Guild Wars 2

This isnt actually a moaning thread. Yes, seriously, im not going to moan! Strange, I know but ive got something I need to share with everyone that could change the way some of you see GW2 (or at least thats my hope).

So about two months ago I was on the verge of quitting. I agreed with many others that the game didnt have enough content to keep me interested and playing. Being that I enjoyed leveling, the ease of getting to max level in the game annoyed me and the world seemed to have less and less to offer me. But instead of quitting I joined a popular guild on a popular server and that has gone a long way towards keeping me playing.

Now over the past couple of months ive finally realised just how im MEANT to play GW2. It sounds a little weird but bare with me. GW2 is designed with the casual in mind and for a hardcore player like me this conflicted with what I wanted in an MMO. But gradually ive realised GW2’s purpose- its here for fun. It sounds corny but (and this is opinion until proved otherwise) its designed with the intention that it wont hold your full attention for 12+ hours a day. Its designed to play for a little bit, have fun and then for you to go away and do something else for a little while before coming back to it.

Ive always said that if another MMO came along that ticked all the right boxes then id quit GW2. Recently ive come to the conclusion that this probably wont happen as there is no reason to quit GW2. Its always there, its free to play, it brings new content each month thats fun…. whether I start playing another MMO or not is besides the point. GW2 is so easy to pick up and play that I can see myself regularly checking the website for new updates and stories and even if im logging in a few times a month thats fine. While its not the hardcore experience I crave its an ever changing MMO that I can see myself supporting. Think of it like a TV show… you wouldnt expect 12hrs of content a day would you? Just regular ‘episodes’ that keep you watching (playing).

So for those moaning about the lack of farming opportunities, the nerfs and the fact the game isnt hardcore enough for you to stay….youre not playing the game how its meant to be played. Youre not experiencing the game in the way its intended and youre not seeing just what GW2 really is. Its a truly casual game that says ‘im here when you want me’. Treat it that way and youll start to see things brightening up.

I always thought video games were for fun and that’s what I use them for. I do understand there are gamers that take it much more seriously and want 18 hours a day of game play mixed with Mt. Dew and nachos ( I tease).

I like the idea that I don’t feel obligated to play every day and part of that is not having a monthly subscription. I can go a whole month without playing if I want and I’m not really losing anything.

Some people like to race to level cap as fast as they can and then hit PvP/WvW and I don’t see a problem with people doing that either if that is their style of play. Some people want to get as, in game, wealthy as possible and have all the coolest gear. I don’t have a problem with that either aside from when people complain about it being too hard to gain wealth. Part of the process of gaining wealth is playing the game.

The only thing I have found but is trivial to me is the claim that anyone can play WvW no matter their level. While technically true that a level 2 can jump into WvW if they want, with the green arrow and lack of skill slots/traits etc. they are not going to last long. I think this is one of those things that encourage players to race to 80 as fast as they can and skip over a lot of game content. I don’t really see a way to fix this aside from tiered WvW servers and that doesn’t seem realistic.

My over all impression as a newb (playing 2 weeks) is the game does offer a lot for every type of player. Plus sometimes I think it is good for games to encourage people to take a break from time to time and experience the outside world.

But I do play every day and I’m still having fun. lol

Actually it’s true, my guild has a lot to do with that, not just the game itself. It’s a casual, enjoyable, fun experience. If you’re coming here for hard core competitive PVe, you’re likely to be let down.

But the world is large and beautiful and full of hidden stuff. Even with zone completion you still miss a whole lot of things.

You also miss a lot if you just run to Dulfy.net and look at guides instead of trying to find stuff yourself, or at least I would be missing a lot of the experience if I did that.

Anyway glad to see other people having a good time in game.

I LOVE the fact that it’s such a casual game.
I can play or stop playing whenever I want without getting behind on gear, level, etc.
This is honestly the most relaxed and fun mmo I’ve ever played. (and I’ve played/tried quite a bit of them)
Where I felt ‘forced’ to log into my previous mmo almost every day, I felt forced to run dungeons, I felt forced to do dailies, because otherwise I wouldn’t get better gear. And without better gear, I wouldn’t be able to do the things above… To get better gear.

