Curse

Hanok Odbrook · May 18, 2006, 05:20 PM // 17:20

After having put in over a year on GW now, there’s still a few things I would like to suggest for changes - and a few that need some overhaul IMNSHO (in my not so humble opinion). First, let me say thanks to Anet for some of the changes and additions they have made to the game over the last 12 months - some even satisfying things on my first wish/suggestion list from oh, so long ago.

Story Line Missions:
To begin with, some of the story mission parameters need to be reworked. Currently I have had some very frustrating runs through D’Alessio Seaboard and Divinity Coast, especially with trying to pick up the bonus missions, let alone get them completed. The completion of a task should never revolve around keeping a (or any number of NPC’s) alive if they don’t appear in the party formation bar as allies. A big part of the problem with these two missions is that the ability to unlock them is based nearly entirely on luck - getting to the NPC before they are killed by mobs. I actually had to refer to the guide book for D’A. S. after my second attempt at trying to unlock the bonus mission to find out who to even talk to, let alone trying to reach the NPC in time to unlock the bonus once I knew what he was. Even using a runner with Sprint, most of the time, the necessary NPCs are already dead by the time I reach the area - having this happen repeatedly over a dozen times of trying to complete the mission is frustrating to make an understatement. These missions, and all the others that are dependant on keeping a set number of NPCs alive instead of making sure your party stays alive (I was able to run through the main missions the first time out, without losing one party member - something seems amiss here). There’s no way players should have to repeat mission areas more than once or twice to complete them (and only if they’re party is killed - not unallied NPCs).
Update: To add more to this topic, for these types of missions, not only do the NPCs need to be untouched by mobs long enough for a party (or a member) to reach them, but once they are "active" they need to appear in the party formation window so that the player(s) can at the very least keep track of their status. Early missions featuring Prince Rurik follow this model, which allows you not only to see Rurik's health status, but allow your healer the ability to actually do his job without having to waste time squinting at the screen and playing around with the mouse or "target next NPC" buttons. It's one thing to make a mission challenging by having a player's focus divided between party members and allies, it's completely different when the process of aiding your allies is completely out of your control to begin with. That doesn't make it challenging - only frustrating.

Casual Play & Grinding:
GW was designed (according to Anet themselves) to be a game for casual players and one that involves no grinding. I don’t know what their idea of “casual” and “grind” are, but having to recently go through areas of a game in order to complete a mission is what I consider grind, and do not find fun or enjoyable at all. Now, being a casual player who usually only has a few hours two or three days a week to play, generally finds it very annoying to have to spend upwards of a week of real time trying to complete one task. Now when we’re talking about a static single-player game, not such a big deal as you don’t have to worry about missing content. However, GW is an MMO, with changing content - which means the casual player usually has to rush through everything to make sure they don’t miss any of the content that may be temporary (holiday quests, “Can’t We Get Along Quests”, etc.). For a game that was supposed to be designed with us in mind, actual game play seems decidedly against casualness in many instances. Any type of grinding (forced repetitive play) had no place in a game primarily designed for limited time casual play.
Update: Temp quests like the above mentioned "Can't We ..." created for the FPE need to be marked as such in the Quest Log so the casual player who doesn't have a lot of time will know to make these quests the priority ones to complete. But the casual player should still never have to feel rushed when playing a game designed for them. That's one reason why you cannot mix PvE with PvP - PvP is decidedly not a casual play mechanic. As for holiday quests which are clearly temporary, a staggered system should be created that will allow players the opportunity to complete a quest no matter how far along in the game they have gotten. The past two Winterfest quests required players to have gotten pretty much through the entire game in order to complete them, leaving those fresh out of Pre-Searing without the opportunity to experience any Winterfest quests and rewards at all. By creating quests that can be completed at varying stages of the game will allow everyone the opportunity to complete at least one, with those further along getting the added benefit of being able to complete more - up to their current point in the game, again without having to feel like they need to rush or buy a run to latter stages of the game.
Anet really needs to get back to the original design of Guild Wars. Sure the hardcore player deserves some additional rewards, but there are more than enough games out there for that type of gamer. Guild Wars is the first game to come out supporting those of us who just simply don't have oodles of time to devote to playing their favorite games. Thus far, it seems that we are the ones who are missing out on some of the best and most unique content. It's not even the rewards for the temp quests or the one day events, but just the fact that there is actual game content that we are missing that enriches the world and playing experience itself.

