stay alive while staying on the point and you should be able to clear the waves and complete the event.

You don’t have to worry about the dolyak event too much. If you are able to CC the elites and keep the dolyaks healed then you should be good to go. Like I said, I did it with a group of 3. Most of the time, the zerg won’t try to interfere because there’s really nothing they can do. The last event is relatively easy as you don’t have any champs to worry about. Technically, the zerg could show up to upscale the event but the temptation of killing the champs is so great that it would only backfire on them.

It’s interesting to note that you can turn off map and normal chat. That way you won’t have to see what these people are saying to you. That’s what I did and it works wonders.

cranked.3812:

Stop whining and let people farm for crying out loud. The rewards in this game are already nerfed to the ground. Is it so bad to let people farm the two spots in the game that are farmable? The two people who actually want to complete the event could just as easily move to another server instance rather than troll the farmers.

Also, what Joe said ^^. Where is the toxicity in this case other than a couple people yelling to stop attacking?

Well, you can’t complete the living story episode unless you complete the event. It’s not that people are out to stop farming. I’m sure they could care less about what you do with your own time. Plus you can’t really control the server you end up on. You used to be able to guest to a lower population server but now you will be automatically placed in a high population zone that isn’t full. Running into a farming group is almost inevitable.

Well, Blix is different in a way because it is not tied into the Living Story.

Palador.2170:

As much as I wanted to play a Tengu, I have go agree with zeromius. This game has problems, and they’re getting worse, not better. Taking the time to make a new race would be a huge mistake right now.

Given ANet’s track record, that means I expect to see tengu by the end of the year.

Further to that point, it is impractical to make a new race. What they are starting to do now is open up more parts of the world. That is a good start because so much of the world map is currently inaccessible.

I would pull a PewDiePie and get rid of the forum. I’m not saying that would be a wise decision; if anything, it would make things worse.

A lot of people have also asked for challenging content that they can invest a large amount of time in. You have to keep in mind that resources will always be limited. If ArenaNet decides to add a new race instead, it’s really just new models with a few of the things Palador mentioned. It will however be a lot of work to put all of this together. That is not to mention that for every new armor set that comes out they have to create skins specifically for this new race. When you consider that adding a new race would not actually add to the long term replayability for the game but still require a lot of time and work, then it’s not worth the investment.

Well this all boils down to wanting content produced at a faster rate. You have to consider that regardless of whether ArenaNet releases content bi-weekly, monthly, or even bi-monthly, the rate at which they produce this content does not change. If you wait longer then you do get more content but it would have been the same amount of content had you waited less. The only caveat is that you get smaller chunks of it. Let’s say ArenaNet releases 30 hours worth of content in patch that takes 3 months to develop.

• If they release a patch every month you would get 10 hours of content each month
• If they release a patch every 2 weeks you would get 5 hours of content every 2 weeks
• After 3 months, regardless of how they choose to do their releases, you still end up with 30 hours worth of content
• The question now is, are you willing to wait for it?

Of course, your issue is that you want ArenaNet to do more in a given amount of time. I wouldn’t say that’s unfair but you should consider that content doesn’t just grow on trees. There is a lot of time and effort that goes into producing it. More time has to be spent on actually making it just right. I’m sure you feel that it is your right to expect more but until you put yourself in the developers’ shoes you won’t understand that a product can’t be made with the snap of your fingers.

Chuo.4238:

It seems to me that ArenaNet are booting their existing community in the hopes of replacing them with a new one. They’re doing almost nothing to address longtime criticisms – and when they do communicate, it’s largely platitudes and lip-service.

So at this point, I think it’s clear that they could give a rip about the community – they’re just going to try and make a new one.

Rather like they did with the original Guild Wars community…

Perhaps you can elaborate on these criticisms. The ones I have heard of tend to revolve around the following:

• Trinity
• Endgame
• Profession balance
• Expansion
• Difficulty

I doubt that ArenaNet can satisfy those that want the inclusion of a trinity system in the game. There already is what people refer to as trinity lite. Even if they do implement such a system it would make a lot of players unhappy. No, they can’t please everyone.

They did say they wanted to redefine endgame but for many people, world completion, WvW, sPvP, and fractals doesn’t constitute as endgame. They are probably looking for something that makes them feel exclusive. You tend to see that with hardcore raiders that do the hardest content and expect to get rewards exclusive to this content. The problem is that this would cater only to a small percentage of the player population.

People will always complain that there is imbalance in the game. It’s going to be that way no matter how many changes are made. Certainly, you could say that the current meta discourages build variety in PvP but you can’t say that profession x is too strong or profession y is too weak. The reason is that players will have their individual biases. The profession of their choice will always seem to weak and other professions will always seem to be too strong.

