Is it possible for Heroes to comeback to Guild Wars 2?

I may have been filled with nostalgia but, before PoF launch, I wish I have NPC party for dungeons and raids, LFG system sometimes can be a toxic experience. Fractals are easy but sometimes dungeons takes a while to get a party especially old ones.

Wouldn't be nice though to have customizable heroes to accompany us in battles, when we don't feel like waiting or hurrying up after the event since the leader already logged out or about to leave. Imagine the custom builds and weapons we can apply to them, such depth in gameplay we can play around and experiment.

I heard all about this from friends who played GW1. I would love for them to implement this. I play 95% solo so this would help a lot I think :)

https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Henchman

I wish maybe then i could do some group things while being the loner type, but if not np. I still enjoy the 50% of content i can play. is what it is. But to be honest I don't think they are needed for open world stuff, maybe just fractals and dungeons and things based on instancing else just effect others in negative way. and would just cause more problems and complaints. Tired of seeing all the complaining and whining wish all could be happy, though pooping in one hand definetly fill up quicker than the one i wished in.

@sixburn.5807 said:I may have been filled with nostalgia but, before PoF launch, I wish I have NPC party for dungeons and raids, LFG system sometimes can be a toxic experience. Fractals are easy but sometimes dungeons takes a while to get a party especially old ones.

Wouldn't be nice though to have customizable heroes to accompany us in battles, when we don't feel like waiting or hurrying up after the event since the leader already logged out or about to leave. Imagine the custom builds and weapons we can apply to them, such depth in gameplay we can play around and experiment.

It's not going to happen any time soon, even though it might be technically feasible. Heroes were a great addition to GW1 because it became hard to find enough people to do content designed for 8, however it also accelerated the tendency to solo everything (because it's so much easier now). If GW2 added heroes, even just for instances, it would mean that ANet no longer thinks that people can find groups, and they are ready to give up on that part of the game.

I never have trouble getting people for a dungeon run, especially since most can be done with 2-3 people (using modern builds). Until that becomes a general problem (and not just one for those who prefer going it alone in the first place), I can't see ANet being willing to invest the huge amount of resources needed to set up heroes.

I wouldn’t mind seeing them available for content like dungeons and fractals. I would love to do that content but don’t for a few reasons. I’m a pretty casual player with very sporadic playtimes so finding a group can be a bit difficult on occasion. I just don’t typically have the time to wait for one or try to find one usually. It doesn’t seem many people do dungeons anymore and I would love to experience them without people having outlandish requirements or them wanting to be rushed through. Also since dps meters are now apparently a thing in this game, I don’t feel like dealing with that mess like I saw in WoW. I was personally never kicked from any groups but saw many, many people treated horribly because of it. I even left a Guild after seeing how badly they treated random players in pugs. It was so commonplace that it’s now off putting to see them here and I know it’s just a matter of time before that toxic behavior is in this game.

I don’t see the need for henchman or heroes in open world content, but I would love to have this available so I could experience the dungeons and fractals, etc. And no, it’s not that I’m anti-social at all. I’m in a couple very friendly guilds that I enjoy and do guild missions on occasion and world bosses. I have a blast doing those by the way. But for dungeons and fractals, with my limited and sporadic playtime, I find it harder to jump into those. But mainly, don’t want to deal with people treating others like dirt because someone dares make a mistake. I have only had this happen to me a couple times since returning to the game and I just shrug it off. People can be jerks, whatever. But if I could have henchman and heroes like in GW1, I would love that. I really hate rushing through content also and it would be nice if I could go at an enjoyable pace to actually enjoy what I just did. It seems many pugs are looking to go as fast as possible.

Yes, my point exactly! I used to play alone too and I am sure there are so many others who would love to try the dungeons, raids even without troubles from other players. Fillers for Fractals, Guild Hall quest? and regular story mission would help a lot of new players overcome their frustrations. And the GW1 hard mode mechanic or doing it alone with better rewards would be nice too :) . Just imagine the depth of gameplay and new cool customizable party members, and the hero elite armors and heroes PvP, it would be so awesome!

This actually would be kinda cool :|

EDIT: Lord Faren..... as your first troll companion LoL....On gw1 we could use our other toons as heros as well.

While I agree it would be fun, and even a cool mechanic.. i honestly doubt it makes for a proper mechanic, because it would work poorly outside the story instances designed with them in mind. It would be a niche like Sohothin, cool, but restrictive, and it would be a poor selling point for an expansion. Im afraid its not something that can be added retroactively

If I remember right, the devs said at one point that it'd be much more challenging to implement them in GW2. Because of all the jumping, etc. And I guess that gliding and mounts have made it even harder to have AI followers. At least without resorting to constant 'teleporting'.

Which is too bad. I'd like to see them in GW2 too.

I think they'll eventually do it once the game starts to die out even further.

I don't think that could be done for gw2, as the combat system is way more complex than in gw1.

Some examples:cc or not to cc (Gorseval "no updraft")pressure plates in a fractalThaumanova rooms would be difficult for npcsI can't imaging how Swampland would work with npcswhich attack to block, dodge, distort......

