Guild Wars 2

My question to the community is this scenario:

Imagine this is your first MMO. Imagine you’ve never played GW1, or WoW, or EQ etc. You have no basis for comparison, this is your first experience with this kind of game.

Ok, in that mind set? Now answer this: What do you think of the game?

Sure, its great, but you can do the same trick with any game. If you ignore what all other games in the genre have to offer, even a generic run-of-the-mill F2P cash-shop MMO #25 can seem amazing. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 can seem amazing if you’ve never played Quake, Battlefield, other Call of Duty games, many other FPS games. What does GW2, in its current state, have to offer compared to other MMOs? In my opinion, not much, if not less.

Imagining it won’t help, it will never be the same as if it really were your 1st mmo. Your subconscience will always pull from past experiences even if you try to ban them from your conscience.

Too much is broken. I would be turned off by MMOs if this was my first because of it.

I’ve played quite a few MMOs in the past and know that stuff like this gets fixed but at the rate of stuff getting fixed on major issues is too slow going. Then with new bugs appearing after a patch just makes it even worse. These last two patches have probably been the worst in terms of breaking more. If I was a new person to the MMO world this latest patch would make me leave especially if I came for the PvP side of things.

Don’t get me wrong though parts of the game is amazing and people would probably love the exploring, graphics, and NPCs/story in the world but the bugs would push me out.

It’s current state is actually pretty on par with most big release MMOs. For people talking about they’re experience in other MMOs if you can remember back to WoW’s beta and release it was a kittentorm nightmare. Let’s give the game more then a month and a half before we bash it’s current state too hard.

Granted somethings need to be fixed ASAP, it still delivered in a lot of areas.

@Blaze: both your threads got closed, so now you just post your bot whine in another thread? Where is the nazi part? That kitten made me giggle!

On-topic: I’d probably compare it to dark souls and consider this game way too easy.

theerrantventure.9185:

My question to the community is this scenario:

Imagine this is your first MMO. Imagine you’ve never played GW1, or WoW, or EQ etc. You have no basis for comparison, this is your first experience with this kind of game.

Ok, in that mind set? Now answer this: What do you think of the game?

Game is great in terms of graphics, armor custimazation, the zones are great, leveling was a BLAST. But then 80 comes and its like well I’m bored and done. The pve is pretty aweful at 80, there is no challenge’s no big bad bosses to fight just bland dungeons to farm for tokens ( super fun…). I had such high hopes for the game after leveling through it but the max level content is just nonexistent

WoW on launch was not more stable or less buggy, and had its share of bots. I love the mechanics and game-play. I’m hooked, and spoiled for any other MMO now.

It’s not really my first MMO but it is the first one I play from the beginning and I’m loving it even with the rough edges.

I can only see it getting better down the road.

Man, if this was daoc when daoc came out I can absolutely say I wouldve never tried an mmo again. From a time invested point of view, I guess I got my 60$ worth but I definitely didnt get 60$ worth of fun.

If this was my first ever MMO I would hit 80 and shelve the game. I might roll another character to 80 then shelve it.

Once your 80 this game becomes nothing more then a grind for a Legendary unless your into WvW or sPvP.

Wow there is other people running around me!

Really what else would you think? If you were totally 100% new to MMO’s bugs would bother you less because you wouldn’t have a high character that fast to notice them. SM Dungeons might turn you away though.

“Wow was buggy at release” Well to that I say

1.) WoW was released around 2004, the technology that existed back then was not as advanced and good as the tech we have today.

2.) WoW was “the first of its kind” to take and combine all the good aspects of other MMORPGS and cram it into one product. Also Blizz managed to get people who never had played a MMORPG in their life interested in the World of Warcraft which lead to an income of population that noone not even Blizz had calculated for.

Therewas no game back then that had as many active players as MMORPGs have today, they just didn’t know that there were so many that wanted to play.

You know I see this “wow was also buggy” thing on a lot of MMORPG forums nowadays and to actually use WoW’s release to defend a new game is the worst excuse and absolutely pathethic and insulting to… everyone.

Stop comparing a game from 2004 with a game that was released 2011 or 2012. The last game where people were debating with this BS argument was SWTOR and this lead to that Bioware got away with a lot of issues that they should have been punished for which in the end lead to the game losing subs and going F2P and if you look at that games structure it prob won’t even go well as a F2P title.

The only thing you contribute with using the BS WoW argument that is stupid as kitten is that you give the companies that develops games a huge slack and if there is one thing that developers need atm is to shapen up and understand and admit when they get things wrong but they won’t as long as you keep on spitting this BS about WoW’s 2004 release. Can’t you even see the BS of your argument; WoW was released 2004!!!! NOT 2012 when the MMORPG market is huge!!!!

