Guild Wars 2

[Crychon]

As for trade skills, leatherworker and chef are okay, but there's a problem. Chef will require a lot more money and materials to raise than any other crafting skill. They even tell you that when you go to train it. Look at the wiki article and compare with the other crafting skills. Lots of subcombines (which require mats, a few of which need to be purchased) before you even get to the item you actually want to make. While all the crafting skills have subcombines, Chef has far and away more than any other. It's almost at an EQ level (where the better food items have 16-23 subcombines required before you can even attempt the final combine). For that reason, I went Leatherworker/Huntsman on my Ranger (and one of my thieves). I do have Chef on my elementalist, for RP purposes (she's from the human commoner background).

 

Um, mjd, can you send an invite again? I logged in and saw the popup and, well, D-Lyrium explained it best.

 

I've been getting by as a chef mostly through buying stuff with Karma. I have spent a decent amount of cash as well, but the karma vendors also come in really handy for getting your cooking skill up.

 

Also, I may or may not have gotten an invite to that guild as well (I've been getting a decent amount of invites, so I'm not sure), but I'd join, but I'll probably continue to represent my current guild.

[Crychon]

Also, here's a list of the Karma Vendors with cooking materials outside of the town trainers that me and my guild have encountered so far:

 

Farmer Eda - Shaemoor Fields, Queensdale - Apples, Nutmeg Seeds

Deputy Jenks - Overlake Haven, Kessex Hills - Black Beans, Bay Leaves, Bananas, Nutmeg Seeds

Sangdo Swiftwing - Dominion Killing Zone, Kessex Hills - Bananas

Seraph Soldier Goran - The Wendon Steps, Brisban Wildlands - Bananas

Glaxx - Duskstruck Moors, Brisban Wildlands / Ulta Metamagic Waypoint - Vanilla Beans

Sagum Relicseeker- Durmand Priory / Charr Starting - Cumin

Researcher Hrappa / Eona - Metrica Province / Caledon Forest - Lemons

Milton Book - Cornucopian Fields - Nutmeg, Vanilla, Chili, Celery

Field Medic Leius - Nebo Terrace, Gendarran Fields - Black Beans, Bay Leaves

[Remianen]

Welcome to launch!

 

Four patches (requiring restart/relog) in the last three hours (that I know of).

 

Just realized my warrior can use a rifle too. Bananas!

 

EDIT: Okay, maybe I don't hate Twilight of the Wolf quite so much. After I maxed out Rifle, I went back to do the quest and, using the rifle skills and some dodging, I can beat Ormi pretty handily, I think. Lost the first attempt due to having a bad skill equipped but he was at like 8% health, which I could probably finish off with two shots. Didn't even circle-strafe or kite him either. Blinded him, let Garm tank him and emptied my gat into his face () until he turned on me. Rifle Butt, Call Owl (bleed), brutal shot (vulnerability), and then he jumped me. If I had had Kick equipped, I could've knocked him back again.

 

I still don't like the idea of a warrior being encouraged not to wade in and slash people to ribbons.

[Remianen]

OH MY GAWD!

 

Game hasn't been out a day and they've been suspending and banning accounts already! Look here (it's comedy gold, believe me):

 

 

It's so funny to see people post asking if their name is offensive....only to have the CS person pull their chat log and out them!

[crownsy]

OH MY GAWD!

 

Game hasn't been out a day and they've been suspending and banning accounts already! Look here (it's comedy gold, believe me):

 

 

It's so funny to see people post asking if their name is offensive....only to have the CS person pull their chat log and out them!

 

yea, as one who tries to put some though into names and not just be an asshat like "adolf critler" I have no problem with this.

 

I think there a bit quick on the ban hammer on profane language though, based on some of the not ok stuff...can't get into it due to forum rules, but in my mind as long as it's not directed at someone, nothing wrong with f bombs and such. they even have a filter.

 

Now for something completely different!

 

What do you guys think of Frostheart for a Norn name for an artic themed ranger? I liked it alot last night but as I sit here at work i'm starting to think people might find it "too RPGish" and lame.

[djthefunkchris]

OH MY GAWD!

 

Game hasn't been out a day and they've been suspending and banning accounts already! Look here (it's comedy gold, believe me):

 

 

It's so funny to see people post asking if their name is offensive....only to have the CS person pull their chat log and out them!

The game actually looks fascinating, from what I've seen of it. It's nice to see them actually start suspending and banning right off the bat, get's problem people a chance to think about things before being... a problem.

yea, as one who tries to put some though into names and not just be an asshat like "adolf critler" I have no problem with this.

