Is there a reason for the increasing escalation of mechanics and difficulty of fractals?

[zealex.9410]

> @"Kheldorn.5123" said:

> > @"Mourningcry.9428" said:

> > > @"Kheldorn.5123" said:

> > > > @"Mourningcry.9428" said:

> > > > > @"Kheldorn.5123" said:

> > > >

> > > > > It's already been explained why players are unhappy with new fractals in this thread :)

> > > >

> > > > It's already been explained why players are not unhappy with new fractals in this thread.

> > >

> > > These are different players :)

> >

> > These are different players who paid the same amount for the game.

>

> Exactly. Meaning as much as you like new fractals, I paid same amount of money to voice my disgust about the situation :)

 

Good think with fractals is theres always 2 more to do and iirc they arent all twilight or noghtmare of shattered.

[Vinceman.4572]

> @"Rennie.6750" said:

> Food, pots, exp, super pro, reveal body parts on entrance, whatever, nothing makes a difference. You always get people who can't deal with the insane pacing of oasis or observatory. Of course it's hard. Potions don't help when the game just throws too much stuff at people at once. Such content is also very taxing and tiring and after the first wipe it becomes much worse. Of course it doesn't help that both have solid ocean rewards level, there's no real motivation to succeed.

>

 

See, and that's what I mean. People are doing this over and over again: Stop comparing "super pro" to "p + f" parties - it **IS NOT** the same. Using p + f is intelligent compared to not using them. The other thing is about team comp and perfection in case of meta tactic. Foods and pots **ARE** helping a lot a "super pro" comp isn't necessary at all costs.

 

> It was fractal 100 day today and I had the "full experience". Party wiped at 10% on the first boss (couldn't finish it, died at 3% myself), people dying to adds on vishara, and the "ANet complete arkk experience pack": kicking me with the bomb outside of the safe area with an explosive lighting ball, people falling off platforms, people stepping in the purple goo, bombs ignored (because of course it's still bugged as kitten and the icon rarely appears for you if you have it), and it was an "exp p&f meta" party lol. I thought it couldn't be that bad. Wrong. I'll go back to skipping it.

 

If people are dying to adds at Viraastra they should kill them before dealing with the boss. There is no reason to not do it if struggling similar to not bursting the ooze in Thaumanova and clear every veteran bit by bit. You have endless time, fight won't get harder, on the contrary it'll make it easier.

On Arkk, falling from platforms is no problem since you can special action key back to it, it's just a damage loss for a moment.

And for ignoring bombs or dying in the purple goo, sry but you just have to use the special action key and/or run into the dome. Both encounters - Arkk and Viraastra - give enough time to deal with the skull mechanic. Purple goo on Arkk can be prevented (at least at your side) if you use special action key onto Arkk right after the ball over his head breaks or using reflects. Seems to me that the players of your group don't even want to deal with the smallest mechanic ever. How on earth are they able to beat the final boss at Cliffside?

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

> @"Kheldorn.5123" said:

> Just because dev said sth it doesn't mean people must agree with him :)

The dev spoke about the design goals for the fractals; that's a fact, not an opinion. Folks might not like it, but that doesn't change what the devs intended.

 

> If not for constant whining you would never ride a mount in GW2. Or raid :)

As it turns out, both those things would almost certainly have happened without the whining. The devs apparently always planned to include mounts and just hadn't figured out how they wanted to implement them in an ANet sort of way. Similarly, they were always trying to figure out how to include more challenging content in the game; it just took the time to decide on how.

 

[GrubySzymek.1362]

> @"Illconceived Was Na.9781" said:

> > @"Kheldorn.5123" said:

> > Just because dev said sth it doesn't mean people must agree with him :)

> The dev spoke about the design goals for the fractals; that's a fact, not an opinion. Folks might not like it, but that doesn't change what the devs intended.

>

> > If not for constant whining you would never ride a mount in GW2. Or raid :)

> As it turns out, both those things would almost certainly have happened without the whining. The devs apparently always planned to include mounts and just hadn't figured out how they wanted to implement them in an ANet sort of way. Similarly, they were always trying to figure out how to include more challenging content in the game; it just took the time to decide on how.

