Guild Wars 2!

[Nadevoc]

Huh. My bank has become a black hole. Everything that was in it disappeared, and any time I deposit collectibles from my bag they simply disappear.

[Yuki Akuma]

Originally Posted by mucco

The Auction House is operational, it's called Black Lion something, but as Anet says, you have a 50/50 of it not working. Keep trying and it will. It is currently not up 100% of the time due to extreme overloading.

This is due to the fact that it's global, not server specific - it's getting a lot more load than they expected. They didn't expect to sell this many copies!

[Shadow]

Originally Posted by Yuki Akuma

This is due to the fact that it's glogal, not server specific - it's getting a lot more load than they expected. They didn't expect to sell this many copies!

That's not the reason.

There are Karma Vendors that sell special things wich can't be purchased anywhere else. One of these things is special weapons.
One of the Norn Karma vendors that sold these special weapons was selling them at EXTREMELY low prices due to a typo.
I mean, like 29 Karma each for a weapon that sold to a vendor for GOLD and salvaged for ridiculous amounts of resources, kind of low.
Certain people were buying them in bulk, as in hundreds at a time, and selling them or salvaging them. They were then getting extremely rich and filling their banks with enough collectables which would have broken the economy.
In a game which is in it's infancy, and in a game which has had at least one economist [that I know of] study that economy during beta, this would have been a game breaking exploit. So A-Net banned every player that did so and closed the Trading Post until they fixed the error. That eror has been fixed, but they only opened the TP to a floating half of the population.

Moral of the story: Don't exploit in Gw2, because A-Net isn't screwing around. They wanted to send a message that exploiting will not be tolerated in this game.
Banning [not suspending, banning] 3000 players during the first week of the game sent that message loud and clear.

edit: out of curiosity, I just googled it to see if anything had changed.
They changed the perma-bans to temporary bans "just this once".

Originally Posted by Chris Whiteside- Lead Producer ArenaNet

from here
This is a first and final warning. Moving forward, please make sure you that when you see an exploitable part of the game, you report it and do not attempt to benefit from it.

[Morty]

Originally Posted by Mynxae

Finally, another Asura Mesmer! On Darkhaven, the only other mesmers I've seen are Human or Sylvari >.> I tend to use scepter+pistol and greatsword. The greatsword is also great for soloing for your personal story quests, because of the pushback.

And if you also have the tier 2 ability to create 2 clones, which is not only using for evading (it moves you slightly), it also increases your damage because you can just shatter them on a mob.

I've unlocked all Staff skills and I'm about to unlock the second Pistol skill. I think I'll switch between those two sets.

[Cikomyr]

Clearly, this is no Eve Online.

EO's answer to players abusing the game mechanics: "Stand up for yourself you crybaby, and abuse back!"

[Penguinizer]

Originally Posted by Morty

I've unlocked all Staff skills and I'm about to unlock the second Pistol skill. I think I'll switch between those two sets.

The Staff is pretty good as is Sword+pistol. I'm going with Sword+Pistol and Greatsword though. I prefer the damage Greatsword has to the DoT focus the Staff has.

I'm curious, how are you focusing your traits? That's also something to take into account with your weapon choice. It's the second reason I chose those weapons. The trait trees I'm focusing on (Domination and Duelist) have traits that give pretty nice bonuses to them.

[Morty]

I've done nothing with traits so far. My mesmer just hit level 5.

[Yuki Akuma]

Originally Posted by Shadow

That's not the reason.

...Yyyyes it is?

The trading post has been down since the headstart, and the exploits were found out a few days after that.

All of the updates mention performance issues, bottlenecks and capacity constraints. Nothing about exploiting.

It's helpful to actually read the updates, rather than relying on second-hand information!

[Neftren]

Originally Posted by Xefas

Finally got to do the first dungeon (Ascalonian Catacombs). It was pleasant enough. You still have people standing in giant obvious blue/green/purple flaming clouds of circular doom until they keel over, and immediately shouting "rezz pls" (and occasionally someone actually runs over to heal them, and then immediately dies to the huge obvious flaming circle of doom as well).

