Guild Wars 2

I have a somewhat different experience. I dropped by a F2P and rediscovered that I sometimes enjoy text quest systems. Not when they’re wasted on “kill 6 wolves” or “find 10 chicken eggs,” but when they’re used well.

All I mean to say is, while Anet did find some alternatives, if you tried to build an entire game around heart quests, lets say, then it would still be an underwhelming experience. In fact, the process of completing all of the heart quests in this game reached a point where they started to feel homogenized, so I can only imagine how poorly they’d come across in a game which solely employs them the way older MMOs solely employed quest text.

There’s a place for both, and cutscenes too.

To be honest, no matter how they package “kill 6 wolves,” it’s going to feel stale after years of MMO experience.

I completely agree, OP.
I logged into a WoW trial account and it was so awful and ugly and stale and linear and BLECH.

Can’t believe ppl actually pay for that kitten.

The best part of GW2 is the dodge mechanic. I can’t play any other MMO that doesn’t let me dodge or evade attacks coming at me — and I’m not talking about using LoS like in WoW. I wish every game got rid of “hit chance”, and just let you either dodge it or not.

Totally agree.

Other MMOs just play like crap after GW2. The dodging, jumping, movement and abilities in GW2 are just so smooth and athletic, it’s great gameplay.

And for graphics etc, forget about it, everything from WoW to SWTOR is just old and ugly in comparison.

Even my stealth dual dagger backstabber in Skyrim feels clunky and blerh after playing thief in GW2 (but at least the graphics in skyrim hold up in comparison, especially with the 4k texture mods etc)

One thing I’ve discovered is that going back to a “rooted” combat system is a non-starter for me. The fluidity of combat in this game has ruined any chance of enjoying other MMOs that plant you in the ground every time you use a skill.

It’s kind of like going back to your POS Hyundai after driving your buddy’s Porsche for a weekend. I’m just glad I actually own this baby.

Pretty sure PlanetSide2 is doing fabulously.

blinkxzero.8035:

The best part of GW2 is the dodge mechanic. I can’t play any other MMO that doesn’t let me dodge or evade attacks coming at me — and I’m not talking about using LoS like in WoW. I wish every game got rid of “hit chance”, and just let you either dodge it or not.

If you like it that much, you should give TERA a try. They just went Free2Play.

It’s actually an action MMO (unlike GW2 which just added Dodge), where you can dodge everything once you’re good enough at it. All attacks are skill-shots and hitboxes are more relevant in combat.

Going back to typical mmo combat has been ruined for me for sure. I’ve tried playing some other mmos from time to time and I couldn’t do it due to the combat.

DreamOfACure.4382:

Pretty sure PlanetSide2 is doing fabulously.

blinkxzero.8035:

The best part of GW2 is the dodge mechanic. I can’t play any other MMO that doesn’t let me dodge or evade attacks coming at me — and I’m not talking about using LoS like in WoW. I wish every game got rid of “hit chance”, and just let you either dodge it or not.

If you like it that much, you should give TERA a try. They just went Free2Play.

It’s actually an action MMO (unlike GW2 which just added Dodge), where you can dodge everything once you’re good enough at it. All attacks are skill-shots and hitboxes are more relevant in combat.

I absolutely hate the animation root in Tera. That has pretty much killed any enthusiasm I had for an otherwise very nice combat system.

Yeah dodging in Tera is ruined by the rooted attacks.

Makes PVP both painfully dull and also unintentionally hilarious.

DreamOfACure.4382:

Pretty sure PlanetSide2 is doing fabulously.

blinkxzero.8035:

The best part of GW2 is the dodge mechanic. I can’t play any other MMO that doesn’t let me dodge or evade attacks coming at me — and I’m not talking about using LoS like in WoW. I wish every game got rid of “hit chance”, and just let you either dodge it or not.

If you like it that much, you should give TERA a try. They just went Free2Play.

It’s actually an action MMO (unlike GW2 which just added Dodge), where you can dodge everything once you’re good enough at it. All attacks are skill-shots and hitboxes are more relevant in combat.

