Everything here is an opinion, Every thread has turned into a OMG GO BACK XXX Game, or OMG you’re not playing it right. I have taken time to attempt to give feedback in a structured way and would like to hear structured OPINIONS, again, opinions, not a mindset you are trying to force onto someone else, or implying someone is wrong. And it is not short, i will not be adding a TL;DR due to the points i make being quite lengthy and (at least an attempt) on making them in depth and thought out.
Every game we play there is always one thing that smacks you in the face and makes you fall in love with it, and the secondary parts make up an even bigger picture.
So far, GW2 hasnt smacked me in the face, but it has given me lots of small (not necessarily size) differences from other mmos.
Exploring. When i think of my favourite game to explore, that was Skyrim. Yes, not an mmo, but a fantasy world none the less. GW2 has vast places to explore, but the limitations of an mmo over a game like skyrim has prevented it from being big enough to be a primary part of the game that makes you fall in love with it, which was always one of GW2 selling points before release. But imo falls short of what it was expecting you to think it was.
Skills. The weapon skills have given players something that works, where they cannot make a bad choice which is the general idea i get from the weapon skills, but at the same time i personally feel it is extremely lack luster. Having 2-3 cc skills out of 5 on every weapon totally takes me out of using them in pve, and in turn it ends up using 1-2 buttons, but usually just hitting 1 does the job. Again, something different from any other mmo, but imo, too small to have an impact, and the end result is “meh”
Story. I feel the story is very predictable, however this appears to be one of the “levelling endgame” features. A story i personally enjoyed was from GTA4, again yeah, not another mmo, however it had some awesome twists that kept me entertained and wondering “wtf is going to happen next”. I understand limitations within an mmo, however having something as big as a story being a primary objective of the game, but failing to really give a good story again, end result is “meh”
Removing limitations of playing with other players. Now this part i find AWESOME. The times i have managed to play with friends has been a blast, but with life stuff and friends having more time to play, they are now further ahead, and yes they CAN come back and play with me by being de leveled, but from the people i talk to, there is a very very small player base who is happy to go back and redo content for fun with other players.
The way buffs share with anyone and everyone, and having a sense of playing with other players with the shared exp is fantastic, but its just not the same.
Dynamic events. This has been brought up many times. I so far haven’t failed or heard of an event failing, this in turn again has taken a core mechanic of the game away with the world being decided by my own hands. I read somewhere about a kind of spider diagram, whereas if a bunch of enemies attacked a village and lost, they would return with even more numbers and firepower, this i have not yet seen, possibly in the 80 zones, but i aint there yet. And honestly, zero difficulty. Everyone could stand still, hit the number 1 key and win. (i did read theese are being looked at which is good news!)
sPvP. I have a lengthy thread about this, and it is my favourite part of the game, but i feel it is literally the core, foundations of what we can expect, and really am looking forward to it. I feel it is a very even playing field, as i explained in my other post and the introduction of new maps and game modes will be awesome.