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Guild Wars 2 |OT3| Two Week Updates, One Box, Zero Subscriptions

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Arcteryx

Member
from mmorpg article:
What’s more is that the team is also working very hard on finding a way to make it so that every profession has access to every weapon and their own weapon skills for those previously locked weapons. Engineer plus Hammer? Check. Again, there’s no specific timeline for this, but a new progression system is coming.


dafuq? I didn't see that mentioned in the blogpost, but if true...AWESOME!
 

Retro

Member
Well, with all that was announced I'm kinda considering not playing until it's all implemented. Sure, do living world and events but day to say stuff... Hmm

This is sort of what I mean when I talk about expansions hurting the community; as soon as stuff is announced people immediately switch to "I'll just wait, the game is gonna get better" mode. But in this case, all of those things are happening before the end of the year, and instead of just 'some day, all at once', they're implemented individually at different times. Waiting for the whole list to be finished means missing out on a lot when it goes live.

LFG will be in soon, definitely before the end of August, I think. If that tweet was correct, then Super Adventure Box will probably be back in September or October. The results of the election (and thus, new fractals) will probably be October or November (November makes more sense since that's when we have Election Day in the states, and that's the one year anniversary of fractals).

All of the features in that post (subject to change, of course) will be peppered throughout the next 5 months. Not to mention Halloween (which they've said will have new content) and Wintersday (Ditto). There's really no reason to stop playing and wait. That stuff is coming, and probably a whole lot more they haven't mentioned because it's not ready yet. There could be dungeon revamps in there (makes sense if they're revamping dungeon chests), more zones like Labyrinthine Cliffs...

Bottom Line: Waiting in this game means missing out. No MMO has ever been able to leverage so much content so quickly, which is going to take getting used to for people who are used to the usual 3-6 month wait for the game to be fixed and something new to do and 1-2 years for an expansion to make sweeping changes and introduce a lot of content.

All of those things happen two weeks at a time. Strap yourself in, this ride is just getting started.
 

Jira

Member
This is sort of what I mean when I talk about expansions hurting the community; as soon as stuff is announced people immediately switch to "I'll just wait, the game is gonna get better" mode. But in this case, all of those things are happening before the end of the year, and instead of just 'some day, all at once', they're implemented individually at different times. Waiting for the whole list to be finished means missing out on a lot when it goes live.

LFG will be in soon, definitely before the end of August, I think. If that tweet was correct, then Super Adventure Box will probably be back in September or October. The results of the election (and thus, new fractals) will probably be October or November (November makes more sense since that's when we have Election Day in the states, and that's the one year anniversary of fractals).

All of the features in that post (subject to change, of course) will be peppered throughout the next 5 months. Not to mention Halloween (which they've said will have new content) and Wintersday (Ditto). There's really no reason to stop playing and wait. That stuff is coming, and probably a whole lot more they haven't mentioned because it's not ready yet. There could be dungeon revamps in there (makes sense if they're revamping dungeon chests), more zones like Labyrinthine Cliffs...

Bottom Line: Waiting in this game means missing out. No MMO has ever been able to leverage so much content so quickly, which is going to take getting used to for people who are used to the usual 3-6 month wait for the game to be fixed and something new to do and 1-2 years for an expansion to make sweeping changes and introduce a lot of content.

All of those things happen two weeks at a time. Strap yourself in, this ride is just getting started.

Took the words right out of my mouth. Not playing is the worst possible thing you could do with this game.
 

Moondrop

Banned
Empowered, the Warrior trait, was stealth-nerfed. Now only gives 1% damage/boon, a big blow to my build just as I was making some headway in PvP. QQ Anet.
 

Hawkian

The Cryptarch's Bane
Those are traffic stats for GW2? Seems a bit low if there's only half a million unique connections during a whole month, especially considering three million boxes have been sold. It's still a healthy population, especially considering how stable it seems to be in the long run.
No no no. Uniques and views for the GW subreddit, nothing to do with game connection.

edit: Beaten like a Quaggan that needs to be knocked out of hulk rage mode
 
Wait, with Legendary Armor and Weapons, you will be able to change your prefix and suffix at will? Holy shit. That's a better replacement for the feared "gear treadmill" when you can instead have all the armor types, lol.
 

