From a Passion to a paycheck

[magickthief.6492]

You can feel when a game has the love and attention from devs trying to create art. What is left now are just those trying to not be fired and those trying to gain experience in the industry. Why do you think all devs except 2 now hide behind online tags instead if real names? They don't want to be associated with this game when they go public in future successes. The game ain't got no soul. Its a dying game left with addicts and displaced mmoers looking for a new home. This is one of the Hoods when it comes to Mmos.

[Multicolorhipster.9751]

Pretty accurate for the game overall, and for PvP especially.

Imo this is a demonic gamemode. I mean that non-hyperbolic. It is awash in sin, being designed to perpetuate feelings of resentment, arrogance, and cynicism depending on the personality of the individual it has power over.

No game that was ever good, no habit that was ever healthy had to rely on compulsion to continue its existence.
But Gw2 needs that, it is  like a drug. You start out by enjoying the baseline combat and content; which by the way, was mostly conceptualized by an older dev team that isn't there anymore, and then it gradually progresses to playing because there's nothing else to do, and nothing else quite like it, but what originally drew you in is no longer there. You're no longer playing to have fun, you're playing just for the sake of playing. 

There is no shame in it. We have all been there. I'm not even suggesting that we have to quit. But I will encourage you all to have faith. Faith is more than a religious concept. It is a mindset, and a way of living, and when we choose to live with faith in ourselves, others, and the inherent goodness of the universe, the tallest of mountains becomes but a simple pile of rocks. When we live with faith in our hearts; any challenge, any addiction becomes conquerable. May your days be blessed and your souls kept, friends 🙏

Edited May 4, 2023 by Multicolorhipster.9751
pure belief

[Lighter.5631]

any way cmc and roy are doing an amazing job,

the pvp meta is fun, and a lot of playable builds

pve balance is good too.

there are still flaws, but gw2 is currently in the best shape in years.

one year of cmc > 3 years of whoever was in charge of skill team.

this is actually the first time in years, i said pvp is actually fun now, if you look at my post history lol

Edited May 4, 2023 by Lighter.5631

[ArthurDent.9538]

14 minutes ago, Lighter.5631 said:

any way cmc and roy are doing an amazing job,

the pvp meta is fun, and a lot of playable builds

pve balance is good too.

there are still flaws, but gw2 is currently in the best shape in years.

one year of cmc > 3 years of whoever was in charge of skill team.

this is actually the first time in years, i said pvp is actually fun now, if you look at my post history lol

Cmc is only really having success in achieving relative balance because he is allowed to split basically everything between game modes where his predecessors had to utilize as few skills splits as reasonable. Splitting makes it far easier to hit outliers in individual game modes without breaking the other ones. I still think he has done a horrible job of promoting interactive gameplay hence the rise of "runaway with superspeed while spamming ranged damage behind you" builds among other things.

[Lighter.5631]

2 hours ago, ArthurDent.9538 said:

Cmc is only really having success in achieving relative balance because he is allowed to split basically everything between game modes where his predecessors had to utilize as few skills splits as reasonable. Splitting makes it far easier to hit outliers in individual game modes without breaking the other ones. I still think he has done a horrible job of promoting interactive gameplay hence the rise of "runaway with superspeed while spamming ranged damage behind you" builds among other things.

doesn't really matter, the current stat of runaway with superspeed mid-range builds is decent and dies to a lot of builds like condition/full-range builds/teleport when played by average players, it only becomes very good in top hands, that's why you don't see those builds plaguing ranked like those old necros/shoutsworn/guardian/condi rev/prot holo/sword weaver builds. even the new condi reaper builds is fairly squishy and die fast if you don't pay attention cuz low shroud gen. even top players will die on them if they make mistakes.

and the reasons these builds are not plaguing ranked, because they are highly interactive/position dependant.

not anywhere close to toxic, like unkillable bruisers that never ever dies, shocking aura spams, teleport abuse etc.

he even got rid of earth camping.

currently, I can't see a single meta build that's carrying bad players and that's a super good sign

Edited May 4, 2023 by Lighter.5631

[Azure The Heartless.3261]

CmC and Roy are doing their best, but the gamemode has inertia from years of neglect.

Its like trying to catch a freefalling 150 pound weight. You can try and have good intentions but it wont stop right away.

