Guild Wars 2

A game that barely holds a candle to it’s predecessor, Guild Wars 1. It did a lot of things right with MMO combat mechanics and skill use, but tries too hard to please everyone. It had a lot of temporary content come and go (the vast majority of which has never and probably will never return).

It has a brutal RNG system in place for the most sought-after items. Chances are you will never get that item you really want as a drop, you’ll have to save a lot of currency to buy it from another player and reward them for your hard work.

The game does not seem to have any clear antagonists, either. There was this giant crustacean that attacked a major city about 2 years ago, and then there were all these wannabe villains that ended up being mere puppets to a psychpath, who in turn was also merely puppet for something else.

There are these rumored elder dragons that woke up over the course of the past 250 years (in-game) but they don’t actually do anything. They stay underground, on top of a mountain, underwater, in a desert, and supposedly another one woke up. You get to fight one of them, and by fight I mean you interact with a turret and press one button until it does. You never actually get to use your character’s equipment against it.

New players will be happy to know that the developers think that all new players are infants who can’t think for themselves and have to have a tutorial on everything from pressing the spacebar to jump to pressing another button to dodge. It will take at least 40 levels to be able to use all of your skills. For the first level, you literally have only one skill on your skill bar, but don’t worry you can’t die in the starting instance either. You can literally just stand there and dance and things will eventually die.

The crafting in the game is at least very easy. You can make some pretty nice stuff. You must craft if you want the best equipment, because the game’s brutal RNG will make it so you will probably never get the highest quality equipment.

The game’s visuals are nice. The music isn’t bad, either. You can even replace the in-game music with your own personal playlist (or you can just mute the game’s music and press play on your Winamp/iTunes/WMP).

It doesn’t have a monthly subscription, which is great. The in-game store sometimes has some really neat stuff to buy. It’s entirely optional to buy stuff, but some of the stuff you will really want to buy, then freak out when you realize how expensive it is and how long it will take you to get enough in-game currency to buy gems to buy the thing you want. Make sure you have a good sense of self-control with your credit card.

It’s simple:

“Try it. IF you like it, buy it. If you don’t like it, try it again later. Then you’ll like it, and you’ll buy it.”

Descriptions are pointless. It’s like explaining a movie or a book. That’s useless. You have to see things for yourself.

Zenith.6403:

It’s a korean style MMO with focus on periodic, PvE-focused updates. Strong point is visuals and bad points are gameplay and lack of QA.

A Korean-style MMO has 3 main key points:

- Extreme grind. There’s always 80-100 or more levels, and progression is geoetric with a massive peak. Often it takes little time to reach 20% of the max level, then each level takes between 3 and 100 times longer to reach than the previous one.
- F2P, Pay to Win. After reaching 20% of the max level, those that do not pay microtransactions are there basically to fill the game so it doesn’t look empty, and are unable to do anything remotely interesting. All additional content and features are blocked behind paywalls, and additional power progression takes ages unless payments are done.
- Boobs. Lots of boobs. Like, in your face. They are practically motorboarding simulators.

I won’t say there isn’t at least bit of each in GW2 in some form. But in comparison to your average Korean-style MMO, it’s infinitesimal.

This might be the most unfair and overstated thread I’ve seen to date.

I see nothing unfair about this thread.

You should get your glasses checked, Vayne.

On topic: I’d tell my friend not to bother unless they can get the game for free. Nor should they expect to see any of our other friends on, because they all left for greener pastures are won’t be coming back.

Gene Archer.8560:

I see nothing unfair about this thread.

You should get your glasses checked, Vayne.

Well if nothing else one person called the game pay to win and I know precious few people who agree with that. There’s more too, but since you all you actually want to do is start a fight with me, I won’t be replying to more of your posts in this thread.

SenorMoody.5908:

lordkrall.7241:

One would of course question why people that quite clearly don’t like the game still hang around on these forums everyday instead of just moving on.

Honestly I’ve never understood the logic when people say this ^
People still talk about movies and TV shows they’ve seen in the past but no longer watch anymore. Same goes for books or stories we’ve read before. Even though we are no longer participating in those activities it can still be enjoyable to talk with others who have experienced those same activities. Why cant former players read the forums occasionally just to see whats new or what people are talking about?
I haven’t really played LoTRo or SWToR for years but I still occasionally read up on whats new and participate in threads that I find interesting.

On Topic:
“So you’re thinking about getting GW2 and want to know more about it?
Pros:
It has no sub fee, amazing artistic style, Some very convenient design decisions that will have you wondering why other MMOs haven’t thought this. (gathering nodes that you don’t have to fight other players for? Genius!) And an in game shop that even now, over 2 years later, remains purely cosmetic / fluff. No pay to win!

Cons: Large focus on Gem Store, An Economy that will leave a new player in the dust unless they are extremely lucky with drops. Many of the more recent decisions made for the game leaves most players scratching their heads. This game is now the complete opposite of what was promised to us before launch. Threads have been known to go on for 6 months or more expressing legitimate player concerns without a single Dev response. And the combination of the new Trait system and leveling system will probably make your head explode.

I highlighted the part i’d like to respond too. If you want to discuss the game its one thing but I can find you post of people who say they come here because “forum PVP is funner then the game PVP” Im a Star Wars fan so I don’t go to Star Trek conventions and tell people how bad Star Trek is of example. You don’t like the game leave. If you leave keep your comments to yourself because your not up to date about whats going on. People who have “left” LMAO for years are still posting in forums but ummm if you left how can you talk when you don’t know whats going on? Critique is one thing trolling is another and people mistake the 2.

Gene Archer.8560:

I see nothing unfair about this thread.

You should get your glasses checked, Vayne.

