Moving the Goal Posts!, Nerfs, Buffs, Time Gates, and Costly advancements

[Zero.6082]

Hey Everyone, sorry for the long man..... but I am one!

I was having a conversation on discord with a bunch of my guild friends last night and disgruntled with the same conclusion. The Goal Posts constantly moving are rough on players! I know most people who have legendary armor don't see this as often but i want to run people through an example of other players have to adjust their characters when ever guild wars try to "change things up"

Legendary armor and Trinkets: I don't think i need to explain the cost and time that goes into getting these. I would love to have these but yes this would be the cheat code to avoid nerfs.... but the value of this endeavor is 22 plus weeks of raiding, monthly wvw, or hundreds of hours on pvp. All of which have to be successful. Then you have to fork over the cost of every item..... so double time sync...... who has 6000 vials of blood hanging around their bank when they are ready to craft their legendary armor? Its a shopping list for chain of restaurant, you almost have to be a corporation to get this stuff.

The joys of ascended trinket gameplay: Ascended trinkets are easy to get and honestly i am grateful that a person can get them on their own time.... but the content is well.... rather i guess not the most enjoyable gameplay.... heck you don't need a build, armor, weapons.... You need 2 expansions, living world story done, and a set of harvesting tools. Yep every time guild wars 2 wants to nerf its back to frost gorge, to run around in circles with multiple characters clicking the F key. Now why is farming bad.... its not really.... I have played lots of MMOs from eve, to runescape, to final fantasy 14. What makes it bad... is you have to pay attention... you have to be involved, but it's not interesting to be involved in chores. If you are gathering materials in rune scape... its cut the tree till your bag fills, or mine the rock till your bag fills.... i can watch netflix and farm so its like half playing.... Its not as terrible.... gulid wars 2 you get 2 berries per bush... then you have to run to the next one.... then you might have to push enemies off the bush just you can press the F key.... I wouldn't say this is terrible design... But when you are trying to sell you friends the game ... its really hard to say... oh yeah you will want the best gear for raid and fractals.... and you do that by gathering berries from a bush... logs from a stump .... and jade from ore..... UHHHHHHHHH...... My friend is one of the top tier raiders in Final 14 1% tile .... he won't touch this game because of this gate to entry... But more importantly the re spawn for nodes is once a day... (Anet did you guys really like farmville growing up?) Why do i have to wait a day..... i have the time now.... the next day i work.... But the final nail in the coffin is when you get a set of trinkets.... then they nerf it.... and now your can't use them anymore and you have to go get a whole new set.... I don't want to harvest berries hundreds of cycles every time i need a new bulid XD.

Why does it Cost so much for 5-10%: Exotic set of armor costs mostly anywhere between 20-120 gold , depending on materials...Ascended costs 600-1200 gold. Plus most exotics can be obtained through playing the game and you don't have a gate like you do with raids.... But why does it cost soooo much more for a 10% stat increase... i know someone would say... 10% doesn't matter, skill is all you need... I agree... but that's like a trained martial artist saying yeah i could beat you up.... but a weapon... is probably going to increase you win rate.... especially if your opponent brings one too. I don't understand the cost ratio for this. Why can't dungeons give out ascended armor now... why only exotic? Which brings me to my next point.

Perpetual first job hell (also known as a beginner trying to join a raid group) : Fractals are fun, and dungeons are fun... why? Because you can jump in the content and start playing..... raids its like a job interview.... I know they are doing strike missions.... but hear me out.... the problem is not the difficulty ceiling... its accessibility. If i can spend my time learning rotations and watching raid bosses on youtube i would.... but i am to busy just trying to get the "proper" build for raiding. I raided in FF 14 i did just fine.... the gear is easy to grab...... However, if you saw the top of the post its not fast getting 1200 gold for ascended armor and berry farm for trinkets. By the time i have finally got everything i need, now i run into the 2 final problems.....

1. Finding a group that will take the new guy.....
2. The raid group doesn't want my build anymore because its nerfed or not good enough.

The second one is soul crushing.... nothing is worse then working hundreds of hours saving up tons of gold... to find out your build isn't worth it anymore..... I have had this happen twice to me and my friend has had it happen once to her. WE WON'T raid because of this..... its not fun! It's border line terrible. The difference is fractals and dungeons even if your build isn't perfect... they will take you because the content isn't soul crushing.... Raid.... I was doing 23000 instead of 27000 on the tic o meter and i get a whisper... get your dps up or your kicked.... Strike missions or not.... I can raid in ff 14 because i get the gear from the market board... and i am ready to go.... if i want to raid in GW2 it have to take out a loan... get second job.... and kick my girlfriend out to keep up with the gear alone.... Then when that is done.... because its once a week rewards i have to find a group who wants to do the content... then make sure i can pencil them into my schedule... Final note to save the argument yes you personally might not kick me for 23000 instead of 27000.... but you are one person in a sea of thousands.... Which probably doesn't play with first timers because your already great and have a regular group..... the rest of us weren't super fortunate....

I guess you will just have to settle for second best: The real reason i am writing this post... is because of build syndrome. When this game is great... (WVW, PVP, the 2 raids i could do before they nerfed, fractals and dungeons) The game is alot of fun.... i mean it i have come back to this game because of the action oriented game play and the pvp is stellar.... but why then does the rest of my game feel like its stale. Its because of inflexibility of builds.... now i know you say but nerfing is a good thing with the builds, which promotes more game play instead of same overpowered builds... Well good person you are right and wrong.... because if nerfing promotes better play.... why am i excited to find out i can still use my minstrel gear in WVW for my guardian? Its because that is what i have and i don't want to take the enormous amount of time to change it. Best part about GW1 was diversity of builds and PVP is the best example of it.... why? availability of tools. If i don't have the tools i don't want the nerf.... if i do have the tools then i do want the nerf.... Its really hard to play wvw with friends who bring what ever they have to group... because they don't have the tools to bring the best... it doesn't promote game play it hinders it. Most don't want to play because, they lose to the best groups who do have the gear..... My theory, the reason why everyone has alot of the same bulids is because they can't min and max using extra tools... That is why metabattle still thinks power scourge is the best for 9 months..... A ranger maybe has a great wvw zerg build if you combine other gear and skills never used before... The reason why everyone plays long bow is because its been untouched for a year..... and it does the job... it may not even be the best....It may not even need a nerf.... but the fact that its untouched is why people play it.... because they don't have to change. It..... We would have a lot crazier and more dynamic builds in all formats if everyone had access to the tools... sadly the only people who can with legendary gear.... are probably burned out on the game from the immense grind.

