Originally Posted by
Bell
@Vaine Post #645 :
You are right in so far as that the game is still very different from say WoW. But to many of us it has lost one of the core mechanics that made it different: The fact that you could relatively easy equip yourself with the best in slot gear (if you didn't care about the looks, because the crafted stuff, which is probably the easiest to acquire, looks hideous). Now I don't say that it's a gear treadmill now, but best in slot gear is definitely not easily reachable right now. It's in fact a very arduous grind or rng and also only available in one area of the game (I know that this is only temporarily, but still). I hope we can agree on that.
Of course the dynamic combat is a breeze of fresh air to all those who have played all the other "standard" MMOs, which pretty much use more or less the same combat. But for me that was not a major selling point. Had GW2 the same combat mechanics as, say, WoW, I would still have bought it, because there's nothing fundamentally wrong with them. Or, more specificly, those have proven to work quite well, so I would have been okay with that. But it was a welcomed change nonetheless.
The dynamic events still set it apart, but as many have pointed out a lot of zones are pretty empty now that the game matures and an estimated 83% of players have vanished into the FotM dungeons or to LA lfg for said dungeon.
Another feature you mentioned is the non-traditional questing system. We can discuss whether that's a good or a bad thing. That's just a matter of opinion. I, for one, like traditional quests that tell a story (be it voiced or plain text) more than the heart events. But I'm okay with them.
Another thing that definitely sets it apart from other games is the DAoC-style persistent PVP with sieges etc. or the totally separated sPVP system.
I could add more major selling points, but those are the ones that are the most obvious to me right now. Thing is, all these selling points don't matter objectively. What matters is which was the one that made you buy the game or that made you the most excited about the game. And I must admit that after years of limping behind everybody else gearwise, due to my casual playstyle and unwillingness to do dungeons repeatedly, I was really looking forward to leisurely doing the things I loved in the game and eventually being able to say, "Hell yeah, I have best in slot gear for my build."(A process that wasn't concluded when ascended gear was introduced, btw.)
With the addition of ascended gear that is very unlikely to happen, because as already mentioned I'm not going to grind out that dungeon and when they add other ways to acquire it, the prices will likely be as shocking as the requirments in fractal tokens, which appear to be absurdly high. Therefore I'll limp forever behind like in every other game. Which in itself won't be a big problem for me, when it comes to playing the game. I'm not deluding myself by saying I won't be able to compete in WvW anymore. I know that I'm way to casual to be even thinking of winning every 1on1 encounter. And I know that inferior gear will probably be my least problem. But even though I'm very casual, I also think that I'm not half bad as a player and have seen that I'm able to beat a lot of people, who play worse than me (or lack the gear or lvl, maybe?). Thus, the recent changes left a bitter taste in my mouth.
Arguing about who did or did not lie won't get anybody anywhere. Fact is that many of us believed that there would be no gear progression past exotic. (At least not before an expansion which would probably have raised the lvl cap and thus also raised the stats. But I don't think anybody would really have had a problem with that, if the items at the new cap would've been as easily achievable as the exotics are/were) I don't indulge in researching quotes, so I can't back that up with anything specific, but the massive outburst of rage on the forums should be proof enough that Centaur, bokiz and I aren't the only ones who thought so. And this belief must've come from somewhere, because it was so widely shared. Have we all dreamt the same dream or was it one of these urban myths that are floating on the www?
And I think if you are honest, you will admit that you were also taken by surprise by the new gear tier, because you were also assuming that exotic/legendary would be the cap and not ascended/legendary. You think that the changes don't affect you enough to be mad at ANet and wait to see what they have in store to improve the game further. And that's totally legitimate. In fact it's a reasonable thing to do. But while you choose to accept the changes, some of us want ANet to know that we do not approve of their changes. Will the uproar make them backpedal on the changes? Unlikely! But it may give them a more profound insight into what the fans of the game actually like or dislike and probably when they cook up their next big update they'll not alienate us with their moves, but come up with something that's more widely accepted.
(edit: I think being outspoken about the things you dislike is important, because although Bokiz stated that he would ragequit over these changes when they were announced, he now changed his stance in so far as that he still plays the game and even participates in the gear hunt, but still doesn't like that he has to do it. If we assume that he's not the only one thinking and acting that way, ANet gets false information about the reception of their update when they see something like "Yeah 83% of the players play FotM, huge success.", when it would actually be something like "Yeah 35% actually like grinding a dungeon, the rest of the players hates it but does it because it's the only way to progress.")
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