I’ve already addressed the idea of releasing an expansion in my original post so I won’t go into any more detail on this. The game is a little easy in most areas while you may run into a few difficulty spikes here and there. I do think that they are trying to make the game accessible to a larger audience. Players that constantly find themselves dying are less likely to continue playing out of sheer frustration. I’m not saying that this is necessarily the right thing to do but I can see the reasoning behind it.

I’m sure there are many other complaints, many of which ArenaNet have already addressed in their patches. They said they are aware of the WvW server population problem. I think it’s a very difficult problem to tackle so it would take some time. I don’t know if they will actually include an actual GvG mode any time soon. I’m sure many players would be happy to see it but I doubt that accounts for all players.

Sokia.3710:

zeromius.1604:

It’s certainly not something I agree with as I have an optimistic belief that everything should be available to everyone at all times as long as they put the effort into getting them.

You mean, like the launch version of the game where getting max tier gear didn’t take a ludicrous amount of grind.

Not necessarily like with launch. I should put emphasis on ‘put the effort into getting them’ here. The issue is with certain items like certain minis or skins that are impossible to get once a time limit has passed. Granted, ArenaNet did bring some old skins back this one time. Ascended items is a different issue that has been discussed quite heavily in the past. From what I can tell, introducing them has certainly changed the game but it hasn’t broken it- at least not from what I can see. Of course, other people might see it differently.

tigirius.9014:

As far as their products in store, the single worst thing I can think of about it is that they have items out temporarily. Leave them in and have sales imo. That would make these things purchasable even after the sales go out and it would still bring in revenue for some of the items, like the endless gathering tools for example. I know for a fact that many people I’ve played with have been highly disappointed these things were removed shortly after release. I can think of plenty of examples on getting items from the store, like cosmetics for example, that were for some reason only sold during the LS events they were tied to (not talking holidays) that would totally have been acceptable to keep these items in store.

So while I feel they do tie too much to the gem-gold conversion, I also feel that they’ve basically harmed themselves by removing items they didn’t need to remove thus losing money they didn’t need to lose in the process. I sincerely hope this isn’t the work of that economist they have working for them but if it is it explains so many things wrong with his methods, it really does and I would hope that they don’t have a contract so they can get someone in there who is a bit more practical about keeping future items in the store for longer, they don’t even have to continue the sales for longer just keep the items there.

I think this all comes down to artificially making items scarce in order to increase their value. When I say value, I don’t necessarily mean their value in terms of gold or gems. Time limited items have a special value to them for players that possess them. It’s something that money can’t buy. ArenaNet keeps them rare so that people who have them can feel better about themselves. You could say that this caters to an elitist mentality and you would be correct. It’s certainly not something I agree with as I have an optimistic belief that everything should be available to everyone at all times as long as they put the effort into getting them.

As for whether this hurts ArenaNet in the long run, it’s hard to say. It does create a sense of immediacy when ArenaNet puts something on sale and then removes it later on. It makes certain people want to purchase these items because they know they won’t get to later on. I’m sure they have their reasons but I wouldn’t let the blame rest solely on John Smith alone.

nethykins.7986:

On NPE:
Maintaining two separate clients would have used up a lot of resources
You could say the same thing about what we have now.
You can also end up throwing your game into a death spiral for one market in order to satisfy another, then end up using resources changing things to suit which ever market is in disarray.

In regards to Khong Zhong, and any influence that could have been placed on them. It’s not impossible to think so. A lot of game devs have creative freedom only up to a point. If the developers say X, Y and Z is not going to be fun, and the publisher states they’ve run tests and metrics say A, B and C should be done, you kind of have to take that on board or that could place you bad standing with them, and in the climate we’re in, any sign of something failing only gives publishers a reason to shut a game down, or seize more control.

I did not actually touch on this topic too much but Khong Zhong most certainly would have had influence on how ArenaNet developed the game. NCSoft are probably open to giving ArenaNet creative freedom but they most likely trusted Khong Zhong since they were the purported experts of the Chinese market. The three companies would likely have been doing talks before the game was even released in North America, Europe, and Oceania. There used to be a Cantha district in Divinity’s reach but it was removed due to “feedback” from some anonymous source citing that the inclusion of Asian-themed elements would be offensive. I’m willing to bet that feedback came from Khong Zhong. Of course, we know this is silly now considering that WoW had an entire expansion, Mists of Pandaria, with an Asian theme.

What this means is that future content based in Cantha would not be out of the question. As for the NPE, I would see it as a necessary evil. It’s something that new players won’t notice because they wouldn’t know any better. MMORPG veterans would have been used to worse. Of course, it’s always going to be a hot topic.