My Suggestion: I hate to just call things out with out helping with a solution so these are my ideas.

1. Make the top tear rewards more about skins and titles rather than stats and barriers. The problem with GW2 is that top tier stuff like legendary and ascended takes a long time to get.... this doesn't lift the skill ceiling.... but actually just moves the goal post...... way farther than it has to be.... Getting ascended armor isn't really a hard thing to do or even rewarding.... it is just plain time consuming or a real life money sink.... I think Anet thinks the way to prolong the game life is by making players suffer through the time gates.....This could be remedied if instead of getting "stats" the players got, bragging rights, skins, shinnies, it would be better.... The problem is black lion chest and gem stores hold all the best stuff.... because they need to make money.... if those items were moved off the gem store and given as raid rewards you would see alot more players in raids... also they would get much more revenue... because instead of the few people playing the surprise mechanics, they would be buying useful things because they are playing more ( infinite harvesting tools, bank space, level boosters, character slots and others). Plus you would take the moral high ground of being one of the only games that doesn't promote RNG style purchases. They are losing out on the best part the game offers which diversity of play... Right now the game promotes 1 class type play... honestly if you want my advice pick a armor class you like.... then only play that... By the time you have sank 1200 gold into 9 characters worth of ascended gear.... you could have 9 different heavy sets that would work just like legendary armor and move among the 3 classes.... my suggestion is go with heavy or light.... because those classes get the most requests for content.... i swear..... i gave up on characters entirely... i don't care what they look like... what they do... or anything... because i realized the cost isn't worth it... i basically focus on my heavy class only now... It's the cut i had to make not the one i wanted to make... I only use the other classes in pvp arena or the famous berry farm..... speaking of which.

2. Make the ascended trinkets that you get from berry farming have changeable stats at all times. This will get everyone out of the berry farm and into the good content.... I know then what is the point of the legendary armor right? Well honestly i think all ascended armor should also be changeable stats.... You spent 1200 gold on this armor you should get something better than a 5% stat increase.... Doesn't that make legendary armor not as amazing ascended you would ask?.... No you can still have legendary armor change stats too!!! However.... what your paying for is the skin... honestly the skin alone and the goal of getting one should be enough for people to want them.... Your paying for some of the coolest looking weapons i have seen in mmo history... that should be enough...

I think these two adjustments with the gem store focusing on services rather than surprise mechanics and skins.... will help guild wars 2 tremendously. The best part of guild wars 2 in my opinion is the class diversity. You play FF 14 its a dragoon.... it does one thing use one weapon and is only dps. A guardian... can be healer, DPS, tank, Condi, Crit, meme.... so many choices with one class..... I think Anet in favor of making money lost the best part of their game which was the ability to play your class your way.... I don't despise them for making money... i mean its a company it has to make money... and that is great.... if you need subscriptions to make the money rather than gouge us hundreds to get legendary weapons i would rather pay that fee. Treat the game like you treat you PVP. With great updates, fun game play, and endless opportunity!

[Blude.6812]

Was agreeing with some of your statements, but if you put the I would rather pay for a subscription in you very 1st sentence, I wouldn't have bothered reading. Now that I have read it, I'll just forget about it.

[Zero.6082]

@Blude.6812 said:Was agreeing with some of your statements, but if you put the I would rather pay for a subscription in you very 1st sentence, I wouldn't have bothered reading. Now that I have read it, I'll just forget about it.

I am trying to give GW2 a chance to make money... If that is the best way other companies do it... i don't think that should take away from my argument... Trust me i would rather not pay a subscription either.... but sometimes you have to throw a bone to the other side......Its a business i don't know the best model. What i do know is FF14, WoW and StWOR have done it with lots of success.... However the question begs is the reason why they do what they do because they need to make money? If you could solve it by paying 5 dollars a month would you do it?

[Wisty.4135]

@"Zero.6082" said:If you could solve it by paying 5 dollars a month would you do it?

Probably not. Not for most people. Part of the accessibility has been the "F2P, buy if you like!" Model. Charging a sub fee would only alienate the community, even if that sub fee was for stuff like ESO's infinite crafting mat storage. With the uptick in new blood, we wouldn't want to sour it with an apparent "bait and switch."

Regarding the rest of the post... I am unsure how to unpack all of this. The biggest thig I disagree with is the build variation restrictions - build variation is what I love most about this game, and I think it'd be a disservice to restrict it. The trinkets, raiding, etc are all valid criticisms to have, but there are many work-arounds for these issues. Mist capacitors for trinkets, forming your own raid group/training raids, etc.

Overall, there's some good ideas in here, but at this time I don't think any of it is necessary.

[Josiah.2967]

I am personally fine with all ascended gear having easily switchable stats like a legendary. The new Legendary templates will be more than enough to differentiate the two. It would really help newer player experiment with different builds.

On the flip side. I believe we are dealing with a critical balancing issue at the moment for end game content. I also believe that meta shakeups help prevent things from getting stale. The same specs being in the top 5 for years is not what I would call fun or engaging. Then again, if endgame content was better balanced, maybe it wouldn't matter.

[Trise.2865]

tl;dr: "I don't like metagame shifts or balance changes and I don't have real friends to play with."

That sucks, dude, but subscriptions won't solve that.

[Zero.6082]

@Wisty.4135 said:

@"Zero.6082" said:If you could solve it by paying 5 dollars a month would you do it?

Probably not. Not for most people. Part of the accessibility has been the "F2P, buy if you like!" Model. Charging a sub fee would only alienate the community, even if that sub fee was for stuff like ESO's infinite crafting mat storage. With the uptick in new blood, we wouldn't want to sour it with an apparent "bait and switch."

You are paying... your paying in time... time is worth more than money in some cases. How long does it take for you to make 100 gold? If you make 10 dollars an hour that gets you 100 gold and hour if you put it towards gems. The reason why i say it is because they are making you pay... just in ways you didn't see before.... unlimited harvesting, bank slots. They take away features to sell it to you... Alot of F2P is like that you get less if you don't pay..... Also there are some features where the game uses "surprise mechanics" now you don't have to do it... but if you want some of the coolest weapons skins... you either pay gold or buy keys.... maybe you can key farm, but it doesn't work.... I am not saying i want it to be a subscription... But they are a company.... so how would you suggest they make money? if they don't do subscriptions... then they are going to put best stuff behind paywalls.... That's the point.... People forget servers cost money, IT, Websites, Lawyers,.... its not just development... It takes a village!

