Support NeoGAF

[Spehornoob]

I think people are pissed off because you can't play a single role only in this game. Support characters need to know how to survive in the fray, DPSers need to know how to adapt to the team's situation and react accordingly. It's gonna turn off some people who only want to do their role.

 

[Divvy]

If they want trinity they can play EVERY OTHER MMO EVER

 

[Hawkian]

One of my goals is to run Arah paths 1,2, and 4 despite 3 being easiest and the only one the guild seems to form.

Any like minded people want to suffer enjoy the other paths with me?

Yes

The rewards, obviously, are enticing , but just having different daily achievements for different days that encourage revisiting places and teaming up seems amazing.

That was my favorite take-away from that as well.

I really hope they get obscure with it, too. I want kill 5 of whatever suit things look like the Steam ogre at the end of our event the other day (mostly just cause I thought that was a really cool mob model).

 

[erpg]

I think people are pissed off because you can't play a single role only in this game. Support characters need to know how to survive in the fray, DPSers need to know how to adapt to the team's situation and react accordingly. It's gonna turn off some people who only want to do their role.

ArenaNet just doesn't offer anything in replacement to the trinity. In order for someone to play 'support' as they'd like, they have to trait a very specific way, and pick the right armor out of a dozen different variations. And even then, their abilities will be situational, and likely AOEs that don't explain themselves very well to groups (I have to constantly be reminded to stay inside the white circle for healing rain). Or worse still, combat is too much of a shitstorm to actually plan out ArenaNet's alternative to the trinity: combofields.

I've never, ever seen combo field combat work like it did in the highly scripted class previews. In reality, it's it's cryptic and it isn't very effective (or just a random bonus in zergs).

 

[Atomski]

So I haven't played this in months... just tried to log on and apparently I have forgotten my password. I try to reset it and it asks for the serial number and says it should be in my email. I check my email and of the 2 emails purchase and activation I have there is no serial number.

 

[Spehornoob]

ArenaNet just doesn't offer anything in replacement to the trinity. In order for someone to play 'support' as they'd like, they have to trait a very specific way, and pick the right armor out of a dozen different variations. And even then, their abilities will be situational, and likely AOEs that don't explain themselves very well to groups (I have to constantly be reminded to stay inside the white circle for healing rain). Or worse still, combat is too much of a shitstorm to actually plan out ArenaNet's alternative to the trinity: combofields.

I've never, ever seen combo field combat work like it did in the highly scripted class previews. In reality, it's it's cryptic and it isn't very effective (or just a random bonus in zergs).

Well, yeah. If you're gonna build a character for support, then you have to build the character for support. I don't see how this is a flaw, personally. My warrior is traited out for survivability, shout support, and crit damage and I do just fine. And how were combo fields shown to work, in your opinion? I don't recall anyone ever saying the combo fields were a replacement for the trinity, just another layer of teamwork.

The replacement for the trinity is adaptability, IMO.

 

[Hawkian]

Man, I actually can't agree with a single one of those premises.

The replacement for the trinity of Tank-Healer-DPS, which locks certain classes into those roles, is Control-Support-Damage, and each class can occupy any one of those roles, or split between two or all three, with various degrees of success, and skill more often than not acting as the bottlenecking factor. The fact that a class isn't locked into a particuar category is the real divergence from the old system and an incredibly virtuous one in my experience. Forming a properly classed-out party in GW1 to be able to do something was my least favorite part of playing it.

Furthermore, having to trait and pick the right armor/runes/sigils to optimize your build is part of the fun from my perspective. It's a form of progression. Also, I can't really imagine how else it would work. I'm making a support Ele, but I know I'm not going to be as effective as possible without using the right traits and gear.

Next... with regard to AoEs, white circles are good and red circles are bad. Some of them certainly have extra features (I can't expect anyone to know how to get the stealth-lock from Shadow Refuge without explaining it first), but Healing Rain isn't one of them. Stay in the circle and it's good for you; what more should be required?

Finally, combofields... once you learn how they work, cryptic is the last word I'd use to describe them; the effects are incredibly consistent. They're also highly effective. Learning to use them properly goes a very long way to making combat in the game easier and more fun.

It's funny to hear you characterize them as somewhat superfluous or random, because all three of my primary characters (one of which is only in the 20s) rely heavily on combo fields to some extent for efficacy. They aren't related to the trinity though, it's a new feature.

