Feedback:User/Ilr/Re-think Traps

Note: Original content added Sep/26/2009 before any guidelines were ever finalized

Introduction
Trapping in Guildwars has gradually lost its luster. Though Shadow Farmers are not solely to blame. Trapping in and of itself is typically always gimmicky and prone to becoming tedious in MOST games. I say this as a bit of an expert on the topic -- not so much in this game, but I'm still proficient enough at it to beat any mission in the game with Traps regardless, and I still hold the title as the only "trapper" in CoV's (city of villains) history to lead a team of Trappers and other "misfit powersets" to victory over its single most difficult Strike Force with Zero deaths and no "PvE-only Skills" (also known as the "Master Of the LRSF" Title). I'm not sure what the equivalent in this game would be, but I'm sure it would be pretty intense anyway.

But ironically, Trapping is generally NOT intense in this game and it would be a real pity if that were to be the case in its Sequel. ...Especially with mobility being such a key feature to GW2; meaning traps could be tedious AND much less effective if the current design was simply copied over, because:
 * They have a fairly small Area of Effect
 * There's really no timing involved; or a whole lot of player skill for that matter...
 * Constant Bunny hopping in PvP could be employed to avoid setting off Traps entirely
 * The AI might actually be smart enough to disarm traps or send their meat-shields in first
 * Zones in general will be much larger.
 * Under Water trapping? LOL WUT??
 * Charr RAWKET LAWNCHAIRS... who's gonna wanna play boring old traps against THAT?

But the biggest thing to address here is the painfully low Skill Ceiling and Setup Time on Traps. Traps are barely even a 2-dimensional playstyle. We're basically playing the invisible "villain" in Minesweeper, a game so old that it went into beta before half your player base was even born.

Making Traps more Interesting
The first critical change needed is to remove the Tedium from trapping. "Rush Trapping" should be made an effective strategy by changing HOW traps are set up. This is one way trapping could really begin to mimic Assassins: The net result of this should be to make Trap-setting less "binary". Instead of waiting and pulling, players will be able to get their most crucial effects applied and activated right at the beginning of the fight even if their trap setting was interrupted halfway through each trap's full setup time.
 * Traps should be set up in Stages
 * The # of effects or "Functions" the trap does, should increase with the time it took to setup.
 * Being interrupted during the setup of a trap should freeze that trap at the last function attained
 * Therefore most traps should be designed with their most desired effects as the first 2 functions of that trap.
 * Interrupting oneself to start placing another trap should also be an option
 * The amount of time between "stages" or readied Functions should be 1⁄2's, 1's, or 2's
 * But actual "full" setup times should vary from trap to trap to keep things interesting. (see further down for details)

The next step is to reintroduce Timing and Skill. There will no doubt be a large amount of debate on how best to achieve this... but from my personal experiences I can say without equivocation that the *goals* Anet had for the Assassin class; most closely matches what Traps needs to resemble to be ...let's say... "most addicting". A certain amount of Stealth, and a heavy amount of Timing (and an even greater amount of "Gambling" or randomness) is required. In order to satisfy the timing requirement, a Trapper needs the ability to detonate their traps Remotely which fits in well with the "No Extra Copies" rule above because all Traps already at their maximum placement quantity could be instantly activated by pressing that number key again (or Shift-Clicked on if they weren't maxed).


 * Activating that Trap skill a second time should Detonate that Trap
 * Detonated traps should have a larger Radius than AI-activated traps to promote coordination
 * Manual activation would ensure traps would remain more effective in PvP.

ROLOLOLOLOL... DISREGARD THAT = they took this great idea and gave it to Overpowered Necros instead

The more obvious task which the Devs have already started on; is to move away from this "multiple copies must be planted to be effective" stuff which just leads to a tedious "downtime" while setting up, followed by cowardly "pulling". Some might call this "strategy" but most people refuse to have anything to do with the turtles who think playing like that is actually Entertaining.

To incentivize timing and skill even further:
 * Each Trap should be much more effective but have a limited quantity that can be Placed
 * Simpler "common" traps with smaller AoE's or only 2 effects might scale up from copies that can be placed
 * " Uncommon" traps with a few more functions might be limited to a "placeable" quantity of just copies
 * More advanced traps with 3-5 more powerful effects might only allow 1 iteration
 * Each Trap should be much more effective since only 1 copy can be Placed at a time
 * As such, most traps shouldn't be burdened with ANY durations, or atleast very short ones
 * The amount of time required to fully set up each trap should scale with its effects
 * Simpler "common" traps with smaller AoE's or only 2 effects should set up in stages at additive increments (1⁄2's)
 * "Uncommon" traps with a few more functions might get exponential stage-timing (1⁄2 / 1 / 2)
 * More advanced traps with 3-5 more powerful effects might take even longer but only need additive stage increments (3⁄4+3⁄4+11⁄2, -or- 1 + 1 + 1 +1 +1 = 5 total)
 * Each stage of trap setting should be progressively easier to interrupt
 * Preventing the first stage from completing should always require an "interrupt" skill
 * Preventing the second Function of a trap from being completed might require a Melee weapon
 * Preventing the the third stage might only require a general "attack skill" to hit.
 * Interrupting the fourth and fifth component might only require a debuff or ranged weapon
 * All traps should generally follow a set of rules which promotes a desirable "combo chain" of effects
 * ...and plays out gradually rather than all at once
 * The first Function most traps should apply, should be to inflict a condition or "debuff"
 * only Uncommon traps should begin with non-conditional damage instantly-upon activation
 * The second Function for most traps should be conditional damage a second or two later.
 * If the trap has atleast Three Functions, the third should be a Physical mechanic like a knockback, "gravity Well", or snare
 * Physical mechanics should generally take their victim's plight into consideration and occur atleast 3 seconds later...
 * Only Elite traps should feature a Physical mechanic as the opening Function


 * The fourth and fifth Functions of Uncommon and Elite traps might be:
 * More unconditional damage "Procedures", more conditional damage, or bonus conditional debuffs.
 * 4th and 5th string effects would take atleast 5 seconds to start triggering but might retrigger times

...Either way, the best Functions should all be "frontloaded" towards the early stages of that trap's total setup time.

(added Aug/24/2010)
 * As a bonus to promote Rush-Trapping, some skills could increase the "speed" of their owner's next "action" or movement speed for a second or two, or prevent an interrupt entirely... Assuming their last trap actually affected a foe.