TheNecrosanct.4028

My connection to the game has always been pretty stable, up until the release of the Champions patch. Ever since then I have incredible lag spikes, lasting for more than 30 seconds before being kicked to character select screen. I get ping spikes of up to 5k and sometimes it's lagging so hard it's not even showing the ping increase. At other times I just see my loading screen for minutes on end and can only "solve" it with Alt/F4 and try to log in again. For some reason this happens a lot in Raids (especially during the Dhuum fight) and Strike Missions. Client repair does not fix this in the slightest, it's definitely not an Internet connection issue and it has been going on for 5 weeks straight now. I'm hesitant to join pug groups because this makes a liability at best and effectively a leecher. Of course PoF and S4 maps have been lagging for me just like for everybody else for a long time now, but it has been painfully noticeable since the Champions patch since before I hardly ever had lag/server connection issues.

I know ANet is working on connection and lag issues, but whatever they're doing it's a 100 times worse for me now. It has come to the point that I just don't bother playing the game at times because it sucks all the fun out of it.

> @"Jski.6180" said:

> > @"TheNecrosanct.4028" said:

> > > @"Jski.6180" said:

> > > No one wants to spend real life money on this game any more.

> >

> > And you know this because you talked to everyone?

>

> That why gold to gems is getting worst if this was not true then the gems to gold would be getting worst.

I see you didn't answer the question, so I'll take that as a no then.

> @"Jski.6180" said:

> No one wants to spend real life money on this game any more.

And you know this because you talked to everyone?

> @"Astralporing.1957" said:

> Nice to see some form of communication and info about future.

> On the other hand, _another_ name change for LS to create even more confusion, with no explanation whatsoever given behind it?

> I mean, is there any _other_ reason (besides confusing is) you couldn;t stick to old season/episode numbering?

They are sticking to the old episode numbering. The episode is called The Icebrood Sage: Champions. It's just that this one is divided into 4 Chapters. There is no change in either naming or numbering here.

> @"Danikat.8537" said:

> > @"TheNecrosanct.4028" said:

> > > @"TheNecrosanct.4028" said:

> > > I'm reading this as The Icebrood Saga: Champions story chapter, which itself is divided into 4 chapters. So I don't think these are side stories but instead a continuation of the main storyline.

> >

> > So this is basically a yes to that.

> >

> > "The Icebrood Saga: Champions is a multichapter Living World finale featuring new story, repeatable gameplay content, rewards, achievements, and masteries. In the weeks between releases, each chapter will continue to evolve with new content and ways to play."

>

> Agreed. My interpretation is it's kind of like when TV shows do a two-part episode, but with more parts. So it's one episode split into 4 'chapters', hopefully because it's big enough to justify 4 seperate releases. Although I'm not sure why they don't just call them 4 seperate episodes. Maybe it will make more sense once the first part is out?

I think it's to make it feel like a big finale. One episode but with a story so extensive you need 4 chapters to tell it all. Or maybe it focuses on a character per episode, like each episodes deals with a champion hero or villain. Or both. Can't wait to find out, though. Even though the storytelling isn't always to write home about, I'm always curious to see where they're taking it next.

"The Icebrood Saga‘s conclusion will be felt throughout Tyria—even across the seas." This makes me feel it will tie in to the next expansion. Which may even give us a hint on a possible release period for EoD? If so, it's sooner than I expected.

> @"TheNecrosanct.4028" said:

> I'm reading this as The Icebrood Saga: Champions story chapter, which itself is divided into 4 chapters. So I don't think these are side stories but instead a continuation of the main storyline.

So this is basically a yes to that.

"The Icebrood Saga: Champions is a multichapter Living World finale featuring new story, repeatable gameplay content, rewards, achievements, and masteries. In the weeks between releases, each chapter will continue to evolve with new content and ways to play."

I'm reading this as The Icebrood Saga: Champions story chapter, which itself is divided into 4 chapters. So I don't think these are side stories but instead a continuation of the main storyline.