>

 

You have no way to show me if raids and mounts ever happened in GW2 without whining :)

 

Also, this whole thread is about not agreeing with devs new vision of fractals and making them into 5man raids so what dev said is irrelevant. We know what are their goals, we can see them in game :)

[Miellyn.6847]

> @"Kheldorn.5123" said:

> > @"Illconceived Was Na.9781" said:

> > > @"Kheldorn.5123" said:

> > > Just because dev said sth it doesn't mean people must agree with him :)

> > The dev spoke about the design goals for the fractals; that's a fact, not an opinion. Folks might not like it, but that doesn't change what the devs intended.

> >

> > > If not for constant whining you would never ride a mount in GW2. Or raid :)

> > As it turns out, both those things would almost certainly have happened without the whining. The devs apparently always planned to include mounts and just hadn't figured out how they wanted to implement them in an ANet sort of way. Similarly, they were always trying to figure out how to include more challenging content in the game; it just took the time to decide on how.

> >

>

> You have no way to show me if raids and mounts ever happened in GW2 without whining :)

>

> Also, this whole thread is about not agreeing with devs new vision of fractals and making them into 5man raids so what dev said is irrelevant. We know what are their goals, we can see them in game :)

 

You also don't have any way to proof that it happened because the whining existed but you brought it up so the burden of proof is on your side. And you still need to bring an example for raid like mechanics in fractals. More mechanics per boss and some more AoEs have nothing to do with raids.

[GrubySzymek.1362]

> @"Miellyn.6847" said:

> > @"Kheldorn.5123" said:

> > > @"Illconceived Was Na.9781" said:

> > > > @"Kheldorn.5123" said:

> > > > Just because dev said sth it doesn't mean people must agree with him :)

> > > The dev spoke about the design goals for the fractals; that's a fact, not an opinion. Folks might not like it, but that doesn't change what the devs intended.

> > >

> > > > If not for constant whining you would never ride a mount in GW2. Or raid :)

> > > As it turns out, both those things would almost certainly have happened without the whining. The devs apparently always planned to include mounts and just hadn't figured out how they wanted to implement them in an ANet sort of way. Similarly, they were always trying to figure out how to include more challenging content in the game; it just took the time to decide on how.

> > >

> >

> > You have no way to show me if raids and mounts ever happened in GW2 without whining :)

> >

> > Also, this whole thread is about not agreeing with devs new vision of fractals and making them into 5man raids so what dev said is irrelevant. We know what are their goals, we can see them in game :)

>

> You also don't have any way to proof that it happened because the whining existed but you brought it up so the burden of proof is on your side. And you still need to bring an example for raid like mechanics in fractals. More mechanics per boss and some more AoEs have nothing to do with raids.

 

The proof is here. Forums were whining about mounts and lack of challenging PvE instances since 2012. Meanwhile there are no raid related metrics before raids were introduced :)

[maddoctor.2738]

> @"Kheldorn.5123" said:

> The proof is here. Forums were whining about mounts and lack of challenging PvE instances since 2012. Meanwhile there are no raid related metrics before raids were introduced :)

 

Got any actual proof? Like links of those "whining" about mounts and lack of challenging PVE instances?

[sigur.9453]

> @"Kheldorn.5123" said:

> > @"Miellyn.6847" said:

> > > @"Kheldorn.5123" said:

> > > > @"Illconceived Was Na.9781" said:

> > > > > @"Kheldorn.5123" said:

> > > > > Just because dev said sth it doesn't mean people must agree with him :)

> > > > The dev spoke about the design goals for the fractals; that's a fact, not an opinion. Folks might not like it, but that doesn't change what the devs intended.

> > > >

> > > > > If not for constant whining you would never ride a mount in GW2. Or raid :)

> > > > As it turns out, both those things would almost certainly have happened without the whining. The devs apparently always planned to include mounts and just hadn't figured out how they wanted to implement them in an ANet sort of way. Similarly, they were always trying to figure out how to include more challenging content in the game; it just took the time to decide on how.

> > > >

> > >

> > > You have no way to show me if raids and mounts ever happened in GW2 without whining :)

> > >

> > > Also, this whole thread is about not agreeing with devs new vision of fractals and making them into 5man raids so what dev said is irrelevant. We know what are their goals, we can see them in game :)

> >

> > You also don't have any way to proof that it happened because the whining existed but you brought it up so the burden of proof is on your side. And you still need to bring an example for raid like mechanics in fractals. More mechanics per boss and some more AoEs have nothing to do with raids.

