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Guild Wars 2 |OT2| Funding An MMO Entirely On Quaggan Backpacks
- Thread starter Teknopathetic
- Start date
- Status
Jest Chillin
Member
lol Diggin the new thread title. Would've been a contender for OT3 up against "|OT3| Evilore does not play Guild Wars 2"
Pumpkin King
Member
I'm voting for the EviLore OT3 thread title.
Icons from the patch leaked:
http://raidwarning.com/over-150-icons-data-mined-from-guildwars-2/
http://raidwarning.com/over-150-icons-data-mined-from-guildwars-2/
Basketball?
New achievement chests?
Some of the new skill icons for the minigame:
New backpiece icons:
New quaggan backpacks:
Flute instrument:
New set of random minis?
Kites:
Quartz weapons(this isn't all of them but every weapon is here)
WvW masteries:
The new armor skins (helm, shoulders, gloves)
Heavy:
Light?:
Achievement Icons:
- Dungeons
- Fractals
- Beer Bash
- Belcher's Bluff
- Keg Brawl
- Mad King
- Wintersday
- Flame & Frost
- Southsun
- Dragonbash
- Sky Pirates
- Bazzar
Clever thread title change. Beats the troll one. Whoever did that, thank you.
Blueprints and Hammer = Player Housing confirmed.
Blueprints and Hammer = Player Housing confirmed.
I wish.
Nemesis121
Member
Great title change, lol.
Great title change.
I'm with Lunar with the Living Story annoucements. Halloween was fun. Karka event was interesting. Wintersday was a joy. But then January/February/March came and rooted a worry that I just can't escape from. Are all of these updates going to be interesting? Are all of them going to be worth coming back for? Etc. and etc...
For me, it's not about the content being temporary. Holidays are temporary and I love them. Maybe for holidays I'm fine with them because they're fewer and much, much bigger than some of the Living Story stuff. They feel so much like a festival that I don't care that there's a grind. Dragon Bash didn't feel like a festival or holiday or anything. There didn't feel like there was much magic, just a continuation of the Living Story.
The stuff I'd like to see are some of the stuff they say they're working on to deal with the permanent content issue. New PvP maps, new twists to WvW, more polish to dungeons, additions made to Fractals, and permanent changes the open world.
I look back on TF2 and how I played that for years just hopping on every night or so. What ANet is trying to do sounds like it'll be what Valve did on steroids, but GW2 doesn't feel as tight and interconnected in all the right spots yet. And then they're trying to address that at the same time as putting out these Living Story updates? It sounds crazy, impossible, and it feels like they'll screw up.
The best I can think of as to why I feel like I'll be unsatisfied is because the Living Story so far is being pushed as PvE content. Like Hawkian and others said, there's nothing that's stopping them from making one of their updates focused on story in the Mists, or in WvW. I just doubt that that's what's going to happen. And the problem with PvE style content is that I always end up feeling like I'm being led by the nose.
I get excited for balance changes because it can mean new skills + new traits = new ways to play the game. I get excited for new PvP maps for simlar reasons. I even get excited to changes to WvW, even if they're as high level as shaking up the algorithm for choosing opponents. Stuff that's "here you are, now go play and see what you can do with it."
Dragon Bash, has felt like grind for some. Return to Southsun felt like an achievement hunt (although I really enjoyed how it paced story developments week by week). Content that people demand a walkthrough for rather than a tutorial tends to turn me off (and the Sky Pirate stuff was so outrageous as to have guides out for it before the patch was even released).
For now, all I can ask for is two things. First, put the center of more events outside of cities. It's one of the things that made Halloween fun, as it pushed everyone onto a new map. It's what made every event on Southsun fun. You don't have people milling around, just waiting for things to happen, or roaming across the world just to grind a bar up. Second, leave the areas better for it too. Southsun is a guild event only map now that all focus on it has gone. Although that's arguably not a bad thing*, if no one steps up to claim it or do activities on it regularly then it'll just become another ghost town.
* The reason why it wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing is that if you force guilds or groups of people of happenstance to step up, then you may push more soloists into the deserted 50-70 level zones, which ups their population. Too much Living Story content allows people to just stay in the low level areas for ease, and at the very least you might get more farmers to move around. It's one of the reasons why I was ambivalent about "holograms are invulnerable for 10 seconds after popping" quick-patch.
