September 2014 feature pack coming sep. 9th

[Deleted]

The pic screams "underwater combat" to me but seems unlikely looking at titles.

[Fencers]

Anet's constant struggle with secondary systems is really baffling to me. Historically they haven't been able to get these type of systems out cohesively or from launch.

Seems somewhat thin to have 3 weeks worth of feature additions with no content vis-a-vis the living story. Natch, not much has been announced yet so we will see.

[Fkiolaris]

@1: People complained that there is no horizontal progression once you're lv.80. The maximal level in GW2 can be reached in relatively little time, so Anet pushed back traits for progression after lv.80. It's intended to be completed as high level character as you can see when you look at the requirements. Personally I love this change, I don't need a few new traits during the lv-up phase since I want to get to max. level as soon as possible and skip most level-areas via. level-up tomes, crafting and EotM-Karma trains. The added possibility to buy the traits for gold isn't the core-idea here, clearly. More an added bonus for all those alt-lovers.

I cannot believe what I am reading here. I mean, wasn't one of the manifesto claims that "all game is your end-game, including levelling"? So instead of actually fixing the post-80 content, they screwed the pre-80 experience and called that a solution? Also you are not taking into account at all new players into the game that have neither the gold nor the SPs to buy traits. In fact, if what some posters on the official forums say is correct, there are not enough SPs through levelling and challenges to buy all your abilities and your traits. There are 37-pages of a thread on the official forums where practically everybody is against this system, but apparently this is a great change!

[lawow74]

No idea how someone can be so negative about such a great feature-patch.

Trait system was a deliberate gimp of how it worked before, they took away what had already been freely given by saying 'now you don't have to buy trait tier unlocks and pay to respec'. Trait tier unlocks were cheap compared to how much they gouge you for on what was previously completely free.

Champ train and champ loot bag nerfs were a deliberate gimp of players' ability to make money.

World boss schedule slowed down the rate at which you can run through the events. Another deliberate gimp of players' ability to make money.

What I see there is more encouragement to buy gems and flip them to gold. It's not all bad, as I pointed out. But I do not and will not agree that all of this was done to 'balance out the gold sink loss of no more repair costs'. That to me reeks of bullshit. It's monetization hidden behind 'quality of life' changes.

Hence I term it disingenuous, and I reiterate: I wonder what disingenuous 'improvements' they're going to make this time around. I don't claim they'll all be that way, but I'm pretty suspicious of what they'll do next, based on what they already did. If they don't gimp some things, I'll be pleasantly surprised. If they do, just remember I told you so.

[Edge-]

While I'm all for more feature updates, I'm kinda sad we're only getting 5 weeks of LS before the break : (

[lawow74]

While I'm all for more feature updates, I'm kinda sad we're only getting 5 weeks of LS before the break : (

Well, unless I miss my guess, Dry Top has reached maturity now, so giving folks time to farm it thoroughly won't go amiss. I have a feeling we'll be moving to other areas when it starts back up, though I don't know if we'll be entering a completely new zone. If we are, then the focus will probably shift there and Dry Top will drop back/off the radar for the new area.

[rhandric]

Trait system was a deliberate gimp of how it worked before, they took away what had already been freely given by saying 'now you don't have to buy trait tier unlocks and pay to respec'. Trait tier unlocks were cheap compared to how much they gouge you for on what was previously completely free.

Champ train and champ loot bag nerfs were a deliberate gimp of players' ability to make money.

World boss schedule slowed down the rate at which you can run through the events. Another deliberate gimp of players' ability to make money.

What I see there is more encouragement to buy gems and flip them to gold. It's not all bad, as I pointed out. But I do not and will not agree that all of this was done to 'balance out the gold sink loss of no more repair costs'. That to me reeks of bullshit. It's monetization hidden behind 'quality of life' changes.

Hence I term it disingenuous, and I reiterate: I wonder what disingenuous 'improvements' they're going to make this time around. I don't claim they'll all be that way, but I'm pretty suspicious of what they'll do next, based on what they already did. If they don't gimp some things, I'll be pleasantly surprised. If they do, just remember I told you so.

But the intent isn't that you spend money+SP on the traits, it's that you play the game and get the traits as a result. Now I admit, I haven't yet leveled a character with the new trait system (both characters I've played recently were grandfathered in with the old system/unlocks, though I have a few others I've been working on who are sub-30 still and haven't unlocked traits - though I did find a bug with the UI for that), so I haven't really gotten a feel for how those trait unlocks, well, feel during leveling, though I have unlocked a few of the 13 traits (and had fun doing so!).

TL;DR - People who complain about the cost of traits are ignoring the intended mechanism for gaining them.

