Kruhljak.2705

I phrased the post specifically to not lead the question, but instead to get at whether there was some new thing in the game that would allow players to do this sort of hop to point thing since I'm not well versed in the late game areas. I figured there wasn't, but I was curious to see if anyone did know of something in the game that might legitimately explain this sort of thing. What I've been seeing is a set of accounts with characters appearing at JP chests, looting, vanishing. Clearly this alone isn't suspicious. However, this is occurring with one character at a time, hopping from map to map every several seconds (for the most part). This isn't a log in, loot chest, log out, switch characters, log back in, etc. routine. Without some legit mechanic, there's no way a single character can loot a chest, then immediately appear on a new map at a different chest with no interim travel time, much less over the course of 25+ maps in a cycle. I watched them appearing at Antre, then Draconis Mons, then Pig Iron Quarry during their cycle while I had alt accounts stationed there. Each time the map changed in the friends list they immediately appeared at these chests. As it relates to mining nodes, this was a bit different with a different tip off: moving directly to a different map while in combat mode, no logging in/out involved. But when watching them they also showed the map-hopping behavior which tells me they're probably using the same hack with mining as the focus rather the simple chest looting. Didn't follow this up because it's probably just tied to the same thing. I was pretty sure this was a bot hack at work right from the beginning when I saw characters appearing at the Antre of Adjournment JP chest, vibrating wildly while going through the 3 second chest opening animation before vanishing. This immediately reminded me of the old mining bots that used to infest the game. They also appeared at nodes, vibrating while mining, then teleported away to the next node. Direct teleport to a given coord the game doesn't really want you at will cause this sort of combat between the bot program and the game constantly shifting the character's position back and forth (or so I understand). This is what spurred me to follow the activities of these accounts. I wasn't surprised at what I saw, but I did want to verify I wasn't just ignorant of some limited use mechanic or item recently added to the game. This has been going on everyday since I first noticed it. Now that my suspicions seem to have been confirmed, I'll drop a note to ANet and see if they care about it. If anyone sees flaws in my reasoning above, feel free to let me know. I could still be wrong, but I obviously don't see where. Anyway, thanks for the input. I know some people are tired of other people worrying about cheaters and botters. Fair enough. You go about your business and ignore it. I happen to despise both and don't mind taking a brief break from regular play to put on my deerstalker and see if I can sleuth out some evidence to figure out what's up. It's like a mini-game. If nothing comes of it, so be it. I just feel ignoring it invites more of it. Tacit acceptance and all that. I prefer less cheating to more. I assume most people and ANet do as well.

Is there any legit item or ability/skill in this game that would allow one to teleport directly to a resource node (iron, etc.) and/or a chest directly from elsewhere in the game world whether from point to point within the same map or from one map directly into another (ignoring standard waypoint travel)? And be able to do so repeatedly in quick succession? And even while in combat mode?

My biggest gripe so far is that I can't wear a monocle with my Noble Count outfit, which I bought with that in mind, totally forgetting it couldn't be done. My fault, I own it, but it still annoys me and I see no legitimate reason why it must be this way. Headgear's generally detached from the rest, anyway, and we have clipping issues with all sorts of mix-n-match (and even properly matched) sets, so that isn't a valid reason, IMO. I guess it was a logistical/technical choice, since it makes no sense to restrict when there's no benefit to that restriction, but even so it would probably have been better to allow this from the very beginning. They had to know it would be preferable.

If bag slots were account wide then there'd never be a reason for anyone to buy more than whatever the maximum slots available per character would be. A dead end prospect for revenue. Shared inventory slots are the bridge here, albeit a VERY expensive alternative, and so far still very limited vs a set of whole bags. You also have the in-game option to work toward acquiring 32 slot bags--also a very gold intensive option--to offset the missing slots. Of course, then we'll want more bag slots so we can have more 32 slot bags.... It also might help if ANet would add more different loose items to "material storage" so we can further free our bags and bank slots of miscellaneous stuff that shouldn't have to take up paid-for slots. I mean, if they can add 40 or whatever material storage slots just for Scribe materials that I'd wager 10% of players use at all, they can add more for more common stuff nearly everyone has taking up bag/bank space.