 

[Retro]

I've never, ever seen combo field combat work like it did in the highly scripted class previews. In reality, it's it's cryptic and it isn't very effective (or just a random bonus in zergs).

I think maybe you're playing with the wrong kind of people. Nobody ever needs to be told to get into healing AOEs because the person dropping them puts them where everyone is or is going to be standing. I never worry that people aren't going to benefit from my Fire Field because I put it where everyone is going to benefit.

Nevermind that the skills that heal (in contrast to the actual self-heal skill) aren't meant to heal like a traditional MMO and anyone relying on them as such is going to get creamed.

I think perhaps people who think the Combo field system isn't working are, in fact, not willing or able to put in the thought or effort they require (neither of which is very intensive, honestly).

And besides, the combo system isn't really a replacement for the Trinity. It is the removal of aggro management and direct healing, and everyone being able to support (Buffs, condition removal), control (knockbacks, stuns, walls, etc.) and damage. The trinity was always "Person X will taunt and then stack sunders, Person Y will whack-a-mole heal, Person Z will press the same 3 buttons for optimized damage rotation", whereas Guild Wars 2 is "Everyone has to do a little of everything, nobody can alt-tab or stare at the UI."

Trinity-based fights were for the most part boring dances you memorized the steps for and hoped everyone else executed well enough to pass. Yes, GW2's fights are messy and chaotic 'shitstorms' by comparison, but shitstorms are a hell of a lot more exciting than doing the World of Warcraft Waltz ad nauseum. I'll take chaos I have to pay attention to over raid-by-numbers any day of the week.

 

[Sir Abacus]

I've never, ever seen combo field combat work like it did in the highly scripted class previews. In reality, it's it's cryptic and it isn't very effective (or just a random bonus in zergs).

Really? Because I'm usually out at range on my mes and I'll put down a chaos storm almost on CD and I see <Chaos Armor> come up on all the melee shortly afterwards. When I used to play my guardian if I saw a combo field drop on me you bet your ass I would blast, whirl or leap depending on my loadout.

Just because people are ignorant/deliberately obtuse/retarded about the feature doesn't mean it's broken beyond all repair.

 

[erpg]

Furthermore, having to trait and pick the right armor/runes/sigils to optimize your build is part of the fun from my perspective. It's a form of progression. Also, I can't really imagine how else it would work. I'm making a support Ele, but I know I'm not going to be as effective as possible without using the right traits and gear.

I think I just need to point out the mounds of people who quit due to the incorrect belief they can't play the way they'd like to in order to refute this. I know you guys with hundreds of hours under your belts understand the minutia of how gearing and trait combinations work.

Next... with regard to AoEs, white circles are good and red circles are bad. Some of them certainly have extra features (I can't expect anyone to know how to get the stealth-lock from Shadow Refuge without explaining it first), but Healing Rain isn't one of them. Stay in the circle and it's good for you; what more should be required?

Well, maybe I'm just blind, but generally, the thin white circle of an AOE never stands out for me. Especially one as large as healing rain, with such a minor accompanying spell effect. And if I don't know specifically what AoE I'm in, such as healing rain, I'm not prone to act accordingly (like use a blast finisher for healing).

Finally, combofields... once you learn how they work, cryptic is the last word I'd use to describe them; the effects are incredibly consistent. They're also highly effective. Learning to use them properly goes a very long way to making combat in the game easier and more fun.

It's funny to hear you characterize them as somewhat superfluous or random, because all three of my primary characters (one of which is only in the 20s) rely heavily on combo fields to some extent for efficacy.

This follows in the AoE discussion, but combo fields generally look like white puzzle boxes. They aren't colour coded, they have small spell effects that are easily missed or covered by other visual elements. And they create 36 different effects depending on the finisher (heck, the combo field effect grid isn't available in-game and it should be prominently placed in the Hints menu). The only time I ever knowingly create a combo blast is when I'm self-comboing a light field or doing something with an elementalist's fire field, which stands out the most (water/ice/dark might as well be invisible).

I've gone over the lack of visual clarity in combat before. If the game allowed for modifications, I'd pray for an addon that color-coded my finishers on the skill bar when I or my target was inside a field.

 

[Divvy]

I definitely agree with the AoE circles complaint. They all look the same that it's impossible to tell what's what sometimes.