On topic: I’d tell my friend not to bother unless they can get the game for free. Nor should they expect to see any of our other friends on, because they all left for greener pastures are won’t be coming back.

Yet here you are Gene….. You have said you are leaving so many times and you constantly complain about the game are you a masochist?

Even starting from the stratosphere, an object in freefall will eventually crash to the ground.

Zoso.8279:

Yet here you are Gene….. You have said you are leaving so many times

I haven’t, actually. I’ve said all my other friends have left. Because they have. I’m the only one left. I’m the only one that bothered giving a kitten about this game and holding out hope. And I had a long spate of not logging in. I’m here for Halloween, because they at least managed to fix it from how horrible it was last year.

Zoso.8279:

and you constantly complain about the game are you a masochist?

Probably. I also have the (rather foolish, it seems) hope that, you know, maybe ANet will actually go through with its word of more and better communication, and listening, and such.

So far, they’re not doing well. What with that traits thread.

Don’t worry, I’ll be back to just lurking soon enough, waiting for the game to truly improve. Then you can enjoy your little delusional bubble world with Vayne where everything is sunshine and roses.

Zoso.8279:

This game was talked about as being original by almost all reviews.

Key word -was-. Because the game -was- unique. But they’ve done just about everything they could to take that away.

Gene Archer.8560:

Zoso.8279:

Yet here you are Gene….. You have said you are leaving so many times

I haven’t, actually. I’ve said all my other friends have left. Because they have. I’m the only one left. I’m the only one that bothered giving a kitten about this game and holding out hope. And I had a long spate of not logging in. I’m here for Halloween, because they at least managed to fix it from how horrible it was last year.

Zoso.8279:

and you constantly complain about the game are you a masochist?

Probably. I also have the (rather foolish, it seems) hope that, you know, maybe ANet will actually go through with its word of more and better communication, and listening, and such.

So far, they’re not doing well. What with that traits thread.

Don’t worry, I’ll be back to just lurking soon enough, waiting for the game to truly improve. Then you can enjoy your little delusional bubble world with Vayne where everything is sunshine and roses.

Zoso.8279:

This game was talked about as being original by almost all reviews.

Key word -was-. Because the game -was- unique. But they’ve done just about everything they could to take that away.

LMAO so this halloween event is better then last year? Funny most people said its the same as last year. Hmmm. The sky is falling! The sky is falling! (maybe if I say it enough it’ll come true)

Beauty of GW no sub fee. You have critique go for it let the world know! If your going to troll well expect for people to correct you. So much misinformation and dumb trolls talking talking talking and then oooppppssssss you never could die in starting zone since before the NPE O.O fools. (NPE reference there)

Vayne.8563:

Gene Archer.8560:

I see nothing unfair about this thread.

You should get your glasses checked, Vayne.

Well if nothing else one person called the game pay to win and I know precious few people who agree with that. There’s more too, but since you all you actually want to do is start a fight with me, I won’t be replying to more of your posts in this thread.

In general, I would agree with you here. But the Armor and Damage Boosters have always left a somewhat bitter taste in my mouth in regards to P2W. If these could be used in sPvP/tPvP, where such a thing would actually matter, I’d have probably quit a long time ago – and I say that as someone who likes the game (within reason), has logged about 3k hours, and who has been with the series since GW: Factions.

Vayne.8563:

This might be the most unfair and overstated thread I’ve seen to date.

How is that unfair, they brought it on themselfs. Thats just simply some kind of customer review.

ShinjoNaomi.1896:

They got to have something to hate on, don’t they?
Only reason I can think of. (And no, don’t give me that ‘I care about the game’ line of bull crap that a lot of haters hide behind. It’s one thing to give constructive criticism. But the way some go on about it… makes as much sense as screaming ‘I love my dog!’ while kicking it in the teeth…)

Quote because man how I agree with this! Critique is one thing and I’m 100% with it but trolling is another thing.

Zoso.8279:

LMAO so this halloween event is better then last year? Funny most people said its the same as last year.

Because it’s last year’s events. But there are some subtle changes. Funny how I’ve noticed them despite being away, yet you, who loves this game so much that you’re always playing, can’t notice.

The candy corn cob prices have been reduced on several items, and there are far more available nodes and halloween items dropping.

Last year was sparse in the rewards because they were so kittening worried about their precious economy that they forgot how to make holidays fun, and instead made them a grind.

Zoso.8279:

Beauty of GW no sub fee. You have critique go for it let the world know!

And yet when people do that, you and Vayne white knight around like you’ve got chips on your shoulders, because people dared to have problems with your precious ANet.

Zoso.8279:

If your going to troll well expect for people to correct you.

You’ve failed to correct me on anything. In fact, I just corrected you.

You claim to be so happy with this game, and now I see why. You don’t actually pay attention to the changes around you.

Zoso.8279:

So much misinformation and dumb trolls talking talking talking and then oooppppssssss you never could die in starting zone since before the NPE O.O fools. (NPE reference there)

I’ve never said that about the NPE, though. So why are you saying this to me?

Duke Blackrose.4981:

Vayne.8563:

Gene Archer.8560:

I see nothing unfair about this thread.

You should get your glasses checked, Vayne.

Well if nothing else one person called the game pay to win and I know precious few people who agree with that. There’s more too, but since you all you actually want to do is start a fight with me, I won’t be replying to more of your posts in this thread.

In general, I would agree with you here. But the Armor and Damage Boosters have always left a somewhat bitter taste in my mouth in regards to P2W. If these could be used in sPvP/tPvP, where such a thing would actually matter, I’d have probably quit a long time ago – and I say that as someone who likes the game (within reason), has logged about 3k hours, and who has been with the series since GW: Factions.