>

> The proof is here. Forums were whining about mounts and lack of challenging PvE instances since 2012. Meanwhile there are no raid related metrics before raids were introduced :)

 

thats no proof though, because we don´t know why/how they make there desicion or how long said features where planned ahead.

But you managed to dodge the other question again. congrats to that.

[GrubySzymek.1362]

> @"maddoctor.2738" said:

> > @"Kheldorn.5123" said:

> > The proof is here. Forums were whining about mounts and lack of challenging PvE instances since 2012. Meanwhile there are no raid related metrics before raids were introduced :)

>

> Got any actual proof? Like links of those "whining" about mounts and lack of challenging PVE instances?

 

You can read old forums for this, if they are still going :)

 

> @"sigur.9453" said:

> > @"Kheldorn.5123" said:

> > > @"Miellyn.6847" said:

> > > > @"Kheldorn.5123" said:

> > > > > @"Illconceived Was Na.9781" said:

> > > > > > @"Kheldorn.5123" said:

> > > > > > Just because dev said sth it doesn't mean people must agree with him :)

> > > > > The dev spoke about the design goals for the fractals; that's a fact, not an opinion. Folks might not like it, but that doesn't change what the devs intended.

> > > > >

> > > > > > If not for constant whining you would never ride a mount in GW2. Or raid :)

> > > > > As it turns out, both those things would almost certainly have happened without the whining. The devs apparently always planned to include mounts and just hadn't figured out how they wanted to implement them in an ANet sort of way. Similarly, they were always trying to figure out how to include more challenging content in the game; it just took the time to decide on how.

> > > > >

> > > >

> > > > You have no way to show me if raids and mounts ever happened in GW2 without whining :)

> > > >

> > > > Also, this whole thread is about not agreeing with devs new vision of fractals and making them into 5man raids so what dev said is irrelevant. We know what are their goals, we can see them in game :)

> > >

> > > You also don't have any way to proof that it happened because the whining existed but you brought it up so the burden of proof is on your side. And you still need to bring an example for raid like mechanics in fractals. More mechanics per boss and some more AoEs have nothing to do with raids.

> >

> > The proof is here. Forums were whining about mounts and lack of challenging PvE instances since 2012. Meanwhile there are no raid related metrics before raids were introduced :)

>

> thats no proof though, because we don´t know why/how they make there desicion or how long said features where planned ahead.

> But you managed to dodge the other question again. congrats to that.

 

So until you provide a definite proof against what I say, this is a proof. It existed on old forums, people complaining about state of PvE difficulty, mount megathread, constant new mount threads on weekly basis etc. These things happened. Meanwhile, I saw no metrics related to raid before or even after raid content was released. All we see are players' empty claims :)

 

I dare Anet to publish real numbers of player population and how we are spread between game modes :)

[maddoctor.2738]

> @"Kheldorn.5123" said:

> > @"maddoctor.2738" said:

> > > @"Kheldorn.5123" said:

> > > The proof is here. Forums were whining about mounts and lack of challenging PvE instances since 2012. Meanwhile there are no raid related metrics before raids were introduced :)

> >

> > Got any actual proof? Like links of those "whining" about mounts and lack of challenging PVE instances?

>

> You can read old forums for this, if they are still going :)

 

No that's your job. Read them and give us links to support your claims. Otherwise they are just empty claims :)

[Astralporing.1957]

> @"zealex.9410" said:

> Good think with fractals is theres always 2 more to do and iirc they arent all twilight or noghtmare of shattered.

Bad thing is that the pool of the not-so-fun fractals is growing. And if we add to it some of the reworks, the ratio keeps shifting even more. I can already envision the moment when there will be _no_ old fractals on the daily list on a given day.

 

> @"Illconceived Was Na.9781" said:

> Similarly, they were always trying to figure out how to include more challenging content in the game; it just took the time to decide on how.

Raids in the current form definitely wouldn't have happened without players' lobbying for them. For a long time when people kept bringing up GW1 and 8-man parties, Anet kept replying that their experience told them that 5-man is the best number and anything greater (as the proposed then party size of 8, for example) creates too much complications on the party-forming side, which was something they wanted to avoid. It's only after people kept nagging and nagging that they've finally given up and started to think about bigger party sizes.

