Guild Wars 2

hey I just got the game, had a few questions

Ive never played an MMO game like guild wars. Would this game be enjoyable to a newcomer to this genre?
How many people are still playing? i know its a little old but is the community still active?
Do you need friends to enjoy the game or is it fine solo?
And how well would my laptop run this game? AMD Quad core a8-4500M, Radeon HD 7640G + 7670M 1GB, 4GB DDR3 RAM

thanks

My advice is to ignore this thread and just play the game. You really need to make up your own mind here, rather than relying on the countless conflicting opinions you’re about to receive. Fun is a subjective thing, and no one can tell you you’re having fun but you.

Here’s a good thread to give you some tips as a new player;

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/players/OMG-If-you-only-knew-this-tips-for-new-players/first

Welcome to the party!

Hi there welcome!

This is I would have to say probably one of the best MMO’s a new player to the genre could try to answer your first question.

Many people still play yes. However you may not see this in most of the maps. You will see them if you go to Queensdale, Lion’s Arch or WvW however.

Your laptop sounds like it has specs superior to mine so you should be fine.

Having said all that welcome again and I hope you enjoy your stay!

Arkham Creed.7358:

My advice is to ignore this thread and just play the game. You really need to make up your own mind here, rather than relying on the countless conflicting opinions you’re about to receive. Fun is a subjective thing, and no one can tell you you’re having fun but you.

^ This

Stay away from the general forums bro…

Welcome to Gw2!

I can’t really tell you if the game is going to be enjoyable to you or not. Just play and see if this game/genre will catch your interest.
There is still loads of people playing, most of us are level 80 by now so the low-level zones might feel a bit empty but should be fine. You can do all the content (except for group content obviously) solo all the way to 80 and beyond.

Your laptop will probably be able to play the game on low settings smoothly.

Feel free to send me a whisper ingame(if you’re from EU) if you got any more questions! Name is: Milary

Have fun playing, and don’t rush it to max level, take your time and enjoy the journey.

Welcome to GW2.

As folks said, take the forums with a grain of salt.

Check out the game yourself. Understand that most professions are not fully flushed until level 30 (when they have all of their utility abilities.) You can still get a fairly good feel for them by level 10, which does not take long.

Experiment with different weapons… they can make the professions feel totally different.

And if you decide you want to hang around and join the rest of us addicts.. er.. players, this might be a handy part of the forum to visit:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/guilds/lfguild

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/guilds/recruitment

Thanks everyone

Some folk like it, some folk don’t. Some folk love it, some folk hate it. Be your own person and make up your own mind.

Some people say lots of people are playing and some people say no one is playing.

But if you’re not seeing the living story stuff, you’ll probably see less people, because so many people are doing the new content. There was a new content patch just today. It’s pretty cool (according to some people lol).

IMO It’s a fun game, but it doesn’t last. Hope you like DPS and dodging, because that’s pretty much all you’ll do PvE wise. WoW is better. If you don’t count the LF-whatever, WoW is actually far more challenging that GW2, but can be an easy walk in the park if you stick to its dungeon/raid finderr content. GW2, on the other hand: Just learn to dodge attacks that will otherwise one-shot you; that’s what the fight mechanics amount to. It’s pretty much hack and slash.

GW2 is well worth $50 or $60… whatever it costs now.

Nuage.5230:

IMO It’s a fun game, but it doesn’t last. Hope you like DPS and dodging, because that’s pretty much all you’ll do PvE wise. WoW is better. If you don’t count the LF-whatever, WoW is actually far more challenging that GW2, but can be an easy walk in the park if you stick to its dungeon/raid finderr content. GW2, on the other hand: Just learn to dodge attacks that will otherwise one-shot you; that’s what the fight mechanics amount to. It’s pretty much hack and slash.

GW2 is well worth $50 or $60… whatever it costs now.

WoW isn’t better. WoW is different. That means what’s better is a matter of taste. Frankly I wouldn’t play WoW for any length of time if you paid me. And most people coming new to WoW now, as opposed to those who played it long term hate it. That’s why WoW has lost 1.7 million subs in a quarter.

They’re different games for different audiences. Neither is better. Guild Wars 2 is better, however, for me.

Welcome to the game! GW2 is an excellent place to start in the MMO genre. There have been many improvements to the formula that make it a more enjoyable experience for new players and vets alike. You may find that the MMO is not your thing, but it won’t be because GW2 is a bad intro to the genre.

There are still a lot of people playing but it may be less populated on some servers. Give Tarnished Coast a try as it is well populated and there are folks playing through most of the maps. If you want to get your feet wet solo that’s fine as you won’t need to group up to play through the content with the exception of the last story quest. You’ll find that Dynamic Events will provide a low cost intro to group play as you don’t need to group up, simply show up and contribute to taking down a bad guy or whatever.

Have fun and don’t hesitate to ask for help in the forums or in-game. There are lots of helpful people around. Don’t fear the general discussion forum. There is always a bit of debate, and sometimes it gets a little heated but it’s all for the good of the game. Have fun!

Vayne.8563:

Nuage.5230:

IMO It’s a fun game, but it doesn’t last. Hope you like DPS and dodging, because that’s pretty much all you’ll do PvE wise. WoW is better. If you don’t count the LF-whatever, WoW is actually far more challenging that GW2, but can be an easy walk in the park if you stick to its dungeon/raid finderr content. GW2, on the other hand: Just learn to dodge attacks that will otherwise one-shot you; that’s what the fight mechanics amount to. It’s pretty much hack and slash.

GW2 is well worth $50 or $60… whatever it costs now.

WoW isn’t better. WoW is different. That means what’s better is a matter of taste….

That…. ummm, is kinda obvious, Vayne. That difference is what makes it better for me. It’s an opinion.

Nuage.5230:

Vayne.8563:

Nuage.5230:

IMO It’s a fun game, but it doesn’t last. Hope you like DPS and dodging, because that’s pretty much all you’ll do PvE wise. WoW is better. If you don’t count the LF-whatever, WoW is actually far more challenging that GW2, but can be an easy walk in the park if you stick to its dungeon/raid finderr content. GW2, on the other hand: Just learn to dodge attacks that will otherwise one-shot you; that’s what the fight mechanics amount to. It’s pretty much hack and slash.

GW2 is well worth $50 or $60… whatever it costs now.

WoW isn’t better. WoW is different. That means what’s better is a matter of taste….

That…. ummm, is kinda obvious, Vayne. That difference is what makes it better for me. It’s an opinion.

The way people say things is important. You know it’s your opinion, I know it’s your opinion, but you wouldn’t believe how many people take those types of statements as fact. And that’s not your fault.

It won’t stop me from pointing it out either. Language is important to me.

Nuage.5230:

Vayne.8563:

Nuage.5230:

IMO It’s a fun game, but it doesn’t last. Hope you like DPS and dodging, because that’s pretty much all you’ll do PvE wise. WoW is better. If you don’t count the LF-whatever, WoW is actually far more challenging that GW2, but can be an easy walk in the park if you stick to its dungeon/raid finderr content. GW2, on the other hand: Just learn to dodge attacks that will otherwise one-shot you; that’s what the fight mechanics amount to. It’s pretty much hack and slash.

GW2 is well worth $50 or $60… whatever it costs now.

WoW isn’t better. WoW is different. That means what’s better is a matter of taste….

That…. ummm, is kinda obvious, Vayne. That difference is what makes it better for me. It’s an opinion.

Nuage has gone into recruitment overdrive since WoW is bleeding subs like no tomorrow

“Hope you like DPS and dodging, because that’s pretty much all you’ll do PvE wise. "

I would just like to say that I play a survival build in all types of GW2 and when it comes to PVE there is not any 1 shot mechanics that I can recall. Pure DPS is over-rated especially when you find most maps are empty and you have to solo 99% of the content now. Just throwing that out there.

Karizee.8076:

Nuage.5230:

Vayne.8563:

Nuage.5230:

IMO It’s a fun game, but it doesn’t last. Hope you like DPS and dodging, because that’s pretty much all you’ll do PvE wise. WoW is better. If you don’t count the LF-whatever, WoW is actually far more challenging that GW2, but can be an easy walk in the park if you stick to its dungeon/raid finderr content. GW2, on the other hand: Just learn to dodge attacks that will otherwise one-shot you; that’s what the fight mechanics amount to. It’s pretty much hack and slash.

GW2 is well worth $50 or $60… whatever it costs now.

WoW isn’t better. WoW is different. That means what’s better is a matter of taste….

That…. ummm, is kinda obvious, Vayne. That difference is what makes it better for me. It’s an opinion.

Nuage has gone into recruitment overdrive since WoW is bleeding subs like no tomorrow

And they’re all coming here…. ohh wait – they’re not. They’d rather play nothing, lol.

Kinda odd you’re asking this AFTER buying it, but here we go, straight answers here:

Yes it would probably be enjoyable for a newcomer. It’s easy, doesn’t have many of the annoyances other mmos have when it comes to learning curve (stats and builds and crap like that). If you don’t like this game, probably doesn’t get any better. If you need some mmo pointers in general, though, PM me. We’re not allowed to talk about competitors here, for obvious reasons :P

The game is “solo-friendly”, yes, even in WvW. You just bump into people and work with them without having to form parties or anything. People come and ago and things happen when you’re on your own. To me it’s the beauty of this game. And if you don’t feel like organizing a group in WvW you can always follow the blue commander icon and join the angry mob aka zerg (you’ll be hearing that word a lot). But be warned: dungeons need organized groups and random groups that are not your friends can be frustrating, either because they’re elitist or more clueless than you.

The community is still active. But the part of the community who posts more often is most of the time either semi-active or waiting to come back, either way they still care about the game (and are mostly very critical too :p). It’s always like this with MMOs.

Oh btw, important tip: never mention you play mmos on a date. You may ruin it. :P

Vayne.8563:

Nuage.5230:

Vayne.8563:

Nuage.5230:

IMO It’s a fun game, but it doesn’t last. Hope you like DPS and dodging, because that’s pretty much all you’ll do PvE wise. WoW is better. If you don’t count the LF-whatever, WoW is actually far more challenging that GW2, but can be an easy walk in the park if you stick to its dungeon/raid finderr content. GW2, on the other hand: Just learn to dodge attacks that will otherwise one-shot you; that’s what the fight mechanics amount to. It’s pretty much hack and slash.

GW2 is well worth $50 or $60… whatever it costs now.

WoW isn’t better. WoW is different. That means what’s better is a matter of taste….

That…. ummm, is kinda obvious, Vayne. That difference is what makes it better for me. It’s an opinion.

The way people say things is important. You know it’s your opinion, I know it’s your opinion, but you wouldn’t believe how many people take those types of statements as fact. And that’s not your fault.

It won’t stop me from pointing it out either. Language is important to me.

People aren’t that stupid – give folks a least a smidgen of credit. If I say McDonalds is far better than Burger King, most people will know it’s an opinion. I doubt OP or anyone else read what I wrote and was like “kitten – WHAT A FACT HE JUST LAID OUT!”

Nuage.5230:

Karizee.8076:

Nuage.5230:

Vayne.8563:

Nuage.5230:

IMO It’s a fun game, but it doesn’t last. Hope you like DPS and dodging, because that’s pretty much all you’ll do PvE wise. WoW is better. If you don’t count the LF-whatever, WoW is actually far more challenging that GW2, but can be an easy walk in the park if you stick to its dungeon/raid finderr content. GW2, on the other hand: Just learn to dodge attacks that will otherwise one-shot you; that’s what the fight mechanics amount to. It’s pretty much hack and slash.

GW2 is well worth $50 or $60… whatever it costs now.

WoW isn’t better. WoW is different. That means what’s better is a matter of taste….

That…. ummm, is kinda obvious, Vayne. That difference is what makes it better for me. It’s an opinion.

Nuage has gone into recruitment overdrive since WoW is bleeding subs like no tomorrow

And they’re all coming here…. ohh wait – they’re not. They’d rather play nothing, lol.

Half my guild is ex-WoW players

Forward this on for me, wouldya Nuage?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ytzOmjzfKM

Nuage.5230:

Vayne.8563:

Nuage.5230:

Vayne.8563:

Nuage.5230:

IMO It’s a fun game, but it doesn’t last. Hope you like DPS and dodging, because that’s pretty much all you’ll do PvE wise. WoW is better. If you don’t count the LF-whatever, WoW is actually far more challenging that GW2, but can be an easy walk in the park if you stick to its dungeon/raid finderr content. GW2, on the other hand: Just learn to dodge attacks that will otherwise one-shot you; that’s what the fight mechanics amount to. It’s pretty much hack and slash.

GW2 is well worth $50 or $60… whatever it costs now.

WoW isn’t better. WoW is different. That means what’s better is a matter of taste….

That…. ummm, is kinda obvious, Vayne. That difference is what makes it better for me. It’s an opinion.

The way people say things is important. You know it’s your opinion, I know it’s your opinion, but you wouldn’t believe how many people take those types of statements as fact. And that’s not your fault.

It won’t stop me from pointing it out either. Language is important to me.

People aren’t that stupid – give folks a least a smidgen of credit. If I say McDonalds is far better than Burger King, most people will know it’s an opinion. I doubt OP or anyone else read what I wrote and was like “kitten – WHAT A FACT HE JUST LAID OUT!”

People aren’t that stupid? All people? Most people? What about psychology? Or do you not factor that in.

If a bunch of people say the same stuff, people WILL start to believe it. It’s how advertising works too. It’s just repetition and people start to think stuff is true. They heard it and again and again. You give people too much credit. SOME people will just take stuff they heard for granted as true.

Those are the people I’m talking to.

The others can ignore me if they like. It’s not like I said something false.

Nuage.5230:

Karizee.8076:

Nuage.5230:

Vayne.8563:

Nuage.5230:

IMO It’s a fun game, but it doesn’t last. Hope you like DPS and dodging, because that’s pretty much all you’ll do PvE wise. WoW is better. If you don’t count the LF-whatever, WoW is actually far more challenging that GW2, but can be an easy walk in the park if you stick to its dungeon/raid finderr content. GW2, on the other hand: Just learn to dodge attacks that will otherwise one-shot you; that’s what the fight mechanics amount to. It’s pretty much hack and slash.

GW2 is well worth $50 or $60… whatever it costs now.

WoW isn’t better. WoW is different. That means what’s better is a matter of taste….

That…. ummm, is kinda obvious, Vayne. That difference is what makes it better for me. It’s an opinion.

Nuage has gone into recruitment overdrive since WoW is bleeding subs like no tomorrow

And they’re all coming here…. ohh wait – they’re not. They’d rather play nothing, lol.

The core Guild Wars community who have followed the development of Guild Wars 2 for years, longer than most currently players even knew the first game existed, were absolutely sure of one major thing:

WoW players will hate GW2. They won’t understand it, won’t try to adapt, and demand it change to suit their preconceived notions of what a MMO should be. And when those demands are not met, eventually, they will abandon the game and make sure everyone they meet is convinced that it is the worst piece of trash MMO ever made.

The Original Guild Wars weathered that same storm. It too dealt with an influx of players looking for a game that was a WoW clone in everything but the name, and the same mass exodus of those players. It dealt with the same bad press, and the same negative rumors, so much so that eventually the MMO community managed to actually re-brand it a CORPG rather than a MMORPG. And the original Guild Wars is still alive and kicking. Guild Wars 2 will be no different.

It may not have settled into its stride yet. And the community hasn’t yet stabilized with those who enjoy the game staying, and everyone else mercifully getting out of their way, but that day will come. And just like its predecessor Guild Wars 2 does not need you or your approval to succeed. Nor that of your ilk. It will live on and succeed not only without you, but in spite of you.

Go enjoy your raids.

It seems like the OP MIGHT be asking about GW and NOT GW2 and may have wandered here by accident. =O

Vayne.8563:

Nuage.5230:

Vayne.8563:

Nuage.5230:

Vayne.8563:

Nuage.5230:

IMO It’s a fun game, but it doesn’t last. Hope you like DPS and dodging, because that’s pretty much all you’ll do PvE wise. WoW is better. If you don’t count the LF-whatever, WoW is actually far more challenging that GW2, but can be an easy walk in the park if you stick to its dungeon/raid finderr content. GW2, on the other hand: Just learn to dodge attacks that will otherwise one-shot you; that’s what the fight mechanics amount to. It’s pretty much hack and slash.

GW2 is well worth $50 or $60… whatever it costs now.

WoW isn’t better. WoW is different. That means what’s better is a matter of taste….

That…. ummm, is kinda obvious, Vayne. That difference is what makes it better for me. It’s an opinion.

The way people say things is important. You know it’s your opinion, I know it’s your opinion, but you wouldn’t believe how many people take those types of statements as fact. And that’s not your fault.

It won’t stop me from pointing it out either. Language is important to me.

People aren’t that stupid – give folks a least a smidgen of credit. If I say McDonalds is far better than Burger King, most people will know it’s an opinion. I doubt OP or anyone else read what I wrote and was like “kitten – WHAT A FACT HE JUST LAID OUT!”

People aren’t that stupid? All people? Most people? What about psychology? Or do you not factor that in….
It’s not like I said something false.

Read what you quoted, didn’t I just say “most people will know it’s an opinion”? Indeed, what you said wasn’t false, it’s just so blatantly obvious that it [should] go without saying. Again, most people, as in the vast majority, are not so naive as to think that “look this dude said WoW is better, must be a fact. Lemme drop this game and do exactly what he says. Oh wait, this guy Vayne says it’s an opinion, I’ll stick with GW2… glad he saved me.” Haha – no. Vayne, “WoW isn’t better. WoW is different. That means what’s better is a matter of taste….” O.B.V.I.O.U.S.L.Y. I think pretty much anyone who is able to read and who has an IQ over room temperature (most people) will get that.

@Arkham Creed: I will enjoy my raids, thank you. While I do that, enjoy grinding skins and playing through simple-minded gimmicky boss mechanics that are all avoided by using a dodge button in a hack and slash free-for all (see how silly that is to go back and forth). GW2 is fun, it’s a good game — but if you want actual mechanics that require thinking beyond “how fast can I hit dodge;” bossfights that amount to more than just dodging or strafing out of the way… yeah, I’ll enjoy my WoW raids. Is GW2 a good game… sure – WoW is just better (do I really need to add “IMO” at the end of that sentence?). All the bosses in this game, every single one is easy to defeat. You just dodge through every instance — same can’t be said for WoW. At least heroic raids and challenge mode 5 mans offer the player a challenge. When you drop one of those bosses in WoW it comes with a sense of accomplishment, when you kill a boss in GW2, it’s like “alright, that was easy.”

Both Games have their strong and weak points and both are fun to play (just WOW is far more fun). Stop treating these games like religions or political parties where it’s one or the other.

@Karizee: See my last comment about treating these games like religion. Also if you think most of the people leaving WoW are coming here then, ummm, yeah… it’s no point to even engage in a meaningful discussion. Your particular video was bad, and would be just as bad if it was a WoW-centric video. That video made it clear… people really do treat these games like religions (especially MMO gamers). Just because, IMO of course, WoW is better doesn’t mean this game is worthless junk that should be uninstalled, and vice versa for someone who enjoys GW2 more.

Blizzard and Anet are both good companies – they are both making a killing on these games. One makes you pay a sub so things are done in the game to get people to play longer; the other is sub free but nudges you toward that gem store. One requires a bit more thinking to defeat the hardest content (WoW), one is just a hack and slash that doesn’t require much though to defeat content (which isn’t always a bad thing). In the end, though, when I beat a boss, I wanna feel like I really beat him doing more than just hitting a dodge button. It’s like the devs use the dodge button to get out of having to create engaging mechanics.

Paulytnz.7619:

“Hope you like DPS and dodging, because that’s pretty much all you’ll do PvE wise. "

I would just like to say that I play a survival build in all types of GW2 and when it comes to PVE there is not any 1 shot mechanics that I can recall. Pure DPS is over-rated especially when you find most maps are empty and you have to solo 99% of the content now. Just throwing that out there.

Not that I agree with the other guy but there are certainly things very very capable of one-shotting from full health(23k+, 3.2k+ armor). Technically it is not one shot but I see no useful distinction between 1 hit that kills and 10 hit delivered simultaneously that does the same thing.

3 obvious enemies. Champion gorilla at Lyssa temple(depends on scaling), respawning champion icebrood wolf and Kudu the end boss of Crucible of Eternity story mode who has a very badly telegraphed Killshot that lives up to the name.

On the other hand what is wrong with dodging? The only other alternative seems to be ‘stand in place and get hit over and over again’. Not sure why that should ever be considered superior…