ThomasC.1056

> @Swagger.1459 said:

> > @ThomasC.1056 said:

> > Condis shouldn't be bursty, it's a fact. In a perfect game, indeed, they should deal slightly more damage than power, but over a significant amount of time. Which justifies Dire and TB stats to exist.

> >

> > Now, they _are_ bursty, which is an issue in PvP and WvW, and their key efficiency in PvE. Why ? Specifically in PvP game modes :

> > 1. Because they can

> > 2. Because it's too dangerous to engage in a long fight (dangerous and boring, btw)

> > 3. Because, whatever people say, condi will deal more damage than power only if they're not removed or negated (resistance). So as the condi removal is a big thing (firebrands ?), a burst is the logical solution.

> >

> > Now, that change is a difficult bet for condi users. It raises the risk, and shed a strong uncertainity on the reward. It's also a dangerous path to follow. We'll see...

>

> In the perfect scenario, Anet changes (what they call) condi damage skills... to DoT/Periodic damage... just like every other game on the market. And this DoT damage is treated like any other form of damage with regard to stats and armor damage mitigation. DoT skills can also critical. Secondary Status Effects (CC) in skills (chill, immob, cripple, daze...) are mitigated by the various cleansing/removal skills...

>

> We shall see what happens, but I’m not hopeful.

I'm not hopeful the slightest as well. Increasing the condi duration might compensate in PvE (+raids etc.) but is a nonsense in PvP/WvW. They could make condis last 75s it wouldn't change a thing for the simple reason that fights are too quickly finished. Beyond a specific threshold, it's no use to increase the duration.

Moreover, the biggest issue to me isn't the damage figures, but the application/removal rate that make condi an actually not-so-reliable source of damage. Any news on that topic ? Of course not ! That'd require bringing down whole elite specs and whole traitlines.

Acolyte Sousuke : mentionned as being the first weaver, having learned from the Djinns how to split his focus.

Condis shouldn't be bursty, it's a fact. In a perfect game, indeed, they should deal slightly more damage than power, but over a significant amount of time. Which justifies Dire and TB stats to exist.

Now, they _are_ bursty, which is an issue in PvP and WvW, and their key efficiency in PvE. Why ? Specifically in PvP game modes :

1. Because they can

2. Because it's too dangerous to engage in a long fight (dangerous and boring, btw)

3. Because, whatever people say, condi will deal more damage than power only if they're not removed or negated (resistance). So as the condi removal is a big thing (firebrands ?), a burst is the logical solution.

Now, that change is a difficult bet for condi users. It raises the risk, and shed a strong uncertainity on the reward. It's also a dangerous path to follow. We'll see...

With Daybeak release, I rushed a bit to finish Vabbi, but now, as I'm done with most of what I wanted to do in PoF, I think it's time for my feedback.

**New maps :**

* May be too overcrowded by enemies some times, especially Desolation and Vabbi. Like : you're looking for the path to go to that vista, and you're attacked all the time, and just can't focus.

* Most reknown hearts are plain boring and uninspired.

* Replayability is awful. I did the maps 7 times, and it was boring.

* No real reason to come back to maps once you're done with your selected achievements. All that creative work is disposable and going to waste in a matter of weeks ?

* The moron who designed that PoI east of the jackal's place, atop a tower with those flamethrowers, that very PoI that serves no purpose but map completion, that one should really consider switching career.

**Artistic departement :**

* New maps are really nicely done. Special mention to desert highlands and the whole branded areas.

* Music is mostly uninspired and prosy, with the notable exception of that Desolation's theme that uses the bass flute **and the choya dance theme**.

* 5 new armors sets : that's far more than HoT so that's a good thing.

* New armor sets are mostly nice, and light armors are more revealing for male toons. That's much appreciated.

* Unfortunately, new armor don't really fit well with previous one, either from a pure esthetics point of view, or from terrible clipping issues (pants vs. boots, mostly)

* New ascended elite specs weapons are overall nicer than Hot's

* New weapons set feel uninspired.

**Lore and story :**

* Everything was smooth and fine till Kesho. It feels rushed afterwards.

