[So… med kit is junk on Mechanist?]

1 minute ago, Obtena.7952 said:

Wow, someone is going to have a shock. Muppets or not, Anet DOES do what they want, whether players think it's the best or not. Better get used to it. 

When the entire community of theorycrafters are sitting here saying, "Uhh, hey.. this doesn't work. Someone needs to see what they've just done wrong here, here, here, and here, and fix it before anything here is workable.", that's generally a good sign that roleplayers need to step down and stop trying to say, "No, wait and see how it'll all be, it'll be great!", or, as in your case, "Well get used to it because YOU don't get a say!"

Go kill another game with your false machismo. At least the devs DO read the forums and are likely making notes from all the comments the theorycrafters are saying that will be address after the beta.

You're welcome for us fighting against you and making sure the devs hear what we have to say.

[So… med kit is junk on Mechanist?]

50 minutes ago, Jski.6180 said:

Then it will have to be on the swap like using morder kit.

It used to be, then they realised what a glaring oversight that was when you could proc every, "When Heal Skill Cast", trigger at a ridiculous pace since the swap into the kit has no CD.

Also, "When Elite Skill Cast", triggers don't function on the Mortar Kit's Elite button. They instead move to the F5 butto--oh no, mmmn, yeah, dang, guess they don't work either anymore, do they?

Do you see why this entire spec is a problem, yet?

[So… med kit is junk on Mechanist?]

9 hours ago, Kaizoku.1298 said:

Yeah I have just revisited the traits and skills and noticed that the CD gets longer if the mech is missing health.

We'll see how long it will be since we have access to lots of alacrity.

At best, 75 seconds.
In reality, closer to 90 seconds. The only Alacrity that we have access to once the Mech dies is on the final attack in our Mace AA chain.

[So… med kit is junk on Mechanist?]

3 hours ago, Jski.6180 said:

Your a support build the point is not to self support but to support others and your pet..

In this game?

THIS GAME?

ARE YOU INSANE!? THAT IS NOT HOW THIS GAME IS BALANCED IN ITS GAMEPLAY. AT ALL. PERIOD. FULL-STOP. THIS GAME PUNISHES SUPPORT BUILDS PUNITIVELY FOR DECIDING TO FORCE THEIR EXISTENCE WITHIN THE SYSTEM THAT DOESN'T WANT THEM and that's actually sort of okay with how things are; everybody is meant to take responsibility for themselves by actively avoiding damage and reacting to their own taken damage as-needed, not be carried by one person declaring, "I'm heals!", and letting the group hamfist or spunkgargleweewee their way through fights, WHICH ONLY DRIVES THE POINT HOME THAT I CANNOT, FOR THE LIFE OF ME, FIGURE OUT WHAT DEGREE OF INSANITY SOMEONE OUGHT TO DIAGNOSE YOU WITH SINCE REMOVING SOMEONE'S ABILITY TO HEAL AND SUPPORT THEMSELVES ISN'T A SACRIFICE IN THIS GAME, IT ISN'T A PRO-VERSUS-CON DECISION.

IT'S BLASTED IGNORANCE IS WHAT IT IS, AS IS THE BLATANT LAZY, SLOTHFUL ACCEPTANCE THAT LEADS ANYONE TO LAY DOWN AND TAKE IT AS, "Well the devs decided it so it must be the best thing.", THAT YOU AND EVERY MUPPET THAT ACCEPTS IT AS STATEMENT OF FACT THAT CANNOT PUT THE THOUGHT INTO SEEING FIVE SECONDS INTO THE FUTURE AND SEEING HOW IT WOULD PLAY OUT.

YOU DON'T NEED THE BETA TO KNOW THAT SOMETHING ISN'T RIGHT.

22 minutes ago, Kodama.6453 said:

Name me one single support build in this game which isn't able to heal itself (including having NO access to a healing skill on 6).

+1 Kodama.

[E-Spec: Mechanist]

Necro.

I cannot believe THIS is what we got. I. Cannot. Even.

I'm speechless. This exact thread.

Utterly speechless.

[So… med kit is junk on Mechanist?]

1 minute ago, Kodama.6453 said:

I really hope anet thought of this and made some stand in. Like the mecha F1 skill triggering these effects or something. Because I don't want to imagine that Anet is so clueless about our class....

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but they've shown time and time again that they are just that clueless about our class and have no idea what to do with it and regret including it in the line-up of the original 8 classes.

[So… med kit is junk on Mechanist?]

26 minutes ago, Kodama.6453 said:

How are you supposed to heal yourself on med kit without F1?

