firedragon.8953

Never mind. Obviously reading is hard here. lol

Man...it's depressing to see most "WvW players" just complain about lack of attention instead of talking about the idea... Bleh. It's obvious WvW is neglected, but does the negatively spawned from neglect have to tarnish every discussion around WvW? This is actually one reason why I thought this may be a good idea. It's seems obvious that this may be the least favorite map, so rotating it out with other maps makes it less of a constant bad thing. There will likely be unpopular maps if we get more maps, but if we have more maps there are likely to be more popular ones too. Imagine a week without Desert Borderlands. I'm sure this may be true for some people, and I agree, this would be something that really needs to be considered seriously. But, if we get overly concerned about it WvW would never get updates because "change is bad." With that said, the maps wouldn't be perpetually changing, it would be on a weekly rotation. So, each week people can implement builds and strategies for each map that week, but it would make things less stagnant, less stale. My point was, it would also allow for Anet to make more consistent maps without creating an unruly amount of landmass and capture objectives. Am I incorrect in assuming this?

What do WvW players think about having more maps? Pretty great, right? I guess too many maps could thin out the population too much though... How about a random rotation of maps? We keep the 4 maps (+EoTM). But, the dev team makes new maps, let's say 4 new maps. Now we have 8 maps (+EoTM). But per week there are only 4 maps (+EoTM) that are playable, but are randomly shuffled so that we have greater variety without a vastly larger area and objectives to rotate through during the week. I'd like to propose that 3 borderland maps have a unique mechanic that changes up the normal siege and capture playstyle, maybe something like a few underwater towers with quaggan camps instead of dolyaks and the quggans become enraged when attack and actually fight back. Allow the installation of some traps within towers by completing other objectives in the map (slaying a vetran enemy, etc.). Maybe have a map or two that allows for a "modified" seige turtle (make a WvW seige turtle reward track for the egg, too). I also think Eternal Battlegrounds should remain someone consistent in terms of world terrain, however, it would be nice to have a Map A / Map B system that changes the layouts of Stonemist Castle and other keeps. I personally think this would be a great method for adding new maps, game modes, and just "flavor" to the game mode without making it feel bloated.

But, it is new content... Just because the "story" isn't the "next" story doesn't mean the "content" isn't new. I don't remember being able to play the strike or do these story achievements, unlock the old lion's arch as a lounge, etc. etc. It was a plot hole that needed to be filled to make the game complete. We also got updated world bosses, some really nice QoL, etc. Perfect to round out the decade! The only people who really have a right to complain about content are sPvPers and WvWers. lol Anyway, I love that LWS1 was added and really look forward to trying the new strike! Thanks dev team. 💖

Reason: fantasy. It's likely snow leopard was chosen for RP purposes so that a norn thief would have a more suitable Great Spirit. Bear - warrior, guardian Raven - necromancer, mesmer, elementalist, (revenant) Snow Leopard - thief, (ranger) Wolf - ranger, guardian

Agree that warrior needs work and many points. But, gotta give credit where credit is due. There have been improvements, which at least gives some copium for me to breath. We're just not there yet though... Can't fully agree that we'd never get alac. An elite spec could easily have a trait that "converts quickness to alacrity" for example. The devs built a box, but they just have to think outside it when (hopefully) they give us our next e-spec that is a staff-heal/barrier alac warrior (please). Spellbreaker is not really a heal/support. We need a defense/support focused weapon (i.e., staff). Martial Cadence just needs to be changed. Group quickness should be confined to a single traitline for simplicity. Also prevents a design that Anet obviously wants to avoid (e.g., stacking dps bladesworns for 100% quick uptime, etc.). Banners should have a flip over skill (wave banner, rally allies, etc.) so we have reactive gameplay with our current on-placement AoE group utilities like stability, etc. (This is a common issue with some other professions as well). It's just poor design for an active combat game. Most of all, it's boring. For me, the saddest thing is they essentially gutted dps beserker (even worse now with headbutt and stab changes) to make room for bladesworn. I loved playing power berserker. I loved decaping and dropping banners. Simple, yet high pace rotation. I never felt overpowered, but I did feel powerful, and useful. When bladesworn came in, anet shuffled things to basically make berserker our condi spec and bladesworn our power dps spec. I don't like playing bladesworn (fine for those who enjoy it), even with its big numbers. I wanna play around with all my weapons, not just a gunsaber and axe/pistol. That's why I chose warrior in the first place. I thought the recent tweaks to power spellbreaker would satisfy me (it is pretty good tbh) but it's just not the same. Warrior was my main, but now I barely play it. Not in raids, not in fractals, not in strikes... Just open world stuff... So more than anything, "thx Anet for removing my playstyle" to make room for "just another melee stationary playstyle greatsword dps spec".

