Basic Comprehension Problem

I find playing a game on for vanity sake a bit immature anyways. There is no power in how one looks in this game only in how one plays. I've seen some very skilled players in 1500gp gear and I don't think the worse of them for it either.

My exact feelings, the armor you wear has nothing to do with your ability to play the game well. The game is about using your skills properly.

I don't understand how it would be immature. Sure thinking it makes you better at the game might be, but..females dressing up to look pretty in real life is immature? In case any misunderstood that analogy; playing this game for vanity's sake would relate to females dressing up in real life, maybe not all the way but pretty close.

Take a break, enjoy the other great games out there that are still fresh, get more involved in PvP, or just quit if you've feel you've got your moneys worth.

For some other players, whom I hope are new to the game, know this:

You can catch a ball in a cup. You can catch a ball in a cup with your other hand. You can catch a ball in a cup sitting down. You can catch a ball in a cup on your side. You can catch a ball in a cup behind you back. You can catch a ball in a cup upside down. You can catch a ball in a cup riding a horse. You can catch a ball in a cup wearing purple panty hose. You can catch a ball in a cup wearing a cup. You can catch a ball in a cup dodging traffic.

There are countless ways to catch a ball in a cup.... just like there are countless ways of re-playing, re-doing, re-hashing, the same damn things in the static Guild Wars world. After the magic of the initial experience, neither of these provide much fun for the average person w/o psychological/social issues. So claiming there's a million more ways to catch a ball in a cup/play Guild Wars as a reason to keep playing is pretty ****ing dumb and you really should go catch that ball in a cup, in traffic.

Do you know why I stopped at 26 titles, Gareth, even if I want r6 KOABD so much?

Because opening 10.000 chests and similar things are not fun to me.

He wants elite armor sets without doing too much for it. I can see this for FoW armor, but he was speaking in plural about elite armors in general.

If the things one has to do to get that armor or whatever are already "not fun" for that particular person, then he should really give up on his idea and do something that is fun for him.

Sick of this argument..there is a "need" if you like the way one armor looks better than the other then you "need" it to make the game more enjoyable for you. Do you only wear clothes from Wal-Mart? Do you (or your parents) drive a 30 year old Honda Accord 4 cylinder? Do you live in a 1 bedroom apartment and only drink water and eat beans and cornbread? Because that is all you "need" to get by right so why would anyone want anything better? /end sarcasm

I don't go farther in my title track for the same reason.

He should give up because it's not fun; but it's his will.

Not in response to a post in particular, but as we are already so far:

Arguing pro/contra against "you do not need it" is a circular argument.

You can of course say all the time "you do not need it", agreed.

But what "fun" is is very different for various people, as well as the amount of un-fun activities needed to get something. As it does not seem possible to get everything through activities that are always pure fun.

I have to say, I am pretty fascinated by the energy a lot of guys put into dressing up their characters. There must be tons of guys here who agonize about getting their armor combo right (do these shoes go with these pants? What about the dye?) but who fall asleep at the mere sight of a real clothing store and walk around every day in shapeless shlubby clothes.

What's the deal guys? Am I seeing a lot of sugar-daddies-in-training? Is this where it starts?

Pardon me? Sugar-daddies-in-training? Sugar daddies are simply older men who date younger women and sweeten them up with gifts to get them to date them. I don't get your sugar-daddy connection to dressing up.

And OP, in reference to your subject line, "Basic Comprehension Problem," what are you having a problem comprehending? I can't tell from your post.

We agreed about this in my thread, and we agree now.

There are 26 (or 27) PvE-only titles that can be maxed with 1k armor + collectors weapons + skills.
To successfully fight in the hardest areas of the game, that's all you need.

But r6 KoaBD, which should be the reward for your skill in PvE when you have beaten every aspect of it, is not achievable unless dedicating hundreds of hours to pure farming, and sometimes low level farming (gargoyles ouside Nolani for spiked eggnogs).

You shouldn't need to farm to achieve the max rank in PvE.
This is imo one of the biggest issues in this game, which is advertised with skill over time.

By sugar daddy I mean a guy who gets his kicks off of dolling someone else up, decking out a woman in clothes and shoes and handbags or whatever at his own expense.

I guess that it is generally the case that a sugar daddy is compensating for some personal lack (maybe age, maybe lack of personal attractiveness?) in order to hook up with a woman who is younger or better looking...

But I'm thinking more of a mindset, which I see a lot here with various guys and their GW characters, of "Look how nicely I treat her, look how pretty she is, I give this girl all the best..." It's sort of gloaty, sort of paternal, sort of sugar-daddy.

I think it should have been
fashion plate: a man who is much concerned with his dress and appearance

No, exactly the opposite. I'm talking about a man who offloads any concern with his own appearance (which he may think is unmanly) onto someone else, living vicariously through the fashion excesses of his beneficiary.

