Xaragoth

Red Intensity, on 04 October 2012 - 10:08 PM, said:

ME3 day?

And yea, I'm in the same boat as many of you, GW2 is just really losing it's luster for me. Standing in a major city or zone yelling into area in an attempt to rerun the same dungeon I've done 20 times before or zerging through Orr or playing the same PvP I've done 900 times just isn't enjoyable anymore. The really sad thing to me is I can still see the kernels of greatness in this game it's just too much content appear to be implemented half finished and unrealized for those to really mature, maybe if ArenaNet actually playtested content and listened to their player base some of these could be addressed but sadly it doesn't seem like they're interested in doing either. For the most part I've just moved onto playing Dark Souls a little bit and finding something else to do in my spare time and it's going to take something amazing from ArenaNet to bring me back. =/

Something has started to bother me about Anet recently more so than usual. It started a couple weeks ago when I got an email basiclly telling me to use the gem store, and I am sure everyone else got it as well. The a few days ago in a Facebook post they were talking about "continuing high quality content filled updates" and I am not sure what their definition of high quality is but I do not see it.

I have already started to play less and less and with that behavior the future of the game seems bleak to me.

What are your thoughts on those two things coupled with the lack of updates or even acknowledgement of what the community says in regards to the concepts and ideas in the game?

This isnt a rose tinted glasses or Anet can do no wrong post but more of tryign to spread the word about how their actions could be seen. I think something else to consider is how antisocial the game is with no real guild aspect and the whole story can be done solo. The only thing that really needs a group outside of PvP would be dungeons but I don't see those lasting long with how boring yet frustrating they are. Even with a good group its more of a "lets see who can smash their face intot he wall the longest" type of game with the insane amount of health and damage enemies posses.

Agreed with everything you two said. Leveling my alt is boring me to death. Once you've seen the world once, the second time is boring as hell. And yeah, GW2 has to be the most anti-social MMO I've played in a long time.

I'm just getting 100% on my main and then I quit until the next major content patch.

Being a level 80 I just see to many diminishing returns. I get on the game more now to chat with guild mates.

It was a fun experience leveling. For me leveling another toon is boring me to tears (been there done that type of thing). I think the community in general is lacking, got in a cursing match the other day because I made the mistake of asking when they might add something to the game that is not a money sink.

Who wants to play a game in this manner? Fast levels just to end at nothing? Rich and poor separation is just huge, now nerfing karma and that was the one thing I needed at 80 for my armor.

This thread is probably going to go downhill fast. But, oh well, I inserted my opinion anyways.

This had came up on the official forum's lore forum and I went into a bit of detail on this over there, and it seems to have caught some interest so I figured I'd bring this up over here and see what you all think.

Through observation of the Elder Dragons and their minions via GW2 and Edge of Destiny, I have come to the conclusion that each Elder Dragon has a distinctive "personality" - or rather, desire - that controls their actions (and in turn, the actions of their minions). This line of thought was originally inspired by a comment Thalador made to me in game where he mentioned some of Zhaitan's minions speaking of immortality gained through him, and it brought me back to an old thought process I had when I first read Edge of Destiny. Before going into detail, I believe that the ED’s personalities can summarized as desires; effectively:

• Primordus desires destruction
  
• Jormag desires power
  
• Zhaitan desires immortality
  
• Kralkatorrik desires perfection

I cannot denote the deep sea dragon (referred to as "DSD" for simplicity) or the mysterious sixth dragon (referred to as "Sixth" for simplicity) due to the lack of knowledge on them, unfortunately. Now to elaborate further...

Kralkatorrik

From Edge of Destiny, on Kralkatorrik’s thoughts, we’re told that his mind is “like standing in the eye of a cyclone” (pg390) and that “the center of every vortex is a great emptiness-a hollow longing. The storm tries to fill the emptiness, but more it hungers, the deeper the the emptiness becomes.” (391) And as Snaff became what Kralkatorrik wasn’t, the harder Kralk tried to obtain Snaff. This ties into how the branded’s minds are in the book – they’re fanatic, but more than that. They’re seeking to give Kralkatorrik all they can. In other words, Kralkatorrik is attempting to obtain all that he is not yet. And when one obtains everything, they become “perfect.”

Zhaitan

Zhaitan is another story. His minions denounce their faiths, despite how faithful the Orrians were they blasphemy the gods and call the Mists “lies.” (all Orr personal story bosses as well as some meta event bosses) But on top of this, they also say that Zhaitan is truth, and Zhaitan is the only true means of obtaining immortality. And through serving Zhaitan, by empowering him, they can obtain that. Where Kralkatorrik forces fanaticism, Zhaitan feeds lies of knowledge and longevity. And in a way, what better way to obtain immortality than through undeath – once you half the rotting process (which seems to be true for risen), there is no more aging. Thus, you have a form of eternal youth, and through becoming more powerful that eternal youth becomes invincible – thus “immortal.”

