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Thread: Guild Wars 2!

  1. - Top - End - #661
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    Quote Originally Posted by Neftren View Post
    It really depends on how fast you level, but the short answer is "no". By the time I could craft level 40 Huntsman gear (and without using my mats on a second profession either), I was already level 65 or so. To get from 375 to 400 of any profession takes a reasonably moderate grind (mostly just getting enough mithril and the fine crafting materials). Granted, you could buy the mats and craft, but that just begs the question "Why not just buy the gear off the TP, since it's dirt cheap already?"
    I made 6 things and went from 379-400 LW. If you make the cheap ones (Carrion gear that requires heavy bones which are less than 1s each) and avoid the ones that needed cloth (since cloth was MUCH more expensive than leather) it was pretty damn cheap to do. I did need to buy a recipe for the rare insignias from the LW vendor though (that was ~1k karma).

  2. - Top - End - #662
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    A quick question; are server transfers bugged for everyone or just me?, I tried to re-transfer to piken square or fissure of woe bug was unable to.
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  3. - Top - End - #663
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chen View Post
    I made 6 things and went from 379-400 LW. If you make the cheap ones (Carrion gear that requires heavy bones which are less than 1s each) and avoid the ones that needed cloth (since cloth was MUCH more expensive than leather) it was pretty damn cheap to do. I did need to buy a recipe for the rare insignias from the LW vendor though (that was ~1k karma).
    Hmm, good to know. I'll be farming my crafting professions up to 400/400 once I finish world completion. I'm at about 66% right now.

    If anyone wants help completing zones, let me know. I've either done the zone already, or am in the process of doing it, and soloing areas gets rather boring sometimes.

    Quote Originally Posted by Togath View Post
    A quick question; are server transfers bugged for everyone or just me?, I tried to re-transfer to piken square or fissure of woe bug was unable to.
    Account servers were down earlier today. Try again today?

    Also as a warning, Piken Square is an EU server. I'd be over there myself, if it weren't for the latency problems I have at home.

  4. - Top - End - #664
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    Sorry but:

    Quote Originally Posted by Hullabaloo View Post
    ridiculous statement imo

    While I have not complicated anything above 50
    I hate to cherry-pick, but going through higher-level dungeon speedruns, It really pays to have a guardian in my group. Yes, it's doable without one. Yes, it'll take a massively longer amount of time (and money for repairs) to complete. Citadel of Flames is a nightmare now without good tanks. Probably Honor of the Waves as well (though I've not tested that one since the patch).


    In Neftren's case, I have seen warriors in dungeons that contributed to the group, but in more of a support role with banners and such. Certainly better than warriors running the 100-blades nuke build against a silver-coloured boss

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    Quote Originally Posted by Treayn View Post
    Sorry but:
    I hate to cherry-pick, but going through higher-level dungeon speedruns, It really pays to have a guardian in my group. Yes, it's doable without one. Yes, it'll take a massively longer amount of time (and money for repairs) to complete. Citadel of Flames is a nightmare now without good tanks. Probably Honor of the Waves as well (though I've not tested that one since the patch).

    In Neftren's case, I have seen warriors in dungeons that contributed to the group, but in more of a support role with banners and such. Certainly better than warriors running the 100-blades nuke build against a silver-coloured boss
    Good to know that Holy Trinity is gone for good.
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    Quote Originally Posted by gooddragon1 View Post
    If the party wizard can't survive a supersonic dragon made of iron at epic levels it's his own fault really.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Karoht View Post
    Good to know that Holy Trinity is gone for good.
    It doesn't work as well as you'd think. Holy Trinity existed for a reason.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Neftren View Post
    It doesn't work as well as you'd think. Holy Trinity existed for a reason.
    Thanks for making my point for me.
    I'm not critical, merely amused. Arenanet devs sounded so bitter/angry about the Holy Trinity in quite a few interviews, and I'm sure they worked tirelessly to try and innovate the system into something different, but here it is again.
    They could probably use a pat on the back, I'm sure of it.
    ~~Courage is not the lack of fear~~
    Quote Originally Posted by gooddragon1 View Post
    If the party wizard can't survive a supersonic dragon made of iron at epic levels it's his own fault really.
    "In soviet dungeon, aboleth farms you!"
    "Please consult your DM before administering Steve brand Aboleth Mucus.
    Ask your DM if Aboleth Mucus is right for you.
    Side effects include coughing, sneezing, and other flu like symptoms, cancer, breathing water like a fish, loss of dignity, loss of balance, loss of bowel and bladder control."

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    wait, the devs didn't want it? I assumed it was a vocal minority that caused them not to include tanks, dps, and healers.
    Does this mean they are less likely to overhaul the game to add dps, tanks, and healers like in all other fantasy mmos?
    Last edited by Togath; 2012-09-19 at 07:25 PM.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Togath View Post
    wait, the devs didn't want it? I assumed it was a vocal minority that caused them not to include tanks, dps, and healers.
    Does this mean they are less likely to overhaul the game to add dps, tanks, and healers like in all other fantasy mmos?
    It was a design choice from the onset.
    If they stick to their guns, yes, they are less likely to do so.
    If they cave, no.

    Point of interest, ensuring the game would have a place in eSports was also a design choice stated from the get-go. No, it was not just diatribe to make their investors happy. It's part of why many people assumed (right or wrong) that the game was a PvP focused game, not a PvE focus.
    ~~Courage is not the lack of fear~~
    Quote Originally Posted by gooddragon1 View Post
    If the party wizard can't survive a supersonic dragon made of iron at epic levels it's his own fault really.
    "In soviet dungeon, aboleth farms you!"
    "Please consult your DM before administering Steve brand Aboleth Mucus.
    Ask your DM if Aboleth Mucus is right for you.
    Side effects include coughing, sneezing, and other flu like symptoms, cancer, breathing water like a fish, loss of dignity, loss of balance, loss of bowel and bladder control."

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    They will not do so.
    The game was conceptualized, designed, and balanced with the removal of the trinity as a focus.
    "The Trinity is Dead" was a catchphrase for them. Changing it will not happen, because the ENTIRE game will have to be overhauled and rebalanced in order to do so.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Treayn View Post
    Sorry but:I hate to cherry-pick, but going through higher-level dungeon speedruns,
    Speedruns aren't exactly how the game is 'meant' to be played, nor do I think, at least at this point in time, that the majority of the player base is doing speedruns.


    Quote Originally Posted by Neftren View Post
    It doesn't work as well as you'd think. Holy Trinity existed for a reason.
    That doesn't mean it needs to continue to exist. I think the game does an admirable job of not requiring some kind of trinity style gameplay in order to complete content.

    If the intent was for the vast majority of the playerbase to be able to relatively easily group up and complete content, then I think they've succeeded.


    Quote Originally Posted by Karoht View Post
    Thanks for making my point for me.
    I'm not critical, merely amused. Arenanet devs sounded so bitter/angry about the Holy Trinity in quite a few interviews, and I'm sure they worked tirelessly to try and innovate the system into something different, but here it is again.
    They could probably use a pat on the back, I'm sure of it.
    Even if the most efficient way to farm dungeons is using a trinity style setup, I think one thing that Anet did very well was break the rigidity of class roles. Most, if not all of the classes, are not locked into a single role.


    Quote Originally Posted by Togath View Post
    wait, the devs didn't want it? I assumed it was a vocal minority that caused them not to include tanks, dps, and healers.
    Does this mean they are less likely to overhaul the game to add dps, tanks, and healers like in all other fantasy mmos?
    You are aware that GW1 didn't have a strict trinity either, right? There were a lot of skills that allowed you to tank, and to be a dedicated healer, but there was no taunting, and healing skills were a relatively inefficient way of keeping your team alive compared to proting.