Pathetic argument is pathetic

Kso.6458:

Man, if this was daoc when daoc came out I can absolutely say I wouldve never tried an mmo again. From a time invested point of view, I guess I got my 60$ worth but I definitely didnt get 60$ worth of fun.

Heh, DAoC was much much worse. Back then, the biggest achievement was that it was playable on day one. That was not the case with Anarchy Online before it. And even at that point, EQ1, UO and AC1 were all such bug riddled messes that the sense of accomplishment came largely from figuring out how to dodge the issues and achieve a goal anyway

But, back then, MMORPGs were beautiful snowflakes. There wasn’t anything quite like them, so they got a lot of forgiveness just for not crashing. Nowadays every game from Black Ops 2 through Farmville 2 has a diku-inspired leveling achievement mechanic so baked in they turned it into the entire microtransactions business model. And the “what is an MMO” has largely been answered first by “like EQ1 but…” and then “like WoW but…”. I consider outliers like Eve Online to be separate genres altogether (and true to the original 90s vision of “massively multiplayer”, but that’s another thread ).

MMOs are still unique in the 24/7 random social encounter aspect. But as cross-genre/cross-medium gamers, it’s up to each of us individually whether that makes the bugs and MMO-specific issues acceptable.

I’m old school enough to remember broken world geometry on corpse runs where you risked not only the XP loss you incurred but also item loss if the server crashed and reset along the way. In that vein, GW2 is “perfect!”

But I also accept that any new game gets compared to the current state of all other games that are live, no matter how long those games have been around nor how well they launched months or years ago.

With all that said, GW2 is very awesome. It’s been more than worth my time and money, it does everything I want it to do better than other MMOs i could be playing, and I don’t really do polish comparisons between genres because MMOs have always lagged behind FPS, RTS and general RPGs (though nobody get me started on Skyrim issues… ).

I have a level 80 and not even close to bored. Too much content to complete, it is crazy how people eat this enormous amount of content up in a few weeks. This game was a lot more than I expected with all the terrible MMO’s released.

GreenZap.1352:

Can’t you even see the BS of your argument; WoW was released 2004!!!! NOT 2012 when the MMORPG market is huge!!!!

Pathetic argument is pathetic

Bugs don’t magically disappear based on a date of a calender. WoW release after the first batch of 3D MMO’s came out so it should have been perfect on release. See what I did there?

Dead.7385:

GreenZap.1352:

Can’t you even see the BS of your argument; WoW was released 2004!!!! NOT 2012 when the MMORPG market is huge!!!!

Pathetic argument is pathetic

Bugs don’t magically disappear based on a date of a calender. WoW release after the first batch of 3D MMO’s came out so it should have been perfect on release. See what I did there?

As I said you didn’t have any THAT big MMORPGs back then. MMORPGS was still a Niché in 2004. There wasn’t any “casual” gamers that played Everquest or UO because it’s learning curve was too steep which meant only ppl who dedicated all their time would enjyoy playing it.
WoW was the first of its kind to get so many active players none of its competitors hadclose to the players on release date that Blizz got and that’s why the server couldn’t handle it. Noone was prepared for the huge amount of ppl waiting to get in and play WoW.
Bugs do not magically disappear indeed, but when you have a history of them you learn how to handle them better and what to expect. You do not invent fire every day you know. So no your argument def shows that you have not played MMORPGs for a very long time and also have no knowledge of gaming history.

Back to the topic, GW2 is a great game it’s only a shame that they removed some things that made the firt games really really good in order to “dumb down” the game. I hope that in the coming expansions ArenaNet can bring back some of the first games features.

This is my first MMO…and I have a bad case of buyers remorse.

I’m literally bored senseless.

Events are all the same, so are quests. Collect this, protect that, kill X of these.

Nobody communicates, events are just a spamfest of magic. I’m in 2 guilds and nobody has spoken to me since joining.

I really want to like this game, but its like everything is working against that.

I think it’s almost impossible to answer this question objectively; I’ve been playing MMO’s since before we had world maps and quest systems.

In fact I can remember forum arguments about how adding an in game map was dumbing the MMO genre down…..LOL or how instancing was going to ruin the genre.

So what would I think of GW2 as a noob MMO player, well like all MMO’s the game does a crap job of explaining itself, the information regarding builds.., skills.., damage types.., conditions.., and basically everything you need to know to make informed decisions about building out your character you have to go digging for.

I think I would be impressed with the responsive controls and quite please how the game brings players together into spontaneous teams. I think I would also be impressed by the helpful community both in game and on the forums.

The leveling curve would be about right to hold my attention up to endgame but I would likely perceive the karma gear and other long term goals as too far away to grasp. Becoming disillusioned and discouraged I’d either set the game down or re-role a new toon based on if I had gotten my fill of the combat and story yet or if I had picked up on the WvW action.

