Guild Wars... or Title Wars?

Omega X

Omega X

Ninja Unveiler

Join Date: Jun 2005

Louisiana, USA

Boston Guild[BG]

W/Me

Quote:
Originally Posted by Faer
The hard-core PvE players need grind to keep them attached to the game. ArenaNet wants to keep those players attached to the game so that they tell other people about the game, so that those other people will buy it (once the payment is done, those people don't matter except for the potential they hold to bring in more people, but that's another story). So, ArenaNet adds grind titles. Later, as the hard-core PvE players still want more grind, ArenaNet adds more reason to grind for titles, making grinding essentially necessary to play the game as a social one; without grinding for those 1337 PvE skills, you'll be passed up in groups for people who have them, and if you are one of those people who just can't beat the game with the AI teams then this becomes quite a problem for you.

Grind has never been technically essential to playing this game, but these days, with the title system granting players benefits in both PvE and PvP (though more subtle in PvP, and not in the same form as in PvE), the game truly has become Grind Wars rather than Guild Wars.
That explains why a lot more people I know that has left already. ITs also the reason why Korean MMOs are not very popular in the west.

Gebo

Banned

Join Date: Aug 2007

Rt/N

Quote:
Originally Posted by Deleet
I have the opposite opinom, I seek guilds which are better than me, so I can learn. Most of my, now ex, guildmates were 2-3 or more ranks above me. One should not forgot, that players with high ranks, usually (not always) are better players than those without. Experience is key.
ehhh theres so many cheap ways to beat HA that rank means nothing.... either play a FOTM build or protest to get everyone else nerfed and gg, lots of fame.
the only real decent pvp from my experience is friendly scrimmage, because you can ensure that its just a fun fair fight and no one will be exploiting to win, since there is no reward involved, and theres actually a slim chance you might get good sportsmanship at the end of the battle... in other pvp you get called a noob for losing and still called a noob for winning. huzzah!

natuxatu

natuxatu

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Apr 2006

Wisconsin

Rt/Mo

Yeah actually the only issue I have is titles that affect me in battle... the lockpick one and the wisdom one.. those are more "craft" type of things... but the lightbringer, sunspear, and the needing to be friends of luxon/kurzick to get a specific skill I'm not a fan of titles like that... but sure you don't need to do them but imo there is more pressure to get those.

But I think this is the "live skills" they were talking about.. but perhaps they should add a new window and not call them titles.. just so it doesn't seem so daunting. (Referring to the increase in the lockpicking and those kinds of things.)

MithranArkanere

MithranArkanere

Underworld Spelunker

Join Date: Nov 2006

wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigo

Heraldos de la Llama Oscura [HLO]

E/

My only real concern about tiles is that they treat players that focus in one character, rather than those with more character slots, that actually support more the game...

They could give bonuses for having 10 characters. Like... for example...:
"If one character max out Lightbringer, when the other characters hit lightbringer 9, they get 1k extra Lightbringer points per each current character existing that has that title maxed out."

Just a way to 'reduce grind the more characters grind'.

Bryant Again

Bryant Again

Hall Hero

Join Date: Feb 2006

Quote:
Originally Posted by MithranArkanere
My only real concern about tiles is that they treat players that focus in one character, rather than those with more character slots, that actually support more the game...
Agree with this 250%

wetsparks

wetsparks

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Nov 2006

Quote:
Originally Posted by Faer
without grinding for those 1337 PvE skills, you'll be passed up in groups for people who have them, and if you are one of those people who just can't beat the game with the AI teams then this becomes quite a problem for you.
Please tell me you didn't mean that. The skills are good yes, but not so good that you HAVE to have them, ANET wanted to make sure of that. That is why people were complaining about the skills being nerfed after they were introduced because some were so strong only an idiot wouldn't use them.

Solas

Solas

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Oct 2006

Ireland

Currently LF Active HA Guild, Glad 2, Comm.3, R2

E/

titles are optional, that simple.

you cna complete nf without an lb rank.

ss is the only one that you actually need,only if you start a campaign in nf

wisdom and chest running makes sense that you get a bonus, in crease it slightly anyway.

and for pvp.

you dont need a title for them, only the elitest ones with and for exp. players so title is jsut proof of your experience, after all if you havent one many matches then it doesnt say much for exp.

