Amusing GW2 review - light profanity
By
afocks,
Posted on: 2012-09-07 13:18 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
Quote:
The problem with random events is that they are, well, random. I had no problem levelling up my Sylvari through a combination of heart quests, dynamic events (I refuse to call them DE |
Originally Posted by Biowraith
Possibly it's also down to a certain amount of luck as to how many 'events' you come across - the stuff like escorting a pack mule or defending an outpost. If you're never in the right place at the right time you could miss a lot of those and therefore miss out on the substantial xp they provide.
|
) and exploration.Then, later, I was playing with a friend who was just starting out, through the same content. From 1 to 10 we never came across any events, and he was really struggling to keep up with the content (at one point we were doing level 13 heart quests while he was still around 9). So, the randomness can be a pretty significant factor if you're unlucky.
Thought for the day:
"Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment."
=][=
Quote:
Yeah this is certainly different from what the rest of us are experiencing. I agree that leveling is slow though. We do know that some of your presumptions were off from the earlier post so hopefully more experience and knowledge will help you enjoy things more. Try a different race and class too to see if it's just a matter of it not clicking with you.|
Originally Posted by RemusShepherd
I'm focused on the storyline, but I am doing all the heart missions I can find. There aren't enough, and they aren't spaced well. One heart is level 9, an adjacent one is level 14.
But tonight I did get my characters up to level 10 and made some progress. Some of them still have hard walls, where the only missions or hearts I can find are 14+. I scraped together enough silvers to get two characters their trait kits. Died a lot in a few events where everyone was zerging. The trading house was open early in the evening -- it crashed sometime around 8 EST and didn't come back. I sold some stuff but the prices aren't a big improvement over vendors. Like I said it's a fine game, but it has flaws. Leveling's too slow, content is unevenly distributed, money is way too hard to come by, and combat is twitchy and unfun. All in my opinion, of course. |
Also, buy all of the gathering gear - all of it - and grab everything on the map - it helps with crafting and gets you xp every time you get something.
My new Youtube Channel with CoH info
You might know me as FlintEastwood now on Freedom
One thing you can do if you get stuck with a less than smooth leveling curve in an area is just go to another race's starting area and explore out from there. Just go to your race's city, find the Asura Gate and take it to Lion's Arch, which is a teleporter hub.
My absolute pet peeve with GW2 though: Around level 30, you get to join one of several factions. Each of those factions is full of NPCs running around in their (hopefully) neat faction gear. Do they offer you a suit for joining? No. Do they at least offer to sell you a suit? No... well, yes and no. They do offer to sell you faction armour... fifty levels from now. That's right, you have to be level 80 to put on the armour they otherwise hand out willy nilly to their NPC doormen.
W.T.F.?
I only joined the Vigil for the cool helmet. 
I really wish that the factions would, at the very least, sell (not-stupid-expensive) faction armour skins you could slap on your own gear, should you so desire. This has been my number one disappointment with GW2 so far. I was so disappointed that I haven't even been able to play my main since discovering this. Maybe I should picket the Vigil keep... *goes to make banners*
Thought for the day:
"Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment."
=][=
Quote:
That's part of my problem, actually. I just don't like public events on a personal opinion basis, and while some "heart quests" are decent, I just don't find many that I find interesting. Again, not a dis against the game, but I just don't like these kinds of quests. That's a problem I have with Champions Online, too. A lot of their content is meaningless "zone" missions like... For instance, "Prisoners have escaped from the prison and gathered at the construction site. Go and defeat 25 of them." "Oh, you're done? Great, we put some prisoners back in prison. Mission complete!" I'm left wondering where the STORY is in that. It's work, sure, but it has about as much plot as, say, me walking home from work. Sure, things happened in places all over my route - mostly lots of walking. But it's not something you'd write in a book or make a movie of, is what I'm saying.|
Originally Posted by Forbin_Project
Speaking for myself, I consistently find myself so wrapped up in exploring zones, completing open world missions, and unlocking waypoints and ressurection points to earn the special exploration rewards that when I finally get around to doing my personal storyline I'm never less than 10+ levels higher than the mission itself.
|
Oh, wait! They did!
