Guild Wars 2

Before i start i want to say i absolutely LOVED my journey to 80 and i think this game is the best mmo i have ever played, by far the most fun, but now i have gotten to a certain point on my character where i can no longer progress or continue playing. Atleast in PvE anyway ( my favorite part ) Let me explain.

I just hit level 80 two days ago, i was loving the way to 80, but i feel like once i got there that i had beat the game or maxed my character out, and that there isn’t much left to do. I don’t feel the need to get different gear, simply because all the stats are the same across all the gear, and i’m already happy with the way i look. If you know which piece you want, its not very hard to obtain, and then you’re left with nothing else to get.

All the things you’re “progressing” or working for at level 80 are just for looks, but during the whole entire way to 80 you’re progressing through the game while getting stronger and stronger. Making the entire leveling experience to 80 about two things, getting stronger ( you need to be stronger to beat the next area, duh ) and looking cooler. But once you get level 80, the getting stronger aspect of the game is removed. Due to everything being cosmetic and not actually being different progress wise, that “progression” that you feel, every single kill, every single time you level on your journey from 1-80 no longer feels relevant. Because it simply does not exist.

Which brings me to Anet saying they want to make the whole game the “end game”, so that the game doesn’t “start” at level 80. They are doing great with this, i believe level 1-80 was awesome, they accomplished what they wanted, and it works well. , doesn’t mean that the other aspects of the game from 1-80 has to end at 80 either.

I think this could be fixed and appeal to all players in a positive way by releasing a few ascended armor sets. ( like helm, shoulders etc. but not just one set per armor type, per class ). Would be awesome to have a whole bunch of different stat combos to pick from and a whole bunch of different looking items.

And with the items, try and make them look so awesome, that you look at every single choice, and you’re like kitten they all look awesome, what one do i get?! Or " I want to get them all!

I love the game, and ill probably start leveling an alt, but i’m hoping by the time hes level 80, there will be more things to work towards after you hit 80 that aren’t simply skins. Its like the appearance of your gear or weapon is the outside, and its stats are the inside, doesn’t the inside count too Anet? Doesn’t it?

I understand this game is still young, and a lot more stuff will be added in the future, i just wanted to put my opinion out there about the game and see what other people think.

And so the people who are going to say " i dont want to have to work that long for the best stuff " you dont have to, because its optional.

EDIT: Just realized i posted this in discussion, i suppose it should be in suggestions if a mod could please move it that would be great Thank you.

The game dose not need a gear treadmill. You want to feel like your getting stronger? how about actually getting better at playing the game.

Edit: Also just warning you, this issue tends to be a bit of a hot button issue being the many people bought guild wars 2 in part to get away from gear treadmills and gating.

Demented Sheep.1642:

The game dose not need a gear treadmill.

I agree, i am not saying it needs a gear treadmill, i dont believe it would be a gear treadmill since these things would be optional to obtain to you. You cant kill another player while exploring and doing events and stuff, so it wouldnt matter. The gear doesnt give you an advantage in W3 or Spvp anyway.

And for the record, before people say go back to wow. I’m not saying thats what i want this game to be, because i know its not, but there are ways to implement these things without being WoW and without upsetting both sides.

Demented Sheep.1642:

The game dose not need a gear treadmill. You want to feel like your getting stronger? how about actually getting better at playing the game.

L2P reply is insulting…

I wouldn’t say that the game needs a gear treadmill for power, but it definitely needs something that you can build from.

You can’t really just have stronger gear as an optional extra unless the difference is miniscule, especially not with WvWvW. If you have stronger gear then you need content built for the stronger gear or everything will be to way to easy which results in gear gating.

Demented Sheep.1642:

Demented Sheep.1642:

The game dose not need a gear treadmill. You want to feel like your getting stronger? how about actually getting better at playing the game.

L2P reply is insulting…

I wouldn’t say that the game needs a gear treadmill for power, but it definitely needs something that you can build from.

That probably came across as more aggressive than I intended. I didn’t mean "l2P as in “you suck, go L2P newb”. I meant it as in learning how to use your class and coordinate with others is how you get stronger and take on harder content not stat increases.
You can have goals to work for outside of stats. Yes, guild wars could use some more end game goals like achievements and titles.

Nappychappy.7046:

Demented Sheep.1642:

The game dose not need a gear treadmill. You want to feel like your getting stronger? how about actually getting better at playing the game.

