nosleepdemon.1368

Oh well never mind, with full map completion the first two stages only take half an hour.

Hi all.

I have one of the discontinued masterwork Mad Mementos: Complete Edition back items [here](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Mad_Memoires:_Complete_Edition_(discontinued) "here"). However, the collection to get the back pieces has not recognized this, and I only have the very first one unlocked. The reward for this, and the next one, I technically already have. Do I have to do these collections again, despite already having the items?

Taimi, Braham, Marjory and her girlfriend whose name simply eludes me right now - that's how memorable she is, and probably Rox too. It'd just be me, Canuck and Rytlock all the way. We're gonna save to world boys!

> @Opopanax.1803 said:

> I've been toying with hybrid Condi mace/axe and healer using seraph/apotherary/shaman gear. The other option would be power healer with Harrier armor which may be better for.the boom duration.

>

> Has anyone built something like this, and if so, what are the results?

Harriers are viable, if dated. As you said, they can certainly lengthen the duration of booms, and their vertical take off and landing allows them to deploy into/from a variety of theatres.

There's a lot more of that since the mounts were added. My guess would be that some poor souls had to sift through hundreds of bug entries and fix/test/fix every little spot in the maps where someone might be able to exploit with a particular mount combo. They probably said fuck this shit at around the 10/1485 mark and started dumping huge invisible walls everywhere.

> @OriOri.8724 said:

> > @NapalmDest.1786 said:

> > > 2. If you have a duo core processor or a 50 core processor makes no difference as games run only off of one core. (Some games I think can do 2)

> >

> > Actually, very few games (or applications) are designed around using a certain number of cores. Most applications utilize multi-threading.

> >

> > In multi-threaded applications, a thread is created (or grabbed from a pool of threads) to do some task. Normally, the developer doesn't dictate where a thread is executed, this is done by the Operating System itself via the CPU Thread Scheduler.

> >

> > You can actually see how many threads Guild Wars 2 has via the Task Manager in Windows (may have to add the column under the 'Details' tab). Right now, Gw2-64.exe has 52 threads. Those 52 threads are probably not all sitting on one or two cores.

> >

> > Multi-threading can be a very complex task. Almost certainly, there will be a few threads that are doing most of the work. Most likely, that is the case in GW2. It is not that GW2 only uses one or two cores, it is that one or two threads are doing a lot of work. GW2 is multi-threaded.

> >

> >

>

> We've been flat out told by the devs that the main thread is almost always the bottleneck in terms of performance, meaning only 1 thread is the problem. So adding more cores won't help efficiency. Changing how the game is programmed to be better at using multiple processors also won't help since that single thread is the cause of the bottleneck most of the time.

The expectation would be that whatever is blocking the main thread is moved into its own thread, or distributed across several threads. Of course that would require a massive rewrite or they would have done it already!

It's there to make you think about what you've done.

> @Frostwolve.2916 said:

> Yes!! I threw an egg at another player yesterday and expected exactly this. What are they even for if they have no effect.

They exist purely to fill bag space and to give the illusion of receiving a greater reward from tote bags than you actually do.

You have to hand it to them, they know their target market. It doesn't matter to ANet that a couple of players have spotted the obvious and deliberately pitiful mount customization options to artificially inflate the perceived value of the new skins; There will always be people who defend these decisions by claiming that it's ok, since participation is not required. What's not so immediately obvious is that this is proof of the sort of marketing tactics ANet are willing to employ. When it comes to vanity and exclusivety, it appears that people are far more comfortable being at each other's throats than looking for who is pulling their strings. By all means, state the obvious - these skins are optional, but for fucks sake don't shrug off the clear truth that we were given an artificially low starting point to upsell us on future "improvements".

ITT: players who don't realise that "optional" content still affects players that don't have to buy it. A helpful hint kids, in order to get people to buy stuff, you make them want it. In order to make players want something, you twist their arm to make life without it suck, and you make the free stuff crap in comparison.

