Guild Wars 2

So my guild has an open-door recruitment policy – ask for an invite, you get one. We’re about as casual as casual gets, but I’d like to think we still know what we’re going and we do get our guild missions done. I figured this was largely the norm, and for all I know it is. But something happened the other day, during the DXP weekend, that just completely boggled my mind, to the point where I actually had to stop playing for a while. Just stood there and tried to process.

One of our guildmates had invited a new friend in, someone who’d picked up the game on the super-cheap for the weekend sale, and the following exchange of words took place:

Guild Leader: “So how’re you enjoying the game so far?”
New Player: “It’s a little overwhelming really, but I like it!”

.
..
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…a little overwhelming. A little overwhelming? A LITTLE OVERWHELMING?!

MY GOD. The NPE is putrid, downright insulting in its assumption of gross incompetence on the player’s part in just about every facet of everyday life, let alone in-game performance, and has been engineered to strip away absolutely everything the player might conceivably be able to do to trip themselves up until level 80, and yet somehow the game still overwhelms?

I don’t get it. I can’t get it. How can anyone possibly be overwhelmed by GW2 after ArenaNet disabled ninety percent of the game until such time as you hit your first 80? I can’t even tolerate conventional leveling anymore because of how incredibly restrictive the strangled-off level system is, and yet the entire point of the throttled level system is apparently defeated because people are still overwhelmed?!

What the hell happened? Has anyone else seen any evidence of this? How can you be a functional human being in everyday life and yet still be overwhelmed by the handful of spoonfed fragments of this game you get through the NPE until you’re level 80?

What are we doing wrong – as developers of GW2, as players of GW2, and as a species – that this is somehow still a problem?

So ..is this a guild issue or a new player issue you are having? O.o I’m confused..

Hmmm. Just because gaming is easy for you does not necessarily mean it is easy for everyone. You know, some game has to be a person’s very first foray into the gaming world, and perhaps…just perhaps, Guild Wars 2 is that game for some.

I know I had no clue how things worked in an MMORPG or other MMO-type games the first time I ventured into one. I did not understand the lingo, or what I was supposed to do, or how to control my character, or much of anything.

Rather than being ‘mind-blown’, maybe we could just offer help and/or support to those that struggle those first few days/weeks/months. =)

Get off your high horse and realize that not everyone is a full time gamer living in their parents basement.

Maybe it’s time to step back from the game if something like this angers you so much that you feel the need to post about it. You are in the wrong here, not the developers or this new player.

How rude OP. Just how rude. To someone who is new to MMOS this game can be overwhelming, i know i invited a few people who NEVER touched a MMO in their lifes before, they had no idea what to do, some still dont, and this was after the NPE.

So shut up and take your rudeness elsewhere please, and get off your high horse. Others have said it and ill say it again, Just because YOU dont have a problem playing MMOs doesnt mean that others dont.

My girlfriend has never played a video game. When she wanted to try that “game I spend my life on” she was overwhelmed by moving the camera and the character at the same time. She could either walk in a direction with wasd or move the camera. Imagine how she would feel about quests, stats, dungeons, LFG, raids, ganking and all these gaming or MMO related mechanics and words.

I don’t even…

Sounds like you need to step away for a bit, OP. Besides sounding very cynical you’re also highly judgemental of a player you have no inkling about. Honestly I find it insulting you would attempt to bash this player on a public forum because they’re working to understand a new game.

Hopefully you were not clamoring for an expansion because a lot more players will be joining our ranks soon. Some need a little more time to come around than others.

GW2 pre-80 is so simple now a trained monkey could do it. However, I can see how it might be overwhelming if you’re one of the classes that gets completely screwed overy by the new system. ie. mesmers, engineers, etc. Classes that rely heavily on traits and high level skills to be playable.

I think there’s some joke about talking blenders. Like, if all the management in the world got replaced by those, no one would ever actually notice.

People nowadays are so used to their conveyor-belt type daily routine that anything that is one inch to the side of it confuses and overwhelms. Partly it’s because narrow specialisation is a thing, but more because it’s too easy to survive and cheat vs. natural selection.

Brace yourself, OP. Unless there’s a new war, it will only get worse. And as long as it’s getting worse, there always will be one.

quick comparison:
watch angry joe’s review for GW2
watch his report from Anet’s PAX

this is exactly what happened; at first you were probably excited and blown up with all the gw2 graphics, mechanics, events etc. but after two years it’s not that easy to be excited anymore.

