Shrike Arghast.3856

If the other races weren't so horribly unappealing, maybe more people would play them, and Anet would cater to them more significantly. Humans are literally the only genuinely attractive race. And, sorry, but the vast majority of people WILL choose a pretty paper doll over a 'unique' one.

I realize this probably gets asked a lot, but... might as well add my mark to the tally. I've recently dumped my weaver because a) I completely suck at it, and b) is doesn't offer - for me - the smooth, relatively slick combat that I'm accustomed to in GW2. 2h sword Mesmer on the other hand... yes. Now, I realize that I'm only 56, and that things can and will change, but at least so far, I'm enjoying mesmer more than any class I've played. However, I'd really like to stick with the greatsword moving forward - primarying it even once I choose an elite specialization. So which of the three fits this objective the best? I'm going to go out on a limb and guess it isn't chronomancer (but if it is, that's fine, too). Please steer me in the right direction. Thanks.

I prefer dungeons over fractals. I honestly think they missed the mark with the newer stuff.

I think you're reading a bit too much into this. I remember when people used to claim that the Star Wars prequels were social commentary on the Bush administration. I viewed the notion as silliness 2 decades ago, and I still do today. The fact of the matter is that people are tribal, and stories tend to almost always devolve into an "us vs. them" framework because we - as humans - don't really understand much else. Yes, Arenanet could probably tell a very intricate story involving the hive-minding of the dwarves. But would it ultimately tick as many emotional boxes as they want with the vast majority of players? Probably not. Because easy-to-understand is both simple to write and to sell. And I don't expect much different moving forward. But no, I do not view GW2's writing as some kind of coy treatise on modern politics or social movements.

I'll go first: I'm currently maining a Weaver, and I am flat out terrible at it. I cannot remember the skills, I routinely forget which elements I'm currently using (thus swapping to bad combinations on the next change), I am constantly dying even in PvE because I forget that the thing is a glass cannon with absolutely zero sustain. Overall, I'm just bad. But I really, really like the aesthetic, and the playstyle is almost a siren's song - aggressively baiting me with "wow, this might be really cool if you keep at it!... too bad you suck, though." I can't be the only one doing this.

Lol. Video game misogyny. Please tell me you're kidding. It wasn't funny, but it wouldn't be so appalling if you were.

I didn't advocate killing her. I'd punt her from Dragon's Watch because if it was actually "my" guild, I would only want to hang out with people I regarded as friends. But killing her? No way. For all I know, she may be a terrible ally, but the world's most amazing rival or antagonist. I'm not a big believer in throwing away characters - one of my biggest gripes with Harry Potter is how it devolved into essentially a shooting gallery. But I don't like having the people with the most dialogue also be the least interesting. So Kas can live, I just don't want her living with me.

It's too late to do anything about it now, but I feel like the wvw maps are just too expansive for their own good. They should have been about half their current size.

I think the problem (if you can call it that) is that GW2 essentially lacks progression in a traditional sense (the ACTUAL progression is these unlocks), and people aren't used to that. Here, things that are considered general kit in other MMORPGs (mounts)... aren't. They're the progression. And I don't know that ArenaNet is doing such a hot job of communicating that message to newcomers (ESPECIALLY now that the raptor is just handed out at 10; this leads newbies to believe they'll soon be screaming through the zone on a griffin). In WoW, you get to 20 (or whatever it is now), you pay your (easily acquired) gold, and you have a mount. By the time you reach the other thresholds, you have (if you've been playing right) plenty of gold to afford the other mounts. Mounts there aren't a 'thing' (and they haven't really been since BC). FFXIV has it even easier. And even a fringe game like Black Desert just THROWS tier 8 mounts at the players. But those games have different priorities. In GW2, mounts are one of the priorities. However, I do believe a better job could be done conveying to players "hey, yeah, it's not that rough to get gear here - these big grinds are actually what you're working towards." Instead, I think they kind of throw people to the wolves a bit, and that's where much of this angst comes from.

So, I'm pretty new to playing the game hardcore - I've owned it for years, and dabbled multiple times, but only in the last month(ish) having I been playing it multiple hours every day. And, yeah, I think the mounts are a bit too daunting to unlock - especially when so much content is gated (or turned into hardmode) behind both a) possessing them, and b) fully researching them. If you're determined to get the full stable of beasties, then yes, of course you will succeed at it. But I don't think the majority of today's MMORPG players really want to spend a massive amount of time playing out hours of stories and clawing their way all over multiple maps to nab mastery points. On the other hand, this is kind of what GW2 *is.* The game is basically built around this overworld content - yes, there's some instanced stuff, PvP, and WvW. But most of the playerbase spends their days out in the world unlocking... stuff. And mounts are just one of those various objectives. So, in that sense, if you don't like unlocking them, you don't really like GW2. It's kind of a quandary. Because I frankly admit that I nearly quit (again) over the double whammy of playing through the story + grabbing mastery/hero points. And I don't look down on people who don't want to do any of that at all - I didn't. I did it, but I don't begrudge people who don't and ultimately conclude that they don't want to play over it. So... yeah...

