Did anybody else come? I think he was the only forumer who introduced himself.
I was there. Posted this right after:
"Finally got into the gw2 party at about 9. Arenanet are super awesome folks, and I'm totally stoked to be playing their game. They gave out some artwork with room for autographs, and my girl and I made an effort to get a signature and some chat from everyone there. Every single person was gracious, and curious how we were playing their game. Glad to be supporting them with my gem habit."
I started to introduce myself to someone I *thought* was you, but she got a scared look on her face, and I got embarrassed and ran away. (No worries, this is a typical Saturday night for me)
Aw, bummer! I was chilling up by the bar (natch) and I don't scare easy. You may have met another of our resident redheads.
Then I *think* I have your autograph - that area was crowded, so I deployed the girl to get everyone up there.
There was some guy there that wanted to sign our poster, but wasn't wearing the shirt. Said his name was Ben and he was an animator. We talked to him after the party. We challenged him to prove he worked for you by telling us what he animated, and the examples he gave were some of the hammer animations and the death animation of the giant trees. We let him sign, and henceforth whenever we see a giant tree, I summon a magic hammer for us to use. And giant trees are all named Ben.
So when WOW can give me a suit of armor that is both a statistical and visual upgrade for, say 20-30 runs though it, what is Guild Wars excuse for making it take 70 times for something that is only a visual upgrade while simultaneously touting themselves as being the harbinger of a new breed of less grindy MMO's?
The point is that you do not need the upgrade because it is nonstatistical. You can be optimal without grinding at level 80. (No grinding really, as long as you're not broke on karma completely you can probably afford 5-8k karma for a full set of level 80 greens)
In WoW you must have that upgrade to play.
In GW2, you do not need it, and so a prohibitively long grind to get it is acceptable because you are not denying content or progression with it.
In WOW I was quite happy to go back and run dungeons for gear I no longer needed but liked the look of. If you were not a tank or dps class, you really didn't need the gear from the previous dungeon to clear the next (at least for stuff like MC -> DWL -> AQ -> Naxx)
I could do this in a reasonable amount of time.
In GW2, running dungeons purely for cosmetic upgrades apparently takes much much much longer than in WOW. Now, you can say "well GW1 was grindy as fuck so of course GW2 will be as well" and that's fine. What you can't do is square this with anet's claim that GW2 is a brand new genre redefining game that does away with all the old grind and repetition. This particular instance really stands out from and runs contrary to the rest of their design philosophy - where I agree that they have largely done a good job of removing the typical MMO annoyances and grindiness.
And again - a LONG time to get something is fine. It's a repetitive grind that I dislike. It's very strange when it took me less time to get stuff I didn't need in WOW, the epitome of grindy repetition, than it does in GW2.
I get that- but I'm not saying "of course GW2 will be grindy" for any reason other than to explain why I think the numbers aren't mistaken and won't be changed much. All I'm saying to you is really that the length of the grind is kind of the point in this case.
And if you disagree with that that's completely fair. Like I said up there you're probably not the target audience for it- but that doesn't make your complaint any less legitimate.
I guess one of the reasons I'm so appalled at the idea we're going to run through every dungeon 70 times is just the difficulty of getting your group into the dungeon together in the first place: I've had one AC run completely fall apart because after 30 minutes of trying we couldn't all get in the same instance and one CM run fell apart because it bugged out and we couldn't progress any further. Maybe that is giving me an unnecessarily dour outlook on dungeon running, I don't know.
I think it would be better if each dungeon didn't have it's own currency. Maybe group the dungeons in some way and you can spend the currency on any of the sets for the dungeons within that group. At least that would add a little more variety to the task ahead of you.
I don't know if anybody else has mentioned this, but I feel the need to point this out.
DO NOT GO TO METRICA PROVINCE. IT IS THE MOST ANTI-FUN MAP EVER.
Why, you may ask? Two reasons:
1) It has the hardest boss in the game. Now, normally I wouldn't care about difficulty, all it really need is some teamwork and coordination between players. However, since this isn't in an instance, more players go there, die uselessly while the boss just scales upward in difficulty. It would be fine (and probably really fun) if it were an instance boss or something, but its not.
