I would just like to remind you about Hero's

trialist

Core Guru

Join Date: Feb 2005

If you know how to design your heroes skillbars, no pug will ever come close to your custom designed team. For one thing, they do whatever the hell you tell them to, like, "go left!", they will go "yes, boss" and go left, try that with a pug and you may get "F U, i'll go where i please, go <censored> yourself noobie!".

Also, find me a pug interrupter with the leet sauce reflexes of the ranger heroes or the mesmer hero and i'll gladly concede that pugs are better. Oh and what's even better is when you team with a guildie and go 6 heroes. Extreme easy mode for the win.

fivoroth

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Sep 2006

Quote:
Originally Posted by Domino
why did you buy a game that requires an internet connection? ... seriously... why not just play Oblivion or Gothic or something???
Because of its PvP.I play through each campaign only once and then GvG.

0mar

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Jul 2006

Pugs are full of awful players who are stuck in their awful mindsets. I'd venture to say that a very large majority of pug players have zero clue of how to play the game, yet will profoundly expouse their viewpoint as being right.

No thanks.

Age

Age

Hall Hero

Join Date: Jul 2005

California Canada/BC

STG Administrator

Mo/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Theus
I'd just like to remind you that heroes are superior to other players.

Which also probably includes the OP.
I doubt[sp] that maybe you but not me.This entire game is based on coop and isn't 8 brains better than 1 to figure out a mission I would think so.These heros can't react as fast has human player can and if you play with heros long enough and decide to pvp it forget it.That is what missions are suppose to teach but like somone said we might as well make GW a offline single player game.When not playing my Monk I always look at health bars.

I would wage a full team of 1 player and Heros in GvG agianst a real 8 man team or even a 6 man team.

Xenrath

Xenrath

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Oct 2005

W/Me

Give it up Age, it's not worth it. Reading the majority of these posts, watching how MOST outposts and towns (in Europe anyway) few talk and not many want to team up anymore it's all too obvious at this moment in time the Single Player mentality is prevailing.

Contrary to some opinions, friends list/guildies and "options" is not the real answer to the decline in coop play, because people are at different stages of the game and often using bots themselves, so even less inclination to team up with anyone. So the players who do want to team up are having a harder and harder time of it, and themselves resorting to using bots. Which in turn makes it even more difficult, can you see the pattern here?

Honestly, I don't know why folks didn't just stick to single player games instead of apparently successfully turning PvE into a mostly single player game. Why come to a multiplayer online game in order to play it essentially single player mode? Perhaps that kind of person would have been better off sticking to offline games like Oblivion, or playing offline Quake/UT with bots, Halflife 2, or NWN in single player offline mode and the like. Stick to using MSN/IRC if you need the chatrooms, do the online gaming world a service and stay away, with your bots

Much as I like Nightfall over Factions in terms of content and stuff, I bought GW originally as a multiplayer game, that aspect of which largely is in decline from what I've experienced (not counting PvP, am not interested in that). If this continues, which it has every sign of doing so currently, I'm hoping another decent multiplayer game turns up; am currently looking into NWN2.

The Silver Star

The Silver Star

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Jun 2006

UK, Scotland

Il Guild Name Il

W/

Well i personally stopped roughly 70% of the way through Nightfal lbecause when i said "Looking for (what i needed here)" i basically got back "lol z0mg noob use heroes you noob". i thought this was supposed to be a team game? Not "lets go play with my Talkora on this mission its so funny"

Where is the team element in the game now in HA and PvE it feels more like an offline MMO.

Cebe

Cebe

The 5th Celestial Boss

Join Date: Jul 2006

Inverness, Scotland

The Cult of Scaro [WHO]

E/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lyphen
I did Thunderhead Keep last night. A monk left because he didn't get a gold.


Tell me why I shouldn't use Heroes instead.
That's brilliant! That has to get the award for the worst excuse ever for leaving half way through a game!