 

So, there might be an argument that the spike in fractal difficulty level is something that was planned originally, and only now they've got to properly implement it. I don't personally believe it, but it _is_ possible they might have had arrived at this point even without players' complaining about lack of challenge. _10-man_ challenge mode however? No, that's not something they'd have arrived at without (certain) players' input.

 

[maddoctor.2738]

> @"Astralporing.1957" said:

> Raids in the current form definitely wouldn't have happened without players' lobbying for them. For a long time when people kept bringing up GW1 and 8-man parties, Anet kept replying that their experience told them that 5-man is the best number and anything greater (as the proposed then party size of 8, for example) creates too much complications on the party-forming side, which was something they wanted to avoid. It's only after people kept nagging and nagging that they've finally given up and started to think about bigger party sizes.

>

 

Actually other than around release time, there was no "nagging" about bigger party sizes. And those bringing up GW1 8-man parties was also at around release date. So all this "nagging and nagging brought us Raids" is something that has no actual merit in reality. There was no nagging about Raids for the vast majority of the game's time, threads asking for it appeared only around the release of the game.

There were also some threads asking to make high-man Fractals, like adding the Marionette or the Tower of Nightmares as Fractals for more than 5-man teams. That wasn't about Raids though.

[Tyson.5160]

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Why-not-have-a-mount-and-more-armour-stats

 

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Maybe-this-will-help-with-the-complaints

 

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Are-the-complaints-just-from-a-lack-of-understanding

 

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Could-raids-actually-work

 

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Raids-Group-content-GW2-versus-its-competitors

 

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/You-want-raids-I-have-a-solution

 

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/My-personal-opinion-on-endgame

 

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/We-have-lots-of-raid-content

 

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Discussion-on-End-game-design-philosophy

 

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Post-Endgame-Content

 

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/dungeons/Should-think-about-adding-raid-harder-more-advanced-dungeons

 

There are actually quite a few threads and this is just from 2012... I do remember reading complaints about no raiding, however the mount topic was mixed. Some wanted others didn’t.

 

 

[Feanor.2358]

> @"Astralporing.1957" said:

> Raids in the current form definitely wouldn't have happened without players' lobbying for them. For a long time when people kept bringing up GW1 and 8-man parties, Anet kept replying that their experience told them that 5-man is the best number and anything greater (as the proposed then party size of 8, for example) creates too much complications on the party-forming side, which was something they wanted to avoid. It's only after people kept nagging and nagging that they've finally given up and started to think about bigger party sizes.

 

That's a long jump to conclusion. I'm not even saying it's wrong, I'm saying there are other factors like marketing. Raids with higher number of players existed in other MMOs and were more or less successful. You can't disregard this and say it's all because of players.

 

 

> @"Astralporing.1957" said:

> So, there might be an argument that the spike in fractal difficulty level is something that was planned originally, and only now they've got to properly implement it. I don't personally believe it, but it _is_ possible they might have had arrived at this point even without players' complaining about lack of challenge. _10-man_ challenge mode however? No, that's not something they'd have arrived at without (certain) players' input.

>

 

I prefer to think of this as an evolutionary process. Long-term plans are hard to do in this manner, because it's hard to tell what the players will end up liking. I'm inclined to agree - adding more difficult content was probably not planned per se. It is just something they ended up with after experimenting with adding it and seeing positive reactions.

[Tyson.5160]

I do recall seeing a lot of end game/ Raid requests in Season 2 as well. I can find them, but this would be several hours.

[Tyson.5160]

Which is fine. It’s just saying the community wanted Raiding.

[maddoctor.2738]

> @"Tyson.5160" said:

> https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Why-not-have-a-mount-and-more-armour-stats

>

> https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Maybe-this-will-help-with-the-complaints

>

> https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Are-the-complaints-just-from-a-lack-of-understanding

>

> https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Could-raids-actually-work

>

> https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Raids-Group-content-GW2-versus-its-competitors

>

> https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/You-want-raids-I-have-a-solution

>

> https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/My-personal-opinion-on-endgame

>

> https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/We-have-lots-of-raid-content

>

> https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Discussion-on-End-game-design-philosophy

>

> https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Post-Endgame-Content

>

> https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/dungeons/Should-think-about-adding-raid-harder-more-advanced-dungeons

>

> There are actually quite a few threads and this is just from 2012... I do remember reading complaints about no raiding, however the mount topic was mixed. Some wanted others didn’t.