Highlighted what I’m responding too. If they ever put this in PvP i’d be right there quitting with you bro.

Vayne.8563:

It’s an MMO that removes a lot of the frustrations of MMOs before it. If you love traditional MMOs it’ll take some adjustment. If you’re frustrated by traditional MMOs, then this might be a good alternative for you.

valid, but arena net seems to excel at their side and viciously neglect the other.. in removing traditional frustrations they submit their own.. i’d really like to see them refine instead of cater to the zombie consumer crowd.. that is the only way i really see this franchise retaining its longevity

Gene Archer.8560:

Zoso.8279:

LMAO so this halloween event is better then last year? Funny most people said its the same as last year.

Because it’s last year’s events. But there are some subtle changes. Funny how I’ve noticed them despite being away, yet you, who loves this game so much that you’re always playing, can’t notice.

The candy corn cob prices have been reduced on several items, and there are far more available nodes and halloween items dropping.

Last year was sparse in the rewards because they were so kittening worried about their precious economy that they forgot how to make holidays fun, and instead made them a grind.

Zoso.8279:

Beauty of GW no sub fee. You have critique go for it let the world know!

And yet when people do that, you and Vayne white knight around like you’ve got chips on your shoulders, because people dared to have problems with your precious ANet.

Zoso.8279:

If your going to troll well expect for people to correct you.

You’ve failed to correct me on anything. In fact, I just corrected you.

You claim to be so happy with this game, and now I see why. You don’t actually pay attention to the changes around you.

Zoso.8279:

So much misinformation and dumb trolls talking talking talking and then oooppppssssss you never could die in starting zone since before the NPE O.O fools. (NPE reference there)

I’ve never said that about the NPE, though. So why are you saying this to me?

1. GTFO lmao the price of some things changed so now its better…… the content that you play makes no difference? LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!

2. You feel I don’t critique? Read my post history. Look at my past like I’ve looked at yours and you get a better idea of the person who your talking too………

Gene you like to argue thats fine but I’m not your boyfriend so maybe you should find someone else to argue with instead of going into forums to start arguments (bad ones may I add) talking to someone like you people just end up going in circles.

Duke Blackrose.4981:

Vayne.8563:

Gene Archer.8560:

I see nothing unfair about this thread.

You should get your glasses checked, Vayne.

Well if nothing else one person called the game pay to win and I know precious few people who agree with that. There’s more too, but since you all you actually want to do is start a fight with me, I won’t be replying to more of your posts in this thread.

In general, I would agree with you here. But the Armor and Damage Boosters have always left a somewhat bitter taste in my mouth in regards to P2W. If these could be used in sPvP/tPvP, where such a thing would actually matter, I’d have probably quit a long time ago – and I say that as someone who likes the game (within reason), has logged about 3k hours, and who has been with the series since GW: Factions.

Both of those are cheap enough to buy with gold. You get some stuff like that just for leveling up. You get them from black lion chests too, which you get a least a couple of keys for leveling up.

This game isn’t pay to win. If anything all you’re really doing is helping your team.

cheshirefox.7026:

Vayne.8563:

It’s an MMO that removes a lot of the frustrations of MMOs before it. If you love traditional MMOs it’ll take some adjustment. If you’re frustrated by traditional MMOs, then this might be a good alternative for you.

valid, but arena net seems to excel at their side and viciously neglect the other.. in removing traditional frustrations they submit their own.. i’d really like to see them refine instead of cater to the zombie consumer crowd.. that is the only way i really see this franchise retaining its longevity

Sure there’s plenty of frustrations and Anet creates a lot of frustration in the way the handle communication. But that says a lot pertaining to the forum crowd and doesn’t say much about how everyone else enjoys the game.

Does anyone really believe most people stay in touch with stuff and read the forums…because I don’t. And a lot of the problems brought up here don’t really get noticed or affect much of the player base. That’s the thing.

We’re the hard core, invested demographic. We’ve pretty much got to be the minority. Half the stuff we argue about most players will never even know about.

actually, forum talking points and cdi aside, i’m referring to the things in game that Do affect average gamers.. there is a plethora of little things {but noticeable things} that arena net has implemented or left stagnate, or haven’t implemented at all that really makes me wonder if they are bogged down or just neglectful :\

cheshirefox.7026:

actually, forum talking points and cdi aside, i’m referring to the things in game that Do affect average gamers.. there is a plethora of little things {but noticeable things} that arena net has implemented or left stagnate, or haven’t implemented at all that really makes me wonder if they are bogged down or just neglectful :\

When you say affects average players, what are you talking about?

Take the condition damage situation. I’d wager far less than 25% of the playerbase even knows about the cap. It may affect them…but they don’t know it does.

Something only really affects you if you know about it. At least in the sense of gaming.

Vayne.8563:

cheshirefox.7026:

Vayne.8563:

It’s an MMO that removes a lot of the frustrations of MMOs before it. If you love traditional MMOs it’ll take some adjustment. If you’re frustrated by traditional MMOs, then this might be a good alternative for you.

valid, but arena net seems to excel at their side and viciously neglect the other.. in removing traditional frustrations they submit their own.. i’d really like to see them refine instead of cater to the zombie consumer crowd.. that is the only way i really see this franchise retaining its longevity

Sure there’s plenty of frustrations and Anet creates a lot of frustration in the way the handle communication. But that says a lot pertaining to the forum crowd and doesn’t say much about how everyone else enjoys the game.

Does anyone really believe most people stay in touch with stuff and read the forums…because I don’t. And a lot of the problems brought up here don’t really get noticed or affect much of the player base. That’s the thing.

We’re the hard core, invested demographic. We’ve pretty much got to be the minority. Half the stuff we argue about most players will never even know about.

