tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post5511618896118348878..comments2024-03-28T10:18:05.213+00:00Comments on Inventory Full: Onwards And Upwards : GW2Bhagpusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03499162165023939880noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-71445231128216845282016-01-15T19:06:56.001+00:002016-01-15T19:06:56.001+00:00Yes, "Road Maps" seem to have become a m...Yes, "Road Maps" seem to have become a must-have for MMOs and yet they are rarely followed. They generate interest and discussion and news reports and free PR though so I guess that's the reason. <br /><br />My very strong feeling is that neither developers nor players have much of a clear idea of either what they want or need out of an MMO. The developers do sometimes seem to have a better handle on what serves the long-term interest of the game but that mostly relates to how they can monetize it most successfully, which isn't the same thing at all as making it better.<br /><br />In the end I am generally happy to take what I'm given and then complain about it. Complaining is fun.Bhagpusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03499162165023939880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-82120433547926371802016-01-15T05:49:45.751+00:002016-01-15T05:49:45.751+00:00I never understood exactly the need developers, ur...I never understood exactly the need developers, urged by hordes of players (guess that is the reason), have to have a roadmap.<br /><br />It doesn't matter what their roadmap looks like. In two weeks or 2 months it will all be changed.<br /><br />The best part is that it is actually good that it is in permanent change, cause I can guarantee you that what the developers think players want and what players want aren't the same thing. Players rarely know what they want and have no idea how to implement it when they know.<br /><br />I remember players passionately and endlessly debating about mana potions, mana costs for GW2 skills and microtransactions, years before the game actually released.<br /><br />2 of those 3 things never made into the game.<br /><br />Don't people like surprises? What is the point of knowing everything before having the chance to play it?<br /><br />->They will release content at some cadence that will change according to their internal metrics.<br />->They will release more gem store items.<br />->They will look at feedback and look at internal metrics and make some wrong decisions.<br />->They will look at feedback and look at internal metrics and make some right decisions.<br />->They will change things.<br />->They will support the game.<br />->Some of the things they said they will do will never happen. Others only much later.<br />->They will do some things that noone guessed and weren't talked.Luis Sousahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14285335572297296899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-91739494418942234422016-01-15T03:45:56.518+00:002016-01-15T03:45:56.518+00:00If gliding enhances one's sense of wonder, the...If gliding enhances one's sense of wonder, then I suppose my sentiment would be misplaced. My feeling was that gliding around in the core world in which starting areas and such find themselves would cheapen the experience.<br /><br />I suppose I should be welcoming in a new era of exploration and discovery.The Mystical Mesmerhttp://lightfallsgracefully.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-91073389404411567662016-01-14T22:18:08.206+00:002016-01-14T22:18:08.206+00:00This comment has been removed by the author.Luis Sousahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14285335572297296899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-61484035391047923582016-01-14T20:59:07.203+00:002016-01-14T20:59:07.203+00:00I think there's a real irony here. Presumably ...I think there's a real irony here. Presumably most min-maxers are primary Achievers. To them things like trivializing content and optimizing efficiency matter. For them it is indeed possible that gliding will mean another means to an end.<br /><br />For Explorers, though, the thrill is in the freedom it brings. Anything that enhances the ability to move in a new direction has to be good. For a primary Explorer there can be no trivializing of exploration. It's never, ever about overcoming challenges. It's always about seeing what's over the next hill.