Jest Chillin
Member
So since I haven't been playing, I decided to get my GW2 fix by reading Sea of Sorrows. Only halfway through but it's great.
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Guild Wars 2 |OT2| Funding An MMO Entirely On Quaggan Backpacks
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Funny enough, the day after I wrote all the stuff about interrupting being useless, I got 3-4 free nights to waste 6+ hours on tPvP (for the first time since the patch), only to find myself in or against teams of 2 mesmers and 2 necros, daze locking and fearing everyone every 30s. And with the mandatory traits for boon removal(mesmers) and corruption (necros) you don't have a viable counter to this. The broken(or maybe "non existent) boon-condition preority doesnt help much too. By that I mean Diversion (mes' F3) remove boons (when traited) and then it dazes, which renders stability useless. Same thing with aegis and blind... the blinded attacker "misses", yet the target's aegis is blown too... like, wtf?
So, now interrupting is not about carefull timing and "fake casting", but just spamming dazes on cd...
Also, the PvP part of the game is getting worse and worse with each update, or should I say "lack of update(s)" and as result, the pvp community is dying out...
They charge us 1600 gems/$20 or Euros (initially) + $10 or Euros monthly for a custom arena and then the pvp community coordinator (Allie Murdock) comes out to say that we can exchange gold for gems and therefor pay for a custom arena with ingame currency. The thing she didn't address is how to make gold from PvPing... or how to exchange glory for gold/gems and after the players asked her about this issue, she (or anyone else) never replayed in the thread anymore.
I guess this issue may be resolved with the reworking of the reward system, but all we have told is "soon".
Basically, everything about the tPvP at the moment, like soloQ, split and more detailed ladderboards, actually a *working* matchmaking (as a top150 teamless player, I'm waiting in a Q for good 30mins in prime time(!) only to get matched with/vs r20s), leaver punishments and more customizable "custom" arenas, are all "in the works", but they "can't talk" about them just yet and everything is "coming soon"...
Sorry for the long rant, but things are getting out of hand and I'm sure I'm not the only one feeling this way...
Complistic
Member
Nah, they just gave necro more options like they said they were going to. I mean, a couple things might be OP and will get nerfed back, but that's true for every class that got buffed recently.
I just finished it. It was excellent. The best of the three books, great story and very well-written.
I don't PvP often but it's easy to see that PvP is the red-headed step-child. Those concerns of yours are totally legitimate but have never hit me and most likely lots of the more casual PvP players since I primarily spend my time in PvE/WvW.
Fair enough, but you don't have to be the most active PvP player to get annoyed by the leavers, or being matched against premades when soloQing, or playing the very same 4 maps on the same gamemode since launch.
WvW is more or less on the same boat. They are still to improve the performance(fps), implement some sort of alternative play (like the orbs), rework the score mechanics etc, etc...
I'm really starting to think it's all about the money, and the profit is mostly form the PvE part.
Posts like yours are making me want to buy the book. I liked the first, didn't liked the second, and now in doubt for the third...
It suddenly hit me today, when Living Story dungeons start moving into FotM:
Edge of Destiny (the second book) is the worst of the bunch; don't let that skew your perspective on the third. I'd definitely recommend picking it up, I'd say it's quite a bit better than the first book as well (Ghosts of Ascalon).
Edge of Destiny (the second book) is the worst of the bunch; don't let that skew your perspective on the third. I'd definitely recommend picking it up, I'd say it's quite a bit better than the first book as well (Ghosts of Ascalon).
Pumpkin King
Member
I never played GW1, and these books sound like something I might like, and a great way to pass the time when I work weekends.
If I start with Ghosts of Ascalon, will I be missing anything? Or is there somewhere else I should start?
Thanks.
Ghosts of Ascalon is the first book that came out, and all 3 can stand alone (they aren't directly connected, story-wise), so you won't really be missing anything. I really liked it, but the end left me wanting more.
Edge of Destiny has a good story but it's kind of sloppy and doesn't flow well, in my opinion. I think it is still worth reading because it sets the stage for the some of the story of GW2.
Sea of Sorrows was just great. Timeline-wise, it's before Ghosts of Ascalon.
I say try all three.
Edge of Destiny takes place six years before Guild Wars 2, and covers the formation of Destiny's Edge, the guild that's central to the storyline mode dungeons and each racial hero (Logan, Caithe, Zojja, Rytlock and Eir). The writing jumps around a lot and never gets that great; it feels like a videogame novel. Weakest of the three, by far.
