Returning to the game after a long break.

Returning to the game after a long break.

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Kanck.6578

Kanck.6578

Hi guys. As the title suggests, I’m a player that’s been away from the game for a very long time. I’ve logged on now and then the last two years to get a feel of what’s up, but I’ve never been able to figure out what exactly I “should” be doing in terms of the Living Story (I completely missed all of them). I’ve been talking a bit with a friend I met in WoW about how much we really enjoyed the leveling, atmosphere (art style/music) and gameplay of GW2, and we’re thinking of giving it a go again with fresh level 1s.

The reason I’m creating this thread is because I want “feedback” or “recommendations” on the game, and whether or not it would be somethng for us. Last time I played, I level capped a necromancer, got a full exotic set and did some exploration paths in the dungeons. After that, I sort of fell off because it felt like the game didn’t deliver enough “challenge” or “competition” (some of the dungeons in GW2 were brutal back then though, which was very fun). Right now me and my friend have been raiding heroics in WoW for about a year, though we’re very burned out on it. That being said, we also play more casual games together like Borderlands and Dota. At the moment we’re looking for a game that is has moderately challenging PvE, while also giving us a “reason” to log on, like, idk, daily dungeons or something to work towards (perhaps not as hardcore as legendary weapons though :p).

From what I’ve read on the forums so far, it doesn’t look like Anet are planning to introduce new dungeons, which saddens me quire a lot, but the focus seems to have shifted towards fractals and Living Story content instead. Do you regular players find that GW2 PvE gives you a reason to come back week after week? What do you guys do when you log on every day? What’s “end game” (a term I know you dislike :p) like for the average player?

I know I could probably find out these things by reading pages upon pages of parch notes, but I’d rather get a feel for the changes over the last two years from you, the players, instead. Thanks for reading and for any answers!

Returning to the game after a long break.

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Vayne.8563

Vayne.8563

This topic is going to get ugly very fast. lol

A lot of people will tell you there’s no end game, or hardly any end game, and if you’re a dungeon runner, and a raider and that’s what you think end game is, you’re definitely going to be very unhappy here.

Guild Wars 2 really doesn’t have one end game, or any standard end game. It has a bunch of things to do, and you do the things you want to. It’s quite a different concept from most MMOs in that regard. So if you want just hard, challenging content and that’s all end game is, well, then you’re not going to likely stay for the long haul.

Everyone’s end game is a bit different. For some it’s WvW or PvP. For for most it’s about setting goals and getting to those goals, no matter what they happen to be. A lot of people are achievement hunters and for them, it’s their end game. Some people like to solo dungeons for their end game.

Some people like to explore the world and find stuff they’ve never seen before…that’s and end game. We have collections now, that’ll be an end game for some. Forging the rarest weapons in an end game for others.

Making lots of money is an end game for others.

There really isn’t one end game. So how you approach the game makes all the difference in how much you’ll enjoy it.

Returning to the game after a long break.

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Chicago Jack.5647

Chicago Jack.5647

If your hope is to find anything significantly improved in terms of end-game content, you’re going to be sadly disappointed. Right now, many consider end-game content to be ether world vs world or stuff like fractals in pve. However there is the same typical DPS race in PvE, go beserker gear or go home, that you would have seen when you left. Currently they are trying to implement a system of level gating so that newer players wouldn’t find the game so challenging. It includes things like: limiting your profession skills – not gaining control of them until levels 5 and up (24 for your f4 skill, if you have one). You are unable to achieve skill points from skill point challenges until level 15.. that sort of thing. Overall, if you think WoW is too casual for you, then this game probably isn’t for you – unless you love pvp; then you only have to deal with out-of-touch balance adjustments usually once every six months.

(edited by Chicago Jack.5647)

Returning to the game after a long break.

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: pessimist.7294

pessimist.7294

Cover your ears and cover your eyes, a heavy storm is coming…
And to answer your question: There is 1 new area you might want to explore. No new dungeons and you missed some events. But for this you can unlock eversything you missed in the Gemshop along with alot of other more or less useful things there. Also they changed the personal story so that it makes even less sense now. (No hard choices, less dead people, its more like a bad written fairy tale now) Also they nerfed the starter areas so that even veterans are going to have a hard time to bring a new character to lvl 80. Experience from crafting has been nerfed too along with the edge of the mist train, you will gain 4 level per maxed crafting profession now. Also they took the freedom how you want to play the game from you by making things like the diving goggles levelgated aswell as the vistas.
Just to fill you in some changes, the whole madness now has to be experienced to understand how bad it is.