* Too many unclear things : what is Balthazar doing at mouth of torment ? in Vabbi ? How come we know we must head to Kodash to face him ? Maybe it's written somewhere ; I still haven't found it.

* Sidekicks are fair, but that's all.

**New foes :**

* Jacarandas and Ibogas are nicely done and are a good update of what they were in GW1.

* There's far too many skill denying : range denying, melee denying (lions), CC's all around. If designer's notion of challenge is "prevent 80% of skills to hit", then please fire those designers.

* I really liked how Djinns are now shown as individual with a personnality, amongst a race that has a culture and an identity.

* Please cut with foes that can 2 shoot you. Challenging fights must last a bit to use skill, and not a macro-ed rotation.

**Elite specs :**

I only tested 7 of them.

* Mostly interesting additions

* Too many bugs raised during beta are still here

* Mirage and Scourge recent nerfs are a shameful confession of ineptitude. You made a lot of hype during videos or with streamers about how amazing those were, only to confess later than all this aweseome efficiency was built over plain bugs. Fixing the bugs is a pure nerf hammer, and I hope that those elite specs will come back inline far quicker than Mallyx Rev did.

**Mounts :**

* A really good addition to the game, but...

* Skimmer feels like I'm riding an anvil on an ice rink.

* They're far too fragile, especially with how hard any foe can hit.

**Miscelleanous :**

Even if it was nice, some things felt stale. Even if there were explosions and flashlights all around, some things felt prosy. I hardly felt involved in the story, in the action, because I didn't have time to fully explore and enjoy everything. Maybe only because I was under attack all the time, or because the LWS4 is already up ? I'm positive a lot of players are already done with PoF and all though. It lacks the life HoT had, it lacked the consistency it had.

As for many things I saw, many obnoxious chores I had to do, many foes I fought, many mechanics I analysed, I wondered : whose enjoyement has that been designed for ? Mine, or the devs' ? I begun LWS4 lately, and I feel like I'll have to write that again in the dedicated feedback thread.

> @ArmageddonAsh.6430 said:

> > @ThomasC.1056 said:

> > You're optimistic in that ! With PoF, they've been building hype on Scourge and Mirage, with all those insane giggles from WP and the devs, during beta, to eventually get the nerf hammer... Sorry... Fix bugs ! I bitterly remember that video with the scourge using portal from a kind of bridge to the floor below. Now, it's LoS. I remember all the burning ticks popping off the pack of golems in the PvP lobby. It has been nerfed. Sorry. Bug fixed. (I just can't seem to get along with that)

> >

> > All of this to say : they're not waiting for XPack 3 to nerf elite specs ! They just wait for release...

> >

> > _Disclaimer : I quoted scourge and mirage because these were the most obvious examples of what I'm saying. I'm not saying here that any of those elite specs are balanced or any kind of fine for WvW._

>

>

> Outside of Mesmer (i dont play Mirage) those nerfs to Scourge were VERY much needed. Now, what they should have done is fix them BEFORE they released the game. Waiting SO long into the game before fixing/nerfing them is whats wrong. If they were "bugged" why did it take them SO long to see it!? If it was "Bugged" why wasnt it fixed during the betas and everything!?

If I was paranoid, and an adept of conspiracy theories, I'd say that they purposely shown big numbers in order to build hype over OP elite specs, and then, they "fixed the bugs" in a shameless demonstration that those "bugs" were actually what the elite specs efficiency was built upon.

Fortunately, I'm not a paranoid adept of conspiracy theories, and I'm therefore concluding that they just oversaw it because of sheer ineptitude.

