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What are some of the things you believe GW2 DIDN'T do right/well?


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An unpopular opinion but...

Back when they were revamping the traits system where you had to go exploring and do certain events to unlock your traits, I actually liked this idea very much but I just think they executed the idea badly. For one, they didn't add quests or events to obtain these specific traits, they just patched them into existing hearts and heart chains. No, they should have went with a more traditional quest oriented model where you speak to an NPC somewhere that then tells you to "go here and do this training and then I'll teach you". Have that NPC be an actual character with a backstory, a master at their profession and such. This gives a kind of mentor type status and if you have multiples of these profession masters, it'd be like you (the main protagonist) actually learned and amassed many great and powerful abilities over time from many masters of a trade....these NPCs can even be utilized elsewhere in stories rather than cordon off important roles to relatively unknown characters that are then later disposed of. There's so much they could have done....

Secondly, they just took all our existing traits and put them behind walls (for the most part) when instead, they should have just added more traits (kinda like elite specs!) to unlock. Rather than the bland mastery point system to unlock new elite specs, it should have just been leaving your regular traits unlocked normally through mastery points and then the above for unlocking new traits.

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@"Thornwolf.9721" said:

  1. The removal of secondary professions, as being able to make a hybrid of say two classes capable of using all the skills of each within reason was a fun aspect of Guild wars, build-craft was amazing in the original game and the sequel falls flat on its face. (Traits are good but limited, and really harm the nature of the game as we are only allowed three trait lines and are unable to mix and match our Elite specs.)
  2. Races don't matter once so ever and they neutered their core beliefes, customs and lore in favor of a more kid friendly happy world. Norn don't shape-shift into werebeasts in combat as was their whole appeal and MO in the original game. Charr are not as hardened and primal/animalistic as they were in the original. Your race doesn't matter at all and gets no attention to its nature at all, which is a kitten shame as it would of been interesting had they kept the culture alive in our character.( Norn always enter a beast form when in combat, and you get a separate transmog window for them which makes armor look different than your current set.)
  3. Removing the ritualist, dervish and paragon as class's in favor of new classes rather than keep the original classes and add the guild wars 2 unique class's such as Rev/Guard, so they could stand up alongside old favorites.
  4. Making super sized content patches as expansions rather than taking the time to make a real expansion.
  5. Not adding new weapons
  6. not adding new races
  7. Communication with its player base/customers.
  8. Unfulfilling their promises all the time (I.E: "We will add the abbadon fractal later on, once this one has been added as it won the poll.")
  9. Not making all the armor in the game look different based on race chosen, and giving each race unique transmog options so there is a reason to play the other races as there is little to no reason to play the others.
  10. Not focusing on what made the game strong, or unique and going in favor of trying to follow other people rather than make a ripple in the market that they could call their own. (Raids, E-sports ect)

Signed. In addition, I never understood why ANet didnt implement the pvp system of Guild Wars. The new system was a major downgrade.

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For me the main disappointment is that there's no meaningful difference in the story outcomes based on your choices/affiliations, and the 'charming/dignified/ferocious' selection is completely meaningless. I'd like it if the differences in story paths were more significant so that it would be more re-playable.

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This is just my opinion but i think some of the things that are missing is the feeling of this huge open world. Passing through load screens all the time kinda breaks that, games that let you ramble across the world map feel more open and big.

I also think there should be a special dye section for weapons, they dont need every color in the game. But basic colors like shining silver, bronze, gold, black, reds etc would be a nice change from the muddy browns and tans of most weapons. On that note more variety of armor would be nice also. Outfits are pretty, but i prefer to mix and match from drops, instead of all one look.

Can we get a barber? Something to just change hair style and color for ingame currency. Im not asking for the special styles and colors only the base ones. I think thats fair, you can do it with wardrobe i think something like that for hair would be a nice thing to have for players. Imo rift has the absolutely best wardrobe and hair system ever, i know we wont get that here, but a few things in that area would be appreciated.

And a big one to me, mesmer being the meta all the time, that kind of seemingly favoritism in game modes makes other classes feel obsolete. I am not asking for mesmers to be nerfed, im asking for others to be brought up to also perform roles mesmers get by default. Honestly its a big turn off if i want to tank i have to roll mesmer only. This game lacks variety of role. I get there is no trinity supposedly, but honestly you broke that by making mesmers tanks. Maybe i want to tank on a druid or engi or guardian or warrior. Its not a great feeling being pidgin holed into mesmer for major roles. Its time to let others also be able to if they want, and to add some variety.

