Games Are Hard

Lets talk about difficulty.  Its one of those things that tends to be a very touchy subject when it comes to games.  Some people will argue that games have gotten significantly easier over the years compared to games like Donkey Kong or the original Mario Brothers.  Some will argue that games are just as difficult as they were in the past, and lastly, some will argue that the reason why games are so “easy” is because we have gotten used to them (especially those who grew up playing video games).  And in all actuality, all of these claims are true and for different reasons.  I have my own reasons which I will keep a secret till we get there.  So lets begin.

The first argument is that games have gotten easier over the years, and this is definitely the case.  Take a look at the most recent release of Diablo 3, the beginning difficulty is very easy compared to the previous games.  Even Starcraft II’s campaign is far easier that it was in the original Starcraft (and as someone who doesn’t play Starcraft and had to cheat my way through the original story, that is saying quite a bit).  But that statement is very much a blanket statement, not every game that is released is “easy” unless you play it on the base setting.  My capability to get through the campaign in Starcraft is significantly lower once I get to hard/insane and I have yet to clear Hell difficulty in Diablo 2 (I wont touch the first one, I don’t play that game unless its online).  But I have found some games, even on the hardest difficulty to play through with ease (inFamous, Fallout 3).  Now what of the games that do not have a difficulty setting other than default (Assassin’s Creed)?  This is where I can see this argument holding some water.  When you do not have the option to change the difficulty, the game has to be easy enough to where everyone who plays it can beat it with enough practice (maybe 1 to 2 hours of attempting), so I can see why people would complain about these because there are some amazing games out there that are just easy to beat.  And the games that are easy to beat has a lack of accomplishment, and then there are the games that even on the hardest setting, there is no real benefit to doing it (Fallout: New Vegas).  I like to have that accomplishment and I know I am not the only one who feels this way.  However, if you complain that easy mode in a game is too easy, then you should probably stop your whining.

The second argument is that the reason why these games are easy is because we have gotten used to them.  And this argument holds its water very well.  Raids in WoW used to be very difficult, and even the raids that are rehashed content seem easier than others, even on the hardcore difficulty, the raids are not as difficult as they used to be.  WoW has been out for 10 years now and wont be going away soon (as much as I love GW2, it wont kill WoW because it doesn’t have a subscription, you can’t steal subscribers with a game that doesn’t have one because people won’t have to pay 2 subscriptions), but raids won’t get any easier because all of those unique mechanics are  easy enough to figure out now.  With enough time, even the hardest game can become easy so long as you practice enough.  I can practice for hours, get used to how the game’s difficulty works out and be able to counter it effectively.  Key here is time, and 10 years leaves raids as an already over practiced event that works like clockwork.  On my  play-through of Modern Warfare 2, I decided to play it on the hardest difficulty, and after about 3 hours per level, I was able to accomplish it without any hitches.  It just took a lot of time, but time was the only thing keeping me from being able to do it.  Arguably anything can be accomplished with enough time, but unless difficult games are your thing (I am looking at the dark souls/demons souls fans), why should the games be extremely difficult, wouldn’t you want the game you love to be enjoyed by thousands rather than hundreds?  I know I would.

The last primary argument is that games are easy because most of the gamers have grown up around them.  This is the best argument I have ever heard about why games have gotten easier.  I know several people that do not fit in this category and do have difficulty doing things that might seem simple to others, just like how the Koreans seems to destroy everyone in Starcraft (my friend just got back from a vacation over there and said that pro Starcraft players are treated like rockstars) and everyone else doesn’t.  I know 5 year old kids who play Halo better than I do and can snipe people from across the screen with relative ease.  So naturally, being a gamer from birth will give you a distinct advantage.  Have you ever tried to have your parents play a game with you?  I know when I introduced my mom to Left 4 Dead, she could hardly move because she had not mastered the controller, and the only game she really had played prior is Tetris.  So a dual analog xbox controller was completely out of her scope of capability.  She eventually was able to move, but after a couple of hours, she could only move or aim and not both.  It was probably the most amusing thing I have ever seen.  But this still holds true, when you are placed out of your element, you tend to do poorly to what other people might find easy.  And this segways right into my reason–