So basically just like seasoned MMO Players they would go through what I call the 5 MMO player phases.
Anticipation and Wonderment
Excitement and Joy
Confusion and Determination
Exhaustion and boredom
Disappointed and disillusionment

I doubt I’d play this game if it were my first MMO. Maybe the WvW would hook me, but I’m only willing to put up with the shortcomings in MMOs after seeing SWG’s immersive sandbox and EQ2’s life-consuming depth. I’d probably quit this game before level 30 if I didn’t know that there was more to it than easy hearts and events.

Hmmm….. IF this was my first MMO?

I don’t think I would’ve even purchased it tbh.

What I mean by that, is my first MMO was Rappelz.
F2P, P2W, Asian Grinder.

And the ONLY reason I’d played it, was because I was bored outta my mind.. waiting for console releases.

Basically, all my friends talked trash bout WoW.. and how only “no-lifers” played such games. (friends aren’t part of the PC master race and we all played console games).

So I’d have never forked over money for an MMO, being that WoW is basically the “king” of this genre and perceived by the non-mmo players as “good as it’s gonna get”.

TL;DR
Had I not played a F2P title and seen what good “features” MMO’s had.. I wouldn’t of even bothered to look at GW2 being my first MMO.

On a side note, one of the main reasons I liked the trailer for GW2 is because of my experiences in Warhammer Online.

#Loved me some public quests

I think something a lot of people are missing is the fact that this is called Guild WARS. A lot of complaints is the game stagnates at 80. It really doesn’t at all. Anyone who is level 80 right now probably hasn’t done 100% of everything there is to do or complete. If they are complaining there isn’t more to do.. They probably aren’t taking place in WvWvW or PvP. Those are two of the MAJOR assets to this game. What happens in an FPS after you play through the story? You start playing online competitively, playing countless matches until the sequel comes out. Because this is an RPG, you expect it to last forever and for new unending stories to be unraveled at the same pace you complete them? You’re nuts.

A HUGE part of this game lies in the WARS part of it. Battling opposing players and guilds. It’s E-sport. The game is designed for competitive play at end-game. PvE content will eventually run out in even the most perfectly designed RPG. The beauty of End-Game in Guild Wars, and other RPG’s that are pvp centric,is that they never truly end. You reach max level and collect your gear and get yourself to the most viable point for combat. When you’re decked out, thats when the REAL game begins and you become competitive at the highest level. Battling for your world’s stake and bragging rights.

You guys are taking a GAME, and expecting LIFE. This game is so huge in comparison to the games you probably watch on television everyday, like Football, Baseball, Hockey, Golf etc. The part that keeps those players playing is the competitiveness and dynamic style that every event/game is different.

The people who built this game have put in thousands of hours of work, and continue to everyday just to please us.. The player base. They are doing an outstanding job in comparison to other MMORPG’s.. And any other MMO built to this scale would undoubtedly have a monthly fee.

I’ve been playing since BETA’s, had early start access and I’m just now hitting level 40 on my main. I’ve completed a LOT and I still have a ton I can do in all the other 1-40 zones. I play pub. pvp games to break it up on occassion and I’m starting to throw myself into WvWvW. I’m in no hurry to hit max level. A game is meant to be enjoyed. You ruin it for yourself when you hit max level in a week. Did you really enjoy any of it? Did you really do everything there is to do? Are you really any further ahead?

The reason games get ruined or destroyed is because of Whiners constantly asking for changes and demanding change to a system that is still being refined. They are fixing bugs as we speak, and they know that things might not be perfectly balanced in some areas. When you play Skyrim do you have the urge to call the developers and tell them to fix the things you didn’t like? No, you just play it and enjoy it for what it is.

I’m not saying we need to just accept the games faults, but so many of you whine about what ISN’T fun or necessarily conducive to YOUR fun. That’s all well and good until it starts affecting the fun of others.

My advice. Start a new character, and take your time. Experience the game for real. Give the writers and developers your courtesy of appreciating all the solid work they’ve put into this masterpiece. For those of you who think you could do better.. I challenge you to learn a few programming languages, build 3-d models, create textures and create a story that more than just YOU would want to experience. Then put up with a bunch of whining kitten who think they know better.

In the perfect world, we’d all get we want. We all know that a perfect world doesn’t and will never exist for that very reason. What I want may stop you from getting what you want.. This game isn’t catered to your individual needs. I’ve probably played and test more MMO’s than most people can shake a stick at.. Sure I’ve found bugs or things that I wasn’t crazy about, but I knew those features I didn’t like.. someone else probably loved. It wasn’t my place to ruin it for them.

TLDR; I hate to say it.. but L2P. Learn to ENJOY a GAME. You’re making it worse for yourself. There are plenty of people loving it. Take the time to appreciate all the effort put into this. You’re only experiencing the minutia, if you’re level 80 and complaining.. you’re doing it wrong.

