I did not find it too easy myself. Some of the dungeons are quite difficult with many interrupts/knockdowns and mass enchant removing bats.
About play time. I played the whole weekend and still had much to complete. I spent most time doing quests and follow-up quests, and I completed 3 dungeons.
For me the playing experiece of GW:EN is great and does not need any change.
GW:EN to easy
Hyper.nl
Lilly Rowan
I think the difficultly is just right for normal mode, it get harder the deeper you are underground. Not to hard nor to easy, still fun to play.
R!ghteous Ind!gnation
You havn't even seen the rest of the game....
TempusReborn
I thought the difficulty was just right throughout all of it - even the master difficulty quests can be henched/heroed if your suitably skilled as can my officially fave part of GWEN Frostmaw Burrows. However even for the peeps who do find it a bit challenging just go with your guild.
Man I Love those Dungeons.....
Man I Love those Dungeons.....
Mineria
No, Im not into PvP at all, and I'm not playing 24/7 either (had enough of that with WoW's endgame raiding).
I did do all dungeons with heros/henches, and it is silly when the only thing that kills you, is a snowball giving 0 DP.
Im used not to rush through, so advancing with patience to scout and flag the party didnt really gave me much trouble getting the job done.
The destoyers aren't that hard, even with one SF ele in party.
And lets face one thing, GW:EN is all about PvE.
But like I already said, I hope it's a little bit harder later on through the game.
I did do all dungeons with heros/henches, and it is silly when the only thing that kills you, is a snowball giving 0 DP.
Im used not to rush through, so advancing with patience to scout and flag the party didnt really gave me much trouble getting the job done.
The destoyers aren't that hard, even with one SF ele in party.
And lets face one thing, GW:EN is all about PvE.
But like I already said, I hope it's a little bit harder later on through the game.
bwillcox
Quote:
Originally Posted by Darkobra
I'd love to see you use a Searing Flames build against a destroyer. See how easy it is then.
My son, playing his fire ele, claimed that the destroyers were immune to burning. I was playing a ranger and he kept saying that next time I needed to bringer Winter. Not sure (I'm not much of an elementalist player myself), but this sounds like Searing Flames may not be the best skill to use on them.
Craywulf
Quote:
Originally Posted by leeky baby
i had the northen allies quest done in a few hours, yes it was easy, yes the preview was very smalll. It didnt take much longer to do all quests, boxing and tourments.
The game overall is very good though. Northern Allies quest allowed people to see more of the zones, So it might've been a tad soft with the difficulty.
If it was made too hard than it was, people wouldn't had much of a "preview" of the game and likely have a negative impression of the game because they didn't see what EOTN had to offer as far as fun activities like Dwarven boxing and Norn Arena. Both which only available in far reaches of Gunner's Hold.
The game overall is very good though. Northern Allies quest allowed people to see more of the zones, So it might've been a tad soft with the difficulty.
If it was made too hard than it was, people wouldn't had much of a "preview" of the game and likely have a negative impression of the game because they didn't see what EOTN had to offer as far as fun activities like Dwarven boxing and Norn Arena. Both which only available in far reaches of Gunner's Hold.
Evilsod
A thread on how GWEN is easy... when we were in Normal Mode... and haven't even seen all the game...
what a waste.
what a waste.
glountz
Mithran said it perfectly.
But I would wonder how a relatively innocent player with, say, a lacking campaign, and few PvP experience (so not able to recognize how to not trigger the nasty hexes, for example the jotuns) would react to players with a so huge e-peen they have to say GWEN is too easy.
But I would wonder how a relatively innocent player with, say, a lacking campaign, and few PvP experience (so not able to recognize how to not trigger the nasty hexes, for example the jotuns) would react to players with a so huge e-peen they have to say GWEN is too easy.
Woden
I thought it was nicely challenging, but avoided being difficult. Personally, I don't have fun if the difficulty is too high in any game. There needs to be a balance and for high-level content for casual and hardcore players, I think GW:EN nails it. That and.. this is just part of the first area in the expansion. There is no beginner island this time, so if this is GW:EN's "Kourna", what will its "Realm of Torment" be like?
Coraline Jones
I know that I'm new to the board, but I'm not new to this game. As a result, I see a lot of things and I can typically follow the meta-game and such.
I really don't like it when people complain that GW is "too easy". To me, that's an extremely selfish statement.