 

I think there a bit quick on the ban hammer on profane language though, based on some of the not ok stuff...can't get into it due to forum rules, but in my mind as long as it's not directed at someone, nothing wrong with f bombs and such. they even have a filter.

 

Now for something completely different!

 

What do you guys think of Frostheart for a Norn name for an artic themed ranger? I liked it alot last night but as I sit here at work i'm starting to think people might find it "too RPGish" and lame.

Frostheart, to me doesn't sound very rangerish, although I don't really know what "RPGish" means exactly. I like the name though... just for some reason sounds like a girls name, and you didn't include if you were playing a male or female. Arctic based Ranger, hmm... Frostfinder, Icestrider, Icerunner, Frostguide, Coldcourser, Heatseeker.... Now those are RPGish names, lol.

[D-Lyrium]

yea, as one who tries to put some though into names and not just be an asshat like "adolf critler" I have no problem with this.

 

I think there a bit quick on the ban hammer on profane language though, based on some of the not ok stuff...can't get into it due to forum rules, but in my mind as long as it's not directed at someone, nothing wrong with f bombs and such. they even have a filter.

 

Now for something completely different!

 

What do you guys think of Frostheart for a Norn name for an artic themed ranger? I liked it alot last night but as I sit here at work i'm starting to think people might find it "too RPGish" and lame.

 

Personally I'm amazed it hasn't been taken already. My only criticism of it is that it's a bit "family/nickname"ish.

 

I love the fact that you can have spaces in names, and they allow names long enough for a forename and surname. In theory it means that people are much more likely to be able to get the name they want (by coupling it with a surname), and less likely to name themselves Dwarfhunter or xXTyrionLannisterXx out of desperation.

 

They still do though, of course. Even though GW2 HAS no dwarfs. I never did work out whether Dwarfhunter was a Dwarf who hunted, or someone who hunted Dwarfs...

 

Frostheart is a name that I'd be fine with if I saw it in-game, especially for a Norn. Though I'd keep wondering what his first name was, and why the player didn't use that name too since it's possible in GW2. Plus, being an avid fantasy novel reader, it does *kinda* sound more like a sword than a person.

 

To me it's the equivalent of a naming an e-fed character "Johnny Cage". There's nothing 'wrong' with it, it's a serviceable name. But it's a bit unoriginal. (Well, you asked... ).

[Remianen]

yea, as one who tries to put some though into names and not just be an asshat like "adolf critler" I have no problem with this.

 

I think there a bit quick on the ban hammer on profane language though, based on some of the not ok stuff...can't get into it due to forum rules, but in my mind as long as it's not directed at someone, nothing wrong with f bombs and such. they even have a filter.

 

They say in that thread that random swears aren't punished ("We're gamers too so we realize....") but when you direct them at a person or reference a person when saying it (like when you add -in' and an adjective, pejorative or otherwise to it), then it becomes actionable. But as we know, having a filter doesn't mean you can cut loose.

 

I like the guy who said 'Free speech applies everywhere in the United States'. Got a huge laugh out of that. Almost responded too. (If I tell you not to say 'the' in my house or I'll kick you out and you say 'the' and I bounce you on your keister, call the police. Tell 'em I violated your right to free speech. See what they say.) Figured it would be useless since it was probably another person who listens to sound bytes and doesn't actually READ what the damn thing says.

 

Personally I'm amazed it hasn't been taken already. My only criticism of it is that it's a bit "family/nickname"ish.

 

Yeah, I agree. It sounds like either a weapon or a surname.

[crownsy]

no problem I appreciate the feedback.

 

I kept it as one name because it;s a female nord ranger, I picture rangers as named after an aspect of their personality, not with a first and last name.

 

She;s supposed to be a stoic, no nonsense hero who has no time for anything but pursing her goals, I.E killing the frost dragon. Thus, Frostheart. I considered a first name but that seems to me, for norn and sylvania (sp) rangers to be kinda meh.

 

Most rangers I think of in fantasy go by one name, so i stuck with that. (strider, Aren, Legolas, Oberyn)

 

Still, since it seems im in the minority mabey I'll consider giving her a first name before kicking off my first day of play tomorrow.

[Remianen]

How about Freja Frostheart (or Freya)? Name flows and has the flavor you're looking for, I think.

[crownsy]

so mid day break time.

 

Got to 12, really enjoying the game.

