[Harvest Temple CM <1%]

2 hours ago, Wintermute.5408 said:

Then again, looking at raids and fractals, anet isn't familiar with difficulty curve concept anyway.

Theres actually quite nice difficulty curve with EOD strikes. You start really easy and ramp up from there all the way to HT CM. 

[Balance patch and forums]

Every change in this game gets a sky is falling I quit post. Just wait for the 10 year birthday gift. 

[Harvest Temple CM <1%]

3 hours ago, Heibi.4251 said:

Let's not get into an argument on who enjoys hard content. I enjoy challenging content as well. My initial opening post is aimed at asking ANET if concentrating on content that fewer than 1% are able to complete should be done. As of now someone says 9 groups have done this. That's 90 people out of what - 500,000 active players? That's 0.00018% of the population. Even if you say there are only 100,000 players that's still 0.00009% of the population. Is that a good business model? You still had to devote DEV/DEVs time to it. Sure there are lots more trying it out, but the success rate is very low(obviously), and I'm sure ANET has the metrics on this. 

 

On a side note I like the changes to the old world bosses. They don't die in less than 2 minutes anymore. Plus they added some "teaching" mechanics in starter zones that never existed before. I thank ANET for doing that.

Its not a full encounter though. Its just one mode. It doesnt require that much dev time.

I think its a good addition and they should keep up at it if they want to expand the raiding/strike community. No serious raiding guild is going to tackle gw2 if the hardest encounters are cleared in a few tries.

[Something weird about raids]

4 minutes ago, Raven.1524 said:

You could say that meeting people, creating groups and guilds is part of the experience, so I should start my own group... I don't think I really care about that, but I don't think it's bad either, just not what I'm looking for right now.

This "start your own" group for progression raiding is not really a good advice for someone that never really raided. I see it as a bit of meme answer to players that feel entitled that others should open groups for them. But I don't think its applicable to progression raiding. 

Why not just join a raiding guild?  That's always the best, fastest and most fun option to basically achieve anything in mmo games. 

The player base in this game has this strange attitude towards guilds. Guilds are usually the driving force for everything in mmos. But I guess the casual and overall friendly design actually led this game to lack of communities. 

[Something weird about raids]

48 minutes ago, Raven.1524 said:

questioning if it was really designed to be this weird to start getting into raids or is it like this for every other mmo raiding scene?

 

Honestly, If all raids are designed to be like this, maybe the simplest answer is that in regards to hard content, I should either only play games my friends play or play single player games with hard difficulty (I don't know, monster hunter after master rank 200+ event stuff?)

Generally yes. I mean it makes sense. Raids are modes that are designed to test both players' individual skill and group coordination. For that you need a coherent group, preferably a static. 

Pugging is usually done by experienced players that either didnt raid with guild for the week, do it on second account or are just doing "farm" encounters which guild doesnt schedule anymore. Progression pugging is rare but that is what raid training could be labeled in gw2.

Some games like wow have implemented LFR modes which does the grouping for you. But for me thats not really raiding. Technically its a raid but its more like a tour guide, a preview.

 

Basically if you are interested in raiding a guild is always the best answer for any game.

[Crafting legendary tier 1 - how to?]

No there is not. Mystic forge recipes were hidden, a kind of community discovery. So for recipes you will need external sites like wiki. 

[Downloading now. Should I play the base game or just go right to the expansions?]

If you decide the base game is boring do try the expansion before you quit. Those are a big step up from vanilla.

[Why I have problems coming back to GW2 every time.]

Yeah it was one of the most botched and greediest implementation they made up to date. And it didnt help they took down the better, free alternative mod with it. 

[Genuinely afraid to pick one main to dedicate to.]

BS Warrior currently has top power dps and is overall also very high in dps charts. I'm sure power zerk and condi zerk are competitive. 

The banner changes are a pity yes, I liked the guaranteed spot in squad. But I will still be playing my zerker when I feel like just some easy dpsing.

It will be harder to get a spot though but if you can play the profession there is no objective reason to not take you as dps. But that is why I also have a guardian that is always in need 🙂 (well I have all professions and usually cycle through them) 

[Support for Duo group]

Keep in mind with rev you can take Legendary dwarf for second legend. Stability, dmg reduction and stun break for your son and also taunt. 

[At what point is it elitism vs efficiency?]

1 hour ago, Labjax.2465 said:

Nope. Look at most LFG listings in this game, some of it for content that is significantly easier than a raid. Still post after post of chicken scratch shorthand and role expectations in a game where roles aren't supposed to matter much.

