AoE Nerf: Overkill

I read a lot of posts here, but cant read them all so I don't know if this was covered yet. What does this "called target" update do for PvE groups?

Called targets now remain active for up to 30 seconds after being attacked by their caller, and do not go away when the caller changes targets.

I've been in a lot of PUG before where people were fighting over which targets to attack and maybe I'm wrong, but it sounds like with this update noone can't switch to a new called target until 30 seconds after a target has been called (and attacked by caller)??? Or is it that only the person who called the target can't switch for 30 seconds, but maybe another player can call a new target? I'm confused.... Does this hurt or help PvE now?

It means (or should at least), that if you press "T" under 30 seconds after the first call, this very target will remain recorded, but you can switch targets freely, but if you press T again, it will go back to the first call. It used to be like 10 seconds, or so.

I've done some tests. It's not an AOE Nerf. It's an overall damage nerf. I tried putting Spoil Victor on an enemy. He took two hits and then broke aggro and came for me - and i was two aggro circles away.
I tried hitting a mob with a sword. After he took a few hits, he started running away. I tried hitting a mob with fricking Flare. He took a few hits and started running.
Please, please tell me this is just a bug and not intended. Chasing mobs is no fun and you can't tell me anyone actually enjoys running after enemie again and again with each mob in GuildWars...

Now you how people who are playing the elemental class feels!!!!!!

All I am going to say on the subject. It took nature to make human minds how long?????

Now you have programers trying to make ai act like humans. not even the us army have free thinking program that act like a human!!!!!

<.<

Also fun is an apparent bug when using a runner. I had a guildie run me from Ascalon to LA, and mobs that broke aggro from my guildie didn't really react (read: did didly squat) when I passed walking by...

Because clearly no class has the ability to slowdown these fiends!

Shut the Red-Engine up and adapt you noobs.

Because when fiends slow down, they'll still attack with SS, VwK, and (yes, I tried) Retribution? All these skills and more make them run away like pansies, reducing damage of all these skills to nothing. Yeah, criplling them helps -.-"

If i'd report half the flames and downright flamebaits today, i'd be doing nothing but reporting. Seriously folks, as much as it pisses you off to read someone elses opinion, no need to flame him/her just because he is thinking different.

@dreamhunk
I've been around for a longe while. I've played before and under the first AOE Update. I never liked it. All it did was prohibit the use of some spells. Now we have another AOE Update which basically prohibits the use of any skills or weapons.
If running is the new GuildWars, then snares MUST be buffed.

I played my ele last night through Dunes and Dragon's Lair, and while the mobs ran around a little more than usual when I set them afire, our PUG had no trouble dispatching everything in a timely manner.

It was annoying but still playable.

I'll give it a shot, with the stipulation that by and large I like this update. The AoE implications are the only aspects that are potentially troublesome.

If the AoE change has an effect that renders certain disciplines or professions useless then it's probably a bad change.

The last time AoE was changed it made many fire elementalists spells useless in PvE (searing heat, firestorm, etc...) You really couldn't use those skills in a pug group and as such those skills died. With this new change it looked like you can add fireball and similar such skills to that heap.

In general I believe that worthless skills are bad for the game because they are just dead weight. If you can't use a skill then the skill is no fun.

For example, when I used to play my monk I really enjoyed mixing in Zealots Fire into my build. It wasn't a game breaking build. I just had satisfaction in knowing that I was doing a small amount of damage to the mobs attacking our warrior while I healed the warrior. Now that skill will likely be worthless because I don't want to break aggro (for obvious reasons).

More-over, the question brought up earlier regarding the Dervish character is a very good one. If the Dervishes attack and all of his enchantment stripping triggers now cause AoE break then it's probably going to be the the most worthless class in game history. I mean at least with assassins they only passively caused harm to your party by sucking up the healing. With Dervishes they'll be actively making the parties job more difficult.

Then there are the farmers. A subset of the player base really enjoys farming in solo and dual teams. If anet wanted to stop that then I'm sure they realize that they will be reducing their player base. If that style of play was the reason that anyone was playing the game then it stands to reason that they may stop playing the game if that avenue is no longer open to them. If the number of people who leave the game because of this loss of play style is greater than the number of people who are drawn to it because of the same change, then it's a bad change.

In the end I think the largest consideration is wether or not this change will marginalize a large number of skills. If the net pool of useful skills is decreasing then I think Anet needs to revisit the change and impliment it in a more suitable fashion.

Unless they changed how creatures choose their targets, scattered monsteres = monsters looking for new more squishy targets, so casters are at much greater risk.

Unless there is a bug in the new code I'm guessing you'll see casters having to dedicate a slot or too toward running skills or skills that cripple would be attackers.

Casters are in more danger than they've ever been. Tanks can't hold aggro, so those casters are going to be slaughtered and the tank left there going "dur hur? where'd everyone go?"

The question is.. who here use AoE spells for farming purpose? If almost everyone answer yes than there you go. The reason why A-Net is so up tight with AoE is probably to stop the damn bots and famers.

And this, in truth, should be the biggest concern of Anet because I know this is true for many people.

I never farmed until I finished Factions with my 2nd Factions character and then to kill time I decided to try some light farming. I wasn't really concerned about the drops, I just liked the challenge. It was fun.

I suspect other farming techiques will arise, and my primary farmer build isnt' really effected (that much), but this change does seem to greatly reduce the options available in farming so far as variety goes which tends to support your argument.

Once people finish the game with a character or two they will move on to other games faster. That seems like an undesireable side effect.

On some of my builds, yes. On my favorite build, no.

I tried my Vwk rit on a few spots i used to farm before the update and..
it still works.
granted, it takes much longer, but it can be done.
But while i can't spend my life farming, a bot can. bots aren't dead, but the wallet of casual players/ small farmers like me have a dark future.

Now, i haven't tried the kuzrick zone yet, but anyone who played there with henchmen an aoe skills such as firestorm or ignite arrows knows what i'm talking about. it will be a pain.

Due to the description of the AOE change and the how it seems that they scatter worse then before from what I've been reading, it screams the AOE bug when they 1st changed it where any aoe made them flee in terror.

Also everytime Anet Change X = OMG they killed Kenny, I quit... give it a month before people adapt and find new build that can farm nicely. That and 2/3 of the I quit.. don't quit.

And yes my favorite primary character is a fire ele, this was before and after the 1st AOE Change.

Really? See, I leverage Barrage to the hilt but if they took it out of the game I couldn't blame them. How can Barrage not trigger AoE?

i just went with a 8player group to FOW and we had to chase the mobs more than once, somethimes was total caos...no one died but it was really boring.

Your "The want PvE to be more like PvP" argument is a very good one, arcane. Good enough to make me doubt that the AoE effect we are seeing now is a bug.