Quite...my view is Heroes > PuG. Which appears to be the general feeling here. I went with a PuG for the penultimate mission and we...failed 3 times. I also went with a PuG for the final mission which we passed with Masters. Those are the only two missions I used real people for. I notice Canthan quests are getting worse also. I got my Elonian monk to Tahnnakai yesterday, with my brother's Paragon and we went in with a human team. We got pwnd because everyone wanted to rugh around and aggro everything they could see. When we failed and were sent back to the outpost my brother and I just said "yea, good luck and all...heroes ftw". We took Heroes and got Masters first time.

Oh god...Aborstone next...Heroes it is then!

Esprit

Esprit

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jun 2005

Dvd Forums [DVDF]

E/

My heroes and henchmen will stay in one place when I tell them to. I don't need to frantically scribble a white line across the minimap to stop my hero/hench group.

My hero/hench group won't kick me out of a mission group because the monk complained about having too many of a certain profession.

My hero/hench group won't care if I afk for an hour while in an instance.

I don't have to worry about impatient players causing additional aggro because they have some burning need to get somewhere.

I will take a Guild group over a hero/hench group anyday, but I will hero/hench before trying a PUG.

bungusmaximus

bungusmaximus

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jul 2006

Guild Of Handicrafted Products [MaSS]

W/Mo

Quite a bad thing actually, mostly playing with PUG's is more fun for me and less stress. Its hard enough already to control 1 character, let alone 4 simultaneously. Realm of torment missions went quite well with a PUG, i beat 3 pretty hard quests in a row and i had fun too. I think heroes are great when a desired profession is hard to come by (I especially LOVE my monk heroes, since theyre smart and energy-efficient) but I mainly like teaming up most of all. I hope this Hero-mania is just temporarily because I really want to play with real ppl again. Of course I agree with most people here that an occasional jerk is inevitable, but theyre a minority really IMO. I mostly learn a lot from real players that heroes can't tell me. And then theres always the problem that I can't get a good build yet for most heroes I get. What fun is there having a warrior when I only unlocked 6 skills for him. I can make a decent monk, an ele and a ranger but that's all. It's gonna take quite a lot of AB games before I unlocked every skill in the game...

unmatchedfury

unmatchedfury

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Jul 2006

Cookie Cutter [FTW]

Quote:
Originally Posted by The Silver Star
Well i personally stopped roughly 70% of the way through Nightfal lbecause when i said "Looking for (what i needed here)" i basically got back "lol z0mg noob use heroes you noob". i thought this was supposed to be a team game? Not "lets go play with my Talkora on this mission its so funny"

Where is the team element in the game now in HA and PvE it feels more like an offline MMO.
I wish it did. unfortunantly your forced to play with others, woudl be so much nicer if you could solo all but end game content. and even then with a little skill end game content would be possible. Unfortuantly since this game has no charactor scaling whatso ever its not possible. so mass t eams of computers, 11 yearolds, and if your lucky friends, are neccecary for even the most mundane things.

to make it worse team play isnt actually rewarded. you get less drops in team play... doesn't really make a whole lot of sense to me.

Braggi

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Mar 2006

Quote:
Originally Posted by Domino
I've played through all 3 games with my friends, ...

It just baffles the mind to hear these sociopathic tendencies emerge with people proclaiming how it's so awesome to play through the entire game with henchmen. If you don't want to play with people, ...

It just makes no sense to me... maybe I'm missing something here, but I didn't buy Guild Wars for the single-player experience. If I wanted that I'd be playing a different game... that's just me though.
Hm, maybe I miss something here too, because that rather sounds like you bring your own friends and don't have to socialize a lot with random people... That's sociopatic too, just on another level... Joining good guilds is just as difficult for people with limited time, as it needs some luck and usually conscious effort from you and the guild to make a match.

Heroes bring freedom, agreed. At a time I jumped through 9-11 european LA districts to find partners for the "get Olias" mission, and just one fast discouraged taker. Did it with leveled up heroes in the end, not for want of trying to find breathing players...

