One of my major concerns with GW2 is the possibility that all lvl 80 items will have identical stats. I was an avid original Guild Wars player and one of my biggest complaints is the fact that I wasn't rewarded for spending hours and hours accumulating items to build high-end Fissure armor. Yes, the armor looked cool, but it had the exact same stats as (lvl 20) Droknars Forge armor. So here's the question. Will my dedication and time be worth the investment in end game dungeons offer better armor that has better stats than other level 80 armor or will it all be the same???!!!! I really hope I'm not going to spend all these hours in this game just to find out that its a socialist nation at level 80....
Same stats, no. Balanced stats, yes.
For example, in most games you get to max lvl, and you have your base gear. Then there's tier1, then tier2, etc. etc. which all give you an edge over people with lower tiered gear.
In GW2 you hit max lvl, and you have different types of gear that are equally powerful. How does this work?
Some gear will be aimed more towards boosting your health & toughness. Some towards your power and crit. Some towards condition damage. etc. the stats are equal, but varied. A lvl 80 elementalist may want gear that boosts their healing, where as another elementalist may want armor that boosts their damage output. There's versatility there.
The incentive at 80 isn't much different than it is at lvl 1. It's to flesh out your character as much as possible, and make it so that your character is viable for as many different playstyles as you would like. This is of course ignoring the cosmetic / achievment side to the rewards that also come with. It's much more badass to role into battle looking like a warrior from hell, than a dude w/ a tin hat and a rusty greatsword.
One of my major concerns with GW2 is the possibility that all lvl 80 items will have identical stats. I was an avid original Guild Wars player and one of my biggest complaints is the fact that I wasn't rewarded for spending hours and hours accumulating items to build high-end Fissure armor. Yes, the armor looked cool, but it had the exact same stats as (lvl 20) Droknars Forge armor. So here's the question. Will my dedication and time be worth the investment in end game dungeons offer better armor that has better stats than other level 80 armor or will it all be the same???!!!! I really hope I'm not going to spend all these hours in this game just to find out that its a socialist nation at level 80....
Nope, just need to go to the mist and look at them. They have different stats to fortify your builds or strengthen your weakness. They also have runes and insignias you can place on your gear to give mutliple effects. Up to you on the stats.
One of my major concerns with GW2 is the possibility that all lvl 80 items will have identical stats. I was an avid original Guild Wars player and one of my biggest complaints is the fact that I wasn't rewarded for spending hours and hours accumulating items to build high-end Fissure armor. Yes, the armor looked cool, but it had the exact same stats as (lvl 20) Droknars Forge armor. So here's the question. Will my dedication and time be worth the investment in end game dungeons offer better armor that has better stats than other level 80 armor or will it all be the same???!!!! I really hope I'm not going to spend all these hours in this game just to find out that its a socialist nation at level 80....
Nope, just need to go to the mist and look at them. They have different stats to fortify your builds or strengthen your weakness. They also have runes and insignias you can place on your gear to give mutliple effects. Up to you on the stats.
So in other words, its identical to GW1.
Well....game is pretty different.... but in that gear concept.... yes.
This is what I don't understand about GW2. Where is the hook - what keeps you playing? If you can jump to the highest level to PVP, and content at level 80 doesn't really progress your character, just gives cosmetic bonuses, then how is it going to capitivate peoples' attention after the first couple of months? When people just play for fun, the novelty can wear off pretty fast.
I started playing chess when I was six. I'm 41 now and I still play chess.
Why?
Thing is, or at least that's how I see it, when people talk about hook, they talk about wanting to login everyday, thinking of logging in, forgetting about other games for a long time (I am exagerating a bit, I know) and when they say no hook, they mean it's not the kind of game that will capture most of your attention, not in the long run at least. Sure, you can come back at any time and play, or do some WvW when you feel like it, you'll play it from time to time, but that's about it.