Anno

Member
Holy god this game just gets crazier. Imagine what 2014 will be like!

Also am I crazy or did they refer to non-WvW/PvP specifically as the "Living World" multiple times? Is that new?
 

Hawkian

The Cryptarch's Bane
There has certainly been no specific mention of legendary armor.
Holy god this game just gets crazier. Imagine what 2014 will be like!

Also am I crazy or did they refer to non-WvW/PvP specifically as the "Living World" multiple times? Is that new?
They did, I noted it last page. The term replaces prior usages of "open world" throughout a lot of recent communications.
 

Retro

Member
from mmorpg article:

What’s more is that the team is also working very hard on finding a way to make it so that every profession has access to every weapon and their own weapon skills for those previously locked weapons. Engineer plus Hammer? Check. Again, there’s no specific timeline for this, but a new progression system is coming.

dafuq? I didn't see that mentioned in the blogpost, but if true...AWESOME!

They said existing weapons would be adapted to different professions before they added entirely new weapons. I think the big ones are Engineer Hammer, Thief off-hand Sword and Thief Staff.

Was actually just talking about that last one with another GAFer recently. It would have to be used as a melee weapon, and give the class a much-needed boost to Support. Here's what we kind of fleshed out. Not sure on the order or cooldowns, just tossing ideas out there;

1. Melee attack chain:
Single Target strike
Single Target strike, causes weakness.
Cleave attack (hits up to three enemies).​

2. Whirl attack, grants a short amount of regeneration to nearby allies for each enemy struck (limited to 5 targets).

3. "Pole Vault" - Leap at a targeted enemy and knock them backwards. Decreased cooldown if used within melee range. (Can be used to close gaps, but more effective for control).

4. Shadowslip - AOE targeted skill; create a shadow vortex at the target location for 6 seconds that blinds nearby foes and removes one condition from friendly players every 3 seconds. Press again to shadowstep to the targeted location, instantly curing 1 extra condition but closing the vortex.

5. "Protection of the Shadows" - Sort of a mini-Shadow Refuge; grants Aegis to all nearby players and stealth to the thief. Acts as a Dark combo field.

Stealth Skill: "Hidden Blowgun": Fire a projectile laced with Ice Drake Venom, chilling the target.​

/shrug. I'm sure ANet could do better.
 

Nerokis

Member
This is silly but I think I'm most excited for the Champion rewards. :p I mean, high-level I'm over the moon at new skills coming this year, and that has massive implications throughout the game. But really, just seeing a worthwhile opportunity any time you spot a champ will make the overworld so much more fun for me to traverse. I don't really even need the chest to be all that great, just something more than my 34000th blue level 75 Rampager's Cabalist Coat and I am there. I really hope that change comes within the next two months.

I'm totally on the same page. Champion hunting on my thief was always fun, but completely anti-climactic in terms of reward. Same with those moments when it's only you and one or two other people, and you spend ~15 minutes completing a group event together. Fighting champions without a decent group will probably never be an efficient way to play, but at least you'll actually get something for it now.

By retrofitting reward onto all these champions scattered throughout the world, suddenly there is an entirely new category of "stuff that's exciting to stumble upon," and that category also happens to fulfill the desire for being challenged by the environment. There's probably even more that ArenaNet can do to make champions interesting. They seem like a decent vessel for fleshing out the world.
 

Jira

Member
I'm totally on the same page. Champion hunting on my thief was always fun, but completely anti-climatic in terms of reward. Same with those moments when it's only you and one or two other people, and you spend ~15 minutes completing a group event together. Fighting champions without a decent group will probably never be an efficient way to play, but at least you'll actually get something for it now.

By retrofitting reward onto all these champions scattered throughout the world, suddenly there is an entirely new category of "stuff that's exciting to stumble upon," and that category also happens to fulfill the desire for being challenged by the environment. There's probably even more that ArenaNet can do to make champions interesting. They seem like a decent vessel for fleshing out the world.

Yeah, there's so many champions that are roaming the world and part of events that people haven't even seen. It's going to be pretty damn awesome to get out there and explore.
 

Trey

Member
Makes sense to give all weapons to all professions. Making the distinguishing factor skills and traits alone seems preferable to me.
 

Retro

Member
Ranger rifle?!

