Guild Wars 2

Before I start, don’t say tank or healer. That isn’t what this is about. There is a difference between play-style and dedicated role.

Of late I’ve been rather enthusiastically complaining on the engineer boards about recent realizations and problems I’ve had with and about the profession. Needless to say I’ve been getting less than helpful response for the most part, but ultimately it had a positive effect; I now know what my problem is with Guild Wars 2. In short; at some point in the –presumably early- development of this game Arena Net decided they would no longer support my old play-style, and stripped the fundamental building blocks of that style from the game completely.

Back before release there was a group of ranger players complaining on the Guru forums about how being forced to bring pets now stripped them of their old play-style, and as such they “didn’t have a home” in Guild Wars 2. And while I didn’t count myself among them then, as in spite of being a former ranger player my problems were not the same as theirs, I now understand where they were coming from, as I too have come to realize that I “don’t have a home” here either.

As such this has formed a question in my mind; how many people feel that way? Has that feeling gone away after release, or are there others like me who came to feel that way after release? I open it up for discussion, not to complain, not to criticize or make demands, but simply to discuss. Have you been forced by the game’s design to give up your old play-style? Did you come from the original Guild Wars like me, or another MMO perhaps? What was your old style, and why do you feel like it has absent here?

Quite the opposite in fact. I always find a profession in most MMOs to fit my playstyle, but often I have to force it a little.
In GW2 however, the options, builds, skills etc feel a lot more accessible and wide ranging enough to allow me to naturally fit into a playstyle I enjoy – regardless of what the meta is or other players perceptions. What is also enjoyable, is that becuase of the blurred roles, I can pick a class and easily adapt it to a playstyle which suits me – I can’t do that with other games and their differing professions. For me personally, I think that’s a huge factor in my continued playing, even when I get frustrated with the direction the game goes in at times.

GW1 interestingly enough remains the only game I have completely struggled to find a comfortable, natural playstyle with. I enjoyed it for sure, but at times it felt like a chore. And the hardest game to return to after a break for this very reason.