But I don't know, maybe y'all are fashion plates. Which is it?

Well... u have to sell some stuffs in LA or Kamadan to get some cash, merchant won't make u rich at all.

oh I get it. You're talking about the guys who perceive women as trophies... eeewwww yuck. Those guys come in all ages, but I sure hope that's not what is motivating the guys in GW. I hope their armor is all about aesthetics or at the very least epeens.

Today I'm wearing a monochromatic brown argyle merino wool sweater over a white and brown striped long sleeve shirt, with basic slightly distressed Levi's jeans and chocolate brown and mocha colored diesel shoes. Minus the shoes I spent under 40 bucks on the whole outfit.

So does that break the stereotype?

...and sorry to go off topic.

I was just saying that people who think they need the best armor in game fit the
definition of fashion plate more then sugar daddy as was mentioned by a previous post. a sugar daddy is a: a wealthy, middle-aged man who spends freely on a young woman in return for her companionship or intimacy.

fashion plate works. Thanks!

Monochromatic brown argyle merino wool sweater over a white and brown striped long sleeve shirt, with basic slightly distressed Levi's jeans and chocolate brown and mocha colored diesel shoes = fashion plate.

Minus the shoes I spent under 40 bucks on the whole outfit = wise shopper fashion plate.

Now back on topic, I'm still not comprehending just what the OP is not comprehending.

You don't pay monthly to play the game...so move on if it's not fun

You bought the game, you've played every aspect of it there is for you to play (like...all the missions, every quest, all the elite missions/quests, done plenty of PvP which includes GvG, AB, etc) and there's nothing left for you to do but desire expensive armor that you find it boring to 'work' for. I see only one option...stop playing.

There are plenty of us who will find lots to do within the game, that doesn't feel like 'work', or doesn't become boring extremely quickly. Hell, I've worked my way through Prophs, factions and NF but I can tell you right now I haven't done every single quest there is available. So...even though I 'finished' the campaings, I haven't really finished at all. Now and then I'll take a character and go do those quests I left behind, just as something different to do that isn't farming, or vanquishing, or gaining rep, or starting a new character to do it all again

We all find different things enjoyable...and some of us find some things enjoyable for longer than others. That's life. And this is just a game you're able to put down or walk away from, with nothing forcing you to play, no monthly fees you're tied to making you feel the 'need' to play until you're subscription is over. There are lotsa games out there I'd suggest you didn't try other MMOs though - like WoW for instance - if you get bored so easily of 'grinding' for money. As far as I can tell (and from experience) this game has the least money grinding requirment than any other of similar ilk. All max armor and weapons, runes, insignias, upgrades, etc, can be gotten by playing the story through, and often by just collecting a handful of items monsters drop as you go. I can't think of many games that keep people on the same level as much as GW for so little, and there's really no neccessity to grind at all

Hope you find a game that's better suited to your needs

If you don't want to wear clothes from Wal-Mart, drive a 30 year old Honda Accord or live in a 1 bedroom apartment...

...but want to wear clothes from Gucci, drive a Ferrari and live in a mansion...

I'll let you put two and two together.

To the OP: You've beaten the game. That's really all there is to it.

The amount of money you want is proportional to your vanity needs. Coveted stuff - most of them aint really that good - needs loads of cash. But you can do fine with collectors weapons and max armor from traders.

As already said by others, you dont have to wear Armani or drive a fancy car to succeed in life.

Many korean games, like Lineage 2, demand you to be insanely rich ingame to have equipment at least decent with your level. GW is an utopia compared to them.

Hey. Some people need to be the alpha male in whatever sad little way they can manage.

I guess when you put 2 and 2 together you got 6 because you are trying to argue with me by making my point. Before all the farming nerfs if you wanted the nice things you could farm and get them. Now you can only get very lucky with a rare drop or a good run of b-day mini's to make money. To equate to real life as in our posts, the way it is now you have to be poor and buy the cheap get by with it stuff or win the lottery there is no "work for it" option in the game as it is. That is the problem.

Ummm...no. If you believe that the only way to make good sums of money in the game is to get lucky, then you're mistaken.

For example, I've shown before that by doing every quest and every mission in Factions, you can make in excess of 50K simply from the mission/quest rewards. And that's not even counting the drops you get from doing so.

That's not farming. That's not being lucky. That's simply playing the game.

If you want the insanely elite stuff (e.g. certain minipets, the very very few rare skinned weapons, etc.), then of course you're going to have to save money over a longer period of time. Some stuff is simply out of the reach of the ordinary person (as in real life), such as the Polar Bear.

Epic!!!
The OP was begging for it.