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.
|
Quote:
I have one character of each race. I agree, the starter zones are not equal. The human zone is uneven in level progression, although it has the most convenient trade outposts. Norn is the worst; I hate the Norn zones, they're like Skyrim without level scaling. Asura is a little uneven. The Charr is good and there seems to be more to do there, although there's a high level spot in the newbie zone that's instant death (level 16 ghosts next to a waypoint in a level 8 zone!) I like the look of the Sylvari zones best, but it's easy to get lost. I haven't had too much trouble there, but I think that's mostly because my Sylvari is a guardian and very tough to kill.|
Originally Posted by Biowraith
Just out of curiosity, which race are you playing? I found some starter zones progressed more smoothly than others in that regard.
|
Quote:
| Possibly it's also down to a certain amount of luck as to how many 'events' you come across - the stuff like escorting a pack mule or defending an outpost. If you're never in the right place at the right time you could miss a lot of those and therefore miss out on the substantial xp they provide. |
...
New Webcomic -- Genocide Man
Life is funny. Death is funnier. Mass slaughter can be hilarious.
Quote:
Hmm... last time I played WoW they didnt have any globals, but I quit that long ago and decided I would not touch it again the day they forced Battle.net accounts. Perhaps thats when they added that.|
Originally Posted by JayboH
Blizzard does it too, and I wouldn't be surprised if this happens more and more.
|
I still think that numbering system is retarded. Who is happy because they can be @Superman.9978 ???
Quote:
Guild Wars 2 is even weirder than that. I allows you to have a non-unique account name BUT NOT a non-unique character name. That was the first sign I wouldn't like this game - a whole hour spent trying character names.|
Originally Posted by Starsman
Hmm... last time I played WoW they didnt have any globals, but I quit that long ago and decided I would not touch it again the day they forced Battle.net accounts. Perhaps thats when they added that.
I still think that numbering system is retarded. Who is happy because they can be @Superman.9978 ??? |
Now, I know I've been on the other side of the fence in the past, saying you can always be creative and come up with something else. But apparently, there was next to nothing left to try. I tried Botis, the Midnight Club demon, I tried Sphyra, Brutticus, Xanta... All taken. I tried qqqq, taken. I tried qwerqwer, take. Forget "creative," I had to mash my keyboard for I think three attempts straight just to get a name through, and even then it was something like "sdflkasdjfhaldhjalsjkf." At least it proved the login server wasn't down and rejecting any name. Someone had actually taken every name I tried. I didn't get that in WoW or Lineage II, for crap's sake!
So it got me wondering... Why give me a non-unique global name, but NOT attach my local character name to it? Elsewise, why not force me to have a unique global, but then let me have a non-unique character name with my global attached like Champions did. Why is global - that people will usually not see - more important than a character name? And how the fudge puppies were all the random key combos I tried taken?!?
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.
|
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Starsman
Hmm... last time I played WoW they didnt have any globals, but I quit that long ago and decided I would not touch it again the day they forced Battle.net accounts. Perhaps thats when they added that
|
Last I remember, WoW's global system was tied to the name you told them when you made your account. Which you can't change without lots of hoops. And you can only chat with people you've friended. Who can see your name. So you're giving out your real name to everyone you can chat to.
Nothing like our system which lets you join whatever channels you want, which can be filled with people you don't directly know, and talk to them.
Culex's resistance guide
Quote:
I never have these problems with names. If the name you want is taken, add an adjective or a last name to it. For example, I wanted 'Nightcat' in GW2 but it was taken, so my thief became 'Nuala Nightcat'.|
Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
Now, I know I've been on the other side of the fence in the past, saying you can always be creative and come up with something else. But apparently, there was next to nothing left to try. I tried Botis, the Midnight Club demon, I tried Sphyra, Brutticus, Xanta... All taken. I tried qqqq, taken. I tried qwerqwer, take. Forget "creative," I had to mash my keyboard for I think three attempts straight just to get a name through, and even then it was something like "sdflkasdjfhaldhjalsjkf." At least it proved the login server wasn't down and rejecting any name. Someone had actually taken every name I tried.
|
I bet if you had tried 'Botis Sphyra', or any other two-name combination, it would have gone through.