With the Living Story, ArenaNet does not have to worry about these issues. They could very well release content that is traditionally found in an expansion through the Living Story. The issue is with how quickly they can do so. If you really think about it, if the pace at which they work is the same, you will get the same amount of content in the same time span regardless of whether they pursue the Living Story or expansion route. It’s just a matter of whether you get frequent but small updates or one very large update and long periods of stagnation. Some players want new races and they think only an expansion can provide that. I think it’s important to consider what impact adding a new race to the game would be. You would get a new capital city, a new starting zone, new character models, and a new personal story. The truth is that ArenaNet would not be adding much to the game by adding a new race. It would certainly be a lot of work but with little payoff. In the original Guild Wars, you could only play as a human and that was fine for most people.
The important thing to remember is that the Living Story enforces player retention. You as the player have made an investment in the story, similar to how you would be invested in the story of a TV series. You want to see things through until the end even if you aren’t necessarily happy with the direction the series is going in. If this strategy didn’t work, I doubt that ArenaNet would keep going with it. In the end, it’s just not really worth it to put all that time and effort into releasing an expansion if the payoff in the end is going to be the same.

Expansion vs Living Story
Many players have been clamoring for an expansion for quite some time now. It may just be that ArenaNet is working on an expansion but all past communications would indicate that they are not. It makes certain players upset especially considering that they have been unsatisfied with the amount of content released since the game’s release. ArenaNet has stated that they want to release content that would traditionally be found in an expansion for free through the Living Story. While this has been met positively by some players, others feel that this is not the right approach. They argue that content that is normally featured in expansions such as new races, new professions, and new areas have not been added through the Living Story. Moreover, the pace at which new content is delivered is not adequate to meet their arbitrary definitions of expansion content. This is something that we can examine further.
First, let’s take a look at some of the advantages of ArenaNet actually releasing an expansion. I’m not only talking about advantages for players but for ArenaNet and the game as well. On the business side of things, selling boxed copies of an expansion would be a guaranteed source of revenue. The gem store, while profitable isn’t totally reliable. Many players have flat out stated that the only way ArenaNet will be getting any more of their money is through an expansion. Not only that, the marketing power behind an expansion would be much greater than that of any single Living Story update. Many players that have left the game don’t even realize that the game has changed dramatically since it was released. They don’t realize ArenaNet has continually pushed updates to the game as well as new content. An expansion for the game would be big news and would raise much more awareness for the game. Let’s take a look at another game that did much better after it was re-released. When Final Fantasy XIV was first released, it was panned by players and critics alike. It was broken, unfinished, and just not very fun. Square Enix, not wanting the game to tarnish the Final Fantasy brand, decided that it would be worth putting in the time and effort to redoing the game. To their surprise, when A Realm Reborn was released, the game sold exceptionally well and it was highly praised despite the shortcomings of the original game. Original players were willing to give Square Enix a second chance and the game was reborn. Guild Wars 2 was different because it was praised from players and critics alike from the very beginning. If even a failing game can get a second chance, imagine then what an expansion could do for a game that was incredibly successful both critically and financially. An expansion could be seen as the rebirth of Guild Wars 2.

Second, we’ll look at some of the challenges facing the creation and release of an expansion. While an expansion could lead to an increase in the number of players and even bring players back to the game, we have seen in the past that any game or expansion will only get a temporary spike in player populations. After a few weeks or months, the population will decrease dramatically. This has been the case not only for Guild Wars 2 but for every other MMORPG. The population does eventually stabilize but you simply won’t get the same numbers as launch. Many players will play through the content and then leave when they’re done. Some players will stick around if there is their definition of “end game”, others will leave regardless because they’re content locusts, and the remaining ones will stick around regardless. You also have another challenge with what type of content the expansion will contain and the features to be included. Not all players would purchase the expansion so now you have a split player base.

1. Would ArenaNet raise the level cap?
2. If they do so, would that not invalidate all the work players have put into crafting their ascended and legendary items?
3. What about new zones and new free updates?
4. If you don’t purchase the expansion, will you have access to the free Living Story updates like you do right now?
5. Other games have restricted new content to just those that have purchased the latest expansion.

Emphasis on the Gem Store
It’s probably obvious already that ArenaNet is a business. What many take for granted is that the goal of a business is not only to make profit but to actually keep itself running. I do not know how much money it takes to run a company with 300 plus employees like ArenaNet does but we can probably do a very rough estimate. If we assume that the average employee makes $50,000/year and we multiply that by say 310 employees it would indicate that it takes $15,500,00 (or more than $15 million) per year just to keep everyone employed. We’re not factoring in things like building lease, utilities, infrastructure, and other expenses. It could easily go up to $18 million per year. ArenaNet needs to make at least that amount just to avoid losing money. I’m talking about making profit; that’s how much they need just to stay in the black. Like I said, this is just a very rough estimate but it gives you an idea of what happens on the business end of things.