 

I love how every new weopen gives me new skills, although it's hurting my inventory to carry a long bow, short bow, greatsword, horn and daggers cause i love em all hehe.

 

Also I'm broke from doing cooking and huntsmanship, but im 55 as a cook and 25 as a hunsmith or whatever.

 

having a blast, quick break then back at it.

 

I really wish they'd get the auction house up though, so many crafting things ill have to sell soon due to lack of space.

 

P.S kept it as just Frostheart

[D-Lyrium]

no problem I appreciate the feedback.

 

I kept it as one name because it;s a female nord ranger, I picture rangers as named after an aspect of their personality, not with a first and last name.

 

She;s supposed to be a stoic, no nonsense hero who has no time for anything but pursing her goals, I.E killing the frost dragon. Thus, Frostheart. I considered a first name but that seems to me, for norn and sylvania (sp) rangers to be kinda meh.

 

Most rangers I think of in fantasy go by one name, so i stuck with that. (strider, Aren, Legolas, Oberyn)

 

Still, since it seems im in the minority mabey I'll consider giving her a first name before kicking off my first day of play tomorrow.

 

See, I was going to argue that point but I got to Robin Hood and Drizzt Do'Urden and realised that there pretty much aren't any others. ¬_¬ I mean, lots of them have two names, but very few actually use more than one. So yeah, good point.

[Remianen]

See, I was going to argue that point but I got to Robin Hood and Drizzt Do'Urden and realised that there pretty much aren't any others. ¬_¬ I mean, lots of them have two names, but very few actually use more than one. So yeah, good point.

 

Might need to get deeper into fantasy then.

 

Who trained Drizzt? Montolio Debruchee. One of the Seven Sisters is a ranger, and her name is Dove Falconhand (her married name, thanks to Florin. Her maiden name is Dove Silverhand).

 

Problem is, as in real life, once a character reaches a certain level of popularity/renown, they become a single name entity (or known by a moniker, ala The Simbul). You don't need the 'Do'Urden' for a fantasy fan to know who 'Drizzt' is. Most of the most popular fantasy characters are known by their first names only, unless their surname has some kind of significance or connection to something greater. For example, 'Caramon and Raistlin' only keep the Majere appended because of the generations they've spawned and their family connection to the god. Khelben Arunsun is another example (he keeps his surname because of the question of his lineage. i.e. he could be his own grandson).

 

Crap, some of my geek got out.

[crownsy]

Two more for the master names list and guild invites, though they aint getting played anytime soon with how in love with my ranger I am.

 

Asuka Dawnbringer - Human female Warrior

Faile Luckspinner - Human Female Thief

[Remianen]

More bans, this time for exploiting. Here's the deal:

 

There was a karma vendor in Hoelbrak (Norn capital city) that was selling level 60 cultural weapons for 21 karma each (regular/normal price is 21,000). So a bunch of..."people" thought it would be a good idea to buy up as many as they could so they could take them to the Mystic Forge and transmute them into higher level weapons. The way it works is, four level 60 weapons (these) transmute into one level 65-71 weapon. Four level 65-71 weapons transmute into one level 65-79 weapon. Four level 65-79 weapons transmute into one level 75-80 weapon. So people were buying up a bunch of the level 60 weapons and transmuting them to their level. Problem is, that karma vendor didn't sell ALL weapon types at that price, so you could see the discrepancy if you looked at the list.

 

ArenaNet permabanned 3,000 accounts for exploiting it to the extreme and another 1,000 accounts got 3-day vacations for "mildly" exploiting it. What is "extreme exploiting"? How about buying 2,167 weapons? One reason I'm really starting to love ArenaNet is, they'll call you out when you say "I was banned for no reason!". I mean, what other company would have a support team rep come out and say, "You exploited exactly this many times"?

 

Here's the full thread: Link

 

If you move down some, you can see someone who admitted to doing it but didn't know how many times. The Anet support rep told her, 1034. How in the world could you possibly think that buying over a thousand of a single item (or even a couple of items 500+ times each) at a price that's obviously WRONG (judging by the items of the same level that are priced 1,000 times higher on the same vendor) is not an exploit?

[crownsy]

Any word on the auction house coming back up? My bank is stuffed with trade goods I can't use but I know are worth more than the 2 copper the vendor wants to pay.

 

Cooking demands more of my money! Must be able to sell tailoring crap and gems to other people! Not to mention stuff I cook

[Remianen]

Trading Post is down because of this and the rampant account hacking that has occurred. People seemed to have had keyloggers on their computers because once headstart began, tons of accounts were taken over by RMT farmers. Another thing that's great about ArenaNet. They see you normally log in from an IP in the US (or the UK) and all of a sudden, you log in from an IP in China or Korea and they shut down your account.