 

[Retro]

Just because people are ignorant/deliberately obtuse/retarded/used to being lazy about the feature doesn't mean it's broken beyond all repair.

Fixed that for ya. Combo fields work, and they work alarmingly well (I've seen boss fights nosedive in difficulty because the right combo went up), but only if you have the wherewithal to know what they are and how they work. It's really not that hard, but if you're used to other MMO-style combat it's rocket science, apparently.

I think I just need to point out the mounds of people who quit due to the incorrect belief they can't play the way they'd like to in order to refute this. I know you guys with hundreds of hours under your belts understand the minutia of how gearing and trait combinations work.

It's really not that hard (or radically different from other MMOs, I would add). Just about every MMO has traits/talents/specializations. Quitting GW2 because you haven't unlocked a Grandmaster Trait is the same as quitting World of Warcraft because you haven't unlocked your top-tier talents. Likewise, every MMO has different stat distributions on their armor (GW2 actually consolidates a lot of the stats, making it easier than most). And lots of games have armor customization (it's just that very few are more than just '+x stat").

Lazy players =/= broken mechanics. Saying "if mounds of people didn't get it, it must be bad" is the same as "if everyone jumps off a bridge, so should you."

 

[erpg]

At this point, I don't know why I'm surprised when people in this thread go after intelligence or typical us vs. them mentality when arguing.

 

[Hawkian]

Yeah I don't know about intelligence or what have you, anyway more visual distinction between the disparate kinds of combo fields would be fantastic. I've gotten used to smoke and dark fields from playing a thief but they're definitely designed to be inconspicuous.

edit: What class are you? Guardians have two of the best Fire fields in the game...

 

[Sir Abacus]

My brain is wired for the coloured outlines rather than the fields.

If I don't know/remember what something is (i.e. necro fields that can be either between dark or poison fields with similar graphics) I jump in and pop it. I'll know what it does and be able to recognize it for at least the rest of the dungeon shortly after that. After a few weeks you start to recognize the effects more intuitively. It just comes down to experience really.

 

[Spehornoob]

I think I just need to point out the mounds of people who quit due to the incorrect belief they can't play the way they'd like to in order to refute this. I know you guys with hundreds of hours under your belts understand the minutia of how gearing and trait combinations work.
Well, maybe I'm just blind, but generally, the thin white circle of an AOE never stands out for me. Especially one as large as healing rain, with such a minor accompanying spell effect. And if I don't know specifically what AoE I'm in, such as healing rain, I'm not prone to act accordingly (like use a blast finisher for healing).
This follows in the AoE discussion, but combo fields generally look like white puzzle boxes. They aren't colour coded, they have small spell effects that are easily missed or covered by other visual elements. And they create 36 different effects depending on the finisher (heck, the combo field effect grid isn't available in-game and it should be prominently placed in the Hints menu). The only time I ever knowingly create a combo blast is when I'm self-comboing a light field or doing something with an elementalist's fire field, which stands out the most (water/ice/dark might as well be invisible).

I've gone over the lack of visual clarity in combat before. If the game allowed for modifications, I'd pray for an addon that color-coded my finishers when I or my target was inside a field.

I have one character over level ten. I think I've played less than a hundred hours on my one max level character. The traits are pretty simple to understand. There's not much minutia. If people quit because of that, I don't know how the hell they play any other mmos, because this is definitely one of the more easy to understand character building systems.

I still don't understand the combo field complaint. If you don't *ever* combo with other people, I think that's on you as a player, because I do it all the time and I only have two combo finishers on my skill bar. I hear more complaints about too many AoE effects than anything else.

 

[erpg]

edit: What class are you? Guardians have two of the best Fire fields in the game...

I don't use consecrations, but yeah, they're visually distinct, even if they break the fire field's visual pattern.

I still don't understand the combo field complaint. If you don't *ever* combo with other people, I think that's on you as a player, because I do it all the time and I only have two combo finishers on my skill bar. I hear more complaints about too many AoE effects than anything else.

Knowingly being the key term. When I see Lava Font or Ring of Fire at my feet, I know I need to get in on that Might and save my finisher. They stand out a lot. Anything else, and it's just luck that Mighty Blow lands at the same time.

 

[Hawkian]

Actually I'd mostly like a way to choose which of two overlapping fields I want to combo with, but I don't know how to solve that problem.

