A new GW2 players observations of the game

[Silent.6137]

6 hours ago, valeran.3029 said:

1) Insta-spawn

2) Aggro.

2) It's more realistic that a mob being attacked by numerous players ignores them to attack another player? THAT is what you think is realistic? Ok. You have a guy punching you. Are you going to throw a rock at a guy standing off to the side doing nothing, OR, are you going to attack the guy punching you? THEN, tell me how realistic the combat is....

3) Map.

4) Rebalancing.

1) - In many areas, there are multiple mobs that will spawn in a defined area. And they'll respawn after a certain interval in the order from last killed. It's possible that another one spawn in the exact same spot as your most recent kill by a sheer coincidence. If it happened continuously, that is the same type of mob kept respawning in the exact location, then you'll have a legitimate case. You can't infer that that's always the case because you witnessed it once.

2) Mobs are not supposed to be intelligent beings like the Players. They attacked when they feel threatened or you encroached upon their territories. A tiger chasing someone will not hesitate to attack you even if you're minding your own business having a cup of coffee.

3) Granted some maps are that way but most maps allow you to drill down (lower right side of the map) through the different levels so the perspectives are changed from surface views to cavern views.

4) Your point would be valid if the classes are all static but they undergo various changes constantly, with new specializations and abilities. MMOs that don't have these problems do not have dynamic changes...and they don't last long enough to experience balancing issues .

[Freya.9075]

Why do ppl use their gaming “age” as a point to seem more valid when it comes to criticize games? It doesn’t make your experience with games more valuable or more right. Your view of this game is worth the same as a completely new mmo player. Gw2 is an unique game. Not like other mmos in general, and if that’s not for you then I suggest you move on. To me it seems you just don’t know how gw2 works yet and make assumptions about the game. Gw2 cater to a completely different pool of players then any of the games you mentioned. Which is why they have the success they do. 

[Randulf.7614]

Insta spawns aren’t meant to happen according to an old dev comment years ago. Report it as a bug, it’s prob just something that’s crept in unnoticed

[Mungrul.9358]

4 hours ago, mindcircus.1506 said:

Is toughness aggro really a thing?
I seem to remember a developer dispelling this at some point saying that only certain raid bosses (and even then not all of them) actually factored toughness into it's threat table.

After the travesty that was the latest balance patch, you still believe that the current crop of developers know all the ins-and-outs of the GW2 codebase?

[Linken.6345]

7 hours ago, valeran.3029 said:

 

1) Ok. So. A mob died in that spot. Another mob ran to that exact same spot, that I killed, and the first mob respawned in that EXACT same spot? Rightttttttt.... 

 

2) It's more realistic that a mob being attacked by numerous players ignores them to attack another player? THAT is what you think is realistic? Ok. You have a guy punching you. Are you going to throw a rock at a guy standing off to the side doing nothing, OR, are you going to attack the guy punching you? THEN, tell me how realistic the combat is....

 

3) So. If you're supposed to explore and find things, why does the overland map open up when you walk into an area? Why is THAT area different than caverns? Why not a total fog of war for all areas? See the problem with that?

 

4) If you have a balance problem with your core classes after TEN YEARS... you have a problem.

 

Conclusion. Want to kitten off new players and lose player base. Tell them to go play another game.

About your nr 2 maybe you had the most toughness and that mob type went after that we dont know.

[Arnox.5128]

IF I remember correctly, as a very general rule, mobs will aggro on who is causing them the most damage barring unique enemy attacks which have certain conditions for who gets targeted.

Edited July 8, 2022 by Arnox.5128

[AliamRationem.5172]

5 hours ago, mindcircus.1506 said:

Is toughness aggro really a thing?
I seem to remember a developer dispelling this at some point saying that only certain raid bosses (and even then not all of them) actually factored toughness into it's threat table.

Admit I could be wrong on this one but... Open World, Dungeons, Fractals I have never once noticed a difference in aggro mechanics. I am no stranger to running things like Trailblazers or Celestial, while also running full damage gear.
I suppose some science is in order.

Another factor is attack priority.  Arrowheads are one of the most straightforward examples of this.  If you stand directly in front of them with no other available targets they will only use their bite and stomp attacks.  If you move to their flank at melee range, however, they will use their roll attack (Sample video manipulating this behavior).  If multiple targets are present they seem to prioritize the roll attack as long as at least 1 target is flanking at melee range.

