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[Kos Luftar]

I mean that in the next expansion / region / whatever, they wouldn't use gliding and it would end up just be a neat thing you can only do in 4 zones and no where else ever again.

Probably replaced with something else the idiotic vocal minority has been whining about for ages. They got raids, which made absolutely no sense to shoehorn into a game like GW2, so fuck it, let's throw in mounts. Hell, make 'em fly too, it'll be a good way to go AFK while you're waiting for the meta events to start.

That would make sense for one of the survey questions which asked if it was important that the game be fully explorable without any loading screens.

 

[appletoasty]

I REALLY hope they go the direction of making gliding available in all of the current world with the next expac (it would make some amount of sense when HoT's current content goes free to play, right?) instead of abandoning the gliding mechanic all together, but given their current track record I think I am way too hopeful. They'll probably come up with some bullshit reason why it won't happen, like it trivializes the core content, there's not enough verticality for it to make sense, they don't want to add updrafts etc, they want to encourage people to play the new shit they'll never update instead of the old stuff that people actually *want* to play, blah blah blah

Somewhat related note, what's the deal with gliding not being available in the new borderlands? That shit looks like it was MADE for gliding. Ike said something about wanting to Goomba stomp people (warrior fall damage trait) and that sounds freaking amazing. I would go in there just to find some poor sucker, fly in and deliver some DEATH FROM ABOVE. There's too much verticality for it to be not completely frustrating without gliding, so why?? Whyyyy?? It wouldn't solve all of WvW's current problems but it would be at least moderately fun.

I also wish there was more than a single fractal worth doing at 50+.

 

[Quenk]

I also wish there was more than a single fractal worth doing at 50+.

Swamp has Bloomhunger and Mossman. That totally counts as 2. Right?.... right? ;-;

 

[silvermember]

Finally.



ArenaNet's blind spot seems to be follow-through. They're very good at creating cool new things but terrible at adding to them or keeping them relevant.

• At launch they talked about how they could regularly update the game with new Dynamic events so the old zones could always have something new. To my knowledge, they haven't added any thing like that since they slipped in the ultra-rare Modus Sceleris and Skritt Burglar DEs in October 2012, three years ago.
  

• 
  
  To be fair to Arena net, as someone who recently got sick of their shit and left.
  
  Dynamic events never had a chance. They expected too much from players. They thought players would be happy to go around the world doing dynamic events, but players saw it as simply a means to level. Once they hit 80, they began only doing DE that maximize their rewards and blah blah blah.
  
  So it was smart of them to simply let it go.
  
  Other than that i agree, Arena net seems to try and please everybody and it ends up with them being terrible at following through their features/game mechanics. They are trying to make a diverse group of people with someone contradictory playing habits happy. Then they expect the players to believe that catering to every group will not diminish each other's experience.
  
  (next section is me purely ranting)
  That is unfortunate. Guild wars 2: Vanilla (I know it is cliche) was pretty fun. Gliding, elite profession and mastery seems fun, but I was trying to play a game not turn it into a job./rant

 

[Squall ASF]

So I finally tried out the Wintersday JP and it's a pretty neat fun little layout. It's easily farm-able as a few said and I don't think it would burn me out the same way other farming methods would because this still requires quick motion and reflexes every time you do it. I'd say you have to pay apt attention but that's only true for part of it. I got to the point where I could completely zone out during the first portion with the snowflakes thinking about my fantasy football lineup and next thing I know I'm at the peppermint platforming portion just before the second bonfire haha It's pretty fun to push yourself and see how fast you can go, what shortcuts you can take (what snowflakes you can skip over).

So completing the Wintersday story mission will get me a creature I can feed empyreal fragments to each day for presents, right? I should be able to get more Winter booze out of it after Wintersday ends if that's the case, correct? Otherwise the only way to work on it afterwards would be to buy stuff on the TP.

 

[TheIronChancellor]

Anet really should have waited a few months before releasing HOT. Almost every decision they have made is questionable. WvW is dead. PvP Leagues are an unbalanced nightmare. Bugs at every turn. SMH

 

[appletoasty]

So completing the Wintersday story mission will get me a creature I can feed empyreal fragments to each day for presents, right? I should be able to get more Winter booze out of it after Wintersday ends if that's the case, correct? Otherwise the only way to work on it afterwards would be to buy stuff on the TP.

