Guild Wars 2

First. hats off to ANET for taking the risk in making such a different kind of game. Big kudos and appreciation to all the hard work and talent involved. Please rest assured that many of us are seeing the love and attention you so obviously put in every nook and cranny. I was wandering around some 20ish area yesterday, and came upon a couple who were lounging around in the grass watching their child laugh and play. A couple of other players stopped and watched a while too … that kind of stuff is all over the place. Cute stuff, moody stuff, gruff stuff, funny-as-heck stuff. It’s everywhere, and it’s truly appreciated.

This is the first computer game I’ve ever played, MMOG or otherwise, that is, for me, all enjoyment and zero frustration. I just realized this as I read a couple of entries here, that all of my play time has been fun and enjoyable, and not of it frustrating or boring. There’s an apparently endless amount of stuff to find (love those hidden treasure chests!), do, explore, try out and just gawk at. I’m going to have to buy another hard drive just to store all the videos and pictures I’m taking.

I went into GW2 with some preconceptions about what I would like doing, and what I would not like doing, based on relative levels of frustration trained into me by years of standard MMOG fare. There’s no sense of “wasted time” or “hurry up and wait” or “OMG I’m getting no experience for any of this”. There’s no need to min-max or be super-efficient; there’s no need to conform your character to standardized expectations and rote systems and numbers. There’s no sense that I need to maximize my sub fee dollar into character advancement (because there is no sub fee!).

The freedom is amazing. I figured out that the reason I had gotten to where I could only spend maybe 30 minutes in prior MMOGs before I had to log out is because they were SO FRUSTRATING and UNENJOYABLE in so many ways, whereas GW is, for me, pure enjoyment and fun.

Thank you so much!

Just wait till you get level 80.

Torcan.2314:

Just wait till you get level 80.

You really are taking thekitten here. Go back to whatever god forsaken carrot-on-a-stick MMO you came from.

(please)

Torcan.2314:

Just wait till you get level 80.

What’s going to change when I hit 80?

Wintyre Fraust.6534:

Torcan.2314:

Just wait till you get level 80.

What’s going to change when I hit 80?

Nothing.
It’s still the same game, more bugs though.

Torcan.2314:

Just wait till you get level 80.

Indeed! Level 80 is just the start!

I have been working on my second DPS exotic set and 100% completion. Great fun. And man, revisiting those old areas and doing jumping puzzles is a great way to keep people playing the game. I also did Orr explorable and that 3-phase boss. It was really hard and kept whiping. But I will beat him eventually! In a few months I will have my beautiful legendary greatsword. And I haven’t even stepped into PvP yet!

I’m so glad that Anet didn’t cater to hardcore PvP DAOC players or WoW carrot-on-a-stick raiding. Because man! That would totally suck!

Did you know that the forum has a feature that allows you to ignore posts from particular people? I find it really ups the signal to noise. Just click on their name and you’ll see the option.

Untouch.2541:

Wintyre Fraust.6534:

Torcan.2314:

Just wait till you get level 80.

What’s going to change when I hit 80?

Nothing.
It’s still the same game, more bugs though.

That’s great, because I’M LOVING IT!

Pandemoniac.4739:

Did you know that the forum has a feature that allows you to ignore posts from particular people? I find it really ups the signal to noise. Just click on their name and you’ll see the option.

Thanks for the tip, Sir!

I got frustrated for the first time today and had to log off, i was going for a skill point (forget the map) and I had to wade through an entire army of centaurs, and once I got to the skill point it popped 3 mobs, 1 veteran. No big deal, except that all the centaurs respawned middle fight and smashed me.

I could not go back as the respawn rate was too fast, so basically i found a skill point that I cannot solo.

Wintyre Fraust.6534:

Torcan.2314:

Just wait till you get level 80.

What’s going to change when I hit 80?

Well, personally, I found out that my personal story was bugged, so I’m stuck on my last personal quest, with no way to finish it because the NPC wont interact. Not that it matters anyway, but I’m dying to see the rewards, story is irrelevant.
But not much will change, expect that you’re not gonna have stuff to do.

You must not read the bug forum much then.

Torcan.2314:

Wintyre Fraust.6534:

Torcan.2314:

Just wait till you get level 80.

What’s going to change when I hit 80?

Well, personally, I found out that my personal story was bugged, so I’m stuck on my last personal quest, with no way to finish it because the NPC wont interact. Not that it matters anyway, but I’m dying to see the rewards, story is irrelevant.
But not much will change, expect that you’re not gonna have stuff to do.