Of course, I've had good luck with names in CoH also. I really didn't expect to grab 'Catdroid', 'Pantherette', and 'Sponge' on Virtue.
...
New Webcomic -- Genocide Man
Life is funny. Death is funnier. Mass slaughter can be hilarious.
Quote:
I agree that it's pretty stupid, but to hopefully answer the question about why the random character names were taken: I was informed (and never cared enough to personally verify) that the names used in Guild Wars were reserved in Guild Wars 2, so that people who were going from one game to the other could use the same names. If so, any gold farmers from Guild Wars could have the gibberish names already reserved for them when they move their business over.|
Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
Guild Wars 2 is even weirder than that. I allows you to have a non-unique account name BUT NOT a non-unique character name. That was the first sign I wouldn't like this game - a whole hour spent trying character names.
Now, I know I've been on the other side of the fence in the past, saying you can always be creative and come up with something else. But apparently, there was next to nothing left to try. I tried Botis, the Midnight Club demon, I tried Sphyra, Brutticus, Xanta... All taken. I tried qqqq, taken. I tried qwerqwer, take. Forget "creative," I had to mash my keyboard for I think three attempts straight just to get a name through, and even then it was something like "sdflkasdjfhaldhjalsjkf." At least it proved the login server wasn't down and rejecting any name. Someone had actually taken every name I tried. I didn't get that in WoW or Lineage II, for crap's sake! So it got me wondering... Why give me a non-unique global name, but NOT attach my local character name to it? Elsewise, why not force me to have a unique global, but then let me have a non-unique character name with my global attached like Champions did. Why is global - that people will usually not see - more important than a character name? And how the fudge puppies were all the random key combos I tried taken?!? |
If that's not the case, oh well - it's not like spreading around unsubstantiated rumors is uncommon here.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by PleaseRecycle
it has gone from unconscionable to downright appalling that we have no way of measuring our characters' wetness.
|
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Brillig
It's hard to beat the entertainment value of Whackjob Wednesdays.
|
In GW2 you can at least use spaces to create a first and last name. I got in on day 2 and ended up with names that weren't completely awful, but they weren't what I really wanted. I picked up The Secret World recently and not only does it have the global name requirement, you can't use spaces, and you are allowed only one dash. It took me around a day to find a name I could live with, by visiting various websites and compiling massive lists of possibilities.
Neither game as far as I can tell has a mechanic to let you "test" name availability before you generate the character, so because I felt different appearances should go with different names, I tested with a generic character until I got a hit, then backed up, deleted the character, and regenerated with the look I wanted while hauling butt back through the process so I wouldn't lose the name while I decided on my look.
RE: GW2 leveling, I can echo Remus' comments about feeling underleveled and stuck. I got stuck in the Human zone at around level 9. I'm about 10 to 12 hours in and am around level 11 or 12. I haven't found hearts that are my level, so my leveling experience has been sloooowly running toward any events that happen (and arriving in time to get a silver or bronze level award) and picking up onions and lettuce. I guess I could try to craft things, in the same way that I guess I could try to play Farmville. The aesthetics of the game and the nature of the events are so Rift-redux that it's hard to keep my eyes from glossing over. I have a powerful and nagging sensation that I've done all of this before.
The heart quests themselves are pure WoW and Rift, except with more forgiveable conditions. Where in WoW you might have 1 quest where you need to kill 10 wolves and another where you feed 3 cows, in GW2 you have both combined into one quest. The event system is exactly like Rift except with (much needed) player level scaling. However, exactly like Rift, the events happen so frequently that other players tend to just ignore them after a while.
RE: combat, at some point over the last 5 years, game developers have decided that every MMO player wants to play a WoW Rogue. You can see this trend everywhere. The thing is, these games are also still enamored with the tightly controlled DPS model of WoW that allows "balanced" raiding and PVP. What this means in essence is that all of these button inputs are really just a prerequisite for dealing the same amount of damage you would have back when powers were just a click. Same thing with "dodging." I feel like I need to master the controls not so I can perform exceptionally well, but so that I can do the standard amount of DPS and mitigation that was pre-calculated as the approved amount of output for my class.