Regarding the rest of the post... I am unsure how to unpack all of this. The biggest thig I disagree with is the build variation restrictions - build variation is what I love most about this game, and I think it'd be a disservice to restrict it. The trinkets, raiding, etc are all valid criticisms to have, but there are many work-arounds for these issues. Mist capacitors for trinkets, forming your own raid group/training raids, etc.

I don't the build variation is diverse.... i think you missed some of my paragraphs.... review the part about ranger using the same longbow build in Wvw... that is lack of tools. Maybe able to say its the "best" but i have seen other people use condi versions of that build, that might be better..... to bad you can't get plague doctor as easily as berserk.... and you don't want to overwrite your armor just in case it fails.... The game doesn't want you to experiment... it really pushes you towards a direction... Experimentation is what makes games fun...Honestly the only thing you have for the work around is Raiding! What if i don't want to raid? What if WVW is the best? I think people forget there are other people in the game.... its not fair to section them into do this! We should get benefits from all forms of game play? Or anet should remove them. I am trying open up the game... not force them into something.... Which is what Raid, Berry Farm, and Crafting does in this game.

Overall, there's some good ideas in here, but at this time I don't think any of it is necessary.

Nothing is necessary.... honestly your right... raiding not necessary.. we should just take it out of the game.... ascended armor is not necessary we should just take it out of the game.... Legendary's are not necessary..... we should take it out of the game..... Anet is what makes things necessary... you can get legendary armor through wvw you don't have to raid.... so form your own group isn't necessary.... but I am really glad that you can easily get 10 people together to play a game with you..... Even during this covid virus its hard for me to get my main friends together 6 of us to play Jack Box games... that was a week of planning and we have been friends for 5 years.... What is not necessary is the game at all.... which is why i am trying to provide feedback to hopefully make it more fun not necessary..... otherwise we will find games that make fun necessary.... where loot boxes/time gates are not necessary.... I mean FF 14 won mmo of the year.... gw2 has better combat and more potential.... but it doesn't matter.... because necessary!

[Zero.6082]

@"Josiah.2967" said:I am personally fine with all ascended gear having easily switchable stats like a legendary. The new Legendary templates will be more than enough to differentiate the two. It would really help newer player experiment with different builds.

On the flip side. I believe we are dealing with a critical balancing issue at the moment for end game content. I also believe that meta shakeups help prevent things from getting stale. The same specs being in the top 5 for years is not what I would call fun or engaging. Then again, if endgame content was better balanced, maybe it wouldn't matter.

I agree with nerfs and meta changes... but then allow me to shift with meta. I am glad you agree with my idea :) Most of the time i walk away from the game for a long period of time is because the "meta" changes and i go nope i will not go back to frost gorge again screw that!

[Omega.6801]

"Oh Noes!!!! I Have to do stuff to get stuff!!! Such bad design!! How could they!!! I was sold the play how you like game and now playing how I like requires me to play the game! HAW DARE YOU!?!?!?"

You don't need legendaries as ascended stuff is easily obtained in all game modes that could be considered endgame, and for 99% of the game even exotics are good enough. There are still training groups for all challenging content. Making Asc trinkets stat-changeable at all times defeats the purpose of legendaries. Berryfarmin is boring, yes, but it's just the fastest way to get the trinkets, if you switch between maps, you won't get bored as fast as you are, but that's not the point, right? Got to have everything now and for free. All that was missing was the obligatory "btw, I'm a Gemshop whale" remark ;)

[Zero.6082]

@"Trise.2865" said:tl;dr: "I don't like metagame shifts or balance changes and I don't have real friends to play with."

That sucks, dude, but subscriptions won't solve that.

I want to put this to bed now.... stop reading subscriptions and think that is all there is to my argument ..... I don't want subscriptions Also very kind of you to belittle my attempt to give players the ability to shift with the meta... heaven forbid i want the player count to go up! But ill ignore your "tl'dr" argument because it a strawman.... I don't care about that stuff..... but at a certain point... i would rather just put that money into a new game.... rather than play gw2... They are a company they have to make money! Most of the bad practices that GW2 does is attributed to money.. Time gates, Meta changes... its so they can make people have to repay again to change their gear.... if it wasn't why nerf a minstrel mesmer? If anything leave it status quo why change the meta? I am totally fine if the best build for raid is 10 warriors.... that is fine... but the reason why it will be 10 warriors is, min maxing people and arena net nerfs..... You shift your build to what ever Anet tells you to.... However, the fact its hard to shift your build..... zerker is always at the top and stays there, because that is what everyone has.... I played GW1.... shadow form was the best and stayed the best.... they nerfed it 5 times and it still is the best build for Raiding... the reason why.... people will find the easiest, laziest and cheapest way! If you give people more opportunity ..... then you get more interesting things..... and people will keep playing if you shift the meta because they can have an easy transition..... i haven't change my engineers armor in over 4 years..... Yay Zerker! Because there is no point... its either in meta or out of meta, but its not worth changing it.... because its not the best and it cost so much to change it to a character who is the best....

[IndigoSundown.5419]

Why are these mechanics in the game? To keep people playing the game, so they might drop some RL money on gems or buy them with gold, which makes the exchange rate look good to those buying gold with gems.

Say ANet gave out stat change freely to non-Legendary owners. Two things would happen. (1) Legendary owners would complain that the main non-cosmetic benefit to getting legendary gear has been negated. (2) ANet would still have to put busy work into the game to keep people logging in so they would think there is a reason to keep paying the fee.

You don't think so? Look at how WoW works. There is a constant gear progression to give people incentive to keep playing, and the developer keeps putting busy work into the game. Maybe ActiBlizz does it better for you, maybe not for me. But busy work is the nature of the MMO genre.

[TPMN.1483]

Okay- on your first point about legendary armor being hard to obtain and costly :-

• Legendary armor was implemented with Living World Season 3 Episode 5 "Flashpoint" on May 2nd, 2017, with the Perfected Envoy armor sets made available for acquisition through raiding.
• Legendary armor was introduced to PvP and WvW with the August 8th, 2017 balance patch.

The WvW Set takes approx : 22 weeks to earn a set of legendary armor. Raids and time required to PvP (which can be done even if you are the worst PvP Player in the world is possible as you still earn progress). This has been out for 3 years - which should be sufficient for most people to earn the pre-requisite materials for the armor.