I Tried TERA as well, combat was cool. But again going back to how you have to read quest logs, i lost my patients XD

Kalaster.9014:

I Tried TERA as well, combat was cool. But again going back to how you have to read quest logs, i lost my patients XD

Well, it’s F2P, so you don’t really need patience to like it.

I plan to play it every now and then by hunting down a BAM (Big A— Monster) to pummel. It’s good stress-relief, like kiting around a punching bag.

DreamOfACure.4382:

Kalaster.9014:

I Tried TERA as well, combat was cool. But again going back to how you have to read quest logs, i lost my patients XD

Well, it’s F2P, so you don’t really need patience to like it.

I plan to play it every now and then by hunting down a BAM (Big A— Monster) to pummel. It’s good stress-relief, like kiting around a punching bag.

fair enough! I will admit i didn’t it much of a shot. I never completed the tutorial. Maybe i’ll try it again now that you mentioned BAM :P

Yes, but the WoW nubs probably wont agree cause they played that game for too long ^^

I’ve never been a real mmo fan but guild wars 2 made me start playing mmo again

Agree with the OP strongly. I can’t log in to FFXI anymore after 8 years of play, because all I can see is the old fashioned gameplay. After GW2 I just can’t stand it – the gameplay is much too restrictive.

I also note that LOTRO and other MMOs are taking up ideas from GW2 piecemeal, and the trend is even starting to bleed into single player RPGs.

Hats off to the developers – paradigm shift in the genre. Well done!

Midnightjade.3520:

Agree with the OP strongly. I can’t log in to FFXI anymore after 8 years of play, because all I can see is the old fashioned gameplay. After GW2 I just can’t stand it – the gameplay is much too restrictive.

wow! that game is still online? and how did you get yourself to play that long? i bought it 5 years back, but could never get into it because i had no idea what i was suppose to be doing XD

GW2 is currently the best MMO running. It contains some bold adjustments to the genre, a beautiful world, depth, and a team behind it solely committed to building ONE franchise, Guild Wars, for the past ten years.

In my opinion, the only game that comes close right now in terms of quality is WoW. Though they have been milking the cow after Wotlk launched, they are still actively playing with and deploying new systems to keep it fresh.

Neverwinter will not be able to compete, though its Foundry system that allows players to build their own dungeons has some awesome potential for a niche audience.

I’m not sold on Elder Scrolls Online yet, need to see more.

I have to agree with the original sentiment – I own copies of a lot of MMOs that have gone free to play, and honestly can’t work up the motivation to log into them knowing that I’ll have to deal with things like folks stealing my quest mobs or my harvesting nodes, wading through auction houses trying to figure out which of these randomly generated weapons is the closest to what I need for my build at the best price, having to return to quest givers to get my reward, and so many other seemingly small things that add up to one big reason to stick with GW.

In some ways it’s a shame, because each MMO I’ve rejected had a few things about it that were interesting – they just fall down so hard in other areas that the one or two cool things couldn’t keep me playing, and certainly couldn’t keep me paying.

When I went back to WoW after the first month of GW2 the most difficult thing for me in WoW was combat. Everything felt so slow. Coming back to GW2 is again a culture shock combat wise because the player has to be much more aware of what is going on.

I would not go as far as to say GW2 has ruined all other MMO’s in this respect but I would say GW2 has set the new standard in how combat will be addressed in future MMO’s. The stand still and beat on things model is going away in MMO’s. WoW progressed it some from EQ1 and now GW2 has progressed it from WoW.

Depends on the mmo. I can happily play Anarchy and Secret World with no issues (TSW is similar to GW in some mechanics anyway and AO is so old school it was outdated long ago in all but charm and atmosphere).

LOTRO I sadly barely play now, but that may also be in part because the game is long past its best and has run out of steam/imagination (you can always tell when the focus shifts to “re-balancing” every year…) It’s also very slow and un-epic compared to GW. In that respect GW2 has killed an mmo for me (not that I’m complaining given how enjoyable GW2 turned out to be!)