Guessing that's how you play chess too, don't think you play for like 3 hours everyday after work :P.
you can ask BWE players for their reactions, one thing that I can tell you is when I was able to log in, thats all i did, I played till I was tired of looking at the screen anymore. It was a wonderful game, huge world, lots to see, lots to do, unlike some of my fellow guildmates, they actually beaten the dungeon during the BWE, and that was fun to see. I was busy figuring out where to go and tried to talk to npc I came across.
I also experimented with all the weapons for my warrior, and that was 2 days of BETA Weekend I spend , I still got a few more classes to playthrough.
Will I want to go home each night and play GW2, sure.
Ofcourse you will now, it's a new game that you wanted to play (tempted to pre purchase it too for the next event, but not sure how it will run untill they tweak the cpu bound thing). What I was talking about was some time down the road.
This is what I don't understand about GW2. Where is the hook - what keeps you playing? If you can jump to the highest level to PVP, and content at level 80 doesn't really progress your character, just gives cosmetic bonuses, then how is it going to capitivate peoples' attention after the first couple of months? When people just play for fun, the novelty can wear off pretty fast.
I started playing chess when I was six. I'm 41 now and I still play chess.
Why?
Thing is, or at least that's how I see it, when people talk about hook, they talk about wanting to login everyday, thinking of logging in, forgetting about other games for a long time (I am exagerating a bit, I know) and when they say no hook, they mean it's not the kind of game that will capture most of your attention, not in the long run at least. Sure, you can come back at any time and play, or do some WvW when you feel like it, you'll play it from time to time, but that's about it.
Guessing that's how you play chess too, don't think you play for like 3 hours everyday after work :P.
I think it will be more like GW1, I realize it is a different game in many ways but this "feel" I think will be simular. I went from playing GW1 to a end game raiding MMO. Where there was plenty options in GW1 there was really only two things to do in the raiding MMO raid or wait for a raid.
Maybe someone should start a 12 step program for raiders who want to play GW2. The first step is understanding that raiding is not the be all end in an MMO. If you really think about it doing the same thing over and over again is kind of borring. I'd look for another job if mine was like that I sure as hell don't want my free time spent that way. But you might be different, hell someone has to do the monotonous work I'd like to believe those folks are satisfied and enjoying themselves too.
Since when did MMO players become the Whiney bitches of the gaming world. You guys sound like a bunch of little girls who are fighting over a dolly.
Typically those who want all the gear without the work are the lazy asses from the WoW Camp where everything is given to you without any work.
If you are the best at anything there should be a reward. If all the armor/weapons are the same at lvl 80, GW2 will fail.. much the same way GW1 failed.
If you have nothing to strive for, you have no reason to log on. You can have the best pvp in the world, but if bad player A can look and aquire the same gear as good player B, no one will stay.
Its human nature to want to be recognised for your achievements and your merits. If you are the same as every other player then there is no reason to play.
Its human nature to beat someone and call them names and rub it in their faces that you just pwned them. When the opponent has nothing to argue but their skills as players its that more satisfying.
When its gear that determines whether or not you win in a fight, you aren't really that skilled, even if you managed to win in a 1 v 3 fight, no one will recognize your skills, they only recognize that you had better gear. In GW2, when you are in a Structured PVP and walked out alive after a 1 v 3 fight, you will be recognized as someone to be feared.
In SWTOR, while my guild is PVPing, when we lose, its always because our opponents has more healers, more geared or some other excuse, no one ever tried to restrategize, or to figure out how to win the next fight differently.
In GW2, there is no healer excuse, no gear excuse, probably will have some AOE excuses, but overall it will be what we did wrong that time, what path should we take, should we stick together, a more tactical game.
Life is a Maze, so make sure you bring your GPS incase you get lost in it.
You have to have the carrot for the Donkey to continue to follow. Without the Carror, the donkey moves on.
No the most eloquent analogy but you get the point.
Its been true through every game thats had any kind of success..
You have to have some type of progression to keep people playing.
"Oh God, I have to keep logging in to get a pretty pretty hat to wear" if you say so.
Yes players want to look good, but more so, they want to have gear that others dont have. If at level 80, every guardian is wearing the same exact piece of gear then the lifespan of GW2 is going to be counted in Months, not years.
