Golvellius.7856

Do me a courtesy and quote me if you'd like to exchange ideas with me...key word there being "exchange." While I hold my personal opinions near and dear, I do enjoy open dialogue and constructive conversation. I don't enjoy Internet "merry-go-rounds." Also, I am a Thief/Assassin/Rogue main and have been for close to 30 years. I'm invested lol. My only ask is that if you don't have an affinity for the archetype, don't tell me how I should feel about it. As it pertains to what absolutely should or absolutely should not be in terms of innovation vs expectation - that's all subjective. The developers have a right to express their creative freedom and we should certainly applaud their initiative. Those who prefer innovative trends to classic implementations have a right to their space - and there is real value in innovation. Those who have an expectation of familiarity have their own preferences and there is value in that as well. All who are in some way invested in a subject have a right, if not an outright obligation, to express their opinion on it. ...and nobody's opinion is "right" or "wrong." These sort of absolutes serve no one. Moreover, "defying expectations" and "breaking ground" do not automatically guarantee success anymore than churning out sameness does. In the same way that you can create innovation and produce something epic, you can just as easily ruin an IP or a theme by not honoring it's core. You can also bore people to death by doing the same thing over and over. The key is to find a happy medium.

I had to go back and re-read his post... Indeed. It's the very last sentence and I somehow missed that part of it: In light of that, you're 100% correct in your response. Apologies to you. Though, while I do have a slightly better understanding at least of their current fantasy preferences, I have to concede that I am completely out of my depth on both that AND what would actually satisfy and honor, Asian-themed fantasy MMO expectations of that market. Also, for me as I can't speak for everyone, but...for me, the latter part of his final statement doesn't negate the former. Nor does it take away from the rest of what he's saying. Which I wholeheartedly agree with. For the Mesmer, give me the fans or the flying blades or both, but I'd prefer his suggestion as at least a baseline. Admittedly though, I'm speaking out of turn because I don't really play a Mesmer. I have one I've fiddled with extensively (full Ascended), but I just "have" him because I have tried every class (except Ele) over the years in search of replacement for my Thief. For the Necro, again, I'm fine with Alchemy...and I think it's cool. However, it's like the weapon is just decoration and aside from a new Shroud, there is nothing distinctly "Necro" about the class - and here is where I really agree with him. The Harbringer is a hodgepodge of ideas from darts thrown at a suggestion board passed off as "innovation." It comes off as an alchemist and not a particularly "dark" one. It needs more "danky" necro-juice and it needs to do SOMETHING with the gun besides.....have it. GS Revenant? We'll see. I absolutely adore my Revenant and he might become my main. Especially if that's his class with the oni mask (from the class symbols) in the latest teaser. I can get down with that. 🥰 No opinion on the Guardian. I have one. I've done nothing with him. If the Rev is a fail, I'll likely see if he fills the Thief void if these awful rumors hold true. 😔 I've been reaper main for too long now and the Harbringer ain't doing it for me.

If they were building an MMO for that market, then you would be correct and I would humbly concede to you my friend. As it were, we would be pointlessly taking passive aggressive stabs at each other over a subjective definition. Which I want no part of. In the same way that I have to decide whether or not I like the way Texans eat BBQ or if I like the way Europeans drink tea, from the perspective of a western gamer consuming something unfamiliar, this is not what I would expect. If that is truly the basis for their design decisions then I have to decide whether or not I like it. As a patron of this game, I have the right to voice my opinion on what I'd like to see thematically as does anyone else. I have decided after the beta that I don't care too much for the magic potion drinker with a stat-stick. I'll also reiterate for the purpose of constructive conversation, that there IS a happy medium between innovation and expectation.