To keep their cash flow going, ArenaNet charges players for the game client and if players so choose, items and upgrades in a cash shop. They don’t charge a subscription fee so there is no guaranteed revenue. Given all this, it would not be unreasonable at all for cosmetic upgrades to be available for purchase with real money. In fact, it would not even be unreasonable if cosmetic upgrades were only available in the gem store. However, that is not the case as we have seen skins being released in the game and outside the gem store. Furthermore, because they are not relying entirely on the free to play model, ArenaNet has the luxury of allowing players to purchase cash shop items with the in-game currency. This actually reduces the revenue the gem store that would otherwise have been made if real money was mandatory. Let’s not forget that the current largest MMORPG will charge you for the client, will charge you a monthly subscription, and on top of all that has a cash shop with items that you can only purchase with real money. With everything considered, ArenaNet is completely justified in putting so much emphasis on the gem store.

In light of the recent patch and of course ongoing criticisms, I thought I would give my thoughts on these issues. There has been a lot of controversy on ArenaNet’s decisions, discontent with the content released or lack thereof, and just dissatisfaction from players whose demands aren’t met. First, change will always be met with resistance as not everyone will agree with them. Second, it’s debatable but considering the scope of the game, ArenaNet has released quite a bit of content considering what resources they have available. Third, not everyone is going to get what they want because they don’t want all want the same things. The customer is always right except when you have many customers and they can’t really agree on what they want.
It’s necessary to consider different viewpoints when looking at things. First, it gives you a better understanding of the issue at hand. Second, it actually makes your argument stronger when you have acknowledged and defeated opposing views. I’ve put together a number of topics that I see coming up quite regularly on the forum. Each of these topics can probably use their own threads but is important here is putting things in perspective.

The New Player Experience
Let’s address the elephant in the room first. A lot of veteran players have expressed their dissatisfaction with the direction that ArenaNet has taken with the leveling experience for new characters. I won’t go in the details of this as there are already numerous threads that discuss this. Just to be clear, I don’t agree with the changes myself but I can see why ArenaNet felt that they were necessary.

Khong Zhong may be the distributor of Guild Wars 2 in China and they may even be responsible for maintaining the server infrastructure but ArenaNet is most likely still responsible for development of the game. It’s pretty well known by now that the Chinese version of Guild Wars 2 is quite different than the one most of us have been playing. Many of you may have come to the conclusion that ArenaNet’s reason for making these changes is not actually to help new players but to make the North American/European version the same as the Chinese version. The question then is “why would they do this?”.

This would allow ArenaNet to consolidate Chinese client with the North American/European client. Maintaining two separate clients would have used up a lot of resources- resources that could go towards creating new content and adding new features. It would not be surprising if having to code two clients at the same time is the reason there has not been much progress in terms of content in the game. It’s unlikely that you will hear such a justification from ArenaNet as it is not very good marketing. However, they most likely made the decision to go ahead with the changes even knowing that they would be unpopular because they felt it was what would be best for the game. Unfortunately, only time will tell.

winterchillz.2564:

As a QA team leader in an IT company and a passionate PvE player of GW2, I have one very simple question to ask: What does your QA/Testing team consist of? There’s no way, a person could miss the newly introduced Arah pt2 bug. The only logical explanation to me would be that either your team performed very simple unit testing and passed on the implementation testing as a whole or that they’re the worst PvE players I’ve seen if they can’t do the skip to Belka (Solution: Give them guardians running in full nomad and 4 hours so they can kill all the mobs to Belka if you have to!).

Please, ANet, realize that many of the changes are unwanted and unnecessary. I love this game so much that I used to spend 10+ hours per day on it but now I just feel disappointed and discouraged to play it any longer. Please, listen to your player base.

Regards,
Winter

I think the term you’re looking for is regression testing. The UI changes might not seem like much but they are definitely game changing. It’s also hard to measure the impact that collections is having on the game. People that weren’t motivated to do anything before might actually have something to look forward to now.

Raina.8642:

So heres what I read as the new troll option:

Join party of Arah Seller with friend. Kick Arah Seller. Sell instance yourself, or complete for free arah reward.

Congratulations, I believe you just ended anyone running Arah to sell it now.

I don’t believe that was actually ArenaNet’s intention. While I don’t believe that they are against the idea of selling dungeons, they also aren’t going to go out of their way to protect people who sell dungeons. Things are always changing too. Back then if you wanted to send mail to someone it took days if not weeks for it to arrive at the destination. Now you can just click the send button and the receiver gets your email almost instantly. It put a lot of postmen/women out of work.

Solomon Darkfury.3729:

Mark Katzbach.9084:

ipan.4356:

2 years is a long time for an MMO not to release anything.

I think you are mistaken. We have released content and features in the last two years on a fairly regular basis. Just because the content and/or features were things that you personally did not particularly care for doesn’t mean we didn’t release anything.