> @"Taril.8619" said:

>...they've already stated they won't go back to add dye channels to the **LARGE** pool of existing back items that lack dye channels.

Fixed that for you.

> @"Yellow Rainbow.6142" said:

>

> > KP is just this - a proof of past work experience. Nothing more, nothing less.

> >

> >

> But, asking 250+kp on lfg is like asking PhD in medical field to fill janitor work in hospital.

> This is the trend lfg has been for awhile and it's not good for gaming communities. This is why dev removed it. You still got title which should be enough for lfg. More than that, make static

>

Except they didn't remove it. That's the odd thing about this whole situation. The dev in the guild chat said it was a problem, but instead of actually removing said KP they just made it so you can't earn it anymore and get something else (a currency, in this situation) that you can't link in chat. But the old KP is still there and people are still asking for it in LFG. So what they did solved nothing. If they had changed the old KP into the new currency across all acounts, then they would've changed it. Now they've just created a division.

And also, Fractals CM is not janitor level work. Tier 1 Fractals, that's janitor level work. CM's are PhD level, if we stick to this comparison.

> @"lare.5129" said:

> > @"TheNecrosanct.4028" said:

> >And that's not even counting the 600 Integrated Fractal Matrices, which is equal to 12,000 Stabilizing Matrices with a value of about 3,600 Gold.

> only 600 Integrated Fractal Matrices? this is not big value

3,600 gold is not a big value to you? Congratulations then, on belonging to the 1% of GW2 players with thousands of gold lying around. For me, however, it would mean spending the majority of my gold just to be able to get into Fractals CM groups. Anyone who thinks that is a valid idea is out of their mind. Besides, literally no LFG I've come across even asks for infusions as KP, probably because they know the idea alone is ludicrous.

> @"Cyninja.2954" said:

> > @"TheNecrosanct.4028" said:

> > > @"lare.5129" said:

> > > > @"TheNecrosanct.4028" said:

> > > > Spending currency and matrices on accountbound items (multiples even) you don't want?

> > > yes, spend part account bound currency and small amount matrix for that.

> > >

> > > > That's your idea of KP?

> > > not my, but sometimes people link it, and I and others accept it.

> > >

> > > >There's a new weapon set I'd much rather complete.

> > > new wep set complete per short time. It not some magic big value.

> > >

> > > > Any other brilliant ideas for gatekeeping?

> > > personal I use https://killproof.me/proof/75VK

> > >

> >

> > So let's do a little calculation here. You suggested 20 Red Celestial Infusions would be enough to get you into a CM group. That's 9,000 UFE, equal to 1,800 UCE (more than 7 stacks of the old KP; that's more than 3 times the amount of max KP I've seen in LFG, which is 500). And that's not even counting the 600 , which is equal to 12,000 Stabilizing Matrices with a value of about 3,600 Gold. Do you even see how ridiculous this is? Not even in the old situation did CM groups require anything near this much as proof. This is only viable for people who've done Fractal CM's literally for years, every single day, and I'm sure even they would find it ridiculous. I'm sure many experienced Fractal players don't even have the required UFE to pay for this. So yes, this is far from a viable or even reasonable option.

> >

> > I'd be fine linking LI/LD. But first of all those have no bearing at all on Fractals (not everyone who does Raids also does Fractals, or the other way around). Plus there's the fact I've seen literally zero Fractals LFG's asking for LI/LD. So the people who've exchanged their UCE (because you literally can't get anything from it anymore, nor can you get any more UCE) and don't have a static, are screwed now. Or maybe I'm just a minority and all of this falls on deaf ears and people are fine with the situation.

>

> The acquisition rate of UFE to UCE is 12 times higher. Under the current system, you can acquire 120 UFE per day, which is equal to 24 UCE. Before the patch, the average UCE per day was 2.

>

> As such, 1,800 UFE is pretty much en par with 1,800/5/12 = 180 days worth of old KP, so in essence 360 KP, but also unrelated to a specific fractal since now all 3 CMs grant this currency. It's nearly the same content clear wise, except for the cost of Integrated Fractal Matrices. So from a pure time investment, it's not as ridiculous as you make it out to be.