That’s your opinion. Why are you in a forum of a doomed game anyway.

I’m 80 with 200+ hours and 100% world completion and I still feel like I barely scratched the surface.

Torcan.2314:

Wintyre Fraust.6534:

Torcan.2314:

Just wait till you get level 80.

What’s going to change when I hit 80?

Well, personally, I found out that my personal story was bugged, so I’m stuck on my last personal quest, with no way to finish it because the NPC wont interact. Not that it matters anyway, but I’m dying to see the rewards, story is irrelevant.
But not much will change, expect that you’re not gonna have stuff to do.

Spoiler alert: The rewards aren’t going to excite you

Guild Wars (2) isn’t a loot game.

Games great plenty of awesome details. Have you found any of the pipe organs yet? Really cool thing they added in the game.

I want to agree with you that there’s zero frustration, but I can’t. I’d place as little frustration, but definitely there. I can’t really say it’s due to intentional game design, though; it’s just the bugs.

The bugs in many high-level areas have been frustrating me as late. I’ve hit snags on a lot of dynamic events that are frozen in time, hearts with bugged, missing components that make them impossible to do (Kennelmaster Warsnout?), and skill point challenges that, like many dynamic events, are simply locked in place and unable to be completed.

I do realize, however, that bugs are never an intentional game mechanic, are pretty much inevitable for any MMO launch, and that ArenaNet has been working around the clock to get them fixed (I’ve heard we’re supposed to see a big update on Monday). And these bugs by no means have stopped me from thoroughly enjoying every single aspect of the game that’s working as intended, and logging more hours in a single week than any other game I’ve ever played. I’ve had more fun with this buggy mess in my first two weeks than I did in years of WoW.

Wintyre Fraust.6534:

Untouch.2541:

Wintyre Fraust.6534:

Torcan.2314:

Just wait till you get level 80.

What’s going to change when I hit 80?

Nothing.
It’s still the same game, more bugs though.

That’s great, because I’M LOVING IT!

Yes, I don’t really understand the “wait until you reach 80” warning. Between 1-80 you’re (if you’re like me) enjoying an incredibly fun adventure that will likely only take you across a third of the zones the game has to offer, leaving more than two-thirds of the game world untouched. And, thanks to the scaling mechanics, you can visit those other zones after level 80 and continue advancing your character in other ways. You can (almost guaranteed) even revisit zones you’ve already been to and experience new content through dynamic events there. And, over time, new content will be added.

I’m struggling to see how this is a bad thing. In other MMOs I reach max level, grind gear to visit raid dungeons, farm them over and over again for more gear that will become obsolete in the next expansion.. I’m just not seeing that as being more fun. The “end game” in GW2 really does begin at level 1.

I’m not even sure why people want raids in GW2, because (going by dynamic events) if there’s one place GW2 seems to suffer it’s in large scale PvE combat. In my opinion, events are more fun when there are only a handful of people present rather than 20-30+ turning it into a spammy cakewalk.

But not much will change, expect that you’re not gonna have stuff to do.

I’ve got plenty to do. I love doing the same stuff over and over, even in zones I’m familiar with. How is it that I’m not going to have stuff to do when I get to level 80?

DusK.3849:

I want to agree with you that there’s zero frustration, but I can’t. I’d place as little frustration, but definitely there. I can’t really say it’s due to intentional game design, though; it’s just the bugs.

The bugs in many high-level areas have been frustrating me as late. I’ve hit snags on a lot of dynamic events that are frozen in time, hearts with bugged, missing components that make them impossible to do (Kennelmaster Warsnout?), and skill point challenges that, like many dynamic events, are simply locked in place and unable to be completed.

I do realize, however, that bugs are never an intentional game mechanic, are pretty much inevitable for any MMO launch, and that ArenaNet has been working around the clock to get them fixed (I’ve heard we’re supposed to see a big update on Monday). And these bugs by no means have stopped me from thoroughly enjoying every single aspect of the game that’s working as intended, and logging more hours in a single week than any other game I’ve ever played. I’ve had more fun with this buggy mess in my first two weeks than I did in years of WoW.

Well, as far as I know I haven’t run into a bug yet. Even the lack of the trading post early on wasn’t frustrating for me because there was just too much else to do

Edge.4180:

Yes, I don’t really understand the “wait until you reach 80” warning.