There are just too many mechanics henchmen can't do.

@Illconceived Was Na.9781 said:I never have trouble getting people for a dungeon run, especially since most can be done with 2-3 people (using modern builds). Until that becomes a general problem (and not just one for those who prefer going it alone in the first place), I can't see ANet being willing to invest the huge amount of resources needed to set up heroes.

Reason I wanted them for instance stuff not cause I couldn't find a group, really not because of lonerish ways (after all i do metas and stuff like that with other people around). I just have bad luck when it comes to finding fun people, every time i end up in such group things, always one bossy person likes to just boss everybody round or rebuke them when they make a mistake or do something they dislike etc etc. I'm sure you've met people like that. (you yourself maybe that type i hope not but its possible) This is the most and primary reasons i stick to myself, I'm here to have fun, if i fail at something i try it again. I don't get mad at other people, I just take it as i need to learn more. I blame myself not another because of failure.But trying to play with the types of people i stated above is so hard, i can't stand it just drives me nuts makes the fun varnishes completely, fail or no fail.Makes me want to avoid group content entirely. That's why for the most part i do.

It's almost like they expect random people to know what they doing, even on their first time in w/e group content it is. I mean i straight up legitimately admit that if i never been there best expect I'm going to get confused, when another starts saying do this, do that when its my first time in said stuff. I'm like where is this, where is that what the heck you talking about. It is just to tedious and confuses me, just kills my fun entirely. Because I like to learn things on my own, not because someone tried to teach me.

Like my teachers in school told my parents, I'm unteachable. Only way I learn things is by doing them and figuring it out at my own pace. Yes in school i made terrible grades, after I got my GED the internet started taking off, I started self teaching my self at my own pace and caught up to all the things that i couldn't be taught in school.I used to not use punctuation when i wrote, just in the past few years I been self teaching myself that. My format may not be perfect, but is what it is.I do the best i can.

So henchman would be more of a learning tool for me, it would allow me to go in said places, give me a chance learn the ropes. Once I learnt all the needs to knows, I could play with groups. When bossy player said do this, do that i wouldn't get confused, I'd understand what they are saying. I'd be fine then, no more confusion.Henches and heros existed in gw1 and I still played in groups and guild groups. It's an individuals perception of hench/heros that makes it seem like more focus on solo-able content. Hench is just a tool just like mounts.

Wouldn't hurt the game no more than not having them, for the instanced stuff. Still i feel they have no place in open world it directly affects the game and other people way to much.

they could easily turn minis into partners and increase their size when active, ai scripts exist for all of them already(minus a few historical characters), and an auto disable when more than 3-6 players are present would prevent easy(er?) victories during high population times(radius of 3000-5000?). this would also make minis more sought after for those of us who want more out of them, than say, a tiny creature passing by that a twitchy fingered player would think is a pocket raptor.

Bringing heroes is most likely possible, since we already have such companions in the story, but I seriously doubt trying to bring useful heroes is worth the massive effort it would take. Creating an AI that knows when to properly jump, dodge and CC is probably close to impossible. Besides, this is a MMO. Find other people to play group content with.

I feel like it doesn't fit the design philosophy of GW2.

You have to remember. They made GW2 because they wanted to do more than just GW1 with better graphics.

I don't think it would be a bad idea for old dungeons, since they aren't making more... but any new content they really want to push the social part as much as they can.

@TEKnowledgy.1760 said:But trying to play with the types of people i stated above is so hard, i can't stand it just drives me nuts makes the fun varnishes completely, fail or no fail.Makes me want to avoid group content entirely. That's why for the most part i do.

First, I'm really sorry you've had such bad experiences. I'm not a big fan of PUGging either (although not for exactly the same reasons). When things go well, it's nice & fast, but if things go wrong, PUGs behave unpredictably and so I generally prefer to play with people I know.

Fortunately, there are alternatives like joining a guild that doesn't include people who are too focused or forming your own circle of regulars.

The thing is: adding heroes (even just to instances) is a disincentive for people to socialize; it's really hard to imagine why ANet would want to invest a lot of time in making the game less multiplayer.

@pah.4931 said:I feel like it doesn't fit the design philosophy of GW2.

You have to remember. They made GW2 because they wanted to do more than just GW1 with better graphics.

I don't think it would be a bad idea for old dungeons, since they aren't making more... but any new content they really want to push the social part as much as they can.

While I would love to see them added to the game to be available for use in dungeons and fractals, I do agree with what you just said. I myself played GW1 for quite some time. Loved that game, still do. GW1 and 2 are very different in many ways. I could see it being hard implementing them into this game (possibly). The original game wasn't so much of an mmo. Many people argued way back when that it wasn't an mmo at all. GW2 is an mmo centered around group content and it seems it keeps heading more in that direction by adding raids for example.