I think he is saying that Regeneration is worth anything. I know he is not about to say that the skill 4 is worth anything, because in full Minstrel's (Or Harrier's, honestly), the heal is barely over 1100.

Surely, he is trying to assert that Regeneration is worth a dren and I hope that he is, because I would sincerely hope that I can attribute his statement to ignorance rather than outright malice.

[The Mechanist let down and improvement ideas]

1 hour ago, Zuldari.3940 said:

Well they have time to work out the kinks. Hopefully they do because im completely hyped about this one. 

Yeah, I think if we give them another nine years, they'll work out how to make Ranger pet AI not be so bad, too!

[So… med kit is junk on Mechanist?]

1 minute ago, BobbyT.7192 said:

I mean thats something that they could add

In three years.

[So… med kit is junk on Mechanist?]

4 minutes ago, BobbyT.7192 said:

They could just have the normal utility f skill there while the mech is not available, that way you have something while your mech is dead.

You don't. We saw it on stream. Without the AI nightmare that didn't even do what it was supposed to ON STREAM WITH THE DEV, he still didn't have the toolbelt skills even when it was dead. They all just disappeared excepting for the [SUMMON PET] button.

[Mechanist Feels Like A Whole New Class]

Yeah, it's.. really dead on arrival. We don't gain anything for taking the Mech - we just lose, lose, lose. There is no bonus to the mech that makes it worth it, aside from one trait - Alacrity on Barrier application... but sacrificing the entirety of the universe just for that? No way is that worth it.

I'll check the spec out in five years. It'll take three for them to make it functional and five for them to finally give it a balancing pass that makes it useful.

[A way to give random buffs/help others?]

I know what you mean, being someone that played as the Commander role in Battlefield.. almost exclusively. I enjoyed that WAY more than any of the action-packed, moment-to-moment gameplay. Just being able to relay information across to the entire friendly army and throw down supplies, artillery, etc. etc. and support my team members without ever actually being on the map myself.

As it stands, there is nothing even close to it. The best you can do is be a buff/heal build stalker that follows people around, or cruises about the maps dropping in and helping randoms that are engaged in something, then moving on to wherever the breeze blows you toward.

[Bleed builds]

2 hours ago, SeTect.5918 said:

Even tho u reach 100% bleeding dur and so on, you cannot reach "big" bleeding damage. 

Yesterday in t4 Molten boss. 45.9% came from burning, 13,2% from bleeding, 10% from confusion and 9% from poison. The rest was strike damage. Total dps was 28.3k. 

Tho the bleeding also Highly depends on luck. 

Why? 33% bleed Chance on crit. 33% bleed Chance on Explosion hit. And only ur grenade kit skill 2 and auto attack is doing bleed besides of the Chance traits. 

Thats my opinion at least.

I'll agree with you that Burning is far more potent than Bleed in terms of raw damage potential, but.. you do put out some decent bleeding stacks. If you've built at all for DPS, then your crit chance is going to be pushing 90%+, and you throw out three grenades every time you use a skill from the Grenade Kit.

[In which role should the New e spec fit in? (Power dps, condi dps, support....)]

We need a decent Boon Support that actually puts out what end game content requires (Might/+/Alac) and we also need a good condi spec. Those are the things we're lacking - we ARGUABLY have the condi, though it's not as fun and enjoyable as people make it out to be.

[Mount skins are too expensive]

2 minutes ago, kharmin.7683 said:

The problem that I have with this type of argument is that no one knows the in-depth financials at Anet.  Maybe the current pricing is just over the break-even point? 

Still, $20 for a skin that is not even required to complete game content is something that I would have a difficult time in describing as financial ruin.  Many people pay more than that per month for their cell phone service.  I would even argue that $20 is cheaper than an evening at the movies if one includes popcorn/soda/snacks plus the gas to get to and from the theater (or train/bus ticket or Uber). 

If $20 is their break-even point at their current sales (Which I honestly have not met anybody other than myself out in the wild who just ponies up the cash for them and gets on with life), then they really need to reconsider their business model.

[Mount skins are too expensive]

1 minute ago, kharmin.7683 said:

Why make it $5 then?  Why not $1?  That's even lower which should lead to even more sales, right?

I would say $7 would be.

Expensive enough that Anet does actually get something out of it, but cheap enough that nobody is heading for financial ruin because they want a half decent looking mount skin.

[Mount skins are too expensive]

On 9/20/2021 at 1:30 PM, Shael.4703 said:

You fail to understand what is the issue is.