MithranArkanere

MithranArkanere

Underworld Spelunker

Join Date: Nov 2006

wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigo

Heraldos de la Llama Oscura [HLO]

E/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Talach_Ninneed
titles are optional, that simple.

you cna complete nf without an lb rank.

ss is the only one that you actually need,only if you start a campaign in nf

wisdom and chest running makes sense that you get a bonus, in crease it slightly anyway.

and for pvp.

you dont need a title for them, only the elitest ones with and for exp. players so title is jsut proof of your experience, after all if you havent one many matches then it doesnt say much for exp.
Sunspear is NOT optional for Elonian characters

At least up to rank 7.

Voltar

Voltar

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2006

My dog let's me crash at her place.

POB

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by MithranArkanere
The most 'necessary' titles are quite fast to get: Sunspear and Lightbringer..
Attempt to group in HA without rank. Rank is the most 'necessary' title.

Playing the game at all is optional. This isn't a matter of civil rights or anything critical to our lives. It's a matter of preserving one of the qualities of the game that draws me to it. I've said before that I don't mind the faction requirement to get skills, it's just (for instance the SS and LB titles) when I find myself doing something repetitive that I wouldn't do otherwise (that sounds like a reasonable definition of grinding) that I find gameplay too unpleasant. Yeah, they're optional just like playing the whole game is optional and posting my opinions on a fansite is optional. My gameplay style is to play the whole game at least once. I've played through almost all of the quests though I hate about 99% of the quests in this game. I've played all PvP Arenas (except HvH) at least a few times to get the feel for the whole game even though the guild I GvG'd in sucked and lost every match. Now I feel comfortable that I'm at least remotely knowledgeable about all aspects of the game...some a whole lot more than others.

Anyone who's recovering from playing WoW (I've been WoW-free for just over a year now...It's easier now but I still take it one day at a time) will recognise this title crap as the Blizzard, 'carrot on a stick,' model of account retention. We have a chance to keep GW2 from becoming a WoW emulator and we need to work together to keep that, "You've almost maxed your character out, almost..almost...NEW INSTANCE! Your gear is relative crap now! Try again and pay us more! Oh wait! EXPANSION! Duped again sucker! $15 please, ty...come again." from ruining he game. Believe me, WoW does a way better job of being WoW than Anet is capable of doing. Leave artificial demand to the masters and provide a fun game for the rest of us.

Hellgate: London is set to release on october 31! Anyone else on board for that?

jrk247

jrk247

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Mar 2006

Twenty Gold For Mountain Troll [Tusk]

Most titles are not needed and are just there to show off. The only title that is needed is the sunspear one and even then you just have to do the quests and you'll be high enough of a level to move on in the story. People that say they don't like grind and yet want every title out there need to stop playing the game. Titles are optional and only a few actually help you out (wisdom, lucky, treasure, gladiator) so don't complain that it's a grind because you don't even need titles to play the game, as for the SS title you can play the game normally and get over the required amount of points to move on in the story. And titles are what keeps the majority of players active until a new game is released.

darktyco

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Nov 2006

Titles are teh lame. This trend is the reason why I'm not immediately buying EotN. I taking a "wait and see" approach :P

Cherrie

Cherrie

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Jun 2006

Echowald

Marked by [Fury]

Me/

I'd like to make myself clear - I am not against titles!
They are the thing left to do once you've beaten the campaigns with all your characters etc. I was going for titles before any kind of benefit was tied to them simply because I only like playing one of my characters and there wouldn't be much left to do otherwise.

What I am against is, tying those benefits - any benefits and at any rate - to grind title tracks!
Some of you say that the bonus given from Lucky/Treasure/Wisdom is very small. Its not true, those titles combined make a huge difference, especially to those who don't have gold neccesary to max them out anyway! In short, rich gain more benefits from this than those poor.

So... add titles, there aparently ain't much other content to hold players (sarcasm? or not?)... Just don't make it beneficial as its against your Skill>Time policy!
As for skills tied to those tracks... I'll repeat my proposition: make their effectiveness scale faster, but stop rising faster as well, here's a complete suggestion I proposed, please take a look: http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...php?t=10184601.

kobey

kobey

GW Retiree

Join Date: Nov 2005

Sg Unknown [KATE]

W/

Kinda agree that titles are not required in any way for the casual gamer to enjoy the game.
Eg. you don't need a single point in lb to be able to complete NF.

