The new masteries are yet again another disappointment for GW 2

[ScyeRynn.4218]

Of all the great and interesting things I had imagined or thought Anet capable of, this is none of them and is EXACTLY what I had hoped they would not go with. I expected they would go this route, but had a little faith they would be better than this.

 

Convoluted, redundant, unnecessary mastery? - Check

Restricted to certain zones and maps to make it even more irrelevant and give less incentive? - Check

Boring, bland, and lacking of any real imagination? - Check

Stretched-out and repetitive to give the illusion of actual endgame content and longevity? - Check

 

The new map is dull and uninspired. The story was completely predictable, short, and contrived. There are many fans who love to eat-up even the worse GW 2 content and even most of them are unimpressed and disappointed.

 

I pointed out all of this years ago, that this is what would transpire for the game. I saw masteries ending up this way after gliding and mounts. There is just no fire or energy behind the creative direction of GW 2 currently. It all feels so meh and empty.

 

The only thing that could explain and make up for all this is an awesome expansion coming up with new ground-breaking masteries, map types, mechanics, features, ect. But after the last 2 years and now the long slog to drudge through with this tired Icebrood Saga, I can't say that I'm very hopeful for anything new.

 

The QoL updates are great. But in terms of new content, the game is going nowhere.

 

 

 

[Hevoskuuri.3891]

Can I have your stuff?

[ScyeRynn.4218]

> @"Hevoskuuri.3891" said:

> Can I have your stuff?

 

You have to work for things in this game. Don't be lazy.

[Blocki.4931]

Could you make an argument as to why you think things are like this?

 

Why do you think the map is bland? Why did you think the story was predictable? Being able to know where a story will go and not being impressed with the way it was done are two different things. Did we know who will die or what for/who did it? Anybody who played the story will know that. That doesn't mean anything.

 

The masteries are like.. whatever? They're a bonus, they're not really required. Assuming you're talking about the essence manipulation thing. I'm sure that mechanic will return in future episodes, especially the second one as that is directly tied to this release. I haven't even leveled it yet. Basically what many people have said is they want Anet to reinvent the wheel every time a new mastery comes out. That's just silly.

[Cyninja.2954]

> @"ScyeRynn.4218" said:

> Of all the great and interesting things I had imagined or thought Anet capable of, this is none of them and is EXACTLY what I had hoped they would not go with. I expected they would go this route, but had a little faith they would be better than this.

>

> Convoluted, redundant, unnecessary mastery? - Check

> Restricted to certain zones and maps to make it even more irrelevant and give less incentive? - Check

> Boring, bland, and lacking of any real imagination? - Check

> Stretched-out and repetitive to give the illusion of actual endgame content and longevity? - Check

>

 

So you don't like the new masteries, fine. Don't stretch your argument into multiple irrelevant sub points which all spell the same thing. You are doing the same thing you are blaming the devs for: being un-creative while articulating a complaint. Now imagine if you had to write an entire story.

 

> @"ScyeRynn.4218" said:

> The new map is dull and uninspired. The story was completely predictable, short, and contrived. There are many fans who love to eat-up even the worse GW 2 content and even most of them are unimpressed and disappointed.

 

Most people I talked to, myself included, really enjoyed the latest story beats as well as the map. The only major complaint was the length of the story. So to each their own, this one wasn't your cup of tee. Subjective opinion.

 

> @"ScyeRynn.4218" said:

> I pointed out all of this years ago, that this is what would transpire for the game. I saw masteries ending up this way after gliding and mounts. There is just no fire or energy behind the creative direction of GW 2 currently. It all feels so meh and empty.

>

> The only thing that could explain and make up for all this is an awesome expansion coming up with new ground-breaking masteries, map types, mechanics, features, ect. But after the last 2 years and now the long slog to drudge through with this tired Icebrood Saga, I can't say that I'm very hopeful for anything new.

>

> The QoL updates are great. But in terms of new content, the game is going nowhere.

 

Given your posting history and your obvious dissatisfaction with where the story is headed and the characters in it, I think this is more of an issue of burn out and/or over-expectation on your part. Maybe give the game a break, let a bit more story get released, then come back at some later point in time when you've cooled off.

[Tyncale.1629]

Agree with the OP. I stopped playing my Main account and am now playing some of my many Alt accounts, where I can once again enjoy the world and feel like I am accomplishing something because they start from scratch. Masteries, opening up HoT and PoF, Elites, reliving some (personal) storyline and doing the more fun achievements. It is a way to prolong the game for me but not sure for how long.