Especially since I probably won’t hit level 80 with any of my characters for about a year. But then, leveling has never been something I specifically pursue.

Swagman.9013:

Games great plenty of awesome details. Have you found any of the pipe organs yet? Really cool thing they added in the game.

Holy moley! MORE stuff to look for! Thanks for the tip.

Apathy.6430:

Torcan.2314:

Wintyre Fraust.6534:

Torcan.2314:

Just wait till you get level 80.

What’s going to change when I hit 80?

Well, personally, I found out that my personal story was bugged, so I’m stuck on my last personal quest, with no way to finish it because the NPC wont interact. Not that it matters anyway, but I’m dying to see the rewards, story is irrelevant.
But not much will change, expect that you’re not gonna have stuff to do.

Spoiler alert: The rewards aren’t going to excite you

Guild Wars (2) isn’t a loot game.

Unless one finds variant cosmetic looks exciting – which I do. Heck, I’ve got a level 11 thief that looks so cool in his current gear, I might just have to transmogrify future gear back into this look. That’s another thing about this game – even the low level gear is detailed and appealing.

Wintyre Fraust.6534:

Apathy.6430:

Torcan.2314:

Wintyre Fraust.6534:

Torcan.2314:

Just wait till you get level 80.

What’s going to change when I hit 80?

Well, personally, I found out that my personal story was bugged, so I’m stuck on my last personal quest, with no way to finish it because the NPC wont interact. Not that it matters anyway, but I’m dying to see the rewards, story is irrelevant.
But not much will change, expect that you’re not gonna have stuff to do.

Spoiler alert: The rewards aren’t going to excite you

Guild Wars (2) isn’t a loot game.

Unless one finds variant cosmetic looks exciting – which I do. Heck, I’ve got a level 11 thief that looks so cool in his current gear, I might just have to transmogrify future gear back into this look. That’s another thing about this game – even the low level gear is detailed and appealing.

That’s a dress up game.

Which isn’t bad, I like playing dress up games.

I don’t think it’s really fair to call it “a dress up game” in that way. Sure, players like seeing stats improve, but they get really, really upset if their newest epic drop doesn’t look cool. I don’t think too many would raiders in WoW would be super excited about receiving set drops that look like starting armor, for example, no matter how good the stats are.

Every MMO plays the dress up game. It’s why developers will release screenshots of their newest tier-2000 armor set but not mention any stats (and then players will spend the next month picking apart the design of the shoulder pads).

Apathy.6430:

Wintyre Fraust.6534:

Apathy.6430:

Torcan.2314:

Wintyre Fraust.6534:

Torcan.2314:

Just wait till you get level 80.

What’s going to change when I hit 80?

Well, personally, I found out that my personal story was bugged, so I’m stuck on my last personal quest, with no way to finish it because the NPC wont interact. Not that it matters anyway, but I’m dying to see the rewards, story is irrelevant.
But not much will change, expect that you’re not gonna have stuff to do.

Spoiler alert: The rewards aren’t going to excite you

Guild Wars (2) isn’t a loot game.

Unless one finds variant cosmetic looks exciting – which I do. Heck, I’ve got a level 11 thief that looks so cool in his current gear, I might just have to transmogrify future gear back into this look. That’s another thing about this game – even the low level gear is detailed and appealing.

That’s a dress up game.

Which isn’t bad, I like playing dress up games.

Graphics are a huge part of the MMOG genre. If it didn’t matter to players what their character looked like, then we wouldn’t have had the evolution of the detailed avatar creation system. Avatar graphics are a big driving force in cash shop sales, as well.

Obviously, a huge part of MMOGs in general is what you apparently disdainfully dismiss as the “dress up game”. So if players are willing to pay cash to “dress up” their avatar, and it is obviously one of the driving mechanisms of MMOG development and revenue, your comment:

Spoiler alert: The rewards aren’t going to excite you

Guild Wars (2) isn’t a loot game.

… is only indicative of an apparent personal disdain you hve for something many MMOG players do actually find exciting: what you call “the dress up game”, which others call avatar customization and personalizaton.

I’m sorry it doesn’t excite you, but to classify GW2 as “not a loot game” because it doesn’t offer exclusively more powerful rewards for putting in endless hours of ATK repetition is just erroneous. It might not be the kind of loot game you prefer, but that doesn’t make loot “not exciting” for the rest of us.