Just because I'm a gamer doesn't mean I drive a Honda.
Let me relate this to a FPS for a second. Say you play a FPS for a year and because you've been playing it that long, you've gotten this nuke which when you shoot it, explodes all over the map and it kills everything, everywhere, and you win. Yeah it's fun the first few times to see it happen but then what? You're bored.
Wouldn't it be more fun if you killed someone because you had more skill than them? I think so. To me, the people that prefer it the other way are bullies who just want to kill with impunity and then /lol and /spit on their opponent. It's silly and I'm glad that Anet kept it this way.
And to the people who say GW1 is dead, are you serious? The game is still going strong lol.
This is what I don't understand about GW2. Where is the hook - what keeps you playing? If you can jump to the highest level to PVP, and content at level 80 doesn't really progress your character, just gives cosmetic bonuses, then how is it going to capitivate peoples' attention after the first couple of months? When people just play for fun, the novelty can wear off pretty fast.
^^^^ I agree with what you say. YOu get to max lvl and then what? You already have the best armor level in the game. You can pvp for fun, but once again there is no reward.
Just for fun? no in gw2 u fight to be the best team in the ladder system, and the best server in WvWvW, you fight to be recognized, you have lots of gear to loot, u can optimize your stats but u should never be able to win because of them, getting gear to look good while we are having fun winning in any type of pvp, is just awsome.
Guild wars 1 is the perfect example of cosmetic items not being fluff. All the armor had the same stats but wearing obsidian/fissue of woe/prestige armor was a status symbol. For a lot of people how you look is a huge part of the game.
In fact the stats don't matter, how it looks is what matters. Which is why when cash shops sell cool looking items and people call it fluff it urks me. Those could be items obtained in the game.
As far as items having the same stats it's really the best way to ensure PVP is balanced. Otherwise you end up with gear > skill which is not the case with guild wars. You could always grind for that cooler looking status symbol gear.
"You CAN'T buy ships for RL money." - MaxBacon
"classification of games into MMOs is not by rational reasoning" - nariusseldon
One of my major concerns with GW2 is the possibility that all lvl 80 items will have identical stats. I was an avid original Guild Wars player and one of my biggest complaints is the fact that I wasn't rewarded for spending hours and hours accumulating items to build high-end Fissure armor. Yes, the armor looked cool, but it had the exact same stats as (lvl 20) Droknars Forge armor. So here's the question. Will my dedication and time be worth the investment in end game dungeons offer better armor that has better stats than other level 80 armor or will it all be the same???!!!! I really hope I'm not going to spend all these hours in this game just to find out that its a socialist nation at level 80....
The gear will be balanced against other level 80 gear.
So the gear can differ as much as the classes differs from eachother, they are also different but balanced. Well at least in theory right now but they hopefully be at launched.
Balance does not mean identical. And for certain specs you might be forced to get hard to get gear.
But it will never be the same thing as in EQ & Wow, no great advantage for certain gear and no tiers of raid gear.
You have to have the carrot for the Donkey to continue to follow. Without the Carror, the donkey moves on.
No the most eloquent analogy but you get the point.
Its been true through every game thats had any kind of success..
You have to have some type of progression to keep people playing.
"Oh God, I have to keep logging in to get a pretty pretty hat to wear" if you say so.
Yes players want to look good, but more so, they want to have gear that others dont have. If at level 80, every guardian is wearing the same exact piece of gear then the lifespan of GW2 is going to be counted in Months, not years.
Your argument is not the same as what others have posted, your argument is that all gears at level 80 all looks the same, which isn't true. All gear aren't the same look, every dungeon has its own specific gear that looks different than others. Even quest and craft gear all look differently.
Whats the same is Gear doesn't make you one shot your opponents, gears aren't over powered, so stat wise, all level 80's will fight on pretty balanced even grounds.
Thats what others are arguing about, they are saying because My level 80 gear only makes me balanced to your level 80 gear, I am no longer OP, I can no longer one shot you because I am so Uber.
