Requesting an easier level of game play...

I am placing this suggestion here at the urging of a GW support agent. I do ask that if you don't agree - then please don't flame me. I'm not asking them to take anything away, simply add something to the game.


I understand that you have HM for those players who like to face the insane challenges head on, but what about those players who find the normal mode to be frustratingly difficult in areas? My husband and I play this game to relax and have fun. We have purchased all of the avalible campaigns for 3 seperate computers, and now we are coming to regret that decision as we spent alot of money on these programs, as you can well imagine. Guild Wars is an amazing game, hands down the best I've seen in graphics and story line in a long time...I just wish my game play time didn't leave me wanting to throw my computer out the window

Yes, people can pay to have "runners" get them through missions, but what fun is that? And it is no better, in my eyes, than using a program hack. The main objective in the game is to complete the story lines, and yes, I understand that the enemies get progressivly harder as time moves on - but not to the point where it takes the fun out of the game.

I understand that you don't want to give the characters the ability to power level to insane levels, but to my understanding this is more due to the PvP aspect and not the guild wars game as a Player v. computer. I wish there was a way for you to seperate the two.

I'm sure you probably get loads of mail from the people who want it made even harder... I'm just asking you to consider an opinion from the other side of the fence.

NM (And HM as well when you know what to do) are pretty easy.

I think the problem you might be having could possibly be inefficient skill bars or lack of proper tactics. This might be due to not having information of enemies etc. to prepare against or counter...

You might also want to consider how it isn't really fun to beat a game if its too easy.

I actually wonder what you experience as hard, because I don't have that much problems with normal mode.

QFT...why was this thread created again?

I didn't ask for any replies about opinions on my game play. I simply put this here as instructed by a GW support agent.

To be fair, NM only seems really easy after having done it a couple of times. I doubt anyone here actually finished THK the first time they ever tried it.

Nonetheless, I don't really think this game needs an easy mode.

Edit:
If you post something on a discussion forum, you can't expect everyone to agree with you. It would be pretty boring if they did tbh.

If you set up your heroes with good builds there's hardly any way you can fail NM. I promise that with more time playing, NM will get easier. A lot of it, honestly, is knowing what kind of mobs you're facing and proper flagging/pulling.

My suggestion is to keep playing, unlock skills, and start to set up your heroes according to the areas you're playing in. If you don't understand the kind of enemies in a certain area to help you set up proper skill bars, I'd suggest using the wiki to find out what's there.

Remember, blind is good. Minions are good, in my opinion minion bombers are better. Broad head arrow + epidemic = easy mode. Hexes are good, again in my opinion, degen hexes can be helpful in certain situations, but are generally not the way to go. Skills like aegis, shield of deflection, defensive anthem, ward against melee/elements, etc. are extremely helpful.

If you'd like some suggestions for good, pretty fail proof hero skill bars, feel free to PM me.

Point taken and I apologize for the gruffness in that post. My concern when the GW agent told me to do this was that - the people who enjoy the game harder would over run my suggestion and say that my request isn't valid. Though the agent assured me that wouldn't be the case, I was still hesitant to post this here as I've seen the way people are treated on GW when they voice their opinion on the difficulty.

Again - I'm not asking them to change normal mode, or hard mode. There are those of us who play to relax and while we enjoy a challenge.... we don't want it to be frustrating.

And just so it has been said - I'm a lvl 20 many times over (meaning I have so many skill points its just insane), The party I play with are also lvl 20 and we all have the ability to use heros - sometimes we do, sometimes we don't. We've had the opportunity to play with many other people who openly admit to finding the game difficult -so please don't think that my opinion expresses something that no one would agree with. I think many of the ones who do agree choose to remain silent because they know they will be ridiculed for stepping forward.

**Explodemyheart - I do thank you for the suggestions, unfortunatly none of the information is new to me. As for the wiki - It is my best friend at times. I use it often.

I'm curious, could you mention some areas you find frustratingly hard?

There are some areas I find annoying and unenjoyable (the entire Realm of Torment!), and some long missions have annoyed me by being loooong and easy but ending with a boss you had to know about and plan specifically for or you're well and truly screwed (Heart of the Shiverpeaks). But they're not really hard, just annoying due to poor design (IMO).

There are however some optional areas which are intended to be hard, and which indeed are frustratingly hard unless you come prepared for the specific threats you'll face, e.g. the Fissure of Woe, the Underworld...

maybe you should just stick to pre? I find that pretty relaxing

I think the best thing to do is post in Campfire asking for build help. Because honestly, if you and your heroes are correctly set up (which they obviously can be, because you've got all three campaigns) then you could just do nothing and let the henchies fight the whole thing in NM. High-end areas in NM can be quite hard, but not if you know what your up against.

Rather than making things easier, Raise your game! (trying to be positive

I don't think you should be having this much trouble in normal mode, or even many hard mode areas. Truthfully, they're not designed to be that hard, and 99% are easily henchable. A few things I'd consider doing is:

-If you're having this much trouble, I would suggest running a team of three monks and other high damage output characters, one of them being a tank that can hold some agro for you. I run three monks, two hero, one prot and one heal, and a healing henchman wherever I H/H, and I've never died in Normal mode with that setup, and only on occasions in hard mode. Fire elementalists are very powerful in PvE, as are minion masters and shut-down mesmers in a place with heavy casters.

-Check for build synergy on your bar and your teams bars. If you're running a setup that doesn't synergize very well you'll probably have a lot more trouble than you should.

-If you're having trouble with the monsters themselves in areas, switch builds to counter exactly what you'll be up against in that area instead of running an all around build, for example, if an area full of meleers is giving you a problem, Riposte and Blind are very good counters. For casters, a shutdown mesmer is very good to have, and only one is normally required to wreak some havoc on caster mobs and make them incredibly easy.