You get the empyreal fragments eater thing as well as a Wintersday tree for your home instance which will give you 1 present a day, so yeah. You'll reliably get stuff from the tree, not sure how often the eater thing will give Wintersday-related things though. I'd been getting random socks all year but not any of the other Wintersday loot from last year.

Anet really should have waited a few months before releasing HOT. Almost every decision they have made is questionable. WvW is dead. PvP Leagues are an unbalanced nightmare. Bugs at every turn. SMH

It really does feel rushed, and I also wish they'd waited to release a more polished first expansion, but that 9-month content drought was pretty rough. It feels like each of the zones and the story should've been released like Living Story similar to Silverwastes and Dry Top but nooope. I wonder what made them change their minds about that model.

 

[silvermember]

You get the empyreal fragments eater thing as well as a Wintersday tree for your home instance which will give you 1 present a day, so yeah. You'll reliably get stuff from the tree, not sure how often the eater thing will give Wintersday-related things though. I'd been getting random socks all year but not any of the other Wintersday loot from last year.



It really does feel rushed, and I also wish they'd waited to release a more polished first expansion, but that 9-month content drought was pretty rough. It feels like each of the zones and the story should've been released like Living Story similar to Silverwastes and Dry Top but nooope. I wonder what made them change their minds about that model.

People wanted an expansion. People are used to expansion even though the LS model could have provided it for free. I don't blame Arena net, there are lot of dumb people who were willing to pay for something they would have gotten for free through the LS. Now in other to make the content worth the price/time ratio, you end up with lots of grind.

 

[Proven]

I feel like they can getaway with not having gliding in Core Tyria or WvW, but not both. People are clamoring too much. Really, the big thing is that the next expansion/zone will have some new movement mechanic. They want them to be sectioned off to their specific zones which also allows them to focus design/development/bug and exploit fixing time on only those areas. But I'm probably also the only one fine with not having everything everywhere.

If I had to put it somewhere, I'd put it in WvW. WvW is the potpourri of PvE and PvP content and would make more sense there. I'd they keep designing new maps for the mode, it's a smaller area to test/fix over, and in the worst case they can have only one movement Mastery work on each map they create, but slowly build up to that rotation of maps.

Oh, wait, except it'll create a really big advantage between F2P and expansion players. So they'll likely wait until that expansion content goes F2P. Similar reason I suspect to why food created through HoT recipes is purely Account Bound. At best, they might change things late next year when the expansion starts getting deeper discounts.

They also need to figure out what they want to do with Masteries and XP in WvW. Sure, you can say XP->Reward Tracks, Masteries->WvW rank point versions of acceptable ones then just call it a day. But ANet doesn't work like that.

 

[Squall ASF]

You get the empyreal fragments eater thing as well as a Wintersday tree for your home instance which will give you 1 present a day, so yeah. You'll reliably get stuff from the tree, not sure how often the eater thing will give Wintersday-related things though. I'd been getting random socks all year but not any of the other Wintersday loot from last year.

Ahhhhh! My buddy said that he had the creature but never got the drinks out of it. Now it makes sense, it's the tree that gets you the gifts. I'll definitely have to snag that. Thanks for the explanation!


As for expansions, people wanted them because they want multiple new zones at once with a story flowing through it, new classes, new races basically big releases like that which Living Story wasn't providing. Could they introduce this stuff through LS? sure, but they hadn't and it would drag out a lot longer hence people crave a big expansion.

 

[Mxrz]

What did you guys want out of HoT that you did not get?

Its gone fairly well for me. It solved most of my issues with the core game. I'm no longer stuck doing dungeons every night just to earn gold/progress.I'm doing content I can enjoy while still earning just as much--mostly by selling stuff to the "Give now!" crowd. Mats rain from the sky. New skins. Stronghold. My only real issue is the accessibility issues with locked adventurers, map metas vs mega server, casual guild vs raids, and all that.

I figure they'll fix most of that before the Spring is over.

 

[Spyware]

What did you guys want out of HoT that you did not get?

I'm gonna be boring and say "more of the same".
Zones with some sort of freedom where it's fun to explore solo. Basically just like the old zones. Elite specs you can use to actually play my sort of content (map completion). As it is now, I have to finish most of what I like before I can use the elite spec for... what? Raids and Fractals I guess, but I suck at group content in GW2 and rather play other games then.
HoT gave me pretty much one thing, Rev. It's cool but not enough to make me like the expansion, of course.