    Honestly, I'm just not sure what you expected out of the game. There are no raids, there are no taunts, there are no rigid class roles, heck, there aren't even any ally targeting skills.

    How many mmos have risen and fallen over the past 10 years? Most of them were all very similar games. Guild Wars 2 is a cooperative mmo, even though it isn't this completely innovative or revolutionary game, as some were thinking it was. In my opinion, it does almost everything it does do, right. And that means it's a step in the right direction. In a few years, the next game will take another step. And the next game another, and the genre will evolve. Hopefully, it will evolve beyond the idea that a trinity is a necessary mechanic.

    Technically speaking, we should be there already, because it is not necessary to have a certain set of classes to complete dungeons. It may not be the best or most efficient way to go about it, but it can be done.
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    I wish I had known that about the game before I bought the game.
    edit: huh...well, at least a several mmos I thought were dead(final fantasy 14, warhammer online, and rift) are apparently still alive, I may try those for now then, warhammer online even runs on the computer I always have access to.
    Last edited by Togath; 2012-09-19 at 08:52 PM.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Togath View Post
    I wish I had known that about the game before I bought the game.
    at least It was only 60$
    Known what?
    I make avatars. Sometimes.
    Spoiler
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    The lack of the trinity thing, I've gotten used to things like WoW, where you are either a tank, dps or healer(and can have 2-3 roles that you can switch between via some form of multispec), sometimes with a support role added in.
    even ddo has a tank ability in the form of the intimidate skill.
    Last edited by Togath; 2012-09-19 at 08:54 PM.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Togath View Post
    I wish I had known that about the game before I bought the game.
    at least It was only 60$
    They had open beta running every weekend, there were numerous fansites, plenty of people streaming beta footage and sharing their opinions if one didn't actually want to play the beta, gamebreaker.tv has had a weekly show about GW2 since it first entered beta, and plenty of streamers since launch.
    They're supposed to have a free trial coming up soon.

    Oh well. Buyer beware and all that jazz.
    ~~Courage is not the lack of fear~~
    Quote Originally Posted by gooddragon1 View Post
    If the party wizard can't survive a supersonic dragon made of iron at epic levels it's his own fault really.
    "In soviet dungeon, aboleth farms you!"
    "Please consult your DM before administering Steve brand Aboleth Mucus.
    Ask your DM if Aboleth Mucus is right for you.
    Side effects include coughing, sneezing, and other flu like symptoms, cancer, breathing water like a fish, loss of dignity, loss of balance, loss of bowel and bladder control."

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    aye.
    admittedly, I hadn't known the beta was an open thing, so I never looked into that bit, and I hadn't known there were places streaming footage other then the yogscast(which mostly dealt with pvp, and non dungeon things, with some misc wandering around as well)
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    Updates on the Order of the Green Hilt
    • We now have a Guild Stash on Tarnished Coast, along with the Guild Emblem and Guild Armorer. I honestly have no idea where to spend Influence next. Suggestions welcome.

    • I'm not aware of who's on what sever apart from Tarnished Coast, and certainly can't do anything with Influence on those servers. If you're a member not on Tarnished Coast and have built up a meaningful amount of Influence you could volunteer for the rank of 'Master' to lead the guild on that server.

    • Along the same lines, volunteers for admin ranks on Tarnished Coast are still sought. Ranks range from recruiter (Knight) to full admin (Seneschal).

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    Quote Originally Posted by Evrine View Post
    That doesn't mean it needs to continue to exist. I think the game does an admirable job of not requiring some kind of trinity style gameplay in order to complete content.
    Sure, I can accept that the Trinity is perhaps obsolete at this point, but if from a design perspective, the goal was to replace the Trinity, substituting "everybody does a little bit of everything" has performed poorly thus far in Guild Wars 2. I don't have a problem with the "Everybody is Everything" approach, but if that is the case, then the game needs to have encounters that are more than mindless tank and spanks. What little encounters that aren't "zerg boss mob until dead" are basically copies of mechanics found in the boss fights of other games. I suspect this is one of the reasons why there is no PvE content involving more than five players.

