Using Mastery to stop progression of story!

[Shuzuru.3651]

6 hours ago, Astralporing.1957 said:

Yes, it has been that way when HoT launched. And it was so universally disliked then, that they massively cut down on this in all subsequent content. After HoT i have never again been stopped in story by lack of a mastery. Until now.

Not even in PoF? The canyon jumping mastery is a big roadblock there, because unless you know someone who can port you to mastery point you can't get yet (because needing springer, skimmer or jackal), there is barely enough point in the 2 first map to train it.

Edited August 22 by Shuzuru.3651

[Astralporing.1957]

6 hours ago, Chyro.1462 said:

You didn't need to get skiff mastery to proceed in EoD? didn't need to learn skyscale mastery and rift scanning in SotO? Didn't need mount masteries in PoF? All required at certain story parts. In JW theres a single point that requires a very early mastery. And people complain.

Unlocking a mastery and leveling it are two different things.

40 minutes ago, Shuzuru.3651 said:

Not even in PoF? The canyon jumping mastery is a big roadblock there, because unless you know someone who can port you to mastery point you can't get yet (because needing springer, skimmer or jackal), there is barely enough point in the 2 first map to train it.

Like you said, it was a soft restriction on movement, possible to bypass it in other ways. I don't remember it being an actual hard lock for story though.

[Parasite.5389]

2 hours ago, Astralporing.1957 said:

Like you said, it was a soft restriction on movement, possible to bypass it in other ways. I don't remember it being an actual hard lock for story though.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/The_Sacrifice

Find the remaining crystals of Vlast's body.

• Contact Taimi about Vlast.
• Gather Vlast's crystals.
• Purchase a springer saddle from Unja after helping out at Highjump Ranch.
• Optional: Recover all Vlast crystals.
  https://wiki.guildwars2.com/images/8/86/Event_bar_empty2.jpg
• Use your springer mount to gain access to Glint's lair.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Springer

Quote

It is possible to reach this area through many other means; nevertheless, the required heart Help out around Highjump Ranch will not show up until you have trained the Canyon Jumping mastery.

 

[Gehenna.3625]

14 hours ago, Quirin.1076 said:

HoT - they gave you gliding at the very first instance.  Yeah you could not talk to a vendor or could not access sections of the map but it would not prevent you from doing the story

Gliding was NOT given to you in HoT. You needed to get it via the mastery system by claiming a Mastery Point in Verdant Brink of which a lot of them weren't possible to get to without Masteries. I do distinctly remember the frustration of having to earn XP, which was a lot harder then, and find that first mastery point that was available to me without gliding or other masteries. It was a lot harder to get through the HoT maps back then as it was. Since then there has been a lot of power creep but it was very frustrating to get when I did it. 

[Danikat.8537]

16 hours ago, Chyro.1462 said:

It encourages spending some time on the map, doing some events and local hearts. Really no different to initially unlocking gliding, then shroom jumping and updraft gliding in HoT. Or in PoF having to get the rapor mastery to proceed. Or skiff in EoD.

Agreed. The open world maps have always tied into the story so the game has always encouraged you to play them alongside completing the story. That's why the personal story doesn't give you enough XP to unlock the next step (and didn't before it was split into chapters), masteries are just a more obvious requirement. 

It sounds like which specific ones affect you varies a lot between players. I definitely remember a lot of people coming to this forum because they couldn't figure out how to unlock canyon jumping (I'm on my phone so linking topics is annoying but you can search for them if you want to see). I don't remember getting stuck on that myself, but then I tend to wander off and do other things without being told. I do remember having to train the Exalted mastery in HoT, because until then I'd just used all my available points on gliding so I had to get more to continue the story. 

I haven't had enough time with JW to get that far (I just got into the new map on Tuesday and didn't get to play at all yesterday) but I really want to explore it, so I don't think needing to train masteries will be a problem for me. 

[Rose.2593]

16 hours ago, Quirin.1076 said:

Masteries were used as part of the story, but naturally.  The amount of XP you earned would progress the mastery naturally.