 

[Shiokazu]

gonna jump in for christmas day.

im not at home right now neither during holidays. sometimes i think i got burned out, but i got some plans for the next year, in special after trying the new WvW map.

 

[appletoasty]

People wanted an expansion. People are used to expansion even though the LS model could have provided it for free. I don't blame Arena net, there are lot of dumb people who were willing to pay for something they would have gotten for free through the LS. Now in other to make the content worth the price/time ratio, you end up with lots of grind.

Guild Wars 2's whole thing was that they weren't a typical MMO though, and that included how new content was introduced (expansions vs semi-regular smaller updates). People are always going to have criticisms or want something different than what they're being given in a game like this. It makes me wonder if the Living Story model was missing some quota, not getting enough new players or bringing in enough money etc. I dunno. Something must have changed their mind.

 

[Levyne]

.

 

[Astral/H3X]

If anyone is wondering why I'm not playing, just ask Xenoblade X.

Game is a lot of what I want GW2 to be, tbqh.

 

[Retro]

What did you guys want out of HoT that you did not get?

I feel like a broken record at this point, but;

- Everything Levyne said. The new zones are the Theme Park-iest MMO zones I've ever had the displeasure to play. They literally have schedules and queues where you wait around for the activity to start, which is the only fun part and over far too soon. Then you get far to few tickets that you have to collect en masse to get something from the prize counter. It wouldn't be so bad if all four of the new zones weren't like this. There aren't dynamic events anymore, there's just events that all feed into the meta.

- Everything is a collection now. The game is literally a checklist of things to get so you can get something else; there aren't any rewards that aren't buried in a collection anymore. It wouldn't be so bad if so much of the collections are just tedious 'go here, do this, you're done' x 20.

- Raids as they currently exist fit into the rest of the game like a square peg fits into a round hole. Emphasis on BiS gear, rigid group / build composition, DPS / gear checks, tedious organization... everything that's contrary to the rest of the game and everything I hate about raiding is right there, like they just copied and pasted it from some other MMO.

- The complete abandonment of dungeons and the streamlining of fractals.

- They changed how guild missions are set up and activated without adding any new content whatsoever.

The only thing I'm happy with are elite specs (still wish they were account-wide so I could use them on leveling alts, there's absolutely no reason for them to be 80-only), and even that's screwed up PVP so bad that teams are purposely throwing matches to call attention to it. Revenant is really fun too. Masteries are a mixed bag, a few are good but they're mostly arbitrary unlocks for stuff like vendors. I like gliding and that's about it. WvW seems to be dead too, I don't play it much so it's not something I 'wanted', but it's still a disappointment.

 

[Zeroth]

Probably one of their biggest misstep was killing dungeons while not creating an appropriate replacement. Fractals were already there, so they can't excuse themselves with that, specially when people who ran dungeons would also run fractals since that's the hardest 5 man instanced content. Raids cannot fill such gap, they are on a different tier altogether. So what happened is that people who used to run dungeons+fractals would now need to content themselves with solely running the same fractals they have been running for 2 years.

The fact we were only told of dungeons changes a bit before release is also quite sad.

 

[leng jai]

I tried to LFG HOTW path 1 for about 45 minutes yesterday and not a single person joined.

 

[Retro]

World vs World Holiday Sneak Peek

A message from the World vs World Team:

Before the holiday season is fully upon us we wanted to give you all a sneak peek of some changes that are coming to WvW. Before we jump into the changes, we just want to make it very clear that the changes you’ll read about below are not a part of the big World vs World update that we’ve previously mentioned. This update is the first of what we hope are more regular updates to the existing core of World vs. World. We are looking forward to sharing the details of the bigger World vs World project with you in the future, but we’re not quite ready yet.