That’s rather debatable. I see quite a lot of the same issues brought up and passionately discussed in routine LA map chats all the time – and comments tend to lean towards the negative, just like in the forums.

The forum community IS a minority, but their mindsets tend to be representative of the community at large – and you see samples of virtually every subset of the game’s community within the forum community.

At the same time, however, I would agree that the lack of constant forum replies from Anet is not a major issue in regards to communication. What IS an issue, however, is that there is very little indication as to the long-term plans of the developers. An expansion in the works? Who knows. How far do their Living Story plans go? Are the new skills and weapons that were promised a year ago even in the works? The list goes on, and there has been virtually no commentary on any of these for months on end.

Zoso.8279:

1. GTFO lmao the price of some things changed so now its better…… .

Well, yes. Halloween is about fun and treats. Being able to actually obtain the treats, and reasonably at that, has improved this year’s halloween over last year’s.

I mean, now I’m confused. I actually say that this halloween is better than last year’s, and you’re…getting on my case for it?

Zoso.8279:

the content that you play makes no difference? LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!

Aside from the JP, I was fine with last year’s content, more or less. But the stinginess of the treats took away from the content enjoyment.

I like my treats. So sue me.

I’d be willing to call this halloween perfect if they’d reintroduce the 2012 stuff as well. I’d still think the rest of the game needs a huge amount of work, sure, but a perfect halloween is still worth striving for.

Zoso.8279:

Gene you like to argue thats fine but I’m not your boyfriend

Thank the lord almighty. I’d never want someone like you for my boyfriend.

Zoso.8279:

so maybe you should find someone else to argue with

Uh, if you didn’t want to argue, you shouldn’t have responded to my post to begin with. You brought this on yourself, chief.

Zoso.8279:

talking to someone like you people just end up going in circles.

Funny, that’s exactly how I feel about people like you and Vayne.

Duke Blackrose.4981:

Vayne.8563:

cheshirefox.7026:

Vayne.8563:

It’s an MMO that removes a lot of the frustrations of MMOs before it. If you love traditional MMOs it’ll take some adjustment. If you’re frustrated by traditional MMOs, then this might be a good alternative for you.

valid, but arena net seems to excel at their side and viciously neglect the other.. in removing traditional frustrations they submit their own.. i’d really like to see them refine instead of cater to the zombie consumer crowd.. that is the only way i really see this franchise retaining its longevity

Sure there’s plenty of frustrations and Anet creates a lot of frustration in the way the handle communication. But that says a lot pertaining to the forum crowd and doesn’t say much about how everyone else enjoys the game.

Does anyone really believe most people stay in touch with stuff and read the forums…because I don’t. And a lot of the problems brought up here don’t really get noticed or affect much of the player base. That’s the thing.

We’re the hard core, invested demographic. We’ve pretty much got to be the minority. Half the stuff we argue about most players will never even know about.

That’s rather debatable. I see quite a lot of the same issues brought up and passionately discussed in routine LA map chats all the time – and comments tend to lean towards the negative, just like in the forums.

The forum community IS a minority, but their mindsets tend to be representative of the community at large – and you see samples of virtually every subset of the game’s community within the forum community.

At the same time, however, I would agree that the lack of constant forum replies from Anet is not a major issue in regards to communication. What IS an issue, however, is that there is very little indication as to the long-term plans of the developers. An expansion in the works? Who knows. How far do their Living Story plans go? Are the new skills and weapons that were promised a year ago even in the works? The list goes on, and there has been virtually no commentary on any of these for months on end.

How do you know the people who aren’t talking in routine map chats don’t post on reddit or the forums?

What percent of the playerbase do you really think takes place in “routine” map chats, even?

Vayne.8563:

Duke Blackrose.4981:

Vayne.8563:

cheshirefox.7026:

Vayne.8563:

It’s an MMO that removes a lot of the frustrations of MMOs before it. If you love traditional MMOs it’ll take some adjustment. If you’re frustrated by traditional MMOs, then this might be a good alternative for you.

valid, but arena net seems to excel at their side and viciously neglect the other.. in removing traditional frustrations they submit their own.. i’d really like to see them refine instead of cater to the zombie consumer crowd.. that is the only way i really see this franchise retaining its longevity

Sure there’s plenty of frustrations and Anet creates a lot of frustration in the way the handle communication. But that says a lot pertaining to the forum crowd and doesn’t say much about how everyone else enjoys the game.

Does anyone really believe most people stay in touch with stuff and read the forums…because I don’t. And a lot of the problems brought up here don’t really get noticed or affect much of the player base. That’s the thing.

We’re the hard core, invested demographic. We’ve pretty much got to be the minority. Half the stuff we argue about most players will never even know about.

That’s rather debatable. I see quite a lot of the same issues brought up and passionately discussed in routine LA map chats all the time – and comments tend to lean towards the negative, just like in the forums.

The forum community IS a minority, but their mindsets tend to be representative of the community at large – and you see samples of virtually every subset of the game’s community within the forum community.

At the same time, however, I would agree that the lack of constant forum replies from Anet is not a major issue in regards to communication. What IS an issue, however, is that there is very little indication as to the long-term plans of the developers. An expansion in the works? Who knows. How far do their Living Story plans go? Are the new skills and weapons that were promised a year ago even in the works? The list goes on, and there has been virtually no commentary on any of these for months on end.

How do you know the people who aren’t talking in routine map chats don’t post on reddit or the forums?

What percent of the playerbase do you really think takes place in “routine” map chats, even?

Irrelevant.