Tier 6 materials - can be obtained quickly and easily from various living story maps, converting the currency -> boxs -> materials (especially from magic into boxs: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Magic-Warped_Bundle ) for the items you need.

Having to pay attention and engage in the gameThe next point about "What makes it bad... is you have to pay attention... you have to be involved, but it's not interesting to be involved in chores. If you are gathering materials in rune scape... its cut the tree till your bag fills, or mine the rock till your bag fills.... i can watch netflix and farm so its like half playing"-- So you want a game where you can AFK and still get stuff ? I am so sorry, then this game may not be the one for you - there are certainly areas where you can semi-afk and still get rewards, but doing stuff is meant to be "fun" and requires you to be "engaged". This is not a mobile phone game such as "Idle Heros" where you just earn stuff for afk.

Cost of ascended armor?A full set of this currently costs <50 Gold - with the strike missions ! This can also be obtained through WvW or PvP - at a lower cost than fully crafting.I have know new players get their first set of ascended armor within 30 days. You can even earn ascended armor box's from achievements for crafting other weapons.

New player to raids?Solution: Find a training group ! There are many that are available to you, I would recommend you look here: https://www.snowcrows.com/raids/training/ - find a discord (yes, its a voice communication system - which will be required) and group that will take you. There are dedicated groups for new raiders - don't expect to be in a fully experienced group until you've got some experience ! (catch 22 solved)

BuildsSolution: Don't just rely on Metabattle for your builds, it depends where you are going and what you are going to do - seek out more specialist content builds for PvP, PvE, WvW depending what content you are doing (OpenWorld = MetaBattle, Raids = Snowcrows, Fractals = discretize, PvP = GodsofPvP). GW2 has one of the largest, diverse set of builds that are "viable" for many different content types (which may not be min/max) and sufficient for different content types. It is possible to change "stats" from an ascended armor set to another set via the mystic forge (if you have to !). The fact ANET changes skills, what works well and nerfs/buffs stuff periodically - shakes up the meta (optimal comps) from time to time which helps keep the game a little fresher is a good thing.

[TPMN.1483]

On your "solutions"1 Make the top tear rewards more about skins and titles rather than stats and barriers-- For individuals which already have 10K+ hours - the "end-game" is already about "skins" , "titles" and achivements. You have not yet reached "end-game" which is 100% fashion wars, as often these people already have account values > 100K+ gold.

2 Make the ascended trinkets that you get from berry farming have changeable stats at all times-- This is what legendary items are for "stat changable" on the fly. Yes - there is a cost to allow you to change ascended trinket stats, which is not high but it does take a little amount of effort. At least ANET allows you to stat change them (just like armor/weapons that drop which may be the wrong stats).

Final point:I think these two adjustments with the gem store focusing on services rather than surprise mechanics and skins.--> The gem store "skins" is what makes ANET money, with services ideas already max'd out (harvesting tools, garden nodes, banker, transmutation stones, etc).

I don't see any "suprise" mechanics in the gem store - unless you're talking about the hamsters which run the game which sometimes need replacing when the gem store stops working.

[Zero.6082]

@IndigoSundown.5419 said:Why are these mechanics in the game? To keep people playing the game, so they might drop some RL money on gems or buy them with gold, which makes the exchange rate look good to those buying gold with gems.

Say ANet gave out stat change freely to non-Legendary owners. Two things would happen. (1) Legendary owners would complain that the main non-cosmetic benefit to getting legendary gear has been negated. (2) ANet would still have to put busy work into the game to keep people logging in so they would think there is a reason to keep paying the fee.

You don't think so? Look at how WoW works. There is a constant gear progression to give people incentive to keep playing, and the developer keeps putting busy work into the game. Maybe ActiBlizz does it better for you, maybe not for me. But busy work is the nature of the MMO genre.

Legendary gear used to not change stats... it changed with time... we can change the game to make it better as we learn new things... Or it evolves.... I was OK with the ascend weapons for a time because they gave out 9 for free with every expansion with really rewarding and cool game play..... but that is not the case.... Also it works one time! Once you have it all and you have to change it.... you then do three options.....

1. Dump money
2. Dump time
3. Dump characters..

I am just trying to throw out some ideas to see what we get.... but from you argument it sounds like a lost cause i should just move on to a new game.... That's not what i want to do... I want to help them make a game i like better... because there is plenty of story and potential left.... but they could just give up now i guess?

[Algreg.3629]

I think a bit of sincerity would gain you considerably more sympathy. This is about you, stop pretending to worry about "the players" or "the game".

[Zero.6082]

@"TPMN.1483" said:Okay- on your first point about legendary armor being hard to obtain and costly :-

• Legendary armor was implemented with Living World Season 3 Episode 5 "Flashpoint" on May 2nd, 2017, with the Perfected Envoy armor sets made available for acquisition through raiding.
• Legendary armor was introduced to PvP and WvW with the August 8th, 2017 balance patch.

The WvW Set takes approx : 22 weeks to earn a set of legendary armor. Raids and time required to PvP (which can be done even if you are the worst PvP Player in the world is possible as you still earn progress). This has been out for 3 years - which should be sufficient for most people to earn the pre-requisite materials for the armor.So from this your solution is get legendary gear... please explain how long that takes? Not in time you think.... but real hours spent... Saying its been out for 3 years isn't enough... do i need to play 3 hours a day? 2 hours a day? What do i have to do for those hours a day.... I think this need further explanation... I want to know to know.

Tier 6 materials - can be obtained quickly and easily from various living story maps, converting the currency -> boxs -> materials (especially from magic into boxs: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Magic-Warped_Bundle ) for the items you need.Same argument from before...how long does it take to get these items? Saying you can get them is great! But then if you say it takes a day to get a box..... that helps no one.

Having to pay attention and engage in the gameThe next point about "What makes it bad... is you have to pay attention... you have to be involved, but it's not interesting to be involved in chores. If you are gathering materials in rune scape... its cut the tree till your bag fills, or mine the rock till your bag fills.... i can watch netflix and farm so its like half playing"-- So you want a game where you can AFK and still get stuff ? I am so sorry, then this game may not be the one for you - there are certainly areas where you can semi-afk and still get rewards, but doing stuff is meant to be "fun" and requires you to be "engaged". This is not a mobile phone game such as "Idle Heros" where you just earn stuff for afk.