So... I go to this local pizza chain because they have an awesome theme, a great selection of craft beer, and the pizza is incredible. People that frequent this place, go there for the same reason. As with any restaurant, they occasionally add new things to the menu - which is awesome. However, they don't change the core of who they are. If I went in there one day, and their focus was now on being an "Italian Burger" joint or something - I probably wouldn't go back. This is why I haven't played my GW2 Thief in 6 years. Thief is hands down my favorite fantasy archetype, but I don't like this character in GW2. Good game design balances innovation with expectation. ANet is missing the mark in some of these areas and fans of the fantasy genre are voicing their opinion about it. How long before we get another expansion after this? If they miss on my favorite class again, it is that much longer between the release of this expac and the next that I'll be staring at my main on the bench. That's disheartening. So I agree with the poster you've quoted. I say rather than trying to "get cute" with the design innovation, cast the wider net and satisfy expectations first. As for what is currently "asian-themed", modern, or trending... I don't think the good majority of us care about hitting those marks...as much as we care about core themes/mechanics of the archetype in general. Moreover, if you ask the average fantasy gamer to rattle off cool "asian themed" variants of classic fantasy classes, the answers will be pretty standard. That should be the baseline and innovation should add to that, not divert from it (or altogether ignore it). I get that you're versed in modern takes on the lore. Most are not and appealing to that niche market is not going to automatically satisfy fans' design expectations. As for the Necro/Alchemist... I'm ok with this. My chief complaint isn't as much with the authenticity of the archetype as it is with the pistol. Currently, there is absolutely nothing unique or thematically compelling about it. If it weren't for the gunshot sound, you'd forget it was even equipped. It may as well be a wand. Secondly, the pistol is the new weapon, but the spec's thematic emphasis is weirdly focused on alchemy. I guess this is what they meant by "breaking their rules" regarding weapons/elite specs...? If this is the case, then why does the character even need a pistol at all? I think they would do better, and cast a wider net, by focusing on the pistol and the (classic) theme of the character. This does not preclude alchemical integration. There's surely a happy medium in there. As it pertains to the Thief speculation/rumor - there is no happy medium as far as I'm concerned. This is a non-conversation and the answer is an emphatic NO. I don't care how well it plays.

I've been playing since the original beta and Thief and Necro were the first two characters I picked up on. Playing the original Necro was amazingly fun. Still is and for me, pretty much all necro builds are interesting. This include both elite specs, even though the mechanics of the Reaper are still my still my favorite by far. I didn't come away from the Harbringer beta with that same feeling and I couldn't quite put my finger on why I wasn't overly excited...but I think you've nailed it. It feels...lazy. I like the shroud skills, but the pistol attacks are super basic and the spec skills are...yeah, just buffs. From a archetype perspective, feels like an alchemist. Mechanically, rather than drinking a bunch of buffs, the skills should maybe react to what you do in the shroud or vice versa. In the spirit of the character's archetype, the gun and profession skills should be tied to necromancy and soul reaping. Rather than drinking a bunch of magic potions...maybe fire different kinds of shots? Soul reaping shot, summoning shot, plague shot, cursed shot, necrotic goo shot...I dunno. lol ...and then tie it back to shroud somehow. Or, since they're stuck on this drinking from vials thing....have 2 or 3 empty vial counters/gauges like Mesmer/Hunter FKey skills and when the vial(s) fill up as you use the skills and then...BOOM! "Necro Attack/Shroud Thing Activate!" Here's an idea for shroud that requires zero mechanics changes...like, just incorporate the pistol. Instead of... 1) Fire quick bolts of dark energy that explode on impact, inflicting torment to enemies in the area. 2) Fire six bolts of tormenting energy that fan out from you, piercing all enemies in their path. 3) Leap to your destination, evading through the air. Daze enemies near your impact point. Maybe.... 1) Fire your Soul Spirit Gun and...(etc)... 2) Fire six Grim Soul Shots from your Spirit Gun and...(etc)... 3) Leap to your destination, evading through the air and FIRE YOUR SPIRIT GUN in the air (etc) near the ground targeted point of impact. LOL...come on man. Cantha? Asian themes? Hello...? Yu Yu Hakusho...? Spirit Detective? Spirit Gun? Demonic energy? This is low hanging fruit people... https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/vsbattles/images/0/0f/Yusuke_urameshi_spirit_detective_by_bodskih_ddfrjme-pre.png

