Leveling and Tutorialization Revamp

[Eddy.7051]

TL;DR This design aims to (A) categorize zones into standardized leveling range tiers, (B) improve the pace of introducing and teaching new combat abilities, and © revamp tutorilization to be more interactive and memorable.

I posted a previous leveling and tutorialization design weeks ago, and now I am posting this new design influenced by the feedback I received in the comments. The goal for this design is to make GW2 more accessible to new players of the game, new players of MMORPGs, and new players of PC games. GW2 brands itself on being easy to learn and difficult to master, while marketing itself towards casual gamers, yet many new players have no sense of direction in the game or they never grasp the action combat mechanics. It is important to guide and then hook new players during their early leveling experience because new players bring in more revenue to fund free content (quality of life patches and living world content).

Below is the Design Outline, and under the outline are additional Design Notes. I appreciate any constructive feedback you all have to share. Thank you.

Leveling and Tutorialization Design Outline

Tier 1 (Levels 1-20) Zones: Metrica Province (Maguuma), Caledon Forest (Maguuma), Queensdale (Kryta), Wayfarer Foothills (Shiverpeaks), and Plains of Ashford (Ascalon)

• Level 1 - Unlocked Abilities: Weapon Skill 1
• Level 2 - Unlocked Abilities: Weapon Skill 2
• Level 3 - Unlocked Abilities: Weapon Skill 3
• Level 4 - Unlocked Abilities: Weapon Unlocks (1/3)
• Level 5
  • Unlocked Abilities: Hero Points and Healing Skills
  • User Interface Tutorial: Map/Compass (Waypoints, Scouts, and Icons) and Dynamic Event Notifications
• Level 6 - Unlocked Abilities: Weapon Unlocks (2/3)
• Level 7 - Unlocked Abilities: Weapon Skill 4
• Level 8 - Unlocked Abilities: Weapon Unlocks (3/3)
• Level 9 - Weapon Skill 5
• Level 10
  • Unlocked Abilities: Dodge, Endurance Bar (1/2), Underwater Combat, and Underwater Weapons
  • Personal Story: Chapter 1
• Level 15
  • Unlocked Abilities: Endurance Bar (2/2) and Profession Skills (1/3)
  • Combat Training Tutorial: Dodge and Evade/Block/Miss

Tier 2 (Levels 20-35) Zones: Brisban Wildlands (Maguuma), Kessex Hills (Kryta), Snowden Drifts (Shiverpeaks), and Diessa Plateau (Ascalon)

• Level 20
  • Unlocked Abilities: Utility Skill 1 and Special Action Skills
  • User Interface Tutorial: Inventory/Wallet (Sorting, Salvaging, and Junk) and Bank/Material Storage
  • Personal Story: Chapter 2
• Level 25
  • Unlocked Abilities: Utility Skill 2, Downed State, and Downed Skills
  • Combat Training Tutorial: Rally and Revive
• Level 30
  • Unlocked Abilities: Utility Skill 3 and Profession Skills (2/3)
  • Personal Story: Chapter 3

Tier 3 (Levels 35-50) Zones: Bloodtide Coast (Maguuma - Chantry of Secrets), Gendarran Fields (Kryta - Vigil Keep), Lornar's Pass (Shiverpeaks - Durmand Priory Monastery), and Fields of Ruin (Ascalon)

• Level 35
  • Unlocked Abilities: Weapon Swap
  • User Interface Tutorial: Chat and Contacts/LFG/Guilds
  • Dungeon: Ascalonian Catacombs story mode
• Level 40
  • Unlocked Abilities: Elite Skills
  • Personal Story: Chapter 4
  • Dungeon: Caudecus’s Manor story mode
• Level 45
  • Unlocked Abilities: Profession Skills (3/3)
  • Combat Training Tutorial: Boons and Conditions
  • Dungeon: Twilight Arbor story mode

Tier 4 (Levels 50-65) Zones: Sparkfly Fen (Maguuma), Harathi Hinterlands (Kryta), Dredgehaunt Cliffs (Shiverpeaks), Timberline Falls (Shiverpeaks), Blazeridge Steppes (Ascalon), and Iron Marches (Ascalon)

• Level 50
  • Unlocked Abilities: Minor and Major Adept Traits in the Top Specialization Line
  • User Interface Tutorial: Crafting/Gathering and Trading/Gifting (Trading Post, Mail, and Gem Store)
  • Personal Story: Chapter 5
• Level 55
  • Unlocked Abilities: Minor and Major Master Traits in the Top Specialization Line
  • Combat Training Tutorial: Combo Fields and Combo Finishers
  • Dungeon: Sorrow’s Embrace story mode
• Level 60
  • Unlocked Abilities: Minor and Major Grandmaster Traits in the Top Specialization Line
  • Personal Story: Chapter 6

Tier 5 (Levels 65-80) Zones: Mount Maelstrom (Maguuma), Southsun Cove (Kryta), Frostgorge Sound (Shiverpeaks), and Fireheart Rise (Ascalon)

• Level 65
  • Unlocked Abilities: Minor and Major Adept Traits in the Middle Specialization Line
  • User Interface Tutorial: Equipment Cosmetics (Wardrobe, Dyes, and Outfits) and Hero Panel Cosmetics
  • Dungeon: Citadel of Flame story mode
• Level 70
  • Unlocked Abilities: Minor and Major Master Traits in the Middle Specialization Line
  • Personal Story: Chapter 7
  • Dungeon: Honor of the Waves story mode
• Level 75
  • Unlocked Abilities: Minor and Major Grandmaster Traits in the Middle Specialization Line
  • Combat Training Tutorial: Defiance/Interruption and Stability/Stun Break
  • Dungeon: Crucible of Eternity story mode

Tier 6 (Level 80) Zones: 3 Central Tyrian Orrian Zones, Living World Zones, and Expansion Zones

• Level 80
  • Unlocked Abilities: Bottom/Elite Specialization Line
  • User Interface Tutorial: Modes (PvP, WvW, and FotM/Dungeons)/Templates and Achievements/Titles
  • Combat Training Tutorial: Upgrades/Equipment Quality and Food/Enhancements
  • Personal Story: Chapter 8
  • Dungeon: The Ruined City of Arah story mode and Dungeon explorable modes

Weapon Unlocks (x/3)

• Elementalist

  • Level 1: Main Hand Dagger
  • Level 4: Scepter
  • Level 6: Staff
  • Level 8: Off Hand Dagger and Focus

• Engineer

  • Level 1: Main Hand Pistol
  • Level 4: Rifle
  • Level 6: Shield
  • Level 8: Off Hand Pistol

• Guardian

  • Level 1: Main Hand Mace
  • Level 4: Main Hand Sword and Scepter
  • Level 6: Hammer, Greatsword, and Staff
  • Level 8: Shield, Focus, and Torch