Also skins gained via the Hall of Monuments through Guild Wars 1 achievements.

With a bit of care, you can make a fairly decent Asian-ish face using some of the Elonian face templates as a base.

We have certain options in certain preview windows, but we most certainly don't even come close with a single preview window. Here's some things lacking now: No preview window allows you to apply dyes to different channels per armor piece (as many players choose to do) while also wielding a previewed weapon. No preview window can show you dual-wielding two preview weapons. No preview window can show you any of this alongside a new hair style or other form of makeover modification. No preview window can show any of this in motion (to see the physics effects, and or test for undesirable animation clipping). No preview window can show you any of this in variable lighting conditions. No preview offers you audio that applies to various special weapons and mounts. No preview window shows you the particle effects on certain weapons while attacking (since you can't perform an attack maneuver in any preview window). No preview window can show you any of this while on a given mount with a given dye job and/or skin. Or on a given chair. No preview window can show you a view of any changes made at various distances or angles (beyond the basic horizontal rotation axis). And certainly none can show you a "finished product" including more than a couple of these sorts of choices much less all of them. An instance could show you literally anything the game can show you. Perhaps if all of these options were incorporated into a single preview window that could mimic being in an instance without requiring an instance, then whatever overhead might be incurred by an instance could be chucked, but either way we'd have a truly robust option to play with. What we have now is functional piecemeal, with options scattered across various windows. That's enough for many players, no doubt, but even though the preview window options we have now are a lot more welcome than when we had none of them, it doesn't mean something far better isn't possible, desirable and worth considering.

What we need, and something I've been advocating for a while now, is a "dressing room" instance that we can enter and have access to literally every cosmetic item, effect, etc. in the game, including mounts and all their skins, infusions (also to see how they stack), etc. That way we could go in, suit up, dye and re-dye as needed, check the look in different lighting conditions in the instance, try out every combo we can think of, check out various gemstore weapon visual effects (and sounds where relevant), and whatever else you can think of to test out before a single gold coin is committed. Yeah, this would be a resource eater, but I tend to think it would be quite a popular QoL addition, and thus worthy of inclusion. Could be wrong, but I doubt it. Fashion Wars and all that. Might as well have a means for us to go all out properly rather than with the functional but, in many ways, limited tools we have now.

Or maybe it should just be addressed to whatever character is looking at the mail at the time. Who it's addressed to really doesn't make any difference, anyway.

For those of you that genuinely find this topic's question of interest may I suggest the following YouTube video: .It's a talk given at GDC 2011 by Damion Schubert (then of Bioware Austin) which I think should prove insightful to both those who are the loners in the title and those who think those loners just don't get what "multiplayer" means. I think this may be most enlightening to the latter since the former already know why they prefer soloing in a multiplayer game. The talk covers both the, I suppose you'd say, psychology of the MMO loner and various business aspects of the topic.

Yes, because it's been a long time looking at the same background and something new would be nice. Though I'd much rather they added some new sorting options instead of having just the "last played" sorting we've been using forever. Mainly for those of us with tons of characters, but still potentially useful to all.

o Add an option to have a confirmation when clicking "Exit to Desktop" to avoid mistakenly closing the game when you're trying to click "Log Out" which is IMMEDIATELY above it on the usual ESC key list. Either that or separate it so it's far enough away from the "Log Out" button to avoid such mistakes. Note that you already added an option to "Move Inventory Compact Option" to the bottom of the list for similar reasons. Edit: Yes I know about the F9 option, but hitting ESC is deeply ingrained in muscle memory that despite trying to get used to using F9 instead just doesn't lock in. Besides, the ESC option list would still remain an issue when using it instead. o Have already open windows pop to front when they are re-requested. For instance, if you open the mail window and you later bury it behind some other window (or five), then choose "Mail item to..." or use a hotkey for it, it just stays there buried in the background forcing you to juggle windows to find it and bring it to the front again, or mess around with the icons on the top row which then resets the window which isn't necessarily what you want. Even larger windows that are still partially visible are often annoying to try and manually bring to front depending on what parts are visible due to the partly transparent edges and how many other windows with all their overlapping edges are in the way...it's just annoying, believe me. Edit: I suppose such behavior would be best as an option toggle a la the one for ESC closing or not closing windows. I close windows either by ESC or by clicking the X, but others might prefer to just hit the same hotkey to close a particular window. o Add an option to disable autocomplete in the mail window's recipient field and either along with or in addition to allowing autocomplete only against whitelisted names (using the friend's list would seem like a good option to avoid a totally separate white list to be added). o Add a customizable targeting function so we, the players, can pick and choose what goes onto our valid target list and what doesn't, at least in general groups. Things such as yellow mobs, inanimate non-attacking objects (such as destructible boxes as opposed to an enemy turret), etc. I've long since grown immensely tired of trying to re-target quickly only to start murdering a nearby moa or going ham on a weapon rack while my enemies laugh and jeer at my antics. Or heck, just give us an option to remove just those two things from our "Choose nearest target" or what have you functions. They account for 90%+ of the mistaken targets all by themselves.