Please don’t trivialize the efforts of our design and development staff down to “nothing” because you didn’t like it. It’s fine to comment that you didn’t care for what was released, but don’t pretend like we’ve done nothing here for the past two years.

Sorry… not to step on your toes here but if the majority of the LS content you released could be completed in 2-4 hours of zerging then yes you released nothing…

if you say for instance extrapolated that out over 6 months to a MAJOR content release like say a mini expansion or the like, it would add up to 24 hours of in game new content which to be honest by MMO standards is pretty poor…

Just sayin…

Even better, they could artificially extend the life of the content by introducing a gear treadmill per content update. Instead of adding new zones they would add one new raid dungeon per update and it would take the vast majority of players (in raiding guilds of course) months to complete. The raid dungeon doesn’t have to be long, it just needs bosses that will wipe you over and over until you farm enough gear to take them on.

Loboling.5293:

I really hope Ban Bot doesn’t get banned for this. Funny troll, but never did he claim to be A-Net Staff, just spoke with authority, and you fell for it. If he gets Banned, I may just stop buying gems from A-Net, as I wouldn’t want to support a company that can’t take a joke, especially one that follows their own rules.

Sincerely, someone who laughed when he read the chat box.

This Banbot/UnicornGirl person will either get suspended temporarily or have their account terminated. The wise thing to do would have been to stay quiet about it after being called out on it. Because then no one would realize, except for ArenaNet. Instead, he/she comes on the forum to brag about it, tries to defend his/her actions, and then all but proves that he/she is the one that carried this out. Even if the OP had been win trading, it doesn’t make impersonating a GM right.

pdavis.8031:

Regina Buenaobra.6193:

Stolos: you’re spot on. This encounter was an homage to the courtroom cross-examinations from Ace Attorney. You all probably know pretty well that people at ArenaNet are gamers, too, and this occasionally bleeds into the content we create. For example, the Molten Facility end boss encounter took inspiration from Dark Souls. There are small nods/references sprinkled across the game.

I was not aware of that…But then I never played dark souls so….
So that would mean that the turkey room ACTUALLY means something!!

hmmmmm interesting

The whole endurance mechanic seems to have been borrowed from the Souls series. ArenaNet only decided to use endurance for dodging. If skills/abilities were tied into endurance as well then it would make for a much more difficult game. One of the things that makes the Souls games difficult is that you can’t just spam attacks like in other action games.

The almost 100% AOE was actually 100% AOE. The only way to avoid getting hit was to time your dodge at the right moment.

That does look eerily similar to someone I’ve seen.

It looks like they wanted to do what Bioware does with the player’s choices having an influence over the outcome of the story. Unfortunately, with everything else they were already doing it just seemed too daunting a task and so they either decided to postpone it until some later time or abandon it altogether.

There are many things that go into what features to put in the game. One of them is whether the feature is needed and how much of a priority it is. Of course, you have other considerations like feasibility and whether the feature conflicts with the core game design. So let’s say that having a raid style group UI is high on ArenaNet’s priorities, you still have to wonder how feasible it is. After all, it took a long time to create the account wallet. Then they started on the wardrobe right after and you can see how long it’s taken.

Technical considerations aside, what about the aesthetics? Do you really want to see 40+ player health bars on your screen? One of the great things about the current minimalist UI, which many people seem to take for granted, is the lack of clutter on the screen.

Ahmrill.7512:

nGumball.1283:

You forgot to mention the majority of the things introduced in this patch were suggested by the community also, the majority of the updates that set GW2 behind were also suggested by the community.

No point of blaming Anet and going with the ‘’if they listened to us, the game would be a paradise’’ argument, cause everything from ascended gear to wardrobe etc etc. were player-suggested and just becuase you didn’t suggest it, doesn’t mean other didn’t.

You have alot of valid points but they are mostly subjective.

I suppose it comes down to suggestions or features people want VS. the frequency of suggestions for those features. I’m sure that every single thing has been suggested by someone at some point on these forums. But some things have been asked for repeatedly and are basic fundamentals of any MMO game.

I’m a fairly consistent read and poster on these forums, and have been since early beta. Some of the things in the April 15th feature patch I’ve never seen asked for. I’m sure they have been asked for here at some point, but I didn’t see many of them. Some features NOT added are being asked for on a daily or weekly basis and are causing actual frustration for players.

I’m not saying any of the features are bad in the April 15th patch. It just doesn’t seem to be the stuff on the top of many players list of what’s REALLY needed. At least not from what I’ve read over the last 2 years.

Still, Gumball does have a point in that you are basing your arguments on anecdotal evidence. While you acknowledge the possibility that suggestions may have been made with your not being aware of them, you fail to provide evidence that would indicate one feature is asked more than another. Now, no one is saying you have to do an in depth statistical analysis on the posting habits of the forum members or anything.