[lawow74]

TL;DR - People who complain about the cost of traits are ignoring the intended mechanism for gaining them.

No, we're pointing out that things were no longer being given to players, which was the original mechanism(intended or not), and instead were being required to do hoop-jumping or pay to earn what was previously free.

Much like how they delayed when the tiers of traits unlock compared to your level. I was fortunate that all my chars were made and levelled to 80 when they pulled this boner of a move on us.

So I reiterate: DELIBERATE. GIMP.

[Eldar45]

I like the new trait system. Insta respec and not having to pay for them while leveling up (I just look up the ones I really need and go get them by doing the objective. Plus I have gotten several without even trying).

I only had one level 80 character before this revamp. When I leveled it I only just had the gold to buy the new trait tier when I got to that level.

And I haven't noticed any added difficulty in leveling since my first.

[rhandric]

Trait tier unlocks were cheap compared to how much they gouge you for on what was previously completely free.

No, we're pointing out that things were no longer being given to players, which was the original mechanism(intended or not), and instead were being required to do hoop-jumping or pay to earn what was previously free.

Much like how they delayed when the tiers of traits unlock compared to your level. I was fortunate that all my chars were made and levelled to 80 when they pulled this boner of a move on us.

So I reiterate: DELIBERATE. GIMP.

I stand by my previous post.
1) There's more than one way to unlock traits. That was not true for trait tiers.
2) Traits can (and are intended to) be unlocked for free. The fact that they gave you the option to buy it with money+SP is as an alternative, not the intended route.
3) You only complain because it wasn't like this from the beginning, though those of us who like it, recognize it for what it is: a different design, intended to be an homage to skill capping in GW1, with the lone fault of being put in after the game was released.

[lawow74]

3) You only complain because it wasn't like this from the beginning, though those of us who like it, recognize it for what it is: a different design, intended to be an homage to skill capping in GW1, with the lone fault of being put in after the game was released.

Slower and less diverse build construction is a pretty big fault compared to the old system. Can't GM traits until 80. Can't even BEGIN traits until 30. Yeah, if it was that way at the start it might have been different. But it wasn't.

So, again: Hoop-jumping and/or being gouged for traits that are allowed for use slower and with much less ease of choice than before does not balance out with respec anytime and not having to unlock trait tiers. A deliberate gimp of the system.

[rhandric]

Slower and less diverse build construction is a pretty big fault compared to the old system. Can't GM traits until 80. Can't even BEGIN traits until 30. Yeah, if it was that way at the start it might have been different. But it wasn't.

So, again: Hoop-jumping and/or being gouged for traits that are allowed for use slower and with much less ease of choice than before does not balance out with respec anytime and not having to unlock trait tiers. A deliberate gimp of the system.

In what way is there less diverse build construction? Being able to change your build any time you're out of combat, without having to return to town, sounds like a good way to introduce build diversity, as long as the traits exist to make it worthwhile -- if they don't, that's a completely different topic, and outside the scope of the changes to the system.

Not being able to GM traits until 80 is a bit odd (when I was leveling my most recent 80, necro, I was surprised at 60 that I couldn't) -- but it's not a major issue in any sense. If you disagree, give reasons why, because the time between 60 (when you used to be able to use GM slots/traits) and 80 is negligible; I did it in under a day of playing, without even really focusing on leveling until 79. Same for beginning traits at 30; it's a major change, but in the grand scheme of things doesn't change a lot, but is an easy target to point to and say, "oh hey, they changed this, it feels slower!"

I'm struggling to understand just exactly where the "gimping" of the system is. Is it because you have to *gasp* play the game to unlock traits (or spend money if you're lazy)? Is it because newer characters don't have as earlier access, even though the relative play time in that range is minimal? Take an objective look at the system: If you were a new player, and didn't know how the system had been, would you be disappointed to know that you don't get access to traits until 30, don't have access to GM traits/slots until 80, and have to play the game to get traits? Or would the first 2 points not matter (having not been exposed to earlier access previously), and the 3rd be an interesting and fun way of building your character? Objectivity is the key when analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of a system.

[lawow74]

I'm struggling to understand just exactly where the "gimping" of the system is.

Slower access to the tiers of traits and points you get them with.

Traits have to be unlocked specifically to use them in PvE, limiting your experimentation.

Traits are often gated behind requirements outside of the level range at which you'd be able to access the given tier, or force you into activities beyond PvE. Though of course there's always that 'buy it now' option which to me is blatant attempts at monetizing the game.

And claiming objectivity is needed is silly, it undercuts the centerpoint of this discussion, which is not whether the revamped trait system is good or bad, but that in comparison to the old system, the revamped system is good or bad. I say, it is bad, bad, bad, baddy mcbadderson for the reasons I have repeatedly outlined. If you disagree, fine. But my stance is clear and I've done all I care to do supporting it.

