The game is getting easier, and in my mind, it is ruining the game.

[thebeast.9671]

I have played GW2 since the beginning. Im not a "super player", but I truely enjoy the game. I like making characters, work hard and develop them. I like the missions, the stories and the really amazing design of the world Tyria is. But, the game sadly gets easier and easier. Now you get XP faster and faster and constantly gets boosters and you cant even refuse them. Then you get gifts for loggin in.... Now you dont even have to repair the amor anymore... I think it is a shame that the game just gets easier and easier and that the "journey" towards a strong character is not a challenge but a given. At this pace, all of the characters could just start at level 80 and be immortal since dying dosent matter the slightest... lol... I have written to GW2 team with this concern, but they want it to be passed trough the forum. I really hope im not the only one that think this sucks. Is gaming really supposed to be just a cake walk and nothing more? At least they could make two world modes, one for those who dosent wanna work for their characters and one for us who likes the challenge. 

 

Ps: Sorry for the terrible english, it is not my best launguage to write.

[Dreams.3128]

I mean, to be fair, this is what the majority of the crowd wanted. They wanted to win, they didn't want vertical progression, they didn't want instance content like raids to be a constant, and if they did they wanted to have similar or the same rewards that came from raids in OW. People wanted to play this almost as if it was a single player game even though this is literally an mmorpg.

Personally, it will never make sense how people want to simply win all the time and never even be remotely challenged mentally/hand to eye coordination wise. That is not a game at that point. That is something you just take a walk through and put time when it is time to tend to real life responsibilities. Maybe this is just me, but personally my current job doesn't mentally challenge or invoke any sort of puzzle. It's the same thing day in and day out, so my expectations in games are much different than people that just want to lay back and basically have the game be played for them. Maybe it is just me, maybe it is partially Anet wanting this sort of crowd, but either way it has certainly watered down a lot of the 'magic' of GW2 for me. I still love this game, but I am absolutely not obsessed given that everything could be done in a simple rotation without much thought or applying of skill except maybe certain CMs/PVP/WvW.

Also for people that have any physical/mental disabilities that prevents them from enjoying harder content, I don't put them in the same group as people that wanted to make the game easier or are 'casual' (I use that term very loosely only because it seems to be a buzzword around these forums these days.)

[Elricht Kaltwind.8796]

I definitely like that it's easy to get characters to level 80 after the first few, the leveling process in Guild Wars 1 and 2 is basically a tutorial phase. The vast majority of the game's content is designed for level 80, so why would you want to stick around leveling a character for a week just to get them there? As someone with like 22 characters I'm so glad the game allows me to just create what I want to create and immediately get to the good and challenging stuff.

[Aelin.9317]

I really like the game as it is. I had fun leveling my character, I am taking the story so slow I am now 300ish hours in and still only just got to IBS. Repairing is not difficulty, it's just tedious. Being able to level my alts with the books I get from WvW feels great personally. I can try new specs without going through what I have already done. I like doing map completion on my max level characters. I am newer and really loved the majority of my time in this game so, personally, no damage done here. 

I like how most things are accessible to me and not overly frustrating. If I really want some challenge I know there are some harder things I can do in this game or I can play some more Elden Ring. Heck I tried that darn clock tower for ages and never got to the top. ^^" I ended up burning myself out of the whole halloween event from that darn tower! 

[Debesyla.7102]

...Or maybe you are just getting better.

[Doctor Hide.6345]

     IDK. My take is more what areas do you feel it is getting easier is my question. If it is just the open world and leveling, then yes the speed direction they went is a good thing for the game. I don't want to spend weeks leveling just to max to start the game where almost all the content is. Getting there in 2 min (lv60 boost and 20 tomes) is good for me because I already know what I need to do with that character. And, I can tell you most of it involves elite specs and lv80 content.

     If you are referring to raids,strikes, and fractals, then I can't answer that because it has been awhile since I touched any of that stuff.

[DexterousGecko.6328]

42 minutes ago, Debesyla.7102 said:

...Or maybe you are just getting better.

Nonsense. Guild Wars 2 is way too easy and every Souls game is getting easier. My hundreds of hours of practice has nothing to do with it.

[Kurrilino.2706]

This game isn't getting easier.

You might have missed the part where they nerfed all damage 50%

 

It's the right amount of challenge for casual players for whom the game is intended for.

 

Beside that, the other posters are correct as well, you are getting better by the hour.

Also my professional life is very challenging, i don't need this is my spare time.

Edited November 30, 2022 by Kurrilino.2706

[Cyninja.2954]

13 minutes ago, Kurrilino.2706 said:

This game isn't getting easier.

You might have missed the part where they nerfed all damage 50%

and when was that? There was never a 50% damage nerf EVER in the history of this game (unless you look at individual specs like condi fb or scourge on release which were pushing 55-60k dps).

 

Even the 10-15% "nerf" which happened with the rework of banners and spirits was overcompensated in the same patch with massive boon creep.

 

Now with the Nov. 29th patch, another set of 40k+ and easy to use builds where introduced WITH the huge boon availability increase still in place.