Complaining about that is justified, as is acknowledging the application of effort. They should have paid attention to it earlier, now they have to untangle a rat's nest of bad design choices a strand at a time. Glad they're working on it though. 

Edited May 4, 2023 by Azure The Heartless.3261

[Paradoxoglanis.1904]

ncsoft has a long history of putting their older games on maintenance mode and shutting them down as soon as they start losing money. I really doubt its the devs making the decisions about the games direction.

[Fearless.3569]

19 hours ago, magickthief.6492 said:

You can feel when a game has the love and attention from devs trying to create art. What is left now are just those trying to not be fired and those trying to gain experience in the industry. Why do you think all devs except 2 now hide behind online tags instead if real names? They don't want to be associated with this game when they go public in future successes. The game ain't got no soul. Its a dying game left with addicts and displaced mmoers looking for a new home. This is one of the Hoods when it comes to Mmos.

 

I mean I hate to say it though. But the whole genre has been going through a Dark Age. The whole genre is in decline, most new Dev teams are not even trying to make something that is entertaining. They are just trying to make MMOs grindy enough to keep you long enough to spend a few more bucks. Basically, the MMO genre is in its money milking phase. 

 

I think it might be time for us to hang up our addiction towards MMOs. 

[apharma.3741]

7 hours ago, ArthurDent.9538 said:

Cmc is only really having success in achieving relative balance because he is allowed to split basically everything between game modes where his predecessors had to utilize as few skills splits as reasonable. Splitting makes it far easier to hit outliers in individual game modes without breaking the other ones. I still think he has done a horrible job of promoting interactive gameplay hence the rise of "runaway with superspeed while spamming ranged damage behind you" builds among other things.

Nailed it, it's very easy to be seen as amazing when the other guy is only allowed to use one arm and one leg....while blindfolded. We shouldn't forget that previously the skills team held most of the power and their agenda was being pushed the most where competitive changes were generally not allowed to happen if the skills team didn't like it. Remove the bloat of skills? Fat chance.

As for the OP who was saying devs hide behind tags, do you honestly blame them after what's happened to quite a few devs over the years that have made questionable decisions? The internet tends to bring out the worst in people and it's so very easy to get people riled up and into a hate mob especially on reddit. ANet has done bad things and their communication isn't good but we shouldn't be surprised after all these years.

[Lighter.5631]

7 hours ago, ano nimo.3948 said:

If you think the game is in a skillful state you must be smoking some nice weed or you are just pretty low skilled. Also thinking current devs do a good job biased and clueless as they are... ye see prev sentence.

haha, tell me what is a skillful state in the pass few years then. 

my guess is that you can't because you smoking some trash weed for making statements xD

just because you know how to use words like "biased" and "clueless" doesn't automatically make your statement not biased and clueless.

Edited May 5, 2023 by Lighter.5631

[felix.2386]

fun fact, currently the really good players are all enjoying the meta. it is the best meta gw2 has ever gotten in many years. the ones complaining are really the lower end of the stick. salty gold players with big egos but without builds to carry them.

gw2 had so many brain-dead skillless builds that carried these people and made them think they deserve plat+. if you aren't enjoying the current meta, you are just some brain-dead builds abusers. sorry for you these builds don't work as well anymore.

Edited May 5, 2023 by felix.2386

[Multicolorhipster.9751]

The fact that this thread has turned into yet another balance discussion is proof of how deep the addiction runs.

Nevermind that the last actual PvP content to be added was done so 3 years ago https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/call-to-glory-february-2020-competitive-update/
Nevermind that AFK ATs now exist.
Nevermind solo/duo ranked

Nevermind the neglect from the developers, the ignored AFK/match manipulation reports, getting stuck in walls, class-swapping, the 5-6 months between balance patches(after being promised they would speed up back in 2020), the unfixed visual bugs that have existed for years, hackers, bots, freebie rewards, top poopyheads, or the utter contempt demonstrated frequently by the GMs that are supposed to stop abusive behavior, and not actively perpetuate it.

Can polish up 💩till it's golden. It's still 💩 You can choose to be cynical and chalk it up to copium. I will pray for you if you do, and that you will one day find peace.
"Happiness is a delusion of the weak."