<br /><br />The two clans, given the same opportunities, will never use them in the same way. So, yes, there will be unintended consequences as each looks past the other and sees a different horizon. <br /><br />As for mounts, I always felt the decision to avoid them was at best arbitrary and at worst vindictive. Now that we have mounted NPCs that view has shifted to the latter. Let's be honest, they just don't want the expense of animating them. There's no conceivable lore reason to justify entire populations running everywhere on foot when all around them are draft animals pulling wagons. Not to mention helicopters, air balloons, tanks and robot chauffeurs!Bhagpusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03499162165023939880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-51894907299831278082016-01-13T21:02:21.048+00:002016-01-13T21:02:21.048+00:00Gliding in Central Tyria or whatever they like to ...Gliding in Central Tyria or whatever they like to call it opens up new avenues for min-maxing the physical world. It also diminishes the value of the terrain to the extent that it can be bypassed. Even with designated no-fly zones, void jumpers and path optimizers will find ways to do interesting things that negate physical terrain as has been done in other games. We know from experience that Guild Wars 2's many players will optimize everything to the extreme. We will thus see armies of gliders completing events in record time throughout Central Tyria. The masses of angel-winged Kasmeers will now be able to actually use those wings.<br /><br />I'm not sure I like it. It trivializes mobility in a way that rubs against the spirit of adventure that the game originally championed. It’s fine for the new maps – almost a necessity, perhaps, given the verticality and organic terrain involved. I suppose it would be fine for WvW bombing runs as well and, again, perhaps a necessity given the scale of the maps (mayhap the maps were originally designed with gliding in mind in the first place and they just never told us?). For Central Tyria, however, it pains this crabby recluse to see the equivalent of the addition of mounts to the "core" game. We were already zipping around the world via waypoints and portals and such. Grumble, grumble.The Mystical Mesmerhttp://lightfallsgracefully.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-33153436976108989392016-01-13T17:15:06.546+00:002016-01-13T17:15:06.546+00:00Thanks for the update - admit it's been a whil...Thanks for the update - admit it's been a while since I've played anything serious in GW2. Back when I left, the required voice comms for Tequatl were still a thing, and left a lasting sour impression. <br /><br />If they can provide a challenge in overworld bosses that doesn't leave out the casual folks that just show up at the door, I don't have as much problem with it. I'm all for needing to understand mechanics of a fight, I just don't like overworld content that became exclusive to big guilds who taxied away everyone to some distant map and left the rest of us unable to come anywhere close to a win. Aywrenhttp://www.aywren.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-41515449612928191642016-01-13T16:27:51.579+00:002016-01-13T16:27:51.579+00:00It did look like that was the way it was going to ...It did look like that was the way it was going to go for a while but slowly they (and the players) seem to be getting somewhere in shouting distance of a sweet spot, where the big open world events are intricate enough to be interesting and yet forgiving enough to allow for a random bunch of passers-by to complete them.<br /><br />Teq, for example, hasn't needed voice coms or more than about five minutes prep time for a long while. If you just turn up a few minutes before he appears there's a very good chance you'll get a map than can kill him since the event almost always succeeds now.<br /><br />The big events in HoT fail more and require more leadership but they also give a lot of interim and on-fail rewards so it doesn't feel like a waste of time when things go pear-shaped. And contrary to my expectations the new squad set-up has made things a lot clearer and more democratic. <br /><br />It's definitely not the same all-pile-on vision we saw at launch but it's a big improvement over where I thought the game was heading, say, a year ago.Bhagpusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03499162165023939880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-17342172504004617952016-01-13T15:30:09.838+00:002016-01-13T15:30:09.838+00:00While I agree that the Shatterer fight needs a goo...While I agree that the Shatterer fight needs a good bit of a buff, I'll be sad if it goes the way of Tequatl. I gave up ever trying to finish a Tequatl fight after the change. I just want to show up and have fun taking down a boss dragon with a group of people. I'm getting tired (long have been) of their "challenge" changes. <br /><br />What makes me most sad is that if they continue on this route, there will eventually be no large open-world bosses that won't require raid-precise mechanics and organization. Yes, I'm aware there are a few more bosses out there, but every dragon they tweak to raid level is one less dragon the overall community can do without jumping on a TeamSpeak. That's a real bummer to me, and goes against what I feel was the original vision of GW2. :(Aywrenhttp://www.aywren.comnoreply@blogger.com