voltaicbore.8012

> @"aszy.3804" said: > A Windows machine is not on the table. I did not know that GW2 was supported natively on a Linux machine - only ran with Wine. For now, I'll use the old machine - now 6 years old running a appropriately old Mac OS X to play the game - works perfectly. No CoherentUI issues. No crashes. Mostly wanted to post a PSA. In my personal experience, dualbooting with Linux was always fairly smooth on Macs. I would highly recommend doing so, then running GW2 through Wine - as others have already mentioned, it performs with relatively minimal losses in performance. IMO it wouldn't hurt to try, given that you always have your other, older machine that still runs the client as a backup.

> @"ixora.3569" said: > Oh the score was 25-501 yes that was the actual score. Ah, to be new to ranked. It's... yeah. Git gud, and watch your efforts go unrewarded much of the time. If I'm remembering correctly, I was once on a team that won 500-5. The opponents never once fully captured a point, and managed to kill one of my teammates once.

> @"Sol.6340" said: > I've logged thousands of hours in the game and just spent over $100 in gems, and ANet is just telling me that I'm not a valuable player. There are dozens if not more ways to allow Mac players to continue to play without having to invest in new hardware or switching to the PC world. Especially during the time of the pandemic, this is an extremely poor decision. I'm disappointed, I'm angry, and I'm unable to comprehend why there's almost no notice on ANet's part (they've known for at least 2 years this was going to be an issue) and also just... depressed. WvW was my game mode of choice, I spent countless hours playing, defending, and making friends and in one slash you've taken that all away from me. There are no words to describe how upset I am. > > Poor choice. All the way around. > > - Persistence (Purrsi), Carissa All is not lost. Just like many Mac users who find ways to use Windows programs on their Apple machines for work purposes, the exact same thing can be done with the Windows client for GW2. It might sound daunting if you've never done it, but anyone with even passing experience with IT can assure you that it's not hard. I'm sure Reddit threads on how to get Windows GW2 to run on Mac will be pushed to the forefront, if they're not already.

> @"maddoctor.2738" said: > I was indeed mistaken about the game being dead in late 2019, more like 2018, the game earned 234% more money in 2019 than in 2018, a figure that only increased in 2020. **TLDR**; BDO's changes in 2019 solved problems for old and new players alike, and ironically demonstrated ANet's idea of "shouldn't need to prepare to have fun" very well. In contrast, Champions/DRMs don't really do anything useful for anyone, and they're not even fun. For once, I'm actually looking forward to ANet abandoning a form of content for the future. Just to resurrect, then beat the dead horse a bit more: The upticks in BDO's late 2019 revenue probably have a lot to do with the Seasonal system they instituted in summer 2019. Seasonal servers allow players to get much closer to both level and gear cap at extremely low cost. Basically, you can get a character into the entry level of endgame content with great ease now. What used to take players years (and gallons of RNG tears) to achieve can be easily done in the space of two weeks of smart but casual play now. If you're casual but not particularly smart about the game, you have 2-3 months to get it done, which is more than enough time. BDO is currently running its third Season, and those Season servers are always absolutely packed with players, every single day of the week, at almost all hours of the day. Seasons took the primary two pain points for players (needing to no-life the game to reach level _and_ gear cap) and found a way to get players **very respectably close** to both caps without nearly as much effort. This was also done in a way that didn't invalidate the efforts of veterans who worked to reach hardcap on things - it's still another huge step to reach actual caps, and it takes advanced knowledge of the game (either in terms of grinding out money efficiently or knowing how the gear upgrade system works) to get there. They've also stepped up their attention to narrative in a big, big way - while lore considerations used to be a total joke, the devs clearly got a better writing team, better localization, and decided to make narrative touches for various classes that differentiate how they experience the still-unified 'story' of the game, as it were. All of this came, as you noted, hand in hand with a smart marketing ploy to basically start giving the game away for a time during the pandemic. In short, BDO knew _what_ to give and _how_ to give it, and it appears to have worked out quite well. In contrast, I think DRMs fail on both the "what" and "how" questions. We've covered in the thread already that the "what" is just not there - the rewards are bad, and the gameplay is not interesting. The "how" is just as disappointing. As if the missions themselves being somewhat boring wasn't bad enough, they're just not designed for repeatability. Things we've already covered here - the initial mission not being push-able or offering greater benefits for over-completion, dialogue not being skippable, the whole fiasco with LFG only allowing squads to list, etc. - quite severely reduce the replay value of this "content." Although I'm always complaining that ANet is too quick to abandon content instead of iterating it, I think DRMs are an exception. I really see no potential in them, and will be glad to see them wither away into irrelevance.