First of all, let me say that there's lots of games that aren't "hard" but they are still fun. Many old RPGs are not exactly super-complicated, but they are great. It's not like you had to swirl the joypad controller and press ten buttons in a sequence to beat games like Breath of Fire, Secret of Mana, or the old Phantasy Star games. The only "too easy" games are when you use the same powers as when you started the game to beat it. THAT is when it's too easy. As a monk, I have to change my build depending on the scenario, so I know that is absolutely not the case with Guild Wars.
Second, there are a lot of people playing the game. Not everybody is supa-l33t and maybe they are having a hard time. When people say it's "too easy", that really means, "I ran a bunch of min-maxed template builds, and now the game is no challenge anymore." I'm guessing that they want a game which gets so hard that you are forced to run nothing but template builds to win. I.e., a good portion of Hard Mode in Guild Wars.
As an aside, this could explain why I have better success getting Master rewards in Hard Mode missions by simply playing with one other person and we use formula hero builds. With a template team build, you can win more often than any PUG. I don't know why people don't find that to be a pure travesty... A multiplayer online game is better to play with as few people as possible.
Finally, I think that people that say that the game has no challenge often have this arrogance that is unbelievable. I see so many people tell me how "easy" beating some super-hard mission, like Jennur's Horde in Hard Mode. Then when you ask--no beg--them to help you get through it, they get strangely silent. I think that this means that it's really harder than what they say and don't want to admit it. Or worse, I think that these "l33t" types just don't want to share their accomplishments or secrets, and want to hoard the Guardian/Vanquisher title so they can rub it in your face.
In summary, if this game is so "easy", then I don't know why there's all those people in towns saying "LFG". I guess folks like the OP would go to every one of them and tell them how much they really suck, and they should go back to playing Sudoku.
I really don't like it when people complain that GW is "too easy". To me, that's an extremely selfish statement.
First of all, let me say that there's lots of games that aren't "hard" but they are still fun. Many old RPGs are not exactly super-complicated, but they are great. It's not like you had to swirl the joypad controller and press ten buttons in a sequence to beat games like Breath of Fire, Secret of Mana, or the old Phantasy Star games. The only "too easy" games are when you use the same powers as when you started the game to beat it. THAT is when it's too easy. As a monk, I have to change my build depending on the scenario, so I know that is absolutely not the case with Guild Wars.
Second, there are a lot of people playing the game. Not everybody is supa-l33t and maybe they are having a hard time. When people say it's "too easy", that really means, "I ran a bunch of min-maxed template builds, and now the game is no challenge anymore." I'm guessing that they want a game which gets so hard that you are forced to run nothing but template builds to win. I.e., a good portion of Hard Mode in Guild Wars.
As an aside, this could explain why I have better success getting Master rewards in Hard Mode missions by simply playing with one other person and we use formula hero builds. With a template team build, you can win more often than any PUG. I don't know why people don't find that to be a pure travesty... A multiplayer online game is better to play with as few people as possible.
Finally, I think that people that say that the game has no challenge often have this arrogance that is unbelievable. I see so many people tell me how "easy" beating some super-hard mission, like Jennur's Horde in Hard Mode. Then when you ask--no beg--them to help you get through it, they get strangely silent. I think that this means that it's really harder than what they say and don't want to admit it. Or worse, I think that these "l33t" types just don't want to share their accomplishments or secrets, and want to hoard the Guardian/Vanquisher title so they can rub it in your face.
In summary, if this game is so "easy", then I don't know why there's all those people in towns saying "LFG". I guess folks like the OP would go to every one of them and tell them how much they really suck, and they should go back to playing Sudoku.
Omega X
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mineria
Isn't the exspansion a bit to easy, when you can complete all what is avaible at the sneak peek with hero's and henches within 36 hours?
I defently hope that the rest will be more of a challenge. 2 words for ya.
!!! HARD MODE !!!!
I defently hope that the rest will be more of a challenge. 2 words for ya.
!!! HARD MODE !!!!
Sparks Dawnbringer
I enjoyed it. I had a good time this weekend. I found it moderately hard. I found the DP even when one char was down 60% and most others down 25-30% pretty easy to work off if you keep killing and visiting the dwarf res stations at the next 25 kills it gives a 10 point boost. We finished two dungeons one master and got two dwarven treasure chests on the regular one we got gold items and in the masters chest one person got 2 diamonds and I got a diamond and a green Spear of the Kinslayer. I can't wait until next weekend.