• Mesmer

  • Level 1: Main Hand Sword
  • Level 4: Scepter
  • Level 6: Greatsword and Staff
  • Level 8: Off Hand Sword, Focus, Torch, and Off Hand Pistol

• Necromancer

  • Level 1: Scepter
  • Level 4: Main Hand Dagger and Main Hand Axe
  • Level 6: Staff
  • Level 8: Focus, Off Hand Dagger, and Warhorn

• Ranger

  • Level 1: Main Hand Axe
  • Level 4: Main Hand Sword
  • Level 6: Longbow, Shortbow, and Greatsword
  • Level 8: Off Hand Axe, Off Hand Dagger, Torch, and Warhorn

• Revenant

  • Level 1: Main Hand Sword
  • Level 4: Main Hand Mace
  • Level 6: Hammer and Staff
  • Level 8: Off Hand Sword and Off Hand Axe

• Thief

  • Level 1: Main Hand Dagger
  • Level 4: Main Hand Pistol and Main Hand Sword
  • Level 6: Short Bow
  • Level 8: Off Hand Dagger and Off Hand Pistol

• Warrior

  • Level 1: Main Hand Axe
  • Level 4: Main Hand Sword and Main Hand Mace
  • Level 6: Greatsword, Hammer, Rifle, and Longbow
  • Level 8: Off Hand Axe, Off Hand Sword, Off Hand Mace, Shield, and Warhorn

Profession Skills (x/3)

• Elementalist

  • Level 1: Fire Attunement (F1)
  • Level 15: Water Attunement (F2)
  • Level 30: Air Attunement (F3)
  • Level 45: Earth Attunement (F4)

• Engineer

  • Level 15: Healing Tool Belt Skill (F1)
  • Level 30: Utility Tool Belt Skills (F2, F3, and F4)
  • Level 45: Elite Tool Belt Skill (F5)

• Guardian

  • Level 15: Virtue of Justice (F1)
  • Level 30: Virtue of Resolve (F2)
  • Level 45: Virtue of Courage (F3)

• Mesmer

  • Level 1: Clone Pool
  • Level 15: Mind Wrack (F1) and Cry of Frustration (F2)
  • Level 30: Diversion (F3)
  • Level 45: Distortion (F4)

• Necromancer

  • Level 15: Life Force Pool, Death Shroud (F1), Life Blast (Shroud 1), and Dark Path (Shroud 2)
  • Level 30: Doom (Shroud 3)
  • Level 45: Life Transfer (Shroud 4) and Tainted Shackles (Shroud 5)

• Ranger

  • Level 1: Guard or Avoid Combat Toggle, Stow/Activate Pet Toggle, and Pet Management Dialog
  • Level 15: Attack My Target (F1) and Return to Me (F3)
  • Level 30: Beast Skills (F2)
  • Level 45: Swap Pets (F4)

• Revenant

  • Level 1: Energy Pool and Legendary Dwarf Stance
  • Level 15: Swap Legends (F1) and Legendary Assassin Stance
  • Level 30: Increased Energy Pips (from -3/+3 to -5/+5) and Legendary Demon Stance
  • Level 45: Ancient Echo (F2) and Legendary Centaur Stance

• Thief

  • Level 1: Initiative Pool
  • Level 15: Dual Wield Skills (3)
  • Level 30: Stealth Attack Skills (1)
  • Level 45: Steal (F1) and Stolen Skills (F2)

• Warrior

  • Level 15: 1 Adrenaline bar and Burst Skills (F1)
  • Level 30: 2 Adrenaline bars
  • Level 45: 3 Adrenaline bars

Leveling and Tutorialization Design Notes

• (A) categorize zones into standardized leveling range tiers

  • It is more intuitive and streamlined to identify leveling stages within consistent tiers rather than within inconsistent level ranges.
  • Tiers will resolve the 5 level gaps and overlaps between some zones. For example, the maximum recommended level in Diessa Plateau is currently 25 while the minimum recommended level in Fields of Ruin is currently 30 (5 level gap), and the maximum recommended level in Sparkfly Fen is currently 65 while the minimum recommended level in Mount Maelstrom is currently 60 (5 level overlap).
  • Some zones in this design are categorized into different regions or level ranges than they currently are categorized in the game. This reorganization improves the distribution of zones within tiers and regions while still having the appropriate level ranges for personal story instances that take place there. Some of these maps may need more dynamic events and/or renown hearts to provide sufficient experience. Southsun Cove should also be doubled in size to function as a leveling zone comparable to the other tier 5 zones.
  • Crafting should be emphasized, more than it is currently emphasized, in the tier 1 crafting towns as an activity that can speed up the leveling process in conjunction with completing dynamic event, renown hearts, personal story, and exploration.
  • Controversial Proposition: Remove linear leveling paths in leveling zones. Upscale characters that are lower than the max level of the zone, remove levels from renown hearts, balance foes and events throughout the entire zone for the max level of the zone, and welcome players to explore or level in any order of renown hearts they desire. For example, a level 20 player enters a tier 2 zone and their core stats are upscaled to the core stats of a level 35 player, but the level 20 player would not have level 35 gear stats and level 35 unlocked abilities. As the level 20 player levels up, their upscaling buff will decrease while their core stats increase, and then they will have no scaling when they reach level 35. Level 36-80 players in a tier 2 zone will have their core stats downscaled to the core stats of a level 35 player, and their equipment and equipment upgrade stats should cap using a simpler system (Tier 1 - Level 20 Masterwork, Tier 2 - Level 35 Rare, Tier 3 - Level 50 Rare, Tier 4 - Level 65 Exotic, and Tier 5 - Level 80 Exotic). Level 2-19 players in a tier 2 zone will not receive the upscaling buff, and this may discourage them from skipping tier 1 zones for leveling. This system will remove scaling that changes between different areas within a zone, and it provides consistent scaling across the entire zone.

