Guild Wars 2

I’m currently having a dilemma because a certain game might have ruined video games for me. I used to play for fun and didn’t really care about the game much beyond just beating the final boss. But this other MMO that I played for 3 years has put me in a mindset of “do x to progress, it shows you are a good player and not a baddie.” I hated that mindset so much, I left that particular game, but to be honest . . .

I am currently missing that aspect in GW2

So here’s my question:

What aspects of this game can lead to people inspecting you and saying “I can see you’ve put a lot of work into this game!”

-is it the skins? Do people find certain skins impressive?

-if someone is actually carrying around a legendary, do others notice and get impressed?

At the fear of sounding rude, what kind of things could I do that would make people recognize me as hardcore player rather than a casual player. Like even in Mario game, you can choose to just past the levels, or collect all the hearts along the way. Right now, the game is currently feeling EXTREMELY casual to me, and it’s proving to be an issue in how fun I find the game. I want to do things that will lead to others recognizing I am being hardcore rather than casual.

Is there a way to build your [kitten] in GW2?

What would make you look at a player and go “[kitten]”

[mod edit: removed offending content]

Never really cared for people with PvE items they got from raids, I have the same reaction towards people with legendaries.

Thankfully there is a PvP leaderboard

PvP leaderboards!

It’s less about the items and more about the progression.

Like it’s awesome to see how far I progressed.

For example, I haven’t done fractals, but if they had something like 10 levels of difficulty, and some cosmetic award for beating the hardest level, I would really like that.

I would also LOVE the GW2 aspect that it is cosmetic only.

or perhaps titles? I saw a bunch of people with the title “been there, done that” and I thought to myself “oh wow, that most be a title for very hardcore players.” No idea if that’s true, but I just want to express a particular sentiment.

At some point, I will need to really determine which end game goals I want to obtain, and I think I’d like go after things considered more “hardcore.”

For example, I really like that getting a legendary in this game takes like forever and requires a lot of work. Those are things that appeal to me. It’s a “I took the road less traveled mentality” and I want to be able to display that choice.

Wolfheart.1938:

PvP leaderboards!

What about for the more pve inclined? :L

mtl.5921:

Wolfheart.1938:

PvP leaderboards!

What about for the more pve inclined? :L

Fractals. Higher levels and whatnot.

Master the game content. If you put some effort into it, it’s not that hard.

Showing your legendary to 20 peeps in LA is nice, but thats nothing compared to joining a pug, watching them die during a hard boss fight – and then finish the boss all by yourself (like a boss). Now you won’t have 20 people saying “Oh, nice weapon you have there… whatever…” but 4 people with open mouths saying “WAT TEH FRIGGING HELL JUST HAPPEND!!!???”

Those 4 guys won’t forget you

DonYawnful.1062:

mtl.5921:

Wolfheart.1938:

PvP leaderboards!

What about for the more pve inclined? :L

Fractals. Higher levels and whatnot.

Man, Fractals it is then.

I am totally the type of player that craves ascended gear >.>

But it could purely cosmetic and that would be fine. I just want shiny hat or t-shirt that says “yup, I did this fractal on the highest level and all I got was this shiny hat.”

I’d be good with that. . .

Don’t be a build kitten like me ;-;. You’ll be broke all the time and nobody will lend you money after you’ve borrowed (and payed back!) gold to get X gear or Y skin.

Skins and titles. As it was in GW. When you have a hard to acquire skin or title, people notice. That is about to get more distinctive with the champion named skins (pretty much green weapons in GW).

Also, its pretty easy to get a reputation on your server by being helpful, leading dungeon groups, hosting events and generally being pleasant. I took a weekend of sometime around last holiday season to just help players get done story mode dungeons. Just from that, people recognize me in game and randomly ask me to join for stuff.

In WvW you gain local infamy by being a good commander. Game wide you can be part of a recognized guild.