If I play, I want to play, not beg for groups and waste a lot of time in outposts. So I find or create one, great. Otherwise I have alternatives now.
For leisurely play even small groups often have a different pace than you have, be it more slow, more fast, more risky or more risk averse. So especially when I try new approaches or for my personal excessive goals (aka titles) I rather go alone with heroes. There's alsothe guild/ alliance chat on the side when I feel like company, even when playing alone atm.

garethporlest18

garethporlest18

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jan 2006

[HiDe]

W/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Eilsys
Admittedly, I doubt I'll ever PUG again with heroes... but I know a good number of the people on my friends' list came from fun PUGs. I'm glad that I can avoid the 9/10 awful groups you come across, but some of the best experiances in GW I've had were with them
Well it helps that you're not the best player out there so don't run into many people worse than you!

I love you DH no worries. (as a friend sicko).


As for me I do both. I hate henchmen bad and only use PUGS if Heroes fail me. But I've been using Hero's the whole time with henchies, and that's what i used to beat NF. I also had to use henchies to do the THK bonus. Boy that was fun.

Hench healers are suck 1/2 of the time for me. They either are ace and I'm proud of them or they suck so bad it makes me want to kill them, their families ship them off to Antarctica and freeze their loins. NO TAI YOU DON'T USE SIGNET OF DEVOTION ON ME WITH RUST ON YOU DAMN YOU! *cough*

I do FoW with a lot or did when I was going for my FoW. I farmed about 110 shards so I was PuGing a lot. I got some really great groups with nice people that co-oped very well. Then I got crap. It's good it's bad but doesn't ruin GW for me as a whole as I'm a selfish person and only do things for myself. SO other people tend not to ruin things for me..well sometimes but not all the time. It's usually myself if it happens.

Prospero

Prospero

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Nov 2005

Between keyboard and chair

KoTR

Heh. I bought GW because I didn't have to interect with other players to get things done. I play odd hours sometimes and I don't want to PUG and most of my guildies are in another time-zone. So the addition of Heroes is a Godsend. Anyway, the content is out-pacing the population and so we NEED Heroes.

Amorfati87

Academy Page

Join Date: Mar 2006

House of Moon

R/Rt

I PUG'd every single stupid mission in chapter 2 and I do mean stupid mission. I spent most of my time yelling at my computer because people do the most silly things and think they know everything. The rest of my time was spent spamming for groups and not being taken because I was a Ranger or an Assassin or a Rit or well whatever it was that they decided they didn't want that day.

I played the elite mission The Deep, and I will tell you that I never was in a group that had 12 left by the end of it. Somebody always drops, somebody always aggro's, somebody always goes AFK, somebody always tells somebody else they are an idiot, or well I'm sure we all get the idea.

So PUGS? No spank you...

Thank GOD for heroes!

Oh, btw, why do the people who love playing with heroes have to find a new game? Why can't we play the stupid game like we want to? Obviously ANET doesn't agree with you since they gave us Heroes and Henchmen to begin with.

EternalTempest

EternalTempest

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Jun 2005

United States

Dark Side Ofthe Moon [DSM]

E/

@OP - I prefer human players and love pugs (good and bad)

But I too have found Hero/Hench groups are better then pugs...

I try and find human pugs.. but in NF that's hard to find 8 human players. At best 4/5 then the rest are hero's.

One mission stands out the floating temple in the mirror of lyssa. Joined a group, leader shouting, rage quitting, mission is impossible. Grab my hero's / henchmen... get expert with an un-optimized hero group on 1st solo try.

I still will seek out human players 1st.. but if the District is dead or it's a mission where I can't find good help (will try a few pugs before), it's hero/henchmen for me.

trankle

trankle

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Oct 2005

BloodBath & Beyond

Rt/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Xenrath
Honestly, I don't know why folks didn't just stick to single player games instead of apparently successfully turning PvE into a mostly single player game. Why come to a multiplayer online game in order to play it essentially single player mode? Perhaps that kind of person would have been better off sticking to offline games like Oblivion, or playing offline Quake/UT with bots, Halflife 2, or NWN in single player offline mode and the like. Stick to using MSN/IRC if you need the chatrooms, do the online gaming world a service and stay away, with your bots
Hi. I think you and the "go play Oblivion" set are forgetting a simple fact: GW is not a multi-player Oblivion. Nor is it an online Quake. It's GW.

If you lack the ability to differentiate games from one another, and bought GW for the sole reason that it's multi-player, then more power to you. I bought it, and keep buying it, because I like it as a specific game. I like the classes. I like the skills. I like the setting.

