[Vordox]

Yeah I have noticed lots of lag, lots of chat problems,and also was disconnected a few times today. Technical problems, but the fun is saying to me I have found a new MMO home

[mmorpeegee]

Seeing some talk of the content drying up at level 10. And after doing the instanced solo character quests for the past few hours, I'm getting some serious Age of Conan deja vu! I hope it doesn't turn out like that.

[Fozzik]

They have over 1600 of those dynamic events. I don't think it's going to dry up. Maybe spread out a bit more, but not dry up.

It's also possible they may be holding content back from the beta.

[mmorpeegee]

Yeah I've seen some stuff missing. I got to level 12 and visited a far away town and the main NPC was dead, and there was an instanced dungeon nearby. We got a group together to go there but couldn't get inside. We decided it must just not be implemented yet.

There still seems plenty for me to do though, and the main quest is still going strong as well. I'll go beyond 12 tomorrow and find out whether there's still stuff to keep going on with.

[AsheMan]

One of my favorite details in the game is their map system. It's probably the most detailed mini-map and map HUD in any MMO ever. I love how much detail is in it, how it's a true top-down look at the terrain, your footsteps stay on the map to show where you've been, etc. It's a great system.

[mmorpeegee]

Yeah the map is what transformed the game for me.

[AsheMan]

I feel more alone in this game than in most MMOs. Everyone is just running around doing their own thing. Nobody is talking in the chat window. Nobody is grouping up. I've never once been invited to join a group in this game, yet. I've tried inviting people, but they either decline or nothing happens. Part of the problem is that there's so much stuff to do, everyone is doing different things!

Right now, I'm out in Ashen Plains or whatever it's called outside of Black Citadel. There's a vault/crypt in the area that has been taken over by ghosts. I cannot fight my way through the respawn to take it back myself, but in the last 20 minutes only one other person has even tried to help. I've tried talking in chat to rally people, but no response. I really want to get to the skill point quest that's beyond these darn ghosts.

[Vordox]

I was going to the Norn areas and Human areas and doing all the content I could there as well.I think people just have ADHD when it's a short time to do things.Just because no one will group doesn't mean they wont on release. I know I am mostly exploring and checking out new things. There are just so many things I see and then I'm like "ok lets check this out"

I spent about 3 hours on a puzzle jump area. You had to jump across rocks while crows tried to knock you off. Then you would fight a strong foe or two (very hard) that would be trying to knock you off too. If you fall the whole thing starts over and you gotta fight through again. Drove me batty until 2am I finally got to the last platform, no crows to knock me off or anything, and I miss jumped . So I went to bed defeated lol. Was still a good time and one I will always remember I am sure.

I was a little taken aback that they announced they are going to try and have these Betas once a month until release. That leads me to believe an end of year release sadly . That upsets me but I guess I'm pretty busy in the Summer anyway.

I have had nothing but a total blast in this game. Comparing this game to RIFT is like comparing a fudgesicle to a turd on a stick. Rifts werent even dynamic they were just visible mob spawn points. They even had set spawn points. The quests were atrocious. You did the same damn quests at level 1-10 as you do through the rest of the game. Matter a fact it was the only game I betaed that I refused to buy lol. I get some people liked it but people generally like new shiny things, and in the game world I find most of us will put up with about anything for new and fresh.

I think GW2 set a mark and accomplished it! There are some pre game bugs for sure but I would still pay for this game with the bugs and all and be happy, it is that good. I'm a hard nut to crack too when it comes to what I want in a game but challenge is my number 1 at the Top and it delivers that for me. I find enjoyment in dying because it challenges me to play better.In GW2 I have died a lot but I have also come back and overcome it. Thats the ingredient I need in a game.

[mmorpeegee]

Yeah its getting better for me the more I play it. I'm 15 now and there's still a lot to do. I've explored about 95% of my starting region but there is still lots more out there. The music is really nice! And the combat is great. As an Elementalist I only last 2 seconds when something starts hitting me, so it's all about kiting and diving around to avoid attacks. It makes me really think about each fight. Started upgrading my traits now too.

I had a little bit of success with groups. I tend to just stick by myself now because I prefer going at my own pace without everyone rushing around like crazy. But I saw one of those skill points which I couldn't reach so I asked if anyone wanted to join and one person replied. We fought as close as we could but then luckily a group of random passers by charged in and we managed to get the skill point.

Community wise it's pretty shitty, but then, I'm playing on a true Euro server and there are lots of foreign speaking people. You can tell by their names and you see people occasionally say things in whatever their language is.

But so far I love it. I just hope it can keep going through the levels.

[mmorpeegee]

Hrm I think the beta might be restricted to just the first region? I don't seem to be able to leave.

edit: Yeah it says "restricted for this demo". So that's probably why someone said the content dries up. It's just a restricted demo :P

[Fozzik]

Reading the beta forums is scary and depressing. People are whining like crazy for everything to get nerfed and made easy...ugh. I hope ArenaNet holds their ground. I am absolutely loving the balance and challenge right now.

