trev.1045

> @"The Boz.2038" said:

> What build and gear? What was killing you? And how fast were you killing them?

a mix of marauder and beserker gear, and it was the last quest on living world 3 (confessors end, kill caudecos)

it was the jade bow adds killing me and the dodgy camera angles, but wasnt a big deal

Thanks for all the advice all, i really appreciate it, although after finishing 'confessors end' in lw3 and dying 5 times in the process i am worse at this game than i realised :)

> @"Gotejjeken.1267" said:

> Go Soulbeast, glass as you're capable of (i.e. marauder gear is fine, but berserker everything else).

>

> I find LB / Axe / Axe better for open world than GS is, axe is a mob weapon so it just works better in general and find I don't get reflected all that often to suffer being only range. Traitlines you'll want WS/BM/X...I use Skirmishing for the last one due to vicious quarry giving a ton of ferocity when you have honed axes in BM selected (and WS gives super fury uptime).

>

> Can solo plenty of champs this way, especially if you use a pet with prelude lash as you'll have many ways to take a breakbar down. Shouldn't have too many problems with open world either.

>

> As for group play, just going to lay it out now...ranger is not a group profession. Ranger seriously lacks in the sustain department and can share hardly anything (SB stances are half baked); so if you do decide to do WvW or PvP you're going to need to get used to fringe supporting / roaming. Ranger is pretty excellent in havoc though, so if you WvW and run with groups of 5-8 you can provide a lot especially if you lean into immobilize.

>

> EDIT: Realized I came at the group thing with a competitive perspective--for PvE groups / raids I believe condi ranger is acutally pretty helpful with spotter and such...I don't do PvE group content so your mileage will vary.

Thanks, yes i really just want to avoid being the much maligned build really - and actually be useful for pve when i join a guild

Will definitely try out axes thanks

> @"Mungo Zen.9364" said:

> Are you killing stuff okay? Are you surviving okay? If so then the build/weapons are secondary to your enjoyment.

>

> I would say work towards Soulbeast as your Elite and try and few different power builds with it. As well, try out each of the different weapon combo's that suit power builds (and then eventually Condi to save you buying new gear right now). Getting to know the versatility of your profession will serve you well in the long run.

Yup i am doing the HOT story at the moment and not dying much etc, i do find soloing hero points in HOT a bit of a challenge but that is about it

Will definitely start putting points into Soulbeast thanks.

Hey all

Newbie player here (played briefly a few years ago) and just hit 80.

I mostly run around open using GS/LB and a power build, but after hitting 80 and reading around i seem to have the much maligned build that everyone hates (i only really use lb for barrage and rapid fire opening then switch to GS or for soloing champs from a safe distance, but its still the hated build)

I am working my way through HOT/Living world / POF so should gain extra hero points to respec, what would people advise?

I still want good solo / story capability, but i also want to bring some usefulness to groups and a future guild.

Ideally i would prefer to not have to replace my maruader gear but will do if power is useless

Thanks

Surely the decision will be entirely commercial? If the move to steam and the expansion do well, there will be incentive to carry on...

Hey all

I played briefly a year or two ago, but work and life in general got in the way.

Roll forward and i now work from home (so no 3 hour commute) due to a cancer diagnosis and subsequent treatment. I have started playing again a couple of weeks ago (still learning my way around again)

I am experienced in MMO's but with the battering my body has had i am NOT quick or what people would call skilled anymore, so a hardcore raiding guild would not be happy with me.

However i am friendly/sociable and will do what i can to contribute to the guild.

Cheers.

Trev

Thanks for the response, i really appreciate it :)

Hi All

I briefly played GW2 a year or two ago, got to 80, bought the expansions and played a bit (i think i got to Vabbi) before life got in the way and i stopped playing.

I didnt do any of the living world stuff and hardly any of it is unlocked.

Roll forward a couple of years and i have more spare time on my hands- and i have started with a fresh character and just hit 80 and about to finish the personal story (most of which i had forgotten)

This time i am of a mind to do the story in the right order, ie with the living world content, but looking at the price of the first purchasable content (LWS2) i am a bit surprised at the price?. It is £17.00 for one season? that is about half the sort of price id expect to pay for a complete season??. mIf i am unlocking all the seasons it will get a bit pricey just before xmas.

