Guild Wars 2

At first, I really hated the “New Player Experience”. But I’m starting to like it after fully leveling a character through it. Some things are really dumb, like blocking access to quickly get into WvW and PvP. I hate the late access to traits though. I love the idea of going out into the world to get them for free, don’t get me wrong. The late access though really breaks classes.

Yeah, I actually kinda liked it after leveling all the way through it as well. And yes, the open world trait thing is kind of a pain. Some of them you can get by exploring, and just wandering around. However, if you are doing zone completion for leveling, you’ll already be level 80 before you even get to the zones that have the events for the traits.

But I do like the level up rewards (I just wish they were salvagable :P) and how the PS steps play out. So I can do a block at a time and move on.

Could it be that you’re experiencing a mild form of “Stockholm Syndrome”?

Sir Egil The Bull.7869:

Could it be that you’re experiencing a mild form of “Stockholm Syndrome”?

Heh, this is what I was thinking after reading the this thread.

I would like the idea of going out into the world to get them for free if I could earn it by doing something that is solo-able and not tedious. Unfortunately I think all the trait unlock requirements aren’t soloable or they’re really tedious/buggy.

The idea of going out into the world to earn traits is nice and novel but the way it’s handled is too limited imo. Each trait has a specific requirement somethings requiring an entire zone completion or a specific zone. There should really be multiple options for getting any given trait.

I mean if I’m an asura leveling up through zones in Kryta why do I have to drop what I’m doing to go to the boonies of Ascalon for a specific event?

Alternatively simply grouping traits so it’s not so much of a grind to unlock a good variety, for example clearing zone Y could unlock all “IV” adept traits giving you some things to experiment with without forcing you to either ignore traits or adopt whatever random traits you’ve unlocked by exploring naturally.

I like the idea of going out into the world to earn traits. What should have been done is changing the skill point challenges to teach players how to use the traits. Even excluding the ones in wvw and all the new ones in zones that came out after launch, there are more than enough to have one per trait.

Crossplay.2067:

I like the idea of going out into the world to earn traits. What should have been done is changing the skill point challenges to teach players how to use the traits. Even excluding the ones in wvw and all the new ones in zones that came out after launch, there are more than enough to have one per trait.

That would basically be 520 different challenges, there’s 202 skill points on the map. And it would be rather boring at times as my precision is converted into vitality.

Riot Inducer.8964:

The idea of going out into the world to earn traits is nice and novel but the way it’s handled is too limited imo. Each trait has a specific requirement somethings requiring an entire zone completion or a specific zone. There should really be multiple options for getting any given trait.

I mean if I’m an asura leveling up through zones in Kryta why do I have to drop what I’m doing to go to the boonies of Ascalon for a specific event?

Alternatively simply grouping traits so it’s not so much of a grind to unlock a good variety, for example clearing zone Y could unlock all “IV” adept traits giving you some things to experiment with without forcing you to either ignore traits or adopt whatever random traits you’ve unlocked by exploring naturally.

I’m agreeing with this.

On the surface, I liked the whole “more reasons to explore” deal but some of the criteria to get these traits is rather annoying. Frankly, they should have just made a slew of new traits that all were tied up behind these explore-more modes and left most of the old ones the same as they were.

If anything, it’s making me appreciate other stand-in traits that I didn’t use very often before.

My only real complaint with the NPE is how they butchered the Chapter 7 and 8 sections of the Personal Story. I’m still waiting to hear back from ANet if they’re aware of the discontent about it, and if it’s going to be addressed.

Having stuff like Skill Points etc. being locked was a silly move too, but at least once it’s unlocked on your account, all new characters can access them immediately.

I was looking at traiting my level 60 necromancer today. A trait I was interested in required me to do level 70 content. That simply makes no sense; if something’s usable at a certain level, one shouldn’t have to get ten levels higher to achieve it.

Zaxares.5419:

My only real complaint with the NPE is how they butchered the Chapter 7 and 8 sections of the Personal Story. I’m still waiting to hear back from ANet if they’re aware of the discontent about it, and if it’s going to be addressed.