L2P reply is insulting…

I wouldn’t say that the game needs a gear treadmill for power, but it definitely needs something that you can build from.

Yes, im not saying that my suggestion has to be implemented that EXACT way, but just something along these lines to give you that progressing feeling in some way other than looks

You can’t really just have stronger gear as optional extra unless the difference is miniscule, especially not with WvWvW.

Yes you can, its been like that since level 1. If A level 20 joins wvw, they are scaled to 80, but are at a huge disadvantage because of their gear, now if you’re at a gear disadvantage the entire time from 1-80. Why would it matter if some level 80s are at a gear disadvantage as well.

But okay, say the whole gear progression thing is dumb, what else can you build on, or progress if not your character?

And if you really think about it, the whole entire game is a gear treadmill, then once you hit 80, they shut the treadmill off, and you can no longer run.

Your idea is terrible, don’t add tiered and more powerful gear please, I like having same stats and just different skins of armor, the addition of ascended equipment is disturbing enough, I would rather have legendary rings with same stats but that would give you glow animations, weapon particle effects, trails and footsteps instead of the 5% more stats which I feel I MUST get in order to be on par with other players. It’s terrible, I want to play an MMO where I go on a vacation for a year, come back and join the latest added dungeon and be viable, sort of like GW1.

Leetimus.5786:

Nappychappy.7046:

Demented Sheep.1642:

The game dose not need a gear treadmill. You want to feel like your getting stronger? how about actually getting better at playing the game.

L2P reply is insulting…

I wouldn’t say that the game needs a gear treadmill for power, but it definitely needs something that you can build from.

Yes, im not saying that my suggestion has to be implemented that EXACT way, but just something along these lines to give you that progressing feeling in some way other than looks

You can’t really just have stronger gear as optional extra unless the difference is miniscule, especially not with WvWvW.

Yes you can, its been like that since level 1. If A level 20 joins wvw, they are scaled to 80, but are at a huge disadvantage because of their gear, now if you’re at a gear disadvantage the entire time from 1-80. Why would it matter if some level 80s are at a gear disadvantage as well.

You don’t play WvWvW at level 20 if you want to be competitive at it. You add in extra gear and now not only do you have to get to 80 and get your exotics to be competitive you have to re-gear again and again every time they release a new gear teir and forget having multiple build and alts because you have spend so much time getting gear.
And still doesn’t even touch on the fact that new content has to balanced for the new gear.

Demented Sheep.1642:

Leetimus.5786:

Nappychappy.7046:

Demented Sheep.1642:

The game dose not need a gear treadmill. You want to feel like your getting stronger? how about actually getting better at playing the game.

L2P reply is insulting…

I wouldn’t say that the game needs a gear treadmill for power, but it definitely needs something that you can build from.

Yes, im not saying that my suggestion has to be implemented that EXACT way, but just something along these lines to give you that progressing feeling in some way other than looks

You can’t really just have stronger gear as optional extra unless the difference is miniscule, especially not with WvWvW.

Yes you can, its been like that since level 1. If A level 20 joins wvw, they are scaled to 80, but are at a huge disadvantage because of their gear, now if you’re at a gear disadvantage the entire time from 1-80. Why would it matter if some level 80s are at a gear disadvantage as well.

You don’t play WvWvW at level 20 if you want to be competitive at it. You add in extra gear and now not only do you have to get to 80 and get your exotics to be competitive you now have to re-gear again and again every time they release a new gear teir and forget having multiple build and alts because you have spend so much time getting gear.

Isnt that already what everyones doing? With the release of ascended items?

I dont know guys, you guys might think my idea is stupid, but anet already heard other peoples idea of gear progression. So they anet added the ascended items. Once everyone has those, the sense of gear progression is going to be gone again and anet will then again add stronger items. Its inevitable if they want people to continue playing the game.

Leetimus.5786:

Demented Sheep.1642:

Leetimus.5786:

Nappychappy.7046:

Demented Sheep.1642:

The game dose not need a gear treadmill. You want to feel like your getting stronger? how about actually getting better at playing the game.

L2P reply is insulting…

I wouldn’t say that the game needs a gear treadmill for power, but it definitely needs something that you can build from.

Yes, im not saying that my suggestion has to be implemented that EXACT way, but just something along these lines to give you that progressing feeling in some way other than looks

You can’t really just have stronger gear as optional extra unless the difference is miniscule, especially not with WvWvW.