I've never been able to discern any change in its behavior based upon other factors.  It seems to be a priority based on the proximity and orientation of available targets.  It's possible this is how most enemies work and enemies that take into account things like toughness or damage dealt are an exception.  When you factor in attacks with internal cooldowns, it may even give the appearance of randomness when multiple targets are present (i.e. why does that enemy fire a projectile at me while that bear is ripping its face off but then turn back to the bear?).

 

[valeran.3029]

As a general reply to many of the responses concerning aggro in GW2, here is the wiki page on it.

 

Aggro - Guild Wars 2 Wiki (GW2W)

 

First, note that even in the wiki, there are numerous mechanics given, which, change the aggro.

 

It states that TYPICALLY, the closest to the mob generates aggro, whether that is player or pet. 

 

Then states GENERALLY the pet should get aggro, BUT, some creatures have "unique" mechanics. 

 

It further states that the source that generates the highest threat in the meter gets aggro. So, which is it? Is the closest or highest threat? Or... both... because... oh wait... more aggro mechanics listed.

 

Toughness is also listed as a threat mechanic. Whether you are close or ranged depending on mob. Amount of damage. Lowest character level (this is a WTF for threat). 

 

Side note; if there are no roles in GW2, WHY does the wiki itself refer to tanks and tanking? GW2 isn't as unique as some of the responses seem to think it is.

 

And lastly... RANDOM aggro is listed. Because that is an actual mechanic for a mob... to randomly choose... along with every other mechanic, where to generate aggro.

 

Ok. Great. So I found one of the creatures who had that unique mechanic? Quite possible. Also, quite annoying to a new player when a mechanic suddenly changes on them. Except, given the wiki on aggro, there are so many aggro systems to include random aggro that there may as well not be a system at all. 

 

I've sent my bear out using the "attack my target", and watch it hold aggro on some mobs. I've sent it out and had the mob ignore the pet to focus on me, which, guessing, is because I'm ranged (one of the mechanics). So, the mechanics implemented pretty much make the "system" of aggro useless. You MIGHT get aggro, might not, because if RANDOM is a mechanic, you invalidate the rest of your mechanics. This is a design issue implemented by the devs. 

 

"but but, GW2 is different!"

 

Yes. It is. Because in most other games, you get A mechanic, learn A mechanic, and function with A mechanic you've learned. Not have several mechanics to include "we programmed our mobs to just attack whoever, for whatever reason, to also include being the LOWEST player and most easily killable".

 

So. Again. Aggro in GW2 is a problem which as we see by the wiki is a design FEATURE by the devs that MADE aggro a problem. The devs DESIGNED the aggro systems to include targeting randomly AND the lowest player, with mechanics of swarms of mobs.

 

Having raid bosses with individual mechanics players learn is one thing. Most every game does that and you learn as a player the mechanic for that raid. Having so many mechanics that they contradict each other for every mob, and including a system that targets the lowest player, is a mechanic that punishes new players with low level characters in an open world with high level characters jumping into fights.

 

 

[Darklord Roy.2514]

12 hours ago, valeran.3029 said:

4) Rebalancing.

 

GW2 is 10 years old. TEN YEARS. And the classes aren't "balanced"... after TEN YEARS? Really??? As for the new elite specs, skills, that "balancing" couldn't have been done during production? There was absolutely NO testing before they were launched? NONE? To SEE if they were balanced or not? Because you know what pisses players off? It's logging in and finding out a character you've spent months, if not longer, leveling and gearing, grinding out all you need, is suddenly nerfed because you didn't "balance" the class TEN YEARS ago. In most games, it's a pvp issue, because once a player dies, suddenly everything NOT them is OP. But, by your own release notes, some if not many of the changes for "balance" are PVE changes. Which... again... for core classes... is TEN YEARS old. And, again, by your own notes, it's an "ongoing issue"???? Because... why? 

Ok, so listen. I agree with some of the other things that you said in your OP and they could be legitimate things the game could do better. Section 4 that I quoted above is where I'm gonna butt heads, because it's just... Illogical.

