Guild Wars 2: Post-Release Discussion

[arus2001]

And the purpose of all those zones with no signs of PvP applied being...?

Yeah, typical PvPer "This is my game, fuck off!" there.

[Rhyis.]

For the most part, GW1 was a PvP centric game. It stands to reason it's sequel would be similar.

[arus2001]

Never played it, but still gonna stand behind my earlier point. Despite the bugs or general monotony, I'd say a hell of a lot more dev time has been spent on the PvE aspects of the game than the PvP, which consists of 3 duplicate zones, one "normal" zone, then some smaller arenas. For as vocal (confrontational?) as PvPers love to be, most often they're a minority among western MMOers constantly hopping from game to game hoping for that perfect storm of ease and e-fame. Be it FFXI, Aion, Rift, or whatever, any sort of PvEer gripe is usually brushed aside because "the game just isn't for you" or some BS. And while I can understand some people wanting to get their competitive jollies, most PvP games fail at it not so much due to mechanics (though they can be a factor), but because of the people playing (let's forget it's a game and just be an anonymous dick to everyone ganking and camping and not really looking for challenges!!!).

Now, if PvP was open-world among all zones with the 3 servers basically getting dumped on each other for their durations, you can bet I probably would've never given the game a second look. I dislike some dick telling me how I want to spend my night just as much as I dislike games telling me I can't do something I want to do because of lockout timers or other quirky game conditions beyond my individual control. And while Anet's done a fair enough job keeping these two play styles apart, there's still some overlap that not everyone's happy about.

[Shiyo]

This game has the best PVE of any mmorpg I've ever played.

[Akiyama]

You've played some shitty games.

[arus2001]

I'm more inclined to call Rift's PvE better, but that also has the benefit of some age/refinements to it with an expansion 5 weeks off. Both games are still conceptually similar in a lot of ways with Rift's zone events mirroring meta-events on zone wide scale while IAs are similar to hearts. I also want to like the soul system far more than binding skills to weapons. The rate of gear progression suffers if you aren't a raider, and it is something I've chastised Trion for, but akin to how PvPers demand better shit for what they do, Raiders tend to scoff at open-worlders for wanting their own perks. And I know one aspect where Rift has seriously fucked up is PvP gear frequently being best in slot for PvE. So, much like monthly kills and exploration requirements, if someone wanted something in particular, they'd likely find themselves playing an aspect of the game they disliked. But I'd also say GW2's PvP is better than Rift's, if only because healing isn't as prominent and you don't have classes that thrive on bullshit mechanics like perma-stealthing/stunlocking Rogues. Both games suck rather heartily at crafting.

[Kuishen]

I love the crafting system in this game, it's the only MMO aside from SWG (THE best crafting system if you took the time to learn it) where I actually enjoyed crafting. The only issue is you can't really make a profit off of stuff, but then again you actually can if you just go PvE in high level areas, get crafting mats, and then proceed to make yellows for almost no cost to you, then either sell them or salvage them for ectos for an almost guaranteed profit. I like their philosophy that you should play the game to get stuff to craft. I think that it needs a little work from an economy standpoint but whatever, game's not that old.

I detested Rift's PvE though. The soul system was cool but ultimately a gimmick.

[Prothescar]

I was cool with Rift's crafting system up until the point that they introduced those T1-grade craftables that you could only make with materials that you could buy only one of per day.

[Shiyo]

Guild wars 2 also has the best crafting of any MMO I've played ^-^

[Kuishen]

Guild wars 2 also has the best crafting of any MMO I've played ^-^

Over the past week or so, you've made a few of these posts and I can't help but feel you're being incredibly facetious based on your previous posts. o.o

[Shiyo]

No I love this game, it's basically everything I've LOVED in every game in one game.