I don't blame players, I blame the design team behind it. I mean, why does the bell-ringing have to be incessant? Someone made that decision and must be held accountable with yearly complaints! I'm glad at least that it seems (really not sure now that I think of it) you can only hear one instance of the audio loop at a time. I can only imagine the insanity resulting from dozens of them being out in the same place and all ringing in concert. shiver

The problem with #4 is that inevitably people will start using the pods for things better not spoken of in polite society. Of course, I wouldn't want to sully the minds of others in this polite thread, but we can all shudder quietly while imagining the weird stuff people will think of doing in there.... ;-) More to the point, I think #3 is best. The "tech" is already in game for many other things and let's face it, most of the issue is around the mass level-up and I think everyone doing that would love to just get it over with in one click rather than having to mouse-click spam, and the folks around them would be relieved that one "LEVEL!" (remember when announcing that in MUDs and other multi-player online games was a thing? no? me = old sigh) won't be followed by 75+ more. Win/win is a universally favorable goal.

QoL Update: Leveling up and items that grant levels and experience now display a less noisy visual effect to other players. Has anyone noticed any change to the routine "L80 NOW!" dance at banks, etc? I can't think of any motivation for this update other than that since normal level-up animation / knockback is hardly an issue. I'm still unhappy to see people banging tomes and going up one level at a time with the attendant noise and animation at banks most of the time I'm at one for more than two minutes. Just like before. Or did the animation get a tiny bit less flashy? If that's the point, someone severely missed the point: It's the NOISE - AND - the animation that's obnoxious when it's done 80 times in a row. That part doesn't seem to have been affected at all. I can't imagine a dev spent time on this only to reduce the net annoyance by some microscopic amount. How about just putting a two minute timer on the sound/animation from level-ups and be done with it? There's no need to see/hear this repeatedly in short spans, and plenty of reason not to. And before anyone chimes in and berates me, this IS the biggest problem in the game! Well, next to that demon-spawn Ho-Ho Tron and its infernal constant bell ringing!

Ok, well thanks for the confirmations. I was mostly wondering if anyone was getting them at all since I had no evidence of it myself.

Yes, yes, I know the kneejerk assumption here, but just asking for some anecdotal confirmation. Are people still getting keys from map completion since the Halloween update? I've just gotten my 14th trans charge in a row since the update (got my last key the evening before the update). Up til now, I've not logged a span of more than 7 map completions between keys (5,6,3,5,7,2,2,3,2,4,6,2,3,6,5,1,1,2,2,7,1,7,5,4,3,4,3,3,7,2,3,2,4,2,2,4,3,3,5,1,3,4), and all of a sudden right after the update, I'm on number 14 without a key. Seems an...interesting coincidence...after 42 previous keys from map comps to suddenly be on double the span after an update. I'm leery enough of stealth changes or weird bugs from normal updates, but this recent template update has wrought havok and affected even some seemingly unrelated things. I will note that the 14 map comps have been in the low level "starter" maps as I've been roughing out some empty character slots after getting tired of running circles in the Lab. However, the usual expectation has previously held true even for these maps which appear to have always had the same chances as any others.