Kendu Kuzal.3985:

I think something a lot of people are missing is the fact that this is called Guild WARS.

If you would have played hte first games you might not have been this hateful against people. The fact is that with GW2 ArenaNet pretty much butchered everything that made their games and their world into the marvelous being that GW1 was with dual-classing awesome skill trees etc etc.
GW1 was about playing around with skill builds, that was the endgame. GW2 has the WoW kinda endgame, grind grind grind for gear urghh…

So coming from GW1 (Proph, Factions, Night and Eye) GW2 is a little dissapointing ATM because it’s shallow and not deep at all. I hope they can evolve the game with some expansion packs because ATM the game is pretty meh…

Ofc I knew that the game wouldn’t be like the first games but I didn’t think it would be this eazy mode meh game either

Kendu Kuzal.3985:

Too long to quote, due to character limit

uh… WOW.. I’m not really sure where to begin with that =/

No disrespect intended but why should people “create an alt and explore the rest of the content” or even bother getting 100% on their main, IF they don’t enjoy what they’ve already experienced in GW2?

The main reason I quit was due to an inability to find anyone ta do anything with.. and I’ve got 2 lv80’s ~ a Necro and Elementalist ~ 6 crafting professions at lv400.. and yet like the screenshot I’ve attached to this, you can see that I’ve not gotten past lv26 on my personal stories nor any more than 44% on world completion.

I’ve been to Orr, I’ve fought dragons and I’ve died in dungeon..

Long story short, not even server hoping or guild prostituting helped me find anyone that wanted to actually “experience” the game.. despite server hoping to more “populated” servers for a few weeks.

Most of them just wanted to “farm” or exploit a dungeon… and if you didn’t know “how” then they weren’t interested in you tagging along.

Thus turning GW2 into a single player game.. with occasional “co-op”.

Anywho, I created a topic to help people better understand what’s wrong with GW2 and the mentality behind “good suggestions”.

Feel free to check it out.
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/community/links/Rewarding-Gear-Treadmill

Also, since you were talking about people “learning game design” and “appreciating the time spent” ~ why not take some time ta learn yourself?

Can check out my tutorials on 3D/Animation/Game Design via youtube ~ User = Requiemsvoid.

GreenZap.1352:

Kendu Kuzal.3985:

I think something a lot of people are missing is the fact that this is called Guild WARS.

If you would have played hte first games you might not have been this hateful against people. The fact is that with GW2 ArenaNet pretty much butchered everything that made their games and their world into the marvelous being that GW1 was with dual-classing awesome skill trees etc etc.
GW1 was about playing around with skill builds, that was the endgame. GW2 has the WoW kinda endgame, grind grind grind for gear urghh…

So coming from GW1 (Proph, Factions, Night and Eye) GW2 is a little dissapointing ATM because it’s shallow and not deep at all. I hope they can evolve the game with some expansion packs because ATM the game is pretty meh…

Ofc I knew that the game wouldn’t be like the first games but I didn’t think it would be this eazy mode meh game either

First of all, I did play GW1 and I think GW2 has used several of the same elements. There is tons of theorycrafting going on in every profession thread. The same exact suggestions and whines were happening in GW1 as they are now. It’s inescapable. GW1 was FAR MORE shallow than this upon its initial release. Are you kidding? It was far more linear and far more restricted. There was even far less to do! It took time to get GW1 to be the game that so many love. In the same breath, a lot of people enjoy GW2 just as much if not more. Do you not remember doing the same grindy kitten to obtain stuff like Obsidian armor in GW1? It’s an MMO, that element will always exist. It isn’t new with GW2.

I can understand frustrations, but this game hasn’t even been out 3 months. It’s gonna take a good 6 months to a year before it’s even starting to be polished. That’s the life of an MMO.

Dead.7385:

Bugs don’t magically disappear based on a date of a calender. WoW release after the first batch of 3D MMO’s came out so it should have been perfect on release. See what I did there?

Very good point. WoW was buggy as heck on release, GW2 has bugs as well.

Bugs show up so much in MMOs because of their complexity, their enormous cost of their development which necessitates their release and the ready ability to release update to fix them.

Unfortunately, bugs took on a whole new level of acceptance and tradition of the MMO genre because early developers realized they could get those early players to pay to beta-test and they didn’t even need to fix them that quickly.

I think modern MMOs are much better at addressing bug-issues but we’ll always see them showing up in MMOs, regardless of the era, because complex systems invite more bugs to appear. And as technology advances, game engines advance and become more complex.

Expecting modern MMOs to be bug-free is unrealistic. What we should expect is better addressing of the bugs and I see ArenaNet doing that compared to developers in the past.