Yes you can, its been like that since level 1. If A level 20 joins wvw, they are scaled to 80, but are at a huge disadvantage because of their gear, now if you’re at a gear disadvantage the entire time from 1-80. Why would it matter if some level 80s are at a gear disadvantage as well.

You don’t play WvWvW at level 20 if you want to be competitive at it. You add in extra gear and now not only do you have to get to 80 and get your exotics to be competitive you now have to re-gear again and again every time they release a new gear teir and forget having multiple build and alts because you have spend so much time getting gear.

Isnt that already what everyones doing? With the release of ascended items?

Yes and its annoying which is why I hope they stop it there and make ascended the final cap on gear before you get to the point where the amount of work you need for top tier gear is so much and so long it’s restricting.

And herein lies the problem. The OP wants to feel like his character is making progress at level 80. A lot of people who play this game want max stat gear and only cosmetic changes at max level. That’s how it was in Guild Wars 1, after all.

Two different types of players. People who want constant progression will say there’s nothing to do at 80. I, on the other hand, have plenty to do at 80.

I’ve said before that there are people who need better stats to go for gear. They won’t just go for the cosmetic look. This is why Anet made the fractal compromise. Too many players must have gear progression in numbers.

OP, if you want better gear, you have to start looking at ascended gear, which you get from doing daily, guild missions and running fractals. But eventually you’ll max that out too, and then what do you do.

The problem is the game is designed around everyone having roughly the same stats at max level. The content for many is already way too easy in the open world. If you start increasing the gear stats, you have to increase the world stats to compensate. Which means that those with lower gear, who don’t want to work at that particular aspect of the game, will suddenly find the open world stuff harder. You force a grind onto them for them to be able to do content. That’s how a gear treadmills starts.

The only way to really avoid a gear treadmill is to severely limit the differences between the tiers of gear at top level, which is what Anet is trying to do.

No telling if it will work or not, since it’s too early to know.

I would be perfectly fine with the whole no new stats, just skins thing, if there were more to chose from. Theres so little per armor type. And most of it looks very basic and dont look very unique or different from each other. At least for me as an asura elementalist, anyway. The only ones that really stand out are the CoF CoE and Arah ones. And everyone has them.

Leetimus.5786:

I would be perfectly fine with the whole no new stats, just skins thing, if there were more to chose from. Theres so little per armor type. And most of it looks very basic and dont look very unique or different from each other. At least for me as an asura, anyway. The only ones that really stand out are the CoF CoE and Arah ones. And everyone has them.

Now that I agree with, more skins and ones that are harder to obtain would nice.

Also it would be extremely cool if there was a dye that let you change the material of your gear. Rather than the color.

So if i wanted my cloth shoulders to look like metal, glass, leather, cloth etc i could. Ive seen light armor sometimes that would look so cool if it was shiny like heavy armor is.

Why not just build new zones/regions that scale in difficulty. So if you want to see them, you better learn how to play your character well. I really think they need to make PvE fights more interesting than just tank/spank while dodging the red circle… They could learn alot from Blizzard with regards to making interesting PvE fights.. And then just set up a few raids or regions, put some achievements/pets/mounts at the end of them, and there’s your incentive without having to add new gear. Or they could even give you the ability to customize your 1-5 buttons, and hide those each somewhere out in the world…

Nappychappy.7046:

Demented Sheep.1642:

The game dose not need a gear treadmill. You want to feel like your getting stronger? how about actually getting better at playing the game.

L2P reply is insulting…

I wouldn’t say that the game needs a gear treadmill for power, but it definitely needs something that you can build from.

I agree with both those things.

To people jumping on the guy telling him to go back to WoW: I like players in my game, please stop telling them to leave for having a different opinion.

I think there needs to be something that is not a treadmill but a fun and unnecessary mechanic, such as being able to level an alt while using your main character. Or another might be like a “legendary” mode or something where you can set your character back to level 1 but with the same stats as before (basically for achievements and titles) kind of like Prestige in Call of Duty.

Kalocin.5982:

Nappychappy.7046:

Demented Sheep.1642:

The game dose not need a gear treadmill. You want to feel like your getting stronger? how about actually getting better at playing the game.

L2P reply is insulting…

I wouldn’t say that the game needs a gear treadmill for power, but it definitely needs something that you can build from.

I agree with both those things.

To people jumping on the guy telling him to go back to WoW: I like players in my game, please stop telling them to leave for having a different opinion.