> @"lokh.2695" said: > > @"namelesswc.9217" said: > > Yeah not worth the time for me. > > So we have this settled then. > Anet won't make the change you suggest and you don't want to take the actions necessary to solve the "problem" on your side of the screen. If it's not worth your time, I doubt it's much of a problem. I 100% agree with @"lokh.2695" . The discussion essentially ends here. There _is_ a way to achieve the cost-free swapping you desire in the game, it just has a threshold price you are not willing to pay. That's like walking into a store, seeing a bottle of water, but not wanting to pay three bucks for it; instead you walk up to the clerk and say "hey man, access to potable water is a human right. Gimme this bottle for free." You would be right about water being a resource everyone should have. But at that store, if you want a bottle of water from their cooler, you pay the price that store charges for it. You might be right about low-cost re-gearing being an essential part of MMOs (which I would disagree with, but that's another discussion). But in GW2, if you want literally free stat swapping, you have to pay the price of making legendaries.

> @"BnooMaGoo.5690" said: > It's about ArenaNet choosing not to support a platform going forward period. I'm sure I'd be quite upset if I were in your shoes, but I don't blame ANet one bit for this decision. For all I know, choosing to support the mac client might be tantamount to essentially developing a second version of their aging product. I believe they cared enough to talk about it seriously amongst themselves, but the math just didn't turn out anywhere close enough to a spot where they could green light that project. As much as I generally despise mac products, I hate to see any member of the community lose access like this. I hope in the meantime the various emulation solutions are good enough (or keep improving) to keep you in the game.

> @"Valdor.8142" said: > Look up Lord Hizen, Paper Roll, Nike!, and Venario Gaming on youtube, by far the best builds that let you solo most stuff and works for the not so pro gamers. > (I would have included "Not Sure" channel but he posted above with his weaver. > At first I was terrible with weaver (I would die to low level mobs :p ) until I watched his videos and can now run around and solo most things even HoT Hp Yes, these are good recommendations, @"OrangeWaffle.4287" . In particular, I highly recommend any open world Lord Hizen build. He's got a thing for turning the defensive stats into damage boosters, which should suit your all-rounder needs a bit better than the typical buildcrafter. You've already met @"AliamRationem.5172" in this thread, whose Weaver build is incredibly effective for solo play as well. As for picking mains, my analysis of your opening post and follow ups is that actually **you should consider aesthetics first and foremost. This is because there is a way to build just about every class into an effective solo character**, with the caveat that you're going to have to carry extra builds/gear to efficiently pug the highest tiers of group content. But frankly if you care about looks as much as you do, you're not going to want to pug stuff anyways - leave that to the folks who are interested in situationally-optimal builds on a variety of characters.

> @"otto.5684" said: >We might have a peak around the new expansion, but I would be surprised if it lasts more than 3 months. **It is a death spiral, sadly. And even if Anet puts their act together, it won’t make a difference.** The game is just too old, and clearly lacks the longevity that few other games have. It pains me greatly to admit this, but I agree - lately I just can't shake the feeling that the game is in a death spiral, and anything cool we have to look forward to in EoD can't really reverse that. It hurts to watch, because GW2 has so much to give, but I'm not sure we players have the patience left to wait for the devs to draw that out between bungled releases and abandoned game features. More than the underlying technology of the game, I think it takes a special kind of vision and management to keep an old product relevant for a decade+. That being said, I'm sure there are things about how GW2 is built (high end machines still struggling to keep FPS steady, for one thing) that make it even less likely that someone with that special vision/management could have pulled it off.