    If the intent was for the vast majority of the playerbase to be able to relatively easily group up and complete content, then I think they've succeeded.
    I would agree with your statement for the most part, except for the caveat that some groups tend to end up spamming "LF Guardian for ____ Explore Mode" or similar statements. I've heard arguments that this is a zero tank game, and similarly is a zero healer game. Personally, I'm leaning towards the latter, since everyone can self heal.

    I heard some people justifying why there is no "LFG tool" in map chat earlier today, with the primary reason being "guilds exist, go find one and do content with them." I'd probably disagree with that statement. A group finder tool would be immensely helpful, and I don't think it would detract from the overall game in terms of making it easier for players to find groups.

    One aspect that could use improvement is finding ways to encourage players to group up to complete entire zones...

    Honestly, I'm just not sure what you expected out of the game. There are no raids, there are no taunts, there are no rigid class roles, heck, there aren't even any ally targeting skills.
    Well, there are the area-heals I suppose. I don't think anyone really knew what to expect out of this game. That's one thing I do thing ArenaNet has done a good job of, which is trying new things (even if their implementation was relatively poor, I think there is room for improvement within the game here).

    Quote Originally Posted by Togath View Post
    The lack of the trinity thing, I've gotten used to things like WoW, where you are either a tank, dps or healer(and can have 2-3 roles that you can switch between via some form of multispec), sometimes with a support role added in.
    even ddo has a tank ability in the form of the intimidate skill.
    As I noted above, I think a tank role still exists, though healing is largely the responsibility of each player now. Also, the "downed, fight to survive!" mechanic is rather interesting in that players can Rally, so dying (or going down) isn't all that big a deal.

    Quote Originally Posted by Ogremindes View Post
    Updates on the Order of the Green Hilt
    • We now have a Guild Stash on Tarnished Coast, along with the Guild Emblem and Guild Armorer. I honestly have no idea where to spend Influence next. Suggestions welcome.

    • I'm not aware of who's on what sever apart from Tarnished Coast, and certainly can't do anything with Influence on those servers. If you're a member not on Tarnished Coast and have built up a meaningful amount of Influence you could volunteer for the rank of 'Master' to lead the guild on that server.

    • Along the same lines, volunteers for admin ranks on Tarnished Coast are still sought. Ranks range from recruiter (Knight) to full admin (Seneschal).
    I'd be more than happy to help with running the guild. Just let me know what needs to be done (big picture scope that is).

    As for Influence, I think maybe Guild Weaponsmith is a nice touch? Just to get all the upgrades anyways. If we're short on Influence, I've got both my Letters still, so that's 1400 Influence right there.

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    Aye, I like the downed mechanics, and more what I meant by the "I wish this game had a tank role" is more even something like ddo(where the tanking taunt ability is an optional feature) still an "everyone can fill any role" thing, but with the ability to force an enemy to focus on you instead of an ally(such as one close to death, or one ressing downed players), guardians have one ability which does that(greatsword sword throw thingy), but it doesn't work on all enemies.
    Having a taunt or something would also make shields more useful, as currently they are, oddly, more for pvp then pve.
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    Shields are actually pretty darn useful in PvE if you've got the timing down. Warriors and guardians each have a skill that completely blocks for like 3 seconds. That's plenty of time if you're watching the boss and expecting to get hit. The Guardian also gets a skill that deals aoe damage and grants protection to his allies, while the warrior gets a short ranged leap + interrupt, if I remember right. All four of those skills are very useful in the right situation.