 

[Eloc Freidon.5692]

I think what GW2 suffers from is a lack of quality in some LW chapters. Consider how decent Bloodstone Fen and Bitterfrost is compared to Ember Bay. Remember how bland Kourna was (save for the actual final instance) compared to Sandswept Isles and Thunderhead Peaks.

 

There is also a similar pattern in regards to collections and masteries. Some are inspiring and fun to use like oakheart essence and the thermal propulsion or useful like counter magic and spectral aid. Yet ones that are map specific like Siren of Orr and Koda's Flame.

 

Vendors in some maps fiercely lack repeat purchases. Kourna is a lot of bad examples. Bjora is the same in regards to a vendor lacking beyond one time unlocks.

 

I think though that, for the first time in Living World, a map is pretty great to be in AND suffers from duplicate events and uninteresting collections. It shows that without Hearts to give hooks of content variety in a map, it can be bland. It definitely is a great catalyst for extending the map size, but has no long lasting punch on its debut. If Dry Top was like this, I feel REALLY sorry for content in that time.

 

What hurts the most, is this is a pattern of mistakes being repeated for years that is not being reflected on, because we can't directly complain to the ones who need criticism to improve and bring out richer content.

[Xar.6279]

Repeatability is something common in the MMORPG. New content is always the same thing just dressed differently. Nothing new here. But do you know what's the real difference? In traditional MMORPG players complain that they're doing "same" stuff over and over again but overall they're happy becasue they feel rewarded. With some awesome eq and weapons with better statistics etc, etc. So they can boost their ego this way. Show it other players etc, etc. While in GW2 it's all about your personal experiences. It's not about rewards at all. That's why there's actually no point in experiencing same stuff here again in pve for a lot of players. Once you see how something works you loose your interest in doing it and you wait for something brand new. And it actually concerns about everything in pve here. Look at raids for example. Next wings was less and less popular. Dungs. Guild Missions. etc. etc. That's probably why Anet always starts to focus on something brand new. They push some content for some time and then they abandon it (when it gets less popular) to focus on something else. To encourage players again and interest them with something. Right now for example they focus fully on Strike Missions. And you never know what will be next. And yeah - with current masteries they didn't add anything brand new. As gliding or mounts. There's no need in having them. That's why you are disappointed. U can compare it to getting new lvls (after expansion) in other mmorpgs. Players do same stuff - boring quests etc, etc, to hit lvl cap again. Here you do some new masteries. But what's difference? With new lvls you actually feel that your character is stronger. You can't stay on low lvl. So you do some boring stuff again but after all u feel rewarded. While this masteries are in some way pointless.

[Knighthonor.4061]

Let them save resources for the secret project that fourth team is working on.

[coso.9173]

this isn't so much about a lack of fire from the devs, but more about you needing a break from the game. you're just burned out, that's all. I was months away from the game and now cam e back and enjoyed the new story and map a lot.

take some time out and come back if you want, that's all. no game can hold your interest forever.

[Goettel.4389]

Your opinion, I'm enjoying them.

[Heibi.4251]

> @"Knighthonor.4061" said:

> Let them save resources for the secret project that fourth team is working on.

 

Yeah, and hopefully it's an actual expansion and not some minor 5 minute long mission.

[Dante.1763]

> @"Goettel.4389" said:

> Your opinion, I'm enjoying them.

 

Whats enjoyable to you about them?

 

Outside of Sms, i havent even gotten to use them when i do my daily Blizzard cause getting 30 orbs is laughable in that time frame, and having loot blocked off when i first came to the map was annoying.

[Zaklex.6308]

> @"Dante.1763" said:

> > @"Goettel.4389" said:

> > Your opinion, I'm enjoying them.

>

> Whats enjoyable to you about them?

>

> Outside of Sms, i havent even gotten to use them when i do my daily Blizzard cause getting 30 orbs is laughable in that time frame, and having loot blocked off when i first came to the map was annoying.

 

I think the key is activating each of them so that the timer doesn't run down before the Blizzard stage is over, and it's not that difficult to get 30 Orbs during the build and defend portions of the Blizzard, which is when you want to do it...you want the random bonus blast during the Icebrood Construct portion...other than that and the Champions you don't really need them...yet, waiting to see what use they are in the second half of the map, hopefully something specific with the Drakkar world boss battle.

[Goettel.4389]

> @"Dante.1763" said:

> > @"Goettel.4389" said:

> > Your opinion, I'm enjoying them.

>

> Whats enjoyable to you about them?

