Can we have an official response please?

[Pyroatheist.9031]

> @Kryil.6045 said:

> > @FaboBabo.3581 said:.

> > Why? Axe 2 and 3 are bugged so i cant use Axe. Distorted is only "good" with domination, because it's solo effect is unreliable in PvP/WvW. Im playing condi so i have no place for Domi (Either illu+Chaos, or Illu+Duel, some even use illu+Insp)

> >

> > So right now im pretty much FORCED to play a trait which i HATE, cause it's the most reliable choice.

> I'm using axe and it works just fine. I have the feeling that **sometimes **Axe 2 is bugged and doesn't spawn a clone when it should, but in 99% of the cases it seems to work. Maybe something about being slightly out of sync, so the position of the mirage doesn't fit? No clue, that's not up to me but anet to figure out. I've also never seen Axe 3 being bugged, care to elaborate what the issue should be? Because in the entire thread all I see is you shouting "Axe 3, Axe 3", but not once explaining what the issue is. I also can't see any thread in the mesmer forum describing what's wrong, and I haven't experienced it myself.

 

Axe 3 is functionally fine, it's just depressingly weak.

 

Axe 2 has big problems. It seems to suffer from some huge desync or skill queuing issue that presents itself as forcing large delays before the skill activates. Using the skill often feels like you're playing with 250ms ping, and it's really odd and problematic. It results in getting hit by attacks due to the animation lock, using it twice due to skill queuing, and just generally feeling completely awful.

[FaboBabo.3581]

Try using axe 3 at 550 unit Range. Slowly add range. At the 590 - 610 unit mark it will start to teleport u backwards to strike the air. Skill should just use the out of Range treatment, cause seriously ; 10 second cd + serious misplaysment when activating the skill while beeing at 601 units for example is BS .

 

And yes it is unprofessionell to release wrong tooltips. No white knightning needed. Its just unprofessionell releasing an unfinished product with wrong Informations.

[Harry Foud.1935]

I'm so tired listening to people using benchmarks as an excuse. > @atlashugged.7642 said:

> > @musu.9205 said:

> > balanced for what game mode ?

>

> All of them.

>

> PvP: Mirage makes power shatter fun and good again with Self-Deception being an increase to clone generation speed that doesn't compete with traits like ineptitude or superiority complex, and a host of new positioning tools. I'm told that it also makes for good condi builds in PvP, though I've had less personal success with those.

>

> WvW: Mirage is actually faster than chrono at traversing the map even without the 25% speed, because it's got another mobility tool almost as good as blink (and able to cover a lot more distance per second of cooldown than blink) with Mirage Thrust. In addition to that, the above PvP notes obviously apply for roaming builds. It doesn't bring as much to a zerg as a chrono, but that's fine.

>

> PvE: Current estimates of dps with mirage put it at higher than past mesmer dps builds, and in line with everything except the obvious upcoming nerfs such as the 50k weaver.

>

>

 

Everyone here disaggrees with you. The things you're saying are so out of reality that somehow even if you are playing Mesmer you've convinced everyone that you don't. Mirage has a ton of problems yet I still try somehow to manage to play it. I get kicked constantly from raids and in pvp I had to channg to power shatter build only cause it's kinda more fun. Yet in wvw I feel as useless as it gets. Traits have no synergy and I lack in everything, compare to other classes. The whole mechanic is wrong. You have no synergy with shatters, clones are destroyed very easily and they dont do dmg, axe is full of bugs, and if I wanna play sword, now i have to sacrifice my dodge for a gap close that does no dmg. Elite is a joke cause the condi input from other classes is so high that now I have to use my 3 charges at once so I can get rid of all the different types of condi and then I'm out. Then I have to again waste my dodge to clean condi(ONLY if I have the specific trait) and then I'll still have to fight a Scourge that will end my life in seconds cause I'm out of condi cleanse while he spreads conditions like candy. I'll still have to fight the Immortal Spellbreaker with dagger/shield-Gs. I'll still have to fight that power Soulbeast that will kill me just with his longbow cause I'm out of dodges. I'll still have to fight the Firebrand that burns me like a pyromaniac. I'm telling you, I dont know what anet was thinking when they were building Mirage. But they failed so much.

[Kryil.6045]

> @FaboBabo.3581 said:

> Try using axe 3 at 550 unit Range. Slowly add range. At the 590 - 610 unit mark it will start to teleport u backwards to strike the air. Skill should just use the out of Range treatment, cause seriously ; 10 second cd + serious misplaysment when activating the skill while beeing at 601 units for example is BS .

Going to give it a try, thanks for the info. I really haven't experienced that yet and it was really hard to find any info on what the issue should be.

> @FaboBabo.3581 said:

> And yes it is unprofessionell to release wrong tooltips. No white knightning needed. Its just unprofessionell releasing an unfinished product with wrong Informations.

It's not white knighting. I'm quite sure every game I've played in the past had minor issues such as wrong tooltips, and I play a lot of games. Every company has priorities and tooltips REALLY are at the lower end of the priority list. I'm 100% for fixing them, but before they're going through all tooltips and fixing existing issues I'd prefer it if they used their resources to fix more pressing issues. It's not good that they're wrong, but also not worth making a fuss about.

[musu.9205]

Axe 3 rng , best it will land your dmg as intended , worst it will lead to a team wipe in raid . in pvp , the long cast time or animation is also the problem . in pvp a skill which is supposed to give mes mobility and a way to avoid being targeted , it makes mes a huge pink fly in mid air . and it will still fail to hit the intended target .

 

try to use it on someone when there are 2 enemies running around close to each other .it will land its dmg on random target .rev already complaint their axe teleport . mesmer just got a worse version of that .how thoughtful.

[Skuzz.6580]

> @Levetty.1279 said:

> > @Skuzz.6580 said:

> > Sorry.. but now you are just complaining for the sake of complaining..

> > Mesmers are the #1 looked after classes for group content (Chronomancer) and you now also have a viable dps option, who's dps is over 34k.. You have an almost permanent evade build for PvP and Open World. And it is fun as hell to play. Seriously, what and why are you complaining...

>

> Obviously you have never played Mesmer.

 

Don't try and assume things you know nothing about.

Just because people are mad and disappointed doesn't make anyone else who does not share that wrong.

I am loving my Mirage, just as I like my Soulbeast, Scourge and Firebrand.

From these 4 it is actually Scourge that has the least synergy, it is soulbeast with the worst traits, and it is firebrand that feels like paper.

Still I like playing them all, much more then I liked their HoT counterparts

[Zenith.7301]

> @Knox.8962 said:

> > @Zenith.7301 said:

> > > @atlashugged.7642 said:

> > > > @musu.9205 said:

> > > > balanced for what game mode ?

> > >

> > > All of them.

> > >

> > > PvP: Mirage makes power shatter fun and good again with Self-Deception being an increase to clone generation speed that doesn't compete with traits like ineptitude or superiority complex, and a host of new positioning tools. I'm told that it also makes for good condi builds in PvP, though I've had less personal success with those.

> > >

> > > WvW: Mirage is actually faster than chrono at traversing the map even without the 25% speed, because it's got another mobility tool almost as good as blink (and able to cover a lot more distance per second of cooldown than blink) with Mirage Thrust. In addition to that, the above PvP notes obviously apply for roaming builds. It doesn't bring as much to a zerg as a chrono, but that's fine.

> > >

> > > PvE: Current estimates of dps with mirage put it at higher than past mesmer dps builds, and in line with everything except the obvious upcoming nerfs such as the 50k weaver.

> > >

> > >

> >

> > You don't know what you're talking about, not even remotely. 4k DPS below with zero utility to soulbeast, renegade, firebrand, and scourge is not "in line". Time to refresh on your arithmetic.

>

> So during the AMA today, they confirmed that Scourge was bugged and hitting too many times on F-skills, so they'll be coming back down to earth. Firebrand was mentioned as needing to be revisited to look at group scaling condi damage specifically. That leaves Weaver, Renegade and Soulbeast about 10-15% higher than everything else in the game. Outside of those specs, Mirage is pretty much in line with where the Pre-PoF specs were performing.

 

No, they mentioned ALL condition builds needing revision in ramp up and the lack of PvE mechanics that deter conditions. That wasn't Firebrand specific at all, stop spinning it. Firebrand wasn't even mentioned, only Weaver and Scourge got direct mentions.

 

So what that means is that they're going to do global changes against condi, and that will hurt the mediocre Mirage spec just as much if not more because Mirage already has the ridiculous ramp up they talk about, and tied to a single target with no cleave whatsoever let alone aoe.