–Difficulty is a highly subjective thing, just like with music, everybody perceives things differently (this is why some people might like Bieber and another will despise his very being).   Because of this simple fact, difficulty is something that cannot be appropriately gauged.  I personally find RTS games difficult, but I have friends who have no difficulty with them in any way.  Strangely enough, I don’t have problems with MOBAs, just RTS and this is probably because I have poor micromanaging skills and my APM is probably 100 at most.  I do, however, do very well in MMOs, Shooters, and Fighting games (and plat-former/adventure games, but in the realm of PvP, its those 3).  Those games never feel difficult for me to play, but I have friends who are not really good at those.  We all have friends who are like this.  Right now I play a lot of League of Legends (no GW2 and I can barely run Diablo 3), and while I do have my share of bad games, I generally do well enough based on my role in the game.  And I do have friends that I play League with that are amazing, but I also have the reverse where sometimes, games are quite painful to play.  I personally find League to be an easy game to play and always have, I am in no way professional, but that is just the way I perceive the game’s difficulty.  Since video games have become very mainstream, developers have had to make their games easy enough to where most people can beat it without any real trouble.  The easiest solution would be to have a tiered difficulty system, but sometimes that is not a possibility.

This does actually tie up nicely with Guild Wars 2.  Right now, my only real comment about it is that since it is in beta, expect things to be out of whack.  You will find things that are very difficult and seemingly impossible because there is a chance that its just not scaled appropriately.  The only thing to mention is that GW2 is doing some things very differently, namely the dodge mechanic and move-while-casting-thingy.  If you have played MMOs in the last 10 years, you are very used to the whole standing while casting mechanic as a means of balancing ranged classes (melee can move because they don’t have effective ranged abilities), I know that when I first got into the beta, that I was really hard pressed to dodge and attack and move at the same time, and while it is very easy to say “lol noob dont dodge”, or “dood, y u jst stand ther”, its very different because we have all been very conditioned in a specific way.  I have played WoW for most of my MMO years, and that whole standing while casting thing is very ingrained in me, and breaking that mold is what makes GW2 slightly difficult.  I did, however, get over it and started dodging, but it took me a solid hour to get used to it.  That whole not having a tank thing and being forced to dodge various mechanics to prevent yourself from taking damage is very new.  I do love the system and I find that most people that find GW2 difficult right now are just not used to the system yet.  I suspect that the QQ train will hit the forums (speaking of which, I will only ever visit the Engineer Forums on their site because general is plague ridden) about how difficult the game is for a good month upon release.

But these are just my opinions, what do you guys thing about difficulty?

Support Engineer

GW2 is making strides in removing the need for support roles.  However, despite this, you can still build for it.  The inspiration for this build came from 2 things 1) the sheer utility that the engineer brings, and 2) the tool belt.  Outside of the water attunement for the Elementalist and a couple of Guardian abilities, no class brings as much healing and buffing as the Engineer.  Nothing about this build is concrete as we are still in beta, and for all we know, this build can become completely obsolete next build.  But, for the time being, this guide can help you get the most out of your Engineer for your team.

http://www.gw2tools.com/skills#e;apapf;aaagWbaaaUVYZaa;Zaaa;ZjfUb

Why the Rifle?
The rifle brings a lot of special utility to the table that the pistols do not.  While the pistols  have a silence and an Aoe snare, the only means of escape you have are in your dodges.  And while that is what they were intended for, its easy to catch you because they have dodges.  There are 3 very good reasons why the rifle is the best choice.

JUMP SHOT
Jump Shot which allows you to do more than just dodge but actually close gaps that might otherwise be uncrossable, you can use it to get over walls that you have to take a ramp to get up for.  The same is true for the reverse, if you need to help an ally, no amount of snares will make you get there faster.  Jump Shot is a gap closer, allowing you to get into the thick of things and give you that 1 extra second that might make all the difference when it comes down to a close battle.