>

>

 

You mean 2012 when the game promised to have content for Raiders but it didn't?

I wonder why someone who likes Raids would make a thread asking for Raids after buying a game that promised to have content for Raiders.

Mysterious!

 

I also don't see any of those threads addressing instanced Raids, but rather "end game" as a whole and what some posters think it counts as Raids in this game, as advertised.

But what was advertised, was a really far away from what was expected.

 

There is also no whining and nagging there :)

[Tyson.5160]

Not sure if this helps or hinders your point.

[maddoctor.2738]

> @"Tyson.5160" said:

> Not sure if this helps or hinders your point.

 

My point is that there is still no proof in there :)

 

Thread 1: nothing about Raids

Thread 2: nothing about Raids

Thread 3: nothing about Raids

Thread 4: discussing how to make an open world encounter raid-like with roles, nothing about Raids

Thread 5: Weird long post, nothing about Raids

Thread 6: Again, open world bosses in instanced version, nothing about Raids

Thread 7: Complaining about grind... nothing about Raids

Thread 8: Tells us that we already have Raids (who knew?)

Thread 9: nothing about Raids

Thread 10: Now this one asks for harder content, one post, no replies. Real nagging there!

 

Did you just search the archive for the word Raid and posted all the threads you could find? Because none of the above tell us anything.

[Vinceman.4572]

I've been active in the old forums since years and the key point was never that "GW2 needs raids" it was "We need a serious endgame." because dungeons were a joke, full of bugs, got no support and old content becoming more and more boring. With the nerf to rewards when releasing HoT it was obvious that a huge majority of players only ran them due to gold farming.

Even fractals had no overhaul since HoT so the PvE besides from casual open world stuff and playing Fashion Wars 2 was stalled and not very interesting to play.

The dungeon community tried several times to get at least updates to dungeons. Here among other things, I'm referring to the work of some people that listed all the existent bugs for every dungeon path in single threads because they were told so by Anet and then: POW! Nothing happened. Players got desperately disappointed by that, some very nice guys full of ideas and helpful thoughts left the game.

I don't know why it was raids with HoT - the demand was: Serious endgame content.

[Torolan.5816]

There was a time in GW2 where guys like me were the majority, at least that is my opinion. Guys who were ok with waiting and crafting their own ascended stuff because they simply could. Guys who were curious about the story and liked to run open world living stories. A refreshing concept. Dungeons were always boring in GW2, really always.

 

Then for an reason that escapes me, Anet shifted their focus from the laid back yet generally enthusiastic gamer to more of a hard endcontent demanding crowd. I honestly don´t know if it was that they were the loudest, numbers were not good or the higher ups were cooerced into this idea, but still it happened. I guess the downfall of GW2s casual days started when Southsun was introduced and people who were already horrible dungeon runners turned into even more horrible open world players who were cut down by a single veteran even if they appeared in larger groups because they just could not let go of their beloved burst meta and the karka is a masterful design in defeating and disabling these kinds of people. Just look at a video of the early karka queen events, that was nothing but a bloodbath. Most people got used to harder mobs, but their abilities did not grow accordingly.

 

The whining around this situation alone taught me that hardcore gamers do not seek challenges only, they seek challenges they consider fun. It is also these kind of people you will rarely find at the controls of a tank or a healer because they are probably subpar with both or too quickly bored by it. It is not only challenge that is in demand, it is burstable challenge. The reign of terror of DpS. Anet had a historical chance to turn this around by enforcing strict countermeasures, but sadly they caved in.

 

To put it with an old saying here:

Please wash my back, but don´t make me wet in the process.

 

 

[maddoctor.2738]

> @"Torolan.5816" said:

> The whining around this situation alone taught me that hardcore gamers do not seek challenges only, they seek challenges they consider fun.

>

 

Yes this is why "suggestions" like, remove your gear, or play in white gear, aren't really working. The challenge must also be fun and enjoyable to play.

[Feanor.2358]

> @"Torolan.5816" said:

> There was a time in GW2 where guys like me were the majority, at least that is my opinion. Guys who were ok with waiting and crafting their own ascended stuff because they simply could. Guys who were curious about the story and liked to run open world living stories. A refreshing concept. Dungeons were always boring in GW2, really always.