How much content are in these living seasons? are they worth it? Is HOT going to make sense if i jump straight in without getting LWS2?

Thanks

> @"kharmin.7683" said:

> > @"bOTEB.1573" said:

>

> > This is what the PVE needs!

> In your opinion.

>

> My opinion is completely opposite. I believe PvE needs less HoT-style content especially in light of the hue and cry upon release, the subsequent hard nerf and the many threads on the forum that gripe about those zones.

>

Somewhere in the middle myself- i love the idea of epic events that naturally draw people together, but i do not have fond memories at all of some parts of HOT/Living world S3 (specifically tangled depths, and the caudecus fight was the closest ive been to rage quitting in years)

Most of the things here i like! i definitely prefer the place to wow

One thing they did periodically in wow was invasions- a major city/ capital would be 'invaded' by whoever was the bad guy at the time (actually it would be just outside the capital etc)

It was a bit like a bigger version of our group events

Large numbers of players would turn up to fight off the invasion. It was a lot of fun...

Id love to see stuff like this, perhaps with player success failure setting off a large scale chain event (again similar to current ones but bigger)

It helps make the place feel more alive.

> @"slider.8239" said:

> this is the end of the discussion really i just wanted to add 3 days in i made some new friends, found a guild and having much more fun than i was expecting, if anyone else stumble across this thread with the same question i did, i would highly recommend giving it an shot and the community has been overwhelming positive and helpful, an very different experience for me than i had in WoW , thanks again to community and everybody who helped.

Im not quite as new as you- i have been around for 7 weeks or so, but i had exactly the same experience- and yes the community is a big improvement on that of WOW. I think some of that is down to game design

I got the raptor before doing the story- it didnt spoil anything for me- and i like having the mount! You get the raptor within about 10 minutes of POF.

> @"phs.6089" said:

> > @"trev.1045" said:

> > > @"tim.4596" said:

> > > > @"Hugedeal.5426" said:

> > > > Hi everyone, i'm a gamer like all of you, i play a lot of games, i played World of warcraft for 14 years, Aion, Lineage 1 and 2, etc etc, the sheer amount of hours i dedicate to games is already past my own comprehension of why i do it, but i enjoy it, and like so i would like to keep at it.

> > > >

> > > > I am a player in GW 2, as well, i got my fair share of hours, with some breaks in between, in those breaks i always come back to check how much of a future is present in GW 2, for me the game has an unmeasured amount of potential, but this is what i see, usually you can measure potential of a game like an mmo by the sheer number of players playing it, and GW 2 compared to other mmos have never been on top, i know a lot of you do not like to hear it, but unfortunately it is a fact, compared to WoW, and some other titles it always lacked, but still some players stick to it, like me, well most of the time. I'm making this post mostly to look for a reassuring opinions, or just to see the reason behind why you play GW2, i myself keep losing interest in these games, but due to my out of control imagination, i keep imagining ways on how the story present in gw 2 could end, what else could they improve, and unlike WoW, which i lost total interest, gw 2 has a weird charm to it that makes me come back, maybe it is the story telling, maybe i like the fashion behind it, the combat, the wvw or the pvp, i do not know for sure, but it is something in between, i wanted to come back to gw 2, but i am not sure i want to give the game a chance, i enjoy it sure, but i start to see issues like the ones present in activision, EA and other few companies that seem to detoriate their games more and their communities, more then actually help them or please them with their products.

> > > >

> > > > So as said, why do you guys keep playing the game, do you see a future behind the game, for me it has been feeling like arena net is just trying to drag the game to profitise as much as possible, not judging them for doing so, business is business, but is the exchange fair, are you guys having the fun you always expected for the money you spent, if you actually spent any i guess, do you see a future in gw 2, would it be smart to reinvest in the game again, right now how many of you feel like the game is sort of broken (for example like they cannot fix some of the old content because of the outdated code on dungeons for example), i am looking for well opinions, nothing to agressive but be honest if you can, ty vm everyone xd!