[Multicolorhipster.9751]

And furthermore, let's be real. If you were truly happy and content with the state of PvP, you wouldn't be here on the forums to complain about it, or write a manic post about how great it is pls pls, come play. You'd be playing PvP, and you wouldn't care if that was truly the case.

Nobody on here is happy. Some of the most popular subforums on here are centered around the competitive modes, despite the competitive modes objectively being the least popular modes.

It's pretty evident that we're all here to whine. First, be honest with yourself. Then, be honest with others.

[Gotejjeken.1267]

Just now, Multicolorhipster.9751 said:

And furthermore, let's be real. If you were truly happy and content with the state of PvP, you wouldn't be here on the forums to complain about it, or write a manic post about how great it is pls pls, come play. You'd be playing PvP, and you wouldn't care if that was truly the case.

Nobody on here is happy. Some of the most popular subforums on here are centered around the competitive modes, despite the competitive modes objectively being the least popular modes.

It's pretty evident that we're all here to whine. First, be honest with yourself. Then, be honest with others.

 

I'll take projection for $500.

Personally, when I did PvP late last year /early this year it was just for the legendary and eventually Top 250 title because I was basically already there.  No real compulsion to play other than competition---the entire point of the mode.

This 'redpill' take you have essentially only applies to the sPvP lobby, certain reddit/discord communities surrounding AT's, and unranked.  The rest are actually playing the mode.

For me and forums, I come here to discuss balance mostly, not whine about lack of content (new maps, etc.) or glitches / hackers.  Most games have these problems, if not all games at a certain point.  Look at competitive games like Valorant where every map looks the same, or Fortnite which has been on 'dance emote' autopilot for years now since it launched.  

Anyway, the 'addiction' you are seeing may just be needing to step away from the forums and stop doom posting.  

[Multicolorhipster.9751]

16 minutes ago, Gotejjeken.1267 said:

I'll take projection for $500.

Personally, when I did PvP late last year /early this year it was just for the legendary and eventually Top 250 title because I was basically already there.  No real compulsion to play other than competition---the entire point of the mode.

This 'redpill' take you have essentially only applies to the sPvP lobby, certain reddit/discord communities surrounding AT's, and unranked.  The rest are actually playing the mode.

When you right, you right, even in ad hominem. I am absolutely projecting. Unfortunately I'm short the 500$ having spent the last of it to pay someone to be my "friend" and duoq with me at 4am so I can win games. I value honesty.

Anyways, as we all know every individual PvP player is the center of the universe, so we have to assume that your personal experiences speak for everyone with absolute fact and accuracy which kind of also sounds like projection, but fire with fire is an effective if not slightly hypocritical way to go about things. I can respect that.

Though apparently my take only applies to lobby mapchat and bad boy reddit/discord communities however, whereas yours speaks for the game entirely. I cannot argue with this without resorting to simple contradiction. Well done.

16 minutes ago, Gotejjeken.1267 said:

For me and forums, I come here to discuss balance mostly, not whine about lack of content (new maps, etc.) or glitches / hackers.  Most games have these problems, if not all games at a certain point.  Look at competitive games like Valorant where every map looks the same, or Fortnite which has been on 'dance emote' autopilot for years now since it launched.  

That's pretty cool, and I encourage you to keep doing that.

I'm not content to ignore those problems though. If the founding ideals behind PvP were as you suggest; friendly and fair competition, then I feel Arenanet has failed completely to deliver a competitive experience even remotely close to that in the year 2023. Putting the real issues aside for the sake of balance demonstrates a certain level of contempt and complete disregard for anyone else's time and feelings.

16 minutes ago, Gotejjeken.1267 said:

Anyway, the 'addiction' you are seeing may just be needing to step away from the forums and stop doom posting.  

I rebuke that, having never once doom-posted. The point of having and keeping one's ✨faith✨ is never about tearing down the opposition. It is to make them better. 🙏

[Kuma.1503]

9 hours ago, Fearless.3569 said:

 

I mean I hate to say it though. But the whole genre has been going through a Dark Age. The whole genre is in decline, most new Dev teams are not even trying to make something that is entertaining. They are just trying to make MMOs grindy enough to keep you long enough to spend a few more bucks. Basically, the MMO genre is in its money milking phase. 

 

I think it might be time for us to hang up our addiction towards MMOs. 