That happened to me too. During the promotion I bought second account of GW2 and started playing just to experience the ‘fresh’ gw2. And you know what? Excluding things like dancing with cows or level gating skills I actually like the NPE. I have some ideas how it would be better but le’s face it – it’s a corporate thing. If it was accepted and released there is no chance we can win the fight to change it.

To be honest, I’m jealous about all those new players starting the game today. They have this whole adventure before them. I already lived my adventure and to some point I feel like old fart dreaming about glorious past.

Lishtenbird.2814:

I think there’s some joke about talking blenders. Like, if all the management in the world got replaced by those, no one would ever actually notice.

People nowadays are so used to their conveyor-belt type daily routine that anything that is one inch to the side of it confuses and overwhelms. Partly it’s because narrow specialisation is a thing, but more because it’s too easy to survive and cheat vs. natural selection.

Brace yourself, OP. Unless there’s a new war, it will only get worse. And as long as it’s getting worse, there always will be one.

What are you even rambling on about?

Yes OP. There are people in the world who have never played a game before and learning how to move around and use skills in a virtual world can be overwhelming.

Well the OP says the NPE is dumbing down the player base. But forgets that a small (very small) minority of the exisitng players, are struggling with the LS bosses. And are asking for it to be nerfed. What does that say about them then OP?. And here is the kicker, they’ve been playing much longer, before the NPE was ever dreamt up.

Guild Wars 2, even with the NPE, is overwhelming for new players, specially the ones that never played a MMO before. Know why? Lack of better tooltip, a proper tutorial and explanation within the game.

A veteran player won’t think about this anymore, but might I ask how you found out about different tiers of gears, crafting, stats, lack of the usual trinity and etc? You had to ask around or search up for such things right? A new player in the MMO category will have a hard time before they can grasp all that.

When I see a new player struggling around when I am leveling or mapping, I help them and then tell if they have any doubts, to befriend me and ask whenever they want. As it is, I get whispers asking how mechanics, stats, professions and most of all, how crafting works, because looking only within the game, they can’t figure out how to maximize the craft experience without a direct information about it.

Overwhelming, eh?
Probably he/she ment the game as a whole and not only the gameplay. Graphics are very nice, good soundtrack, nice stories.
This all can lead to an overwhelming expression ;D

azyume.6321:

Guild Wars 2, even with the NPE, is overwhelming for new players, specially the ones that never played a MMO before. Know why? Lack of better tooltip, a proper tutorial and explanation within the game.

A veteran player won’t think about this anymore, but might I ask how you found out about different tiers of gears, crafting, stats, lack of the usual trinity and etc? You had to ask around or search up for such things right? A new player in the MMO category will have a hard time before they can grasp all that.

When I see a new player struggling around when I am leveling or mapping, I help them and then tell if they have any doubts, to befriend me and ask whenever they want. As it is, I get whispers asking how mechanics, stats, professions and most of all, how crafting works, because looking only within the game, they can’t figure out how to maximize the craft experience without a direct information about it.

No, I learned all of that within the first hour, during beta when nobody else knew what the kitten was going on either. It isn’t that hard.

WASD, right click down, 1-5, shift 1-5 or w/e keys you bind. Game done,.

DevilLordLaser.8619:

MY GOD. The NPE is putrid, downright insulting in its assumption of gross incompetence on the player’s part in just about every facet of everyday life, let alone in-game performance, and has been engineered to strip away absolutely everything the player might conceivably be able to do to trip themselves up until level 80, and yet somehow the game still overwhelms?

Unfortunately, you’re wrong. The NPE dumbed down basic things that even a newbie would be able to do, like feeding cows. On the other hand, it did little to nothing to explain more complex and obtuse mechanics of the game, like the downed state. You get a pop-up that semi-explains what the downed state is about, but that’s it. The game doesn’t even offer a convenient method to see what your downed state skills are. NPE also made some elements of the game more confusing. Like getting skills. Previously, you got 1 SP every level and could go to the locations market with a SP icon to get more points. Now you get seven skill points every seven levels (I think?) and can go to the locations marked with a SP icon to get more points if your level is high enough. It’s more complex, not less.

The NPE was a fix to a legitimate problem that altered mostly elements that weren’t part of that problem in the first place. Its compass is the only addition I find good.

Since the OP does not tell us what the individual in question might have said about what s/he found to be overwhelming about the game, it’s hard to draw any conclusions. Then again, it’s impossible to analyze trends based on a single example anyway. Since that is what the OP is doing, I believe the likely reason for the post is an attempt to garner attention for the OP’s dislike of the NPE.