Now I login during the weekends and play because it’s fun, and I absolutely love that. After the beta of GW2 I could hardly find myself logging into the other game anymore, it was so dull.
After a while I had a bit of a burnout from gw2, felt like playing something different. I’ve tried several mmo’s, but the mp-bars, health potions, combat, running from quest to quest… It doesn’t work for me anymore. I’m spoiled.

This game k actually enjoy. I came from a console background which meant mostly I played cod and halo since te multiplayer gets a lot of replay value. Then I picked up a decent comp and picked up sc2 since my childhood consisted of sc1 and diablo. The game was actually affecting my personal life. Ladder was so competitive and the whole game wants you to win 50 percent of the time. There was only win or lose. And coming home after work and losing 3 matches in a row would kind of enrage me. Then I liked up d3 a couple months after its release and the market was so inflated, I couldn’t compete with the gear grind and the game was just about gear grind.

Then I licked up gw2 being as it had no subscription. I was a little worried because I had friends who had played wow( which was the only other MMO I knew of, ne’er played it myself) and I kind of saw how drug out they got with gear grinds and such.

This game makes me happy. I log on, do stuff for hours and leave going, we’ll I didn’t do what I wanted to do, I got side tracked but I had fun. I never leave gw2 frustrated or let down. But I can see some people who thrive off hardcore play and achievement hunters could get frustrated. But this game is for a certain casual market.

Yiu can’t say, " I like this game, but it needs more gear grind". If yiu say that, yiu actually don’t like this game, yiu want another game, all yiu really like is maybe your class or the world design. The whole game mechanics and game play is for casual. I think it’s an interesting market to target ad I think it has been lost in the gaming industry where most games make more grind and more achieve td to keep people interested.

Metamega.9025:

I log on, do stuff for hours and leave going, we’ll I didn’t do what I wanted to do, I got side tracked but I had fun.

This basically sums up GW2’s intended audience. This is the only game that actually got more fun once I finished map completion. Now I don’t have to care where the next renown heart is. I just pick a zone to complete my daily, or just a zone I kind of like the aesthetics of, and roam around doing DEs, gathering, and exploring. If I get bored I change zones. If I get bored of PvE, I queue up for WvW and bust some heads. If I don’t feel like playing today I just log off, and there’s nothing really lost.

GW2 seems to get more fun if you allow yourself to become distracted. This trait is hugely frowned upon in most of adult life, so it’s nice to have a place to go where it’s actually encouraged and rewarded.

Lot of people who “get it” in here so far. I can dig it

Yes, this diversion… I’m very new to the game, also casual, so I’m only around lvl 21. But getting distracted is fun. Last time I was going to continue my personal story. But I decided not to use waypoints. I ended up going through asura gates (it was marked by that green swirl mark, don’t know why), visiting Lion’s Arch for the first time, doing a lot of quests around the asura starting area (including group events) and I had lots of fun before I eventually reached my planned destination two (IRL) days later.

Peti.7814:

I ended up going through asura gates (it was marked by that green swirl mark, don’t know why)

I’m color blind and thought it was blue lol. I am pretty sure it is marked to make it easier to find.

Being color blind I wish they would mark the POEs with say a small yellow star. Sometime it takes me forever to find the last one I need for map completion if it is in the middle of some trees on a map.

I burned out on things in other games, all the ’hard core" , “uber gamer” stuff…it became a job.

GW2 has been great for me basically, with a couple things only I dislike ( impossible to please everyone heheheheh).

Now, if it is not fun for me I do not do it. I don’t feel obligated to grind …to “prove” myself…to conquer everything.

This game is truly fun for me!

WoW, with its predecessors and copiers, created the expectations many players seem to have for MMO’s. They seem to expect an MMO to be their second life (pun intended). Those games fostered this attitude because they charged a sub (well, until recently) and profits depended on keeping as many people as possible p(l)aying.

GW2 is a different animal. As the OP says, if you can stop expecting it to fill every minute of spare time you can eke out and then some, you can then experience it for what it is.