Lord Feathers
I actually enjoyed GWEN a lot and what we got to see I'm taking a guess here but I would say about mid-way thru the expansion itself so yeah it's probably not going to be super hard and for many players some things needed to be toned down, DOA comes to mind 
Now when we get to the destroyers I'd expect some serious fighting and a few end game missions and quests your going to see people complaining about.
Now when we get to the destroyers I'd expect some serious fighting and a few end game missions and quests your going to see people complaining about.
Boris De Pig
My own thoughts are that GW:EN is pitched at just the right level for the casual PvE player, amongst which I definitely count myself and my wife.
We were able to go out and work through most of the side quests and the primary quest arc over the weekend.
I struggled a little with the solo missions, and still can't manage to kill Magni, but that's my failing as a player since I know others have managed to do so.
I found the dungeon crawling to be a real challenge, it wasn't a 'walk in the park' for us, but neither was it 'DoA hard', and I felt the rewards were worth it when you got to the end.
Overall, I think this is pitched 'just right' for the casual PvE player. I'm guessing the elite PvE'rs will love to play these areas and dungeons in hard mode and reap the benefits, but we like a challenge without it being stupidly hard.
BdP
We were able to go out and work through most of the side quests and the primary quest arc over the weekend.
I struggled a little with the solo missions, and still can't manage to kill Magni, but that's my failing as a player since I know others have managed to do so.
I found the dungeon crawling to be a real challenge, it wasn't a 'walk in the park' for us, but neither was it 'DoA hard', and I felt the rewards were worth it when you got to the end.
Overall, I think this is pitched 'just right' for the casual PvE player. I'm guessing the elite PvE'rs will love to play these areas and dungeons in hard mode and reap the benefits, but we like a challenge without it being stupidly hard.
BdP
Lord Juan
Take into consideration that the difficulty level it's something relative, as every player have a different experience playing Guild Wars.
Something players find hard i may find it easy, and something i find hard would be next to impossible to other players.
The contrast it's clear, as i was playing thought the weekend with a friend who i recently got to play Guild Wars, I'm talking about a few months. There are several things that she couldn't do on her own, areas she found hard, and quests she simply saw impossible to do. I, on the other hand, didn't find anything i couldn't do after 3 tries as much, and found most of the areas easy.
But, i have almost 2.5 years of experience in Guild Wars, every skill available, and i vanquish areas with my heroes/henchies not to count i did get to do some of DoA before the nerf that made it easier. Of course i found the expansion to be easy.
But, comparing the normal modes of all the campaigns, to the one of the expansion, i find the difficulty level good, and very enjoyable.
Something players find hard i may find it easy, and something i find hard would be next to impossible to other players.
The contrast it's clear, as i was playing thought the weekend with a friend who i recently got to play Guild Wars, I'm talking about a few months. There are several things that she couldn't do on her own, areas she found hard, and quests she simply saw impossible to do. I, on the other hand, didn't find anything i couldn't do after 3 tries as much, and found most of the areas easy.
But, i have almost 2.5 years of experience in Guild Wars, every skill available, and i vanquish areas with my heroes/henchies not to count i did get to do some of DoA before the nerf that made it easier. Of course i found the expansion to be easy.
But, comparing the normal modes of all the campaigns, to the one of the expansion, i find the difficulty level good, and very enjoyable.
Darkobra
Quote:
Originally Posted by bwillcox
My son, playing his fire ele, claimed that the destroyers were immune to burning. I was playing a ranger and he kept saying that next time I needed to bringer Winter. Not sure (I'm not much of an elementalist player myself), but this sounds like Searing Flames may not be the best skill to use on them.
You're right. They are completely immune to burning. And Savannah Heat seems far too weak to be my new elite. I need to find something that can deal the damage. And winter won't suddenly make them weak to burning. It just means any future fire build he brings can do more damage against them.
=HT=Ingram
Give me a break... GWEN was just fine for what it was. the first area of an expansion...
I mean common every beta and preview weekend they have ever done was easily completed by the end of the weekend. Its designed that way on purpose... If you play the whole weekend your easily done with it...
When Factions came out Most of us finished all primaries and were into Elite missions within the first few days...
Nightfall was about the same. I think I saw about a dozen or more people in torment on day 1 of the launch.
