Kiba.9743

> @"Kaltyn of Torbins Deep.2946" said: > > @"Lousian.4927" said: > > ranger what skill is AOE for farming tag? I know only 5 from longbow but have big CD > > Axes bounce to at least one other mob if in range, so just axe 1 skill will tag at least two for the price of one. Axe 2 sends out 5 axes/projectiles in an arc, axe 3 has a blast radius on impact. Axe 5 hits in a circle all around you, plus, it acts as a reflect to projectiles, so if something is shooting arrows at your, you knock those arrows back into them instead. And then there are the traps that are AOE skills. If you are running druid, you also have staff 4 that drops vines in a line, the staff 1 attack cleaves through every mob in the way between you and your target. Plus I think one or more of the Celestial Avatar skills has an AOE attack. This :) Thank you, Kaltyn. @"Lousian.4927" In addition there is an AoE for an Elite Skill. It roots everything around the ranger and damages the enemy substantially with bleeds. So you will have plenty of options to play in many different ways.

Welcome Back. Like everyone else, I encourage you to play what you like. Every class has a place in group content, like fractals. I myself play only a ranger. It is the most comfortable class for me and I enjoy how versatile it is. I can play a support class, a condition class, or a full out power class. You have options of single target and AoE heavy builds. Plus, especially for fractals and open world, having a pet resurrect you is very useful. It allows players to continue the fight while you resurrect yourself or resurrect yourself quickly in open world if you are playing alone.

The Largos in Maelstrom, Master Sdias, made the ocean sound like a great adventure. "My apprentice and I came from the ocean deeps. I wouldn't advise you go there. You're not ready for the horrors of that place." I am ready. The water world needs some love. I would say an underwater map with complexities akin to Tangled Depths. Even areas so deep they are pitch black without some sort of lighting. Maybe even make where the Largos live as the main city where players would congregate for necessities. @"Teratus.2859" This detailed idea is excellent.

I don't think there is a happy medium for this request. If I was playing with a friend who was flying through the content and completing all my hearts, vistas, POIs, etc. I would be annoyed, because it is taking away from me enjoying content. Therefore I would purposefully not play with my friend. I think it is more valuable for each player to enjoy and complete maps at their own pace than have someone with a different play speed finish everything for them. I do not doubt some people would prefer that, especially the ones that only care about getting to 80, but generally after 80 there are still many maps to complete. So I don't find a request like this reasonable or perhaps a request that would speak to a majority. But this is just my assumption.

> @"Vyr.9387" said: > > @"Kiba.9743" said: > > People think it is minor, but we have no data to support the income that each cosmetic item brings in, nor should we assume we know. > > That's an interesting point, but it goes both ways. > All the naysayers act like they have a degree in economics, a specialization for, and a millennium of practice in, the gaming industry, when the only thing they seem to have is "WoW is $15 a month, hurr durr", but there's a reason WoW has enough players to sustain itself thirty times over, and it has very little to do with barbershops changing hairstyles for 5 silver. > > Ultimately, ANet's communication with players - and with the world, looking at their marketing, or lack thereof - leaves a lot to be desired, so the only way to get to them would be through not buying their stuff, and force them this way to come out and go: "'Sup, guys, you're not buying gems anymore. What's the matter?" > But they usually don't bother - and not just because it looks like they threw everything else to the wind to bee-line EoD; the Build "Templates" are still in-game and still monetized in the image of EA - since the game's upkeep costs are probably the same regardless of how many things they're adding to the game at the current pace, so they might as well keep them and cash in on newcomers who've no idea how the game and its creators operate yet. > > But who knows. > Speculations are fun! I absolutely respect your point of view, it is a good one. Thank you for sharing. My assumption of these types of things is simple, every player has a different way to gain access to a particular item. With the transmutation for example, some people pay for them as a standalone item on the Black Lion. Others go through WvW/PvP or create alts and complete maps, or just wait for the login rewards. Me, for example, I only play one character. Sometimes I have an abundance, and sometimes I don't. When I don't, I buy them through a Black Lion Key. The key guarantees me at least one statuette, plus, I get a gamble at something cool out of the chest or a chance at a bundle of statuettes. So, my point is that, for anyone to think "this is just this one thing, it's so small" I would say is not accurate. At the end of the day, developers don't work for free. And while I am not educated in the way of business, Blizzard ran itself as far as business model goes with no one looking over their shoulder (Before Activision. I don't know how their business may have changed after the fact). While ArenaNet is with NCSoft, the type of freedom to reinvent the wheel in certain areas is probably not the same. But like you said, speculation! :)

