This has been hit upon in a few threads as well but I wanted to address something which was suppose to be different in this game. How many of us hated waiting around for that player with build " x " or the monk we needed as a healer ? Currently this is being replaced in GW 2 by " Must be level 80, have max upgraded gear, ect. ect. ". Try and get into a dungeon group and it being your first time. The waiting 1/2 hr to 45 minutes to just form a group is still there and sometimes you have to simply give up because you can’t get the 5 people you need. I hated this in GW 1, other MMO’s and I’m not even going to try areas where I spend as much time organizing a group or trying to get into one as I would playing said area.
Arena.net you got rid of the holy trinity just to see it replaced by elitism and the need to have the best gear in-order to be accepted for these areas. This was, well to a point still is a game I’m still excited about playing but it’s slowly having things added to it I’m finding myself questioning if I really want to be a part of it or spend any time on it. I know dungeons will not be anything I ever find fun or higher end areas where groups are just as bad at discriminating. There are already posts asking for " gear scores " and ways in which this elitism will only get worse.
The idea behind playing GW 2 as I wanted, when I wanted and with who I wanted is not at all as it was advertised and described before the games release. I’m one of those players who enjoy the games epic and rich lore and playing my character as that character. However in-order to even see the story which un-folds with Destiny’s Edge you’re forcing your more casual ( and not even sure that’s the correct term ) since I have probably logged as many hours as those considered your hard core players, to endure the LFG and elitism that’s currently the rage in the game. Most of the players who take the time to play as their character, work them up in low end areas and spend more time using the game socially and not zerg, zerg. zerg to attain a high level and gear in the fastest amount of time possible will never be able to even explore and experience those areas.
There is no way you’ll ever please every player but you’ve currently designed a story line that there’s no way certain players will ever experience it. If you want to create elitism and the " look at me " items that the kiddies will crave you need to keep that above and beyond of what the normal story calls for itself. My own opinion is that dungeons in story mode should be a solo quest and not a 5 person romp through an elite area. Leave the explorable part for those that want to sit around and knit pick to death peoples gear and levels. Let those of us who want no part of the direction the game is taking the ability to at least experience the games lore and story. You can do both and it isn’t as difficult to balance as you would think. I’m also cringing at WOW aspects that seem to be finding themselves into this game. It’s something I think the Live team is really going to want to take a hard look at and decide if appeasing a select group of gamers is worth alienating many who wanted and still want to play this game for fun.
It is this bad…….
LFG AC story mode " OMG ! you’re level 80 and haven’t done this ? Sorry no noobs in my group ! "
Guys kick the ranger, we have to have a guardian and make sure they run build " x "
The cement that keeps games going is the fans and small things such as guilds that bring friends and players together. If it were not for a few good friends and a small guild of real life friends that play the game I would quit playing. It’s an awesome game but PUGS are still horrible and elitism is something running rampant in the game and getting worse as new content is added and many players are not even through the game itself or exploring it. As a veteran of GW 1 who played for 7 years and one who has stood by Arena.net most of the time, I’m seriously considering if that should change with the direction this game is taking.