Yeah, Anise is... really tough. She makes nobility in general look horrible. Which is a shame, since chances are pretty good that more than 1/3rd of the human playbase chose a noble birth as their character background (why do I guess that it's more than 1/3rd? Because royal blood is of really high appeal to a lot of us - in most cases more appealing than being poor [which is a reality that I'm pretty damned familiar with, unfortunately]).

It's definitely the Kytan Sword's handle, but not the same blade (those weird side things above the crossguard wouldn't fit in that scabbard). Good catch on the handle, though.

Full disclosure: I didn't know until about 20 minutes ago that she was LGBT (I've been playing the story out of order - wanted to get the mounts first), but it really shouldn't have any bearing on any of this. I couldn't care less if she was attracted to shoes or rock cornish game hens, much less the same sex. While I genuinely enjoy the banter from characters like Canach and Rytlock, Kas comes off as joyless and excruciatingly earnest - the type of person who can't crack a joke, let alone make one. I make a big effort IRL to avoid hanging around those people - it bothers me a lot that I have to put up with one in GW2. Because, frankly, given the choice, I'd eject her from DW.

https://imgur.com/Qiik3Yx It's just so basic and elegant. I really like the inverted crossguard, and the fact that the blade just seems to be a simple, real-world design. Crazy weapons are an MMORPG staple, and I'm fine with that. But I'm someone who likes more (sorta) realistic ordinance, and wish the ones in GW2 weren't essentially limited to starting/low-level gear.

Also many thanks. Sorry it took me so long - weird sleep schedule this week.

I know you can get one by opening 1000 trick-or-treat bags, but barring that, is there another method? Thanks.

I just want... like... a pack or satchel that will match or at least compliment my character's outfit. Are no "bag" type backs dyable? Thanks.

I have the Zafirah's Rifle skin, but it's a big bolty and just looks wrong with Rifle Burst. I was wondering if there were any skins that anyone knows of that are more compact (and perhaps black/gunmetal) that would look a bit better firing a 3-round burst? Like is there anything SMG-ish? Also, completely unrelated question, but is what is the best gun-oriented engineer specialization? Mine is currently a holosmith and... that clearly isn't it.

You'd have to develop the game world from the ground-up to essentially be dynamic content that changes for everyone regardless of where they are in the story (if the story exists at all). This is the approach Ashes of Creation seems to be taking - and the result will be that every server will look significantly different from others after only a few weeks. However, AoC isn't even close to launching, and it still remains to be seen how deep or superficial these server differences wind up being. For an MMO with any kind of a story, the approach taken by GW2 is probably the best-possible solution.

It's really not that hard to level to 80 - a few days' work at most. Since mount and gear are account rather than character-bound, it's not that much effort to get a new toon "on its feet," so to speak. Yes, obviously there is more to it than that - having to run around and grab hero points again, and potentially even play some of the story. But this isn't an EVE Online-like investment where rerolling is literally throwing away years.

I guess I was more talking about, say, random dwarf tombs that you can wander into and such. Some of them do play a role in the personal story - others are just names on the map.

Be careful what you wish for. Remember this? Gun sounds aren't great. But they could be worse. Much... much worse.

Just wanted to praise the development team - if they read these forums at all - for the way that world content is designed. I know a lot of people have hangups about various aspects of the game, but I cannot see any reason to complain about how Tyria actually functions in a zone-to-zone manner. What am I talking about? A combination of the following: Events that players can trigger. Events that ALSO trigger on their own, so that NPCs will embark on miniature quests, fight, and - if no help arrives - die and fail all on their own. Events that trigger succeeding events - even if you fail. I love the way, say, towns can be defended, or they can fall and then be recaptured. World bosses that anyone just passing through can participate in, even if they're just zooming around playing medic the entire time. A tally of goals for each zone that never feels particularly tedious to tick off (yes, sometimes I don't enjoy the jump puzzles, but then I just go do something else for a while). A large number of towns, hamlets, hovels, and camps dot the map. Even if they serve no profound purpose, they make the world feel lived-in. Similarly, there are downright pointless ruins everywhere - small tombs, shattered castles, eroded walls, and so-on. Although many of them have no distinct history of their own, collectively, their presences makes Tyria feel ancient. A superb score that I have never once turned off (although it can seem slightly limited at times - I just wish there were more tracks). Clearly, the game DOES have major issues. But when I compare the state of the world to something like World of Warcraft or FFXIV, the difference is just day and night. Both those games have near completely-dead overworlds: WoW's is truly vacant; almost nobody does anything as a group in FFXIV in the main world ~two weeks following an expansion launch (fates, which used to be the backbone of leveling, are now essentially dead content). Even at odd hours of the day - 3 or 4 am west coast time - I can log onto GW2, head to any random zone of my choosing, and find people doing stuff solo or as a group. And let me tell you: that is NINENTY PERCENT of what I want from an MMORPG - just to see the world live.

Hum. Okay, thank you very much. You've given me a lot to think on.

Yeah, I knew that water/frost for the elementalist was more support-oriented. Does Reaper force you to use the scythe? It's not an aesthetic that really appeals to me.