• (B) improve the pace of introducing and teaching new combat abilities

  • New ability unlocks are currently front-loaded in early levels. This new design will spread out ability unlocks at a pace that gives players more opportunity to practice and get comfortable with fundamental abilities before being introduced to new abilities. All ability slots will be unlocked by level 40, so early leveling progression should not feel slow. Restricting abilities in tier 1-2 zones will reduce the new player experience of being overwhelmed by too many skill options and possibly discourage the play style of spamming abilities on cooldown. Ideally, mobs will also be challenging enough to discourage the opposite play style of auto-attacking 90% of the time.
  • Abilities are unlocked every level until level 10, and then abilities are unlocked every 5 levels. Stat boosts and loot can be rewarded for the levels in between the 5 level intervals to make those levels feel rewarding. With my proposed downscaling and upscaling system, core stat boosts from leveling will not have a noticeable impact and they will not be highlighted to players when they level up. The rewarding impact will primarily be from looted gear with higher stats. Core stat boosts are only noticeable when players enter zones where they are below the level range (if they survive long enough to kill anything).
  • Players will no longer receive experience in tier 1-5 leveling zones after they reach or pass the max level in those zones. Players will still receive (mastery and spirit shard) experience in tier 6 zones after they reach level 80. Instead of receiving leveling experience, the experience bar for high level players in tier 1-5 zone will be replaced with the bonus map rewards progression bar, and leveling experience will be converted into bonus map rewards progression. Unless tomes are used, this will control the pace and flow of unlocking abilities and tutorials by preventing players from being over-leveled for their next tier and instantly unlocking a large amount of abilities upon entering the next tier, rewarding players with more materials or gold if they choose to stay in or return to lower tier zones, providing players with the opportunity to control their level and stay at a lower level if they do not want to unlock new abilities, and encouraging players to move on to the next zone tier and explore more of the world if they want to continue leveling and unlocking new abilities.
  • Considering this design further enables players to explore zones in any direction by removing levels from hearts and regions within zones, and considering that underwater combat is unlocked at level 10, all underwater foes in tier 1 zones will be neutral. After players unlock underwater combat, they can then attack these neutral foes to make them hostile.
  • Falling damage passive abilities were removed from the trait system. I agree with removing falling damage reduction from traits because it had too much quality of life outside of combat. Quality of life upgrades belong in the mastery system. Falling damage reduction, abilities, and ability enhancements (like increasing the falling ability potency based on falling height) should be unlocked in the masteries for the Canthan expansion.
  • Controversial Proposition: Unlocked abilities are not retroactively unlocked in lower zone tiers. For example, weapon swap is unlocked in tier 3+ zones, weapon swap can then be used in and out of combat in tier 3-6 zones, and then only out-of-combat weapon swap unlocks in tier 1-2 zones. The purpose for this restriction is to maintain zone tier identity regardless of player level. If max level players return to tier 1 zones, then their abilities should reflect tier 1 max (level 20) abilities. This leveling zone limitation results in elite specializations being locked out of leveling zones. This limitation will also further downscale overpowered veteran players in leveling zones, add a (potentially refreshing) twist to combat when veteran players revisit leveling zones, and create new opportunities for build craft that varies between each tier. To resolve potential player confusion about re-locked abilities in lower zone tiers, there will be a notification when hovering over re-locked abilities informing players that those abilities are available in higher zone tiers. In GW1 pre-Searing, may players enjoyed revisiting “tutorial island” because its build/party limitations created a simpler, more relaxing, and significantly different gameplay experience compared to the rest of the game.

• © revamp tutorilization to be more interactive and memorable

  • The 6 combat training tutorials should be instanced, like the personal story, and take place in every central Tyrian zone. For the sake of cost-effectiveness, assets should be reused for tutorials within the same tier (for example, reusing voice acting so that all tier 3 tutorial NPCs are Male Asura, all tier 5 tutorial NPCs are female Norn, etc.). Combat training tutorials will facilitate practice with specific combat mechanics, they are optional, and they should have tempting rewards in addition to improving player skill/knowledge. For example, each tutorial can reward a piece of armor from a unique set of simple tutorial armor skins, and then completing all 6 tutorials will reward the player with an entire set of tutorial armor skins. Completing the entire tutorial on 3 different characters (reinforcement helps with learning and retention) can reward all sets of tutorial armor skins for the 3 armor weight categories. Combat training tutorials should also be replayable on the same character, but those characters should not receive repeatable rewards after the initial tutorial completion. Additionally, it wouldn't hurt to invite up to 4 additional players in your party to join your combat training tutorial instance, like the personal story. But all players must fulfill tutorial requirements individually so nobody is carried to the end of the tutorial when everyone receives tutorial completion credit.
  • Early combat training tutorials reinforce new abilities, while late combat training tutorials teach complex combat mechanics. For example, dodge is now a leveling reward to emphasize its significance in combat, and its ability unlock is followed by a dodge training tutorial. This design should engage players more deeply than the trapped chests currently located in starter zones.
  • Leveling rewards are currently integrated with tutorial tips. But, leveling rewards should be separated from tutorial tips because many players select their rewards without noticing the tutorial information. User interface (UI) tutorials should be isolated in their own dialogs, and these dialogs should be more involved than a single, pop-up description. For example, the UI tutorial teaching players about social tools can guide players through a series of steps to open and send a practice mail, join an artificial LFG post, etc. There should also be an option to disable UI tutorials after their initial completion on an account. Completion of all 6 UI tutorials can reward something tempting, but less resource-intensive than the combat training tutorial rewards (like miniatures or novelties). For example, each UI tutorial can reward a miniature with the same model that comes in 6 different colors, and each color can represent gear quality to reiterate identifying quality with color (blue "Common Quaggan", green "Uncommon Quaggan", yellow "Rare Quaggan", orange "Exotic Quaggan", magenta "Ascended Quaggan", and purple "Legendary Quaggan").
  • Controversial Proposition: Re-implement racial skills into the leveling (tier 1-5) zones as Special Action skills, and re-implement the Mistfire Wolf into the central Tyrian Orrian (tier 6) zones. Many players ignore the Special Action guidance and skill descriptions because they first encounter Special Action abilities during intense combat with a blood-crazed beast or bandit bounty. Racial Special Action skills will be located in typically peaceful locations along with pop-up tips to teach players how to use these conditional and often time-sensitive skills. Also, players should not be given the ultimatum to replace effective profession skills with obsolete racial skills if they want to experience more flavor from their playable race. This flavor should be re-implemented into the regions designed for those races. For example, norn should be able to transform into bear form after visiting a bear shrine in the Shiverpeaks leveling zones, and this flavor can be further improved by limiting bear transformations to norn who were favored by bear spirit as a child (character creation choice). To address varying power levels between racial Special Action skills, these skills can have varying ammunition stacks. For example, norn players could have 1 stack of an animal transformation, sylvari players could have 2 stacks of a seed turret, and human players could have 3 stacks of a minor blessing. These stacks can replenish when players revisit Special Action locations, and Special Action skills will vanish after players leave the zone or consume all stacks.

Edit Notes

I tweaked ability unlocks to lower levels due to complaints that delayed ability unlocks would feel too punishing for veteran players who are attached to the current pace of ability unlocks. My overall design continues to maintain that skills are unlocked in tiers 1-3 while traits are unlocked in tiers 4-6.

Additionally, below is the redesigned Content Guide (map/compass starbursts, compass arrows, map drawings/circles, and top-right objectives column/tracker) to accompany the redesigned tutorialization while leveling. Default Content Guide settings can be changed via the Options.

Green Content Guide: This guide currently prioritizes the Personal Story, Dynamic Events, and then Map Completion. This design replaces Dynamic Events with other content in the Green Content Guide. Only one Green Content Guide is available at a time, and this single guide will lead to the highest priority content. Green Content Guides can also exist on the map simultaneously with different color Content Guides.