 

They also said they didn't want elite specs to be similar in DPS, they're more than fine with DPS disparities and would rather dedicate some specs to utility/support/mobility and not just DPS, which is king shit for Mirage because they are obviously fine with justifying its shitty DPS by saying it has all these mobility/dodgy utilities even though said utilities are completely irrelevant in PvE.

 

In fact, their whole balancing paradigm for condi vs. power is dumb. They want power to have spike. Really? Power ranger does a measly 26k DPS and a Maul does about as much damage as a bounding dodge, power ranger has no burst and this had been justified by Robert Hrouda and Gaile under the rationale that rangers were about sustained damage instead, which isn't even real.

 

They could get off their asses and just balance the specs around a 34k DPS meeting point and give condi specs 1-2k more DPS as a ceiling to compensate for their ramp up and lack of burst.

 

Instead, they're going to adopt this asinine, convoluted approach of trying to create mobs like the Mordrem Husk that create a binary penalty for each build, making it so fights discriminate altogether against builds much more strongly than if they just balanced the DPS, and now that balance also relies on mob design and placement in encounters which is so much more complicated than just revising your damn spreadsheet numbers for a PvE format.

 

Mirage is not even in line with HoT dragonhunter, condiwarrior, and ele considering the other classes can CLEAVE/AOE and also bring utility. Mirage is a single target long ramp up DPS spec. It's like saying dagger thief is in line with a dragonhunter if he did the same 34k DPS as the dragonhunter. Not really, because dagger thief has no aoe, no group block/aegis, no group heals or boon provision, and most importantly the difference in burst capacity is also immense. I will also not mention the sheer utility of the dragonhunter pulls built into his virtue and meta greatsword weapon.

 

The only utility mirage offers is a whopping 180 sec cd on moa signet, which should honestly be split in PvE to have a 60 sec cd or less as an elite whose only use in PvE is breakbar damage should not have a 180 sec cd compared to a revenant staff doing comparable breakbar damage at 1/5 the cooldown.

[atlashugged.7642]

> @Cyninja.2954 said:

> No reason to respond to @atlashugged.7642. He doesn't actually play mesmer, which is quite evident of how he talks about the class.

> That or he is a very good troll.

 

I do actually play the class, and enjoy it. If enjoying the class is an act of trolling in your mind, why do you play it?

 

 

[Cyninja.2954]

> @atlashugged.7642 said:

> > @Cyninja.2954 said:

> > No reason to respond to @atlashugged.7642. He doesn't actually play mesmer, which is quite evident of how he talks about the class.

> > That or he is a very good troll.

>

> I do actually play the class, and enjoy it. If enjoying the class is an act of trolling in your mind, why do you play it?

>

>

 

It's possible to enjoy the class while realising it has faults.

 

You are so far up arenanets kitten and so far from reality of where mesmer is at, it's quite obvious you are not actively playing the class. Maybe for dailies or portaling people to jumping puzzles, but certainly not for anything more serious.

[Skuzz.6580]

> @Cyninja.2954 said:

> > @atlashugged.7642 said:

> > > @Cyninja.2954 said:

> > > No reason to respond to @atlashugged.7642. He doesn't actually play mesmer, which is quite evident of how he talks about the class.

> > > That or he is a very good troll.

> >

> > I do actually play the class, and enjoy it. If enjoying the class is an act of trolling in your mind, why do you play it?

> >

> >

>

> It's possible to enjoy the class while realising it has faults.

>

> You are so far up arenanets kitten and so far from reality of where mesmer is at, it's quite obvious you are not actively playing the class. Maybe for dailies or portaling people to jumping puzzles, but certainly not for anything more serious.

 

So what made you play Mirage over any of the other 17 Elite specs? This goes for all of these people complaining all day long. If you don't enjoy something, then freaking play something else.

Just because you are unhappy does not mean other people are. The only people that post here are the complainers, the rest doesn't even look at the forums (sometimes I wonder why I even do) they are too busy playing the game, enjoying the things anet brought us.

 

People and their self-entitlement, grow up.

[Cyninja.2954]

> @Skuzz.6580 said:

> > @Cyninja.2954 said:

> > > @atlashugged.7642 said:

> > > > @Cyninja.2954 said:

> > > > No reason to respond to @atlashugged.7642. He doesn't actually play mesmer, which is quite evident of how he talks about the class.

