Should the Skyscale map currency be reduced?

[Ygdrasill.9135]

@Vayne.8563 said:

Since you're new, I'll give you some advice. Play the new zones when they come out. Obviously if you're new you couldn't do it before, but you can do that from now on. Do you know how much of a grind it was for me to get my skyscale, at least the currency part? Zero. Because I had enough currency from each zone, because I play those zones. People play the story, leave the zone and don't look back. But you have 3 months at least before the next chapter comes out, and those zones can be completed, have chests to farm, often have meta events, have achievements to hunt...between farming my home instance daily and playing the zones, I had more than enough currency from each zone before the collection ever came out. Not playing the zones is a choice people make. They'd rather being doing whatever else there is when doing it. But I assure you many people in this game only needed a bit currency to catch up or, as in my case, there was no need to grind at all.

I've been playing the various areas concurently actually. I'm still working on the Central Tyria and Heart of Thorns stories and will likely do the Living Worlds 2 and 3 eventually as well. I actually finished PoF first, as I wanted the mounts including the griffon to do the rest of the content with. It doesn't bother me to jump around in the story timeline and I will go off and do the occasional meta or world event as I feel like it. I had completed the LW4 stories though not all on the same character, so I had some of the currency needed but still needed to grind for some with breaks to gain Karma to buy it from the heart vendors. It wasn't all that bad really. The multiple completion lists 21 long were actually more of a grind for me. There was zero game immersion as I was just going down the list on the wiki and checking them off. I don't know anyone who went strictly by ingame clues and information. The Skyscale is well worth the work it took to me though I don't plan to do anything like that again for a while.

[LaFurion.3167]

I don't get why people are talking about time gate. That ain't my issue, and credit where credit is due, anet mitigated it' to 2 hours.... although should just remove it... 2 hours to wait to talk to the same guy.... I digress.

My problem is the currency grind. It is literally that. I have to OY do the same hearts and events over and over and over and over. It's not fun. It's not something that I can "just take my time" with because if I do that it will take me 4 months to get sigh.

5 classes map completion barely dents it. How many hearts do we actually have to do for jahai to make enough?

[Blocki.4931]

@LaFurion.3167 said:

@Blocki.4931 said:You not playing those maps before was an active choice you made, just as you made the choice to get the Skyscale. It really isn't that bad. Do hearts, don't waste your time on map completion. Use multiple chars. Do the meta events and rift events. You're not forced to do anything, you make the choice yourself going for those things.

Also don't do hearts that annoy you. In Kourna for example I just skip the first one at the camp because it absolutely sucks and can't be completed within 1 minute as the others mostly can be.

I work 12 hour shifts and have other things to do in my life. In the 2-4 hours I can manage to play every 3rd day or so I don't want to have to play 5 different characters on these godforsaken maps for a tiny bit of progress. Maybe 25 of all currency per heart wouldn't be so bad... sigh....

2 to 4 hours a day is VERY generous for GW2. Finishing a heart takes a few minutes, you can easily get it done on several chars and then do something you want to do with the remaining hours. Just have a few chars sitting on the maps, or rotate through them daily and enjoy the ride. It really isn't that bad, but people always go full hog and use all of their characters, grinding every single map every day and then complain that they were forced to do it or that they didn't enjoy it whatsoever. When the Skyscale came out I had literally just spent 700 Inscribed Shards on making the two back pieces and was VERY disgruntled of having to play that map even more. Put 4 characters on that map, did 3 of the 4 hearts and joined the meta. I actually enjoyed my time there, because it didn't take long enough to feel like a chore and I got to play some of my least played characters.

Repeated the same thing in Istan, for all of the Ore needed to craft 6 weapons. That took way longer, especially because the meta events were completely deserted ever since the rewards were gutted and people didn't have a need to do them more than once (or interrupt their meteor farm). I did all of this during a time where I could not spend more than 2 hours a day at most on it. I definitely know the struggle. There is 0 reason to rush this though. What gives it if takes you 2 or 3 days (maybe more) than you potentially could, if the difference is either spending ALL your time doing one thing, or spreading your time out and not hating yourself & the game in the process?

[Fenella.2634]

Maybe leave the hearts be and just go for the nodes? It's not super efficient, but at least to me less boring. I also only got the skyscale a few days ago. Just used one character for the currencies and didn't even farm every day I played. I rather take a bit longer, but still have fun playing. :) If I had forced myself to do hearts over and over on several characters, I can't imagine how un-fun that would have been. :(Of course most currencies were needed from maps I don't like to play on...