• 1st Prioritization: Incomplete User Interface Tutorials and then Incomplete Combat Training Tutorials
  • Tutorials are optionally selected (Accept/Deny) via the Mail tool.
  • After all 12 Tutorials are completed on a single character, players can choose to no longer receive Tutorial Mail offers via the Options.
• 2nd Prioritization: Incomplete Personal Story
• 3rd Prioritization: Incomplete Dungeon Story Mode Paths
  • Dungeon story modes are optionally selected (Accept/Deny) via the Mail tool.
  • Players can choose to no longer receive Dungeon story mode Mail offers via the Options.
  • Dungeon explorable modes are not included in the Green Content Guide.
• 4th Prioritization: Map Completion
  • This Content Guide occurs when the player has missing Waypoints, Points of Interest, Vistas, Hero Challenges, or Renown Hearts in their current zone. If the player has completely explored their current zone, then the Content Guide will move on to the 5th prioritization.
  • This Content Guide requires the player to be in a zone where their character's level is within the zone level range. If the character's level is too high or low for the current zone, then the Content Guide will move on to the 5th prioritization.
• 5th Prioritization: Travel to another Zone
  • This will guide players to the incomplete zone(s) located within the preferred region (Humans - Kryta, Norn - Shiverpeaks, Charr - Ascalon, and Sylvari/Asura - Maguuma) and zone tier (based on the character's current level). For example, a level 43 Sylvari located in Hoelbrak, who completed higher prioritized content, will be guided to the Asura Gate to Lion's Arch and then the entrance to Bloodtide Coast. If the Sylvari decides to walk to Lion's Arch instead, then the content guide will switch to the 4th prioritization when they enter Gendarran Fields.
  • Multiple Green Content Guides can occur simultaneously in contexts where the preferred region has two zones within the preferred tier. For example, a level 52 Charr located outside of a tier 4 zone, who completed higher prioritized content, will be guided to both the incomplete Blazeridge Steppes and incomplete Iron Marches zones.
  • If the preferred zone(s) is completed, then this will guide players to the nearest incomplete zone within the preferred tier. If all zones within the preferred tier are completed, then this will guide players to the nearest incomplete zone in the preferred region. If all zones within the preferred tier and/or region are completed, then this will guide players to the nearest incomplete zone. If all central Tyrian zones are completed, then the Green Content Guide will disappear.

Orange Content Guide: This guide currently identifies Dynamic Events.

Purple Content Guide: This guide is currently identifies Achievements when replaying some story episodes. The Content Guide visuals should be expanded upon for more Achievements. For example, Purple Content Guides should be used when tracking some Achievements. Purple Content Guides should also replace the new icon used on NPCs or interactive objects that unlock Achievements in Living World Season 4 and the Icebrood Saga.

[Linken.6345]

One question

Why do we need anet to reinvent the leveling experience one more time?

[yoni.7015]

There is no need to change that.

[Zohane.7208]

Just from looking at the suggested levelling scheme it looks like it would make levelling very much harder and duller. Almost all skills and specializations are placed at higher levels than today and the suggested system for locking you into what weapons you can use would make for a horrible levelling experience. There'd be virtually no room for experimentation or tinkering to better learn your class, so if anything I would suspect this would drive people away rather than entice them.

So, in short, no, please no.

[Zephire.8049]

Skimmed it and I can appreciate you put a lot of time into thinking about this and typing this post but just from the skimming your proposed revamp would go against what GW2 was meant to be and go against the New Player Experience where they changed, added, and removed content to make it easier for new players to integrate into GW2.

The major thing I see is you gating core gameplay and class mechanics behind levels. People can't dodge until level 4? Don't get their elite skill until 40? You need to be level 45 before you can swap weapons? That wouldn't be fun to begin with, but GW2's combat is designed to be active and have people dodge and swap weapons as needed which means mobs are design around people being able to dodge and swap weapons on the fly. Literally one of the promo videos while GW2 was in development was about how this was going to be an MMO where you could dodge attacks and carry a second weapon that you could swap to (with two exceptions: ele and engie) so you were never left out of the fight. You take away those two things and new players are going to end up very dead, often, and be stuck auto-attacking before they're too frustrated by how boring it is and quit to find another game to play. Not to mention other players being frustrated how some players "are lazy and just auto-attack everything" when that's really all they can do.

Your locking the downed state until level 25 just further punishes new players who are missing a huge chunk of their class' ability to deal with damage mitigation and healing. That's 24 levels where if you die, you die and need to waypoint.

Then you lock weapon access for players. Fun fact: Initially GW2's weapon system was such where you leveled up individual weapons to gain access to the full bar of skills. It wasn't hard but there were enough complaints about it because people would forget to level up a weapon then be stuck leveling it up or using a different weapon when they wanted to run group content so Anet changed it to what we have now. You are doing no one any favours by locking entire weapons behind levels. Elite specs can get away from that because those are spec perks and you have a fully leveled 80 with the entire base set of weapons to pick from.

Finally you lock core profession mechanics up to level 50. That is completely unfair and unfun and would actually break a lot of classes.

• An ele is built around changing attunements, hence why they can't switch weapons in combat.
• Engi, like ele, is built around having toolbelt skills to make up for their utilities being situational/being in a fixed location.
• Guardian's ability to do DPS, cleanse, heal, and buff are tied to their virtues—you can even trait it so you get buffs for not using it, just leaving it on your bar.
• Mesmer is already a PITA to level and you want to make their level experience even worse?
• Necro shroud is utility and balanced around having the full kit available.
• So for the pet class you want to... remove the ability to customize or control pets?
• With Rev you're gating legends which means your gating all a rev's utility skills as revs cannot pick and choose what skills they want.
• Skill #3 is a core part of thief and by gating it you also make the thief only have 4 weapon skills for 20 levels. It's also weird that a thief can't attack from stealth or steal.
• The warriors class mechanic is the simplest and most straightforward one and yet you gate it behind level 20 and make its DPS negligible until level 50.

A lot of those mechanics do have level requirements but they're requirements that make the class accessible and possible to play without people being overwhelmed with a dozen skills.

I've played games that have done things that you want to do and quit them all because it makes what should be fun into a grind. A character should not require several dozen levels before a player can get a sense of whether they like the class or not. 10, even 20, levels is a reasonable amount where players don't feel like they wasted much time on something they don't like after all. 50 levels for a new player likely means a couple weeks on average of playing, some more some less since it depends on their free time and desire to play GW2 during that time. People would be a lot more miffed about wasting that than 2-6 hours.