Battle Alliance Arenas:
In regards to Factions, the only thing I want to list here (because I have been spending too much time trying to complete Prophecies missions instead of playing the new game), is the 12 v 12 arenas. The FPE had its share of problems with the FA and JQ arenas, but the reworked mechanic is even worse. The three main problems I had with the Battle arenas were: 1) Leavers; 2) Traitors; 3) Lack of informational progress.
1) I don’t care what Anet says about connection issues, and Yadda Yadda Yadda. If a player leaves a Coop mission or PvP game, whatever the reason, they need to be locked out of re-joining either of these options for at least an hour. Quite simply, if you are having connection issues (or are limited in playing time), there is absolutely no reason why you should be forming parties with other players. Regardless of the excuse, leavers penalize their team, so they should therefore be penalized themselves. If a player has connection issues, let them go solo until the issues clear up. When I had a dial-up connection, I never attempted PvP or a Coop with other players until I was certain I would be able to hold up my end of the mission until it was all over.

2) Traitors need to be locked out of the opposing faction’s arenas. If a player Kurzick supporting faction, there is no reason for them to be competing in missions that support the Luxons. If a player want to change sides, then they should be required to complete the quests granting them the faction for the new side before being allowed to participate in the battle arenas.
Update: It seems that "Leechers" are an escalating problem in these arenas as well. The simplest solution for them is to eliminate any rewards unless they actively particpate in the battle. Just as in PvE play when a player is too far from the action and not taking an active role in any battles, they are not rewarded with XP. Just carry that mechanic over to the BA's.

3) Probably the most frustrating thing I found in the 12 vs. 12 was the lack of any progress indicators on how my side was doing. The battle lines never changed for JQ and FA, and you never knew how many more battles your side had to win in order to move the lines. Resetting the battle lines every so often seems pointless as well - only making the arenas faction farming areas. Leave the lines where they are, and allow players on each side to actually conquer as much territory as they can and offer bigger and better rewards for pushing into enemy territory even further. Also allow for rewards for the losing side when making big strides in pushing the enemy back. At least make it possible for one side to have a chance at completely conquering the other side’s territory - that would at least make this new mechanic slightly interesting.

The Random Joining option needs to be returned. However, there should be an option allowing a player to join either as a normal "soldier" or as the "leader". Once enough players have choosen their option to form teams with one leader and eleven soldiers. These random groupings should be sent to a staging area where the leader can take a look at his team and formulate the battle plans accordingly. Once the team is ready to go, the leader then can click another enter mission button to be sent to the arena proper to face off against another random opposing team.

Misc.:
This entire post will be added to in the months to come, if I ever am able to advance past the current missions and such. But one last suggestion for now: Mixed dye colors. They really need to be more logical. In the real world, when I mix blue and yellow, I get green. This kind of needs to be applied to the dye. Since when does mixing a blue liquid with a yellow liquid net you tan? If this is going to be the case, then Anet needs to develop a chart that shows all the results of dye mixing before we waste our time and gold mixing them ourselves.

Update: 1)Allow the early mission rewards to be given to all characters, regardless of which continent they hail from. I really don't see the point in not offering the XP and skill point for these characters since both are continually acquired through fighting higher level mobs. Since the Attribute points are capped, balance doesn't come into play, it just simply gives us another alternative to XP farming in the higher level areas to roll over our XP/SP points. In a game that's about less grind, offering the rewards would indeed lessen the amount of grind we would have to do in order to get to the next roll over point. Really, what's the difference when a Tyrian character skips all the early level missions, levels up to 20, then goes back to do those missions from a Canthan character fresh off the ship? If it's really a balance issue, then none of the missions should offer rewards to characters from the other continent.

2) Open up the lower level PvP arenas as empty explorable areas once a character has leveled beyond the arena's cap. This is simply just a way to satisfy those completionists who for one reason or another did not particpate or explore the PvP battle areas in Ascalon and Yak's. I would also like to see the Pre-Battle Ises arena settings open up again for exploration for this reason as well. (added 5/23/06 11:26 AM EST) An option to party with henchies in the lower level arenas in both Tyria and especially Shing Jea would be a nice addition as well, and prevent waiting for more players to join the mission. There was no one in either the American or International district of the SJ arena this morning, and I for one would like to at least take my characters through the battle once to clear out some map before they pass the level cap.

3) Change the "Endangered Species quest in the Ruins of Ascalon to allow completition regardless of what type of pet you have. Not every Beastmaster in Pre-Searing kept the Melandru's Stalker, and it's quite disheartening to have to choose between your current (possibly upper level) pet and completing a quest for some extra XP and what not. Frankly, every species of pet from Pre is endangered at this point in the game, so limiting the quest to the MS is ... well ... too limiting.

5/25/06 addition: Mentioning the temp quests above, I would like to see the "Can't Get Along" quests (and the follow ups) put back into the game. I thought this made a nice tie in for both games, and offers a bit more story for those of us who have choosen to buy both chapters and merge our accounts. Plus, it might offer a bit of encouragement for those who have only bought one chapter to pick up the other. After all, how is adding extra content, however minor, a bad thing. I would also like to see further updates that tie in future chapters added to the past chapters as well.