 

You're essentially asking the question "why was this game not perfectly balanced upon launch," which honestly screams to me that your experience with other MMOs is not as deep as you claim it is. There will never be any game that is perfectly balanced and bug-free upon launch, it simply does not happen. First off, there is absolutely no way to detect every single possible interaction issue during game production. Second, this game had hundreds of skills and traits to manage just on LAUNCH. Then, for every expansion, you expect them to have perfectly tested every single possible interaction that could happen between existing skills and new skills so there should be zero room for error.

 

I'm not gonna say that Anet hasn't made some mistakes in balancing over the years, but from a game design perspective, what you're asking for is ignorant and unreasonable, and doing that level of testing for every skill on every class against every player or mob or boss would delay game and expansion releases by literal years. Instant gratification doesn't work for this.

[Mik.3401]

11 hours ago, Caitmonster.9036 said:

You do realize that as new Elite specs are brought online, certain "10 year old" traits may or may not need tweaking if they synergize too well with the new stuff, yeah? I have never not seen an MMO that doesn't need balance patches periodically as metas change or as new stuff is brought into the game.

One of the best ways they test balance is getting these builds in front of players, the number crunching min-maxers who can do insane stuff with classes to see how functional and / or broken they are. It's one thing to look at all those decimal values on the patch notes, but another entirely to see them and how they hold up in game. I imagine the balance testers at Arenanet are a small group of people, and thus it's a small sample size compared to the entirety of the game's population.

It's also been Anet's pattern to make slight adjustments to numbers and values rather than over buffing/nerfing things and completely breaking a spec or a class. Small incremental changes until things get to a place the balance team find satisfying. As the saying goes, Rome wasn't built in a day. Balance can take some iterations to get right. Anet has already announced supplementary balance patches in the future, so honestly your best bet is to just take everything with several grains of salt and hold on for the wild ride that follows.

I played since the beta on and off and I already gave up waiting until that baby step balance approach takes us to good competitive and endgame states. For a new player fine one can hope but the reality is, it is not coming

[ShroomOneUp.6913]

8 minutes ago, Darklord Roy.2514 said:

Ok, so listen. I agree with some of the other things that you said in your OP and they could be legitimate things the game could do better. Section 4 that I quoted above is where I'm gonna butt heads, because it's just... Illogical.

 

You're essentially asking the question "why was this game not perfectly balanced upon launch," which honestly screams to me that your experience with other MMOs is not as deep as you claim it is. There will never be any game that is perfectly balanced and bug-free upon launch, it simply does not happen. First off, there is absolutely no way to detect every single possible interaction issue during game production. Second, this game had hundreds of skills and traits to manage just on LAUNCH. Then, for every expansion, you expect them to have perfectly tested every single possible interaction that could happen between existing skills and new skills so there should be zero room for error.

 

I'm not gonna say that Anet hasn't made some mistakes in balancing over the years, but from a game design perspective, what you're asking for is ignorant and unreasonable, and doing that level of testing for every skill on every class against every player or mob or boss would delay game and expansion releases by literal years. Instant gratification doesn't work for this.

its more ignorant that you think he means perfect balance and not "stop having broken stuff that you constantly buff and nerf the rest" 

cause this si the state of gw2 right now: 3 elite specs that dominate while the rest got nerfed and nerfed and nerfed. jsut look at the last major balance patch? what did removing unqiue class buffs do? make them obsolete. Fb farts buffs like there is no tomorrow. and thats just one aspect.

[AliamRationem.5172]

45 minutes ago, valeran.3029 said:

As a general reply to many of the responses concerning aggro in GW2, here is the wiki page on it.

 

Aggro - Guild Wars 2 Wiki (GW2W)

 

First, note that even in the wiki, there are numerous mechanics given, which, change the aggro.

 

It states that TYPICALLY, the closest to the mob generates aggro, whether that is player or pet. 

 

Then states GENERALLY the pet should get aggro, BUT, some creatures have "unique" mechanics. 

 

It further states that the source that generates the highest threat in the meter gets aggro. So, which is it? Is the closest or highest threat? Or... both... because... oh wait... more aggro mechanics listed.

 

Toughness is also listed as a threat mechanic. Whether you are close or ranged depending on mob. Amount of damage. Lowest character level (this is a WTF for threat). 

 

Side note; if there are no roles in GW2, WHY does the wiki itself refer to tanks and tanking? GW2 isn't as unique as some of the responses seem to think it is.

 

And lastly... RANDOM aggro is listed. Because that is an actual mechanic for a mob... to randomly choose... along with every other mechanic, where to generate aggro.

