Hearts vs Dynamic Events

[Deleted]

Having read in a few other places, and watched a few videos, I've noticed that quite allot of people seem to mix these two ups.
I understand that most people around here will know the difference, but parhaps it will be useful to someone when trying to explain these concepts.

1. What is a Heart?
Quite allot of people in the Press Beta seems to think that when they go to a Heart and fill up that bar, they are working with other people.
That is not the case. Hearts are in fact very close to your standard quest system in any other mmo, but with a twist.

Unlike Dynamic Events, when you do a heart (as indicated by a heart on the map) you are working alone (or with your group). That doesn't mean that you cannot kill stuff with other people, you all fill your heart bar when you do objectives, but your heart bar is your own. It will not be filled up by other people's actions.
Hearts are also a one time deal. Once you have finished them, they are done, much like any quest in another game.

The main difference between hearts and quests in other MMO's is that a heart is more like a quest hub where you can choose which objectives you want to do.

A quest hub in another game might give you quest something like this:
Quest 1: Kill 10 wolfs
Quest 2: Pick 10 flowers
Quest 3: Resurrect 10 friendly NPC's

In GW2 it would instead look like this:
Heart objective: Kill wolfs, pick flowers and resurrect friendly NPC's.

You can then kill 15 wolfs, pick 12 flowers, and only resurrect 3 NPC's. Or you can forget about killing all together and only pick 30 flowers. Or whichever combination you want. This is ofcourse very simplified, not all objectives would fill your heart bar the same amount, but it shows the concept clearly.

2. What is dynamic events?
Dynamic events are events that can be triggered by a multitude of different actions and scenarios. Unlike a heart, everyone who is in the area and actively taking part in the event help with the progress of the event. If the event have a bar to fill up by say killing monsters in a similar way to hearts, every monster killed by anyone in the area helps towards the goal. The bar keeps rising even if you are not taking part.

Ofcourse, most events is not only about filling a bar (unlike hearts), but may be about killing a specific monster, beating back waves of monsters, taking over a settlement etc. Just like hearts there can also be a multitude of objectives tied to the progression of a dynamic event.

3. What is the connection between hearts and dynamic events?
Not much to be honest. Most dynamic events start close to hearts, which makes sense as players will rally around these hearts. Finishing a heart can also trigger a dynamic event, and seem to do so quite often.
Exactly how hearts triggers events I am not sure of (the people in the press beta have not made this very clear), but it would seem likely that atleast on some of the dynamic events there would be a cooldown, so that it is not triggered each and every time someone finishes the heart.

4. What else can trigger dynamic events?
Apart from finishing hearts dynamic events can be triggered by specific actions by players (such as activating specific items), by time of the day, by someone entering an area, and sometimes what seems like pure chance. Again, we do not know that much of exactly how each dynamic event is triggered.


Hope this help someone who was confused over these concepts, and how they work together.

[Larynx]

Additionally, there are things called Scouts which will show you on the map where the hearts are, so you have an idea of where to go. It'll contribute to giving to a "reason" or whatever you want to call it, instead of just aimlessly wandering about.

[solidsheep]

I always thought hearts were showing events that unlock karma vendors?

[Edge-]

I always thought hearts were showing events that unlock karma vendors?

The heart is the karma vendor.

[solidsheep]

The heart is the karma vendor.

I see thank you. they still need to be unlocked right by doing stuff for them?

[Deleted]

i see the heart indeed as the "standard quest indicator" but i also compare it a bit with a reputation vendor (minus the long grind from all videos i seen)

edit. voting for a sticky as this is imo 1 of the most common misleads

[Tithonus]

I see thank you. they still need to be unlocked right by doing stuff for them?

Correct.

Hearts fill as players assist in the area; no NPC interaction is required to begin progress on a heart. In this regard, goal-oriented players can use hearts as an indication of area completion without the need for a linear list of things to do; progress can come from a wide variety of player actions. It ranges, for example, from simply killing foes to performing other tasks like watering plants or feeding cattle. With the numerous ways to contribute to a heart, there is no need to follow through every event in an area in order to attain completion.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Heart

[Deleted]

I always thought hearts were showing events that unlock karma vendors?

Yeah, missed mentioning that in my post.
Just like you say, you unlock karma vendors by finishing hearts. You do not gain karma from doing hearts however. The karma is gained mainly from dynamic events, as well as personal story (both your personal story, and by helping others with their)

[Tstr88]

I see thank you. they still need to be unlocked right by doing stuff for them?

They are unlocked by doing the quests associated with them. These are basically 'personal' quests, so to speak. Once you complete them then it opens up as a karma vendor. There are usually several DE's near hearts and the herds of random people tend to congregate near hearts, to the point that it's almost like a herd of cattle moving around the map. DE's near hearts usually have the most people participating in them. You can go way off the beaten path of hearts on the map and find other DE's out in the boonies, which have few, if any, other people participating.