 

They shut off mail and the trading post because those are the two methods used for account looting.

[crownsy]

Hope they get it up soon, I'm literally out of slots to store stuff, and alot of my stuff defiantly sell on the ah to other crafters...

 

Loving the game though, so awesome that you get exp for Everything! I can just go out and wonder the zone exploring and get a ton of stuff done, and not have to grind mobs till my eyes bleed. Heck I'm level 14 now but still finding stuff to do in wayfarehills

[Remianen]

Yeah, I'm up to 18 with Tarania and I've come to the realization that ranged is the only way to go. Did several of the 'champion' encounters and doing them as a melee leads me to lots of 'fight for your life' opportunities whereas if I stick to the rifle/longbow, I get gold level rewards and take almost no damage.

 

I've got to look into this exploring stuff. I've been charging ahead, trying to get to 20 asap so I can get the cultural armor set.

[mjdgoldeneye]

Yeah, I'm up to 18 with Tarania and I've come to the realization that ranged is the only way to go. Did several of the 'champion' encounters and doing them as a melee leads me to lots of 'fight for your life' opportunities whereas if I stick to the rifle/longbow, I get gold level rewards and take almost no damage.

 

I've got to look into this exploring stuff. I've been charging ahead, trying to get to 20 asap so I can get the cultural armor set.

 

You can do melee, but you can't do "run in, tank for 5 minutes" very well. You have to sort of stick and move and make use of blocks, stuns, roots, and so on to keep the enemy where you want them.

 

The issue, sometimes, is when you are fighting a single, large enemy and start getting taken down by other random damage with no apparent source. That makes it hard to get a rhythm down.

 

In other news, I was somehow nearly killed by a random Inquest guy (while semi-AFK) while at least 25 seconds of running away from the closest place I could have possibly drawn aggro. I was in a crafting area only feasibly reachable by player characters (involved a doubling back ramp of two stories). No idea what happened there.

 

I was also somehow defeated while standing next to the guild-relevant NPC's on the bottom level of Rata Sum while standing in one place. You can't even fight things in Rata Sum.

 

Some of the glitches in this game drive me nuts. It makes it especially bad when you consider there's the "get XP without dying" monthly challenge.

[Remianen]

You can do melee, but you can't do "run in, tank for 5 minutes" very well. You have to sort of stick and move and make use of blocks, stuns, roots, and so on to keep the enemy where you want them.

 

The issue, sometimes, is when you are fighting a single, large enemy and start getting taken down by other random damage with no apparent source. That makes it hard to get a rhythm down.

 

Some of them have damage auras or damage shields, seems like. That's where the random damage is coming from. The Champion Svanir Marauder is one example. He has a frost aura of some kind that does damage to everyone in melee range. The Champion Svanir Shaman (the portal spawning one) has an aura that's more visible but that's just a minor damage + knockback aura that pulses every ~15 seconds.

 

But I can't turn off my min/max mindset where efficiency is paramount. Efficiency is fun. I don't have a problem with the moving around aspect (I am still playing TERA, after all) but I think it's done to such an extreme in GW2 that it just murders efficiency. In the time I spend hopping around applying and exploiting conditions (and praying for my heal to cycle), the mob could be dead if I just shot it in the face. Especially since in this game, moving doesn't interrupt ranged abilities.

 

EDIT: I should also note that I have a rotation with rifle that pretty much guarantees me aggro on any Veteran or Champion mob battle. So when people move the mob away from the ranged perch (the place where most of the ranged characters stand to avoid effects while still being able to open fire with impunity), I can grab the mob and place it exactly where I want and then dump aggro by cutting my damage output.

 

Anyway, despite Tarania's bio saying she doesn't wear helms, I couldn't pass on this hat so....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v291/Kension/Guild%20Wars%202/Tarania20.jpg

[Remianen]

It's really kinda freaky how ArenaNet is "testing" the Trading Post. Yesterday, they had it up for several hours, with no notice it was coming up and then they took it down again. I went broke buying up everything I possibly could since I think once it's up for good, prices are going to climb a lot. Seems like right now, everyone's selling low level stuff and crafting materials for 1 copper over vendor price. That's not going to last. So I put in a ton of orders for ores and jute/wool and green/soft logs at vendor price....and they were all filled within an hour.

