Fun fact about Gw1:  You couldn't even get a Perfect Salvage kit there without reaching End-game that didn't even get Added until 2007 ...and then it required grinding up a Racial Title to Rank3 first  .... meanwhile in Gw2 I saw a a Karma Vendor who also vended a ton of Purple End-Game gear just like that.

They were off in some Cave where most people never explored to I guess.

...then again, I was spending most of the weekend glitching WAY outside the terrain anyway to as many "End of the World" skybox borders as possible.  So to say I was going off the beaten path is an understatement...

Either way.... we can't even GET TO all the merchants in this game yet so whatever is on the Wiki right now, IS NOT THE ONLY WAY to get stuff.  There will be shit tons more NPC's in higher level areas who give all kinds of super expensive stuff.  ...T-Stones were hinted at being one of those things and Chest-Keys might also be in that category.   Gw1 was exactly the same way with certain Trophy Items, including the game's most expensive Standardized Currency item.

Despite being ADD as hell, I'm mostly immunized to this issue.  I have no idea why; but..... I can and have been playing other games just fine, particularly shooters.    I want to break my monitor several times a day b/c their mechanics are so demographically backwards and frustrating... but I'm still playing them.

When I read posts like the OP's, I can't help but think:  These will be the same exact people who are complaining 6 months from now that Gw2 is boring and they need something else to play.   I've already been diagnosed for my problems so I'm wondering just how messed up they have to be, to be worse off than me when it comes to this stuff.  ....getting THAT bored of anything as fun as this game is (or as fun as GW1 was) as quickly as some people has tells me there's soemthing really really wrong with the current generation of Gamers.   Either something in our Culture or our Food/Water, or some genetic defect is mutating so many people into spoiled hipster robots

/vote Apocalypse2012

I found dodging a bit frustrating, especially since we did not have any Ctrl/Alt/shift - keyboard modifiers integrated like we've always had in GW1.   ....I tended to rely on a knock-back attack (from my longbow) a lot more  often than dodging for interrupting or radidly repositioning the PBAOE damage before it could take place.  I used dodging a lot more often to escape a fight faster than running allowed, just like in DCUO.

Maybe it shouldn't grant immunity, especially not to Ranged weapon users.  But it should definitely reduce the damage that Melees take and certain Pets should also be programmed to do it so they're not as squishy either.  Overall, it defnitely needs more work if it's truly going to be a core component to the game.  And they should really consider making a different Default keyboard setup for it as well since the majority of people who I heard from, disabled the Double-Tap default because it caused them to roll way too often on accident. (It's especially awful on Jump-Maps and can cost you an immense amount of silver in repairs from falling deaths if you leave it on by default).

PS:  standing in fire in Gw1 without even realizing it happened constantly b/c the graphic indicators were a joke.  You had to instead constantly tab-target between different Mage mobs to see which one was casting and you had to read the spell's name to know what was being casted.  If it was a spell you were unfamiliar with, you had to Wiki it to find out if it did AoE or not.   The last major Content update in Gw1 added AoE targeting to several skills that are used by 60% of all Elementalist mobs in the game who did not previously have AoE functions on those skills and this has made several chapters 2-3x harder for Hero/Henchmen parties than they used to be....

Originally posted by miagisan

Originally posted by Satarious

They may be adding some good ideas that have been tried before, but at least they're not going down the traditional "copy & paste wow" path that so many other MMOs have gone down.  It's going to be the anti-WoW game, which is the way I like it!

lol...its nothing like darkness falls

Well that'd be a shame then b/c one of the Devs specifically stated on the Beta board that they modeled it after that element from DaoC ...  and no one called it plagiarism since that dev was also a dev for DAOC back when it was a key feature.

Yep.

Standard MMO Achievers are not going to be happy with this game.  Their flood of discontent will engulf hundreds of forums when they run out of things to do because there is no Gear Treadmill for them to enjoy.  They won't say that's the main reason, but any excuse will do I guess.   It's expected, it's literally impossible to engineer a game in such a way that it would keep a real Achiever constantly occupied without some kind of grind that Explorers wouldn't find boring & punishing.

A choice had to be made.  And Anet chose the Exploreres.

Let's not dwell on it, let's call a spade a spade from now on and leave it at that.

Originally posted by pharazonic

 

I'd actually recommend elementalist. 

^this^

And the elemental "attunement" changing isn't necessary since some of the Elements are already well rounded or focused enough that you won't need to change them to make it to level 80.  ...atleast that's the way Ele always was in Gw1...     It's a nice perk but the Mage type RP'er usually only cares about a single Element anyway.

No Dodging?  That's going to be a tough one, but only in Tight spaces so act like you're claustrophic and you won't need to dodge much in the 1st place, keep a healthy distance and don't go in caves

yeah ... the fact this thread just keeps going, makes me not want to read these forums for a while.  :\

Originally posted by Maephisto

 

Exhibit A:  Do you think this RANGER, who uses a greatsword and only utilizes his spammable ability will get very far post launch in GW2?   I think not.

