Guild Wars 2

Greetings. I bought Guild Wars 2 on release and had a blast playing it for a few months. Got my character about 3 quarters through the leveling process, played quests, unlocked vistas, did some PVP. Just enough to get a gist of the game. I had to stop shortly after and followed events only from a distance. Now, I have the chance to jump back in and, with the base game being free to play, potentially convince a friend to join me.

I’d like to know the following:
-are there enough people leveling up as to have a fun leveling experience? (doing area events and all that jazz)
-the living world events that I have missed (meaning, all of them), is there any way of playing through them or is that content which isn’t available anymore?
-how is solo and duo play?
-in general, would you consider it worthwhile for someone like me to return to the game after all this time?

In case some questions are cloudy, I’d be glad to clear them up. My english is a bit rusty at the moment. Also, I’d like to thank in advance anyone that takes some time to answer my question. All the best.

Woozeh.7420:

I’d like to know the following:
-are there enough people leveling up as to have a fun leveling experience? (doing area events and all that jazz)

Yes, Game went Free to Play so loads of low levels everywhere. Same with lots of low level Revenants. Besides this – they’ve also merged all servers into a megaserver system. Basically means they remove near empty maps and merge the players together for 1 full map.

Woozeh.7420:

-the living world events that I have missed (meaning, all of them), is there any way of playing through them or is that content which isn’t available anymore?

You can’t replay Season 1, only a video recap of it
Season 2 is buyable for Gems!
Any other temporary seasonal events are also not repeatable.

Woozeh.7420:

-how is solo and duo play?

Story / Open world can easily be soloed, Heart of Thorns can’t be soloed (mostly).
And dungeons / world bosses / etc, no solo.

Woozeh.7420:

-in general, would you consider it worthwhile for someone like me to return to the game after all this time?

Yes, but that’s coming from someone who really enjoys the game. :P

The LS Season 2 contebt can also be played through with someone who has it. To get the achievments and rewards you must have it yourself, but if you just want to see the story you can go with someone else.

Time is not the factor in deciding whether it is worth coming back. It is all about if you find it fun. Trying is free.

Played since Beta, then quit for just over a year or so. Came back for HoT and am having a blast, thoroughly recommend it.

Woozeh.7420:

…
I’d like to know the following:
-are there enough people leveling up as to have a fun leveling experience? (doing area events and all that jazz)

Absolutely. There’s a burst of new people around. Also, between the megaserver and the institution of special map rewards, and the dailies encouraging map replay-ability, there are plenty of reasons for people to be in any map.

Woozeh.7420:

-the living world events that I have missed (meaning, all of them), is there any way of playing through them or is that content which isn’t available anymore?

Living Story S1 is not currently replayable, but they said they’re working on it. Living Story S2 was free if you logged on at the time, but is purchasable now. A few seasonal/ festival events are one-and-done, but many come back around at the appropriate season.

Woozeh.7420:

-how is solo and duo play?

You can solo most things in the “core” world— even dungeons. You can duo most things everywhere. The new HoT areas are more difficult than the core world, but a good duo can take on all but a few world boss champs.

Woozeh.7420:

-in general, would you consider it worthwhile for someone like me to return to the game after all this time?…

I don’t know you, but I think the game is a lot of fun. The biggest thing is that the game is pretty self-directed. That is, you set goals for yourself— the game does not tell you what you must do in which order. If that type of play suits you, I recommend this game.

Many thanks to all of you and your quick, detailed replies! By the looks of it, I will, at least, be trying to level up a new character since going back to my Nord Necromancer is a tad too overwhelming atm. If all goes well, Heart of Thorns will be on my purchase list.