But I guess that's just MMOs. I was pleased with how much of a difference dodging, line-of-sighting, and plain situational awareness made, this being the first dungeon and all (it's a step up from Deadmines, shall we say), and I look forward to doing it again with some more competent folk (even with the lady who refused to wear any armor, and the dudes who refused to not stand in the fire, I still managed to make a profit in both monies and xp, so competence should make the haul astounding).

Heh, I did it with four people. It was a nightmare, and I found the loot to be significantly sub-par. I got one item out of it, which everybody gets (the Ascalonian Hat) at the end.

I'd be interested in trying again, maybe with a full group. Hopefully the loot will be better.

Oh yeah, I'm having trouble representing the guild? It makes the little shuffling sound, but nothing happens...

Originally Posted by Togath

the dusts are useful?, how valuable are they?, I've jsut been vendering it until now(it does remind me, is there any sort of aution house/broker/trading psot system in guildwars?, and is there any form of bank?)

Yeah apparently it is useful. Use the Deposit Collectibles option so it goes directly to your bank, instead of vendoring it. I'm Level 39 (about to ding 40) and I've had no shortage of cash. Actually I've got money, but nothing to spend it on.

[Yuki Akuma]

Originally Posted by Neftren

Heh, I did it with four people. It was a nightmare, and I found the loot to be significantly sub-par. I got one item out of it, which everybody gets (the Ascalonian Hat) at the end.

I'd be interested in trying again, maybe with a full group. Hopefully the loot will be better.

Dungeon loot isn't meant to be better than any other loot; it's for looks, not stats.

[Neftren]

Originally Posted by Yuki Akuma

Dungeon loot isn't meant to be better than any other loot; it's for looks, not stats.

Well, as it stands, the loot gods hate me. I'm a bar or two off level 40, and all my drops, rewards from achievement chests, rewards from various area quests, black lion chest rewards, have all been light or heavy armor. I had to beg a friend for a jacket last night because I'd been using the same jacket since level 18. I've literally looked the same for the past 35 or so levels, because I just haven't had anything drop that I can actually use.

The same goes for weapons. I'm still using a level 26 longbow because nothing better has dropped.

[Morty]

I can't say I'm too thrilled about the WoW-style crafting professions. I wasn't fond of them in WoW and it doesn't look like it'll be better in Guild Wars 2. So far, I took Weaponsmith for my warrior and Jeweler for my mesmer. We'll see how it goes.

[Decatus]

Originally Posted by Morty

I can't say I'm too thrilled about the WoW-style crafting professions. I wasn't fond of them in WoW and it doesn't look like it'll be better in Guild Wars 2. So far, I took Weaponsmith for my warrior and Jeweler for my mesmer. We'll see how it goes.

The crafting professions only feel WoW-like if you don't use the Discovery tab. That allows you to use pieces of items, along with gems, singers, and runes, to create a new finished product. Its also the fastest way to level you profession, and to gain character XP from crafting.

Seriously, it's a simple but elegant system; I love that any time I find myself short a level or so, all I have to do is go discover some new crafting recepies and bam, level up and away I go to explore and adventure some more.

[Yuki Akuma]

Originally Posted by Neftren

Well, as it stands, the loot gods hate me. I'm a bar or two off level 40, and all my drops, rewards from achievement chests, rewards from various area quests, black lion chest rewards, have all been light or heavy armor. I had to beg a friend for a jacket last night because I'd been using the same jacket since level 18. I've literally looked the same for the past 35 or so levels, because I just haven't had anything drop that I can actually use.

The same goes for weapons. I'm still using a level 26 longbow because nothing better has dropped.

I think the loot system might be balanced on the assumption that people will use the TP to sell unwanted stuff and buy stuff they need...

[Morty]

Originally Posted by Decatus

The crafting professions only feel WoW-like if you don't use the Discovery tab. That allows you to use pieces of items, along with gems, singers, and runes, to create a new finished product. Its also the fastest way to level you profession, and to gain character XP from crafting.

