End of Dragons, The Scenic Route - Secure Official Travel Papers

[Jaguar.5892]

This is just a general 'Gameplay' critique, I put 'Gameplay' in quotes because there is no world in which 'Wait for your Number to be Called' or watching a black screen and then 'Figure Out What To Do With Yourself' are gameplay or should ever be a 'Quest' This is boring, unimaginative and downright disrespectful to the players of GW2. If you can't be bothered to design levels or write any sort of plot or meaningful interactions for a 'Quest' like in this one why is it here? 

[Noah Salazar.5430]

Cuz i'ts not gameplay/quest but rp/storyteling

Good to have mix of any typ, as ppl can play same game with diferent approch

Someone can play this game only for stuf like that, and less fun from using a weapon

 

Edited September 10, 2023 by Noah Salazar.5430

[Jaguar.5892]

RP would imply that you had RP choices and chances to interact, it had none of that it's not RP it's not gameplay it's filler, bad filler.

[Caitmonster.9036]

It's like a 2 minute bit that pokes fun at bureaucracy and probably the American DMV. I found it kinda funny actually.

You want to complain about time wasting, how about every time a given story step has you 'go do events and kill things and fill up that green bar' to advance your story. I find that far more unimaginative and annoying.

[Jaguar.5892]

I agree they are very repetitive, but they at least have a point and give xp, and it felt like was more like 10 minutes unless the fade to black was a bug that I encountered. It is never god in a game where 'sit and wait' becomes a game mechanic. 

[Trejgon.9367]

I found the whole travel paper sequence funny.

[Danikat.8537]

I thought it was funny too. It definitely matched my experience with applying for a visa to work abroad, especially having to wait an unknown and unspecified amount of time to find out if you're going to get it. (That was very stressful the first time, I had no reason to think I'd be rejected, but I'm not sure what I would have done it I was, or if I didn't get the visa in time to get there.)

If the game was like that all the time then it might get annoying, but as a one-off change from the usual 'go here, kill things' routine, and especially since it fit the theme of what you were doing, I think it's a fun variation.

[Eekasqueak.7850]

I thought it was pretty funny too. 

[ShadowCatz.8437]

8 hours ago, Jaguar.5892 said:

I agree they are very repetitive, but they at least have a point and give xp, and it felt like was more like 10 minutes unless the fade to black was a bug that I encountered. It is never god in a game where 'sit and wait' becomes a game mechanic. 

You are expected during that story step to follow up other parts of that story (talk with Rama etc), so you don't really have to wait that long.

[Jaguar.5892]

I honestly can't believe that anyone would defend a section of a role-playing game that has no role play and no game play, I guess I am in the minority of wanting actual RP choices and play and actual gameplay mechanics. I'm starting to see Asmongold's points about MMO players and here I thought he was just some bitter Texas crank! 🤣

I also guess I'm in the minority of not enjoying everyday annoyances and not wanting them in a game that I play to escape minor everyday annoyances, I guess I just don't know what good gameplay is anymore. I do not get it.

[Jaguar.5892]

It's the point that you are waiting and treated to a blank screen for several minutes and the experience makes me NOT want to help Rama or Ravan or anyone in Cantha, it made me do exactly what I did. Quit. Even a minor area like this highlights the biggest issue with GW2, it's general lack or roleplay, poor uninvolved writing and linear and uninspired storylines. I still love the gameplay, classes and professions, customization, graphics weapons etc.. but under that it's a story stuffed full of filler and one and done mechanics that don't tie anything together in the wider world, I'm just not will to eat that sh#t sandwich. I'm going back to ignoring the story and just running around looking for world events and the other fun and engaging stuff.

[Danikat.8537]

I don't remember getting a blank screen for several minutes. It happened for a few seconds when you're told to wait for your number to be called, but it was just long enough for me to wonder what was happening, then it came back. If you were stuck loading that step for several minutes that's either a problem with your computer or a bug. (Also I'm surprised it didn't disconnect entirely.)

Most of the "wait" time is actually spent doing events around the map - it's a variation on the usual story prompt to do the meta-event or some map completion, which I think is why most people didn't have a problem with it. (Well, that and I assume no one else in this thread ran into the same bug you did.)

[Randulf.7614]

I thought it was an amusing piece of satire. Struggling to see the issue

[ShadowCatz.8437]

1 hour ago, Jaguar.5892 said:

I honestly can't believe that anyone would defend a section of a role-playing game that has no role play and no game play, I guess I am in the minority of wanting actual RP choices and play and actual gameplay mechanics. I'm starting to see Asmongold's points about MMO players and here I thought he was just some bitter Texas crank! 🤣

I also guess I'm in the minority of not enjoying everyday annoyances and not wanting them in a game that I play to escape minor everyday annoyances, I guess I just don't know what good gameplay is anymore. I do not get it.

How do you think any Dev would be able to program a gamelike MMO where there are any  real options or consequence that also would  lock down player in one paths? Any MMO that would do that would have a serious issues where players would either plan ahead to get their "path" or progression to unlock achievements or items or get really mad as that would mean that they had to restart their character or story from the very beginning.

If you want anything like that you would have to look at Single player Games as those have more freedom as for progression and role play that do not impact gameplay for other players. The are good reason why almost every MMO make use of linear story telling as story are used in MMO to explain the game world, how to interact or use combat (skill and item) and why things are like they are in other instances in this game like when you fight Soo-Won and the Void Magic the is related to Dragons Magic, why Dragons exist and how you suddenly now have a Jade Bot you can equip or how to use it.

Outside of the open world content with metas, you have also Strike Missions (group content up 10 player; instance), Jade Bench (where you change Jade Bot) - items related to that system and you have other parts of game like the earlier content in form of PoF and Living World Seasons that expanded on another dragon etc. All that have to be connected in story to make sense of how in game world work for player and why you do what you do in GW2.

In a single player game you don't need to learn player how to work together (as you are only player which can take on a "role") and you have less trouble to explain what is expected for your player as you only need to direct player to understand how in game game world are supposed to work. You can often also focus on story with a main story line and secondary smaller story to expand your world for player. Even in single player games there are limits for how much freedom of progression you can give without making game too large (more options means also more code that needs to be stored, more NPCs and in game objects to create a setting - if don't talk about pure video material in form of cutscenes) or too complex to understand what is going on and in what direction your own character are progressing (player still want to feel some kind of agency even while role playing).

[Jaguar.5892]

On 9/10/2023 at 1:05 PM, ShadowCatz.8437 said:

How do you think any Dev would be able to program a gamelike MMO where there are any  real options or consequence that also would  lock down player in one paths? Any MMO that would do that would have a serious issues where players would either plan ahead to get their "path" or progression to unlock achievements or items or get really mad as that would mean that they had to restart their character or story from the very beginning.

If you want anything like that you would have to look at Single player Games as those have more freedom as for progression and role play that do not impact gameplay for other players. The are good reason why almost every MMO make use of linear story telling as story are used in MMO to explain the game world, how to interact or use combat (skill and item) and why things are like they are in other instances in this game like when you fight Soo-Won and the Void Magic the is related to Dragons Magic, why Dragons exist and how you suddenly now have a Jade Bot you can equip or how to use it.

Outside of the open world content with metas, you have also Strike Missions (group content up 10 player; instance), Jade Bench (where you change Jade Bot) - items related to that system and you have other parts of game like the earlier content in form of PoF and Living World Seasons that expanded on another dragon etc. All that have to be connected in story to make sense of how in game world work for player and why you do what you do in GW2.

In a single player game you don't need to learn player how to work together (as you are only player which can take on a "role") and you have less trouble to explain what is expected for your player as you only need to direct player to understand how in game game world are supposed to work. You can often also focus on story with a main story line and secondary smaller story to expand your world for player. Even in single player games there are limits for how much freedom of progression you can give without making game too large (more options means also more code that needs to be stored, more NPCs and in game objects to create a setting - if don't talk about pure video material in form of cutscenes) or too complex to understand what is going on and in what direction your own character are progressing (player still want to feel some kind of agency even while role playing).

I don't understand your post at all. All of the things you mentioned I was not complaining about, and I don't expect devs to make a mutable world where my choices change everything, if you had my posts you would see I was complaining about a specific instance where there was zero gameplay and zero roleplay, roleplay can take many, many forms and in an MMO it's easy to give the players choices that change the experience for the player (Like GW2's core story mode) or even just meaningful interactions with NPC's. The whole issue with the 'Secure Official Travel Papers' is that it has none of that nothing, zero content and it can't be ignored if you don't do it your quest ends there. I literally complained only about that and nothing else you mentioned. It was lazy and pointless game design. And possibly bugged because it looks like I got the black screen much longer than others, which is even worse. Making a game mecanic that is 'sit and wait' is the definition of pointless and lazy and in this instance it could have been left out and vastly improved gameplay. 

[Randulf.7614]

I think you've hit a bug. There's no part of it that has any real waiting. You sit in a chair, there's some dialogue (much shorter than most dialogue scenes where you do nothing but read), the clock ticks down, it blacks out for a second or two as you fall asleep and then you get called to the desk and you make your choices. It's a satirical riff on bureacracy

The whole thing is less than 1 minute. 

If you are seeing a balck screen or extended waiting then either there's an exaggeration or a bug. But what you are describing does not exist

 

[Farohna.6247]

Never sat at the DMV eh?