PoF location almost empty all going 2 HoT

[Eme.2018]

**HoT sucked in comparison to PoF**, not because of the content it provided; the map design had tons of depth in it, lots of things to explore, content was challenging, players were brought together in huge meta events, hero challenges required teamwork and communication. All that stuff was great. **The reason HoT sucked is because of the content drought that came after its launch.**

 

The devs have changed their tactics since; **in order to have a continuous flow of content they need to make smaller expansions followed by Living World episodes. Path of Fire does not have the replayability of HoT and doesn't need to, because the new Living World Episodes will be released in less than three months from now.**

[LaWMaN.7109]

Path Of Fire was fun but the loot drops is to the point where I just trash it all because its just junk filling up space, I don't even sell it now and the loot from the chests you open with keys is a waste of time so I just drop the keys and don't bother with them as well. I don't do the bounties anymore because the loot is so bad so there not a lot I go there for unless to help someone in the Guild sad to say and I lot of people do log in now so in the past 2 week I don't think I have been at all. It need a world Boss and better loot drops.

[TwoGhosts.6790]

> @nosleepdemon.1368 said:

> ... overwhelmingly meh.

 

That's my non sequitur of the day.

~TG

 

 

[Faaris.8013]

I rarely find myself in the desert now, but that doesn't surprise me. I don't like desert maps and I expected to come back to HoT and Tyria. I love having mounts though, I don't regret having purchased PoF.

 

I think the PoF maps have potential. They got the expansion out, and it's playable, fine. I hope they use the maps to add some content in the future. You don't have to provide a full expansion at once, it can be used as a platform for content later on. I haven't seen anything about it from ArenaNet, but I can't imagine they leave the vast beautiful lands they created like that. The Joko part of the story is fun and entertaining, he's a believable character, sure there are ways to make an engaging event chain with him that pulls players into the maps after they are done with the masteries and map completion.

 

Of course there would be people who come to the forums to whine if they added meta events, but I have another idea. What about having instances with a meta event chain and instances without? When you enter the map, you select if you want to load into a meta map or in a map that has nothing (like the PoF maps now). For example, if I just want to explore Tarir in Auric Basin with a new character, and I load into the Octovine event, it sucks. I might select a non-meta Auric Basin instance to explore the city without having to wait for the Octovine event to finish. As I understand it, that is what bothers many people: that areas are locked because of meta events, or that nobody does HP challenges because there is a meta event going on. Yesterday I wanted to purchase a recipe in Tarir, loaded into the city, checked the UI, 4 seconds left before the city gets locked down by mordrem. speeded to the vendor, scrolled, double-clicked the recipe, confirmed, got the boot and found myself outside the city. I made it, but had I arrived one second later, I would have been forced to wait about 30 minutes (on a map that doesn't do the event). That is what's annoying about meta events, people only have 30 or 60 minutes time to play and cannot get to locations or find a group in that time frame. If you only have time to play while there is the Chak Gerent meta, you'll have a hard time finding people to beat that mushroom champ.

 

In short: I think the PoF maps don't live up to their potential and I hope ArenaNet has plans to fill them with life (or undead, whatever) in form of meaningful events that require more than 5 players and some decent coordination. There are so many ways they could make use of the mounts in big events, like requiring a team of bunny riders, a team with Skimmers and etc. to pass obstacles that are between your squad and the enemy. Maybe ask the community for ideas, there are so many things you can do!

 

 

[thehipone.6812]

> @Vayne.8563 said:

> I really liked HoT and felt it got a bad rap. I also really like PoF, and think that those that prefer HoT type content are trying to give it a bad rap (in much the same way that others tried to do to HoT). When people don't like something the tendency to use hyperbole can be very high, because they want to emphasize their point. It's not good enough that they don't like it, they have to try to convince people that others don't like it.

>

> The player count in all the new zones is still rather high. The player count in HoT zones is also rather high. I suspect different expansions appeal to different players for different reasons.

 

Partially agree on HoT -I like it and agree that the hate was a bit strong, but there were some issues that were (massively) improved when they took another pass. I disliked how basically all of HoT had entire maps on timers and on rails. At HoT launch, the maps were pretty useless and unrewarding outside of the meta time, especially as a single player. This was directly acknowledged in the notes of the big Spring 2016 HoT update. AB multi-loot was also doubly unfortunate in this sense as it either made the player a slave to the timer or choose to miss out on ridiculously unbalanced loot.

 

What is missing from all of these "PoF loot sucks"/"maps are dead" posts is the realization that there is some chunk of the playerbase that enjoys the exploration style of play and either can't or doesn't want to play as a slave to timers and rails. Outsized meta rewards will only repeat previous mistakes and exacerbate the dead map/METAS ON/dead map boom-bust cycle and taxi-wars that HoT maps have. PoF rewards explorers far better than HoT did. Drops are awesome, but everybody seems to skip mobs and side events. That's fine and probably a natural consequence of HoT where you just show up, run to the start of the lane as fast as possible, and the loot comes in a box at the end. But it is nice to do a simple escort event in PoF and get a piece of rare gear, a couple of t6 mats and 50s-1g in liquid gold in the form of things like the caravan accounting records, or forged weapon molds.

 

Thus, it is completely natural for the playerbase to self-segregate into explorers (PoF) and meta-runners (HoT) . It is OK to enjoy one expansion over the other. If the playerbase is truly heavily biased towards one side or the other, then I'm sure playstats, future maps and expansions will reflect this. However, my personal opinion is that it is not overwhelmingly slanted towards one.

[lordmitz.2047]

if only there was a way you could go back and do HoT maps at level 80 in between doing PoF stuff

 

Oh well, one can dream

[Adenin.5973]

> @Zedek.8932 said:

> Weird though, even though I am playing slowly and "casually", I am enjoying this game. I wonder why people have to rush through everything in 24 hours and now complain? This is the case with EVERYTHING. My friend got Halo 2 in 2005 I think and he played it one day.. I mean, what the heck? Is this even fun for you guys? Or healthy?

>

> I just got my Skimmer after all those weeks and I can't save myself from all the stuff to do. If you "exploit" it by rushing through, looking up guides or zerg stuff down with maximum power (and taking days off of work for that etc)., please do not complain about PoF "being too short". I, for example, was taking 1.5 hours to figure out where I can get a mastery for my raptor to jump over bigger gaps. 1.5 hours just for that. And it was a blast to fight myself into areas I barely survive and make it (just to find the stuff out of reach, D'OH!). But for real, you guys start ASAP, look up Dulfy guides to spoil yourself and now cry. It's really an infant attitude. Of course your candy's gone if you eat it like bread.. -- It's great that you like the game and stuff, but stop acting like this patch was a 85 MByte addition of minigames. It's a fully-fledged expansion with new areas, lots of new dialogue, story being pushed, new features and such. If you smoke your cigar as fast as you can, don't blame the Cuban manufacturer about it being too short of a cigar...

>

> Excelsior.

 

Rushing through the content, in other words, quickly doing all the stuff the game has to offer is now "exploiting" the game? Weeks to get the Skimmer? 1.5 hours to figure out how to get the raptor mastery? Areas You barely survive? Dulfy guides mere hours after launch?

Are you serious?

 

Of course someone like you that can't seem to figure out stuff (you wrote it yourself) that others completed within minutes, seconds, is completely overwhelmed with the amount of content in the PoF zones. I mean 5 hearts per zone? How long does this last for you? 1 month for each heart? And you have 5 zones? Should last for the next 2 years right?

And all the "metas" in PoF! Several escort quests, outposts that need to be defended. Hours and hours of trying to figure out how to press F on a wounded refugee, weeks to understand the concept of Bounties, years to finish them!

 

Also, at what point "casual playing" becomes simply being bad at the game?

 

When people who finish PoF after a few days are the one extreme, you're definitely the other one

[TwiceDead.1963]

> @Vayne.8563 said:

> I really liked HoT and felt it got a bad rap. I also really like PoF, and think that those that prefer HoT type content are trying to give it a bad rap (in much the same way that others tried to do to HoT). When people don't like something the tendency to use hyperbole can be very high, because they want to emphasize their point. It's not good enough that they don't like it, they have to try to convince people that others don't like it.