> @ArmageddonAsh.6430 said:

> Anet simply doesnt have the ability and skill to be able to fix all the things they have managed to break since the release of the game and personally, i think they have given up entirely and liking writing the rest of the game off, hugely buffing new specs up to sell copies of new expansions and then nerfing them before the next expansion to to sell copies of the new one because power creep if the way to go, rather than making FUN and skill based specs. Why go that route? when you just just make them flat out better in. Every. Single. Way :/

You're optimistic in that ! With PoF, they've been building hype on Scourge and Mirage, with all those insane giggles from WP and the devs, during beta, to eventually get the nerf hammer... Sorry... Fix bugs ! I bitterly remember that video with the scourge using portal from a kind of bridge to the floor below. Now, it's LoS. I remember all the burning ticks popping off the pack of golems in the PvP lobby. It has been nerfed. Sorry. Bug fixed. (I just can't seem to get along with that)

All of this to say : they're not waiting for XPack 3 to nerf elite specs ! They just wait for release...

_Disclaimer : I quoted scourge and mirage because these were the most obvious examples of what I'm saying. I'm not saying here that any of those elite specs are balanced or any kind of fine for WvW._

I'm not really sure of it.

To me, current world bosses (both core and HoT) suffer from being a bit old. Most players are therefore used to mechanics, and with the overall power creep, a fairly organized map can do them without thinking too much about it. Yet, when Tequatl has been re-done, it was challenging.

So the thing is : challenge is not "absolute", and in order to provide more challenging content, I'd be far more for a nice revamp of other world bosses, and my favor would go to Ulgoth the Modniir, which has a developped pre-event chain that would provide more in-depth.

And for rewards : please, don't crack such jokes like "more rewarding" without warning... I almost died of laughter.

Interesting analysis. I'd just like to add that, beyond individual stats, there also are some small group synergies that are probably intended for bosses that hit like a nuclear bombe while being tanky as skritt... And those synergies are an absolute blast in WvW against 15k to 35k HP enemies.

> @xDudisx.5914 said:

> Scourge and spellbreaker have spammable aoe boon removal, it wouldn't surprise me if the new raid bosses spam boons that need to be removed every couple seconds.

Slightly off-topic but probably true given all the boons trash mobs from PoF are spamming !

> @Wanze.8410 said:

> > @ThomasC.1056 said:

> > [Here's the source](https://www.economie.gouv.fr/dgccrf/Publications/Vie-pratique/Fiches-pratiques/Loterie). _French site, baguette speakers only._

> >

> > Obviously, loot boxes met the 4 criterias : public = gamers, gain = whatever is in it, random outcome, and fee asked (gems, eventhough they can be "no real money", in GW2 case).

>

> I would argue that the 2nd criteria, gain, isnt met.

>

> Because the ToS clearly states that your whole game account and everything in it (apart from gems paid for with real money in some countries) is still owned by Anet, so you dont gain anything except temporary access to a service. And by agreeing to the ToS, you acknowledged Anet's reserved right to limit your access to that service for any reason they deem fit.

In France, part of laws are labeled "Of public order", which means they override whatever would be written in a contract that contradicts them. There're also laws that prevent a contract to involve nonsense or unfair terms, like "By agreeing this ToS, you allow Lucifer Inc. to claim your soul, your partner's, your children's and your cat's and dog's." Even if you sign it, a judge can state that this clause was illegal, and prevent Lucifer Inc. to claim your cat's soul. In ANet's case, claiming a constant ownership and a right to limit my access for unexplicit reasons (unexplicit as in "Not explicitly written in the contract") may be considered such an unfair term, and be declared illegal and nullified. All of this to say : agreeing with ToS doesn't mean everything's in it is legal and can be opposed to you. I saw some news years ago that a lot of ToS from big firms (like OS developpers) had huge parts of illegal things, but as France doesn't really have a class action mechanic, it'd require each and every individual to sue the big firm to have it removed.

Then, even if I'm enough of a scholar to read the texts, I'm not enough of a lawyer to really embrace all that they involve. Moreover, it raises territorial questions, because some other countries may see things some other way (just like China, in which the RNG rates are public). So it's pure speculation. It's always interesting to think things thoroughly, but in my opinion, it may not really be worth the grey matter for only mount skins.

On the french side of the Ardennes, the law is quite clear : any kind of lottery is baseline forbidden (with some cultural exceptions). The law states that a lottery is forbideen when the 4 following conditions are met :

* It's offered to a public ;

* There's hope for a gain ;

* Random factor is involved ;

* The operator asks for a fee, whatever kind it is (money or anything), and even if a refund is promised.