I'm with Lunar with the Living Story annoucements. Halloween was fun. Karka event was interesting. Wintersday was a joy. But then January/February/March came and rooted a worry that I just can't escape from. Are all of these updates going to be interesting? Are all of them going to be worth coming back for? Etc. and etc...
For me, it's not about the content being temporary. Holidays are temporary and I love them. Maybe for holidays I'm fine with them because they're fewer and much, much bigger than some of the Living Story stuff. They feel so much like a festival that I don't care that there's a grind. Dragon Bash didn't feel like a festival or holiday or anything. There didn't feel like there was much magic, just a continuation of the Living Story.
The stuff I'd like to see are some of the stuff they say they're working on to deal with the permanent content issue. New PvP maps, new twists to WvW, more polish to dungeons, additions made to Fractals, and permanent changes the open world.
I look back on TF2 and how I played that for years just hopping on every night or so. What ANet is trying to do sounds like it'll be what Valve did on steroids, but GW2 doesn't feel as tight and interconnected in all the right spots yet. And then they're trying to address that at the same time as putting out these Living Story updates? It sounds crazy, impossible, and it feels like they'll screw up.
The best I can think of as to why I feel like I'll be unsatisfied is because the Living Story so far is being pushed as PvE content. Like Hawkian and others said, there's nothing that's stopping them from making one of their updates focused on story in the Mists, or in WvW. I just doubt that that's what's going to happen. And the problem with PvE style content is that I always end up feeling like I'm being led by the nose.
I get excited for balance changes because it can mean new skills + new traits = new ways to play the game. I get excited for new PvP maps for simlar reasons. I even get excited to changes to WvW, even if they're as high level as shaking up the algorithm for choosing opponents. Stuff that's "here you are, now go play and see what you can do with it."
Dragon Bash, has felt like grind for some. Return to Southsun felt like an achievement hunt (although I really enjoyed how it paced story developments week by week). Content that people demand a walkthrough for rather than a tutorial tends to turn me off (and the Sky Pirate stuff was so outrageous as to have guides out for it before the patch was even released).
For now, all I can ask for is two things. First, put the center of more events outside of cities. It's one of the things that made Halloween fun, as it pushed everyone onto a new map. It's what made every event on Southsun fun. You don't have people milling around, just waiting for things to happen, or roaming across the world just to grind a bar up. Second, leave the areas better for it too. Southsun is a guild event only map now that all focus on it has gone. Although that's arguably not a bad thing*, if no one steps up to claim it or do activities on it regularly then it'll just become another ghost town.
* The reason why it wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing is that if you force guilds or groups of people of happenstance to step up, then you may push more soloists into the deserted 50-70 level zones, which ups their population. Too much Living Story content allows people to just stay in the low level areas for ease, and at the very least you might get more farmers to move around. It's one of the reasons why I was ambivalent about "holograms are invulnerable for 10 seconds after popping" quick-patch.
that better be a flex emote i'm seeing.
also the blueprint and hammer are probably the siege build / repair mastery.
I post this at around 9:00AM EDT on Thursday
At some point today, would any kind folks be willing to help someone (AKA: Me [Glyde Skyhawk account in game]) run Aetherblade Retreat?
I finally have a day off work, I've not yet run it (albeit watched some guide videos, particularly on Frizz, Mai & Horrik) and realize I'm running out of time to do so.
At some point today, would any kind folks be willing to help someone (AKA: Me [Glyde Skyhawk account in game]) run Aetherblade Retreat?
I finally have a day off work, I've not yet run it (albeit watched some guide videos, particularly on Frizz, Mai & Horrik) and realize I'm running out of time to do so.
I'm one of the poor saps working today but if you still need to do it after 6pm EDT, I can help. I've only done it once myself.
And btw, anyone needing to do that new jumping puzzle still, my mesmer is still sitting at the chest platform and can port anyone feeling lazy
Happy Birthday, Hawkian.
I'll have to grab some shots of my characters... hmm. Only two are at 80 and only one has the full look I want... hmm...