>

> The player count in all the new zones is still rather high. The player count in HoT zones is also rather high. I suspect different expansions appeal to different players for different reasons.

 

You do realize you're on a game-related forum right? GTFO Mr. Voice-of-Reason! We don't want your kind around here! (No, stay plz. I was jk.)

 

To not be accused of being off-topic, I'll just say I mirror your thoughts.

[Mina Ion.7852]

Honestly, while I do agree the map metas in HoT is cool, I MUCH prefer the PoF maps. MUCH. HoT had way too much of the multilevel thing where paths and events were tough to spot on the map, and Tangled Depths was a massive mess and a pain on my sanity due to tunnels going a little everywhere and changing elevations on a whim. Unless you knew the map by heart, it was challenging to know how to get from point A to B ... all the while getting ganged up on by a small army of bugs.

 

I do like Auric Basin, though. That one's still enjoyable for me. And Verdant Brink became a lot easier once I got the unlimited glide.

[Ayrilana.1396]

So PoF provided a better experience in the short term but HoT provided a better experience in the long term?

[Pimpology.6234]

ya need to revamp PoF metas like u revamped LA. I'll wait a year.

[Opopanax.1803]

I am going slow, just finished Eater of Souls story line and only just got into Desolation.

 

The maps I am in have plenty of people. And I love the scenery and nooks in the map.

 

I do miss the obvious met as, though. I like working in groups, but it is hard to know in pof if anything is actually happening.

[kharmin.7683]

> @TEKnowledgy.1760 said:

> Though i do admit chat seems less active compared to other areas on gw2.

>

Probably due to the inability to stop and type without being accosted by the aggro mobs. :)

 

[Rhiannon.1726]

Currently at 10 pm, EU, we have 24 entries in the lfg for pof maps:

7 for Crystal Oasis (7-43 people in the zergs)

5 for Desert Highlands

3 for Elon Riverlands

5 for The Desolation

4 for Domain of Vabbi

 

Some are for bounties, some for hp runs, some for achievements, one for meta...

[MrRuin.9740]

> @Ayrilana.1396 said:

> So PoF provided a better experience in the short term but HoT provided a better experience in the long term?

 

Yes. PoF maps do not have the longevity of HoT maps. Once you're done with the one-off achievements and rewards, there's little to no reason to go back to PoF when HoT maps have events that have many times more rewards. Though, this is what people supposedly wanted. Laidback, boring flat plains with easy breezy content (except that Seprent's Ire meta, which has high rate of failure, but still has garbage rewards for the effort so it's still not worth doing after you get the achieve). Orr maps have more reason to go back to than PoF does and they're core maps.

[Pimpology.6234]

People are stupid. That said, i wanted hot like metas, exploration for weeks; maps, maps and more maps, hidden secrets that you stumble upon 6 months later kinda stuff, but then again i prefer roaming in wvw and not mindless nascar zergs. (Loved desert WvW map when it came out!)

It's super silly that a whole expansion is over with and back to HoT areas as soon as you get done in 2 weeks. Map clearing isn't rushing, its having fun. I map cleared on all 10 of my toons through vanilla maps. If i happened to do alot of chieves at same time, most were accidental. I still have plenty more to do, but PoF just seems boring/dead without metas and differenet map currency drawing people into those maps. Good rewards is another huge problem in PoF, why though it shouldn't be.

 

I hope in LWs4 they bring us back through these maps again. I could see new events, new metas, new things happen. but again these ideas are prolly potential reworks off in the far future.

[Ellisande.5218]

> @Adenin.5973 said:

> > @Zedek.8932 said:

> > Weird though, even though I am playing slowly and "casually", I am enjoying this game. I wonder why people have to rush through everything in 24 hours and now complain? This is the case with EVERYTHING. My friend got Halo 2 in 2005 I think and he played it one day.. I mean, what the heck? Is this even fun for you guys? Or healthy?

