5661

I was surprised that I didn’t hate the Sanctum Sprint and, in fact, kinda really liked it! I think I’ll easily knock out the achievement for that one and get plenty of loot in the process.

 -Tom
5662

Thanks for the link. If this model works for them, they could always release new continents for free, and offer new classes in the store (although more likely they’d just add them and let people buy character slots in the store). So just because they’re not planning to sell expansions at this point, doesn’t mean we won’t get expansion-like material. It’s just more likely going to be added in gradually instead of in one big chunk.

5663

I am just glad that someone is experimenting in the content space of mmos. My schedule allows at most an hour of gw2 on weekday nights so doing dailies is hard enough - but I like the idea of past events fading into legend.

5664

People were complaining about static nature of MMOs for years and how old content becomes a ghost town after something new is introduced. Now, it’s funny to see some people complaining about a dynamic (or living, if you wish) MMO.

Life is full of things you get to experience only once, that’s what makes those events special and memorable. Yes, I hate to have missed the fireworks we’ve had in Toronto on July 1st but I don’t see anyone demanding them launching fireworks every day. Well, except for little kids.

5665

Well I have every class to 80 (so eight of 'em), and every craft 350+ on separate characters since I did that to buy every karma buyable recipe in game. I’m close to every vendor buyable recipe from world heart merchants (some have great skins). I’m getting all crafts to max, still doing it self-farming, not using gem->gold->AH or even doing the mind-numbing COF1 hamster wheel. I have done every aspect of the game except structured PvP. This includes of course WvW and large guild events, on Tarnished Coast having just hooked up w/a larger multi-game guild I was with in Rift, not with you all. Hopefully I am hardcore enough to have a worthwhile opinion on this matter?

And I get exactly what he is saying.

Part of it is this with achievements. Right, that’s a link talking about Don’t Starve, a single player game. But the logic is applicable to MMO design, many are single player until endgame now. It is definitely spot on for behavior and achievements. GW1 did have lots of rewards for grinding, but you could get them all (the number of GWAMM players boggles me) eventually, often getting the bulk done with stuff you needed/wanted anyway. But people who must chase achievements are oven … err … compulsive overachievers. Its really akin to OCD. So by saying someone isn’t hardcore enough to have an opinion on cheevo chasing, its sort of like telling someone with OCD they weren’t hardcore enough to have an opinion about counting steps since you took more steps than they have today. Telling them its ok, since there are more steps to count does not in any way take away the trauma of them having missed counting those two steps.

Now GW2 has set it up that there will always be cheevos you can’t get unless you max the OCD (in imho an unhealthy way), if not you fail. Oh, the anguish. Whereas GW1, with content and henchmen meant you could chase it at a healthy pace. GW2, esp with the new content which is all heavily cheevoed, and the new rewards for cheevos they are dialing this mechanic up to max. Expect those of us susceptible to it to say owww! Or, in my case, I’d long ago decided to squelch that as like the article mentions, giving in increases my burnout rate and overall enjoyment of a game, in trade for some small bursts of cheevo based satisfaction. I’m playing GW2 as a sandbox. When I run out of goals, I’m done … until I think of a new one. GW1 was great for this too. People who must OCD cheevo chase will either quit, or learn to control it and ignore cheevos. Or in malkav’s case, not sweat the slow but health rate at which they approach the cheevo goals. But this rate is just too much, too fast.

I predict, in the long run, this tactic in GW2 will produce greater burnout in the people that do log in every day. Those that drop in and out to sample new content will still be fine and quite happy with the game. Ironically, I think that is the opposite of what they hope.

5666

You left the link out.

5667

I cannot imagine playing games the way some of you do. You guys make it sound like playing a MMO is some kind of second job. Screw that.

5668

It really isn’t a good way to enjoy a game. And I think that drive to 100% things is actively compromising my enjoyment of GW2, which seems to want to offer a wide range of activities to cater to many different playstyles and have players pick and choose rather than trying to do everything as I have been. But it is kind of a compulsive thing and I’ve had to reassess in the past on other games. “This isn’t fun.” “So why are you doing it?” “Well…um…you know, maybe I should stop, come to think of it.”

5669

I don’t get at all how your point folds into what malkav11 was saying (“I’m missing content!”). I don’t even think he’s played enough to know about the achievements. He’s talking about content forever closed to him because, for example, he wasn’t playing last December when they did the Southsun Shore event, so now he doesn’t want to play anymore.

Furthermore, I don’t understand at all your compulsion about the achievements, particularly if you’re as hardcore as you claim you are. You do realize this isn’t a finite sum of points, right? It’s not like your Xbox Live gamerscore, which can only be 1000 points for any given game with a few hundred more for each add-on. The achievement score in Guild Wars 2 is an open ended score based on pretty much everything you do. So what if you don’t get the five points for watching the fireworks show that they only had that one weekend? I’m sure your score of 6,575 points can easily get up to 6,580 by doing something else instead, something that you can repeatedly farm for score for as long as the servers are running. Or is that unchecked little box for watching the fireworks show just going to eat away at you?

Otherwise, my takeaway from your post is that if you play too much, you’re going to burn out on the game. And, uh, I guess I agree?

-Tom, who also didn’t get to see the fireworks show

5670

That’s true of any game, so I don’t understand why you’re singling out Guild Wars 2.

