EphraimGlass

lmaonade, on 13 May 2013 - 07:41 PM, said:

The problem with this idea is that you'll extend some of the bad behaviour of WvW into PvE.  You'll have the players fighting the big war railing against the players who "aren't playing the game right."  If I'm just out to explore some corner of the map I haven't seen before, I don't want some pompous elite player telling me I should help fight the dragon minions or uninstall.

NotKMoose, on 14 May 2013 - 02:23 AM, said:

I have to admit I've been known to look down on pubbies, sometimes even when I was just a pubby myself.  The issue is not the guild tag.  The issue is that a big guild with guild chat or a mumble server can coordinate a larger number of people and formulate a cohesive strategy.  I acknowledge the right of the five-man squad to play the game, to use the available resources as they see fit, etc.  But, for example, if they're taking supply from a keep that their team wouldn't even own if not for the effort of a big guild, and it slows the members of that guild from upgrading the keep, I absolutely understand the frustration.

How far can one fairly take that attitude?  I don't know.  It takes a lot of forms.  I've seen pubbies criticized for occupying slots that could be used by "better players."  I've seen criticism for fighting the mutant grub or playing in a jumping puzzle while <some objective> is failing.  I've seen criticism for taking the "wrong" objectives.  Pubbies think the commanders take the game too seriously; commanders think the pubbies aren't even trying to play the game.

The OP has apparently encountered a situation where the commanders, in my opinion, believe they "own" a lot more than they have any right to claim.  (In fairness, while I empathize with the commanders, I side with the pubbies.  Everybody in the game plunked down their $60 to play and that's that.)

Lordkrall, on 07 May 2013 - 04:07 PM, said:

I think you're right that it's only fair to compare GW2 to Prophecies.  In retrospect, the Prophecies story is all over the place.  You face, what, four distinct groups of antagonists?  They try to tie those four together and they do an adequate job, I guess.  It's above average for video-game writing but Tolstoy it is not.  The same problem occurs in GW2.  As you gain levels, the stakes keep getting raised.  I think Prophecies edges out GW2 for one key reason:  at least in GW1, the chain of circumstances driving that progression is plausible.  In GW2, it's all just window dressing.  Everybody in the world is aware of the dragons so we know where this is headed.  So sure, there are going to be crass opportunists like bandits, centaurs, Nightmare court, but put them into context.  Don't have the story treat them like they're central; treat them like they're straws being piled on the camel's back and treat Zhaitan and the risen like the giant hay bale.  Why are the bandits, centaurs, and Nightmare court a problem?  Because resources that could normally deal with them are being devoted to dealing with Zhaitan.

Darkobra, on 07 February 2013 - 05:26 PM, said:

Unfortuntely, a lot of people don't want to be part of that process.  Too many people want players with the proven builds in their parties and don't care to "waste time" experimenting or tolerating somebody else in the party experimenting.  It's pretty sad because that perspective isn't necessary.  There's a whole spectrum of viewpoints ranging from "all video games are a waste of time" to "however you want to play is a legitimate choice, which nobody may criticize."  I lean toward the latter.  Nothing I'm doing in a video game is so important that I can't try something different - maybe even something *gasp* ineffective on any given day.  That means some days, I'm carrying the person who's trying something new and other days, I'm the one being carried.  And if it turns out that the "something new" is so ineffective that we can't complete the dungeon or whatever it is we were trying, no biggle.  The proven builds will always be there for when we decide we "must" beat that dungeon tonight.

Afyael, on 05 February 2013 - 05:04 AM, said:

It takes focus to dodge at the right time for it to actually count as an evasion.  Overwhelmingly often, I'll dodge too early during actual combat.  I'd much rather find an enemy with a good tell (I like raptors) and get the dodges out of the way all at once.  Especially on a day like today where you have gathering, healing, and crafting in the mix, none of which are going to get accomplished by "just playing normally."  After I've done those, all I have left is kill variety and dodging.  I'm going to have to slow down my pace to get 20 dodges by the time I've killed 13 different types of enemies as it is.  I might as well slow down the pace a lot and get them all on a single, easy-to-read enemy.