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  1. Making Power a optional stat. I feel design would have been better if power was straight correlation to gear. It would make designing bosses less of an issue because instaed of balancing it so that it's beatable by a mob of people in tank gear or a mob of people in dps gear, if it was normalized, stat choice would hinge on what you want to do besides hitting things. crits vs condi vs sustain. You could still boost power through infusions or whatnot, but everyone should be able to do a baseline of damage.

  2. Making things in gem store available for a limited time. for the first 3 years I played, I was working on a biweekly pay. To make matters worse, more often than not, things would go on sale for a week that was between pay periods, so I just didn't bother. On top of that, occasionally something gets released that doesn't really fit the aesthetic of any of my existing characters. Then I think of something that it would totally fit with and it's no longer available. They would have 3 times as much of my money if I could purchase things from the gem store when I wanted and could afford them instead of when they choose to sell them to me.

  3. the transmute system in general. I'd have a lot more reason to collect premium skins if I could bust them out at any time and then change back. as it is, I tend to create a look and stick with it (I have 20+ chars, so for someone like me that doesn't have a giant pool of charges from regular pvp/wvw, It kinda kills the attraction of collecting skins "just to have them."

  4. tying the availability of LW maps to having the corresponding episode. It cuts down on replayability of any map that doesn't have a good farming potential because once the majority of people have farmed all the achievements, they tend to move on to the newest/most farmable map. I'd rather see the story unlock the achievements for the map and have items/skins that are only available through the episode as incentive, but make the maps themselves accessible to anyone.

  5. no beginner Raid modes. The only reason I'm interested in the raids to experience the stories. I can't do that. To get to the point where you can be carried in a raid, you're probably running with people that aren't going to stick around so you can experience the story. Also with an easier mode, you can ease into the mechanics, so after you've done the casual version a bunch of times, there's a lot less anxiety when moving to a higher difficulty, so there's less incentive overall for me to skip raids in fear of being the weak link.

  6. Masteries being restricted to just certain maps. I would have loved for the desert maps to integrate updrafts, ley lines, etc. They shouldn't be used as a gate, but more as alternate routes. Also, better integrate them. For example, you need HoT for updrafts. You need PoF for Griffon. If you have both, you should be able to hit an updraft on your griffon. Or use springer to bounce off a mushroom without the wind up animation... jackal to jump right into nuhoch wallows... ley line gliding with skimmer. It would be awesome if activating glide from Bond of Faith imparted the aerial skills from Bloodstone Fen. Have counter magic that gives useful but not essential boosts against bosses vs certain attacks.

&. over reliance on certain mechanics for all mobs within a zone. Not every enemy in a volcano zone needs to inflict fire, and not every creature in a snow zone needs to inflict chill.

  1. bosses that just fart AoE. I've often said the toughest boss in GW2 is the floor. I don't feel like i'm fighting a boss a lot of the time. I'm damaging the switch that activates the floor traps.

10: excessive CC. If the only way to make your enemies hard is to prevent the player from actually playing, it's time to hire some people with fresh ideas. It may provide a challenge, it's just not a fun challenge.

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1) Neglecting the wardrobe.

2) Offering "play your way" choices in the form of useless traits or skills that will never see the light of play.

3) The whole "dps", "dodge" and "breakbar" design which basically eliminates any need for class identity or theorycraft. I kind of wish Anet would add actual gw2 mechanics into their bossfights (like with queens gauntlet - that was fun!)

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The single worst thing was the NPE change. Still a disaster.The inability of the players and Anet to achieve participation balance in wvw. Hopefully alliances will be a step in doing that.Scarlet.

Everything else is only a minor annoyance at worst.

Its still the best MMO, IMO, out there. As bad as the top three were/are, its not enough to make me walk away from all the other fun things in the game.

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Power-creep and core classes becoming obsolete, with most of their tools and skills.From a perspective of Elementalist (and I'm sure it's the same for most of other professions), when you reach especs and start to play as Weaver of Tempest, most of core utility skills become neglected. To be effective at your new specialization you just must to dedicate most of the utility slots for its own skills (Shouts for Tempest, Stances for Weaver). Also you'll never achieve meta DPS without using "intended weapon" for this espec, the difference in DPS comparing to other weapons will not be just some 20%, it literately 2-3 times more with Sword/Warhorn, what makes other weapons obsolete and "just for fun" options. Sometimes you may have a niche use for them, when lack of DPS is compensated with other benefits, but that's about it.

So, we have a situation when MOST of your profession's variety is never used after you reach lv80 if you want to stay efficient, and is only good for "for fun" builds for OpenWorld and low-tier group content. This is a totally sick situation, especially if you've had great time playing a build designed around a certain weapon(s) until that, and would like to continue to do it - no luck for you here.

