Guild Wars 2

This is an amazing phenomenon to me.
I love this game. When I started playing it, I was so surprised. I wasn’t hyped up when I heard about it. I was just “I’ll know when I’ll play it”.
I played it and it was amazing. So many things to do, exploring was so much fun.
Almost everything is amazing.

And yet I haven’t logged on for 2 weeks. I can’t really understand why. I have about 50% more content to explore, so many other classes to try out, but I can’t make myself.

I don’t know whether the only reason why I feel this way is because combat feels weird?
I mean, on my Engineer, I have to shoot a mob about 50 times (autoattack) for it to die. Dungeon bosses have a health pool so big that you never feel like you are making any kind of difference. Remember the Windows 95 Defragmentation when you could actually sit and look at the little squares change color as they get defragmented? And the whole process would last for hours. That’s how it feels like, in a way.
And then a zombie comes and takes 1/5th of my health in one hit.

And I have about 50 abilities to use, only thing is that I can’t. There’s another game, which rhymes with “borecraft” that I have a lot of experience with and what I loved on my Priest is that I always had an enormous amount of tools at my disposal. I didn’t have to adjust to every battle, change my set of abilities after a fight to be able to travel more comfortably and so on. I get the idea, I’d just love one more action bar (at least).
I really need more. Using 10-14 abilities is not enough. This just asks for button mashing.

So these two things made my character feel so insignificant and weak that I just never felt connected to it, never had this amazing feeling that I am somebody important enough to make a difference in Guild Wars 2.

And these two things are the only things that I don’t like. The list of the things that I love is so long that it would make this post too long (and it’s not short anyway).
Still, in a way I think they somehow out-weight the pros.

I took a break and I am patiently waiting for this need to long in and get lost in the game again, but I can’t find that feeling yet. Not sure it will come any time soon.

Why not stop by the suggestions area?.. maybe offer your opinion on an idea that may help evolve GW2 into a more “enjoyable” game.

~ Try this one, if ya want something more “dynamic”::
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/suggestions/Combat-Dynamic-Events-what-s-the-point-if-they-re-easy-mode/page/1

I think the things you mention are completely valid, but also I would think the “not having any great urge to log on and progress” is caused by the fact that there is very very little sense of progression in the game. You get pretty much everything thrown at you within the first 3-4 levels, which is nice for a little while, but when you don’t really gain a whole lot else for the rest of the game.. Well even a somewhat amusing combat system gets repetitive after a few weeks.
In PvP for instance, all you can ever get is cosmetic upgrades. That’s nice as a little bonus, but as the only progress you can make? Not going to hold up in the longer run. The fun factor alone wears off after a little while, as it does with all non-mmo games.

Yakito.9740:

And I have about 50 abilities to use, only thing is that I can’t. There’s another game, which rhymes with “borecraft” that I have a lot of experience with and what I loved on my Priest is that I always had an enormous amount of tools at my disposal. I didn’t have to adjust to every battle, change my set of abilities after a fight to be able to travel more comfortably and so on.

I think you hit upon one of the key differences. In “borecraft” you don’t have to think; just fire off your optimal rotation and don’t stand in the fire. GW2 is more strategic. You need to go into battle having thought out what would be most effective beforehand. And be honest. Did you really use more than 15 abilities on any given fight?

I agree with the OP that we should be able to use more of our utility skills in the same combat, probably restricted to PvE for the moment to avoid creating more imbalances in PvP. I already have 2 level 80s and is playing with another 4 classes but I end up sticking with 3 or 4 utility skills in each class because those are just essential for almost every fight. Why something essential has to be part of an option? It also means you don’t have any option for utility skills in fact.

Sounds like you have preference issues, and probably a case of desensitization to playing a game for the fun of it, more dependent on the novelty.

Gilandred.9870:

I think you hit upon one of the key differences. In “borecraft” you don’t have to think; just fire off your optimal rotation and don’t stand in the fire. GW2 is more strategic. You need to go into battle having thought out what would be most effective beforehand. And be honest. Did you really use more than 15 abilities on any given fight?

