Originally posted by Chelmo

Originally posted by fony

this is just a copypasta of the old Neo GAF thread, but this link has less value since it goes to GW2Guru.

Anywhere you've seen it has been done by me (chelmo/jira/omlech).

great to see it here at mmorpg.com --- nice work

First of all, very nice job OP, thank you :)

GW2 seems mostly very good indeed, but I have a few concerns. One being the weapon swapping, I knew it was in the game, but I did not know that I absolutely must do that in order to be "competitive" in combat situations. Are you absolutely sure about this? I really do not wish to be required to adhd-weapon swap in order to do as much damage as the adhd-weapon swapping guy next to me. If it just adds to my utility then it's fine, but if I absolutely must do it in order to do as much damage as I can for example in a world boss event, then I'm very dissapointed, I hope someone can clarify a bit on this one?

In RPG's I generally like to choose my favourite weapon/spell school/etc, that's why I like class based games to begin with. Like, I might want to make a warrior in GW2, and just because of my personal preference and because of some roleplaying, my warrior is a 2-handed axe wielding Norn, that's his main weapon of choise. Can I play him using mostly only the 2h axe and still be as effective as the other warrior next to me who uses 13 different weapons in a fight?

I really dont see the point of this system, you could just unlock the abilities and then build your own hotbars as you like, limiting only stuff based on if it's ranged or melee. I'd rather AOE with my 2h axe rather than having to swap to a hammer in middle of fight just to be able to AOE, why?

Very nice work OP. Reading through it, I am reminded of all the things I have already forgotten about the game. I still found some tidbits that I wasn't aware of and the furnace is stoked yet again. Sticky this please.

Originally posted by Kuinn

First of all, very nice job OP, thank you :)

 

GW2 seems mostly very good indeed, but I have a few concerns. One being the weapon swapping, I knew it was in the game, but I did not know that I absolutely must do that in order to be "competitive" in combat situations. Are you absolutely sure about this? I really do not wish to be required to adhd-weapon swap in order to do as much damage as the adhd-weapon swapping guy next to me. If it just adds to my utility then it's fine, but if I absolutely must do it in order to do as much damage as I can for example in a world boss event, then I'm very dissapointed, I hope someone can clarify a bit on this one?

 My advice is, if you really dislike weapon swapping, play thief. One advantage to swapping weapons is that it helps with the longer cooldown of the higher power abilities. Thief weapon abilities have no cooldown and use initiative instead. You're limiting yourself by only having 5 skills rather than 10 but still it offers the least disadvantage.

In RPG's I generally like to choose my favourite weapon/spell school/etc, that's why I like class based games to begin with. Like, I might want to make a warrior in GW2, and just because of my personal preference and because of some roleplaying, my warrior is a 2-handed axe wielding Norn, that's his main weapon of choise. Can I play him using mostly only the 2h axe and still be as effective as the other warrior next to me who uses 13 different weapons in a fight?

 You should be able to use whatever weapon you like most of the time, but you'll be more effective if you're wiling to switch and adapt to different situations. I understand you lose a little identity being just a warrior and not a 2h axe warrior. Looking on the bright side though, since you can move stats from one weapon to another, you'll always have your favorite weapon model for each weapon. Which for me anyway will make switching less painful.

I really dont see the point of this system, you could just unlock the abilities and then build your own hotbars as you like, limiting only stuff based on if it's ranged or melee. I'd rather AOE with my 2h axe rather than having to swap to a hammer in middle of fight just to be able to AOE, why?

This is just a guess but i think the reason they didn't want you to be able to put your own skills with weapons, is because they want you to beable to adapt/react. So if a warrior with 2h hammer is coming you can prepare and have an idea what is coming.

Originally posted by Kuinn

First of all, very nice job OP, thank you :)

GW2 seems mostly very good indeed, but I have a few concerns. One being the weapon swapping, I knew it was in the game, but I did not know that I absolutely must do that in order to be "competitive" in combat situations. Are you absolutely sure about this? I really do not wish to be required to adhd-weapon swap in order to do as much damage as the adhd-weapon swapping guy next to me. If it just adds to my utility then it's fine, but if I absolutely must do it in order to do as much damage as I can for example in a world boss event, then I'm very dissapointed, I hope someone can clarify a bit on this one?

