Hey everyone,

I wanted to get some opinions on a secondary profession for my Monk, who is just a baby in Pre-Searing Ascalon. During the beta, I played him as a Monk/Necro, and had him focus primarily on healing (duh) and de-buffing the enemy using skills like Life Siphon and Faintheartedness (slows the enemies in an area). Now I'm wondering if the necro class would again be a good choice for this type of role, or if I could accomplish the same thing in a more effective way with a mesmer secondary. Or, take ranger as the secondary and have a pet that could be a tank if I had to solo. So many choices; I'm in a quandary!

Thoughts, anyone?

Thanks,
Hawkmoon

Since this is really quite a different topic from Guild Hall choices, I thought it deserved its own thread, so I copied KoP's comments (to Sirian's post) here, and will append my thoughts below:

KingOfPain Wrote:for those who might be waiting for some RB reviews before committing to GW.

[about PvP problems with no level-matching of opponents]
There's no power-gaming advantage to be had. You can now (since the later beta events) create PvP only characters, they all start life at clvl 20.

As for casual low lvl PvP goes, the matching system has been improved, tho still not perfect. If one is serious about low lvl PvP there is at least the GvG option - Direct challenge. I am not sure how this works yet as I have not read much on it and never tried it myself. However, and that's a big however, low lvl PvP cannot be balanced under the current skills system, and, not worth the compromise having to adjust (the game system) everything else to balance low lvl PvP since these characters are short lived. I can think of one big loophole for low lvl PvP - there is no clvl req on skills.

The lack of skills prereq is a good thing the way this game plays. It means all the skills are "suppose to be" balanced, which means player skill matters.

[about "dogpiling" as the be-all and end-all of PvP]
I have read somewhere one of the highest ranking team during the last beta event was a team of 6-7 monks with only 1 or 2 real offensive characters, which definitely did not rely on dogpiling tactics. This is just one example of such different builds that I have heard of. Granted, one can still argue there are still some degree of dogpiling in every match, but it's only efficiency.

To simplify PvP battles into one single tactic, dogpiling, would be the same as saying Capture The Flag tournments boils down to whoever grab the flag first wins. The devil is in the detail. It is how you go about it that counts. There is no one strategy-tactic that works across the board, against all team builds. The builds need to be dynamic, able to change (preplanned or on the fly), the players have to gel as a team. This is people vs people, there is no monster AI to "exploit", and only so much is predictable. In the end, it still boils down to quick thinking, skill, knowledge of the game and team work.

[about soloing not being fun]
That much is true for most of us. Coop game should be eaiser and easier to find once everyone have a chance to run thru the game once, and get in sync with everyone else. The old RBers have a habit of building a variety of characters at different stages of the game so we can jump into almost any game in progress. too bad there are only 4 characters allowed per account ATM, there are ~20 active members in our guild, not a large number but enough to pick up the occasional coop game here and there without prearrangement.

I myself am enjoying a slow solo pace and not finding the FedEx training tiresome, yet. But that's just me, I want to see the game and enjoy the scenery while it is new. Most of the quests I have done so far are more or less since-you-are-going-there-anyway kind of thing. Still, you would have location markers (waypoints) to jump back and forth anyway.

[about the restriction to 8 skills at a time]
I think this is a commendable system, although I wish that would be upgraded to 10 or so skills. This system gives the game and characters more challenges and variety. You not only have dual classes, even those characters with the same professions and same masteries can play quite differently even driven by the same person. Well okay, we variant scums no need game dev to decide how to restrict ourselves but you have got to admit the limited number of skills you can bring along does impose more careful planning.

[about the skill timers making things "wait, wait, wait"]
No one hates the DII timer more than me, however, I find that it works for Guild Wars. Your statement is a bit misleading for those who have not played GW - only means you wait for the timer of the skill to recharge, not sitting idle. In Diablo terms (for the benefit of those not in GW)- One would cast a Firewall (Firewall recharges while enemies is roasting), then Dim Vision the monster so it has only 10% chance to hit you (DV lasts 3 to 10 seconds depending on slvl, and recharges in 3 secs). Meanwhile you need to keep an eye on the party especially if you have healing abilities. You may need to heal yourself or teammate since there is no healing potion in the game, or squeeze off a Fireball. The Firewall would be recharged at this time. If not, there are still a few more skill you can use... as oppose to just keep the button down and spam Frozen Orbs as in DII.

All said, I am still a noob with this game and I reserve to right to eat my words later

KoP

I have diagnosed myself with a new condition .

LoCiLoCP - Lack of Confidence in Level of Civilization Playing xD.

Symptoms

- Feel that every move you make isn't good enough
- Don't feel motivated to finish a game [as in my Austrian domination game and the latest Epic]
- Try to learn from other people's experiences, as well as own, but doesn't seem adequate enough
- Feel as if you should play more games to improve your strategies and such, but don't seem motivated to do so
- Want to be as good as some of the more-experienced players but feel that it will be too hard or too difficult

I need help xD

I was sure that I asked one of my Graduate Teaching Assistants to open the reporting thread for me. I wonder why that didn't get done?

Oh well, back to the lab. Please put your reports in the box (or, post them in reply to this message).

Find a promising phrase, search for it with your favorite search engine, arrange it however you like, and post your new poems here. I searched for "under the couch".