>

> Then for an reason that escapes me, Anet shifted their focus from the laid back yet generally enthusiastic gamer to more of a hard endcontent demanding crowd.

 

Here's the reason that eludes you: diversity. The players with a more laid-back approach can still have their fun, just like they did. Open world is there, personal stories are there, and both get continually updated, with a frequency greater than this on the end-game content. Said content is there so there's something to do in game for *other* players, too.

 

> @"Torolan.5816" said:> The whining around this situation alone taught me that hardcore gamers do not seek challenges only, they seek challenges they consider fun.

 

Gee, players want their game to be fun. Who would have thought?

[apharma.3741]

> @"Feanor.2358" said:

> > @"STIHL.2489" said:

> > > @"Sooloo.1364" said:

> > > Being in a guild of more mature folks im finding it increasingly difficult to entice anyone to even do them anymore.

> > > I remember it started with Swampland and even then people found it way too hard, some pugs still do. Then Chaos, which is great but some find way too hard.

> > > But these latest additions are impossible for a lot of people, T4 Observatory and this new Oasis Fractal. Too fast, too much AOE, too much everything.

> > > Fractals used to be a fun distraction when people were bored, I could always rally a group. Nobody wants to do these though, it's just too much work.

> > > And pls dont even suggest doing them at lower tiers, if you can't handle T4 then you shouldn't even be in there... and pugs, I dont even wanna try that again.

> > > Im curious though, if my guild isnt doing them regularly anymore because of this, how many others feel the same?

> >

> > I've noticed this sift as well as the newer and revised fractals are much longer and more tedious and full of spam effects then previous ones, As best I can surmise, this is due to the fact that development team wants to reform GW2's PvE content into a Raid focused End Game, as such, Fractals are becoming more aligned to be Mini-raid, or Raid-Prep content.

> >

> > And as far as i can tell from what the Devs have said directly on this matter, that seems to where they want to go.. so, either hold on for the ride.. or get ready to get out.

>

> Actually it is due to the fact the devs want more fun and engaging encounters. Recent Mai Trin changes are indicative of that. There's more action, and the actual tedious part where you were stuck for ages doing nothing, is made interactive. I'm looking forward to them reworking Jade Maw, which is equally boring with the whole "wait for ages until it decides to attack you, hurl the crystal back on it, repeat forever because you're doing minuscule damage".

 

Actually those are the parts I like the most, it’s a little break during the fractals where you can just chill and chat with friends either in chat box or on TS without having to really focus on much. Jade Maw is a little tedious because of how repetitive it is I agree but I hope it doesn’t end up some high action boss fight for 20 mins either, it just needs a few things at maybe every 25% health to wake you up and keep you occupied imo.

[Torolan.5816]

Cherrypicking does neither suit you or maddoctor and takes my post out of context.

 

The harder content was already there 5 years ago, Karka were killing people in droves as I wrote. Like it is happening to me since HoT up to PoF, you were the odd man out if you did not like that kind of content. So the argument that GW2 was lacking harder content for years is flawed from the very beginning, it was just not a cookie cutter dps check with a timer you probably consider fun. It did not even lack in challenging instanced content, it is not Anet´s fault that people found ways to exploit their way through Arah, made fractals 50+ with no reasonable goal or were unable to read the attack signs of a karka then. It is their fault that they did not redesign and update these instanced or other hard content though. Doing any lower dungeon was surpemely boring with the stacking method, something Anet should have immediately and with might stopped.

 

My own take on this situation is that many people with ambitions can not stand to share something with someone they consider not on their level, no matter if they stay anonymous or not. But you will met many such people who are subpar in the open world, it is the nature of mass events. So they instead demanded a playing field only for them and their own kind. And that kind of caving in was inherently wrong in my opinion and cost Anet one of the few standout things they had in the competition with other rather generic MMOs. I am very sure that GW2 is probably just surviving by the lack of competition and a healthy dose of nostalgia now.

 

You are free to disagree with me of course, and I don´t know for sure if I am right. I know for sure that I am very disappointed and disillusioned how I envisioned GW2 to be and how it is today. It is more of a chatroom, a game for collection hunting and a place to make some wvw for me today, the feeling of excitement Anet awoke into me for the open world has been extinguished by them again for quite some time now and only flares up now and then.