Midnightjade.3520:

Agree with the OP strongly. I can’t log in to FFXI anymore after 8 years of play, because all I can see is the old fashioned gameplay. After GW2 I just can’t stand it – the gameplay is much too restrictive.

I also note that LOTRO and other MMOs are taking up ideas from GW2 piecemeal, and the trend is even starting to bleed into single player RPGs.

Hats off to the developers – paradigm shift in the genre. Well done!

Shift was with the launch of Age of Conan, aoc’s combat system is far superior to GW2, their art detail is far superior aswell not to mention The Secret World although not my type of mmo it too pushes the boundaries alot further imo than does gw2.

I dunno i’m considering trying The secret world or going Back to Runes of Magic..

Yes combat mechanics are great in Guildwars (not that great but better than some) and the rest you all tout on about… but to me loot systems are what make or break my game and at least Runes of Magic has a drop rate that’s playable, and i don’t care about Pay to win i never have..i don’t PvP..

Plus Runes of Magic has an Aussie server so i get no lag.. like here..it has a lot more skills too.

I might try GW1 again too, probably be stuck with henchmen though.

Agreed with OP. This game has changed my view on how I want MMOs to be. Now the closest to a perfect MMO would be a hybrid between GW2 and DaoC with the contested world leveling of WoW/ToR.

GW2 combat mechanics.
DaoC RvR (3 different factions)
Open world PvP while leveling (in zones after a certain level) with loot drops similar to WvW here.

Heck if they add “WvW” leveling zones in the future with renown, events a stuff I’d be all giggity giggity in my pants. It would make this game close to perfect for me.

The game already has great races, asura being my absolute favorite minikin races ever followed by gnomes, kobolds, lurikeens and goblins.

DreamOfACure.4382:

Pretty sure PlanetSide2 is doing fabulously.

Is it? It seemed to have taken quite a hit last time I was there. Population across servers dwindled… Great game, mind you, but it had some serious issues.

DreamOfACure.4382:

If you like it that much, you should give TERA a try. They just went Free2Play.

Eh… It’s not the same. Tried Tera recently, and while I’m still hanging around while the “new toy smell” lasts, it’s nowhere near GW2… In fact I often find myself wondering “why am I not playing GW?”, and coming back here.

It’s not that GW2 is doing anything “more”, other MMOs are doing less.
They simply offer mechanics made in the ’90s, which are obsolete by nowaday standards.

Imagine if the current car market was totally made by cars like ‘90 ford escort, and tomorrow a company put a 2012 Audi A3 on the market for the same price.
Unless you’re very simple-minded or nostalgic, there is no reason to buy an escort.

Red Falcon.8257:

It’s not that GW2 is doing anything “more”, other MMOs are doing less.
They simply offer mechanics made in the ’90s, which are obsolete by nowaday standards.

Imagine if the current car market was totally made by cars like ‘90 ford escort, and tomorrow a company put a 2012 Audi A3 on the market for the same price.
Unless you’re very simple-minded or nostalgic, there is no reason to buy an escort.

Not everyone likes these new GW2 editions either, i personally never had issues with Quest givers and old style combat/events, a lot of what was removed in GW2 i liked..Skills Duel classes, Easier game play less grindy feeling..

And to stick with what you said i’d much rather an Escort over a Audi A3, but that’s me, also the Escort is a lot cheaper to own…and a nicer car..

Ahh a good solid Escort… Tough, sturdy and fun to drive!

Bet the A3 rolls about the road like something else and has DR on fuel?

Kalaster.9014:

anyone else experiencing this as well? Anyone else try Visiting/ revisting other MMO’s and just couldn’t stand it?

To be honest, no, it in fact had the opposite effect in that I started missing some of the things from other MMOs, such as more distinct classes, more variety in play style, etc.

Further to that some of the things that seemed new upon initially playing GW2 lost their lustre, take questing as you mentioned it, intially it did seem to be different, however by the time I was levelling my second character the hearts / DE had become as repetitive as traditional quests, which I guess shouldn;’t of come as a surprise as that is all they are quests without a quest log.

Nor for that matter are DE anything new, they were in Warhammer and Rift.

WvW was fun for a while, but it became apparent the design was flawed (too small map, objectives too close to each other, etc), which makes it into zergwars (with a bit of coverage wars thrown in) and meant the fun turned to boredom, especially with exploits being unaddressed, failure to deal with culling issues, etc.

The PvE in terms of exploring the world was nice, as was the world itself, the PvE group content on the other hand is dire, and even though I’m not the biggest PvE fan in any game, it actually made me miss doing raids, miss playing complex classes which actaully required awareness and multitasking.

GW2 has nice graphics, some nice touches like the crafting interface, the combat is fluid (but shallow, nor is it anything new, more action styled combat already exists in other MMOs), it is good they implementated equal gear in sPvP (not good they released it in an Alpha state lacking many, many features), but overall it is just same old, same old, not much new, the game I’m currently playing EVE is a far bigger step away from most MMOs than GW2 turned out to be.

Any game without dynamic events just makes me sad. I disliked that hearts were even in gw2 but they’re acceptable since most hearts have an event that gives heart completion ( love that so much )

Just tried tera, exclamation points and mob/gathering tagging makes me a sad kitten.

combat in gw2 is just so fluid and awesomes, and i love how tanking and healing work in this.

TSW is basically gw1 with no fixed classes, quite nice after they added the dodging.

Ironically in eve you could dodge just by flying well, and the ship setup is kinda like equipping skills :P so ahead of its time.

blinkxzero.8035:

The best part of GW2 is the dodge mechanic. I can’t play any other MMO that doesn’t let me dodge or evade attacks coming at me — and I’m not talking about using LoS like in WoW. I wish every game got rid of “hit chance”, and just let you either dodge it or not.

This.
I have tried to revisit some of my previous MMOs but just cannot go back to stagnant combat. I wont even look at another MMO unless it has active dodging now.

Dante.1508:

Plus Runes of Magic has an Aussie server so i get no lag.. like here..it has a lot more skills too.

I smile a little. Glad to see someone played this little game here in GW2 – I played Runes of Magic for almost 3 years, and only recently semi-retired. But I think you have been away for a long time: there is no longer an “Aussie” server.

Many things have since changed.

The Aussie-based GMs have been let go. There are no more Aussie staff running the game in Australia. And just a month ago, they move the “Aussie” server to Florida. Yes, the United States. So now the ping in “Aussie” server is the same one you get as if you are in a US server. No explanation, no notice – server got moved just like that in a small “regular” maintenance. Many regulars in Thalia has quit the game. I log on now and then to catch up with guildies, and to actually enjoy a round of Guild Siege. The Siege is the one thing I hope Guild Wars 2 will give us (basically a guild vs guild arena) soon.

OP, I agree with you! While I don’t really see GW2 as ruining other MMOs like WoW-which I played for 2 or 3 years straight. The reason why is because I had a lot of good memories in this MMO-add that with music and the funny moments.

While I had good memories with other MMOs in the market, Guild Wars 2 gave me a new, refreshing and epic experience. To sum it all up, Guild Wars 2 gave me a beautiful and engaging world full of story and life compared to other MMOs.

So I’d like to thank ArenaNet for making such a beautiful game!

Cheers!

-Cowrex-Borlis Pass

It most certainly did not. Because GW2, on one hand, might not give you that what you are looking for at times and, on the other hand, resemble other MMOs too much in some sense, with the resemblence being in a different packaging.

Very interesting! Im glad im not the only one feel all this, but also glad some of you find ways to enjoy the older more standard MMO’s.

Guild wars 2, to me, is pure fun. I have the most fun when i have no objectives for the day, i dont have to worry about not reaching lvl 80 faster. It’s fun to go explore and find caves that serve no purpose other than to immerse yourself. It’s fun to go chop some trees down and explore your main city. Its just, i dont know, fun!

Back when mist of pandaria for WoW came out, my friend told me how much WoW was going to change for the better and all that stuff. So i forked over $70 for the expansion and 2 month card. After logging in and doing a few quests in pandaria, i was like ugggghhhh, i had basically clocked into my second job. after a few lvls, logged out and into GW2. AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH, =D i was on vacation!

I quit WoW 6 years ago (after playing for 2 years), and tried to play a few MMOs since then, but never made it beyond 60 days, haven’t touched another MMO in about 4 years till Guild Wars 2 came out. Been playing Guild Wars 2 since the game released, and have never felt bored of the game.

So for me, Guild Wars 2 brought me back into MMO gaming, but I will never play an MMO that is more like WoW. Any MMO from here on out will have to take lessens from Guild Wars 2, and be an evolution from Guild Wars 2.

Kalaster.9014:

DreamOfACure.4382:

Pretty sure PlanetSide2 is doing fabulously.

blinkxzero.8035:

The best part of GW2 is the dodge mechanic. I can’t play any other MMO that doesn’t let me dodge or evade attacks coming at me — and I’m not talking about using LoS like in WoW. I wish every game got rid of “hit chance”, and just let you either dodge it or not.

If you like it that much, you should give TERA a try. They just went Free2Play.

It’s actually an action MMO (unlike GW2 which just added Dodge), where you can dodge everything once you’re good enough at it. All attacks are skill-shots and hitboxes are more relevant in combat.

I Tried TERA as well, combat was cool. But again going back to how you have to read quest logs, i lost my patients XD

You lost them ALL??…you, sir, are a TERRIBLE doctor >:(

Since the latest updates i fail to see how Gw2 is so different from any other MMO.
Except for 3 things. Dodge mechanic which is kinda fun. No trinity which is debatable.
And finally WvWvW which is probably the best mainstream implemantion of a Realm Vs Realm system, which doesn’t mean much cause there just isn’t a good one atm.

Other than that it’s kinda a carbon copy of wow without raids.

! Really to me so far GW2 is the next WoW, in the fact that they really didnt do anything new and exciting, all they did was do alot of stuff others we doing, put it all under one roof, and do it well.

But actually Tera ruined all older mmos for me. The combat there is fantastic. Gw2 just had more going for it then combat, and the combat is a workable mish mash.

I’m with the OP, well said. I like the fact that if you see a mining node, its yours. No node ninja’s lol. Same with loot. I LOVE that.

GW2 is surely the best!!! cant play linear mmo again

Oh yeah one thing GW2 did prove though.
All those other games where you think customer support is bad and the devs have no clue what they’re doing. Well it can always get worse lol

Pustulio.8207:

Kalaster.9014:

DreamOfACure.4382:

Pretty sure PlanetSide2 is doing fabulously.

blinkxzero.8035:

The best part of GW2 is the dodge mechanic. I can’t play any other MMO that doesn’t let me dodge or evade attacks coming at me — and I’m not talking about using LoS like in WoW. I wish every game got rid of “hit chance”, and just let you either dodge it or not.

If you like it that much, you should give TERA a try. They just went Free2Play.

It’s actually an action MMO (unlike GW2 which just added Dodge), where you can dodge everything once you’re good enough at it. All attacks are skill-shots and hitboxes are more relevant in combat.

I Tried TERA as well, combat was cool. But again going back to how you have to read quest logs, i lost my patients XD

You lost them ALL??…you, sir, are a TERRIBLE doctor >:(

Im sorry! I failed Med school, but i wasn’t going to let grade numbers judge my ability to be a doctor!

Im also a terrible speller if you didnt notice already :P

GW2 gives me a very distinct feeling that I have never had with MMOs before — I feel like, finally, I am playing an honest-to-goodness video game! In the past, it always felt like everything that was going on was merely the best approximation of a game that a massively-multiplayer, online infrastructure could bear. I honestly think every MMORPG that comes out for the next while had better look to GW2 if it doesn’t want to seem laughably obsolete.

‘voice acting’ are actually implying that having a **** one gw2 have is better than none? i don’t think so.

I do find myself missing the dodge function when I log into other games, yeah. GW2’s combat feels so much more “alive” than other games that it’s spoiled me to the point where I can’t quite appreciate their combat as much. It’s why I didn’t like TERA’s combat incidentally: because yeah, it has some dodging, but still never felt as loose and fluid as GW2’s to me. If I had played TERA first, maybe it would’ve made a difference, but….I couldn’t bring myself to enjoy it after having played in the betas for GW2.

What makes gw2 best MMO by far for me atm is it’s mobility in combat. I too tried some of the other MMOs to have a break from gw2 and having to stand there and just take the hits was depressing. “You can’t do that while moving” or “you can’t shoot that arrow, the target is too close” message across my screen drove me crazy and made me log out quick smart.
I have noticed though that some MMO’s are already doing copy cat of gw2’s various systems such as finding quests while in the world, more dynamic combats, sharing loot etc. One example comes to mind: Elder Scrolls Online. Reviewing some of their features to be in the game seem very reminiscent of gw2.

If the game is so great why are you bored and trying other games OP?

I actually have the opposite experience. I bought MoP at XMas and didnt play it and I recently started leveling a monk. Dungeons are so much better in WoW than in this game its like night and day. The only thing that kinda sucks is with the lvl cap being so high now stats are kinda inflated thru the roof, I’ve seen a druid tank with 700k health buffed.

I personally dont really see a difference between reading hearts and reading quests.

I think TERA’s combat is better than GW2’s by a long way as well. The thing that ruins TERA is the terrible way they implemented PvP and the horrible crafting system.

I also think Secret World has a better questing and skill system then GW2 as well.

oflow.2157:

If the game is so great why are you bored and trying other games OP?

I actually have the opposite experience. I bought MoP at XMas and didnt play it and I recently started leveling a monk. Dungeons are so much better in WoW than in this game its like night and day. The only thing that kinda sucks is with the lvl cap being so high now stats are kinda inflated thru the roof, I’ve seen a druid tank with 700k health buffed.

I personally dont really see a difference between reading hearts and reading quests.

I think TERA’s combat is better than GW2’s by a long way as well. The thing that ruins TERA is the terrible way they implemented PvP and the horrible crafting system.

I also think Secret World has a better questing and skill system then GW2 as well.

Dude siriusly i play skyrim and will be getting the ne aliens game, doesn’t mean i like gw2 any less. I make play dates on gw2 i log on all the freaking time and play with people. Some time’s some people like to switch it up from time to time. I have done this with every game ever. But GW2 is my go to never fail to entertan game.

oflow.2157:

If the game is so great why are you bored and trying other games OP?

Dont get me wrong, its great! But you know, you can only play a single game straight for so long, no matter how amazing and perfect it may be. I mean, I’ve tried a few other MMO’s since the launch but always keep coming back here :P and with the f2p model, I feel less locked to the game, and i am able to try other MMO’s without feeling the “im not getting my subscription’s worth”.

I’d have to say my only gripes with Guild Wars 2 is the general lack of armor-appearance variety during the low levels, and that hearts have become more of a “okay, what do I need to kill” type system. Sometimes there are other gimmicks, but a lot of times it can or does just boil down to simply killing the creature specified in the blurb. I guess I should mention the newb levels can be pretty harsh without running into a few events between each heart, which is asking a lot actually. Finally, along with armor, climates seem fairly samey across zones. Human lands are mostly grasslands, Norn mostly snowy mountains, Charr mostly wartorn plains, etc.

Otherwise, GW2 > others. Aion has pretty armors, weapons, housing, and I actually find the skill system fun, but it’s forced PvP. Blegh.

WoW, I like the class variety, but those first ten levels, like here, are brutal, but the boring, mundane “spam a single button” brutal, and despite having 400 spells, I only really need 3 or 4 by level cap on trash.

TERA, once you’ve killed your first Ghilledieu, you’ve experienced every single PvE trash mob fight in the game, they just get hardier as you level up. Also, it has been SO streamlined, so simplified, gear is literally a matter of just finding bigger numbers and using the right crystal setup. One can’t even really tell what half the stats provide, because no explanation is given as to how much of Y stat = X chance. Min-maxing is virtually impossible. Some people might view that as a good thing, I view GW2’s build possibilities as a min-maxing paradise in comparison, and that’s a fun prospect to look forward to.