    Engineers have a skill that reflects all projectiles for 3 seconds, and they can release it for a pretty good knock back effect. Ive managed to kill several mobs with my projectile reflection - but I do have to be watching the animations fairly carefully. Then we've got the electro-shield that we can block with or throw. If you choose to throw it, you can daze (and thus interrupt) the mob twice. Very handy. All in all, I've liked shields on the classes that can use them. I just wish their ability cool downs weren't so much longer than a comparable weapon. (offhand pistols for engi have a 15 sec and 25 sec cool downs, while shield is like 30 sec and 40 sec)

    Edit: I'd also be cool with helping to run the guild. I'm having a blast with the game and don't intend to be leaving any time soon, so yeah. I'm trying to be more active on the forums as well, seeing as I can be here while I'm stuck at college but on break from class.
    Last edited by Decatus; 2012-09-20 at 01:00 AM.

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    I think its more that people are used to the "holy trinity" and plate=tank and so try to emulate it. I never liked it as I always interpreted it as "holy duo and a bunch of people that speed up the foregone conclusion while crowing about dps meters".

    I'm liking what I've seen so far of dungeons and class design. For example I rebuilt my mesmer to be very sturdy as an experiment and have tanked dungeons just fine with it. I've also been in groups where everyone has sufficient survival to not need a formal tank and its gone smoothly as well.

    So far its felt much closer to a pen-and-paper RPG experience than MMOs like EQ and WoW which is a plus to me. Its far from perfect but then again I can remember when WoW raiding was warrior=only tank class, 1 valid PvE spec for most classes, and some bosses being simple fire resistance checks.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Neftren View Post
    Sure, I can accept that the Trinity is perhaps obsolete at this point, but if from a design perspective, the goal was to replace the Trinity, substituting "everybody does a little bit of everything" has performed poorly thus far in Guild Wars 2. I don't have a problem with the "Everybody is Everything" approach, but if that is the case, then the game needs to have encounters that are more than mindless tank and spanks. What little encounters that aren't "zerg boss mob until dead" are basically copies of mechanics found in the boss fights of other games. I suspect this is one of the reasons why there is no PvE content involving more than five players.
    I would agree with you that there should be some more complex encounters. However, from my admittedly limited experience, aren't trinity-based encounters zerg boss mob until dead, with the caveat that if the tank or healer fails, then the whole party fails? That's a gross oversimplification, I'm sure, but you get the idea.

    As for why there are no raids (because there is plenty of content that involves more than 5 players), I think it was a design goal from the start for several reasons. One, it's a significant departure in gameplay experience from anything that comes before it, and Anet has stated that they want the entire game to feel like 'end game'. Two, raids are associated with a gear treadmill and elitism that has no place in the rest of the game's design philosophy. Three, I think Anet would rather design content for almost all of their players rather than the small subset of hardcore raiders.



    Quote Originally Posted by Neftren View Post
    I would agree with your statement for the most part, except for the caveat that some groups tend to end up spamming "LF Guardian for ____ Explore Mode" or similar statements. I've heard arguments that this is a zero tank game, and similarly is a zero healer game. Personally, I'm leaning towards the latter, since everyone can self heal.
    I've seen a few people asking for particular professions too, but not always guardians. Usually they are ridiculed pretty quickly. I don't think that's particularly necessary, but I have also seen people doing their best to explain that you don't need certain classes to complete the dungeon.


    Quote Originally Posted by Neftren View Post
    One aspect that could use improvement is finding ways to encourage players to group up to complete entire zones...
    See, I'm not sure I agree. I think the grouping and socializing of players should be a fluid, natural thing. Nothing's stopping you from talking to other players and getting a group going.