No i want to play the game.... but just as some else pointed out in an earlier comment.... the thread point shows they give you basic busy work.... I would like to play the game.... but if your going to give me busy work... make it work i don't have to pay attention to..... I explained that in the thread..... Getting the Ascended weapons was fun..... collecting berrys for the 100th time.... is not.... no matter how you try it won't be engaging....

Cost of ascended armor?A full set of this currently costs <50 Gold - with the strike missions ! This can also be obtained through WvW or PvP - at a lower cost than fully crafting.I have know new players get their first set of ascended armor within 30 days. You can even earn ascended armor box's from achievements for crafting other weapons.I don't know anything about strike missions.... i said so in the comments for that i am sorry.... but there you go... 30 days.... but for them... how many hours? what did they do? 8 hours a day? You can level up in a few minutes if you have 80 tomes.... everything is relative. So your example is relative....New player to raids?Solution: Find a training group ! There are many that are available to you, I would recommend you look here: https://www.snowcrows.com/raids/training/ - find a discord (yes, its a voice communication system - which will be required) and group that will take you. There are dedicated groups for new raiders - don't expect to be in a fully experienced group until you've got some experience ! (catch 22 solved)Again raid is the only solution... i know a raider when i see one... .because the first thing they do is say.... something along the lines like raid with a training group.... what if i want to wvw and fractal... what if i don't want to raid? Why must i do what you want... why won't you do what i want.... I can't make you quit raiding... thus i won't make you... Also who wants to join the training groups that literally are designed to fail... it really doesn't help.... I have tried training groups and i found basically its a lost cause... you have to fit in their time schedule.... which everyone is different.... then you have to pray they take you.... also you have to be the specific thing.... and then finally you play for hours to lose... i don't want to do raid so i can have the armor i need for WVW or fractal... Its another avenue i was taking.... Maybe strike missions will fix it... I didn't know at the time of writing this.... but again.... barrier to entry is 30 days... that is along time .... you have to wait 1 month before your allowed to play... Most would say... yeah but that is an MMO... if so what does Anet offer an auto level 80?

BuildsSolution: Don't just rely on Metabattle for your builds, it depends where you are going and what you are going to do - seek out more specialist content builds for PvP, PvE, WvW depending what content you are doing (OpenWorld = MetaBattle, Raids = Snowcrows, Fractals = discretize, PvP = GodsofPvP). GW2 has one of the largest, diverse set of builds that are "viable" for many different content types (which may not be min/max) and sufficient for different content types. It is possible to change "stats" from an ascended armor set to another set via the mystic forge (if you have to !). The fact ANET changes skills, what works well and nerfs/buffs stuff periodically - shakes up the meta (optimal comps) from time to time which helps keep the game a little fresher is a good thing.I have been to many build sites.... i was using meta battle for my example... because its the most traffic site... I am good with Anet shaking up the meta... but go through the forums especially the wvw.... if they were so worried why do i see so many people complaining about pew pew ranger that didn't get nerfed?

[Zero.6082]

@"Algreg.3629" said:I think a bit of sincerity would gain you considerably more sympathy. This is about you, stop pretending to worry about "the players" or "the game".

That is a straw man and its silly.... But since you can read minds what should i say?Ok fine just for you i will make this all about me... i say i get everything and you guys get nothing?

See it doesn't work.... because if i make it all about me then no one would play.... games basketball, baseball, and fortnite live on the idea of three things.

1. Fair structure and rules
2. rewards
3. fun

If I make the structure and rules all about me then no one would play... if i am the only one with rewards then no one would play... I am being sincere.... because i am trying to make it fair across the board... Which is why i am not nerfing anything only enhancing what is in your pocket.... if i would just ask for these changes for just me it would be a waste.... ill tell you what Algreg..... Lets get anet to give everyone free sets of legendary armor? Then i guess we can all be satisfied..... oh wait it doesn't work that way.... I don't want the game to work that way... because you are right it would be pointless.... If i wanted about me i would say i want legendary armor for free.... i am not asking for that... I am offering out ideas... changes in mechanics to allow for players to enjoy the game... I don't want them to hand out items..... I literally don't want anything from them.... That's what makes your argument so debunked... read my solution... it doesn't say anything about hand outs or free bees.... just making stuff already in the game valuable.... also if i was being selfish... then i would just play a different game and get others to play it with me taking away player count.... but that would be silly because i want to play this game and i want others to as well... WVW, Raids, PVP, and all the other content are really boring if you are just one person....

I thought that was obvious.... but if it was as easy as click a button... i don't think we would care... A bit of sincerity from you and more sympathy would be gained for you... if you actually did offer up solutions.... instead of preaching how much better you are as the all knowing person... you don't know anything about me... I share alot of the same concerns as a bunch of people. What is your solution? Why is FF14 IGNs best MMO and guild wars 2 a "good" PVP mmo? Why do most of the reviews say play pvp! its fun? PVP is fun because i have more tools to play way.... why is the other content fun or not fun .... i don't know but if i can take what i see is fun from pvp and original gw1 style and apply it to PVE.... maybe i would be better? Idk what's your idea? Clearly you care all about the players right?

[Wisty.4135]

@"Zero.6082" said:

In response specifically to the time vs gold vs real cash - I generate gold passively by playing. Fractals, strikes, raids, pvp, daily harvesting nodes and farms - in a good day it's maybe a few hours to earn 100 gold while doing stuff I normally would anyways, so it's not time lost by playing the game in that instance. Now if I were only playing to make gold, then yes, CC-swiping would get me gold much faster.

Re build variation - I play a lot of Spvp and WvW, and rangers I can tell you of at least three different builds for core ranger alone. Not to mention for druid or soulbeast. In WvW, longbow does tend to be more prevalent on defense or roaming, but, condi trap or "pest" ranger are also very viable too. I do see the game allowing for a lot of build experimentation, especially compared to other MMO's I've played. Unfortunately, open world experimentation requires some heavy math to parse unless you're fine with spending the gold to swap ascended stats and experiment that way.

[Etria.3642]

I cannot believe you stated that final fantasy was easier to get into raids than gw2. Clearly you haven't compared them in actually.

In addition in gw2 it is incredibly easy to change builds. Exotics are cheap, or if you have ascended just use the mystic forge to change them. It's even easy to gear for raids to begin with because you do not need ascended. You certainly don't need legendaries.

Compared to ff14 which takes forever... You can keep it.

[Zero.6082]

@Wisty.4135 said:

@Zero.6082 said:

.Unfortunately, open world experimentation requires some heavy math to parse unless you're fine with spending the gold to swap ascended stats and experiment that way.