And a pretty large percent. You have to factor in not only those who start such chats (which may well be forumers), but also those who simply add their input and even those (impossible to account for players) who stay out of the conversation but take mental note of it and necessarily take a personal stance on it. There is a large percentage of idle players in LA at any given time. Sometimes these idle for short periods to craft or to handle other business. Sometimes they are the more disillusioned folks who would rather chat than play the game. Either way, it’s a large sub-community of the game as a whole, and it’s an interesting thing to look at and read.

Now, I also like how you glossed over the real meat of my statement (the final paragraph) to argue semantics as it suits you. Point is – the game has been relatively stagnant (even by MMO standards) for some time and there has been very little indication of it changing in a meaningful way, outside of the Raid and Guild Hall CDI’s. One does not have to be part of the forum or Reddit community to see that, recognize it, or discuss it, and you will often see it take place in the ingame chat box. Whether or not those people are also forumers or Redditors is truly irrelevant.

Gene Archer.8560:

Thank the lord almighty. I’d never want someone like you for my boyfriend.

:‘( but i’d make a great boyfriend we can do all your favorite things argue ALL DAY AND ALL NIGHT I’m sure you’d love that right?…….. Hey I have the perfect first date planned out for us! I’ll take you down to the beach and we can argue under the moonlight! <3 sound romantic right!

Gene Archer.8560:

Uh, if you didn’t want to argue, you shouldn’t have responded to my post to begin with. You brought this on yourself, chief.

Your right this is on me. I guess another saturday night full of regret LMFAO! Only different about tonight is that I’m not drunk.

i understand why this game “feels” stagnant.. but i personally did not feel affected by this until the ‘sweeping’ changes made this year.. poor decision making is really beginning to bear its full weight on the community in its entirety

Zoso.8279:

:‘( but i’d make a great boyfriend we can do all your favorite things argue ALL DAY AND ALL NIGHT I’m sure you’d love that right?…….. Hey I have the perfect first date planned out for us! I’ll take you down to the beach and we can argue under the moonlight! <3 sound romantic right!

Maybe I should take you up on your offer. Not because of the arguing portion. But because you are apparently a kittening wizard. I mean, you’re promising me the beach. The closest beach for me can be registered in hundreds of miles. And here you are saying “Yeah, I can teleport us to the beach no sweat.”

Conjure up a million dollars for me and we’ll talk.

Zoso.8279:

Your right this is on me. I guess another saturday night full of regret LMFAO!

Hey man, you’re the one that apparently wanted to argue since you responded first. I was just pointing it out. But I understand that you have to laugh at yourself to save face.

Really nice casual mmorpg. Only 1 gear tier. So you won’t be left behind because you didn’t chase after the latest tier of gear.

End game rewards consists of cool looking skins, which were mostly gotten by using a huge sum of gold or real life money. Many people who are after those cool looking skins felt it is really grindy to farm gold.

To become a rich person in GW2 without farming. You mostly have to focus on finding ways to flip or invest using the trading post.

GW2 dont’ lock any content behind gear tier or grind. So you can do almost every content immediately when you reach level80 in basic gear.

Game do sometimes felt unrewarding. To me the best reward for grinding in an mmorpg, have always been content. I’m willing to farm a dungeon so I can do harder dungeon. But that’s not the case in GW2. There’s no content hiding behind gear tier. Fractal is the only content that have some grind.

While most traditional mmorpg try to keep their pve players by dungeon grind. Release new dungeon tier every few month to half a year. GW2 didn’t try to do that.

Most AAA mmorpg release their expansion or information on new expansion within 2 years mark. But GW2 have yet to release any information. No one have a clear idea the future or road map of the game since the developer choose not to release any information.

SenorMoody.5908:

Cons: Large focus on Gem Store

This comment is very subjective. Do they make stuff to sell in the store? Of course they do, like any business. Despite that, I’ve never felt pressured to buy anything in the gem store, and there are plenty of things in the game for free that I have yet to “get.” I don’t see a “large focus” on the gem store at all.

IndigoSundown.5419:

SenorMoody.5908:

Cons: Large focus on Gem Store

This comment is very subjective. Do they make stuff to sell in the store? Of course they do, like any business. Despite that, I’ve never felt pressured to buy anything in the gem store, and there are plenty of things in the game for free that I have yet to “get.” I don’t see a “large focus” on the gem store at all.

I think that by this, they are referring to the lacking number of new, non-gemstore armor and weapon skins. Which is a valid point. No, they aren’t forcing you to buy anything from the store, but they also haven’t turned out much in the way of new visuals to be obtained through regular content either.

We’ve seen Ambrite Weapons, Champ Bag Weapons, Ascended Gear, Achievement Skins, some back items that no one cares about, and the new Glorious Set and…. that’s about it. That’s really not much for 2 years.

Gene Archer.8560:

Zoso.8279:

:‘( but i’d make a great boyfriend we can do all your favorite things argue ALL DAY AND ALL NIGHT I’m sure you’d love that right?…….. Hey I have the perfect first date planned out for us! I’ll take you down to the beach and we can argue under the moonlight! <3 sound romantic right!

Maybe I should take you up on your offer. Not because of the arguing portion. But because you are apparently a kittening wizard. I mean, you’re promising me the beach. The closest beach for me can be registered in hundreds of miles. And here you are saying “Yeah, I can teleport us to the beach no sweat.”

Conjure up a million dollars for me and we’ll talk.

Zoso.8279:

Your right this is on me. I guess another saturday night full of regret LMFAO!

Hey man, you’re the one that apparently wanted to argue since you responded first. I was just pointing it out. But I understand that you have to laugh at yourself to save face.

Wow a million dollars to get to the beach? Do you live on Mars? Ok maybe we start off slow? First dinner with some back handed compliment. Then we can go to the movies where we give dirty looks at each other and then last we can end the night with FULL BLOWN ARGUMENT! Sounds pretty intense might be the best date i’ll ever be on.