Your changes also make playing GW2 about chasing the next level when GW2 was designed to encourage people to explore and not pay attention to the bar. People will focus on grinding out their next weapon/profession/skill/general ability to improve their QoL slightly instead of just exploring and looking at the world. And the suggested level ranges of current zones are just that: suggestions. Because of level scaling, players aren't punished by playing below their level or choosing to play in zones they like the story or aesthetic of instead of a map that's a "proper" level range but which isn't appealing to them. If you remove the ability for players to gain experience from maps "below" them you effectively kill that map for anyone above that level, too. That was a huge problem in MMOs when GW2 was in production and they wanted all their maps to be worth revisiting. Both for the sake of players and so devs don't see work they spent months on discarded.

And the reason why some zones have strange level ranges is because they're tied to some branches of the personal story and Anet didn't want to have a set path of maps people would go through until they hit level 75 or so. You can't change the level on some of these without changing the personal story and the personal story is never, ever going to be touched or changed. Ever.

[Diak Atoli.2085]

No, thanks. The leveling system we currently have is better.

[Eddy.7051]

@"Linken.6345" said:One question

Why do we need anet to reinvent the leveling experience one more time?

As expected, nobody in the forums has any issue with the learning curve in GW2. But, that is because players who bother with the forums are usually more invested in the game and usually more savvy gamers in general compared to the average, casual, GW2 player. I once thought most players in the game were around my level of interest, skill, and game play hours per week as a casual player who participates in all content and game modes within a couple hours every other day. But, in the open world I noticed most players around me were wet noodles, many who would die in a few hits and never waypoint themselves, and they didn't seem to grasp mechanics or event objectives unless they had a commander tag they could follow around (which arguably they still don't learn anything while mindlessly following a tag). Because of this, I created and lead a training guild for a couple years that had mostly new/casual players. Most of my guildies didn't know how or were not comfortable with using basic combat mechanics (dodging, moving around while using skills, using or adapting utility skills, prioritizing ressing downed players rather than dead players while in combat, paying attention to stats on equipment, reading skill or event descriptions, etc.). Many of those players never left core Tyria, or they would enter PoF just to get the Raptor and then go back to core Tyria, but they still purchased things on the gem store.

I'm unable to quickly find the statistic online, but I remember Anet mentioning the highest skilled players in this game outperform the average player dps by 10x or more. That gap is greater than in WoW or any other MMO I've played, which is good to have high skill cap and depth to combat, especially with Anet's philosophy is to make GW2 easy to learn and difficult to master. But, is GW2 easy enough to learn fundamental mechanics? - Well that's subjective. Was my guild full of people who are just bad at every game they play? - Objectively, no. Many of my guildies were successful in console RPGs and iOS games. After asking them more about it, the main difference in their gaming experience compared to GW2 was a tutorial that held their hand in a step-by-step, gradual pace and explained all of the fundamental features and mechanics. Is there anything in GW2 where a tutorial guide explains things to me and asks me to press "Continue" when I'm ready to move on to the next piece of info? I don't think so, and I remember learning nothing in the level 1 "tutorial" instance besides what I intuitively found out from being a savvy and inquisitive gamer. Many gamers hate a highly detailed tutorial, but there is always the option to skip or disable tutorials. Many gamers also want to have access to all of the high-skill ceiling mechanics ASAP, so I designed it so that all abilities are unlocked by mid-level. In most MMOs, you're still unlocking new abilities up until your last level, so in my design, unlocking all abilities (rather than layered on traits) by mid-level, is still sped up compared to the slower common trend in other MMOs that players there find more accessible and still enjoyable.

I know everything in my design will be controversial to savvy players who use the forums. Change alone is controversial. But, at least my design for 6 combat training tutorial instances shouldn't be controversial, and at the least, these tutorial instances should be implemented into the game. Too many players forget or neglect to dodge after doing it the one and only time to get to the trapped chest in the starter zones. I ask others to think outside of ourselves and think about the average players in the game. How would this design benefit the average player and not just the players who are primarily only in level 80 zones anyways and wouldn't be affected by these changes? Why is it important to cater towards these unskilled casuals? - Because losing players, whether they're skilled or unskilled, loses revenue for the game, and making this game more digestible (and consequently enjoyable) to those unskilled casuals will make them more likely to invest their time (and consequently their money) into the game. Improved tutorials will also help to bridge the gap between the unskilled players and the players who outperform them by 10x. This is already an initiative by Anet, as seen by the resources they put towards strike missions, but these initiatives need to impact players way earlier in their game play experience. If the average player engages with more difficult content more, then we will get more development for challenging content (hence, more raids). The entire leveling process from 1-80 is already treated by Anet as an extended tutorial process via leveling rewards tutorial tips, but the current format isn't effective enough. In its essence, my design doesn't change anything about the core design of the leveling experience in the game. It shuffles some things around, spaces them out in some areas but then pulls them closer together in other areas, adds in new tutorials, and I imagine it also improves the rewarding sense of progression. Currently, I don't feel like my character progresses at all between the levels of 45 and 71. You don't really notice the stat boosts you get, and you've already unlocked all your favorite abilities/traits with hero points by mid-level. My design makes every 5 levels feel rewarding, and it makes map completion (reaching the max tier level) also feel more rewarding by rewarding profession abilities or complete trait lines, all while controlling the pace better so that new players can better digest and become savvy with the game.

[Seera.5916]

@"Brad.9730" said:

@"Linken.6345" said:One question

Why do we need anet to reinvent the leveling experience one more time?

As expected, nobody in the forums has any issue with the learning curve in GW2. But, that is because players who bother with the forums are usually more invested in the game and usually more savvy gamers in general compared to the average, casual, GW2 player. I once thought most players in the game were around my level of interest, skill, and game play hours per week as a casual player who participates in all content and game modes within a couple hours every other day. But, in the open world I noticed most players around me were wet noodles, many who would die in a few hits and never waypoint themselves, and they didn't seem to grasp mechanics or event objectives unless they had a commander tag they could follow around (which arguably they still don't learn anything while mindlessly following a tag). Because of this, I created and lead a training guild for a couple years that had mostly new/casual players. Most of my guildies didn't know how or were not comfortable with using basic combat mechanics (dodging, moving around while using skills, using or adapting utility skills, prioritizing ressing downed players rather than dead players while in combat, paying attention to stats on equipment, reading skill or event descriptions, etc.). Many of those players never left core Tyria, or they would enter PoF just to get the Raptor and then go back to core Tyria, but they still purchased things on the gem store.