[Here's the source](https://www.economie.gouv.fr/dgccrf/Publications/Vie-pratique/Fiches-pratiques/Loterie). _French site, baguette speakers only._

Obviously, loot boxes met the 4 criterias : public = gamers, gain = whatever is in it, random outcome, and fee asked (gems, eventhough they can be "no real money", in GW2 case). Legally, the fact that "it's only cosmetic" or "it's only in game" doesn't really matter in french law, just like for theft where it's the very same thing if one steals an egg or a beef.

On the other hand, a precursor drop can't be considered a lottery because even if it's a random gain, there's no specific fee involved beyond the ISP costs and the game of course (which are excluded in the lottery definition).

Now, I have no clue if French authorities opened an inquiry about the loot boxes topic. If someone knows, please share !

I understand the concern, and I also wish people would just sit with a cup a good tea and enjoy the ride. Yet...

I can see several reasons the "meta" gets that much favor :

* Some hard encounters have a timer, and players want to play it safe ;

* People are jaded/bored and don't want to bother spending too much time with fights, so they pick the build that allows them to finish fights as quick as possible ;

* In most open-PvE cases, sustain and support are worthless because you can't afford a fight to drag. Some mobs have an insane HP pool, and hit really hard, nullifying all your investment in such stats and skills. This is why most specs have been damage oriented, with the highest damage output possible : just to play it safe.

I don't agree with everything, nor do I "run full zerk+scholar", but these are the ones I hear the most.

> @DarcShriek.5829 said:

> > @ThomasC.1056 said:

> > > @Randulf.7614 said:

> > > > @ThomasC.1056 said:

> > > > Who is that guy whom Rytlock talks to ? The very one that says "Aurene ?!" I truly hope he isn't. We never see the guy in PoF game, as far as I know, yet he seems to take a central part in the whole story, as we also saw him in PoF trailer.

> > > >

> > > > Ok. Straight and bold.

> > > >

> > > > Is that guy supposed to be the hero, aka the _Player's Character_ ? If so, what about players who chose another gender or another race ?

> > > >

> > > > **If so, how am I supposed to feel involved in the whole story if I'm watching _someone else_ live the story in the trailers ?** Are ANet's storytellers so far away from players that they're now telling _their own_ stories for _themselves_ ? Are the players bound to only be watchers of the whole plot ?

> > >

> > > Likely just a placeholder for us. Our hero is both "the" hero and a grand heroic adventurer depending on the context. There isn't anyway the trailer could actually show us, so they prob show a random Character in our place.

> >

> > > @"Carlin Sanders.3587" said:

> > > > @ThomasC.1056 said:

> > > > Who is that guy whom Rytlock talks to ? The very one that says "Aurene ?!" I truly hope he isn't. We never see the guy in PoF game, as far as I know, yet he seems to take a central part in the whole story, as we also saw him in PoF trailer.

> > > >

> > > > Ok. Straight and bold.

> > > >

> > > > Is that guy supposed to be the hero, aka the _Player's Character_ ? If so, what about players who chose another gender or another race ?

> > > >

> > > > **If so, how am I supposed to feel involved in the whole story if I'm watching _someone else_ live the story in the trailers ?** Are ANet's storytellers so far away from players that they're now telling _their own_ stories for _themselves_ ? Are the players bound to only be watchers of the whole plot ?

> > >

> > > You try designing a character that represents all races, all professions, all choices and both sexes at the same time. I'm sure anet would love to hear about this omni character.

> > >

> > > In the meantime i just mentally replace them with my main.

> >

> > Don't ask impossible things. They can't portrait each and every possibility, and I'm not asking that.

> >

> > As far as I remember, in previous trailers, they _never_ impersonated the main character in such an obvious and univocal way. Previously, I saw them :

> > * Use a small pack of people, which is fine because players can see them as "random generic characters following the crew", as Ardid said,

> > * Make known NPC's (Rytlock e.g.) talk without him being on screen (transitions, landscapes, black screens...), so that players can figure the Charr is talking to them

> > * Use the first person view in situations where the PC was supposed to be there.

