lack of staging areas in GWEN

Sparks Dawnbringer

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Oct 2005

Los Angeles

none

E/Mo

I was wondering if the lack of staging areas in Gwen is a precurser to GW2, and how everyone feels about it. I for one liked the staging areas in the first campaigns. I liked that it was hard to get somewhere but once you got there you could choose how you went the next time.

It's like they want to control how I play the game. I find it a bit boring to do missions over and over again filling books when I even have to fight my way to the dungeon or mission. Especially if Devona decides to fight everything she can see. If you have a lot of DP from the travels to the dungeon how are you going to complete the dungeon.

I think the lack of a staging area makes it a lot harder for the people who want ot PUG because not everyone has the time to do the area and the dungeon. Especially in areas like Slavers and the two dungeons in the Charr area.

I guess I want more outposts and towns and staging areas. Back to the old way and less of the new.

zwei2stein

zwei2stein

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: Jun 2006

Europe

The German Order [GER]

N/

Yes, staging areas are kinda missing.

But check out threads where people suggested that slavers exile got outpost (it makes a lot of sense since there is outpost-like mini explorable right at beginning.). Responses were not pretty.

Washi

Washi

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: May 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sparks Dawnbringer
If you have a lot of DP from the travels to the dungeon how are you going to complete the dungeon.
If you have alot of DP from the travel it means you would fail in dungeon anyway, since its alot harder than outside areas.

Seriously, this game is easy enough, don't try to make it any easier. Where's the challenge in that?

zwei2stein

zwei2stein

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: Jun 2006

Europe

The German Order [GER]

N/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Washi
If you have alot of DP from the travel it means you would fail in dungeon anyway, since its alot harder than outside areas.

Seriously, this game is easy enough, don't try to make it any easier. Where's the challenge in that?
So, you think that cutting easy areas inbetween makes it easier? Kinda bad logic.

As you said, someone who gets dp while travelling from normal outpost wont complete dungeon anyway. There is no harm cutting away stuff he is going to struggle with and skipping right to part where he fails. Saves his times (better fail rightaway than after hour.) saves times of people who can do it (better be challenged rightaway not not be bored with explorable before that.)

There is no challenge in walking to dungeon entrance. Its just boring/unnecesary.

Jongo River

Jongo River

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Oct 2006

I think it's the one factor that stops me from bothering with GW:EN dungeons much. There's just no reason not to have a mini-outpost/entrance hall for all of them. My time and energy are the factors, not difficulty. For example, I generally try and start my gaming session with a mission or some important activety and leave quests to wind-down/kill time afterwards. I don't want to have to trudge around doing something mundane, before I get to the part I want to play - for that reason I often do quests that lead to missions at the end of a gaming session, so I'm good to go the following day.

The setup in GW:EN just causes unnecessary trudging around and even if it doesn't generally take all that long to get to most dungeons, it does deplete my will to get the job done, somewhat. Oh and my comments are based on normal mode - I imagine I'd have to take a coffee break on arriving at some dungeons in hard mode!

electrofish

electrofish

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Jun 2006

Totally agree, the dungeon npcs should be in the town. I love dungeons, but atm just can't be bothered to run through maps (sometimes even 2 for those in Sacnoth Valley -.-) to get to it.

vaxmor

vaxmor

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Dec 2005

Ascalon

R/

Agreed - we could definitely do with agreeing to having a city as a PUG LFG city.

The Great Al

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jun 2005

ALOA

E/Me

I totally agree, however I wouldn't be surprised if there were less towns, because people are so spread out nowadays. I guess with the dungeons it wouldn't hurt matters, because if people are specifically looking for dungeon quests, they wouldn't have any other reason to be in a different town.

MisterMax

MisterMax

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Sep 2007

R/

Okay so this is just my opinion..

Putting a town at the entrance of a dungeon wouldn't make it easier per say, it would just make everyone lazy. And cmon who puts a town at the base of a cave/dungeon? "Hmm look, a Charr infested dungeon! Lets make a settlement here and hope they don't attack us!" Really now..