Which is what i am trying to eliminate... so you would rather keep the status quo and never test? Wow that would a boring game if everyone ran the same build because.... i understand your calling out 1 thing which is Spvp.... But then apply it to everything.... it works there which is why you have multiple builds... it works there because you can experiment.... It doesn't work in open world because you right you have parse out the money.... why i can't just try something? I am finally for the first time seeing plague doctors on firebrands as a viable build its amazing how long RND has pushed this long.... its been out for at least a year if not longer.... Its teaching you to be small scale and safe.... The game doesn't expand if you only have 1 character with one thing. They need to bank on the openness and allow people to be open... People forget Spvp doesn't match your raid build, or your WVW zerg build... or your fractal build.... look at all the builds you need for one character for one game... can you fork over that much gold and time for that many classes... so again you have to do 1 of 3 things.

spend moneyspend timeor cut characters...

The build diversity is there..... but its not worth it..... Its alot faster for me to get through the game and get stuff done when you focus on one character... then i guess i don't have to care.... but again... will you take my minstrel firebrand into raids? That is the armor i have cause of WVW.... or do i need to shell out another 600+ gold for that? That is the problem! Ultra specific requirements and ultra specific stuff... I haven't changed my engineer armor in 4 years.... That has to say something about guild wars 2.... I would like to try the wvw healing build.... but that would be 600 gold please... its like sorry guys i guess you get second best ... who gets to take the fall?

[TPMN.1483]

WvW legendary armor timeTo calculate the WvW time required to get legendary armor or pips: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Special:RunQuery/WvW_skirmish_pip_query?Its about 22 hrs / week (at wvw rank 0) - to earn the maximum 365 tickets - 22 weeks @ 365 tickets per week..22x22= 484 hrs = Bingo a legendary armor set.

@Zero.6082 - this is about you, if you want legendary - you have to dedicated time into it. It only takes 1,310 tickets for a ascended armor set from WvW = 4 weeks (22 hrs/week). You can have an ascended armor set in about 24 days - and can always start your WvW journey in Exotic armor (which is cheap as chips) ! When the game was released - people started in "white" armor until they earnt better rewards - 'cause that's all they had back then.

RaidingThis is organised content 10 man, which requires dedicated builds - and effort for you to setup in advance and understand how your role works. This will require you and 9 others to be available, if you can find 9 people to meet at a predetermined time which good builds - hire a trainer for your group ! The people who are already experienced have encountered hours of failures on every boss as part of the learning curve - its part of the process, there is no shortcuts - you become good by practice and this includes learning from your failures. If you want success you have to be dedicated enough to go through the learning experience and put some effort into a viable build that can kill the boss - otherwise as you say "it's doomed" to fail. I remember when it took our group of guild members 10-15 hrs just to work out how to kill the first boss (vale guardian) over multiple attempts across different weeks - the first kill is always the best.

Learning WvW/PvP (or other game items: Fractals, PvE Openworld etc)There are plenty of 'guilds' to join which go in these game modes - find one on your server and join. As its a "team" game this is likely to require you joining in on the "arranged" schedule - which may not be 150% when you can play. The alternative is to form your own guild for these team formats with people who can play when you do - and learn together how to improve and get better. You don't dive into the hardest game mode and expect to succeed ? This is why these game modes are tiered as you learn to become better at the game (PvP = MMR, Fractals - Tier 1->4 and Challenge Modes … etc) as it becomes harder to complete.

Build discussionsEvery player will have their own opinion on other peoples builds, some will find "pew-pew" ranger is good - e.g. in PvP; however you will find there are many players in PvP who just find "pew-pew" ranger are sub-par and actually not very good when compared to "good" players". Often it is a "learn to play" issue from a person on how to counter that build, once that person has figured it out - its easy to counter. The reason people dont like "pew-pew" ranger in WvW to hazard a guess - is that several can target a single person and "kill-snipe" them down, which if its the commander can leave the rest of the zerg clueless what to do next - but thats the point right? (its enemy vs enemy and sniping the commander dead is part of the game mode: Kill the head of the snake ! ).

Barriers to playThere are no "30" day barriers to play for fractals, wvw, pve or pvp - yes: there are barriers for the highest tiers of competition (you will want good stuff or unlocked items); new-players will not be ready for this and each game mode allows you to earn whats necessary whilst learning how to play and get better. Fractals Tier 4 : "90-100" (max level) and challenge modes have a barrier with agony infusions which you will gain from lower level tiers which might also award ascended items as drops as you progress up the difficulty.

@Zero.6082 - I would suggest you consolidate your concerns into a single coherent individual topic rather than rambling across multiple topics and just complaining about this takes too long, its too much effort, I cant be asked. You might get a better response if you ask questions like "How can I quickly get my first ascended armor set - I have X hours / Week and want to spend as little gold as possible - help me !"

[Zero.6082]

@Etria.3642 said:I cannot believe you stated that final fantasy was easier to get into raids than gw2. Clearly you haven't compared them in actually.

In addition in gw2 it is incredibly easy to change builds. Exotics are cheap, or if you have ascended just use the mystic forge to change them. It's even easy to gear for raids to begin with because you do not need ascended. You certainly don't need legendaries.

Compared to ff14 which takes forever... You can keep it.

The game is geared towards raids, it is designed towards raids... you practice dungeons and mechanics to understand and build up your gear.... your prep for raids in GW2 by ..... collecting berries... i don't understand how that makes sense... That is why it easier.... The game teaches you to play.... it even shows you a rotation... granted i played dragoon.... which i have been told is easier..... but take it as you will.... I am comparing apples to oranges in this case i only picked it because its the only other raiding system i have tried.....

[Voltekka.2375]

@"Zero.6082" said:Hey Everyone, sorry for the long man..... but I am one!

I was having a conversation on discord with a bunch of my guild friends last night and disgruntled with the same conclusion. The Goal Posts constantly moving are rough on players! I know most people who have legendary armor don't see this as often but i want to run people through an example of other players have to adjust their characters when ever guild wars try to "change things up"

Evolution in a game comes from change. Nothing is perfect, mistake CAN be made, and fixed. Saying stale cant be ever fixed.Legendary armor and Trinkets: I don't think i need to explain the cost and time that goes into getting these. I would love to have these but yes this would be the cheat code to avoid nerfs.... but the value of this endeavor is 22 plus weeks of raiding, monthly wvw, or hundreds of hours on pvp. All of which have to be successful. Then you have to fork over the cost of every item..... so double time sync...... who has 6000 vials of blood hanging around their bank when they are ready to craft their legendary armor? Its a shopping list for chain of restaurant, you almost have to be a corporation to get this stuff.

