Curse

Tricia · May 29, 2005, 10:43 AM // 10:43

Been playing GW for a few weeks now. Well I love the game and the gorgeous grahpics in it simply blew me away. One thing that bothers me A Lot about GW is that it is really hard to party up with people in certain mission/quest which require real players instead of henchies unless you're in a guild (I'm not in one), a warrior or a monk. When I'm at the Temple Of Ages with my nec/ranger (Trying to get into UW to get the widow spider for a pet or else I wouldn't even bother), nobody would want to party me to the Underworld. And when I actually Spent time just Waiting for a group to party me, I get kicked out almost immediately just because I wasn't a healer, AOE caster or a tank. But when I use my ele/monk, I get invited once in a while just to have some people who simply wouldn't listen, screw up in the mid of the mission for the whole group in UW by taking all the quests at one go at the Reaper when some of us repeatly told them not to. It is vey very tiring. I feel that this game is extremely time-consuming when they clearly said its not about time spent on it or about grinding through levels. The ONLY reason I bought this game is because it allows us to have 'pets' (I love pets) and it sucks that I need to spend so much time doing missions/quests just to get to another area for a different pet, not to mention the difficulty of getting accepted in a party just because you're a necro or ranger and not a monk. 90% of the time, I solo quests with henchies and when it comes to certain mission, it was always a headache. Just my vent (So don't flame me) I'm tired of sitting in Temple of Ages for AGES just to get into a party. Or when I do create a party with my necro telling everybody I would pay for all for the entrance fee to UW, someone would screw up in UW by aggroing things or talking/taking all the quests at one go. I'm not that rich to keep paying 1k just to have someone ruined it within 5-10 minutes. I wanna have fun in the game! Not frustrations! Honestly if it wasn't for the spider pet that is avaliable only in UW, I wouldn't even bother stepping into that area. I bought this game to have fun, why should I work my ass off just to get a pet. I'm not asking for elite skills/weapons in it though. This game is starting to feel more like work than play to me. It would be nice if Arenanet could change/make pet spiders avaliable in other different areas too like those wolves/bears/stalkers/lizards etc which are spread thoughout the maps. And I still wanna repeat this, I hate the party/grouping in GW. It sucks that people only invites monks and warriors most of the time while rangers and necros are left out. My friend who could only play after work told me how time consuming those missions are in old ascalon. If only he knew those missions are peanuts and less time consuming compare to the deserts/southern shiverpeak missions. After 4 weeks of playing, he only just arrived in Yak Bend and is tired of the game already. Many of you might disagree/agree on my opinions about it but I'm sure some of us in here don't have the time to sit and wait for party/play/unlock certain things in GW 24/7.

Just my thoughts
Tricia

Xellos · May 29, 2005, 10:52 AM // 10:52

The problem is the lack of choice in selection of skills in PVE. This limits class use. That is a factor to this problem. Another thing is how warriors just generally live longer, and how monks can heal. That makes them more desirable, since PVE isn't very heavy on disabling any class.

The game isn't replayable because there is so little choice. Another fact is that monks are the only efficient defense any group has, so monks are already a dominant part of your team. And since warriors are easy to use and have high tankability, these two are going to be preferred over other classes when there is only 4 slots. This severely hurts PVE.

It's not too late to fix the game, but Anet needs to overhaul fast, and need to prioritize this instead of the expansion.

Storn · May 29, 2005, 12:44 PM // 12:44

I find when I actively search for groups, and create them myself, I have more success. I'm playing a Elementalist, a Warrior, a Necro and a Monk. But when you track down folk, invite them in, organize all these strangers... often there are people who are grateful for that. As there are many folk who are having trouble getting a group together.

I have to admit, my Monk gets picked and gets recruits much easier. But I've had success with all my characters. and it is not because I know the mission or what I'm doing... often, I do not, but I'm forthright about being a noob or not knowing the mission. Asking folks what skills I should take for a mission is not only a great tactic, but a great icebreaker.

I also admit that I"m pretty chatty... I can type fairly fast and I like to know a bit about who I'm playing with.

Btw, I love having Necros in my groups. Combining them on a target with their life drains...that bypass armor... and hit them with ranger's arrows or smashmouth with warriors... great stuff!!!

cyberzomby · May 29, 2005, 12:45 PM // 12:45

I think that its highly replayeble.
first time u pick a support class.
Than the second time you play, you pick Warrior. And ill be sure ull play a different way than ure used to. Sure the missions will be the same, but ull get different players and play the mission differently ( faster, slower ) get different items.
Ure right about the warriors and monks, but in the low level areas, its realy not that desired. That only begins when ure over in Lions Arch. Than ull want a team with at least one warrior and a monk. Or else 2 warriors

Chaynsaw · May 29, 2005, 12:47 PM // 12:47

Xellos, what are you talking about?

