[GW2] Post Launch w/Colin Johanson - Bigger than expected

[Edge-]

Happy/impressed with their update rate so far. The one thing I'd wish is that they'd not try to hype them up as much as they are. It's nice to see the game getting steady content post-launch though, especially considering that was a big question and a potential criticism from a lot of people given the business model of the game.

[Durzlla]

"That is why there is no plan for new Rarity Tiers of loot but there are plans to enhance or gain items within the existing rarity design whose properties continue on a shallow power curve."

FFS...

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that quote may be referring to expansions which they've already said they would like to raise the cap during (god I hate level cap raises... Really hope they change their mind on that...) which still wouldn't really make it a treadmill as long as it just stops at the same area every time and it's more of the whole "well you're in 80 gear but need 90 gear now" nonsense...

God just the thought of lv increase bugs me...

PS: Does FFS mean "For Fucks Sake"? Or am I just off lol?

[rhandric]

Yes, Durz, it does.

[Deleted]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that quote may be referring to expansions which they've already said they would like to raise the cap during (god I hate level cap raises... Really hope they change their mind on that...) which still wouldn't really make it a treadmill as long as it just stops at the same area every time and it's more of the whole "well you're in 80 gear but need 90 gear now" nonsense...

How is introducing new more powerful gear/infusions every expansion not a gear treadmill?
Of course you can't pretend it's not and call it something fancy such as gear progression initiative.

[NightZero88]

How is introducing new more powerful gear/infusions every expansion not a gear treadmill?
Of course you can't pretend it's not and call it something fancy such as gear progression initiative.

Because it's different. A gear treadmill is like WoW. At level 90 I have tier 13, then when the next instance comes out I have tier 14 then tier 15, etc.

In GW2 assuming the way they do it is a year from now they raise the level cap to 90 and introduce new level 90 gear that is still exotic, legendary quality that is not a treadmill it's just making new gear to match the new level.

When you bought level 50 gear then level 60 gear then level 70 gear as you leveled do you consider that a gear treadmill? Personally I don't, I say it's only a treadmill when they introduce stronger and stronger gear within the same expansion because enemies get harder and harder and so you need more powerful gear to kill them. But simply giving more powerful gear because your level went up is different. I can see the argument though.

[Vlad Morbius]

The change to the gear and addition as minor as it may be is not nearly as upsetting as the method in which it was introduced nor the fact that currently there is only one realistic way to get these items.
What boils my blood is the fact that on November 15th when they added lost shores, they completely nerfed open world loot which couple with the DR they created due to their shit ability to control botting has all but killed open world play. To date they continue to BS people with walls of PR and all the critical areas have gone virtually untouched or responded to and when they do make reference to them it is vague and uncommitted.
This is certainly not the same game I followed for years and certainly is not the same people in charge since Nexon took a majority stockholder control. This is being changed into a pay to win monstrosity which is so far removed from its original concept it is hardly the same game. It pains me to think how bad some of these developers must feel watching such a marvelous project getting twisted into such a monstrosity…sort of Jekyll and Hyde. Call it Grind Wars II, Greed Wars II, hell even Glutton Wars II but it certainly isn’t Guild Wars II now.

[NightZero88]

The change to the gear and addition as minor as it may be is not nearly as upsetting as the method in which it was introduced nor the fact that currently there is only one realistic way to get these items.
What boils my blood is the fact that on November 15th when they added lost shores, they completely nerfed open world loot which couple with the DR they created due to their shit ability to control botting has all but killed open world play. To date they continue to BS people with walls of PR and all the critical areas have gone virtually untouched or responded to and when they do make reference to them it is vague and uncommitted.
This is certainly not the same game I followed for years and certainly is not the same people in charge since Nexon took a majority stockholder control. This is being changed into a pay to win monstrosity which is so far removed from its original concept it is hardly the same game. It pains me to think how bad some of these developers must feel watching such a marvelous project getting twisted into such a monstrosity…sort of Jekyll and Hyde. Call it Grind Wars II, Greed Wars II, hell even Glutton Wars II but it certainly isn’t Guild Wars II now.

Please tell me what you buy that lets you win? I'm confused here....probably because it's not true and doesn't exist.

[Durzlla]

The change to the gear and addition as minor as it may be is not nearly as upsetting as the method in which it was introduced nor the fact that currently there is only one realistic way to get these items.
What boils my blood is the fact that on November 15th when they added lost shores, they completely nerfed open world loot which couple with the DR they created due to their shit ability to control botting has all but killed open world play. To date they continue to BS people with walls of PR and all the critical areas have gone virtually untouched or responded to and when they do make reference to them it is vague and uncommitted.
This is certainly not the same game I followed for years and certainly is not the same people in charge since Nexon took a majority stockholder control. This is being changed into a pay to win monstrosity which is so far removed from its original concept it is hardly the same game. It pains me to think how bad some of these developers must feel watching such a marvelous project getting twisted into such a monstrosity…sort of Jekyll and Hyde. Call it Grind Wars II, Greed Wars II, hell even Glutton Wars II but it certainly isn’t Guild Wars II now.

Are we playing the same game? I haven't seen a single bot since the first month... and now all those bots are gone... so... yeah... and where is this option to buy stuff and suddenly start winning? Because i should let the ranger forums know about that so they can stop bitching about thieves...

[Vlad Morbius]

Please tell me what you buy that lets you win? I'm confused here....probably because it's not true and doesn't exist.