So its is exactly what one would expect of the expansion... IF you think GWEN was too easy you prob didn't do much in it that was hard. as in going with a full party down into the dungeons and completing them. They were very fun and with a full player filled party (NO HEROES OR HENCHMEN) they were very rewarding as well. Anet also didnt make the mistake they did in NF that on several missions certain heroes are required to be present in order to do them. That was a HUGE mistake in NF because it forced people to use NPCs in their party, instead of getting a full player party...
I still think HM should not have heroes or henchmen allowed at all... but that is my opinion I guess... because I think when NF brought in Heroes, and again with GWEN, it just made the game almost nothing but single player mode, with an occasion pairing up with a friend so you have 2 players a 6 heroes. ;( just not the same as it once was when it was common to have full parties of players doing missions and quests together... Anyone remember playing Tomes when it first came out as a PvE area? Or sorrows? Those days were fun because no one wanted to take henchmen in those place cause the henchmen AI sucked so bad... Now you can do those so easily on your own with heroes and henchmen that its almost impossible to get a real player group going down there, its just so sad...
The game is still very fun. I loved every min of the preview I went down in those dungeons expecting a challenge and it came through. Rewards were plentiful. Anytime you have to dump stuff on the ground in order to pick up more good stuff is a plus... That means your inventory is bulging with goodies and you have killed a ton of monsters... I know we went down with 8 people playing and by the end we had so much stuff we had to dump stuff on the ground cause we wanted more room for the final chest items...
ID salvage ID salvage ID salvage galore then dump the whites for space... continue... That is a GOOD sign of quality drops ahead... cause you have prob been playing for an hour plus in your group in this one dungeon and the quality chests are still to come...
I mean common every beta and preview weekend they have ever done was easily completed by the end of the weekend. Its designed that way on purpose... If you play the whole weekend your easily done with it...
When Factions came out Most of us finished all primaries and were into Elite missions within the first few days...
Nightfall was about the same. I think I saw about a dozen or more people in torment on day 1 of the launch.
So its is exactly what one would expect of the expansion... IF you think GWEN was too easy you prob didn't do much in it that was hard. as in going with a full party down into the dungeons and completing them. They were very fun and with a full player filled party (NO HEROES OR HENCHMEN) they were very rewarding as well. Anet also didnt make the mistake they did in NF that on several missions certain heroes are required to be present in order to do them. That was a HUGE mistake in NF because it forced people to use NPCs in their party, instead of getting a full player party...
I still think HM should not have heroes or henchmen allowed at all... but that is my opinion I guess... because I think when NF brought in Heroes, and again with GWEN, it just made the game almost nothing but single player mode, with an occasion pairing up with a friend so you have 2 players a 6 heroes. ;( just not the same as it once was when it was common to have full parties of players doing missions and quests together... Anyone remember playing Tomes when it first came out as a PvE area? Or sorrows? Those days were fun because no one wanted to take henchmen in those place cause the henchmen AI sucked so bad... Now you can do those so easily on your own with heroes and henchmen that its almost impossible to get a real player group going down there, its just so sad...
The game is still very fun. I loved every min of the preview I went down in those dungeons expecting a challenge and it came through. Rewards were plentiful. Anytime you have to dump stuff on the ground in order to pick up more good stuff is a plus... That means your inventory is bulging with goodies and you have killed a ton of monsters... I know we went down with 8 people playing and by the end we had so much stuff we had to dump stuff on the ground cause we wanted more room for the final chest items...
ID salvage ID salvage ID salvage galore then dump the whites for space... continue... That is a GOOD sign of quality drops ahead... cause you have prob been playing for an hour plus in your group in this one dungeon and the quality chests are still to come...
Omega X
Quote:
Originally Posted by Woden
I thought it was nicely challenging, but avoided being difficult. Personally, I don't have fun if the difficulty is too high in any game. There needs to be a balance and for high-level content for casual and hardcore players, I think GW:EN nails it. That and.. this is just part of the first area in the expansion. There is no beginner island this time, so if this is GW:EN's "Kourna", what will its "Realm of Torment" be like?
I'm surprised some elite PvPer didn't try and make a remark about PvE never needing balance.
