…after buying this game nearly a year ago, trying it out and “not feeling it” then coming back to it recently, I feel that the game has improved…but it still lacking in some critical areas.
Poor Character Development
This is a RPG and at the most basic level, you are assuming the role of a character which you then develop by playing the game, gaining experience, abilities, items and such. In GW2, your level is always keyed to the area you are in so in essence you’re always level 1. I understand that down-grading levels allows players to get rewards for participating in starting area events, but it does sap character development altogether. I’m level 51 now, and it feels no different than any of the preceding levels.
Lack of Variety in Gear
Most gear sets look the same and offer minimal stat increases. Perhaps the idea that “gear shouldn’t matter” was overemphasized – it should matter, because the way you equip your character is part of an RPG. Equipping new weapons makes hardly any noticeable difference in how the game plays in terms of dealing damage, healing or survivability. If we’re just wearing armor for aesthetics then why not make some cool-looking armor available every 10 levels rather than mostly at level 80?
Everyone’s a Winner PvP
Largely due to the above gear normalization, and the fact that all classes in the game can attack, heal and defend, PvP in this game is still weak sauce. You’ll see other threads of people saying how “it should be about skill not gear”, well, guess what, gearing and specc’ing your character is a skill you develop.
Having the perseverance to play and acquire new gear is not only an incentive to play, but it also gives you that “unfair advantage” over the guy who logs on once every few months and expects to be on “god mode”. I think WvW is a fun concept that is flawed in that whoever has more people in their group at any given time wins. You can’t “outplay” the mob using tactics or simply by having a smaller group with better class composition. This kind of gameplay is fine for FPS like Call of Duty, but in an RPG it makes the game feel bland and one-dimensional. Calculated imbalances among classes force people to work together to win, or lose because they could not coordinate.
Some Ideas
I think that levels should matter, meaning that a level 80 stays at level 80 even when he’s in a level 3 area. There is no reason a level 3 monster should be any challenge to a level 80 player…but to encourage high level players to help low level players, how about making the level scaling effective only in the context of quests/events for the area, and only vs the event objectives.
People often say “endgame”, but an MMO doesn’t really end, so that really means “What do I do when I’m done leveling” and from what I can tell, there isn’t really anything to aim for. That really dampens my desire to level because what will I get at 80 that I can’t get now? It shouldn’t be a treadmill, which implies repetitive and boring tasks, it should be something that has you going all around the game world.
It could be something as simple as doing a series of quests that culminate in a series of fairly difficult battles, with a reward being an entirely new ability, attack or skill OR an upgrade to an existing ability. These should be usable in PvP once unlocked.
Gear doesn’t necessarily need to boost stats but they can do more with set bonuses as well as on-equip features, like a helm that increases your ability to sense stealth players or a weapon that not only looks cool but augments your attacks in a way that is beneficial to your chosen class.
Finally, why not give players the option to choose a faction and in doing so, become hostile to players in an opposing faction. This way people who enjoy “world PvP” can engage other players in the game world, for fun or to fulfill faction objectives, while the care-bear pacifists (who play a game called guild WARS yet feel they shouldn’t have to fight) will be not have to worry about getting ganked.