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Skipping a Living World episode to add content?


Lonecap.4105

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Lately I've been thinking about how I really want to revisit the Path of Fire maps, and how I want to spend time in them, but that I just don't have any real reason to do so. I was thinking about how if a meta event was added to each map (or the current ones improved upon in terms of mechanics and rewards), or just a few at least, then I and other people would go there and the maps would be populated, and we'd all get to experience greater map variety.

Or I was thinking about how I really want challenging five-man content in the form of dungeons returning (not fractals, they're not immersive and Agony is a horrible mechanic). Dungeons located in the open-world with strong lore connections, challenge modes and unique rewards. For me, Fractals don't satisfy my itch for 5-man content.

Really, there are so many things they could add that would go a long way in giving us satisfying and sustainable content, but they always say their teams are tied up working on Living World. But what if we could get less Living World, and more content? Obviously this would need to be PvE-centric, as the LW teams handle PvE.

So how would you feel about rededicating one of the three Living World teams to focus on more sustainable content, and having a bit fewer LW releases?

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I would prefer it was just incorporated into the releases. PoF seems to be conscious decision not overdo repeatable content. That might be HoT feedback kicking in or it might be a case of there being quite a large amount of content coming through and not making it too repeatable ensures players don't get bogged down too much and can catch up or keep pace.

I def think there is scope for more, but I don't see why or why it should impact the release cadence significantly if it was designed into the releases/expansions

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That really depends on if said content contributes to the story or not. I don't mind there being a sustainable content update that isn't Living World so long as it moves the story along. As it is, we're waiting 2 - 3 months for major updates on what's going on (not counting side stories, which may or may not add to the story and/or may or may not answer/resolve hanging plot threads).

If it's content like the recent Beetle Racing update then, personally, no. I don't have any real interest in it and it's not going to keep me engaged with the game. Since I don't do Fractals or Raids or Dungeons or any other high-end group content and I don't do sPvP or WvW, the story is pretty much all there is for me. The rate at which it's updated means I stick around for about a month or so before I go play something else while waiting for another story update.

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I would be so happy if they addressed issues in current content before the next LWS.

1) Remove all bright camera flashes from skills. They cause eye fatigue, pain, and are unhealthy. Worst case, it can cause seizures. This really needs to be a priority, but unfortunately, Anet doesn’t give a damn.

In a large group, they also reduce visibility. Doing bounties in PoF is so mindless and boring since you can’t see what the enemy’s going to do. Mindless skill spam with no thought of reacting to what the enemy is doing is terrible design. Might as well give us a bounty where players beat a punching bag and at random times, players can just die for no reason.

2) Reduce enemy aggro range in PoF from 900 to 600 (just like core and HoT). I try to mount and an enemy group aggroes from far away. I dispatch the aggroed enemies, then just before I can mount, another group of enemies aggro. I then dispatch that, and before I can mount, yet ANOTHER group of enemies aggro. This really makes me HATE being in PoF zones.

Of course, it’s not like addressing these 2 would be so much work that we’d have to skip a LWS.

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I think a they should add amalgamated gemstone to the last event of vabbi , the attack the fort in desolation and the one in augury rock and you will have a lot more people doing those event. Secondly there should a build template , they want to promote that everyone can play what ever he want but without build temple plate is it hard to do if you don't want to spend real money for extra character slot

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@BlueJin.4127 said:1) Remove all bright camera flashes from skills. They cause eye fatigue, pain, and are unhealthy. Worst case, it can cause seizures. This really needs to be a priority, but unfortunately, Anet doesn’t give a kitten.

This really doesn't need to be a priority actually. Pretending that there are this magically large percentage of the overall population who suddenly suffer from actual diagnosed epilepsy playing MMOs is inaccurate at best and intellectually dishonest at worst. Current figures suggest that between 4 to 10 people per 1000 suffer from active epilepsy and that the vast majority of these people come from underdeveloped countries; aka countries where people aren't chillin on their lunch break playing Guild Wars 2. Unlike people who become mildly irritated by bright lights and then wildly exaggerate their symptoms and diagnose themselves with seizure disorders or epilepsy because they read a webMD article, real epileptics know the dangers of what they need to avoid and probably aren't willfully submitting themselves to the fast paced, bright colored, flashy entertainment that is video games in general.

So no, removing all skill effects from the game is not a priority nor should it be.

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@"ProverbsofHell.2307" said:Lately I've been thinking about how I really want to revisit the Path of Fire maps, and how I want to spend time in them, but that I just don't have any real reason to do so. I was thinking about how if a meta event was added to each map (or the current ones improved upon in terms of mechanics and rewards), or just a few at least, then I and other people would go there and the maps would be populated, and we'd all get to experience greater map variety.There's diminished returns on this sort of design. If every single map in the game had a strong meta, people wouldn't be able to do most of them. They'd pick and choose. And after comparing fun|effort|reward, they'd return to repeat the easier ones. Which is why Istan is popular but PoF maps are not.

