Guild Wars 2

Anet

Shortly after release I wanted to write and congratulate you on GW2 however, even though I was involved in every beta, I was too busy playing, experiencing and understanding the game. While the betas gave me a good chance to see the concepts and fundamentals of the game, only after release is it possible to really analyse the game, and so I am glad I waited to write because my very positive initial impressions have given way to considerable disappointment. I therefore have a love/hate relationship with GW2 and the biggest red flag for me is that the majority of my guild who played GW for years (i didnt) are already becoming dissatisfied with the game. The game has so much potential but some major shortcomings

A lot of effort has gone in to crafting some gorgeous environments and it’s the first MMO in which I have felt immersed. I have used time exploring rather than levelling which is against my nature, and this is a pretty high compliment for me. One such area was the tunnel and ruined ‘staircase’ area in the SE of the Kessex Hills map, near the coastal town, Wizards Fyfe’ IIRC. Beautifully well done and for no real purpose, which is cool.

However the following list is why I won’t be giving you any money, and even before the first month is over, I find myself playing other games already. I didn’t even do this with the appalling and utterly unpleasant Aion. When I realised this, the fact surprised myself.

COMBAT

Dodging doesn’t work consistently; such an important mechanic but time and time again I can anticipate an attack, I am half way through the act of rolling and I will be hit, most obviously by a CC (knockdown) effect.

Targeting doesn’t work; I can have a target selected and attack it but something else within a narrow field of fire will be hit.

With regard to PvE, the difference between Veteran creatures and Champion creatures, and between Champion AND Veteran creatures is inconsistent and in many instances stupid. In fact I have found PvE to be utterly lacklustre and simply unpleasant…and remember what happened to Warhammer Online, given they admitted they dropped the ball on PvE.

Another thing about PvE is that respawn rates annoy me…sometimes very random and painfully quick, most particularly in enclosed environments (tunnels, caves where there is little room to maneuver).

Crowd Control and (soft Crowd Control) – particularly bad…in PvE, early on when critters didnt have CC but when you are fighting multiple mobs each with CC, given the lack of healing in the game mechanic, its very poor and makes for annoying, un-entertaining combat. The quantity and cooldown on CC breakers doesn’t synergize well with the CC available.

Class balance; well it was to be expected but its not in good shape. Yet again ranged has a clear advantage over melee. While its very player dependent in PvP, in PvE, take the Tequatl dragon event for example. Many people do not get rewards every time I have done this. I asked those who didn’t get a reward to reply with their class and sure enough there was a major bias against melee…why? Because melee get feared and lose DPS when Tequatl goes airborne. Its so much easier for ranged to just camp and nuke (and kite in other situations).

Thanks for including AoE indicators but its unfortunate (and stupid) that the splash is bigger than the actual circle….

Rezzing in combat….you cant break off from rezzing quickly enough to dodge. Its very silly particularly when you have made mobility to important in combat.

Secondly on rezzing; why make it cost to rez? You take damage which is itself a cost to repair and you have the pain of travelling. You should automatically respawn upon release at the nearest portal to your death. It’s the simple things like this that you messed up with the game that really annoy people (3 of my friends have already stopped playing.)

Another bad example of lame combat. I pulled aggro from some champ elemental in an event. It purused me blindly until eventually I was caught and one shotted. I get rezzed after some time because he decided to camp my body. As soon as I get back on my feet andput a couple of shots into him, he comes chasing after me again. I get dropped a good 3-4 times, eventaully getting silver and about 1/4 of the $$$ that my repair bill actually cost from the fight.

TBC

ECONOMY

An extremely frustrating bug that I confirmed many other players experienced was the bug where you could not loot coin from some mobs. I encountered this at least 3 times per day since release and I estimate I have lost over 10 silver from this. So your idea is to force people to buy gems to sell for gold because players cant loot money? Pfft. I was advised to turn on auto-loot and that solved the problem but I dont know if this still persists otherwise.

One thing that is extremely poor form is the fact that you must individually unlock bag slots. This should be account based. What if you want to delete a character? I know you want to make money but after seeing this, I am not going to buy gems on principle. Same for dyes. What a heroically stupid idea to have these character and not account based.