 

Ok. Great. So I found one of the creatures who had that unique mechanic? Quite possible. Also, quite annoying to a new player when a mechanic suddenly changes on them. Except, given the wiki on aggro, there are so many aggro systems to include random aggro that there may as well not be a system at all. 

 

I've sent my bear out using the "attack my target", and watch it hold aggro on some mobs. I've sent it out and had the mob ignore the pet to focus on me, which, guessing, is because I'm ranged (one of the mechanics). So, the mechanics implemented pretty much make the "system" of aggro useless. You MIGHT get aggro, might not, because if RANDOM is a mechanic, you invalidate the rest of your mechanics. This is a design issue implemented by the devs. 

 

"but but, GW2 is different!"

 

Yes. It is. Because in most other games, you get A mechanic, learn A mechanic, and function with A mechanic you've learned. Not have several mechanics to include "we programmed our mobs to just attack whoever, for whatever reason, to also include being the LOWEST player and most easily killable".

 

So. Again. Aggro in GW2 is a problem which as we see by the wiki is a design FEATURE by the devs that MADE aggro a problem. The devs DESIGNED the aggro systems to include targeting randomly AND the lowest player, with mechanics of swarms of mobs.

 

Having raid bosses with individual mechanics players learn is one thing. Most every game does that and you learn as a player the mechanic for that raid. Having so many mechanics that they contradict each other for every mob, and including a system that targets the lowest player, is a mechanic that punishes new players with low level characters in an open world with high level characters jumping into fights.

 

 

It was intended from the start that GW2 combat take more of an every man for himself approach.  That's why there are no tanks and inscrutable threat mechanics.   They want you to use the provided mobility, healing, and evasion skills available to every class.

[Gibson.4036]

I’ve been playing from betas, and don’t recognize the game the OP is describing. My post history has lots of criticism of this game, so not white knighting. Just scratching my head.

I’ve never seen a mob instant respawn. I’ve definitely seen mobs start to respawn before I’ve killed all the mobs within an aggro area. That’s why I’ve learned to move away to a safe spot before mapping or sorting inventory. I feel this is fitting to the sense of “dangerous area” that is clearly intended.

The only time I’ve questioned respawn rates is in areas you have to do a channel like a mastery point, and a hard to kill mob respawn quicker than it takes to channel the MP.

If there is random aggro, it’s pretty rare. Witness all the friendly people blowing through, gathering berries, and moving on as I battle a flock of griffons within spitting distance. I was there first, everyone else gets a “gather berries for free” card.

This seems to be the vast majority of the way it works in the open world.

Champs change targets. That’s to be expected as group content.

As for balance, I haven’t played an MMO yet where it wasn’t a good idea to have more than one character in case the nerf bat hit your current one too hard.

Edited July 8, 2022 by Gibson.4036

[Freya.9075]

3 hours ago, valeran.3029 said:

As a general reply to many of the responses concerning aggro in GW2, here is the wiki page on it.

 

Aggro - Guild Wars 2 Wiki (GW2W)

 

First, note that even in the wiki, there are numerous mechanics given, which, change the aggro.

 

It states that TYPICALLY, the closest to the mob generates aggro, whether that is player or pet. 

 

Then states GENERALLY the pet should get aggro, BUT, some creatures have "unique" mechanics. 

 

It further states that the source that generates the highest threat in the meter gets aggro. So, which is it? Is the closest or highest threat? Or... both... because... oh wait... more aggro mechanics listed.

 

Toughness is also listed as a threat mechanic. Whether you are close or ranged depending on mob. Amount of damage. Lowest character level (this is a WTF for threat). 

 

Side note; if there are no roles in GW2, WHY does the wiki itself refer to tanks and tanking? GW2 isn't as unique as some of the responses seem to think it is.

 

And lastly... RANDOM aggro is listed. Because that is an actual mechanic for a mob... to randomly choose... along with every other mechanic, where to generate aggro.

 

Ok. Great. So I found one of the creatures who had that unique mechanic? Quite possible. Also, quite annoying to a new player when a mechanic suddenly changes on them. Except, given the wiki on aggro, there are so many aggro systems to include random aggro that there may as well not be a system at all. 