 

13 minutes ago, Kurrilino.2706 said:

It's the right amount of challenge for casual players for whom the game is intended for.

 

Beside that, the other posters are correct as well, you are getting better by the hour.

Also my professional life is very challenging, i don't need this is my spare time.

 

So you are bascially agreeing with topic creator: the game is being made easier and while it suits your personal preference, he is incorrect in voicing his displeasure?

[AliamRationem.5172]

59 minutes ago, Kurrilino.2706 said:

This game isn't getting easier.

You might have missed the part where they nerfed all damage 50%

 

It's the right amount of challenge for casual players for whom the game is intended for.

 

Beside that, the other posters are correct as well, you are getting better by the hour.

Also my professional life is very challenging, i don't need this is my spare time.

Objectively, the game is getting easier in many ways.  Power creep from e-specs, masteries like jade tech protocols, access to more favorable stat combinations and ascended gear are all examples of ways in which the game has gotten easier.  On the other hand, the latest expansion did give us probably the most challenging open world encounter as well as the most challenging 10-man instanced boss the game has ever seen.

However, the OP seems more concerned with the increase in convenience such as death penalties, repair costs, and rate of experience gain.  While he isn't wrong about these things, I can't say I'm against removing minor annoyances like these.  If I want a challenge I'd prefer it to be related to the combat and encounter design rather than the penalties for failure.

[Westenev.5289]

I like the game being easier. It means I don't have to get angry at PUG's for being mispositioned and dealing no damage. Now I can sleep at night knowing tomorrows pug strike group will be mispositioned, but will manage to contribute acceptable damage/cc.

Edited November 30, 2022 by Westenev.5289

[Obfuscate.6430]

I recently decided to make a hard core character, where if it dies once, I will delete it. I will not use experience scrolls, or buy the best equipment from the trading post while leveling. I wanted to relive the experience I had when I was new. I am playing a core guardian. 
I went to places that killed me when I was new at the game 10 years ago - but it was easy to me now and I've rarely felt like I was in danger of dying.

I definitely noticed I am gaining experience at a fast rate, but I think the "easy" aspect is because I am more skilled now. What seemed difficult when I was new definitely does not now, and that is not the fault of the game at all. 

You really probably did just get better. 

[Solvar.7953]

I am happy that they removed repairing items.  That never made things more difficult - you just had to remove to visit an anvil to repair the items.  Even when it cost money, it was a trivial amount - all I found it ever really did is that I would discover at some point my character was becoming naked because I forgot to visit a repair anvil, and just did so at that point.

Log in rewards are to keep people logging in, but I don't think radically make things easier.

As for builds, with Anets idea of stretching content to put 10 of the same mob in some story instance, being able to mow them down quickly removes some of the tedium some of the story instances.

 

[Dr Meta.3158]

14 hours ago, Dreams.3128 said:

I mean, to be fair, this is what the majority of the crowd wanted. They wanted to win, they didn't want vertical progression, they didn't want instance content like raids to be a constant, and if they did they wanted to have similar or the same rewards that came from raids in OW. People wanted to play this almost as if it was a single player game even though this is literally an mmorpg.

Personally, it will never make sense how people want to simply win all the time and never even be remotely challenged mentally/hand to eye coordination wise. That is not a game at that point. That is something you just take a walk through and put time when it is time to tend to real life responsibilities. Maybe this is just me, but personally my current job doesn't mentally challenge or invoke any sort of puzzle. It's the same thing day in and day out, so my expectations in games are much different than people that just want to lay back and basically have the game be played for them. Maybe it is just me, maybe it is partially Anet wanting this sort of crowd, but either way it has certainly watered down a lot of the 'magic' of GW2 for me. I still love this game, but I am absolutely not obsessed given that everything could be done in a simple rotation without much thought or applying of skill except maybe certain CMs/PVP/WvW.

Also for people that have any physical/mental disabilities that prevents them from enjoying harder content, I don't put them in the same group as people that wanted to make the game easier or are 'casual' (I use that term very loosely only because it seems to be a buzzword around these forums these days.)

When you constantly lose in life, you develop the desire to win in games... even if its fake. At least you can you say you won at something.

[firedragon.8953]

Well, people still fail Dragon's End because of failing CC 9 times out of 10 and I can be in the top 10 as a support dps in a squad of 40...so... lol

I'm actually okay with somewhat easy open world content with more challenging instanced content [CMs, etc.] (which seems to be Anet's current approach). Just wish lfg was better and it could be a bit more seamless to form PUG groups. Although the game is casual in the sense of value for time, the game's build and battle systems are quite complex and honestly, I feel a lot of players really don't grasp it well. Not their fault. It's a convoluted system with very little incremental training because most mechanics are (and always have been) do more dps and win and most open world mobs are pretty lenient in letting the player survive and if harder mobs are easily zerged to reach the dps mark (besides Dragon's End boss [kinda]).

[Meva.8327]

The OP has a point: the PvE  game is getting easier. I believe the reason is the power creep in the last expansion.

 

Now with the Jade Tech Offensive / Defensive Overcharge you can have all boons forever, as long as you get out of combat every 30 seconds. All maps in Living Story 3 and 4 are super easy with these boons, to the extent that even core specs can 1-2 shot enemies that used to be much harder when the maps were released.

