Curse

VGJustice · May 15, 2006, 02:57 AM // 02:57

This is a basic thread for what I feel are the best and worst of Prophecies and Factions, what needs fixing, what's good, and how this information can be best utilized for Ch. 3 and future chapters. If you disagree with any of this, please give as detailed an answer as you can as to the reason why. Opinions are great and all, but what I'm looking for is specifics. Things that can be improved upon, or starting points for new content. And a basic idea of what's good in each game.

THE GOOD

- PvP (general): You guys at A.Net have made an awesome thing here, in general. It's extremely balanced, and quite approachable. Being that this was the basis of the game concept, I'd say you guys did a bang-up job.

- Connection issues: This is still one of the most lag-free games I've played. I can still imagine people playing this game on dial-up (barring recent massive lag spikes on the Factions side).

- Story: Many seem to hate the story, yet I love it. I find it quite entertaining, and that's important for those of us that don't like or can't play PvP. Please try to keep the story this interesting for future chapters.

- Hidden Stuff: I love how you guys like to mix in humor where no one expects it. Please, keep making references, they make a boring quest into something funny for no good reason.

- General look of the game: The visuals continue to impress. Thanks for that.

- Elite Missions as an option: I really like this idea. Gives hardcore PvE players a chance to shine. Please include these areas in future chapters.

- Unlock a skill in PvP to buy it in PvE: It took me rerolling a character or two to see this for the first time, but I noticed that if a skill is already unlocked, then you can simply buy that skill for a new character. I really like and appreciate this idea. That way, PvP will be rewarding no matter how you play.

- Speed of game progression: I appreciate the speed at which Canthan characters level up at. This helps a lot when making new characters, so I'm not going to be spending my life getting up to a high level. I really appreciate this aspect of Factions. Please include this format in future chapters.

THE BAD

- Heroes Ascent and 12 v 12 unapproachable as is: For the casual gamer, like myself, I find these areas wholy unapproachable. Partly due to other players and sever elitism, but also partially due to format, especially where the 12 v 12 is concerned. It's been said numerous times already about how these battles were more fun when it was random. I think that in this case, if you wish to include a PvP section of the game inside of the PvE portion, it's best to just keep it random. This does a lot to keep out the players that drag out the fun and keeps the whole thing a lot more approachable.

- Layout of the city area in Cantha confusing: I'm normally able to keep track of where I've been on a map, but I was lost for the first time in this game in that city map. Because of the constant ups and down, and the lack of defining borders on the map, I can't find my way through half the time. I was never so glad to be out of a city. Please try to make the maps more intuitive in the future. This current setup is simply confusing. Although, it does look pretty. Too bad I'll be staring at the same blank wall for an hour before I figure out how to get down three levels.

- Cost of character startup: I understand that there was a sudden material rush at the begining of Factions, so I'm discounting that. That's simple supply and demand, and is part of the game. What I'm refering to is skills. A player that gets into Guild Wars now may find it very difficult to obtain skills, as they simply won't have very much money, despite what gold is given to them as part of quest rewards. I believe that Prophecies was the correct way to do this, where skills were part of quest rewards. This gives new players a larger stock of options when they get further into the game. Also, I believe that the Prophecies quest to get your first Signet of Capture was almost nessesary. Without that quest, new players may not understand what the Signet of Capture is for, and will need further tutoring by other players in game, and many players don't seem to care about helping new players. Please include Skills as quest rewards in future chapters.

- Flaws with the Factions system: While getting faction to trade for Rare Crafting Materials is a good thing on one level, trading that same faction for your aliance to gain control of a city for access to the elite missions seems not only wasteful of game time but also pointless when there's already an accepted format for opening high level areas (Gaining the Favor of the Gods). I feel that it is better to exclude this type of mission in future chapters, as it's better to have a larger stock of players able to play in the highest level in the game. It's good to reward the strong and the capable, but it's also bad to exclude the strong and capable that can't be a part of the larger whole.