Can we please stop using the ridiculous argument that GW is simply a mulit-player clone of single-player games? Thanks.

Kerus Tel Veren

Academy Page

Join Date: May 2005

People online are horrible. They really, really are. It is a trusim that without controls of some sort in place (moderation, strict barrier of entry, something else), the larger a community grows, the worse the quality and caliber of person becomes.

This is true of every mmo and the bulk of online games out there, and perhaps more true for GW because it attracts competitive players (who are, by and large, more high strung than players more interested in exploring and enjoying the world or missions) and it has no monthly fee.

It is true for most online forums as well - generally the smaller, carefully moderated, tightly focused discussion groups tend to be the most friendly, interesting, and insightful - until they become large and unmanageable. Then they either adopt strict moderation policies, or otherwise restrict access (take a look at the SA forums for an example of a huge but still thriving community... with amazingly harsh moderation AND a pay-to-talk entry barrier). If not, they tend to collapse under their own weight and either fragment or die completely.

Some mmos burn out and fade due to really atrocious gameplay, technical issues, support, or other problems. Guild Wars most certainly does not have those issues (I still thinking the tech they have in place is amazing, and I've played it on and off since beta with few or no problems that I can recall), and it is blessed with some astonishing artwork and world design.

But the community - the quality of the community is, unfortunately, not tied to the quality of the game. And indeed, as the popularity of the game grows, so too does its user base, and the average level of expertise drops - no barrier of entry, and an increasingly large amount of information, knowledge, and skill to absorb before a player can become truly proficient all cause serious problems; particularly when previous in-game learning barriers become circumvented and corrupted.

Witness the growth of running, until it becomes difficult to simply get a group to do a mission or an area 'for real'. Perhaps done initially by bored vets leveling pve alts, it eventually becomes the 'norm' for a large chunk of people, who start to expect that sort of treatment (and behavior) from others.

Similarly, genuinely challenging missions for new players are incredibly hard to work through in an environment where the population around the mission consists of either veterans (who know what to do, have already done it, expect you to know the same, and will be annoyed if you don't), or incredibly poor players who were rushed to the location, and are, in essence, completely new players (who will quit at the first sign of difficulty, whine relentlessly, and look for someones coattails to pull them through to the next sticking point).

Guild Wars is especially bizarre in that it has a little of something of everyone - it has a vast world to explore, it has a series of storyline quests to tackle, it has incredibly competitive pvp, and it has a strange mix of very easy and very very difficult pve content. It's an rpg, but it plays like an action game at times. You can spend weeks or months building a pve character, or you can, as a brand new player, buy a pvp unlock and never touch the campaigns.

The result of that eclectic blend of possibilities available to the prospective player is pretty obvious - you get a really eclectic blend of players. You get ex-quake clanners out for blood in GvG battles. You get card game players who like the Magic-esque feel of the skills. You get single player rpg fans. You get mmo fans. You get really young kids, you get older married couples.

It is no surprise, none at all, that pugs are a horrible experience for many people - the odds of you getting matched up with people who have similar tastes, similar expectations, and similar desires from a group are so bad, it's amazing that you can meet cool people at all.

Really, the next big jump for GW (and mmos in general really) isn't adding Heroes so you can skirt the issue entirely by playing online solitaire, it's adding the tools in-game to match compatible players in a group - and by compatible, I'm not talking about character class :P Think internet dating for online gaming nerds instead of a lfg window.

Anyway, that went off on a tangent.

Back to the topic - Heroes absolutely are a replacement for other players in coop. Why? Because I play Guild Wars to enjoy myself, and grouping with random PuGs is somewhere between the 7th and 9th layers of hell in terms of enjoyment for me.

I consider this to be unfortunate, as nothing beats the fun of playing with a group of like-minded people, but locating them in the seething cesspool of genetic rejections at Lion's Arch 1 isn't happening any time soon.

'lfg' in-game is a dire tool of last resort. Group with friends, make new friends on forums who seem sane, get in a guild that seems to have cool members... or group with Heroes and Henchmen, who are more likely to get you loot than they are to give you an ulcer.