Title to me is something one can work towards after you finished whatever you want to do in the game. My only complain is, after all the hard work, what you get is just a title which you can display.
Probably the reason why after getting my guardian title, I decided to take a long break from Guild Wars.

Think new contents ie. story, campaigns is what we want rite? Not fighting the same enemies that are smarter, faster, harder

jrk247

jrk247

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Mar 2006

Twenty Gold For Mountain Troll [Tusk]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cherrie
I'd like to make myself clear - I am not against titles!
They are the thing left to do once you've beaten the campaigns with all your characters etc. I was going for titles before any kind of benefit was tied to them simply because I only like playing one of my characters and there wouldn't be much left to do otherwise.

What I am against is, tying those benefits - any benefits and at any rate - to grind title tracks!
Some of you say that the bonus given from Lucky/Treasure/Wisdom is very small. Its not true, those titles combined make a huge difference, especially to those who don't have gold neccesary to max them out anyway! In short, rich gain more benefits from this than those poor.

So... add titles, there aparently ain't much other content to hold players (sarcasm? or not?)... Just don't make it beneficial as its against your Skill>Time policy!
As for skills tied to those tracks... I'll repeat my proposition: make their effectiveness scale faster, but stop rising faster as well, here's a complete suggestion I proposed, please take a look: http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...php?t=10184601.
How long have you been playing? There used to be no bonuses what so ever with any title, so I think adding the extra % to keep an item is fine, it used to be the item broke everytime you salvaged from it so please don't say how it's unfair that some people have a higher % of a salvage not breaking. There was a year+ where every salvaged item broke so yeah I don't see a problem with the way it is now. Oh and lockpicks, those haven't been around that long if you don't like it just go around using specific keys that break everytime like in the old days. Titles are optional there is no need to have them you don't even need rank to HA just do it with a guild/alliance group. You can go through the game without grinding for a title just fine. The SS title track isn't even a grind unless you go beyond the required amount of points. The idea of titles being an unnecessary grind to get anywhere in the game is a bit exaggerated tbh.

MirkoTeran

MirkoTeran

Forge Runner

Join Date: Sep 2005

Slovenia

Scars Meadows [SMS]

Mo/

Quote:
Originally Posted by MithranArkanere
My only real concern about tiles is that they treat players that focus in one character, rather than those with more character slots, that actually support more the game...
I play 1 character only for 26 months now. Please explain to me how people with more chars support game more?

Arcane_Penguin

Arcane_Penguin

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Jun 2007

Land Downunder

The Shadowheart Vanguard

R/Mo

1 Character = Focus on titles, money, etc. more characters, less money to go round, only account based titles really worth the effort with so many characters, etc.

william1975

william1975

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2006

Scotland

Dragons of Torment (DOA)

Me/

I'm biased i enjoy gaining new levels of titles and its my main aim to gain more, however there are a few that are now more necessary to increase your playability, certainly in PvE.

I don't know of any title that actually affects your abilty to play in PvP, well unless you count Hero as one since that affects your ability to get into a team to play in HA.

Certainly to my mind the Kurzick/Luxon faction linked skills make playing in PvE far easier, with rank 5 in Kurzick a number of skills make my ability to work in HM far easier now than before they arrived. And it is a lot harder to grind them than some of the other title linked skills. Again the Sunspear linked skills are very usefull in PvE and though it is far easier to gain the max title here than for the Faction skills it needs to be done on each of your characters, so again it is more labourous, only my main character has maxed this, the others are all below 15,000, most no where near 6,000 yet.

I think its disengenous to say that the Wisdom and Treasure hunter titles have little effect on the skills of lockpicking and salvaging. My main charcter on level 3 wisdom and 2 treasure hunter has a 38% chance of destroying salvaged items rather than a 50% chance like my others. and lockpicking with her is far more reliable than with my others. those wee percentage changes from gaining levels in these as well as the lucky title track do affect the playabilty of a character.