- Excluding foriegn characters from early missions: I see little point to this in the long run. I've heard it said that this was for story purposes, where it would make no sense for a Tyrian to do the missions on the Starter Island, and it would make no sense for a Canthan to do the missions with Rurik or in Ascalon. But, what about a Tyrian that's completed Hell's Precipice going back to Great Northern Wall? Isn't that much the same? Yet, that character is not restricted. Normally, I wouldn't have a problem with this, but because of the Title system, many characters are locked out of many titles due to this problem. I feel that in future expansions, there should be no restrictions on what characters can do what missions, or that the limitations of the Title system be aleviated (reduced requirements for foriegn characters to better reflect what they have available).

GENERAL SUGGESTIONS

- More character slots upon purchase: I really appreciate the extra character slots given to us with the purchase of both Prophecies and Factions. But, I also understand that as we get more and more chapters, we'll get more and more classes to play with. If you don't include more character slots with each new purchase of chapters, then it could become quite a problem. I'd like to see this practice continued, whether it be one or two slots for each chapter added, with options to purchase further slots.

- Less back and forth quests: I don't much care for the quests where you must walk accross the map, then back accross the same map. I find that irritating. I'd prefer to just end that quest at a given destination. If there's a quest where you must talk to several characters in an explorable area, please just make them close together. That reduces the aggrivation with this type of quest. In Prophecies, the Hot Springs Murders quest is an expample of this done well.

- Continue to add features to all games: I greatly appreciate the addition of Titles to all of Guild Wars. I feel that this is one of the better aspects of the game currently. So, please, make sure to go back and add future features like this to all parts of Guild Wars. Your loyal fans that only have limited chapters will thank you for it.

- Planning ahead for item updates: Although I like the armor and sundering updates, I feel that they were implemented with little foresight. It would be best, in the future, to have ways of improving exsisting items before the item is updated, or at the very least having it available at the same time. I'm certain that many players are offended by the lack of an update to their exsisting armor, and they may feel betrayed when a promised fix takes so long to produce. Upgrades are good, but having players with lesser equipment because of it is simply wrong.

Well, that's all I could think of at the moment. I hope that an A.Net representative will read this and prehaps get an idea of what we fans feel is good and bad about Guild Wars currently, and make better decisions because of it for future chapters.

Gargle Blaster · May 15, 2006, 04:35 AM // 04:35

well said...

Wrath Of Dragons · May 15, 2006, 04:49 AM // 04:49

yes, excelllently put

TheLordOfBlah · May 15, 2006, 06:10 AM // 06:10

I think ANET said they were going to have some way of upgrading old armors (droks and above)

actionjack · May 15, 2006, 06:14 AM // 06:14

very nicely put

But I do think more improvment is needed.
I think there is a murky orientation to this game, as unsure what the final goal would be. A central game play style is lost as it try to please too many group of people at once.

VGJustice · May 15, 2006, 07:31 AM // 07:31

Thank you everyone for the words of encouragement. It's much appreciated.

Quote:

Originally Posted by actionjack

I think there is a murky orientation to this game, as unsure what the final goal would be. A central game play style is lost as it try to please too many group of people at once.

That's nicely put. And, I agree, you shouldn't try to please everyone all the time, as you'll simply end up pleasing no one.

Wrath Of Dragons · May 15, 2006, 07:43 AM // 07:43

Although they have done surprisingy well keeping pvp/pve strategy balanced.
i think thats one of the most impressive things about this game--the balance. hundreds of skills, and millions of people trying to make the best of them, and no 1 skill or combo is overpowered, and whenever 1 is found, it is fixed without imbalancing the rest of the game. yes, you may call me a "nerf lover" but i like to see the balance, no mtter how much i enjoyed my ovrpowered combos

VGJustice · May 15, 2006, 07:56 AM // 07:56

Absolutely, Wrath. I completely agree. That's the key good thing in Guild Wars as a whole, and I hope they continue their hard work on keeping things balanced like it is now. It can't be easy work, and they deserve much praise for the work that they've done.

guppy · May 15, 2006, 03:01 PM // 15:01

Nicely put.

I would for one like to see the economy more approachable to newer players to the game. What I mean to say is that an improvement I would like to see is a better trading system and less abuse towards gaining money.

