Feedback on Zafirah's Rifle Skin

Hi there!

I'm a long-time Guild Wars 2 player, and a main engineer player. I really only get a few weapons to play with, so I decked out my engineer with legendaries for each weapon type she can use. I have been a proud owner of The Predator for a few years now.

However, I am saddened by the release of Zafirah's rifle skin. Why? Let me demonstrate with pictures:

Appearance-wise, both skins are VERY similar, with slight differences between them. For example:

Similarities

• Long stock
• Long barrel w/ flash suppressor/muzzle brake
• Long eye relief scopes
• Similar receiver and trigger design
• Roughly similar artwork and intricacy put into the artistic design of these weapons.

Differences -- The Predator

• Has a bipod.
• "Lava" theme + fire breathing near the end of the barrel.
• Fire aura + Fire footfalls + Fire projectiles + Different sound (legendary effects, essentially)

Differences -- Zafirah's Rifle

• Has a sling
• Has a laser sight

I haven't even brought up how The Hunter precursor actually has even less than Zafirah's Rifle.

If we ignore the legendary effects for a second, for all appearances these two rifles are VERY similar. The only real difference is those legendary effects.

Now maybe that's not a problem, because legendary skins are all about the legendary effects, right? Well, that's a hell of a lot of gold, time, and effort just for a few extra effects, when you could get a near identical skin for not even 1/10th of the effort/investment.

So yeah. Consider this a complaint. I expect to receive criticism for this complaint, but gem store skins such as this harm the real effort that people put into "fashion wars." It devalues your loyal playerbase for a simple cash grab. Had the skin been introduced as part of a collection or acquired through some means in-game, at least there would be some effort and work required to invest in it, and it wouldn't be a blatant cash grab.

@"Vagrant.7206" said:Well, that's a hell of a lot of gold, time, and effort just for a few extra effects, when you could get a near identical skin for not even 1/10th of the effort/investment.TBH for ranged combat these "few extra effects" (the projectile animations in particular) pretty much make the weapon.

@"Vagrant.7206" said:If we ignore the legendary effects for a second, for all appearances these two rifles are VERY similar. The only real difference is those legendary effects.

Now maybe that's not a problem, because legendary skins are all about the legendary effects, right? Well, that's a hell of a lot of gold, time, and effort just for a few extra effects, when you could get a near identical skin for not even 1/10th of the effort/investment.

Well, I don't know how to tell you this but the legendary skins were NEVER worth the effort to get them. Maybe this drives it home for you but legendary skins are for people with too much time or dedication than is good for them really. Now I get that's a bit direct but as soon as I saw what was involved in creating a legendary, it was clear to me that it wasn't worth the effort but I figured for those who burn through content and feel they have "nothing to do" this was ArenaNet's answer.

So yeah. Consider this a complaint. I expect to receive criticism for this complaint, but gem store skins such as this harm the real effort that people put into "fashion wars." It devalues your loyal playerbase for a simple cash grab. Had the skin been introduced as part of a collection or acquired through some means in-game, at least there would be some effort and work required to invest in it, and it wouldn't be a blatant cash grab.

Well the thing is simply this. This game has no sub. It needs to make money in other ways and cosmetics are the best way to do that. ArenaNet actually made it possible to buy gems with gold though, so they actually are more reasonable than a lot of other game makers. But perhaps you should think about the fact that right from the beginning you can sell and therefore BUY legendaries from the TP. If anything devaluates legendaries it's that, because that means that legendaries are not a clear symbol of achievement since anyone who can farm or has extra money to blow can simply buy them.

So in the end, yes you're right, the legendaries aren't worth it, but not because of new skins that are similar or upstage them even but because the effort to create one was disproportionate from the start. They never were worth it. It just gives bored people something to do and dedicated people something to work towards but it was always an insane effort.

And who knows, maybe in the future weapons will get a cosmetic slot to give effects to weapons that you can buy in the gemstore. SWTOR did it. They just never had legendary weapons like here (there are a couple of legendary items but they're not that hard to get).

It's an MMO and over time stuff like this happens. Mind you, I do understand that this makes you unhappy and why, but my point is that you already had all the reasons to think the output didn't even remotely match the input right from the start and this sort of thing happens in MMOs all the time. Past efforts are not interesting to game companies. They care about the here and now. And as I said, anyone can save a few thousand gold over time or buy them with gems if they have money to burn. And then they can just buy that same rifle and look just as cool as you without doing the effort.

I cannot repeat it enough, but these legendaries were never worth the effort. They are simply something to do for the long term. It's the collecting and working towards that goal that is the main element of this. They will probably never make an exact copy of the skin and of course your legendary weapon will have max stats always and you will be able to swap stats on it and free rune swapping I believe. And that's what a legendary is. Now I do not believe that was ever worth the effort to get there and if they ever make a legendary that I would like to have, I'd rather save gold and/or buy gems than go through all that hoopla. That's just me I'm sure but I see my free time also as a resource and in that respect legendaries are way overpriced.

I don't see a problem with this. I mean, it IS a sniper rifle, so it has to look like a sniper rifle. Predator didn't invent the scope, long barrel and long stock, that's just how sniper rifles look. And to be frank I like that it looks more realistic than other rifles, I'm tired of using tree trunks with christmas lights as a sniper rifle.

I have The Predator.

If you compare the two the stock is very different, The Predator has support legs and a decorative Charr head, the scope is more slender on the Predator, Zafirah’s has a leather carry strap. The design of The Predator is more minimalist, with more metal. Zafirah’s has more wood and is more traditional.

They’re both rifles with scopes. There not much you can do to make them that different.

