Feedback:User/Previously Unsigned/Do Hard Mode The Right Way

This has probably all been said so many times before, but I have to say it one more time after a horrible expreience in Hard Mode. I just finished the Zaishen Vanquishing of the day, Maishain Hills. I had an entire PUG, and I was the leader. I also had almost full control over all the builds of everybody in the group (except the Necro who was being stubborn but I didn't want to waste the time to find another one). Anyways we started the Vanquish and this is when the problem happened: too easy. Unbelievably easy. I could have just leeched since obviously a team effort was overkill. And consumables not needed. And there was no talking since enemies just melted. It was a pug but it might as well been heros cause it felt like it.

But I have seen this happen too often in Guild Wars. Hard Mode can be too easy, due to NPC builds, consumables, or player builds that are just too good. Yet the opposite end of the spectrum also exists: things like DoA where basically whole professions are made useless due to environmental effects and the only things useful are DwG or gimmicks. Having to run a gimmick because the boss has been juiced juiced is not hard, it's fake difficulty! Both of these situations have one thing in common though: hard mode done wrong.

Hard should mean just that: hard. Not lackadaisical hard or impossible mode, but above normal mode. If there is no challenge, people will get bored and leave. Games need to have toughness. As much as people like easy wins, deep down, are you having fun!? Really ask yourself that. Maybe it's fun for a little while but it gets old fast. When things are too easy, it's a farce: bosses who are anything but and literal nukes. Things of challenge and fun take time, that way when you do finish them, you feel accomplishment or like you persevered. Too easy feels like "it has all gone according to plan" or robotic. It is also counterproductive to flow.

Plus, when things are too easy, we move away from the intrinsic rewards of game playing and onto material things. The fun of play games comes from just that: playing the game. Using concepts to win, teamwork, excitement, etc. But with all of these things mastered or not that difficult, there is no intrinsic reward for an easy victory, then people only do them for a material reward like titles or money. How many people do you think would be doing the Z stuff had there been no reward or if it was never added? Intrinsic rewards are the things that give most meaning. By having hard mode hard, there will be more game playing and not button pushing.

Now the flip side: elite areas. Many of the enemies have huge AoE or or super monster skills. This isn't right either. Spike damage alone is not the definition of hard and monster abilities aren't hard because the enemy is smart or crafty, they're "hard" because they have ridiculous weapons. Even an idiot with an unlimited flame thrower is gonna get kills. Variety in kinds of damage and AI with better builds first (such as Peacekeepers) are things of good difficulty. Variety will make encounters more unpredictable too and help people utilize new things.

I can't obviously address everything, but some things are too damn good too. Any number or PvE things, speed clear bars, these are all contributing factors. If something is too good, too efficient, why have it? I understand if there was a drawback but many don't have one. One of my favorite games is Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and one of the things I love about it is the Law System). Without going totally in detail, they are things that you shouldn't do during a match or you'll be penalized. They are like environmental effects, except they are randomized every time. This would add another dimension to Guild Wars and teamwork if something you were using was on the hit list. You would never know what it was either. I like when people have to get creative with builds and use different things. In order to prevent it from being abused (by just reentering till something good happened, it would lock the the first effect for any character for all instances for an hour or such. So different people in the same group could have different rules).

Don't let these problems fall over to GW2. And not sure to put GW1 or GW2 tag. It's about 1, but not much can be done anymore.