User:El Gallo/Thoughts and Rants

Competitive Missions
March 27, 2009 - Double faction in competitive missions yay!


 * Now that's the situation (if i was interested in allegiance title): i take my pvp monk (as i'm too lazy to have a pve one), quickly control if one of the eight skills is Ray Of Judgment (got it!), go to the Great Temple of Balthazar, talk to a Kurzick Recruiter / Luxon Diplomat to be taken to the jq, start a game, cap quarries with just One - Monk - Skill, eventually win, get 7k or more factions, re-start a game and so on. Woah.

Game Updates
April 23, 2009 - Fourth Anniversary Update: Major Content and Feature Additions 


 * That's what the game needed. Ty anet for your deep game analysis and problems identification & solving. I really want to know how many players asked for: Zaishen Menagerie, Zaishen Challenge Quest, Nicholas The Traveler and the New Character Customizations. Honestly, as you go on playing you need more storage places are needed, and the account-based HoM is a very good idea for those who earned titles on different characters. But the Zaishen Managerie! LOL! The new Zaishen Quests! Why not fixin the 340hp Jade Quarry Npc giving them at least 480hp as all the other npcs? Why not fixing AB faction rewards that are ridiculous compared to the Jade Quarry ones? Why not fixing HA gimmick builds? Why not bringing back VoD (ghghgh)? Why not trying to fix the paragon profession, that nowadays is as useless as hell? No way, it's surely better to start the pokemon-like-pet-mania. Wait, i can always use 4 copper zaishen coins, plus 5 silver zaishen coins, plus 3,14 golden zaishen coins, plus 2,346k to buy an elite monk tome. oO


 * Oh wait, i forgot the wonderful reporting system. I just received the "dishonorable" status because i was the only one in my team in jq to report leechers. Ty arenanet, those who play and report leechers obtain the dishonorable status just like the leechers only because some retarded noobs don't want to punish those who let 'em lose the matches! What a wonderful system! But i'm not so angry, as there's always the Zaishen Menagerie!

Wintergreen Weapons
Winterfest Tournament 2006 Fail


 * I'm here, Kamadan American District 1, and i can see: "WTS Wintergreen Axe + Shield 80 ectos" and "WTS Wintergreen Axe 100k +43e". Then i think of those who (like myself) own non-caster wintergreen weapons, and i say to myself: "Do anet big heads know what is going on? Do they realize the mess they have done?".


 * A long time ago i've seen on this wiki that approx 300000 users did the 2006 tournament. Wintergreen weapons are quite rare. But only swords, axes, spears and shields could be effectively used, and only as caster weapons. Logically, they started being looked for by wealthy players. Here's the point: it's absolutely unfair that those who chose a wintergreen sword possess a 60 ectos-worth item while those who chose a wintergreen bow just have a useless things by the hands. Wintergreen swords, axes, shields and spears are as rare as bows, daggers, scythes and rods, but, due to the ridiculous idea of making wintergreen weapons inscriptable and moddable BUT NON MAX DAMAGE, NON CASTERS ATTRIBUTE-TIED, casters weapon are usable, while the others are not. I have a bow and a staff; you have a spear and an axe. You are rich, i am not. You can say you made the right choice, and i made the wrong one, but i don't think gw is a game about gambling. And if you can use your wintergreen axe as a caster weapon, i have the right of using my bow as a normal bow.

Lamers Ascent
See title above


 * No updates = anet balancing team wants ha to be ruled by lame/gimmicky builds.

Game Updates 2
Update - Thursday, June 11, 2009 


 * "Fixed a bug that caused "We Shall Return!" to affect allies instead of party members."


 * "Fixed a bug that caused Res Orbs to resurrect dead NPCs in Alliance Battles." ---> ps: 4 monks at ress orb shrine was epic - good bye old times


 * "Removed festival decorations from Kaineng Center and Shing Jea Monastery."


 * No skills balance. I've heard gw is a game about SKILLS. Balance 'em.