> @"Hypnowulf.7403" said: > You could appeal to another audience. There's one country out there with a very large audience for online gaming that's quite economically stable: China. Isn't it interesting that the next expansion is going to Cantha? That's a very intelligent choice. I applaud it. Uh, you _do_ realize that the reason we have a giant sinkhole in DR instead of the Canthan District is because the pan-Asian aesthetic ANet was going for in GW2 Canthan art didn't go over well with Asian audiences? I don't think this is a smart China-pandering move, I think it's a less smart nostalgia-pandering move. If anything, I think they're just continuing what happened in PoF - the devs took us back to an area we've been to in GW1, and with the excuse that it's been ravaged by mismanagement and calamity, don't have to actually make things look all that shiny and cool. I expect Cantha to be much the same, albeit with less wide open spaces, and at least some attempt at a proper urban/metropolitan map. As for anyone excited about revisiting storied areas of the past... just remember the side hallway we got when it came to Gandara. I advise you to temper your expectations.

> @"Veprovina.4876" said: > **Bottom line is, it's impossible to mess up in this game to the point where you have to delete a character.** I don't think anyone has ever done it. > There's enough HPs to unlock everything and gear is cheap. You don't even need an elite spec to progress, you can switch back to core if you don't like holo, then get HPs and unlock scrapper. The bolded part is one of the few things GW2 does way, way better than any comparable title. Like others have said, if you like engineer, keep the one you have - there are more than enough skill points out there to max out both holo and scrapper.

> @"Mungo Zen.9364" said: > An MVP release usually is the result of rushing out a project whose goals were not clearly defined. I can of course give a pass for this past year, but would argue that DRM were half baked from the start and need more attention at the design table to meet a better standard as a new form of instanced group content. I'd say the MVP concept is (rightfully) the prevailing theme of Champions. I hope ANet understands just how far off the mark the entire Saga turned out to be for many players, and is just looking to wrap it up with the minimum amount of effort for a barely acceptable end product. For me (and I suspect, many other long time players who are still set on buying EoD) DRMs don't need any improvement - **not because they're not terrible, but because we just want it to be over and have no interest in them** . However, I am slightly concerned that those less committed to GW2 will end up disengaging for good if Champions drops the ball too hard. I personally don't think EoD will be anywhere near as poorly executed as the Saga or Champions, so while disappointing, Champions doesn't really change my desire to get EoD and continue with GW2. I can see how someone with far less experience with the game wouldn't share that position, and that's worrying.

> @"Smoosh.2718" said: > The one thing I really want to see in 2021 is a massive overhaul balance patch, addressing all skills, all weapons, all animations, replacing what doesnt work in the game (like 90% of the physical skills) with something new that serves a purpose. Yeah, you see... the last time we had a massive 'overhaul' patch, we got > This whole trickle down balance, does not work. Imagine waiting over 9 months for a balance patch to address some seriously broken builds but then get a patch which only changes 2 things unrelated to what is really needed. I've decided to play other thing to scratch the pvp itch, and I only come back to GW2 to chip away at some long term pve goals. I'm not saying that it's _impossible_ that ANet can really turn things around on the balance front, but it seems shamefully illogical to hope that they ever will.

