Why only eight skills in bar?Why not at least nine?

To the OP:

There is a definite learning curve.

Other MMO's (WoW, DAoC, etc.) kind of teach peeps bad habits when it comes to Guild Wars. Generally, you don't bulldoze your way through this game. Sure there are some situations where you can clear many mobs fast, but those are more the exception than the rule.

Guild Wars isn't inflationary like other games. The level cap and skill bar limits keep the escalation down and serves even the playing field.

I like the fact that even "lowbie" areas can be dangerous. Hordes of low level Charr can still kill a brazen level 20.

"One hitting" or being "one hit" is not a very common occurrence at least from what I have seen in GW.

I am constantly amazed how one or 2 skill choices can turn a series of failed attempts into a victory. If you are failing a lot/dying a lot...question your strategy. (Skill set, attribute points/attack approach/party makeup/pulling techniques/crowd control/interrupts, etc)

Ive watched my son play WOW on his PC. All he seems to do is click practically eveything there without any thought of energy management. The interface looks untidy having loads of skills available.

Thats what you want? I dont understand why you feel GW is a problem in this respect. The idea is to manage what you have and make the best use of it.

I would suggest stop telling the world how poor you play and look up some builds for your character that work and perhaps change tactics. You cant just rush in and expect to survive against higher level enemy mobs without a bit of thought. Thats what having only this amount of slots makes you do.

Well Ive always said this isnt a game of 8 skills, not for pvp anyway its a game of 7 skills and rez.
Ive always said this and Ill say it again we need 8 skill slots SKILL and Im not counting rez signet as a skill and then a slot for rez, because you always have to bring a rez into pvp

What I want to know is that if you claim to have been playing for 14 months, how come you do not understand the very basis of the gameplay? The 8 skill slots are there to make you think and plan ahead, most of what has come next has been covered here.

But what I truely want to know is how you are so bad at a game after 14 months of playing? Even after a month or two most people grasp the basic survival skills needed. Buto ne of the good things about GW is that you need not fear death (unless you're a survivor), all it is is a nuisance, not something which wipes out half of your xp and drops all your items...

It's funny how everyone seems to think there are 8 skill slots when there is in fact only 7 slots (with the notable exception of solo farming).

7 skill slots + a rez.

Here's what I would be in favor of....
Increase the number of usable skill slots from 7 to 8, and create a rez-only 9th slot, where only a rez spell/signet could be inserted. That way, by default, everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) would have a rez skill on their bar.

This would be the only change I would accept to the current formula.
Since this change is extremely unlikely, I say just leave it the way it is.

QFT
QFT

I think 8 is enough, sometimes too much in some cases.......

I mean look at the lvl 28 bosses, you would think they would have 8 skills, but naaah, they only have what, like 4-5??

Why not 9? Why not 10 or 11 or 12.......? If you are still having problems, then you need to change the skills you are using. As someone else said, millions of others are not having any problems. This game is not hard and most of it is doable with hero's/henchies.

Maybe you should just stick with Mario.

8 skill slots is what you have.

Word games aside, a Rez Signet is a skill that you can choose to place on your skill bar.

Contrary to popular belief, there may actually be reasons NOT to have Rez Signet on your bar, but that's the cool thing about the game: your choices matter.

I'm fine with 8 but if they do make more skill spots available i'm fine with that too.

Quoted for truth. It's not absolutely required that you bring a rez. There is a tradeoff here, you get one more something if you leave the rez out, and what you lose, in return for that gain, is the rez. It's not usually a good tradeoff in pvp, but then, you might be playing an alliance battle. In PVE, I almost always bring one, just in case, but almost never use it. I could easily stick something in there that would serve more often/better than a rez.

If you had 9 skill slots, The game'd be balanced to be a little more difficult, to compensate for that extra skill. Then, the complaint would just be "The game is too hard, we need 10 skill slots! It's a nice even number!". Just like if the level cap were 25, we'd have people clamoring for 30.

The whole point of GW is: You Play Better, the Numbers Stay the Same.

I know its not really explained anyplace where the skills actually come from in game, and that is a shame. We who played the betas know that the skill charms are inserted into skill rings and thus 8 became the number. The 9th skill was from a pendant, which allowed for trading of skills from other professions on a temporary basis. in any case. after playing around with the different options, ultimately the most balance in builds was attained with only 2 profession mixes of skills and only 8 skills.

The ring, pendent, advanced pendant, & skill charm portion of the game was abandoned for what we now have.

I know some are saying wait we have 10 fingers. Sorry they never had thumb rings that I remember. lol

In any case... thumb rings are duh

your posting ability isn't a skill either.

Core idea of Gw will stagnate without such changes. The only real contribution (at this rate) from each expansion is new skills. And even then, the new skills either simply fill a void in certain types of skills, or are overshadowed by other skills. This also works in retro, turning once decent skills into the brown stuff you hate stepping in.

Change is good.

And yes, factions & NF are expansions, not stand-alone.

8 skills is fine. It makes it a "thinking mans game". Instead of a million skills you need to plan out what you want to do prior to doing w/e you are going to do.

I personally think its great the way it is, eight being my favoriteNumber, and It makes it so you focus more on what you use.

Okay, I'm gonna throw this one out there because I think I figured out what the OPs problem is.

Only warriors can tank, nobody else (with a few exceptions). Build yourself a Wammo and go play.

On topic though. 8 is perfect. No need to make a special skill slot just for a rez. Part of the fun is creating a build that will work with the given amount of space. At least for me.

Principles aren't arbitrary. They can't be made up to fit the occasion.

A governing philosophy is not a fashion trend or a college fad, it's the foundation of what you have built. Start timkering around too much and boom, all it comes down.

Every other MMO game on the market ends up going hyper-inflationary on every thing.

They super-size it, they raise the cap, they add more hurdles and then: they become irrelevant. Because at some point during all that "non-stagnation" they lost their "core" customers.

See, ANet can update their graphics engine, they can add more skills, they can add another planet to tavel to, they can add new races, time travel, and pet rocks...but they can't rip out the heart of the game and still expect it to beat.

When you play Volley Ball, you don't ask for more nets to be added, or more balls, for that matter, lol.

9 skills would mean overpower. and more skills will get nerfed in that way.
btw if you die a lot that is your own mistake, maybe GW is not a game for you.