2) The main reason why this is the worst map. That goddamn hidden platforming puzzle. Now, I'm not opposed to platforming. I even liked the ones needed to get to a vista. This one however, is just plain unfun. You're not allowed to make any mistake. In the first part of the platform, if you fall before you reach the end, you die. Fortunately, once you reach the 2nd part, falling will just port you back to the start of the 2nd part, and reaching each checkpoint allows you to teleport instantly there if you fall. However, sometimes the game bugs out and you die BEFORE you're transported back. Which means you lose the attunement (which you need, or else getting to checkpoints just port you back to the start) AND you start back at the very very beginning. Measuring the distance of the jump is also very difficult. I've fallen several times because of overjumping. Seriously, that platforming puzzle. Ugh. (You do get an achievement for finishing it though, and some treasure as well.)
Sorry, just really needed to rant. Those are really the only things in GW2 so far that I've found unfun. Both of those things are optional anyway and aren't necessary for map completion.
Wow ok, I get that you don't like the map for two completely optional reasons, and while I agree the elemental is over tuned (they really need to tone down the amount of adds), the jumping puzzle is just tricky not especially difficult unless you are under lvl 13 as the monsters will then kick your ass.
That being said the rest of the zone is phenomenal and quite easily the most fun starting area I've played (I've played them all so far) The mix of magic and tech of the Asura is truly beautiful and the quests are interesting with that special Asura flair.
If you want to warn people that there are 2 frustrating parts that's fine, but telling them to avoid the entire zone is silly, it's an amazing zone and everyone should check it out.
Metrica is awesome and I loved the elemental fight, i'll have to go back and do the jumping puzzle.
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DemonStaceyTTODewback's DaughterIn love with the TaySwayRegistered Userregular
So when WOW can give me a suit of armor that is both a statistical and visual upgrade for, say 20-30 runs though it, what is Guild Wars excuse for making it take 70 times for something that is only a visual upgrade while simultaneously touting themselves as being the harbinger of a new breed of less grindy MMO's?
The point is that you do not need the upgrade because it is nonstatistical. You can be optimal without grinding at level 80. (No grinding really, as long as you're not broke on karma completely you can probably afford 5-8k karma for a full set of level 80 greens)
In WoW you must have that upgrade to play.
In GW2, you do not need it, and so a prohibitively long grind to get it is acceptable because you are not denying content or progression with it.
In WOW I was quite happy to go back and run dungeons for gear I no longer needed but liked the look of. If you were not a tank or dps class, you really didn't need the gear from the previous dungeon to clear the next (at least for stuff like MC -> DWL -> AQ -> Naxx)
I could do this in a reasonable amount of time.
In GW2, running dungeons purely for cosmetic upgrades apparently takes much much much longer than in WOW. Now, you can say "well GW1 was grindy as fuck so of course GW2 will be as well" and that's fine. What you can't do is square this with anet's claim that GW2 is a brand new genre redefining game that does away with all the old grind and repetition. This particular instance really stands out from and runs contrary to the rest of their design philosophy - where I agree that they have largely done a good job of removing the typical MMO annoyances and grindiness.
And again - a LONG time to get something is fine. It's a repetitive grind that I dislike. It's very strange when it took me less time to get stuff I didn't need in WOW, the epitome of grindy repetition, than it does in GW2.
That particular gear is grindy, there are MANY OTHER OPTIONS. Those aren't the only sets in the game. You can get many other outfits without running dungeons a hojillian times.
This worked because late in your characters life you could solo earlier dungeons. When you run a level 30 dungeon in GW2 as 80, does it let you stay 80 or are you downleveled? Vanity runs are one thing if you're by yourself. Finding a group full of other vain people to run it with you may pose a roadblock.
You're scaled to the dungeon's level. An 80 entering AC, for example, will be scaled to an effective level of 30.
By the way, max stats gear is easier to get than the 1000 hour grind cosmetic gear is, but it's not just handed to you at 80. Greens are pretty much handed to you, but the max stat ones aren't.
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World as Mytha breezy way to annoy serious peopleRegistered Userregular
Did anybody else come? I think he was the only forumer who introduced himself.
I was there. Posted this right after:
"Finally got into the gw2 party at about 9. Arenanet are super awesome folks, and I'm totally stoked to be playing their game. They gave out some artwork with room for autographs, and my girl and I made an effort to get a signature and some chat from everyone there. Every single person was gracious, and curious how we were playing their game. Glad to be supporting them with my gem habit."
I started to introduce myself to someone I *thought* was you, but she got a scared look on her face, and I got embarrassed and ran away. (No worries, this is a typical Saturday night for me)
Aw, bummer! I was chilling up by the bar (natch) and I don't scare easy. You may have met another of our resident redheads.