All merchant level 80 gear is pretty normal looking, its when you see someone with huge spikes that you know they beaten that dungeon to get that armor. Are they gonna one shot you with your normal looking gear based on only gear, nope, are they gonna kill you because they are better at the game, maybe.
Thats what GW2 is offering.
Life is a Maze, so make sure you bring your GPS incase you get lost in it.
Gw2 is not based of an item level ladder. If armor progress is your form of accomplishment and progression than you might want to look else where as the developers stressed that armor will not be a driving force for end game.
I know GW1 added time trials and the like with world rankings to keep people interested so I would like to mkake the assumption they have those kind of plans to keep *end game pve* fun and exciting.
Personally I have 4 friends so we are excited to build a solid 5v5 structured pvp team and compete there.
You have to have the carrot for the Donkey to continue to follow. Without the Carror, the donkey moves on.
No the most eloquent analogy but you get the point.
Its been true through every game thats had any kind of success..
You have to have some type of progression to keep people playing.
"Oh God, I have to keep logging in to get a pretty pretty hat to wear" if you say so.
Yes players want to look good, but more so, they want to have gear that others dont have. If at level 80, every guardian is wearing the same exact piece of gear then the lifespan of GW2 is going to be counted in Months, not years.
Games have been around alot longer then video games. And just because progression ends does not mean people give up on them. There are plenty of old timers leagues for a variety of games. These guys are no longer progressing even personal skill-wise, in fact they are going the opposite direction, but they keep playing. So there must be something more there then progression. If it just boils down to pure progression I doubt that game will be very successful or fun for that matter. Replayablity is measure by more then just progression.
Oh my word. A game that does not revolve around gear grinding. We should bash this game until the developers fall in line with every other MMO on the market because I hate having choice as a consumer!!!
Enter a whole new realm of challenge and adventure.
Games have been around alot longer then video games. And just because progression ends does not mean people give up on them. There are plenty of old timers leagues for a variety of games. These guys are no longer progressing even personal skill-wise, in fact they are going the opposite direction, but they keep playing. So there must be something more there then progression. If it just boils down to pure progression I doubt that game will be very successful or fun for that matter. Replayablity is measure by more then just progression.
Different gear will have different stat allocation and a different look. That's why they have transmutation stones. You may find a great looking piece of gear but want stats weighted toward condition damage because of your skills and talent allocation, so you transmute the stats of one piece on to the other.
People CAN chose to farm gear for those pieces that have their ideal stat allocation OR for that piece of gear that fits into a particular dungeon set or look. Or not. Or you may end up with a PvE set and a WvW set based on stat allocation.
"Loading screens" are not "instances". Your personal efforts to troll any game will not, in fact, impact the success or failure of said game.
This is what I don't understand about GW2. Where is the hook - what keeps you playing? If you can jump to the highest level to PVP, and content at level 80 doesn't really progress your character, just gives cosmetic bonuses, then how is it going to capitivate peoples' attention after the first couple of months? When people just play for fun, the novelty can wear off pretty fast.
I started playing chess when I was six. I'm 41 now and I still play chess.
Why?
Thing is, or at least that's how I see it, when people talk about hook, they talk about wanting to login everyday, thinking of logging in, forgetting about other games for a long time (I am exagerating a bit, I know) and when they say no hook, they mean it's not the kind of game that will capture most of your attention, not in the long run at least. Sure, you can come back at any time and play, or do some WvW when you feel like it, you'll play it from time to time, but that's about it.
Guessing that's how you play chess too, don't think you play for like 3 hours everyday after work :P.
Have I explored every continent
Have I done every dynamic event
Have I seen every outcome
Have I done all the dungeons and all 4 explorable modes
Have I taken a keep
Have I taken a supply farm
Have I taken a tower
Have I found every skill point
Have I performed all my story quests
Have you got 100 percent exploration over the entire world?
Most importantly, have you defeated the undead dragon? Have you helped free this part of Tyria from its reign?
Are you seriously telling me, that the only reason you play any game, is for the loot? The actual game doesnt matter. You play the game for the opportunity to keep playing the game for the opportunity to keep playing the game.