BIG yes to the bold. Nothing wrong with innovation, but at some point innovation at the expense of the core theme of the character - produces something that is not really the character at all. Truth be told, the class has never felt true to the archetype to me. Maybe dagger/dagger does...? But I never got into it. I tried everything else and begrudgingly settled on Sword/Dagger. Ultimately, I resigned myself to the idea that this character is a pirate. I benched my Thief at HoT and have been main-ing with a Reaper. And here is where ANet gave us a fresh take while honoring the spirit of the character. I fell in love with the Reaper melee mechanics and it still feels like a dark caster. Thief/Rogue/Assassin has always been my staple in anything, but I have to be honest. I don't like the class in GW2. I tried both expansion specializations and while they play fine, I don't love either enough to roll with as main. Now I'm hearing that we're getting a stupid <<bleep>>? Come ONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN man.............🤦‍♂️ Why do they hate this class so much? PS - they are actively nuking all conversations about it, so that's why I'm not saying it.

/un-stealth Disclaimer - ya'll please don't say "the thing." What's "the thing" you ask? DON'T SAY IT. Talk about it without saying it if you want to...because our voices need to be heard and not *poof* zapped. Can I just be honest? Seriously, I just want to be honest and be heard. For you argumentative types, please don't belittle the complaints. Like, c'mon man. We all have our fantasy archetype preferences. Fighter vs. Caster. Melee vs. Ranged. Subtlety vs. Directness. Dots vs. Nukes. Attack vs. Support. People who have inclinations for an archetype have specific and/or reasonable expectations of how it should be implemented in a game. This is a THING. Honestly, for many of us, it has less to do with actual mechanics and more to do with the THEME of the character itself. I have been playing all manner of RPG's for a very long time - turn based, strategy, MMO, action, JRPG...tabletop. As it pertains to Thief, Assassin, Rogue, Scout, Prowler archetype, I have NEVER once rolled this character with the expectation of healing my friends with benevolent prayers or protecting them with my shiny sword and shield. And I've never wanted to pick up a stupid <<<censored>>>. I'd sooner stick with this "pirate", which is what ANet seems to want their archetype to be. If I wanted to be a magical jester, I'd roll a Mesmer...(I have one). If I wanted to heal or tank, there's a whole complete space for that. I'm sure it can be "fun" and "interesting" and "innovative." Anything could be fun. It might even be fun. Heck, they could implement dual shields and it could be fun... But there is a certain thing that I DON'T want and most who roll this type of character don't want it either. <<BLEEP>> a dang <<BLEEP>>...and I mean that in the most uninterested, intolerant, inflexible, small-minded way possible. I wanna be a ninja. I am a dirty fighter and I want smoke bombs, shurikens, dual swords, a 2H katana, or just gimme nothing and let me beat a dude with mah dirty hands. Do better, -signed, every stabby-stab, sneaky sneak, unscrupulous miscreant playing the game. (Even if it's too late...😞) /vanish

If you haven't seen it yet, people are comparing it to Warlord's armor: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E79VAe1XoAAwKwf?format=jpg&name=medium It's really looking like he's wearing heavy armor the more I look at it. Which would make it a Guardian off hand sword spec and a bummer for me as I was hoping for DW swords Thief/Assassin reveal. 😥 Still holding out hope tho. The 2nd to last icon on the could represent a dual sword Guardian (they kind of look like blades) and that would leave the dual swords with the diamonds as thief. 🤞 *Edit... More evidence pointing towards heavy armor: https://imgur.com/n2wyO2I

I don't know if it's been said already, but I'd pawn my Sky Scales for shared inventory slots for gathering tools. Dear ArenaNet... I will pay embarrassing amounts of real world money to share the gathering tools between my characters - and I will buy different toolsets if you add gathering tools to the wardrobe. Do this and take all of my money please. Also, I'd also like to promote my suggestion many pages back... Buff the group finder and make it easier for folks to find groups, guilds (or new guild members), and training opportunities. At a minimum, I hope you put some thought into the matchmaking system for strike mission challenge mode. Especially if they're the centerpiece of group content/end-game in EoD.