MMO's aren't in a dark age. They're just not as mainstream as they used to be. There are some great MMOs out there doing good stuff. WoW's currently great. 14's doing great. Gw2 (PvP and some questionable choices aside aside) is doing better than it has in a long time. 

Gaming in general however... greedy businessmen in suits have discovered that microtransactions >>>> content in terms of shareholder profit. So most games try to be just fun enough to push their cash shops instead of being as good as they possibly could be. This isn't unique to MMO's, but for games like GW2, that means we get new cash shop skins every micro patch while we're still sitting on our hands waiting for new PvP maps. 

 

Edited May 5, 2023 by Kuma.1503

[Gibson.4036]

5 hours ago, Kuma.1503 said:

MMO's aren't in a dark age. They're just not as mainstream as they used to be. There are some great MMOs out there doing good stuff. WoW's currently great. 14's doing great. Gw2 (PvP and some questionable choices aside aside) is doing better than it has in a long time. 

Gaming in general however... greedy businessmen in suits have discovered that microtransactions >>>> content in terms of shareholder profit. So most games try to be just fun enough to push their cash shops instead of being as good as they possibly could be. This isn't unique to MMO's, but for games like GW2, that means we get new cash shop skins every micro patch while we're still sitting on our hands waiting for new PvP maps. 

 

Hurray for late stage capitalism

[felix.2386]

11 hours ago, Multicolorhipster.9751 said:

The fact that this thread has turned into yet another balance discussion is proof of how deep the addiction runs.

Nevermind that the last actual PvP content to be added was done so 3 years ago https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/call-to-glory-february-2020-competitive-update/
Nevermind that AFK ATs now exist.
Nevermind solo/duo ranked

Nevermind the neglect from the developers, the ignored AFK/match manipulation reports, getting stuck in walls, class-swapping, the 5-6 months between balance patches(after being promised they would speed up back in 2020), the unfixed visual bugs that have existed for years, hackers, bots, freebie rewards, top poopyheads, or the utter contempt demonstrated frequently by the GMs that are supposed to stop abusive behavior, and not actively perpetuate it.

Can polish up 💩till it's golden. It's still 💩 You can choose to be cynical and chalk it up to copium. I will pray for you if you do, and that you will one day find peace.
"Happiness is a delusion of the weak."

 

you have the addiction here bud because clearly you still think the game is kitten but you still play it anyway.

"happiness is a delusion of the weak" it's a video game bro.

i only play because i'm having fun in the current meta and it is the best meta gw2 ever had since basically forever.

 

No 1v1 bruiser fights that last forever.

no builds that carry noobs.

no builds that make top player gods.

no teleport abuse.

no abusive evade spam

no block spam

those builds with toxic abusive mechanics are all nerfed to an acceptable level or simply nerfed to kitten. thank god.

 

scepter/staff ele being meta?!

a viable sword damage warrior build?!

hammer scrapper?!

condi reaper?!

decent power shatter chrono build?!

finally a power ele build being good?! that's not any of those CC spamming lightning rod BS?!

support core guard, power willbender all decent.

power herald/power vindi all decent

core necro/harb all decent

power holo is menacing, and it's not a braindead prot holo.

untamed is good, the rest of ranger falls off a bit but is far from being unplayable.

 

i've kitten talked about the stat of pvp for years, this is the first time it's actually decent since vanilla gw2.

all NA needs now is those kittens in team USA to stop being gizmo goblins

 

Edited May 5, 2023 by felix.2386

[Fearless.3569]

14 hours ago, felix.2386 said:

if you aren't enjoying the current meta, you are just some brain-dead builds abusers. sorry for you these builds don't work as well anymore.

 

What, how can one enjoy the META when 2 people on their team just refuse to do anything at the beginning of the match? People are match manipulating like crazy. The only way to beat such is to fight fire with fire. In which case are you actually being a skillful PvPers or a skillful match manipulator? At that point, what is even the purpose of rank and clout?

 

The only thing I can see that will make the current META enjoyable. Is if ANet allows you to queue up Ranked PvP with a full 5 man premade. Otherwise, nothing else matter but who can cheat the system the best. 

 

Just my two cents on the matter.

[Multicolorhipster.9751]

1 hour ago, felix.2386 said:

you have the addiction here bud because clearly you still think the game is kitten but you still play it anyway.