Returning to the game after a long break.

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Kanck.6578

Kanck.6578

Hey guys, thanks for answering! My intentions are not to start an argument about how the game “should” be, but rather to get a feel of what players are doing in this game.

What about you guys? What keeps you playing? What’s your favorite aspect of the game? What are you doing now, and how long have you been playing?

Edit: One thing I disliked the last time around was how most of the new gear was released in the gemshop. I really enjoy getting new gear, even if it’s just looks, but seemed kinda kitten y that the cool stuff was locked behind cash or gold→gem grinding. In other words, I disliked how the endgame was steering towards gold grinding so you could convert it for gems for “content”. Has that changed? Has Anet introduced more gear that’s unlockable by actually playing the game?

(edited by Kanck.6578)

Returning to the game after a long break.

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Vayne.8563

Vayne.8563

Hey Vayne, thanks for answering! My intentions are not to start an argument about how the game “should” be, but rather to get a feel of what players are doing in this game.

What about you Guys? What keeps you playing? What’s your favorite aspect of the game? What are you doing now, and how long have you been playing?

I do a boatload of stuff, a bit of everything really. Some WvW, a tiny bit of SPvP when I want to take out frustration on someone who doesn’t have a ranger (the ranger update was very helpful in this regard lol). But 90% of my time is spent in PvE.

I’m an achievement hunter and a collector. I run a relatively decent sized Guild of about 150, with 30-50 people who log on a lot. That keeps me pretty busy. I run dungeons when people need a fifth, or sometimes just for some extra cash. I run the ocassional fractals. But mostly I just enjoy the world. I particularly like the new zone, Drytop. It’s harder than other end game zones, in a lot of ways. There are new creatures with new mechanics there. And the entire zone is like a giant toy. Because in order to maximize profits from it, you have to impress the Zephyrites by doing events. THe more events you do before the next sandstorm hits. the higher the tier and the cheaper your rewards in terms of geodes.

I’ve been working on crafting a full set of the insects in Amber weapons.

So I log in in the morning, check the daily and based loosely on that figure out what I want to do (assuming no one in the guild is doing anything interesting). Then I do some dailies, usually end up sidetracked by helping someone get something in the guild, even if it’s just an annoying skill point in Orr. A couple of days a week we run guild missions and one night a week is a social night.

Because of the current WvW tournament, I’m spending a lot more time in WvW for the next four weeks, because you know…server pride (coughs).

Anyway, after the tournament is over, Halloween starts. That’ll be a couple of weeks and then the new living story returns. Now that has some major ups and downs.

If you message me in game, I can explain more. It’s a lot. lol

Returning to the game after a long break.

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: pessimist.7294

pessimist.7294

Ive been playing Guild Wars since the release of GW1 EotN, Must be at least 6 years now.
Right now Im trying to get a Tequatl skin after almost 300 runs now, farming dungeons to fill the new achievments and farming gold so I can buy some new fancy armor if there will be one in the Gemshop. The only things that keeps me playing now are that i actually really love GW2 and dont want to leave it (exept when the developers are forcing me to). There isnt a real alternative for this game also. Unfortunaly most of my favorite aspects of the game have been removed by now.

Returning to the game after a long break.

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Kanck.6578

Kanck.6578

Hey Vayne, thanks for answering! My intentions are not to start an argument about how the game “should” be, but rather to get a feel of what players are doing in this game.

What about you Guys? What keeps you playing? What’s your favorite aspect of the game? What are you doing now, and how long have you been playing?

I do a boatload of stuff, a bit of everything really. Some WvW, a tiny bit of SPvP when I want to take out frustration on someone who doesn’t have a ranger (the ranger update was very helpful in this regard lol). But 90% of my time is spent in PvE.

I’m an achievement hunter and a collector. I run a relatively decent sized Guild of about 150, with 30-50 people who log on a lot. That keeps me pretty busy. I run dungeons when people need a fifth, or sometimes just for some extra cash. I run the ocassional fractals. But mostly I just enjoy the world. I particularly like the new zone, Drytop. It’s harder than other end game zones, in a lot of ways. There are new creatures with new mechanics there. And the entire zone is like a giant toy. Because in order to maximize profits from it, you have to impress the Zephyrites by doing events. THe more events you do before the next sandstorm hits. the higher the tier and the cheaper your rewards in terms of geodes.

I’ve been working on crafting a full set of the insects in Amber weapons.