 

I've sent my bear out using the "attack my target", and watch it hold aggro on some mobs. I've sent it out and had the mob ignore the pet to focus on me, which, guessing, is because I'm ranged (one of the mechanics). So, the mechanics implemented pretty much make the "system" of aggro useless. You MIGHT get aggro, might not, because if RANDOM is a mechanic, you invalidate the rest of your mechanics. This is a design issue implemented by the devs. 

 

"but but, GW2 is different!"

 

Yes. It is. Because in most other games, you get A mechanic, learn A mechanic, and function with A mechanic you've learned. Not have several mechanics to include "we programmed our mobs to just attack whoever, for whatever reason, to also include being the LOWEST player and most easily killable".

 

So. Again. Aggro in GW2 is a problem which as we see by the wiki is a design FEATURE by the devs that MADE aggro a problem. The devs DESIGNED the aggro systems to include targeting randomly AND the lowest player, with mechanics of swarms of mobs.

 

Having raid bosses with individual mechanics players learn is one thing. Most every game does that and you learn as a player the mechanic for that raid. Having so many mechanics that they contradict each other for every mob, and including a system that targets the lowest player, is a mechanic that punishes new players with low level characters in an open world with high level characters jumping into fights.

 

 

Aggro isn’t the problem here. Most open world mobs just go for the first target they see. Each mob has a mechanic and stick to it. That goes for aggro as well and when you learn that, you learn their behavior. It’s not like one mob has different kind of aggro each time you meet them. The harder the mob, the more it will change target since there is no specific tank in this game in general. So it would be too much for one person to handle a champion when fighting in open world. So the champion goes from target to target to take pressure of the player having aggro. You can change aggro with normal mobs but they die so fast usually that it doesn’t happen.
 

The game wants you to dodge and use your skills to survive. If your pet doesn’t take aggro and you struggle to dodge from it. Ranger has a utility skill that frees you from aggro and pet takes it. I don’t remember the name of it, but should be easy to find 

[Rhingeim.3974]

Outside of some points about maps, the rest are out of touch. 

Respawn. I've played ESO on release and remember waiting for some quest NPC to spawn for... 30 minutes. With other 20+ people. So fast spawns is some basic stuff in MMO. Imagine several people doing hearts, clearing the area... And add long spawn on top of it.

 

Balance. My ESO sorc doing fine for several years. You probably referring Meta, which is changing, as some speed runners discover synergies that can't be found by QA Team, and can be neglected by Design team. 

Agro mechanics. As far as I know, GW2 utilizes Toughness as definition of aggro production in addition to damage. You deal more damage than Pet, mob reacts to this. It's OK. Treat like a danger for being ranged DD shielded by pet to teach you mechanics. 

[Cuks.8241]

Balancing in any online game is never ending task. Its not just the need for re balancing after additions, changes to the game is that balancing changes the game and makes it fresh. It forces players to think about build and change them. The goal is not only to have balance between classes (people anyway have subjective opinions on balance so its to some extent futile anyway) but to not become stale. 

Game has different aggro mechanics on different monsters. I think that is good. Mobs will behave differently. Got a problem with a monster? Learn its patterns. Don't have a problem? Well you probably wont care.

There is no tank role in this game outside of specific raid encounters. Forget that term and mechanic. The game  has very mobile action combat system. It heavily favours not getting hit at all. Dodging, flanking, avoiding dmg by moving and positioning is far superior if not a must. On top of that every profession has additional skills for avoiding dmg, very useful for open world. Tank and spank wont get you far in this game, it might work in base game but once you get to harder expansion areas you will get completely demolished by even normal monster if you dont utilise avoidance. 

 

[Cuks.8241]

1 minute ago, Rhingeim.3974 said:

Agro mechanics. As far as I know, GW2 utilizes Toughness as definition of aggro production in addition to damage. 

In specific raid encounters. I wont say there isnt any open world mobs that utilises toughness but most dont. Different mobs have different mechanics. Proximity, dmg, range...

[Silent.6137]

2 hours ago, Gibson.4036 said:

If there is random aggro, it’s pretty rare. Witness all the friendly people blowing through, gathering berries, and moving on as I battle a flock of griffons within spitting distance. I was there first, everyone else gets a “gather berries for free” card.

That's a bad example. Mobs take about 3 seconds to react. I can farm every single berry nodes without having to deal with a single mob. Rush in, harvest using tools with reaping glyph, mount and away to next node without getting hit by any mobs. Regardless of whether someone is fighting the griffons (or trolls or spiders) or not, they simply do not have enough time to focus on me.