The Little Viking
I love the dificulty level. Heros and Henchmen are the best things ever created. There is nothing worse then having to grab a random group to get something done only to have one or two of the people run off and die and cry because you didnt keep up. I like being able to go at my own pace and explore every little nook and cranny of the area without worrying about holding up the group. (Beware the cute bunnies). And just like the three previous games, it will get harder as we move through the game. But even so, I will still travel either alone with my heros or with my husband across the room from me. After all, if the two of us can do FoW, UW and Tombs with just the 2 of us and heros, then we shoould be able to travel all of GWEN the same way. At least I hope so. And once again (can not say this enough) Beware The Cute Little Bunnies!!!!!
Ensign
PvE has a static difficulty level. It's all a matter of what is accessible to whom. An encounter could be difficult for 20%, 50% of your players, but 10% of your players will still find it very doable. If you make something challenging for that 10%, you're effectively cutting that content off for the rest of your players. Look at DoA and the problems you get when you make really inaccessible content.
There are important balance issues in PvE, they're just based on different concerns than PvP balance. PvP balance is about fine tuning the potentials of different strategies against each other...PvE balance is more about normalizing the difficulty level of a given encounter and making sure that your content is accessible to lots of different types of players. For example, making sure that your dungeons are challenging enough that they aren't trivially power-farmed to saturate the economy, but not so challenging that your more casual players can't fight through one in a couple hours and accomplish something; or making sure that no class is either dead weight in a given dungeon or so strong that it trivializes everything else.
There are important balance issues in PvE, they're just based on different concerns than PvP balance. PvP balance is about fine tuning the potentials of different strategies against each other...PvE balance is more about normalizing the difficulty level of a given encounter and making sure that your content is accessible to lots of different types of players. For example, making sure that your dungeons are challenging enough that they aren't trivially power-farmed to saturate the economy, but not so challenging that your more casual players can't fight through one in a couple hours and accomplish something; or making sure that no class is either dead weight in a given dungeon or so strong that it trivializes everything else.
=HT=Ingram
I actually agree with you Little Viking... For easy stuff like quests and even regular missions thats all well and hunkydorie... I just hate that THAT has become the Norm for people... And its even worse when it happens in HM cause the best rewards in HM comes when its a full player party... But people are so Dependant on NPCs for party members now that they do not know how to play in full player groups anymore it seems... IE the guy running off and dieing cause he is used to always follow NPCs that focus all on him instead of working in a party to accomplish things as a group.
I'll fully admit I use heroes and henchmen for the majority of my quests. but I at least make an effort to get a party for the missions... if after a few mins I see thats just not possible, or if I am almost alone in the area I go ahead and do it with heroes and hench just like everyone else. That option is there. so thats what you do. i understand that naturally, but that becoming the NORM instead of the Necessity is depressing...
I'll fully admit I use heroes and henchmen for the majority of my quests. but I at least make an effort to get a party for the missions... if after a few mins I see thats just not possible, or if I am almost alone in the area I go ahead and do it with heroes and hench just like everyone else. That option is there. so thats what you do. i understand that naturally, but that becoming the NORM instead of the Necessity is depressing...
Mineria
Your correct Ingram, going out with a pug makes things different. But its kinda sad that some people leave after the first wipe, instead of continuing and learning to work it out as a group of only players.
Kain666
I love the difficulty level too. Not TOO easy...but not too hard either. And yes the henchmen are...hehe..."usable" now...i love to use mhenlo with my prot hero...they work awesome...
Crom The Pale
Basically I'd have to say the difficulty level of most of what I saw in GW:EN was geared towards a pair of players using 3 hero's each.
However some of the master diffuculty quests were geared towards a full party, they were doable with hero's/hench but you needed a good set of hero's with the proper party build to do it.
Now I imagine that on Hard Mode quests like Orzars in the Battledepths where you need to fight off wave after wave of stone summit would be very tough and require a full party of live players.
Killing the Frost Wurms, a master difficulty quest, would most certainly require a full party of people on Hard Mode, but is still doable for a good solo player on normal mode.
Personaly I would have to say the range of difficulty in GW:EN seams just about perfect.
However some of the master diffuculty quests were geared towards a full party, they were doable with hero's/hench but you needed a good set of hero's with the proper party build to do it.
Now I imagine that on Hard Mode quests like Orzars in the Battledepths where you need to fight off wave after wave of stone summit would be very tough and require a full party of live players.
Killing the Frost Wurms, a master difficulty quest, would most certainly require a full party of people on Hard Mode, but is still doable for a good solo player on normal mode.
Personaly I would have to say the range of difficulty in GW:EN seams just about perfect.