Maybe just try going step by step, mix it up with content you actually like to play and don't worry. The currencies and the mount will still be there even if it takes you a few days or weeks longer.

[KryTiKaL.3125]

@Vayne.8563 said:

@KryTiKaL.3125 said:

@"Calvsie.3675" said:I feel people came into Skyscale with the completely wrong mindset. Instead of "WOW a good long term goal to keep me engaged for a couple week to a month!" they were all "WANT IT NOW" and then proceeded to not be happy.

Except the problem was that they timegated each step. Thats what people were complaining about. They

forced

players to stop working on it until reset the next day. That is what made them unhappy.

Maybe they could have used that time to farm the necessary currency, and then they'd have most of it when it was time to continue? Just a thought.

Or they already have the currency they need and would then be forced to wait until reset the next day to continue if it stayed that way. Yet another thought.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

Why bemoan the (24-hour) time-gate that has been removed? One would think from some posts that it was still in effect.

[Brother.1504]

The more people that do the grind and realize after the fact that the Skyscale is worth it, invalidates this argument. Yes, the time gate, currency grind, time commitment, etc, etc does suck. We did it. We are glad it’s over. But, it’s worth it. Keep at it. You’ll get there.

[SlateSloan.3654]

arenanet just did not take into account here that alot of us did the pve maps all over for other items already and now need to get back to them...

i crafted 2 HoT legendary in the past and nowadays cant play these HoT maps anymore really as i am fed up with it.

if i need any map currencies nowadays it does not bring me to any pve maps , i rather stick to wvw reward tracks, i have several hundred daily reward potions ready to just click it then. the advantage if you mainly play wvw cause pve got you fed up long ago.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

Pretty sure the Skyscale collection didn't require any HoT maps.

[Derdzvero.7051]

@kharmin.7683 said:

@"KryTiKaL.3125" said:

Because if they want to get it done in a day...why not? If they have the capability then let them go for it.

Because then players would complain about the lack of content. Anet can't win.

There is no content for the map currency requirements. All the "content" has been recycled and ends at about 100 of those currencies (+30 at some maps). After that it's pure boredom, mindless time & electricity waste. The remaining parts of the collection and their timegate are comparable with BDO gameplay.Literally 95% of the collections were "get on the very same spot, you were many times before, and press F".Compared to that HoT specialization collections look like AAA games by themselves.

Short version: it's doable, we've done it, more will.. but Anet, try one more like this and...

P.S. for each time, I've had to sit at that heart at Jahai Bluffs and hit a dummy with a stick, I'm deducting 5 Euros from money, I've planned to spend in game. 10 for having to do it with multiple chars and 15 if I had to return next day. Same applies for Kourna and tasteless roots heart. Think it's fair

[Finnkitkit.8304]

@Brother.1504 said:The more people that do the grind and realize after the fact that the Skyscale is worth it, invalidates this argument. Yes, the time gate, currency grind, time commitment, etc, etc does suck. We did it. We are glad it’s over. But, it’s worth it. Keep at it. You’ll get there.

Sorry, but the skyscale isn't worth it at all. My opinion ^^. And Anet can't make the cattle more valuable, just like the Griffin. Then they would have to shorten the collection.

So my tip. Just don't do the collection.I know a lot of people who don't have the Griffin. And who will never own the Skyscale either.

[Edelweiss.4261]

I myself got it quite a while ago, but I agree. The 250 of each currency was not fun; it was painful. I would strongly support a change in this area for players forward-going.

As for the "long term goal" argument, I strongly disagree. If you actively play in open world, the skyscale quickly became the norm for certain parts of group trains. If you don't have it, you can get left behind more easily. Getting it didn't feel like a nice long-term goal because it significantly changes how you play. Long term goals should be largely cosmetic so that you can afford to work at them at your own pace. The skyscale, as far as I'm concerned, was not optional content.

[Vayne.8563]

@KryTiKaL.3125 said:

@Vayne.8563 said:

@KryTiKaL.3125 said:

@"Calvsie.3675" said:I feel people came into Skyscale with the completely wrong mindset. Instead of "WOW a good long term goal to keep me engaged for a couple week to a month!" they were all "WANT IT NOW" and then proceeded to not be happy.

Except the problem was that they timegated each step. Thats what people were complaining about. They

forced

players to stop working on it until reset the next day. That is what made them unhappy.

Maybe they could have used that time to farm the necessary currency, and then they'd have most of it when it was time to continue? Just a thought.

Or they already have the currency they need and would then be forced to wait until reset the next day to continue if it stayed that way. Yet another thought.