I think it is more than fair the way it is now. I do not think they should be free. For $0/per month to play, it is more than reasonable. WoW is a different business model altogether and those players are already paying for such "free" conveniences. Requests like these on larger scales causes F2P games to shut down. People think it is minor, but we have no data to support the income that each cosmetic item brings in, nor should we assume we know.

> @"Milkshake.4370" said: > > > > > As for the original topic, I'm inclined to (1) agree that the assessment of core game pacing is accurate, but (2) disagree that changing it is the key to new player attraction and retention. > > > > Before we go any further: I 100% agree @"Milkshake.4370" that living world season 1 leaves one of the absolute worst story gaps I've ever experienced in any game. Currently the best solution I think ANet could offer is to direct people to Wooden Potatoes' LWS1 recap. The in-game "catch-up" is an absolute joke, and is almost worse than not attempting to patch the hole at all. > > > > I think the only kind of player who can stick around GW2 for an appreciable period of time is the player that excels at finding their own fun, rather than relying on directed content. Of course, "finding your own fun" is the key to longevity in _any_ MMO, but it's just that much more important for GW2 since we lack vertical progression. Since every meaningful system in the game is easy to cap, you quickly run out of gameplay or character improvement reasons to keep playing. You have to have found _something_ completely sidebar or optional to keep your attention. > > > > I would argue that the vast majority of players who can't find something deeply compelling about Tyria prior to reaching HoT will ultimately not find it in either expansion, and getting them to the expacs faster will only lead them to move onto another game faster. > > Hmm, interesting perspective. Perhaps changing the initial gameplay is not the solution, but something must happen. ANYTHING LOL! > We need the directed content to be cohesive and not throw players 60% into a finished story. The in-game recap is not enough! > > I believe the only _appropriate_ solution is taking the time to recreate some of LW Season 1 in order to piece things together and begin LW Season 2 with a feeling of familiarity towards the NPCs you get paired up with. I am sure this would be a massive project. As LWS 1 was meant to be played in the open world, GW2 original story model, the only thing to do would be recreate it from scratch with the current instanced story model. But I think they can make it work, even make new achievements for it and all of that. So I would not say it would be a waste of time to work on something like this and would keep the player based busy for a time. I did some of LWS 1 myself, not all of it since I missed some of the events, but things like the Jubilee and the Nightmare tower. After all that, I still felt disconnected with the recap and being thrown into LWS 2 with people that are way too familiar with me than I am with them. EDIT: Since current Lion's Arch is already updated and repaired, I would suggest that it be recreated as a "look into the past". Like when you go watch the Season 1 recap, but instead of a little movie, it begins a "recap" in which you can actively take part of the events of the past. With fractals and many Asuran technology available, I'm sure finding a device that makes this possible (lore-wise) would be no problem. In addition, I agree that the personal story could be refreshed with the current interactive in-game dialog instead of doing cutscenes for all the conversations. Again, something that I don't know if they would take the time to do, but would certainly add a little something to the story experience.

I am going to say no to the Hammer. For no other reason that I don't like hammers, so it's just a personal preference thing. I do not use Longbows or Greatswords because they are so slow to me. Hammers are a combination of a slow and ugly weapon lol. I'll do a side vote of off-hand sword.

I think if they made an additional slot for wardrobe purposes only right next to the head slot that is named something like "Accessory" and make that slot for glasses and the like, it would be neat. That way you can wear a hat with glasses on.