I'd actually be surprised if they end up with EVERY profession having EVERY weapon. Some of them just make no sense; a warrior with a scepter? Thief with a focus?

I don't see the casters getting a lot of melee weapons (Necromancer is the most likely to get them though), nor do I see the melee classes getting a lot of caster stuff (Guardian, of course, already having access to most of them).

I think it's more likely we'll see each class get access to one new weapon type (maybe two depending on how many hands it requires) to start, and maybe a few more from there...

- Guardian could get one of the bows rather easily, giving them better range. Not much else that they'd need though.
- Warriors already have so many weapon options, I think giving them Torch is really about all you could do. Maybe off-hand dagger as a parrying weapon?
- Engineer getting a hammer seems obvious. Torch might work as well.
- Ranger getting rifle feels redundant, but could be kinda cool. What about Shield? Maybe a more 'nature magic'-oriented Ranger with Scepter or Focus?
- I like Thieves getting staff. Off-hand Sword, maybe a mace as well.
- Elementalists could use a mace, so few classes use them and it seems the most 'caster-like' of the melee weapons. Not sure what else to give 'em.
- Mesmers are tricky... dagger, maybe?
- Necromancers getting 1h and off-hand sword seems to fit.
 

nataku

Member
Love the blog post overall. Some great sounding things in there. Hopefully expanding the number of current weapons professions can use is also something that they do this year along with whatever new utilities and elites they add. If they really can give every weapon to every profession then that would satisfy a lot of the desire for new weapon skills.

I was hoping for some info on saving builds in there, though. It really needs to happen, sooner rather than later.

- Mesmers are tricky... dagger, maybe?

Main hand pistol. Though I would like another melee option as well.
 

Levyne

Banned
Rangers getting hammer, offhand sword, mainhand torch, would be cool. A curveball like a scepter for nature-y sprit-y stuffs could be creative.
 
No no that's for the GW2 subreddit, not the game itself. If you consider the fact that forum communities are a minority, that's a lot of people for a subset of the overall playerbase.

Hoooooly crap. 500k unique visits just for the GW2 subreddit? o_O That's pretty freaking crazy, isn't it?
I wonder at what number WoW hovers about?

from mmorpg article:

dafuq? I didn't see that mentioned in the blogpost, but if true...AWESOME!

I had no clue about this either, is this confirmed then?
 

Retro

Member
I was hoping for some info on saving builds in there, though. It really needs to happen, sooner rather than later.

I'd like a Collectables tab for Dungeon tokens and the like too (especially for badges of honor, these last few days have been CRAZY), I always ask the devs when that's coming but they never have an answer for me. I guess I'll just buy more bank slots when those go live.

Main hand pistol. Though I would like another melee option as well.

That's not bad, but yeah; I'd want more melee in there too.

Rangers getting hammer, offhand sword, mainhand torch, would be cool. A curveball like a scepter for nature-y sprit-y stuffs could be creative.

I don't think off-hand only weapons will ever go main-hand... because dual-wielding torches seems as absurd as dual-wielding shields. =p

Thief with staff makes no sense, like to the point of bothering me lol.

donatello-donatello-sm5rg5.gif
 
I want another main hand for ranger, a melee one to be precise. I love three of the offhands but none of the main hands (axe is OK but seems redundant and outclassed if you have bow traits; I dislike 1h sword a lot due to its gimmicky 2 and it's loss of control with its 1 combo), so I always end up with two 2-handers.
 

Retro

Member
I want another main hand for ranger, a melee one to be precise. I love three of the offhands but none of the main hands (axe is OK but seems redundant and outclassed if you have bow traits; I dislike 1h sword a lot due to its gimmicky 2 and it's loss of control with its 1 combo), so I always end up with two 2-handers.

Not a ton of room left; mace, mainhand dagger, off-hand sword. Hmm.
 

Jira

Member
Hoooooly crap. 500k unique visits just for the GW2 subreddit? o_O That's pretty freaking crazy, isn't it?
I wonder at what number WoW hovers about?



I had no clue about this either, is this confirmed then?

Each subreddit has to install the tracking software and /wow doesn't have it.
 
Engineers need an option to hide the Kit Backpack because it just covers the back items.