Ghosts of Ascalon takes place immediately before GW2 (I think a year?) and covers a secret plot by the Vigil to reclaim a Charr relic so the humans can use it to broker peace. There's a few GW2 characters that make an appearance. The writing quality is much higher and the story it tells is much more focused (instead of doing really big things, like Edge of Destiny tries, it focuses on a a few characters with a simple mission). Second best, well worth reading.
Sea of Sorrows is set about a hundred years before GW2 and covers the rising of Orr and the founding of Lion's Arch. It feels much more personal and adventurous than the other two, with the central character reminding me of Firefly's Malcolm Reynolds. Very well written, and unlike Edge, a lot of the references to GW2 are subtle ("Oh, so that's why that POI is named that!"-type stuff.). It is both the best written and chronologically first of the three.
Weltall Zero
Member
Seconding what's been said already. Ghosts of Ascalon is a pretty good read, with interesting characters; it made me look forward to experience some of the zones in the game (this was before its release). Edge of Destiny is unmitigated garbage, and will probably make you dislike (or outright hate) all five components of Destiny's Edge, as they are portrayed as one-dimensional as they come; the book is also incredibly repetitive, predictable, and plain old amateurishly written. Haven't read Sea of Sorrows but it's apparently the best of the three. Since it's also chronologically the first, you might as well begin with it, I guess?
Zod the Bear
Member
The game mostly did that to me. Some of them are okay at times, admittedly.
Fix. This.
I'd have to dig up the interview, but they've said that the Personal Story was not written by the actual game writers. It shows, especially when
Hopefully, better things are ahead.
Jest Chillin
Member
Finished Sea of Sorrows and it was great the whole way through.
Sounds like I'll be picking the latest book up soon.
By the way, Retro, I'm still waiting for an invite to the GAFguild.
Seda Khold just sent you an invite!
Edit:
Another successful Guild Mission Saturday Night Fever! Rock on GAFGuild!
zombieshavebrains
I have not used cocaine
Is there an easy way for one race to play with another in the low level areas? I'm Human and someone I want to play with is the little people, i'm brand new so i'm not sure if we can level together.
Absolutely.
In each of the racial capitols (Divinity's Reach, Black Citadel, Rata Sum, The Grove or Hoelbrak), there's a purple-swirling icon indicating an Asura Gate. I believe you can ask a guard where they're located, but they should be fairly easy to find. Those will take you to the city of Lion's Arch, the unofficial center of Guild Wars 2.
When you step out of the portal, you'll be on a rocky island with a fountain in the middle, with 4 other Asura gates. Each one leads to the other racial capitols (you can tell which is which by mousing over the icon on your map or simply seeing which race's guards are standing out front of the portal).
Alternatively, you can click the crossed swords icon at the top of your screen to go to the "Heart of the Mists" (The PVP area). Your first time through, however, you'll have to deal with a short tutorial. You can skip it, if you like, unless they've changed it. Once you're there, there will be a large Asura gate in front of you that leads to Lion's Arch. You can actually use this method to travel there anytime you want, for free.
Yeah!
You can take a portal from Divinities reach to Lions Arch. And then from there portal to any racial home city (and into the "intro zone" for any race.)
A nice trick is that if you enter the pvp area (The mists) by clicking the crossed swords in the upper left and then you can go to LA from anywhere.
Edit: Beatin like Retro's opponent in a pun-off
Also if you're in Divinity's Reach there are 2 Asura Gates. The one to Lion's Arch is in the upper-center near the palace. The other gate takes you to Ebonhawke (I think that gate is in Rurikton? It's one of the neighborhoods around the outer ring) which is in a level 30ish zone, Fields of Ruin. You want the Lion's Arch gate!
zombieshavebrains
I have not used cocaine
Thanks for the replies. I made sure to role on the NeoGaf server I just haven't gotten around to sending a message yet. Really enjoying this so far.
I'll be on for a while tonight, so feel free to whisper Professor Retro in-game.
zombieshavebrains
I have not used cocaine
I actually just logged. I'm sure i'll find someone tomorrow. I noticed when I found my friend it scaled my level from 10 to 4, if we're in a party does he still get the same amount of XP? I guess what i'm getting at, is it advantageous to level together if i'm level 10 and he's level 3? Should he just catch up solo or can I help him and we'll even out eventually?