8. I'm happy for the plot hole to finally be filled. I never got to play LWS1. I'm also pretty excited to play the new strike mission and see the public/ 50-man squad meta as well.

Lord Faren. L + F = E Honestly my favorite one since he just seems like an idiot for comic-relief that seems to be in the "right place at the right time" when it comes to Krytan affairs. Part of me also wonders if Mr. E. could be someone from the Canthan Minsec East Precinct? With Jory's Canthan ancestry, I mean...I guess Cantha could have been doing undercover recon in Kryta due to the Elder Dragons after the Zhaitan disaster. It may even be Jor. E. herself. In which case I doubt we'll ever find out, at least directly from her. Covert organizations such as the Ash Legion and the Shining Blade also sign letters with a single letter. the "Mr." part, which could have just been added for more "mystery". Or it could have been the flower seller all along.

None. Runes and sigils however... 🤔

Do you mean the trading post? The stuff you buy with in-game gold? And yes, you can get all kinds of gear there. The items are sold there by other players that got them as drops or craft them. You can purchase lvl 80 exotic-tier dps gear good enough for most end-game content for a few gold.

Changing your "race" is very similar to a cosmetic change and thus generally will cost money, either in terms of a character slot or repurchasing gem store character-bound items. Anet is probably more than happy for you to repurchase your bag slots, etc., although you are very unhappy about it. Monetarization models like which Anet uses with GW2 are more punishing to indecisive and finicky players. That being said, since you've mentioned you've played for 10 years, I'm sure you know how to farm gold T4 fractals, raids, fishing, drizzlewood, etc. that you can farm for your account upgrades. The current characters you "retire" won't go to waste either since they can be extra account inventory space. Generally, when it comes to these types of things you'd be better off learning how to work your way around them and just accept them as "rules of the game" than sitting on your hands and waiting for dev intervention. I'm sure it can feel crappy, but honestly, it is hardly game breaking.

Honestly, although I have PvE leggy armor and coalescence, I'd rather have a collection similar Vison/Aurora that brings with collections and various achievements that take place across Living World Season 6 (if it's called that?) and the maps of Cantha. I want some kind of story component to the quest tbh. I think getting a certain item from an EoD strike on normal mode may be fine, but honestly I don't really want to farm strike missions (I'm sure I'm not the only one). I'd also like the ring to be the "finale" for the PvE stacking graphical set. If you have Aurora, Vision, Coalescence, and the new PvE ring, "the balls" go away and we get something like a "Spirit of Dragon" -- something like the Otter Enrichment. Maybe a bit brighter aura (I think the current 3 set color fits nice with the aurene amulet already) and a nice subtle weapon draw flash animation and then a saltspray dragon (or a few small ones?) that pops out once and a while like the otter. We can keep it in line with lore and just say they "hatched" from our universe balls/eggs... lol. Call the ring "Culmination," "Conjunction" or something like that. I think this would be something that pve completionists would even go for even if they decided to complete their trinket collection with the WvW ring already.

