rrusse.7058

Well group content is designed to be done in groups, but in the open world its fine to encounter others. * Loot is automatically assigned. * Players loot resource nodes sepparate from other players. * Other players means your are more likely to defeat enemies if it is a combat encounter. * Encounters can be quicker with more players. Granted not always. * Even if you do not interact with other players, your play experience is largely unaffected and you can proceed at your pace. This is all in line with Arenanet's manifesto back in 2012. They wanted a world where players are happy to play with and encounter others. That's part of the reason they got rid of the Hero or Companion mechanic. It didn't make sense to have to bring AI with you if you design your game to offer players enough power and incentive to work together.

I've been wanting a topic that touches on something like this. If you want an example of a level and boss battle that teaches the player what to look out for, while being both challenging and fair. Then look no further than the **Nightmare Fractal**. Honestly I can't sing praise for it quite enough. For the sake of simplicity lets just consider the regular version as oppose to the Challenge one. The first fight you start out against the **Mobile Artillery**. This boss teaches the player about a handful of mechanics. We have: * Projectiles * fire spin attack * shockwaves * poison fields * large quarter circle attacks and the room-wide explosion that is blocked with the bubble. Now admittedly that is a lot on paper but for the most part these attacks are isolated and come one at a time with clear tells. Then we have the **Altar** section where players need to * capture points while avoiding projectiles. * shockwaves and mobs. This is also the section that players learn blue projectiles are good and heal you. **Siax the Unclean** is next. This boss teaches players to * interrupt or break the breakbar. * powerful tail swipe * poison bubble/seed attack that bounces outwards and teaches players to watch where projectiles go as well as not to stand in the area they touch. Finally Siax teaches players about the vomit mechanic. Now mind you each of these challenges are not a big deal when they are isolated and come at you one at a time more or less. However when rolled together, they pose a more serious threat to you and your group. That is why the final boss is great and works as a sort of final exam of all you have learned. **Ensolyss** employs all of the previous mechanics, but to the greatest degree and often many of them are rolled into one or two attacks. Look at the point when he spawns his mobs and they try to stab your teammates while he casts a shockwave attack. This requires players to mind their positioning, while also considering where or how to dodge the shockwave as getting hit by both can result in a KO in higher fractal levels. If you are a new player, regarless of game mode. Consider what gear you are running and what utilities you have. What options, if any do you have to save yourself when things get dicey? It's sometimes better to sacrifice a little DPS for more survivability because a downed player contributes nothing. Heck even a little more knowledge and familiarity will go a long way in keeping you in fights and understanding what to look for through all the visual noise.

> @"Fire Attunement.9835" said: > I want to touch on this note quickly to say that you're absolutely right. That's on us, and you're going to start seeing communication about these faction updates on our channels in all of our supported languages. > > Thanks very much. That's really all we can ask for and do. Arenanet as well as @"Fire Attunement.9835" have been better than most companies and individuals out there. I know some smart alack members of the community may try to argue otherwise but we appreciate it. As for those smart alack members, it's okay to critique others, but try to do it as a sandwich if you must. Good, bad, good yeah?

@"kamikharzeeh.8016" Fair enough. I won't pretend to know exactly how long bugs have been sitting in PvP. That is admittedly a bad one and its not good that Arenanet let it sit for that long. It doesn't seem right for folks to treat this as a balance patch when it simply isn't that. I would love to have one, but we know why there have not been any major changes, and acting like we don't know or undertand why is ignorance.

Can we at least use the correct nomenclature? This was not a balance patch. There weren't even notes to coincide with it. What this was, was a hot fix. The purpose was to bring some outliers and bugs in line. There is little reason to making huge balance patches when there is an expansion a few months out. Each profession is going to get a huge shake up and the meta we know now will be very different. It's okay to want more, but let's at least be realistic about it and call it for what it is. A hot fix.

I feel as though Engineer is a somewhat selfish profession when it comes to giving out useful offensive boons. It converts condis to boons like no other thanks to 'Purity of Purpose' but it could stand to get more viable options for what it brings to the table in group play. Any weapon and theme will do. Just want a spec that contributes more.

There is a very wide spectrum of skill and knowledge some players have in this game. I believe Arenanet themselves have said the difference in damage output alone can be as great as 10x. Yet Arenanet is forced to develop content that is doable for players that fall into the lowest common denominator, but interesting and challenging enough for experts. That's a tall order when you consider that, and the fact that a game like this has veterans that may stop playing, new people coming in for the first time, people that are casual, people that play daily, people that just do content 'x', 'y' or 'z'. That's why content even from 2012, or 2015 can still fail.