You both still receive XP; he gets what's normal and you'll get at or slightly below what you'd get for content at your own level. But no, you're definitely not hurting him by helping out.
Pumpkin King
Member
I'm slowly getting to the point where rushes are becoming a favorite. I really like the teamwork, everyone is great at getting the last few through.
Zod the Bear
Member
The main thing holding me back from committing to WvW is that the wubwubxp is character specific, right? I like jumping around between classes : \
theMrCravens
Member
One of those "wtf Anet" craptacular design decisions.
I think the reason WvW XP is character-based and not account-wide is that you may want wildly different skill choices depending on your character. True, they could just have your points be account wide and have each individual character spend them, but having things character specific doesn't break with the rest of the game's design.
Plus, then you'd have people begging for account-wide Karma (not a bad idea, honestly), Skill Points, dyes, etc.
I honestly wouldn't mind if they made them account wide though. More time playing at max efficiency, less time grinding to get there.
Plus, then you'd have people begging for account-wide Karma (not a bad idea, honestly), Skill Points, dyes, etc.
I honestly wouldn't mind if they made them account wide though. More time playing at max efficiency, less time grinding to get there.
ESL is having their 'test cup' today and the matches have been semi-decent. Not quite in the quarter finals yet, so I'd expect them to get better deeper into the bracket. It's an EU tourny and multi-necro teams are obviously a popular flavor since the recent patch. Made in Meta is looking strong. The stream is here:
http://www.twitch.tv/blu42
Bracket here:
http://www.esl.eu/eu/new_games/gw2_testcup/rankings/
Edit: worth noting that Blu isn't casting this one as he has some kind of computer issue; he's being substituted by someone from another top team and, though I don't recognize him, he has some interesting insight on builds and map layouts that I hadn't heard before. Enjoy!
http://www.twitch.tv/blu42
Bracket here:
http://www.esl.eu/eu/new_games/gw2_testcup/rankings/
Edit: worth noting that Blu isn't casting this one as he has some kind of computer issue; he's being substituted by someone from another top team and, though I don't recognize him, he has some interesting insight on builds and map layouts that I hadn't heard before. Enjoy!
Pushed Guild Mission Makeups back ~45 mins since we only had seven people. We'll likely end up doing a bounty and a rush, but would like to get a challenge done.
If you're not busy (I know it's a holiday weekend in Canada, and a lot of folks are just starting their summer break), hop on for a half hour and give your fellow guildies a hand. We'll be forming up around 3:45 Eastern and trying to get started before 4pm.
Thanks.
If you're not busy (I know it's a holiday weekend in Canada, and a lot of folks are just starting their summer break), hop on for a half hour and give your fellow guildies a hand. We'll be forming up around 3:45 Eastern and trying to get started before 4pm.
Thanks.
elazullizard
Neo Member
Hey everyone, our very own Neko-kun~ has come up with a new Elementalist guide as of this patch, and would like to know what you all think!
Any sort of visibility would be nice, if you can manage that too!
Any sort of visibility would be nice, if you can manage that too!
So we got the Snowden Drifts Guild Puzzle tonight, and we managed to get just about everyone through it in time to find out it was bugged.
Rush / Bounty went smoothly, failed the challenge with only a few minutes left (HeEt showed up halfway through but too late, we helped them finish theirs though) and failed the puzzle. Not bad for only 11 people!
It's not a problem, we don't demand constant or exclusive representation. Though watch our guild schedule (in the Guild MotD) and try to be available for the harder stuff (Puzzles, challenges) when you can.
Rush / Bounty went smoothly, failed the challenge with only a few minutes left (HeEt showed up halfway through but too late, we helped them finish theirs though) and failed the puzzle. Not bad for only 11 people!
Big thanks for the invite!
It's not a problem, we don't demand constant or exclusive representation. Though watch our guild schedule (in the Guild MotD) and try to be available for the harder stuff (Puzzles, challenges) when you can.
Lone_Prodigy
Member
Grinded out my monthly with Meatober, some WvW, and Veteran Boars in Queensdale to finish. Thought I had enough salvage items to make it but was short so had to pay the inflated prices (~50c each) to get enough.
Sir Garbageman
Member
After bitching about it during an AR run I opened up a few jade coffers and got my first jade weapon ticket. The RNG gods took pity on me.
Complistic
Member
That was pretty funny.
thoseAREmySHOES
Member
I'm jealous... I don't know how many of those dumb things I've opened!
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