I'm unable to quickly find the statistic online, but I remember Anet mentioning the highest skilled players in this game outperform the average player dps by 10x or more. That gap is greater than in WoW or any other MMO I've played, which is good to have high skill cap and depth to combat, especially with Anet's philosophy is to make GW2 easy to learn and difficult to master. But, is GW2 easy enough to learn fundamental mechanics? - Well that's subjective. Was my guild full of people who are just bad at every game they play? - Objectively, no. Many of my guildies were successful in console RPGs and iOS games. After asking them more about it, the main difference in their gaming experience compared to GW2 was a tutorial that held their hand in a step-by-step, gradual pace and explained all of the fundamental features and mechanics. Is there anything in GW2 where a tutorial guide explains things to me and asks me to press "Continue" when I'm ready to move on to the next piece of info? I don't think so, and I remember learning nothing in the level 1 "tutorial" instance besides what I intuitively found out from being a savvy and inquisitive gamer. Many gamers hate a highly detailed tutorial, but there is always the option to skip or disable tutorials. Many gamers also want to have access to all of the high-skill ceiling mechanics ASAP, so I designed it so that all abilities are unlocked by mid-level. In most MMOs, you're still unlocking new abilities up until your last level, so in my design, unlocking all abilities (rather than layered on traits) by mid-level, is still sped up compared to the slower common trend in other MMOs that players there find more accessible and still enjoyable.

I know everything in my design will be controversial to savvy players who use the forums. Change alone is controversial. But, at least my design for 6 combat training tutorial instances shouldn't be controversial, and at the least, these tutorial instances should be implemented into the game. Too many players forget or neglect to dodge after doing it the one and only time to get to the trapped chest in the starter zones. I ask others to think outside of ourselves and think about the average players in the game. How would this design benefit the average player and not just the players who are primarily only in level 80 zones anyways and wouldn't be affected by these changes? Why is it important to cater towards these unskilled casuals? - Because losing players, whether they're skilled or unskilled, loses revenue for the game, and making this game more digestible (and consequently enjoyable) to those unskilled casuals will make them more likely to invest their time (and consequently their money) into the game. Improved tutorials will also help to bridge the gap between the unskilled players and the players who outperform them by 10x. This is already an initiative by Anet, as seen by the resources they put towards strike missions, but these initiatives need to impact players way earlier in their game play experience. If the average player engages with more difficult content more, then we will get more development for challenging content (hence, more raids). The entire leveling process from 1-80 is already treated by Anet as an extended tutorial process via leveling rewards tutorial tips, but the current format isn't effective enough. In its essence, my design doesn't change anything about the core design of the leveling experience in the game. It shuffles some things around, spaces them out in some areas but then pulls them closer together in other areas, adds in new tutorials, and I imagine it also improves the rewarding sense of progression. Currently, I don't feel like my character progresses at all between the levels of 45 and 71. You don't really notice the stat boosts you get, and you've already unlocked all your favorite abilities/traits with hero points by mid-level. My design makes every 5 levels feel rewarding, and it makes map completion (reaching the max tier level) also feel more rewarding by rewarding profession abilities or complete trait lines, all while controlling the pace better so that new players can better digest and become savvy with the game.

Your design makes it so I would never want to make another new character again without having either tomes of knowledge or a level 80 boost to bypass the long slog your method makes leveling up. Even for classes I don't know that well. Which defeats the purpose of your method, doesn't it?

Your design level will turn a fun part of the game for me - map completion - into a chore because now I have to do it to fully unlock my characters' skills.

Your method turns leveling into a chore.

Your design heavily punishes the experienced just to make it slightly easier on new players. In other words: the cons of this proposal far outweigh any pros this proposal brings.

[Zohane.7208]

@"Brad.9730" said:

@"Linken.6345" said:One question

Why do we need anet to reinvent the leveling experience one more time?

As expected, nobody in the forums has any issue with the learning curve in GW2. But, that is because players who bother with the forums are usually more invested in the game and usually more savvy gamers in general compared to the average, casual, GW2 player. I once thought most players in the game were around my level of interest, skill, and game play hours per week as a casual player who participates in all content and game modes within a couple hours every other day. But, in the open world I noticed most players around me were wet noodles, many who would die in a few hits and never waypoint themselves, and they didn't seem to grasp mechanics or event objectives unless they had a commander tag they could follow around (which arguably they still don't learn anything while mindlessly following a tag). Because of this, I created and lead a training guild for a couple years that had mostly new/casual players. Most of my guildies didn't know how or were not comfortable with using basic combat mechanics (dodging, moving around while using skills, using or adapting utility skills, prioritizing ressing downed players rather than dead players while in combat, paying attention to stats on equipment, reading skill or event descriptions, etc.). Many of those players never left core Tyria, or they would enter PoF just to get the Raptor and then go back to core Tyria, but they still purchased things on the gem store.

I'm unable to quickly find the statistic online, but I remember Anet mentioning the highest skilled players in this game outperform the average player dps by 10x or more. That gap is greater than in WoW or any other MMO I've played, which is good to have high skill cap and depth to combat, especially with Anet's philosophy is to make GW2 easy to learn and difficult to master. But, is GW2 easy enough to learn fundamental mechanics? - Well that's subjective. Was my guild full of people who are just bad at every game they play? - Objectively, no. Many of my guildies were successful in console RPGs and iOS games. After asking them more about it, the main difference in their gaming experience compared to GW2 was a tutorial that held their hand in a step-by-step, gradual pace and explained all of the fundamental features and mechanics. Is there anything in GW2 where a tutorial guide explains things to me and asks me to press "Continue" when I'm ready to move on to the next piece of info? I don't think so, and I remember learning nothing in the level 1 "tutorial" instance besides what I intuitively found out from being a savvy and inquisitive gamer. Many gamers hate a highly detailed tutorial, but there is always the option to skip or disable tutorials. Many gamers also want to have access to all of the high-skill ceiling mechanics ASAP, so I designed it so that all abilities are unlocked by mid-level. In most MMOs, you're still unlocking new abilities up until your last level, so in my design, unlocking all abilities (rather than layered on traits) by mid-level, is still sped up compared to the slower common trend in other MMOs that players there find more accessible and still enjoyable.

I know everything in my design will be controversial to savvy players who use the forums. Change alone is controversial. But, at least my design for 6 combat training tutorial instances shouldn't be controversial, and at the least, these tutorial instances should be implemented into the game. Too many players forget or neglect to dodge after doing it the one and only time to get to the trapped chest in the starter zones. I ask others to think outside of ourselves and think about the average players in the game. How would this design benefit the average player and not just the players who are primarily only in level 80 zones anyways and wouldn't be affected by these changes? Why is it important to cater towards these unskilled casuals? - Because losing players, whether they're skilled or unskilled, loses revenue for the game, and making this game more digestible (and consequently enjoyable) to those unskilled casuals will make them more likely to invest their time (and consequently their money) into the game. Improved tutorials will also help to bridge the gap between the unskilled players and the players who outperform them by 10x. This is already an initiative by Anet, as seen by the resources they put towards strike missions, but these initiatives need to impact players way earlier in their game play experience. If the average player engages with more difficult content more, then we will get more development for challenging content (hence, more raids). The entire leveling process from 1-80 is already treated by Anet as an extended tutorial process via leveling rewards tutorial tips, but the current format isn't effective enough. In its essence, my design doesn't change anything about the core design of the leveling experience in the game. It shuffles some things around, spaces them out in some areas but then pulls them closer together in other areas, adds in new tutorials, and I imagine it also improves the rewarding sense of progression. Currently, I don't feel like my character progresses at all between the levels of 45 and 71. You don't really notice the stat boosts you get, and you've already unlocked all your favorite abilities/traits with hero points by mid-level. My design makes every 5 levels feel rewarding, and it makes map completion (reaching the max tier level) also feel more rewarding by rewarding profession abilities or complete trait lines, all while controlling the pace better so that new players can better digest and become savvy with the game.