Well aside from the fact that waiting for another day isn't grinding it's just waiting and since I've gone 7 years without that mount, the 4 days wait total wasn't such a big deal, and I don't see why people think it is, but aside from all that, it's been fixed anyway and complaining about something that has been fixed is pointless.

[Memoranda.9386]

I want everyone to bookmark all these threads for when they complain the "new maps are always dead, game is dying" andthe "all this content only took me an hour" threads start popping off.

[vyncius.6105]

You can complain when you will go for Vision, 3k of istan currency... THAT is grindy

[Voltekka.2375]

People wont blame themselves for blowing all the excess living world map currency they had for volatile magic (and buy creates with it, for profit) pre Skyscale, now "i wont spend ANY money on gemstore!"You see the pattern i hope

[Cyninja.2954]

@"LaFurion.3167" said:I don't get why people are talking about time gate. That ain't my issue, and credit where credit is due, anet mitigated it' to 2 hours.... although should just remove it... 2 hours to wait to talk to the same guy.... I digress.

My problem is the currency grind. It is literally that. I have to OY do the same hearts and events over and over and over and over. It's not fun. It's not something that I can "just take my time" with because if I do that it will take me 4 months to get sigh.

5 classes map completion barely dents it. How many hearts do we actually have to do for jahai to make enough?

No you don't have to grind. The Dragonfall exchange merchant who exchanged all other maps currencies per day (5 each) is there for just that. So is asking other people for home instance node access for daily gathering.

Your personal inability to manage time, setup short-, medium- and longterm goals is your problem. You could just keep playing the game, acquire the 5-8 daily map resources and complete the collection for the Skyscale in around 30 days without grinding any currency. Or a variation of this where you play occasionall on some moaps, which would easily bring the collection time down to half that time. You WANTING to get the Skyscale faster and grinding hearts on multiple characters is your choice, even if not a very smart one if you are not enjoying it.

@KryTiKaL.3125 said:

@mdee.5194 said:You arnt being forced to grind .If you dont like the game then move to something else.Grinding is all about making things take a long time , thats the whole idea of it , keeps people playing the game longer.If everyone could get everything they wanted in 1 day , the game would very quickly run out of players as they would all be bored with nothing left to do.

Except grind done well actually provides adequate return for the time you invest into it. GW2...does not have that.

I could go play BDO for a week, 5 hours a day grinding the same mob rotation for that 5 hours and come out of it with enough silver to actually upgrade pieces of my gear along with having gained quite a good chunk of experience towards my characters next level.

Wow, okay let's use this example. Those 5 hours per day for a week are 35 hours total. If we assume a medium return of 15 gold (efficient pve gold farming can reach up to 30 gold per hour not counting TP speculation and more) that would yield you 525 gold in that week on a intermediate farm. That's the equivalent of equipping 5 characters in full exotic gear with best in slot runes and sigil and then some. Or half way to a legendary T1 weapon. All of which would remain best in slot or at its power level.

Back to BDO (which is hilarious to even mention compared to GW2 because the game is a required grind fest). Yes, your upgrades feel more meaning full because they are constantly made invalid by gear progression. The net result though is: after X amount of time your BDO upgrades will mean nothing while your GW2 wealth gain will remain.

@KryTiKaL.3125 said:GW2 grind is just...it doesn't feel rewarding. It doesn't feel like you're actually earning anything. Especially when the ways you typically earn money in PvE are tied to meta events and such that only occur at certain times or after other events have completed.

Yes, GW2 feels different. While its grind is probably the most rewarding among any MMO, because it is a constant value increase without regular trashing of your stuff.

@KryTiKaL.3125 said:Its a stark contrast to GW1 where you could spend 5 hours a day for a week grinding for ectos in UW and you'd actually come out the other end with your time well invested even if you only got a few ecto drops because they are expensive and also used as its own form of currency in the game. On top of the skill points you earned for those UW runs.

This is literally the same here. You simply do not play the correct content or do not enjoy the same farms here as in GW1.

[Faaris.8013]

@"Blocki.4931" said:It really isn't that bad. Do hearts, don't waste your time on map completion. Use multiple chars. Do the meta events and rift events.

Agree with that. Like many other players I talked with, I don't enjoy PoF maps. I only completed each one once with my main character and had to start with basically zero currency. Yet getting enough for the Skyscale was pretty easy. Having 13 characters certainly helped, but even with 5 it only takes maximum 14 days I guess. I just rotated through the easy hearts using the map scrolls for porting. If a meta popped up by chance and I felt like doing it, that was extra currency. I also used the reward track for two maps I think to get 50 currency from them. It's not fun but I made it a daily habit to do those hearts, like watering flowers every day.