> > >

> > > To be honest, I'm sort of struggling myself, and I don't really have an answer to your question. While Guild Wars 2 combat system is amazing, and that the game possibilities seems uncountable, Anet doesn't appear to utilise those possibilities. At first I thought they couldn't see it, but I've come to think they do not do it as fear that it will push the game into one direction too much. However all is not lost Communities are very strong in GW2 and it seems that Anet is somewhat responding to what they say. The only issue is that how much effort does it take from the players to voice out those opinions through a community. Forums surely doesn't seem to be much help.

> > >

> > > I'm myself very tempted to stop GW2 to go play FFonline as I'm loosing interest in the game as nothing seem to deliver. It feels like a never ending promess. Also, since micro-transaction which most games are exploiting I don't think it is justifiable anymore to say that "it's a f2p game therefore it releases less content".

> > >

> > > So I'm strongly starting to question what GW2 is doing. There are so many features which other games have, which GW2 could have but do not have. Also I created a post about it some time ago, but GW2 doesn't seem to bring it's player together to play the game, apart from PvP and WvW maybe... which sort of makes it relevant to party up with people. PvE doesn't provide that (and I'm seriously questioning why); no matter how I look at it, it doesn't make sense.

> > >

> > > Also I don't think I'm wrong in saying that, but every single community of players seems to think that the content is lacking, whereas they are 'Casual PvE players', 'Hardcore PvE players', 'WvW players' etc... I guess new players wouldn't feel that, as they have so much to explore and do. But anyone who's played the game for more than a year straight seems to have reached the point that you are just doing content or farming stuff without any true motivation behind it, other than "I'm playing this MMORPG, and I already unlocked so much utility things in this game, which I won't find in other game" and the "combat system is nice" however I'm not sure the combat system is enough to keep players playing a game. That's why I'd say that a lot of people seems to go and come back to GW2, but at some points, I'm guessing they will be fed up and stop.

> > >

> >

> > With respect to running out of things to do, i suspect one of the big attractions of GW2 is also a downfall of it?

> >

> > I am talking about the gear grind.

> > Ive come from wow...which is in many ways inferior- but i always had options in game to improve my gear no matter how long i had been playing. Or i could simply work on reputation for factions etc.

> >

> > It is hard to get people to do stuff without rewards - even if it should be for fun.

> >

> > Im new here (6 weeks in) so lots to do still, but once i am full ascended? It will be harder to motivate myself logging in.

> >

>

> I have guildies that came from other MMOs, that sued to do 10 daily quests for reps, make gear and wait for new update that will get them back to gear grind.

> I played my fair share of other MMOs, including one that didn't have open world, just hubs and dungeons with open pvp area between hubs.

> May I point you to collections in GW2? We don't have quests here we have collections.

> If you missed grinding for gear, have you look at legendary weapons? If you aren't big fun of shinies, maybe grinding fractals for 5/9 infusions will work for you?

>

Im not missing the grind at all right now :) i am working my way through the story still (just finished head of the snake).

I just suspect that for established players any content drought is felt more keenly since they cant work on incremental gains...im not saying the lack of gear treadmil is a bad thing- Just that it can be a double edged sword.

Wow - wastes all content from previous xpacs as it becomes irrelevant in the next xpac - to be honest i dont think GW2 has the budget to do that! so i do think the gearing system and scaling etc make sense for GW2. It is interesting to see the totally different approaches they have

But nope, definitely having fun right now (although some of the living world end bosses are frustrating for me)

> @"tim.4596" said:

> > @"Hugedeal.5426" said:

> > Hi everyone, i'm a gamer like all of you, i play a lot of games, i played World of warcraft for 14 years, Aion, Lineage 1 and 2, etc etc, the sheer amount of hours i dedicate to games is already past my own comprehension of why i do it, but i enjoy it, and like so i would like to keep at it.