Don't be surprised if you find the therapist--under the couch
Under the couch is where I be
That's Quasi you can see peeking from under the couch
Obsessed with getting under the couch
The unknown nasties lurking under the couch have been causing me to avoid the basement
He came out from under the couch to tell us what he had done
You should see Homer try to follow her under the couch
I had to build a plywood box under the couch
Under the couch is safe for the time being

Has anyone won a cultural victory of the 100K type (whole civ score not OCC) in C3C? I never have and apparently niether has the AI. Im wondering if maybe I uncovered a wierd bug in C3C or if something stupid just happened.
I was playing an emperor level game as the British and my main rivals, the Russians were poised for a 100K cultural victory by the 417th turn of the game. I had been montioring the victory screen closely every turn. I had built 8 space ship parts, but there was no way to win. I needed too many turns to research the laser and robotics to beat the Russians to victory. In the last 5 turns I constantly monitored all the diplo screens to see if anyone had researched robotics in time, but alas, by the last turn before Russia's culture pushed the Motherland over the victory limit noone had researched robotics, and I was still several turns away on max science. So, in maniacal dictator fashion I launched my stockpile of ICBMs at Russia, invaded a neighboring civ (who cares at this point? ) and sat back and waited for the inevitable. But then-Shockingly-the game continued the next turn. I checked, Russia had more than 100000 culture points , why hadnt they won? I know that all victory modes were active and that also victory modes should only show up on the victory screen if they are enabled. Nonethless a few incredibly unsatisfying turns later I launched my space ship (funny enough that victory mode ACTUALLY gave me victory) Why did this happen? It feels like my high scores list is tainted. It was a fun game that seemingly came down to a spacerace v culture battle at the end, which the Russians won. It was fun and I had accepted the fact I would lose, but I technically didn't. I have never gotten 100k culture ever (not just in C3C, any version of civ3 ) and I am wondering if anyone else has experienced this or knows what went wrong. Is this like a major C3C bug or something?

Edit: fixed typos

So, I've gotten myself to Lion's Arch already.

On foot.

From the Frost Gate.

It was an interesting journey, to say the least. Level 18 enemies sure are fun to fight with a bunch of level 8 Henchmen ^_^

And also, I got some sidequests containing some major spoilage regarding the main quest.

But I disgress.

I took the chance to look around and realized why the place was familiar. Open events happened there! Nifty. I went to talk with the Guild Registrar and he sent me to talk with the Ferry Captain if I wanted a Guild Hall. So I did, and here's a quick rundown of the available choices:

1. Warrior's Isle. Looks familiar? It was the design of the Guild Hall back in the day, I'm not sure if there were more in the open event, but it's the only one I saw.



2. Hunter's Isle. Nice and greenish, perhaps the overcast sky isn't too cheerful, but there you are.



3. Wizard's Isle. A bit like Warrior's Isle, but with a bit more "classic" design, so to speak.



4. Frozen Isle. Snow! What else needs to be said?



5. Nomad's Isle. With all the charm of the desert, this could be anywhere in the mediterranean, albeit more likely on the African coast.



6. Druid's Isle. I was expecting something a bit more lavish and greenish, but hey, at least there are some trees there!



7. Isle of the Dead. Pretty self explaining...



8. Burning Isle. Finally, the classic molten rock/volcano lair.



Now, choices choices! I realize I could have gotten appropiate screenshots by googling a bit, but this was more fun ^_^

As for me? 1 or 5, Warrior's or Nomad's. What would you prefer? ^_^

Demi Maul
Elementalist/Warrior played as Warrior/Elementalist
Weapon - Maul
Maigic - Earth

Just entered Post Searing

Just another excuse to post a cape screenie



Got to love a girl who comes with a nice pair of headlights


KoP

A warm welcome to all the new RBGWers! I am sure you are all going to have fun hanging with the RB gang, as I am sure we will enjoy your company. 15 active RBGWers so far

I would like to take this opportunity to remind you of a couple of things about our GW site -
- The site can be updated by RB members - check the FAQ for information.
- Check the site - members are starting to add material to the site.
- Members are welcome to use the "RBGW Site Update" thread to announce added updates, or start a new thread if s/he want to discuss the topic.
- Give me a shout if you want to have a den
- There is a new hangout in town - Walkiry's Hideout.
- Passing the buck - SoulEdge has been doing a wonderful job as the new guild leader. *applaud* Please, don't xfer leadership to me I am sure Hawkmoon would do a better job than me in the event you want to shed the responsibities *guilt button*

And most importantly, ENJOY!

KoP

EDIT: this thread is full of spoilers!

- "alt" shows the signs, npcs, chests, wreckages, none hostile stuff.

- "ctrl" shows the enemies, other players.

- "ctrl + space bar" calls the target, party member can then use the "T" key (default) to select that target.

- The white circle around your character in the minimap is your aggro zone, any enemy (red dot) entering the circle will attack you.

- you can click in the minimap to ping, and draw lines in the minimap, good for showing directions and strategy.

- for most quests, when selected in the quest log, the minimap will show the direction of the objective as green arrow at the rim of the minimap if it's not within the minimap area, or as a green star if the objective is within minimap area.

- we can only swap the skills in town or outpost, and we can only have one elite skill in the skill bar.



SPOILERS
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Pre-Searing quests:
- Purifying the Hunter's Horn, when you reach the objective, use "alt" to locate the Healing Spring and click on it to purify the Horn.

- There are two quests that require a team:
( 1 ) the monk just outside Ascalon City will give you the Res Signet if you bring along a team mate.
( 2 ) There is a quest that require you to go over the wall to find an npc, the path is barred by a gate, and the lever to open the gate is on top of the gate, one of the team should operate the lever while the other go through the portal by the opened gate, that will send the whole team to the new area.

- The perfect present (where feather and shell are not good enough) is located in a chest north of where one retrieve the gold from bandits, one has to go uphill, use "alt" to help locate the chest.