Condi Spellbreaker? Wut?

> @Lyger.5429 said:

> > @castlemanic.3198 said:

> > It's funny the number of people who perceive the mere *existence* of the LGBT community in video games as "political" stuff that's "shoved down their throats" and they want removed.

> >

> > Their mere existence. Let that sink in.

> >

> > Nothing in the game is "over-sexualised" in terms of story presentation, yet people use that argument when the LGBT community merely exists within the game. Nothing is shoved down our throats, not even the kasmeer/marjory relationship. I 100% believe that the vast majority of the complaints about their relationship would cease to exist if they were a straight couple, because most complaints have to do with their relationship being "shoved down our throats". The poor writing involving their relationship and how they're better characters when apart has nothing to do with their sexuality and everything to do with the writer's capability of portraying characters well (I think the writing is fine, but I have low standards and I know it).

> >

> > The number of people getting up in arms about the LGBT community merely *existing* within GW2 (or any media portrayal) is astounding. You can provide legitimate criticism on their implementation (because we seriously do not need 'token lgbt stereotypes'), but criticizing their mere existence as *political* is something that should really make you stop in your tracks and think "why do I have an issue with this?"

>

> I don't know I find the responses from people of LGBT community in this thread a bit hypocritical. I mean read the title, the OP was upset that the quest only seemed to give the option of lesbian parings. Of course they were wrong about it, as others have said that this was not the case. When I played through it, I barely payed attention to who I was pairing (I may have even ended up with only heterosexual parings). What I am getting at is that the person who started this thread was not a straight individual (from my knowledge) getting upset that homosexual pairings were an option. If it was, you can be sure that Anet would have closed it as soon as possible. This is where the double standard lies. Society needs to let people express their opinions so civil discussion can take place instead of trying to shut people up because they don't agree with your opinion or have different biases and political viewpoints. We are walking on dangerous grounds these days.

>

> For these reasons and many more are probably why some people are asking to not have this in-game.

I tend to agree, but I think that this thread has remained reasonably civil. It hasn't been closed yet and we are ripping parts of the game to shreds. Everything aside, ANet have made a pretty darn good game. Just sort out the story, yeah? :P

> @castlemanic.3198 said:

> > @nosleepdemon.1368 said:

> > I take issue with the agenda that I see pushed forward in GW2 that favours inclusiveness over decent story telling. The writers clearly favoured a diverse cast of characters over a smaller cast that actually works. My PC is bending over backward to make every character like Braham feel understood and included, when really, she should be telling them to put up or shut up. Has this anything to do with an apparent prejudice against LGBT folk? No. Of course not. Again, I think at least some of this "agenda" stuff is down to how patronising the writers have made the story, I would not presume to assume that the OP harbours prejudices because they have pointed out what they feel to be an issue of political correctness trumping decent story telling, or a realistic game world.

>

> I don't agree, I don't see any agenda being pushed, which may be the fundamental differences in our arguments. I don't see it as an issue and I actually empathise with the player character trying to extend an olive branch to Braham when he's clearly hurting, I'd do the same. We view the characters and the story differently, and we'll never agree on how some aspects of the story played out, but there is no agenda being pushed. A poor portrayal in writing does not mean there is an agenda being pushed.

>

> And specifically to do with the OP's issue with this heart, no amount of "agenda pushing" could possibly insinuate that a randomized selection of NPC's is some how political. It takes olympic gold medal mental gymnastics to try and conceive that possibility.

Fair enough, I do see that particular portion to be a bit of a stretch, yeah. Perhaps you are right about the writing, it certainly is hamfisted.

> @castlemanic.3198 said:

> > @nosleepdemon.1368 said:

> > That depends; people tend to be excellent at collapsing complex situations into black and white scenarios. Obviously the OP was already looking for something "political" to take exception to. Whether or not that is because of some pre-existing "agenda" set out in a heavy handed way by the developers or pre-existing "bad think" by the OP is up for debate. I think it is at least in part due to the rather childish writing. Perhaps this is just a symptom of MMOs in general, I can't remember ever playing an MMO with a good story. Conan 1-20 perhaps?

>

> It doesn't depend, not in the slightest. There really is no debate in the matter that the OP and others who take issue with the existence of LGBT characters in media do so out of their own misinformation rather than an actual issue with the storytelling at hand. There is nothing in GW2 that's heavy handed about any of it's LGBT characters and anyone who truly claims that the LGBT characters are "forced down their throats" needs to self reflect on the matter, especially when those characters are given the same weight as straight couples in GW2 and other media and nobody bats an eye at the straight couples, but you see debates about "politics" when LGBT characters are presented in the same way straight couples are.

>

> Poor writing is another matter entirely, and the devs do need to work on some aspects of presentation, but their representation of the LGBT community specifically is not egregious in any way (apart from perhaps the tokenesque writing of Kasmeer and Marjory, but that's not politics shoved down our throat, it's poor representation rather than anything political in any way).

I take issue with the agenda that I see pushed forward in GW2 that favours inclusiveness over decent story telling. The writers clearly favoured a diverse cast of characters over a smaller cast that actually works. My PC is bending over backward to make every character like Braham feel understood and included, when really, she should be telling them to put up or shut up. Has this anything to do with an apparent prejudice against LGBT folk? No. Of course not. Again, I think at least some of this "agenda" stuff is down to how patronising the writers have made the story, I would not presume to assume that the OP harbours prejudices because they have pointed out what they feel to be an issue of political correctness trumping decent story telling, or a realistic game world.

> @castlemanic.3198 said:

> > @nosleepdemon.1368 said:

> > (Edit) I am addressing the person this quote is quoting (castlemania.3198), but the quote system seems to have messed up. Sorry! (/edit)

> >

> > You are getting a wee bit ahead of yourself here. The criticism may not be that they exist so much as that they seem so forced.

> >

> > This may well just be due to poor writing.

> >

> > For example, I entered Vabbi and an NPC immediately wanted my attention, so I spoke to her. She explained that I cannot just enter the realm and save Jokos followers, because although Joko is a tyrant, his followers revere him.

> >

> > Now by itself, this is a poignant analysis of the North Korea crisis, however the way it was told was absolutely awful.

> >

> > The player is required to play the role of the aggressor by always choosing aggressive conversation options. Options like "but I want to crush Joko" and "His followers are brainwashed and it's my duty to educate them, with force!".

> >

> > *This* is what players take exception to - the "agenda", so to speak, is literally rammed down their throats by kitten-poor and frankly borderline juvenile writing.

>

> So this heart where npcs are randomly chosen to be interested in other npcs is politics rammed down our throats?

That depends; people tend to be excellent at collapsing complex situations into black and white scenarios. Obviously the OP was already looking for something "political" to take exception to. Whether or not that is because of some pre-existing "agenda" set out in a heavy handed way by the developers or pre-existing "bad think" by the OP is up for debate. I think it is at least in part due to the rather childish writing. Perhaps this is just a symptom of MMOs in general, I can't remember ever playing an MMO with a good story. Conan 1-20 perhaps?

> @Ashantara.8731 said:

> > @castlemanic.3198 said:

> > It's funny the number of people who perceive the mere *existence* of the LGBT community in video games as "political" stuff that's "shoved down their throats" and they want removed.

> >

> > Their mere existence. Let that sink in.

> >

> > Nothing in the game is "over-sexualised" in terms of story presentation, yet people use that argument when the LGBT community merely exists within the game. Nothing is shoved down our throats, not even the kasmeer/marjory relationship. I 100% believe that the vast majority of the complaints about their relationship would cease to exist if they were a straight couple, because most complaints have to do with their relationship being "shoved down our throats". The poor writing involving their relationship and how they're better characters when apart has nothing to do with their sexuality and everything to do with the writer's capability of portraying characters well (I think the writing is fine, but I have low standards and I know it).

> >

> > The number of people getting up in arms about the LGBT community merely *existing* within GW2 (or any media portrayal) is astounding. You can provide legitimate criticism on their implementation (because we seriously do not need 'token lgbt stereotypes'), but criticizing their mere existence as *political* is something that should really make you stop in your tracks and think "why do I have an issue with this?"

>

> This was so well written that I had to quote it.

>

> And as a member of the LGBT community, I also wanted to thank you - and everyone else who wrote similar responses - for your realistic analysis of the situation.

(Edit) I am addressing the person this quote is quoting (castlemania.3198), but the quote system seems to have messed up. Sorry! (/edit)

You are getting a wee bit ahead of yourself here. The criticism may not be that they exist so much as that they seem so forced.

This may well just be due to poor writing.

For example, I entered Vabbi and an NPC immediately wanted my attention, so I spoke to her. She explained that I cannot just enter the realm and save Jokos followers, because although Joko is a tyrant, his followers revere him.

Now by itself, this is a poignant analysis of the North Korea crisis, however the way it was told was absolutely awful.

The player is required to play the role of the aggressor by always choosing aggressive conversation options. Options like "but I want to crush Joko" and "His followers are brainwashed and it's my duty to educate them, with force!".

*This* is what players take exception to - the "agenda", so to speak, is literally rammed down their throats by piss-poor and frankly borderline juvenile writing.

Hahah. Wait until you check the gender distribution of significant story characters throughout the game. It's on the wiki page. 50-50 distribution until you realise that almost every animal is classified as male. The "agenda" *would* annoy me, if the story at any point of the game were worth paying attention to :P

I think it should provide lunch and other light refreshments. Waging war is hungry business and should not be done on an empty stomach.

Yeah kind of wish they'd hurry up and drop the hammer. I've been farming a new set of trinkets and haven't selected any of their stats yet for this reason. Who knows if I will still want to play a Renegade after the patch?

I did play a couple of hours of PoF, but honestly the maps just didn't grip me. The new specs are cool, and I have my Raptor because it's the new meta, but I'm not even done with the second PoF map and I've already left. I'm currently farming for some ascended trinkets to power a PvE spec for my Rev in LS3 maps, and apart from Doric which is pure cancer, I really like the other LS3 maps. I feel like PoF could have just been elite specs and mounts, minus the Gryphon. The maps and story are just overwhelmingly meh.

> @LeSavage.1359 said:

> Chests that spawn each time event cycle is completed, the ones u open with torch, they spawn on frozen lake and have chance to contain winterberries

Orly? I've seen them but didn't realise they could contain berries.

> @LeSavage.1359 said:

> I farmed a complete set of ascended accesories in 3 days. Ring from bloodstone fen;back, ring, earring from bitterfrost and earring from ember bay. I have total 9 characters so i was gathering winterberries on all of them for 2 days plus chests. Amulet was from hot story achievment

Chests?

The female Norn voice is horrible, she sounds like she is trying to talk through a mouthfull of marbles. I don't know why she is trying to sound like a man. The female and male Sylvari voices are nice though.

Yup that's my goto heart whenever I need sickles. I just realised I can't blow my karma load all over the merchants to get the other currencies I need. Argh. I assume the method for farming them is basically the same? Scroll + teleport alts?

So I tried farming berries on my main and three alts, with raptor maxed out obviously. My first observation is that recompleting hearts to buy unbound harvesting tools is simply cancer. My second observation is that this is indeed a rather fast method. I think I got around 4k UM with my characters, it's hard to tell since I had some berries in the bank. Seems like the acquisition time for a full set of ascended amulet stats is 1-2 weeks of rather casual play.