In sPvP people will usually recognize unique skins, rank and leaderboard position. If you are finishing consistently at the top in hotjoin, people will get to recognize you pretty quick by name.

As a mostly PvEer, the number one thing I look at is a player’s performance in dungeons. When I see people that have clearly done research into their class, and actually make an effort to optimize their rotations, I automatically have a lot of respect for that person.

Likewise, if I see a player, like a guardian who runs full cleric and sits there with a staff going “HURR DURR IM A HEALER”, I have absolutely no respect for you.

Nothing else really matters to me. I don’t care if you have a million achievement points or a legendary, these things just take time. It’s all about whether or not someone has the decency to play the game well.

DonYawnful.1062:

mtl.5921:

Wolfheart.1938:

PvP leaderboards!

What about for the more pve inclined? :L

Fractals. Higher levels and whatnot.

The kitten boosting is not as strong as in other games, but having fractal weapons (special skins dropped in high level fractals) or Arah gear testifies that you are able to play mildly hard to quite hard content. I’m sorry to say, but I believe that’s it for PvE. Oh, and legendaries are no proof of skill, only time spent. I know personally a bunch of terrible players that own one or more.

Did you consider WvW? Aiming to be a great commander is one of the things one could go for if he was looking to enlarge his e-kitten. Dem commanders get all the ladies

Probably depends on what part of the game you favor. PvE would just be achievements I guess, apparently fractals is based on your fractal level. Dunno PvP. WvW is based I guess on your overall “fame”. I remember alot of prominent WvWers on my server, such as frequent/good commanders, involved players, and major guild leaders, etc.

Wolfheart.1938:

DonYawnful.1062:

mtl.5921:

Wolfheart.1938:

PvP leaderboards!

What about for the more pve inclined? :L

Fractals. Higher levels and whatnot.

The kitten boosting is not as strong as in other games, but having fractal weapons (special skins dropped in high level fractals) or Arah gear testifies that you are able to play mildly hard to quite hard content. I’m sorry to say, but I believe that’s it for PvE. Oh, and legendaries are no proof of skill, only time spent. I know personally a bunch of terrible players that own one or more.

Did you consider WvW? Aiming to be a great commander is one of the things one could go for if he was looking to enlarge his e-kitten. Dem commanders get all the ladies

I’ve honestly always not been a fan of pvp

Although I’ve also heard the pvp in this game is so good that even people who have hated pvp in the past end up enjoying it.

I don’t know where you have heard it , most of the people on the forums don’t seem to enjoy it too much

Anyways, since I see you aren’t considering WvW/PvP, your options aren’t really that much. GW2’s PvE is not really that competitive, and most of the rare stuff is rare only because they are hidden behind a tiny drop chance. Good luck with your fractals!

P.s. have you tried Jumping Puzzles? Do you know about the Super Adventure Box?

Jadon / Nightlight slashfic in /team.

mtl.5921:

DonYawnful.1062:

mtl.5921:

Wolfheart.1938:

PvP leaderboards!

What about for the more pve inclined? :L

Fractals. Higher levels and whatnot.

Man, Fractals it is then.

I am totally the type of player that craves ascended gear >.>

But it could purely cosmetic and that would be fine. I just want shiny hat or t-shirt that says “yup, I did this fractal on the highest level and all I got was this shiny hat.”

I’d be good with that. . .

Lol, you are out of luck. There are many ways to get ascended gear, shiny hats as you say. They are now available thru WvW and Guild Missions.

However, if you infuse them, that shows dedication. That takes alot of mats and is needed to get into the very highest level fractals to deal with the agony resistance.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Infused

Why do you want and need that kind of attention from other players? ^^

It’s not just about you, mtl (you just opened a thread where I post my thoughts), but I will never understand why so many players care that much about what others might think of them or how they can impress people. Is it really about who has the biggest …?