Thanks!!
Hanok Odbrook
Real Millennium Group Guild
Truth * Knowledge * Peace

Fractal Star · May 18, 2006, 06:42 PM // 18:42

Quote:

If this is going to be the case, then Anet needs to develop a chart that shows all the results of dye mixing

Im not really sure this should be on Anet's list of concerns. Besides the fansites are full of stuff about dyes and mixing.

Hanok Odbrook · May 23, 2006, 04:48 AM // 04:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fractal Star

Im not really sure this should be on Anet's list of concerns. Besides the fansites are full of stuff about dyes and mixing.

I certainly understand that - this was apparent the first time I mentioned this. It's not so much the chart that is desirable but the desire to have the colors mix more true to the the real world. Plus, not everyone is saavy enough (or has the time) to visit the fan sites to get accurate details on mixing. It's just one of those little annoyances that detracts from the game more than it adds to it.

Hanok Odbrook
Real Millennium Group Guild
Truth * Knowledge * Peace

robrobrob · May 23, 2006, 05:20 AM // 05:20

What would I like to see?

Some fscking improvements to storage.

Will I ever?

"Soon."

Hanok Odbrook · May 23, 2006, 03:33 PM // 15:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by robrobrob

What would I like to see?

Some fscking improvements to storage.

Will I ever?

"Soon."

Yeah, this is one I requested from my original post. At least they are making a start of it, but with things like the Tapestry Shred, Tattered cape (if it still exists), Broken Flute, and the various holiday items, the storage (or lack thereof) has become an even increasing problem. It will be allievated slightly once we are able to purchase extra character slots for our accounts next month, but spending $10 just to use a slot for storage doesn't really sit well with me, especially when there are other options that should be instituted first - like making more items stack when logical (Runes for instance).

Hanok Odbrook
Real Millennium Group Guild
Truth * Knowledge * Peace

Hanok Odbrook · Jun 02, 2006, 06:38 AM // 06:38

Just a few more ideas that I have been pondering over:

Fix some of the pathfinding bugs - especially when it comes to getting stuck in corners with your pet. On occassion, I have had to wait 5-10 minutes before my pet moved enough to allow me to free my character. Make pets "transparent" the way Player Characters are in towns. This is one thing that has been bugging me for the last 13 months.

This next one was suggested by another person in a different thread, but I do think its a worthwhile idea, so will add it here: add a feature to the automap that shows us the % of area explored in each zone. Working towards that Grandmaster Cartographer Title will be much less of a headache if we at least have some idea which zones need to be re-explored. Sometimes it is difficult to tell the difference between a "temp cloud" and the "perm cloud" on the map.
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Suggestions for new Titles:
Monster Slayer, or something similar - based on the number of kills logged by the character - perhaps limited to the number of bosses killed, or even make that a separate title.

Zone Master - based on the number of zones completely cleared of monsters in a single run (i.e. before entering another town or outpost).
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There were one or two more fixes I had thought about, but now have forgotten - I knew I should have written them down. When they come back to me, I'll post them in an edit to this post.

Hanok Odbrook
Real Millennium Group Guild
Truth * Knowledge * Peace

EDIT 6/2/06 6:36 PM EDT: Now I remember - regarding pets (and henchman for that matter), I would like a way to see how much more experience my pet(s) need to aquire in order to advance to the next level. Like the way I can hover the cursor over my XP bar in the Hero panel to get a pop up of the number of points my character needs to advance, a way to do this for pets (perhaps with the party formation window) would be a great benefit. I would also like to see this applied to henchies as well in the form of seeing how much DP or MB they have, just as I can accounce to the party my MB or DP by Control+clicking the number box on the UI, I would like to have a way to keep track of the henchies boosts as well.

Hanok Odbrook · Aug 01, 2006, 03:23 PM // 15:23

Just a few more things I would like to see improved in the game now that I have gotten more into Factions since I originally started this thread:

The Locked Gates:
I do think this is a good idea, in moderation. Certainly this was needed in Prophecies to prevent runners from gaining higher level skills/armor/weapons, then heading back to the lower level arenas and abusing the system to farm faction and cause grief to those who actually wanted to use the arenas for the purpose they were intended. However, I think the system in Factions takes this to far to the other extreme. The locked gates on Shing Jea are a good idea, however, once leaving the island, I would like to have the freedom to explore the City and outlying areas without necessarily having to do any of the missions first. This is especially true since the Vizunah Square mission relies on another party for completion as well.

At this point, I am pretty much stuck in the first 33% of Cantha until I can complete this mission. I would much rather have the freedom to continue to explore Cantha and come back to try the missions later (after my frustration of 4-5 straight failures has worn off). Either that, or let players have the option (and have a scaling system) that allows us to play thorough completely with henchman in these missions. I am much more of a solo player the first time I run through any game, and would prefer to have my choice of where and when to group with other players.