And if the reason for returning is to complete a collection, then people will show up to get that collection and then never return. That's the case for a number of maps/metas. The LS1 model was closer to the one you describe, when ANet returned mostly to existing maps and added events. I like that better, too, but it turned out that most people don't. They prefer not missing anything, that they can come back after 3 months without feeling left out of some reward, no matter if minor or major. (LS1 had other issues, too, but that was a major talking point for detractors.)

Or I was thinking about how I really want challenging five-man content in the form of dungeons returning (not fractals, they're not immersive and Agony is a horrible mechanic). Dungeons located in the open-world with strong lore connections, challenge modes and unique rewards. For me, Fractals don't satisfy my itch for 5-man content.First, that's a total digression from your original point. There's no way that instanced content brings people back to open world maps (unless they are 'gate' events like we have for CoE and CoF, which people generally find annoying after the first 2-3 times).

Second, there are really good reasons why ANet offers fractals as its form of dungeons. The tools they used to build the original instanced content were clunky and resulted in code that is hard to adjust, for minor or major reasons. The fractal code is much more malleable, which is how we've gotten a lot of QoL and substantive changes along with new fractals. It no longer matters whether some of us don't like agony or can't see how fractals are like dungeons; it's still going to be the method by which ANet delivers 5-person instanced content.

Further, fractals do have strong lore, they do have challenge modes, and they have unique rewards. I'm sorry that you don't like them, because I find them to be a lot of fun.

It's a failing on my part that I have trouble understanding why people are convinced that fractals are somehow substantively different from dungeons, because I'd like to be able to help people figure out a way to find something they can hang their hat on with ANet's choice for 5-person content.

Really, there are so many things they could add that would go a long way in giving us satisfying and sustainable content, but they always say their teams are tied up working on Living World. But what if we could get less Living World, and more content? Obviously this would need to be PvE-centric, as the LW teams handle PvE.

I feel that they do give us sustainable content. It's on us to decide if it's satisfying or not, but I don't think that's a fault of ANet's. I think it's because we want so many things from this game.

So how would you feel about rededicating one of the three Living World teams to focus on more sustainable content, and having a bit fewer LW releases?I'm not against the idea of ANet changing the model upon which their entire business model depends, but I think "sustainable" isn't the relevant word. The reason they swapped to Living World Seasons was specifically to deliver sustainable content in a sustainable fashion. I think the issue that the OP tries to raise is that the story content isn't appealing enough for some people. Some folks would rather see more open world and less story. Some people would also like to see more of the existing maps re-used rather than adding new maps all the time. (And for some people, it's both.)

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@sevenDEADLY.5281 said:

@BlueJin.4127 said:1) Remove all bright camera flashes from skills. They cause eye fatigue, pain, and are unhealthy. Worst case, it can cause seizures. This really needs to be a priority, but unfortunately, Anet doesn’t give a kitten.

This really doesn't need to be a priority actually. Pretending that there are this magically large percentage of the overall population who suddenly suffer from actual diagnosed epilepsy playing MMOs is inaccurate at best and intellectually dishonest at worst. Current figures suggest that between 4 to 10 people per 1000 suffer from active epilepsy and that the vast majority of these people come from underdeveloped countries; aka countries where people aren't chillin on their lunch break playing Guild Wars 2. Unlike people who become mildly irritated by bright lights and then wildly exaggerate their symptoms and diagnose themselves with seizure disorders or epilepsy because they read a webMD article, real epileptics know the dangers of what they need to avoid and probably aren't willfully submitting themselves to the fast paced, bright colored, flashy entertainment that is video games in general.

So no, removing all skill effects from the game is not a priority nor should it be.

I am not being inaccurate or dishonest at all. The seizure portion is, like I said, a worst case scenario. At no point did I use words like “large percentage of the overall population.” As for the flashes being a health issue, it is 100% accurate. Constant flashes are unhealthy for everyone’s eyes.

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I really love each new map and it makes me sad that most of us just burn through them and never look back.This happens with all maps in a way ofcourse, but I WANT to spend more time in these maps before moving on.For me the ideal format would be the Dry Top/Silverwastes implementation, we open up the map in stages as the story progresses.I have literally seen every pixel on those maps as we did meta events, scavenger hunts, jumping puzzles, collections, collected new armor and weapons!Even if I return to those maps now they hit me with a bit of nostalgia with all the things we did (and still do) there.Some of the new maps have so much potential and are gorgeous to look at, but we burn through them in three little story steps and some small farm or collection and that's it.What a waste of hard work on these pieces of art!

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Any new sustainable content could be released as part of the Living Story. I would not recommend skipping an episode. Not sure if you have noticed but Tyrians are feisty.