> @"Hesione.9412" said: > > @"voltaicbore.8012" said: > > @"Hesione.9412" in particular, on the one hand you make it sound like you're okay with the game not catering to everyone who can't clear content as designed (whether it's due to disability or otherwise), but on the other hand that _this_ particular achievement should include precisely that sort of catering. Can you elaborate on what should qualify an achievement for the latter sort of treatment? For instance, is it the fact that it includes one of the few exclusive in-game-achieveable skins? Is it the fact that it's a holiday achievement? Or simply that it includes a JP? > > > > For me, anything with a JP in it deserves to offer an alternative completion option. I have no physical disabilities relating to performing any gameplay tasks, and successfully completed the Wintersday JP and most others with what I'd consider a reasonable amount of effort. _I still absolutely loathe JPs with a passion_. As such, I would welcome an alternative achievement option _anytime_ a JP is in the list of things needed to do. I don't care what the reward is, I just hate JPs that much. > > This is somewhat off-topic, and I think deserves its own thread as this one relates to the Wintersday JP specifically. > > The problem here is the exclusive in-game-achievement skin. Now, coming to the wording, I don't mean exclusive as in "only the top 1% of players will get this" (definition A). I mean exclusive in that "these achievements, most of which must be completed within the Wintersday festival [the drinking 10,000 drinks doesn't have timing, it only has type], must be completed" (definition B ). > > The game has exclusive (definition A) titles. An example is Fractal God/Fractal Goddess. Another example is God and Goddess of the Arena, or God of WvW. Heck, even Yakslapper (again, WvW). To suggest (as some people, not you, have done in this thread) that getting the Wintersday shoulders is exclusive (definition B ), is almost breathtaking in its audacity. > > To break my argument down. At this point I am restricting my argument to the _easiest_ of the three titles I mentioned earlier: Yakslapper. I don't realistically see that any player is going to get a friend/partner/family member do the very long set of activities required for these titles. Although, if they have a friend/partner/family member who wants to kill 2500 yaks for them, have at it. Assuming a yak spawns every 2 minutes (https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Talk:Resource_camp), and the same enemy camp can be "camped" over the entire time, that is _a minimum of_ 83 hours that the player's friend has to sit there to kill a yak at once side. If they can kill two yaks then that is about 42 hours. Even _only_ taking into account that camps flip, these times are very optimistic. These titles are very likely obtained by the player themselves doing the activities that contribute to the title. Thus, Yakslapper is an exclusive (definition A) title. > > Now, back to the Wintersday JP, many of us had other people do the JP for us. So we got the skin with effort on our part (repeated failure) but someone else was able to tick off that requirement. Somebody else who is good at JPs can knock three out in quick succession. Worst case scenario: assume the JP takes 30 minutes to complete (the maximum time the JP instance is open: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Winter_Wonderland). That player would take 1.5 hours to complete three jumps. Now, compare that time to how long it takes to get Yakslapper - and I have created unrealistically short times in which to obtain Yakslapper. > > Thus, the holiday-related skins are a fashion-wars item that shows either: > 1. the player did the JP three times, or > 2. _somebody else did the JP for the player_. > > Which then comes back to the point: the skin is _not_ exclusive (definition A) content. It is exclusive only in the sense of definition B. A lucky player can get a friend/partner/family member to do the JP for them. Thus, the skin is _not_ an indicator of ability/mastery for this JP. Thus, locking the skin behind a JP penalises _players who can't get others to do the JP for them_. > > So, finally, who is penalised by having skins locked behind JPs? Answer: players who can't get someone else to do the JP for them during the time of the festival (definition B ). > > Which then leads to the question: why have a JP as required content for the skin? If there needs to be X number of activities rather than X-1 (achieved through the removal of the JP from the list of requirements) then some other option could be substituted which will more likely be done by the player themselves. An example: build n snowmen, with n as whatever number. Thanks for the elaboration. I wholeheartedly agree that the skin in question is definitely a Definition B type of exclusive, which in turn means I agree that there is no value in refusing to offer alternative routes. Also, I happen to think this discussion is supremely relevant to the thread. After all, you've been operating under the framework that there are different forms of exclusivity, and one form deserves to remain exclusive while the other can reasonably be argued to deserve alternative completions. Much of the pushback against you and OP in this thread immediately resorts to just mashing both forms of exclusivity together, resulting in the same old slippery slope argument where the person asking for a Definition B exclusive to be made more accessible gets accused of wanting Definition A exclusives watered down. Those two definitions really are quite distinct, but that distinction is usually lost on people until made explicit.

@"Hesione.9412" in particular, on the one hand you make it sound like you're okay with the game not catering to everyone who can't clear content as designed (whether it's due to disability or otherwise), but on the other hand that _this_ particular achievement should include precisely that sort of catering. Can you elaborate on what should qualify an achievement for the latter sort of treatment? For instance, is it the fact that it includes one of the few exclusive in-game-achieveable skins? Is it the fact that it's a holiday achievement? Or simply that it includes a JP? For me, anything with a JP in it deserves to offer an alternative completion option. I have no physical disabilities relating to performing any gameplay tasks, and successfully completed the Wintersday JP and most others with what I'd consider a reasonable amount of effort. _I still absolutely loathe JPs with a passion_. As such, I would welcome an alternative achievement option _anytime_ a JP is in the list of things needed to do. I don't care what the reward is, I just hate JPs that much.