Then I *think* I have your autograph - that area was crowded, so I deployed the girl to get everyone up there.
There was some guy there that wanted to sign our poster, but wasn't wearing the shirt. Said his name was Ben and he was an animator. We talked to him after the party. We challenged him to prove he worked for you by telling us what he animated, and the examples he gave were some of the hammer animations and the death animation of the giant trees. We let him sign, and henceforth whenever we see a giant tree, I summon a magic hammer for us to use. And giant trees are all named Ben.
Did he have dreamy shoulder-length brown hair and a winning smile? If so, that is indeed an animator named Ben.
This worked because late in your characters life you could solo earlier dungeons. When you run a level 30 dungeon in GW2 as 80, does it let you stay 80 or are you downleveled? Vanity runs are one thing if you're by yourself. Finding a group full of other vain people to run it with you may pose a roadblock.
You're scaled to the dungeon's level. An 80 entering AC, for example, will be scaled to an effective level of 30.
You also don't need vain people- you can do it with appropriately leveled people who just want the dungeon loot, since dungeon loot is pretty good.
I guess one of the reasons I'm so appalled at the idea we're going to run through every dungeon 70 times is just the difficulty of getting your group into the dungeon together in the first place: I've had one AC run completely fall apart because after 30 minutes of trying we couldn't all get in the same instance and one CM run fell apart because it bugged out and we couldn't progress any further. Maybe that is giving me an unnecessarily dour outlook on dungeon running, I don't know.
Then don't do it. I'm not keen on the idea of running a dungeon 70 times either. Will I do it? Maybe, maybe not, right now I won't though because I don't see a need to.
If you aren't keen on the idea, don't do it. It's really not more complicated than that. You won't be one of the ones running around in that particular style of armor. If that irks you and you feel you MUST have that armor, then you'll need to run the dungeon. However not getting the armor will not prohibit you from doing any other content in the game. As a completely optional event designed to reward people who do run the dungeon multiple times it has absolutely no impact on your game whatsoever. You are not forced to do it, you are not required to have the armor to progress in any way, it is purely a "I like the look of this armor and I want it thing" and if that is the case, you will need to pay the appropriate fee. If it's an absurd amount of gold, or a massive amount of karma, or a certain amount of tokens, whatever it is, it is the listed price of what you desire, but not something you need. Because it is not a necessity, because it is not something required to continue, because it is completely optional, because it is a vanity item, the price can be very high. It is a reward of dedication, or saving of currency, or prowess in pvp, or whatever. It is a symbol that you did a certain thing to get it.
In short, if you want the item, pay for it. If you aren't willing to pay the required fee, then you don't get the item, and since not getting the item does not hinder your progress they can make the fee very high indeed to make it a long term goal.
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I guess one of the reasons I'm so appalled at the idea we're going to run through every dungeon 70 times is just the difficulty of getting your group into the dungeon together in the first place: I've had one AC run completely fall apart because after 30 minutes of trying we couldn't all get in the same instance and one CM run fell apart because it bugged out and we couldn't progress any further. Maybe that is giving me an unnecessarily dour outlook on dungeon running, I don't know.
This is the biggy for me to, after an hour of trying to get a group together and having it fail for various reasons...
It bugs me to no end that people uphold this phase of a group run as some godly social and communal...thing that must be preserved at all costs, give me a working group finder!
I guess one of the reasons I'm so appalled at the idea we're going to run through every dungeon 70 times is just the difficulty of getting your group into the dungeon together in the first place: I've had one AC run completely fall apart because after 30 minutes of trying we couldn't all get in the same instance and one CM run fell apart because it bugged out and we couldn't progress any further. Maybe that is giving me an unnecessarily dour outlook on dungeon running, I don't know.
This is the biggy for me to, after an hour of trying to get a group together and having it fail for various reasons...
It bugs me to no end that people uphold this phase of a group run as some godly social and communal...thing that must be preserved at all costs, give me a working group finder!
I could not agree more
Especially because it's so expensive to run around to different zones asking in /map
I'm interested to see what kind of live support Arenanet gives to GW2 once they are finished putting out fires and their game isn't constantly threatening to shit itself.
I have no idea what to expect from a game that claims to be a for-really-reals MMORPG but has no subscription fee. I do not think grinding to collect vanity gear constitutes a healthy endgame, and barely counts as "content" at all, so I'm waiting with bated breath to see what the strategy is.
I'm interested to see what kind of live support Arenanet gives to GW2 once they are finished putting out fires and their game isn't constantly threatening to shit itself.