If you fail at getting to a dungeon, then stop running! Walk to it and kill anything that attacks you. Putting up more towns would just make more ghost-towns like there are now.

lyra_song

lyra_song

Hell's Protector

Join Date: Oct 2005

R/Mo

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...php?t=10241546

BSSuperman

BSSuperman

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Oct 2006

Prophets of Dhuum[wii]

W/

Theres an outpost at the Cathedral of Kantha...kkanth.. That Cathedral with the Charr donjon - But then again I dont mind beating some poor mobs senseless on my way to the next donjon - It whets my blades and sometimes drops an extra pick for me to break on a shiny box in a cave somewhere.

Is this a "my time is too precious for me to play the game, gimme the chestdrops at 2 minute intervals for destroyer weapons right now" thread??

Mordakai

Mordakai

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: Aug 2005

Kyhlo

W/

Before this devolves completely into a discussion of GWEN dungeons, I'd like to support the OP's position that this would NOT be good for Guild Wars 2.

If Anet wants to keep its casual base alive, then there needs to be ways to easily access content of the game (NOTE: I'm not saying the content has to be easy. I'm saying the ability to log on and immediately do what you want to do is very important to casual gamers, who don't have 4 hours to spend of constant gaming.)

For the Persistant areas of GW2, we should be able to log off and log back in where we last were anyway. It's the access to Instances I'm concerned about.

TaCktiX

TaCktiX

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Oct 2006

The Order of Chaos Reborn [ToC]

I signed that suggestion, lyra, and I still agree with it. Getting to Frostmaw's Burrows is annoying, Catacombs of Kathandrax moreso. Sure that little jaunt through the explorable is fun the first few times, but when it's a 30 minute chore just to get to the 1-2 hour dungeon, it gets ridiculous. Centralized access to any dungeon you've gotten to before is a needed thing, and I don't want to hear any more BS about "zomg, you're lazy" from anybody.

Operative 14

Operative 14

Forge Runner

Join Date: Nov 2006

Arizona, USA

[OOP] Order of the Phoenix I

One of the problems I have is that I simply don't have enough time to get to a dungeon, then work my way through its levels. That's one of the main reasons I have never really done a lot of dungeons. To fight my way there takes a pretty good deal of time on top of an already long expedition in the dungeon.

I would love to have outposts at dungeons, becuase then it would make it possible for me to actually play the dungeons.

tmr819

tmr819

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Nov 2007

W/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by Operative 14
I would love to have outposts at dungeons, becuase then it would make it possible for me to actually play the dungeons.
Better still to have a single dungeon staging area, from which you could access any dungeon if you had discovered it and had the associated quest(s).

In the dungeon staging area, I'd restrict the use of "LFG" for a particular dungeon to players who had the requisite quest for that dungeon. Once you had your team together, the team leader could then hit the "Enter Dungeon" button.

cosyfiep

cosyfiep

are we there yet?

Join Date: Dec 2005

in a land far far away

guild? I am supposed to have a guild?

Rt/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Operative 14
One of the problems I have is that I simply don't have enough time to get to a dungeon, then work my way through its levels. That's one of the main reasons I have never really done a lot of dungeons. To fight my way there takes a pretty good deal of time on top of an already long expedition in the dungeon.
My thoughts exactly. If you only have say and hour or so to play and it takes that time to complete the dungeon say, and then add getting there to the mix equals dungeon not completed in the amount of time you have to play.
There are a few dungeons I have yet to do since I havent the time to get there and then play through them. (and then the lack of a merchant when I get into the dungeon since I have killed off half of the mobs in the area and they have all dropped stuff on my way.....)
Yes there are a lack of staging areas in this expansion and I hope it is NOT a precursor for gw2.

sterbenx2

sterbenx2

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jul 2007

New England

Lunatic Legion

N/

traveling across maps to get to the dungeons is a little too WoW for me thanx. I would like an alternative. Why in Proph, Factions, NF there were outposts for everything and now? I don't know why they ever thought this was a good idea but it wasn't. Its not that people are lazy, its just annoying. Probably why I haven't played any dungeons in a while.