In RPG's I generally like to choose my favourite weapon/spell school/etc, that's why I like class based games to begin with. Like, I might want to make a warrior in GW2, and just because of my personal preference and because of some roleplaying, my warrior is a 2-handed axe wielding Norn, that's his main weapon of choise. Can I play him using mostly only the 2h axe and still be as effective as the other warrior next to me who uses 13 different weapons in a fight?

I really dont see the point of this system, you could just unlock the abilities and then build your own hotbars as you like, limiting only stuff based on if it's ranged or melee. I'd rather AOE with my 2h axe rather than having to swap to a hammer in middle of fight just to be able to AOE, why?

 All classes except for the elementalist and engineer have two weapon sets they have equipped at any time (can change outside combat), I don't know if you're being over the top about the guy next to you using 13 different weapons.

To answer your question about effectiveness with weapon switching, it's a little complicated and it depends on the situation, so bear with me.

For one thing, your active weapon will always have a spammable attack, so it's not like you HAVE to switch weapons.  Even if you use all your other cooldowns you'll still be able to contribute.

That being said, there's no energy or mana (outside of a thief's Initiative) so cooldowns are what limit abilities.  Cooldowns refresh when the weapon is put away, so to get more "output", in a lot of cases it will make sense to burn cooldowns, switch weapons and let them recharge in the background while you use your 2nd weapon's CDs.

But it also depends on the situation.  For instance there might be a boss where you're DPSing from range with a Rifle, but you want to have a Warhorn on your 2nd weapon set just for the Swiftness buff.  You're going to swap to that set, use it, then swap back.  You're not going to decide to jump into melee range just so you can pop a few other cooldowns.

Doing damage is important, but it's not the only thing you have to do.  Combat is a lot more fluid than in other games, so having cooldowns available "just in case" might be extremely important.

I think for most things like world DEs, you'll be fine doing whatever.  If you want to be a hammer warrior, be a hammer warrior.  For PVP and the hard explorable mode dungeons, you'll probably want to be comfortable with different tactics and be able to swap to them as the situation demands.

Originally posted by cali59

Alright, having only 2 active sets in combat makes it better, or actually very close to what I had in mind, as of now I'm propably going warrior and focus mostly on rifle + some melee set. I was afraid I could, and should, swap weapons like crazy to be the man. This is all good if I can do more or less single target + aoe damage with just these two sets and not having to switch outside of combat that much.

Thanks for the replies.

I´ve searched a lot but never found satisfying answer - Ranger. What are the differences between mini pets and pets? That dog in demo was mini pet? Only for human race? Is there a fetch emote/command for dogs? If none above was mentioned I guess we will find out but I´m curious right now.

Originally posted by Kuinn

First of all, very nice job OP, thank you :)

GW2 seems mostly very good indeed, but I have a few concerns. One being the weapon swapping, I knew it was in the game, but I did not know that I absolutely must do that in order to be "competitive" in combat situations. Are you absolutely sure about this? I really do not wish to be required to adhd-weapon swap in order to do as much damage as the adhd-weapon swapping guy next to me. If it just adds to my utility then it's fine, but if I absolutely must do it in order to do as much damage as I can for example in a world boss event, then I'm very dissapointed, I hope someone can clarify a bit on this one?

In RPG's I generally like to choose my favourite weapon/spell school/etc, that's why I like class based games to begin with. Like, I might want to make a warrior in GW2, and just because of my personal preference and because of some roleplaying, my warrior is a 2-handed axe wielding Norn, that's his main weapon of choise. Can I play him using mostly only the 2h axe and still be as effective as the other warrior next to me who uses 13 different weapons in a fight?

I really dont see the point of this system, you could just unlock the abilities and then build your own hotbars as you like, limiting only stuff based on if it's ranged or melee. I'd rather AOE with my 2h axe rather than having to swap to a hammer in middle of fight just to be able to AOE, why?