OT - Just change your style, play a new char, do something different.
I quite often find that just changing a playing style or doing something completely out of routine, makes for a nice improvement.
Lastly, you do not need to do anything. You are not pressurised to make use of every single bit of time you have available, or to get all the elite stuff to get somewhere....
at least not like with WoW where you pay for the time or need that uber item to pwn somebody.
I find this a humorous comparison, and couldn't be more wrong, imo...
Quite often, the people that spend time making their characters fashionable (i.e. "dolling them up" or "pretty"), look impeccable irl too. That's their personality.
If there are people that does it the way you describe, then they are a bit off, so to speak...
Styling!

Take a break! I've taken two extended breaks. The first one lasted about a month while I played Dungeon Siege 2. I couldn't afford high speed net at the time and dial up is just blah so I took an invoulantary break.

The second break lasted almost 3 monthes. I took it cuz I was burnt. Even the release of Nightfall and introduction of heroes didn't hold me. Then I logged in one day to pass off a few items to a friend and he asked me to a couple missions with him, so I did and have been hooked since.

Now I have my GF playing and no plans to leave anytime soon. Hangin til GW2.

Breaks are probably the best thing. Every game gets old eventually. I've taken breaks of a year or more from Morrowind but every once in a while I get the urge and i play it like a fiend. lol. Take the break, you may come back, you may not. Its a game.

dbl post.. oops

If you finish the game, compete it in normal mode and hard mode, finish all the quests and elite areas, thent here is no more reason to play other that to socialise have fun playing areas or to max titles.

The game si designed to elvel of at level 20 be able to use max weapons and armour cheaply, but caters for thsoe that like to spend gold on items that do nothing other than look more fancy. That is not integral tot he game so you dont need to do it.

If you are grinding for the fancy items that dont boost your characters ability to play and dont enjoy the grinding dont play. it as simple as that.

The designers did not design the game so that you stayied in it for months on end they expect you to stop for months at a time. so dont play when youdont like it

Take a second look at those poor vagrants hanging around Old Ascalon. One of them may be able to swing a sword.

I think I owe an explanation. The thread has gone quite wild, which I find amusing.

Now, the reason I want that stuff is simple. Its there. And it looks way better than the normal stuff. Sure, its optional. But so is mountain climbing.

I guess I'm somewhat of an obsessive compulsive character type. At least thats what my friends say. Which means I lean towards overcommitment. But thats not the issue here.

The issue is, that this is NOT real life. In real life, some things are simply rare, not freely available, restricted. They tend to be expensive. I should know. My company provides a special kind of service people pay a lot of money for. Only a few people can do the job, so I sure know why its expensive.

But this is a VIRTUAL world. There is no real economy at work here. And this is where my comprehension problem comes from. WHY are those sets so damn expensive? Why is their availability tied to money, which takes ages to grind together?

I have a counter proposal for ANet though. Instead of regulating the availability of elite armor sets through money (which furthers the culture of sweatshops who grind the money together and sell it on the web), tie the availability of armor into the game more.

For instance: introduce a couple of elite missions. Only solving those in hard mode unlocks the elite armor. This way it would MEAN something if you wore that stuff. It means you handled some hard stuff.

Currently, anyone who can use ebay can get the credits. The existing approach facilitates trading of game money for real money. On a side note: did you know that money can, and probably is, laundered through mechanisms like this? A-Net would do themselves a big favor if they devaluated Platinum.

I have found, that if you just work your way thru the game with noob armor, and dont buy anything at all, then when you beat the game, do it again in hard mode, you will be quite rich enough to buy all the armor/weapons etc, just shortly after you beat it all the second time in hard mode, that you ever wanted.

Also, doing the entire game with a starter wand and lvl 5 armor, makes it more of a challenge, and there for more fun.

LOL just kidding, ebay 50k, get a run to droks, buy max armor and a max perfect weapon, then later find out that your accoutns banned because you bought money, which you thought was ok, because theres 1000 people in town advertising sites for this, and then be very upset that you wasted 200 dollars between games/gold.. and quit gaming forever, and take up spamming forums simply for the fact you have nothing better to do, and do stupid stuff like seeing if you can get yourself on every post on the front page, and then perm/ban from guru,

if that happens you will probalby run a proxy, and make another account, and do it all agian, just because you cant play guild wars.

FUN!

Because some people enjoy repetition and grinding through nonsensical or pointless errands, so ANET created something for those people.

Really, what do you want to hear? That part of the game clearly was not created for you, so don't play it. If you want to be rewarded for your skill at the game's mechanics, grind through hard mode or go get all the missions and bonuses done in all the chapters. You'll get titles you can display to prove that you spent enormous gobs of time crushing your opponents, just like these other people get armor they can display to prove that they spent enormous gobs of time farming mountain trolls.

One thing nice about guild wars, anyone can play the game cause its basics are easy, and anyone can play it however they want. Play just thru missions and be done, or play for every title known to A NET and get my guild hall smells of rich mahogany, or cheat till you get banned, or bot, or whatever, its all good in guild wars!