If you like a particular legendary (-> insert title, skin, rank, etc here), then go for it.
It might be other people see you and will like it, but why should that be an incentive to go for a legendary etc.?
Most of the players I know of do not care what other players wear or try to show off.
Yeah, sometimes I see someone with a nice weapon or armor and I congratulate to that chic piece of gear, but it doesn’t have to be the gear that is obtained the most laborious or expensive.

True greatness comes from within. ^^

EDIT: had a wrong word in it.

Navi.7142:

Why do you want and need that kind of attraction from other players? ^^

It’s not just about you, mtl (you just opened a thread where I post my thoughts), but I will never understand why so many players care that much about what others might think of them or how they can impress people. Is it really about who has the biggest …?

If you like a particular legendary (-> insert title, skin, rank, etc here), then go for it.
It might be other people see you and will like it, but why should that be an incentive to go for a legendary etc.?
Most of the players I know of do not care what other players wear or try to show off.
Yeah, sometimes I see someone with a nice weapon or armor and I congratulate to that chic piece of gear, but it doesn’t have to be the gear that is obtained the most laborious or expensive.

True greatness comes from within. ^^

Because this IS how I have fun.

Perhaps a good path for me is achievements. I was an achievement kitten in my previous MMO, and that they can actually lead to impressive rewards actually excites me.

But again, what I liked in my previous MMO is that others could actually notice those achievements and have a certain prestige attached to them.

Being able to then show off that title or skin is how I have fun.

You say you occasionally go up to someone and say a quick grats.

People like me LIVE for moments like that :P

Also, there’s quite a few people like that, so it does get noticed now and then, it feels good, and that basically is for me the ultimate reward.

It’s how I have fun in this video game.

Cause to be honest, if the only enjoyment is “playing for fun”, then that makes me consider even playing console games for the “fun factor.”

Being able to show off your achievements is something that I consider impressive and a unique aspect of an MMO because you can do it within the game. Single players games don’t allow that for the obvious reason you are the only person. The MMO brings the unique opportunity to show off your achievements in the game itself.

Dare I say it: I wish there was an armory . . .

If making a name is what you are into, becoming a good WvW commander is probably one of the best ways to do it

mtl.5921:

I’m currently having a dilemma because a certain game might have ruined video games for me. I used to play for fun and didn’t really care about the game much beyond just beating the final boss. But this other MMO that I played for 3 years has put me in a mindset of “do x to progress, it shows you are a good player and not a baddie.” I hated that mindset so much, I left that particular game, but to be honest . . .

I am currently missing that aspect in GW2

So here’s my question:

What aspects of this game can lead to people inspecting you and saying “I can see you’ve put a lot of work into this game!”

-is it the skins? Do people find certain skins impressive?

-if someone is actually carrying around a legendary, do others notice and get impressed?

At the fear of sounding rude, what kind of things could I do that would make people recognize me as hardcore player rather than a casual player. Like even in Mario game, you can choose to just past the levels, or collect all the hearts along the way. Right now, the game is currently feeling EXTREMELY casual to me, and it’s proving to be an issue in how fun I find the game. I want to do things that will lead to others recognizing I am being hardcore rather than casual.

Is there a way to build your e.peeen in GW2?

What would make you look at a player and go “kitten !!!”

Sounds like you need some World of Warcraft in your life. People can easily recognize you as a hard-working, hardcore player in WoW by the armor you have and what build you’re using. You could also immediately tell if they were hardcore at the start of a dungeon, because they were the ones leading everyone else with strategies and new ideas. I also believe Blizzard added some achievement points, but unlike GW2, you don’t have to go completely out of your way to earn them.

In all honesty, there’s absolutely no way to distinguish a hardcore player from a casual player in GW2. Legendaries don’t count because you could get lucky and just mystic forge one on your first try like many people have done. Achievement Points don’t matter because all you have to do is repeat the same boring crap daily and monthly quests, which isn’t at all difficult, just time consuming. But I suppose that in some twisted way, achievement points are a way to mark someone’s status. It shows them as persistent in doing all new content that is released. I honestly hate this new achievement point reward system because I played since launch, but still never racked up enough achievement points as people that constantly did the dailies, which are NOT fun. Instead, I did content that I enjoyed and got punished for it. My bad, should’ve just done my dailies like a good boy.

no one cares how ‘hardcore’ you are.

this is a game.. either you have fun playing it, or you don’t.

