Foxon.2369

The problem with Deadeye is that to perfectly do the rotation you need three stealth abilities minimum (2 from Shadowmeld, your heal, burst, and your Steal) and even then there's windows you can't Ambush because of gaps. Kneeling isn't the issue (though the change to no more coming out of Kneel when disabled is very welcome). Deadeye's ambush mechanic could use a whole rework to make it less clunky to play and open up some of the utility choices. Maybe rely on how much intiative you spend to "proc" an ambush. Or give Steal's F2 multiple charges. I have no clue why one of Deadeye's major selling points, the 1500 range, had to be nerfed.

A Public Test Realm might not be in the budget of Anet's staff, plus it would require resources which everyone knows Anet doesn't have. They already have a very good, sound system (that in my opinion is superior to something like WoW's PTR system): The beta system. A few weeks before major patches (maybe not for smaller patches), let us create test characters the same way beta characters work. They can't earn anything, they are snapshot characters, except using the new patch update so players that want to give input, the experts, the casuals, everyone can test for themselves and provide input here on the forums and Reddit. A day or two would never hurt and would fill the void Anet needs but can't provide. One downside of a PTR is you need an abundance of players or you can't do things like raid testing, major group content, etc for real world testing. With beta characters, that's all fixed because they're on real servers.

I think Anet went about their problem wrong. If the problem is "how do we get more players into raids", making them easier isn't the way to go about it, especially when it affects every raider indirectly. The big problem I've heard from players who "want to raid but don't because X" has nothing to do with the raid difficulty or rewards. It's about the social anxiety that comes with trying to get into content. It could be that communities are stringy on failure (which is a form of toxicity) or there's a barrier to entry (not being in a guild, static, or Kill Proof with no effective way to get a guild, static, or earn KP). The way to get more people into raids is to make getting into groups simpler. Guild recruiting and getting into a guild/finding a guild is a process that needs to be improved. Guilds are a fantastic less toxic way to start raids, plus there's less social anxiety if you group with people you know. I just don't want the "it's embolden week for this so we're going to use it because it's easier" to be the new norm even among regular or "elite" raiders. I like the idea of getting more players into raids, but "dumbing down" a wing each week for the sake of new players doesn't sit well with me.