Molock

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Sep 2006

Qu??bec

Legacy of Angels [Halo]

E/

Oh yeah! We could form PuG's there also! lol
/sarcasm

Ok.. seriously though they would be very useful

Tender Wolf

Tender Wolf

Banned

Join Date: Jul 2007

All over Tyria, Cantha, & Elona

The Eternal Night Vanguard [TEN]

R/

I agree, it's a pain having to run through other places to get to a dungeon. They should all be outposts. Now some, like Cathedral of Flames, can be accessed via a town or some right outside a town. That's fine, they should all be that way if you ask me.

Snograt

Snograt

rattus rattus

Join Date: Jan 2006

London, UK GMT??0 ??1hr DST

[GURU]GW [wiki]GW2

R/

Kathandrax is the worst - having to trail through 2 complete zones just to get there. Thank god for the devourer, I guess. There should at least be an outpost on the boundary between the two zones.

Zeek Aran

Zeek Aran

Forge Runner

Join Date: Aug 2006

Earth, sadly

BORK

A/

You think it's boring spending 30 minutes getting to the dungeon? Then try doing the dungeon. Anyone who does a dungeon in hardmode twice must have the inability to be bored, unless it's CoF because that exists only for dual-farming.

freaky naughty

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Sep 2007

Mo/N

Quote:
Originally Posted by MisterMax
Okay so this is just my opinion..

Putting a town at the entrance of a dungeon wouldn't make it easier per say, it would just make everyone lazy. And cmon who puts a town at the base of a cave/dungeon? "Hmm look, a Charr infested dungeon! Lets make a settlement here and hope they don't attack us!" Really now..

If you fail at getting to a dungeon, then stop running! Walk to it and kill anything that attacks you. Putting up more towns would just make more ghost-towns like there are now.
Yeah? Well what was the reason for anyone building an outpost by Hell's Precipice? It's GW not military strategy. To be on topic I think making an outpost for each dungeon is a great idea, running to the dungeons isn't exactly difficult just an unneeded nuisance.

jammerpa

jammerpa

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: May 2006

Sunny FLA

Omega Knights

N/Me

Once you complete your dungeon book in NM, you should be able to open up the book and zone to each dungeon. Sorta the way the BMP works.

/agree on wasting too much time getting to some of the dungeons.

Hollow Gein

Hollow Gein

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Aug 2007

Menos Espadas

N/

I'd definitely /sign to get outposts for quicker access to dungeons themselves rather than trudging my way there.

Cherng Butter

Cherng Butter

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jan 2006

Maryland

The Mirror Of Reason [SNOW]

E/Mo

It's not that it's difficult to reach the dungeons, it's just...tedious. And the dungeons take a while on their own, so that's more time down the drain. I'd like this, for convenience.

MoriaOrc

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Feb 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by sterbenx2
traveling across maps to get to the dungeons is a little too WoW for me thanx. I would like an alternative. Why in Proph, Factions, NF there were outposts for everything and now?
That's pretty accurate for Nightfall (I think the only zone not directly bordering an outpost is Crystal Overlook) and Factions (Only Undercity, and then only for foreign characters who haven't figured out how to get in). But in Prophecies there are lots of areas that take a bit of leg work just to get too.

Look at Dreadnought's Drift (up Snake Dance, or down Lornar's), The Falls, Dragon's Gullet, Majesties Rest, and at least a half a dozen others. A lot of prophecies is far from an outpost. The only consolation is that the main reason to go to most of these places is for Vanquishing, though Dreadnought's is also a fun stop for any enterprising Tome-less skill hunters.

Main Topic:
The "adventure" of getting to the place, or even just finding it, is fun the first time or two. Unfortunately, it does wear off pretty fast. The only thing it's really good for is an extra 25-50 points towards whatever rep title the dungeon is in the area of. And on my main, Norn area dungeons don't even have this benefit anymore. However, I don't mind too much. Getting there is usually a very small concern, of time or difficulty, compared to doing the dungeon.