Open world loot has been nerfed into the ground to the point that the economy is imploding and costs of everything has risen so most cannot afford to progress their characters. The point of said nerf is to bring the economy back in line due to the effects of the rampant botting earlier in the game. The in game economy has been dried out to the point that if you wish to get the legendries’, and in the future the elements needed to build the infusions and so on you will need to purchase gems with real money to trade for gold because the materials are no longer as available as they once were. This nerf was a stealth nerf and contrary to their own patch notes in which veterans and champions were supposed to drop rare loot, and this issue was mentioned by Chris W. at the AMA. He also said they were dodging the question and that loot nerfs were perceived. Don’t believe me, go out and run Orr and let me know how you make out compared with your pre- Nov 15 patch results.
As a consequence the only way to get anything decent including exotics, if you haven’t maxed to 80 yet is to run Fractals which are borked beyond belief, and I for one did not sign up to dungeon crawl my way into a decent set of gear.

---------- Post added 2012-12-04 at 04:45 PM ----------

Are we playing the same game? I haven't seen a single bot since the first month... and now all those bots are gone... so... yeah... and where is this option to buy stuff and suddenly start winning? Because i should let the ranger forums know about that so they can stop bitching about thieves...

I am referring to the damage the bots caused to the economy which resulted in the overall open world loot nerf and diminishing returns. This will pigeon hole everyone who needs mats into buying gems for cash and converting it to gold because there won’t be any other way to gather materials effectively nor earn in game money.
So as a side effect to this, anyone who has disposable income will be the ones who can buy the gold, the mats, and the gear needed to be the most effective. Those who can’t will spend endless time grinding for porous bones and pittance in Orr or forced to run fractals.

[Drakhar]

A treadmill is a treadmill is a treadmill. It doesn't fucking matter if it's 13 tiers or 2, or if it happens every month or every 2 years. If the level cap gets raised, and we have a new set of gear that makes previous gear/content obsolete, that's a fucking treadmill. A new set of gear (ascended) is in the process of being implemented as a new layer of progression right now even. Yeah, that's the beginning of a treadmill.

I swear some people would argue the world is flat if it somehow shined a positive light on ANet.

Are we playing the same game? I haven't seen a single bot since the first month...

And what an improvement it's made! Ecto prices have only appreciated by, oh, 100% or so.

So as a side effect to this, anyone who has disposable income will be the ones who can buy the gold, the mats, and the gear needed to be the most effective. Those who can’t will spend endless time grinding for porous bones and pittance in Orr or forced to run fractals.

The only place where making money has ever been an option is playing the TP. Someone went a bit nuts on the gold sinks/stranglehold on earning currency. Guess that's what official gold buying does for your game.

[Edge-]

If the level cap gets raised, and we have a new set of gear that makes previous gear/content obsolete, that's a fucking treadmill.

That's the nature of the leveling process. The only way to avoid this would be to have a game with no vertical player progression at all.

[Edge-]

Kinda sure that's what a lot of people were expecting.

No, they were expecting no vertical gear progression at high level. I don't know of a single time ArenaNet ever promised that level 1 gear and level 80 gear would be equally as powerful, or anyone who espoused a similar idea.

[InfiniteRetro]

That's the nature of the leveling process. The only way to avoid this would be to have a game with no vertical player progression at all.

Guild Wars 1 holds its hand up high STILL screaming "we dont have no crappy v-prog"

seriously, did anet fire their entire gw1 team? gw1, 7 years later, still going strong. some of the best endgame in a game to date. eg:

Finish a campaign, unlocks hardmode, which allows not only additional titles to be achieved, but also hard mode. Hard mode brings in the ability to vanquish zones. this also brings in WAY better loot drops and skill in trying to taken on each zone individually (try vanquishing any post searing ascalon zone with only 3 heroes)

gw2 does nothing new except add in an invincible dodge, steal all other recent years mmo ideas and claim it all as new. didnt one of the guys that left anet start up tera? maybe thats why teras combat is TRUELY skill based.

[Edge-]

didnt one of the guys that left anet start up tera? maybe thats why teras combat is TRUELY skill based.

Erm, Bluehole Studios (the developers) are Korean and were founded by some ex-NCsoft staff. They were in no way affiliated with ArenaNet at any point in time.

[Durzlla]

@infiniteretro I agree with you up until the point you start rambling on about GW2 not being any different from other mmos... But that's just me... Tbh though, if TSW was in Tyria, and had the whole GW2 stuff but that skill system I would be in love

[Fencers]

If TSW just wasn't so choppy and sluggish... would easily be my #1 MMO. Like ever. But it runs so poorly. :'[

[Durzlla]

If TSW just wasn't so choppy and sluggish... would easily be my #1 MMO. Like ever. But it runs so poorly. :'[

Agree fully, I was watching the beta vids TB did and was foamin at the mouth when he was playing with the skill system and just the storyline... I was hopping those flaws I saw were just beta... But I'm tol otherwise which makes me sad...

[Fencers]

Agree fully, I was watching the beta vids TB did and was foamin at the mouth when he was playing with the skill system and just the storyline... I was hopping those flaws I saw were just beta... But I'm tol otherwise which makes me sad...

Yea, it's just an incredibly sluggish and unresponsive engine. TSW doesn't run too well either considering the crappy graphics. Age of Conan was the same way for years-- great concept, great game systems... terrible from a technical POV.

Funcom can dream it, they just can't get the feel of their games right.

They may not makes that are my cup of tea, but for all their faults Blizzard still nail the responsiveness and feel of their games in a way no developer except Nintendo seem capable of.

If I could just be rich enough to like buy Anet/Blizzard/Trion/Funcom and all the original Everquest devs... Secret Rift World of GuildQuest 3.

This is my christmas wish.

[Kelesti]

With all the hubris coming out of ANet's ass, why would you even bother with them now? Blizzard/Trion/Funcom (+whichever free agents you want) would seem more than sufficient, without the burden of unwarranted ego.

[wombinator04]

Anet has my undivided attention.