Dinks.2478:

azyume.6321:

Guild Wars 2, even with the NPE, is overwhelming for new players, specially the ones that never played a MMO before. Know why? Lack of better tooltip, a proper tutorial and explanation within the game.

A veteran player won’t think about this anymore, but might I ask how you found out about different tiers of gears, crafting, stats, lack of the usual trinity and etc? You had to ask around or search up for such things right? A new player in the MMO category will have a hard time before they can grasp all that.

When I see a new player struggling around when I am leveling or mapping, I help them and then tell if they have any doubts, to befriend me and ask whenever they want. As it is, I get whispers asking how mechanics, stats, professions and most of all, how crafting works, because looking only within the game, they can’t figure out how to maximize the craft experience without a direct information about it.

No, I learned all of that within the first hour, during beta when nobody else knew what the kitten was going on either. It isn’t that hard.

WASD, right click down, 1-5, shift 1-5 or w/e keys you bind. Game done,.

Everyone has different learning speeds and some things that are easy for you will always be difficult for others.

I have played this game for 2 years and I still have to mouse click all of my skills, I tend to press the wrong skills, I still don’t know how to beat most dungeons, and I am still unable to complete any high level content or world bosses that require any sort of skill outside of spamming attacks.

There will always be someone who has trouble with something that another person can do easily.

Dinks.2478:

azyume.6321:

Guild Wars 2, even with the NPE, is overwhelming for new players, specially the ones that never played a MMO before. Know why? Lack of better tooltip, a proper tutorial and explanation within the game.

A veteran player won’t think about this anymore, but might I ask how you found out about different tiers of gears, crafting, stats, lack of the usual trinity and etc? You had to ask around or search up for such things right? A new player in the MMO category will have a hard time before they can grasp all that.

When I see a new player struggling around when I am leveling or mapping, I help them and then tell if they have any doubts, to befriend me and ask whenever they want. As it is, I get whispers asking how mechanics, stats, professions and most of all, how crafting works, because looking only within the game, they can’t figure out how to maximize the craft experience without a direct information about it.

No, I learned all of that within the first hour, during beta when nobody else knew what the kitten was going on either. It isn’t that hard.

WASD, right click down, 1-5, shift 1-5 or w/e keys you bind. Game done,.

The bold part is what I needed. Thanks for answering! You just stated you learned how to walk and hit keys… no mention at all about game mechanics or any of the other stuff I mentioned. Fail but thanks anyway.

All right, all right. I’ll admit, I’m having a bad morning and my meaning could have been made more clear.

First of all, I’m not actually bashing the new player involved, or my guild. I answered the new guy’s questions as they came up like anyone with a modicum of decency would, just also ended up standing there in the Black Citadel staring at my screen for a while in something which felt a lot like brain shock.

Mostly I’m just trying to understand how this NPE that literally everyone I know in this game hates could still somehow be failing in its job. The NPE is horrific to existing players, leveling doesn’t even make sense anymore and three-quarters of what you need to be successful at this game is gated behind or well behind level 30, all in the name of giving new players an easier time of it so they stop suffering shock at all the things GW2 does.

And now new players are still suffering shock at all the things GW2 does.

Like I said: what are the devs doing wrong, what are we the players doing wrong, and what is the human race doing wrong that this could still be a problem? I’m not blaming anyone, I’m trying to wrap my head around the mostly inconceivable notion, to me, that this game’s NPE state could still be overwhelming to someone.

I chose my words poorly and offer apologies for that, but I offer no apologies for my confusion. If the NPE is toxic to existing/experienced players to the point where I don’t even start a character I can’t instant-80 anymore, and yet doesn;t work for actual new players, then it strikes me that something is deeply broken here and needs fixing.

Are you sure he was talking about the combat and the NPE being overwhelming? Even a new player who has no trouble with that is listening to friends and map chat prattling on about runes, sigils, builds, ascended gear, fractals, dungeons, events on other maps, world bosses, lore, story, achievements, and all kinds of things he doesn’t need to be worried about yet. The sum total of information about a big game looks pretty overwhelming to any new player of any MMO — the guy who’s still working on getting the keymap into his muscle memory — and it takes time to figure out what needs to be known NOW from what comes into play later. When you see a mountain of information and have no idea where to begin climbing, it isn’t surprising to feel a bit overwhelmed.

Exaggeration. Strong in this one it is. – Yoda

Too little information to make a sane conclusion bro.
…THE AMERICAN WAY /eagle shaped drone flies away/

Would be interesting to listen what aspect of this vast game he/she is strugling with.