ARRRGH... (this is a rant, for those who dont like those things)

Maybe I'm just a poor noob, but I have to believe that everyone's not like that. I'm not; I can't be the only one who isn't. some arent. in fact, id bet the majority of the community isnt. but just the idea of DoA creates a vicious cycle:

joe mesmer thinks "no one plays DoA casually, so i wont even go there." joe rit, joe sin, and joe para all think and do the same thing. so now when joe derv does go there, no one is there to play it for fun. so he never goes back because he thinks "no one plays DoA casually, so i wont even go there." repeat.

if everyone who really wanted to play DoA casually actually showed up in force, the districts would be packed with mesmers, rits, sins, paras, derv, and even monks, wars, eles, and necros who want to just roll it for fun. but they dont, so its impossible to get it done.

what makes GW fun is a few things: It's a beautiful game, I've found some really neat people all over the GW world, and I like earning what I can get. But I get you. What works for me isn't what works for others. I see folks talking about their bank accounts being greater than Ascalon's Treasury (pre-searing) and wonder what it's like to do the same thing over and over again. I don't think in the 20 months I've been playing that I've ever had more than 60K in storage. It's about the same for me, though I usually am around 100 k... except that one time, when I auctioned that axe that had dropped from a level 11 grasping ghoul during the undead hordes quest in beetletun for 375 k... it wasn't my axe, and the person who had given it to me for auction chose to split up the money evenly... but there, I had some 400 k in storage for a day or so.
I'm not a farmer. If I'd want to go farming in a game, I'd play Harvest Moon.
(Occasionally "farming" 5 hydra claws/carpaces/heket tongues/whatever for a collectors weapon for a friend or new character doesn't count as "farming" here, I think)

Well, the only thing that helps against the holy trinity is a bunch of good friends in a guild and/or alliance and the luck to meet one or two like-minded more in the respective outposts. Then you can do those things with a different set of characters. Like doing UW2 with 2 Mesmers, 2 Warriors, 1 Necro (neither MM, nor Order, nor BiP), 1 Ranger Hench and 2 Monk Henchs in a time when every team HAD TO be 4-5 B/P Rangers, 1 Order Necro, 1 MM and 1-2 Healer Monks.
Takes longer, is maybe less profitable, but can be HUGE fun. Which is that I don't doubt that rocking an area with the trinity is. Having 20-something foes perish at the same time behind a wall of warriors, pummeled to death by multiple Meteor Storms is a nice view... but... I like playing my mesmer far too much. And, if I have the choice, I'd prefer the probably more-death-including, more-times-try-starting variant of a team that is made up out of people playing the class they like most, and, if possible, the build for that class they like most.

But it's experiences like standing at UW2, looking for a team, or like someone inviting himself into our (then 2-man-guild-)team and instantaneously saying: "Kick the mesmer" that make me play almost solely with guildies. Why should I bother to talk people with a into accepting me, just to be forced to "prove" something to them afterwards? It's not like I wouldn't be the one that messed everything up if it fails, even if it wasn't me who caused the wipe anyhow. My guildmates know me, they know what I can do, what I'm best at, what I can't do. We always find some way to go. I guess I haven't disappointed the people I have played with on PuGs (rare occasions) either...

So... enough said. I belong to the adventurous, (self-)experience seeking, but less efficient, others belong to the industrious, efficiency-seeking, but maybe less open-minded. I'd say "To each his own", but that has... well... a really bad association for me that I sadly cannot reveal as it would start to invoke fulfillment of Godwins Law almost immediately.

ss1986v2 is right, though. Presence would be a solution. I have my guild to rely on, here. We all usually have an evening with 6-8 hours time to spend every now and then, and then we do such stuff. But maybe the non-trinity players should sort of... form like a network... or something?

some arent. in fact, id bet the majority of the community isnt. but just the idea of DoA creates a vicious cycle:

joe mesmer thinks "no one plays DoA casually, so i wont even go there." joe rit, joe sin, and joe para all think and do the same thing. so now when joe derv does go there, no one is there to play it for fun. so he never goes back because he thinks "no one plays DoA casually, so i wont even go there." repeat.