> >

> > I'm sure there're plenty of other ways to let the viewer know that the PC is involved, without using a placeholder. I don't want to "mentally switch the placeholder with my main". I'm not watching a movie and dreaming I'm Gandalf the White. I'm playing a Role Playing Game, and I'm supposed to be the main character in it (or whatever other role can be). That guy isn't _my_ character. How am I supposed to feel like things are made for me as a player (who said "customer" ?) ? Then again, how am I supposed to feel involved ?

> >

> > There're things that I can understand and cope with because it's a MMORPG and I'm an adult. But this ! Using a placeholder in trailers ! It's a path that I fondly disagree with. What will be next ? Devs playing the whole new chapter on youtube while I'm watching ? A movie release ? Guild Wars 2 living story on Netflix ?

> >

> > It can be made without a placeholder. So please get rid of that nonsense, work your videos so that the player feels involved and in the center of the story.

>

> It's a trailer, is it really necessary to bust their kitten over it?

Of course ! I'm supposed to be hyped. That's what a trailer is made for ! I'm supposed to be eager to log my character in, and go see Rytlock, share his hopes that Aurene still knows who her friends are, and watch the plot unveil as my character lives the whole story !

Right now, I'm no really hyped, because I saw Rytlock talk to some random guy that I don't know, about business that my character is supposed to be concerned about.

> @Randulf.7614 said:

> > @ThomasC.1056 said:

> > Who is that guy whom Rytlock talks to ? The very one that says "Aurene ?!" I truly hope he isn't. We never see the guy in PoF game, as far as I know, yet he seems to take a central part in the whole story, as we also saw him in PoF trailer.

> >

> > Ok. Straight and bold.

> >

> > Is that guy supposed to be the hero, aka the _Player's Character_ ? If so, what about players who chose another gender or another race ?

> >

> > **If so, how am I supposed to feel involved in the whole story if I'm watching _someone else_ live the story in the trailers ?** Are ANet's storytellers so far away from players that they're now telling _their own_ stories for _themselves_ ? Are the players bound to only be watchers of the whole plot ?

>

> Likely just a placeholder for us. Our hero is both "the" hero and a grand heroic adventurer depending on the context. There isn't anyway the trailer could actually show us, so they prob show a random Character in our place.

> @"Carlin Sanders.3587" said:

> > @ThomasC.1056 said:

> > Who is that guy whom Rytlock talks to ? The very one that says "Aurene ?!" I truly hope he isn't. We never see the guy in PoF game, as far as I know, yet he seems to take a central part in the whole story, as we also saw him in PoF trailer.

> >

> > Ok. Straight and bold.

> >

> > Is that guy supposed to be the hero, aka the _Player's Character_ ? If so, what about players who chose another gender or another race ?

> >

> > **If so, how am I supposed to feel involved in the whole story if I'm watching _someone else_ live the story in the trailers ?** Are ANet's storytellers so far away from players that they're now telling _their own_ stories for _themselves_ ? Are the players bound to only be watchers of the whole plot ?

>

> You try designing a character that represents all races, all professions, all choices and both sexes at the same time. I'm sure anet would love to hear about this omni character.

>

> In the meantime i just mentally replace them with my main.

Don't ask impossible things. They can't portrait each and every possibility, and I'm not asking that.

As far as I remember, in previous trailers, they _never_ impersonated the main character in such an obvious and univocal way. Previously, I saw them :

* Use a small pack of people, which is fine because players can see them as "random generic characters following the crew", as Ardid said,

* Make known NPC's (Rytlock e.g.) talk without him being on screen (transitions, landscapes, black screens...), so that players can figure the Charr is talking to them

* Use the first person view in situations where the PC was supposed to be there.

I'm sure there're plenty of other ways to let the viewer know that the PC is involved, without using a placeholder. I don't want to "mentally switch the placeholder with my main". I'm not watching a movie and dreaming I'm Gandalf the White. I'm playing a Role Playing Game, and I'm supposed to be the main character in it (or whatever other role can be). That guy isn't _my_ character. How am I supposed to feel like things are made for me as a player (who said "customer" ?) ? Then again, how am I supposed to feel involved ?

There're things that I can understand and cope with because it's a MMORPG and I'm an adult. But this ! Using a placeholder in trailers ! It's a path that I fondly disagree with. What will be next ? Devs playing the whole new chapter on youtube while I'm watching ? A movie release ? Guild Wars 2 living story on Netflix ?

It can be made without a placeholder. So please get rid of that nonsense, work your videos so that the player feels involved and in the center of the story.

Who is that guy whom Rytlock talks to ? The very one that says "Aurene ?!" I truly hope he isn't. We never see the guy in PoF game, as far as I know, yet he seems to take a central part in the whole story, as we also saw him in PoF trailer.

Ok. Straight and bold.

Is that guy supposed to be the hero, aka the _Player's Character_ ? If so, what about players who chose another gender or another race ?

**If so, how am I supposed to feel involved in the whole story if I'm watching _someone else_ live the story in the trailers ?** Are ANet's storytellers so far away from players that they're now telling _their own_ stories for _themselves_ ? Are the players bound to only be watchers of the whole plot ?

Well, I'm still wondering why you added that "anymore" in your title...

Even before PoF, you could be pulled off walls, and severly crushed by AoE while desperately trying to find that spot where you can shoot what's below without being 'out of sight", and not falling in the blob.

You've _never_ been allowed to defend, because the whole game engine favors the attacking side, and makes walls (and siege) a death trap. It just has been underlined through new AoE mechanics, new pulls, and no rewards for scouts and defenders that don't repair or stomp.

> @BunjiKugashira.9754 said:

> Sounds like (another) pathfinding bug to me. Mobs becoming invulnerable was originally used to prevent ranged players from killing helpless melee mobs from a safe ledge. If the mob can't find a valid path to the player it becomes invulnerable and breaks combat. Since this is also happening on flat terrain, it's obviously a bug.

>

> Does anyone know if this only affects melee mobs or are ranged mobs affected too?

I'm almost certain it affects both melee and ranged mobs. I've seen all kind of forged mobs do that. Officiers, snipers, surfers, dogs-things...

Hello,

I'm chiming up in that thread because the issue is still there and it's **really** irritating. You're fighting, and all of a sudden, an enemy becomes invulnerable, goes away, and resume the fight. There's no disengage, and it's not the ultra-fast regen that happens when a foe is dragged beyond its aggro area.

Please fix that bug, because it honestly can't be a functionnality, isn't it ?

It's only visual indeed : pose is stuck, and animations are off. Like the mentionned "whirling" thing that is done with the sword raised. Doesn't impede combat (ranges, targets etc.)

I voted against, because it's intrusive and inconvenient (especially when you can just save your draft by clicking the button) and also because of another annoyance : sometimes when I read a thread, I begin to write an answer, only to realize afterwards that I don't really want to answer, or that someone already said what I wanted, or it wouldn't add anything, it would be appropriate etc.

BUT, my draft is saved, and my half-written answer is still in the dialog : I have to go in my settings to remove it. That's even more inconvenient !

I agree there's an issue.

As ANet regularely states, condition damages are supposed to be ramping (DoT) which explains that the total damage dealt needs to be higher that power. That part makes sense. They crush against the wall when you look at how much time a fight lasts. Several seconds. If you consider that's only one power burst, and you stick to "condi should do more damage" then conditions automatically become overpowered.

Then it has to be looked more carefully throughout game modes :

* PvE-wise : trash mobs can be crushed with whatever build. Bigger mobs are an issue because they have an insane HP pool, and hit like brutes. So you can't afford to make the fight last too long. Hence the power creep, which eventually favors condi damage.

* PvP wise (including WvW small scale) : fights are usually very short, so it favors condi bombing, or power bursts.

That's rough trends, but I think that's the core idea : fights are too short. There're several ways to increase the duration of fights, so that the difference between power and conditions becomes more significant. My suggestion is : strongly revamp conditions (nerf bleed and poison, shorten burning, tweak confusion and torment so that the "punishing" feeling becomes more significant) **and remove all condi removal mechanics**. That way, a condi user will now that conditions **will** work and that it'll only take more time than landing power bursts.