[Hashberry.4510]

Heh these are all pretty common reactions from new players, most just realize its a different game and eventual understand its quirks rather than going on an uninformed forum rant.

 

Have fun OP and stick with it, soon it will all feel right!

[Darklord Roy.2514]

3 hours ago, ShroomOneUp.6913 said:

its more ignorant that you think he means perfect balance and not "stop having broken stuff that you constantly buff and nerf the rest" 

Did you read what he wrote? Because that's exactly what he said. OP seems to think that routine balance updates imply that zero testing was done on any classes or skills prior to release, and that somehow Anet should have just "balanced" the skills and classes upon release one time and no other balance passes should be needed ever, so please explain to me how that means what you seem to think it means.

 

Once again, nowhere am I claiming that Anet does balance well in all aspects. I'm perfectly aware of how screwy the meta is right now, but I'm also not gonna humour this idea that continuously balancing an MMO somehow means the game was untested or released unfinished.

Edited July 8, 2022 by Darklord Roy.2514

[Dante.1508]

7 hours ago, Arnox.5128 said:

IF I remember correctly, as a very general rule, mobs will aggro on who is causing them the most damage barring unique enemy attacks which have certain conditions for who gets targeted.

They also seem to target people who are rezzing others.. especially champs and elites.. I've been noticing it more and more lately..

[Sobx.1758]

9 hours ago, valeran.3029 said:

As a general reply to many of the responses concerning aggro in GW2, here is the wiki page on it.

 

Aggro - Guild Wars 2 Wiki (GW2W)

 

First, note that even in the wiki, there are numerous mechanics given, which, change the aggro.

 

It states that TYPICALLY, the closest to the mob generates aggro, whether that is player or pet. 

 

Then states GENERALLY the pet should get aggro, BUT, some creatures have "unique" mechanics. 

 

It further states that the source that generates the highest threat in the meter gets aggro. So, which is it? Is the closest or highest threat? Or... both... because... oh wait... more aggro mechanics listed.

 

Toughness is also listed as a threat mechanic. Whether you are close or ranged depending on mob. Amount of damage. Lowest character level (this is a WTF for threat). 

 

Side note; if there are no roles in GW2, WHY does the wiki itself refer to tanks and tanking? GW2 isn't as unique as some of the responses seem to think it is.

 

And lastly... RANDOM aggro is listed. Because that is an actual mechanic for a mob... to randomly choose... along with every other mechanic, where to generate aggro.

 

Ok. Great. So I found one of the creatures who had that unique mechanic? Quite possible. Also, quite annoying to a new player when a mechanic suddenly changes on them. Except, given the wiki on aggro, there are so many aggro systems to include random aggro that there may as well not be a system at all. 

 

I've sent my bear out using the "attack my target", and watch it hold aggro on some mobs. I've sent it out and had the mob ignore the pet to focus on me, which, guessing, is because I'm ranged (one of the mechanics). So, the mechanics implemented pretty much make the "system" of aggro useless. You MIGHT get aggro, might not, because if RANDOM is a mechanic, you invalidate the rest of your mechanics. This is a design issue implemented by the devs. 

 

"but but, GW2 is different!"

 

Yes. It is. Because in most other games, you get A mechanic, learn A mechanic, and function with A mechanic you've learned. Not have several mechanics to include "we programmed our mobs to just attack whoever, for whatever reason, to also include being the LOWEST player and most easily killable".

 

So. Again. Aggro in GW2 is a problem which as we see by the wiki is a design FEATURE by the devs that MADE aggro a problem. The devs DESIGNED the aggro systems to include targeting randomly AND the lowest player, with mechanics of swarms of mobs.

 

Having raid bosses with individual mechanics players learn is one thing. Most every game does that and you learn as a player the mechanic for that raid. Having so many mechanics that they contradict each other for every mob, and including a system that targets the lowest player, is a mechanic that punishes new players with low level characters in an open world with high level characters jumping into fights.

...do you understand that you've just shot at the magnetic aura and subsequentially got your projectiles reflected back into you? It was a melee mob and it didn't even run at you, you didn't get the aggro priority.