    Quote Originally Posted by Neftren View Post
    Well, there are the area-heals I suppose. I don't think anyone really knew what to expect out of this game. That's one thing I do thing ArenaNet has done a good job of, which is trying new things (even if their implementation was relatively poor, I think there is room for improvement within the game here).
    Certainly. I also think there is plenty of room for improvement. I think the tiering of utility skills and traits was a bad idea, but they're not going to change it now.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Evrine View Post
    I think the tiering of utility skills and traits was a bad idea, but they're not going to change it now.
    I disagree. I think the tiering of traits and utilities was needed.
    Making the utilities tiered is a non-issue because of the extremely vast amount of skill points available in the game.
    With traits it's a bit more complicated. With untiered traits, you could essentially cherry pick the traits that you wanted without any real investment into a certain discipline. Certain traits are far, far more powerful than others, and should require a bit of "prep and know how" to get them. Getting these traits with only ten points spent into any given line was a mistake. Being able to build 10/10/10/20/20 [or whatever variation] and having all of the most powerful traits in the game was a mistake. It was a fun mistake, but it was a mistake none the less. Now the issue is getting more balance into the trees.
    Last edited by Shadow; 2012-09-20 at 06:33 AM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Shadow View Post
    I disagree. I think the tiering of traits and utilities was needed.
    Making the utilities tiered is a non-issue because of the extremely vast amount of skill points available in the game.
    I don't disagree with your point, but I also don't see the sense in it. Tier 3 utility skills aren't more powerful, and most of the time not more complicated than lower tier skills. The placement of skills in the tier that they're in seems largely arbitrary, and since that is the case, why have tiers?

    Then you have the issue of players seeing a tier system and assuming that higher tiers are more powerful skills when they aren't necessarily. That can be a problem if they're less willing to change skills to suit the situation.


    Quote Originally Posted by Shadow View Post
    With traits it's a bit more complicated. With untiered traits, you could essentially cherry pick the traits that you wanted without any real investment into a certain discipline. Certain traits are far, far more powerful than others, and should require a bit of "prep and know how" to get them.
    I think this would be a valid point if the third tier traits were more powerful than others, because plenty of them aren't. Or rather, if lower tier traits weren't utter crap. Or if certain traits weren't in lines that make no sense whatsoever.


    Quote Originally Posted by Shadow View Post
    Getting these traits with only ten points spent into any given line was a mistake. Being able to build 10/10/10/20/20 [or whatever variation] and having all of the most powerful traits in the game was a mistake. It was a fun mistake, but it was a mistake none the less. Now the issue is getting more balance into the trees.
    This wouldn't have been a problem if, again, the vast majority of traits weren't crap. If there's only 1-2 powerful traits per line, then you've got a problem that tiering doesn't fix, and I don't think it has.

    Personally, I liked the trait system that they were developing prior to the betas. In it, each weapon had its own series of traits. They didn't conflict with each other and were only active when you had that weapon equipped. There were also two non-weapon based traitlines for each class. It wasn't perfect at the time, but I think it would have turned out better in the end if they'd have stuck with it.
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  25. - Top - End - #685
    Orc in the Playground
     
    PirateGuy

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    Oh Jute, why do you hate me?

  26. - Top - End - #686
    Ogre in the Playground
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    Quote Originally Posted by Evrine View Post
    I would agree with you that there should be some more complex encounters. However, from my admittedly limited experience, aren't trinity-based encounters zerg boss mob until dead, with the caveat that if the tank or healer fails, then the whole party fails? That's a gross oversimplification, I'm sure, but you get the idea.
    This is hardly the case. Near the end, WoW turned into a lot of zerg bosses, but the original set of encounters (looking primarily at Naxxramas-40), there were many bosses with interesting mechanics. I think my favorite encounter is Heigan the Destroyer's floor puzzle (YouTube it if you're interested), and there are a great number of jokes and lines floating around the internet regarding Naxxramas boss encounters.

    As for why there are no raids (because there is plenty of content that involves more than 5 players), I think it was a design goal from the start for several reasons. One, it's a significant departure in gameplay experience from anything that comes before it, and Anet has stated that they want the entire game to feel like 'end game'. Two, raids are associated with a gear treadmill and elitism that has no place in the rest of the game's design philosophy. Three, I think Anet would rather design content for almost all of their players rather than the small subset of hardcore raiders.
    Maybe that's so, but "endgame" typically involves more than "running around the map by myself for little or no worthwhile reward" at the end. Raids don't necessarily have to be part of a gear treadmill or elitism. It could just reward Exotics with more skins, because as it stands, there aren't enough interesting or cool armor sets out there right now (at least, not for medium armor).