I think there needs to be something that is not a treadmill but a fun and unnecessary mechanic, such as being able to level an alt while using your main character. Or another might be like a “legendary” mode or something where you can set your character back to level 1 but with the same stats as before (basically for achievements and titles) kind of like Prestige in Call of Duty.

No one actually jumped on him and told him to go back to WoW and I clarified what I meant in another post.

just add like 10 more weapon skins to every weapon to start, and like 10 more armor skins to each piece of armor to start that all look awesome and kitten, that dont have rainbows or ponys. And over time, maybe every month, add another 5 skins or something. And release all the ascended armor, with a whole plethora of skins for it.

Of course they could start small, and every month, add two skins or something, but they would take heat if they didnt look cool and no one wanted them.

im sure theyre are plenty of artists and 3d modellers at Anet that would love to design some new skins.

Leetimus.5786:

just add like 10 more weapon skins to every weapon to start, and like 10 more armor skins to each piece of armor to start that all look awesome and kitten, that dont have rainbows or ponys. And over time, maybe every month, add another 5 skins or something, im sure theyre are plenty of artists and 3d modellers at Anet that would love to design some new skins. And this game would be perfect. there would be so much to choose from and so many cool skins to get, id never get bored!

One thing is, I don’t like most of the greatsword skins. They don’t look like swords to me. One of them looks like a frosting spreader. lol

I think the game would definitely benefit for more skins, but the whole giant I don’t look anything like a sword greatsword is definitely not the direction I’d like to see them go.

MistaMike.7356:

Why not just build new zones/regions that scale in difficulty. So if you want to see them, you better learn how to play your character well. I really think they need to make PvE fights more interesting than just tank/spank while dodging the red circle… They could learn alot from Blizzard with regards to making interesting PvE fights.. And then just set up a few raids or regions, put some achievements/pets/mounts at the end of them, and there’s your incentive without having to add new gear. Or they could even give you the ability to customize your 1-5 buttons, and hide those each somewhere out in the world…

Agreed.

One thing that really annoyed me, was playing the Super Adventure Box, and seeing projectiles that did not home in on you that require the invulnerability of your dodgeroll, or enemies that could rotate to face you exactly as fast as you could move. SOMEONE at Arenanet realizes how to make enemies fun to fight, but they aren’t in charge of primary PvE content.

I dont like ANY of the staff skins, they all just look like a skinny metal pole with some crappy shape on top. Give me a staff with glowing floating crystals on both ends with hand grips that looks awesome. Not a level 80 exotic that is literally a stick with a light on top.

I think if they are going to make of the rewards largely cosmetic they should give you a way to collect them as well rather than just having them sitting in your bank. Like the prestige weapon, armour and trophy display in the GW1 HoM. They could perhaps add something like this to your home instance. That would help make it feel more like a goal to work towards.

Leetimus.5786:

I dont like ANY of the staff skins, they all just look like a skinny metal pole with some crappy shape on top. Give me a staff with glowing floating crystals on both ends with hand grips that looks awesome. Not a level 80 exotic that is literally a stick with a light on top.

Dude, don’t bother. GW2 is dominate by people that does not want gear treadmill.
Last time arena net release a descend gear, which increase tiny bit of stat already drove them crazy. Just enjoy the game as it is. I don’t think arena net would dare to release another tier of armors.

if you read the rest of the thread, were past the gear treadmill, im talking about skins, more skins to choose from

what endgame do you speak of?

Mosharn.8357:

what endgame do you speak of?

The one that exists on the way to the end of the game, but doesnt actually exist at the end of the game.

Leetimus.5786:

Demented Sheep.1642:

Leetimus.5786:

Nappychappy.7046:

Demented Sheep.1642:

The game dose not need a gear treadmill. You want to feel like your getting stronger? how about actually getting better at playing the game.

L2P reply is insulting…

I wouldn’t say that the game needs a gear treadmill for power, but it definitely needs something that you can build from.

Yes, im not saying that my suggestion has to be implemented that EXACT way, but just something along these lines to give you that progressing feeling in some way other than looks

You can’t really just have stronger gear as optional extra unless the difference is miniscule, especially not with WvWvW.

Yes you can, its been like that since level 1. If A level 20 joins wvw, they are scaled to 80, but are at a huge disadvantage because of their gear, now if you’re at a gear disadvantage the entire time from 1-80. Why would it matter if some level 80s are at a gear disadvantage as well.

You don’t play WvWvW at level 20 if you want to be competitive at it. You add in extra gear and now not only do you have to get to 80 and get your exotics to be competitive you now have to re-gear again and again every time they release a new gear teir and forget having multiple build and alts because you have spend so much time getting gear.