I have no idea what to expect from a game that claims to be a for-really-reals MMORPG but has no subscription fee. I do not think grinding to collect vanity gear constitutes a healthy endgame, so I'm waiting with bated breath to see what the strategy is.
Cash shop. Much more profitable than subscription these days. More content will be added, someone posted the map from earlier showing how much room they can take advantage of, but revenue will be from the cash shop.
Delphinidaes on
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I think it's absurd to require the amount of grind the dungeon sets require, but only because it's so repetitive. The enormous karma grind doesn't seem so bad because it can be done through many, many different things.
In much the same way, many champions, bosses, and dungeon "trash" have ludicrously large HP pools and are just flat-out boring.
I really hope they are making enough money from gems to throw their full weight at regular content patches. That would be great, but we'll have to see what shakes out.
I think it's absurd to require the amount of grind the dungeon sets require, but only because it's so repetitive. The enormous karma grind doesn't seem so bad because it can be done through many, many different things.
In much the same way, many champions, bosses, and dungeon "trash" have ludicrously large HP pools and are just flat-out boring.
The dungeon sets are a reward for playing the dungeon a lot.
It is one style specific to one action. It is a reward for people who do a lot of dungeons. Some of us actually enjoy these dungeons believe it or not :P and I really don't see how it is hard to imagine people may run them a lot either because they enjoy them, or because they want that gear. It's also not hard to imagine people not veyr keen on the idea, but then again, that is not the demographic they designed that particular reward for.
If you don't like the idea, you don't have to do it, and it in no way affects your game. Unless you want that armor, in which case you need to play by the rules to get it.
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I hate metrica province. Every single heart has a gimmick. All I want to do is tear shit up in that beautiful zone, but no. I have to play robot chess or turn into a robot or test out some prototype weapon.
Wait a minute... I think metrica province is my new favorite zone.
Battle.net: ChubbyBunny#1452 | Steam: Bunny1248 | Xbox Live: CBunny1
Can you ask your artists to add a whale to the guild symbols. Squid, sea shells, sword fish, but no majestic whale?
P.S. Love the game
"Look, all I know is that this cord was plugged into my house and your house was glowing like the freakin' sun. So, I put two and two together there and decided that you're pissing me off." -Carl Brutananadilewski
In regards to the advocates of his former empire: “I was going to have them all executed… the Royal Advocate talked me out of it.” -Shadowthrone (Emperor Kellanved)
I really hope they are making enough money from gems to throw their full weight at regular content patches. That would be great, but we'll have to see what shakes out.
No idea, I didn't play much GW1 so I don't know what their typical modis operandi is in regards to content patches. I think there was a fair amount of people still playing the game years after the fact though right?
Delphinidaes on
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In the short term the best way to alleviate the lack of group finder would be a dedicated dungeon guild. With a pool of 500 people finding 5 to do a run should not be that hard.
While racing light mechs, your Urbanmech comes in second place, but only because it ran out of ammo.
so 2 questions for everyone:
1) someone mentioned thief is really great at doing combos by themselves... Everything I seem to have is only combo finishers? What item set does this?
2) Caldeon Forest jumping puzzle of doom. I've done it about 10 times (level 37 now and still coming back) After the jumping puzzle... When I go to the next area I just get my ass handed to me constantly, everyone in the area seems to... is it worth my time to even get down there to explore anymore?
Sorry if some one else said this, but on the subject of "This gear is locked behind a grind!"
It's been said that it's entirely optional. It's a non-required item in order to be "top tier". If you still want it after knowing that, then you need to reconcile with yourself that you want to do that grind. It's hard to admit, but if you seek the optional item simply to become the "tippy top tier" than you are the targetted audiance. Because you want to have the rare, hard to get gear.
So just go grind. It wouldn't be a desirable, rare, top dog item if it wasn't locked behind something. That is the entire point of gating content. To make it elitist.
Edit: Now, if you're complaining about doing the grind while doing it. That's different and acceptable. Whining about grinding has been a feature of every MMO ever, and will continue to be. We complain about difficult stuff.
I really hope they are making enough money from gems to throw their full weight at regular content patches. That would be great, but we'll have to see what shakes out.
No idea, I didn't play much GW1 so I don't know what their typical modis operandi is in regards to content patches. I think there was a fair amount of people still playing the game years after the fact though right?
There were pretty much constant small free content updates. The other campaigns were what you paid for.