Would love to have another weapon for Engineer, hammer seems most logical. In my opinion I think the turrets should be totally scrapped, just keep them as part of supply drop. No one uses them as utility for anything, they die so quick.
 

Retro

Member
Would love to have another weapon for Engineer, hammer seems most logical. In my opinion I think the turrets should be totally scrapped, just keep them as part of supply drop. No one uses them as utility for anything, they die so quick.

Hammer Engineer could be built around turrets. For example, you could have the melee attack work similar to the Tool Kit's wrench attack, repairing turrets. Have a ground slam attack that repairs all turrets in the AOE as well.

Personally, I go to the Army Corp of Engineers when I think of Engineers with hammers. I'd love to see them build something somehow, like a ground attack that causes a stone wall to form or something.

Maybe the hammer also has some kind of gadget built into it?
... Nah.

Not a Thief :mad:

Thieves are stealthy like ninjas!
 

Nokagi

Unconfirmed Member
Jumped back into the game today but I feel really lost cause I'm not sure what I should be doing. Last time I played was when they introduced those fractal dungeons. I don't care much about PVP so as a mainly PVE player what's the main thing I should be focusing on doing now?
 

Retro

Member
Jumped back into the game today but I feel really lost cause I'm not sure what I should be doing. Last time I played was when they introduced those fractal dungeons. I don't care much about PVP so as a mainly PVE player what's the main thing I should be focusing on doing now?

You missed.... so. much.

Right now, I'd at least check out the Bazaar of the Four Winds (you'll have an in-game mail to direct you there), as that's the current Living Story content and we have no idea how long it will be sticking around. From there, just pick up where you left off; work towards exotic gear if you need it, run some dungeons (Ascalon Catacombs was revamped a while back, feels completely different), try some WvW (new progression system and culling fix).

The Living Story hasn't added too much that you can get at now, which is one of the problems with that approach (and one that will be addressed in the second half of the year, according to today's big blog post).

I can't even process how much has changed since November, honestly. Where's that giant list of Jira's when you need it?
 
They said existing weapons would be adapted to different professions before they added entirely new weapons. I think the big ones are Engineer Hammer, Thief off-hand Sword and Thief Staff.

Was actually just talking about that last one with another GAFer recently. It would have to be used as a melee weapon, and give the class a much-needed boost to Support. Here's what we kind of fleshed out. Not sure on the order or cooldowns, just tossing ideas out there;

1. Melee attack chain:
Single Target strike
Single Target strike, causes weakness.
Cleave attack (hits up to three enemies).​

2. Whirl attack, grants a short amount of regeneration to nearby allies for each enemy struck (limited to 5 targets).

3. "Pole Vault" - Leap at a targeted enemy and knock them backwards. Decreased cooldown if used within melee range. (Can be used to close gaps, but more effective for control).

4. Shadowslip - AOE targeted skill; create a shadow vortex at the target location for 6 seconds that blinds nearby foes and removes one condition from friendly players every 3 seconds. Press again to shadowstep to the targeted location, instantly curing 1 extra condition but closing the vortex.

5. "Protection of the Shadows" - Sort of a mini-Shadow Refuge; grants Aegis to all nearby players and stealth to the thief. Acts as a Dark combo field.

Stealth Skill: "Hidden Blowgun": Fire a projectile laced with Ice Drake Venom, chilling the target.​

/shrug. I'm sure ANet could do better.

Some good ideas here though I'd like a Staff Thief to be a bit more tanky through defensive glances at the cost of raw dps. Could some kind of "parry" type abilities with like an AoE cleansing powder and we've got something.

Ranger rifle?!

Needs to happen.

I'd actually be surprised if they end up with EVERY profession having EVERY weapon. Some of them just make no sense; a warrior with a scepter? Thief with a focus?

I don't see the casters getting a lot of melee weapons (Necromancer is the most likely to get them though), nor do I see the melee classes getting a lot of caster stuff (Guardian, of course, already having access to most of them).

I think it's more likely we'll see each class get access to one new weapon type (maybe two depending on how many hands it requires) to start, and maybe a few more from there...

Think of Ele's with daggers... the type of weapon doesn't need to be inline with the class so much as it would give access to different types of abilities. For example a Thief with a Focus offhand could have 4 and 5 be straight up support/utility. Combined with Dagger or Sword MH and it provides some much needed balance.