I doubt EoD will go the way IBS has as @"maddoctor.2738" suggests. Areanet has a history of being receptive to the community and even the last patch addressed many of the issues 'Champions' had the first time around. I would even argue that Arenanet listen too much to the kneejerk reactions of the community to the degree that it is detrimental to the game. As @"Pifil.5193" said, this is likely the way Arenanet wants to make things more "replayable". I hope this iteration of "content" ends with the saga. If Dragon Response Missions, or whatever they become in the future are to stay, they should be used as sort of mini-episodes in between the major episodes.

I agree with @"Kodama.6453" . If you are using sword then starting with sword 3 to leap in closer while crippling helps a lot. Then switch into PF using 2 to get in closer if there is still a lot of distance. Though I find using PF 3 and timing it so the AoE goes off just as you leap in with 2 makes for a nice spike of damage.

I've said in other threads that DRMs would likely serve a better purpose if they worked as sort of mini-story steps in between big episodes. Imagine if in between episodes 'A Shadow in the Ice' and 'No Quarter' there was a mini-story mission like a DRM that helped set up the growing threat the Dominion posed to the United Legions? It would have a new daily and players could gather 'Dominion Cat-Tags' as a currency. They could trade those in to the United Legions as proof of their efforts to buy new Charr themed weapon and armor skins just like the ones we got with 'Visions of the Past' update. That way the slow grindy nature of the missions is more palatable to the playerbase since it's not a true episode anyway, writers have a little more wiggle room and devs hopfully have more breathing room to make and add content to maintain player interest and retention.

While I am on the same page as @"Tony.8659" , the main concern here is why isn't Arenanet drawing more attention to the current update? To answer @"MarshallLaw.9260" 's question, I believe it is because it is a design oversight as the Icebrood Saga is essentially on life support. It's all hands on deck for End of Dragons and as @"Tony.8659" said, the content itself is mostly filler content with a large amount of grind to hopefully stretch out the remainder of IBS until EoD is realeased or at the very least enough hype is built up for it.

I couldn't agree more! I loved maps like The Silverwastes. Asking players to interact with the map and the events to progress it. Maps can move faster or slower based on how well the playerbase coordinate themselves. Drizzlewood Coast just feels like a natural evolution of that same idea. In more recent years I've come to appreciate HoT maps. I hope that EoD will have a mix of maps that are similar to HoT and maps similar to Drizzlewood or Silverwastes

Unfortunately, the most interesting aspects of Ryland, as much as his character would hate to admit it, are all variables that he had no control over. He is related to Rytlock and he was useful enough to be manipulated by Jormag while maintaining enough autonomy to think he plays an important role.> @"Azure The Heartless.3261" said: > [spoilers below] > > I think the whole angle that Ryland is immature as a leader/has parental issues is part of the driving force for that part of the story. If it was Bangar the story would be open and shut; nobody from the main char cast really likes him to begin with, and the charr that -did- like him defected very quickly. > > There is a lot of nuance and a lot of room left for Ryland to grow as either a villain or with a heel-face. Not as properly suited as Bangar but I think the betrayal aspect lends itself to that. This is a pretty interesting point. Just about any character and story can be made interesting, it just depends on how you tell it. In an alternative telling of IBS, it is Bangar leading the Icebrood and Jormag's forces through a perceived arms race against the Charr. With the current story we have Ryland instead leading the Icebrood to stop Primordus instead and the free people of Tyria are nothing more than a resource for his/Jormag's end. Obvious corruption of Jormag there, twisting his mind to make Jormag's ideals seem like your own. What's the more interesting story to tell here? One of a young, budding yet immature leader and their fall from grace or a story of veteran that loses sight of their path out of fear of the boogey man in his closet? I just like Ryland a little less because much of his character is made up of things that he had little say or control over. Being the son of a hero and now the champion of dragon because he is useful.

I think it would be interesting to consider "What does the warrior profession need right now?" It has a spec that is DPS as well as condi DPS focused with Berserker, boon punish and interupter with Spellbreaker. What direction or option should warrior have next? After considering that point, then it would make sense to consider what weapon works best. Any weapon can be made to fit just about any theme. Look at Revenants and Mesmer, they use martial weapons as long-range attack weapons.

> @"Touchme.1097" said: > The writers could have done a better job with Primordius giving him a decent personality. In other games story fire is the element of purity, cleanse, rebirth. It's not just chaos and destruction like the elder dragons represents. > @"mercury ranique.2170" said: > I like that they are described as opposites. So Jormag as the dragon who can reason, deceit, lie and be verbally mouthed. Primordus being honest, truthfull and silent. Just pure destruction, just like his brother, but being honest about it. Wow, these are some interesting ideas that I believe could be used to really bring Primordus to life as a character. While Primordus is meant to be the dragon of fire and conflaguration, the result of that fire is a new start or a sort of reset to the what once was. This plays nicely into the motif of fire vs. ice with Jormag representing ice, preservation and deceit. Primordus is fire, renewal and not so much "truth" but perhaps brusk or brusque? Like Primordus is more to the point in a harsh way.