There's like 50-100 skills for each class... how does this constitute "lack of choice in selection of skills"?

Navaros · May 29, 2005, 01:19 PM // 13:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chaynsaw

There's like 50-100 skills for each class... how does this constitute "lack of choice in selection of skills"?

i find there is a huge lack of choice in selection of skills for PVE because of two factors:

1. you hardly have any good skills to choose for a huge majority of the game

2. you can only effectively use 1/3 or so of the skills that you do have because you need to dump attribute points into the sub-division and only use skills from the area you want to specialize in (unless you wanna be sucky at killing anything)

as for the subject of this thread, i agree Guild Wars is often more like work than play. the main reason for this is because you have to assemble a new party for each and every mission and quest that you ever do. which results in endless tedium and incredibly boring work.

the best way make Guild Wars less like work is to fix the party-forming system. make it so you can invite anyone in any district into your current party, and so you can teleport anyone you want into whatever town you are in, no matter what (like the Town Portals in Diablo II).

and make it so you don't have to kill the same exact mobs 500 million times every time you step outside town

and make it so that bosses do not spawn randomly so you have to grind to get skills. you should be able to choose the bosses you want to spawn before you enter an area. or make it so that the same exact boss always spawns; no random spawns at all.

Superminyme · May 29, 2005, 01:47 PM // 13:47

There are tons of good skills to use in the game. You just have to choose how your going to use them, and what combination your going to use. And each area you enter can have a better set of skills to use since the mobs may use more enchants, more physical damage, more large groups of small mobs, etc. The thing is, people don't want to take time to choose their skills. They just want to go go go, and when they get there they die because they didnt get their skills organized.

The best way to play this game is to have friends you know who play it, but if you don't, you'll just have to talk to more people. The ability to invite anyone in any district isn't very good, in my opinion. People who are monks or warriors will be barraged with invites and people whispering them to join, and then complaining when they don't. It may fix the problem for some classes, but it will make the problem bigger for others. The solution to this problem is just to actively search for people. And if you can't find any in one district, go to the next.

I do agree with making the regular mobs random. I do get tired of seeing the same mobs spawn in the same spot over and over. However, I don't like the idea of not randomly spawning bosses. It would be boring to know exactly where the bosses are and who they are. It would make no sense to do that, in my opinion.

Mormegil · May 29, 2005, 02:09 PM // 14:09

Yes, of course.

And make it so that killing one monster can give you 10000 experience.
And make it so that you can teleport instantly anywhere.
And make it so that % of rare items drop gets doubled.

You know what? Playing soccer feels like working as well. Damn, I have to run all the time and pass the ball, then I have to shoot! That's outrageous!

Sarcasm mode: off.

Now, we all know GW is a MMORPG, or kind of. It's not as huge as E2 or WoW which is somewhat positive: GW is deep in another way. Still, you have to work around a bit. I agree with you, the party system is quite annoying at times, because so many noobs are out there. People think Monks can save them from their poor build. They don't even imagine that a simple E/... with many protection and aura spells can almost compensate the monk's healing, plus it has some pretty good offensive power. Casting a Ward against melee or a Ward against elements, for example, DOES MAKE a difference in an intense fight. It means in that area, in a certain sense, your HP are doubled while facing melee attackers (50% evade). Add a good mesmer and your enemies will suffer major disadvantages, so that an offensive player will have time to kill them without risking much.
This is one of the simple examples anyone could make.

There's only one problem here: the majority of people simply cant play. I dont want to sound arrogant or what, and I'm not saying I'm better than anyone. I'm just convinced that few players really exploit their character. You'll see W/MO everywhere, for example. Well, I saw some W/E adequately built beat the hell out of any W/MO.

The sheer number of skills is there for a reason: use them.

Jana · May 29, 2005, 02:15 PM // 14:15

On that same note...

I saw a W/Me beat up on a W/Mo. Remove enchants / Diversion

I saw a W/N beat up on a W/Mo. Nasty Drains and damage blocks

I EVEN saw a W/E beat a W/Mo. Earth power

Just play the game as it was meant to be played. Have fun, run missions, do the quests, follow the plot, have some fun in PvP, then shut the damn thing off and go get some fresh air

Jana

Mountain Man · May 29, 2005, 02:17 PM // 14:17

The opening post could use some paragraph breaks. It's too difficult to read as it stands. But based on the subject line, I have some advice:

If playing any game stops being fun then don't play it.