> @"Shroud.2307" said: > I think it's important to have a good mixture of both easy and difficult. Some mobs _should_ be dangerous. If you don't enjoy stressing over it you know to avoid them after learning your lesson. If you like a good fight you might seek those enemies out because they're the ones that are most fun for you. I also like to see how much aggro from dangerous mobs I can pull, as well as soloing champions whenever I have a chance. The issue is not _justt_ about "easy and difficult", however. Many of us in this thread don't find the open world fights difficult, but rather just far more annoying than they need to be.

Zerker thief can work just fine through all current story content. While marauder stats are indeed a good deal safer without losing a ton of damage output, I find that thief has great sustain options from the Critical Strikes line - Critical strikes offer ways for you to boost how often you crit, how hard you crit, and let those same crits heal you for a portion of the damage you put out. A lot of solid synergy there. This is a [fairly safe daredevil build](http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PagAYVlZwWYXMMGJW2XqtaA-zRIYRU9XGRkqVUV2OA-e) I use to hit hard while keeping up sustain. Honestly it doesn't fully play into some of thief's strengths (most notably, stealth attacks), but it hits pretty hard and daredevil in general offers a lot of defensive options. Staff 4 is a blind, your staff autoattack chain ends in a projectile reflect, and staff 5 infamously allows you to hit an area pretty hard while evading. The heal signet allows you to spam a never-ending stream of healing to yourself as you rapidly strike enemies, the daredevil block is a block+stunbreak+cc counterattack, the precision sigil also provides you and your friend decent condition cleanse, the power sigil is always a solid choice just to hit harder, and the spinner elite is a great offense+defense mix and synergizes extremely well with the heal signet if you are under pressure. On top of this, going with the Trickster line gives you more initiative, so you can spam longer sequences of attacks. Overall, this is far from an optimal build, but it hits hard enough, has all the important defensive utility (cleanse, block, stunbreak, blind, and of course evades), and above all else is just easy to play. If I need to carry someone in a fight as a thief, this is my go-to build. Last note: I never really pvp as a thief, but I imagine this would be an awful pvp build. Check out metabattle or godsofpvp for pvp builds.

> @"mindcircus.1506" said: > > @"voltaicbore.8012" said: > > 1. The fallen statue HP in Elon Riverlands is a good example of what I don't like. There's always a bunch of harpies hanging around there, and they're quite easy to deal with. They're just a pointless annoyance though, and IMO they add nothing (lore, immersion, combat challenge, etc.). They seem to be there purely to disrupt your ability to channel an HP or just take a look around at the environment. > Actually their presence in terms of the worldbuilding makes perfect sense as across many areas of the PoF maps, cliffs in higher elevations in warmer areas have harpies. We see this in Desert Highlands, Elon, the front area of Desolation and in Vabbi. It makes just fine thematic sense. > From a gameplay perspective you are right, there are there to interupt your channel of the commune. Mitigating this is simply part of getting the HP. It's functionally no different than the HP in the Sulfur flats of Desolation only the fact that the harpies are already there, versus spawned when you hit the HP. Hardly a big enough difference to get your back up about. > From a lore perspective, I believe the harpies and their presence in the area is talked about in the original game. > I'll take another look at the area... someday. I don't mind the harpies around the MP by the springer heart, as it's clearly a nesting zone for them and managing that co-existence seems to be a well-established thing for people of the area. Same with the harpy-infested area around the Choya part of the Highlands map. I just don't recall seeing much indication of harpies being there for a reason other than "we need some mobs to hassle players... this is a higher elevation... so harpies! Yeah! Game design is my passion." It wouldn't have taken much to satisfy me in this regard, either. Even if the HP text merely made some mention of "this once-blahblah-nice thing is now just a harpy nest", that would have been enough. But again, I'm working off of very shaky knowledge. I don't even remember what the HP says when you channel it, and I'm not aware of the lore you mentioned. I guess I should take a second look at it (as well as GW1, which I'm still playing through) to be sure.