AlexanderFaust.4518:

Kendu Kuzal.3985:

Too long to quote, due to character limit

uh… WOW.. I’m not really sure where to begin with that =/

No disrespect intended but why should people “create an alt and explore the rest of the content” or even bother getting 100% on their main, IF they don’t enjoy what they’ve already experienced in GW2?

The main reason I quit was due to an inability to find anyone ta do anything with.. and I’ve got 2 lv80’s ~ a Necro and Elementalist ~ 6 crafting professions at lv400.. and yet like the screenshot I’ve attached to this, you can see that I’ve not gotten past lv26 on my personal stories nor any more than 44% on world completion.

I’ve been to Orr, I’ve fought dragons and I’ve died in dungeon..

Long story short, not even server hoping or guild prostituting helped me find anyone that wanted to actually “experience” the game.. despite server hoping to more “populated” servers for a few weeks.

Most of them just wanted to “farm” or exploit a dungeon… and if you didn’t know “how” then they weren’t interested in you tagging along.

Thus turning GW2 into a single player game.. with occasional “co-op”.

Anywho, I created a topic to help people better understand what’s wrong with GW2 and the mentality behind “good suggestions”.

Feel free to check it out.
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/community/links/Rewarding-Gear-Treadmill

Also, since you were talking about people “learning game design” and “appreciating the time spent” ~ why not take some time ta learn yourself?

Can check out my tutorials on 3D/Animation/Game Design via youtube ~ User = Requiemsvoid.

I’m not sure what servers you played, but I have had no problems finding people to play through and experience the game with on Maguuma. It’s not even an RP server and plenty of people are around to quest and explore with.

As for game design. I’m a Software Programmer by trade. I build mobile games and I do art for 2-d interfaces on the side. I’m well versed in 3dsm, Maya and I started to get into Zbrush on personal time. I’m no stranger to game development or MMO’s for that matter.

The mechanics and fluidity and GW2 are incredible in comparison to most of the garbage out there. They gave a lot of freedom to the player which is hard to do in such a massive game. I wouldn’t say it’s sandbox, but it does give the player quite a bit to play with as well.

The leveling phases of this game really do not lend themselves as well to co-operative play.. But the PvP and WvWvW do. Those two elements are a major portion of this game in the first place. They are the reason there is such a deep customization within classes. That being said, I still think there is a plethora of other players that would love to experience the game and enjoy it all the way through. I know.. I’ve met them and I am one.

This game has some problems, but it’s a totally different animal than WoW or SWTOR. The first Guild Wars was nothing like other MMORPG’s that were out either. Sure this game shares some elements with modern MMORPGs but it is by no means the same. This game is already doing many things better than other games, and you have to remember this ISN’T other games. What worked in those won’t necessarily work with these game mechanics or even the story. A lot of the comments I read have no factual basis and really are nothing more than unsubstantiated opinion.

Good question. The biggest impact my first MMO had on me was the realization that the avatars running around on my screen were real people, from all over the world, and that I could talk to them and team with them.

That’s just taken for granted now.

I’m trying to imagine stepping into Guild Wars 2 and having that same feeling of awe and wonder over real people playing the game with me. On the one hand, it would be instantly immersive, those quiet solo times between teams wouldn’t have existed, at least during launch week.

On the other hand, excluding WvW, I would have felt less need to communicate with those players. Which I have no problem with, I’m just saying it would have changed the nature of my experience, as does the game world, which is infinitely more beautiful than my first MMO, but also infinitely more restrictive, scripted, and leavened.

My first MMO was Anarchy Online. You could get away with some crazy kitten in that game once you learned your way around. Equipping much higher level armor and weapons and going out to one shot red mobs, among other things.

I’d play Anarchy Online 2 in a heartbeat if they ever made it. It’s still my first love as far as MMOs go, I guess. Nothing is ever going to replace that game.

That said, Guild Wars 2 is the first game I’ve ever experienced massive scale PvP in that I enjoyed (roaming around Darkfall not finding anyone to kill doesn’t count and I never played DAOC long enough to experience their style), so Guild Wars 2 might become the yardstick for all my future massive PvP battle experiences.

Kendu Kuzal.3985:

AlexanderFaust.4518:

Kendu Kuzal.3985:

Too long to quote, due to character limit

uh... WOW.. I’m not really sure where to begin with that =/

No disrespect intended but why should people "create an alt and explore the rest of the content" or even bother getting 100% on their main, IF they don’t enjoy what they’ve already experienced in GW2?

The main reason I quit was due to an inability to find anyone ta do anything with.. and I’ve got 2 lv80’s ~ a Necro and Elementalist ~ 6 crafting professions at lv400.. and yet like the screenshot I’ve attached to this, you can see that I’ve not gotten past lv26 on my personal stories nor any more than 44% on world completion.