Having stuff like Skill Points etc. being locked was a silly move too, but at least once it’s unlocked on your account, all new characters can access them immediately.

i haven’t done personal story for a very long time.
what happened to chapter 7 and 8? O_O

The trait revamp wasn’t part of the NPE, which came later.

I also did’nt like the NPE at first but after trying it I have to say its not that bad. Getting traits now is fun !!!

Vayne.8563:

The trait revamp wasn’t part of the NPE, which came later.

No, but the trait availability was further delayed with the NPE as far as I remember, at least grandmaster traits are, but I think the lower ones as well.

Deimos Tel Arin.7391:

Zaxares.5419:

My only real complaint with the NPE is how they butchered the Chapter 7 and 8 sections of the Personal Story. I’m still waiting to hear back from ANet if they’re aware of the discontent about it, and if it’s going to be addressed.

Having stuff like Skill Points etc. being locked was a silly move too, but at least once it’s unlocked on your account, all new characters can access them immediately.

i haven’t done personal story for a very long time.
what happened to chapter 7 and 8? O_O

Essentially, ANet completely cut out the “My Greatest Fear” plotline and large chunks of the invasion of Orr. After the first meeting with Trahearne to “Forge the Pact”, it jumps immediately to the “Battle of Fort Trinity”. You never get to meet Apatia, Tonn, recover the Blue Orb etc.

This then causes continuity issues where your PC will say stuff like, “I regret Tonn’s death” when the player doesn’t even know who Tonn is. Or where you meet Sayeh in Orr and she talks to you like you’re a friend while the player goes “Who the heck are you??”, because they cut out the mission where you’re supposed to meet her for the first time.

It’s a colossal mess, and there’s a lot of players who are refusing to proceed with the Personal Story until it’s resolved, but ANet’s been silent on the entire issue. We don’t even know if they’re aware of it or if they plan to do anything about it.

Jana.6831:

Vayne.8563:

The trait revamp wasn’t part of the NPE, which came later.

No, but the trait availability was further delayed with the NPE as far as I remember, at least grandmaster traits are, but I think the lower ones as well.

Ah okay..but getting them is still a royal pain in the kitten, whenever they unlock.

Edit: Actually I don’t think they were further delayed at all.

Zaxares.5419:

Deimos Tel Arin.7391:

Zaxares.5419:

My only real complaint with the NPE is how they butchered the Chapter 7 and 8 sections of the Personal Story. I’m still waiting to hear back from ANet if they’re aware of the discontent about it, and if it’s going to be addressed.

Having stuff like Skill Points etc. being locked was a silly move too, but at least once it’s unlocked on your account, all new characters can access them immediately.

i haven’t done personal story for a very long time.
what happened to chapter 7 and 8? O_O

Essentially, ANet completely cut out the “My Greatest Fear” plotline and large chunks of the invasion of Orr. After the first meeting with Trahearne to “Forge the Pact”, it jumps immediately to the “Battle of Fort Trinity”. You never get to meet Apatia, Tonn, recover the Blue Orb etc.

This then causes continuity issues where your PC will say stuff like, “I regret Tonn’s death” when the player doesn’t even know who Tonn is. Or where you meet Sayeh in Orr and she talks to you like you’re a friend while the player goes “Who the heck are you??”, because they cut out the mission where you’re supposed to meet her for the first time.

It’s a colossal mess, and there’s a lot of players who are refusing to proceed with the Personal Story until it’s resolved, but ANet’s been silent on the entire issue. We don’t even know if they’re aware of it or if they plan to do anything about it.

tonn the asura who blew himself up? yeah i just checked wiki, that tonn.

wow, kitten, this is unacceptable !!!

why they remove an important part of the personal story?

Vayne.8563:

Jana.6831:

Vayne.8563:

The trait revamp wasn’t part of the NPE, which came later.