As far as content goes... I'm not some kind of hardened MMO veteran so I'm not sure my opinion is going to be considered all that valid here, but I've sunk sixty hours into this game since release and not had to repeat content and I'm nowhere near lv80. I'm finding the amount of sheer stuff to do to be kind of overwhelming. I can say for certain that I've paid retail prices for far skinnier gaming experiences in the past.
Which isn't to say I think it's perfect, just that I'm really impressed with how well the game has lived up to my expectations so far.
so 2 questions for everyone:
1) someone mentioned thief is really great at doing combos by themselves... Everything I seem to have is only combo finishers? What item set does this?
2) Caldeon Forest jumping puzzle of doom. I've done it about 10 times (level 37 now and still coming back) After the jumping puzzle... When I go to the next area I just get my ass handed to me constantly, everyone in the area seems to... is it worth my time to even get down there to explore anymore?
Pistol offhand has a smoke field. When you use pistol/pistol or dagger/pistol you can get a lot of use out of it. Also when you steal you can sometimes get an item that places an ethereal field. I am an asura so I will often use the asuran poison field ultility skill (lasts a full 15 seconds i think). On top of that I think there are also a few utility skill traps that place poison fields on the ground.
Shortbow works as well as you can place a poison field and finish it with your skill 2 finisher.
As you mentioned though thieves excel at finishing combos which makes them great in groups with people who place a lot of fields (elementalists are great for this)
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I really hope they are making enough money from gems to throw their full weight at regular content patches. That would be great, but we'll have to see what shakes out.
No idea, I didn't play much GW1 so I don't know what their typical modis operandi is in regards to content patches. I think there was a fair amount of people still playing the game years after the fact though right?
There were pretty much constant small free content updates. The other campaigns were what you paid for.
As far as content goes... I'm not some kind of hardened MMO veteran so I'm not sure my opinion is going to be considered all that valid here, but I've sunk sixty hours into this game since release and not had to repeat content and I'm nowhere near lv80. I'm finding the amount of sheer stuff to do to be kind of overwhelming. I can say for certain that I've paid retail prices for far skinnier gaming experiences in the past.
Which isn't to say I think it's perfect, just that I'm really impressed with how well the game has lived up to my expectations so far.
Oh don't get me wrong the current release content is massive. I've sunk an absurd amount of time in this game and have only seen one of the dungeons and my highest character is 43. I haven't even SEEN content appropriate to my level yet and i'm still at lvl 37ish I think for my story quest.
This isn't even touching pvp outside of running a day worth of WvWvW. I haven't even stepped in sPvP. Just trying to 100% each zone is an absurd amount of content, and on top of that there are all sorts of fun and interesting things to discover along the way. Heck I happened across a small cave gaurded by some bandits that turned into a very fun experience (I won't spoil it here) but it didn't involve an event or quest at all.
No they definitely nailed the content with this game, which to me is one of the hardest things to do in an MMO on release. There is no shortage of things for me to do from the massive to the menial and I'm often overwhelmed by the sheer scope of what is available to me.
I just had no reference for what they typically do in terms of additional content beyond release, but from your post it seems i'll be pretty pleased with that.
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Triple BBastard of the NorthMARegistered Userregular
Anyone else just have their client lose connection
Whenever someone asks "Hey, want to do a dungeon?" I'm always enthusiastic. Until I get halfway through the dungeon, and I wonder WTF am I doing with my time. A majority of the fights are just not enjoyable to me. Most of them have 1 mechanic that you absolutely must dodge that they do about every 10 seconds, and then they have enough health to make the fight last 10+ minutes.
The dungeons seem to drag on and on. And I don't have the willpower to say no to something I haven't seen before. It's always "Well, maybe this dungeon will be different?" And it never is. It never is. Just a long slog through a dungeon.
I understand the argument that the dungeon sets are just for vanity, and because of that it's okay to require a grind. But, dungeons require a full group of people to do. If I am someone that doesn't give a shit about the dungeon set, or am just not willing to grind out 70 runs of that dungeon, what is my reasoning to help you out other than we are bros? It is my belief that the majority of the player base is not willing to put in the time and effort to acquire these dungeon sets. So what we are left with is people begging friends to do a dungeon with them, or finding a guild that is dedicated to getting people these sets.
So how is this different from WoW Raiding?
I too have found dungeons incredibly underwhelming to actually quite miserable.
Mechanically, they're quite a mess. Long boss fights with often no "phase changes" to switch things up, just really bullshit powers that kill the shit out of you and little to no mechanics to warn you of the danger. Tedious trash pulls that just seem to have too much health.
