User:Cameronl/Sandbox

Collectable Drops

• Margonite Mask
• Demonic Relic
• Inscribed Shard
• Mummy Wrapping

Hard Mode (Cantha) Difficulty

From: Gryphon Arrowstorm [1]

1. Minister Cho's Estate 8k
2. Zen Daijun 9k
3. Vizunah Square(Foreign or Local) 10k(Can get this mission done easily if other side Party or NPCs does not mess it up for us)
4. Nahpui Quarter 13k
5. Tahnnakai Temple 12k
6. Arborstone 12k
7. Boreas Seabed 13k(Might take a few tries, really require a strong healing and protecting monk heroes.)
8. Sunjiang District 10k
9. Eternal Grove 15k(You must definitely have to have good heroes and be able to hold your own when we split up and also, you must follow my instruction promptly)
10. Gyala Hatchery 15k(Very intense mission but just follow my instructions and we should be okay. Might need heal and protect heroes)
11. Unwaking Waters(Luxon or Kurzick) 13k(Can get this mission done easily if other side Party or NPCs does not mess it up for us)
12. Raisu Palace 15k(Very intense mission but just follow my instructions and we should be okay.)
13. Imperial Sanctum 6k

gwlp

[2]

Legendary Defender of Ascalon

Profession/Skill Combinations

• Mesmer / ?

Mesmer Test

• Empathy
• Ether Feast

A Mesmer's Burden

• Conjure Phantasm
• Imagined Burden

Domination Magic (quest)

• Backfire
• Shatter Delusions

Empathy

Backfire

Shatter Delusions

Imagined Burden

Ether Feast

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Conjure Phantasm

Ursan Blessing

Issue

Nevermind the (lack of) difficulty, the issues I have with this skill are:

1. It reduces the differences between classes to almost zero: There are only monks and ursans (of any class).
2. It reduces the differences between skills to zero: You only use one skill, Ursan Blessing, all other 500+ skills are irrelevant.

This skill is so overpowered that everyone plays it. Good luck finding PUG's without it. I happen to like many of the rest of the skills in this game and would like to once again find groups that fit/require other builds.

Suggestion

1. Reduce Ursan Blessing's effectiveness in groups where there are more than 2 Ursans active to allow room for other builds (for more variety and thought required).
2. Nerf the skill so it is not quite so popular.
3. Do nothing and wait a little longer. People will get bored of this boring skill eventually when they have reached all of their achievements. Of course they may just get bored with the game at that point too.

Cameronl | talk 06:44, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

GW1 Depth

Guild Wars had depth in terms of character design and tactical aspects, even in PvE. The ability to have a huge number of ways to play, and having to utilize the very open system of design.

Why Guild Wars had it:

• Low level cap
• Limited number of skills allowed on the skill bar (8)
• Many professions that play very differently from each other
• Relatively easy access to most of the skills in the game.
• Quickly changeable attribute points/secondary professions.

This kind of depth has been torn up by:

1. Adding non-attributed non-profession (PvE-only) skills
   • These do not vary between professions, so playing the game as a different profession does not feel as different. If these skills are more powerful than the profession-specific skills then the difference is even less.
2. Adding consumables, etc.
   • These do not vary between builds/professions/types of monsters/skills faced so there is less variety between ways to play. If these are small items on the periphery of gameplay, they do indeed add variety to the game. But if they are required or used often as a sort of crutch to get through major portions of the game, they are solving a problem that could have been better solved through the profession, skill and attribute distribution system (with proper balancing.)
   • Plus they make it so much easier that a variety of builds (that have synergies for the given situation) are not rewarded.
3. Adding skills that are affected by character-specific titles that require significant time to reach.
   • These are not available to the professions of the characters a player has not invested that time in. The more character-specific rewards for time invested, the more focusing/limiting of gameplay to the profession of that character--removing the variety that the rest of the professions provide.
   • These are also against the original “skill>time” philosophy of the game.
4. Adding skills (like Ursan Blessing) that are both A) so overpowered that they become used in a very large percentage of groups & B) more powerful when in groups using only that skill.
   • This limits the variety of builds that are allowed into/synergize with a very large percentage of groups. Remove either A or B above and this would be much less detrimental. This affects pick-up group play the most.
   • Plus they make it so much easier that a variety of builds (that have synergies for the given situation) are not rewarded.
5. Adding skills (like the Blessings) for general use (ie. not limited to certain locations/missions/etc.) that are completely against the profession, skill and attribute distribution system. These are a complete build compressed in to one single skill.
   • This results in a loss of the creativity, thought, game depth, and variation between professions provided by selecting the 8 skills from the skill pool, deciding on attribute distribution and secondary profession choice. If these build-in-a-box skills are only on the periphery of gameplay, they do indeed add variety to the game. But if they are required or used often as a sort of crutch to get through major portions of the game, they are solving a problem that could have been better solved through the profession, skill and attribute distribution system (with proper balancing.)
6. Adding skills (like Ursan Blessing) that ignore many of the mechanics of the game that make it challenging and interesting. Nobody wants a skill that is so conditional that in never sees gameplay but, skills should have counters, risks, or drawbacks.
   • Ie.:
     • Attacks can be blinded or hexed or interrupted.
     • Hexes can be removed.
     • Damage can be reduced with enchantments.
     • Enchantments can be stripped.
     • Etc.
7. Making PvE more about big numbers in terms of mob design (group size and damage)
   • Only builds that focus on huge AoE damage rise instead of a variety of builds focused on the variety of skills those monsters possess.
   • Sometimes groups are overwhelmed by the volume and sheer damage output of enemies.

References

[3] [4]

Regina, Regina... why must it be this way? I'm not going to type out a view here, you know where to find mine. However, to reply to some of what you wrote: 'Because it is an online game, players expected the same depth as subscription MMOGs.' No. Stop. You have completely ignored the fact that Guild Wars had depth in terms of character design and tactical aspects, even in PvE. I'm not entirely sure you understand depth at all, or why Guild Wars had it. The ability to have a huge number of ways to play, and having to utilize the very open system of design, was what made the little content there was very open. This kind of depth has been torn up by making PvE more about big numbers in terms of mob design (group size and damage), by allowing non-attributed skills, by giving consumables, etc. While players do not have to use them, the fact that ANet is adding them, the fact that ANet has messed up PvE so much that they have to break their own game to compensate, is ridiculous. Areas like DoA do not have depth because what is viable in these places is extremely limited. Adding PvE skills may have helped a large portion of the community, but the only reason you had to resort to it was because PvE design as a whole was terrible, and messing up PvE design, when you're clearly focusing development on it, is mind-blowingly awful. At this point, I'm just wondering what ANet will add next to make the game simpler and easier.

[5]

Secondly: you don’t need UB to play GW! And if there IS a part of GW that requires players to use UB because without it the area is near to unbeatable… well then ANet did in fact screw PvE game balance while developing that area or did not test its balance at all and MUST go back to fix the quests, missions, PvE area!!

Thirdly: as I said in the, now deleted “silence is not..” topic, ANet MUST break up large areas with small outposts so players can stop there, disband and pick up later without having to repeat an Xh fight! IMO the immense time consumption some areas (realm of torment, GWEN dungeons) take to complete is a major factor why players use UB, since it can cut that time in half or more and not everyone wants to spend 6h+ in front of the PC to kill the ape.

Lastly: UB is completely against the profession, skill and attribute distribution system the whole GW world is founded on since 1) it requires no skill to play, 2) you don’t need to select 8 skills from the skill pool to get your build. UB is a complete build compressed in to one single skill. All an UB user needs to take with him/her is UB.. one skill equipped 7 slots empty! Is this GW? 3) UB needs not a single thought on attribute distribution! No it’s a skill which’s power is solely depending on kill count aka grind! Completely nullifying “skill>time” and reverting GWs philosophy to “time>skill”.

Of course if, like Regina insists on, GWs philosophy at some point has become “have fun now” and is not “skill>time” any longer UB might be intentional and GW has indeed become Grind Wars! But it that is true then I KNOW for sure that I don’t like the direction GW has taken and am NOT going to buy a GW2 that is based on the same “have fun now” principle! Regards ~Garbaron~ ; 24th Jun 2008