Navi.7142:

Why do you want and need that kind of attraction from other players? ^^

It’s not just about you, mtl (you just opened a thread where I post my thoughts), but I will never understand why so many players care that much about what others might think of them or how they can impress people. Is it really about who has the biggest …?

If you like a particular legendary (-> insert title, skin, rank, etc here), then go for it.
It might be other people see you and will like it, but why should that be an incentive to go for a legendary etc.?
Most of the players I know of do not care what other players wear or try to show off.
Yeah, sometimes I see someone with a nice weapon or armor and I congratulate to that chic piece of gear, but it doesn’t have to be the gear that is obtained the most laborious or expensive.

True greatness comes from within. ^^

In my opinion, it was really fun to be recognized by my armor for the difficult tasks I did in WoW. It’s fun when people say, “Nice armor dude, I bet that took a really long time and a bunch of dungeon runs to get that good-lookin awesomeness.”

In GW2, that feeling is completely gone. You run a dungeon for tokens and it isn’t difficult at all, so you get no recognition. Actually, I take that back. I did get a compliment once. A guildie said, “Dude, your armor looks so cool. I bet that took a really long time to get.” My response: “Actually, it only took a few days.” Guildie: “Oh.” This is what it has come down to. In WoW it took weeks if not months to complete a decent set of armor and I was extremely proud when I finished it. Other people would walk by me and give me compliments all the time. Literally, every 10 minutes I’d get a compliment.

True greatness does not come from within when it comes to games. True greatness comes from three things. 1) Your character’s role in the main story. 2) How shiny your weapon is. 3) How difficult your armor was to get.

Players definitely did care what I wore in WoW, but in Guild Wars 2? People don’t give a single flying crap what you’re wearing, and that saddens me. New players should be in awe of max level players, not see that it took a few days to get the armor they have.

mtl.5921:

You say you occasionally go up to someone and say a quick grats.

Yes, I do. But it is not about being hardcore, a great achiever, grinder, whatever…
Sometimes I see people that dress (say they mix and match various armors – can include starter armor or T3, it does not matter!! -) or have dyed their armor very well or they have a weapon that matches their skin (when being a sylvari) or whatever.. these are the moments I stop to say “hey, that looks great!”.
I don’t care about titles, ranks, the most “impressive” (hardest to get) armor or weapons. I stop and look at people being creative and artistic!

But… I guess.. there will be some people that will like and congratulate you as well for what you show off. To each his/ her own.

mtl.5921:

But this other MMO that I played for 3 years has put me in a mindset of “do x to progress, it shows you are a good player and not a baddie.” I hated that mindset so much, I left that particular game, but to be honest . . .

I am currently missing that aspect in GW2

If you left your previous MMO because of a feature you thought you hated, and then you realize you actually like said feature, it would be better for everyone if you went back to said MMO and left those who enjoy GW2 to play GW2.

mtl.5921:

Is there a way to build your [kitten] in GW2?

No.

Sorry to break your feelings, but the kind of things you talked about are not impressive to anyone. You don’t get status or admiration for grinding. When people come here saying “Dude, I got a Legendary after playing 18 hours per day every day for 4 months!”, that generates more pity than envy.

MMORPGs have not been built with any worth goal. By their very nature, pay to play MMORPGs reward time spent, not skill. And it’s usually time spent doing some mindless, easy activity that a bot could do better than a human being.

So you could try to get really time consuming things in GW2. You could parade around Lion’s Arch alternating between 4 Legendary weapons, with a Fractals backpiece, and alternating between 3 pieces of Radiant Armor and 3 pieces of Hellfire Armor.