I agree somewhat that the Learning curve may feel steep for newer players. I don't agree, however, that your proposal would do anything to help alleviate this; on the contrary I strongly believe it would turn away new players even faster.

If anything needs to be done about the learning curve, it should be to make it easier to learn and level, not harder. Couple that with some optional tutorial missions (which I'm sure Anet could produce) to introduce concepts and I Believe it may actually help.

[Sobx.1758]

I think you're looking for the problems where there's none. The zones are already categorized by level, we can see that on the map, I don't remember being confused about who belongs where. They also recently added the tutorial achievements on top of the usual level up "you've unlocked/received x!". The leveling pace also didn't feel steep to me at all, you pretty much do whatever you want and still get rewarded with xp. I don't see a problem in current -regular- lvling system.

[robertthebard.8150]

Why are you reposting the same thread again?

[Eddy.7051]

@robertthebard.8150 said:Why are you reposting the same thread again?

As stated in the intro, this design is significantly modified based on the constructive feedback from the original post.

[trixantea.1230]

Leveling is just a small portion of the game experience and most players don't do it too many times with the availability of of tomes and boosts. Anet team "always" seem to be busy working on other stuff so I don't think they will ever bother make the effort to tweak the leveling experince as mentionned in your post (which I did not want to read due to its length).A piece of advice though: Don't waste your time on such things.

[robertthebard.8150]

@"Brad.9730" said:

@"robertthebard.8150" said:Why are you reposting the same thread again?

As stated in the intro, this design is significantly modified based on the constructive feedback from the original post.

...and yet, still doesn't do anything for the player base, just for your misguided need for everyone to play the game the way you think they should play it. Again, the players interested in being in the top x% of players will do the leg work w/out your game breaking "plan". Those that aren't, won't, and if they're feeling like they're being forced down a path they don't want to travel, they'll go play something else. Not the way to build a game, mate, if you expect to retain players. We're not playing Dark Souls Online, so not everyone has to be that caliber of player, and that's being generous on my part, based on your apparent lack of knowledge on some classes due to how you breakup of when they get essential skills.

[Eddy.7051]

@robertthebard.8150 said:

@"Brad.9730" said:

@robertthebard.8150 said:Why are you reposting the same thread again?

As stated in the intro, this design is significantly modified based on the constructive feedback from the original post.based on your apparent lack of knowledge on some classes due to how you breakup of when they get essential skills.

It seems like you lack knowledge of how these "essential" skills are already broken up in the game. You do not unlock all slot skills at the same level and you do not unlock all profession skills (F1-F5) at the same level. My design, for the most part excluding Thief design, doesn't create new "breakups" that do not already exist in the game. All my design does is reorganize and redistribute the levels when these "essential" skills are unlocked.

Also, if these skills are so "essential", then why are the majority of new players making it to Orr without ever needing to use anything but skills 1-3 and occasionally skill 6?

[Seera.5916]

@"Brad.9730" said:

@robertthebard.8150 said:

@"Brad.9730" said:

@robertthebard.8150 said:Why are you reposting the same thread again?

As stated in the intro, this design is significantly modified based on the constructive feedback from the original post.based on your apparent lack of knowledge on some classes due to how you breakup of when they get essential skills.

It seems like you lack knowledge of how these "essential" skills are already broken up in the game. You do not unlock all slot skills at the same level and you do not unlock all profession skills (F1-F5) at the same level. My design, for the most part excluding Thief design, doesn't create new "breakups" that do not already exist in the game. All my design does is reorganize and redistribute the levels when these "essential" skills are unlocked.

Also, if these skills are so "essential", then why are the majority of new players making it to Orr without ever needing to use anything but skills 1-3 and occasionally skill 6?

Funny, I recall using many of skills as I leveled up my characters.

Where is this data on what skills players use on the way Orr so that you can claim a majority only use certain skills?

No one was claiming they weren't broken up. They are just saying, and I agree, that you're just breaking them apart way too much and making the leveling process a chore rather than a fun experience.

Your set up punishes experienced players to give a slightly better experience to new players. And even then I'm doubting just how much better it is. Nothing in your post indicates just how only limiting to certain skills for longer makes players learn things better. Especially with your assumption that most players only use skills 1-3 and sometimes 6.

To me a better way would be to put in more experiences out in the open world that require players to use certain types of skills in order to defeat them. Or put them into optional solo tutorial missions that give decent rewards to encourage players to do them.

Your method would make me NEVER want to level up a character again. Ever. I would want to use tomes or level up scrolls or level 80 boosts. Which defeats the purpose of your method if I do it on a class that I'm not that experienced with, now doesn't it?

[robertthebard.8150]

@"Brad.9730" said:

@robertthebard.8150 said:

@"Brad.9730" said:

@robertthebard.8150 said:Why are you reposting the same thread again?

As stated in the intro, this design is significantly modified based on the constructive feedback from the original post.based on your apparent lack of knowledge on some classes due to how you breakup of when they get essential skills.

It seems like you lack knowledge of how these "essential" skills are already broken up in the game. You do not unlock all slot skills at the same level and you do not unlock all profession skills (F1-F5) at the same level. My design, for the most part excluding Thief design, doesn't create new "breakups" that do not already exist in the game. All my design does is reorganize and redistribute the levels when these "essential" skills are unlocked.

Also, if these skills are so "essential", then why are the majority of new players making it to Orr without ever needing to use anything but skills 1-3 and occasionally skill 6?

So surely you have hours of video demonstrating these claims, right? Surely you have video of the "majority" of players that are only playing the way you describe? This could take a while, since you're going to have to have it for this majority on all of the servers. Your design is based on a fallacy. I doubt you could provide the data required to support your claim on 10 players, let alone a "majority". Given that there were well more than 100 players at the Fire Elemental the last time it was on the Daily rotation, 10 players doesn't even come close to being a "majority". If it's going to be "I'm just using hyperbole so that it looks worse than it is, and everyone will finally get on board with how great my plan is", then there's a flaw with your plan, again, from conception. If you have to use made up numbers, there's an issue. The real kicker here is that I rarely use 6 on my thieves. Why? Well, you should know the reason, if you're going to claim enough knowledge to reformat the entirety of the leveling process, right?

[Eddy.7051]

@Seera.5916 said:

@"Brad.9730" said:

@robertthebard.8150 said:

@"Brad.9730" said:

@robertthebard.8150 said:Why are you reposting the same thread again?