Cost is low for what the legendary QoL provides. First raid set takes 10 weeks. Wvw 22. Make it or dont, that is a matter of personal choice. Set a goal towards THE endgame gear, move towards it. Or not.The joys of ascended trinket gameplay: Ascended trinkets are easy to get and honestly i am grateful that a person can get them on their own time.... but the content is well.... rather i guess not the most enjoyable gameplay.... heck you don't need a build, armor, weapons.... You need 2 expansions, living world story done, and a set of harvesting tools. Yep every time guild wars 2 wants to nerf its back to frost gorge, to run around in circles with multiple characters clicking the F key. Now why is farming bad.... its not really.... I have played lots of MMOs from eve, to runescape, to final fantasy 14. What makes it bad... is you have to pay attention... you have to be involved, but it's not interesting to be involved in chores. If you are gathering materials in rune scape... its cut the tree till your bag fills, or mine the rock till your bag fills.... i can watch netflix and farm so its like half playing.... Its not as terrible.... gulid wars 2 you get 2 berries per bush... then you have to run to the next one.... then you might have to push enemies off the bush just you can press the F key.... I wouldn't say this is terrible design... But when you are trying to sell you friends the game ... its really hard to say... oh yeah you will want the best gear for raid and fractals.... and you do that by gathering berries from a bush... logs from a stump .... and jade from ore..... UHHHHHHHHH...... My friend is one of the top tier raiders in Final 14 1% tile .... he won't touch this game because of this gate to entry... But more importantly the re spawn for nodes is once a day... (Anet did you guys really like farmville growing up?) Why do i have to wait a day..... i have the time now.... the next day i work.... But the final nail in the coffin is when you get a set of trinkets.... then they nerf it.... and now your can't use them anymore and you have to go get a whole new set.... I don't want to harvest berries hundreds of cycles every time i need a new bulid XD.

God forbid if people actually WORK for their shinies and resources by playing the game. The more you know. Also, sell the game to your friends by telling them they can earn ascended through raiding, killing bosses that require awesome synergy. Up to you.Why does it Cost so much for 5-10%: Exotic set of armor costs mostly anywhere between 20-120 gold , depending on materials...Ascended costs 600-1200 gold. Plus most exotics can be obtained through playing the game and you don't have a gate like you do with raids.... But why does it cost soooo much more for a 10% stat increase... i know someone would say... 10% doesn't matter, skill is all you need... I agree... but that's like a trained martial artist saying yeah i could beat you up.... but a weapon... is probably going to increase you win rate.... especially if your opponent brings one too. I don't understand the cost ratio for this. Why can't dungeons give out ascended armor now... why only exotic? Which brings me to my next point.

Ascended is only absolutely necessary in higher tier fractals. Anything else can be killed with exotics. Hell, there are 5man grps with greens killing bosses.Perpetual first job hell (also known as a beginner trying to join a raid group) : Fractals are fun, and dungeons are fun... why? Because you can jump in the content and start playing..... raids its like a job interview.... I know they are doing strike missions.... but hear me out.... the problem is not the difficulty ceiling... its accessibility. If i can spend my time learning rotations and watching raid bosses on youtube i would.... but i am to busy just trying to get the "proper" build for raiding. I raided in FF 14 i did just fine.... the gear is easy to grab...... However, if you saw the top of the post its not fast getting 1200 gold for ascended armor and berry farm for trinkets. By the time i have finally got everything i need, now i run into the 2 final problems.....

Which ascended armor costs 1200 gold? None. You can literally make 3 legendary pieces with that amount. Also, practicing is part of the game (endgame at least), cause all other content can be done with pressing 1 and 2.

1. Finding a group that will take the new guy.....
2. The raid group doesn't want my build anymore because its nerfed or not good enough.

Join training guilds, get better. Problem solved.The second one is soul crushing.... nothing is worse then working hundreds of hours saving up tons of gold... to find out your build isn't worth it anymore..... I have had this happen twice to me and my friend has had it happen once to her. WE WON'T raid because of this..... its not fun! It's border line terrible. The difference is fractals and dungeons even if your build isn't perfect... they will take you because the content isn't soul crushing.... Raid.... I was doing 23000 instead of 27000 on the tic o meter and i get a whisper... get your dps up or your kicked.... Strike missions or not.... I can raid in ff 14 because i get the gear from the market board... and i am ready to go.... if i want to raid in GW2 it have to take out a loan... get second job.... and kick my girlfriend out to keep up with the gear alone.... Then when that is done.... because its once a week rewards i have to find a group who wants to do the content... then make sure i can pencil them into my schedule... Final note to save the argument yes you personally might not kick me for 23000 instead of 27000.... but you are one person in a sea of thousands.... Which probably doesn't play with first timers because your already great and have a regular group..... the rest of us weren't super fortunate....

You want endgame? Well, gear up. Harrier, zerk and viper never went offmeta, did they? Thats about 95% of the builds.I guess you will just have to settle for second best: The real reason i am writing this post... is because of build syndrome. When this game is great... (WVW, PVP, the 2 raids i could do before they nerfed, fractals and dungeons) The game is alot of fun.... i mean it i have come back to this game because of the action oriented game play and the pvp is stellar.... but why then does the rest of my game feel like its stale. Its because of inflexibility of builds.... now i know you say but nerfing is a good thing with the builds, which promotes more game play instead of same overpowered builds... Well good person you are right and wrong.... because if nerfing promotes better play.... why am i excited to find out i can still use my minstrel gear in WVW for my guardian? Its because that is what i have and i don't want to take the enormous amount of time to change it. Best part about GW1 was diversity of builds and PVP is the best example of it.... why? availability of tools. If i don't have the tools i don't want the nerf.... if i do have the tools then i do want the nerf.... Its really hard to play wvw with friends who bring what ever they have to group... because they don't have the tools to bring the best... it doesn't promote game play it hinders it. Most don't want to play because, they lose to the best groups who do have the gear..... My theory, the reason why everyone has alot of the same bulids is because they can't min and max using extra tools... That is why metabattle still thinks power scourge is the best for 9 months..... A ranger maybe has a great wvw zerg build if you combine other gear and skills never used before... The reason why everyone plays long bow is because its been untouched for a year..... and it does the job... it may not even be the best....It may not even need a nerf.... but the fact that its untouched is why people play it.... because they don't have to change. It..... We would have a lot crazier and more dynamic builds in all formats if everyone had access to the tools... sadly the only people who can with legendary gear.... are probably burned out on the game from the immense grind.