> >

> > I am a player in GW 2, as well, i got my fair share of hours, with some breaks in between, in those breaks i always come back to check how much of a future is present in GW 2, for me the game has an unmeasured amount of potential, but this is what i see, usually you can measure potential of a game like an mmo by the sheer number of players playing it, and GW 2 compared to other mmos have never been on top, i know a lot of you do not like to hear it, but unfortunately it is a fact, compared to WoW, and some other titles it always lacked, but still some players stick to it, like me, well most of the time. I'm making this post mostly to look for a reassuring opinions, or just to see the reason behind why you play GW2, i myself keep losing interest in these games, but due to my out of control imagination, i keep imagining ways on how the story present in gw 2 could end, what else could they improve, and unlike WoW, which i lost total interest, gw 2 has a weird charm to it that makes me come back, maybe it is the story telling, maybe i like the fashion behind it, the combat, the wvw or the pvp, i do not know for sure, but it is something in between, i wanted to come back to gw 2, but i am not sure i want to give the game a chance, i enjoy it sure, but i start to see issues like the ones present in activision, EA and other few companies that seem to detoriate their games more and their communities, more then actually help them or please them with their products.

> >

> > So as said, why do you guys keep playing the game, do you see a future behind the game, for me it has been feeling like arena net is just trying to drag the game to profitise as much as possible, not judging them for doing so, business is business, but is the exchange fair, are you guys having the fun you always expected for the money you spent, if you actually spent any i guess, do you see a future in gw 2, would it be smart to reinvest in the game again, right now how many of you feel like the game is sort of broken (for example like they cannot fix some of the old content because of the outdated code on dungeons for example), i am looking for well opinions, nothing to agressive but be honest if you can, ty vm everyone xd!

>

> To be honest, I'm sort of struggling myself, and I don't really have an answer to your question. While Guild Wars 2 combat system is amazing, and that the game possibilities seems uncountable, Anet doesn't appear to utilise those possibilities. At first I thought they couldn't see it, but I've come to think they do not do it as fear that it will push the game into one direction too much. However all is not lost Communities are very strong in GW2 and it seems that Anet is somewhat responding to what they say. The only issue is that how much effort does it take from the players to voice out those opinions through a community. Forums surely doesn't seem to be much help.

>

> I'm myself very tempted to stop GW2 to go play FFonline as I'm loosing interest in the game as nothing seem to deliver. It feels like a never ending promess. Also, since micro-transaction which most games are exploiting I don't think it is justifiable anymore to say that "it's a f2p game therefore it releases less content".

>

> So I'm strongly starting to question what GW2 is doing. There are so many features which other games have, which GW2 could have but do not have. Also I created a post about it some time ago, but GW2 doesn't seem to bring it's player together to play the game, apart from PvP and WvW maybe... which sort of makes it relevant to party up with people. PvE doesn't provide that (and I'm seriously questioning why); no matter how I look at it, it doesn't make sense.

>

> Also I don't think I'm wrong in saying that, but every single community of players seems to think that the content is lacking, whereas they are 'Casual PvE players', 'Hardcore PvE players', 'WvW players' etc... I guess new players wouldn't feel that, as they have so much to explore and do. But anyone who's played the game for more than a year straight seems to have reached the point that you are just doing content or farming stuff without any true motivation behind it, other than "I'm playing this MMORPG, and I already unlocked so much utility things in this game, which I won't find in other game" and the "combat system is nice" however I'm not sure the combat system is enough to keep players playing a game. That's why I'd say that a lot of people seems to go and come back to GW2, but at some points, I'm guessing they will be fed up and stop.

>

With respect to running out of things to do, i suspect one of the big attractions of GW2 is also a downfall of it?

I am talking about the gear grind.

Ive come from wow...which is in many ways inferior- but i always had options in game to improve my gear no matter how long i had been playing. Or i could simply work on reputation for factions etc.

It is hard to get people to do stuff without rewards - even if it should be for fun.

Im new here (6 weeks in) so lots to do still, but once i am full ascended? It will be harder to motivate myself logging in.

Ex wow player here too, i mainly got into the game as it had a free trial and the start experience was very good (straight into the action).

I enjoyed the personal story.