Let's use your logic: "if you are too poor to afford Gems in your country, then you need to get a job or start a business".

...

Put yourselves in the shoes of others and you will understand how the world works.

Snipping a bit because wall of text plus a wall of incoming text would be horrendous to subject people to, but you, dear Shael, Sir and/or Madam, have just won the internet for today. Absolutely nothing to do with anything else I have to say, I just wanted to give you my kudos.

I am going to a very quick, very brief target market analysis of the game's market from a marketing perspective (Because that's what I'm qualified to do IRL), and then together we are going to check whether it meets the needs of those that play it:
At what point(s) on Mazlow's hierarchy does an online video game appeal to a person?
Starting from bottom to top, and again, this is just quick and off the top of my head because I am not being paid for this and I will be frelled if I go looking for numbers and research and in-depth figures when there is no money involved. I am not doing Anet Marketing Division's job for them;

Physiological
Nope. The game (Or any game for that matter) is going to do nothing to keep you alive. May, if anything, help to do the opposite. No game will put a roof over your head, feed you, keep you watered, or keep you warm.

 

Safety
Nope. The game will not do anything to protect you, or your life, offer you any kind of stability in that life, nor will it keep you in gainful employment, nor will it ensure your health.
I would hear arguments for 'stability' - but all that I have ever heard have only highlighted just how bad online games are for it due to the market practices at large being incredibly predatory and manipulative in nature.
A casino is stable. You always know you are going to lose. But you are manipulated and tricked into thinking that you have a chance because you see all of the small wins of everyone around you and the occasional big one - but you are conditioned to never think about the losses incurred and the fact that majority of those people are walking away at a financial deficit.
In the case of Guild Wars 2, at the very least, we avoid this one, thank the Eight and One for that.

Yeah, I am going to call out EA Games for targeting people in this category with their beyond monumentally horrendous gambling practices.

Shame, shame, shame.

 

Belonging
Interestingly, you can argue that it can replace a family or social circle - but that is in a case where someone is experiencing a deficit.
Games DO NOT in reality offer any meaningful substitute for real world human connection, as much as they can offer a facsimile and escape from having to deal with that deficit. It is a trap that all too many gamers fall into and one that is difficult to get out of once you are in it, and a topic for another post that is not this one.
The point remains though that a good portion of the community does, in fact, fall into here, and those people in this category for whom the game manages to hit are usually financially poor, but are willing to spend money to maintain the appearance of connection with others, false though it may be in actuality.
It is why your father keeps looking out of the living room window to look at the neighbour's lawn every five minutes (As though anything will have changed about ASTROTURF in the last hour, Jesus dad). What are they using to trim the grass?! What is the weather on the days they are mowing it?! Dinkleburg bought a ride-on mower, so I have to go out and get me one of them so I can look like I am keeping up with him and we can chat about them!

 

Esteem
Bingo.
People at this level of the hierarchy are not stressed about those things on the lower levels. There is no tiger about to murder them, the pantry is fully stocked, they cannot feel the snow outside with how high the AC has been cranked. They are at minimal risk of losing there position in life. They have fully formed relationships with their loved ones (Be it parents, spouse, offspring, friends, etc.).
So long as they maintain the status quo of their life, they do not need to fret over what they have disappearing. Maintaining that status quo means that these people are time-poor. They have full-time jobs, they have families to maintain, they have commitments that mean taking care of their health is more important than the game.
For them, the game provides a small measure of achievement and prestige. These are the people that you find crafting every legendary in the game, maxing out all their Reward tracks at least once, getting map completion of all the content available, capping out their Achievement Points, etc. etc.
And they do it in their off-time. What little of it they have.
This category is, while the most likely to engage with the system (Gold to gem conversion!), are the least likely to invest  themselves financially into the system. They have families to take care of and lives to maintain. What unspoken for income they have is far more likely to be spent with those they care about, rather than on something wholly selfish (Which.. games kind of are. "You could be spending that money toward our family vacation to Disneyland!", would argue their significant other).

 

Self-Actualisation
Not even worth mentioning. I only bring it up so nobody can accuse me of forgetting it exists.
Elon Musk is not now, not later, and not ever going to be spending money in whatever games he plays, unless it is for the sheer giggles of it and because he is being recorded, because he is a content generating machine. "LOLOLOLOLOLOL watch as I buy $750 000 worth of gems and fluff up Anet's quarterly financials and drive their investors insane!"
Jeff Bezos is never going to spend money on games. Why would he? What need does he have that games fulfill?