>

> I doubt Red Celestial Infusions, which have greatly depreciated in rarity given they went from over 30 days to 4 days to acquire, will be used as KP. Time will tell what players will come up with, but one thing is pretty clear: if pre sorting is necessary, it will take place in one form or another. This can be as bad as say the NA raiding scene, which has completely moved to private discords, away from the LFG, or as simply as finding some KP replacement. The only thing which won't happen: players of different skill playing together more and this being a fun experience for all sides involved.

While that maybe true, if you've exchanged UCE for UFE (like I did) you're basically screwed now without a static. I'm left to make my own LFG without KP, because all the CM groups are still asking for a few 100 KP so I can't get into those anymore. And I'm not one of those people posting LFG's asking for KP while I have none myself. But it's like Dave said: the current situation is worse than before. And if they keep it this way, new Fractal players will forever be separated from the old ones, because the new ones can't show UCE for the simple reason it's impossible to get them anymore. This will make Fractals more troublesome for players like me, who before could get into CM groups but now can't, all because I chose to exchange an old currency that is no longer obtainable. ANet have made questionable decisions before, but this is one of the weirdest they've made so far.

To be clear, I'm fine with asking for KP in principle. It's what we do in Raids, it's what I did before with Fractals and it's also what I do for Strikes. ANet should either have kept UCE, or they should have force exchanged it on all acounts so no one has any anymore and everyone is on even footing in that regard. The community will always find new KP to ask for. I've seen plenty of different KP requirements in the 8 years I've been playing this game. But this new situation creates 2 different divisions that won't ever be able to mix as long as the community won't switch to a form of KP that everyone can show, regardless of when you started playing Fractals. The storage problem could have simply been solved by allowing UCE into the material storage. But this KP problem Cameron is talking about in the video is far from solved and only made worse now.

> @"Laila Lightness.8742" said:

>

> I hope they fix li and guild stuff the same way

Except they didn't fix anything. Exchanging your UCE for UFE is a choice. It is still being used as KP in LFG's, because people can choose not to exchange them for the new currency. It would only have been a fix if they force exchanged it on all accounts, instead of leaving it to the people themselves. He called it a devisive decision, which is probably the reason they didn't go for the forced exchange. But really, that is what they should do. At least then everybody is on equal footing and UCE can't be used as KP in LFG's anymore. Right now, nothing has changed, except that it creates a division between CM players before Sunqua Peak and CM players after Sunqua Peak/CM players who did exchange their UCE.

> @"lare.5129" said:

> > @"TheNecrosanct.4028" said:

> > Spending currency and matrices on accountbound items (multiples even) you don't want?

> yes, spend part account bound currency and small amount matrix for that.

>

> > That's your idea of KP?

> not my, but sometimes people link it, and I and others accept it.

>

> >There's a new weapon set I'd much rather complete.

> new wep set complete per short time. It not some magic big value.

>

> > Any other brilliant ideas for gatekeeping?

> personal I use https://killproof.me/proof/75VK

>

So let's do a little calculation here. You suggested 20 Red Celestial Infusions would be enough to get you into a CM group. That's 9,000 UFE, equal to 1,800 UCE (more than 7 stacks of the old KP; that's more than 3 times the amount of max KP I've seen in LFG, which is 500). And that's not even counting the 600 Integrated Fractal Matrices, which is equal to 12,000 Stabilizing Matrices with a value of about 3,600 Gold. Do you even see how ridiculous this is? Not even in the old situation did CM groups require anything near this much as proof. This is only viable for people who've done Fractal CM's literally for years, every single day, and I'm sure even they would find it ridiculous. I'm sure many experienced Fractal players don't even have the required UFE to pay for this. So yes, this is far from a viable or even reasonable option.