If the above list don't get you, then its just not the game for you. But these things are staples (in some way or form) of RPGs. and at some point, companeis just began making MMOs and forgot about the RPG part.
Sadly, more than anything else, loot treadmill is what kept people in WoW, and it has other good elements, but no one cares about that stuff after a while.
I think people have been about as clear as they can be that GW2 is not for people that like to level as quickly as possible to max so they can begin 8 months of loot grind in the same instances until you get a new patch or new expansion then you start all over again.
If people want a gear grind this is not the game for them, but you have plenty of other choices.
"Loading screens" are not "instances". Your personal efforts to troll any game will not, in fact, impact the success or failure of said game.
This is what I don't understand about GW2. Where is the hook - what keeps you playing? If you can jump to the highest level to PVP, and content at level 80 doesn't really progress your character, just gives cosmetic bonuses, then how is it going to capitivate peoples' attention after the first couple of months? When people just play for fun, the novelty can wear off pretty fast.
I started playing chess when I was six. I'm 41 now and I still play chess.
Why?
Thing is, or at least that's how I see it, when people talk about hook, they talk about wanting to login everyday, thinking of logging in, forgetting about other games for a long time (I am exagerating a bit, I know) and when they say no hook, they mean it's not the kind of game that will capture most of your attention, not in the long run at least. Sure, you can come back at any time and play, or do some WvW when you feel like it, you'll play it from time to time, but that's about it.
Guessing that's how you play chess too, don't think you play for like 3 hours everyday after work :P.
Have I explored every continent
Have I done every dynamic event
Have I seen every outcome
Have I done all the dungeons and all 4 explorable modes
Have I taken a keep
Have I taken a supply farm
Have I taken a tower
Have I found every skill point
Have I performed all my story quests
Have you got 100 percent exploration over the entire world?
Most importantly, have you defeated the undead dragon? Have you helped free this part of Tyria from its reign?
Are you seriously telling me, that the only reason you play any game, is for the loot? The actual game doesnt matter. You play the game for the opportunity to keep playing the game for the opportunity to keep playing the game.
If the above list don't get you, then its just not the game for you. But these things are staples (in some way or form) of RPGs. and at some point, companeis just began making MMOs and forgot about the RPG part.
Wasn't talking about myself, just trying to give a possible explanation. There are people who do it only for gear, to make their character become more powerfull, because that's what they like. Others do it for gear, maybe without knowing, because they like the slot machine/sort of gambling time kind of deal that comes with not knowing if the gear you want will drop.
Leaving that aside, that list you put up there feels to me like you're asking (maybe not the best example since it's a single player game) if I got 100% sync in Assassin's Creed and if I didn't, I'm not done with the game untill I do, or that I'm not done with WoW, untill I get all the achivements. Some of the stuff there seems like something that would seem interesting to do, others not so much and don't think the majority feels like doing every single thing before saying that they don't feel like playing a game anymore or are done with a game. Sure you have options, that doesn't mean you'll feel like doing all of them.
As for the gear part, don't feel like it's a good thing or a bad thing, it's just different. In a game you get higher stats and different looks, in this game you get the same number of stats, but atributed differently and different looks.
You have to have the carrot for the Donkey to continue to follow. Without the Carror, the donkey moves on.
No the most eloquent analogy but you get the point.
Its been true through every game thats had any kind of success..
You have to have some type of progression to keep people playing.
"Oh God, I have to keep logging in to get a pretty pretty hat to wear" if you say so.
Yes players want to look good, but more so, they want to have gear that others dont have. If at level 80, every guardian is wearing the same exact piece of gear then the lifespan of GW2 is going to be counted in Months, not years.
Err.. that is a gear grind. Seriously, take a step back and think. Every hardcore-no-life-plays-80hoursaweek raider has the highest teir gear.. they all look the same. And WHY did they get that gear? so they can do the NEXT raid and get that gear so they can all look alike again. Some people will get it first and strut around with their new LOOKING gear. Take out the stats and raids and replace with hard ass dungeons and gear that just changes stats around. If someone can finnish that dungeon, he will have gear to show off also.