 

[Retro]

At this point, I don't know why I'm surprised when people in this thread go after intelligence or typical us vs. them mentality when arguing.

Arguments usually have two sides, and no one is going after player intelligence, just laziness/aversion to learning new things. You play a certain way long enough, you get into a certain mentality. When a game comes along that is different, it isn't bad game design that players can't be shaken out of their ways, it's the attitude and behavior of the player.

That so many people (3 million, apparently) enjoy an MMO from a fairly low-profile developer that hasn't really sunk a lot into advertising says a lot, and that so many people have made it their GotY speaks volumes.

 

[Zyrusticae]

That so many people (3 million, apparently) enjoy [...]

Whoa, whoa, whoa, WHOA there, Nelly! That is a BIG assumption!

All you know is that they sold 3 million copies. That tells you nothing about whether or not they enjoyed it or even whether or not they played more than a few hours before quitting.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves, here.

 

[Retro]

All you know is that they sold 3 million copies.

That's a good point, honestly, and you're right; 3 Million sales is not 3 million happy players. A large assumption on my part.

 

[Atrophis]

Really? Because I'm usually out at range on my mes and I'll put down a chaos storm almost on CD and I see <Chaos Armor> come up on all the melee shortly afterwards. When I used to play my guardian if I saw a combo field drop on me you bet your ass I would blast, whirl or leap depending on my loadout.

Just because people are ignorant/deliberately obtuse/retarded about the feature doesn't mean it's broken beyond all repair.

I don't remember seeing a single thing in the game that ever explained what a combo field is or how you use them. Can you really blame people for being "ignorant/retarded"??

When I first started playing I genuinely thought that feature had been removed from the game.

 

[erpg]

I don't remember seeing a single thing in the game that ever explained what a combo field is or how you use them. Can you really blame people for being "ignorant/retarded"??

When I first started playing I genuinely thought that feature had been removed from the game.

This appears when you first perform a combo on your account:

You've performed a combo! To combo, use a finisher skill through a field skill. You may combo by yourself or with your allies.

And that's the extent of it.

 

[Hawkian]

All of the tool-tips and tutorial aspects of the game are totally subpar. To get the most out of the game's mechanics you definitely need to seek help and ask knowledgeable players questions. I had this issue with GW1 as well, and they sincerely improved things for educating new characters starting in the expansions, it's a pity the newbie-teaching experience in this was a bit of a step back.

I would have loved something along the lines of the heavily-scripted PvP tutorial in the Heart of the Mists, teaching you how to dodge, AoE, combo skills, boons vs. conditions, etc. Maybe one day!

 

[nataku]

I would have loved something along the lines of the heavily-scripted PvP tutorial in the Heart of the Mists, teaching you how to dodge, AoE, combo skills, boons vs. conditions, etc. Maybe one day!

That's exactly what they need. Make use of all those training golems in the mists and straw dummies in LA with detailed, repeatable tutorials about every aspect of combat. Make them instanced so everyone has access to them all the time and let people go in with a party to practice as well.

 

[Trey]

Game definitely throws you out into the world without so much as a "how do you do?" It elicits both frustration and community interaction. Had to tell a guy in [map] yesterday how to retrait.

 

[Atrophis]

It's sadly a flaw that can be found in nearly every MMO. Having to use an out of game resource to understand how something works is bad design.

Having better tutorials would definitely improve peoples experience with the game. I can only speak for myself but I was very disappointed when I played the open beta because I couldn't get my head around the combat system so I thought it must just be bad. But when I started to understand how different it is it was like a light bulb binging in my head. Dodging negates ALL damage from EVERY source for the duration? HOLY SHIT! etc Its a game changer.

I still don't fully understand it all at level 80. Think that's why I'm so bad at PVP

Updates that I would like to see in the next six months:

Overhaul the TP. Its bad.
A way to save multiple trait builds/amour sets.
Update guild UI so that you can see when someone last logged in. (How is such a basic feature not in the game??)
A proper matchmaking system for sPVP. (Keep server browser for unrated games)
More sPVP modes and maps. (This should be one of their biggest priorities, its by far the most unfinished area of the game)
Unique borderland maps. (Did they ditch this idea?)
More fractals.