Yeah, I've done this enough. My comment was more directed at new raiders who are very unlikely to do this. Because... Also... I'm going to go out on a limb and say not just for trainings. I've had pugs rage quit after one wipe. Sometimes they were the reason for the wipe, too. lol Sometimes a PUG avalanche of drop outs ensues. If people filling anything non-dps drop out, it gets really annoying, i.e., not fun. This is more of a "community" thing, and why I generally don't do 100% PUG runs (need at least 4-5 friends) because well...although it can be done, it's just not much of a good time. It's a problem, and I don't see a great solution. This is probably one reason why 5-man content (fractals) are more popular and PUG listings are much more common--just easier to organize. I think giving a "comm bonus" for instanced group content is definitely a good idea. I think I mentioned something like this a while back in some post somewhere as well.

This is called "dodging a bullet." Someone was just salty because "you can't tell me what to do" mentality. But yeah, maybe a bit of a weird way to organize a group since you'd have to join the squad (adding an extra step) to see what is needed. Usually the commander just posts "lf alac, dps, heal, etc." in the listing itself and changes it when those people ping their role. But it's your group, you're the commander. "Play how you want." 8/9 other people thought the listing was fine compared to that angry whisperer, so you didn't comit some taboo.

AR is a barrier. However, I believe this is intentionally. Admittedly it can be annoying, but a game without barriers to overcome can feel rather pointless. For the OP, it doesn't really sound like you're very committed to running fractals though. If you can get one dps to 150AR (or even just 135+potion) you can begin running fractals enough to get infusions and ascended gear for alts. I generally can just open lfg and find someone looking for dps most of the time. Do you mean legendries? The cost of legendries are waaaaay higher than AR infusions, so I don't even understand this statement, tbh. Also, you can just buy AR now and then sell the AR infusions you get from running T4 fractals. Think of it as a loan with 15% interest that you then invest in your business (i.e., running T4 fractals) which you will make more than enough off your initial investments considering raw gold and ascended gear. I'm guessing you don't want anyone to bring this up because you KNOW this is the solution but you are being stubborn for some reason and really only choosing to punish yourself? You've identified a problem (good), so are you going to complain, twiddle your thumbs and for the gods (devs) to intervene, or are you going to actually do something you have control over, formulate a plan and overcome the challenge? The choice is literally yours.

First, I'm not going to lie, getting a group in NA can be hard, especially outside of "prime time." I live in Japan, so my time zone really made me struggle to learn raids as well since most training groups run NA times. I did eventually finish both my first PvE leggy armor and Coalescence, so it is possible and encourage you not to give up! Once you've raided more it gets easier, you can make own exp groups easier, and you of course also make friends and connections with other raiders who likely will be playing when you do. For NA, most new raiders go to the Raid Academy discord. This is where I learned most of my raids, and then ran some practices and clear runs. It's pretty easy to join groups forming up as well as create your own. But yeah, I agree, it actually really sucks that there's so many hoops to jump through to get into raiding and to continue doing it. There is definitely a higher wall than most other content. It would be nice if it was as easy as popping open lfg and just going at it whenever you feel like it. I'm guessing it is partly due to the importance of communication for raids, so lots of groups are Discord based? Aerodrome always seems to have people standing around though, and I am guessing they are there for raids...hmm..

Ah, one more thing. With Jormag, I always imagined the dragon was referred to as "they" to obscure their gender due to the Brother's of Svanir's general hate for women. In reality, I imagined her to be female (based on voice) although I'm not really sure "gender" is actually a real concept with Elder Dragons since they all seem capable of laying eggs (?). I found it actually pretty funny that the Svanir bros worshipped a female dragon considering their hatred for females due to what they considered to be Jora's betrayal of Svanir. In a sense it made Jormag more "persuasive" one could argue. But how the "they" pronoun was introduced did seem forced, and I wish they did write in more of an interesting reason than modern social commentary. But yeah...Champions wasn't really a high point for the game...