And now for that sneak peek:

• Objectives upgrades will no longer be automatic based on time. They will upgrade based on dolyaks that reach them. Smaller groups can now prevent an objective from upgrading by preventing dolyaks from reaching that objective.
• Supply cost for all catapults are being reduced by ten supply. The layout of the Desert Borderlands map has increased the number of catapults required to take some objectives. We agree with your feedback that also increasing the cost of catapults pushed the balance too far towards defense so we are tuning that more towards offense.
• Points per kill will be turned on and kept on. This is to more directly recognize the contribution that fighting other players adds to the success of the world.
• The number of players who can rally off a single kill has been reduced from five to one. Players will also no longer be able to revive defeated players while in combat. You still will be able to revive downed players while in combat. Both of these changes are designed to help fights resolve and to give smaller, more skilled groups a better chance against larger groups.

Please let us know what you think of these changes. We’re going to hold off on picking a release date until we have a chance to review your feedback, but we’d like to target early 2016. So please add your feedback about these proposals to this thread.

We also wanted to express our thanks to Reyana and the commanders she has been talking with in her World vs World Commander Interview series. Reyana is a dedicated member of the WvW community and a WvW streamer. She has brought together a diverse group of community leaders to constructively share different perspectives on how they play with their guilds, and our team has taken a lot of the commanders’ feedback to heart. Reyana has put a lot of effort into organizing these interviews and we want everyone to know that the efforts that she and the commanders made have been greatly appreciated.

Have a very Happy Holiday! (source)

 

[LumpOfCole]

World vs World Holiday Sneak Peek

This is a good sign that WvW will be on its way to being much better by the time I get my fill of PvP and Raids.

I predicted Megaservers before, and now I'm going to lay down another prediction:

Servers will be reorganized, and there will be only one Borderlands to fight in (instead of three identical ones).

 

[Wanderer5]

Them WvW changes. The rally/dead rezzing change should be interesting.

And good thing I sent my gift early. Need to get the new comp up and running before I can really get back in, and that likely won't happen till Sunday.

 

[tiijj]

At least they are doing something about wvw, it's HoT's biggest disappointment for me.

 

[Proven]

It's what WvW players have been asking for. I'm still for automatic upgrades, but this sort of compromise is decent enough. Adding points to kills is a safe way to allow for more points to be earned during times of high activity without devaluing points earned during off hours. It was one of the best parts of Bloodlust. The change to rallying and reviving is such an excellent shake up I'm surprised it wasn't it done earlier.

I'm going to be following this thread closely.

Edit: I guess I have to say props to Reyanna. I felt that her series was badly done; VODs were impossible to find despite it happening nearly every day, many questions asked felt stacked to the negative side, and I only heard about it because I was lucky enough to see a small post on Reddit a few weeks ago. Still, it really was a platform for guild leaders to share their joys and grievances and I got my full of opinions all across the spectrum for the WvW and Borderland changes.

 

[shysaursoft]

This is a good sign that WvW will be on its way to being much better by the time I get my fill of PvP and Raids.

I predicted Megaservers before, and now I'm going to lay down another prediction:

Servers will be reorganized, and there will be only one Borderlands to fight in (instead of three identical ones).

I thought I read somewhere they had already said what was going to happen: there would be three factions, and you can join up with one regardless of server? Something like that, and it ties into guilds/guildalliances.

 

[Retro]

I thought I read somewhere they had already said what was going to happen: there would be three factions, and you can join up with one regardless of server? Something like that, and it ties into guilds/guildalliances.

It was mentioned by someone on Reddit who's been fairly accurate with leaks in the past, named "TheMysteriousE" or something like that. I don't think it was ever confirmed.

Edit: Here's the post in question: https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/3uznbc/major_wvw_overhaul_colin_j_ft_e/

 

[MikeDip]

So I can't make it to the secret santa thing. Which really blows, I am so sorry!

I did mail out the gift I got though! Like 3 seconds ago. I am sorry it sucks I did my best.
I am gonna put who I had in spoilers. Kinda want them to check to make sure the mail went through properly :\

[QUOTE][SPOILER]Retro[/SPOILER][/QUOTE]

Also I sent like 4 mails please read in the sent order if possible.

 

[Retro]

So I can't make it to the secret santa thing. Which really blows, I am so sorry!

I did mail out the gift I got though! Like 3 seconds ago. I am sorry it sucks I did my best.
I am gonna put who I had in spoilers. Kinda want them to check to make sure the mail went through properly :\

Also I sent like 4 mails please read in the sent order if possible.

Heh, I'll check now, I'm sure it's fine!