Quote:
To be honest even with that admission I'm still confused about the money woes. I abuse the fast travel system like crazy (really, I'll fast travel to avoid 20 seconds of walking - or less if I think it'll let me avoid a couple of fights on the way) and I've never had any money problems past level 5 or so. Well, I admit I do feel the crunch at level 11 when I need the trait book, but now I know it's coming I'm usually ready for it (around level 8 I just start selling more and salvaging less until I'm above 10s).|
Originally Posted by RemusShepherd
Also, I think some of my money troubles are due to abusing the fast travel system. I didn't realize it cost money to teleport 100 meters down the road. Probably wasted a lot of coins there.
|
Besides that there's only really crafting, salvage kits, and gathering tools to spend money on. It's quite easy to lose track of how much you're spending on crafting (if you're into crafting anyway - I found cooking very addictive myself), but the other two are pretty cheap given how quickly they wear out. Between selling trash items and event/quest rewards, I've been able to bounce all over the map and keep 2-3 salvage kits and a spare set of gathering tools in reserve ever since level 10ish, without paying any attention to my bank balance.
Not that I doubt you're having money problems of course, it just kinda baffles me.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Siolfir
I agree that it's pretty stupid, but to hopefully answer the question about why the random character names were taken: I was informed (and never cared enough to personally verify) that the names used in Guild Wars were reserved in Guild Wars 2, so that people who were going from one game to the other could use the same names. If so, any gold farmers from Guild Wars could have the gibberish names already reserved for them when they move their business over.
If that's not the case, oh well - it's not like spreading around unsubstantiated rumors is uncommon here. |
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Oedipus_Tex
Neither game as far as I can tell has a mechanic to let you "test" name availability before you generate the character, so because I felt different appearances should go with different names, I tested with a generic character until I got a hit, then backed up, deleted the character, and regenerated with the look I wanted while hauling butt back through the process so I wouldn't lose the name while I decided on my look.
|
This is my idea of a name system (I am sure many will hate it but it's what I'd do)
Non-Unique names.
You cant send tells to anyone you want.
To send a tell, you have to do a "contact request" from the character, that adds him to your address book where you can nickname him anything you want.
When you want to send a tell, you /t and start typing, it will auto complete from your address book based on character name or nickname given by you.
There is a chance you may have to Wolvarienasz in your address book, but you would be able to assign a nickname. Ideally, a tiny photo of the characters face (stored in the client, based off the last encounter you had with that player's character) may be displayed in the address book and the chat over his name while typing a tell.
Emails and the like would follow the same scheme. It may make a bit painful the "hey hit me up if you ever are online" idea, though.
Quote:
Well I'm stumped then. I don't know if this will help but what I'm doing is exploring first.|
Originally Posted by RemusShepherd
I'm focused on the storyline, but I am doing all the heart missions I can find. There aren't enough, and they aren't spaced well.
|
I completely search the starter cities hitting all the waypoints, points of interest, and vistas.
Then I do the same with the level 1 to whatever starter zones.
Then I make incursions into the higher zones. No fighting, no missions, just exploring and unlocking as many of the waypoints, points of interest, and vistas as I can.
As my first character I made a giant *****-cat (Char) hunter and my exploring was looking for pets to tame. I acquired 36 pets before I hit my 20's.
When I get tired of exploring I go back (using the waypoints) and start hitting the Renown Hearts and Skill Challenges in the starter zones to get the bonus for completing map exploration.
Now I'm sitting at level 34 with 39% of the world explored and 1 Gold, 70 odd silver and 80+ copper.
Quote:
Nice what are you playing GW2 or Pokemon =) and its Charr two R's |
Originally Posted by Forbin_Project
As my first character I made a giant *****-cat (Char) hunter and my exploring was looking for pets to tame. I acquired 36 pets before I hit my 20's. |
________________
Quote:
I'm too kewl for the second "R". |
Originally Posted by KAKTOS
Nice what are you playing GW2 or Pokemon =) and its Charr two R's
________________ |
[QUOTE=Pitho;4394350]
Quote:
Yeah you are way off - it hasn't been like that in years - and when that did happen, it didn't last long.
|
Originally Posted by Starsman
Hmm... last time I played WoW they didnt have any globals, but I quit that long ago and decided I would not touch it again the day they forced Battle.net accounts. Perhaps thats when they added that./QUOTE]
Last I remember, WoW's global system was tied to the name you told them when you made your account. Which you can't change without lots of hoops. And you can only chat with people you've friended. Who can see your name. So you're giving out your real name to everyone you can chat to. Nothing like our system which lets you join whatever channels you want, which can be filled with people you don't directly know, and talk to them. |
My new Youtube Channel with CoH info
You might know me as FlintEastwood now on Freedom
To those two people having trouble with leveling - you can re-run hearts and also run far lower hearts and get xp.
My new Youtube Channel with CoH info
You might know me as FlintEastwood now on Freedom
Quote:
Uh no, I left about a year ago when my guild blew up while we were working on Heroic Ragnaros. The system still worked like I mentioned back then. So there's no way it's been changed for multiple years.|
Originally Posted by JayboH
Yeah you are way off - it hasn't been like that in years - and when that did happen, it didn't last long.
|
You might be confusing the global system with that time they wanted to tie real names to people's forum posts. That didn't last long.
Culex's resistance guide
Quote:
Yeah maybe that was it. I know StarCraft 2 and Diablo 3 use the same system.
|
Originally Posted by Pitho
Uh no, I left about a year ago when my guild blew up while we were working on Heroic Ragnaros. The system still worked like I mentioned back then. So there's no way it's been changed for multiple years.
You might be confusing the global system with that time they wanted to tie real names to people's forum posts. That didn't last long. |
My new Youtube Channel with CoH info
You might know me as FlintEastwood now on Freedom
Quote:
I kinda am too.|
Originally Posted by Biowraith
To be honest even with that admission I'm still confused about the money woes.
|
I just took my "main" (haha, Feycat with a main, that doesn't happen, but she's my highest level character anyway :P) who is basically my "badger" (working on 100% world completion) to Metrica Province, which is the Asura starter zone and IMO a zone I hate for the bad layout. I end up crossing and re-crossing my own path constantly in order to find things, and then I miss things, and then I have to go back over and over...
I sold every green or blue that dropped to a vendor. I picked up every crafting node with cheap copper tools. I salvaged every white drop with a basic cheap salvage kit. I participated in any event I came across, but didn't go out of my way to get them.
When I hit 100% on the zone, I went to Lion's Arch, popped to my bank, pulled out all the tier 1 mats I picked up (jute, copper, claws, fangs, blood, carrots, etc) and then threw them all on the AH.
Walked away with 2.76 gold for my trouble. Even though I used waypoints quite a bit and had to repair my armor (screw that fire elemental event!!!) Not to mention 7 shiny new skillpoints, and another zone under my belt toward 100%
Quote:
The issue with that is that a couple of the races doesn't use surnames, which I consider a bit of a snafu on the designers' part. The Asura are particular bad. If you want a 'culturally appropriate' asura name, it has to be short and punchy, with no surname. I'm convinced not a single four-letter combination is still available |
Originally Posted by RemusShepherd
I never have these problems with names. If the name you want is taken, add an adjective or a last name to it. For example, I wanted 'Nightcat' in GW2 but it was taken, so my thief became 'Nuala Nightcat'.
|
It's not a problem if you don't care about fitting in though. Or if you don't care about Sylvari or Asura.
Thought for the day:
"Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment."
=][=
Quote:
It's certainly easier if you're selling all of your crafting materials instead of hoarding/using them. Especially when the TP was just opened, copper ore was going for insane amounts. I'm not sure if it still does.
|
Originally Posted by Feycat
Walked away with 2.76 gold for my trouble. Even though I used waypoints quite a bit and had to repair my armor (screw that fire elemental event!!!) Not to mention 7 shiny new skillpoints, and another zone under my belt toward 100%
|
Thought for the day:
"Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment."
=][=
Possibly it's also down to a certain amount of luck as to how many 'events' you come across - the stuff like escorting a pack mule or defending an outpost. If you're never in the right place at the right time you could miss a lot of those and therefore miss out on the substantial xp they provide.
I haven't experienced any of the other things you've mentioned, but the lagging behind in levels was an issue for me, at least to start with (at 30+ it's kinda flipped the other way and I'm spending most of my time doing heart quests 5+ levels below me).