As stated in the intro, this design is significantly modified based on the constructive feedback from the original post.based on your apparent lack of knowledge on some classes due to how you breakup of when they get essential skills.

It seems like you lack knowledge of how these "essential" skills are already broken up in the game. You do not unlock all slot skills at the same level and you do not unlock all profession skills (F1-F5) at the same level. My design, for the most part excluding Thief design, doesn't create new "breakups" that do not already exist in the game. All my design does is reorganize and redistribute the levels when these "essential" skills are unlocked.

Also, if these skills are so "essential", then why are the majority of new players making it to Orr without ever needing to use anything but skills 1-3 and occasionally skill 6?Where is this data on what skills players use on the way Orr so that you can claim a majority only use certain skills?Try leading a guild or commanding world bosses/metas/raids/strikes. I used to think I was like the average player (not the quickest reflexes and I don't bother with rotations, but I read skill descriptions and event descriptions to understand fundamental mechanics). But, then after leading a guild and commanding organized content I started paying more attention to other players. In my experience, only 25% of players in my groups could learn how to overcome moderate challenges in the game without me giving them instructions. Most players I had to remind them repeatedly of basic mechanics. When chatting with those players who needed more guidance, they didn't say their play style was a personal preference (some players getting attached to a build and never wanting to adapt it) or that their reaction time was just a little off and needed more practice (some people dodging a little too early). The issue was simply they never knew the mechanic, and my explanation gave them that "ahah!" moment. I just want to take the tutorial information that's already in the game and reformat it to make it harder to miss.

Your method would make me NEVER want to level up a character again.I see this sentiment in the comments the most, and I honestly think it's dramatic. But with this feedback, I will tweak this design to make some of the ability unlock delays less severe because, realistically, Anet wouldn't want to disturb its veteran players too much.

Regardless, usually players who find leveling alts to be tedious just feel that way because they find nothing new or interesting about the core Tyrian maps after they've explored/completed them so many times. Usually those bored players aren't worried about their leveling builds because they steamroll through the leveling content without any challenge requiring them to use the extents of their builds. But, let's say you are that type of player who is attached to the current experience of levels alts from levels 1-45. Do you (A) like it because you unlocked lots of new things and your progression felt rewarding during those early levels? Or, do you (B) like it because you just want all unlocks ASAP and you don't care for progression? If you are more of opinion A, then my design will be better to achieve a consistently rewarding sense of progression throughout all levels rather than primarily during the early levels, for example addressing the current lack of unlocks from levels 45 to 71. If you are more of opinion B, then Anet doesn't share your philosophy. Anet treats levels 1-79 as one, extended tutorial via leveling reward tutorial tips and ability unlocks. My design just breaks up those clusters of ability unlocks during this extended tutorial. I'm not reinventing the wheel or changing the game to the point where it no longer feels like GW2.

[Seera.5916]

@"Brad.9730" said:

@Seera.5916 said:

@"Brad.9730" said:

@robertthebard.8150 said:

@"Brad.9730" said:

@robertthebard.8150 said:Why are you reposting the same thread again?

As stated in the intro, this design is significantly modified based on the constructive feedback from the original post.based on your apparent lack of knowledge on some classes due to how you breakup of when they get essential skills.

It seems like you lack knowledge of how these "essential" skills are already broken up in the game. You do not unlock all slot skills at the same level and you do not unlock all profession skills (F1-F5) at the same level. My design, for the most part excluding Thief design, doesn't create new "breakups" that do not already exist in the game. All my design does is reorganize and redistribute the levels when these "essential" skills are unlocked.

Also, if these skills are so "essential", then why are the majority of new players making it to Orr without ever needing to use anything but skills 1-3 and occasionally skill 6?Where is this data on what skills players use on the way Orr so that you can claim a majority only use certain skills?Try leading a guild or commanding world bosses/metas/raids/strikes. I used to think I was like the average player (not the quickest reflexes and I don't bother with rotations, but I read skill descriptions and event descriptions to understand fundamental mechanics). But, then after leading a guild and commanding organized content I started paying more attention to other players. In my experience, only 25% of players in my groups could learn how to overcome moderate challenges in the game without me giving them instructions. Most players I had to remind them repeatedly of basic mechanics. When chatting with those players who needed more guidance, they didn't say their play style was a personal preference (some players getting attached to a build and never wanting to adapt it) or that their reaction time was just a little off and needed more practice (some people dodging a little too early). The issue was simply they never knew the mechanic, and my explanation gave them that "ahah!" moment. I just want to take the tutorial information that's already in the game and reformat it to make it harder to miss.

Your method would make me NEVER want to level up a character again.I see this sentiment in the comments the most, and I honestly think it's dramatic. But with this feedback, I will tweak this design to make some of the ability unlock delays less severe because, realistically, Anet wouldn't want to disturb its veteran players too much.

Regardless, usually players who find leveling alts to be tedious just feel that way because they find nothing new or interesting about the core Tyrian maps after they've explored/completed them so many times. Usually those bored players aren't worried about their leveling builds because they steamroll through the leveling content without any challenge requiring them to use the extents of their builds. But, let's say you are

that

type of player who is attached to the current experience of levels alts from levels 1-45. Do you (A) like it because you unlocked lots of new things and your progression felt rewarding during those early levels? Or, do you (B) like it because you just want all unlocks ASAP and you don't care for progression? If you are more of opinion A, then my design will be better to achieve a consistently rewarding sense of progression throughout all levels rather than primarily during the early levels, for example addressing the current lack of unlocks from levels 45 to 71. If you are more of opinion B, then Anet doesn't share your philosophy. Anet treats levels 1-79 as one, extended tutorial via leveling reward tutorial tips and ability unlocks. My design just breaks up those clusters of ability unlocks during this extended tutorial. I'm not reinventing the wheel or changing the game to the point where it no longer feels like GW2.

Anecdotal evidence is not the data I'm referring to. Your guild does not represent a majority of players. And unless you got everyone of them to give you a list of what skills they used and can be 100% sure they didn't lie or forget a skill they used, you can't even use that as even a decent sampling.

So until you can produce data, do not claim a majority only used a certain subset of skills.

It's not dramatic if it's true.

I'm currently leveling up a character now and find the period between unlocks to be perfect.

Here's your problem: you've found the wrong cause of the problem you're trying to- players having issue with more complex fights. It's not the leveling process. It's how the game teaches the skills needed for those complex fights. Spreading out the unlocks will not help players learn those skills.

[Shena Fu.5792]

A major issue with education and tutorials is not the quality thereof, but the willingness and attentiveness of the learner. You think you have the most perfect teaching system, yet there will still be many people who fail to understand your course.

Your weapon unlocks are terrible for experienced players trying to level up alts. Not to mention ruin the effectiveness of certain builds and professions. For example, Mesmer sword is their most popular and effective power weapon, yet you have it as the last weapon to unlock.