Can't enter instances via the various portals in Rata Sum. First time got a dead load screen. Restarted, next time got an "InstanceCreate failed" red-text error in the chat box. Since then, the option to enter the insance doesn't do anything at all. Several other similar kinds of weirdities reported from guildies. The ghosts are definitely mucking around in the machine on the right day. :anguished:

One thing to remember is that Lab squads are constantly morphing due to drop in / drop out. Re-doing legendary bosses allows for new additions to the squad who may need them for their achievements, whether daily or otherwise. It's not always about "you" it's sometimes about the group. Likewise, it's not always about the rabid desire to min/max your bag income. If a commander chooses to do all bosses, some bosses, or no bosses there's a fairly good chance they made that decision for a reason. The OP should be asking a few of the "all bosses" commanders if they're really interested in answers.

Just pretend anything that isn't worth anything to 99% of the player base is just more filler in the common or uncommon groups and not a boobie prize from the rare category. It makes getting a worthless recipe or generic tonic less aggravating.

Outfit Flexibility Allow us to--at the very lest--use any headgear we choose. For instance, I forgot I couldn't pick my own headgear when I bought the Noble Count Outfit with the intention of using a monocle as a headpiece. But no, I can't. For no apparent reason other than "just because". In fact, this particular outfit doesn't even have headgear. I'm not sure why outfits need to be implemented like uniforms. Wouldn't mind shoulder gear being added this way, as well. I'm also disappointed that the Hexed outfit I wanted to build a Halloween theme around won't allow me to use my Nightfury shoulders for the bats to go along with my Chiroptophobia greatsword. All because outfits are so unnecessarily restrictive. Give players a bit more latitude to make their own choices with outfits even if only on a couple of key parts. People have long complained about wanting outfits to be usable piecemeal so they can have more fun with creating their own personalized looks beyond just dyes or whether or not they'll wear the default headgear that comes with it.

I find the flapping and dust up kind of annoying, too, and will be more than happy to inflict it on others when I eventually get my skyscale, however my biggest gripe so far with the skyscale model was during the Festival of the Four Winds coin bag hunt (Treasure Hunt? ) event. I prefer to use the aspect skills that the Lab Cliffs introduced well before mounts, and trying to see the bundles and landing points with several flapping skyscale models obscuring them (this is even with Lowest model numbers setting) is rather difficult and often maddening. I'd love to see an option to just disable ALL player AND mount models, rendering them both down to little motes of light like we have in Southsun Survival after you get murdered enough times. I have almost all the skins (other than the Skyscale skins) that have been released, so I'm well aware of the personal satisfaction you can get from riding your favorite mount skin (you know what I mean), but sometimes one just doesn't want ANY of that annoying clutter. I see no reason beyond ANet's bottom line (if that would even be affected) not to give players a means to just shut off all the player/mount models and still allow for max settings. Just think how peaceful it would be with all those shiny motes flitting around amidst the ultra setting graphical scenery? Ahh...so nice. I just want peace and harmony, man. Don't make me angry.

I think I may have been leech shamed. I'm a gigantic leech. I take pretty much anything anyone offers for free in this game (and to an extent, anywhere). I see no reason not to, and if dumping a food item on the ground lets me (I also feed the leeches) and those I made it for get it, I don't care if every leech in the game (I am of their kind, after all) takes some, too. In fact, the more people that benefit, the less the effort goes to waste. Win / win. Please think of the leeches! They're people, too (sorta)! Leeches for Life!

Anyone know if opening Drooburt's disheveled mystery bags now, after the festival, will properly award AP? I have 20 I forgot to pop and am not keen on wasting them if they won't count toward "Spectral Hand of the Market" (which no longer shows up in the 'cheevs search results).

I want to see the limit removed when sending / receiving mail from people on a mutual friends list. That is, I'm on Somedude's friends list, and he's on mine. This still allows those who end up friending an idiot who thinks it's fun to spam to just remove them and be done with it, but not be limited to 2 emails a minute in cases where it functions as little more than an annoyance. Leaving a 10 second window between emails would be ok to stem any botted power spamming that could cause issues with the mail system, but outside that I see no reason those on a mutual friends list should be "protected" from one another.