If Guild Wars 2 isn’t for you, it’s not for you. And you seem to have your own approach to the way you play, which is fine if it works for you. I’ve gone back and 100%'ed a few areas just because I liked the areas. But based on what you’re saying, I’d argue the reason it’s not working for you is because you’re not letting it. Let the game’s own pacing do its job – basically, the story missions are a guide – and you’ll get a much better sense for what Guild Wars 2 can do.

-Tom

5671

He can open up the achievements tab. That’s all it takes. And most of GW2’s cheevos are not level based anyway. You are using his lack of levels to inform you that his point is invalid. I have those lacking levels and feel his point is valid. So …

This seems to be the root of the misunderstanding, and yes it will. Well, ok, it won’t because I won’t let it. But I have to make an effort, an active decision, to not let it. Unlike you, I and it seems malkav have tendencies to compulsive behavior. No, I’m not saying we have OCD, just our personalities lean that way. So when presented with something that looks oh so very very shiny to a completionist, we actually have to actively resist to keep a healthy balance. Which it seems like he has done specifically by pacing himself. I’m more like Telefrog, since I look at the cheevos and think what I’d have to do to get them all and think

Never did get my GWAMM, not even close.

Malkav and I are more easily trapped into playing the game of “get the next shiney”, (think of us as skritt!) rather than playing this game called GW2.

Recent explosion of content that is heavily linked to cheevos with rewards, then removed. By design this creates severe anxiety and desire in completionists. You aren’t susceptible, cool. Malkav and I are, but we are healthy enough to see it as the skritt-trap that it is or we wouldn’t be complaining!

Oh you’re right (and on burn out). We end at the same place, but some of us take a different road there. However, if this is your guide for the pace, good god man: maybe I’d prefer chasing cheevos to Trahearne.

5672

I’m “screw that” about playing any game like it’s a job. Missing out on cheevos doesn’t bother me in the least.

5673

I feel the same way for the most part, but some players like to chase them. So I can understand the annoyance if some achievements are linked to temporary events that will disappear. I like the ideas of frequent events – that’s cool – but I also like getting an expansion with a lot of new content to explore. That’s cool too.

5674

I demand you launch fireworks on July 4, like all decent Americans.

5675

I don’t actually find the achievements in GW2 particularly compelling, I think partly because they’re open-ended so there’s no 100%ing them. Though the new achievement reward system admittedly might change that - I’ll have to see. My problem with the rotating content is the actual game content that I would need to either play regularly enough to complete on their schedule or miss forever. I grant you that there’s plenty of content already in the game that I haven’t experienced, but the missed potential still bothers me, the same way that I’m bothered when games are taken offline or disappear from sale before I’m able to snag a copy despite the fact that I already probably own more games than I will ever finish and compound the issue by playing MMOs.

I can totally understand that GW2’s announced “Living World” content schedule is probably really cool for people who are strongly into Guild Wars 2 and play it regularly, or who just want something new to futz with on their irregular visits to the game. I also get that the transitive nature of these events does add a certain cachet to them. It just doesn’t suit how I play these things at all, which is a shame because other aspects of the package (like the lack of subscription, the ease of getting around the game world, and the automatic level scaling letting you hang with friends that play a lot more than you do (if I had any friends that played GW2), for example) really do.

I’m certainly not claiming that WoW (or any other MMO’s) update schedules or expansions are a “better” way of delivering new content. Again, for the core players who spend a lot of time with these games, I’m sure GW2’s update schedule is far more rewarding. What I am saying is that releasing substantial permanent content additions, especially expansions or the equivalent thereof, no matter how dilatory the schedule, suits my preferred approach to playing MMOs much better. Because even if I don’t get to that content anytime soon (I haven’t touched any of the mission packs TSW has released since they dropped the subscription, for example), it’s -there- when or if I do get there. And this preference doesn’t become magically irrelevant just because I’m not catassing my way through hundreds of hours of MMO play - that’s kind of the point, actually. If I were, I wouldn’t have a problem with biweekly rotating content because I’d be playing regularly enough I’d never miss any of it.

And for pete’s sake, none of this is an attack on Guild Wars 2 (which is clearly a really well made game with design priorities that don’t necessarily line up with mine), nor “stomping my feet”, nor petulance, nor a suggestion of any other MMO’s overall superiority or any of the other nonsense Tom’s read into my posts that’s never actually been there.

5676

While most of the “Living World” content has not been of great interest to me personally and while I do hope that they do a more traditional expansion some day (with new classes, races, zones, skills, etc.), I love the fact that they are committed to this two week content cycle. I’m always excited to see what’s coming up next.

I don’t have much to say about the achievement conversation other than this. Daily achievements are the reason I now have ten level 80 characters. Now, I can hear some of you saying, “But, Derbain, there are only 8 classes.” It’s a sickness. Don’t judge me! Hahah.

Now, I guess I need another character slot…

5677

Is GW2 a game where to start playing it helps to read the manual or is it best to just jump in and experiment? Are there tutorial messages to explain how the mechanics work?

5678

Just jump in. If you read anything, read the list of controls, and the UI options, etc. It’s not necessary to plumb all the depths at first. Everything you need to start should be fairly clear.

5679

OK, thanks

5680

I’d add to what Hotfreak said: check the info (hover) on all your abilities, frequently and often. The more precise your knowledge of the game’s mechanics, the more the game rewards you with more interesting gameplay (setting up combo fields and finishers, for self or others, understanding Conditions, CC, Boons, etc.). Almost all the weapons and weapon combinations have interesting synergies to play with. You can really start to feel like you’re sculpting something that really suits you, and your own sense of fun.