Isnt that already what everyones doing? With the release of ascended items?

I dont know guys, you guys might think my idea is stupid, but anet already heard other peoples idea of gear progression. So they anet added the ascended items. Once everyone has those, the sense of gear progression is going to be gone again and anet will then again add stronger items. Its inevitable if they want people to continue playing the game.

Yeah and did you see the uproar when they had added Ascended items? Most people hated it and the forums were full of hate threads, especially since it was only obtainable via Fractals (Thinking back, how the hell did they think that was a good idea? lol).

Maybe instead of a gear treadmill that scares the living-kitten out of ANet fans…

What about endgame that improves you current armor and weapons cosmetically?

Stat-less upgrades, for weapons and armor like: sparkles, shine ect..

Of course I don’t think it could ever be done in this game, much like the Legendary weapons, it is a grind, yet ANet doesn’t allow grind – then again it could based / purchased with Achievement points.

I personally miss how over half the story line in gw1 has max level content. Rather than better equipment, I wouldn’t mind cosmetic upgrades and more zones intended for max level.
oh, and I guess we could always bring back the pve title progressions like in gw1.

I feel like, having certain skins that are more difficult to obtain than other ones would be nice. This way, getting a skin that doesnt look so good ( like the regular stick staff with a kittenty stone on top ) is very easy. And something that is awesome looking ( say a double ended staff, with decent dized floating crystals with a particle effect ) would be much harder to obtain. Also, make these skins have an extremely rare chance to drop, this way, the whole " end game " idea of getting skins, feels present no matter what youre doing.

I feel like the way it works now kind of takes the fun and excitement out of it. Because all you have to do is go to the vendor, and see what dungeon it is, and run that dungeon till you have the tokens. Im not saying make the drops like WoW because i dont like WoWs loot system.

But having a small rare chance to obtain these items without HAVING to pick a dungeon token to collect would be nice.

Absolutely NOT. They already added Ascended gear and that was terrible enough. Did you actually see the forums when that was announced? The amount of outrage was amazing. You need to understand GW1/GW2 fans are extremely anti-gear treadmill. It goes against everything the games are about. That’s why so many felt betrayed when Anet released Ascended gear. They promised us that they would not be putting out any more tiers of gear this year and they better kitten stick to that promise or there will be hell to pay.

I, personally am still really angry about the addition of Ascended. At the very least they are adding more ways of getting the gear but they are going a bit slow. And ascended backpieces are STILL tied to fractals. They need to add more ways asap (like a way to get ascended through WvW).

xarallei.4279:

Absolutely NOT. They already added Ascended gear and that was terrible enough. Did you actually see the forums when that was announced? The amount of outrage was amazing. You need to understand GW1/GW2 fans are extremely anti-gear treadmill. It goes against everything the games are about. That’s why so many felt betrayed when Anet released Ascended gear. They promised us that they would not be putting out any more tiers of gear this year and they better kitten stick to that promise or there will be hell to pay.

I, personally am still really angry about the addition of Ascended. At the very least they are adding more ways of getting the gear but they are going a bit slow. And ascended backpieces are STILL tied to fractals. They need to add more ways asap (like a way to get ascended through WvW).

Read the rest of the thread, there has been a whole entire conversation since my post. So your post is irrelevant now. They already added ascended rings accessories, backpacks, necklaces. Just give us ascended armor sets and its done. I wouldnt wanna work past that anyway. Atlest not for a looong time considering how long it would take to have a full set of ascended gear. As long as the stat differences arent TOO major, then it really wouldnt be a problem, because player skill comes in to play as well. Regardless if someone does 200 more damage in a shot or not. To me, then the game would be perfect.

I have been at 80 on my main for a few weeks now, and I sometimes do find myself twiddling my thumbs in the bank, wondering what to do next. After reading the rest of the posts in this thread, I feel as though upwards gear progression isn’t the way to go (as most seem to), as I have experienced that in other MMOs, and it just turns it into an endless grind to fill all your slots with BIS items.

However, one thing I would like to see in the game to bring some more life into it would be more 70+ zones, and a wider variety of skins. Currently, if I want to farm, or do events in a zone that’s my level, I have to go deal with the ugliness that is orr, or frostgorge sound (which isn’t all that bad I guess). I understand orr is supposed to be evil, as it’s the home of zhitan’s minions, but the zones all just look like a coral reef after an oil spill, and the lack of a variety of mobs makes the zone as a whole repetitive, ugly to the eyes, and not fun to explore.