 

But I think I'm going the crownsy route and exploring as much as possible. Vistas still vex me so I need to come to grips with those. There's nothing that excites me at 80 so rushing there would be counterproductive.

 

Oh yeah, and I have a few more:

 

Reniara - Human Engineer

Maurasi - Norn (melee) Thief

Saevonne - Norn Guardian

 

Only profession I'm missing is Necro but I'm not sure whether to go Norn or Sylvari. Sylvari Necro would seem to scream 'Nightmare Court' to me and I might have too many Norns already.

[mjdgoldeneye]

Juke Scraps were going for 30 copper a piece when the trading post opened up and that surprises me. Practically any related low-mid level item you salvage drops 1-3 of them and you find them on tons of enemies. The demand must be HUGE.

[crownsy]

First, TP is up, if you have a bank to clean out, get online now!

 

now for some other stuff.

 

Big shout out to Remi, who really hooked a newb up (BAG SPACE! OH THE LOVE!) and told me about the deposit collectable tab, which to my shame i had no idea about. my life is so less cluttered.

 

Up to 24 with my hunter, and just now started exploring the second zone. Rewards for full map completion are totally worth it, plus it was alot of fun to do. Now for some discussion stuff for today.

 

Really liking cooking, but I'm starting to see some possible problems with it, here's my pro's and con's so far.

 

PRO

 

- its insanely fun for a pack rat like myself. I can spend a ton of time just loading up my bags with all my available ingredients and playing with the discovery tab. I cannot tell you how much i marked out when i figured out how to make mashed potatoes and french fries.

 

- It's cheap (relatively) to level since you can get to about skill 100 with nothing but 80G vendor stacks and karma "in bulk" purchases. I've made a ton of stuff for fun, but if you want to you can power level cooking to 400 with mostly karma related stuff.

 

- You always have an EXP and stat buff up, since some of the food you can make will do so. For instance im a pasta eating machine as a hunter, since that gives me +10 exp per kill and +20 precision for half an hour.

 

- You can make Dyes, although it takes an INSANE amount of consumables to get one "spin of the wheel" so to speak.

 

CONS:

 

-aside from your own personal use, food seems forgotten. It's not selling on the TP at all, even for the ridiculously low prices chefs have had to resort to. I think this has to do with the ready availability of Boosters out of the BLC. I'm hoping as we get close to top levels and people doing dungeons want some extra +magic find +gold find ect that this will change and it will be a bit more viable as a trade skill for making coin.

 

- As noted, it takes up a ton of bank slots, even with the collections tab. Alot of the stuff you have to make to make other stuff isnt covered under the collections tab.

 

- It can be frustrating to discover a really hard to find recipe that uses rare/ more expensive ingredients in the discovery tab and have it be grey to you after/ have poor stats.

 

Example - after alot of trial and error I found out how to make a recipe that involved another ingredient made for it. I was excited, because I figured requiring 3 "base" ingredients + a "made" ingredient (poultry stock) would give me something good. instead it was a pretty crappy soup that was grey at skill 101. Considering i sunk 7 consumables into it to get one soup out, it was a buzz kill.

 

Sure i know how to make that now, but i never will because it's not a good use of cooking materials. The above situation has happened 5-6 times to me.

 

More later, also how are we looking for PVE later on? i know where all running around doing our own thing but I'd like to group at some point! when does our level start to make that worth while? I've heard 35.

[crownsy]

Post Two from being bored at work!

 

Socialization:

 

I was having this convo with Remi and wanted to get everyone's thoughts, I think this game could potentially be the most anti social teamwork game of all time, and I'm not saying that's good or bad.

 

Let me explain, I'm level 24 now. I've done countless events with upwards of 30 people, I've saved people out in the wilderness, and helped them down epic mobs.

 

In all my time In game if sent tells only to one person, remi.

 

The game just doesn't really force you to socialize. It's so incredibly streamlined into the EXP mechanic that "helping others = better for you" that people don't even chat with each other.

 

In some ways, I love this about the game. Start an event and people come running from miles away and help out. Die in a relatively high traveled section of the wilderness and someone will come rez you. No one cries about ganking because no one cares, same with resources.

 

In other ways, it isolates you. There is almost no reason to really interact with another player. Sure, i recognize that the other players are not NCP's but in alot of ways they might as well be. I wonder if this will change when i get to dungeons/ our guild amps up, but in some ways i don't think it will.

 

And in some ways I don't miss it, but other times i wish I had an active friends list/ guild chat to just pass the time. Its just kinda odd for an MMO.