Quote this post for one free reply.
I'll have to grab some shots of my characters... hmm. Only two are at 80 and only one has the full look I want... hmm...
I don't remember this being posted before, but this website uses the API released to show all active events on a nice world map.
http://gw2hero.com/stormbluff-isle
The numbers visible while zoomed out correspond to how many events there are in that area. Clicking an event will take you to the wiki page for that event.
http://gw2hero.com/stormbluff-isle
The numbers visible while zoomed out correspond to how many events there are in that area. Clicking an event will take you to the wiki page for that event.
Weltall Zero
Member
Happy birthday, Hawkian!
Ploid 3.0
Member
OMG... /bow thank you!!
Figured I'd throw mine up here too! My thief is my new favorite. Haven't played my mesmer in a long time, and honestly I don't miss it that much. Haven't played the guardian in ages. They need more hairstyle variety for humans, my mesmer/thief look basically the same. Different faces, but the hair is the most noticeable.
Boss Doggie
all my loli wolf companions are so moe
I just realized the new OT title lol
irfaanator
Banned
happy birthday hawk
Thanks!
hwa?
Both!
Well, so do IJenine-Ruby-Citrine
Apparantly I like redheads wearing red.
Happy birthday, Hawkian!
Thanks crew!
Bout to head down to Miami for FL Supercon, wootRofl, title change is hilarious. how many are we up to 5?
Kos Luftar
Member
Yappy Birthday Hawkian America!
Have a tequatl shot on me tonight.
Have a tequatl shot on me tonight.
Fine Ham Abounds
Member
Damn, I really wish I had ended up liking this game, those are some really awesome looking outfits.
Edit: Happy birfday
Edit: Happy birfday
You know, if it's been a while since you played, it might be worth taking a look again. Lots of class changes, quality of life improvements and new stuff is being added constantly. Maybe whatever you disliked about the game has been fixed?
Mikey Jr.
Member
I was reading how AN are not planning on releasing expansions like GW1.
This sucks to hear.
I just got into this game a few days ago, and what new expansions brings is a fresh start for everyone, especially the people who came late.
I'm running around the starting area (Sylvari city) and there is NOBODY. I mean, it is just dead. 80% of the time, its just me completing the heart quests by myself. There some stragglers here and there, but man, I might as well be playing offline. (Luckily they put a crap ton of decent NPC's, so at least the world feels artificially alive)
So yeah, sucks to hear about no expansions.
One question I have, are there going to be quests in this game where you go to an area, and you can find a group and do the instanced area together? Hopefully they have something like that. Being alone till I get to the higher areas is going to suck hard.
This sucks to hear.
I just got into this game a few days ago, and what new expansions brings is a fresh start for everyone, especially the people who came late.
I'm running around the starting area (Sylvari city) and there is NOBODY. I mean, it is just dead. 80% of the time, its just me completing the heart quests by myself. There some stragglers here and there, but man, I might as well be playing offline. (Luckily they put a crap ton of decent NPC's, so at least the world feels artificially alive)
So yeah, sucks to hear about no expansions.
One question I have, are there going to be quests in this game where you go to an area, and you can find a group and do the instanced area together? Hopefully they have something like that. Being alone till I get to the higher areas is going to suck hard.
Fine Ham Abounds
Member
I was generally not feeling the combat or public events, which were basically everything I was interested in about the game. I would hope they didn't change those too much for those who like them, but I think I will give it a whirl again at some point.
Neither of those have changed, at all really. Though events aren't broken left and right anymore.
Happy Birthday Hawkian the Duder.
As for the expansion related stuff... I can't say it makes me happy, really. At least based on what we've seen of the Living Story concept to date. It's a lot harder to get excited about very small pieces of content, even if that content comes at a decent clip. Hopefully their other content avenue plans produce something more interesting.
As for the expansion related stuff... I can't say it makes me happy, really. At least based on what we've seen of the Living Story concept to date. It's a lot harder to get excited about very small pieces of content, even if that content comes at a decent clip. Hopefully their other content avenue plans produce something more interesting.
