Guild Wars 2

I’d just like to start this off by saying that I love Guild Wars 2. The fact that I have hundreds of hours played and would take the time to write this analysis should be evidence of that. This isn’t meant to be a rant, as much as a critique toward a constructive end. With that, I have some concerns with the current achievement system in GW2. Many achievements don’t synergize well with one another, many have values that are simply far too low or too high, and there seems to be a lack of reward for the acquisition of said achievements.

Let’s take a look first at the Weapon Master achievements. I think that this is a brilliant line to add- it rewards players while they’re playing the game the way they want to play it. Achievements such as this will only become more common place in the gaming world, as players love this recognition and goal oriented progress (carrot on a stick). A good concept, but rather poor execution therein.

First, the breakpoints could be at different values, with a much higher limit. 100, 250, 500, 1,000, etc, up to 50,000 perhaps. Having 5,000 as a limit seems quite small given the potential lifespan of the game. Second, it seems like a missed opportunity at rewards. Why not give the player a special, account bound weapon skin for reaching this achievement, or an account bound conjured weapon corresponding to the achievement. This would give a unique, genuine incentive for a greater audience, rather than just the perfectionists

In any case, let’s now compare this to the Slayer achievements. The limit for these is a pitiful 1,000. For comparison, I’m sure I’ve killed at least 10,000 Risen thus far, and the game is only 4 months old. At least have these values be similar to those in the Weapon Master achievements, so that one isn’t grossly unbalanced toward the other, considering both will be accomplished at the same time in the same fashion. Furthermore, it’s another example of a missed reward opportunity. Why not give the players a corresponding mini pet, or a perhaps a permanent tonic. Or at least a silly title.

Next are the WvW achievements. Unlike the previous two, the achievements here are ridiculously high. 1,000,000 (one million) caravans destroyed is the current projection. Nobody has made it close to high enough to verify, which may or may not be a good sign. For a look at how long that would take:

http://cogsandink.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/yakslapper-are-wvw-titles-unreasonable.html

Needless to say, hopefully this isn’t the case. One to two degrees of magnitude lower would be perfectly reasonable however, so I suppose time will tell.

The PvP achievements as well have unbalanced values. Starting at rank 10, assuming it takes one hour to farm 1,500 rank points (a balanced assertion), it will take about 30 hours to go from rank 10 to 20. Then about 60 hours rank 20 to 30, 120 for 30 to 40, 360 for 40 to 50, 720 for 50 to 60, and past that we don’t know the values because nobody has reported reaching it. This in itself, given the long lifespan of the game, I think is slightly steep, but still reasonable. However, my question then becomes, why limit the achievement for PvP kills at 2,000 when it’s quite plausible that we will hit 200,000? Why have player revivals capped at 1,000? And so forth. Disregarding this, we again see a lack of rewards. Why not have permanent kill banners when you reach the max rank of a tier (rank 10 = permanent rabbit banner)? Why not add a LADDER SYSTEM that ranks players accordingly and gives players the motivation to play for the hundreds of hours required for these achievements?

Examples of these fundamental errors in the achievement structure of GW2 are present everywhere. 800 food consumed versus 100,000 drinks? 500 resource gatherings versus a recurring, infinite amount of salvages? No reward or title for completing every jumping puzzle, a task that takes dedication, exploration of the game, and a fair deal of player skill, yet we do get one for buying plenty of cash shop mini pets with drop rates that are based on random chance?

Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not trying to call into question the integrity of either the game or its designers. I think the vast majority of these issues stem merely from shortsightedness. And again, I enjoy this game. I wouldn’t be playing it if I didn’t first have fun and enjoy the time I spend playing it; otherwise, I wouldn’t play it, regardless of what achievement system it has in place… but it won’t change the fact that I still hope for a better one with which improvements can currently be made on. Or at least something to do with all these achievement points.