A little arousal
Just to laugh


 * I know pros and cons of each of the following skills. I clearly understand how each one should be used. But i think it's fun to make a comparison:


 * • Offering of Spirit. Elite Spell. Gain 8...15...17 Energy. If any Spirits are within earshot, you do not sacrifice Health. 17% sac - 5 en - 1/4 cast - 15 rech


 * • Offering of Blood. Elite Spell. You gain 8...18...20 Energy. 20% sac - 1 en - 1/4 cast - 15 rech


 * • Ether Prism. Elite Skill. For 3 seconds, all damage you take is reduced to 0. When Ether Prism ends, you gain 5...17...20 Energy. 5 en - 15 rech


 * Can you find the differences? 1) Ether Prism is tied to Energy Storage, elementalists' primary attribute. 2) Ether Prism is a skill, not a spell (no casting time = can be used when kd'ed). 3) Ether Prism has no downside at all. 4) Ether Prism has 2 positive effects: gives energy AND damage immunity. 5) Ether Prism let you farm fame with iway.


 * June 2009 Skills Update - from developers' comments :"Unlike other Energy management skills, Ether Prism has both damage mitigation and Energy gain with no downside, causing it to grow popular in all PvP formats." I was right, then ? x]




 * It seems that lenghtening the recharge time of ether prism is not enough to balance the skill. IMO, just revert recharge to 15 secs, but take off the damage reduction or halve the energy gain or make this skill a spell with 1/4 sec activation time (usable on a spike if you're not knocked-down). There's just no point in keeping both the positive effect of EP, in comparison with the aforementioned OoS and OoB. Come on, having to wait just 5 seconds more then OoS & OoB to gain energy, while still having the damage reduction is ridiculous.

Where is Guild Wars going?

 * there have beeen lots of ppl saying that gw is dead. i never agreed, but in the last period it's hard to think that gw is the same game of some years ago. we have to admit that the situation, nowaday, is quite terrible.


 * heroes' ascent is dominated by those gimmicky builds like sway and iway. i've seen player owning hoh with balanced teams for months being kicked out the halls by those lame builds. random arenas are synced, and when you don't find a syncro-starting team against you, your teammates does not have any ress skill or secondary profession. to be honest, winning in random arenas is more a matter of luck then a matter of skills. alliance battles give you so little factions in comparison to jq and it's almost always stuck at the kurzick side that there are like 20 ppl in the world playing it, not to mention the long starting times... the jade quarry is owned by monks that deal more damage then elementalists and can heal too, necros that blow themselves up and succesfully cap mines and other necros that simply camp juggernauts/turtles and kill them as they slowly go around just because they cannot stop. you often win just because your team has more roj monks then the other team has, and for this great honour you are awarded 3500 factions per victory. in fort aspenwood you face some ridiculous situations: you can be just a bunch of useless pgs waiting for the opponents to win or be 8 war machines annhilating every enemy crossing your way to the victory. pve is played with just 3 or 4 different builds, abusing pve-only skills which hinder players' incapacity. every high-end challenge like fow, uw or eotn dungeons is now a joke if played with those perma sins or farming duos or whatever. at least gvg seems to have remain fun and challenging, but with the problem of finding a serious gvg guild to play with.


 * guys, this ain't the game i played a year ago. my feeling is that gw is becoming a game in which the players' skills, ability and experience are less important then what you have in your skillbar. that's just a feeling, as i said, and this may be wrong. and i hope to be wrong.

Ha Ha

 * Please let me genuinely laugh at the 17/09/09 Patient Spirit and Escape nerfs. Haha.
 * it's quite funny to read the opinions of those who think ps wasn't overpowered, mourning for this 1 second added recharge nerf. how can a 114 + divine favor (let's assume around 30) = 140hp healing skill, costing 5 energy and recharging in 3 seconds become useless with a recharge of 4, instead of a recharge of 3 secs? Sure, ps heals two seconds after use, but that's irrelevant, as if someone is going to die in the next 2 secs, you're gonna heal him with woh. Come on, we should try to complain less about this skills tuning.
 * my opinion is that the old ps was such an easy skill to use at a moderate efficiency level that everyone who wanted to monk just needed it with woh, and PUFF!, here it is a quite efficient monk, most of all in those pvp istances where there's little to no team coordination (ra, jq, fa...).
 * who can tell to have never seen a monk spamming woh - ps - woh - ps - woh - ps and keeping its team alive in ra? with the old woh nerf and with this very, very little ps nerf, i hope to see those newbie monks being kicked outta game to let the true, capable monks rule it.


 * r/a was just an overpowered build, and no one can disagree. it had 100ar against elemental dmg, almost permanent 75% blocking + 33% ias stance, low recharging, low energy costing spammable attack skills. what else? you can surely tell me r/a suffered anti-melee skills, but is there a melee not being countered by them? beside anti-melee, r/a were almost the best pressure chars available, outshining every other melee classes. the same can be said about r/d. the nerf to escape takes it quite away from the game, as "bow rangers" never uses it, but i think this nerf was necessary.