IF you think about it, the difference between a raid and a dungeon is in a Raid, you need gear from the previous raid, and you have to watch youtube to learn when to move. Oh, and you also need x amount of healers, x amount of tanks, x amount of ranged dps, and the rest your fill with whatever.
For the dungeons in GW2, you need 4 other people that you can work with, and work well. If you expect to get in there, put your left foot in, take your left foot out, put your right foot in and shake it all about while a healer plays whak-a-mole with health bars, well, you will die. You gotta dodge, heal yourself, help heal others, rez, take aggro for a few, and just try to mesh with your party.
Not saying one way is better then the other (though I do admitt, I am bias because I like what GW2 is selling). If you enjoy the gear treadmill, more power to you... just know this game is not for you and you might as well go away since your voice is NOT changing it, it is just starting an argument (and I think that is known as something).
Comments
Same stats, no. Balanced stats, yes.
For example, in most games you get to max lvl, and you have your base gear. Then there's tier1, then tier2, etc. etc. which all give you an edge over people with lower tiered gear.
In GW2 you hit max lvl, and you have different types of gear that are equally powerful. How does this work?
Some gear will be aimed more towards boosting your health & toughness. Some towards your power and crit. Some towards condition damage. etc. the stats are equal, but varied. A lvl 80 elementalist may want gear that boosts their healing, where as another elementalist may want armor that boosts their damage output. There's versatility there.
The incentive at 80 isn't much different than it is at lvl 1. It's to flesh out your character as much as possible, and make it so that your character is viable for as many different playstyles as you would like. This is of course ignoring the cosmetic / achievment side to the rewards that also come with. It's much more badass to role into battle looking like a warrior from hell, than a dude w/ a tin hat and a rusty greatsword.
So in other words, its identical to GW1.
Well....game is pretty different.... but in that gear concept.... yes.
Ofcourse you will now, it's a new game that you wanted to play (tempted to pre purchase it too for the next event, but not sure how it will run untill they tweak the cpu bound thing). What I was talking about was some time down the road.
I think it will be more like GW1, I realize it is a different game in many ways but this "feel" I think will be simular. I went from playing GW1 to a end game raiding MMO. Where there was plenty options in GW1 there was really only two things to do in the raiding MMO raid or wait for a raid.
Maybe someone should start a 12 step program for raiders who want to play GW2. The first step is understanding that raiding is not the be all end in an MMO. If you really think about it doing the same thing over and over again is kind of borring. I'd look for another job if mine was like that I sure as hell don't want my free time spent that way. But you might be different, hell someone has to do the monotonous work I'd like to believe those folks are satisfied and enjoying themselves too.
A lot of the people that want the gear treadmill are the raiders from WoW. So this part of your post makes no sense.
My theme song.
Its human nature to beat someone and call them names and rub it in their faces that you just pwned them. When the opponent has nothing to argue but their skills as players its that more satisfying.
When its gear that determines whether or not you win in a fight, you aren't really that skilled, even if you managed to win in a 1 v 3 fight, no one will recognize your skills, they only recognize that you had better gear. In GW2, when you are in a Structured PVP and walked out alive after a 1 v 3 fight, you will be recognized as someone to be feared.
In SWTOR, while my guild is PVPing, when we lose, its always because our opponents has more healers, more geared or some other excuse, no one ever tried to restrategize, or to figure out how to win the next fight differently.
In GW2, there is no healer excuse, no gear excuse, probably will have some AOE excuses, but overall it will be what we did wrong that time, what path should we take, should we stick together, a more tactical game.
Life is a Maze, so make sure you bring your GPS incase you get lost in it.
You have to have the carrot for the Donkey to continue to follow. Without the Carror, the donkey moves on.
No the most eloquent analogy but you get the point.
Its been true through every game thats had any kind of success..
You have to have some type of progression to keep people playing.
"Oh God, I have to keep logging in to get a pretty pretty hat to wear" if you say so.