I disagree. One of the biggest problems with MMOs is content consumption. Once a player has completed a chunk of content, he's very unlikely to experience it again. That leads to huge chunks of expensive, carefully developed game world becoming ghost towns. That's one reason ArenaNet has been putting stuff like Guild Missions in old zones, to get players back into them. They've also stated that they want to do more to keep the old zones interesting before they start creating new ones. Hopefully that's addressed soon.
There's also the development cycle to consider; expansions take a long time to develop, and they tie up a lot of resources. Most MMOs patch in a few new dungeons or a raid every 3-6 months to keep players playing, but in terms of large zones, those are normally reserved for expansions. Those release, and everyone devours the content because they've been waiting for it for so long. Then there's a huge dry spell waiting for the next thing to come along.
Think of it this way; would you rather have nice, satisfying bits of content every two weeks, or gorge yourself on an orgy of content and then starve for half a year or more?
The problem, of course, is that the two-week content hasn't been that satisfying. Some bits are more grindy than I'd like, and it doesn't always touch on the areas of the game I want it to (WvW especially). We need less events in Lion's Arch and more in various corners of the world. Even going to one of the racial cities would be an improvement (and to be fair, they've said they want to tweak the capitols as well). I'd also like them to start opening new parts of the map, even though I understand that they want to get the existing zones squared away first... it just feels like that's not forthcoming.
So you're right in being disappointed, because right now the content isn't as good as it could be and the traditional MMO model is to "Wait for the expansion". With that option being removed, it feels like things aren't going to change. But I feel like now that the two-week update cycle is "Official" (even though we've been in the middle of it since May), they're kind of saying "Okay, we tried things out, learned from them, here we go."
The nice thing is that the next update is never more than 14 days away. Which is just crazy.
There are dungeons that require a group, the first is around level 30. There's also Group Events, Mini Dungeons (non-instanced) and World Events that all require lots of people.
Finding a group for them can usually be done in the guild, or in map chat if you're desperate. They're working on a LFG tool, but they haven't said when it will be done. ThatShaman on Reddit datamined some LFG-related info a few updates ago, so it will probably be soon.
Complistic
Member
Challenge accepted
The Norn at the end is only level 40, but I liked her current look.
The Norn at the end is only level 40, but I liked her current look.
One thing I've noticed is the Sylvari area just isn't that populated in general. I think most players flock to Queensdale. That map is usually hopping with activity, with people calling out group events in map chat often. Maybe Wayfarer Foothills and Plains of Ashford too, to a lesser extent.
I don't think an expansion necessarily fixes that problem. It puts all players on equal footing for the zones that the expansion adds, but I've always hated the typical expansion cycle of new cities and new quest hubs completely siphoning out the activity in all the older content. It makes the entire "old world" equally dead, and the entire "new world" equally populated. I rather like the approach of adding stuff to the existing world, like they're doing with the Living Story updates. It's obviously a work in progress, as they get a feel for what works and what doesn't, but I like the concept.
Challenge accepted
I like your white and gold human! Very pretty!
There's a very important point that I think people miss with their plans. They're not saying they'll never do any of the things you see in a traditional boxed expansion. They're saying that they don't need to pile everything into a single box and sell it, but instead release stuff as it's finished when a patch rolls around every two weeks. So what would you say to seeing housing, player generated content, or honestly the Achievement Reward system coming next patch? Those are very much expansion level features for other MMOs but ANet is just going to roll them out when they're done for free. They're going to put in new classes, weapon types, regions, zones, and even possibly level cap increases (if they do it) as they're finished instead of lumping it all together. You're going to get the things you want, just not all at once. New zones, regions, classes, and weapon types will be put in as part of a build up with the Living Story so they have context in the world rather than stuff dropping in out of thin air breaking any and all immersion within the world.
Their business model combined with a two week update cycle are the perfect match for each other. The biggest issue every MMO has is keeping people interested so they're giving us new content every two weeks, but even the week following the patch there's new content coming in, new gem store items, blog posts, and patch previews for the next patch going up. There's ALWAYS something going on in the world of GW2 and because of this people keep playing instead of getting bored of stagnant content they've done 50 times while waiting for more. The temporary content is something that can be completed in hours or days and in some cases repeated as much as you'd like. So by the time you're done getting your fill of the current content, more is either out or right around the corner so you keep playing and by extension possibly paying. This is their "subscription" and it is something that is new for not only the genre but the industry at least in NA/EU with absolute certainty.