And yeah I have to laugh at myself. Its like when you walk into a glass door you leave with a headache but you still laugh at the situation.

cheshirefox.7026:

i understand why this game “feels” stagnant.. but i personally did not feel affected by this until the ‘sweeping’ changes made this year.. poor decision making is really beginning to bear its full weight on the community in its entirety

See and that’s the thing. People keep calling it stagnant and then also complain about sweeping changes. It’s hard for both to be true.

But yes the game doesn’t necessarily change as fast as other games. I’m pretty sure that a reasonable percentage of the playerbase sees that as a plus.

Vayne.8563:

cheshirefox.7026:

i understand why this game “feels” stagnant.. but i personally did not feel affected by this until the ‘sweeping’ changes made this year.. poor decision making is really beginning to bear its full weight on the community in its entirety

See and that’s the thing. People keep calling it stagnant and then also complain about sweeping changes. It’s hard for both to be true.

But yes the game doesn’t necessarily change as fast as other games. I’m pretty sure that a reasonable percentage of the playerbase sees that as a plus.

Once raids come out all complaints will go away. The void that people feel is purely because of “end game” content imo.

Vayne.8563:

cheshirefox.7026:

i understand why this game “feels” stagnant.. but i personally did not feel affected by this until the ‘sweeping’ changes made this year.. poor decision making is really beginning to bear its full weight on the community in its entirety

See and that’s the thing. People keep calling it stagnant and then also complain about sweeping changes. It’s hard for both to be true.

But yes the game doesn’t necessarily change as fast as other games. I’m pretty sure that a reasonable percentage of the playerbase sees that as a plus.

On the surface, that does seem to be a contradictory pair of statements. In practice, we’re in a situation that hits both.

We’ve seen sweeping changes (from the feature packs, primarily) that have not moved the game forward or changed the game substantially from a standard standpoint (that of the veteran). These changes have, however, earned complaints for drastically changing the game for a smaller (but still substantial) set of the community (new players and altoholics) in a way that does not add substance to their long-term play, but does create inconvenience for them in the shorter term.

Guild Wars 2 is essentially the same game that it was 2 years ago in many ways (save for a new, obnoxiously expensive gear tier). In that 2 years, the vast majority of changes we’ve seen have been to what I would call “secondary systems” (those that are major but do not have a direct impact on gameplay), such as the account wallet, trait unlocks, and other such renovations. We haven’t seen many improvements to what I might call “primary systems” (targeting, content design, the skill system, etc.), and the result is a game that has remained stagnant on a fundamental level.

SenorMoody.5908:

Honestly I’ve never understood the logic when people say this ^
People still talk about movies and TV shows they’ve seen in the past but no longer watch anymore. Same goes for books or stories we’ve read before. Even though we are no longer participating in those activities it can still be enjoyable to talk with others who have experienced those same activities.

And that’s a fair point. Most people do that in passing.

“Oh, that thing. That thing sucks because IMO blah blah blah”
“Oh that thing. That thing is awesome IMO because blah blah blah”

But do you do that on the fan boards and the official boards of those same movies and TV shows you don’t like? It begs the question, do you hate it that much?

Because that’s moving from casual dislike to grudge status.

Normal people don’t do that. Pretty much the deal with most disgruntled GW2 players though.

One of the TOP themepark mmorpg on the market now. That being said, many people just attribute it to the lack of competition. Because to them all other game studio are kitten too. So they continue to bash GW2. Because being a top mmorpg isn’t good enough.

Many people consider GW2 the best 30$ they ever spend on entertainment. People are able to play thousands of hours on GW2 without ever paying more.

Many people consider GW2 dont’ have an endgame. Which is controversial. Because many people are able to have thousands of hours of playtime. That being said, most people probably say that because other mmorpg provides better endgame either in terms of content or progression.

As a 2 year old game. Many people are complaining about the game getting stale. I rarely see that many people complain about the lack of content on a mmorpg forum this much. That being said, being B2P is probably one of the reason. In a subscription game, when the game gets stale, people usually just quit, so they stop complaining on the forum. As a game without monthly fee, players are more likely to drag along, and keep playing/complaining on the forums.

as i said, i personally don’t feel the game is stagnant.. unfortunately, i do feel the evolution of this game has a striking imbalance.. arena net has pooled their resources to deliver good installments.. at the same time they are still faltering in areas that leave some gamers wondering.. keeping to topic, if i had to describe gw2 to a newcomer.. i would sadly say ‘check this out, but do not get too invested.’ this ultimately leads me to worry, how can this company expect to move forward with {x} and ask for full market value

laokoko.7403:

Many people consider GW2 the best 30$ they ever spend on entertainment. People are able to play thousands of hours on GW2 without ever paying more.

Many people consider GW2 dont’ have an endgame. Which is controversial. Because many people are able to have thousands of hours of playtime. That being said, most people probably say that because other mmorpg provides better endgame either in terms of content or progression.

As a 2 year old game. Many people are complaining about the game getting stale. I rarely see that many people complain about the lack of content on a mmorpg forum this much. That being said, being B2P is probably one of the reason. In a subscription game, when the game gets stale, people usually just quit, so they stop complaining on the forum. As a game without monthly fee, players are more likely to drag along, and keep playing/complaining on the forums.

Well, you also have to keep in mind that this is the same company (in name) that practically INVENTED the buy-to-play MMO and demonstrated the merits of it as a system in the making of this game’s predecessor. Guild Wars 1’s buy-to-play worked out quite beautifully, as there was a constant drive for Anet to develop and add content, which fans, in turn, enthusiastically bought. There was a cash shop, but there wasn’t a huge push to use it, and the cash shop did not come across as dragging the game down in any way.