> > > > That or he is a very good troll.

> > >

> > > I do actually play the class, and enjoy it. If enjoying the class is an act of trolling in your mind, why do you play it?

> > >

> > >

> >

> > It's possible to enjoy the class while realising it has faults.

> >

> > You are so far up arenanets kitten and so far from reality of where mesmer is at, it's quite obvious you are not actively playing the class. Maybe for dailies or portaling people to jumping puzzles, but certainly not for anything more serious.

>

> So what made you play Mirage over any of the other 17 Elite specs? This goes for all of these people complaining all day long. If you don't enjoy something, then freaking play something else.

> Just because you are unhappy does not mean other people are. The only people that post here are the complainers, the rest doesn't even look at the forums (sometimes I wonder why I even do) they are too busy playing the game, enjoying the things anet brought us.

>

> People and their self-entitlement, grow up.

 

Who says I'm playing Mirage? I played it for 5 days and switched back to chrono.

 

Is this thread only about Mirage or can Mesmer players chime in?

 

I doubt that many people are playing Mirage. They are almost non existant in the current GW2 world.

 

That said, and mesmer being my main I'm close to 2.2k hours played on this character (character, not account and I have 2 mesmer). How many hours played have you accumulated? I believe mesmer mains get to complain when certain issues have not been resolved after over 5 years.

 

EDIT: just checked: 2,174 hours played on my main. Guess I'm still 26 hours short off of 2.2k wich is over 50% of my account play time total.

[Cantatus.4065]

> @FaboBabo.3581 said:

> Try using axe 3 at 550 unit Range. Slowly add range. At the 590 - 610 unit mark it will start to teleport u backwards to strike the air. Skill should just use the out of Range treatment, cause seriously ; 10 second cd + serious misplaysment when activating the skill while beeing at 601 units for example is BS .

>

> And yes it is unprofessionell to release wrong tooltips. No white knightning needed. Its just unprofessionell releasing an unfinished product with wrong Informations.

 

Yeah, and this isn't hard to replicate. Just test it on one of the golems in the Mists. Slowly move backwards and at some point it's accuracy takes a serious nosedive. The same thing happens with Illusionary Ambush. My guess is it has something to do with line of sight since Mirage Advance doesn't have these issues that I've noticed, but that skill can also teleport you through walls and to different heights. It's sort of the same issue that can happen with Illusionary Leap where sometimes it won't summon a clone despite being in range, but I think it has more of a negative impact on Mirage skills since positioning is important with the spec. Illusionary Leap misfiring doesn't move you to a random and potentially deadly location.

[Photoloss.4817]

> @Cyninja.2954 said:

> I doubt that many people are playing Mirage. They are almost non existant in the current GW2 world.

 

To be fair if you don't count those standing at JPs or similar spots mesmers are a rare sight in general. Maybe the culling causes some selection bias regarding TW and ToT but I rarely even see several sets of illusions at larger boss events. Guardians, thieves and "boring hitty twang twang" (hard to tell the difference between warriors, rangers and thieves who don't spam stealth/shadowsteps in a large group) are everywhere with a side order of eles and flashy new specs (scourge and holosmith stand out the most)

 

Thus most mesmers have Portal on their bar with the more ambitious ones rocking Mimic+wells :/

[Cyninja.2954]

> @Photoloss.4817 said:

> > @Cyninja.2954 said:

> > I doubt that many people are playing Mirage. They are almost non existant in the current GW2 world.

>

> To be fair if you don't count those standing at JPs or similar spots mesmers are a rare sight in general. Maybe the culling causes some selection bias regarding TW and ToT but I rarely even see several sets of illusions at larger boss events. Guardians, thieves and "boring hitty twang twang" (hard to tell the difference between warriors, rangers and thieves who don't spam stealth/shadowsteps in a large group) are everywhere with a side order of eles and flashy new specs (scourge and holosmith stand out the most)

>

> Thus most mesmers have Portal on their bar with the more ambitious ones rocking Mimic+wells :/

 

Oh I absolutely agree. Mesmers are a rare sight nowadays (except as portal bots or in raids/fractals). Even more a reason to fix issues with this class or provide us with an elite which makes the class appealing to more players.