You make some interesting observations, and I guess this is the crux of your main idea. I agree, male characters in Tyria are generally "evil" or not masculine in a traditional sense and if "good," almost always simping over a female character, Gorrik, Rytlock, Logan, etc. Personally, I find this a disservice for many the female characters (some who are absolutely fantastic, like Almorra, imo). Sometimes it feels that female characters are only really "strong" because they are surrounded by "weak" males. It is unfortunate, but this has become a common trope in modern media..well well, it could be pulled off with greater finesse. Now, don't even get me started on some female characters who take on roles of "toxic masculinity" such as Eir (abandoning her son the way she did). The cast and writing does little to nothing to point out how this is pretty messed up, and if anything, it writes Braham (the abandoned son) to be a crybaby. Imagine if Eir were a norn male, would the narrative be so "forgiving," I doubt it. Even Rytlock was "soft-ridiculed" in some ways for not being a "father" even though it's 100% in-line with charr custom that a sire is not a parent. Of course, there are examples here and there that go against this kind of "world building," but they are rare and often lost in obscurity. It's just weak narratively since it is a formula that seems to be adhered to a bit too strictly and can make characters two dimensional or too predictable based on their gender. As far as the political aspect, I mean, I could see some parallels. But the kind of stuff that was happening with the charr were pretty "generic" when it comes to civil war, rebellion, etc. Divide and conquer stuff. It obviously may have been inspired by the times in American politics, but for non-American's I bet they didn't even really relate it.

Things appeared to have gotten better for a few days at the start of the week. Yesterday seemed smooth. But today, same thing...random spikes into the 500 ~ 1300ms range.

Just adding that I've noticed this in the Vision collection as well. Unable to salvage items that state they can be salvaged for volatile magic.

I honestly do not see a huge issue here. You could say that the raid currency consolidation did the same thing...but honestly, those who want to play certain raids still play them. Those who are just farming LI or magnetite will always just do the easiest ones for as much as they can get away with it. Less diversified currency, especially in older content is fine. I'd rather see actively played "easy" dungeons, since yes players will be funneled there, than a newer player trying to find a group for Arah to farm currency for example. Having a Daily Dungeon category (something like the living world daily categories, not-the-once and while pve daily) would also be nice. Most new players are not going to engage hardcore with dungeon content because for the past few years it has been hard to find groups, especially those that are not speed running. It's much more likely a player will be able to complete one dungeon path, and thus gain access to that dungeons collections. That dungeons are not very popular, makes farming them harder than they were in the past. To get the dungeoneer title 8 years ago was a challenge, to get it now could be impossible unless you find a dungeon running group. For those who are deadset on farming dungeons, or have farmed them until now, I'm pretty it doesn't really matter. A LOT of dungeons have been trivialized with skips and strategies. The better design decision would be that all dungeons are interesting and fun and people want to play them. But as it was before, the majority of players never really touched most of them anyway. Adding "unique" rare and sellable drops from certain dungeons could be cool though. Then the least played dungeons could offer an RNG chance of a high reward due to rarity. Maybe some kind of infusions, weapon skin, minis, etc. Unrelated, but I'd like to see an "embolded" system for the story missions only of each dungeon so new players can solo them and experience the Destiny's Edge story arch more seamlessly as they work through the personal story. Rewards are bleh for story mode anyway, so I can't really see it being abused beyond someone maybe farming Dungeon Frequenter.

Yep. Nope. It isn't creating money out of thin air. It is encouraging people to "create groups." This was never about running trainings. Commanders put in a bit more extra work than the random silent PUG, even if it is merely composing the squad, so let there be incentive to do it. Even in discord communities, I'd rather see more people take initiative to post their own groups, the the majority wait there too, fyi. For your other comments, I think we may just have to "agree to disagree." I already explained why this wouldn't work.