[arus2001]

Not being able to craft all the triple stat combos is a minus from me. Minor, maybe, but to get Power/Vitality/Toughness, I'm basically left WvWing for eternity, farming a fuckload of karma, or running Catacombs/Twilight Arbor/Honor of Waves over and over. I doubt people would object to more fanciful crafted equipment designs, either, even if they were just skins. Anyway, crafting can be further integrated in other ways like the ability to make pop items for events or even WvW shit.

I did get a bit embittered by the anti-exploit code, I guess they're calling it, that nerfed drops when farming over time. That still doesn't help fix the ass drop rates of top tier mats, but at least you could get garbage to vendor.

I was cool with Rift's crafting system up until the point that they introduced those T1-grade craftables that you could only make with materials that you could buy only one of per day.

There were no purchase restrictions, rather you could only make 1 a day. If you wanted, you could buy someone else's from the AH, typically for not too much of a mark-up if you were in a rush to actually get something made. The problem I wound up having with the system is that crafted goods inevitably paled in comparison to raid drops quite handily. The class-specifics may've rivaled GSB pieces in some spots, but then HK people spanked you, and eventually ID took it further. For some reason Trion got the idea that new craft items requiring drops from ID would also be a good idea, but what that translated to is those items being kept within their guilds while people worked up marks with what few that did hit the market being at an extreme premium that no amount of semi-casual player could hope to pay for easily. This ultimately left gear upgrades in the hands of the planar armor bought via Inscribed Sourcestones, but it was only in July that they started adding pieces slightly weaker than HK gear, while not actually completing the set with it being 3/7 done. The haters loved to bitch up and down that an open-worlder didn't need that kind of stuff, but what they failed to consider was it could help get people into current content more readily while also leaving them something to actually chase on their own. Plus with fewer people doing ZEs due to stagnation/other shit, these people decked out in ISS stuff would actually help guarantee success. Unfortunately, with the top-tier ISS stuff costing around 1k of the currency, Trion dropped the ball on it being obtained with any kind of alacrity unless you played 24/7. I basically gave Trion grief on this between the costs, how long it took them to even start the Planar Hero tier, and then it being incomplete.

I've got some other quibbles with their PvE, like the Scourge of the Sands event in Shimmersand taking foreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeever, but I'm a bit puzzled Kuishen would hate it when GW2 is still laden with the whole Kill X, Fetch Y, Go To Z, and Defend Q mechanics that all consisted of Rift's PvE.

[Aevis]

crafting system is awesome. the economy won't really get better over time. not as long as you can do 0-400 in 2hrs with 10-12g and the gear beeing mainly about looks (there's no adaberk every single war needs to have). not a complaint tho, I like it that way.

[Kiarax]

There's a handful of crafts that are just free money, even buying all the mats off AH. Just gotta look for 'em. But considering I have maxed my crafts so far with 1-3 G (and using a chunk of my own gathered stuff) 0-400 it's no surprise most stuff isn't profitable.

[Jakson]

Have 4 400s, not really trying to make money on them, its ultimately like everything else in an MMO - I just want to see some stats maxed, crafts in this case.

Though if I could make triforge pendants I totally would.

[Syntex]

Although flawed I really miss FFXI's crafting. It felt rewarding to actually get to max level and was fun to work at it.

[Rhyis.]

FFXI had the most convoluted crafting system ever created.

[Alderaan]

But i loved losing money on every single craft!

Seriously, XI's system would have been a lot more fun had it not been run by RMT and players that capped their gil with rusty caps.

[ronin sparthos]

FFXI had the most convoluted crafting system ever created.

You've defeated Vrtra and have acquired the legendary synth materials to create a Sha'ir Manteel only to lose them when the synth critfails and flushes all your work.

FUN AND EXCITEMENT GAIS.

[Syntex]

I wont argue that you guys pointed out the major flaws with the system but its the one crafting system I actually felt accomplished in.

Every other game its a joke to get to the cap. FFXI if you were 100 crafter it was a big deal.

Maybe I'm just gushing with nostalgia but the first 2 years of FFXI was pretty good as it was pretty much before botting and RMT came in.