It’s more likely people would ask if you are ok, though, than that they would stop to admire how much of a bad kitten you would be.

Galtrix.7369:

Players definitely did care what I wore in WoW, but in Guild Wars 2? People don’t give a single flying crap what you’re wearing

As bad as the GW2 community is, it appears the WoW community is worse.

Erasculio.2914:

mtl.5921:

But this other MMO that I played for 3 years has put me in a mindset of “do x to progress, it shows you are a good player and not a baddie.” I hated that mindset so much, I left that particular game, but to be honest . . .

I am currently missing that aspect in GW2

If you left your previous MMO because of a feature you thought you hated, and then you realize you actually like said feature, it would be better for everyone if you went back to said MMO and left those who enjoy GW2 to play GW2.

mtl.5921:

Is there a way to build your [kitten] in GW2?

No.

Sorry to break your feelings, but the kind of things you talked about are not impressive to anyone. You don’t get status or admiration for grinding. When people come here saying “Dude, I got a Legendary after playing 18 hours per day every day for 4 months!”, that generates more pity than envy.

MMORPGs have not been built with any worth goal. By their very nature, pay to play MMORPGs reward time spent, not skill. And it’s usually time spent doing some mindless, easy activity that a bot could do better than a human being.

So you could try to get really time consuming things in GW2. You could parade around Lion’s Arch alternating between 4 Legendary weapons, with a Fractals backpiece, and alternating between 3 pieces of Radiant Armor and 3 pieces of Hellfire Armor.

It’s more likely people would ask if you are ok, though, than that they would stop to admire how much of a bad kitten you would be.

Galtrix.7369:

Players definitely did care what I wore in WoW, but in Guild Wars 2? People don’t give a single flying crap what you’re wearing

As bad as the GW2 community is, it appears the WoW community is worse.

I suppose a lot of factors come into play there. Server, amount of friends on the server, guilds, stuff like that. My experience with WoW was fantastic because of the friends I made in the guild I joined and I added at least one person to my friends list every time I ran a dungeon or did a raid.

GW2, I’ve gotten insulted for halting a queensdale zerg by simply killing a champion, my CoF armor has been bashed repeatedly because It’s common, and every single guild I have joined has fallen apart. They were really successful guilds too! Each one had at least 400 members in it but fell apart due to insults/lack of communication/lack of fun events. I haven’t made a single friend that hasn’t left the game already either. I only made two friends in this game and they both left because they got bored.

Iv debated the answer to this question myself and tbh the options are limited especially in pve but what I can say is that when I have to pug I usually look at the achievement points total of the players that join the group. Someone with 5k points is more likely to know what they are doing than someone with 500 points. Also they have now added titles for achievement points. At 5k you get the first 1 i think. Also apparently there is a list somewhere that shows achievement point ranking and most players fall less than 3k so having that 5k title is actually something not everyone and their mothers actually have yet.

I can’t speak for anyone but myself, but I play FOR myself, and not the approval or adoration of other players. I couldn’t care less what anyone else thinks of the weapons or armor I’m using; as long as I like what I’m wearing, that’s all that matters to me. Sometimes I will see someone with a particularly humorous or bizarre armor/weapon combination, and in those cases I’ll take a screenshot, but I have never messaged anybody wielding a Legendary/Infused backpiece/some rare title/whatever and thought, “Wow, that player is so pro!” I honestly do not care what other people are using or displaying.

I read a lot of replies along the lines of “I play FOR myself” or “I play for fun”

But then here’s the response I create in my head: Then why not just play a single-player game? I mean, if the things you gain are just for you, and you don’t care if anyone else sees it – then couldn’t a single player game actually provide a more impressive experience than than the time-sink associated with MMOs, which is also true of GW2.

“How do you distinguish yourself in this game?”

With fashion sense, something few players seem to have.