The one that took the cake for me was Sorrow's Embrace, Kudu's Second Golem boss whom does all the following:
Spits out fire that utterly demolishes you at all party members every few seconds,
Spins with flamethrowers fire out in all directions, heavily punishing melee combatants beyond the first AoE ability,
and my least favorite: "Purges conditions to self heal".
The last one was a personal screw over. The twenty fifth trait point unlock for the engineer's explosives is an upgrade that causes every every explosive I use to apply a 1% vulnerability condition. To make matters worse, dual pistols apply a condition with every attack. I had no attacks that wouldn't heal the boss and hurt my party! Even still, I had to pity the melee characters in the party as most bosses tend to screw melee over even harder.
We fought the boss for two minutes and barely pushed him past 80% of his health. I tried switching up my abilities and traits in future attempts, but it turns out that countering the placement of 30 trait points is fairly debilitating for one's effectiveness. We failed to drop that boss (which is a shame because I really wanted to watch Kudu taste dirt.) which put a huge dampener on the attempt.
Story wise, dungeons are almost all exactly the same and not much to write home about. I was disappointed that Sorrows Embrace (the level 60 one) was still focused on the plot thread on about how destiny's edge totally hates each other and are being pricks about the past. That was the story in AC and CM! I sort of skipped the level 50 dungeon because I figured that maybe dungeons weren't for me, but I decided to step back into Sorrow's Embrace because I really enjoyed Zojja's character in my first Asura story quests (when she's not being a childish prick) and wanted to see an evolution from her spiteful character that she is outside of the starter zone apparently. It didn't happen to my dismay (although, I failed to complete the dungeon so maybe it would have at the end of Sorrow's Embrace!)
To take the cake, dungeons don't even give terribly competitive rewards. Simply doing a few hearts in a competitive zone is easier, gives more experience and gives you about as many upgrades to your gear. Events in the world are more dynamic and better tuned than boss fights in my experience. Not to mention chances to mine/chop/harvest for crafting and the fact that killing one mob doesn't take 1-2 minutes per mob so you get more to salvage.
I may try the occasional dungeon here and there from this point on but I will most certainly avoid them like the plague if I ever try to level another character up to 80.
tl;dr: Dungeons are not what I was hoping for in terms of mechanical balance, story, and rewards. I suggest avoiding them beyond completionism. I enjoyed WoW raiding more often than not too!
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Then I *think* I have your autograph - that area was crowded, so I deployed the girl to get everyone up there.
There was some guy there that wanted to sign our poster, but wasn't wearing the shirt. Said his name was Ben and he was an animator. We talked to him after the party. We challenged him to prove he worked for you by telling us what he animated, and the examples he gave were some of the hammer animations and the death animation of the giant trees. We let him sign, and henceforth whenever we see a giant tree, I summon a magic hammer for us to use. And giant trees are all named Ben.
I get that- but I'm not saying "of course GW2 will be grindy" for any reason other than to explain why I think the numbers aren't mistaken and won't be changed much. All I'm saying to you is really that the length of the grind is kind of the point in this case.
And if you disagree with that that's completely fair. Like I said up there you're probably not the target audience for it- but that doesn't make your complaint any less legitimate.
PSN: Vorpallion Twitch: Vorpallion
Metrica is awesome and I loved the elemental fight, i'll have to go back and do the jumping puzzle.
That particular gear is grindy, there are MANY OTHER OPTIONS. Those aren't the only sets in the game. You can get many other outfits without running dungeons a hojillian times.
You're scaled to the dungeon's level. An 80 entering AC, for example, will be scaled to an effective level of 30.
Did he have dreamy shoulder-length brown hair and a winning smile? If so, that is indeed an animator named Ben.
You also don't need vain people- you can do it with appropriately leveled people who just want the dungeon loot, since dungeon loot is pretty good.
Then don't do it. I'm not keen on the idea of running a dungeon 70 times either. Will I do it? Maybe, maybe not, right now I won't though because I don't see a need to.