What you are seeing here is a completely different way to handle a business model and update cycles for gaming and like all new things it will take time to grow and perfect. They've said just as much as we are learning what we like to play they're learning how to design and implement these updates. They've been taking our feedback into account and are putting some form of permanent content into each patch now alongside the temporary stuff to appease both crowds. The Living Story teams are but a fraction of the company and are focused on the temporary side of things while the rest of the company works on much larger features and content types. Those things are coming and will be released as they're finished with each two week update. Also, the Living Story is still ramping up, I know with absolute certainty that they're still in the basic stages of what the LS will eventually become. As Retro said, the next content patch is always 14 days away and that is something no other game or company can say.
Their business model combined with a two week update cycle are the perfect match for each other. The biggest issue every MMO has is keeping people interested so they're giving us new content every two weeks, but even the week following the patch there's new content coming in, new gem store items, blog posts, and patch previews for the next patch going up. There's ALWAYS something going on in the world of GW2 and because of this people keep playing instead of getting bored of stagnant content they've done 50 times while waiting for more. The temporary content is something that can be completed in hours or days and in some cases repeated as much as you'd like. So by the time you're done getting your fill of the current content, more is either out or right around the corner so you keep playing and by extension possibly paying. This is their "subscription" and it is something that is new for not only the genre but the industry at least in NA/EU with absolute certainty.
What you are seeing here is a completely different way to handle a business model and update cycles for gaming and like all new things it will take time to grow and perfect. They've said just as much as we are learning what we like to play they're learning how to design and implement these updates. They've been taking our feedback into account and are putting some form of permanent content into each patch now alongside the temporary stuff to appease both crowds. The Living Story teams are but a fraction of the company and are focused on the temporary side of things while the rest of the company works on much larger features and content types. Those things are coming and will be released as they're finished with each two week update. Also, the Living Story is still ramping up, I know with absolute certainty that they're still in the basic stages of what the LS will eventually become. As Retro said, the next content patch is always 14 days away and that is something no other game or company can say.
Mikey Jr.
Member
Point taken. Haven't even cracked level 10 yet, so yeah, I'll take your word for it right now, hehe.
Also, good to hear about dungeons. But I was wondering if it was like GW1. Where you would enter this little hub, and there would be people looking for groups in this hub. Like, looking for a monk, etc. You would group up with these random people, and do the story quest. When you were done, it would send you to the next story hub (I think it did anyways), and you can continue on, or leave the group, etc. Because I haven't seen that yet.
Dunno where that is yet. Haven't ventured too far out. Just trying to complete the vistas, waypoints, etc., in my vicinity.
Weltall Zero
Member
Awesome post as usual, Jira. There's a couple of things I should add (some positive, some negative).
Among the positives is that this approach doesn't fragment the player base. I don't think this is a coincidence, as their entire philosphy with the game is that someone can buy a box and in five minutes be playing with his buddies that have been playing since release.
On the "negative" (or perhaps "neutral") side, they really need to change the proportion of permanent to temporary content. While having temporary content gives us the push we need to experience it now rather than later, the cumulative effect, obviously, suffers from it. Guild Wars 2 is much different than when it launched, but certainly not "an expansion's worth of content" different. That said, it's pretty obvious they're exploring this pretty much uncharted territory, so we'll just have to see how it all develops. I for one give them the benefit of the doubt.
I wanted to say something more but I'm half asleep and don't remember what it was.
Not sure if that's exactly what you want, but you can take your party into your personal story missions. They're even designed to account for that, with occasionaly some pretty cool asymmetric gameplay not to steal the hero's spotlight. For example:
1) One mission had me as a charr field test a siege weapon against an incoming horde of enemies (details purposely vague to avoid spoilers). I did it with Mikko and Hawkian and they could actually engage the horde (which I saw as tiny ants thanks to GW2's pretty far draw distance).