At some point you may realize that not everyone is driven to play in MMOGs for the same reasons that motivate you, and many players actually have entirely different motivations. Your assumption that someone else will not be excited by cosmetic rewards demonstrates this basic lack of understanding.

You see, I understand that you and I enjoy different things in MMOGs, and that we are motivated by different expectations and desires. Perhaps the difference between you and I is that I did my homework on MMOGs and realized that while RIFT, TERA, TSW and SWTOR were not my cup of tea when it came to what I enjoyed and what motivated me, GW2 is. That is why I didn’t buy those games, and bought GW2, and why I am enjoying GW2 so much.

There are many recent games that either provide, or are scheduled to provide, the kind of end game rewards you prefer. Why did you buy GW2 when they explicitly pointed out that high end gear would only have cosmetic differences, when such a system clearly doesn’t excite you?

Wintyre Fraust.6534:

Apathy.6430:

Wintyre Fraust.6534:

Apathy.6430:

Torcan.2314:

Wintyre Fraust.6534:

Torcan.2314:

Just wait till you get level 80.

What’s going to change when I hit 80?

Well, personally, I found out that my personal story was bugged, so I’m stuck on my last personal quest, with no way to finish it because the NPC wont interact. Not that it matters anyway, but I’m dying to see the rewards, story is irrelevant.
But not much will change, expect that you’re not gonna have stuff to do.

Spoiler alert: The rewards aren’t going to excite you

Guild Wars (2) isn’t a loot game.

Unless one finds variant cosmetic looks exciting – which I do. Heck, I’ve got a level 11 thief that looks so cool in his current gear, I might just have to transmogrify future gear back into this look. That’s another thing about this game – even the low level gear is detailed and appealing.

That’s a dress up game.

Which isn’t bad, I like playing dress up games.

Graphics are a huge part of the MMOG genre. If it didn’t matter to players what their character looked like, then we wouldn’t have had the evolution of the detailed avatar creation system. Avatar graphics are a big driving force in cash shop sales, as well.

Obviously, a huge part of MMOGs in general is what you apparently disdainfully dismiss as the “dress up game”. So if players are willing to pay cash to “dress up” their avatar, and it is obviously one of the driving mechanisms of MMOG development and revenue, your comment:

Spoiler alert: The rewards aren’t going to excite you

Guild Wars (2) isn’t a loot game.

… is only indicative of an apparent personal disdain you hve for something many MMOG players do actually find exciting: what you call “the dress up game”, which others call avatar customization and personalizaton.

I’m sorry it doesn’t excite you, but to classify GW2 as “not a loot game” because it doesn’t offer exclusively more powerful rewards for putting in endless hours of ATK repetition is just erroneous. It might not be the kind of loot game you prefer, but that doesn’t make loot “not exciting” for the rest of us.

At some point you may realize that not everyone is driven to play in MMOGs for the same reasons that motivate you, and many players actually have entirely different motivations. Your assumption that someone else will not be excited by cosmetic rewards demonstrates this basic lack of understanding.

You see, I understand that you and I enjoy different things in MMOGs, and that we are motivated by different expectations and desires. Perhaps the difference between you and I is that I did my homework on MMOGs and realized that while RIFT, TERA, TSW and SWTOR were not my cup of tea when it came to what I enjoyed and what motivated me, GW2 is. That is why I didn’t buy those games, and bought GW2, and why I am enjoying GW2 so much.

There are many recent games that either provide, or are scheduled to provide, the kind of end game rewards you prefer. Why did you buy GW2 when they explicitly pointed out that high end gear would only have cosmetic differences, when such a system clearly doesn’t excite you?

What are you talking about?

Either way, really excellent rant.

Completely off base with anything I posted, but you sure made excellent use of words and sentence structure.

Torcan.2314:

Just wait till you get level 80.

Honest question….why are you still here?

Just wanted to say that I agree with the OP’s every single word. Same experience here. I’ve never played anything like this.

I’m sure there’ll be frustrations eventually, but so far… nothing. What’s really sticking with me is that its challenging but not overly so. I can re-think tactics, plot out where I should be jumping, but nothing seems near impossible. For an older gamer who never was one for twitch gaming or platforming, its actually really fun!

game has pleanty of frustrations, seriously just hit 80. People stop being nice, and its all a brutal push and shove to tag mobs for loot. most players just run around in a giant zerg and trivialize all content.

also good luck makeing money, crafting doesnt do well and there are about 300 different gold drains implimented,