When i started palying this i didnt have any titles to grind, now i have loads, and while i enjoy it i do agree that guild wars is now a grinding title game.

however i like that

MithranArkanere

MithranArkanere

Underworld Spelunker

Join Date: Nov 2006

wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigo

Heraldos de la Llama Oscura [HLO]

E/

Quote:
Originally Posted by MirkoTeran
I play 1 character only for 26 months now. Please explain to me how people with more chars support game more?
By purchasing more character slots.

If you play 10 characters, you HAVE to purchase at least one slot.

If you want all 26 possible slots (10 PvE, 10PvP and 6 pre-Searing, for example) you have to pay for at least 17 slots.

You suppor more the game if you pay more.

haggus71

haggus71

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jun 2007

FotS

I agree that the titles were a necessity, because of the static nature of the game. For a lot of people, once they finished the three storylines(which is pretty damn easy once you finish it once), they were twiddling their thumbs looking for something else to do. For a PVPer you are always challenged by other players with good skills, and your interest is kept there. Most people, however, are PVE, so they needed the titles to keep their interest.

It's the game itself. The way it was designed, they figured, "Well, we create a good storyline for those who like that aspect, and we have the arenas for PVE." When they noticed less people in PVP, they created Factions to offer beginners arenas(Fort Aspenwood, Jade Quarry) to try and get more people into the PVP fold.

Now they've thrown their hands up with Nightfall and gave more toward the PVE crowd. The problem is, without a persistent world setup, a chapter can last only so long. So now they have titles and GWEN, which will keep MOST people in the game for maybe 6 months or so. That's time enough for the alpha and beta of GW2 to start leaking out.

For a lot of us, though, this title-based crap is seen for the band-aid approach that it is, and with new games coming, or already here, based on storylines that were written by much better authors(JRR Tolkein:LOTRO, Robert E. Howard:Age of Conan) and more unique worlds(Hellgate:London), I think GW2 will be too little, too late.

Title grind was the only thing they could do to keep interest up with a static platform, since all their resources are going toward GW2.

So yeah, Hellgate:London, anyone?

haggus71

haggus71

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jun 2007

FotS

I agree that the titles were a necessity, because of the static nature of the game. For a lot of people, once they finished the three storylines(which is pretty damn easy once you finish it once), they were twiddling their thumbs looking for something else to do. For a PVPer you are always challenged by other players with good skills, and your interest is kept there. Most people, however, are PVE, so they needed the titles to keep their interest.

It's the game itself. The way it was designed, they figured, "Well, we create a good storyline for those who like that aspect, and we have the arenas for PVE." When they noticed less people in PVP, they created Factions to offer beginners arenas(Fort Aspenwood, Jade Quarry) to try and get more people into the PVP fold.

Now they've thrown their hands up with Nightfall and gave more toward the PVE crowd. The problem is, without a persistent world setup, a chapter can last only so long. So now they have titles and GWEN, which will keep MOST people in the game for maybe 6 months or so. That's time enough for the alpha and beta of GW2 to start leaking out.

For a lot of us, though, this title-based crap is seen for the band-aid approach that it is, and with new games coming, or already here, based on storylines that were written by much better authors(JRR Tolkein:LOTRO, Robert E. Howard:Age of Conan) and more unique worlds(Hellgate:London), I think GW2 will be too little, too late.

Title grind was the only thing they could do to keep interest up with a static platform, since all their resources are going toward GW2.

So yeah, Hellgate:London, anyone?

Mordakai

Mordakai

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: Aug 2005

Kyhlo

W/

To me, the Sunspear Skills are fine, because they are relatively easy to get.

Getting level 7 Sunspear is what, 2,500 sunspear points? At that attainable level, Whirlwind Attack (Warrior sunspear skill), already does more damage than Cyclone axe at level 14 axe mastery. (15 pts. vs 11 pts)

Now, the Luxon/Kurzick skills are just insane. They make me mad.

BUT, I've NEVER, EVER been kicked out of a PUG for my skills.

Basically, as long as decent PvE only skills can be acquired by casual play, I'm fine with them. I plan on playing a lot of Polymock and Norn fighting games to build up my Title Tracks.

It's a fine balance between "fun" grind and "not-fun" grind. (I guess some people define "grind" as bad regardless, but I disagree).

Example: I'm playing Guitar Hero. I want to unlock a special song. Is it "fun" to have to play through the whole game to unlock that song? Should all songs be unlocked from the start?