I'd be fine linking LI/LD. But first of all those have no bearing at all on Fractals (not everyone who does Raids also does Fractals, or the other way around). Plus there's the fact I've seen literally zero Fractals LFG's asking for LI/LD. So the people who've exchanged their UCE (because you literally can't get anything from it anymore, nor can you get any more UCE) and don't have a static, are screwed now. Or maybe I'm just a minority and all of this falls on deaf ears and people are fine with the situation.

> @"MoHohoho.6523" said:

> I will just keep the old KP and ping them if required. Personally don't really need the new currency.

> If you want a smooth run as you say just require titles. This is maybe even better than KP since you cannot fake a title.

>

> This is not a guarantee but should do its job.

A title is only proof of having done it once. And like Xca also mentioned, they can be bought, which is equal to faking KP. A certain number of KP, at least, ensures you've done said content a certain amount of times, and decreases the chance of said person having bought every single run to get all that KP.

ANet should've forced the exchange from UCE to UFE, instead of leaving the choice to players themselves. People who start Fractals after the release of Sunqua Peak will not be able to ping UCE to get into CM groups that still require UCE. The same goes for people who exchanged it because they're interested in the weapon set and/or infusions. A forced exchange for all accounts would've at least solved that problem.

> @"lare.5129" said:

> > @"TheNecrosanct.4028" said:

> >People who are starting to get into Fractals from now on will have no KP to show, ever. And if the old groups keep their UCE and keep using it in their LFG's, you will basically get 2 Fractal communities: the ones who did CM's before Sunqua Peak was released, and the ones who started doing CM's after its release.

> you still can buy KP from UFE. This is Celestial Infusions (Red). Ping more that 20 - and you a welcome to any cm fractal group without any UCE

>

>

Spending currency and matrices on accountbound items (multiples even) you don't want? That's your idea of KP? That's about the most ludicrous idea I've heard. There's a new weapon set I'd much rather complete. And my matrices go towards stat infusions. I'm also sure I'm not the only one.

Any other brilliant ideas for gatekeeping?

Exchanging UCE for UFE should not have been a choice. It should've been a forced exchange on all accounts at release. The situation there is right now will cause a rift in the Fractal community. There are those that exchanged their KP and now can't join a lot of LFG groups anymore who are still asking for a few hundred UCE. People who are starting to get into Fractals from now on will have no KP to show, ever. And if the old groups keep their UCE and keep using it in their LFG's, you will basically get 2 Fractal communities: the ones who did CM's before Sunqua Peak was released, and the ones who started doing CM's after its release. I don't see how that's a tennable situation in the long run.

If they do, kudos to everyone who never got a precursor before. But I voted no, simply because of the word "should". Yes, it would be nice if they would, but they don't have to. There are other options. It doesn't matter if people don't use those options, because that just means they consciously chose not to, which means they don't really want a precursor that much. After all, if you really want something, you'll put in the work needed to be able to get it.

Besides, even if the precursor would be accountbound (which I'm practically sure it would be; after all, unique dyes you get from birthday gifts are also already accountbound), it would still affect the economy. The most expensive dyes drop in price after being released in a birthday gift. It doesn't matter that you can't sell them. More and more people will get the dye, demand will drop and so will the price. It would be no different for precursors (and, by extension, legendaries).

> @"Jilora.9524" said:

> No, I will go with none of these chest will be multi-lootable. It's not the first time they made this possible but with the gift of otter adding to the progression of repeatable traks for clovers I think they close this one. And going hey you could have multi-looted this too so that's your fault not the multi-looters is just a poor defense to any one who didn't abuse/know or even think about it. But if you have an issue with it just be the commander and after killing Jormag kick anyone who goes offline swapping characters so they can't get back to that map otherwise nothing else you can do.

In case you hadn't noticed before, chests in Drizzlewood Coast act differently than the majority of chests in this game. Those you get for taking over camps stay active for x minutes in the map and can be looted even by people who haven't participated in the taking of the camp. The same goes for the chests we get access to after killing cache keepers. The same goes for the chests that spawn after killing each tribune. So what makes you think that multilooting the end chest after killing the Claw isn't exactly the way it was intended? And if it is, then how is my argument a poor defense? That's like saying it's unfair some people have 2 weapon sets because you refuse to use 2 weapon sets yourself, even though it's clearly a feature of the game. If anything, your salty commander workaround is a poor attempt at waylaying people who are using a feature that is more obviously meant to be in the game than it is an exploit. At least the people multilooting the end chest have actually participated in the event, contrary to the other chests I've referenced above. If anything, I would say looting chests from events you haven't participated in, is more unfair than multilooting a chest that is meant to be multilooted.

So yes, if people don't use a feature that is meant to be in the game, there is nothing unfair about other people using that feature. It's fine if people refuse to do it, even while knowing it is there, but taking longer on the otter achievement/getting less loot is then nothing more than a consequence of their own choice, not an unfair disadvantage.

> @"Lamont.5973" said:

> > @"Cynder.2509" said:

> > Does that mean multiloot will get nerfed too? Good thing I got the otter infusion right in time then as long as it was still available

> That is a good question. It is pretty obvious multilooting was intentional on this map as you could only bring new characters in if one of your characters had been there at the end of the meta and the chest is only available for 5 minutes. But if ALL the lesser chests will be in the same area that does mean and significant amount of loot available beyond just the otters for each character. Maybe they could make it so that all the chest except the main one can only be opened once per meta?

>

Who says that's not exactly how it's going to be? The main chest still being there for 5 minutes, for multiloot purposes, but the others only able to be opened once? Personally I assume that's exactly how it's going to be. The change is only the placement of the chests in one area. The post says nothing about changing the nature of the chests (i.e. how many times you can open them) so there's no reason to believe that will change.

> @"Raizel Silverius.6430" said:

> I'm ok with any of the changes but please FIX THE MULTI LOOT that A LOT of people are exploiting the hell out of for Otter Blessings as well as the Gifts. I was really disappointed when people told me you can actually multi loot the giant chest after defeating the Claw of Jormag in Drizzlewood Coast North Meta.

>

> Totally unfair for some of us who only loot said chest ONCE every meta. Basically by-passing the necessary amount of times you need to complete the meta to finish the Otter Achievement.

How is it unfair if **you choose** to open the chest only once? You have the option to multiloot like everyone else. The fact that **you choose not to** is on you and has nothing to do with fairness. Also, asking for a fix suggests multiloot was not intended and is a mistake, while it is more obvious that it was very much intended to work this way.

> @"Shikaru.7618" said:

> A stack of mystic coins says anet forgets they also littered jormag blood around the map and we still have to frantically run around looting that because they didnt put them next to the chests

Very much this. It's a great update, putting all the chests in one place (provided there are as many chests as there are currently, because the screenshot shows fewer chests). But if the shards of crystallized blood of Jormag are still all around the map (and without map icons as well, so you can't go straight for them; you'll have to actively search for them) people will still have to do what they do now.

> @"Ashantara.8731" said:

> People speculated that it would be a weekly reset thing, but it obviously isn't.

>

> Perhaps we are missing something important here? Any ideas?

The fact that it resets weekly does not necessarily mean it does so at weekly reset. The patch launched Tuesday, so at the earliest people will be able to talk to him a second time tomorrow, not today. In other words, you need to count from the moment you talked to him.

> @"Blanche Neige.7241" said:

> It may also be an upcoming feature like the possibility to switch between 2 sets of gathering tools. With all the various skins and glyphs available now, it would be a nice QoL addition.

Except that all 3 slots are for harvesting tools, not logging or mining.

I always buy stuff from the weekly festival vendor because I'm swimming in the currency needed for it. Not with Dragon Bash, though. 1,000 pieces of Zhaitaffy might be a good number to create a Jorbreaker (like with snowflakes and candy corn), but it's way too much as currency for the weekly vendor. As such I've completely ignored the vendor for this festival. If they change the currency to 250 Zhaitaffy pieces instead of Jorbreakers, then I might buy stuff from the vendor. But Zhaitaffy is a lot more difficult to get than candy corn (which you can gather from nodes in the myriad instances there are during Halloween) or snowflakes. So either they should drop the price to 250 Zhaitaffy instead of 1 Jorbreaker, or they should give us a means of steadily and consistently gathering Zhaitaffy (for instance, a JP you can constantly run or nodes in the map and open world). As of now it's out of balance compared to the other festivals we get throughout the year.

