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[Column] Guild Wars 2: The Infestation of Level 80s
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
There’s a huge infestation problem in Guild Wars 2, and I’m not talking about the minions of Modremoth. I’m talking about all these level 80 characters running around stealing all the events, and breaking them. Low level characters use dynamic events to not only enjoy a good bit of story, but to also supplement their leveling experience. But max level players have gotten greedy, and turn all the low level maps we infest into barren wastelands.
Read more of David North's Guild Wars 2 - The Infestation of Level 80s.
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Comments
80s won't help well in that though. They're all down-leveled. All that work to level too. Reminds me of EQ1 down leveling. Just bad form.
Wait... has that changed?
What do you think all of the world bosses are, level 80 events? The vast majority of them are not.
BTW, 'all that work', you put into leveling is still there as while downleveled. You have your traits, skills, gear, consumables. Stats are adjusted so that any part of the world can be a viable place for anyone to complete events and not have it be an insta-gib all the mobs snoozefest.
As far as the article is concerned; well it's mostly a non-issue. I have 10 level 80 characters in GW2 and I have never had a problem completing events as a low level toon. The easiest way to avoid the zerg of 80's, is to not go to the map where there is a daily event completer active. Even then, it's pretty easy to progress as basically everything you do in a PvE zone rewards experience. Events aren't the only way to progress as a lower level character and depending on the timing of the events, they aren't even the most efficient use of time either (if you worry about such things).
The "solutions" presented in the column are pretty terrible too. All 80's would be relegated to parts of Orr, Drytop and Silverwastes 100% of the time for the daily event completer. In addition, many 80s doing events in lower level zones are actually there to collect the bags from mobs for the lower level materials for crafting, so the change in the daily event completer is meaningless in that regard.
The best solution for the non-problem in the column is already in the works, it's called HoT.
Uhh...a zerg doesn't mean lower level characters can't get completion. Once they participate in the event they are granted the completion of their tasks.
All a lower level character needs to do is, if there is a zerg...fall in with the zerg. Eventually (and a very short eventually too) you will finish up your quests.
Zergs go after very specific chains of events, and the boost in experience should be quite welcomed by low level characters who may otherwise struggle. Once their next mission or event falls outside the zerg chain they are back on their own to face the monsters.
I don't think anything needs to be changed, except perhaps to educate new players as to what is happening. And if they type a query in chat I am certain that the players will explain.
Nah the article is a clickbait. The real issue is the power creep that the last patch brought. The player damage in every aspect of the game is way waaay too high. Even the hard world bosses are trivialized now.
However, ANet has acknowledged the issue and is going to act upon it. They already buffed the health pool of the lords in legacy of foefire.
Either player numbers need to go down or AI numbers need to go up. And problem will be solved.
After all, do not forget that dynamic events scale up based on the nmber of players in the viscinity. So the player count is not really that bothersome. The formula is just not working with the new player damages.
Buff yourself with 25 stacks of might and check out your crit damage.
Well, GW2 is about playing together, and the game does try to do the best it can in to scale a high level players down, while at the same time let them feel powerful even though they are downlevelled, but its a tricky balance. Because you also run into situations where it is lots of new low level players who dont really know the basics, and it can easily get to hard for them.
Veterans often underestimate just how alien games can be for people who are not normally into video games. The fact that 70% of all people who tried WoW left before lvl 10 really shows just how short peoples attention span is for frustration and sweating it out.
The developers have to walk a careful balance between the hordes and masses who want instant gratification constantly, and the players who want dark souls sadistic awesome challenging content. GW2 draws on many types of players like this, but the philosophy has always been that the community is nice because the game is set of for people to play together.
Be lvl 40 be lvl 60 or be lvl 80 - It doesnt matter. You shouldnt be barred from playing meaningfully with your friends, guildies.
Finishing faster is a good thing?I thought the purpose of FUN gaming was to enjoy it,not to get it over with as fast as possible?
I like this content so much,i hope it is over really fast so i can get to the boring stuff,umm ya makes perfect sense to me.
The LAST thing i want in my gaming is to get some high level to make content meaningless and easy mode.No i don't like over the top ridiculous 8 hour long fights but i do like a challenge.That was the first real big blemish SOE did with EQ2,they added o/p mentoring and scaling down of content,it equates to why bother,just to say you did it?