Gun Pierson

Gun Pierson

Forge Runner

Join Date: Feb 2006

Belgium

PIMP

Mo/

@Keros: I really enjoyed your post, well thought out and interesting.

@ OP: Heros are way better than henchies or most real players. They listen and stick around. You can give them the builds you want and even use their skill bar. In other words they're an extension of yourself. In the right hands they're really imba, seriously.

The downside from a social point of view is that people don't need to pug. You alrdy see this in most nightfall towns, silence. Except for the second last mission. I also notice less sellers and buyers but that can be because most are playing the campaign or are looking for exploits to farm, chestrun etc. It just feels a bit strange, a bit that ghost town feeling.

Ember010

Ember010

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Nov 2006

D/

I am loving heroes! Especially because im a huge animal lover lol & pretty much all my characters have either had a ranger 2nd prof to start out with or are rangers. Not very good for PvP but still.

My newest love has been giving the heroes charm animal. All of my heroes have a lioness, and I have a lion. Although theres only 4 I love going about in a pack!

Oo And apply poison is my new found love lol. Random but yeh!

wilson

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2005

aggro bubble

[RD];[FW];[GOTS];[baed];[kiSu]

I don't think that heroes will change the game that much. You have always been able to hench your way through most of the coops, heroes don't change that. Of course this got a bit easier with heroes, but it hasn't changed the fact that you have always been able to hench your way through the campaigns. There have always been only a couple of coops that were very hard to hench, nothing new to that. PUGs were only necessary on a couple of occasions and they still are. I think the things that really improved is the way you can play with henchmen now. You can assign targets, make them hold certain points on the maps, call a target for your henchmen, than just focus yourself on another target. I f you could assign targets to henchies, there would be no difference between those and heroes imho.

And for buying weapons and runes for heroes, I just don't see the point. I would never spend my hard earned money on equipping henchmen. The good drops I get I will keep giving them away to my guildies/ friends or just sell it if no one needs it. Heroes are just henchmen.

SpeedyKQ

SpeedyKQ

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Dec 2005

E/Me

Most pug players are nice people, of widely varying skill levels. I'm amazed by how much the people on this forum let the occasional pug jackass get to them and would rather live in a bubble. I enjoy the unpredictability and the interaction. Sometimes you get an amazing group and rock the mission, sometimes you get a weaker group and have to carry them a bit, and sometimes you get a terrible group and have to find another one. But for me, not knowing beforehand is kinda fun.

With at least one of my characters I'm going to play though the game old-school, henching the quests and pugging the missions, only bringing heroes where required. Looking forward to it.

Sure heroes are more effective than most pugs, but pretty much all of my meaningful GW memories (most good, some bad) come from playing with others. I really don't want to throw that away.

Lenixo

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Aug 2005

Quote:
Originally Posted by Xenrath
Just release the next chapter as a single player offline game and be done with it. Why even call it a multiplayer game anymore, since people seem to not play it that way for large sections of it as it currently is. Hey, no more err=007s right?
thats THE true thing about nightfall and the way the game is developing. its sad.
my friends started playing WoW again because you actually play with people there and see people playing even if the gameplay is activity therapy for retards.

crimsonfilms

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Jun 2005

The Heroes system is a double edge sword.

ANet probably implemented it to fix certain issues---

1. The migrating population from chapter to chapter.
2. The request for a 'smarter' NPC Hench system.

The downside is

1. Smarter Hench request basically means 'I don't have the patience or desire for PUGing' - thus the reduction of cooperative PvEing in GW.

2. The amount of customization has an added burden to the economy. I used burden because Heroes don't have their own storage and drops. Players must provide that. Yet, they are part of the 'demand' aspect of the economy.


Solution for problem 1 is to have missions that needs coordination. Like accomplishing 2 different tasks at one given time. For example, in GvG, Heroes does not work because you have to go on the offensive, maintain flag control and defend the guild hall - among other little tasks like fixing the cata/treb.

With heroes, you would not need 7 other players. 2-4 might be good enough. At least you satisfy the population and cooperative problems at the same time.

Solution for 2 is to change the drop system. Either increase it or have Heroes have some kind of drop.

.02

Velvet Wing

Velvet Wing

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Aug 2006

In your cupboard *nomming* your cookies

Blade of Souls

P/W

I really love to do a mission with a nice PUG.. Even though I sometimes had people ragequit, noobs that agro big groups when we are just taking a moment to regen, error 7's (not their fault but still annoying), 1337 haxxorz.. trust me, been around long and seen it all.. but still I do get more satisfaction while finishing a tough mission..

**TINY SPOILER ALERT**
The most recent example was me taking down Shiro at the end of nightfall.. I had to try 4 times untill I got my build right and killed him fast after that.. Then I played trough the mission again because a guildie needed some help, we decided to go PUG instead of heroes, cause the heroes my guildie could provide were not good enough.. After a while (about 20 minutes..which is not that long to be honoust) we got a reasonable party --> 2 wammo, 1 dervish, 1 para, 2 monks, 1 elem, 1 necro and we decided to do the mission..
After a long mission (took us almost an hour and a half) we finally kicked shiro behind and got to the last area of NF.. Even though I already finished the mission before, this time around it seemed more satisfying.. People congratulating each other, telling them we were proud of eachother, adding people to friends list, even inviting a new guildie.. I guess PUG's are worth it, at least in my humble opinion
**END OF SPOILER**

MasterThrawn

MasterThrawn

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Feb 2006

Gryffindor

You know I've only been playing Nightfall over the weekend, but I find myself just doing the quests or missions and not even bother to interact with anyone at all. I wasn't doing this purposely, but what's the point. Especially near the beginning where you can only have 4 people in your party. I loe Heroes, and the fact that I won't have to wait for groups to find Monks anymore, but I don't know. Playing through the first two chapters (mostly the first) just seemed so much more - fun. I guess I kind of miss going through some of those (often funny) missions with PUG's. That's where I met my guildies after all...

Kyosuke

Kyosuke

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: May 2006

The Tomb of Souls

DC

N/Me

Maybe I've been lucky. I'm in the Realm of Torment and for the past 5 or 6 missions ihave done PUGS. I don't like just using heroes.. Granted, I don't do anything extra for mins, add skills, etc... so when it comes down to fighting all lvl 28 stuff it's a pain, but I like playing iwht people... Did the Varesh mission wiht people, made it easier.. All missions i Do with peopel I get through on the first try.. wth Henchies, takes a few times.. People are still smarter and the way to go.. If you want to play a singleplayer game go play on your SNES that's collecting dust.

Jetdoc

Jetdoc

Hell's Protector

Join Date: Jul 2005

The Eyes of Texas [BEVO]

D/A

Quote:
Originally Posted by Xenrath
Just release the next chapter as a single player offline game and be done with it. Why even call it a multiplayer game anymore, since people seem to not play it that way for large sections of it as it currently is.
Very well put. The attitudes in this thread are EXACTLY what I was worried about when I heard of the institution of heroes.

Is Guild Wars becoming a multiplayer game only for the PvP aspect?

I believe that A-Net realized the ever thinning population could cause problems for people playing the game. Heroes were that patch to fix that problem.

However, they are only increasing the problem - because people are now using their heroes instead of teaming up with other players, it will likely become VERY difficult to find other people that want to form a max group to complete a quest with you, let alone a mission.

I really see the PvE aspect of Guild Wars becoming more along the lines of a glorified Baldur's Gate. Choose your NPC party of your choice, group with them, and then go overpower the game. You are already seeing people complain that heroes and henchmen aren't "good" enough to beat (or explore) some of the hardest parts of the game. That's not a good sign.

Lord Zado

Academy Page

Join Date: Oct 2005

Dusk

Mo/Me

I suscribe to the theory that Guidmates/Friends > Heroes > Henchies > PUGS for the most part, but you all have to honestly ask yourself "How did you meet your friends or find your guild in the first place?". The answer to that for most of us is probably from PUG's! So while yes I have the sincerest dislike for bad PUG's, I sometimes go back to it just because you never know who you might meet.