I understand perfectly that some content in this game is more unforgiving and role requirements make sense sometimes. But defending the state of LFG in GW2 on the premise that there's "no mmorpg out there without [such issues]." It's just missing the point completely. Most MMOs have trinity system, so it's virtually impossible not to fill a particular role. You can be bad at the role, sure, but you're gonna have a hard time not filling one. That is those game's excuse for people being expected to fill particular roles. Something that is intuitive for them to do. It's counter-intuitive and a hot mess in this game. So people get picky to a degree that puts people off or makes it hard for them to participate even if they want to. It has nothing to do with leading raids in WoW.

If someone wants to do Asura with red pants only Shiverpeaks Strike with players that have 150 Sabetha KP its only their business and no one else's. Telling them what they should do is borderline harassment.

If players want to do content without any burden of requirements they are free to group up and play how they want. Whose fault is the presumably lack of low requirement groups? Players that want to play in such a way or players that dont want to play in such a way?

And that is assuming its hard to get into raid training or strike groups. By my experience its not. External community places not even needed. Anyone that is genuinely interested in such content will find a way quite easy.

Its the same thing as leading and joining raids in Wow, joining a good guild in Lineage 2 or any other mmorpg... There are always players that feel entitled to something while just plain not cutting it and then instead of making it happen, harassing other players over it while its none of their business at all. And dealing with such players is annoying for commander and anyone in squad in any game or environment. 

 

[At what point is it elitism vs efficiency?]

25 minutes ago, Labjax.2465 said:

True, it's not elitist to set expectations for your own group. But it's still plenty open to criticism in other ways. For example, it can be argued that when a significant portion of the instanced PvE crowd for pugging is based around opaque terminology and stringent requirements, it's going to put off a lot of people who might otherwise readily participate in the content, which is overall damaging for the content getting more development resources put toward it. So even from a self-serving standpoint, it may be said PvEers shooting themselves in the foot in the long-term.

This same discussion has been going on for like 2 decades or even more. There is not a mmorpg out there that I've played without it. I doubt this actually impacts the amount of players that play such content.

You have players that play the game and try to overcome its obstacles and thus try to meet the game's and co-squad member requirements. And you have players that want the game to be changed for them and others to adapt to them. First bunch completes the content, second gets kicked and whines on forums how the game and players around them should change to suit them. 

I've been leading pug raids over 2 expansions in wow. 25 man ICC for example. I've set expectations, did a inspect, maybe a question on mechanics, maybe a dps check before the first boss fight and kicked people that didnt meet them on the spot. Could we do it with 2 players in subpar gear? probably. Could we do it with 3 players not meeting the benchmark. Most likely. Was I willing to risk it or to teach them? Maybe, depends on the day. But there were 9 or 24 other players with me. As a commander you're trying to ensure smooth run for all of them. I've also kicked great players that were trying to be elitist to other players, those can also disrupt the raid. 

I dont have much sympathy for players that try to enforce their rules to players that actually lead parties or squads. It can be quite busy to get together and lead a coherent squad that clears the content you're set to clear, possibly within a certain time frame without the special snowflakes that think they have the right to demand the whole squad to adapt to their whims.

And I dont really believe in the right for open criticism from anyone to anyone. I mean its a free speech in the end, do it if you like. But unless you're actually also their peer and have experience in the field , in this case actually lead a raid or at least know it to its bone, your opinion is irrelevant.

[At what point is it elitism vs efficiency?]

2 hours ago, Voyant.1327 said:

When its overkill and you're setting expectations beyond what's necessary.

Setting expectations for your own group is not elitist. Your group, your rules. You are not obligated to join their groups. You have the same means to form your own group as them. But it looks like you feel entitled to tell other players how they should play. Hmmm.

[Okay, I know this is going to sound absolutely wild, so hear me out ...]

1 player blocking the whole JP.

[A gamemode dominated by same 3x professions for 10+ years....and players are triggered when killed by a lone roamer]

None of those really has a second build. Maybe DH as a dps alternative to FB. Dps engie in zergs? Nope. Necro. Well if you consider the minor differences between reaper and scourge but for both primary role are strips and dmg. 

You can easily add rev in there. SB is still strong and arguablly mandatory. Noone will turn down a mesmer or 2. Same with tempest or weaver unless really stacked. 

Dont get me wrong meta is tight and stale but unless youre thief or ranger you should find a spot. 

[Harvest Temple CM <1%]

1 hour ago, triada.6245 said:

Thats the problem, people who want to tryhard and improve instead of interesting challenging encounter got nothing but boring gg simulator, with old mechanics integrated

Players that want challenging content but cant do HT CM have plenty of fights all down to Shiverpeaks strike. Everything doesnt need to be balanced for you.