Imo, instead of adding TONS of new utility skills for especs, they should have added 2-3 times less of them, partly moving them to profession mechanics (accessed by F1-F12 keys), partly merging their effects in a single utility skill - thus still allowing you to put a few your old favorite core skills on utility panel. And of course give some boost to weapons other than "intended" ones, or nerf the "intended" ones (more logical solution).

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Things they got wrong with GW2...

  • Used multiple body types per race instead of a slider system that would have allowed for much easier creation of new armors.
  • Limited armor variety to overly mundane styles while also incorporating too many trenchcoat and buttcape styles.
  • Added raids
  • Neglected adding/updating Guild content
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adding hearts over quests, there is a huge difference between doing chores and following a story.quest enriches the world, adds a story and even makes playing the game bearable.hearts are just fillers, giving chores to do and nothing else.

making the battle system such a mess, all professions have there ways but in GW2 they just don't work as well as they thought it would.

forcing only one set of weapon skills, i can understand some things because of balance but they could make it a bit less restrictive.

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AbandonNet’s release and forget tendency, not addressing major issues brought up by a lot of players... repeatedly.

1) Too many unhealthily bright camera flashes. They hurt my eyes from my own skills (I can't even play Holosmith), other players' skills, enemy skills, gathering Volatile Magic, gathering tools, story, etc.

2) Too much visual clutter when doing large group events resulting in unengaging, boring, and mindless skill spam-fest since the players can't see what the enemy is doing, or you know... even see the enemy. Too many skill effects, names of other players/minions in squad obstructing view, the enemy target nameplate at the top center that can't be moved and obstructs large enemies so players don't even know what they’re targeting, etc.

3) Ridiculous aggro range of PoF enemies (900 in PoF compared to 600 everywhere else). This keeps me out of PoF except when I have to. I hate PoF zones with a passion because of this.

4) No build templates, wardrobe templates, or mount templates.

If I use a weird analogy, it's like a very talented chef made a very delicious steak. Then, for some reason, the chef decided to pour sugar on the steak because, you know, sugar tastes good. And when people say the steak seems great, but they can't really taste it since the sugar is ruining it, AbandonNet… er, I mean, the chef just shrugs that it's annoying to fix it and has started cooking something else.

With postprocessing on...oFzT0iV.jpgqfgaG0M.jpgnYnApox.jpgkWbQpnJ.jpg

Because of the targe nameplate obstructing my view, I didn’t know the enemy in front of me was NOT what I had targeted.5PXdW17.jpg

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I'm going to balance this with good stuff too since I think it's fairer that way. I don't want to just give out a kicking and not say what I do like alongside which is likely better for feedback and for context.

Wrong:

  • A complete lack of identity by shoving in skins and effects completely unsuitable for the game world. I mean angel wings....really?
  • The single most cluttered screen in an MMO. I don't mean in the UI I mean all the effects and the fact they seem to with great gusto and enthusiasm worsen it every release instead of taking steps to improve it. I mean I think there are bosses I've fought in LS4 I've never actually seen yet have beaten them many times.
  • LS1. There are good bits from LS1 I remember fondly. I also remember losing most of my gaming friends and scratching my head at one of the worst thought out decisions for an MMO. There genuinely seemed to be an attempt to make GW2 the Game of Thrones of the MMO world. Which was never going to work becausea) GoT is awful fantasy writing imob) it's the wrong medium for it
  • Which leads me to a lack of campaign structure. GW1, whilst low on production quality at least held together in the overall picture. Different team writing different episodes under a rigid framework makes for inconsistent storytelling, re-writing of lore and the resulting mess we have now. There is so little good I can find in the central narrative after ls4 beyond production, a couple of well put together central characters and some dialogue, that I don't think it is salvageable. It neither works as an episodic format nor does it hang together naturally as one arc. I mean the lack of respect they showed their own franchise with S3Ep6 and then the Joko fiasco is mind boggling to me. Times like those make me believe they neither care or believe in their own product, which of course is nonsense, but the perception lingers.
  • A lack of build templates/wardrobe templates.

Right:

  • Map storytelling. I think of very few maps they got wrong. Thunderhead Peaks and Kourna top that list followed by Bitterfrost. But, the rest all tell really strong stories for the most part either by theme, by hearts, by collections, by dynamic events or just by ambience in the music and npcs. It is by far their biggest strength. Ironic given how the main story has been for me, one of their biggest failings
  • Mounts. From the uses, to their design in making them feel living - they did a truly outstanding job with their mounts. Ok, they right royally screwed up their skin selling, but the mounts themselves were a real triumph
  • Expansions. Story aside, I loved both. HoT really showed where they could go with the game. It could have been so much more, but given how poor the management seemed to be (and poss still is), I think the devs did excellently to pull off what they did to change up the game so much. And PoF was just breathtaking even though it severely lacked replayable content.
  • Animations and open world bosses. WHen they get them right, they get them REALLY right. Gerent, Vinewrath, Marionette, Scarlet, Tequatl, Golem MK 2 (visually) - there are some stunners in here. Gerent is probably my favourite from both a mechanical and also an animation point of view.
  • Festivals. I enjoy festivals here more than any other MMO. They're just fun to me.
  • Casual friendliness. It's lost that a little in recent times, but it is still in there more than any other.
  • The soundtrack