Seriously, it's a simple but elegant system; I love that any time I find myself short a level or so, all I have to do is go discover some new crafting recepies and bam, level up and away I go to explore and adventure some more.

So far I've never had enough components to use the Discovery tab. I guess I'll try hoarding a bit. Honestly though, I loathe crafting in video games in general. Good crafting systems just make me hate them a little less.

[Neftren]

Originally Posted by Decatus

The crafting professions only feel WoW-like if you don't use the Discovery tab. That allows you to use pieces of items, along with gems, singers, and runes, to create a new finished product. Its also the fastest way to level you profession, and to gain character XP from crafting.

Seriously, it's a simple but elegant system; I love that any time I find myself short a level or so, all I have to do is go discover some new crafting recepies and bam, level up and away I go to explore and adventure some more.

I've been having a lot of issues getting enough crafting materials actually. I blew through the starter zones, so I didn't gather enough copper/wood/leather to get to 75 Huntsman, so I'm in a bit of a quandary now. I could go back and redo the starter zones (for a bit less XP) or plow on ahead... I'm just not sure how much I want to invest into crafting, at least, not until I see what special and cool gizmos it can produce.

Originally Posted by Yuki Akuma

I think the loot system might be balanced on the assumption that people will use the TP to sell unwanted stuff and buy stuff they need...

Yeah you're probably right. It's just frustrating to only get things that I can't even equip.

[Shadow]

Originally Posted by Yuki Akuma

It's helpful to actually read the updates, rather than relying on second-hand information!

Because my linking of two different sources in that post somehow lead you to believe that my information was second hand?
No, my information was in incorrect assumption based on the knowledge that I had. I never read wikis, as they tend to be filled with too much incorrect and/or biased information.
But thanks for trolololing.

[Yuki Akuma]

That's the official wiki. And that page can only be edited by admins.

It's linked to from within the launcher.

Edit: ... Look, this isn't worth arguing about, so I'm sorry. But could you please try not to spread disinformation like that? It's not all exploiters making the game worse for everyone else - Anet made some mistakes here too.

[maratek]

Hey Engineer here ready to sign up if you will have me maratek.9735 if you will have me.

[Dihan]

I know next to nothing about Guild Wars 2 and come the end of November I will be MMO-less because City of Heroes is being unceremoniously shut down. My only other MMO experience is WoW for a week about six years ago - I found it ok until I found that I'd have to grind to get any further.

So, what's this like? I'd rather not give more money than I have to to NCSoft after what they've done to City of Heroes. What's the microtransaction stuff like? How is the customisation? What's the loot system like - is it just for show or are there stats involved? I've looked at the wiki but I don't really know where to start.

Thanks.

[Yuki Akuma]

Guild Wars 2 is absolutely not as customisable as City of Heroes when it comes to player avatars, although with slot skills and traits you can come close to its customisability with power sets and inventions.

Loot is like WoW, not CoX - weapons and armour have stats, minimum levels and such.

Microtransactions are for making life easier (access the bank from anywhere, get items bought on the trading post delivered to you, earn XP faster), for aesthetics (weapon and armour skins, armour dyes, transmutation stones) and just neat stuff (like transformation potions). You can buy extra bank tabs, character slots and server transfers with gems, too.

The most important thing, though, is the Gem Exchange - which lets you buy gems from other players with in-game currency. You never need to spend a dime after you've bought the game, if you have a lot of gold.

[Turalisj]

On City of Heroes: That's standard business practice. Yeah, it's not nice, but it's no different from what any other company would do. Other MMO companies aren't any nicer.


Microtransactions: You don't actually need to spend real world money for the Gems. You can trade in game coin for gems, at the rate of like 1 silver = 4 gems or something.

Customization: What aspects are you talking about? Gear? Looks?

Loot: Loot is awesome. You almost always get level appropriate gear for your efforts and everyone that helps kill a critter gets their own random loot roll.