> @"Fueki.4753" said: > I certainly hope the next season will be called Season 6. > After all, Season 5 already is the Grindflood Saga. The name is irrelevant to the overall quality of the content in my opinion. The naming becomes very important when we consider the perspective of a new player however. If we see something like 'Season 6', that means there are 5 previous seasons I have missed and I dunno if I want to jump in as a new player since there is so much I missed. However if it is called something like 'Jade Sea Saga', then I don't have to feel bad about missing the previus content and I can focus on the what is coming to the game currently. I see your point though. I would like to see whatever comes after EoD to at least be the quality and cadence of Season 4. Arenanet really knocked it out of the pack back then.

> @"Killerassel.2197" said: > I agree, DRMs are a really great concept. I was very happy when I read that instead of a strike mission there will be new repeatable instanced content that can be soloed. So yes, please, Anet, make more DRMs. In IBS, EoD and beyond. Well, possibly under a new name, for missions not about immediate dragon minion attacks, but with the same tech and concept. And before someone jumps on me: CAN be soloed does not mean must be soloed. Existing groups, e.g. guilds or fractal statics, can do them together. And with the optional CMs you can even tune the difficulty level a bit to your liking. > > On paper strike missions sound nice too. But just look at one of the existing threads about strikes, LFG and LI requirements. No need to reiterate all that here, but I, personally, think they have failed their goal and are not content I can enjoy or even participate in on a regular basis. And I know I am not alone. For DRMs I don't need to deal with that. > > I still think some story steps belong into classic, old-style story instances. But for story steps where it fits DRMs are great. Unlike story instances they are easily accessible without restarting the episode and they give some reward for replaying them. > > Could the reward be better? Sure. Is the reward terrible? I don't think so. In addition to the episode currency and prismaticite I get the drops from the mobs and the end chest. Probably not as much as I could get from farming e.g. RIBA, but also less boring that c > > I think some of the existing DRMs need to be tuned a bit better and some fixes here and there. But this is independent of DRMs as a concept. I like that about DRMs as well. Suppose after EoD and we are into LW season 5/Saga 2. DRMs could just become Response Missions and works as sort of mini story instances with repeatable content between LW/Saga episodes to keep the game moving and perhaps give the writers a littler more wiggle room. Just a quick mini episode that is repeatable, offers some sort of reward. Can be done in groups or solo and have a Challenge Mode if people want that.

> @"Linken.6345" said: > As Ayrilana.1396 said they already scale and the rewards for fraction are 1 week when the release then they dont come back anymore so you can safely use up your crystal bloom and ebon vanguard (apparently the ebon vanguard ones are bugged atm) if your still holding on to any of those. Bugged? Oh great. Hopefully they'll fix them with the next patch.

As others have mentioned. Scaling them work for groups as well as solo would help the interaction with the content. Clarity on the reward and systems that go along with it would help as well. What is even the point of having multiple currencies for each specific faction? Each faction has unique rewards for a week and you have to wait for them to rotate in to buy them? Since when is waiting for rewards a fun experience?

Living World isn't necessarily a "flop". It just doesn't pull in new blood like an expansion does. Yes some episodes are perhaps weaker in their delivery and content than others. However they do a decent job of providing _existing_ players with plenty to do. It also doesn't help that the Living World has held the sterotype of being "An hour of content and you're done." We have come a long way from the days of _Flame and Frost_ starring the Commander of the Pact, signpost repair extrordinaire for those that were around back then. Sure maybe the _Champions_ season finale so far is a little lackluster in terms of content, we at least know exactly why it is lacking. People will see that the population will spike greatly when _End of Dragons_ hits and it naturally will level off again. We will likely see another spike with the eventual Steam release and a leveling off again with whatever Living World, or iteration they create after EoD. This is just the natural ebb and flow of an online game. Nothing to be alarmed of.

Said in another thread as well that I am getting 700+ ping from Japan after the last patch.

Arenanet said they were testing out some fixes for some of the lag we have been experiencing for the last several months, but I am getting an average ping of 700+ from Japan and its making Bell Choir impossible.

The metas I am stuck on are the ones that are basically "Kill 1000 rats.". Yes I know this is an MMO and grind is there to help drag the content out since there is no way to make content quickly enough to keep up with the rate it is consumed/experienced. I just wish Arenanet would spend more time making achievements that are "Explore x" or "Find the coins." since thes can be done at your leisure.