I would be completely on board though if they added them for older, more outdated content and restricted them out of current content until that was considered to be outdated. As I said in my previous post, I would love to see these in the game for a number of reasons, but for only instanced content. I don't really think we will see them brought to this game honestly. We can all hope though :-)

@Illconceived Was Na.9781 said:

@TEKnowledgy.1760 said:But trying to play with the types of people i stated above is so hard, i can't stand it just drives me nuts makes the fun varnishes completely, fail or no fail.Makes me want to avoid group content entirely. That's why for the most part i do.

Who said can't talk while henching I dont know many people specially guilds that dont use VOIP apps would u still not be talking to ppl via mic? Played couple MP games over the years didn't even have basic text chat.

BTW you don't owe me an apology not your fault not mine just how it is in MP games. You get used to it after...... for me 17 years of MP games lol.

@TEKnowledgy.1760 said:

@Illconceived Was Na.9781 said:

@TEKnowledgy.1760 said:But trying to play with the types of people i stated above is so hard, i can't stand it just drives me nuts makes the fun varnishes completely, fail or no fail.Makes me want to avoid group content entirely. That's why for the most part i do.

Um, I'm sure you know that when I said it's a disincentive for people to socialize, I wasn't referring to using /chat or voip to chat with folks you already know. The problem expressed by the OP relates to dealing with PUGs, which wouldn't be an issue if the folks in one's VOIP were available for the instanced content being discussed.

In other words, adding heroes is a disincentive to group up with other people in this multiplayer game, aka to socialize in the context of GW2.

I hope not, GW1 was a CORPG, Heroes were okay there but GW2 is a MMORPG and Heroes make no sense here. Yes, LFG can be toxic but that's exactly why you should join friendly, helpful guilds that have no toxic people and do content with them and/or start your own groups in LFG, problem solved! I don't like single player games, GW2 is an MMO and it should stay massively multiplayer. I want to play with other people and laugh/have fun with them, not boring NPCs who don't talk.

@"Illconceived Was Na.9781" said:Um, I'm sure you know that when I said it's a disincentive for people to socialize, I wasn't referring to using /chat or voip to chat with folks you already know. The problem expressed by the OP relates to dealing with PUGs, which wouldn't be an issue if the folks in one's VOIP were available for the instanced content being discussed.

In other words, adding heroes is a disincentive to group up with other people in this multiplayer game, aka to socialize in the context of GW2.

Thats what I've been trying to point out the entire time here it doesn't effect group play as much as you think it does. You assume it will it may a little bit, but be honest with yourself would it affect you or your guild or your friends? Ya'll could still do ya thang, those that arnt doing group stuff with randoms or giulds or friends anyways helps get them involved in such stuff. Might even help encourage grouping and getting more people into it, because the AI is not very bright (atleast it wasn't back in gw1 they enhanced gw1 hero ai but only after gw2 came out) most of the time being with actual humans will always be superior in quality and effectiveness. Even on social side of the game if say for example i use myself i'm like a ghost in game nobody talks to me i dont bother them sometimes old friend login i dont mind say hi how you doing. Other then that that's about as social as guild wars 2 (in game) is to me.I've talked more on these forums than i ever have in game.

This November be my 5th year. So wouldn't hurt as much as you think it will. Now that's just me how many more are like me? Probably alot more than you or I even realize. Last time I was in a group was ds meta 6 or more months ago. With or without hench don't matter to me i'ma do it no differ either way. just sounded like cool idea for those that are like me in gw2 whats that moderator told me and I quote "Our goal is to make sure the forums are a safe, constructive, and welcoming place for all of our community members. " be nice if they treated the game the same, not just in a social way but as a whole play styles etc etc. ;) just saying it be cool I think. i don't expect it i just support the idea.

Whilst I don't think heroes will be part of GW2, at least not in any signfiicant way (imo it just doesn't fit the game's style, can't work at all in open world for many reasons and the ai is never going to be good enough for the mechanics of instances), there is potentially the glimmer that they have the technology to do it in story modes from what is seen in the PoF story and a certain heart in Vabbi. Maybe as a mastery in later expansions for use in selective areas only.

Whether that could convert well into meaningful gameplay with heroes/henchies is highly quetionable, but it could have acted as testing ground for Anet in case they want to look at the viability of it.

Screw those guys - WE are the heroes now!

For open world I can't see NPC parties being a good thing, as they would break a lot of existing content, as well as cause even more latency issues. However for dungeons (the current ones and potential new ones) they could be a great opportunity. Finding parties in LFG for core Tyria dungeons can be a huge hassle, and having the additional option to run these dungeons solo (with a group of NPCs) similar to what they did with Arah story mode would be great!

@jwaz.1908 said:For open world I can't see NPC parties being a good thing, as they would break a lot of existing content, as well as cause even more latency issues. However for dungeons (the current ones and potential new ones) they could be a great opportunity. Finding parties in LFG for core Tyria dungeons can be a huge hassle, and having the additional option to run these dungeons solo (with a group of NPCs) similar to what they did with Arah story mode would be great!

even i agree open world does not need hench already easy enough there. it would be negative in effect to not only self but to the entire game and others. Instanced stuff not hurting anyone because option to use human groups still there and many people will always prefer human over AI. even i would once i got to use hechies as a tool for learning the area or content, as I stated in one my other replies.