> >

> > I just got my Skimmer after all those weeks and I can't save myself from all the stuff to do. If you "exploit" it by rushing through, looking up guides or zerg stuff down with maximum power (and taking days off of work for that etc)., please do not complain about PoF "being too short". I, for example, was taking 1.5 hours to figure out where I can get a mastery for my raptor to jump over bigger gaps. 1.5 hours just for that. And it was a blast to fight myself into areas I barely survive and make it (just to find the stuff out of reach, D'OH!). But for real, you guys start ASAP, look up Dulfy guides to spoil yourself and now cry. It's really an infant attitude. Of course your candy's gone if you eat it like bread.. -- It's great that you like the game and stuff, but stop acting like this patch was a 85 MByte addition of minigames. It's a fully-fledged expansion with new areas, lots of new dialogue, story being pushed, new features and such. If you smoke your cigar as fast as you can, don't blame the Cuban manufacturer about it being too short of a cigar...

> >

> > Excelsior.

>

> Rushing through the content, in other words, quickly doing all the stuff the game has to offer is now "exploiting" the game? Weeks to get the Skimmer? 1.5 hours to figure out how to get the raptor mastery? Areas You barely survive? Dulfy guides mere hours after launch?

> Are you serious?

>

> Of course someone like you that can't seem to figure out stuff (you wrote it yourself) that others completed within minutes, seconds, is completely overwhelmed with the amount of content in the PoF zones. I mean 5 hearts per zone? How long does this last for you? 1 month for each heart? And you have 5 zones? Should last for the next 2 years right?

> And all the "metas" in PoF! Several escort quests, outposts that need to be defended. Hours and hours of trying to figure out how to press F on a wounded refugee, weeks to understand the concept of Bounties, years to finish them!

>

> Also, at what point "casual playing" becomes simply being bad at the game?

>

> When people who finish PoF after a few days are the one extreme, you're definitely the other one

 

Where are the roses in the PoF maps or HoT maps? Grinding is not a rose. It is just repeating the same shit you did before because there is an arbitrary and capricious wall between you and the goal you want to reach.

 

There is very little of substance in any of the maps, they are mostly all surface without purpose. Once you've finished the story, and story is really all they offer because there is no immersive content, there isn't any reason to be there. And there isn't anything really to do other than story because there is no immersive content. So players rush from one story point to another because there is nothing to do that seems worth doing because nothing seems like it will be fun. There is just sand and aggro mobs. But sand and aggro mobs do not fun make.

 

I've played through Skyrim time and time again. I maybe touch the story once every 10 hours and then only for one quest's worth before going back to faffing around for another 10 hours. I spend 10 hours faffing around because that is just how much immersive content there is. Skyrim is a deep and rich experience, every spot on the map is chock full of environmental storytelling and contextual storytelling such as quests and new clubs to join and learn about and become part of. You can start a family, place Ulfric on the throne, marry him and become queen. You could become the queen of all vampires. A great mage. A cannibal. Build a house. Spend your life living as a miner or a blacksmith. Become a farmer. Delve ancient cursed dungeons in search of treasure and knowledge. Fight ancient dragons. Make your own story. Whatever you wish to do you can do (once you find the mod for it).

 

What can you do in HoT or PoF? Get attacked by the excessive number of aggro mobs and that's about it. No really, that's it. Everything in those maps revolves around killing aggro mobs and there is nothing else to do because you are not allowed to interact with or affect the gameworld.

 

A meta event is not content, it is just a carrot they put in front of your face so that you won't notice you are pulling a cart along the same road you've been forced to pull it along for years.

[Joxer.6024]

> @Ojimaru.8970 said:

> I don't know about "empty." I mean, we literally filled _two_ Crystal Oasis map shards for about 20 minutes just to pop the Choya Pinata.

 

Ah man....!!!! I wanna run with you! So far every piñata attempt I have done people fail the cc part, thinking they can zerg him down. :(

[Zaklex.6308]

> @LaWMaN.7109 said:

> Path Of Fire was fun but the loot drops is to the point where I just trash it all because its just junk filling up space, I don't even sell it now and the loot from the chests you open with keys is a waste of time so I just drop the keys and don't bother with them as well. I don't do the bounties anymore because the loot is so bad so there not a lot I go there for unless to help someone in the Guild sad to say and I lot of people do log in now so in the past 2 week I don't think I have been at all. It need a world Boss and better loot drops.

