KotCR

Rickter, on 29 November 2012 - 12:14 PM, said:

And GW2 players still are a niche crowd. The only difference was that GW1 catered to this niche crowd by offering it something that couldn't be found anywhere else on the market, while GW2 caters to its niche crowd by offering it things that can easily be found in other games out there. Not only that, other games actually do this better.

Or do we really think that a game, where designers spent years to bring it in line with the idea of horizontal progression will do vertical progression better than a game that is designed for it?

Stellarthief, on 26 November 2012 - 09:08 AM, said:

Very much agreed!  This issue is compounded by would-be theorycrafters already establishing trends like "stacking healing is wrong" and "this or that build is utter garbage" when the game, and its core concepts of synergy and general function are still so very new to the community, and so a few voices read by many people just hoping for SOMEONE to provide the validation of "I'm doing it right, this guy said so!" can be very damaging... or very helpful.

That's why overworld, inclusive content as a core function of the game is SO very important, the freedom to try out new builds, and learn in an environment where "you're not the bossa' me," where we have no power to exclude, is crucial, and it's the reason that it's my and my guild's core involvement with the game, and the reason we love it as we do.

There will always be a vocal minority who decry the idea that "everything is viable," but it's true, when utilized properly, stylistically, and with practice.  Unlike other MMOs, we have the freedom to succeed as whatever build, while maintaining the freedom to fail while learning it.  This is why playing with FRIENDS, actual FRIENDS is so important, because the patience of the learning curve just isn't there with the "MMO community at large," (whose motto has always been "Don't be new on my time") and I think GW2 has purposely been designed to push us to work with those few people we all know that will understand that everything is viable when played comfortably and with practice.  This is likely  why instanced "team content" focuses on small groups, and always will.

Engineers ARE good. The player at the keyboard is a different matter though.

I have so many questions its unbelievable, but one stands out.

"Why must progression include stat increases?"

Because...

Give me a 1 handed throwing spear like the GW1 Paragon, and I would instantly main the crap out of Guardian

Hmm, I just noticed (after unlocking 14 additional dye colors on my main in BWE), that my alt does not have these colors.

Don't get me wrong, but didn't Kristen Perry promise us account wide dyes? How come it's not in?

Also, I doubt it's simply because it's beta, because all your achievements are account wide as promised, so I suspect arenanet had a change of heart. Coupled with the fact that dye are now max of 1 seed -> random dye per 24 hours per character, I find this very troubling. Now it goes from having to get 400 random colors per account to 400 random per character? That's kind of unacceptable.

Any word on this?