I’ve been to Orr, I’ve fought dragons and I’ve died in dungeon..

Long story short, not even server hoping or guild prostituting helped me find anyone that wanted to actually "experience" the game.. despite server hoping to more "populated" servers for a few weeks.

Most of them just wanted to "farm" or exploit a dungeon... and if you didn’t know "how" then they weren’t interested in you tagging along.

Thus turning GW2 into a single player game.. with occasional "co-op".

Anywho, I created a topic to help people better understand what’s wrong with GW2 and the mentality behind "good suggestions".

Feel free to check it out.
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/community/links/Rewarding-Gear-Treadmill

Also, since you were talking about people "learning game design" and "appreciating the time spent" ~ why not take some time ta learn yourself?

Can check out my tutorials on 3D/Animation/Game Design via youtube ~ User = Requiemsvoid.

I’m not sure what servers you played, but I have had no problems finding people to play through and experience the game with on Maguuma. It’s not even an RP server and plenty of people are around to quest and explore with.

As for game design. I’m a Software Programmer by trade. I build mobile games and I do art for 2-d interfaces on the side. I’m well versed in 3dsm, Maya and I started to get into Zbrush on personal time. I’m no stranger to game development or MMO’s for that matter.

The mechanics and fluidity and GW2 are incredible in comparison to most of the garbage out there. They gave a lot of freedom to the player which is hard to do in such a massive game. I wouldn’t say it’s sandbox, but it does give the player quite a bit to play with as well.

The leveling phases of this game really do not lend themselves as well to co-operative play.. But the PvP and WvWvW do. Those two elements are a major portion of this game in the first place. They are the reason there is such a deep customization within classes. That being said, I still think there is a plethora of other players that would love to experience the game and enjoy it all the way through. I know.. I’ve met them and I am one.

This game has some problems, but it’s a totally different animal than WoW or SWTOR. The first Guild Wars was nothing like other MMORPG’s that were out either. Sure this game shares some elements with modern MMORPGs but it is by no means the same. This game is already doing many things better than other games, and you have to remember this ISN’T other games. What worked in those won’t necessarily work with these game mechanics or even the story. A lot of the comments I read have no factual basis and really are nothing more than unsubstantiated opinion.

Perhaps.. but the "end result" remains the same.

IE: Doesn’t matter how "complicated" GW2 is on the software side.. if it’s not "perceived" as fun for the masses, then you run into the problem’s we’re currently experiencing with the player base... or lack there of.

Not sure you’ve been following TSW, but they too claim to have built an amazing game that’s unique an unlike any other MMO in software alone.

But does that mean it’s "fun"?... does that mean people will enjoy it? ~ nope!

The game suffers from poor animations, floaty combat (similar to GW2) and lack luster "end game" ~ in comparison to "other" MMOs.

Can check out an interview here:
http://penny-arcade.com/report/editorial-article/life-after-layoffs-the-former-lead-designer-of-secret-world-looks-back-on-t

At the end of the day.. people don’t "care" bout how much work you put into something... it all comes down to whether or not THEY can enjoy it.

Good or bad.. that’s just the way the cookie crumbles =/

I would hate it because there are stuff I can’t do alone…and I really hate asking for help…although in games I’ve gotten used to it.
Also it doesn’t have that “magic” that the first (second actually but I quitted the first after like a week so it doesn’t count) mmo I played had, at least in the starting zone, and that made me want to keep playing and learn how to play and what to do to move forward…

So if this was my first mmo, I would probably not be playing right now….or maybe yes, depending on how bored I could be…

PS: My first mmo was RO, the second was Wow, and the third is GW2

This IS my first MMO, never been the kind of person to buy a game and then keep on paying just to play, since GW2 allows me to play without a sub, i decided to give it a go, played close to 200 hours so far and i don’t just love the game, i’ve become addicted to it.

I guess not playing any other MMO’s allows me to fully enjoy this game for what it is, no thinking to my self, well it does this okay but does that terrible compared to this and that MMO.

Just a fresh and very enjoyable(a tad buggy) experience so far.

Masher.8051:

This IS my first MMO, never been the kind of person to buy a game and then keep on paying just to play, since GW2 allows me to play without a sub, i decided to give it a go, played close to 200 hours so far and i don’t just love the game, i’ve become addicted to it.

I guess not playing any other MMO’s allows me to fully enjoy this game for what it is, no thinking to my self, well it does this okay but does that terrible compared to this and that MMO.

Just a fresh and very enjoyable(a tad buggy) experience so far.

Glad to hear that you enjoy the game

If this was my first MMO, I would be addicted to it, same way as I was with Ragnarok and World of Warcraft. I stopped playing RO since I had to move from Asia to the US, and I stopped playing WoW since I was tired of the gear treadmill.