A Warrior with a scepter is a bit harder but they could do something like make the scepter channel a Warrior yells into directly offensive or defensive attacks. Make them Mid-range AoE's and lower DPS than the Warrior's melee. Could work.

Thief with staff makes no sense, like to the point of bothering me lol.

It would basically be a non-healing monk-esque Bo user. Since a thief is closely aligned with Ninja type tactics there's really no weapon aside from Pistols/Rifles that doesn't fit with them thematically... and they already have Pistol so...
 

Retro

Member
Some good ideas here though I'd like a Staff Thief to be a bit more tanky through defensive glances at the cost of raw dps. Could some kind of "parry" type abilities with like an AoE cleansing powder and we've got something.

Yeah, Thieves are actually hurting in both control and support sections. Staff could go full-on Control easily enough, and it makes sense as a bo staff feels like a good, solid defensive weapon.

Think of Ele's with daggers... the type of weapon doesn't need to be inline with the class so much as it would give access to different types of abilities. For example a Thief with a Focus offhand could have 4 and 5 be straight up support/utility. Combined with Dagger or Sword MH and it provides some much needed balance.

A Warrior with a scepter is a bit harder but they could do something like make the scepter channel a Warrior yells into directly offensive or defensive attacks. Make them Mid-range AoE's and lower DPS than the Warrior's melee. Could work.

I dunno. I feel like Warriors, and to some degree thieves, aren't really 'magical' at all (Thieves having "Shadow Magic" sort of works), so Scepter and Focus really don't feel like they'd work. How do you melee someone with a focus? How would a warrior beat somebody to death with a little wand?

I'm just not sure how they'd make it work in that specific case. I'm sure there are others, but that one stands out to me as just 'wrong'.
 

Jira

Member
Jumped back into the game today but I feel really lost cause I'm not sure what I should be doing. Last time I played was when they introduced those fractal dungeons. I don't care much about PVP so as a mainly PVE player what's the main thing I should be focusing on doing now?

This is everything since October at a high level in terms of features, not counting the Living Story or Holiday events themselves.

