The Guild Wars 2 Thread

[Angthoron]

Ah, but then again, here's something that I failed to take into consideration - game show time is limited, and people normally want to see more of the world than more of the mechanics, hence the dumb gamer syndrome; it's possible that they would actually utilize a full rotation later on, when they had time to learn other skills.

Still, an average player will stick to a fewer-than-ten bunch of skills.

What interests me more is UI mod support for GW2. I'm somewhat spoiled by WoW's mods and I rather like many of them for the very handy metagame features they offer (performance stats mods like fight logs and DPS/HPS/Skill efficiency mods a-la Recount for example). Playing LotRO made me seriously miss such features as there was pretty much no way to see what your performance is like, and how much better one skill/item is compared to another. If Annie will be prancing by, I would really hope she could answer this for us.

Obviously, if meta-info will be available by default, that's even better, but I'm not talking just about a "26 DPS" written on a sword, I mean an actual panel you can pop open and at LEAST compare raw per-fight numbers (see Recount) and at best have a performance graph.

 

[made]

Well, limiting skills because "most people use only a couple anyway" strikes me as a sure way to dumbing down. Back in WoW on my lock I really appreciated all the options I had compared to noobs who would just macro a rotation. You could do crazy things with the class if you bothered to play properly. Don't think I ever want to go back to meter whoring and dps maximizing though, so maybe a more casual approach would suit me fine as long as it doesn't get boring.

 

[Angthoron]

Well, limiting skills because "most people use only a couple anyway" strikes me as a sure way to dumbing down. Back in WoW on my lock I really appreciated all the options I had compared to noobs who would just macro a rotation. You could do crazy things with the class if you bothered to play properly.

Yep, this is true. Still, I see weapon-swapping (skillbar swap basically) to be something in lieu of that. From what the videos suggested, the skill-swapping is near-instant, and it'll be about juggling your weapon setups and skills - a good player will know when to switch to, say, Frost from Fire, while a bad one will continue his rotations til everyone in the party is dead. Of course, this remains to be seen, but from the surface impressions I would say there's still tons of ways to be awesome and craptastic even with one skillbar.

As for the rating mods, it's not so much of DPS racing that I'm interested in, as in feedback on how I'm even doing. In LotRO, there is (or was at least) no way to number-crunch AT ALL. You wouldn't know if you're playing like shit or like a super-pro, and while maybe in a way that's good, I prefer not to play like shit - mods like Recount etc can point out where my rotation is derp. Yeah, some assign too much value to that thing that's essentially a tool to adjust your crap with, but in the end of the day, it's way, way better to have such a thing than not to. Hell, so many times I saw shitty players I could've pointed to their performance compared to everyone else in the raid and go "Look! You're not even doing 1/5th of a tank's damage!" but could I? Nope.

 

[SuicideBunny]

errr... you guys do know that there are toggle skills like the engineer's backpack kits or the necro's death shroud that swap out the hand skills, and that the slots can have skill chains in one slot, depending on the item/profession (for example 1st hand slot for warrior sword is a 3 skill chain, all of the minion skills for necromancer are 2 skill chains), or how gw1 has one of the most complex skill systems while only having 8 slots, no skill swapping outside of outposts and no skill chains in one slot?

 

[Mhain]

Well, limiting skills because "most people use only a couple anyway" strikes me as a sure way to dumbing down. Back in WoW on my lock I really appreciated all the options I had compared to noobs who would just macro a rotation. You could do crazy things with the class if you bothered to play properly.

I am intrigued; I have played for WoW for quite some time and I don't think there was anything crazy one could do in most classes apart from druid, warrior and hunter. The rest of the classes had skills that everyone used efficiently. Now, I still play GW sometimes and even the basic Avatar of Balthazar Dervish is more complicated than a PvP feral druid. I believe that the people who made GW could make a better job in GW2. I think the options available to the engineer look detailed enough, which is, if I recall correctly, the only class we have the specifics of.

 

[made]

I believe it was true for most classes, I just had most experience with a lock. A good player could in most cases solo a number of noobs that didn't utilize all their class abilities. Fun memories of holding a base all by myself in AB, killing a bunch of scrubs between fear, seduce, and dots. Soloing group quests, CCing in TBC heroics when groups took 2 mages for the job, kiting, drain-tanking... The class had a lot of options. Cutting the skills down to 10 would have severely limited them. That's not to say GW2 can't be complex in its own right if they get it right; it's certainly possible.