OVERCHARGED SHOT
Overcharged Shot does 2 things, knock you back and your enemy back.  Dual pistols only have the 1 snare with glue shot, and while an aoe snare is very helpful in team match ups, in a 5v5 map, how often do they really happen?  Not very, most fights are limited to 1-2 people with a possible third.  The reason for this is that if there are 5 people capturing a single point then the other 2 points are in danger of being captured by the other team.  A good strategy for Khylo is to have 3 people capture a point and have 2 roamers between the outside points and the central point (an east roamer and a west roamer).  But beside that point, a well timed Overcharged Shot followed by a Jump Shot will ensure that you get away from any threat that comes your way.

NET SHOT
This is the final reason why the rifle is the better choice.  While a shield makes you slightly more durable, the Rifle brings 3 utility options that allow you to escape, close the gap and snare, best part about net shot is that it timed well, you can ensure a kill on an opponent.  If you are running away, you can snare them, knock them and yourself back with overcharged shot, and then ensure the escape with Jump Shot.

The other reasons are that the rifle brings a lot of damage from bleeds with blunderbuss and hip shot.  The utility itself is what makes the rifle a superior option though.

Why Elixir H?
The cool thing about elixirs (and unless they change it, this also remains true) is that you can use it and use the respective toolbelt skill.  Now the choice of Elixir H is that it is a ranged heal versus the stationary Healing Turret and the Healing Kit.  Bandages work well and heal for more, but each player has to pick them up to utilize them which could move them out of position.  And a Healing Turret is only as good as the amount of people that are around it.  Elixir H gives a nice burst heal and allows you to also use it on an ally that is not within range of the other ones.  Plus, do you really trust people to make use of things that are laying around?  Unless I am talking to them using a voice communication program, I presume that everyone I play with has no idea what they are doing.  But, if you are organized enough to use vent or skype, then you can actually make use of the other ones, however, without that Elixir H takes the cake.

Why Elixir R?
Elixir R is the better of the utility elixirs.  While all of them are useful and bring their own special thing to the table, Elixir R removes conditions that might otherwise destroy you and you can use it while you are stunned.  Elixir S removes stuns, if you are inflicted by a series of bleeds and snares, there is really nothing you can do except sit there and wait for your demise.

Why Elixir Gun?
Elixir Gun is great for mid combat support when you have ample amounts of damage dealers.  You have an aoe heal, and aoe cripple, aoe damage, aoe poison/condition removal.  You also get a second aoe heal that you can use outside of the Elixir Kit.  Overall, this is the best support kit in the game.

Why Flamethrower?
Flamethrower brings a lot of utility as well with both a pull and a knockback.  Both of those effects allow you to displace your opponent and help secure kills and escapes for your teammates, especially if you swap between the rifle and the flamethrower.  Remember, a warrior not on you is a warrior who cant kill you.  Incendiary Bullets is also nice, but not the best of the toolbelt skills.

Elite Skill is completely optional, I like Elixir X over Supply Crate, but that does not mean that I find it useless.  Until there is any actual numbers for Mortar, I can’t honestly say anything about it or how effective it is.  Elixir X does a number of very powerful things that can completely change the outcome of a battle, Supply Crate does the same thing, but is more dependent on other players to fully utilize it considering that what you get out of Supply Crate are bandages and turrets.  But feel free to substitute either.

Why the trait set up?
The trait setup is designed for making full use out of the two kits, your elixirs, and give you far more mobility by increasing the rate of regeneration for your endurance (what allows you to dodge).  With this setup, your Elixir Gun has 40% faster recharge time, allowing you to fully make use of the endurance recharge rate tied to the use of your Elixir Gun.  However, you will almost always be using the Elixir gun in combat over anything else because of this setup.  So while it is limiting, you still bring a ton of utility from this set up.

Playing is quite easy, just make sure you have friends.  As I mentioned above as the roamer strategy, you are easily one of the best roamers available due to how much mobility you have available.