If you aren't keen on the idea, don't do it. It's really not more complicated than that. You won't be one of the ones running around in that particular style of armor. If that irks you and you feel you MUST have that armor, then you'll need to run the dungeon. However not getting the armor will not prohibit you from doing any other content in the game. As a completely optional event designed to reward people who do run the dungeon multiple times it has absolutely no impact on your game whatsoever. You are not forced to do it, you are not required to have the armor to progress in any way, it is purely a "I like the look of this armor and I want it thing" and if that is the case, you will need to pay the appropriate fee. If it's an absurd amount of gold, or a massive amount of karma, or a certain amount of tokens, whatever it is, it is the listed price of what you desire, but not something you need. Because it is not a necessity, because it is not something required to continue, because it is completely optional, because it is a vanity item, the price can be very high. It is a reward of dedication, or saving of currency, or prowess in pvp, or whatever. It is a symbol that you did a certain thing to get it.
In short, if you want the item, pay for it. If you aren't willing to pay the required fee, then you don't get the item, and since not getting the item does not hinder your progress they can make the fee very high indeed to make it a long term goal.
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This is the biggy for me to, after an hour of trying to get a group together and having it fail for various reasons...
It bugs me to no end that people uphold this phase of a group run as some godly social and communal...thing that must be preserved at all costs, give me a working group finder!
I could not agree more
Especially because it's so expensive to run around to different zones asking in /map
I have no idea what to expect from a game that claims to be a for-really-reals MMORPG but has no subscription fee. I do not think grinding to collect vanity gear constitutes a healthy endgame, and barely counts as "content" at all, so I'm waiting with bated breath to see what the strategy is.
Cash shop. Much more profitable than subscription these days. More content will be added, someone posted the map from earlier showing how much room they can take advantage of, but revenue will be from the cash shop.
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In much the same way, many champions, bosses, and dungeon "trash" have ludicrously large HP pools and are just flat-out boring.
The dungeon sets are a reward for playing the dungeon a lot.
It is one style specific to one action. It is a reward for people who do a lot of dungeons. Some of us actually enjoy these dungeons believe it or not :P and I really don't see how it is hard to imagine people may run them a lot either because they enjoy them, or because they want that gear. It's also not hard to imagine people not veyr keen on the idea, but then again, that is not the demographic they designed that particular reward for.
If you don't like the idea, you don't have to do it, and it in no way affects your game. Unless you want that armor, in which case you need to play by the rules to get it.
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Wait a minute... I think metrica province is my new favorite zone.
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Can you ask your artists to add a whale to the guild symbols. Squid, sea shells, sword fish, but no majestic whale?
P.S. Love the game
In regards to the advocates of his former empire: “I was going to have them all executed… the Royal Advocate talked me out of it.” -Shadowthrone (Emperor Kellanved)
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No idea, I didn't play much GW1 so I don't know what their typical modis operandi is in regards to content patches. I think there was a fair amount of people still playing the game years after the fact though right?
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1) someone mentioned thief is really great at doing combos by themselves... Everything I seem to have is only combo finishers? What item set does this?
2) Caldeon Forest jumping puzzle of doom. I've done it about 10 times (level 37 now and still coming back) After the jumping puzzle... When I go to the next area I just get my ass handed to me constantly, everyone in the area seems to... is it worth my time to even get down there to explore anymore?
It's been said that it's entirely optional. It's a non-required item in order to be "top tier". If you still want it after knowing that, then you need to reconcile with yourself that you want to do that grind. It's hard to admit, but if you seek the optional item simply to become the "tippy top tier" than you are the targetted audiance. Because you want to have the rare, hard to get gear.
So just go grind. It wouldn't be a desirable, rare, top dog item if it wasn't locked behind something. That is the entire point of gating content. To make it elitist.
Edit: Now, if you're complaining about doing the grind while doing it. That's different and acceptable. Whining about grinding has been a feature of every MMO ever, and will continue to be. We complain about difficult stuff.
There were pretty much constant small free content updates. The other campaigns were what you paid for.
As far as content goes... I'm not some kind of hardened MMO veteran so I'm not sure my opinion is going to be considered all that valid here, but I've sunk sixty hours into this game since release and not had to repeat content and I'm nowhere near lv80. I'm finding the amount of sheer stuff to do to be kind of overwhelming. I can say for certain that I've paid retail prices for far skinnier gaming experiences in the past.
Which isn't to say I think it's perfect, just that I'm really impressed with how well the game has lived up to my expectations so far.
Darkcerb.6051
Pistol offhand has a smoke field. When you use pistol/pistol or dagger/pistol you can get a lot of use out of it. Also when you steal you can sometimes get an item that places an ethereal field. I am an asura so I will often use the asuran poison field ultility skill (lasts a full 15 seconds i think). On top of that I think there are also a few utility skill traps that place poison fields on the ground.