Now, on to seeing what new features will be revealed and whether or not I'll consider them to be deliberate gimps of things or not.

[Maarius]

I'd say we agree to disagree about the old feature patch and discuss the new one, no? I'm pretty optimistic, lawow is not. Let's all hope I'm right.

[lawow74]

I'd say we agree to disagree about the old feature patch and discuss the new one, no? I'm pretty optimistic, lawow is not. Let's all hope I'm right.

I take the same tack I do with most things, hope for the best and expect the worst. But I'm a cynical bastard, so...

[Fkiolaris]

In what way is there less diverse build construction? Being able to change your build any time you're out of combat, without having to return to town, sounds like a good way to introduce build diversity, as long as the traits exist to make it worthwhile -- if they don't, that's a completely different topic, and outside the scope of the changes to the system.

Being able to change between traits when you don't have any does not introduce build diversity. Play the game you say to get the traits? Well, ignoring the "play as you like" part of the manifesto that seems to have gone out of the window, what if I want to get a trait that:

- is hidden behind full exploration of zones 10+ levels higher?
- need to participate in WvW and my server sucks at that?
- I need to force fail events that others are doing?
- I need to complete buged events?
and so on and so forth? How does that make it that I have more options?

Seriously, there is a thread 38 pages long in the official forums where players, new and old, say what they don't like about this system. Even veterans that originally thought it was a good change, once they tried to level an alt that way without using tomes or buying the traits they came straight back and admitted that it sucks for any of 1 million reasons. I am not one to usually take the forums as an indication of a system's/game's success or not, but that thread (and it being in GW2 official forums from all places) is pretty telling.

[Maarius]

looking at That_Shaman's Datamines from the last year up to today, tons of possibilites:

• Return to Tonic List
  
• several transformations from Drytop-creatures like: Colocal Transformation
• Trial Accounts
• several notes like: Trial Account rank too low
• Spear / Pole-arm like weapons
• A great number of spears were added as well. Each spear is decorated with tassels and a high detail banner, there are currently 16 different variations

• UI Changes
• Cheating or Exploiting
• Reporting a player for cheating or exploiting sends a notification to the GM team. GMs may conduct a careful review of that player's behavior. If it is confirmed that the player is cheating or exploiting, that player's account will be banned.
• Multicolored commander icons are coming (from Feb 04)
• Siege Golem Mastery
• Reinforcement Mastery
• Improves your ability to get to the fight faster and safer
• Gain improved swiftness when leaving your base
• Gain stealth when you leave your base
• ...
• Assaulter Mastery
• Gain buffs, send players back to base, and stuff from killing enemy players
• PvP Legendaries e.g: Sunrise
• Shards of Legend
• Turn in these shards to purchase legendary PvP weapons and other rare items.
• My Journal
• My Journal: Seeking Dawn
• Legends of ...
• The Legend of Flameseeker Prophecies
• Extreme dungeon running
• Complete the dungeon with the 50 percent health gambit active
• Complete the dungeon without going downed or dying
• Complete the dungeon with only 4 players, start to finish
• ...more
• Daily Activity
• Activity: Gladiator
• Activity: Assassin
• Treasure Hunting
• Stash Map
• Locate Treasure
• Secret Treasure Maps
• Use this map while in Fireheart Rise to track down hidden treasure

So these are some of the features we haven't seen yet, from the last year. Some of these might never see the light of the day, nevertheless it's interesting to see what they have been working on, among many other secret things.

[Svifnymr]

The trait system would have worked fine if the unlock mechanisms were more level appropriate. In either case, I've leveled 3 since and haven't had an issue with it really. Main thing is that I no longer have ALL traits, just the ones I got by accident or wanted.

In any case, hopefully they refine the "respec" so you can just unlick stuff rather than erasing everything. Remembering old specs also would be nice.

Going forward, I hope we're getting Guild Stuff.

[lawow74]

In any case, hopefully they refine the "respec" so you can just unlick stuff rather than erasing everything. Remembering old specs also would be nice.

It is possible to minus back points without refunding all the traits. Being able to save specs would be nice, though I imagine it'd probably work more like the old build link codes in GW 1.

Also, I like the idea of treasure maps. Would be a fun world drop to trade around. Kinda like how I miss getting unidentified dyes as drops.

[Rukh]

I've leveled a new character through the new system and it's fine. You get some of the traits leveling up so you can make a build easy enough. If you want others, you look where they are and go kill a thing for them. I bought a couple when I wanted a certain build, but its fun to go kill things to collect them. It gives people more things to do during leveling, which is a good thing.