Another thing that would be nice, as I mentioned earlier, is more weapon and armor skins. Currently, the amount of people wearing the exact same dungeon/TP armor is ridiculous, and a lot of the weapon skins are very lack-luster. In any MMO, people like to differentiate themselves from others with what they wear, and currently, the amount of people running around with flaming greatswords and armor, as well as the other common dungeon sets is excessive. If they were to add some more sets of armor that really looked really unique, were difficult to earn, and had the same stats as other exotics sets, I feel that a lot of lvl 80 players would be happy putting their time into obtaining it.

Also, another cool idea that someone mentioned earlier in the thread was earned armor customization of some sort. I don’t really know what it could include, but possibly being able to buy auras around certain pieces, have particle effects, add things like glowing jewels to armor, or something else along those lines. My point is, if they not only added new skins for armor and weapons, but also added a means of further customizing and personalizing your armor, it would add a lot more to do at 80 without compromising the same stats for all way that Anet does things.

Just my 2 cents on the issue. I still am having fun playing the game at 80 as is though, so any improvements that don’t directly make the game worse will be appreciated by myself

Maybe if they made rare skins and stuff drop from regular mob areas we would start to see more life in the pve side of things, which would definitely increase the amount of DE’s that could happen and people could participate in. Sometimes you don’t have time to complete a dungeon over and over, sometimes you like to just take 10 minutes to go kills some mobs and have that hope something nice will drop.

ScottBroChill.3254:

Maybe if they made rare skins and stuff drop from regular mob areas we would start to see more life in the pve side of things, which would definitely increase the amount of DE’s that could happen and people could participate in. Sometimes you don’t have time to complete a dungeon over and over, sometimes you like to just take 10 minutes to go kills some mobs and have that hope something nice will drop.

I agree totally, said it over and over. The fact that it’s not already like that is ridiculous, it wouldnt hurt the game in any way at all. Id have more of a reason to play if it was.

They’re gonna add more skills in the future. They can always use that for progression.

Instead of just outright buying the new skills from a menu with Skill Points you probably have a lot of, have players work for the new skills. I haven’t played GW1 for very long but I was under the impression that this was the way it works there.

It also can add a nice secondary effect – you can use it to build game’s lore and story.

— Have you meet a character or NPC as part of the story, see him in action defeating some strong enemy using a skill you haven’t seen before. Then at the end of the story, have him be thankful enough for your help that he teaches you the skill he just used.

— or the old Anime trick for learning new things – put your character into an impossible situation where there is almost no hope for getting out. Then your character has an epiphany and suddenly learns a new skill and proceeds to kick all kinds of behind.

Level 22 and I just feel like I’m stuck in a rut. (rut? thats correct right?) Yea.. The gear all looks the same, have the same abilities since level 1. Also Centaurs, Centaurs, Centaurs, Centaurs, Centaurs, AAAUUUGHHHH!!!

Nathiest.5413:

Level 22 and I just feel like I’m stuck in a rut. (rut? thats correct right?) Yea.. The gear all looks the same, have the same abilities since level 1. Also Centaurs, Centaurs, Centaurs, Centaurs, Centaurs, AAAUUUGHHHH!!!

I had the same thing around that level, go to a different area, go on google and look up an interactive map so you can see what ones you can do events at and stuff.

Just enjoy it for what it is. No monthly fee and as a casual player you get quite a bit from it. Really I dont know what people want from games anymore lol. I play them to get a few hours of fun here or there.

No the game most definitely ends at 80, unless you are into Zerg vs Zerg .. oh I mean WvW… 80 get’s boring as hell, there is nothing to do that isn’t grindier than a Korean MMO. They really need to re-evaluate their end game strategy with this game. 1-80 is amazing I will say that, and I love the Combat system (wish Anet would drop the Glass cannon or go home mentality though.)

But at 80… it’s dull boring and just all around not fun… unless you’re into Grinding.. a lot of pointless tireless grinding, and content that is not rewarding or fun.

OP… The game only starts at lv 80. Join a guild, go on a dungeon/WvW runs, do guild missions, try to complete all achievements, try to get 100 % map completion, do fractals 1-30 to get your ascended gear, farm for legendary, collect minis, try out other professions.
If you still feel like there’s nothing to do maybe you should take a break from this game? Come back in a month or so, things will feel different then