Thanks I shall do just that!
Fractals are indeed more enjoyable (except for dredge, that can DIAF)... As for "normal" dungeons, your experience greatly depends on the rest of your team. When I did my first ever AC story it was such a culture shock I quit the game for about a week. However if you get used to the style, and do explorables with a decent group it can actually be a very rewarding and fun (YMMV) experience.
But yeah AC story is not very good. In fact the first 3 story modes (AC, CM, TA) are just awful imo. It gets better after these though...
Dray, the first dungeon I did was xCOE and I was like What in the F, lol.
Much easier now that I know how to play them.
Also try using:
Buff food
Maintenance oil
Consumables http://dulfy.net/2013/01/16/gw2-usef...umables-guide/
It really makes a difference. You can also go tankier with your build while you learn. (yeah, don't listen to people that say crap like GW2 dungeons are so ez you just kite and lol while spamming autoattack in full zerk gear)
Fractals are good but the Underground Facilities (dredge) is fkin hard for a new group. Volunteer to be a paperweight on one of the plates in the gear room haha.
Valar morghulis
Note that nearly all 'useful' consumables were disabled by a-net so don't get your hopes up.
I'd say do the temporary dungeon for the living story. It has the best dungeon design so far and I hope it's an Indicator for things to come. fractals are also generally better then the classic dungeons.
This is the whole game when ever partying or playing alongside other players.a mess of spells, pets, npcs and mobs, just a total mess. Little to no audible indicator of incoming attacks, no real sense of teamwork.
The game is fairly singular in it's design. So yes. A cursory knowledge of the gameplay would reveal such exactly from a logic and design POV. Could not be otherwise, actually.
Literally no combat mechanics change in overworld environment to dungeons. This is an objective truth of the gameplay.
Fractals are somewhat different in that they are more puzzle-y/trap-y/jump-y/twitch-y. So to speak-y.
Thanks for the input, and yes fencers after reviewing what I wrote indeed knowledge of the gameplay would reveal the logic, I just hoped that something would be different I guess. I had a good think about it and realised that even if dungeons suck its only one facet and I really enjoy chaining events, I still have wvwvw and Id like to give these guild missions a go as well as fractals, still plenty to keep me going.
Those consumeables do look pretty neat, my issue is the lack of keybinding them but I guess thats something ill have to get used to :P
Last edited by draykorinee; 2013-05-10 at 05:21 AM.
The dungeons are not that bad once you run them a few times. It all becomes robotic just like every other MMO. Where a knowing group would speed through it all in 30 mins or so.
It takes like an hour on average for us to clear all paths in AC, for example. You're in and out of COF/HOTW in like 25-35 mins.
Hell, people can solo and duo these things just as well. With a gear cap bound to all players its a poure skill thing.
Also the "bosses" [quotes around them because I feel they are hardly bosses in the first place] are all pretty basic / samey. So it becomes more a matter of figuring out the timing of when to jump/dodge as in older S/NES games and the above mentioned Arcade style of gameplay.
Its all the same stuff we been doing for years. Not as daunting as you may think from first impression.
Last edited by Fencers; 2013-05-10 at 05:40 AM.
I've only done a couple of the dungeons and AC storymode was one of them. I actually kind of liked that one. We wiped a few times on the lovers but otherwise I didn't think it was that bad.
We didn't wipe once, it was certainly not difficult by any means, it was just drab, uninspiring and chaotic, but not chaotic in a fun way just in a what the hell is going on. Even the setting was bland, the cutscenes actually told the story pretty well, the one good point of the experience.
I liked the traps in it. I wish there were more trap rooms and interesting stuff there. I liked the setting but I'd agree that the encounters were boring. Although to be fair, it is a level 30 dungeon. I can't think of many starting dungeons in any mmo that I've played that had interesting mechanics.
Uninspired is not accurate to Ascalon Catacomb's design.
The dungeon [and a few others] have direct inspiration from older dungeons, NPCs and missions in the Guild Wars series. Having both emotional, intellectual context and originality for Anet created them, erm duh.
AC probably doesn't mean a whole lot to those with a familiar grasp of Guild Wars 1. Though it certainly can not be "uninspired" by common usage if the entire exercise is predicated on original IP within the Guild Wars series.
I said uninspiring not uninspired which for me is the equivalent of dull, I understand what you're saying but my implication was that it didnt inspire any excitement in me not that it's creation wasn't inspired by previous stuff, it certainly had a nice story and cutscene as i mentioned previously.
Last edited by draykorinee; 2013-05-10 at 03:01 PM.
I wasn't addressing you specifically. Hence, no direct quote.
What I am addressing is the dungeon itself is based on a history that is directly relevant to the series. I noted specifically: "AC probably doesn't mean a whole lot to those with a familiar grasp of Guild Wars 1."
Which would also hold true for passing knowledge or interest. It is an inspired dungeon in both an intellectual [it has history/precedence] and emotionally [history/relevance/nostalgia].
Not everyone needs to find the madeleine which Proust ate delicious to understand the composition as inspired(ing) of intellect &/or emotion.
Fencers quoting obscure French writers. Were you a literature major in College?
I wouldn't call Proust obscure...