I think that mask is an armored samurai oni mask: https://imgur.com/iQAqaEs Which could be revenant? But more likely, I think it's going to be like a demon/samurai/warrior. The symbol next to it though looks too much like the revenant symbol for it NOT to be the revenant.

So...I don't think it's grenades on a belt... https://imgur.com/Yrbgd4X I think that's either a scepter or a focus...and more likely a focus because it's in his off hand. Also, when they do these reveals they always highlight the new class weapon. They're highlighting the pistol...not grenades (which isn't a weapon option for non-ENG's) or ammo for the pistol. If it's a necro holding a pistol, the ammo will be some kind of...wicked necro-junk lol. Death energy, souls, darkness, rotten risen entrails lol...it's not going to need physical ammo. Lastly, you can see the hand holding whatever it is. It's not on a belt. It's a focus in the off-hand, considering scepters are MH weapons. I also think it's also a caster because there's some kind of mystic energy/smoke coming from the eyes and they're glowing. The tattered clothing SCREAMS necro as does the color. Also the green looks like a plague cloud around him/her. It's a necro...with a gun....and that symbol is a bullet dripping with necro-juice and I'm gonna run it on my guy...right after I put a sword in my Thief's offhand...zomg 😵

Me and my kids guessing pretty much the same... Last 3: The bullet is the Necro. The livestream showed a silhouette with an Asura holding a pistol, wearing a witchy looking hat, with green highlights... Then looking at the icon itself, there's some creepy/icky stuff dripping off the bullet. Gotta be a necro spec lol. The next thing is the Guardian. I can't figure out what it represents, but it's proper looking and balanced. Looks like a dude in between two energy shields so... Dual shields...lol ? Or maaaybe....could be flames on top of a torch. Guardians off-hand torches so MH torches? Dual torches? rofl duuude. Last icon is engineer. Looks like a bomb. So, like gunpowder, fireworks, explosions... But eng's already do something with bombs don't they? I have an engineer but can't remember. I haven't played him much - I did his elite spec in HoT and nothing else.

TLDR: Buff the LFG and add a queue to it. One constant that I've seen over the years with MMO's is the casual/hardcore/elitist banter that ensues over endgame/group content. Developers (and the elitists) always look at it as if it's an issue with skill or commitment, when in truth it's just a simple social problem. If you fix that, you will have people FLOODING the content. Ya'll forgive me for not educating myself over the 60 pages of suggestions already and I'm assuming that more than a few people have suggested this already but 1) Enhance the LFG tool and2) Avoid tailoring high end content around rigid, player-driven, meta game, theory crafting, cookie cutting. FULL DISCLAIMER: I don't actually know if the endgame is tailored this way. I won't suffer the player toxicity to validate it. My son says it is. My son (I'm an old gamer...like 38 years of gaming if you count Pong lol) leveled up through the game with me and his siblings and we ran all of the 5 man content. He eventually branched off into raiding and initially he didn't understand why I didn't raid with him. I explained it and told him he'd understand it completely and sooner rather than later. It didn't take long. lol He started keeping an elitist log and he took screenshots of his encounters with all the wonderful people that he met. Like these guys (his chat and someone @'ing him red): They completed the raid BTW and he finished top DPS. So yeah, he's casual and he gasp raids. I'm super casual and I taught that boy everything there is to know about games. "Casual" doesn't mean we don't take the game seriously or that we want EZ mode phat L00TZ. It means just that we want to play the game without mandatory, auxiliary, player-driven hoopla. Casual gamers want to play the game WHEN they want to play it and HOW they want to play it. The irony here is that this was your original pitch to us when you launched the game 8 years ago. "Play your way" and "This is YOUR story" and "No more waiting for eons LF Heals". The simple solution is to understand that there are different personality types that play the game - and not all of these types have the time or patience to play the game one static way or the other. You should leverage the LFG tool to pool people together based upon their preferred play style and temperament. My suggestion is to add a queue to the LFG and create a automated matchmaking system based upon gear, experience, and options for desired group profile. LFG Group preference options: Meta tolerance - strict, moderate, none (casual)Skill tolerance - expert, advanced, beginner, N/A (doesn't matter)Failure tolerance - Low/None, medium, highSpeed - Quick run, full clear, as requested/neededLFG Social options: Looking Training/MentorWilling to train/mentorLooking for guildRecruiting for guildRole PlayingDungeon options (with applicable rewards):Story Mode, Heroic Mode, Insane Mode You can see how some of those preferences will likely make a bad mix or the how the right combination might introduce players to people they would otherwise have never met. Instead of...well...whatever you're doing to force players to find these niche, minmax group/skill/stat combos... If you balance the PVE game around build diversity and the idea that you can play your class, with the weapon/skill/rotation combos intended for how the class is designed, this system would work. Is this so hard? As it were, the only place that you can play how you want is in the open world, solo content, and 5 man - which is why people keep asking for that stuff. You also know that there are a lot of introverts on the interwebs right? Many of these people are gamers. So what do you get when you cross the anonymity offered by the internet with the escape from reality that an RPG provides? You get the perfect place for people who want to chill and avoid drama. lol It's not the difficulty that drives people away from the content, it's the people

drums fingers

You generalizing raiders, that's pretty toxic. TL:DR: I know you are but what am I!?You are correct. Though, your ad-hominem only further supports my point. We casual players very much assume/generalize that the community is toxic (which it is). This is why your queues are empty. boink Though... Assuming that you are an offended elitist, your TOXIC community does the. exact. same. dang. thing. You assume/generalize that all casual players are unskilled, lazy, entitled, can't follow directions, and/or are other otherwise...bad. And you love letting us know bout it. One thing goes wrong, queue standard elitist diatribe, and the age old casual vs. hardcore dichotomy ignites, often escalating in the same blame game name-calling lame merry-go-round. Your generalizations are as bad as mine. ...but we've beat this horse into nothing but a single dried out patch of hair (I've been beating it for about 15 years now). Ultimately it's this: We are the crowd and we're not coming. Our reluctance has nothing to do with skill, dedication, intelligence, or challenge. It has nothing to do with our willingness to follow orders. We can read and comprehend - we understand gearing, builds, rotations, timing, dodging, boss mechanics - all the things you hardcore types think ONLY you can understand for some reason. Trying to address the "problem" of a lack of participation based upon the aforementioned fallacious assumptions will do absolutely nothing. I mean...look at the pudding. The proof is in there. It really is, a big honking chunk of us that do not want to group with a small and very LOUD and toxic portion of you. We don't want in your guild, we don't want in your raid, we don't want to be in your strike, and we don't want in your 5 man. We really don't want to bother with you in the open world - but it's easier to ignore you there. We don't...so we don't and we find other things to do. Meanwhile, (for whatever ridiculous reasoning) developers try to satisfy the small crowd of folks that do the content - oblivious for some reason to the mass exodus of our crowd. Then they wonder why we're not there. Maybe they're elitists too...lol. I can picture them rubbing their temples...., "Ugh...casual bads ruining our game! Well, let's toss them a little Strikey-Bone and maybe they'll learn to not be bad." Kidding of course. :) I'm saying, try something different. Try separating the oil from the water. See if that works better. I promise you that I'd queue up for anything, listen, learn, and try to complete even the most difficult encounters - over and over again - if I knew that the folks I was queuing up with had easy-going and respectful temperaments like me. I promise that I am never going to queue up for anything in any game that is gated by you toxic types. I'd also like to point out that there are specific problems with this game (rewards/monotony/etc), outside of the toxic community, that have been stated that I whole-hardheartedly agree with. I also promise that if they continue this course, I'll be leaving and taking the remains my little crew (wifey and sons) with me. (Also apologies to all non-toxic hardcore folks. :) I know there are many of you who are not like that, just as you know there capable casuals like myself).

TL:DR:Casuals don't like elitists and we will avoid them like the plague. Elitists don't like "bads." We are all gamers and many of us are VERY skilled - but most of us are casual.Buff the LFG tool and help us avoid each other.Long winded mostly unnecessary, possibly entertaining, version from a 30+ year "skilled" casual gamer: First, thank you for taking the time to speak with us. I hope you're reading all of these comments and that I'm not wasting my time by offering mine. You really need to stop trying to figure out the problem and LISTEN to what your players are telling you. Especially the people in here who care enough and are dedicated enough to provide feedback. Raids are not a "tricky" problem to solve. The tricky part to fixing any problem is not listening to people telling you what the problem is. Imagine going to a clinic, and all the receptionists, nurses, and doctors have headphones in. That's you guys! lol Not you guys specifically - it's all MMO developers when we tell you what the problem with Raids is. It's like...you guys just zone out or something when we give you the root cause. It's the toxic elitist community.There's your problem. It really is those cats. It's that small group of "gate-keepers" that none of us want to bother with and it's not unique to your game. The solution is actually simple, but you (developers in general) keep focusing on the wrong things. It's not about dedication, intelligence, skill - many of us are lifelong gamers and this is not the only game we play. Most of us love challenges and the feeling of accomplishment. Take me for example... I'm a PVP nut (not so much in this game...but that's another story)... I can probably own 70% of you in any fighting game (except Smash Brothers because it's awful). I'm a RTS/Turn based strategy enthusiast. I could teach a graduate course on how to conquer XCom (I've got 3000 hours of Impossible/Legend gameplay). I've been gaming for over 30 years. You mean to tell me that I'm not dedicated? I don't have the "skill" to follow a rotation of button clicking? Don't sell your gaming community short, there are lots of GW2 players just like me. There are lots of them BETTER than me. I'm not special. We've all got skill, we've all got intelligence, and most of us love a challenge... But we are casual and this game (GAME) is not serious enough for us to tap dance for ill-mannered, narcissistic, internet randos. Not when there are so many movies, books, TV shows, animes, and OTHER games we could be playing. Seriously, I joined a strike mission a few weeks back...and had a guy (literally named "Elitist Punk" or some jiggity-jive like that)... Fudgenugget whispered me and said... "This is for people like you who can't get into Raids :)" I lol'd at the sheer irony as we face-rolled the strike...and I gave him an obligatory stealth jab as we left the instance afterwards. It's not a skill thing or an intelligence thing. Again, we're all gamers in here. I've been doing wild, complicated, and sometimes EXTREMELY DIFFICULT things on PC and console for over 30 years. I can handle a Raid...I can't deal with "Raid-ERS." Or rather...I won't, and I'm not alone. My suggestion is that you help your people find each other and help us casual folks group together. "Dude...why don't you form your own group or join a guild?" Yeah...HELP US DO THAT. Do you not know anything about people? I mean, if we were gonna do that...we'd do that. We're smart, but It works better if you "herd" us in the right direction. I've had some success advertising Noob/Casual groups...but even then, I got the occasional "You guys are all bad. I'm logging to yell at my mom for more hot-pockets." Give the LFG some love... Give us a queue and sort us by our group preferences - BAM. Example group preferences: Dungeon Difficulty (please do this...) - Story mode, Explorable Mode, Epic ModeSkill level slider - Beginner (0) to Expert (10)Temperament slider (this is how you keep the 1337's in their own private sandbox) - Casual to Strict (i.e. - hardcore/elitist/narcissist) Use in-game checks to keep "n00bz" and "bADz" out of their groups - because that's what they want. Use a behind-the-scenes gear score and experience counter to grey out groups that you're not qualified for. Then all of the elitists can find each other and all of us casuals and n00bz can laugh and wipe together. Or gasp actually attempt and complete this jerk-gated content. More options:[X] - Looking for guild[X] - Recruiting for guild[X] - Mentor/Trainer[X] - Looking for training run[X] - Looking for quick/speed run[X] - I got all day and I don't care how many times we wipe. Allright, end book. I hope ya'll figure it out before something new gets my attention. Guild Wars 2 is such a beautiful game with a lot of potential still. Fill your dungeons with decent rewards, buff the LFG...and for the love of cheese man...do more 5 man dungeons. We keep asking for it! :)

I was thinking the same thing. I'm loving the whole atmosphere of this story and the whole thing with the Boneskinner is the best part of it. He should have been more than just a rando champion. A world boss or even a strike mission to chase him down and finish him off would have been fantastic.