You not playing those maps before was an active choice you made, just as you made the choice to get the Skyscale. You're not forced to do anything, you make the choice yourself going for those things.

Disagree with that lecturing. Most people do what they find fun, I don't see what purpose it could have to point out that it was their "choice" to do that. In the same way, you could quench any criticism by simply pointing out that nobody is forced to play the game.

Skyscale is for all maps in the game, not only for Dragonfall. One could argue why anyone who doesn't raid wants the masteries available in raids, or why anyone who doesn't like and play in Draconis Mons wants the Oakhearts Reach mastery.

[Tsumiju.3071]

@LaFurion.3167 said:I work 12 hour shifts and have other things to do in my life. In the 2-4 hours I can manage to play every 3rd day or so I don't want to have to play 5 different characters on these godforsaken maps for a tiny bit of progress. Maybe 25 of all currency per heart wouldn't be so bad... sigh....

I work full time and run a few social clubs, and have a small child that needs constant attention...Took me a week and a half to gather the materials.

[Ayakaru.6583]

Here's a trickFind the easiest heart on the map.Then go through all your characters on that heart.It will stun your brain, but you'll get a lot of tokens for the time spend.

[Dami.5046]

For crying out LOUD. If you are playing the game in season 5 and there are currency nodes then FARM them. And if you were farming for something, then still farm them once you have the item.Farm every node you come to. It takes seconds to do so.
No it shouldn't be changed, learn from it.

[Bladestrom.6425]

This isn't wow where the purpose of the game is to constantly feed you items you want to keep u hooked, this is gw2 where long term goals is a big part of gameplay.You have choices:

1 farm as fast as possible - accept responsibility for your own actions and don't complain if you choose an activity you don't enjoy.

2 do what I do, accept it will take an age to farm the mount and continue to do what you enjoy, and amass the items needed as you go, occasionally targeting items when it appeals.

3. It's just a mount, do what you want and don't consider it into you activities.

[Danikat.8537]

I actually haven't found it too bad, which surprised me because I hate farming in games and I was starting with almost none of any S4 map currency. My approach was basically to decide what's reasonable for me and just do that rather than pushing myself to do as much as possible to get it done ASAP. On that basis I set myself a goal of getting 50 map currency per day (in total, not 50 per map) and actually managed to exceed it some days, even though I was only playing for an hour or two and only have 1 character who can access these maps (I'm not willing to skip the others ahead, and definitely not keen on repeating the same things multiple times a day.)

The most difficult part for me was working out the best strategy for each map. On some I found it easier to look for nodes (Sandswept) on others it was much better to focus on hearts (Kourna) and on some doing the event chain/s was better (Dragonfall). So the first day or two of doing a new map was usually spent experimenting with different options to figure out how to do it.

But I should be done with this part tomorrow. I can't remember when I started this specific collection but I've been working on the skyscale since 2 days after the episode was released (although with a week's break because I was away, and odd days missed at other times). Then it's 'just' the rift achievement to go and I've got my skyscale. :D

[Dreamy Lu.3865]

I believe the reason for many players to find it a hassle to get the Skyscale, is that they want to get it fast. However, there is no reason to hurry. All of the type vista/mastery points and many achievements of the new area can be done with the other mounts. Skyscale is - on my opinion - more like an optional bonus. Nice when it comes and in the meantime, no worries. :)

I had much fun at all the "treasure hunts", but that's probably because of my way of thinking. The skyscale has never been a mandatory objective for me. I was just enjoying to have a bunch of hunts. Aside of those, I completed the area and several achievements, took part in meta regularly, did many other events... All of that without the skyscale. I never confronted a situation where I suddenly felt like I need it. For currencies and mats, I kept same philosophy as always: It comes when it comes. I will certainly not force myself to do stuff I don't like (like typically repeating same in a row), just to go faster. Eventually, it will complete. Let's wait for it. Well, ok, it's is true that my laziness is a powerful driver! :3

[LucianDK.8615]

The skyscale is well worth it once you learn to properly use it. Its incredible for map navigation in hot, over the griffon. And indeed you are looking at it in the wrong way if you want it here and NOW! Chip at it daily and you will get there. Get the ls4 homeinstance nodes, or mooch from someone else daily. And you can buy x5 of earlier ls4 maps daily in Dragonfall. You can get the skyscale saddle in a month for just logging in, buying the currencies and harvesting home nodes, and paying karma for the mistborn motes, and doing -nothing- else. If you are patient, you dont need to burn out yourself.