Now, would this guy be able to climb the ladder and recieve tiered gear while using purely exploitative tatics?  I think so.

The reason they work like that is b/c they're designed to inflict a huge stack of "Vulnerability" at the beginning of the fight  ... this was one of the things I've argued in favor of since the very first year that we knew about more intimate details on combat systems. (I also argued for more intuitive Trapping skills.... but alas, we can't win them all).  Is that gimmicky?   Is that a bad thing?

Fair Warning....  Rangers have always been Gimmicky with ArenaNet.   Not as gimmicky or as broken as a WoW Rogue but indeed gimmicky.   That doesn't mean the entire class is gimmicky but I'll admit enough "gimmick" always exists that in FortAspenwood, I could get away with running a Sniping ganker  ON A WARRIOR PRIMARY (just by abusing Flourish).  But this is only b/c it's a "PUB" format.   ....beyond that, the only other places you'll run into gimmick rangers was in Low-Rating (scrub tier) GvG's, RA, and Costume Brawl.

Anyone who expected to play this class in any other Format had to have even more skill than their competitors just to break even...  And that meant being pro at Interupts by anticipating Canceled-Casts while managing a fairly complex pressure bar and easily being shut down less skillful classes/builds.

IOW:  Overpowered in PUBs is just that....  it's a nice option for some people and it exists for a reason.  But it's not actually rewarding and most people who do it will Admit that they're only doing it as a Piss Take to just have some mindless fun.   --- my only Character in GW2 so far is a ranger and this was one of the considerations going in when I made that decision b/c nothing we do right now will carry over = it's one big piss take until launch day.  When the game finally does go live, I'll be using a Guardian for all my serious pants WvWvW & Structured participation.   ....But I may bring my Ranger back into WvWvW on those days when it's a complete blowout for one side or the other and you're just there to screw around.   I think that's a healthy way to blow off a little steam and doesn't reflect TOOOO awful much on our long term integrity as players.

^Regarding reaction time^

Some people, melees especially, died in PvE a lot simply b/c there was a number of Bugged champions who had too high of a scaling damage multiplier on their biggest AOE's  (commented-on/admitted to by Anet) ... OR  because the Attack went off BEFORE the "big animation" played (not commented on by Anet but hopefully being addressed regardless).

More polish, Video GPU offload optimization, and Latency fixes should resolve most of these issues in the future

Originally posted by daywalker27

That's kind of the point, to stop scrubs like you from winning based on items.  If you suck at PvP, you suck at PvP.

Not proud of it but I totally guffawed at this.

OP would probably be more interested in WvWvW rather than structured PvP.

WvW is based more off the FortAspenwood/AllianceBattles modes in GuildWars1 which had lots of NPC mobs involved as well and objectives that more naturally resembled PvE mode.  Also b/c not everything is unlocked in WvWvW right when you step into it.  You have to level up and unlock stuff just like you were playing PvE.   ...this is primarily b/c the results from it also seems to affect PvE'ers on that server meaning there's a tangible connection between them in rewards and tradeoffs.

Originally posted by Blakkrskyrr

Originally posted by Sciva

Tried DC universe? It's got a decent combat system, and dodging.

i've thought about it, particularly because it has a free aspect, lol.  I may do the download through the night.

Yeah DCUO is kind of in the spirit of GW2.  You can button mash a lot more in it and somehow come out on top unlike in GW2.   So it's pretty spammy in that aspect.   But they've done things to reduce the whole Holy-Trinity bullshit which I would imagine anyone attracted to GW2 would appreciate a lot.    I'm not entirely sure how it works but atleast up to level 30, people you group with will get a buff based on whatever Class/Role you're missing.   So if you were all a bunch of Tankers/DPS, you should be getting increased Health and Energy restoration so you can stay in the fight longer without having to Broadcast for a healer.

I personally hate the whole Blocking system for PvP b/c they tried to balance the entire thing out with this mechanic called the Block Breaker  (which I spammed CONSTANTLY with archery weapons even after they nerfed it and it lead to a lot more kills than we ever should have gotten).  But most other things are really crisp and action packed for Combat in general.   It should take atleast a couple weeks to get tired of it.

Also:  if you like Quest givers with personality.... DON'T ROLL A HERO, ROLL A VILLAIN instead

yeah I died a bit too, and I'm usually the last person to die in most groups in most MMOs.

I don't think this game is meant to be run through without dying a whole lot.  Infact most of the mechanics AFAIK are taught to you by... well ...downing you with them.   The Economy and Goldsinks also seem to revolve around it.  ...speaking of which:

Luckily right when 100% of my Gear had reached it's breaking point, I dinged and was able to equip a whole new set I had pre-crafted several level earlier.

Pure fluke.

Ask any GW1 player.   Marketing has never been Anet's strong point.

Lots of other departments in their studio were always "on the ball" about things.... but not Marketing.  Not Ever.