Edited July 8, 2022 by Sobx.1758

[Warkind.6745]

After ten years of playing this game I can't believe I've never tilted anyone as much as the rock elemental that killed this dude.

[azorean.1850]

19 hours ago, valeran.3029 said:

Devs,

 

While I'm new to GW2, I'm not new to gaming having played PONG when it released in '76 on home console and every RPG worth its salt on every console, pc, since that time. IE, I've been gaming for over 40 years. So, having jumped into GW2, what have I seen?

 

1) Insta-spawn.

 

I get that with an MMO, you want mobs to respawn fairly quickly so players don't walk into a dead zone when they need to finish heart quests. But, when you kill a mob, start walking away, and it respawns behind you... putting you right back into instant combat... that is too fast. I've literally leveled after killing a mob, opened the reward tab, was looking at the choices, when the mob respawned and I had to just click SOMETHING to close it and enter combat. Your respawn time should be around 30 seconds giving players the time to actually act or move on. Having probably missed out on a reward I NEEDED because I had zero time TO look at the rewards before the mob respawned... yeah.

 

2) Aggro.

 

Seriously. THIS is one of the largest problems with GW2. I have LITERALLY been standing there doing nothing as a mob was being attacked by THREE other players, but because I was "within range", it attacked ME. Really? Mobs will randomly just attack anything in range regardless of it is in combat with other players? That isn't even an aggro system. That is a LACK of an aggro system. At the MINIMUM, mobs should be coded to attack players that are actively engaged in combat over players that aren't. The same is true with the Ranger class and pet bear, of which I am running. The bear is engaged in combat with a mob. I'm at distance firing bow at mob. Mob is shooting at ME, totally ignoring bear, which, isn't that the TANK pet? You know... TANK... that thing in the holy trinity where you hold aggro of a boss, miniboss, etc, while the DPS can act? Sure. There is a distance set where a mob will aggro a passing player. I get that. But once that mob is engaged in combat with a player, it shouldn't just be randomly attacking anything in range.

 

3) Map.

 

There needs to be a way to view the map of caverns. You have a map of the overland area, but, once you're in a cavern, suddenly all you can see is a little distance? Yes, this is a problem. Why? See #1. While you are wandering a cavern, trying to figure out where you are supposed to go, fighting mobs, they are respawning within seconds, making it a total slog to get through the cavern to where you need to go, instead of, you know, being able to open the map, and go to the spot you need. You LITERALLY set foot into a new zone and the ENTIRE zone of that area on the map opens. Bu, you can't see in a cavern you've walked into?

 

4) Rebalancing.

 

GW2 is 10 years old. TEN YEARS. And the classes aren't "balanced"... after TEN YEARS? Really??? As for the new elite specs, skills, that "balancing" couldn't have been done during production? There was absolutely NO testing before they were launched? NONE? To SEE if they were balanced or not? Because you know what pisses players off? It's logging in and finding out a character you've spent months, if not longer, leveling and gearing, grinding out all you need, is suddenly nerfed because you didn't "balance" the class TEN YEARS ago. In most games, it's a pvp issue, because once a player dies, suddenly everything NOT them is OP. But, by your own release notes, some if not many of the changes for "balance" are PVE changes. Which... again... for core classes... is TEN YEARS old. And, again, by your own notes, it's an "ongoing issue"???? Because... why? 

 

And no. It's not all bad. There are good things I've seen in GW2. There are things that make me want to continue playing the game. But, after running through a particularly aggravating map, with insta-respawns, the mobs ignoring the pet tanking it and other players engaged in combat, forcing a run for survival? This, AFTER seeing that GW2 classes haven't been "balanced" in TEN YEARS, and, by your own notes, WON'T be "balanced". Yeah. That was almost a quit moment. 

Absolutly disagree with kitten everything you just said, why? Because i can.

[lionlady.1560]

15 hours ago, mindcircus.1506 said:

Is toughness aggro really a thing?
I seem to remember a developer dispelling this at some point saying that only certain raid bosses (and even then not all of them) actually factored toughness into it's threat table.

Admit I could be wrong on this one but... Open World, Dungeons, Fractals I have never once noticed a difference in aggro mechanics. I am no stranger to running things like Trailblazers or Celestial, while also running full damage gear.
I suppose some science is in order.

The main time I remember toughness being a thing was way back when I used to do TA Aetherblade and high toughness toons aggroed the elementals  in the lava room 😛