This is patently false. I'm currently celebrating my second month Guild Wars-clean, and fourth month PvP-clean thanks to on and off suspensions granted generously by our benefactors. What that means to me specifically is between myself and a higher power. 🙏

1 hour ago, felix.2386 said:

"happiness is a delusion of the weak" it's a video game bro.

Technically speaking its an online forum to a corresponding video game, and again, the forums are where people come to complain about the video game. Nobody here is happy.

Any game is also a form of practice, especially social games like Gw2, as the experiences within fall in the domain of human interaction and explore ideas of moral and societal values. How a person behaves and interacts with other players in a game is pretty telling as to who they are as a person, and the people living purely for the personal pursuit of happiness, or hedonism tend to be dangerous, prideful, self-absorbed, and especially narcissistic individuals.

This is reflected in this game's top player population and their propensity to manipulate the outcome of PvP matches via seeking forbidden methods outside the game itself to get what they desire. The "gizmo goblins" as you call them, which is a great name btw. 👍😂

"It's just a game" could  be and has been used to weaponize profession balance to some extent, with people asking for nerfs/buffs to things they don't like to compensate for a lack of mechanical skill. Especially true for the top players who have more power and say in profession-balance than any average player, as proven in the hidden discord leaks. To people like that, every interaction made is done so in the context of a game. Every idea exists at opposition to another, a problem to be solved/conquered. This isn't exclusive to enemy teams either, but your own as well, knowing the amount of vitriol floating around out in there in the demonic gamemode that is Ranked. "When all they ever gave you was a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail."

1 hour ago, felix.2386 said:

i only play because i'm having fun in the current meta and it is the best meta gw2 ever had since basically forever.

1 hour ago, felix.2386 said:

i've kitten talked about the stat of pvp for years, this is the first time it's actually decent since vanilla gw2.

This is good, and that's what I like to hear. That's unfortunately all I can say there, as I'm not willing to fall into the trap of subjective, philosophical debate over profession-balance. It is an exercise in redundancy and I have souls to save, including my own. 🙏

1 hour ago, felix.2386 said:

all NA needs now is those kittens in team USA to stop being gizmo goblins

This is more important, no matter how you look at it, just like was said here:

56 minutes ago, Fearless.3569 said:

What, how can one enjoy the META when 2 people on their team just refuse to do anything at the beginning of the match? People are match manipulating like crazy. The only way to beat such is to fight fire with fire. In which case are you actually being a skillful PvPers or a skillful match manipulator? At that point, what is even the purpose of rank and clout?

@Fearless.3569 brings up a very good point. What is the point in getting into a heated debate about profession balance, when the professions we want so desperately to be balanced exist within a manipulated, exploitable, and competitively non-viable setting?
Again I'll say it is an exercise in total redundancy.

[JTGuevara.9018]

11 hours ago, Kuma.1503 said:

MMO's aren't in a dark age. They're just not as mainstream as they used to be. There are some great MMOs out there doing good stuff. WoW's currently great. 14's doing great. Gw2 (PvP and some questionable choices aside aside) is doing better than it has in a long time. 

Gaming in general however... greedy businessmen in suits have discovered that microtransactions >>>> content in terms of shareholder profit. So most games try to be just fun enough to push their cash shops instead of being as good as they possibly could be. This isn't unique to MMO's, but for games like GW2, that means we get new cash shop skins every micro patch while we're still sitting on our hands waiting for new PvP maps. 

 

The jig is up on mmos. The mmo genre is essentially one big giant cash grab. Always was. mmos got away with it in the past because they were NEW. Now though, people see how the sausage is made. The mmo genre pioneered all the garbage we see in gaming today (micro-transactions, loot boxes, mechanics designed for people prone to addiction).

WoW and FF14 only do great because they're big names, have massive amounts of capital to spend and are subscription-based. With WoW they're the market leader. They don't need to do much else. FF14, Square Enix just threw gobs of money at it since their mainline Final Fantasy games were struggling. And let's not forget that it's the second attempt. The first version of FF14 collapsed and had to be recreated from scratch with 'A Realm Reborn'. gw2 is NOT doing better, it's just staying afloat. Its peak was release to around 2017 or so.