if everyone who really wanted to play DoA casually actually showed up in force, the districts would be packed with mesmers, rits, sins, paras, derv, and even monks, wars, eles, and necros who want to just roll it for fun. but they dont, so its impossible to get it done. You're right on with that. Part of the problem is lack of necessity (or at least obvious necessity) for the other more defined classes. People see "ok we need something to tank damage, we'll roll a warrior, now we need something to deal damage, we'll roll some eles, now we need something to heal us, we'll roll monks, now we need something to keep energy up, we'll roll a BiP necro". These builds deal with 3 things: Health, Energy, and Damage. The more subtle aspects of pressure, control, spiking, all that stuff that is less concrete doesn't get applied, and the defined roles get tossed out as a result.

The solution? ANET needs to adjust these areas so that there is an obvious NEED for such things. There may already be a role for mesmers in DoA that people just haven't seen yet, but they probably won't ever see that role because they just flatten the enemies with elementalists and move on. Maybe add enemies with special enchantments that need to be removed in order to combat them effectively? Or add enemies that punish YOUR team for using enchantments, making a paragon's shouts or a ritualists defensive spirits more viable. Heck, maybe even add some enemies with a high resistance to a particular damage type (say fire?) so that damage types need to be varied.

Basically, a lot of this could be fixed by elite areas where the enemies consist of more than just hard hitting baddies with tons of health.

What is up with DoA? So far, all that are allowed into the elitist groups are the so called "holy trinity": ele, monk, and warrior. The only other profession allowed in is the necro, and they can only play a BiP build! Really, the place is starting to be like HA, with people demanding that you have Lightbringer 3+ (like fame) or being a certain profession. A Dervish, Paragon, Ranger, Mesmer, Ritualist or Assassin isn't seen for miles. And if a Dervish is allowed into a group, he must be D/E or he's trash, because obviously the only way a Dervish can tank is with Obsidian Flesh. (btw, I'm talking about Dervishes because that's what I play)

Feel free to add on to this rant if you want... or something. What I want to know is why I can't get an Anguish Gemstone set without having to buy one. I don't want to farm solo; I want to be able to kill Mallyx and all that. And btw, don't tell me to make another char because I am NOT willing to play campaigns over and over again. Don't blame the players -- blame ANet's design for DoA. The very nature of DoA requires a focus on spike damage and healing; if you want to win those areas, you need the holy trinity.

Most of class prejudice is based on area design, frustrating as that may be. Most end-game areas end up the same way -- specific combinations of classes have proven success, and balanced groups simply need not apply.

Much as I love ANet's work, this is one area where they have really failed the player base. End-game areas should be designed for balanced groups.

Don't blame the players -- blame ANet's design for DoA. The very nature of DoA requires a focus on spike damage and healing; if you want to win those areas, you need the holy trinity.

Most of class prejudice is based on area design, frustrating as that may be. Most end-game areas end up the same way -- specific combinations of classes have proven success, and balanced groups simply need not apply.

Much as I love ANet's work, this is one area where they have really failed the player base. End-game areas should be designed for balanced groups. i think its less a specific mistake in the end game areas, and more the essence of pve itself. all of pve boils down to absorbing/negating dmg, healing dmg, and dealing dmg. any build, no matter if its balanced or gimmick, will have these elements or it will fail. you can bring other things to the table, but without these core things most builds wont work.

and these things almost perfectly mirror the trinity: warriors (with the help of prot monks) to absorb dmg, monks to heal dmg, eles to deal dmg. so its not just the end game areas, its all of pve. you can run any single mission in all of gw with just the trinity.

but thats not really the issue. just because you can do it with the trinity, does that mean you have to? the buck stops at the community. if you dont like the trinity, dont run it. dont blame anet for the decisions of the community. we are the ones who created this idea of "if it aint the trinity, its not worth using!" if anyone is to blame, its the community. we choose what classes to play, not anet.

That's the worse crap I have ever heard, get better and/or bring a monk to DoA. Then I wouldn't have to waste time reading your whine.
I won't miss you in GW 2 see ya... Wowwie! You sure assumed a lot there, didn't cha? Not to mention you're missing the whole point of this thread, and Ravensong's quote.