I don't know. It's an interesting question, and a problem when different people want different things from the same game... especially when that game is a MMORPG!

rodzanic

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Jun 2007

CB

Mo/

Let’s take a not so usual person who spends 10h per week playing guildwars as an example:
- getting max level, max armor and max equipment ~ 1 week of soloing
- mastering all missions in all three campaigns NM ~ 4 weeks of soloing
- mastering all missions in all three campaigns HM ~ 7 weeks (probably with gate of madness done in a duo)
Not too much left to do after only three months of casual gameplay.

Now to the topic:
At first I didn’t care about titles at all.
Now the titles that I didn’t care about keep me from moving to another game.

I only hope the new title tracks will be account based, so that I only need to grind once to benefit all my toons.

Miss Puddles

Miss Puddles

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jun 2005

California

Shiverpeaks Search And Rescue [Lost]

Me/

as the guild leader of my previous guild said right before quitting gw, what is the point of titles other than to have something pretty under your name?

nightfall made some titles actually have a use other than showoffitude. but of course, these are all OPTIONAL. i get titles because it's something fun to do after playing the game for 2+ years.

in pve, there are very rarely and title requirements to get into a group or guild, save for maybe lb requirements for a doa group. a lb2 w/e tank is much less likely to get a group than an lb8. not to say that one is ACTUALLY more experienced than the other, but the odds are in favor of the player with the shinier title. i suppose it's similar in pvp to rank requirements. i'm certainly no seasoned pvp'er but i take direction well and can be a very decent player. but i understand and accept that since i am unranked (though close to r3) it will be tougher to get into a good group. that's just how it is.

and while i think that changing the favor system to be earned by pve'ers is good, i don't think title maxing was the way to go about it. all in all, very few people are interested in maxing titles, and it seems a bit unfair to everyone else that they can't lend a hand in earning favor. (not to say that having only the "elite" pvp'ers earn favor to access areas of the game they likely had little interest in made any sense to begin with.)

quickmonty

quickmonty

Ancient Windbreaker

Join Date: May 2005

I see some of the titles having a benefit, or rather, getting a title for doing something that improves your character/gameplay. Legendary Skill Hunter = having all elites unlocked for all your heroes on that account. Lightbringer = you and your heroes being more effective against Abaddon's minions. No, you don't have to get titles, but the ones that actually give you a little edge are certainly worthwhile, if you chose to persue them.

korcan

korcan

noobalicious

Join Date: Jun 2006

if there were more benefits to getting titles like a cool emote or something, i might be inclined to pursue a few.

as it stands, all you get is some lettering under your name. woot!

with everyone and their grandma maxing out title after title, the benefits for having them in gw2 is probably going to be minimal at best.

titles ftl.

Kiruna Del Ray

Kiruna Del Ray

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Jul 2007

MAFB

E/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by Buster
Guild Wars pve lacks depth compared to many mmo games that are on the market today.We don't have a persisent world yet, we don't have crafting and we can't advance our characters over level 20 yet either.
Very true. If I could, I would just sit back and craft items/armor/food , whatever.

But I can't.

The only thing AreaNet has given me is this Staff, so I must use it.

Midnight08

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: May 2006

Cantha. DE

Xen of Onslaught (Alliance of Xen-AX)

A/

Quote:
Originally Posted by haggus71
So yeah, Hellgate:London, anyone?
Not that i'll be quitting GW, but...

HELL Yea! =P... HG:L looks awesome and will definately steal a chunk of my time until D3, WotLK, and GW2...

So i'll finally be splitting my time with another game... its been a while. (CoH a few months ago, and WOW:TBC before that)

Still, so far overall GW still wins hands down over the other MMO's i've played, even with its semi incomplete feel...

Miss Puddles

Miss Puddles

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jun 2005

California

Shiverpeaks Search And Rescue [Lost]

Me/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Midnight08
Not that i'll be quitting GW, but...

HELL Yea! =P... HG:L looks awesome and will definately steal a chunk of my time until D3, WotLK, and GW2...

So i'll finally be splitting my time with another game... its been a while. (CoH a few months ago, and WOW:TBC before that)

Still, so far overall GW still wins hands down over the other MMO's i've played, even with its semi incomplete feel...
relevancy to thread would be...?