Imo, Tyria needs content that connects existing and new zones together such as faction reputation or an NPC economy. The studio is much better at producing small side stories than expansion level main stories. After finishing Act 2 of PoF's main story, I have little interest in finishing. The studio spent the minimum amount of effort on cliches. Act 2 especially looks as though the people who wrote have no confidence in the fantasy genre or the mmo medium. The zones are far more interesting story wise.

The lore of dungeons is more compelling than the lore of fractals. However, fractals has the superior reward structure, making it more enjoyable to repeat. I am not sure how to make fractals lore more compelling. One of the reasons dungeon lore is more compelling is because they are located in the open world and are connected to zone lore.

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@Illconceived Was Na.9781 said:

@"ProverbsofHell.2307" said:Lately I've been thinking about how I really want to revisit the Path of Fire maps, and how I want to spend time in them, but that I just don't have any real reason to do so. I was thinking about how if a meta event was added to each map (or the current ones improved upon in terms of mechanics and rewards), or just a few at least, then I and other people would go there and the maps would be populated, and we'd all get to experience greater map variety.There's diminished returns on this sort of design. If every single map in the game had a strong meta, people wouldn't be able to do most of them. They'd pick and choose. And after comparing fun|effort|reward, they'd return to repeat the easier ones. Which is why Istan is popular but PoF maps are not.

And if the reason for returning is to complete a collection, then people will show up to get that collection and then never return. That's the case for a number of maps/metas. The LS1 model was closer to the one you describe, when ANet returned mostly to existing maps and added events. I like that better, too, but it turned out that most people don't. They prefer not missing anything, that they can come back after 3 months without feeling left out of some reward, no matter if minor or major. (LS1 had other issues, too, but that was a major talking point for detractors.)

That's true, which is why a unique chase item would be the way to go about it. They added a new world boss, the death-branded shatterer, with a chase item, and for this reason alone people are still doing this boss.

Or I was thinking about how I really want challenging five-man content in the form of dungeons returning (not fractals, they're not immersive and Agony is a horrible mechanic). Dungeons located in the open-world with strong lore connections, challenge modes and unique rewards. For me, Fractals don't satisfy my itch for 5-man content.First, that's a total digression from your original point. There's no way that instanced content brings people back to open world maps (unless they are 'gate' events like we have for CoE and CoF, which people generally find annoying after the first 2-3 times).

Second, there are really good reasons why ANet offers fractals as its form of dungeons. The tools they used to build the original instanced content were clunky and resulted in code that is hard to adjust, for minor or major reasons. The fractal code is much more malleable, which is how we've gotten a lot of QoL and substantive changes along with new fractals. It no longer matters whether some of us don't like agony or can't see how fractals are like dungeons; it's still going to be the method by which ANet delivers 5-person instanced content.

Further, fractals do have strong lore, they do have challenge modes, and they have unique rewards. I'm sorry that you don't like them, because I find them to be a lot of fun.

It's a failing on my part that I have trouble understanding why people are convinced that fractals are somehow substantively different from dungeons, because I'd like to be able to help people figure out a way to find something they can hang their hat on with ANet's choice for 5-person content.

My original point wasn't neccessarily strictly about open-world content, it was more about adding content that wouldn't otherwise be added in a LW episode. We're at odds in regards to fractals - you find them adequate, but I think they make the open world feel empty. No dungeons connected to open world maps, no open world PvP. Dungeons get stuck in a box called Fractals, open world PvP gets stuck in a box called WvW, and they're both put far away from open-world, removing any sense of immersion.

Really, there are so many things they could add that would go a long way in giving us satisfying and sustainable content, but they always say their teams are tied up working on Living World. But what if we could get less Living World, and more content? Obviously this would need to be PvE-centric, as the LW teams handle PvE.

I feel that they do give us sustainable content. It's on us to decide if it's satisfying or not, but I don't think that's a fault of ANet's. I think it's because we want so many things from this game.

So how would you feel about rededicating one of the three Living World teams to focus on more sustainable content, and having a bit fewer LW releases?I'm not against the idea of ANet changing the model upon which their entire business model depends, but I think "sustainable" isn't the relevant word. The reason they swapped to Living World Seasons was specifically to deliver sustainable content in a sustainable fashion. I think the issue that the OP tries to raise is that the story content isn't appealing enough for some people. Some folks would rather see more open world and less story. Some people would also like to see more of the existing maps re-used rather than adding new maps all the time. (And for some people, it's both.)

Explain to me what is repeatable, sustainable content that currently exists in LW maps? Story isn't repeatable content in my opinion, it's a one time thing. You only need look where the players are to see what is sustainable, and they're stuck where they have always been - HoT metas etc.