The biggest advantage of the weapon swap system is how it consolidates your action bars.  In many MMOs, you eventually obtain an absurd number of spells, each of which must be bound to it's own slot.  Take the elementalist, for example.  You bind spells 1-5 and your 4 attunements.  That's a total of 9 keybinds that open the door to 20 abilities.  Much more convenient than binding 20 different keys, or likely resorting to clicking. 

Moreover, this actually makes spell casting more fun.  This is a subjective analysis, I know, but I think more and more people will agree once they give it a try.  I actually look to a non-MMO for an exampl of this kind of combat: the champion Nidalee in League of Legends.  She has 3 abilities in her human form, and 3 in cougar form.  The 4th ability, her "ultimate," swaps her between forms on a 9 or so cooldown.  This creates the potential for fun self "combos" that requires a little bit of skill and feels very rewarding when executed properly.  You might want to pounce forward to close the gap betrween you and your enemy while in cougar form, swipe once at him, quickly swap to human form to heal yourself and launch a spear toss.  It feels very fluid.  And it seems like every GW2 class will have the same potential. 

I think you should start treating your weapon swap button as an active ability itself.  And it has nothing to do with adhd gameplay.   It's simply more convenient, and potentially more fun and rewarding. 

Originally posted by hulik23

I´ve searched a lot but never found satisfying answer - Ranger. What are the differences between mini pets and pets? That dog in demo was mini pet? Only for human race? Is there a fetch emote/command for dogs? If none above was mentioned I guess we will find out but I´m curious right now.

 Minipets are non-combat pets that anyone can use and will just follow the player around.  They're pretty much just a collectable that looks cute.

The Ranger, on the other hand, has a permanent animal companion that is integrated into their gameplay.  It's one of that profession's defining features.  They can tame a variety of them and each type has a unique ability.

Here's a wiki page listing the different varieties that we know about so far.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Animal_companion

Your pet is also part of a ranger's biography, but it might only affect your choice of initial pet, not your personal storyline.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Biography#Ranger

The dog in the demo (not sure which video you're talking about) was almost certainly a ranger pet as it's one of their biography options for a human.  Any race should be able to tame one out in the wild, but only a human has the option to start with one.

I don't know of any fetch emote.  WoW appears to have a fetch ball available as an item so it's not out of the realm of possibility.  http://www.wowhead.com/item=37431/fetch-ball

I've read this and Im still not really getting it :(

Originally posted by jayanti

ok, read it. Still looks like a lobby game with korean style graphics and a pay2win system. Still dont get the hype. Sorry :(

Of course you don't get the hype,you never will.

Using one of your own lines..

GW2 is a colourful beat-em up made for teenagers with low attention spans,think that's near enough what you said,correct me if i missed a part or got it wrong.

Thanks for the great info! You just made up my mind for me that I will indeed be giving this game a try when it comes out.

seriously TL/DR.

OP thats one hell of a post you did there, thanks for all that info - you sure your not a covert wage slave for them?

all that info must have taken a while to dig up, makes the game look even more interesting

Great info. You really did big job. Respect.  

If ANet deliver against this description I will be a very happy and engaged player for a long time to come. Thanks to the OP for a very well written and informative post.

Good info OP, thanks!

      I may be in the minority, but dodging in combat sucks......IT gets old fast and is really one of my least favorite activities...TO be honest I'd rather just stand toe to toe and duke it out......DO people really want to go on the battlefield and see 500 people jumping around like a box of jumping beans?

Originally posted by Theocritus

      I may be in the minority, but dodging in combat sucks......IT gets old fast and is really one of my least favorite activities...TO be honest I'd rather just stand toe to toe and duke it out......DO people really want to go on the battlefield and see 500 people jumping around like a box of jumping beans?

I couldn't say, I haven't tried the game out yet. Only time will tell how it goes.

Originally posted by Theocritus

      I may be in the minority, but dodging in combat sucks......IT gets old fast and is really one of my least favorite activities...TO be honest I'd rather just stand toe to toe and duke it out......DO people really want to go on the battlefield and see 500 people jumping around like a box of jumping beans?

Some people do, yeah.  After all the years of "just standing", I certainly welcome the need to move.