Of course, all of this won't solve other issues like : melee power not working because of LoS, or mildly boring fights that one wants to end as quick as possible...

> @Swagger.1459 said:

> The entire design vision of professions is awful, despite this game having some great design elements to combat (such as targeting, movement based combat with few skill roots, dodging, fast paced nature of play). Main role to play is offense (not very creative mind you, considering you can have diverse roles to play while still keeping classes offensive- see city of heroes...), and the team didn't bother to even build in any decent non-heal support roles and skills.. and heal support designs are some of the worst of any mmo I've played that has healing classes. Support play was not even factored into the user interface... Takes the team forever, or never, to make proper changes or substantial fixes. The different control mechanics, and a few other things, built into professions for uniqueness end up causing unnecessary balance issues. The team does not remedy any majorly problematic things. Tons of skills have been and are awful... Most profession updates are out of touch...

This is plainly true, comes from the removal of the trinity, and (as they keep on saying), the view that each profession has to be "self-sufficient". Hence the non-existant supportive user interface. The only real point of the game is to deal as much damage as possible as fast as possible. Hence the constant power creep. Now, they wanted to add raids and high-level content, so they put back more heal/supportive elite specs and classes... without the interface allowing them to be efficient.

> IMO, Anet went on complete budget mode with the most important aspects of this game, and those happen to be professions and combat. The team does not care to strongly reinvest in these areas, and always takes the easier route with profession development... I've never see so many "please redesign x because it sucks, or this would be better for play" as I have with this game. Anet seriously needs to hire an extra team to help blow up professions and rebuild them with a new vision in mind.

That too. Their balance updates are so thin they should be ashamed to only do that in a quarter. For a monthly one, why not, but that ? 3 months ? In the meanwhile, there's still no overhaul of neglected weapons and skills to shake the meta and bring more diversity. Because it takes far more time. So they're just running and running with new things and 0,25s aftercast there. Sorry. 0,28 ! That's plain nonsense. Don't forget also that some of those skills were designed with the idea of a "long" fight in head. Hence the insanely long CD's.

And this is where they're failing to balance condis. Because they still haven't acknowledged that their ideas of 15-30 seconds fights was really far from the sad truth of a 5 seconds maximum fight in WvW. This is why everything, includig conditions, is bursty.

I'm shivering at the thought of what GW2 may feel for a pure new player. All those odd old things, clucky because designed for a game that doesn't exist anymore.

As many others, I thoughtfully think of times when there were no meta, and everyone came with a weird build, and an approximative skill. This was more fun... Of course, players will chose the best possible path. The sad part is there're too few of them.

As long as you don't come too close, scourge are in no way a fundamental issue. Of course, if you happen to get caught by 2-3 scourges at close range, you get bombed, but it's not worse than 2-3 DD or whatever can be really bursty.

Just don't rely on boonballs, and take some long range friends with you if you can't kite.

I often got that little glitch while dismounting. I once had my character in the glorious pose of your first pic, and wiggling his sword while attacking foes. The flight pose is stunning though !

A "not so hard to learn" rotation can provide you with a lot of resistance, making you impervious to conditions. A specific stance can make you impervious to CC, and another one can also turn you invulnerable (which can also be auto-trigger using the appropriate trait). Which means that a warrior (or SB) can become nearly invulnerable for a significant amount of time while still being able to hit like a truck using regular weapons skills. Eventhough I acknowledge a warrior could be seen as the one still standing in the middle of the brawl, and that part has been dealt with base HP, in that case, stances are too much.

I played SB with stances, and it's unbelievable how carried you can be by those... It can be countered, but eventhough...

Hello,

Sorry for digging an old grave, but the issue is still here. I was the instance owner, and did war beast alongside two friends. I didn't get the shoulder armor box, nor did a friend of mine. Only the third one got it.

EDIT : I redid the instance using the purple star thing, and I got it. I did it again for my friend as owner, and he still hasn't got it.