Actually, yes.
I once counted every ability I used on a boss fight or PVP. It ranged from 20-30.
Obviously, sometimes 5 was all you needed.
You have a point there, I know. Thinking before the battle, but I like thinking during it, adapting.
I am not totally against this whole “preparation” idea, it’s quite nice, but it lacks something. Perhaps 10 skills are not enough, perhaps 15 (excluding the toolbelt) would be better.

I look at it this way. More buttons= more button mashing. Fewer buttons make me have to fight more like.. I’d really fight if it was real. I have to think about positioning, movement, what will work best with the mob I am up against. So far, engineer is my favorite class because of the need to really think. I put all turrets on my utility slots because yeah, engineers don’t have beans for damage. Using the equipment helps a ton.
That’s getting off the subject, but just a quick example of how to get into a different frame of mind about how combat is in your head. This is much more realistic, and more challenging, and most of all more rewarding once you “get it” You feel like you’re actually fighting, it becomes more fun, and therefore pulls you in.
I do totally get where you’re coming from though. You just gotta think out of the box you’ve been trapped in!

I’m an elementalist. I have about 25 skills total and I know what OP is talking about. Preparation great, but this isn’t sold as a turn-based strategy game. GW2 is first and foremost an action RPG/MMO.

However, NPCs are scripted with terrible AI which is standard in MMOs. Typical boss scenario consists of DPS, healing/avoiding damage, and reviving allies. Elite skills aren’t that unique or ultimate, and the base skills lack depth to set them apart. I was hoping GW2 would stray from these MMO standards, not just the “trinity,” which may as well be renamed to septinity to define the number of different builds to cover each class. Though, the primary selling point of each class (except maybe guardian) is they each deal DPS in a different fashion, however this being an action RPG, a lot of the skills lack action. ANET took a step in the right direction when they added skills with secondary activation. It makes me think the game could be a lot better if given more paths to create more individualism in skill and play-ability. It’s hard for me to think of a correct solution for this, adding secondary activations to all the skills isn’t my idea of a solution either. I think some skills should be buffed dramatically, and others kept as connections to affect the quality of a more dramatic skill.

Again. I wish people could understand this IS action.. Moreso than having 50 skills. Pressing a ton of buttons does not a fight make. Having 50 skills is nothing more than thinking about what buttons to push next.. That is NOT action fighting. GW2 is redefining that misconception.

edit to add and as far as individualism goes, I have played games with tons of hotbar skills, and each class pretty much was a carbon copy of same class across the board. Individualism is defined by methods and skill IMO. And doing it with flair It’s not what you got, it’s how you use it!

Zionka.6897:

Again. I wish people could understand this IS action.. Moreso than having 50 skills. Pressing a ton of buttons does not a fight make. Having 50 skills is nothing more than thinking about what buttons to push next.. That is NOT action fighting. GW2 is redefining that misconception.

This is true. Do you have any input about what an ideal set of skills would look like?

Zionka.6897:

Again. I wish people could understand this IS action.. Moreso than having 50 skills. Pressing a ton of buttons does not a fight make. Having 50 skills is nothing more than thinking about what buttons to push next.. That is NOT action fighting. GW2 is redefining that misconception.

uh, no offense ~ but GW2 isn’t redefining anything in terms of “combat”.

Quite honestly, TSW has slightly more advanced “telegraphed” action combat.. but just like GW2 ~ both games are no where near TRUE action combat.

IE: Both lack “weight/impact”.

I go in depth in my suggestion thread, I mentioned earlier in this topic ~ but to sum it up.. GW2 / TSW are just spamfest games ~ identical to what you would find in your standard dungeon crawler. (Diablo, Torchlight, Path of Exile).

If you want to see Action Combat that revolves around only a few spells check out Vindictus or C9.