As a casual player, I must say that the thing I notice is the titles.

mtl.5921:

I read a lot of replies along the lines of “I play FOR myself” or “I play for fun”

But then here’s the response I create in my head: Then why not just play a single-player game? I mean, if the things you gain are just for you, and you don’t care if anyone else sees it – then couldn’t a single player game actually provide a more impressive experience than than the time-sink associated with MMOs, which is also true of GW2.

But I can’t play single player games with other people. Boasting of one own achievements (which more often then not are not a testament of skill but time spent) is just a little part of playing with other players.

For example, one of the things I like in MMOs is the ability to be a part of something greater. I cannot get the same feelings I get in a guild raid in Planetside 2 (or GW2) with a single player game.

mtl.5921:

I read a lot of replies along the lines of “I play FOR myself” or “I play for fun”

But then here’s the response I create in my head: Then why not just play a single-player game? I mean, if the things you gain are just for you, and you don’t care if anyone else sees it – then couldn’t a single player game actually provide a more impressive experience than than the time-sink associated with MMOs, which is also true of GW2.

I think what is meant here is that the player plays for his own enjoyment not recognition.

It is still an MMO and it is fun to play with other people- GW2 is not really the type of game where anyone will think you are uber because of some gear.
Simply because gear is cosmetic and a question of personal taste.

You get known by being fun to play with, by being helpful, taking a moment to answer a question by the new guy. Generally by being someone people like being around and spending time with
If you do all this while having fabulous fashion sense, so much the better.

“How do you distinguish yourself in this game?”

1- Create the largest sized norn or charr the sliders will allow,
2- Find the most inappropriate armour mix and match,
3- Dye armour with the most miss-matched colour scheme that will make eyes bleed
4- Stand in front of the bank in LA

bri.2359:

“How do you distinguish yourself in this game?”

1- Create the largest sized norn or charr the sliders will allow,
2- Find the most inappropriate armour mix and match,
3- Dye armour with the most miss-matched colour scheme that will make eyes bleed
4- Stand in front of the bank in LA

LOL. I do see these from time to time. If you want to blend in then all black and sometimes a hint of red mixed in. That is the ultimate Mesmer cloning system.

bri.2359:

“How do you distinguish yourself in this game?”

1- Create the largest sized norn or charr the sliders will allow,
2- Find the most inappropriate armour mix and match,
3- Dye armour with the most miss-matched colour scheme that will make eyes bleed
4- Stand in front of the bank in LA

I didn’t do half of those and people on my server still know me.. Let me fix that.

1. Create the largest size Charr or Norn the slider will allow.
2. Get BAMF armor.
3. Get a commander tag.
4. Get a legendary that isn’t stereotypical (I have Kudzu on my large golden charr warrior).
5. Stand in front of the bank in your offtime while you aren’t leading your server to victory on WvW with your commander tag on.

Side note – if you get a commander tag, don’t be ‘that guy’ who stands in LA all day and never helps out his server. Be sure to take advice from other commanders (I was the first commander on my server, so I had to bring my experience from being with the Titan Alliance early into launch and in beta).

Simply put, I don’t try to.

I could have the most fantabulous armor and weapon in the game, but if I’m a crappy person, no one is going to notice me, not in the sense you’re looking for anyway. No matter what you wear, or what you wield, if you are not ‘memorable’ as a person, then you are simply more scenery. Noticed for but an instant, and forgotten just as quickly.

The people I notice are those that are quiet, humble. The ones that play simply because they enjoy it. Offering their insight when asked, helping when they see the need, leading when no other will step up to do it. They could be in the crappiest armor in the game, but they are still memorable. Actions speak so much louder than words or looks, and this is what truly makes a person shine.

To seek to ‘distinguish’ yourself through mere armor or weapons alone is simply a display of vanity. A peakitten displaying his tail feathers in the hopes that a female we take notice.

DonYawnful.1062:

mtl.5921:

Wolfheart.1938:

PvP leaderboards!

What about for the more pve inclined? :L

Fractals. Higher levels and whatnot.