No, but the trait availability was further delayed with the NPE as far as I remember, at least grandmaster traits are, but I think the lower ones as well.

Ah okay..but getting them is still a royal pain in the kitten, whenever they unlock.

Edit: Actually I don’t think they were further delayed at all.

Maybe you’re right, I can’t really remember. I just remember that i had a look at my latest under 80 when the NPE was introduced and wondered why traits were now even harder to get. But maybe I got something wrong or it has been changed in the meantime. Since it usually takes longer to get “all” traits than getting to level 80 I never really notice anyway.

masterJP.5048:

I also did’nt like the NPE at first but after trying it I have to say its not that bad. Getting traits now is fun !!!

… no it’s not. We used to get them all by level 60. Now there are some adept traits we can’t even unlock until level 50.

tofumon.5924:

masterJP.5048:

I also did’nt like the NPE at first but after trying it I have to say its not that bad. Getting traits now is fun !!!

… no it’s not. We used to get them all by level 60. Now there are some adept traits we can’t even unlock until level 50.

Fun is subjective.

I find Sims 2 and Sims 3 fun. My brother does not. Neither my brother nor I have the correct opinion on whether Sims 2 or Sims 3 is fun or not. Because the question “Is it fun?” doesn’t have a right or wrong answer.

Zaxares.5419:

Deimos Tel Arin.7391:

Zaxares.5419:

My only real complaint with the NPE is how they butchered the Chapter 7 and 8 sections of the Personal Story. I’m still waiting to hear back from ANet if they’re aware of the discontent about it, and if it’s going to be addressed.

Having stuff like Skill Points etc. being locked was a silly move too, but at least once it’s unlocked on your account, all new characters can access them immediately.

i haven’t done personal story for a very long time.
what happened to chapter 7 and 8? O_O

Essentially, ANet completely cut out the “My Greatest Fear” plotline and large chunks of the invasion of Orr. After the first meeting with Trahearne to “Forge the Pact”, it jumps immediately to the “Battle of Fort Trinity”. You never get to meet Apatia, Tonn, recover the Blue Orb etc.

This then causes continuity issues where your PC will say stuff like, “I regret Tonn’s death” when the player doesn’t even know who Tonn is. Or where you meet Sayeh in Orr and she talks to you like you’re a friend while the player goes “Who the heck are you??”, because they cut out the mission where you’re supposed to meet her for the first time.

It’s a colossal mess, and there’s a lot of players who are refusing to proceed with the Personal Story until it’s resolved, but ANet’s been silent on the entire issue. We don’t even know if they’re aware of it or if they plan to do anything about it.

I haven’t leveled anything since way before those changes, I didn’t know they ripped the story out like that. So no underwater bomb quest, Tonn?

Seera.5916:

tofumon.5924:

masterJP.5048:

I also did’nt like the NPE at first but after trying it I have to say its not that bad. Getting traits now is fun !!!

… no it’s not. We used to get them all by level 60. Now there are some adept traits we can’t even unlock until level 50.

Fun is subjective.

I find Sims 2 and Sims 3 fun. My brother does not. Neither my brother nor I have the correct opinion on whether Sims 2 or Sims 3 is fun or not. Because the question “Is it fun?” doesn’t have a right or wrong answer.

The process of unlocking them can be fun, but arguing that pushing back trait acquisition levels is “fun” is the same as saying “playing the game without traits is more fun than playing them with traits.”

Personally, there are some aspects of the NPE (and other changes) that I like; however, there are aspects that I don’t like as well.

The extremely super simple dodge “training” is something I sort of like. I mean, a basic pop up and a means to practice (and incentive) are all one really need.

The freebies for leveling, I like. Conversely I hate that they cannot be sold (to a mechant) or salvaged, that just feels like punishment.

I dislike the removal of certain things (like bundles) from the started zones. That was just stupid. A simple pop up explaining what the heck just happened would have been sufficient. For anyone that didn’t get it after a small explanation, you have to wonder if they should be playing games at all in the first place.