Also, when a new game is first released, I notice the PUG's tend to be a lot better. Back when Factions was released, my old alliance was a bit slow in advancing ahead, so I got my first character through with the help of 2 good friends and PUG's. I must say, all of the PUG's I was in were pretty darn good. There was none of that "gogogogo" attitude you get from people that have played through the game 2 - 10 times. When everything is fresh, no one really acts like a know-it-all or rushes ahead. Those that act that way are usually stuck on the same early missions over and over again, so towards the end, there's nothing but good players.

Sadly, I'm missing this nice pugging period because I am so enthralled with the new heroes (and because of dial up lag issues on release *groan*) and I'm guessing a lot of other people are too. Seems that most people that are PUG'ing are those that don't have the skill to beat it with heroes/henchies and that usually is bottom of the barrel. So naturally your average PUG in this situation is not going to be that great. But at the end of the day PUG's are the great wild card. Some of my best memories in GW are barely squeaking by a mission with a PUG, finishing after several ragequits, etc. I've even had PUG's run missions smoother than I have done with guildmates! Just have to be willing to wade through the bad to get to the good I guess.

Jetdoc

Jetdoc

Hell's Protector

Join Date: Jul 2005

The Eyes of Texas [BEVO]

D/A

Quote:
Originally Posted by MasterThrawn
Playing through the first two chapters (mostly the first) just seemed so much more - fun. I guess I kind of miss going through some of those (often funny) missions with PUG's. That's where I met my guildies after all...
Exactly. Which are you likely to remember:

1. Completing a mission with your heroes and henchmen?

2. Completing a mission with a decent PuG, while chatting/making fun of other party members?

My best experiences in the game have been with PuGs, especially those that were "challenged". Sometimes your strength as a player comes out to make up for other players' deficiencies - those are the challenges that Guild Wars strives for you face.

Yes, you'll get frustrated with some PuG's incompetencies. But that should be part of any Multiplayer game, shouldn't it?

Prospero

Prospero

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Nov 2005

Between keyboard and chair

KoTR

Ok, here is the issue as I see it. If Heroes are accepted by the majority of players, then why should it be different? If Heroes are rejected, then people will PUG and you don't have this issue. ANet has not forced a policy upon us by giving us Heroes. They have addressed the issue that people think hench are inadaquate and should be better. These are the same people who don't want to PUG. You're telling me that you want people who don't want to play with others in your group? People who enjoy grouping with others can still do it. Those who don't will continue to play. As I see it, those who would have quit long ago b/c of forced groups, now can continue to play. I wasn't active in a Guild until I was at Ring of Fire and had I not had henchmen, I'd have quit GW LONG ago.

I just don't understand the argument about ANet trying to move this game into a more Single-Player mode....It's the how the PLAYERS play that decides what type of game this is, not ANet's added options.

My best experiences have been when playing with others, but so have my worst. I guess your preference is derived from your tolerance to others and how often the good/bad groups have happened to you.

Jetdoc

Jetdoc

Hell's Protector

Join Date: Jul 2005

The Eyes of Texas [BEVO]

D/A

Quote:
Originally Posted by Prospero
I just don't understnad the argument about ANet trying to move this game into a more Single-Player mode....It's the how the PLAYERS play that decides what type of game this is, not ANet's added options.
Yes, but more people playing in Single Player mode = less people to PuG with.

When you have less people to PuG with, especially in an ever expanding game, it may get to the point where people that want to play in a PuG cannot, because of a shortage of available players.

So yes, additional options can negatively impact how others play the game.

GranDeWun

GranDeWun

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: May 2005

Heros are great for those of us who have unlocked tons of skills, and are familiar with various builds and what roles they play. But I pity a new player just starting out in Nightfall, for whom the heros are just expensive henchies, and who can't even find a group anymore...and the number of PUG's is definitely reduced as far as I can tell. Many Torment outposts have no chat at all!

Prospero

Prospero

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Nov 2005

Between keyboard and chair

KoTR

You have a valid point, but if MOST people avoid PUGs, then that may lead to fewer people to PUG with. BUT, my point is this, the types of people that hate PuGing aren't going to play period. Besides, as much as I hate to say it, majority rules in this case. I'm not saying it's fair, but it is what it is. I honestly think that in the long-run Heroes are going to have a positive effect on player longevity. People are the best and worst part of GW, I like having a choice.

