Game Update - July 13

[WarBlade]

The full list

Kagno's gone as we knew he would be. Quite what he intends to do with all of those orbs is anyone's guess.

But OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!! 8)

Added a crafting material storage upgrade for the Xunlai Agent storage vault. To purchase the upgrade, visit one of the new Xunlai Representatives in Shing Jea Monastery or Kaineng Center. (PvP characters gain access to the crafting material storage once any roleplaying character on the account purchases it.)

I wanted event item storage, but this'll do for starters.

Added the ability to split stacks of inventory items. Holding the Shift key while dragging a stack of items allows you to "split off" a portion of the stack before moving it.

Woah. I was daydreaming that the game needed something like this and not more than 24 hours later, PRESTO! It happens. Anyone else have any wishes they want me to daydream about? I could be on a roll here.

Updated Warrior Ascalon and Knight's armor sets so that the damage reduction applies only when the corresponding location of the body is struck. The damage reduction applies only to physical damage, and the amount of reduced damage was increased from 2 to 3.

Ahh, there we go. The reason I bothered to make this thread.

Back in the beta I saw the updated Knight's and decided it was a sign of things to come with the damage reduction being split to a location-specific system. I'm a little surprised that we didn't get this updated in March/April, but I swell with self righteous puffyness that I was right and everyone else can dodge the spittle spouting off my vigourously waggling tongue.

But... Physical only? WTF? NOOOOOOOOooooooo

Warriors are the poor bastards who have to either stand in the Maelstroms whacking away at imps or opt to break off and find something else to hit (or wait patiently at the side looking worried at their adrenaline supply).

Conclusions:
- Platemail suit with Knight's boots? Gone. Good riddance.
- Knight's suit itself? Severely diminished. Who wants an end game armour tuned to stopping small damage hits from physical attacks? Not me. I was going to build a Sentinel's suit and hang onto the Knight's for special occasions, but now the Knight's is starting to look like salvage bait.

Updated shields, armors, and runes with damage reduction abilities so that they only reduce physical damage.

'Tis a sad day for damage reduction. I'd rather keep the -2 than have a -3 Physical adjustment.



EDIT: BOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooo

After bouncing with glee at the prospect of being able to hoard things a little better I re-read the fine print and scooted around Tyria fearing the worst. They've gone and added the storage upgrade agents to Shing Jea Monastery and Kaineng City only! Why not Ascalon City and Lion's Arch I wonder? More to the point, why not the Temple of Balthazar where one would assume that players need their competitive edge retained and not eroded further. Honestly, if the reason is some silly notion of providing another incentive to get Factions they've really gone the wrong way about it IMO.

Dragonfest: Carrot
Cantha-only storage upgrade: Stick

[Zed-F]

Not happy about the Oath Shot nerf either. There were some other changes that had me raising my eyebrows but that one has a serious impact on a lot of ranger builds.

[Lurker Wyrm]

They've gone and added the storage upgrade agents to Shing Jea Monastery and Kaineng City only! Why not Ascalon City and Lion's Arch I wonder?

It's been part of the official statement throughout the entire process that the storage upgrade would be Canthan only. The thing that irritates me about it is that the upgrade was supposed to be free. It's in their official release about it. But nooooooooooooooo, they had to charge you for it, even if it is a pathetically small amount. I don't like being lied to.

The changes to warriors and damage reduction was stupid. It's been that way since the beginning of the game and hasn't caused any balance issues, warriors were dropping like flies to a good spike. Oh well, just another example of devs listening to the whining masses and not actually thinking for themselves.

Which brings me to what I think was the dumbest part of the update: Elemental Attunement. Seriously, it's a skill that's been part of the game and integral to a lot of builds for over a year, and they suddenly decide to nerf it and put it under a primary attribute? Isaiah Cartwright (ANet's skill balancer) is a moron. Are these changes being made just so he can justify his position in the company? ANet seems to be shoving a lot of bs at us lately, and it's really making me wonder whether I want to continue playing or not.

[Green_Gloom]

But... Physical only? WTF? NOOOOOOOOooooooo

That is clearly a farming nerf.