 

Regarding the chests that require keys, each set of chests gives different levels of materials, with the Hamaseen giving low level materials, the Cowrie mid-level and the Daoud giving high level. Knowing that, rather than go back to low or mid-level maps to gather material, such a linen, cloth, etc., etc., I just gather boxes from the Cowrie or Hamaseen chests, granted it is then an rng as to which type of chest I get but it's most likely going to be materials I'll need or just don't gather anymore. The other thing is that the unidentified items might give you something other than the color of the item. I bunch of UnID's blue and green boxes are not always going to give you just blue and green level material, you will get rare, exotic and potentially that ultra-rare precursor...of course they're affected by your MF so if you boost that up to max + all the buffs it will help. If however you don't care about that stuff, then just salvage it, but I can guarantee that some of the stuff we get that people think have no value right now, like some of the exotic collection items(besides being for the collection, I predict that they will have other uses in the future, and players will be kicking themselves for trashing them after opening the collection.

[otto.5684]

> @Vavume.8065 said:

> I learned after 5 years playing this game that Anet didn't learn from 5 years making this game.

 

I have that impression as well. It's like all the knowledges acquired in making the maps for years was ignored in PoF.

 

I honestly was expecting:

 

- hearts.

- Organic meta events (not this bounty crap).

- Some on going events, like defending a point.

- Multilayered exploration.

 

Only the hearts were present and they somehow ended being the worst designed hearts so far.

 

I was hoping to get a VB with hearts instead we got low quality core map..

[TheOrlyFactor.8341]

> @STIHL.2489 said:

> > @Anhellbro.7210 said:

> > PoF location almost empty becose all getting fun and farm in HoT. Really HoT was in 2-3 times better then PoF.

>

> and yet the last time (yesterday) I was in HoT.. almost no one was there.

>

>

 

This.

 

Good luck getting any help with map completion on any of the HoT maps (especially TD) because the only thing people care about on those maps is the meta. Meta meta meta meta meta. If it ain't the meta, nobody cares and you're SOL. The HoT maps (save for Dragon's Stand) have been the dead maps for me.

[Evolute.6239]

We're nearing a month of the expansion being out. The "rushing the content" meme is pretty dead at this point. If you have not finished the story and map completed at least a few of the maps, you're behind the curve at this point.

 

That said, I do rarely visit the maps these days. I do the casino coin if I remember and do a bounty daily if it's up (any gathering dailies are done via guild hall). Other than that, theres no reason for me to return currently. If I'm going to spend time in game doing something, I'd rather it be "productive" in at least a rewarding fashion (fractals, raids, metas, farming, gathering, alt gearing, etc). None of which really involve Path of Fire maps, sadly.

[TheOrlyFactor.8341]

> @Evolute.6239 said:

> We're nearing a month of the expansion being out. The "rushing the content" meme is pretty dead at this point. If you have not finished the story and map completed at least a few of the maps, you're behind the curve at this point.

 

It's a video game. There's no time limit on when someone completes something. This "curve" doesn't exist. Stop trying to impose one on people. Thank you.

[Evolute.6239]

> @TheOrlyFactor.8341 said:

> > @Evolute.6239 said:

> > We're nearing a month of the expansion being out. The "rushing the content" meme is pretty dead at this point. If you have not finished the story and map completed at least a few of the maps, you're behind the curve at this point.

>

> It's a video game. There's no time limit on when someone completes something. This "curve" doesn't exist. Stop trying to impose one on people. Thank you.

 

Not imposing anything. Where did I mention a time limit? I'm saying people that are saying people have "rushed through the content" still are basically just becoming a meme. Sorry, if you've played on release of POF and have not finished the story and explored at least one of the maps, you're likely behind the average. An average or curve doesn't care for your feelings. So when people are discussing running out of content, it might just be an issue. Thank you.

[ykon.8214]

Everything is about rewards . If you could buy ascended armor with trade contracts people whould blob up every map.