> @"Kodama.6453" said: > > @"Johnny.1634" said: > > Um what? It NEEDS TO BE PET RELIANT. You understand pets are our class mechanic right? We don't have a single Elite spec that does anything with our pet, its pretty pathetic. > > Druid when released didn't have a single skill or trait that interacted with your pet what so ever. And Soulbeast was made for the "I hate my pet" crybabies....if you don't like pets don't play ranger, simple as that. > > > > Guild Wars 1 had amazing player and pet synergy, with pet attack skills that basically let you use double the skills other players could at the same time, and majority of pet based builds let your pet provide you with ridiculous amounts of heals and energy regen. > > Sadly with GW2, majority of pets are bugged and ANet has done a pretty awful job at giving Rangers any synergy with their class mechanic. Hopefully this new spec will finally see us actually using our pet. > > > > This here. > Druid and soulbeast are both reducing your reliance from pets. Druid by reducing the stats of your pet and soulbeast by disabling you to switch pets and giving you the ability to trade your pet for new skills and stat boni. > > Having the third elite spec focusing on pets and **increasing** their efficiency is the most logical step in my opinion. A spec for people who want to play with pets and actually want a **powerful** pet at their side. And that playstyle seems to be fairly popular, considering how many people are requesting the return of the famous "bunny thumper". I agree with this. I think it should be the next logical step. Focusing on pet utility to make it a fun partner-focused specialization. We already have two that were not pet focused. Just for simple balance, it is the right way to go. Maybe call it, Hunter, Beastmaster, Warden, etc etc. I think it may be a fun and viable addition.

There are many things I love about this game. Exploration, landscapes, music, class building freedom. I love that I can take a break and come back in a few months, and I feel like I haven't really lost my progress because the game is now at level 150. One of my most favorite things that I cannot stress enough, is that my character is not "The One", "The Savior". I prefer to be part of great events, but not the "Hero destined to save the world". I was so relieved that other major characters around me became leaders and figureheads in the game instead of passing the mantle on to me by default (i.e. The Pact). It makes me feel like I'm part of something great, a true adventurer, explorer, champion, but not the reason everyone breathes. Edit: Like Crystal Paladin mentioned, the NPC chatter is great. I saw a kid bring home a rat in Lion's Arch today to ask his mom if he could keep it, and his mom chased it with an old broom for quite a distance. A lot of interesting and funny ones out there.

1. Guild Decorations in the Home Instance. I do not care about my home instance, but if I was able to personalize it, I would spend more gold/gems to get all the upgrades and use my scribing to decorate it. 2. Renaming minis. I do not use minis really, but if I was able to personalize the name, I probably would. Having "Mini" before the name of every pet is a bit of an eyesore for me, but I am picky about stuff like that. 3. Making the Makeover Kits into a Full Screen. The screen is small, if it would take us to the character creation screen to do it, it would be great. 4. Different poses when gliding. Asuras have their arms extended like they are pretending to be airplanes lol. Being able to change the arm position or pose, would be neat.

I agree, HoT was amazing. The story really had me immersed. Once I reached PoF, I had a hard time getting into it and after years, I am still trying to force my way through it. I do think that they should update the Lion's Arch setting on the Personal Story. You get sent there several times and it is still old Lion's Arch, for a new player, it might be a little puzzling. Just a detail that I think they should correct. I'm not sure how much time/money a seemingly minor update may take.

Cooking is my favorite craft to level up. It is really fun and it makes me want to learn to cook different recipes at home. I was expecting Arena Net to come out with a cookbook and I am surprised it has not. I remember seeing someone make a beautiful PDF of their GW2 cookbook idea on the Art forums and it looked like something I would definitely buy. I am hoping that maybe Alchemy Art Group (the makers of Tyrian Gazette and Tyrian Tarot) will partner up with Arena Net again and make something like this happen. I think they would be able to raise a lot of money, just like their previous projects.