Here, we haven’t seen the content additions that one would expect from a subscription MMO, and we also haven’t seen anything on par with what was done expansion-wise for the first game. We haven’t even really seen anything on par with the free Sorrow’s Furnace, UW, and FoW updates.

So what’s changed? Well, Anet has lost quite a few of their original members to other studios, so that may be an influencing factor. The real issue is likely a publishing one. NCSoft is rather infamous – especially after the CoH shutdown, and Nexon recently acquired quite a lot of stock in NCSoft, compounding the awfulness of this arrangement.

Regardless, the state of updates has largely been short-term over long-term. Lots of living story chapters (of varying qualities) are getting the emphasis over needed bug fixes, content reworks, skills, traits, weapons, and expansion content. That’s where the stagnation is coming from. Living story – as good as it can be at times – comes across as a temporary band-aid for a game that needs some evolution and direction.

Personally like I said before raids or the lack of a raiding mode is what is hurting the game. They tried to fill that void with fractals but it just wasn’t enough. It was a good start but they need raids to be that hard mode type content ( but still accessible to casual players ) that will keep people focused while LS and more zones open up. Im fully expecting more zones in the map of Tyria to open up and more world bosses to be introduced to these zones.

Also even though they haven’t announced anything or talked about expansions I’m 100% sure that eventually an expansion will be introduced to build on Cantha or Elona. When IDK but I’m sure its only a matter of time.

Zoso.8279:

Personally like I said before raids or the lack of a raiding mode is what is hurting the game. They tried to fill that void with fractals but it just wasn’t enough. It was a good start but they need raids to be that hard mode type content ( but still accessible to casual players ) that will keep people focused while LS and more zones open up. Im fully expecting more zones in the map of Tyria to open up and more world bosses to be introduced to these zones.

If the Raid content is good/compelling and it is difficult enough (or has enough customizable difficulty) for the hardcore crowd, you would be right in saying that it would provide much of the substance that the game needs to hold focus while the LS and content updates occur.

It is not, however, the only necessary piece of this puzzle. Let’s ignore bug fixes and dungeon reworks for the time being. Those, like LS story updates and new maps, can be brought out over time while a Raid mode “distracts” the community. It is still important, however, that the game’s lacking skill pool be addressed in the shorter term. It isn’t simply that what we play has been stagnant; it’s also how we play, and there is very little evolution of how the game is played or can be played at any point in the leveling process. That’s been a pretty major and common criticism of the game since the beginning.

Duke Blackrose.4981:

Zoso.8279:

Personally like I said before raids or the lack of a raiding mode is what is hurting the game. They tried to fill that void with fractals but it just wasn’t enough. It was a good start but they need raids to be that hard mode type content ( but still accessible to casual players ) that will keep people focused while LS and more zones open up. Im fully expecting more zones in the map of Tyria to open up and more world bosses to be introduced to these zones.

If the Raid content is good/compelling and it is difficult enough (or has enough customizable difficulty) for the hardcore crowd, you would be right in saying that it would provide much of the substance that the game needs to hold focus while the LS and content updates occur.

It is not, however, the only necessary piece of this puzzle. Let’s ignore bug fixes and dungeon reworks for the time being. Those, like LS story updates and new maps, can be brought out over time while a Raid mode “distracts” the community. It is still important, however, that the game’s lacking skill pool be addressed in the shorter term. It isn’t simply that what we play has been stagnant; it’s also how we play, and there is very little evolution of how the game is played or can be played at any point in the leveling process. That’s been a pretty major and common criticism of the game since the beginning.

When you say how we play do you mean less zerg more timed dodges/skills? If that is what you mean I agree that is very important but I think ANET is looking into that also judging by the way the CDI is going.

I would simply quote this guy who made a comment on Angry Joe GW2 revew video and he said:
“thegreatcheeseburger
4 hours ago
With this video I was Introduced to what is now one of my favorite games ever i eternally thank you angry joe for introducing me to this masterpiece *salute?”
Or,
Even refer them to the video itself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ax-_06Acj8Y

Duke Blackrose.4981:

IndigoSundown.5419:

SenorMoody.5908:

Cons: Large focus on Gem Store

This comment is very subjective. Do they make stuff to sell in the store? Of course they do, like any business. Despite that, I’ve never felt pressured to buy anything in the gem store, and there are plenty of things in the game for free that I have yet to “get.” I don’t see a “large focus” on the gem store at all.

I think that by this, they are referring to the lacking number of new, non-gemstore armor and weapon skins. Which is a valid point. No, they aren’t forcing you to buy anything from the store, but they also haven’t turned out much in the way of new visuals to be obtained through regular content either.

We’ve seen Ambrite Weapons, Champ Bag Weapons, Ascended Gear, Achievement Skins, some back items that no one cares about, and the new Glorious Set and…. that’s about it. That’s really not much for 2 years.

I’ve got no problem with people asking for more cosmetic rewards to be earned through play. That said, the wording “too much of a gem shop focus” is an attempt to shame the company into giving players more for free or paint them as greedy because players feel entitled to more stuff to earn. That, I’m not OK with.

In GW, ANet introduced new armors only with the new campaigns and EotN. New weapons were added periodically, but not in huge numbers. GW2 has a lot of in-game skins. The only reason three campaigns plus an expansion’s worth of GW armors were more is because each profession had their own, whereas there are just three types in GW2. Since most of the GW2 armors were in at launch, they’re old hat.