 

[Divvy]

Updates that I would like to see in the next six months:

Overhaul the TP. Its bad. < How so? Do you mean the UI? Yeah that part sucks
A way to save multiple trait builds/amour sets. < YES
Update guild UI so that you can see when someone last logged in. (How is such a basic feature not in the game??) < Sure
A proper matchmaking system for sPVP. (Keep server browser for unrated games) < Sure
More sPVP modes and maps. (This should be one of their biggest priorities, its by far the most unfinished area of the game) < Sure
Unique borderland maps. (Did they ditch this idea?) <That would be interesting to see.
More fractals. <Well naturally!

I also want to see some effort from Anet to equalize the wealth in this game somewhat. wealth disparity has gotten out of hand.

Also, more skins

 

[theMrCravens]

Unique borderland maps. (Did they ditch this idea?)

Wouldn't this be unbalanced though if all 3 Worlds (not EB) were different ?

Would be better if an expansion later on completely changes all 4 battlegrounds, and every week they'd change back from one map to another. (pre-expac to post)

 

[Divvy]

Wouldn't this be unbalanced though if all 3 Worlds (not EB) were different ?

Would be better if an expansion later on completely changes all 4 battlegrounds, and every week they'd change back from one map to another. (pre-expac to post)

Well they're already unbalanced in Eternal Borderlands.

 

[Trey]

Since wealth in a game can be correlated to time played, it will be difficult to squeeze that gap across an entire player base.

Better to reconfigure wealth's impact on the economy rather than the wealth itself.

 

[Zyrusticae]

I also want to see some effort from Anet to equalize the wealth in this game somewhat. wealth disparity has gotten out of hand.

Funny that you say this, people in this thread were all like "I don't see the problem!" when I complained about them dropping precursors randomly for the crab event...

 

[Divvy]

Funny that you say this, people in this thread were all like "I don't see the problem!" when I complained about them dropping precursors randomly for the crab event...

Eh, that wasn't that big a deal. One precursor isn't going to make you filthy rich. Especially not back then when Dusk was only like 200g and most people got precursors worth far less than that. I'm talking about the people who have thousands upon thousands of gold. I would like to see valuable items be more reward based like that proposed precursor scavenger hunt that's apparently forevers away.

 

[Proven]

ArenaNet just doesn't offer anything in replacement to the trinity. In order for someone to play 'support' as they'd like, they have to trait a very specific way, and pick the right armor out of a dozen different variations. And even then, their abilities will be situational, and likely AOEs that don't explain themselves very well to groups (I have to constantly be reminded to stay inside the white circle for healing rain). Or worse still, combat is too much of a shitstorm to actually plan out ArenaNet's alternative to the trinity: combofields.

I've never, ever seen combo field combat work like it did in the highly scripted class previews. In reality, it's it's cryptic and it isn't very effective (or just a random bonus in zergs).

My response is mostly about combo fields, but can be expanded on:

Game definitely throws you out into the world without so much as a "how do you do?" It elicits both frustration and community interaction. Had to tell a guy in [map] yesterday how to retrait.

Ask, ask, ask people. The bad news about GW2 is that it doesn't put a bullet to your head to talk to people, but the second people talk to each other, the moment they learn so much.

I mean, that's what people do. That's why stuff like reddit can be useful, since people link guides and specialty websites all the time. That's why the wiki will probably be one of man's best uses of the internet. Talk to each other.

So when you're out in the world and something confuses you, ask a question in map chat. No one answers? Then guild chat. It's the one thing about MMOs that should never be ignored. Otherwise, I'd play a single player game. There some that do a better job of simulating the feeling of being one of many silent people.

So, in the case of combo fields, if there's any field I don't know about, I ask about it. When I'm in a party in a dungeon, after a fight or two I start asking people about their builds, their fields, etc. People understanding what everyone can do automatically starts discussion on maximizing effectiveness. Well, as long as you aren't around people that believe there's only one or two good weapons/builds for each profession.

________________________________________________________________________

Anyway, story time.

The other day I was grabbed into a group with a few friends from another guild. The mission? Sorrow's Embrace, path 2. I've never set foot in that dungeon since doing the story, so I went in there blind on my Might-stacking Condition Charr Warrior. He was my first character as of the official release so he was the one I felt most comfortable with.

And that dungeon is hard. There are Dredge Bombers that throw out AoE bombs once a second that can stack burning on you. One of the first mini bosses can chain stun you in a corner with his bazooka. Then there's the fact that the dredge in general are great team players; they have AoE boon givers along with stunners that setup for quake attacks that will then take out a chunk of your health. And through the confusion, they have Excavators that tunnel over to you and knock you down, keeping you place for everyone to spike you.