 

Moreover, the End of Dragons specialisations are way too powerful: my Mechanist can solo champions in any expansion with only auto-attack 1, and my Mindbender can survive a 10-people mob and kill them in a few seconds.

Edited November 30, 2022 by Meva.8327

[Khisanth.2948]

In terms of challenge you have focused on the most irrelevant parts.

If you want to talk about challenge then it is a matter of skill. It has never taken any skill to level to 80 so what difference does it make if leveling is quicker?

Armor repair did not add anything to the challenge either.

Maybe the game has become easier but it has nothing to do with the reasons you listed.

[Kattliadi.1507]

At the end of the day what is MOST important for an MMO like this is people, people populating maps and playing the game and MAKING the world work and fun.  Being designed well etc. is part of what will bring those people in but without numbers it doesn't matter if you've made the best game in the world, it won't do you any good.  So I feel like for core content you have to have a certain balance of 'not too hard not too easy' and I think Guild Wars does that pretty ok.  Having other aspects of content for more of a challenge for those who want it is great, but if your core game is too hard people won't enjoy playing it and will spend their time somewhere else and then you will be dead.

 

I'm not a big gamer myself, in the past I mostly play things like Pokemon and Animal Crossing...even when I was a teen I didn't game much I'm just not very good at it and I get frustrated and then its just not fun.  But I got interested in MMOs and after some research picked Guild Wars exactly because I felt like I could manage to play casually and have fun.  I like world exploration and collections and matching cosmetics etc.  And the other parts are fun...but I'm not very good at them alot of the time.  I spend time looking up videos and guides and things just so I can get through them ok usually without too much frustration.  But if the game was too hard, myself and people like me just wouldn't play. 

[Randulf.7614]

And yet we get constant complaints the game is far too hard. I can’t imagine how difficult it is for devs to find that sweet spot.

 

[Dreams.3128]

6 hours ago, Dr Meta.3158 said:

When you constantly lose in life, you develop the desire to win in games... even if its fake. At least you can you say you won at something.

Well I am in no position to judge anyone, so take my statement with a grain of salt, but, if people are having a hard time winning in real life moreso trying to force that aspect in the gaming industry then that is the signal for self-evaluation, reflection, and change. That can't happen if you are absorbed in a game and just saying to adjust it to your likes instead of thinking of the overall game itself then, honestly, that's not healthy.

But again, I ain't here to judge or say what is correct/not correct in someone's life. Just giving out a minor opinion at this point.

[Dreams.3128]

9 hours ago, Doctor Hide.6345 said:

     IDK. My take is more what areas do you feel it is getting easier is my question. If it is just the open world and leveling, then yes the speed direction they went is a good thing for the game. I don't want to spend weeks leveling just to max to start the game where almost all the content is. Getting there in 2 min (lv60 boost and 20 tomes) is good for me because I already know what I need to do with that character. And, I can tell you most of it involves elite specs and lv80 content.

     If you are referring to raids,strikes, and fractals, then I can't answer that because it has been awhile since I touched any of that stuff.

Raids, Strikes, and Fractals definitely got trivialized. But in THAT expect, I point fingers more at the elite specs. The newer elite specs have definitely pushed boons to be the thing that gives the middle finger to most encounters to the point where you don't have to really encourage much. Though, there have been certain strikes that go out of their way to omit that and actually challenge the player's knowledge. First three that immediately pop into mind would be Harvest's Temple, Boneskinner,  Watchknight strike. Any content that forces players to pay attention more to movement and mechanics moreso than damage definitely have the 'right' amount of challenge so the encounters won't just end up as the 'hitting the spongy boss' encounter again.

[Astewart.8415]

Challenge should be behind instanced content that persons can dial in their difficulty for. The openworld and questing in particular should be accessible to players solo, or really casual players can get assistance from team mates. 

I don't think the game is too easy. I played from launch, stopped, came back for PoF...then stopped again. Popped in a while ago on my Reaper. I remember I found PoF very challenging for my Ranger beastmaster character. There have definitely been changes to the Reaper as well because I didn't recall being able to stay in Death mode for that long, but it actually felt better, not worse. 

[Khazral.7592]

You've been playing for 10 years.  Of course it's easier.

[Kozumi.5816]

Power creep since PoF has made everything not the current content extremely easy - exactly like a modern themepark.

Content creators keep advertising this is a horizontal progression game but it's 100% not. Chak Garent dies in a single phase 100% of the time now, for example.

All old content is really boring and easy, and this game absolutely does not get enough new content quick enough to warrant making all the old so easy.

Even FF14 and WoW are better about preserving difficulty in old content with ilvl sync and timewalking. GW2 is now the worst modern MMO at keeping old content challenging, which is funny.

Looks like there's no end to this power creep as the most recent balance patch was just flat out buffs to nearly every spec.

Full mobile autobattler mode choochoo.

Edited November 30, 2022 by Kozumi.5816

[Smurfiness.3714]

Very simple. Everytime your character dies just delete it and start a new character. Extreme challenge now.