Jormag

Jormag’s unique in his corruption. As Khrigar Ripjaw in Safewatch Vale says, where other Elder Dragons corrupt to enslave, Jormag first promises power prior to corrupting. He entices those who will become icebrood to join him willingly, and corrupts through the mind whereas Kralkatorrik does physically and Zhaitan does magically. Through this, he tempts his minions to become stronger, and oddly, he is the only Elder Dragon who’s minions work alongside non-corrupted creatures – icebrood are often seen alongside non-corrupted Sons of Svanir as “gifts” of their devotion, but on top of this as seen through events and stories like Honor of the Waves, Jormag blesses those who prove themselves with more power – his power. He is creating an army of those who desire power, whereas others are merely creating armies and anything they can obtain. As such, by using those who crave power, he ensures that he himself will become more "powerful."

Primordus

My reasoning for linking Primordus to destruction isn’t in its minions names. Rather, it ties to the minions’ actions and how he corrupts. Unlike all other Elder Dragons (except possibly the DSD), Primordus does not corrupt living beings. At all. He creates mimicries of living creatures instead. His minions themselves seem to hold one objective, to kill everything that lives. Since Eye of the North, that is the main thing they were said to desire – and though I can’t recall where, it was said that the Great Destroyer’s purpose was to eliminate life to make the way for Primordus. So if Primordus didn’t want to kill everything, why would eliminating life make the way for him? Perhaps “destruction” isn’t as accurate as “genocide” would be.

DSD

A small attempt to determine what the DSD may have for a desire. In the Movement of the World, we're told that it twists water itself - similar to Primordus, it doesn't seem to corrupt living beings, though we can't be certain of this yet. Along with this, we're told by largos that the ocean depths are now filled with "horrors" (sounds very lovecraftian to me). This in of itself doesn't give much, but it does remind me of a certain NPC who corrupts living beings and transforms them in GW1: Kanaxai. Kanaxai is called a demon, though its origins unknown, and appears fairly humanoid. However, it corrupts and torments individuals by nightmares and horrors, turning them into Oni. Take note, that Oni had tentacles on their faces. And that Kanaxai was underwater when he was trapped by the Jade Sea. Not a solid connection, but a possible one.

Interesting to note is that these aspects of Kanaxai are also shared with Abaddon, though the "corruption of humans" are a bit different (shimmery and aetheral, with fish-like skin - whereas Kanaxai's "corruption of humans" turns them into grey and... actually a tad bit insect like I think - not really sure how to define that)

If this connection is true, then I would thus link the DSD with the concept or desire of "psychopathy" "madness" or "insanity." Something that horrors would often bring (once more, sounding lovecraftian).

Sixth

This one's even harder, though similar to the DSD, we're given two hints at the Sixth's nature, both coming from Zone Green of the Infinite Coil Reactor in Mount Maelstrom. As many may know by now, Zone Green is overgrown with vegetation. This in of itself indicates a "nature" dragon. However, what's just as common place as vegetation there is poison. Similarly, one may find out that the Infinite Coil Reactor was built after the Thaumanova Reactor exploded - as a replacement to the Thaumanova Reactor. Take note that the Thaumanova Reactor also has 6 sections to it - though it lacks a "zone black" counterpart. The vegetation section of it has an event with a "poison creature" - specifically, a rotting oakheart (a similar one can be found in Greatheart Weald of Queensdale during an event). These oakhearts are oddly shining despite being called "rotting."

Sadly, this doesn't really give any indication to the dragon's persona, though it does give a line of thought when one considers that for Zhaitan and Primordus, their element is tied to their persona (undeath is a form of faux immortality; fire destroys and burns things) - thus poison would in turn suffocate life. Through such, I would denote on the lack of further information, that the Sixth's persona and desire would be "pain" or "agony" - effectively, "sadism."


Though I still wouldn't put much faith onto the conclusions of the DSD and Sixth's.

IM OVER IT!!!

I reached level 80 first week or so...oh whats that I hear "slow down", stare at walls and pictures inside of Holbrak for 5 hours and run in a circle all day?  Sorry exploring got old fast after leveling I wanted to sink my teeth into content.  I found farming a full set of CoF gear would be a good time sink and thats all it was.  

The instances in this game are morbidly poor, the combat is a disgrace to "FUTURE" MMO's.  They got rid of the holy trinity (casual and new MMO gamers love this)  I find its as predicted a nightmare of sloppy rolling around and dying...even when you push past the overly long boring fights with a single instanced mob there is no sense of accomplishment and even worse no reward (worth a ****)  The classic format of holy trinity allows players who want certain roles and responsibilities to embrace them and master them, making for a deeper dynamic but whatever thats spilled milk.