Yes players want to look good, but more so, they want to have gear that others dont have. If at level 80, every guardian is wearing the same exact piece of gear then the lifespan of GW2 is going to be counted in Months, not years.
Lets see your Battle Stations /r/battlestations
Battle Station
Let me relate this to a FPS for a second. Say you play a FPS for a year and because you've been playing it that long, you've gotten this nuke which when you shoot it, explodes all over the map and it kills everything, everywhere, and you win. Yeah it's fun the first few times to see it happen but then what? You're bored.
Wouldn't it be more fun if you killed someone because you had more skill than them? I think so. To me, the people that prefer it the other way are bullies who just want to kill with impunity and then /lol and /spit on their opponent. It's silly and I'm glad that Anet kept it this way.
And to the people who say GW1 is dead, are you serious? The game is still going strong lol.
Just for fun? no in gw2 u fight to be the best team in the ladder system, and the best server in WvWvW, you fight to be recognized, you have lots of gear to loot, u can optimize your stats but u should never be able to win because of them, getting gear to look good while we are having fun winning in any type of pvp, is just awsome.
Guild wars 1 is the perfect example of cosmetic items not being fluff. All the armor had the same stats but wearing obsidian/fissue of woe/prestige armor was a status symbol. For a lot of people how you look is a huge part of the game.
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Chaos_Gloves
In fact the stats don't matter, how it looks is what matters. Which is why when cash shops sell cool looking items and people call it fluff it urks me. Those could be items obtained in the game.
As far as items having the same stats it's really the best way to ensure PVP is balanced. Otherwise you end up with gear > skill which is not the case with guild wars. You could always grind for that cooler looking status symbol gear.
"classification of games into MMOs is not by rational reasoning" - nariusseldon
Love Minecraft. And check out my Youtube channel OhCanadaGamer
Try a MUD today at http://www.mudconnect.com/The gear will be balanced against other level 80 gear.
So the gear can differ as much as the classes differs from eachother, they are also different but balanced. Well at least in theory right now but they hopefully be at launched.
Balance does not mean identical. And for certain specs you might be forced to get hard to get gear.
But it will never be the same thing as in EQ & Wow, no great advantage for certain gear and no tiers of raid gear.
Maximum overall power yes but not same stats! Some gear will go more into offense, some defense some something between! It's all about build.
Also I would add that if you don't limit gear power Gw2 could never become e-sport it is trying to be.
Guild Wars 2 Youtube Croatian Maniacs
My Guild Wars titles
Your argument is not the same as what others have posted, your argument is that all gears at level 80 all looks the same, which isn't true. All gear aren't the same look, every dungeon has its own specific gear that looks different than others. Even quest and craft gear all look differently.
Whats the same is Gear doesn't make you one shot your opponents, gears aren't over powered, so stat wise, all level 80's will fight on pretty balanced even grounds.
Thats what others are arguing about, they are saying because My level 80 gear only makes me balanced to your level 80 gear, I am no longer OP, I can no longer one shot you because I am so Uber.
All merchant level 80 gear is pretty normal looking, its when you see someone with huge spikes that you know they beaten that dungeon to get that armor. Are they gonna one shot you with your normal looking gear based on only gear, nope, are they gonna kill you because they are better at the game, maybe.
Thats what GW2 is offering.
Life is a Maze, so make sure you bring your GPS incase you get lost in it.
Gw2 is not based of an item level ladder. If armor progress is your form of accomplishment and progression than you might want to look else where as the developers stressed that armor will not be a driving force for end game.
I know GW1 added time trials and the like with world rankings to keep people interested so I would like to mkake the assumption they have those kind of plans to keep *end game pve* fun and exciting.
Personally I have 4 friends so we are excited to build a solid 5v5 structured pvp team and compete there.
Games have been around alot longer then video games. And just because progression ends does not mean people give up on them. There are plenty of old timers leagues for a variety of games. These guys are no longer progressing even personal skill-wise, in fact they are going the opposite direction, but they keep playing. So there must be something more there then progression. If it just boils down to pure progression I doubt that game will be very successful or fun for that matter. Replayablity is measure by more then just progression.