 * i have to say another thing that is not tied to this update. i'm talking to all those useless mesmers infesting ra. why do you all use the mesmer class? if you can't play it, please take another profession. don't waste your time, pls.

Henchman Skill Bar Contest Winners! - 1 October 2009

 * Let's look for a moment to one of the winners of the Henchman Skill Bar Contest, Tiny Tina:




 * Now let's recall one of the General Conditions posed by Anet about this "contest":


 * "Originality: Entries must be the submission of the contestant and cannot be taken from any other source."


 * I really had to thank all the winners for the ABSOLUTE and UNCONTESTABLE originality of their ideas, and Arenanet too for having kept the integrity of the contest. All the winning bars are never-seen-before in the metagame of HA and GvG.


 * Absolutely DEVASTATING is the originality impact of the build proposed by Unfaithful Servant, a RAO! OMG! Wooh.


 * As the name implies, "Hi Captain Obvious" accuratly selected a ritualist build which was never seen on the Heroes Ascent playgrounds.


 * I know that wiered and truely original skill bars may not be as useful as those long-time tested builds, but the selected builds are really "standard" ones. What sadden me is that almost everyone could have just observed an ha match and copied a rit or ele bar and submit it as a personal invention, and being given a priceless tonic. A 1 skill modification to a well known build just can't create a completely new and original bar.

Thursday, October 22 Update

 * Congrats Anet for the Henchmen' Skillbar update! That was a great job, as henchies were almost totally outclassed by heroes. we have a mm henchie too! Emi looks quite impressive too.

Codex Arena

 * «LFG r4/5/6 Glad/Hero»


 * Haha. 2 hammer attacks and no elite. frenzy to be canceled with tiger stance. divert hexes and reverse hexes vs. necroes and mesmers. foul feast and no way to spread conditions 'cause i'm an emo - i wanna suffer. greater conflagration...


 * x] ;] xO :]


 * i think there's a difference between forcing player to use a random, pre-determined set of skills and not being able to use a build which i don't pretend to be useful but at least not ridiculous...
 * the point is that, given a certain codex of skills, we're going to see just one or two different builds per profession. there will be a codex arena metagame continuously shifting as the codex changes. each day we will see bad players using bad builds (or good builds but not being able to play them well) and good players using "meta" builds looking for other good players to create a "meta" team that will roll every other team that is not "meta" or better then that. i hardly see any difference between this situation and the old team arenas. the great change that is the "sealed deck" system is flawed. what is this system giving to the game? what is it supposed to grant? i don't understand why is this going to be better then team arenas. in ta you're using meta builds created from all the existing skills. in ca you're using meta builds created from the available codex skills.

Thursday, January 28 (2010) Skill Update

 * Oh god! it's really funny to see how many users got angry for this update! i ask myself how many of those ranters regularly do pvp, if they cry so much for the ranger's nerfs. rangers aren't made for damage, in pvp, full stop. in more than 4 years of gw is there someone that had not understood this yet? rangers can do almost everything besides healing and raw damage. they have pressure, interrupts, high survivability, snares and they can carry lots of different elites with lots of different features (burning arrow, incendiary arrows, cripshot, mel's shot, magebane shot...). if you want to deal damage, 'cause you are very happy when you see big yellow numbers ascending from your enemies' heads, then you have a plethora of ways to do that. take a fire/air ele, take a dervish. but don't take a ranger just because it's cool to wield a bow and expect damage too. it's just like asking a mesmer or a necro for damage. sure they can deal damage through some skills, but their main role is just a different one.


 * and don't cry for r/a being overpowered: since the nerf to escape and with this last update to lightning reflexes they are more fragile then it seems. anti-melee counters them as well as any other melee class. sure they remove enchantments, but your warrior can lineback... snare 'em: they can't attack what they cannot reach. and let's not talk about bsurge: this is the ultimate physical damage killer. you have to adapt yourself in order to counter what seems to be overpowered.


 * i have to say that i'm not happy with the buffs to protections prayers, now able to counter health loss. i don't think this makes much sense, but if that's the only way to counter those RIDICULOUS me/n rolling gvg in the last weeks, well, i can cope with this change.