ArenaNet: Lost Shores Content (2012-11-11)

[Nojheim]

So after all the bunk about the gaming not being an arms race like WoW, and players only having to grind for cosmetic purposes they have now made it one. Everyone is going to have to grind this dungeon to get the highest stat gear now and all the effort people have put into their crafted exotics etc has been voided in only a few months since the game has been released as it is now not the highest stat gear. Further more they even state that this is only the start and they are going to continue this trend to make players more powerful as the dungeons progress. In difficulty. So basically we are playing WoW then?

[Centaur]

merged into this thread. I'm surprised that you failed to find the discussions in both this thread and the other thread on ascended gear...

[Vayne]

One mitigating factor might be if you can buy and sell this new stuff on the auction house. If that's the case, it might be okay.

[Nojheim]

Hahaha, sorry Centaur, my bad!! Did not see anything in General or Game play, so cracked on.

[Avariz]

...I feel a bit sorry for Anet. So many people bitched about no sense of progression, so they introduce some, then the other half bitches about it...

That is the original sense of Metagaming. The process of changing the rules/mechanics of the game to suit ones' game play to ones' own advantage. I was taught that and not the current vogue usage of the term used by games designers/marketeers.

[bokiz333]

I'll probably continue to play GW2 off and on until this change is implemented and then I'm being forced to switch to another game. As some of you know, I play WvW every night for a few hours; love the game, not burned out, very active.

Well turns out AN went back on everything they said about the game and are introducing "Ascended" gear that is better than Exotic gear and can only be gotten through dungeons...what is that you hear? The sound of GEAR GRING and unlelve playing fields in a game that promissed neither would exist. The difference between exotic and this gear is about the same as diff between rare and exotic so not huge but noticable enough to make a difference, especially in WvW.

I must say I didn't see this coming and consider this a pretty big slap in the face from AN. In principle as much as in practice. Am I forced to do content that I don't want so I'm not left behind and less competative in WvW? Seems like I am. Isn't this EXACTLY the sort of thing AN said they wouldn't do.

I can't fault the game for design, like I said, I love the game. But this just pisses me off to no end. I guess tonight will the the first time since launch I don't log in. Shame.

[Centaur]

Although I'm just as concerned and unhappy about this change as you are (see also this thread), I would recommend to at least wait for ArenaNet's response and the actual release of the content. Given the huge amount of negative feedback they are receiving on this, it's very well possible that they change their initial plans for the Ascended gear...

[bokiz333]

Although I'm just as concerned and unhappy about this change as you are (see also this thread), I would recommend to at least wait for ArenaNet's response and the actual release of the content. Given the huge amount of negative feedback they are receiving on this, it's very well possible that they change their initial plans for the Ascended gear...

Sorry missed that other thread...feel free to merge!

[Edward M. Grant]

To me it does look like a great way to lose players, but I'll wait and see how it actually works out before I decide what to do about it.

[Vayne]

Yep, I'd wait too. No one knows how this will work in practice. The other thing is, no one ever said, or claimed that WvW would be a level playing field. They've always said WvW wouldn't be balanced. It's SPvP that was always the level playing field.

But there have been a number of fan uprisings about a number of issues that later on turned out to be storms in a tea cup. Remember how many people threatened to leave when cash shop photos were released. People were freaking because of experience point boosters, not knowing at the time that almost any food you ate gave you the same buff.

We don't know how it will play out and so far, Anet has been pretty good at keeping the game playable for me, so I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. However, I'm not going to say I'm thrilled with this. I'm just saying until I see it in action I'm not going to judge.