The upper crust and higher echelons of society are the majority of this group, and not many of them care about games. Many of them are INCREDIBLY time-poor, as much as they are financially wealthy. Gaming is a niche interest, and does not fulfill anything substantial, as much as it is a wonderful way to express one's creativity at this level.

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

With Mazlow's out of the way, let us break down specifically the two sections that the game does nail: Belonging and Esteem.

For those who seek Belonging out of the game: Please seek help. This game, nor any other, will truly give you the help you need. Why do I say this? Because the sick and twisted truth of the matter is that if you fall into this category, chances are very high that you are suffering with mental illness of some variety (Be it depression, anxiety, whatever else that holds you back from feeling a 'complete' or 'fulfilling' sense of social environment), so please. Get help. This game and all others prey upon your need to a truly Bond villain-esque degree.

Why am I coming on so strongly about this?
Belonging people are the ones that will spend money - and they will spend big. Money they do not actually have. They will spend rent money, food money, bill money, and whatever else, just so they can feel that they are Keeping Up with the Kardashians - and then suffer MAJORLY for it when those things still need paying afterwards.
They are also the players that do not have the focus (emotionally or mentally) to deal with Achievement Point hunting, running around doing map completion, or whatever else is actually required in 'playing the game'.

We all have people in this category in our guilds: These are the people that show up to any kind of thing with a degree of sociability (WvW zerging, dungeon runs, raids), but otherwise.. kind of just stand around Divinity's Reach doing... uhh, nothing? Alt+Tabbed watching other things, waiting for the next flash of false social connection they can find.

This is where a majority of the game's income comes from. That is HORRIBLE that we, as a society, have failed so badly that we would target people THIS vulnerable. It is NOT a matter of, "Well, they should just get another job!", nor, "Then why are they spending their money on games if they can't afford it?".
Online games trick and manipulate those who are vulnerable to this section into thinking and believing that they can genuinely help sate that human NEED to be social.

Let us move on!

 

For those seeking Esteem from the game, they have the mental clarity and wherewithal to set themselves a task and see it through. They plan ahead what they do, much as they do in real life; they have twenty year mortgages to pay off. What does it matter if it takes six months to get through a set of achievements, by comparison? It may take them six months, but that is because they spend maybe four hours a week doing them.
Does it matter to them if they take a little while to get the flashiest mount skin because of the current Gold-to-Gem conversion rate? No. They are seeking their own personal, self-satisfaction. As much as it is nice to show-off, they do not feel like they need to posture about what they have or do not have.

They have spare income that they would spend on the game, if the price point is correct.
From ALL OF THE PEOPLE IN THIS VERY THREAD AND ALL OVER REDDIT AND EVERYWHERE ELSE THAT SAY, "What? Why buy gems? The are expensive, but Anet's got to make money.. I just convert gold to gems lol", THE PRICE POINT IS CURRENTLY INCORRECT AND IS TOO HIGH FOR THIS GROUP'S INTEREST. Nobody from here is going to spend $35 to buy one skin from the cash shop. The Belonging group that we discussed earlier would, but not this group. This group has a social circle to consider. They are not just seeking their own self-interests. The choices they make have ramifications for the people surrounding them, meaning they are much less likely to make financial sacrifices.

 

------------------------------

With this thesis done (And I really should have handed this in as the final thesis of my marketing course - if I ever go near one again, I may just pilfer it for that purpose), I hope I have demonstrated to the naysayers why the pricing needs to change. Those it is hoping will engage with it are not the ones that are engaging with it. Those that really should not be engaging are. In both cases, there is just more suffering being spread around - minor setbacks of time for the Esteem group are likely to eventually drive them away ("Hey, can you cover X's shift tonight? She's out because her kid is sick" / "Daddy, I want to go to the park!" / "Hon can you pick up the kids? I need to go see mum, she said something's up with dad and he's being stubborn or whatever and I'm just going to let her vent.", all eventually lead to, "Ehh.. games are fun but I just don't really have time for them anymore I guess."), while those in the Belonging group --- I have said enough, but they are lead by the nose ring down a spiral they cannot themselves break free of until it is too late and what little social lives they may have had are in tatters.

[Holo heat reset when mounting deleted - but why tho]

8 hours ago, insanemaniac.2456 said:

if it retained your heat and they called that a bug and switched it to deleting your heat after 2 years, the complaints would just be opposite.

 

apparently someone thought changing it was important though i guess.