Peti.7814:

But getting distracted is fun…. I had lots of fun before I eventually reached my planned destination two (IRL) days later.

This happens to me all the frickin’ time. I’m off to do a heart or whatnot and I see this very nifty looking mountain, or ruin or ogre fort, whathaveyou, in the distance and I slide off to check that out. Next thing you know I’m on the other side of the map, five hours have passed and I’m nowhere near that heart I was shooting for. It is easy to get distracted in this game even 8+ months (+beta) I’ve been playing it.

Here is how I define it:

Think about which type of player you want to play with.

Jack of Tears.9458:

Peti.7814:

But getting distracted is fun…. I had lots of fun before I eventually reached my planned destination two (IRL) days later.

This happens to me all the frickin’ time. I’m off to do a heart or whatnot and I see this very nifty looking mountain, or ruin or ogre fort, whathaveyou, in the distance and I slide off to check that out. Next thing you know I’m on the other side of the map, five hours have passed and I’m nowhere near that heart I was shooting for. It is easy to get distracted in this game even 8+ months (+beta) I’ve been playing it.

hahahaha! you just described me
Just this morning I thought- hey maybe I should just finish Gendarren Fields on my Ranger by lunchtime I was in Plains of Ashford

I get distracted by everything- I will finish up something- see some guy help him out a bit chase nodes around climb mountains next thing you know, you did a cross country

Here here welcome to the light lol. I’m glad you stuck with the game long enough and joined that server/guild to find out this information and stick with the game in the end.

Having said that I myself could be clased as a hardcore MMO player (but I’m trying hard to change that) and I do still find myself playing this game 10+ hours a day at times. But I agree with what you are saying it is designed more for the pick up and play now and then players or those that go out of their way to find their own goals/fun hardcore players like myself.

Now as to your playing other games doing etc stuff when facing overload from this game I can again say you are correct. For myself it’s usually a new fresh game of Civ 5 or some other very old game I have been meaning to relive just for the heck of it. My last 2 week break (that I only just came back from 2 days ago) had me playing and GRINDING in 2 old genesis 16 bit games (Shining Force 1 & 2) lol. Maybe the Super Adventure Box egged me on to play something real CLASSIC like that again? :P

PinCushion.7390:

Metamega.9025:

I log on, do stuff for hours and leave going, we’ll I didn’t do what I wanted to do, I got side tracked but I had fun.

…
GW2 seems to get more fun if you allow yourself to become distracted. This trait is hugely frowned upon in most of adult life, so it’s nice to have a place to go where it’s actually encouraged and rewarded.

I have to agree with this. I’ve logged on many times with a “plan” to go accomplish several things in a certain order.

I don’t think I’ve stuck to that plan once – I’ll get started, see a shiny object and next thing I know, I’m off enjoying the game vs. “working”.

While I agree it was meant to be something to put down and return to, it’s hardly casual.

As a “hardcore” casual player I and many others can attest to the casual play being stripped from the game entirely in November and the few months since.

Here’s how it’s not casual:

1. Hardly any minigames
2. maybe a new meta and very few new DE’s (almost none since launch says ALOT, no one should have to stand around in Queensdale or other places and wait for an event)
3. they still have not restored farming in the open world to this day despite Jon’s post about not wishing for DR or the loot nerfs to harm the legit farmer players.
4. Living story was simply an experiment so basically they made live something that most games would put (and make adjustments to) in a PTR, that’s not right and it’s most likely why people found it to be so little to do. I finished the first two parts in a single day and was left standing there jaw open wondering who the world came up with this living story and why they made it so little to do or experience.
5. no alternative activities like fishing (full on with props cosmetics minis prizes), hunting games, farming (see LOTRO), lotteries (scratch offs or daily drawings see RIFT), housing (LOTRO or RIFT), collecting artifacts filled with lore that can combine to make items (RIFT)

The last one on my list is a very very big indicator of what’s casual, if you don’t have a single thing on that list in your game, that means you’re not catering to the RP/casual crowd at all! Being able to leave a game and come back isn’t casual it’s just the B2P model of business.