Originally posted by Aethaeryn

What are the options for approaches to playing this game?

Learn to run.  Not away from stuff, but Past stuff.  

Get a speed buffing Weapon set and stay on the move until you find a really interesting NPC.

The zones are MASSIVE.  You will easily hit the level cap for that zone if you try to do even 2/3's of all the most obvious content in it.  Be pickier.  Hop around between all the Race's zones as you're leveling up.  See more sights and don't get bogged down in the temptation to fight every monster who aggros on you.  Unlike the first guildwars, aggros fall off quickly and everyone can "Run" in this game.  Take advantage of it.

Also, if you find your inventory filled up too quick... start selling that crap cheap  on the Trade post AS YOU'RE out and about.  It's faster than finding a merchant everytime b/c you can do it right where you're standing.  Any money you make off that can go towards buying bigger bags.

During the last 2 beta thingies, I was in PvE and I saw economic buffs listed from our WvW victories. ...similar to those offered in the cash shop

Originally posted by Temp1234

          Hey guys, for those people playing this game for the WvsW element...have you tried the Mount and Blade:Warband game?. For those who have, could i please get your opinion only on WvsW in GW2 and the Mount and Blade series? Seems like WvsW in GW2 is essentially what Warband is..except Warband does it better. Please, only respond if you've actually played both and are familiar with the features and gameplay of both games.

Thanks in advance

-Temp

I got a friend who writes Articles for GW-Insider who is a huge fan of Warband (and esp Mount & Musket mod <-- definitely DL that if you get Warband).... I'll ask him what he thinks and relay it back here.

All I personally know is that there aren't any Horses to kill in WvWvW which is HILARIOUS btw... but there are Dolyaks.

EDIT:  NvM he says they're two completely different games.

IMO, you should buy BOTH of them if you get the money.  They're a lot better deal than the next BattleField DLC or Halo POKEMON or whatever it is the kids spend their money on these days

Oh almost forgot:   yeah as that ^guy mentioned^  Zerg pvp in WvWvW really is a great time killer  (and even the non-zerg kind where your well coordinated gank-squad does all the smaller objectives around the Keeps to starve the Zergs out of their keeps...)

....but even if you get tired of that.... 

The Devs already said they'd be adding more PvP modes to the game.   Right now we only have "Conquer" but they obviously can also add CTF or "Racing" PvP (and actually add jumping & inertia physics this time) ...or a combination of the 2...   and they also hinted at maybe adding a MOBA/TowerDefense type which would probably be even easier for them to add given how much WvWvW already resembles those game types.

Regarding PvP:   Yeah a lot of MMO's  Saaaaaayyyy "Yeah do PvP next, we promise it's fun!" .... but they lie b/c they don't know 1 damn thing about making  fun & INCLUSIVE pvp matchups.   Guildwars1 had this problem too.  I love PvP in FPS games and sorta like it in RTS's.  But I hated Gw1 PvP even tho I was good enough to topscore in random pugging.   I dunno but it just didn't feel right.  The only PvP I really enjoyed there was Costume Brawl and it was only around on certain Holidays.  :(

COH was pretty fun for PvP and I did that for several years until they completely ruined it with the i13 "Castle Patch".   ... Then another Super Hero game, DCUO seemed like it would have great PvP but the more I did it the more I started noticing massive mechanic imbalances and tons more hackers.   Gw1 also had a lot of botters at one point (but Anet cracked down on them eventually). 

Eventually I gave up and just went back to CSS/TF2 for most of my PvP'ing.  (and I avoided LoL b/c it's the Devil).    And to my knowledge, there's only 2 MMO's in history that ever got PvP right, and that was early UO, and DAoC.   ....Oddly enough though during these BWEs, all my FPS friends keep saying that the WvWvW is the first RPG pvp they've actually "loved" from the get-go.  So that's a good indicator it's atleast recaptured some of what made DAoC good.  And I'm really looking forward to it b/c the PvP I lked most from CoH was also Zone-PvP.  (zerg vs zerg basically).   And GW2 seems to have a much better solution to Spawn camping as well which CoH zone PvP completely failed at.  (lol, teleporting enemy player from the hospital door to your assassin strike...GG baddies!)

If the OP truly hadn't touched his account in what 'felt like 10 years'  (maximum would be more like 7 since it released in 2005)  ... then there's no point in recovering that old of an account since he probably didn't actually DO any of the things that grant HOM points.   Especially with how cheap Trilogy packs are selling for from the right retailers...

EDIT:  1 Exception:  If you had a whole stable of "Alts" who beat the last mission in Prophecies since they can then start the War In Kryta arc and very rapidly farm up 9 Oppresser weapons through the daily bounties.

Yeah that was probably it.   But Feedback is feedback, ya don't just turn away that kind of important info like the friggin soup nazi b/c it wasn't in your perfect ideal format while you're literally turning away every paying customer who found a major flaw in your temporary fix.