> @"SunTzu.4513" said: > >But a question that can be made is, should mobs in Path of Fire+ have their engagement distance reduced? > > That's a good one. Like on other topics towards difficulty/annoyance in the OW there should be a middle way. I would say yes. But not generally. A good compromise for me would be tune down some of the aggro range for some types of mobs but others should stay like how they are. I would take the route of having a wider aggro range on guarded places like fortresses of the the forged or heartland/main structures of jokos awakend forces. Maybe an other workround would be that different types of mobs are capped on the ability to call for help. Something like a normal food soldier can bring max 3 other mobs into battle by calling out for help or for every mob which is joining the radius for get other mobs into battle will decrase for a ceratin amount of range. Other mobs like commanders/leaders/vets should have a long aggro range and should be able to draw more mobs into battle by calling out for help. I like this idea (different types of mobs having different aggro ranges and effects). I would further extend the idea so that specific mobs, such as that one forged type that marks targets for other forged sharpshooters, would have long aggro range and could bring in specific allies. > @"mindcircus.1506" said: > **A few of honest questions to those who agree with the OP:** > 1. Are there any specific areas on the PoF maps where you think there are problems? > 2. Are there any mobs/enemy types that you feel are specifically overtuned? > 3. Would you describe yourself as a new, intermediate or veteran player? I don't actually agree with OP (who describes PoF mobs as less 'easy' than other areas), but I agree with the general sentiment that the design is a bit annoying, and overall detracts from the experience of being inside a PoF map. So answers: 1. The fallen statue HP in Elon Riverlands is a good example of what I don't like. There's always a bunch of harpies hanging around there, and they're quite easy to deal with. They're just a pointless annoyance though, and IMO they add nothing (lore, immersion, combat challenge, etc.). They seem to be there purely to disrupt your ability to channel an HP or just take a look around at the environment. At least in core maps most of the time harpies are hanging around their nesting sites, outside of dynamic events. See, this isn't just about aggro range on the Forged/Awakened. It's about spamming useless fights that don't even have an ambience or storytelling value to them. Just complete wastes of time. 2. No. I can kill them all, on every class. But again, ability to kill these with ease was never my beef with PoF. 3. Veteran. Not like OG GW1 players or anything, but I've played GW2 for 5 years, 24K achieves, capped mastery, 7 or so legendaries, etc. Not the absolute greatest, but I know how to handle combat and the game in general.

> @"Fuchslein.8639" said: TLDR; Even if it makes logical 'sense' for PoF mobs to just be everywhere all the time, it's still a terrible design decision, and one that is inferior to how they designed mob interactions in core maps. > I don't have much time for GW2. The reason I played it in the first place is because everyone advertises that GW2 is casual and work friendly. I don't want to spend my time slaughtering through hordes of mobs, easy or hard. There are plenty of games where you can do that. That's why I liked Core Gw2 and HOT. You can just ignore the mobs. While in POF you should get rid of them if you want to do screens or something else because of the range. I feel exactly the same on this issue. There's a lot of value to being able to just look around and take in the map environments, and that's getting increasingly less worth it to try. I also play GW2 because it's not about grinding 2000x mobs everywhere you go, and I'm sure many others feel the same as we do. I'd have to go back and check more places to be 100% sure, but I feel like core maps were designed with much more logic to mob locations and patterns. For instance, you can get around Queensdale along many paved roads that don't randomly have enemies sitting on them for no reason. You run into centaurs by their encampments, and bandits by their hideouts. The only time you see mobs actively coming towards guarded (or at least, usually quiet) areas is during dynamic events. This, to me, is the feature that most distinguishes GW2 from the standard mmo. Said standard mmos often have mobs standing out in the field. Literally standing still. There is no reason for them to be where they are and do nothing all day until a player comes along. The fact that there was some logic and movement to mob patterns is what made the core GW2 experience so attractive and different for me, and they're losing touch with that. I get that both awakened and forged are not really standard living enemies, like the ones often encountered in a lot of core maps. They're closer to branded, which admittedly in core maps you find standing around in open spaces not really doing anything other than... existing. Neither awakened nor forged really seem to need to protect themselves from weather or hunger (or any of the typical hazards that life-forms have to deal with), so it's not totally illogical that you could encounter them in random places very far from any base or facility. That still doesn't change how I feel though. Logical or not, I don't like how their design is leaning harder into "let's use mobs that we can just drop anywhere, anytime, for any reason, and not have to actually design a good map 'feeling' around them."