I’m more of an explorer and an RP’er. GW2 fulfills those. And if I’m PvP hungry, I can just log in for some sPvP or some WvWvW.

I’d think “woah MMOs are amazing!”

I’d then try other games…. and be sadly disappointed.

This game is far superior to any MMO on the market. I don’t even think it should be called an MMO, but instead an MAMO. Massive amazing multiplayer online RPG.

My first MMO was a much older game (I think it came out 1 year either before or after WoW did). It was slow, grindy, poorly balanced, glitchy, ugly to look at, had an unresponsive dev team (and when they did make a presence in the forums, they were usually jerks) and a hit-or-miss small playerbase and community. And if you want an example of the balance in this game – let’s have an example. Let’s say Norn, Humans, Charr and Asura get a rez at level 10 with a cooldown of 15 minutes. Sylvari get a rez at level 90 that has a cooldown of an hour. It also costs money to cast for Sylvari. And yet…

I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread.

I really did; the ability to run into other characters had me thrilled since it was the first time I’d experienced anything like it. With nothing to compare the grind to, I busied myself socialising and never really thought about it too much. I just accepted the game for what it was, flaws and all.

Now it might just be my personality but given how much I originally adored this old MMO, how does it compare to GW2? Well. GW2 has better graphics. Better connectivity; less lag. The combat is faster, more responsive and more visually impressive. It has more content. The classes are fairly balanced, give or take some issues with clothies (also keep in mind that this has just launched – the other game’d been out for years when I got to it). There’s actual PvP (this game was completely anti-PvP. No structured options, no duel system, nothing but a single arena that was expensive and difficult to get to and was only put in to test the nonexistent balance). You can play any role – in the previous game, there was a single race which could DPS and literally nothing else. The list goes on. The basic point is, GW2 takes this MMO behind the shed.

So I think for people like me, GW2 would have been a fantastic way to be introduced to the genre. It’s a great game.

IF this was my first MMORPG ever, after playing to lvl 80, i would think that all mmo’s are antisocial.

“Too much is broken. I would be turned off by MMOs if this was my first because of it.”

Ok then good luck liking ANY MMO that is new for the first year. You understand that EVERY mmorpg has massive amount of bugs and errors for about the first year right? Look at SWTOR, AION, WoW, COH, DCUO, etc… all of them had big issues at launch and months into the life of the game.

Hell WoW is the worst when it comes to this. There are still bugs in the game that where around during vanilla.

SWTOR had and has some of the worst bugs at launch and still does.

You can not judge a mmo simply by the bugs and the errors. Game like these are too massive in size to catch every single one of them.

Look at how many have been fixed. Every single patch has been slowing knocking out each bug and issue that players have brought up.

To answers the OP question. I would take it for what it was and think it was a well crated game and love it. No sub fee compared to all the other ones? Yes please.

How do I get the program that plays the game for me while I’m at work or asleep like all these other people. That would be so much better than actually having to work for anything.

Starhawk.2958:

How do I get the program that plays the game for me while I’m at work or asleep like all these other people. That would be so much better than actually having to work for anything.

>.< I sense a bit of sarcasm here?

For a good friend of mine, this is actually her first MMO. She’s been playing since head start, and is now level 29 on her main. Yes, she is going slowly, VERY slowly (hell, she had to spend a full day getting the feel of simply walking with mouse and keyboard), but she is loving every minute of it. She even bought a new pc for guildwars.

New players cannot compare it to other games. They are going through content very slowly, because they do not have that “fast leveling” feel yet. For them, everything is new and everything needs to be learned. They don’t know how to judge the loot they get, have to ask tons of questions.

So my guess is that new players enjoy this game more than players who see every bug, have previous experience in other games, know what they like and DONT like, know their way in an ingame economy, know how to look at stats and skills and can walk and dodge easily.

Ignorance is bliss

Honestly, if it was my first ever it would blow me away. Instead my first was bloody Flyff, wish I could get back my time and wasted cash shop money

theerrantventure.9185:

If this was your first MMO, what would you think?

So an MMO is just a single player game where I can see other people playing too?

If it was my first I would be totally blown away, but unfortunately I’ve played at least 30 or 40 and then u do start looking for certain things and GW2 has them,great so this is still up there with the best in my eyes.

Fiddlestyx.9714:

theerrantventure.9185:

If this was your first MMO, what would you think?

So an MMO is just a single player game where I can see other people playing too?

Just this one.

I’ve been playing with a buddy of mine who is fairly new to MMOs (like actual form groups for dungeons and such and not Diablo 2 or 3). To say he gets disenchanted pretty quickly while playing, especially as we’re getting his toon closer to 80, is almost an understatement. I don’t think it’s a matter of preference because him and I like just about the same everything… But I have more experience with coming into a game that’s still sort of vanilla while he hasn’t; so basically I have better tolerance in what to expect and forgive.