Edit: Everything came through fine. That was a cool theme you came up with, and I actually had none of the items you sent. The pun was totally worth it too. Merry Christmas, thanks Mike!

 

[MikeDip]

Yay!

And if anyone was curious, part of the gift included a mini logan. Because logan.

 

[Retro]

Yay!

And if anyone was curious, part of the gift included a mini logan. Because logan.

Yeah, in case anyone is wondering; it was a Three Wise Men theme, with the Krait focus (it's a star) leading Mini Wolfborn Shaman (with Standard Maintenance Oil standing in for myrrh) Mini Adelbern (with Artisan Maintenance Oil, frankincense) and Mini Logan (with gold: the Goblet of Kings focus).

Good stuff. Thanks again, Mike.

 

[spiritfox]

That's cute.

 

[Vigilant Walrus]

World vs World Holiday Sneak Peek

This sounds really terrific. Not being able to rez defeated players while in combat. Please add this to the entire game so people wont try to rez during meta events and boss fights.

 

[Won]

This Jumping Puzzle ended up a pretty good way to actually get used to controlling the camera with the Steam Controller. I went from super awkward to fast and precise in the last 2 days.

The gold isn't too bad either. Time to buy a Legendary! (well, not really)

 

[Levyne]

.

 

[Ranmo]

Hi everyone, I'd love to join the guild. Name is Volnutt.6934

I'm a returning player but I'm basically new. :/

 

[kelik]

Also returning player here! I played a bit a few years ago, then FF XIV kinda took over my mmo itch. I've got a lvl 80 Engineer but will probably be starting a new character since it's pretty much a new game to me again <_<

Oh right the name part: kelik.7894

 

[Zeroth]

Hi everyone, I'd love to join the guild. Name is Volnutt.6934

I'm a returning player but I'm basically new. :/

Also returning player here! I played a bit a few years ago, then FF XIV kinda took over my mmo itch. I've got a lvl 80 Engineer but will probably be starting a new character since it's pretty much a new game to me again <_<

Oh right the name part: kelik.7894

Got ya both. Check your guild panel (press g), then click on Accept and be sure to check the box next to the GAF guild

 

[Tech-Wolf]

Commanders will be Levyne, Zeroth, and I still need two volunteers to lead the other two lanes.

I can help for that, although don't gave me scar lane or nuhoch

 

[appletoasty]

This is TONIGHT

&#9733; Wintersday Events &#9733;

&#9734; SECRET SANTA - SATURDAY, DECEMBER 19 &#9734;

Gift exchange: December 19, 2015 after missions (~10:30 PM EST)
Gift value MAXIMUM: 250 gems / 45 gold

We're doing another Secret Santa this year! After missions on Saturday, December 19, 2015 we will gather in the guild hall and mail our gifts to each other. If you're not able to attend missions that day for any reason, you may send your gift in advance.

 

[spiritfox]

I can take SCAR, though I'll need people with good DPS to join me.

 

[MikeDip]

This is TONIGHT

I'm sorry I have to miss out. I sent my gift, person who has me please mail it.

<3

 

[appletoasty]

I'm sorry I have to miss out. I sent my gift, person who has me please mail it.

<3

Already done

:3

 

[Boss Doggie]

I've been getting random disconnects lately.

 

[MikeDip]

Already done

:3

Santa you were real all along!! Is the gift a hotpot

 

[appletoasty]

Santa you were real all along!! Is the gift a hotpot

yes enjoy

 

[MikeDip]

yes enjoy

Hurray :3

Btw check twitter I tweeted you something so important

 

[appletoasty]

Thank you everyone for participating in Secret Santa!

(I didn't hear anything in gchat this evening, but if anyone DID NOT receive a gift or thinks they got legitimately scumbagged please let me know as soon as you can!)

 

[MikeDip]

Thank you everyone for participating in Secret Santa!

(I didn't hear anything in gchat this evening, but if anyone DID NOT receive a gift or thinks they got legitimately scumbagged please let me know as soon as you can!)

How many of us were there?

 

[spiritfox]

I still don't know who my secret santa is.

 

[Spike Spiegel]

I'm faced with a dilemma regarding fractals: I can either wait it out and be stuck doing sub- 30 fractals, or I can spend laurels/relics/badges for another set of rings making my old "unique" rings redundant and useless.