I like how Mazy put it. Instead of making things easier, improve your gameplay.

This is a topic (and a suggestion) near and dear to my heart. I have often felt at points in this game that (1) parts of it were too difficult and (2) there should be an easier mode for players who want to experience content without getting totally stomped.

However, over and over and OVER again I have found that the difficult areas become easier, the impossible areas become possible, and places I once dreaded to set foot in are now -- if not exactly as "easy" for me as for some other players -- at least accessible.

As examples from my own experience...

Temple of the Damned (Eye of the North dungeon). I went through this entire dungeon, finding it challenging but OK, my first time through and then got totally STOMPED by Murakai, the end boss. I mean, it just wasn't pretty. Talk about a "wake-up call." lol. Now, I bring a few interrupts and it's just fine.

Realm of Torment (Nightfall region). This place was the pits for me once, and I still think it's pretty dismal, but it is not nearly so difficult as my first few times there, even on characters at relatively low Lightbringer rank.

Vizunah Square (Factions mission). What a disaster. Every group I was in seemed destined to wipe. But eventually, you get to know what to expect and the whole mission turns into an absolute hoot, in my opinion.

Shards of Orr (Eye of the North "Masters Level" Dungeon). OK, I admit. This one for me is still pretty awful. But every time I go in there it gets easier and easier. That's just part of the challenge of the game.

The fact that I am (seemingly!) lagging behind virtually everyone else in this game and that what's hard for me is "easy" for everybody else doesn't alter the fact that:

"Impossible" --> "Difficult" --> "Just Fine" ... with enough time and experience and experimenting with different builds, Heroes, and skills. That's really what makes the game fun for me.

The game, in other words, already has a built-in "easier mode" for all its levels -- but this mode is only unlockable via time and experience.

If you find nm extremely difficult maybe you should look at finding some new builds, or failing that maybe a different game to play. NM isn't really all that difficult and if you put a good team together you should be fine.

I can certainly feel for you, Scarlet and understand why you feel the way you do. While I haven't necessarily run into major trouble from a personal level, it doesn't take much for me to realize that not everyone plays at higher levels. What one finds easy can be very hard for another. What one find hard can be thought of as easy to another.

To be honest, I wouldn't have much of an objection to having some areas toned down just a tad. I stress "tad". Or given a difficulty option a slight step below normal. I'm not quite sure how it would work, although I'd assume, to counter the additional ease they might remove certain loots such as Golds, or even chests themselves, to prevent the flock of farming. Opposite of what HM did in presenting new loot such as Lockpicks and Tomes. Sure, I'd have no issue with it at all if it could be balanced out properly.

However, in the meantime, I think your situation is perfect for how useful the wiki can be. Yes, I know some people don't like using it. However, don't think of it as a cheat. Afterall, you still have to do the work. It can help in the "Notes" in suggesting certain skills and approaches. Sometimes the small changes make big differences.

If you have used the wiki for tips, but still have trouble, don't hesitate to PM someone here on these forums, who you feel would not put you down, but would certainly gather up some guild members and be eager to assist you and give you some pointers along the way, I'd do so. There are plenty here, I'm sure, who would take some time to with you guys on an adventure and fight by your side.

If the games were easy as pie, you'd get no joy out of them.

Normal Mode is just like a Normal Game - there's easy parts and hard parts. That's how life works, both online and offline.

We don't have to dumb down gameplay (or waste ANet's time making a new difficulty) to meet the needs of people who need help with the game. Instead, they're supposed to learn how to improve.

On a sidenote, if I recall, didn't someone and his wife post a thread about an "Easy Mode" in this forum a few months ago? Is this the same person?

/sighed for easy mode.

many areas are a pain to complete within less than an hour, and even then missions should be 30-45 mins. 1 hour - 2 hours is very hard to do, connection issues, problems with sitting that long, or finding the time to game that long.

some areas of the game are very hard, and if you want to complete them you must use certain builds which really defeats the fun factor in using any skills you want. i would love to use any skills i want, but i must use the skills needed, which is lame.

i think with a lower gold drop and crappier items this could be done, when we wanna farm we can go NM or HM. but if we just wanna kill some really cool monsters or get through missions fast EM(easy mode) would be great.

i would love to play elite missions with reduced drop rates and lower gold amounts that drop just so i can play them. i only use heroes and henchies because i do not play How others want me too. so i do not play with players because they constantly try and dictate what i need to do.

i would also like henchies to be permitted in elite missions. or better yet, 7 heroes.

boss level cap in EM= 20
non boss encounter level cap in EM= 16
Only Bosses can have Elite Skills in EM
Mobs are limited to only 1 healer in EM
would make it alot easier.

reduce the amount of gold that drops
only bosses can drop max dmg items. (including greens)
superior runes do not drop in EM.
Gold Items do not drop in EM.
this way the higher difficulties are still used for farming.

this would allow players to enjoy the storyline and the elites without getting rich.
missions that require faction points or titles should only require half of NM requirement. this way completing tthose missions in NM HM still need the full requirement. no need to grind as long in EM but once you go for missions in NM,HM you still need to grind pts til you reach the current requirement.

also beating EM does not unlock HM.
You can not get Razah in EM.

this removes the advantages of EM over the others. so it will be about enjoying the storyline and missions, not a ez way to make money or short cut missions for special rewards, like razah.include non max rare skins for EM.

Just stop using mending wammos and you're fine.

until your hero forgets to remove bleeding and poison and you die.

^ Truthfully it's more a case of "until your pug monk forgets"...

Heroes rarely forget anything.