> @"Algreg.3629" said: > > @"battledrone.8315" said: > > > @"AliamRationem.5172" said: > > > > @"battledrone.8315" said: > > > > > @"AliamRationem.5172" said: > > > > > > @"battledrone.8315" said: > > > > > > > @"Steve The Cynic.3217" said: > > > > > > > > @"Shikaru.7618" said: > > > > > > > > Here is something that a lot of the mmos youve mentioned have in common. They all have an easily identifiable gear score or damage score, so when you get a new piece of gear, you can make informed decisions at a glance and know if you're getting an upgrade or downgrade. Gw2 does not really present any of that information to you easily. It is very easy to gear and build your character incorrectly and be completely oblivious that you did so. The difference between the average player and top tier raiders is 10x according to a dev despite having the same tier of gear. Imagine if you magically dealt 10x damage right now. Would you still be struggling with open world? Thats the reality that a lot of us veterans are trying to tell you. Anything thats not a champion or bounty will basically melt in open world. You just need proper builds and proper stat combos on your gear. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > OK, but how would you construct such a gear score (SWTOR calls it "Item Rating", for reference) in GW2? Would it have to show bias toward certain stats? If so, why? (I have a Reaper build that's based on *Valkyrie* gear, kitten. With all that Vitality, a stat-biased gear score would probably mark it down, but it's almost indestructible and still delivers substantial damage.) Then again, in most games, the gear score (whatever it's called) is some way short of the full answer, since it almost never identifies gearsets that are weak because of an improper stat mix. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > And in general, this thread reminds me of something I said in [another thread](https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/comment/1340112#Comment_1340112) ... > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Game difficulty should not be set up for the wilfully obtuse. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > There is a very wide range of player-skill in any MMORPG, but while general content must take into account the less-skilled players, the players who will not learn how to play (not talking learning disabilities here, but wilful obtuseness) should not be part of that analysis. > > > > > > > > > > > > if i have to go to another website to find a build, then the game has failed. if they let me get to max level with "wrong "build, then the game has failed > > > > > > if they dont let me play my own build, then there is no point in playing an RPG at all > > > > > > > > > > I would say that if you can throw darts at the skill tree with a blindfold on and still succeed, then the game has failed. GW2's system provides players the freedom to build however they like. This as opposed to a game like WoW, where you simply pick a class and a role and every choice you make falls within those parameters and only the latest content presents a challenge if you keep your gear current. GW2 lets you choose stats and traits with anti-synergy and your item level can't save you if you play like a potato. Pick your poison. I think both systems have their pros and cons. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > so its like a buffet, but you are only supposed to mix it like they intended? yea, that went well, didnt it? they either need to revamp the whole system, > > > > or at least make some tutorials on buildcrafting. the steam crowd is gonna rip it apart in reviews, if they dont. oddly enough, EVE was about the same age before they made a proper tutorial too. > > > > > > You can quite literally build however you like. The system has no hard limits to prevent you from, for example, designing a hybrid DPS/healer that deals low damage while providing more healing than is necessary in solo play but also not enough healing/support to be useful in group play. You'll probably find yourself complaining about "HP sponges", failing DPS check mechanics, and getting into arguments with other players in groups if you use such a build, though. > > > > > > I'm not opposed to having better information, but I think the system is too complex for an effective tutorial. Resources like the forums, the wiki, and various fan sites do the deep diving required to really refine your understanding of buildcraft. If that's too much for some players to handle, perhaps an MMO where players typically play for years is not the best format for them? > > > > lol, 10 years of STO, 8 years dcuo, wow, FF ARR, CoH, SWTOR, wildstar, EVE, BDO, LOTRO, RIFT, AION, warframe, TERA, and the list goes on and on > > if its a big mmo, theres a good chance, that i have played it at some point. still subbed to dcuo, but not playing as much anymore, due to burnout > > and, have you been good in any of those? God, even EVE, man, I would love to see how you fared there, especially in that particular forum environment (for people unfamiliar with EVE: In their forums, actual admins tell you basically to kitten off when you whine about difficulty) Given the posts of his I've seen thus far, I'd put money on a hard "no" as the correct answer to your question. Furthermore, SWTOR and BDO have absolutely no place in any discussion when it comes to builds, build effectiveness, and game difficulties related to build effectiveness. SWTOR adopted what I'm told is a WoW-like system (don't know for sure, since I never played WoW), where you pick a class and a specialization, and you have maybe 2-3 meaningful choices along the way while the rest your build is preset. BDO's "build" system is literally "get all the skill XP you can and get _every single passive and active ability_ for your class. There's zero variety and choice at truly endgame levels of character progression. You can build different gear sets though to achieve different things, but that's a discussion for another time. So yeah, even if battledrone was any good at SWTOR or BDO, it would say very little about his ability to navigate GW2. There are a few other things on that list that obviously share similar irrelevance (EVE and LOTRO are probably the worst offenders), but eh, not worth the effort at this point to discuss.