You still have a choice. In fact, PuGs are now IMPROVED because you are working with players who WANT to PuG, not those who feel forced. If you aren't happy with it then I guess the next step is to ask ANet to provide a better grouping system. I'd be behind you on that move all the way.

Petrus

Petrus

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Aug 2005

norway

W/

well... i tried 4 times to do second to last mission in nf with pugs.. failed each time... first try with a descent hero/hench build (my own).. sadly to say, but heroes plays better than (most) pugs.. ofcourse guild/alliance plays better than heroes..

garethporlest18

garethporlest18

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jan 2006

[HiDe]

W/

I like having the option of Heroes or Henchies or PUGs. I don't play by myself I'm always playing with a guildie, except when I beat the game. Honestly I don't mind playing with people in missions or hard elite mission type places (FoW/UW), but I rather not when I'm just going out to kill things which is what I like to do as well, or for quests. Which is where I usually play with my friends or guildy.

I do like going into town though and talking to people that are there and seeing that other people are around. It's the first week folks, give it time, once people start getting farther, start getting more used to and more content starts to come..more PUGs will pop up. I'd be upset if they make this a single player game offline. I like playing online and interacting with people, but it doesnt' have to be ALL the time. It's fine how it is now, just wait.

Myria

Banned

Join Date: Aug 2005

Quote:
Originally Posted by Prospero
I just don't understand the argument about ANet trying to move this game into a more Single-Player mode....It's the how the PLAYERS play that decides what type of game this is, not ANet's added options.
Anet could have created a long-overdue grouping system so people weren't ludicrously reduced to standing in a single discrete instance typing "LFG!" over and over.

Anet could have made teaming with other humans beneficial somehow.

Anet could have made teaming with other humans required, or nearly so, for some quests or missions.

Anet could have done lots of things that would have encouraged interaction with others, but they didn't. Instead they introduced heroes, super-henchies that make it even easier than it already was to dual- or solo-play the game.

The players use the tools they're given, clearly Anet feels that giving people tools to make it easier to hench is more important than giving them tools that make it easier to group. Given that, I'm not sure how you can argue that they aren't trying to move GW to a single- or dual-player game.

brokenmonkey

brokenmonkey

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Feb 2006

CA

[UC] Uber Crue

W/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Terra Xin
The plural for Heroes is Heroes, not Hero's...

Well said, lol.

PanGammon

PanGammon

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Aug 2006

The Underworld

Leader of Grenth Gaming Inc [GG]

Mo/Me

Lets be honest. Heros have kind of attacked the game. They can be used in TA, AB, HA and can outdo almost any PUG 99% of times. This isnt a bad thing but it kinda defeats the purpose of an MMORPG. Thats why I rather go with my guild or friends and throw in some heroes or henches. On the other hand heroes rock, If only they didnt hax so much cash.........

Oh a GW forum

Oh a GW forum

Banned

Join Date: Oct 2006

W/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Hockster
Heroes>PUG's

I beat Nightfall entirely without once using anything but Heroes and Hench. With a ranger. There is absolutely no need to ever suffer a PUG again.
Same. I'm about to try THK with heros/hench. I think I'll beat it first try.

Amorfati87

Academy Page

Join Date: Mar 2006

House of Moon

R/Rt

Where were all you people that like to PUG when I needed Eternal Grove? I was stuck there for so long I realized why they called it Eternal, because you'll be there for all eternity looking for a group of pugs.

I have over 24 characters, why do I have so many? Because every single time I used to get to Thunderhead Keep it took forever to get through it and I'd start a new character. But alas, that new character would get to THK and the cycle would start all over again, sigh.

Those were the days...being stuck for weeks because PUGs either wouldn't take you, couldn't find a monk and decided to hench that part and if they did take you, inevitably they'd always argue about how best to beat the end of the mission and we'd die horribly, screaming and in pain. Anyone who knows that mission knows it takes FOREVER to even get to the end, and for it to all go to crap 9 times out of 10 is just annoying. I don't have that kind of time to waste, I have a life yunno...(not really).