Please fix this blinding stuff!

[gem.9038]

Somewhere in there is a damaging AOE field but how am I supposed to see it!?! Please for the love of Dwayna fix this.

[Boysenberry.1869]

Actually...Dwayna is already there to help you. Unfortunately, looking upon her causes blindness.

[Ayumi Spender.1082]

Sorry but... you can at least see some of your screen. I don't see the problem at all.I've seen enough times all I saw was my UI and names. and bits of whites and blues. I'm seeing at least 15% of the map in your screen.

[Ceridwen.6703]

My advice, as an epileptic person, is to ensure Effects LOD is checked in your graphics options panel (although not sure how much it really helps, I find it marginal at best), then ensure you have target reticle on the target, so as to easily flip back to it if it drops off, and then play a ranger at full range and not looking at anything but your mini map. No, you may not be considered entirely helpful, but hey! You don't have to worry about the AoE anymore. Alternatively play a Reaper MM in permanent shroud (not technically possible, but do it anyways), so that you can melee whilst laughing maniacally at AoEs. Yep, that'll do it.

Honestly, yeah. These effects really need to be addressed in depth, so we can at least see what we're doing. Some of these bounties are really horrible due to this madness - unless it's an intentional difficulty, challenge mode, or some such.

[IndigoSundown.5419]

After 5 years of asking for an FX slider, I don't have much belief that ANet cares or will do anything, but why not? Yes, please, can we fix the technicolor dream glow.

[Manasa Devi.7958]

Something terribly counterproductive happened to the effects overload with PoF: bosses have started contributing to it as much as players. It's a sad state of affairs that I can often only see what kind of creature I'm fighting by looking at its portrait when I have it targeted.

[Llethander.3972]

@Ceridwen.6703 said:My advice, as an epileptic person, is to ensure Effects LOD is checked in your graphics options panel (although not sure how much it really helps, I find it marginal at best), then ensure you have target reticle on the target, so as to easily flip back to it if it drops off, and then play a ranger at full range and not looking at anything but your mini map. No, you may not be considered entirely helpful, but hey! You don't have to worry about the AoE anymore. Alternatively play a Reaper MM in permanent shroud (not technically possible, but do it anyways), so that you can melee whilst laughing maniacally at AoEs. Yep, that'll do it.

Honestly, yeah. These effects really need to be addressed in depth, so we can at least see what we're doing. Some of these bounties are really horrible due to this madness - unless it's an intentional difficulty, challenge mode, or some such.

Doesn't help with the "Counter" bounty affix, which is what is making the on-screen stuff in the OP image. I have effect LOD turned on to reduce particle effects but I still get stuff like this.

The only reason my screenshots are in a better place than OP's is likely because I keep my camera farther out during events like this. It also looks like they had a large melee stack in his screenshot while I was at range because I like being able to see something as opposed to nothing.

[DebraKadabra.5278]

The bright AOE effects don't help non-eplileptic people either though. I really don't want to have to put on sunglasses just to fight legendary bounties.

[Hock.6740]

btw because of this aoes often missing that BLOODY LASERS that get's me downed in 2 hits

[Sylvari.2953]

One of the reasons why I avoid PoF maps. XD

[AliamRationem.5172]

@Hock.6740 said:btw because of this aoes often missing that BLOODY LASERS that get's me downed in 2 hits

Yeah! Those can be really hard to see on certain fights!

[gem.9038]

@Llethander.3972 said:

The only reason my screenshots are in a better place than OP's is likely because I keep my camera farther out during events like this. It also looks like they had a large melee stack in his screenshot while I was at range because I like being able to see something as opposed to nothing.

I actually have my camera zoomed out as far as possible. And reduce particle effects is checkmarked. Also post processing is disabled. It's just that bad and blinding.

[Zaltys.7649]

@Hock.6740 said:btw because of this aoes often missing that BLOODY LASERS that get's me downed in 2 hitsYep, and then there's always someone in the chat who goes "noobs these days don't know how to dodge". Still not sure if they're being sarcastic, or if they can actually see it.

[joneirikb.7506]

I actually liked it back when they reduced some of the visual clutter because of esports a few years back, unfortunately it seems they put all the shiny back after that didn't work out.

Solutions:

• Slider for the strength of shiny
• Option to disable all the shiny from other people/outside of party etc
• Drastically re-design the whole shiny effects, into something we can see through and actually sort out (expensive)

Ironically, after having played Dragons Dogma this summer, I was coming back to GW2 and remembering that GW2 had a Day/Night cycle, and then simply can't find it. Have to look around a bit until I realize that ANet has just "nerfed" night so much, that I can barely tell the difference in light from day/night. Man, was so disappointed. So because people found it slightly annoying to see a bit less clear at night time they nerf the darkness to be practically gone, but still spamming our eyes with particle booms left and right ?!

[Zaltys.7649]

@joneirikb.7506 said:GW2 had a Day/Night cycle, and then simply can't find it. Have to look around a bit until I realize that ANet has just "nerfed" night so much, that I can barely tell the difference in light from day/night.Are you sure about that? I turned the graphics quality way down to try to get through the clocktower jp, and was surprised at how dark the outdoors areas (such as Ascalon) got during night. Hadn't even realized that there's a night/day cycle in those zones.

Some of the graphics options definitely make the dark areas look way too light, though even with minimum settings, a lot of things are still too bright. Made me realize that the default gamma setting is too high; dropped it to 0.75 and everything looks much nicer now.

[joneirikb.7506]

@Zaltys.7649 said:

@joneirikb.7506 said:GW2 had a Day/Night cycle, and then simply can't find it. Have to look around a bit until I realize that ANet has just "nerfed" night so much, that I can barely tell the difference in light from day/night.Are you sure about that? I turned the graphics quality way down to try to get through the clocktower jp, and was surprised at how dark the outdoors areas (such as Ascalon) got during night. Hadn't even realized that there's a night/day cycle in those zones.

Some of the graphics options definitely make the dark areas look way too light, though even with minimum settings, a lot of things are still too bright. Made me realize that the default gamma setting is too high; dropped it to 0.75 and everything looks much nicer now.

Ah yup, I still remember playing at launch, when Queensdale got dark. You could still see (nothing near as bad as Dragons Dogma get at night, though I love that!), but it definitively got darker and the sky changed etc. But nowadays the only way I notice the change from day/night is in HOT maps because of the meta events >_< (Supposedly Sylvari glows at night, but I don't play one).

There are specific places in the game that uses darkness, and honestly I love it. Obsidian Sanctum JP for one, has a blackout area, where you have to use pickup torches (or other light sources, like actual torches or glowing weapons) to get through. The sharktooth maw JP in LA has a section as well, and I remember at least one event chain in one of the Norn Maps etc.

But "Out-Door Night" is starting to remind me of Summer Nights in Tromsø or other northern places that has 24h sun at summer time. But I'll try playing around with the graphics settings again and see if I can't get some darkness again :)

[Aerlen.5326]

That's the bounty I was talking about in my post. I ended up randomly pressing buttons and putting my head on the desk because I could not look at the screen.

I'd love a dev to answer what exactly all those effects are supposed to accomplish mechanics wise.