But, our impromptu team never had a single person defeated. Most of the had a myriad of cripples and were tanky enough to keep the enemies clumped up without dying themselves. The elementalist and I constantly put out fire fields and stacked 20+ Might across the party. When one got low, they'd dash out while I'd burst with Sword for the immobilize. When I was in trouble, I'd always notice a water gush spring at my feet and would hold still, or even swap to my traited Longbow to add some regeneration to the rest of the party.

Overall, it was awesome. A few days later I went in again, did the same path, and wiped three times before we got through. I was probably the highest toughness player on the field, as we had two Thieves, a level 70 Guardian (I had Rabid exotics, he probably had rares at best), and a Warrior who I'm pretty sure was Berserker based. I am more than likely going to make my own Thief a stun build now.

________________________________________________________________________

Oh yeah, and my Guardian just reached level 80. I'm still not sure about where I want the Scepter build to go. The only option for me at this point is to spend time with him in PvP rather than WvW, because it's the only way I can maximise burning duration without shelling out several gold at once. What I will try doing, however, is taking out the points I put in Healing/Vitality. I'm going to try giving him rare Knight armor instead, focusing on Power/Precision and using the high Toughness to keep him from dying. I'm having a very, very hard time getting a decent burn duration on a single enemy, so unless I team up with someone I can't get all of the bonuses off of burning opponents to stay on consistently. This means I need to either go back to the 20/30/0/0/20 build I had before, or try a 10/30/X/0/10 build, with points in crit damage. For reference, currently I'm 10/30/0/20/10.

While that's happening, I want to start another character on the road to level 80. My options are as follows:

Level 55ish Sylvari Thief. He can't decide between condition spike build, a Signet of Malice Hybrid build, or a Stun-lock Hybrid build. I'm leaning on stun-lock, although it's going to be weird getting back to used to a Sword main hand.

Level 8 Charr Ranger. He was going to be WvW only, except for whatever reason all the juvenile creatures I used to find just don't seem to exist anymore. Perhaps I need to look harder, or they were taken out around release and I've just been imagining them. I don't know what I want to do with him. He'll either Longbow main and be a sniper/crit build, or he'll Greatsword main and be a close combat dodger. One thing I know for sure is that Rangers need their pets, so whatever I decide will be in part based on what pets I fall in love with.

Level 17 Human Mesmer. Mesmer was my favorite class in GW1, and the one I used the most during the betas. He fell by the wayside after BWE2 because of some of the nerfs, and me wanting to try out other classes before I fell in love with the new version of my third favorite class from GW1, Warrior. Second favorite was Paragon. As it is now, I've theory crafted some builds, but the traits and utilities never seem to add up the way I want to. I love the Mesmer's weapons; they all do different things in remarkably different ways. I just can't come up with a build that complements the weapons the way I want to play them. Which probably means I just need to get down in the dirt, figure out what problems I have, and just trait accordingly. I love Staff so much that I'm trying to focus on Scepter or Greatsword instead. Well, that, and I don't want to make another Rabid set after scrambling an exotic one for my Warrior.

Level 11 Asura Engineer. I want to try and play with turrets reminiscent to how I play Engineer in TF2. Failing that, I'll probably use my own derivative of this guy's build: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pfO5s9pi0c

Level 10 Norn Elementalist. I'm actually not that interested in Elementalist. Will probably be a Staff build.

_______________________________________________________________________
TLDR; I probably should have split this up into three posts...

 

[Zyrusticae]

Eh, that wasn't that big a deal. One precursor isn't going to make you filthy rich. Especially not back then when Dusk was only like 200g and most people got precursors worth far less than that. I'm talking about the people who have thousands upon thousands of gold. I would like to see valuable items be more reward based like that proposed precursor scavenger hunt that's apparently forevers away.

Man, you guys have some fucked up standards.

I've never seen even a 100g and I've clocked over a hundred hours on the game...

 

[Divvy]

Man, you guys have some fucked up standards.

I've never seen even a 100g and I've clocked over a hundred hours on the game...

Like I said, a few people got really good precursors like dusk and got maybe 100-150g out of it. The vast majority got either nothing, or a cheap precursor like me what was only worth 10 gold.