Shortbow works as well as you can place a poison field and finish it with your skill 2 finisher.
As you mentioned though thieves excel at finishing combos which makes them great in groups with people who place a lot of fields (elementalists are great for this)
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3DS: 1650-8480-6786
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I DEMAND ONE FREE MONTH OF GAMEPLAY FOR THIS
FUCKFUCKFUCKFUYCKFUCKFUCUASJDFHNSEKGHESWKGNWSEJHJNMWEKHJMNWSKL<<JNQWAGIUKJQW#EHGHKJLW$HNKJWGYJKLQANGJKLS<EHMNLSKRD:JMWEKL:YJNWEHKJN
fuck me
Oh don't get me wrong the current release content is massive. I've sunk an absurd amount of time in this game and have only seen one of the dungeons and my highest character is 43. I haven't even SEEN content appropriate to my level yet and i'm still at lvl 37ish I think for my story quest.
This isn't even touching pvp outside of running a day worth of WvWvW. I haven't even stepped in sPvP. Just trying to 100% each zone is an absurd amount of content, and on top of that there are all sorts of fun and interesting things to discover along the way. Heck I happened across a small cave gaurded by some bandits that turned into a very fun experience (I won't spoil it here) but it didn't involve an event or quest at all.
No they definitely nailed the content with this game, which to me is one of the hardest things to do in an MMO on release. There is no shortage of things for me to do from the massive to the menial and I'm often overwhelmed by the sheer scope of what is available to me.
I just had no reference for what they typically do in terms of additional content beyond release, but from your post it seems i'll be pretty pleased with that.
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At least I just finished AC story mode before it kicked me out.
EDIT - seems to have fixed itself. I couldn't login to the game or site initially.
This is the first time I've been mad at video games in a long time >_<
We had the boss in Mount Maelsrom down to 50%... well another 3 hours to go!
I too have found dungeons incredibly underwhelming to actually quite miserable.
Mechanically, they're quite a mess. Long boss fights with often no "phase changes" to switch things up, just really bullshit powers that kill the shit out of you and little to no mechanics to warn you of the danger. Tedious trash pulls that just seem to have too much health.
The one that took the cake for me was Sorrow's Embrace, Kudu's Second Golem boss whom does all the following:
Spits out fire that utterly demolishes you at all party members every few seconds,
Spins with flamethrowers fire out in all directions, heavily punishing melee combatants beyond the first AoE ability,
and my least favorite: "Purges conditions to self heal".
The last one was a personal screw over. The twenty fifth trait point unlock for the engineer's explosives is an upgrade that causes every every explosive I use to apply a 1% vulnerability condition. To make matters worse, dual pistols apply a condition with every attack. I had no attacks that wouldn't heal the boss and hurt my party! Even still, I had to pity the melee characters in the party as most bosses tend to screw melee over even harder.
We fought the boss for two minutes and barely pushed him past 80% of his health. I tried switching up my abilities and traits in future attempts, but it turns out that countering the placement of 30 trait points is fairly debilitating for one's effectiveness. We failed to drop that boss (which is a shame because I really wanted to watch Kudu taste dirt.) which put a huge dampener on the attempt.
Story wise, dungeons are almost all exactly the same and not much to write home about. I was disappointed that Sorrows Embrace (the level 60 one) was still focused on the plot thread on about how destiny's edge totally hates each other and are being pricks about the past. That was the story in AC and CM! I sort of skipped the level 50 dungeon because I figured that maybe dungeons weren't for me, but I decided to step back into Sorrow's Embrace because I really enjoyed Zojja's character in my first Asura story quests (when she's not being a childish prick) and wanted to see an evolution from her spiteful character that she is outside of the starter zone apparently. It didn't happen to my dismay (although, I failed to complete the dungeon so maybe it would have at the end of Sorrow's Embrace!)
To take the cake, dungeons don't even give terribly competitive rewards. Simply doing a few hearts in a competitive zone is easier, gives more experience and gives you about as many upgrades to your gear. Events in the world are more dynamic and better tuned than boss fights in my experience. Not to mention chances to mine/chop/harvest for crafting and the fact that killing one mob doesn't take 1-2 minutes per mob so you get more to salvage.
I may try the occasional dungeon here and there from this point on but I will most certainly avoid them like the plague if I ever try to level another character up to 80.
tl;dr: Dungeons are not what I was hoping for in terms of mechanical balance, story, and rewards. I suggest avoiding them beyond completionism. I enjoyed WoW raiding more often than not too!