Some PvE’ers are more in for the lore and that part of the PvE. I’m not much of a dungeon runner, but I enjoy it with a few friends now and then.
- Still, I’ve been haunting the empty world with content that didn’t seem to get improved, but to be fair, they are talking about implementing more DE’s and improving mechanics of World bosses and what-have-ya. Looking forward to that.

Wolfheart.1938:

mtl.5921:

I read a lot of replies along the lines of “I play FOR myself” or “I play for fun”

But then here’s the response I create in my head: Then why not just play a single-player game? I mean, if the things you gain are just for you, and you don’t care if anyone else sees it – then couldn’t a single player game actually provide a more impressive experience than than the time-sink associated with MMOs, which is also true of GW2.

But I can’t play single player games with other people. Boasting of one own achievements (which more often then not are not a testament of skill but time spent) is just a little part of playing with other players.

For example, one of the things I like in MMOs is the ability to be a part of something greater. I cannot get the same feelings I get in a guild raid in Planetside 2 (or GW2) with a single player game.

So many games now have co-op or multi-player, to the point where you can play as part of a team. If the only goal is to feel like like part of a greater good, there’s a lot of games that offer that possibility, no?

The reason I chose to play another MMO after leaving my previous one of several years was the real sense of community. People could see the accomplishments of others, it would motivate you to seek those things out yourself, and then when you accomplished something, other would be like “wow, that’s awesome”. It didn’t even have to be gear related at all. Just something that makes others go “wow”

I could answer things like: how good of a player am I? How far have I progressed compared to others? What are the BIG goals I could work towards that would make people go “wow, I know that took a long time”?

It appears that titles are the closest thing to that in this game.

So, follow-up question: What are the most impressive titles in the game, and what do they entail?

I just put various pink hats on my charr engi…
Hot Pink is so underrated.

The highest number of concurrent players you can get in many of those co-op or multiplayer games is 40-50, a long shot from the two games I mentioned (GW2 wvw and Planetside 2). Not to mention that 99% of the time, they don’t have a persistent world.

Now I’m not criticizing your playstyle, I wasn’t judging you but merely answering to your rebuttal. There’s many and (dare I say) more valid reasons to playing MMOs than comparing lenght of kittenes.

With that out of the way, I don’t think you’ll be able to really find what you are looking for in GW2. Our PvE is not really competitive by design. Sorry if I don’t answer your follow-up question but I’ve ran out of time.

Edit: lol you got infracted

Closest you can get is skins and maybe high end achiever titles from points like heralded achiever or masterful achiever.

So try wielding legendaries if it can be a good set up for your class and wear some harder to get armor. If you’re lucky, they might release hard to acquire ascended armor with awesome skins as well.

Other than that, just having a unique look that also stands out will make you look more impressive (that means no zenith weapons for sure), although that’s more about searching for a look than grinding or progressing in anything. Good looking uniqueness might actually be a more solid way to impress people because of how hard that is to achieve in an MMO (but that’s just my opinion of course).

Of course the areas with the most distinction are still PvP and to a lesser extent WvW.

I’m an Asuran with a purple Afro and a blue Dorito. Everyone in the whole game knows me.

Zora.8437:

I’m an Asuran with a purple Afro and a blue Dorito. Everyone in the whole game knows me.

Ferrum Blacktide doesn’t know you :x

I’ve never found a game where anyone thought anything anyone else did in PvE was “impressive”. I’ve never seen anyone look at someone’s loot and say “Man, you must be amazing!” or hear about their best raid times and go “You, sir, are an excellent player and I respect you as a human being!”. In the end, the person in question is usually the only one impressed with their PvE record.

So, that said- I wouldn’t stress over it. It wouldn’t be different anywhere else. Be impressed with your own work and play on!

Tolmos.8395:

I’ve never found a game where anyone thought anything anyone else did in PvE was “impressive”. I’ve never seen anyone look at someone’s loot and say “Man, you must be amazing!” or hear about their best raid times and go “You, sir, are an excellent player and I respect you as a human being!”. In the end, the person in question is usually the only one impressed with their PvE record.

So, that said- I wouldn’t stress over it. It wouldn’t be different anywhere else. Be impressed with your own work and play on!

You must’ve never played WoW then. There were some sets of gear that took weeks to get and people instantly recognize you for it. I got compliments on my raiding gear in WoW every time I went to a major city or ran a dungeon with random people. Ahh, those were the days.

Then I came to GW2 and everyone is the same. Boring, uninteresting, and everyone is a DPS. It’s easy to get almost all armor in the game, so I can’t be recognized for that anymore. Even getting a legendary isn’t an accomplishment when people just mystic forge precursors all the time. In summary: There isn’t anything in this game that allows you to be distinguished from other people. Everyone is the same. Nobody can be better than anyone else, which makes me angry.

It was also easy to distinguish someone by the class/build they were using. Example: Druid Tank, Paladin tank, Paladin Healer, Warrior DPS, stuff like that. Since normally Paladins tended to go more with the healer side, I was unique in the fact that I was a Paladin Tank (A very good one), and people recognized me for that.

Tolmos.8395:

I’ve never found a game where anyone thought anything anyone else did in PvE was “impressive”. I’ve never seen anyone look at someone’s loot and say “Man, you must be amazing!” or hear about their best raid times and go “You, sir, are an excellent player and I respect you as a human being!”. In the end, the person in question is usually the only one impressed with their PvE record.

Then you obviously haven’t played mainstream MMOs at a high level. Hell, just the obvious WoW has that. Seriously, get out from under that bridge.

To OP, if you want to “distinguish” yourself, go play real PvP games, this is an MMO. All you’ll find here are dissatisfied PvEers and crappy kids who think tab target>1234>hidebehindpillar is competitive PvP.

LanfearShadowflame.3189:

Simply put, I don’t try to.

I could have the most fantabulous armor and weapon in the game, but if I’m a crappy person, no one is going to notice me, not in the sense you’re looking for anyway. No matter what you wear, or what you wield, if you are not ‘memorable’ as a person, then you are simply more scenery. Noticed for but an instant, and forgotten just as quickly.

The people I notice are those that are quiet, humble. The ones that play simply because they enjoy it. Offering their insight when asked, helping when they see the need, leading when no other will step up to do it. They could be in the crappiest armor in the game, but they are still memorable. Actions speak so much louder than words or looks, and this is what truly makes a person shine.

To seek to ‘distinguish’ yourself through mere armor or weapons alone is simply a display of vanity. A peakitten displaying his tail feathers in the hopes that a female we take notice.

This … I’d rather be known as the person who was always around to lend a hand, even if he had to drop everything he was doing, then to be known as the dude standing there, blinding everyone with my shiny armor/weapon skin that took me “x” amount of tokens, mats, gold, weeks, etc. to obtain, because hey, if I’ve got that, I’ve just GOT to be cool …

Honestly, and maybe it’s just how I look at things, I’m playing to enjoy myself, not to prove anything to anyone. And if I were to see someone that had a “I just did this EPIC event that took me so long I didn’t sleep AND skipped work” t-shirt on, it wouldn’t make an impression on me except for an eye-roll.

But hey — that’s just me.

I like to think I put a bit of effort into upping my skill level, both for PvE and for PvP, and to understand better and better what I can do, and when to do it. I’m not that competitive with others, though I enjoy it sometimes; I’m more interested in the feeling of mastery of a skill, the little victories. I don’t really have enough time to go into things hardcore, but the time I do play, I like to concentrate and learn.

The only way you can stand out in this game is to have an actual fashion sense. In my view most characters look ridiculous in this game and I can’t blame the players for that entirely.

But if you manage to get gear together that looks good and matches and doesn’t look over the top or otherwise ridiculous I would be very impressed with you.