 

[Atrophis]

Wouldn't this be unbalanced though if all 3 Worlds (not EB) were different ?

Would be better if an expansion later on completely changes all 4 battlegrounds, and every week they'd change back from one map to another. (pre-expac to post)

Maybe it would but I definitely remember ANet saying this would be implemented shortly after launch because they didn't have time to get them in the game before release. Did I just dream this?

Just thought of more changes:

Add the ability to make larger groups. 5 man parties doesn't really cut it if you want to run a bigger group in WvW.
Make tokens work like they do in WoW. Automatically added to a currency tab so they don't take up bag space but are always available.

 

[Katoki]

Man, you guys have some fucked up standards.

I've never seen even a 100g and I've clocked over a hundred hours on the game...

I think it's really subjective. I have a bit over 100 and I find it convenient to have when I need something but ultimately never use it. The thing is that people like me are "average" when compared to those people putting up buy orders/posting legendaries or on occasion thosel wtf amounts for an orange on the trading post. I've never made a huge amount off the trading post or playing but it is a constant stream of small amounts every day that add up after about a thousand hours though. I probably am in the poor category though when compared to the sea of people with full sets of cultural T3 armor though, since maybe a month ago I decided that I had enough to comfortably buy one major piece for the skin without breaking the bank.

I don't remember what I got out of the boxes, but the two characters I took there got nothing memorable.

 

[Kos Luftar]

A lot of replies from Colin Johanson, from this thread on the official forum: https://forum-en.guildwars2.com/forum/game/gw2/Will-existing-achievements-get-converted

All replies have to do with how they are handing the current achievements when it comes to the rewards.

CJ: The initial version will only be for daily/monthly achievements (this will not be retroactively rewarded.) Later you&#8217;ll see a system in place that rewards more expanded achievements points which will retroactively reward all achievements already earned, yes.
However, there are some achievements which are infinitely repeatable currently. It is highly likely so this new system isn&#8217;t broken we&#8217;ll need to cap those and people who have made insane progress down one of those lines will lose some of their progress to get back to the cap. I wouldn&#8217;t recommend anyone go bonkers trying to progress an infinitely repeatable achievement category in anticipation of the release of this system, as you will likely lose some points/progress if you take it to an extreme number.
We&#8217;re still working out the details on the system, so that&#8217;s about as far into detail as I can go currently.

CJ: Just want to quickly point out to get out ahead of it since those numbers are wildly off. You receive 1 crown per daily, and 10 per monthly. (We&#8217;re also still tweaking the costs of the items shown in the screen shot, and will continue to adjust them until until the system is released.)

CJ: You won&#8217;t lose any achievement progress and will get full credit for all that kind of thing, absolutely. The only stuff that might need to be capped are achievements that extend infinitely that a handful of people have taken to extreme levels, we&#8217;ll discuss other options as well but I think if an effort to be transparent, it&#8217;s better to get out ahead of expectations so no one is surprised.

CJ: Yeah we&#8217;ll need to figure out something for folks who do fall into that category, I just want to make sure to get out ahead of expectations so people don&#8217;t all feel they should now go rush off and have to do this (or other infinitely repeatable achievements.) We don&#8217;t want people to feel they need to play the game that way and have it be the best way to be rewarded.

CJ: You will be yes, no reason to change your play habits in any way when it comes to anything other than if you&#8217;re collecting achievements points by progressing massively down an infinitely repeatable achievement. Map complete away!
We haven&#8217;t finalized a solution for those in that specific category, I just want to get out ahead and warn this probably isn&#8217;t the best use of your time if you were considering it.

CJ: You will still receive all the same rewards you currently get for your daily and monthly achievements, this will be an additional reward on top of it to make it more rewarding.

Looks like in the beginning we will be getting a "crown" (new currency for those new items, seen in that screen shot), with a daily and 10 for monthly. Shit maybe I should not have completed my Jan monthly until the update, in case this is already in.

Also mister Colin Johanson replied to my question!!!

 

[Hawkian]

A lot of replies from Colin Johanson, from this thread on the official forum: https://forum-en.guildwars2.com/forum/game/gw2/Will-existing-achievements-get-converted

All replies have to do with how they are handing the current achievements when it comes to the rewards.