 

but also maybe consider if the gameplay loop of 'mount -> strong engage skill -> huge dps and big cc -> mount -> immediately repeat' for free trash clearing wherever mounting is available is what photon forge is supposed to be, because it has heat specifically so you cant use it all the time, unlike every other kit.

 

edit: what's confusing?

As there is a lack of a genuine negative, "I don't like this/I disagree with this/I would like to express what I'm really feeling about this.", option, most people use Confused as a pseudo-downvote.

[Thank you for the new AoE ring effects]

6 hours ago, Tiilimon.6094 said:

 

And you wont know at all what the floor even looks like when theres 8 fields stacked on top of each other with the icons merging into some strange mess.

I believe you are right, and everything is indistinctive since it is all piled on top of one another.

 

I also believe that we have been teased by the devs through them. After all, as players, are we not all indistinct from each other when we're stacked on top of each other as a Zerg-blob? >:D.

[Dear devs: Please don't think ALL thief players want dual sword or greatsword ):]

It's Scepter.

 

I'll settle for Engineers getting mace.. just so long as we get to see you Thieves re-enacting How Not To Summon A Demon Lord.

[Legendary Armor won't create more than 1 sword]

Advice above, + just buy another one from the AH. Buy gems -> Trade for gold.

[Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons Discussion Thread: Gameplay and Elite Specializations [MERGED]]

19 hours ago, Linken.6345 said:

That just mean we will get medium classes in beta 2 and possibly beta 3.

Heavy might only be in beta 2 or split up 1 in each beta while light will only be in another beta after this likely beta 3.

 

And still it do not matter all of them will be worked on after the betas and before release anyway.

I feel like they're just complaining to complain, and have completely missed the point of the beta.

[Beta characters will have access to WvW current accounts earned World Ability Points?]

Yes, whatever mounts you have unlocked, they will be able to use as well. All of those unlocks are account-based, so meaning that if you get them once on a character, any other character on your account will be able to use those unlocks.

 

Now, if you go trying to use the beta characters to make some kind of progress, I.. don't actually know what happens, even if it is account-bound progress. Best guesstimate, from what I've read elsewhere, is don't. Because it'll bork things.

[New elite spec weapon?]

2 hours ago, WERN.2836 said:

 

Yah I have a bit concern about that since core engie can use only 1 mh weapon and 2 oh weapons so if we get a new oh weapon, we have only 1 mh choice and if we get new oh, it's gonna be like holo and we may end up using engie tools like the same.

 

I really expect to get a 2-h weapon for higher choices for weapon skills like greatsword or staff. Both of them can be either melee or range, physical or magical depend on the elite spec mechanics.

Yeah, I'm expecting a 2H something as well, if for no other reason than Holo kind of showed just how we can't do anything with our lack of Core engie weapons.

Like.. I've tried. TRIED. My best to make Sword/Pistol work. Lord, I've tried my best, I've tried all stat spreads.. but it really just doesn't play well. One is a Power-based weapon that is just there while our Power-based, "Uber-moves" (Holoforge) are cooling down (.. a pun my soul, if you see what I did there). And one has a condi-based burst, and a CC that honestly gets misfired more than genuinely used.

You would think Viper's, but then our Power is too low (And we don't get any of the bombastic crits that just ride from cruise-control mode with Holosmith). You'd think a Condi-based build, but.. yeah, we all know the amount of effort that goes into playing it (And the Keyboard Piano of diving in and out of kits at muscle-memory, lightning speed), and you're honestly not going to be doing that with Sword/Pistol, you'd just go Dual Pistol... if not Pistol/Shield to take up some CC-break and cover our meagre defensive bases. No to mention that for Holosmith, that's meaningless - Holoforge does not have strong enough DoT's to do much with. You have skill 4, and then... Uhhh. Skill 2 on the Sword?

 

We desperately need more Core weapons before we can really get comfortable with taking 1H mainhands, let alone off-hands.

[New elite spec weapon?]

1 hour ago, sajah varel.9261 said:

Personally I would like scepter + focus. No class has access to scepter + focus but not staff. Plus it would add choices to the weapon mix (base engineer only has 1 mainhand and it's ranged, so you can't just add an off hand).

Th--..

Oh my God.

I've never thought of it like that.
We are disqualified from getting an Off-Hand weapon in our Elite Specs unless it's paired with something else.

 

You're entirely right. We don't have any other weapon than pistol, which means anything that solely adds an Off-Hand would be incredibly unfair and disadvantageous to the extreme, because we don't have any choice of how to play with it, unlike other classes. That's actually a brilliant line of logic.