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LW IS content. And it is the main content that I care about, as odd as it may sound to some I actually enjoy playing the story and look forward to every new episode. Skipping story for some other stuff is not really in my intrest at all. I also enjoy exploring the new map and get completion of it.

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Like I read in posts above my replies, for me, LS episodes are content. Every times I enjoy to get a new area, new material, new animals, new plants/nodes/trees, new JP, new heart quests, new meta and so on and so on.. I believe it is once more a case of personal opinion, because for me, LS episodes are sustainable content.

Each of us would like to see more of this, or that, and would like "improvements", however defined based on own personal criteria, so that part of the players think alike, but others think different... And that's exactly the issue. What is "sustainable" or/and "improvements" for one is not matching for another. And the current results status of this poll is showing just that: close to 50/50 with a slight more success for more LS episodes.
From there, it is of course difficult to define the changes that will satisfy a vast majority of players. Anet does not have an easy job! =)

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I wouldn't be against some changes to PoF maps to encourage people to do the existing meta-events more, but I think adding new ones would be a bad idea, especially if they were like HoT.

I like the big meta-events and I actually really like when areas of the map change based on what's going on - with waypoints, vendors and areas becoming inaccessible or unlocked and areas getting more or less dangerous - because it feels more realistic and interesting to me. The original world bosses always bothered me because if our concern was actually to keep Tyria safe the best thing to do would be to ignore them - don't fight them, don't go near them, wait a few minutes and then they go away without doing any harm. HoT meta events feel like actually matter, at least within that map.

But I understand that not everyone enjoys that and PoF was done differently specifically to address those complaints about HoT. Reversing that decision risks losing the current population of those maps (and yes there are people there) for the 'benefit' of splitting the meta-event fans across even more maps. And honestly between the 4 HoT maps, Istan, Silverwastes, Serpents Ire, Orr and whatever else I'm forgetting I think we've got plenty of big meta-events to do for now.

Also I agree that any changes could be part of the Living World rather than separate from it. Like when Tequatl was re-worked and the story for that week was Rox and the Commander leading a group to investigate why the dragon had gotten more powerful and to find new ways for the Pact to keep it in check.

@sevenDEADLY.5281 said:

@BlueJin.4127 said:1) Remove all bright camera flashes from skills. They cause eye fatigue, pain, and are unhealthy. Worst case, it can cause seizures. This really needs to be a priority, but unfortunately, Anet doesn’t give a kitten.

This really doesn't need to be a priority actually. Pretending that there are this magically large percentage of the overall population who suddenly suffer from actual diagnosed epilepsy playing MMOs is inaccurate at best and intellectually dishonest at worst. Current figures suggest that between 4 to 10 people per 1000 suffer from active epilepsy and that the vast majority of these people come from underdeveloped countries; aka countries where people aren't chillin on their lunch break playing Guild Wars 2. Unlike people who become mildly irritated by bright lights and then wildly exaggerate their symptoms and diagnose themselves with seizure disorders or epilepsy because they read a webMD article, real epileptics know the dangers of what they need to avoid and probably aren't willfully submitting themselves to the fast paced, bright colored, flashy entertainment that is video games in general.

So no, removing all skill effects from the game is not a priority nor should it be.

You don't need to have epilepsy to find it unpleasant or irritating. I've made the mistake of doing the Palawadan meta when I was tired and the constant bright flashes gave me a headache. Yes it was a short-term problem with no serious consequences, but it was still enough to make me log off before the event ended. A game is supposed to be fun, not something you force yourself through because it won't literally kill you.

And as people have said there's a practical aspect too, because the bright flashes make it very hard to see anything else that's going on. Between that and enemies spinning you around some fights are more like spamming keys and waiting to see if you survived and did enough damage to get credit rather than any kind of actual gameplay. If it's a choice between a tactical fight or one which has to be a spamfest because you cannot expect players to see what's going on and react to it I'm always going to choose the first one.

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@LucianDK.8615 said:Auric basin and dragons stand metas gave longevity to hot. But the tangled depths and the first map I cant remember the name of, was quite ignorable in comparision.

And eh, nothing wrong with agro range on pof. At least accept a -little- challenge.

There's a lot of people still doing both of those. You may not do it as much, but it's inaccurate to say it doesn't give longevity to HoT.

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@Danikat.8537 said:

@LucianDK.8615 said:Auric basin and dragons stand metas gave longevity to hot. But the tangled depths and the first map I cant remember the name of, was quite ignorable in comparision.

And eh, nothing wrong with agro range on pof. At least accept a -little- challenge.

There's a lot of people still doing both of those. You may not do it as much, but it's inaccurate to say it doesn't give longevity to HoT.

I think you misunderstood what I said. I found that auric basin and dragons stand gives longevity to hot. Though I think the other two are bad in comparision. I never said that they didnt give longevity.

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