Guild Wars 2

This is not my first MMO, and so I’m familiar with the concept of a capital city. However, in GW2 it seems that most of the capital cities are left to the wayside to make room for Lion’s Arch as the “central hub”. I play on Sorrow’s Furnace (to give some sort of reference), and the population isn’t heavy, but it is moderate and there are always people around doing things, wherever I might be; except, for the most part, in capital cities that aren’t LA.

The Grove is a ghostown the majority of the time, and probably would be totally if not for map completion; same goes for Rata Sum. The Black Citadel remains fairly well traveled due to it having the lowest level dungeon close by, and Hoelbrak I haven’t spent very much time in, so I can’t really comment on. But Lion’s Arch is always packed. (Note that I actually forgot about Divinity’s Reach while writing this, that’s how forgettably deserted it often is)

There is good reason for this, of course; there are Asura Gates to all other capital cities, WvW battlegrounds, and all Dungeon Token vendors reside there (which I think is a dumb decision). No other capital cities have these, and have only the standard TP’s, Crafting Stations, and Trainers (plus the one Asura Gate leading back to LA).

Now with Wintersday approaching (and evidenced by the past two monthly events we’ve had), I am convinced that ANET has either forgotten about the other cities, or plans to phase them out entirely. If you consider the concept for even a second, you would know that it makes more sense for it to be placed in either Rata Sum (because he’s an Asura) or Hoelbrak.

I want thriving hubs of activity, not a central mass of “LFG Fractals” and occasional Guild recruit spam.