[Please have option toggle to disable mechanist mech and turtle [Merged]]

When there's a bunch of mechs around they make a sound like a group of people on the verge of throwing up. 

Reduce size by 33 %

[Ascended Salvage Tools & Kits Are Impractical Overpayment - Need Pricing Reduction]

Hard to set a price to account bound mats like dark energy. Only rings are excluded here but in the long run I think those break even. Keep in mind you can also get rare collection items that go for a hefty price. 

Ascended salvaging is the only source of stabilizing matrices. So what happens when you reduce the price of kits. Price of matrices drop. You did absolutely nothing, just lowered the equilibrium price. If you want to make asc salvaging profitable you need to either substantialy decrease the acquisition rate of ascended or implement more sinks for matrices or add more sellable mats to the salvage table. 

[Which class (besides daredevil) uses staff the best?]

Guardian staff is meta for healing in several modes. 

Its also a decent secondary range weapon for power guards for messing around in ow or for some wvw buildd. Not the best dmg but nice range and utility. 

[The LFG system is bad]

LFG has many many problems. Accessibility (just plain UI) and functionality is severely lacking. I'm pretty sure Anet is aware otherwise I just dont know what they are doing. In a game like gw2 good lfg should be a priority. When I say like gw2, a game that doesnt even have a hub where all players could meet. Hubs are instanced so you cant even advertise old school via chat because only players in your instance will see it.

On 7/13/2022 at 7:38 PM, Mariyuuna.6508 said:

The second biggest problem, which is lack of a watch/notification system. This is one of the biggest roadblocks to players getting into raids, because raid listings (especially training), are so rare that players have to sit with the LFG tool open for up to several hours waiting for a listing. Instead, they should be able to click an eye icon (like you do with daily achivements, etc.) to watch the category, and be notified of when a listing is available with a message in their chat window and a link to open the LFG tool automatically.

 

How I would do it. You click the watch button for a category and you get a non intrusive window under the event and story notification with that group's listings. And even though I am prepared to lead many activities there are numerous times when I am also not prepared to do it for many reasons and just want to join someone else's group. 

[the state of CC spam from enemies in PvE]

51 minutes ago, Hashberry.4510 said:

Yes, this is what the game needs if they want everyone to handle hard content. It will stay a minor part of the game without it. 

Nah. First, Gw2 hard content is not that hard.

What happens with those helping tools is that the bar for "hard" moves higher. Wow raids didnt become easier, the fights got tighter, more mechanics... and thus compensated for addons. What happens though that all those tools became mandatory. Unless the goal is straight up lower difficulty of the harder content but that can be done also in other ways (and they just did it with emboldened raids).

I just prefer cleaner with eyes on the fight and animations type of combat.

[the state of CC spam from enemies in PvE]

2 hours ago, Hashberry.4510 said:

Ya I would much rather they used a casting bar, the existing system is just bad.

Oh pls no. Existing system is not bad, animation reading is completely normal for action games.

For me casting bars like in WoW kill a part of the game, which is reading animations and patterns. Wow is an extreme case with all the hand holding you can have in that game with all the raid UI and DBM and such addons and you are not even looking at the animations anymore. Seeing the enemy model is usually not even required.

Gw2 has sufficiently good animations and telegraphs that it doesn't require all that hand holding and I think its clean system suits the fast paced action combat much better. There are big problems with visual clarity but those only come with many players and 99% of the content there is just easy mode.

I think the animation telegraphs are quite good in general. Most hard hitting or special attack have clear animations. Like mordrem charging a hammer before knock back... Maybe the issue with CC overload comes when youre fighting large groups, but no UI help would help there. Basically you need to take preemptive measures if you think CC could be an issue where the most effective is usually CC and kill them before they can react. It is OW we are talking about. Most of the time you're just mowing down everything. God forbid something fights back.

[the state of CC spam from enemies in PvE]

1 hour ago, Labjax.2465 said:

I thought naw, they won't go there, but your advice is actually to memorize every mob's moves and timing by heart, and then stand around and wait for the ability to go off lol. Jeez. RPG means role playing game, it doesn't mean memorize every enemy's ability and timing by heart. The one has nothing to do with the other. So trying to talk down to me about this like it's just how RPGs are is mind-boggling.

It applies to all types of games, rpg included. 

[Mastery Points.]

I know this is not the question but it might help. For central Tyria the easiest source of mastery points besides the insights and story are LS2 and fractals. Most if not all points from fractals can be acquired from tier 1.

[Is GW2 Alt Friendly?]

Once you will explore the game, play at 80 for a while, youll have enough resources to make a new geared lvl 80 character in minutes. All the best gear in the game is account bound (ascended and legendary) and character bound exotics go for a price of 2 peanuts.