Just on money, it is too hard to come by given the relative cost if things, ie portals, repairs, and buying things off the Trading Post. I suspect sales are pitiful except for tradeskill items/materials even though most things are priced relatively cheap – they are still not worth buying because money is so precious. The economy is probably one of the worst aspects of the game. Why aren’t heart quests repeatable albeit at reduced XP/$$$ compensation?

Now that I have mentioned gear and repairs, armour should not get damaged on be downed but only on a death. Why isn’t there a benefit to armour repair costs if you have the skill for the kind of armour you are wearing. Throw players a bone.

This is an unnecessary money drain given the poverty of many players. In fact, while the downed state is GW2s ‘thing’ it just doesn’t work. I don’t enjoy it at all.

DESIGN

Events fall into the same trap as public events in WAR. I am already seeing that as the population thins or becomes more fragmented due to players levelling alts, etc the public events become difficult if not ridiculous for a lone person.

Vistas…..they are annoying. Period. Dredgehunt Cavern is a good example of poor design. Its not the fact that you have numerous dead ends, or silly respawn rates or have to climb and jum etc; but the timed gate setup does not endear the game to players….or in Kessex Hills people would get sick of reading people ask about the POI that was in fact underwater.

While I started this post complimenting about the terrain and being able to explore, there are many areas where you can get to but cant get out of. Ive even fallen through the map to my death, clipped through walls. Yeah, good one.

The design of the end zones is, to me, really poor. There is a distinct lake of creature diversity. All you do is fight risen something-or-others an I had to go abck to a level 60 zone to find 3 more creatures just to get daily kills done. 30 minutes for this.

Furthermore, you cant go 5m without aggroing multiple mobs in the end zones, either on land or underwater. Combine that with their tiresome CC and its just annoying.

Im amazed how you completely screwed up underwater combat. In the first beta it was fine but now even getting to the surface doesnt mean crap. If you are pursed by 3-4 risen with one of those having pullback you are in trouble. I took a screenshot of an underwater area that was simply congested with mobs. It was ridiculous.

I have been playing a warrior. I have noticed that a number of abilities don’t work properly. I haven’t tested them all. That is pretty serious given that since you get less ‘talents’ in the game than say, WoW, they are important to your classes ability.

Whirlwind Attack: Does not often hit targets in the path.

Charge: Extremely frustrating that it auto-selects targets, including neutral targets

I don’t think Heightened Senses works – I am at full adrenaline and it is not reflected on my crit chance stat.

Sweet Revenge does not work right – I was involved in a kill and I did not rally. How is this any different to not landing a killing blow but still getting XP or loot?

OTHER
The current costs of teleporting is excessive.

Using F for both conversation and looting is just stupid. Something so obvious made it all the way through to release.

You can’t mail to your own characters.

Finally, you don’t have any provision to change a characters name.

Lag. Terrible at times – to the point of unplayable. Much worse than WoW and even Warhammer Online. Your end simply cannot handle events like Tequatl.

Camp guards are dumb. You can be fighting a mob within spitting distance from one of them but until attacked they stand there and do nothing.

May things broken or bugged. The later into the game you get the more frequent you see this. I got trapped in a tent today that was repaired while I was standing on it after an event….there is just so many small but dumb things not finished or working. Most hardcore no-lifers dont really give a crap because they are too busy focused on grinding and being the first to get a legendary they ignore this stuff but plenty of people dont.

I could keep going but that’s enough for now. I don’t think you will fix even half of this. Im truly sorry…this game was so highly anticipated and has so much potential. If you don’t want to take heed of my concerns, that’s fine, but I have to say I was right on the mark with my calls about the fate of previous MMOs, even during their honeymoon periods. Some of these gripes might be dated, but at least you know what annoys people most.

While I am at it, how about an AK-47 rifle skin for gems?

TL;DR (and surely noone else will either), but scanning over it looks like a mixed bunch and little that we don’t know already. What you should appreciate when evaluating GW2 is that its really a huge effort with many daring innovations by Arenanet that haven’t been tried before. Some of those are going to work better than others in practice. As to bugs, I reckon the game has had a pretty good launch and has a been a blast to play for many of us from close to day 1 of pre release, with just a few minor inconveniences. It still amazes me that such complex projects are feasible at all.