Let’s just assume you’re right and that suggested/requested features have been ignored or put in limbo. The question now is, are these features really top priority? An even better question is, does the frequency of the request make it necessary? That is actually quite subjective. Every week you see a new thread about the trinity. Does that mean that ArenaNet should fundamentally change the game to accommodate this? Every now and then you see players asking for an inspect feature. Does every player want this? I don’t have the answers to these questions and neither will I pretend I do. It’s something for you to think about.

Think about all that Living Story content that you got to enjoy as an early adopter that newer players don’t.

kta.6502:

You don’t always need darkness to create a scary villain. They just need to be personally involved in the hero’s life.Villains that are far away aren’t as scary as villains that are close by. Let’s take a look at a some examples from Lord of the Rings:

Sauron (aka The Necromancer)— He’s that big ugly eye that stays on top of his tower for the entire story. His distance keeps him from getting personally involved in the heroes’ lives. (Well, he attacks the heroes via Saruman, but that diminishes Sauron’s potential as a bad guy)

Saruman — The wizard who gives the Fellowship trouble. He’s scary because he constantly tries to harm the heroes. Example: When he finds out that a hobbit has the ring, he orders his minions to capture all hobbits. That puts Merry, Pippin, Frodo, & Sam in alot of danger

Gollum (aka Smeagol) — He befriends and helps the hero, Frodo, in order to get the ring for himself. During the course of the story, there was a chance he could turn on the good guys at any time.

The One Ring — The ring that Frodo must carry all the way to Mt. Doom. This item purposely placed Frodo in danger during the course of LOTR. It’s an object that has a mind of its own, and it often affected Frodo’s mind.

Now back to GW2. How does this apply to the game?

Scarlet’s problem was that she never got into the personal lives of the heroes (esp. the Sylvari PCs). She was just another mad scientist who caused chaos and destruction. She suffered from “Too Evil for you” syndrome. That’s why it was easy to write her off as a non-threat. It’s also the reason that the Captain’s Council didn’t do anything to protect Lion’s Arch.

What GW2 needs is a believable, scary bad guy (or gal —- gotta promote equal opportunity, you know!)

Here’s a great article that talks about writing villians in alot more detail:
http://www.springhole.net/writing/write_better_villains.htm

I both agree and disagree with the idea that the antagonist needs to be personal. Notice how I used the term antagonist rather than villain because it is a more general term. The antagonist in a story doesn’t need to be evil nor the protagonist good.

I agree that having a personal antagonist rather than one that is distant creates a greater sense of immediacy. They can seem very threatening at first but then because of their exposure over time to the protagonist they would seem less so. I think your example of Gollum is good because of how ambiguous his character was. He seemed at first to be a crazy and obsessive creature turned into a character trying to redeem himself then surprisingly back into that crazy obsessive creature at the end.

I disagree that a personal antagonist is necessarily scarier than one that is more distant. I think the idea that there is this ever present but unknown threat out there creates a stronger sense of despair. Like in video games of the past, you don’t see the last boss until the very end. In a very difficult game you get this feeling of both anticipation and dread as you get closer and closer to him/her. The belief that the antagonist is distant and far beyond the protagonist is a highly effective means of adding darkness to the story. I think a good example of this would be the Lord of Darkness briefly alluded to in A Song of Ice and Fire.

If you had watched the cutscene then you should know what to expect already. What makes a story dark isn’t really the villains but rather the good guys/girls. If you do away with the traditional notion of good and evil then you can create something truly dark. Let’s say your protagonists aren’t necessarily good and they are flawed like real people are. They try to do the right thing but things aren’t always black and white. Maybe they’re forced to sacrifice someone to save others and that someone is close to them and they end up letting everyone else die instead.

More to this point, the elder dragons aren’t really your traditional villains either. They are similar to the Old Ones from the Cthulu mythos in that they are neither good nor evil. It is simply their nature to destroy and consume. I believe they have been described as forces of nature. You try to kill them not because they’re bad but because they are threatening your way of life.

Vexander.9850:

For those interested in what the OP is actually getting at:

DigitalKirin.9714:

Thank you for fixing these Champ Train exploits.

Thanks for the clarification. I wish people would actually state what they’re talking about more often before going off on a totally random rant.

If you go to the Atlas and you go to 25508 and 4966 you’ll find this area uncovered in what would appear to be the northern shiverpeaks. I haven’t played EoTN but maybe it’s actually just the eye of the north and not a new place. If that isn’t the eye of the north then maybe it’s a hint at a new zone.

Shiren.9532:

In T2 and below (probably even some T1 servers) queues only happen on a single map or two and a queue on all four maps is unheard of. So for those people this update is removing the number one incentive to transfer to a non-T1 server: no queues. Population imbalances are going to be even worse now.

If lower queue times were not incentive enough to transfer to lower population servers in the past then it’s unlikely to make a difference regardless. When Edge of the Mists was first introduced last year, ArenaNet said they did have plans on alleviating server population imbalances but aren’t ready to reveal what those are yet.

Daroon.1736:

First person view is an alternative which has been discussed at length. Personally I dislike it, but others clearly want it. As I understand, Anet have looked at that and there are technical issues which are preventing its implementation.

Since launch though, at the start of several other world events (including the Wurm in this patch) the camera zooms right out allowing the player to take in all the action, so as this option is clearly technically possible, what I would like to know is why this hasn’t been implemented as a default option that can be used anywhere?

As I had mentioned, being able to zoom out would require a wall to not be present. The camera is oddly enough subject to the same collision detection that your character is subject to. Allowing the camera to go through the wall would be a possible solution but it introduce other problems.

It’s funny how you mention the Queen’s Jubilee and make no mention of Queen Jennah not wearing any shoes. I think that would have been much better evidence to support your claim. Of course, what you are describing is more akin to a shoe fetish.

As for the camera, adding a first person view would alleviate this problem. Having no clip for the camera and allow it to go through walls would open up a whole new can of works.

Aeonblade.8709:

Oghier.7419:

Because there’s no character progression.

If I wanted to play a straight fighting game, there are plenty of them to choose from. When I play an MMO, I expect long-term character and gear progression. If I want to play a MOBA or an FPS, I’ll go do that.

When I do PvP (and I engage in PvP in every MMO I play), I prefer open-world battles rather than e-sports. WvW is fairly well done in GW2, so that’s where I play.

This is a good post an explains why sPvP in GW2 has essentially been a flop. It doesn’t affect your actual character in anyway, you may as well be playing LoL for all the good it does your characters.

The opposite could also be true. If you introduce power creep to PvP then essentially you’ve taken away the reliance on skill. Should players that have been playing longer have a stat advantage over those that have been playing less? How do you expect anyone to take PvP seriously at that point?

Nomin.5901:

This question is quite invalid, asking people why they never PvP? How would they know if they have not gave it a real try? I am an active PvPer, and would like to clear up some misconceptions that some of you seem to have.

1. “I am not rewarded for PvPing!”

~Actually, you are! As of the Decenber 10th patch SoloQ wins award you with 20s and TeamQ will award you with 30s, in addition to that you will get 300-350 glory which can be traded for wintersday presents, if sold on the TP, you will be making about a gold every 2 games!

2.“The PvP community is toxic! Just filled with awful people!”

~Yes, there are some people who are very rude, and not good sportsmen, but that is not everyone! I have met many awesome people doing Team Q that I chat with very often, and PvPers can be just as helpful as PvErs, people will teach you, give you builds and be willing to answer almost any of your questions!

3.“There is only 1 game mode, that is very boring”

~Currently, yes, there is only 1 gamemode and that is conquest, BUT arenanet has stated that there will be NEW GAME MODES added at the start of this year.

4.“My character looks so bad in PvP”

~In the next living story update ( think the next o_O) they will be re-vamping the PvP rewards! And there will be no difference in Pvp and PvE skins! So you can have that cool arah armor look while pwning noobs.

If any of you are interested in PvP, we would love to have you!
There are just a few things that you should do before jumping to SoloQ!

1. Find a build that is currently in the meta (these can be found on every classes sub-forum)
2. Try out the build in a 5v5 hotjoin
3. Make sure to know all of the classes roles, and certain sayings.

Not doing these things is what brings out the worst in PvPers and I think that is what some of you are experiencing.
To put in in PvE terms, just jumping to pvp with a random build is like running a level 50 fractal as a cleric bearbow ranger, with 0 AR. It makes the community seem toxic, when its really not.

I feel bad for you in that more than 99% of people who look at this thread will completely ignore your post and just pretend that whatever delusions they have about the current state of PvP are real.

I do think that the addition of gold rewards for each match is a good addition. ArenaNet actually plans on removing glory entirely in the near future to further bring PvP in line with everything else.

I personally haven’t run into too many toxic people. There are those who go AFK and turn matches into 4v5s though. There’s often the blame crappy teammates at the end too but not much during the games themselves.

There is only one game mode but actually each map has different features that mix things up. In Spirit Watch, there’s an orb which you can take to any one of the three capture points. It’s a unique take on standard capture the flag.

Yes, ArenaNet did say they wanted to allow PvE skins to make their way into PvP. You’ll start seeing a lot of warriors with Twilight very soon.

Balekai.6083:

I believe Anet was intending (intentionally or not) to model Scarlet as a female Kefka-like character, but ended up making a not so good Joker clone from Batman. Kefka from Final Fantasy 6 is very similar in attitude and motivations, but you got a sense of self-loathing and frustration about the meaning of life, the universe etc. and his place in it through his lunacy. He had brief moments of clear, serious and foreboding thought, which would quickly end in an explosion of madness and cruelty.

