Two noob questions: LFG and how twitchy is GW2?

[Faline.8795]

Is LFG all premade or is there random matchmaking? I've always been shy about applying to groups. So WoW and FF14's random matchmaking was a God-send to me. :)

Second question. I see people always taking about the need to dodge and move out of the way, etc. How twitchy is GW2? I have extremely high latency and wonder about being able to get out of the way of attacks. WoW was pretty merciful with that. In GW2, I seem to get hit an awful lot, but I've never done a dungeon, so maybe it was just outdoor stuff where you have less time to move maybe?

[CptAurellian.9537]

LFG isn't automated, you still need to choose the party you want to join. With regard to the latency thing, I can't really judge it. In open world, there's generally rather little need to dodge, as you can annihilate most mobs before they can even hit back. In instanced content, that looks different though - there you will need to dodge and get out of nasty stuff.

[RoseofGilead.8907]

There is no matchmaking like in WoW. Players create listings on the LFG for the content they're wanting to play, and then other players can join those parties/squads; you'll then have to wait until the group fills up or until the group is ready to go. You also won't be teleported to your party when you join a group. So, you'll need to run or Waypoint yourself to the appropriate map to play with your party/squad. For example, if you're joining a group for Ascalon Catacombs, you'll need to get yourself to Plains of Ashford to be able to enter the dungeon instance. Similarly, if you're joining a group to do a world boss in a map, you'll need to make your way to the appropriate map to be able to join them.

As for your second question, GW2 is a lot more twitchy than WoW, and dodging will be a large part of staying alive in the game. Unfortunately, lag can affect it, especially if your connection is prone to high latency. So, it might be good to put a couple of defensive skills on your bar (ie. anything that lets you evade/block or go invulnerable). You'll never be able to dodge every single thing that's coming at you, though, so getting hit a lot is pretty normal. ;)

[SlippyCheeze.5483]

@"Faline.8795" said:Is LFG all premade or is there random matchmaking? I've always been shy about applying to groups. So WoW and FF14's random matchmaking was a God-send to me. :)

All premade, in the sense that there is no matchmaking. That said, for things like fractals, bounty trains, world bosses, etc, it may as well be random: there won't be an interview waiting for you on the far side, just click and go, more or less. The exceptions to that general rule happen at the top end of T4 fractals (especially challenge modes), and around raids, basically the highest end of PvE content.

So, I'm sympathetic: I prefer the random matchmaking approach myself, but I have not found LFG to be a big problem.

Second question. I see people always taking about the need to dodge and move out of the way, etc. How twitchy is GW2? I have extremely high latency and wonder about being able to get out of the way of attacks. WoW was pretty merciful with that. In GW2, I seem to get hit an awful lot, but I've never done a dungeon, so maybe it was just outdoor stuff where you have less time to move maybe?

I'm afraid to report that instanced content is comparable, or worse than, open world content. Most significant attacks are on around a three second timer, and have good signalling, and in small group content you can usually actually see that signalling. If you are finding that it is hard to get out of the way of those big attacks from open world veteran and champion mobs when there are just a handful of people around, though, you will likely find instanced content really tough.

That said, what sort of latency are we talking here? I don't know how much experience you have, but there is definitely a whole bunch of skill to learn -- especially vs PoF enemies -- that may be what the difference is, rather than just latency. (I mean, it won't make it easier, for sure, but having a number rather than "extremely high" makes it easier to give you realistic advice.)

Ultimately, I suggest you give it a try. At the bottom end of T1 fractals, for example, you are not going to get a lot of high power groups steamrolling through. At least, as long as level 1 isn't the recommended daily. ;)

I'd also suggest finding a guild where you might get to test it out with people who agree that, yeah, they are there with you so you can check it out. They, y'know, shouldn't yell at you if it turns out impossible, if you are honest with them about the situation ahead of time. That implies a guild of, if not friends, then at least friendly, kind acquaintances. Thankfully, that is most of the guilds in GW2. :)

[Faline.8795]

@SlippyCheeze.5483 said:

@Faline.8795 said:Is LFG all premade or is there random matchmaking? I've always been shy about applying to groups. So WoW and FF14's random matchmaking was a God-send to me. :)

All premade, in the sense that there is no matchmaking. That said, for things like fractals, bounty trains, world bosses, etc, it may as well be random: there won't be an interview waiting for you on the far side, just click and go, more or less. The exceptions to that general rule happen at the top end of T4 fractals (especially challenge modes), and around raids, basically the highest end of PvE content.