2) Another had me fighting in an arena. My GF, partied with me, could throw assorted items (bottles, etc. against my enemies, or stuff to heal me) from the seatings. Not exactly fair play, but hey!
Ah yeah, you've barely scratched the surface of the game, then. There's 8 dungeons currently, 9 if you count the "Fractals of the Mist" dungeon.
Each dungeon has a story mode (intended to introduce you to the dungeon and tell the story of each race's heroes as they resolve their past grudges and failures) and then at least 3 Explorable Mode paths which are harder *but have better loot).
Fractals are sort of a unique thing, and I wouldn't really count them as a regular dungeon. There are 9 Fractals, which are sort of like bite-sized mini Dungeons with wildly different themes. Each run consists of 3 randomly-selected Fractals and every even set, a special boss Fractal. Each time you complete a set of 3, your level moves up and the difficulty increases. In theory, they can go on forever.
Nope, GW1 was heavily instanced with central hubs where you meet up with people. Guild Wars 2 is a persistent world where you share all of the the world with everyone at the same time. The ideal situation, and one you'll see when you get into more populated zones, is that instead of forming a formal group with people in a town and then heading off into an instanced area, you'll bump into people while doing events and work together without even grouping.
Here's a tip to expand your play possibilities!
You can click on the PvP icon on the top of your screen (the crossed swords) to go to the Heart of the Mists. That's the PvP lobby, but the big perk is it's got an Asura gate (a portal) to Lion's Arch. Lion's Arch then has gates to all of the major cities. Personally, when I played my first character I preferred to not do this until I ran to Lion's Arch the old fashioned way while exploring, but it's an option.
You aren't limited to completing hearts/events in your own race's starting area, so if you choose, you can go to Lion's Arch and try somewhere else anytime you want to try something different. Queensdale is the human starting area, and I guess it's just popular because lots of people play humans.
Queensdale is probably the weakest starting area too. Definitely worth it to check out the others. My favorite is the Norm one, Wayfarer Foothills. But I know a lot of people like the Sylvari one.
Yay, Wayfarer Foothills! I feel like people forget about the nice green valley area you start out in, and people just complain that it's just big open empty snow. I just love the viking/mountain themes of everything. It really is a beautiful starting area, and Hoelbrak is full of lore.
Awesome post as usual, Jira. There's a couple of things I should add (some positive, some negative).
Among the positives is that this approach doesn't fragment the player base. I don't think this is a coincidence, as their entire philosphy with the game is that someone can buy a box and in five minutes be playing with his buddies that have been playing since release.
On the "negative" (or perhaps "neutral") side, they really need to change the proportion of permanent to temporary content. While having temporary content gives us the push we need to experience it now rather than later, the cumulative effect, obviously, suffers from it. Guild Wars 2 is much different than when it launched, but certainly not "an expansion's worth of content" different. That said, it's pretty obvious they're exploring this pretty much uncharted territory, so we'll just have to see how it all develops. I for one give them the benefit of the doubt.
I wanted to say something more but I'm half asleep and don't remember what it was.
Right, the idea is keeping people together rather than splitting the playerbase. When new stuff is released there's really never a question of can I play this? They intentionally design everything so that it will either have no level requirement or if it does it scales you accordingly. This makes it so when new content comes out the entire playerbase can jump right in regardless of level and play together. They've been working on making the core world stronger so that when they do add more permanent zones or even regions that they'll be on par with the new areas and people won't outright abandon them when the next new zone comes along. ANet said Southsun was rushed and they went back to try to help but people don't do the Karka Queen cause it requires effort greater than the reward once the LS stuff was done. Also, by the time the month of May was up people were probably sick of SSC and wanted to move elsewhere and I don't blame them. It goes hand in hand with what I said in my other post about how right around the time you're feeling done with what is currently in game they have more stuff right around the corner with completely new themes and content types. The way they're developing content makes it so the turnaround time is practically non-existent for the player versus waiting an entire month or more. The Living Story team are kinda like the short term here's a constant stream of new stuff for you to do while the rest of the studio works on much larger features and areas of the game that get patched in as they're finished. So rather than waiting endlessly for a collection of larger features, we're getting smaller bite sized forms of content that keeps us playing along with new features as they're finished.
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