>

> Outside of Sms, i havent even gotten to use them when i do my daily Blizzard cause getting 30 orbs is laughable in that time frame, and having loot blocked off when i first came to the map was annoying.

They look and sound great, story & event integration and tight quarters to grind mats. I don't give a kitten about how much gold per hour I'm getting, as long as I'm entertained. So I roll in one of many alts and just enjoy the events. Gaming is good, the job is the grind.

[Josiah.2967]

I hate the new mastery. Went back to other zones. At least I am still playing.

[voltaicbore.8012]

> @"ScyeRynn.4218" said:

 

> I pointed out all of this years ago, that this is what would transpire for the game. I saw masteries ending up this way after gliding and mounts. There is just no fire or energy behind the creative direction of GW 2 currently. It all feels so meh and empty.

 

This doesn't make you Nostradamus to any appreciable extent. The new masteries are perhaps the absolute worst among all the living world ones to date, but it shouldn't have surprised anyone that we wouldn't get game-changing ones like gliding and mastery. I think the whole point of Anet telling us the expansion isn't happening was precisely to _not_ have to deliver an impactful mastery line like the ones we got for HoT and PoF. My concern with the lameness of the new mastery line is that their low quality at best requires Anet to abandon them entirely in favor of more HoT- and PoF-like ones in the future, or at worst paint them into a corner where there's just no way to build or pivot to a more impactful series of masteries.

 

I'm hoping Anet will surprise me. I was one of many who were very, very opposed to mounts, based on my experience with mounts in other games. I was sincerely surprised and delighted to see that Anet pulled off what I consider the best mount system in any game, period. I'm not giving up on this game anytime soon.

[DeadlySynz.3471]

Players whom primarily play PvE have to accept the fact you can't make end game out of PvE content; it has to be done through competitive modes.

 

The new map is quite small, the story short, the mastery pretty dull (though I know they'll be expanding on it). People can claim all they want they enjoyed the content; however; you'll inevitably find more people who don't enjoy it. Furthermore, many people would simply be happy standing around in the middle of the map RP'ing with absolutely nothing going on around them and still be happy. That doesn't make it right and it's pretty hard to defend that as end-game or good content.

[LucianDK.8615]

> @"DeadlySynz.3471" said:

> Players whom primarily play PvE have to accept the fact you can't make end game out of PvE content; it has to be done through competitive modes.

>

> The new map is quite small, the story short, the mastery pretty dull (though I know they'll be expanding on it). People can claim all they want they enjoyed the content; however; you'll inevitably find more people who don't enjoy it. Furthermore, many people would simply be happy standing around in the middle of the map RP'ing with absolutely nothing going on around them and still be happy. That doesn't make it right and it's pretty hard to defend that as end-game or good content.

 

Now thats a lie. PvE endgame is raids and fractals.

[Dante.1763]

> @"Goettel.4389" said:

> > @"Dante.1763" said:

> > > @"Goettel.4389" said:

> > > Your opinion, I'm enjoying them.

> >

> > Whats enjoyable to you about them?

> >

> > Outside of Sms, i havent even gotten to use them when i do my daily Blizzard cause getting 30 orbs is laughable in that time frame, and having loot blocked off when i first came to the map was annoying.

> They look and sound great, story & event integration and tight quarters to grind mats. I don't give a kitten about how much gold per hour I'm getting, as long as I'm entertained. So I roll in one of many alts and just enjoy the events. Gaming is good, the job is the grind.

 

Gaming is good, i dont consider grinding kills every time i go into a map to do a small amount of bonus damage(Which since i rarely get 30 when im on the map i dont even use) good gameplay. Its not even that well integrated. The Raven one is sure and i think it would have been awesome if they had developed the different masteries based around the different spirits, and for crying out loud they need to be made unique and game impacting.

[Cyninja.2954]

> @"DeadlySynz.3471" said:

> Players whom primarily play PvE have to accept the fact you can't make end game out of PvE content; it has to be done through competitive modes.

>

> The new map is quite small, the story short, the mastery pretty dull (though I know they'll be expanding on it). People can claim all they want they enjoyed the content; however; you'll inevitably find more people who don't enjoy it. Furthermore, many people would simply be happy standing around in the middle of the map RP'ing with absolutely nothing going on around them and still be happy. That doesn't make it right and it's pretty hard to defend that as end-game or good content.

 

and yet that game mode still dwarfs both competitive game modes combined, by a lot. If the PvE of this game fails, the game closes shop, it's that simple.

 

That's without even getting into the sorry state pvp is in with WvW closely behind it (which pains me to say since I love WvW). A couple of thousand players (does pvp even have that many atm?) do not sustain a MMORPG.