Acquiring Skills:
I much prefer Prophecies skill acquisition by having skills rewarded by completing quests. While Factions' system keeps things fresh, I find it to be a disadvantage to have to spend skill points and gold to pick up some basic skills for characters that were easily gained through questing in Prophecies. If anything, I would like to exchange the monestary/imperial credits for skills rather than the basic supplies that can be had at any merchant.

Guild Halls:
Finally having gotten a Guild Hall and added some NPC's to it, I would like to see the NPC merchant improved to include more of the standard items that all the other merchants now have (bags, belt pouches, etc.) This would make them much more useful and worth the cost of platinum to add them to the hall. I would also like to see upgrades available either through the Guild Lord or through the on-line store that we can spiffy up the halls with (special decorations, statues, camping areas, buildings, etc.).

Profession Changing:
With more chapters, and more professions specific to those chapters, I would like to see new options that either allow merged accounts to pick one of those professions as a secondary during a new character's initial stages, or make it easier to change to one of the other secondaries sooner rather than later. If I want an R/A, I don't necessarily want to have to go through 1/3 to 1/2 of Prohecies with one secondary, become ascended, then have to go through more of Factions, including two required missions, just to be able to choose a Assassin as a secondary profession. And the same follows when Nightfall is released. Having a merged account should offer some further bonuses than just being allowed to take current characters from chapter to chapter.

Final Thought (for now):
I believe I read somewhere that the devs are looking into making GW more soloable. I would like to see this continued and hopefully rolled out as an update to all existing chapters. As mentioned above, I am primarily a solo PvE player and picked up GW because I was looking for a fresh and exciting new RPG to play - that and it was a sub free game, so I felt it was worth a try. This is my first foray into the MMO world, and am glad Anet has developed such a terrific world and business mechanic. I have certainly enjoyed the player interaction and the PvP aspect of the game. But I will always be more of a solo player, and much prefer to interact with other players in the towns and outposts. and would like to see more options in GW for completing each chapter as a soloer (with henchies natch). I would be more than willing to spend another $50 per chapter to pick up an entirely off-line copy of the game just to have this option (although I would still continue to play on-line as well).

Hanok Odbrook
Real Millennium Group Guild
Truth * Knowledge * Peace

PS:
Here's a *little* annoyance I would like to see changed (especially now that I've died for the 8th time after already accumulating 60% DP). We HAVE to have and option to keep the camera locked after dying (I really don't care about this artsy schmartsy movement). I have the camera view and angle set up for my exact preference when exploring, and find it more than highly irritating that I have to reset it each time I die. Please, give us an option to lock the camera to our preferred viewing angle to prevent it from moving in death.

Folken ~oOo~ · Feb 19, 2007, 11:09 AM // 11:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hanok Odbrook

Acquiring Skills:
I much prefer Prophecies skill acquisition by having skills rewarded by completing [COLOR=#000000]quests. While Factions' system keeps things fresh, I find it to be a disadvantage to have to spend skill points and gold to pick up some basic skills for characters that were easily gained through questing in Prophecies. If anything, I would like to exchange the monestary/imperial credits for skills rather than the basic supplies that can be had at any merchant.
[/COLOR]

I agree too ...
Gold should have another use than buying skills : Gold != Blalthazar points !!!!!
Like buying armors or weapons ...

Xiaxhou of Trinity · Feb 19, 2007, 11:33 AM // 11:33

Yes I would like the system where you can acquire skills through quests instead of having to buy each and every one off skill trainer since to a "casual" gamer, it would be too taxing as the toll is 1 plat+skill point. Skill points as rewards to quests was a very nice idea, but nonetheless I would prefer the ability to acquire skills through quests.

As for the labeling of quests, aren't they already labeled? Primary quests=quests to advance through storyline, others are side quests. As for leaver solution, I believe that your suggestion is too harsh. An hour ban to an area just because you exitted screen? For your suggestion on AB with rewards, what if you're capping a shrine on the other side of the map and the mob killing is happening on the opposite side? No faction for you that's what your suggestion makes. Then shrines would become almost useless in ab because everyone will just be fighting each other for faction. I can understand your statement on not knowing how your side is doing on holding or capturing territory, but I think that the boundary alone provides enough information in itself. I do agree on territorial advantage, ie if you have pushed back kurzicks and are in their territory, you get double or something faction depending on how deep you go into the territory. Otherwise, the idea of moving the boundary and getting deeper into the other's territory has no meaning and significance, except for the people who have Faction pride and go "We can't let the kurzicks take our land!" (dont get these people).

I find irony in the statement "GW is designed for casual gamers"

Faer · Feb 19, 2007, 11:36 AM // 11:36

Not even bothering with the quoting, as this is an old thread that shouldn't have lasted this long.

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