And Cantha only storage is pure suckage. If they aren't going to make things available for Prophecies only players then I don't have much more to do in GW.

It was fun enough while it lasted though.

[Lurker Wyrm]

If they aren't going to make things available for Prophecies only players then I don't have much more to do in GW.

It was fun enough while it lasted though.

See, now that's a NOOOOOOooooooooooo!!!! moment.

At least I still have Seijin to keep me company.

[meverah]

Well as someone with a warrior as my only main character and only lvl 20, and the fact that I dont have factions this update is killin me. But life goes on and Im gonna keep workin on other characters now

[Lurker Wyrm]

Well as someone with a warrior as my only main character and only lvl 20, and the fact that I dont have factions this update is killin me. But life goes on and Im gonna keep workin on other characters now

Yeah, the update did kinda stink if you don't have Factions. Oh, and level 20 is the max level, so don't worry about that one too much.

Ok, so I've had time to cool off a bit and read what other people on other boards are saying about the update and I'm less annoyed than I was before about a bunch of stuff. I still think Elemental Attunement was a stupid change, but it doesn't really affect anything since if you're using a +20% enchant mod, then it'll only be down 9 seconds before you can cast it again, which isn't a big deal. I guess what I'm really upset about is the same thing I was really upset with back when I was playing D2 regularly: the game has been out for over a year now and they're still fine-tuning balance issues. This is one reason I really like single player games: you're stuck with spells and skills the way they are from the day the game goes gold. Back in D2 I had several characters that I thoroughly enjoyed playing (on B.Net servers, so SP wasn't an option with them), and then patch 1.08 was released and they were nullified overnight. Some of them I had to delete because they were completely unplayable. Granted, Guild Wars is more forgiving with attribute refunds and the like, but it's still disappointing when I cap an elite to try a niche build, only to have the elite nerfed and the plat + skill point basically wasted.

Well, anyways, rant over.

[WarBlade]

Back in D2 I had several characters that I thoroughly enjoyed playing (on B.Net servers, so SP wasn't an option with them), and then patch 1.08 was released and they were nullified overnight.

Hardly a fitting comparison though. Guild Wars patches have been a fairly steady stream of mostly reasonable little balance adjustments and constant fixes for bugs I've never heard of. By contrast DII 1.08's character speed balls-up would probably rate among the top ten patch blunders ever devised.

Fine tuning balance issues a year after release isn't a bad thing IMO. Never forget that Factions brought in a whole list of new variables and new surprises that may not become apparent until they gain popularity and only then when the devs are aware of the new imbalances can they begin to address them.

[Sciros]

They're constantly trying out new things as far as skill changes go, more than anything IMO to keep the PVP Championships from ever being repeats as far as what you see being played.

The armor changes, well, they won't affect me. 100% Gladiator armor ftw folks. Damage reduction? I carry an earth scroll! And everyone knows that if you're going to have 1 tank, it ought to be Sciros ^_^. Also, I actually thought that the full-body effect of a single piece of Knights/Ascalon was fixed a while ago -_- Oh well, heh.

I too am not happy that the storage update is Factions-only. I hope it is at least something that will come with Chapter 3 as well, so that folks that have Prophecies and are considering skipping Factions feel a bit better about it.

Oh yeah, and I have to remember to acquire a 20% enchanting pommel next time I play. Illusionary Weaponry constantly on sounds good to me.

[Lurker Wyrm]

I actually thought that the full-body effect of a single piece of Knights/Ascalon was fixed a while ago

So did more than half the GW community. Every single time the game was patched there would be an incessant number of posts from people saying it was now fixed because they were taking more damage, when really all that was probably happening was they got hit by a critical and suddenly decided that absorption was localized. Well, at least it wasn't as bad as back around the first few months after the game was released where some people were trying to convince others that the absorption rune was localized to the piece of armor you put it in. That one was a nightmare. There's just no (polite) way to argue with "I just tested it and I'm right!!!!"

Fine tuning balance issues a year after release isn't a bad thing IMO.

It shows laziness and a lack of foresight, imo.