None said hey here is a new Mastery, surprise, before progressing the story you have to earn xp unlock the Mastery.

You definitely always had to train a mastery first - i.e have an enough XP before using, I think just used to already having the XP unlocked already without needing to fill up the bar before unlocking the mastery to put the points in.

[QueenKeriti.5176]

3 hours ago, Gehenna.3625 said:

Gliding was NOT given to you in HoT. You needed to get it via the mastery system by claiming a Mastery Point in Verdant Brink of which a lot of them weren't possible to get to without Masteries. I do distinctly remember the frustration of having to earn XP, which was a lot harder then, and find that first mastery point that was available to me without gliding or other masteries. It was a lot harder to get through the HoT maps back then as it was. Since then there has been a lot of power creep but it was very frustrating to get when I did it. 

^ this. It was part of why my return to GW2 after HoT came out didn't last very long. Between my nyerkty GS mesmer clueless build, the mobs' greatly increased difficulty, how difficult it was to get both XP and mastery points, how hard navigating was, and other HoT changes, I couldn't progress the story right at the beginning and quit 😂 It's a lot easier now than back then.

But, yeah, have needed to get the XP and train masteries for story progression since HoT released.

[Zok.4956]

19 hours ago, Quirin.1076 said:

Stopping Story progression due to being forced to level a mastery is garbage content.

Masteries are Anet's version of horizontal progression since HoT.

Instead of introducing a new max-level (with new max-level gear) with each expansion (which blocks maps if you don't already have it, so you have to earn the XP for it) like in other games, new Masteries are introduced (whose XP you have to earn in order to be able to fully explore a map, for example). I think GW2's Mastery progression is much better than the new max-level progression of other games.

However, Anet doesn't always hit the sweet spot (not too little, not too much) of the amount of XP you need to unlock new Masteries. This has been a point of criticism for some since HoT.

[Zok.4956]

13 hours ago, Astralporing.1957 said:

After HoT i have never again been stopped in story by lack of a mastery. Until now.

Then Anet probably hit the mastery xp levelling sweet spot for you after HoT. Lucky you.  😉

[Sobx.1758]

On 8/22/2024 at 1:46 AM, Astralporing.1957 said:

And it was so universally disliked then, that they massively cut down on this in all subsequent content.

I don't think that's correct. Chances are it was as "universally disliked" as it is shown in this thread now. So 1 person complains about it (also based on him misremembering the past content), most people either don't care or like it/say it makes sense from the narrative perspective and then another person (in this case you) or two try claiming everyone dislikes it?

Edited August 25 by Sobx.1758

[Eloc Freidon.5692]

The story progression is locked this time behind spear mastery to justify the spear throwing from the warclaw. Thematic reasons is why it is this way.

[Ornitha.5862]

I get it can be annoying and take you out of story immersion to be hit with a mastery wall, but it makes sense that you wouldn't be able to progress parts of the story without "learning" something first. The devs want you to take the time to enjoy the map, events, and world lore they put their effort into rather than just blasting through the few places the story tells you to go.

[kharmin.7683]

On 8/22/2024 at 2:01 AM, Shuzuru.3651 said:

Not even in PoF? The canyon jumping mastery is a big roadblock there, because unless you know someone who can port you to mastery point you can't get yet (because needing springer, skimmer or jackal), there is barely enough point in the 2 first map to train it.

It all depends on how one spends one's mastery points.  There are enough to get canyon jumping at an early point.

[Cuks.8241]

I haven't even noticed Mastery progression in JW. Actually I'm way ahead. Aren't only like 2 first tier masteries that can gate your progress?

While in Verdant Brink. You can't glide, what's that? Mushrooms are no go. Mounts haven't been invented yet. You can't really go anywhere. Welcome to the jungle with dinos. Well time to train some mastery xp. Still no.1 map though.

[Shuzuru.3651]

1 hour ago, kharmin.7683 said:

It all depends on how one spends one's mastery points.  There are enough to get canyon jumping at an early point.

What?

There is a single mastery line at that point, you can't choose the wrong option for your points.