He recognizes the potential, but sees that it’s not necessarily all there. He still plays from time to time, but sort of focuses on other stuff instead… and I understand, gamers, consumers in general, want to enjoy their products when they purchase them, not later.

Voqar.2349:

That MMORPGs were intended to be played by bots?

Haha, sadly, that’s true, too. I didn’t know what a bot was for a long time after I started playing AO. Doesn’t mean there were none, but there couldn’t have been many, not at first.

I remember I reported my first multiboxer as hax! too. Saw these weird identical toons all flickering on top of each other in TOTW. That was at least four years after launch.

if this was My very 1st MMO and I had never ever played much less heard of MMO’s I would say WoW this is Great I have never seen any thing like this before in my life and having coming from just playing single player solo game on PC only ,and Browser based games this game would knock my socks off

if this was My very 1st MMO and I had never ever played much less heard of MMO’s; I would say WoW this is Great, I have never seen any thing like this before in my life; and having coming from just playing single player solo game on PC only ,and Browser based games this game would knock my socks off.

GreenZap.1352:

“Wow was buggy at release” Well to that I say

1.) WoW was released around 2004, the technology that existed back then was not as advanced and good as the tech we have today.

2.) WoW was “the first of its kind” to take and combine all the good aspects of other MMORPGS and cram it into one product. Also Blizz managed to get people who never had played a MMORPG in their life interested in the World of Warcraft which lead to an income of population that noone not even Blizz had calculated for.

Therewas no game back then that had as many active players as MMORPGs have today, they just didn’t know that there were so many that wanted to play.

You know I see this “wow was also buggy” thing on a lot of MMORPG forums nowadays and to actually use WoW’s release to defend a new game is the worst excuse and absolutely pathethic and insulting to… everyone.

Stop comparing a game from 2004 with a game that was released 2011 or 2012. The last game where people were debating with this BS argument was SWTOR and this lead to that Bioware got away with a lot of issues that they should have been punished for which in the end lead to the game losing subs and going F2P and if you look at that games structure it prob won’t even go well as a F2P title.

The only thing you contribute with using the BS WoW argument that is stupid as kitten is that you give the companies that develops games a huge slack and if there is one thing that developers need atm is to shapen up and understand and admit when they get things wrong but they won’t as long as you keep on spitting this BS about WoW’s 2004 release. Can’t you even see the BS of your argument; WoW was released 2004!!!! NOT 2012 when the MMORPG market is huge!!!!

Pathetic argument is pathetic

The problem is that you’re not accounting for the scale of both games. Guild Wars 2 is massive in scale and its system are much more complex due to the technology we have today. If hold each game side-by-side, WoW and Guild Wars 2, they are both the pinnacle of MMO games for its time.

Why is Guild Wars 2 top of the line? Well, because it has introduced a way of playing MMOs that no other game has done before. Games will now use this model and mimick it for years to come.

You have never been part of a development team, it looks like. An MMO is a humongous undertaking that requires God knows how much time and resources to finish. Blizzard has been working on Titan for years, and Guild Wars 2 has been in development for over five years.

It is a valid comparison and even though technologies may have drastically changed, we can always go back and compare how both games have affected their environments. Guild Wars 2 may be missing some elements, but to date it has still been, in my opinion:

• The best launch of an MMO I’ve ever seen
• The smoothest patching process of an MMO I’ve ever experienced
• The most unique ideas and groundwork that provide a base for endless content expansions and improvements for years to come
• An insane amount of content, even if people want to deny it, including eight fully working dungeons (even if they’re not very fun and do not reward you properly as it stands)
• A vast world with hundreds of events
• A huge battleground for PvP
• Structured PvP
  …and more…including a crafting system, a color dye system, etc.

I’m not sure why you’re so mad. They are valid comparisons. SWTOR was a failure of a game and it was compared to World of Warcraft because it had potential. But BioWare ultimately failed because of their groundwork and the sloppiness of the Hero engine, which caused incredible delays in patching, content release, and so forth.

Back to the topic at hand… if this was the first MMO I’ve ever played, I’d have to say I’d be impressed and also confused.

At level 80 I’d feel like I have essentially “beat the game” and I wouldn’t know what else to do. Guild Wars was basically my first MMO, although I did play World of Warcraft at launch but didn’t really find it to my taste, and it never gave me that feeling. Guild Wars felt so endlessly huge… huge. It’s a shame this world feels much smaller in contrast. I honestly think it’s because of the frequency of waypoints. I believe there should be less waypoints in the world.

I haven’t encountered any game breaking bugs since release. I don’t know why people Are so upset. The mists launch on world of Warcraft was even worse with several infinite gold exploits and to top it off instant deaths to any player or npc