    Also, dungeon finder can help with putting raid groups together. Or just make the raids be open world bosses or boss events, instead of having all the "large group PvE content == tank and spank Cathedral boss for crappy Karma Vendor at the end" type of fight.

    As it stands, there is no endgame. The "Endgame reimagined" post is just a set of excuses (in my opinion) for why there isn't anything meaningful to do at level 80. I present to you ... a majority of level 80 players farming karma and gold in Orr as the primary evidence. I thought the intention was to make this a no-grind (or lessened grind) game? I don't want to turn to carrot on a stick or anything, but in terms of motivating players to go to other zones and do the lower level content... the rewards really aren't there. I'm making relatively little money exploring, compared to my friend, who made something like 80g in a week just farming Orr for events.

    See, I'm not sure I agree. I think the grouping and socializing of players should be a fluid, natural thing. Nothing's stopping you from talking to other players and getting a group going.
    There is no story or map completion reason for why we should do dungeons. It's almost as if ArenaNet made all their maps and went "oh we should put in some dungeons" and then plopped some across the map. Mount Maelstrom has a quarter of the map devoted to the Coil of Eternity, yet at no time whatsoever is there a story quest or heart that sends you there. Only a dynamic event that fails more than half the time because it's semi-bugged. So on this front, finding a group and socializing isn't exactly fluid. Most groups I've been in have been more interested in either completing the story quest (i.e. for Arah), or farming the instance (e.g. Citadel of Flame, Twilight Arbor, etc.).

    The second problem? There's a huge problem stopping me from talking to other players and getting a group going, and that's the fact that there are simply no other players in the zone, or more specifically, no other level appropriate players in the zone. How many level 80s are running around in Queensdale looking for a Caudecus Manor Explore Mode group? This is why CM Explore is never run unless you find a guild (which defeats the point of making it easy for casual players to find a group, and returns to the adage of "go find a guild you noob"). Some zones I've been in have been almost empty at times too...

    Quote Originally Posted by Evrine View Post
    I don't disagree with your point, but I also don't see the sense in it. Tier 3 utility skills aren't more powerful, and most of the time not more complicated than lower tier skills. The placement of skills in the tier that they're in seems largely arbitrary, and since that is the case, why have tiers?

    Then you have the issue of players seeing a tier system and assuming that higher tiers are more powerful skills when they aren't necessarily. That can be a problem if they're less willing to change skills to suit the situation.
    I don't know which class you're playing, but I can assure you, Ranger Tier 2 and Tier 3 skills are much more powerful than Tier 1 skills. I think ArenaNet did a reasonably good job, to the extent at which I have to consider whether I want to trade out 100 Precision and 10% Crit Damage for a 20% reduction in Greatsword/Sword cooldowns. It's an interesting trade off and I think there's some degree of thought into builds. I do agree that it could use some improvement though.



    1

    I don't want to seem like I'm harping against this game or anything. I just think there are a certain set of problems that ArenaNet hasn't addressed (and this is a problem common to many game developers, in that they fail to fully consider their endgame, and to that end, player motivations for playing their version of "endgame").

  27. - Top - End - #687
    Orc in the Playground
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    Quote Originally Posted by Evrine View Post
    Speedruns aren't exactly how the game is 'meant' to be played, nor do I think, at least at this point in time, that the majority of the player base is doing speedruns.
    Doesn't have to be a majority, just a sizeable portion. And I would contend that yes, there is a large enough speedrun group that ArenaNet actually had to take action by patching some dungeons up to a higher difficulty. Also, once you hit 80, all there is to do in PvE is farm, especially if you want dungeon armour sets. So yes, there is a sizeable group of farmers out there.


    And again I say, dungeons are not impossible to run without a guardian, but you'll shave off a lot of time running a competent one.

    Quote Originally Posted by Togath View Post
    I wish I had known that about the game before I bought the game.
    Why exactly do you want WoW-like mechanics in a game that is trying to get away from precisely those sorts of mechanics?