  • Costume Brawl
  • PvP paid tournaments
  • New and updated achievements
  • A one-time weekend-long event that permanently changes the world in some places.
  • Prelude content with hints and teasers to build up the game release.
  • A new PvP map: Temple of the Silent Storm
  • A new area: Southsun Cove, designed for level 80s.
  • A new dungeon: Fractals of the Mists, designed for level 80s.
  • A new set of exotic weapons: Fractal weapons.
  • A new enemy: the karka.
  • New ascended rarity and corresponding ascended equipment; with a new type of upgrade slot: Infusion.
  • A new PvE mechanic: agony.
  • New crafting resources to find and harvest – Karka Shells, Passion Fruits, and Passion Flowers – with 200 new crafting recipes, including the new Apothecary's/Passiflora atrribute combination.
  • Breakout events in World versus World
  • 6 new crafting materials (snowflakes) and 275 new crafting recipes, including the new Giver's attribute combination
  • /rank emote
  • New currency: Pristine Fractal Relics
  • Ascended rings added to Fractal merchant.
  • Collection slots for Rare and Festive materials
  • Temple of the Silent Storm: Week long event then added to regular rotation
  • Improved achievement system with daily/monthly tracker UI.
  • A new currency: Laurels
  • Guesting
  • New infusion equipment: Ascended amulets and utility infusions
  • Tweaks to World versus World
  • New Gem Store items available for purchase
  • Changes to Orr to improve events, rewards, and general playability.
  • Improvements to Fractals of the Mists, including new daily bonus chests.
  • Guild missions
  • New currencies: Guild Merits and Guild Commendations
  • New Ascended accessories and stat combinations for existing rings and amulets
  • New structured PvP map: Spirit Watch
  • Two team rated play in PvP
  • Selectable daily achievement system
  • Preview items in the Trading Post
  • Revamped Ascalon Catacombs Explorable encounters
  • World versus World extended progression
  • Removal of culling, with new player options
  • World XP and World Ranks granting visible titles and new passive abilities
  • New WvW achievements
  • New scoreboard UI for WvW
  • New gear on Badge of Honor vendors with expanded skin and stat options.
  • Additional Guild mission content
  • Three new Guild Bounty Hunt Targets
  • New Guild Bounty Training missions for new and small guilds
  • New Guild weapons available at the Guild Commendation Trader
  • Leaderboards covering WvW and PvP rankings as well as achievement rankings.
  • New items in the Gem Store: Name Change Contract and Communal Boost Bonfire
  • Selectable monthly achievement system
  • Super Adventure Box
  • sPvP updates
  • Custom PvP Arenas
  • Spectator Mode
  • sPvP Browser update
  • WvW updates
  • New World Experience upgrades: Arrow Cart Mastery and additional Guard Killer ranks.
  • Guild siege weapons
  • Guild mission updates
  • 30 new Guild Trek locations
  • New Quaggan-themed Guild Rush
  • Influence rewards from Guild Treks
  • New back banners on the Guild Commendation Trader
  • New attribute prefix: Sentinel's
  • World vs World updates
  • Separate map for Obsidian Sanctum to reduce queues for Eternal Battlegrounds[1]
  • WvW Traps: Stealth Disruptor Trap and Supply Removal Trap
  • Six new Guild Trek locations in Southsun Cove
  • New Guild Puzzle: Angvar's Trove
  • World vs World Updates
  • Matchmaking changes to increase match-up variety
  • Improvements to rewarding of World Experience
  • Ascended gear and WvW-specific infusions
  • WvW-specific Daily achievements
  • Reward chest for gaining World XP ranks[1]
  • New and updated WvW abilities: Burning Oil Mastery and additional Defense Against Guards ranks.
  • sPvP Updates
  • Custom Arena Time Tokens
  • sPvP Updates
  • Leaderboard decay
  • Authorized Shoutcasters
  • Sea of Sorrows Scavenger Hunt
  • New rewards
  • Tybalt Plush Backpack in Black Lion Chests
  • sPvP updates
  • Custom Arenas and Spectator Mode now available to all players
  • WvW updates
  • Mortar Mastery
  • Gem Store updates
  • Gifting
  • Custom Arena Starter Kits
  • Skill and trait balance updates
  • New condition: Torment
  • AoE Looting
  • Belcher's Bluff activity
  • New Crafting material: Quartz, with new recipes
  • New rewards
  • Personal Quartz Node
  • sPvP Updates
  • New map: Skyhammer
  • WvW Updates
  • New World Experience upgrades: Build Mastery and Repair Mastery
  • Achievement Reward System
  • Updated Achievement UI
 

Sophia

Member
I am drooling at the mere prospect of every profession being able to use every weapon. Me and Retro already talked about the possibilities of Thieves and staff, this has gotten me soooo hyped~!
 
Yeah, Thieves are actually hurting in both control and support sections. Staff could go full-on Control easily enough, and it makes sense as a bo staff feels like a good, solid defensive weapon.



I dunno. I feel like Warriors, and to some degree thieves, aren't really 'magical' at all (Thieves having "Shadow Magic" sort of works), so Scepter and Focus really don't feel like they'd work. How do you melee someone with a focus? How would a warrior beat somebody to death with a little wand?

I'm just not sure how they'd make it work in that specific case. I'm sure there are others, but that one stands out to me as just 'wrong'.

I mean lore-wise we know that Casting classes need a weapon to sort of concentrate their spells in order to use them. For non-casters it could be magically tuned weapons that channel actions of one type into something else. Like a Warriors support yells take on physical damage/protection qualities. A Thieves blinding powder turns into a healing or cleansing powder instead. Something like that.
 

Complistic

Member
We aren’t quite ready to go into all the details here, but what I can say is you will see a specific way to build precursor items on your way to a legendary. On top of this, you’ll also see new legendary weapons and new types of legendary gear in 2013. Building your precursor will require a large amount of the new crafting material rewards listed above, 500 in crafting, and likely a combination of other items earned for completing more specific content in the game.


YESSSSSS. And its coming this year as well. That's all I needed to hear.

The blog post was excellent. So happy to hear practically everything in it. Getting rid of magic find too? Anet has way more huevos than I thought. Plus it sounds like they're going to use my idea of "turning in" magic find gear for account mf. Great change. (though I'm sure I wasn't the first to have that idea)
 
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