[Gotejjeken.1267]

5 hours ago, Multicolorhipster.9751 said:

This is patently false. I'm currently celebrating my second month Guild Wars-clean, and fourth month PvP-clean thanks to on and off suspensions granted generously by our benefactors. What that means to me specifically is between myself and a higher power. 🙏

Technically speaking its an online forum to a corresponding video game, and again, the forums are where people come to complain about the video game. Nobody here is happy.

Any game is also a form of practice, especially social games like Gw2, as the experiences within fall in the domain of human interaction and explore ideas of moral and societal values. How a person behaves and interacts with other players in a game is pretty telling as to who they are as a person, and the people living purely for the personal pursuit of happiness, or hedonism tend to be dangerous, prideful, self-absorbed, and especially narcissistic individuals.

This is reflected in this game's top player population and their propensity to manipulate the outcome of PvP matches via seeking forbidden methods outside the game itself to get what they desire. The "gizmo goblins" as you call them, which is a great name btw. 👍😂

"It's just a game" could  be and has been used to weaponize profession balance to some extent, with people asking for nerfs/buffs to things they don't like to compensate for a lack of mechanical skill. Especially true for the top players who have more power and say in profession-balance than any average player, as proven in the hidden discord leaks. To people like that, every interaction made is done so in the context of a game. Every idea exists at opposition to another, a problem to be solved/conquered. This isn't exclusive to enemy teams either, but your own as well, knowing the amount of vitriol floating around out in there in the demonic gamemode that is Ranked. "When all they ever gave you was a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail."

This is good, and that's what I like to hear. That's unfortunately all I can say there, as I'm not willing to fall into the trap of subjective, philosophical debate over profession-balance. It is an exercise in redundancy and I have souls to save, including my own. 🙏

This is more important, no matter how you look at it, just like was said here:

@Fearless.3569 brings up a very good point. What is the point in getting into a heated debate about profession balance, when the professions we want so desperately to be balanced exist within a manipulated, exploitable, and competitively non-viable setting?
Again I'll say it is an exercise in total redundancy.

 

I get meta-trolling, but from the novel length responses, you may need to be forum clean too.   

[apharma.3741]

6 hours ago, JTGuevara.9018 said:

The jig is up on mmos. The mmo genre is essentially one big giant cash grab. Always was. mmos got away with it in the past because they were NEW. Now though, people see how the sausage is made. The mmo genre pioneered all the garbage we see in gaming today (micro-transactions, loot boxes, mechanics designed for people prone to addiction).

WoW and FF14 only do great because they're big names, have massive amounts of capital to spend and are subscription-based. With WoW they're the market leader. They don't need to do much else. FF14, Square Enix just threw gobs of money at it since their mainline Final Fantasy games were struggling. And let's not forget that it's the second attempt. The first version of FF14 collapsed and had to be recreated from scratch with 'A Realm Reborn'. gw2 is NOT doing better, it's just staying afloat. Its peak was release to around 2017 or so.

Hey now! You can't be explaining things like this, these people need to be weened off the hopium. Dropping a truth bomb on them like this is going to cause one hell of a cognitive dissonance.

[Multicolorhipster.9751]

1 hour ago, Gotejjeken.1267 said:

I get meta-trolling, but from the novel length responses, you may need to be forum clean too.   

I would want for nothing more than to be forum-clean. That's exactly why I don't need to be, until I do. However, given the unfortunate disposition of our benefactors it is difficult for me to see that as anything other than a prediction, and a fairly accurate and close one at that.

Oh well. It is better to be clean than comfortable. 🙏

I will not apologize for using big words and lots of them. Faith is by design a commitment, not just blind belief, because one of the most important principles that faith requires is putting into practice what one has faith in, even in the face of great adversity, rejection, treachery, and despair. If it were ever easy, the spiritual rewards would ne'er taste so sweet, but like all spiritual rewards it must be earned to some degree.

This means going the extra mile for the people you have faith in, and I would walk a thousand more. 🎹

[Dr Meta.3158]

Having came back recently after the May 2nd patch. I will say something I didn't think I would.

Things got a little better after the patch. There are definitely still a lot of problems but it didn't get worse. Given that there won't be any more elite specs and no need to push sales of expansions through them, I think we may be headed in a positive trajectory without clear upcoming pits to fall in for the first time ever in this game.