I don't game just to say "I did it",as i said i don't play to beat anything,i game to find some fun in the class/character and combat systems.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Gaming since 1985; Online gaming since 1995; No End in Sight! My YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8POVoJ8fdOseuJ4U1ZX-oA
This. I'm going to try to get a group of 80's from my guild together today and stand beside bosses and watch the lower players wipe just to read the "thanks for the help, just stand there" comments.
Edit:
Dead Lowbee Player: "Can I get a res?"
Me: "No"
Dead Lowbee Player: "Please"
Me: "No"
I have been very harsh with Anet lately...
But the thread title is so extremely exagerated, misleading and far from reality that I would expect to see this from Kyoris but not as official staff column.
Yet another design flaw one which no one is talking about anywhere not even here on MMORPG.
Rewards. When the only rewards you have come from the bosses you fight at these events that's when you'll have this problem. Everything else has been nerfed. All of the dungeon runs, all of the loot in boxes, all of the loot from veterans, almost all of the loot from champions the list goes on. The economist John Smith has done more to harm the design of this game than any other development team member on any team in history and that includes Ghost Crawler in WoW.
That's why you see 80s running around at these events. Trust me it's not a good thing.
"Max level toons shouldn't be doing PvP at Crossroads", makes zero sense, I'll play my characters how I want to.
If this becomes a problem they should rework the way level sync works and make it similar to ffxiv where you sync to say 20 from 80 (or depending on the max level of the content) and not just your level syncs, your gear and abilities would sync to that of a level 20...that way high level players can do low level content, help their friends and do whatever without having to worry about trashing the place in a couple seconds
i don't want to be rude but this is why gaming journalists aren't taken seriously thanks to all these "opinion" articles. when games have a dedicated max lvl zone people nag about how lower level zones are always empty. now that they are not empty, you are nagging about that in your own way instead of being thankful they are not empty (cause it's better than being empty).
i am not a fan of GW2 anymore, but this is stupid. lower level players get encouraged to level up faster by seeing huge zergs participating in events. for level 80s or veterans doing events is nothing new or that exciting, but for new players it is a very exciting activity even watching it.
PS: if you want to level up fast and can't wait to find an event to participate yourself, either find a event train for leveling, or just go Eotm (assuming they haven't changed it).
my top MMOs: UO,DAOC,WoW,GW2
most of my posts are just my opinions they are not facts,it is the same for you too.
There really isn't an issue primarily because most events roll around again in a few minutes. Most new players at this point likely don't even know enough about the game to really be disappointed that they miss an event. Leveling is so trivial, even a new player just learning the game would have a max level character in a month with low playtime per day.
The only real issue with 80s that I can see, is the dungeon requirements. So many people want level 80s for even the lowest level dungeons, and you'll hear them say that its impossible to do without 80s. Thats ridiculous, and they need to revamp the system a bit so that low level players can get into dungeons and not be penalized for it. Too many people discriminate against the lowbys.,
So just letting you know its not as bad as you might think when lvl 80's downscaled become weaker below any map lvl 70 or below they become weaker then others of that level and by a good margin because of the changes made in the last major update for Trait changes they changed how it works in fact heres a video that shows that.
https://youtu.be/9Ut-9bm5QpE
It explains how lvl 80's used to get there gear stats downscaled to be equal the the players of that lvl area with a boost from there runes and now they get scaled to 10% less of there stats and also do get the benefits of the stats on runes on gear just the % bonuses or other bonuses which do not make up the difference in that you also do not gain the correct crit chance from perc cause it is even lower. there are alot of factors that come into play now when one downscales that can ruin a lvl 80 on some maps. Mostly when it scales you closer to the mobs lvl you are in essence weaker then you should be but sense even Collin stated in this last fridays POI that the games problem is the mobs and not so much anything else in game that is making it easier. The new systems coming with HoT should fix alot of the problems with the mobs and then in respect should have our characters adjusted to what they where before this trait patch came in.
Sherman's Gaming
Youtube Content creator for The Elder Scrolls Online
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+1
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey