Guild Wars 2

Hi, I’m loving this game so much that I’d like to go a little further on this suggestions, by taking my reasoning to a more philosophical approach, rather then just immediate technical issues, even though I got some minor suggestions in that field that I would love to see them implemented.

After a few decades playing games, I can say that I’m not that hardcore player anymore. So the first thing I love about GW2’s phylosophy is that the game is really appealing for us, casual players (even though I’m getting so addicted here, I don’t think I can be called a casual anymore). I used to play Ragnarok Online a few years ago but all that grinding ended up driving me almost insane, so I sworn to myself I’d never commit myself to a MMO like that ever again. So, GW2 is indeed sweet news for people like me. Still, that particular game had it’s good points and I would like to name some of them and see what do you guys think about them.

One great thing about Ragnarok, was the competition feel you had around some aspects, specially PVP and the War of Emperium. In GW2, I see things more like a social facebook game, in which everyone always wins: you will win as much as you play and there’s little to no penalty over the choices you make or to choices towards the player overall playstyle. Of course things were much less complex then it is today, as GW2 has so much options of things to do, builds to choose from and all that stuff. A rusty guy like me can easily loose himself around all this. But I believe that what made competition so interesting back in those days, where the strong social driven culture the game had. I don’t know how it happened but it did. And the social aspect were to blame. If I could throw my two cents, I’d (poorly) sum things worked like this:

1. You know your friends and “enemies”;
2. You’ve got to work to be better then them. Overcome your “enemies”, be more respected then your friends. Help your friends to be as respected as you. And suprisingly, there was no focus on ladders for PVP or Emperium War. Those were restricted to poorly made mechanics the game had back then.

See, you have social issues driving your will to play. What I’m seeing here is that the social aspect isn’t a big concern, or if it is, somehow it isn’t working as it should. I feel that I’ll get to LV 80, then I will quit because there’s nothing left to do. Of course I will do all the quests, open the whole gorgeous map, but I still certainly will quit in a near future, because (I believe) the community is loose. Even though they are mostly kind players, there’s nothing that bind’s them.

I play the game with 3 friends only. I suggested them to buy the game, and since then we’ve had wonderful time doing quests. It’s fun when they come playing with me. But it’s like the 3 of us and that’s that. And then you got guilds, which in my opinion is the core of social playing right now. It’s nice and all, but I think that’s the only way you can meet new people in this game. Back in Ragnarok you had in game market, which is messy but you got to meet people physically, an excuse to direct interaction. You had some common places in every cities, which was filled with players just chilling, chatting, planing stuff etc. In GW2 I spend hours without seeing anyone and when I see, there’s no reason to talk to them, or they are too busy crafting, killing mobs, doing quests, etc. The GW2 world is filled with NPC’s, much more then actual players, you often mistake them with players (I used to when I started playing =p). I don’t understand the choice of modern games to limit the type of characters you can use on your hero’s name. The result is a world filled with blend and boring character names, easily mistaken with storyline in game NPC’s .

I know I’m still new to the game, but it feels like the game world are too big for its population, or just there isn’t so many players around (I’d love to know how many people are online, but I’m often kicked to that parallel server in queue due to overflow, so I’d guess that’s not the reason).

So, that’s basically it. I started this as a suggestion, but since I don’t have a concrete solution to this, it ended up being more of a oportunity to discuss a game aspect. I would love to hear what you people think.

The game, as a whole, lacks healthy competition outside of sPvP. WvW is too much of a zergfest for competition to grow in there and there is absolutely no competition in the open world; as you have said, everyone wins. I have been playing GW2 since closed beta and the only thing that is keeping me here, aside from wanting to play the game with my boyfriend, is the completionist desire to fulfill every achievement I possibly can, aside from the GW1 ones.

The open world isn’t too big for the population of the game. Most of the players are either running around in Orr, farming karma/coin, or WvW, running with the zerg like a herd of horses.

So I completely understand the feeling of quitting one day; the lack of competition and society in the game really kills the overall experience for me.

see, i’m exactly the opposite. first of all, i am part of a guild that came together, over years, from many other games; we have history. but, i (recruiter) am also ALWAYS on the lookout for others who might help fill in our happy little family — provide diversity, and increase fun.

by and large, all of us have the same things in common:

1) we’re all massive altaholics (i have 10 characters i play regularly, if that’s any indication)
2) we’re all, by nature, explorers (we are constantly roaming the maps, pointing out to each other “new” stuff we stumble upon in familiar territory)
3) we’re a highly social bunch who do things like karma runs, jumping puzzles, and map exploration together, as a group
4) we enjoy the time of play where we DON’T have to be/do with others, cuz we just want some downtime, but like knowing our guildies are “right there” if we want/need

for us, this game has no clear-cut end date. anet’s promise to keep new content coming, and their so-far ability to meet that promise, keeps us on tenterhooks when the monthly content is released. some of us have an 80, or two, or three … and are still finding new ways to play a profession we’ve already leveled. some of us enjoy just sitting and chatting while we do whatever it is we’re doing.

the game, i believe, is what you’re able to make of it. i know SO many people who are of the mind-set that “i only need one level 80, so i refuse to level more! why should i have to repeat content?” and so on and so on. i think those are missing the point. you see, there are eight professions. i’ve learned that EACH profession has something new and exciting to it, and not a single one that i’ve tried have i disliked. yeah, i love my thief best of all, but i love them ALL. that level of exploration is its own reward. then, you throw in the fact that you have FIVE races, with differing storylines PER race as well as WITHIN each race. SO much to see and explore there!

and on the competition thing? i love the spirit of cooperation anet has fostered, with this game, as opposed to the mindless “mineyoucan’thaveit!” fostered in previous games. from mobs to gathering nodes to events, anet has designed a game to allow and encourage cooperation, and provide a means of competition for those who want it.

my way of play may be vastly different than yours; however, i’m more grateful than words can say that anet has created a game that so perfectly caters to what i, and quite a few like me, have been seeking.

yeah. we’ll be here for a while.