Feedback:User/Tennessee Ernie Ford/Beyond Opt-out
Beyond Opt-out
| |
|---|---|
| User | Tennessee Ernie Ford |
| Categories | Resolved feedback |
|
Nerfed! This suggestion is no longer appropriate; the 9 February 2012 update introduced Memories of Purity, allowing people to opt-out of Winds of Change (after doing the most tedious bits). I would have preferred a general opt-out (that didn't require major progress in the story). However, this is a good solution for WoC and I believe ANet has more important things to work on (now that they have announced that Guild Wars 2 will release in the Year of the Dragon). |
Opt-out for Guild Wars Beyond[edit]
Allow people to opt out of Guild Wars Beyond content, thus returning spawns in Tyria, Cantha, and (if relevant) Elona to their pre-Beyond statuses. This would allow people to choose whether they want to continue playing War in Kryta or Winds of Change without feeling trapped by having decided to try out the new content.
Primary storylines are primary content, so it makes sense that you can never return to pre-Searing. However, Beyond is optional content and therefore, should allow people the option of opting out.
Mechanics[edit]
There are several possible implementations:
- Provide an NPC (e.g Murro for WiK) who would toggle off the umbrella quest for each component. To prevent over-use, the NPC could charge a fee (e.g. skill points and/or cash and/or materials).
- Add Gatekeeper NPCs (near relevant portals) that offer to "Return you to the area as it once was, reliving events of the past" — this allows people to enter e.g. Bukdek Byway to complete a Factions quest without having to deal with WoC mobs.
- Add a similar option to the travel NPCs in Embark Beach.
Background[edit]
Unlike other quests (even primary ones), the umbrella quests for GWB cannot be dropped. That means once people start, they are stuck with the new World Order. Perhaps a player tried out Winds of Change and found it too challenging. Perhaps someone finished Prophecies, but isn't ready to start War in Kryta. Perhaps someone is attempting to Vanquish Minister Cho's Estate or complete (what was previously) an easy Zaishen Bounty.
Whatever the reason, there are many fans of the game who would prefer to be able to continue playing in the original Tyria or Cantha (or wherever). Currently, the only consistent way they can do this is to team up with someone who hasn't started on Beyond. Why not make this easier for them?
“...it's a colossal pain to ...do anything normal with ...souped up baddies running around. And many exceptions have been and can be made on account of lore. There is never a good reason to compromise playability for lore consistency, ...
— Axis
“[I]t’s never fun to run across an explorable you can’t beat because the enemies are simply overpowered beyond reason. ...[T]he Scavengers ...after Rescue at Minister Cho’s Estate... are really really tough. ...[T]here are more per group than ...during the Hard Mode ...quest. ...Hopefully we’ll be able to patch this in a future update so the normal explorable isn’t mind-numbingly difficult.
Beyond is the only component that forces challenges on you[edit]
There are only two times in the game (outside of Beyond) in which players cannot return to earlier content:
- Leaving pre-Searing — that seems reasonable, since that area was designed as an isolated training ground.
- Nightfallen Garden, with which you are stuck until completing Nightfall. While that is sensible in the storyline, it's merely one zone out of dozens.
In contrast, once you start WiK, you are stuck with the tougher mobs until you finish all of the primary quests. Similarly, anyone who started WoC recently is stuck for however many months until the final content is released. In similar contrast, people can farm Ascalon for granite or they can choose to farm Ecto; the choice is theirs, not the games. And, obviously, people can toggle off hard mode at will.
In short, why should people be forced to play WiK/WoC if they aren't enjoying them?
Not covered by this idea[edit]
This suggestion does not address:
- Difficulty: Players should also be able to choose the new content because it is more challenging.
- Bugs: Winds of Change seems obviously bugged:
Vanquishing Minister Cho's Estate post-WoC requires killing over twice as many foes as before; that cannot possibly be correct.- Adding a toon that has not finished Factions does not suppress WoC mobs; that, too cannot be correct. Why would ANet want to force L10 toons to complete Mayhem in the Market with the much more challenging Afflicted, just because they are getting help from a veteran toon?
- Examples: Attribute quest affected by WoC
- Other issues: As I have noted elsewhere, I think the first installment of WoC included unnecessary tedium (half the first set of quests are virtually identical). (The storyline and challenges are somewhat unappealing until late in the sequence of the first 18 quests, when it gets more interesting. In contrast, the optional quests are more intriguing both in story and challenge.)