I would also hope that Anet implements an in-game voice chat program. I find it strange that pvp almost requires it, and in competitions at higher levels, everyone has it.. yet newer players must find people with a server or a 3rd party program to have their own guild be able to compete in pvp at a higher level. Asside from the technical issues of it, I think it would be a big step for guild wars as a game to have it.

Mesti Arcanus · May 15, 2006, 04:34 PM // 16:34

Well done. You've hit most of the major points, good and bad, bang on.

I'd like to second guppy's comment on trading. I know we've been told an auction house (or something) is coming, so I won't gripe endlessly about it. Suffice to say, it's something I think we need for the health of the trading community, and it should cut down nicely on trade scams.

I do disagree on your point about Faction though. I think the Favor system was the wrong one, due to the whole "PvP controlling high-end PvE" issue. I'm not going to rant about that one either, there've been many threads dedicated to it, and numerous (I feel) superb alternatives presented. I do think something is a little "off" with the current Faction system though. But since GWF is still young, I'm waiting a bit longer before I finally decide whether I think it really needs changing. Right now, I'd suggest that personal Faction donations should dictate whether you can access an Elite mission (this may require increasing the max faction a player can hold, or remembering how much had been donated in the past, if the price were to be set above 10k of course).

nimloth32 · May 15, 2006, 05:16 PM // 17:16

well say, but i only not quite agree with elite mission though..

personally, i think that it is good since it encourage most players to participate in fort aspenwood and jade quarry and alliance battle.

However, looking upon the situation now, due to the desperation from those who finish GW:F to do something to pass over their time in game, they are going to go pvp or just farming. Ok, from here, i focus on the farming aspect of the game. One of the problems with GW:F is that it does not have a high end questing/farming area like UW/FoW/SF in original GW since anet expect the players to farm factions from questing or doing mission like fort aspenwood and jade quarry or alliance battle over and over again. Well, due to the fact that the req to control town that have access to the elite mish (house zu heltzer) is too high, this discourages players as those req only can be met by those megalo-alliance who have zealots (or bots..-_o) who farm factions for 24/7. In short, in this manner, those alliance who have more players will have advantage over those who have lesser number. Eventually this let to outrage of bots and afk players in fort aspenwood and jade quarry as well as alliance battle as this prove to be a shortcut to gain more factions. Besides that, the flaws in alliance battle, fort aspenwood, and jade quarry also keep the players away from it. Hence, i suggest that anet to open the elite mission to all players instead (i think there is a petition in this forum for this) to let the players to access it.

In order to fix the reward system for those who manage to conquer a town, i suggest discount for the skill trader as i believe there is a need for this besides the fireworks and discount for the general merchant (who sell identification kits, etc).

The above are mostly my ideas only. I am sorry if there is any inaccuracy about the facts that i said.

Besides, VGJustice, sorry for contradicting your point of view but nevertheless, it is a good thread, far better than those 'ranting' thread.

peace!

Winterclaw · May 15, 2006, 05:30 PM // 17:30

Great post VGJ. I agree with a lot of it.

Under good, I'd also add customizeable interface and how combat works, like letting us use only 8 skills.

Under bad I'd add slow PC development in Tyria (Cantha spoiled me) and the lack of weapon mod traders in the game.

Quote:

- Heroes Ascent and 12 v 12 unapproachable as is: For the casual gamer, like myself, I find these areas wholy unapproachable. Partly due to other players and sever elitism, but also partially due to format, especially where the 12 v 12 is concerned.

I agree, QFT, and Dittos.

I can't comment on 12v12 yet, but my personal take on HA is that fame is a bit too much of a problem how it is done now. 80% of the groups I see forming are just to farm fame and another 10% only want people who have farmed fame as their sole PvP achievement.

lightblade · May 15, 2006, 07:40 PM // 19:40

"...if you wish to include a PvP section of the game inside of the PvE portion, it's best to just keep it random. This does a lot to keep out the players that drag out the fun and keeps the whole thing a lot more approachable."

IT'S ALREADY THERE!!! Just stupid people don't know them...it's called Fort Aspenwood and Jade Quarry!!

These are 2 random PvP areas that's only accessable by RP characters!