I enjoy trait hunting, it’s very nostalgic. However, tying a single trait to a whole kitten map clear should never have even been though of. Specific events, great. Specific bosses, cool. Finding a specific hidden treasure, sweet. The whole kitten map cleared? Just ugh.

I’ve really tried to like it, and I probably would’ve if it hadn’t been for me experiencing the truly amazing levelling experience GW2 initially had. It was perfect, it made sense: You use a weapon, you unlock its skills, you use another weapon, you unlock the other weapon’s skills. How would me spamming scepter 1 help me learn dagger 2? The new experience doesn’t make sense to me. Weapon swap at lvl 12 (or 13 or whatever it is)? Sure it makes sense for new players, but please give me an option to receive it earlier after leveling my umpteenth alt. Even still, I think I would’ve been able to make my piece with all that if it hadn’t been for the awful awful awful awful awful AWFUL trait system they implemented.

With that said, kudos to them for admitting their mistakes and reverting back some of the changes…now if they would only implement a more veteran-friendly leveling experience…

Chicago Jack.5647:

blocking access to quickly get into WvW and PvP.

As soon as you finish the tutorial the cross swords is at the top left of the screen. It hasn’t changed since release. I think you read something somewhere and just decided it got changed.

I liked NPE until last Friday night, when a returning friend logged in and we were unale to progress his personal story, because he was at 21 and it required 30.

He got, instead, his first experience doing leveling in EoTM

GOSU.9574:

As soon as you finish the tutorial the cross swords is at the top left of the screen. It hasn’t changed since release.

No, I didn’t have access to them until I hit a certain level. I can’t remember which level, but the only way I could have gone to wvw or pvp was to walk to lions arch.

Chicago Jack.5647:

GOSU.9574:

As soon as you finish the tutorial the cross swords is at the top left of the screen. It hasn’t changed since release.

No, I didn’t have access to them until I hit a certain level. I can’t remember which level, but the only way I could have gone to wvw or pvp was to walk to lions arch.

I make alts and run the tutorial every day, for pvp alts. After tutorial the swords are there. You will be auto-level 2 after tutorial.

GOSU.9574:

Chicago Jack.5647:

GOSU.9574:

As soon as you finish the tutorial the cross swords is at the top left of the screen. It hasn’t changed since release.

No, I didn’t have access to them until I hit a certain level. I can’t remember which level, but the only way I could have gone to wvw or pvp was to walk to lions arch.

I make alts and run the tutorial every day, for pvp alts. After tutorial the swords are there. You will be auto-level 2 after tutorial.

I think it’s an account unlock. You unlock it on one character and all have them. Most of us veterans were likely already passed the point it unlocked on one of our characters.

tofumon.5924:

Seera.5916:

tofumon.5924:

masterJP.5048:

I also did’nt like the NPE at first but after trying it I have to say its not that bad. Getting traits now is fun !!!

… no it’s not. We used to get them all by level 60. Now there are some adept traits we can’t even unlock until level 50.

Fun is subjective.

I find Sims 2 and Sims 3 fun. My brother does not. Neither my brother nor I have the correct opinion on whether Sims 2 or Sims 3 is fun or not. Because the question “Is it fun?” doesn’t have a right or wrong answer.

The process of unlocking them can be fun, but arguing that pushing back trait acquisition levels is “fun” is the same as saying “playing the game without traits is more fun than playing them with traits.”

And some probably do find the challenge of playing without traits to be more fun than the challenge of playing with traits. Like I said, it’s subjective.

I will say that those who find the new way to get traits fun in its entirety are probably greatly outnumbered by those who don’t find some aspect of getting traits fun. As anyone who reads the thread about the changes can easily see.

Seera.5916:

I think it’s an account unlock. You unlock it on one character and all have them. Most of us veterans were likely already passed the point it unlocked on one of our characters.

That could be, and I couldn’t fault Anet for not wanting brand new players to the game getting crushed in PvP as their first experience after a tutorial.