 

The fact that mesmers have never had a damage build EVER since vanilla (okay let's be honest, up until HoT and raids no one cared or bothered to compare class damage) makes it even more an insult that our first damage elite specialisation is at the very bottom of the pack only surpassing Deadeye.

[atlashugged.7642]

> @Cyninja.2954 said:

> It's possible to enjoy the class while realising it has faults.

>

> You are so far up arenanets kitten and so far from reality of where mesmer is at, it's quite obvious you are not actively playing the class. Maybe for dailies or portaling people to jumping puzzles, but certainly not for anything more serious.

 

And you're the poster boy for the delusional pve pity party. I've never pretended mirage doesn't have some issues, check my post history and you can confirm it. I just don't agree with you that mirage is an insult to all that is good and holy.

[Cyninja.2954]

> @atlashugged.7642 said:

> > @Cyninja.2954 said:

> > It's possible to enjoy the class while realising it has faults.

> >

> > You are so far up arenanets kitten and so far from reality of where mesmer is at, it's quite obvious you are not actively playing the class. Maybe for dailies or portaling people to jumping puzzles, but certainly not for anything more serious.

>

> And you're the poster boy for the delusional pve pity party. I've never pretended mirage doesn't have some issues, check my post history and you can confirm it. I just don't agree with you that mirage is an insult to all that is good and holy.

 

You do know that this line only works when you actually have a significant posting history?

 

Since your posting history can be covered in 5 minutes, No, you've been over protective and the best one can expect was a:"yeah bug fixes are fine."

 

Not to mention that your grasp of the class is lacking, badly.

[Harry Foud.1935]

> @atlashugged.7642 said:

> > @Cyninja.2954 said:

> > It's possible to enjoy the class while realising it has faults.

> >

> > You are so far up arenanets kitten and so far from reality of where mesmer is at, it's quite obvious you are not actively playing the class. Maybe for dailies or portaling people to jumping puzzles, but certainly not for anything more serious.

>

> And you're the poster boy for the delusional pve pity party. I've never pretended mirage doesn't have some issues, check my post history and you can confirm it. I just don't agree with you that mirage is an insult to all that is good and holy.

 

Mirage is useless at this point so yeah is kinda an insult when you have Scourges oute there 1v3 people and Spellbreakers that are immortal.

[atlashugged.7642]

> @Cyninja.2954 said:

>

> You do know that this line only works when you actually have a significant posting history?

>

> Since your posting history can be covered in 5 minutes, No, you've been over protective and the best one can expect was a:"yeah bug fixes are fine."

>

> Not to mention that your grasp of the class is lacking, badly.

 

Strange, i would have thought having less for you to read would be appealing to you. Though the length of my posting history is irrelevant, check the content. And based on the posts I've seen you make, you seem to misunderstand the class, the game, and balance generally.

[Cyninja.2954]

> @atlashugged.7642 said:

> > @Cyninja.2954 said:

> >

> > You do know that this line only works when you actually have a significant posting history?

> >

> > Since your posting history can be covered in 5 minutes, No, you've been over protective and the best one can expect was a:"yeah bug fixes are fine."

> >

> > Not to mention that your grasp of the class is lacking, badly.

>

> Strange, i would have thought having less for you to read would be appealing to you. Though the length of my posting history is irrelevant, check the content. And based on the posts I've seen you make, you seem to misunderstand the class, the game, and balance generally.

 

True, if by misunderstanding you mean I:

 

- called the current situation which we have right now early (that being that Mirage is useless in highend pve content compared to other classes)

- was one of the few people who was critical of Mirage pre PoF launch (and was warning about how bad it would be if no last minute changes were made)

- have been vocal about bug fixes which need to happen

 

Unlike people like you which have been arguing about how great Mirage is just for the sake of arguing.

 

Yeah in that case, I guess I have been missunderstanding the class for the past 5 years, the game and balance in general.

 

I still shudder when thinking about what would have happened if the class had gone live for PoF without the drastic last minute improvements. Yet even with those, Mirage is pretty much outclassed by most new and old elite specs.

 

 

[Zenith.7301]

Just because you keep saying that Mirage is adequate in PvE does not make it so.

[atlashugged.7642]

> @Zenith.7301 said:

> Just because you keep saying that Mirage is adequate in PvE does not make it so.