[Deleted]

Well made and informative thread. Even better would be if this was implemented in the stickied thread Mass Info for the Uninitiated.

I had no clue what the hearts were until now.

[Nehezbegar]

Hearts should be like weekly quests, that u can finish once per week.

[omlech]

Well made and informative thread. Even better would be if this was implemented in the stickied thread Mass Info for the Uninitiated.

I had no clue what the hearts were until now.

It's been there for a few months now.

Scouts & Hearts - Scouts are NPCs you can find around the world that will point out particular areas of interest to the player, they’ll uncover areas of the map to show you areas on the map where help might be needed. Once the Scout is done pointing these areas out, it will cover the areas back up on the map so that way you still have that sense of adventure while exploring. This is meant for players who still like some form of guidance rather than not knowing exactly where to go.

Hearts can be seen in various places around any given zone; the hearts have multiple purposes. One is that they’re a static form of content that will always be available to the player, though Dynamic Events can start at or around these Heart locations. Hearts will have you helping out NPCs in the area, doing particular tasks that need doing, provides a way to get some backstory for the local area as well as provide additional lore. Just like Dynamic Events, you don’t have to talk to anyone to start helping the NPC, you just go and do whatever needs to be done and anyone who joins in won’t be a hindrance to your gameplay. When helping these NPCs out, Dynamic Events might start nearby that affect the area where the Heart is. Say you’re helping a farmer out by watering her crops, killing nearby worms, etc. Well if a Dynamic Event starts nearby where bandits start attacking, burning bales of hay, stealing goods from the farm, etc. Anything you do in that event counts towards your objectives for the Heart since it’s in the vicinity of the Heart NPC. So putting out those fires, getting the stolen goods back, etc would count towards the Dynamic Event progress as well as your Heart progress. Once you fill a Heart, the NPC you helped becomes a Karma vendor where you can buy unique items, things such as recipes, crafting materials, consumables, etc. The Heart activities give XP/Coin, but NO Karma. Karma is only earned through Dynamic Events and Personal Story content.

[Larynx]

Omlech is on this shit. don't question it!

[Deleted]

It's been there for a few months now.

Ah, I see. Must've missed it.

[Deleted]

Hearts should be like weekly quests, that u can finish once per week.

Why on earth would you want that? Hearts doesn't even give any rewards as they are currently implemented. They are a one time deal that unlocks the karma vendors.

Making hearts repeatable would be like making EVERY SINGLE QUEST in a game like WoW into a repeatable quest.

[Phishy714]

Unlike Dynamic Events, when you do a heart (as indicated by a heart on the map) you are working alone (or with your group). That doesn't mean that you cannot kill stuff with other people, you all fill your heart bar when you do objectives, but your heart bar is your own. It will not be filled up by other people's actions.

I don't think this is right. From watching my friend play and looking at alot of online videos, everyone in the area helps to fill the heart - though everyone may not be at the same level of "fill-ness". For example, if you have been working at filling the heart at a farm, and I come over and start contributing as well, my heart will just start to fill, while yours is almost done. However, we will both get credit for each other's contributions - though at a slower rate per contribution. Once you are done with your heart and leave, I am still working on my heart, but will do so at a faster rate per individual action.

[Deleted]

Your heart will start to fill - because you are working on the objective.
Ofcourse more then one person can work on a heart at once, just like many people can do the same quest at the same time.
Other people's actions do not change the rate at which you fill YOUR heart though. The exception might be in cases where dynamic events help fill up hearts as well (something I have heard might be the case, but have not actually seen so can not confirm).

Your heart is yours however, and hearts also don't scale by how many people are doing it (apart from spawning more of whatever you need to gather, kill, destroy or whatever).

Edit:
Just to add, I may be wrong here. I'm not in the beta myself, and do not have first hand experience. However, this is how it works from what I have seen, and it also is what makes sense. Sharing your heart gains with others close to the same heart would not make sense, as the heart is induvidual. If that really is the case, you could end up in a case where bad players seriously piss you off, by being inefficient players. Someone just doing the bare minimum to be counted as participating would slow down your heart gain.

[Bridger]

It's actually more to show how much of an area you've completed total. You can track and complete each heart once, and that sort of shows hwo you've progressed through the world. I think there are achievements designed around completing every heart in an area, or the whole game.

[airea]

Good to know, I wasn't aware. Easy to mix up though, if you don't know the difference. Especially since the storyline of whatever area you're in is often tied between Hearts and DEs. With this I reference TB's recent thief video when he's helping defeat blood(?) legion soldiers at a lumber camp, I believe.