Enter a whole new realm of challenge and adventure.
You mean play something just because it is fun?
What a weird idea
Different gear will have different stat allocation and a different look. That's why they have transmutation stones. You may find a great looking piece of gear but want stats weighted toward condition damage because of your skills and talent allocation, so you transmute the stats of one piece on to the other.
People CAN chose to farm gear for those pieces that have their ideal stat allocation OR for that piece of gear that fits into a particular dungeon set or look. Or not. Or you may end up with a PvE set and a WvW set based on stat allocation.
"Loading screens" are not "instances".
Your personal efforts to troll any game will not, in fact, impact the success or failure of said game.
Have I explored every continent
Have I done every dynamic event
Have I seen every outcome
Have I done all the dungeons and all 4 explorable modes
Have I taken a keep
Have I taken a supply farm
Have I taken a tower
Have I found every skill point
Have I performed all my story quests
Have you got 100 percent exploration over the entire world?
Most importantly, have you defeated the undead dragon? Have you helped free this part of Tyria from its reign?
Are you seriously telling me, that the only reason you play any game, is for the loot? The actual game doesnt matter. You play the game for the opportunity to keep playing the game for the opportunity to keep playing the game.
If the above list don't get you, then its just not the game for you. But these things are staples (in some way or form) of RPGs. and at some point, companeis just began making MMOs and forgot about the RPG part.
I think people have been about as clear as they can be that GW2 is not for people that like to level as quickly as possible to max so they can begin 8 months of loot grind in the same instances until you get a new patch or new expansion then you start all over again.
If people want a gear grind this is not the game for them, but you have plenty of other choices.
"Loading screens" are not "instances".
Your personal efforts to troll any game will not, in fact, impact the success or failure of said game.
Wasn't talking about myself, just trying to give a possible explanation. There are people who do it only for gear, to make their character become more powerfull, because that's what they like. Others do it for gear, maybe without knowing, because they like the slot machine/sort of gambling time kind of deal that comes with not knowing if the gear you want will drop.
Leaving that aside, that list you put up there feels to me like you're asking (maybe not the best example since it's a single player game) if I got 100% sync in Assassin's Creed and if I didn't, I'm not done with the game untill I do, or that I'm not done with WoW, untill I get all the achivements. Some of the stuff there seems like something that would seem interesting to do, others not so much and don't think the majority feels like doing every single thing before saying that they don't feel like playing a game anymore or are done with a game. Sure you have options, that doesn't mean you'll feel like doing all of them.
As for the gear part, don't feel like it's a good thing or a bad thing, it's just different. In a game you get higher stats and different looks, in this game you get the same number of stats, but atributed differently and different looks.
Err.. that is a gear grind. Seriously, take a step back and think. Every hardcore-no-life-plays-80hoursaweek raider has the highest teir gear.. they all look the same. And WHY did they get that gear? so they can do the NEXT raid and get that gear so they can all look alike again. Some people will get it first and strut around with their new LOOKING gear. Take out the stats and raids and replace with hard ass dungeons and gear that just changes stats around. If someone can finnish that dungeon, he will have gear to show off also.
IF you think about it, the difference between a raid and a dungeon is in a Raid, you need gear from the previous raid, and you have to watch youtube to learn when to move. Oh, and you also need x amount of healers, x amount of tanks, x amount of ranged dps, and the rest your fill with whatever.
For the dungeons in GW2, you need 4 other people that you can work with, and work well. If you expect to get in there, put your left foot in, take your left foot out, put your right foot in and shake it all about while a healer plays whak-a-mole with health bars, well, you will die. You gotta dodge, heal yourself, help heal others, rez, take aggro for a few, and just try to mesh with your party.
Not saying one way is better then the other (though I do admitt, I am bias because I like what GW2 is selling). If you enjoy the gear treadmill, more power to you... just know this game is not for you and you might as well go away since your voice is NOT changing it, it is just starting an argument (and I think that is known as something).