 

No, the fact that it is a strict upgrade to one of the easier builds, which was already adequate in PvE, is what I base my statement on.

 

CondiMesmer=Adequate

CondiMirage=CondiMesmer+a few thousand DPS

CondiMirage=???

[Knox.8962]

5/9 of the new specs are 10% or more higher DPS than any of the HoT specs. If you think they're going to stay at that level and completely invalidate any HoT spec not named Chrono, Druid or cPS, I don't really know what to say. The people who seem to think mirage isn't a dumpster fire are comparing it to the well established specs that we have good balance numbers and understanding of. I don't think Mirage is a perfect class by any means, but I feel very strongly that once they do a balance pass on all the overpowered new specs it will be a very competetive DPS spec.

 

That said, there are tons of issues with Core Mesmer that I think really need to be addressed (phantasms and what they do to PvE/PvP/WvW balance within the class being #1 by a long shot), but getting the elite spec to overhaul the entire class is probably a bit much to expect. Hopefully now that they are no longer actively designing new elite specs, they'll have some time to focus on issues with the base classes.

[Zenith.7301]

> @Knox.8962 said:

> 5/9 of the new specs are 10% or more higher DPS than any of the HoT specs. If you think they're going to stay at that level and completely invalidate any HoT spec not named Chrono, Druid or cPS, I don't really know what to say. The people who seem to think mirage isn't a dumpster fire are comparing it to the well established specs that we have good balance numbers and understanding of. I don't think Mirage is a perfect class by any means, but I feel very strongly that once they do a balance pass on all the overpowered new specs it will be a very competetive DPS spec.

>

> That said, there are tons of issues with Core Mesmer that I think really need to be addressed (phantasms and what they do to PvE/PvP/WvW balance within the class being #1 by a long shot), but getting the elite spec to overhaul the entire class is probably a bit much to expect. Hopefully now that they are no longer actively designing new elite specs, they'll have some time to focus on issues with the base classes.

 

When HoT specs came out, they dwarfed core specs in DPS output despite the very official claim that they were meant to be sidegrades, not upgrades. In the very reddit you mention, one exact question was if they were going to nerf PoF specs to make them on par with HoT specs, and Irenio outright said making the DPS of all the specs similar would be "boring".

 

I like your hope, but I've been playing this game long enough to know that their approach to balance is like throwing darts. They cycle devs in and out, and then the new devs as usual don't want to maintain a core outline for the design of specs and how they design them in terms of pve vs. pvp vs. wvw. Chapman is gone. Jon Peters, responsible for the initial mesmer in GW2 and who asked for feedback on what to do with Cry of Frustration (where nothing was eventually done to this day) is gone.

 

Robert Hrouda, the guy who said rangers were designed with sustaoned DPS in mind is gone, and now we get Irenio saying power specs are about spike and condi specs about ramp up as if that held much meaning in instanced PvE short of garbage design like the Mordrem husks or the initial fractal armor scaling which they had to tone down to bring power specs back into relevance.

 

Greatsword reaper has been garbage since HoT's release and nothing has been done. Power ranger has been garbage since vanilla, and nothing has been done. The deltas in performance have steadily been greater than 30% for large periods of this game's life, and somehow you seem convinced that a delta of 10% on these new specs on this new box they aim to sell will spring them into action.

 

As I said, I'll take my own betting position over yours. These people make no real effort to balance. If they did, we would have had a proper closed beta, with public test realms regarding feedback, and every balance patch would have a feedback period with actual changes happening based on said feedback. We don't. We didn't even get a two week beta weekend this expansion. They put out this turd of balance on release and all you have left is to swallow it because they can't even be bothered to interface with the community given they don't even feel it is their job to communicate, unlike the developers of every other major MMO.

[musu.9205]

just ignore atlashugged.7642 .

he is like saying those 5% dmg buff on necro axe make power necro adequat in pve.

he can argue whatever he want , but people will kick mirage in most raid bosses , no serious pvp players will use mirage . it became clear now . we wait for next expac or next game.

as one of those people who pointed out many design flaw as long as i saw all traits and skills . i have to say , the actual mirage after launch is worse than i expected .

[Hlord.5940]

I am curious why people call summoning 3 phantasm good? It's slow in pve, doesn't have cleave and very unreliable in both pvp and wvw.