First up is a topic over on the official forums about Diminishing Returns and how it is saving Guild Wars 2. The original thread starter isn’t the most eloquent of individuals but I do agree that Diminishing Returns on dungeon runs was much needed. The thing I find most annoying is the willingness of the player base to ignore the fact that 99% of “speed runs” are actually exploiting and when ArenaNet attempt to close down such holes, they scream blue murder. I’ve taken part in various dungeons with public user groups and have been stunned by peoples ignorance of exploits versus clever use of profession skills. If seeing hundreds of players running around in full sets of Citadal of Flames gear after only a few days isn’t indicative of a needed change, I don’t know what is. Feel sorry for me, I obtained nearly 1000 tokens from Twilight Arbor before the increase in token rewards!
Still with the official forums (because there are some great posts here) is the hot topic of gold buying and selling. This may sound controversial, but it really doesn’t bother me. People having their accounts hacked and contents drained is obviously terrible, but what ArenaNet are failing to realise is that as long as its cheaper to buy gold from a third party than converting gems, they are facing a losing battle. The current pricing structure on the Trading Post are too rigid and the return on gems versus gold too low. Why would I spend £40 for 12g in game, when I can spend £40 with a gold farmer and receive 40 gold? I wouldn't ever support gold selling, but it doesn't surprise me people use the service. Come on ArenaNet, get your act together.
This thread seems to have gotten muddled somewhere along the way, but my preferred race for any expansion pack would have to be the Tengu. They just look incredible in game. As there are only two heavy armour professions, I think it would be logical that one extra might make an appearance at some point. I will add though that I really dislike new professions being added to MMOG’s as it upsets the game balance so heavily.
Jon Peters has waded in on the subject of Field of View and put an end to speculation that it will ever be increased. I think this is a good thing for all the reasons he points out.
Over on Reddit, there’s an interesting topic discussing Tonics and how pointless they are. I do completely agree and while the animals or monster you turn into look wonderful, they really should serve a great purpose. There is an excellent suggestion to give each transformation a skill set and allow you battle other players. That sounds absolutely great!
GuildMag have an interesting article about the need for private sPvP servers. While the article is a little dramatic, I do agree that private sPvP servers are a must. What I would say is that there is a real opportunity here for ArenaNet to monetise: Why not charge people for the privilege of having a private server? I know my guild and I would be willing to hire several.
Heart Letters are something I’ve always found strange as well. Does anyone actually read them? I thought most simply drained the money and hit ‘delete’. The biggest missed opportunity I found in the game, in terms of lore, are places of interest. I love finding them but hate having no ability to read about what they are, why they are there or what their purpose is. Surely what they could have done when you discover a point of interest is for you to then click on the discovery to read on about its history. Maybe I’ll suggest this to Bobby Stein.
Lastly, Dragon Season have a really excellent article about why people find communities. It is easily the best piece of writing I’ve read all week.
Comments
People in the first thread complain of no endgame. Again, its the zerg community I pointed out in a comment here a few days ago.
To counter them, look at this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=HTF9T4oQ480
- That is why they feel the game is empty, they missed all of that.
A lot of people rush through the real game, and hit max level before they've found 70-80% of the content.
Guess what folks, map completion is only about 20% of what there is to do while playing a zone.
You can get map completion and miss every event. You can farm events and miss ALL of their story and chains.
And you can Zerg up, and end up at max level not knowing how to play, so travel and dungeons will end up artificially higher as you are not as competent at playing as a player who paced through.
And to then have the gall to expect the game to provide some "endgame" for you when you already skipped the one it did provide... These folks just need to go, if they can't learn how to handle GW2 right.
Regarding the gold seller topic. Look to what they call "John School" in some places.
In studying human trafficking and the methods to combat it, I'd read a number of tactics used to combat prostitution. The only methods that ever have any success target Johns and not prostitutes.
Historically, for "patriarchal reasons about gender control" we have made it illegal to be a prostitute, but barely done anything to Johns - sometimes a small fee, sometimes ignoring them, often calling them just a 'right of passage'.
Only two methods have ever been shown to reduce the crime:
1: Criminalize being a John. Penalties, or more effective: publish names and faces in local papers.
2: John School - force Johns to do a long course where they meet women who were prostitutes who tell them their stories. The John in these rarely re-offend. The lives of Prostitutes being rather brutally violent...
What this has to do with gold selling / buying is simple. Ignore the sellers. Ban the buyers, and publish their account info on a 'known ToS violator listing' page.
- The second step could not be done unless we had a new ToS agreeing to it. But the first step... ban buyers, would work if done with aggression.
This is not like drugs; where addiction drives people and they have to buy it. Its like Prostitution, were people who do not understand the harm they are causing elect to 'consume the product' by choice.
In drugs, it makes sense to criminalize the seller but not the buyer. But in prostitution, and with elective-misconduct like gold-buying, it makes more sense to penalize the buyer, not the seller.