Given what the devs have said about armor skins (time/resource intensive to produce due to five races and two sexes), I’ve always felt that there was going to be (and is) a tug o’ war between cosmetic endgame and store skins. This is one of the paradoxical design issues I referred to earlier. Skins are being asked to do too much. However, to abandon cosmetic endgame could put the game into a power creep endgame, which is also going to create issues with some demographics. Players will insist on things to chase. If it’s not skins, it’ll be stats. Another possibility is traits and skills. However, here we have another paradox. Horizontal progression is desirable, but more complexity could lead to balance headaches.

How do they achieve both? There may be ways around both of those paradoxes, but I don’t think ANet has found them, yet.

IndigoSundown.5419:

Duke Blackrose.4981:

IndigoSundown.5419:

SenorMoody.5908:

Cons: Large focus on Gem Store

snip

I think that by this, they are referring to the lacking number of new, non-gemstore armor and weapon skins. Which is a valid point. No, they aren’t forcing you to buy anything from the store, but they also haven’t turned out much in the way of new visuals to be obtained through regular content either.

We’ve seen Ambrite Weapons, Champ Bag Weapons, Ascended Gear, Achievement Skins, some back items that no one cares about, and the new Glorious Set and…. that’s about it. That’s really not much for 2 years.

I’ve got no problem with people asking for more cosmetic rewards to be earned through play. That said, the wording “too much of a gem shop focus” is an attempt to shame the company into giving players more for free or paint them as greedy because players feel entitled to more stuff to earn. That, I’m not OK with.

In GW, ANet introduced new armors only with the new campaigns and EotN. New weapons were added periodically, but not in huge numbers. GW2 has a lot of in-game skins. The only reason three campaigns plus an expansion’s worth of GW armors were more is because each profession had their own, whereas there are just three types in GW2. Since most of the GW2 armors were in at launch, they’re old hat.

Given what the devs have said about armor skins (time/resource intensive to produce due to five races and two sexes), I’ve always felt that there was going to be (and is) a tug o’ war between cosmetic endgame and store skins. This is one of the paradoxical design issues I referred to earlier. Skins are being asked to do too much. However, to abandon cosmetic endgame could put the game into a power creep endgame, which is also going to create issues with some demographics. Players will insist on things to chase. If it’s not skins, it’ll be stats. Another possibility is traits and skills. However, here we have another paradox. Horizontal progression is desirable, but more complexity could lead to balance headaches.

How do they achieve both? There may be ways around both of those paradoxes, but I don’t think ANet has found them, yet.

I think it’s a matter of time more than anything. Those who don’t mind PvPing have a new armor set to work towards (I got one piece of it myself so far). Those who do, are probably feeling the pinch a bit more.

And you know, I get it. It’s annoying that cool stuff is appearing for cash instead of in game. It’s because MMOs cost a lot to make and maintain…for all sorts of reasons.

Look at what’s happening in the gaming world. There are games that are charging a boatload of money before they’re even in beta now. It’s part of the way the genre is going..and why not. It’s far less risk taking money before you launch. After all, if the game isn’t as good as it’s hyped to be (and so few games will be), then at least you have some of your investment paid back.

Archeage, which turned out to be a very mixed bag charged people $150 just to play the game early…for a “free to play” game. And people call Anet greedy.

Star Citizen is selling ships for a game that’s not even playable yet…it’s still in early alpha.. hell it’s still being developed, I don’t think it’s even in alpha yet. Some of those ships go for over a thousand dollars.

Anet has created a game that’s successful, at a time when so many games coming out haven’t been successful. People keep saying if another good game came out, this game would be in trouble..but they don’t actually see the bigger picture.

There’s a reason why better games haven’t come out. Every game is going to be awesome, every game is going to be better..but they all hit the same roadblocks.

The MMO community is deeply divided. You either have a niche game trying to appease one demographic, or you have a game like this trying to appease a bunch of people. There are no easy answers. Hell their may not be answers at all.

It’s easy to make a racing game because most people are on the same page. It’s easier to make a 3D shooter, because there’s so much you don’t have to worry about.

But here, the PvP people feel snubbed, the WvW feel snubbed, the dungeon people feel snubbed, the people who like story are complaining, the people who find the world too easy are complaining, the people who find the world too hard are complaining, the farmers are complaining…and they’re all complaining about different stuff.

There really are no easy answers. And out of all the MMOs to come out in the last two years, so far this is the best of the lot….for many people.

In all honesty that’s what I tell people when I tell them about the game. It’s not perfect…it’s far from perfect…but compared to just about all the competition, it’s doing pretty well.

@Vayne

agreed.

1, 1, 1, loot, open, disappointment, stare at my toons that look expensive, toy with builds/traits, get criticized for it by kittenholes, rinse, repeat, lament, and embrace.

Vayne.8563:

It’s an MMO that removes a lot of the frustrations of MMOs before it. If you love traditional MMOs it’ll take some adjustment. If you’re frustrated by traditional MMOs, then this might be a good alternative for you.

This…

Vayne.8563:

Vayne.8563:

It’s an MMO that removes a lot of the frustrations of MMOs before it. If you love traditional MMOs it’ll take some adjustment. If you’re frustrated by traditional MMOs, then this might be a good alternative for you.

valid, but arena net seems to excel at their side and viciously neglect the other.. in removing traditional frustrations they submit their own.. i’d really like to see them refine instead of cater to the zombie consumer crowd.. that is the only way i really see this franchise retaining its longevity

And this…

These are the best ways to describe it.

lordkrall.7241:

One would of course question why people that quite clearly don’t like the game still hang around on these forums everyday instead of just moving on.

Because we want to see this game be as great as it could be.

Game itself is alright. Along the lines of Skyrim with people in it, but the gameplay is more structured – for better and for worse – and the areas not as expansive, less dungeons and caves to find. Just steer clear of the forums, the people there can whine for centuries.

Perhaps I should have taken my own advice!