I think the game does have a future- anet seems more focussed since the lay offs. And the living world maps seem well populated?

I have a few gripes, there seem to be a few bugs on what is now old content that was never fixed-- and the difficulty level for non raid stuff in some areas is much harder than wow ( the mordremeth and confessors end fight drove me insane). I almost rage quit when i was disconnected after winning the fight!!. But thats probably more about me being too old and slow reacting i guess.

Hopefully we will get an xpac.

Hey all

Just a quick query, ive been working on Episode 4: The Head of the Snake in LW3

I finally killed caudecus, and had some dialogue and was to go to bedroom, when i got disconnected (no idea why) and i was thrown out of the instance.

When i went back in, i am at the start of the instance? do i need to do all the chain again?

Thanks

EDIT i checked online, and cant go back to checkpoints, sorry for bothering people- would delete this, but it appears you cant delete posts.

It definitely feels to me that the ArenaNet team are more focused on providing a road map and marketing GW2? Which is a good thing in my mind.

Got it here too, but they didnt actually send another verification email...

Its not something i would do but hey if it doesnt take much to implement why not?

I would love to see crafting expanded personally.

> @"Illconceived Was Na.9781" said:

> > @"AlexxxDelta.1806" said:

> > A MMO is supposed make new players feel welcome in various ways, in order to "hook" them, especially if it's an aging one. Throwing a bunch of narrative paywalls on them, is not my idea of welcome.

>

> How would you change things, without hurting ANet's bottom line?

> * Charge more for the expansions?

> * Charge veterans for the Living World too?

> * Charge a subscription and include the episode as part of that?

>

> There aren't all that many alternatives and each alienates someone.

I agree its a tough issue to solve, i dont mind subs- but i am fully aware this would alienate tonnes of players and is a non-starter

> @"Astralporing.1957" said:

> > @"Shortage.5427" said:

> >I think ESO proved to everyone that gear progression and character progression is essential to an MMOs design which Anet has completely dropped for a more casual approach.

> Oh, i don't know. Personally i _wouldn't_ use ESO as an example of good MMO design.

>

Never tried ESO (its the only one i havent)- Partly because there was no trial

I have to admit i didnt overly like the look of the combat system?

> @"Etria.3642" said:

> I actually think there are logical reasons why no expansion.

>

> Using completely made up numbers:

> 4,357,750 ftp players/core players. These players cannot access any new content in the lw releases.

>

> 2,367,468 HOT only players. These players ALSO cannot access New content in lw releases.

>

> 8,367,467 POF players. These currently access all new content.

>

> Currently ALL players can spend gems and continue playing. Theoretically those who do not have POF by this time( not including brand new players) will probably not buy POF. Whatever they enjoy about the game they can already do.

>

> Should a new expansion be released only a percentage of group three will buy it. Groups one and two may but probably will not. A BRAND NEW player interested in the complete game would have to purchase HOT/POF/LS2,3,4,5 AND the new expansion. That's quite a lot. Other MMO's get around this by including prior expansions in a new expansions purchase but gw2 does not seem inclined to do this.

This is a valid point. If there was another living season and another xpac- the barrier to new players wanting full content would be even higher - im not sure of the solution though, its a consequence of having to generate income without a sub (wow can afford to include all content due to its sub).

> @"mercury ranique.2170" said:

> > @"trev.1045" said:

>

> > Ive paid now - and only have LWS4 to buy so will focus on enjoying the game! :) but i totally get frustration from new players.

>

> Just to make sure. You do know LWS4 episode 5 is for free as it is the current episode (and you should have it unlocked) and episode 2 is free as part of a promo (just check the buy option in the story journal, it says 0 gems at the price). Last week episode 1 was free, and I somewhat expect the same for episode 3 and 4 over the next 2 weeks to happen (but please do not haunt me if it doesnt)

>

I am still on living world 3 right now but ill definitely check that out, thanks!

Good to see a road map of sorts here!. Its a bit disappointing there are no apparent plans for an xpac, they are the best way to attract new players (especially with good publicity) but it is still good to see communication