[Dihan]

Thanks. I know it's business but it's still not fun. The microtransaction system sounds nice but I imagine the gem exchange thing is very expensive. I know that no game will probably ever come close to beating CoH in customisation, but is it possible to make a semi-unique looking character from the character creator? Is it possible to dye armour or clothing to make it unique? The loot thing sounds nice too.

A few more questions:

What's the community like right now? Are there specific servers for specific things (such as PVP, RP, etc)? Does the game get grindy very early on? Is it possible to play content solo as well as in teams?

[Yuki Akuma]

You can definitely dye armour, and even at creation you have several colours to choose from. Other dyes can be found as random loot, in Black Lion chests, or crafted with the Chef skill. You can also buy randomised dye packs in the gem store.

There are also a lot of armour skins, and legendary items that can make you look pretty unique (one of the legendary swords, for instance, has a night sky pattern... which moves as the sword moves, making it look almost like a window to a starry void).

The character creator has some okay customisability - you can use sliders to adjust things like eye height, eyebrow widtch, nose shape, horn length, etc. Depending on your race.

There are no PvP/RP/PvE/Whatever servers - all servers are PvE, with PvP in its own instances away from the PvE world.

The game's only as grindy as you make it. You can get XP and level up from almost every action you take in the game - from fighting monsters, gathering materials, crafting or exploring. And most heart quests contain multiple objectives that can be done in any proportion you like.

[Dihan]

Sounds interesting. I may give it a go. By PVP and RP servers I meant unofficial like in CoH where the Freedom and Virtue servers eventually became the central places for different playstyles.

As long as PVP is completely optional, it's all good.

What are death penalties like? Is it forgiving like in CoH (just a few bars of experience debt) or like WoW?

[Yuki Akuma]

It's been out for a week. There hasn't been time for "unofficial" server types to form! And considering one of the PvP types is server versus server, and the fact that you can play on any server you like with guesting (when it's implemented), it's unlikely for that to happen.

When you run out of HP, you're put into the "downed state", where you fall to the floor and have to fight to survive. You get back on your feet if you kill an enemy or another player revives you - or if you use the "Bandage" skill to heal yourself over time. If you run out of HP in downed mode, you die for reals, and can either be revived by another player or teleport to a waypoint.

When you're defeated, one piece of armour is 'damaged' - which doesn't decrease effectiveness. When all your armour is damaged, the next time you're defeated a piece will be 'broken' instead, which means it won't work at all until repaired. Repair prices are pretty cheap, though.

Also, each time you're downed, you start with less HP the next time you're downed. Get downed enough in a short period of time and you'll essentially be auto-defeated, as HP ticks down during the downed state.

There's no experience loss for being killed.

[Dihan]

Well I think the unofficial server-roles in CoH were sorted out during beta, so it may have happened.

Death doesn't sound too crippling. I may give it a try in a few months or if I get bored. Thanks!

[Yuki Akuma]

Also, note that everyone can revive other players and NPCs, from level one. It's channeled (there are abilities that do it instantly), but seriously, everyone can rez. It's wonderful.

Oh, and if you stumble across a downed player in the world, you can revive him and get XP for it. Or kill the thing that downed him - you'll both get XP and loot, and the monster dying will rally him too.

That's another big thing, honestly - you don't need to party up to do quests/events/go hunting together. Everyone who helps fight a monster gets XP and a full share of the loot. And resource nodes are instanced, so everyone can gather from them - someone mining the same ore vein as you won't mean you'll get less. There is no reason to avoid other players.

[Dihan]

Awesome. I don't avoid other players, I just don't like the pressure of being responsible for another person (though it's more likely to be me being a liability ). The game sounds pretty cool though. I'll probably get it at some point after digital sales go back online.

[Dire Ferret]

Originally Posted by Dihan

The microtransaction system sounds nice but I imagine the gem exchange thing is very expensive.

I assumed they would be as well, but I was able to get a character slot (which would normally cost $10) for less than 3 in-game gold, which doesn't take all that long to make.