Guild Wars 2

i’m sure that this post is going to be met with a flame fest, but i have to say what i have to say. there are some very cool things about this game, but mostly i just don’t like it. i want to. i really do. but, the things that i enjoy doing in mmo’s are just not part of the game. or, they are just not part of the game in a way that i enjoy. let me explain:

healing…oh how i miss healing. in every mmo since eq i’ve played a healer. i get a crazy amount of satisfaction out of saving groups from certain doom. based on this, i knew that it might be hard for me to find a class that i enjoy playing. i was right. i know that they were really trying to do something different, but i figured i’d share my opinion in case it helps future development. i miss healing.

pvp…the other thing that i miss in this game. yes, i know there’s pvp in gw2. i’ve pvp’d with 4 different classes up to, i think, rank 11. i just can’t stand it. i pvp’d almost exclusively for 2 years in wow, and i have 2 rank 40’s in rift. i’ve pvp’d a lot in other games. i find pvp in gw2 to be lacking. no dedicated heals means that battles are often entirely a numbers game.

also, in other games you can pick and choose which bgs you want to play. in gw2 you’re stuck in this endless rotation of essentially the same game on a different map over and over and over.

also an issue in pvp, total and complete lack of class balance. currently guardians, thieves and mesmers are dominating. i was having a lot of trouble with my necro in pvp. i then tried a ranger (much better), a guardian (better still), and then a mesmer (omg!). something needs to be done to bring the classes into better balance in pvp. right now it’s awful.

there are a lot of other issues i have with this game and most of them really just suggest that this is not the game for me. i get that. i really do. not all games are going to appeal to all people. but, these issues might be problems in the future and i figured i’d pop in here and give my 2 cp. i would have quit and asked for my money back before the game had even launched if i didn’t have real life friends that i play with. as it is, i have to force myself to log on to play with them.

1) Where are the suggestions?
2) Why do people name their threads so weird?
3) If you enjoy healing: Guardian. I was a healer too, but I enjoy being a heal/dmg hybrid much more, since I can do content by myself if I have to.
4) If Guardian is not enough healing for you, you are not realizing that tanking and pulling aggro from bosses, protection and avoiding damage is just as helpful to other around you than standing behind them and healing them.

i suppose i didn’t have any suggestions per se because i assume that the problem is not one of a lack of foresight on the part of the developers. i assume that the problem is that their vision and my idea of a fun game are not compatible. because of this, i thought that maybe a general “why some people may hate this game” thread might end up being constuctive. i also figured a list of things i’d like to see would be met with a host of “go back to wow” answers instead of real thought.

however, i can give suggestions:

one or two targetable heals. throw people who prefer healing a bone. rift has an interesting healing model in chloromancer. most of the healing this class does is through damage. yet, they have a couple of targetable heals. it keeps things fun and inventive, but also gives the healer a sense of control.

make weapon switching easier in combat. i feel so stymied by the only ten abilities at a time thing. drop the cooldown on weapon switching so that there’s easier access to a few more abilities.

create battlegrounds with markedly different objectives. right now i find pvp fiendishly boring. it’s just the same thing over and over.

if possible, try to figure out a way to let people avoid bg’s that they hate. god, the water one is terrible.

cut the armor repair fee from wvw. i don’t even consider wvw to be an alternative because it’s too expensive. the only time i did that for a few hours, i went through sooo much money.

work on balancing the classes. wow, it’s shocking to me how unbalanced they are right now. just because i pvp a lot, doesn’t mean i’m actually good at it. you wouldn’t know that when i’m playing mesmer though. oh how i dominate. take a long look at damage/survivability and downed abilities for every class.

i’m sure i have many other suggestions, but these are the ones that i really care about.

to respond directly to your 4th suggestion DaWolv, yes, i do realize that protection and avoiding damage is just as helpful, i just don’t enjoy it even half as much as direct healing. this is what my issue is. i miss direct healing.