This essentially was already implemented with DRMs, and that was pretty unsuccessful. Even things like Public Dragonstorm can be pretty frustrating, which basically only is overcome by zerging... Since GW2 doesn't have roles fixed to professions it wouldn't really work, and the "half-measure" idea where you would still still need to manually search for members would unfortunately lead to the same issues currently. Even in a full group of 10 in raids with the current system, it's sometimes like pulling teeth to ask for volunteers to do mechanics like cannons or mushrooms, and we could literally sit there for 5 minutes with no one saying anything until the commander (me) basically has to "force" someone to do it. The group finder should be improved, but I think an auto queue would just be pretty hard to implement. I guess it could be possible to create something where people can select a couple roles (up to 3) on their build templates (dps, quick, alac, heal, tank) that would then put them into an auto-sorting group finder, and make auto queue an option. This would still rely on the honor system, but it would streamline squad/group formation and I guess could lead to a full auto group finder. It would actually be nice if people's roles were symbolized with colored triangles (that can form a multicolored square if multiple roles are selected) in the lower right corner of their squad HP box, too (auto group finder or not) just to help keep roles clear. But in the end, I really think the game needs to do a better job to incentivize people taking on commander roles in instanced content, using something like commander bonuses. Maybe even achievements for the number of times you successfully command raids and strikes, or certain wings/bosses, etc that unlock "commander skins" or something. People are afraid to take the step, but once they cross over, it really isn't that scary. Dangling a carrot may be the extra umph needed.

The reason raids look dead is because most raiders do not organize through lfg (at least on NA). The reason most raiders don't organize through lfg is because most don't want to always run a training run, or deal with people causing wipes to mechanics. This drives raiders to discord communities like Raid Academy which makes organization easier. Additionally, most raiders raid with guilds because the idea of "teaching" someone how to raid is more attractive with the prospect that them getting better will help you clear the raid (or even teach other community members) in subsequent encounters because they will probably join you again if they are a guildie/community member and are not a random PUG. That being said, when I raid with my guild I usually try to cover heal/boon/special roles and leave dps for PUG fills. When I list my group it literally fills in less than a minute. So, there are obviously raiders camping the lfg waiting for a real group to start forming. This leads to another persistent issue in GW2. The GW2 community in general has adversity to self-initiative and will rarely go out of their way to start forming up a group. This probably is because people don't want to feel "responsible" for a group. When wearing a commander tag, people don't want the added pressure, and they will convince themselves that "they will do it when they are better or more confident," which 90% of people will never be because they never step up. I've seen the problem within guilds and communities as well, that even though people are capable they are allergic to stepping up and those who were running things eventually burn out and the community dies while the sheep flock to the next shepherd, and the cycle often continues ad infinitum. Anet should incentivize commanders in instanced 10-man group content (squad) by giving the person wearing the commander tag a "commander bonus" +100% magic find, +100% exp, and increasing their boss gold by 50% or something. This then makes the commander tag an "investment" for the one wearing it and not just feeling like a "liability" or sacrifice. Most people probably open the raid lfg and just say, "oh, dead content" and click off of it. Most don't actually do anything about it, like make a group. I'd wager one reason why fractals are more popular (besides being mechanically easier, easier to organize 5-man content, decently rewarding, and a pretty intuitive "ramp up system") is that there is no tag, meaning no one is actually "in charge" of the group. You can throw up an lfg and once 2-3 people join, no one really remembers (or cares) who's group it is. Anyway, raiding can be fun. I recommend anyone interested check out this list of raiding communities and join one. Guild Wars 2 Group Finder | Snow Crows

You say you like sPvP, right? Then play ranked sPvP maybe? Ranked pvp dumps exotic stat selectable armor on you. Then use that armor to build a WvW character. Why is this a problem? You don't even have to touch PvE. Trinkets are maybe not as easy. But honestly, why not just go to Bitterfrost Frontier and pick some Winterberries. Or park alt characters at chests that give currency that you can buy trinkets with (e.g., end Draconis Mons jumping puzzle and Bjora Marches eternal ice shards.) Some of these you just log on your character for 1 second and press F each time you log in. Why are you using HoT maps to farm for exotic stat selectable gear when you don't like PvE and like PvP/WvW? This I do not understand....