Looks like in the beginning we will be getting a "crown" (new currency for those new items, seen in that screen shot), with a daily and 10 for monthly. Shit maybe I should not have completed my Jan monthly until the update, in case this is already in.

No way it's in the January update.

After buying a character slot during the sale I'm back to somewhat broke (not sure, something <10g), but it doesn't really matter. There's no baseline of wealth that you need to succeed in the game. You don't have to buy food or shelter and clothing lasts forever.

As long as there's nothing I'm spending money on, something I want in particular, then everything active I do in the game is contributing to my savings, with the sort-of exception of crafting via purchases, but that's both progressing in a crafting profession and essentially converting gold to XP. The only area of the game in which this isn't true is WvW, when doing particularly poorly can certainly result in your repair costs exceeding your profit. I have to imagine that's something that will be improved in the WvW updates, because it really holds true for every other area of the game.

 

[Retro]

Shit maybe I should not have completed my Jan monthly until the update, in case this is already in.

But he specifically says daily and monthlies won't be retroactively applied right at the top of the post you are quoting.

 

[Kos Luftar]

But he specifically says daily and monthlies won't be retroactively applied right at the top of the post you are quoting.

What if the update comes out end of next week there is still a whole week to go in January, so the people who finish monthly will not get these new rewards. The problem is no one knows if this is something that is being added for the Jan update or in other future update.

 

[Mr. Luchador]

Lots of new info. Lots to digest.

 

[birdchili]

i wish they'd focus on larger quest-chains and appropriate rewards rather than heading further down the achievements path... everything is getting so meta and it really hurts one of the best things they did, which was create a world where neat stuff was going on that you could participate in.

 

[Hawkian]

i wish they'd focus on larger quest-chains and appropriate rewards rather than heading further down the achievements path... everything is getting so meta and it really hurts one of the best things they did, which was create a world where neat stuff was going on that you could participate in.

I'll take a beat and caution you not to get discouraged or be disappointed in this regard just yet. I have a feeling that expanding and deepening open-world content is still going to happen in a big way, on top of the "here's something concrete to do" nature of dailies and monthlies.

 

[Retro]

i wish they'd focus on larger quest-chains and appropriate rewards rather than heading further down the achievements path... everything is getting so meta and it really hurts one of the best things they did, which was create a world where neat stuff was going on that you could participate in.

Well, they do say they're looking to"build on and strengthen our existing open world and its persistent content", so it sounds more like they plan on making both achievement and dynamic events more rewarding overall. They just tend to spend more time on the achievement side of things, probably because that's closer to done.

 

[birdchili]

They just tend to spend more time on the achievement side of things, probably because that's closer to done.

sure. it's simpler too. optimal play already seems *heavily* weighted towards achievements though. i've played a ton and i can't even imagine earning enough karma to buy a lot of the high-level karma stuff without leveraging the karma boosts and jugs.

it makes the rewards you earn for just going out and adventuring seem pretty crappy by comparison.

 

[Trey]

It's kind of fun to read the old articles by Anet on GW2's development, back when we knew basically nothing.

How far we've come.

 

[Hawkian]

sure. it's simpler too. optimal play already seems *heavily* weighted towards achievements though. i've played a ton and i can't even imagine earning enough karma to buy a lot of the high-level karma stuff without leveraging the karma boosts and jugs.

it makes the rewards you earn for just going out and adventuring seem pretty crappy by comparison.

Well, dungons getcha a fine fair bit of karma too! Karma is the currency I've used the least often, though.

I don't know, it's just sort of a matter of perspective to me. You don't just pick one- I mean, how else do you get your daily done besides going out and adventuring?

 

[hythloday]

I'm really interested in the "guild missions" and all the other guild stuff they have planned.

I had a blast last weekend doing the "Cleanup Krewe" event in Metrica Province, and I'd love more of that stuff.

It got me thinking that I SORT OF miss raiding. "Raiding" for me simply defined as the act of tearing up shit with more than one group. I like having fun times with a guild, but I don't miss the player-driven extra bullshit that comes along with "raiding" in most other games, however, such as the mandatory attendance and add-ons.

You can take a bunch of people to do events in GW2 but it can be difficult. When we did the Orr event I personally noticed I only got kill credit for about half of the stuff we killed and that made some parts kinda dull because it felt like I wasn't contributing anything. "Cleanup Krewe" was much more fun - perhaps because it was a smaller group.