The Predator: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/File:The_Predator_aura.jpgZafirah’s: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/File:Zafirah%27s_Rifle_Skin.jpg

a lots of weapons are similar to each others too

e.g.https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Centurions_Clawhttps://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Claw_of_the_Khan-Ur

Auras, special sounds and other add on effects like footfalls are a larger factor than the overall weapon model. Its nice we get more slick rifles also without over the top effects.

predator still looks cooler, what is the problem again?

It is clearly a reskin of The Hunter, I agree. But you are proud owner of original(!).

It's not so bad but to me it just seems a lower version of The Predator, with less special effects.

They arent similar enough to be an issue

Just looking at both of the rifles, they look more like weapons that a Deadeye thief would use. I say this because of the scope attachment, they appear more as sniper rifles rather than the traditional muskets that engineer uses (even though they don't really function as muskets). As much as I love having profession themed armor and weapons, I can't afford gem store skins due to how expensive they can sometimes be and because I'm poor.

@"phs.6089" said:predator still looks cooler, what is the problem again?

It is clearly a reskin of The Hunter, I agree. But you are proud owner of original(!).

Is it a reskin of The Hunter?

One is a mechanical style, minimalist, made of only metal with no wooden parts. The other is longer, of a traditional style with a mix of wood and metal. They’re both rifles with a scope but I don’t see cosmetic similarities between them. The similarities they have are functional.

I get the distinct impression the OP saw a rifle with a scope and didn’t actually look closely at the details.

For me, Zafirah's >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Predator.

I very much like the look. However I am very disappointed the sound is not the same as the story chapter or as advertised in Dulfy's video.

Perfected Rifle, aka Predator Tier 2, is the only rifle skin that matters.

@Greenspells.3082 said:I very much like the look. However I am very disappointed the sound is not the same as the story chapter or as advertised in Dulfy's video .Let me guess, you're playing deadeye. They have different attack animations for rifle but I agree, every unique (special reward / exotic rarity or higher / gemstore) ranged weapon should have their own unique attack animations. TBH how the Pop Gun got this treatment is beyond me.

Just because they are both the same type of rifle, namely sniper rifles, doesn't make them "similar". One looks cool and stylish (Zafirah's Rifle), while the other has cheesy effects and adornments (a minotaur head and hooves, a tube etc.) and extras that no one needs in this game (e.g., the fold-out legs for aiming support when in a prone position or leaning against a wall).

there is nothing to it, it's a sniper skin for a game that ruined sniping since the last deadeye rebuild.

@Just a flesh wound.3589 said:

@phs.6089 said:predator still looks cooler, what is the problem again?

It is clearly a reskin of The Hunter, I agree. But you are proud owner of original(!).I get the distinct impression the OP saw a rifle with a scope and didn’t actually look closely at the details.

LOL

You did read the bullet points I put, right?

@"Ashantara.8731" said:Just because they are both the same type of rifle, namely sniper rifles, doesn't make them "similar". One looks cool and stylish (Zafirah's Rifle), while the other has cheesy effects and adornments (a minotaur head and hooves, a tube etc.) and extras that no one needs in this game (e.g., the fold-out legs for aiming support when in a prone position or leaning against a wall).

That's kind of my point though. Zafirah's rifle looks distinctly BETTER (and more realistic) than a legendary weapon of similar design.

@Vagrant.7206 said:

@Just a flesh wound.3589 said:

@phs.6089 said:predator still looks cooler, what is the problem again?

It is clearly a reskin of The Hunter, I agree. But you are proud owner of original(!).I get the distinct impression the OP saw a rifle with a scope and didn’t actually look closely at the details.

Yes. And I also read this

If we ignore the legendary effects for a second, for all appearances these two rifles are VERY similar. The only real difference is those legendary effects.

Besides the fact that they are rifles and have a scope they are not similar, much less VERY similar. They are two different styles and have no cosmetics that are the same. Now you can argue that you like the new rifle better and think it would make a better Legendary but that’s not the same as the two being VERY similar, because they aren’t.

I don't think they look the same at all, other than being rifles.It's easier to see them in the "weapon only".

Zafirah's do look better imo, but there are many weapons that look better than legendary.

@Just a flesh wound.3589 said:

@Vagrant.7206 said:

@Just a flesh wound.3589 said:

@phs.6089 said:predator still looks cooler, what is the problem again?

It is clearly a reskin of The Hunter, I agree. But you are proud owner of original(!).I get the distinct impression the OP saw a rifle with a scope and didn’t actually look closely at the details.

If we ignore the legendary effects for a second, for all appearances these two rifles are VERY similar. The only real difference is those legendary effects.

Your point is akin to saying that a horse and a zebra don't look very similar. They certainly do, they mainly just have different paint jobs.

Go with HMS Divinity

I don't get the problem. Sure IF you ignore legendary effects but it doesn't make sense to do that for a relevant comparison in the first place.

@Vagrant.7206 said:

@Just a flesh wound.3589 said:

@Vagrant.7206 said:

@Just a flesh wound.3589 said:

@phs.6089 said:predator still looks cooler, what is the problem again?

It is clearly a reskin of The Hunter, I agree. But you are proud owner of original(!).I get the distinct impression the OP saw a rifle with a scope and didn’t actually look closely at the details.

If we ignore the legendary effects for a second, for all appearances these two rifles are VERY similar. The only real difference is those legendary effects.

Then I must be missing something. Besides the two being rifles with scopes, what style and cosmetic features makes them very similar?

Otherwise your point is akin to saying that all daggers are very similar since all have a handle and a pointy end. That might be true but not especially relevant when comparing daggers to say which are similar.