Too bad about no matchmaking, but glad to hear that people aren't being terribly elitist about it either. WoW has a problem with that in premades.

Too bad it doesn't teleport you to the instance. That always was a nice convenience.

I'm afraid to report that instanced content is comparable, or worse than, open world content. Most significant attacks are on around a three second timer

Three seconds? Oh, that's just fine. I can get out of the way of a three second attack, as long as the AoE isn't huge and I'm in the centre of it. Been trying it out in FF14 and haven't had a large problem with it yet.

That said, what sort of latency are we talking here?

700-1100 ms, depending on the amount of traffic. Satellite internet. Life in rural America is beautiful, but we have to put up with rotten internet.

[RoseofGilead.8907]

@Faline.8795 said:700-1100 ms, depending on the amount of traffic. Satellite internet. Life in rural America is beautiful, but we have to put up with rotten internet.

Representing rural Texas here. I feel your pain.

[Faline.8795]

@RoseofGilead.8907 said:

@Faline.8795 said:700-1100 ms, depending on the amount of traffic. Satellite internet. Life in rural America is beautiful, but we have to put up with rotten internet.

Representing rural Texas here. I feel your pain.

So how is GW2 working for you? Do you have sat internet?

[RoseofGilead.8907]

@Faline.8795 said:

@RoseofGilead.8907 said:

@Faline.8795 said:700-1100 ms, depending on the amount of traffic. Satellite internet. Life in rural America is beautiful, but we have to put up with rotten internet.

Representing rural Texas here. I feel your pain.

So how is GW2 working for you? Do you have sat internet?

Yeah, I have satellite internet. It works fine most of the time for me, at least as far as small group or solo content goes. But large group content (such as meta events with 50+ people) is iffy. Sometimes it'll work fine. Sometimes I'll end up with just a 3-5 second skill lag. And sometimes I will just have to give up and restart the entire game because I can't do anything and even logging to character select isn't working.

[SlippyCheeze.5483]

@Faline.8795 said:

@SlippyCheeze.5483 said:

@Faline.8795 said:Is LFG all premade or is there random matchmaking? I've always been shy about applying to groups. So WoW and FF14's random matchmaking was a God-send to me. :)

All premade, in the sense that there is no matchmaking. That said, for things like fractals, bounty trains, world bosses, etc, it may as well be random: there won't be an interview waiting for you on the far side, just click and go, more or less. The exceptions to that general rule happen at the top end of T4 fractals (especially challenge modes), and around raids, basically the highest end of PvE content.

Too bad about no matchmaking, but glad to hear that people aren't being terribly elitist about it either. WoW has a problem with that in premades.Too bad it doesn't teleport you to the instance. That always was a nice convenience.

Yeah, elitism doesn't kick in much until the very, very high end, and there are plenty of guilds that are not into that. As a rule, GW2 has a design policy that "seeing another player should never be a bad thing", and that encourages people to be nicer overall. :) Even right at the top it isn't that terrible. https://metabattle.com/ will give you the overview of the whole shebang if you want to pre-inspect what the "build guides" are like, which is basically all the elitism cares about most of the time.

You can teleport in from within the same zone as the entrance. No cross-world teleport though. It is more inconvenient, but there are also waypoints right at the door of every instance, so you can literally walk ten feet from a fast travel destination.

I'm afraid to report that instanced content is comparable, or worse than, open world content. Most significant attacks are on around a three second timer

Three seconds? Oh, that's just fine. I can get out of the way of a three second attack, as long as the AoE isn't huge and I'm in the centre of it. Been trying it out in FF14 and haven't had a large problem with it yet.

I'd say the warning part is closer to one second signalling, hitting about once every three seconds. I'd strongly advise using a condition oriented build (once you hit 80, anyway), and preferably one that is a bit forgiving. IMO, Necromancer is the most forgiving of those, but shortbow/shortbow ranger is good too -- and has a natural pet tank for PvE content -- and I'd suggest trying mesmer. It may, or may not, work out for you.

That said, what sort of latency are we talking here?

700-1100 ms, depending on the amount of traffic. Satellite internet. Life in rural America is beautiful, but we have to put up with rotten internet.

Yah. That hurts. You can try all this out in the free to play version: you only have access to core maps, but you can do endgame fractals, open world bosses, etc, just fine. So, that'll be plenty for you to evaluate if it does work out for you without having to risk real money.