[Hashberry.4510]

> @"DeadlySynz.3471" said:

> Players whom primarily play PvE have to accept the fact you can't make end game out of PvE content; it has to be done through competitive modes.

>

> The new map is quite small, the story short, the mastery pretty dull (though I know they'll be expanding on it). People can claim all they want they enjoyed the content; however; you'll inevitably find more people who don't enjoy it. Furthermore, many people would simply be happy standing around in the middle of the map RP'ing with absolutely nothing going on around them and still be happy. That doesn't make it right and it's pretty hard to defend that as end-game or good content.

 

Snort. Come for the story, stay for the salty end game. :o

[ROMANG.1903]

> @"ScyeRynn.4218" said:

> Of all the great and interesting things I had imagined or thought Anet capable of, this is none of them and is EXACTLY what I had hoped they would not go with. I expected they would go this route, but had a little faith they would be better than this.

>

> Convoluted, redundant, unnecessary mastery? - Check

> Restricted to certain zones and maps to make it even more irrelevant and give less incentive? - Check

> Boring, bland, and lacking of any real imagination? - Check

> Stretched-out and repetitive to give the illusion of actual endgame content and longevity? - Check

>

> The new map is dull and uninspired. The story was completely predictable, short, and contrived. There are many fans who love to eat-up even the worse GW 2 content and even most of them are unimpressed and disappointed.

>

> I pointed out all of this years ago, that this is what would transpire for the game. I saw masteries ending up this way after gliding and mounts. There is just no fire or energy behind the creative direction of GW 2 currently. It all feels so meh and empty.

>

> The only thing that could explain and make up for all this is an awesome expansion coming up with new ground-breaking masteries, map types, mechanics, features, ect. But after the last 2 years and now the long slog to drudge through with this tired Icebrood Saga, I can't say that I'm very hopeful for anything new.

>

> The QoL updates are great. But in terms of new content, the game is going nowhere.

 

You can't expect ANet to always have a new ground-breaking mastery idea everytime a living world episode comes out

[VAHNeunzehnsechundsiebzig.]

well, I hoped for something that captured me for many many hours, like Bitterfrost. Instead I got something that bored me in no time like Kourna. The map does look good. Better than good. It is a gorgeous map with lots of little gems. But the events are.. well... boring. 3x the same event with the same dialogue just at a different location does not make it interesting. The meta is full of mechanics - which kind of do not matter. The Boneskiner event is... underwhelming - and after the second or third time, boring. Watching people die to retal is funny the first couple of times, but then... it is is just annoying. The new mastery.... well... when we got the DM-only oakheart mastery it was FUN. Swinging around like spiderman. Sirens Landing is really nice map and tons of stuff to do on it - it also felt genuinely rewarding. Some lore bombs mixed in, great. And the backpacks! Oh the backpacks! Bloodstone Fen. Aerial attacks. AWESOME. Lake Doric gave us a mastery that actually matters in the game. A mastery that makes your life so much easier. Bjora Marches? A mastery that does not even matter on its own map. True, Siren's Landing's mastery is completely optional too. But at least you did not have to kill countless mobs to prime it and the effect in itself was kind of pretty. Or useful.

 

Having to do the map over and over and over to complete the weapon collection... well, usually I go for completion but this time, I just can't motivate myself. I can't even motivate myself to do the reasearch collection. Kourna was bad. But Bjora is somehow worse. Kourna had the 'this is stitched together and boring' feel right from the start. I could not even imagine how to fix it, apart from scrapping it completely and start from scratch. Bjora on the other hand looks and feels like something that could have been awesome. Most of the ingredients are there - pretty, lore, theoretically interesting adversaries, and then it was aborted. Unfinished and rushed.

[Blood Red Arachnid.2493]

I'm fine with the story and the map. There is two issues with the new masteries:

 

1. There's no condi component. They're supposed to do massive damage and CC, but if you aren't running a power build this damage is cut down to a third.

2. It takes way too long to get the buff. Sitting around killing one kind of enemy in one particular spot to get 30 orbs takes way too long and isn't nearly rewarding enough for the effort put into it. I still haven't obtained the achievement for beating the boneskinner without losing anybody, because the only way to CC it is to have the masteries charged up, and nobody stands around charging essence just for the boneskinner.

 

I'm making bank on the new ingots. Getting over 100% return on investment for those. Fix those two issues above (maybe 10 orbs, and add a massive burn condi to the essence blast) and it will be much better.