I’ll even link ya to some vids actually..

Vindictus ~ Recorded by me back in the beta::
http://youtu.be/zdfPq7brMtU

Webzen’s C9::
http://youtu.be/7uIBgNATUu4

GW2 is good.. but a complaint I’m seeing more and more lately, is that it plays like your typical dungeon crawler.. but without the “carrot” loot system.

Which means people just rip through GW2 content and have nothing to show for it at the end of the day and don’t actually feel very “attached” to their character(s).

Again I would recommend ya check out my suggestion thread as it addresses this issue and offers up some ways for ANet to evolve beyond it’s current limitations.

Zionka.6897:

Again. I wish people could understand this IS action.. Moreso than having 50 skills. Pressing a ton of buttons does not a fight make. Having 50 skills is nothing more than thinking about what buttons to push next.. That is NOT action fighting. GW2 is redefining that misconception.

edit to add and as far as individualism goes, I have played games with tons of hotbar skills, and each class pretty much was a carbon copy of same class across the board. Individualism is defined by methods and skill IMO. And doing it with flair It’s not what you got, it’s how you use it!

I’m not sure what you mean by other games had carbon copy of classes.

Even in Warhammer where they had mirror classes of both realms, they were really quite different. The abilities were different and had different effects so, for example, a Marauder and White Lion actually played very, very differently. A White Lion plays the “strike hard, fast and get out!” while the Marauder played more similarly to a DPS tank.

A Sword Master and a Black Orc were, beyond physical appearance and same mechanic, very different classes and the playstyle was different.

An Ironbreaker and Blackguard? Nothing alike despite the same class mechanic. They also played differently.

GW2 is a lot more homogenous in that respect. Different skills for classes yes, but effectively, apart from the Thief, the playstyle of the every other class is remarkably similar, as is the role.

I do give them this; the thief is very well designed conceptually. It is quite unique among the classes.

I guess like every single one of the 1000’s of mmos out there, it can’t make everyone happy. I think it has hit the nail on the head for what I want in a game. Not just the combat, but every other aspect. Obviously it’s not going to please everyone.
Maybe it’s not anything original or special to you, maybe other games have better or similar combat, but none I have experienced have the whole package.
Anyway, I just posted here to try and shed a different, positive light on stuff someone sounded bummed about, not to argue. Safe Paths!

Yeah I haven’t been playing much at all either, makes me kinda sad tbh. I haven’t even gotten to 80 yet lol. When I think of logging on to get some progress done in PvE all I can think of is “Playing my necro, same 10-15 abilities/build, just grinding hearts and boring DE’s”. Gah.

Why do people think optimal rotations go away just because you only have 15 skills? All it does it make it easy to find optimal rotations, especially since several weapon skills are pure utility.

Everyone is different in this I guess. I loved playing priest but something that is a huge turn off for me in MMO’s is a huge amount of abilities. When it comes to abilities it is less is more. SWTOR has a lot of people mad because of no macro use and you bind your whole keyboard to fit the skills you have. Not saying you do this but I know in WoW most people bind a key with a priority macro set up which auto chooses what interrupt they will use next and which ability isn’t on CD.

A lot of abilities is like building a deck of magic cards to counter all other decks. It fails. You want to build to your play style and accept that you will be countered. This game is great because you have to choose and you cant have abilities to counter everything. When everyone has 30+ abilities to use the game changes to who can counter play and use their cool downs best. To do that macros are made and then you just have 4 buttons again that make decisions for you.

I don’t button mash. I combo myself on all my characters. Between combos, two weapon sets, and utilities, I’ve never been more engaged in pve before. It’s a preference thing.

Mekboss.5069:

Why do people think optimal rotations go away just because you only have 15 skills? All it does it make it easy to find optimal rotations, especially since several weapon skills are pure utility.

This. People who are too lazy to figure out Max DPS and survivability via combo fields really grind my gears. Gw2’s combat is one thing u can’t really criticize.