Seems obvious enough, doesn't it?

Jia Xu · May 29, 2005, 02:18 PM // 14:18

I hate to use my Karate sensei's phrase, because it does my head in, but there is no gain without pain! If you get all the rewards of the game without having to put some effort in, then it makes the rewards worthless. After struggling through the shiverpeaks, i felt a sense of accomplishment at doing missions with only henchies and still getting my settlers through! Personally, the teams out there aren't bad, and if you are a non-essential character class, like a necro or mesmer, then it is often easier to form your own party to do a mission, as 1) you won't get kicked out and 2) people don't actively dislike having other classes, they would just rather have a monk for healing. If you talk to the guys you invite in a clear and easy to read structure, then you will find party members easily, as they want mature and respectful people more than they want some kiddie monk. Works for me.

Tricia · May 29, 2005, 02:22 PM // 14:22

First of all, just to make things clear, I do not have a single problem doing quests with Henchies. In fact I use Henchies all the time for questing and exploration. It's only the partying of the later end game missions that are frustrating me.

8 skill slots is a little too little for PVE especially in missions where you have to carry an extra rez signet/skill + capture signet in later missions for those elite skills which boils down to just 6 skill slots. And if you're a ranger with a pet (which I have), it sucks even more, and you're only left with 4 skill slots after having Charm Animal and Comfort. 8 slots are still fine with me though. But if there can be more, it would be so much better.

I had tried creating groups myself (most of the time I'm doing missions either in the Volcano Island or Southern Shiverpeak just to capture skills). Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. And as you know when you're getting more people in your group, one person in your group just leaves your party out of the blue does result in the rest of your party leaving you as well. This had happened to me quite a number of times. At times I see people spamming msgs saying that they are creating a group for mission and I would reply saying I would love to join. In return they would ask what class am I and I would reply saying I'm a Necro. Sure enough, no replies back from them which I thought was pretty rude. I guess they rather have a 2nd monk/warrior than a necro in a party.

I have 3 characters, N/R, R/Monk and E/Monk, one completed all missions and the other two that had made it furthest to Ember light Camp and I do not want to create another Monk character just so I can get easily get accepted/invited into missions groups. I do not want to go through all the tedious missions all over again. And I have to say its boring to repeat those missions especially if someone in the group decided to be an idiot and screw up the mission thus resulting in restarting all over again. I had a couple of times when I spent 30+ minutes in a mission and getting DC at the near end of it. Guess what. Restart again. It's a bore and it's frustrating. I grin and bear through every mission with all my characters until recently I started playing Temple of Ages with my necro which made me really mad. Lots of time spent waiting/getting a party, 1k money sink and always failure within 5-10 minutes (35 minutes was the longest I had stayed in it) in UW with people who simply don't listen to simple commands. Kinda had enough of it. Only thing that is making me stay in the game are the grahpics and the pets.

I can sit my ranger down and stare at her pet all day. I really like animals.

So far the only map I really ENJOY playing alot is Presear Ascalon, where every single creature you see does not attack you. I actually enjoy walking around admiring the sceneries. It was really fun and relaxing. But at the later areas in the game, I simply can't do that unless I kill every single creature and by the time I had done that, I simply lost interest. I also wish Anet would change it so that not every single creature you see attacks you. Only certain areas where you can really just run around and enjoy the scenery beside towns and outpost. For example, like presear Ascalon.

I agree. They should really fix the party-forming system. It's a real turnoff for me. A few times I met some monks who were simply arrogant and rude and demanded that I pay them or at least give them any purple/yellow items that drop for me during the mission. There's this monk who was in my group in UW the other day. He said, "I am healing you guys for free, you should pay for my service. What do you expect?!" Nobody replied him and sure enough, he left the game and it does affect the group alot in UW with one less monk for healing. One warrior saw that the monk left and though 'we're screwed' and left too. And as you know 6 can't survive in UW and it was money and Time wasted again.

And just to make it clear again, I'm not interested in getting elite/uber items/weapons/skills whatever. I only wish its easier for us to get to places without having to spend so much time doing a certain mission just to get through. I love the sceneries and graphics of this game but I do not want to spend hundreds/thousands of hours to unlock certain areas of it just to See it.
Well enough venting from me today.

Tricia

P.S: To Mountain Man, you didn't have to say to me to stop playing which I personally think its rude. Like I said in my post, its only my thoughts and my opinions. And yea I know its your opinion too but I don't need that.