Scarlet’s past story is also similar, with similar events making her crazy like Kefka and even her frustration with her place in the world and its meaning. What’s missing from Scarlet’s appearances so far is any reference to her backstory. What’s pushing her to be so menacing and focused on creating so much chaos? Why couldn’t she make her own way through less destructive means? We just get a feeling she’s doing it for the sake of it and there’s no depth so far. She shows abolutely no self reflection and is very one dimensional.

This may change soon though. I’m hoping the more we foil her plans in LS installments, the more questioning, irritated and desperate she becomes about the path she’s chosen. I think this latest edition of LS shows her focus turning more towards the dream/mists and control of magic with these Obelisks (magical control like Bloodstones) and the Spores/Thistle/Offshoots (which seem to connect with the dream or the mists like the Pale Tree can, but in a bad way).

This alone makes her character more interesting if done correctly, since it may all be a gambit to gain control over magic and therefore usurp the Pale Tree and other god-like entities, becoming god-like herself.

However, like many others, i’m tired of Scarlet and she’s sort of worn out her welcome. I would rather kill her in the next LS than explore her remaining story for a few more months. :P

It’s a good comparison you’ve made actually. If I recall correctly, Kefka’s back story was never really explained either so they are actually quite similar in this regard. The issue people have with Scarlet is that she seems to be involved with everything even if it seems implausible. How she manages to learn and master every trade and science she’s ever come across just exacerbates this problem.

DarcShriek.5829:

rizzo.1079:

DarcShriek.5829:

Think about it. He’s got a cool sword, he’s in Destiny’s Edge. He can kick Logan’s butt. He even pushes around that one girl from flame and frost. Is there anything he can’t do?

He’s such a Mary Sue.

When the character is male, it’s Marty Stu. When it’s Scarlet, it’s Mary Sue.

What if the character is a hermaphrodite?

Depends on which gender they lean towards more. Marty Sue if male leaning and Mary Stu if female leaning.

Maybe those in favor or those against the PvE downed mechanic should actually provide balanced arguments to support their preferences. Because if you state that you personally hate it as your supporting argument for why it shouldn’t be in the game it almost sounds like you’re saying the game should cater to you. The same should also be true for those who say they love it and that is the reason for why it should be in the game.

Personal preference is never something that you can create a discussion around because everyone obviously has their own preferences that may or may not match everyone else. Simply put, provide backup arguments to support your choice.

draxynnic.3719:

Yes and no. There are some questions that really should be answered: What arguments did she use to get the dredge and Flame Legion together? Why did the Aetherblades fear her, before she established her Twisted army? For the moment, the only answer we’ve got is “because she’s Scarlet”.

The answer to the Aetherblade question could be something like “because she has an army of steam creatures”. If it’s that, then it’s reasonable to leave just how she got them a mystery for now.

There are unfortunately two forces at work here that serve to undermine Scarlet as a character. The ‘What Scarlet Saw’ short story was overly generous in gifting Scarlet with positive attributes while at the same time failing to explain the fundamental questions of ‘how did she do it?’ In a way it might have been better to leave everything a mystery. Scarlet before her big reveal in Clockwork Madness seemed like a really cool character.

You can pretty much label any and every character as a Mary Sue if you started using the extended definitions of the trope. It’s original meaning concerned having a character with highly exaggerated and positive characteristics. Maybe Scarlet fits the bill but I honestly can’t see any other character that does as well. Marjory being smart and having knowledge of poisons is not even nearly enough to make her a Mary Sue.

draxynnic.3719:

It also raises the question of how she established enough of a power base to be feared in the first place. She claims that the Aetherblades serve her because “they like living”, but before she twisted the watchknights to create the Twisted, without the Aetherblades just how was she powerful enough to induce that level of fear in the first place?

The mystery of it all at least makes her interesting. Her connection with the steam creatures is the least understood. Is she their creator or does she just have the power to control them somehow?

I can definitely see how having a subscription would alleviate this problem but that is not the route that ArenaNet wanted to go down. It’s probably the smarter decision seeing as how the market is like right now with all the free to play games. The best option was to make you purchase the game and then have optional items for sale in a cash shop.

In the vast majority of games with cash shops, it’s impossible to buy cash shop items with in game money. Even in WoW, where you have to pay a subscription, you can’t buy cash shop items with in game gold. ArenaNet has given you this option that no one else has. These are vanity items and ultimately have no effect on your character’s development.

Perhaps the OP would care to enlighten ArenaNet on a better business model that would allow them to distribute these vanity items outside of the gem store and still manage to keep the game running.

You have to try and look at this from the perspective of someone that is in the opposite situation you’re in. What if they have too much time on their hands and they’re burning through the content at an alarming rate? If not for the bi-weekly releases, these people would be left with nothing to do.