[AsheMan]

I'm avoiding the forums. Sure, I've died a lot, but I'm getting better the more I use the skills my character possesses. I also know not to take on content more than a level or two above me, preferably the same level.

One problem that I've run into has been respawn rates. In some areas the respawn seems way too fast. I wonder if respawn rates are tied to the amount of people in the zone. In one spot, there's ghosts on a staircase. As soon as I kill the ghost, another spawns and I can never get down the stairs.

[Vordox]

Originally Posted by Fozzik

Reading the beta forums is scary and depressing. People are whining like crazy for everything to get nerfed and made easy...ugh. I hope ArenaNet holds their ground. I am absolutely loving the balance and challenge right now.

Yeah I hope they dont nerf the challenge it is fine as is!
LOVE IT!

[Fozzik]

I had a mystic key drop from one of my personal story event completions...so I was able to open the magic chest I got as a drop at another time. This makes me happy to see. I can physically confirm that the keys are not just cash shop items.

The dyes are a bit annoying, though. You can only grow one dye at a time, and they take 24 hours. I've got four seeds, but I won't get to see any of the dyes because the first one won't be done growing until tomorrow. This is probably the only serious annoyance they put in to push people into cash shop purchases...you can buy the plant food which gives you your dye immediately. There are something like 300 colors, so without using the cash shop it might take a year to grow them all.

[Loampounder]

Originally Posted by Fozzik

I had a mystic key drop from one of my personal story event completions...so I was able to open the magic chest I got as a drop at another time. This makes me happy to see. I can physically confirm that the keys are not just cash shop items.

Well, it's beta and they do need to make sure that the mystic keys work; do they have the cash shop open? When they open the cash shop, they can make any changes they want.

[Fozzik]

The cash shop is open...since you can buy gems with in-game gold, the functionality is all there for the testing.

The magic boxes are un-sellable, though...so until the keys drop (or you buy them), those boxes will be taking up space in your inventory. I only had my box for a level or two before I got the key, so I'm not going to complain at this point. Inventory space really wasn't an issue for me at all at any point. The drop rates are quite reasonable, and you're in towns and around merchants often enough that it works out fine. Also, the bank not only has general space, it also has space for collections...including crafting materials collections...so that stuff doesn't take up bag space.

[mmorpeegee]

I was actually thinking that it's a bit easy People just need to learn to play... it's a new game so it takes some time, especially if you never played the first one.

I find that soloing is a good challenge. As a mage especially, I have to kite everything around. It made me wonder if the average former WoW player even knows how to do that. But it's fun anyway. Rogue was similar, but a bit easier. The skills my rogue had made it possible to almost cheat. I chuck little throwing stars or something which cripples the mobs legs, and the mob crawls towards me letting me throw more and more. It's almost dead by the time it reaches me. Mobs that aren't much higher level can just be chopped to bits, and again with groups of mobs, I just need to circle strafe while shooting my bow or throwing stuff. It's all challenging but fun.

I found that in a group though it gets pretty easy. There are no 'dotted' mobs like in Vanguard so everything is designed to be soloed. So when three good players start laying in to a single target, it's dead before it even gets a hit in. We were taking out mobs a few levels higher than us, and boss types too, chieftains and elites or whatever.

I have died many times though, but that only usually tends to be in the spammy moments when 25 people are standing around fighting swarms of mobs. If I just unload my huge AE straight away, the mobs all rush to me and smack me down in a second. But I found that if you just wait a sec and let other people get aggro, you can then just nuke the crap out of everything and it's all dead before it realises it should change target. As a rogue it was harder because the rogue actually has to jump right in the middle of everything if they want to stab everything, and it's so easy to be killed. But I find that you only die if you hang around in the middle of the swarm like a noob. If you dive in, stab everything with your AE abilities, and quickly dive outta there with your invisy stealth abilities or teleports or whatever else you chose to get, then you can get in and out without being scratched.

So yeah, hope they dont ease it up at all.

[mmorpeegee]

nevermind found it

[Fozzik]

I found that I can peel a mob or two out of the scrum and deal with them, then peel a couple more. Works pretty well for melee in those big battles.

The single mobs in PvE open-world are definitely intended to be soloed by a reasonable skilled player, so groups will mow them down. Events scale with the number of people, though...so it should keep things a bit more challenging with a group. I know the fire shaman event for the char is just insanely difficult right now, and bringing 50 players doesn't help. That dude is dynamite. I had a great time killing him like 4 times this weekend. I spent time just rezzing fallen allies, buffing people, and even sitting up on a high cliff and just sniping him for a while.

I guess I'm heading for bed, so I'll have to call the first beta weekend done for me. It's going to be a long haul until release... I hope they hold out and don't nerf things too much.

I'm having much the same feelings I did after I saw the first Lord of the Rings movie... "PLEASE GOD let them not mess this up!" ArenaNet has created an awesome game, and all they have to do is not listen to whiners between now and release, and just fix and finish things.

[Loampounder]

Originally Posted by Fozzik

The cash shop is open...since you can buy gems with in-game gold, the functionality is all there for the testing.

Are they expecting people to pay money in beta to test it? Are people using the cash store even though access is limited and characters will be wiped?