Jana · May 29, 2005, 02:26 PM // 14:26

PARAGRAPHS!

{Just hit enter again so a space is left between thoughts. OMG}

Hey... if pick up group are the issue, then just join a guild. Go adventrue with a few people and if they are decent, ask them about joining

. Makes life easier.

Jana

Tricia · May 29, 2005, 02:31 PM // 14:31

Oops, don't really post much so dunno much about it. I did hit enter but I guess I didn't hit them twice. Lemme edit them then. Thanks for reminding. I too have a little trouble reading them myself. lol

Numa Pompilius · May 29, 2005, 02:35 PM // 14:35

Are people finding it difficult to find pickup groups? For real?

I solo most of the time, but only one times I've wanted to group did I have a problem finding a group (and that was 4 o clock in the morning).

And how the hell do you get kicked out from a group? AFAIK there isn't even a votekick function in the game (there should be, though).

Tricia · May 29, 2005, 02:41 PM // 14:41

I really have no idea why people have to sound so sarcastic in these forums where all I'm doing is voicing out my thoughts. *sigh*

Yes you can get kicked out of the group when you're in town. I got invited into a group and then got kicked out of it again when they realise I'm not a monk. Is that so surprising?

What's with all the sacarsm with these people?

Tricia

Dreamsmith · May 29, 2005, 02:56 PM // 14:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Navaros

1. you hardly have any good skills to choose for a huge majority of the game

That would be my biggest gripe about the game, actually. During the beta, we did have a lot of choice between skills, many of which are very fun to play with, e.g. it's a blast running into a group of Charr Axe Wielders with Hundred Blades. But that's no longer an option, nor is using a lot of the other really fun skills in this game. Skills are dribbled to you at such a low rate that half of them, and indeed a lot of the really fun ones, aren't available until you're nearly done with PvE. Ideally, you ought to have all your skills about the same time to Ascend. If more than 60% of the game has passed before you get the fun skills, you really miss out on a lot, because you barely have any chance to use them.

Mind you, I still like the game, but honestly, it's not half as fun as it was in beta, due largely to the lack of skills available during the majority of the game.

Rahne Sinclaire · May 29, 2005, 03:22 PM // 15:22

Personally, I don't put much emphasis on being the "strongest" or "Best" character of my class. I don't -have- to have that certain elite skill that will make me dominate, I don't -hate- to beat every mission on the first try. I like the challenge of working with new people, although sometimes PUGs pit you with some of the worst players you can imagine.
Point is, I try to take the game at a leisurely pace. I don't want to rush everything, because that just leads to stress. I'm playing the game to have fun, not feel compelled to be the best.

Exion · May 29, 2005, 03:31 PM // 15:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jana

On that same note...

I saw a W/Me beat up on a W/Mo. Remove enchants / Diversion

I saw a W/N beat up on a W/Mo. Nasty Drains and damage blocks

I EVEN saw a W/E beat a W/Mo. Earth power

Jana

W/Mo is horribly overrated Imo,pvp they're easy-both my mesmer and necro have been able to kill them 1 on 1~~with mesmer,I use illusionary weapon,empathy,blackout,sometimes phantasim,if w/mo attacks me sheild stance and healing sig if I ever need it,this ussally kills w/mo without much trouble. (W/Mo is just a tank)

Now as for the game feeling like work-I felt like WorldOfWarcraft was work,the guild I had in WoW ALWAYS wanted everyone on for molten boring as hell core or something and you had to repeat runs that take forever to get items that were really unbalanced. With GW I can play when I feel like it,I don't have to farm all the time (items are pretty balanced,so I don't have to play forever worrying someones better),and if I do decide to farm it's not a problem because everythings instaced (noone to steal my Hill Giants ;P) If you want Underworld/Fissure I suggest finding a guild for them,as most pickup groups I've had done awful (but find a guild that dosen't make you go unless your up to it)

Xellos · May 29, 2005, 03:36 PM // 15:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rahne Sinclaire

Personally, I don't put much emphasis on being the "strongest" or "Best" character of my class. I don't -have- to have that certain elite skill that will make me dominate, I don't -hate- to beat every mission on the first try. I like the challenge of working with new people, although sometimes PUGs pit you with some of the worst players you can imagine.
Point is, I try to take the game at a leisurely pace. I don't want to rush everything, because that just leads to stress. I'm playing the game to have fun, not feel compelled to be the best.

But not everyone is a turtle at the game, some people are rabbits, and like to zip through. It isn't compel, rather it's just their nature.