Do People like PoF?

[Kichwas.7152]

Things to do...

 

There is no point in collecting fashion in this game - it's all the same butt-flaps with no variety.

 

Dungeons... none since 2013... Meanwhile other games have been pumping out new ones, even since PoF hit here. WoW just announced 10 upcoming, and my response was "that's it?" because... "is that all" is the right response... and the situation here is just beyond absurd.

 

Story... just hasn't been that good since GW1 anyway - but hey, this is worth doing... once... And so... once the next living season comes out there will be something. For me, still catching up on old story so there's that.

 

Fractals (these are really dungeons) - OK so this is the new dungeons since 2013... but they're also getting stale, AND they split rather than unite the community by being in so many different tiers.

 

WvW... if you like PvP there's this, but when was the last time they added new maps to it? Ever? (This is actually a question, revealing that I don't PvP)

 

Basically once I catch up on old story chapters, I will probably be back in ESO or FFXIV or even Neverwinter - games that actually give me new dungeons and outfits that aren't butt-flaps.

 

Since I've spent money in the gem-store this go around... I suspect Anet is perfectly happy with this result.

 

 

> @"Teofa Tsavo.9863" said:

> > @Carighan.6758 said:

> > Well, the annoyed minority are always the loud ones. That is because happy people don't take to the forum to violently yell about how incredibly satisfied they are. Just doesn't happen. They're busy playing.

>

> Always a good laugh, since John Smedley, head of SOE at the time, said basically this during the SWG NGE fiasco which was one of the biggest disasters in MMO history (actually covered by the Wall Street Journal). He freely admits now that not listening to players then was one of the worst mistakes he ever made.

>

 

This is why you need good analytics.

 

Something can be true 99% of the time, and you can still end up being the 1%. Never good to simply rely upon a generalization on any side of the equation. Get data.

 

 

 

[AliamRationem.5172]

> @"Shena Fu.5792" said:

> More like disappointment than hate. Disappointingly shallow, unimpressive. Pof doesn't have deep impression, whether initial or lasting impression. That is, it doesn't do anything special that blows your mind or makes it unforgettable, nor invokes deep traumatic memories. it is superficially run of the mill map structure, superficial event structure, superficial atmosphere.

>

 

What kind of games are you playing that invoke "deep traumatic memories"?

[Pifil.5193]

I liked a lot about HoT when they reworked the rewards to make achieving goals in HoT possible without massive grind. I think that the rewards for content they added in PoF desperately needs a similar reworking and it could really do with a balance and bug-fix pass.

 

Apart from that,

* I liked the story (even though it felt shorter than HoT's).

* I like the mounts.

* The maps look pretty, replay-ability looks like it will be an issue as once I finish map completion I don't see myself heading back to PoF's maps like I did to HoT's maps.

* I really dislike some of the content as it currently stands (Serpents' Ire, especially, frustrating).

* I really dislike some of the decisions they made (take the Elite Specialisation Collections, for example, I hate that they involving the TP there, having to buy soulbound trinkets, not implementing the Caffeinated Skritt part like the Treasure Mushrooms in HoT so it will drop a part for a random professions' collection if you've already got the piece you need for the current professions' collection and so on).

 

Overall at the moment I'd say the expansion is just OK. I just hope that they address issues and concerns sooner rather than leave it too long. If they intend on actually doing something they should say so soon.

[Ellisande.5218]

> @Westenev.5289 said:

> The most vocal people are always the ones who dislike something, or feel disadvantaged by something. I mean, if you like the game as is, why would you sit around here typing about how much you like the game when you could actually be playing the game?

>

> Just because you have completed a few meta events and the story, doesn't exactly mean you've completed EVERYTHING. I mean, there are a few achievements to tide you over, and quite a lot of interesting flavour quests. Plus, there are things you would have missed on your first playthough, like talking to Taimi between story missions or even the different speeches at the end of the story! (Downer, Downer, Happy FTW)

>

> Personally, I tend to float around game modes. There's always something to do, because I'm never all that focused on completing goals in the first place. It's all about the journey, not the destination.

 

This isn't completely true.

 

The most vocal people are the ones who feel the most in EITHER direction. IE the ones who like OR dislike something the most.

 

The people who sort of like or sort of dislike or are neutral are less likely to come on the forums.

 

Being a completionist doesn't give you something to do. That is just an unnecessary amount of empty pointless grinding of the same shit you already did just with a finer toothed comb than before.

[Ellisande.5218]

> @aryvandar.8562 said:

> The problem I see is a lot of people RACE through said content then complain oh there's nothing to do. Here's a clue slow down take your time. Completed map zones twice over and going for a 3rd time why, because why not, will end having done story twice in the long run. Loving the game. I don't PVP, sometimes but rarely I do WvW more PvE player with some raiding.

 

But there IS nothing to do. Slow down and do what? Kill respawns? WOW KILLING MORE POINTLESS RESPAWNS IS SUPER FUCKING REWARDING! I AM HAVING SO MUCH FUN KILLING THESE RESPAWNS! HOW DID I NOT KNOW THAT KILLING RESPAWNS IS SO MUCH FUN!?

[Ellisande.5218]

> @AliamRationem.5172 said:

> > @"Shena Fu.5792" said:

> > More like disappointment than hate. Disappointingly shallow, unimpressive. Pof doesn't have deep impression, whether initial or lasting impression. That is, it doesn't do anything special that blows your mind or makes it unforgettable, nor invokes deep traumatic memories. it is superficially run of the mill map structure, superficial event structure, superficial atmosphere.

> >

>

> What kind of games are you playing that invoke "deep traumatic memories"?

 

Mass Effect 3. It was traumatic because the deus ex machina ending was such a big middle finger by the devs to their loyal fans.

[Ashen.2907]

Yes.

 

Some of my favorite content in the game.

[Loosmaster.8263]

Don't know. I crash no matter what zone even doing story. Stopped playing it.

[Dreamy Lu.3865]

Mitigated in my case.

I like that we have new big areas, new scavenger hunts, lot of jumping possible, new plants, new animals, and so on... I also enjoyed the new quests, events and part of the storyline.

However, my preferred activity is exploring, testing to go everywhere, see what I can reach and discover nice places, enjoying the landscape and decoration, while farming on the way... And this is something that I can hardly enjoy in PoF, because I need to fight all the time. This is due to the density of foes, their extra-long aggro range and fast respawning time. To run by is not an option since they do not break aggro and follow over huge distances. So, what happens - for me personally - is that I come to happily explore, and after a while fighting, I get tired of it and simply stop, bored. I then leave to go exploring elsewhere than in PoF areas. I regret it very much.

Due to that, I have now reached a step where I go in PoF only if I have a specific objective, and in that case, I map travel as close as possible to the location, and left once done. Otherwise, I do not return there.

[Shampanix.3928]

I liked PoF at launch far more than HoT at launch. That being said HoT improved a ton over time. PoF for now showed to be amazing in terms of quality but lacking some serious replayability. But it’s not going to make me quit because I believe Anet will improve it just like they fixed a ton of HoT problems. And I think PoF needs far less fixing than HoT needed back then. This makes me really hopeful.

 

 

[Carighan.6758]

> @NotASmurf.1725 said:

> Hypercasuals love it, and they are the only target audience.

>

> As Anet didn't even try to provide anything for anyone else, it's a letdown for the majority.

 

"Hypercasuals" is a new one. People who do nothing but play open world? Because then I would argue why not design that to be inherently engaging, especially given how it is both the biggest element of GW2 and the most prominent one for marketing purposes?

[maddoctor.2738]

I haven't found many people that didn't like PoF at least for some time. PoF is a blast to play, good maps, good story (compared to HoT), unlocking elite specs, world completion, engaging events, unlocking mounts, training mastery points and so on.

 

As an expansion it did a wonderful job to attract players, and is amazing to play. I'm sure those who are still in that phase like PoF a LOT. Those who still haven't finished the story, haven't explore much, haven't found all mounts and so on. However, once the initial dust clears PoF is underwhelming as there is little replay value, and little reason to go back there once you get everything you want.

 

tl;dr: those who haven't completed the one-time nature of PoF still like it, those who did are waiting for something to revitalize the expansion.

[battledrone.8315]

> @Carighan.6758 said:

> > @NotASmurf.1725 said:

> > Hypercasuals love it, and they are the only target audience.

> >

> > As Anet didn't even try to provide anything for anyone else, it's a letdown for the majority.

>

> "Hypercasuals" is a new one. People who do nothing but play open world? Because then I would argue why not design that to be inherently engaging, especially given how it is both the biggest element of GW2 and the most prominent one for marketing purposes?

 

the open world IS engaging, right until you venture into orr

after that, it just goes downhill

HoT is specially bad..thats like raiding in the open world

if i wanted to raid, i had signed up for one

[circuitnerd.5863]

I like it ok. I do think some of the story missions are crappy. Not all of them though. They story itself is pretty decent but nothing to write home about. The maps are nice and pretty. But the lack of big meta events like HoT maps gives me little reason to return to the maps. Sure there's some smaller events scattered around but nothing that is a big map-wide thing where you're working toward a large goal. These new maps are more in line with core maps. So the replayability is limited. I think that's probably the biggest reason why HoT maps are more populated at this point. They have a big event with tons of chests at the end. As far as other things such as mounts; mounts are great and lots of fun. The griffon does sort of defeat the purpose of the glider to some extent. But griffon can't use updrafts so I think that's fair. Although it would make sense if a griffon could use updraft too. As far as new stats. They seem fine. I do wish there were recipes for the grieving stats though. Bounties are fun but only for a while. This may just be due to doing them too often though. The new guild hall is decent, although I don't think it's amazing. Regarding enemies I think most of them are pretty good. I think some of them may be a bit op but it's doable. The choya are clearly the master race.

 

TLDR: It's decent.

[Nemesis.2019]

No...

An expansion with no new Raid, Fractal, or even dungeon is a horrible expansion. end game can't be exploration... get real Anet.

[Shampanix.3928]

> @Nemesis.2019 said:

> No...

> An expansion with no new Raid, Fractal, or even dungeon is a horrible expansion. end game can't be exploration... get real Anet.

 

You do realize that we’re getting raid and fractals with expac and entire season of living story as well? Anet’s expac idea is rather a season pass with bigger chunk of world and mechanics at launch and gradually releasing different content over time to keep players entertained within purchased expansion “period”.

 

[Glenstorm.4059]

I'm a pretty casual player nowadays, and I'm playing PoF very slowly, taking my time to enjoy and savor every moment. I've just finished Crystal Oasis, and am in the middle of exploring Desert Highlands.

 

So far, the expansion has been amazing. The environments have been lovingly crafted, and I'm very happy that they're throwing us GW1 players lots of nostalgia bones. The music in particular is great; everything is so immersive.

 

Playing Weaver has been a breath of fresh air (no pun intended.) And the new enemies are challenging without being frustrating, and have very creative designs to boot.

 

The Mounts I've unlocked so far (Raptor and Springer) have been joys to use, the Raptor more so.

 

The story is good so far. Nothing amazing, but entertaining. The nostalgia value is high, which I appreciate.

 

The meta events and bounties etc. still attract a lot of players, and there haven't been any empty maps in my experience yet.

 

Overall, I'm enjoying PoF tremendously so far.

[Kichwas.7152]

 

 

> @"Dreamy Lu.3865" said:

> However, my preferred activity is exploring, testing to go everywhere, see what I can reach and discover nice places, enjoying the landscape and decoration, while farming on the way... And this is something that I can hardly enjoy in PoF, because I need to fight all the time. This is due to the density of foes, their extra-long aggro range and fast respawning time. To run by is not an option since they do not break aggro and follow over huge distances. So, what happens - for me personally - is that I come to happily explore, and after a while fighting, I get tired of it and simply stop, bored. I then leave to go exploring elsewhere than in PoF areas. I regret it very much.

 

 

Isn't this basically an issue with all MMOs. Modern and older - they all basically pack mobs tightly and don't leave many open spaces for "hanging out" - in places where they do, players complain about "boring dead zones".

 

How many people hang out in the big plains up above and behind Thunder Bluff with rabbits and prairie dogs that have guns in WoW, or the entire 'beach resort' town on top of a mountain adjacent to a level 58 zone... I suspect even most WoW players don't know about the second one of those two... and many not even the first.

- these are just no-aggro explore spots, that are generally dead. When people first discovered them, a few screenshots made the rounds and people went to look and then... forgotten.

 

Like the beach on Southsun Cove.

 

There are actually a lot of little hidden explorable spots in GW2 and other MMOs, and I have found several in PoF - that nobody goes to as they lack those packs of mobs or events.

 

I love these spots. We all say we love these spots. But when Devs give them to us... we turn around and ignore them.

 

I think the densely overpacked zones a reaction to what we actually engage with, as opposed to what we say we want...

 

I agree they are frustrating, I found them worse in HoT though... but I also admit to not spending all my time in those little explorable spots that I find that lack this density...

 

So should they make content for what I claim to want, or for what I actually show up to play with?

[Alga.6498]

I think PoF is a love-hate relationship.

I do enjoy most of the things what PoF gives us but I also dislike some things.

Of course that's normal, I mean we all love/like something in PoF but dislike/hate something else when someone loves it instead. :wink:

 

I liked PoF overrall. :)

[Fay.2735]

I love PoF it's beautiful and interesting to explore. Lot of achievements and collections to collect. I know there's not a whole lot to do that's repeatable right now except for bounties (that aren't very rewarding). But looking at Anets track record; the next Living Season will probably fix a lot of that by adding more content with probably repeatable things to do. The same thing happened in HoT, if you took away the huge grind for Masteries the amount of content was even less but the second they started pumping out new maps and raids it started to feel like there was tons to do. I still haven't done loads in the LS3 maps.

 

I'd say for everyone who is upset about lack of repeatable content, just go do something else for now and wait for LS4 to hit. This content isn't made out of thin air after all.

[KWman.3012]

I think up to 90 gold per weapon for elite spec. weapon collection is too much.