Point Defense Engineer guide

By: YaHiKoDrG

Twitter:@YaHiKoDrG

 

My Engineer build is designed as a staller to keep your enemy busy as long as possible while your team captures points or comes to your aid. This build is only up to date as of Beta Weekend Event #1 from 4/27/12 – 4/29/12.

http://www.gw2tools.com/skills#e;faSSp;faaaaacaaWaaZfg;bYaa;YgfhZ

For my weapon slot I use a Pistol/Shield combination to give myself some condition damage to bother my target while providing the stun and knockback of the shield to keep them away from the capture points. With the recent beta it seems all 1 skills are auto-attacks so Explosive Shot will always be going off and you should be using Dart Volley whenever possible, but timing Static Shot is important. Static Shot blinds and confuses each enemy it hits and it can jump between multiple targets, this is really your best counter on your weapon skills to deal with anyone who comes in melee range. Shield skills like Magnetic Field will be useful to knock a player out of the capture point or to create some distance between them. While Static Shield will be used to put distance between you and your foe, and it can also be used to stun them outside the capture point for a couple seconds.
My Traits are 10 Explosives which gives me the minor trait Reserved Mine Deploy and I choose the major trait Big Grenade Pouch for the extra damage and condition chances. I take 0 points into Firearms.  I go 15 points into Inventions; this gives me the minor traits Low Health Response System and Automated Medical Response as for the major trait I pick Extra Supplies for more healing. Next I take 15 points into Alchemy which gives me the minor traits Automated Elixir B and Transmute, while I pick the major trait Backpack Regenerator to add that small health regen while fighting since there are very few times I won’t have a kit equipped.  Finally I put 30 points into Tools giving the minor traits Adrenaline Pump, Inertial Converter, and Enduring Damage. When it comes to major traits I picked Adrenal Implant to give me more dodges in combat. Then I go with Crippling Wrenches to stall my enemy chasing me or to give me allies an edge when chasing a fleeing for. The last major trait is where the most versatility comes in depending on group setup and how you plan to play the match. The 3rd major trait I went with was Kit Refinement because every time I would swap what kit I had active it would give me an added boost either some healing or extra damage.

Now let me move on to what gives this build its ability to stall the enemy so well, being the use of 4 different kits. The healing skill I go with is the Med Kit. The Med kit not only gives you multiple bandages for some extra healing as you run around and the Stim Brew to put some distance between your foes or move to the next point faster. The tool belt skill Bandage Self is a very short cooldown and heals for a good amount. This moves me onto my next utility skill which is the Tool Kit. This skill may be risky at times because you give up your ranged attacks for fighting in melee range, but being able to time a Magnet skill followed by a quick Pry Bar to knock someone over an edge or just to interrupt your foes skill rotation is extremely useful. My next skill is Elixir Gun and has some of the more limited uses when in combat with multiple enemies. The toolbelt skill Healing Mist is great to use when you’re in combat or have allies around you who could use some extra healing, the same can be said about Super Elixir. Elixir F is useful for kiting and Elixir Spray is more condition damage. The trick to the Elixir Gun is to use Acid Bomb as an escape tool to blast yourself backwards to put some distance between you and your foes. Finally we can move to the last utility skill which is the Grenade Kit. The Grenade Kit is going to be the most offensive kit for you to use. You will want to make sure you time your skills to anticipate your foes movements. The only skill you will have to wait and properly time is the Freeze Grenade to chill your foes.
The idea is swap between kits as they are needed but if you are forced onto the capture point whatever you do, do not abandon it! If you are surrounded by enemies the area of effect abilities of the Grenade Kit will allow you to dish out some decent numbers and if things do start to go poorly that is what your elite skill if for. My elite skill choice is the Supply Crate, not only does this stun when it lands, but it bring in some bandage packs to add to healing but the turret damage is another deterrent to get the enemies to fall back momentarily.
I did not get a chance to play with the extra gear and runes much during the BWE but I can say I only added +5% damage to my weapons and kept the default armor the Engineer gets and things were just fine.