> @"Westenev.5289" said: > I'm pretty sure it's working as intended then, because Anet doesn't want meta races. But it does beg the question - why do racial skills exist, if they're among the skills so weak you couldn't even theorycraft a roleplay build around them. I say it's the result of the devs trying to have their cake and eat it too. Racial skills seem meant to offer a way to play each race differently in combat, but not _that_ differently to actually matter. So the result is a bunch of useless abilities. Allowing all races to access them would strip them of their one reason to exist (differentiate the races), but eh. I'm not saying that they couldn't be revamped or reworked to be relevant. However, reworking things is not what ANet does. The studio seems to have an allergy when it comes to iteration, or at least revisiting currently bad systems that nonetheless have potential. They'd much rather just let it rot in a corner and give us the next shiny new thing. While I'd personally prefer it if they stopped doing this and reworked some older stuff, I can't say that their choice is the wrong one - I'm still here, as are many others.

Eh. ANet made 9 classes (arguably 18 if we're counting elite specs) for us to play, nobody is making you run bannerslave and nothing else. What you've said here is "I am choosing to run this one specific spec on this one specific class, and all game content in the future must cater to my particular choice." I think that's pretty dumb.

I think OPs problems are more fundamental than barriers to raid entry. More so than most, GW2's endgame is a bit of a slow burn - because it's so easy to cap out on level/gear/mastery, the long-term goals are either player-generated or achievement hunting. OP does not seem like the kind of player who appreciates as slow of a burn as the one GW2 offers. TLDR; you're probably going to quit soon anyways, why bother with raiding?

> @"Astralporing.1957" said: > That's why i'm not in support of the gemstore option, but rather for introducing more of a low hanging fruit in-game ones. This is my opinion as well. I agree that MP feel like a form of progess that _shouldn't_ be sold on the gem store, for reasons already mentioned in the thread. However, I do feel that the _impulse_ that OP expressed (and I'm sure many others share) needs to be addressed. IBS has combined the absolutely tightest MP margins I can remember with the absolutely grindiest MP achieves I can remember. Just another one of the many elements that make me hate IBS with a passion. Weak narrative, largely uninteresting combat, AND poor reward/progression structure? Can't wait until EoD comes out and I can move on past this debacle.

> @"battledrone.8315" said: > this isnt casual, it is just annoying. I very rarely agree with anything you say, but I _do_ very much agree with you on this. PoF open world is certainly not difficult, but it's a _chore_. To me, "casual" isn't just about how difficult the mobs are, but how free you are to wander around a game environment without being maximally efficient at combat. You can still get around PoF without being that great at GW2 combat, but your ability to enjoy the spectacle and scale of the maps essentially drops to 0.