"Let me theorycraft for free, economy be damned!" Nah, you just want free stuff. Wvw has exotic armor chests, free stat selection, bloodstone fen ascended trinkets can be stat changed at a meager cost anytime, pve already has asgeir amulet and accessory available for karma... Anything easier than that is just asking for leggy armor pieces by logging in.My Suggestion: I hate to just call things out with out helping with a solution so these are my ideas.

1. Make the top tear rewards more about skins and titles rather than stats and barriers. The problem with GW2 is that top tier stuff like legendary and ascended takes a long time to get.... this doesn't lift the skill ceiling.... but actually just moves the goal post...... way farther than it has to be.... Getting ascended armor isn't really a hard thing to do or even rewarding.... it is just plain time consuming or a real life money sink.... I think Anet thinks the way to prolong the game life is by making players suffer through the time gates.....This could be remedied if instead of getting "stats" the players got, bragging rights, skins, shinnies, it would be better.... The problem is black lion chest and gem stores hold all the best stuff.... because they need to make money.... if those items were moved off the gem store and given as raid rewards you would see alot more players in raids... also they would get much more revenue... because instead of the few people playing the surprise mechanics, they would be buying useful things because they are playing more ( infinite harvesting tools, bank space, level boosters, character slots and others). Plus you would take the moral high ground of being one of the only games that doesn't promote RNG style purchases. They are losing out on the best part the game offers which diversity of play... Right now the game promotes 1 class type play... honestly if you want my advice pick a armor class you like.... then only play that... By the time you have sank 1200 gold into 9 characters worth of ascended gear.... you could have 9 different heavy sets that would work just like legendary armor and move among the 3 classes.... my suggestion is go with heavy or light.... because those classes get the most requests for content.... i swear..... i gave up on characters entirely... i don't care what they look like... what they do... or anything... because i realized the cost isn't worth it... i basically focus on my heavy class only now... It's the cut i had to make not the one i wanted to make... I only use the other classes in pvp arena or the famous berry farm..... speaking of which.

No. Just no. Timegates is there for a reason. Mainly to prevent burnouts and give a sense of having a goal, a sense of accomplishment (humans are weird, I know). Otherwise, just swipe your Credit card, buy everything in 5 mins, get bored in 5 days, complain about having nothing to do.

2. Make the ascended trinkets that you get from berry farming have changeable stats at all times. This will get everyone out of the berry farm and into the good content.... I know then what is the point of the legendary armor right? Well honestly i think all ascended armor should also be changeable stats.... You spent 1200 gold on this armor you should get something better than a 5% stat increase.... Doesn't that make legendary armor not as amazing ascended you would ask?.... No you can still have legendary armor change stats too!!! However.... what your paying for is the skin... honestly the skin alone and the goal of getting one should be enough for people to want them.... Your paying for some of the coolest looking weapons i have seen in mmo history... that should be enough...

Leggy gear has changeable stats, and it is THE one QoL feature that makes em worth their cost. You just want free stuff, again. Also, ahich ascended armor costs 1200g? Waiting for an answer. Btw, wvwers arent paying for any skin with lege armor. They pay for the QoL. Same as pvpers. Youre really ignorant in a lot of things.I think these two adjustments with the gem store focusing on services rather than surprise mechanics and skins.... will help guild wars 2 tremendously. The best part of guild wars 2 in my opinion is the class diversity. You play FF 14 its a dragoon.... it does one thing use one weapon and is only dps. A guardian... can be healer, DPS, tank, Condi, Crit, meme.... so many choices with one class..... I think Anet in favor of making money lost the best part of their game which was the ability to play your class your way.... I don't despise them for making money... i mean its a company it has to make money... and that is great.... if you need subscriptions to make the money rather than gouge us hundreds to get legendary weapons i would rather pay that fee. Treat the game like you treat you PVP. With great updates, fun game play, and endless opportunity!

I think you need to change games. Gw2 isnt for you. Free stuff and monetization will kill the game extremely fast.

[Dante.1763]

@Zero.6082 said:

@Etria.3642 said:I cannot believe you stated that final fantasy was easier to get into raids than gw2. Clearly you haven't compared them in actually.

In addition in gw2 it is incredibly easy to change builds. Exotics are cheap, or if you have ascended just use the mystic forge to change them. It's even easy to gear for raids to begin with because you do not need ascended. You certainly don't need legendaries.

Compared to ff14 which takes forever... You can keep it.

The game is geared towards raids, it is designed towards raids... you practice dungeons and mechanics to understand and build up your gear.... your prep for raids in GW2 by ..... collecting berries... i don't understand how that makes sense... That is why it easier.... The game teaches you to play.... it even shows you a rotation... granted i played dragoon.... which i have been told is easier..... but take it as you will.... I am comparing apples to oranges in this case i only picked it because its the only other raiding system i have tried.....

Raids in GW2 take alot of practice to get good at. You have to know your build, your rotation, the mechancis of the fight etc. you can do them in exotic if you know the fight well.

Dungeons, and fractals exist in this game too, Dungeons are much easier nowadays but Fractals are a good starting point for learning your build. and Fractal CMs are difficult and even harder than some raid bosses, not sure what the complaint is about here.

[TPMN.1483]

@Zero.6082 said:

@"Etria.3642" said:I cannot believe you stated that final fantasy was easier to get into raids than gw2. Clearly you haven't compared them in actually.

In addition in gw2 it is incredibly easy to change builds. Exotics are cheap, or if you have ascended just use the mystic forge to change them. It's even easy to gear for raids to begin with because you do not need ascended. You certainly don't need legendaries.

Compared to ff14 which takes forever... You can keep it.

The game is geared towards raids, it is designed towards raids... you practice dungeons and mechanics to understand and build up your gear.... your prep for raids in GW2 by ..... collecting berries... i don't understand how that makes sense... That is why it easier.... The game teaches you to play.... it even shows you a rotation... granted i played dragoon.... which i have been told is easier..... but take it as you will.... I am comparing apples to oranges in this case i only picked it because its the only other raiding system i have tried.....

This game is defn not geared towards raids or dungeons - and collecting berries is not the only way to get some ascended stuff (it is one of thousands of ways !) - this game is geared toward "fashion wars".