LOOT-As some find this arbitrary I find it essential to MMO's, I mean the chests after bosses why do they exist (Thanks for the Blue's Bro).  Instead of downing bosses having that thrill of loot you collect Badges until you can afford your gear...no boss specific loot...no anticpation...just mapped out and linear which would only appeal to somebody who does not like character evolution.

They spent so much time making the map and hyping up dynamic events which are simply PROXIMITY PICK UP/KILL/TURN IN quests like any other MMO with a fancy name.  (Its not a tuna sandwich but rather its a SEAFOOD EXPERIENCE).  Such a waste since the game really goes nowhere at all at level 80, everything is made to scale evenly both in PVP and PVE so there is not enough valid reasons to even level up on this game.  No content to gear up for, no memorable bosses, nothing worth achieving.

Leveled up some alts (NO IDEA WHY), and im noticing the POPULATION is on the decline,  I run around areas that used to be cluttered and full of people to quest with now most areas are ghost towns, my friends and I dont really log to play anymore.  I saw all this coming when I requested a refund in Beta but a friend talked me into sticking with it...lol...and that was before I played the sorry excuse for instances they have combined with no motivation to even PVE.

Been in this discussion a million times...even a lot of hardcore supporters have started jumping ship while others still straight up defend it dearly as if they are going to receive a free Charr plush doll from Anet for being a good customer or something.

PvP isnt bad but I have no reason to play a MMO with NO PVE content like challenging... scripted... memorable... or thrilling instances/bosses with fun character progression (the downscaling DOES NOT REFRESH CONTENT only hinders), so im back on the market for the next traditional style MMO.  Seeing the population and hear say this is going to be the opinion of the majority if its not already...soon enough you will realize that your actually bored.

Too many to list

Xaragoth, on 10 September 2012 - 01:11 PM, said:

GW2 would have experienced the same situation that every other PTP game post-WoW experienced. A huge surge of initial purchases, and a huge fall off of subscribers after the 1-3 month period passed and the sub fee kicked in. The question that needs to be asked is not "does this mean there is a serious problem with GW2", but "is there a serious problem with the sub fee system in today's market".

I'll say it now...people's expectations for these games have gotten absolutely insane. Not over the top...actually insane. We have people putting down their $60, devouring 300+ hours of content, and then bleating about an absence of things to do and poor value. There is a sub class of MMO gamer known as the content locust (previously known as "the achiever"), and no game will EVER be released with sufficient content to sate their bottomless appetites. They reach end game, find they've done 90% of what there was to do, and quit.

The replacement for actual "content" is tread-milling. Run a dungeon? Run it again...in HARD mode! Get your tokens! Incrementally improve your gear! Raid 50 times to unlock the next raid! It's gated content, and it's gated behind a wall of repetition. People don't like this either. They come across it, and say "Same old MMO crap!", and quit.

So the sub fee game bleeds subscribers, no matter what it does. The solution, obviously, is to spend 3 billion dollars developing a state of the art game with no treadmill, content depth to match the 8 year old WoW or 12 year old Everquest and their 20+ expansions, and elegant game design that satisfies everyone at the same time, from the "It's too hard!" casuals to the "It's too casual!" hardcores. Do anything else, and people will quit. And upon seeing people quitting, someone will inevitably storm the internet to make the first "The game is dying OMG" thread, in which sage talking heads will nod gravely and share the anecdotal experience they have of the time a dude they totally know quit the game for reason X, and why this is proof positive that the game now rests upon the scrap heap of history with all the other MMOs (98% of which are still running and turning a profit).

So here's the solution for the OP. Go do something else. There is no writ or law that says once purchased an MMO must be played to the exclusion of everything else until the sun goes out and Cthulu awakens to devour the earth. They don't need you paying a sub fee. Cash shops turn their profit off approximately 5% of the player base. Finished all your goals? Good for you! I hope you had fun. If you're bored, stop playing. If I get bored of a book, I put the book down and go do something else. If I get tired of watching television, I go do something else. If I've had enough of playing hockey, I go do something else. At no point do I ever say "I'm bored of this activity, can I please have an infinite amount of repetition added to it so I can continue doing it even though I am bored?", and neither do any of you, because that would be crazy.

As to you, Xaragoth, while I fully agree that there is always a loud, tribal minority that reacts with vicious defensiveness to any perceived slight against their favorite MMO, "fanboy" is a lazy, stupid word and you sound like a smart enough guy that you shouldn't need to lapse into tired ad hominems to make your argument. The OP isn't offering constructive criticism. The OP is wondering what's to be done now that he's accomplished all his goals and has run out of things to do. And the answer to that question, as always, is to do something else, and that's alright. He's also perpetuating the fantasy that MMO's that aren't running around with 10 million subscribers down their pants have somehow slumped into disaster, and I'm beyond weary of debunking that particular myth. So if people want to light up the OP, they're quite free to do so on logical grounds.