To be honest GW2 got a lot more right than wrong, but it's in need of a boost right now. A change of tack perhaps with the Living World system. Maybe just tie off this storyline asap and start afresh with a new campaign that isn't in bitesized chunks. I dunno, but something isn't right with it for me atm.

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Well, this will be long:

1. Storytelling

1.1The personal storyline in the core release didn't work

In order to give players the illusion of choice, the story was broken into chapters, with different paths within each of them. The thing is, since the different paths had to begin in the same place and end on the same place, they were basically meaningless - they couldn't have a long lasting impact, since the next chapters couldn't acknowledge which different path the player had chosen. With a few exceptions, all NPCs met during a given path were quickly forgotten and never seen again; all decisions were ignored, and never spoken of.

This also had the side effect of leaving us with very poorly designed storyline missions. Considering how many different paths there were, and how a given player would probably never see all paths, it would be somewhat of a waste to make unique encounters for each path. The result was a bunch of uninspired and bland missions, in which nothing really interesting happened at all.

1.2 The storyline in the Living World also doesn't work

Then ArenaNet went to the complete opposite - instead of having mostly NPCs who were quickly forgotten, they decided to add a bunch of characters and keep us for years following those exact same characters. Years. It would be nice for people who actually like them - Taimi, Braham, Marjorie and etc - but those who don't have been stuck with those characters since the first season of the Living World. It's waaaay too much time spent following the same group of characters.

1.3 The quality of the writing in the main storyline has never been that great

Just take a look at the cringe-worth dialogue in the storyline dungeons. The writing for the main storyline has been mostly really, really bad, both on a small scale (individual conversations are very bad) and on a large scale (a lot of plot points are really, REALLY bad). The main storyline in HoT felt like it was about us running around in the NPCs' stories (yes, those same NPCs from living world season 1).

1.4 Taimi is so bad she deserves a section of her own

After playing Mass Effect: Andromeda, I complained a lot about SAM. "SAM" was the name of the incredibly advanced, one-of-a-kind AI the main character had; all problems in the game basically boiled down to, "SAM, scan this and then give me a solution".

Taimi is GW2's SAM. The eternal Deus ex Machinae: she has the solution to everything, every major block in the storyline, every obstacle on the way. Given her omnipresence, due to the communicator our characters wear, often a new storyline chapter begins with her talking to us to point the way.

Narratively speaking, this is horrible - relying on the same device over and over, both for advancing the story and for dealing with issues. I'm not really sure her death would solve it, considering how they appear to be setting Gorrick as her replacement. ArenaNet needs to change the kind of story they are telling.

2. Items

2.1 Itemization

Linking stats to items was a bad idea. In the original Guild Wars, items had very few stats, and the great majority of attribute points were earned while levelling, to be distributed as the players wanted. Attribute points could be freely reassigned in any outpost, which basically meant that players could easily switch their builds around as many times as they wanted. ArenaNet tried something a bit like this in GW2 with the original trait system, in which each trait line also increased two attributes, but now everything is linked to items. Which means, changing builds has been incredibly restricted.

"Ah, but then people wouldn't find more powerful items as they played!"

Yes, and? This wasn't an issue in the original Guild Wars

If ArenaNet really wanted to make people find more powerful items as they played, they could have made the same thing a few shooters do: items don't give you stats, they give you attribute points. So more powerful items would give a character more attribute points. You would still have progression, while giving players freedom to change how they play.

2.2 Gear grind

In the original Guild Wars, items with maxed stats were available basically at the end of the tutorial zones. In GW2, there were a lot of complaints when ascended gear was announced, from players who wished ArenaNet wouldn't have changed from their previous philosophy.

"Ah, this gear grind is nothing compared to WoW/FFXI/Aion/whatever!"

Yes, and? It's still WAY more than we had in the original Guild Wars.

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Not splitting skills by mode (as was mentioned above).

Ascended gear

Adding a Free-to-play option.

Listening to anything Mr. Smith had to say

The fiasco that was, and still is, town clothing (should have been added to the wardrobe, not tonics)

Spending any money at all on mobile garbage.

Making generation 1 Legendary weapons trade-able.

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