While it is true that the "Herald" is an unknown character, they do eventually identify themselves later on in the story (during Living World Season 4).

You're wrong about the introduction to dungeons, though. Those mails you get from your Herald, those are your introduction (there is also NPC dialogue and cutscenes at the start of every dungeon path that will give you more explanations). They are sent to you when you reach a certain level and can do a certain dungeon's story/explorable mode. So if you don't want to advance your story without having done a certain dungeon, don't continue the personal story. From a technical point of view, you chose to advance your personal story over running the dungeon, so it's not so much the game as your own choice that causes that. Your Herald also explains about Destiny's Edge and the state they're in. Besides, your mentor drops hints about it throughout the story as well. And yes, they are your mentor because they explain the ways of the world to you and send you out to do things and help people out, thereby increasing your status as a character among the peoples of Tyria. This is what a mentor does, indeed just like the Order mentors that are assigned to you.

It may seem as if the dungeons are not tied together, but they really are. First of all, they're all about the different Destiny's Edge characters. You join and help them deal with whatever's there. Since they're not a unified group anymore they each go their own ways, hence why these dungeons take place all over the world and don't involve all the characters at once. They are also a means to get to know your mentor better and learn about their history. People don't tell you their deepest, darkest secrets and desires right after you meet. They need to know you better, know what you're capable of and if they can trust you with such personal information. You helping them on their personal quests certainly goes a long way in that regard.

The point is, not everything is explained in advance. You find out things by going through the story. Hints that were dropped previously get elaborated upon. If everything was explained in detail in advance, stories would be really boring and extremely predictable.

I can't disagree with the LFG part, though. Yes, there is no differentiation between story mode and explorable mode, which is why people mention it in their LFG postings instead. It is always clear whether they are looking to do story or explorable paths. Waiting for cutscenes is something people rarely do anymore. That's not surprising, given that the game is almost 8 years old and most people have done that content several times over. But in my experience it helps if you mention it in your LFG posting. Something along the lines of "will watch cutscenes", so people know in advance and are prepared.

By the way, bosses don't spawn until cutscenes are finished. Yes, a group can run ahead while you're watching a cutscene, but they will have to wait for the boss spawn until the scene ends. Given how easy dungeon bosses die, though, you probably won't be able to get there on time to participate in the kill. But you'll still get full participation when it comes to dungeon rewards like tokens.

I must be playing a different game. These dead maps people keep referencing, I don't see them. There's always population in the maps I visit, whether they be core, expansion or LS maps. It certainly isn't a problem on days certain maps come up in the daily rotation, but even outside of dailies I don't have any trouble completing content in open world maps.

One thing I do agree with is the scaling. It's not that I have a problem with the way they handled scaling so far. While not perfect it's certainly not an issue for me during play. No, it's the new map specifically, Drizzlewood Coast. I see lvl 83 and 84 mobs that melt so fast, a lot faster than scaled mobs in other maps. Considering all the longbow Rangers and staff Necromancers running around in open world tagging everything, it's sometimes very hard to tag even 1 or 2 mobs out of a dozen. Even a hot knife doesn't cut through butter as fast as 10 people cut through a group of a dozen mobs in Drizzlewood Coast. I've found it is absolutely necessary to equip ranged options to tag even a decent amount. Or 20 people finishing a mine event in 20 seconds, giving you hardly any time to locate and defuse said mines, thereby missing event participation. Event mobs should be a lot tougher and participation events should fill a lot slower. It's just ridiculous how out of tune it is with the rest of scaling in the game. It certainly doesn't fit with the "play what you like" mantra this game has been espousing for years. Full melee? Ranged with slow cast times? Prepare to be left behind in Drizzlewood Coast.