    Quote Originally Posted by illyrus View Post
    I rebuilt my mesmer to be very sturdy as an experiment and have tanked dungeons just fine with it.
    Do share.


    Quote Originally Posted by Neftren View Post
    As it stands, there is no endgame. The "Endgame reimagined" post is just a set of excuses (in my opinion) for why there isn't anything meaningful to do at level 80. I present to you ... a majority of level 80 players farming karma and gold in Orr as the primary evidence. I thought the intention was to make this a no-grind (or lessened grind) game?

    I don't know which class you're playing, but I can assure you, Ranger Tier 2 and Tier 3 skills are much more powerful than Tier 1 skills. I think ArenaNet did a reasonably good job, to the extent at which I have to consider whether I want to trade out 100 Precision and 10% Crit Damage for a 20% reduction in Greatsword/Sword cooldowns. It's an interesting trade off and I think there's some degree of thought into builds. I do agree that it could use some improvement though.
    Welp, they have to keep people playing somehow . At this point it's about farming cosmetics, since that's really the main attraction.

    Personally, ANet are disappointing me with a lack of a proper tournament system. Free tourneys are treated like 8v8 pubs, with ragers and afkers everywhere. Before anyone says 'paid tourneys', I'd like to get in a bit of proper practice before moving up to that, but...

    As for traits, they vary wildly from profession. I can say that mesmer traits are functional, but are awkwardly placed all over. Mantra traits are high up in opposite trees, shatters are deep in Power and Condition, the critical tree really only serves as 'bleeding for more condition damage' (Sharper Images). So it's not so straightforward.

  28. - Top - End - #688
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    Penguinizer's Avatar

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    I find that the mesmer traits are overall rather disappointing. They're all either incredible niche, very weapon/build specific or outright awful.

    Not to mention they're rather confusingly worded since they never really make it clear what is an illusion, what is a clone and what is a phantasm and more specifically which trait affects what.

  29. - Top - End - #689
    Orc in the Playground
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    Eh... I don't think raiding has to be the "endgame". Its been my experience from raiding seriously in EQ and vanilla WoW (and less serious raiding since then) that when you're working on that first kill (especially if its a server or world first) everyone's goal is to beat the boss. After you've done it once or twice then its just farming things in a raid as the mechanics are all old hat now.

    Personally I'd rather see the dynamic events take more of an epic scale affecting multiple zones over the course of a week. Maybe one week a month every month they have some huge dynamic event chain like that. Create four or five and just cycle through them over the year.

    Throw in some cool boss mechanics and have a few of the boss events place a huge area into contested to prevent people from graveyard zerging easily.

  30. - Top - End - #690
    Barbarian in the Playground
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    Default Re: Guild Wars 2!

    I personally hope(and think, but mostly hope) that the dungeon nerfs were more of a gut reaction to dungeon farming that will later be changed. I really don't think they expected that amount of people to be farming the dungeons like they were. I hope after they take care of all the Trait/skill/balance issues, they'll be able to look at the dungeons and balance them out for a decent farm/time ratio, but not to the point were it is the number one thing you do, unless you want to get the armours. Edit again, appearently there is this aswell. And I forgot about this one. Dungeons will be given much better loot.

    IMO its a bigger problem that the Diminshing Returns for farming mobs, and doing a lot of events back to back that are in place. I haven't hit the DE cap to date, but loot drying up confused me for a while until I found out why. -.-

    I saw a post on the offical forums about PvP and some changes coming (including ladders, i think) that Ill try to fish out, things should be on the way. Ill try to find after I post this. What we know about the future of PvP
    Honestly, as someone who has fallen in love with my ele, and think ill be maining it, I would rather they do somthing to buff us in some way, even if its just fixing some of the movement skills (mostly ride the lighting) before anything. Thats just me being greedy though.
    Last edited by Tono; 2012-09-20 at 01:41 PM.

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