 

[Stereotypical Villain]

Besides, the skills aren't really as limiting as one might imagine... provided that you can switch weapons right in the middle of combat and thus changing five of your skills.

 

[Excidium]

And some skills have multiple effects, like the Warrior combo skills or the necromancer minions.

They already said there'll be less build variety than GW, but more viable builds.

 

[SuicideBunny]

plus warrior has 6 hand skills, not 5, since he gets an additional burst/adrenaline skill with 3 power levels.

the necro has the death shroud ability, which is nto a skill and can be toggled at will, replacing the 5 hand slots with attack spells.

the engineer has backpack kits which are utility skills and can also be toggled replacing all the hand slots.

 

[Stereotypical Villain]

I am personally quite excited about Necromancers actually being viable in close combat this time around... (Or a bit more than they were.) It's just a shame that they have to carry an axe to do so... A sword would have made more sense.

 

[Excidium]

I guess it's more of a matter of balancing weapon distribution. Half of the classes already use one-handed swords.

 

[Stereotypical Villain]

Fair enough, but... axes aren't exactly graceful weapons which doesn't require a whole load of muscle tissue to use in an effective manner. Sure, one might argue that Necromancers can manipulate the corporeal and thus are able to enhance their strength, but it still carries the scent of derp.

... a scythe would've made more sense.

 

[Excidium]

I'd love scythes... but they are quite unique weapons, what other class would make sense to use them?

And if you look at the axe skills, the necro doesn't use the axe to phisically chop the target, but to summon magical effects.

 

[Stereotypical Villain]

They still swing them around, which requires a great deal of strength.

 

[Excidium]

But there are no rules for equipment weight therefore it doesn't matter.

 

[Mystary!]

I think the reasoning is, the axes are only used as magical focus, like a wand, and axes resemble cleavers which are used to cut dead meat, therefor it fits their theme!

 

[Stereotypical Villain]

No, the close-combat skills/spells which are connected to the axe all carries with them an animation which shows the Necromancer swinging the axe around like it weighed as much as a feather.

Derpish.

 

[Angthoron]

Well, I for one approve of axes as they make for easier collection of bodyparts than a scythe post-combat.

A proper necro should always carry spare parts with him.

 

[SuicideBunny]

sounds like they are almost ready to beta, judging by the features for the gamescom demo:

The new demo will feature a ton of cool new content that we haven’t showcased before. “What exactly is in the gamescom demo, Martin?” I hear you say. Well, I’m glad you asked. Let me give you a high level overview of what you will be able to play at the NCsoft Booth (A11/B10, Hall 9.1).

• Seven professions – Play all seven professions that we’ve revealed so far: engineer, thief, guardian, necromancer, ranger, warrior, and elementalist.
• Charr starter experience – For the first time, you can forge your destiny as a member of the Iron, Ash, or Blood Legion in our charr starter area. You can also choose to play the human and norn starting experience as well.
• Mid level demo – As always, we’ve prepared a higher level demo experience for players who want a challenge. Face powerful Orrian enemies on land, engage them in battle underwater and face off against a new boss.
• Sylvari and asura – Did I mention that you’ll be playing sylvari and asura characters for this high level content? Yes, for the first time, players will be able to get their hands on these unique races – believe me, they are impressive!
• Character appearance customization – Also for the first time, you’ll be able to play around with our character appearance customization feature and control the way your character looks.
• PvP – Last but certainly not least, we’re premiering Guild Wars 2 Player vs Player (PvP) at gamescom! Swing by the ESL booth and head to the Guild Wars 2 area to get your exclusive hands-on PvP experience. Also check out our periodic exhibition matches that pit our valiant team of ArenaNet developers against the European guild BOON Control on the ESL center stage!

 

[Black]

I think Colin mentioned something about closed beta later this year. Then there'll be open beta and based on that they'll decide the release date.

 

[Mangoose]

PVP, finally. Finally we can see whether or not Roxor's pessimism is worth it.

 

[Black]

Roxor sux hard.
Also you forgot to mention that pvp will be shown on gamescom, starting from 17.08.

 

[Mangoose]

Charr starting area is Ashford.

 

[Excidium]

Charr starting area is Ashford.

 

[SuicideBunny]

they rebuilt ashford?