So I log in in the morning, check the daily and based loosely on that figure out what I want to do (assuming no one in the guild is doing anything interesting). Then I do some dailies, usually end up sidetracked by helping someone get something in the guild, even if it’s just an annoying skill point in Orr. A couple of days a week we run guild missions and one night a week is a social night.

Because of the current WvW tournament, I’m spending a lot more time in WvW for the next four weeks, because you know…server pride (coughs).

Anyway, after the tournament is over, Halloween starts. That’ll be a couple of weeks and then the new living story returns. Now that has some major ups and downs.

If you message me in game, I can explain more. It’s a lot. lol

Hey, that sounds amazing. I really didn’t think Anet would introduce new zones after crab island. That makes me a lot more optimistic for the future of the game. Sadly, I don’t have a computer at the moment, which is why I’m making this thread. :p Getting abstinence from not playing games for s few months, so I’m doing research on what I’d like to play for when my PC arrives.

I guess what you decide to do in game is heavily flavored by the daily and monthly challenges (for laurels?). WvW also still sounds like a popular past-time, which is very positive. My friend never got to try it, so it’s good that he’ll still have a chance to experience the large scale battles.

As for achievements, how are they structured/designed? Do you think you’ll run out of achievements to do in the near future? Do they offer any rewards outside of just points (as in titles/gear/mini pets etc)?

Returning to the game after a long break.

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Vayne.8563

Vayne.8563

Hey Vayne, thanks for answering! My intentions are not to start an argument about how the game “should” be, but rather to get a feel of what players are doing in this game.

What about you Guys? What keeps you playing? What’s your favorite aspect of the game? What are you doing now, and how long have you been playing?

I do a boatload of stuff, a bit of everything really. Some WvW, a tiny bit of SPvP when I want to take out frustration on someone who doesn’t have a ranger (the ranger update was very helpful in this regard lol). But 90% of my time is spent in PvE.

I’m an achievement hunter and a collector. I run a relatively decent sized Guild of about 150, with 30-50 people who log on a lot. That keeps me pretty busy. I run dungeons when people need a fifth, or sometimes just for some extra cash. I run the ocassional fractals. But mostly I just enjoy the world. I particularly like the new zone, Drytop. It’s harder than other end game zones, in a lot of ways. There are new creatures with new mechanics there. And the entire zone is like a giant toy. Because in order to maximize profits from it, you have to impress the Zephyrites by doing events. THe more events you do before the next sandstorm hits. the higher the tier and the cheaper your rewards in terms of geodes.

I’ve been working on crafting a full set of the insects in Amber weapons.

So I log in in the morning, check the daily and based loosely on that figure out what I want to do (assuming no one in the guild is doing anything interesting). Then I do some dailies, usually end up sidetracked by helping someone get something in the guild, even if it’s just an annoying skill point in Orr. A couple of days a week we run guild missions and one night a week is a social night.

Because of the current WvW tournament, I’m spending a lot more time in WvW for the next four weeks, because you know…server pride (coughs).

Anyway, after the tournament is over, Halloween starts. That’ll be a couple of weeks and then the new living story returns. Now that has some major ups and downs.

If you message me in game, I can explain more. It’s a lot. lol

Hey, that sounds amazing. I really didn’t think Anet would introduce new zones after crab island. That makes me a lot more optimistic for the future of the game. Sadly, I don’t have a computer at the moment, which is why I’m making this thread. :p Getting abstinence from not playing games for s few months, so I’m doing research on what I’d like to play for when my PC arrives.

I guess what you decide to do in game is heavily flavored by the daily and monthly challenges (for laurels?). WvW also still sounds like a popular past-time, which is very positive. My friend never got to try it, so it’s good that he’ll still have a chance to experience the large scale battles.

As for achievements, how are they structured/designed? Do you think you’ll run out of achievements to do in the near future? Do they offer any rewards outside of just points (as in titles/gear/mini pets etc)?

After you do the easy achievements, the harder ones take longer. Logically. Some aren’t worth it to me, but I’m getting close to 20,000 achievement points now.

I like getting the chests, but more than that, I love getting the account wide bonuses that start stacking up.

Returning to the game after a long break.

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Kanck.6578

Kanck.6578

Ive been playing Guild Wars since the release of GW1 EotN, Must be at least 6 years now.
Right now Im trying to get a Tequatl skin after almost 300 runs now, farming dungeons to fill the new achievments and farming gold so I can buy some new fancy armor if there will be one in the Gemshop. The only things that keeps me playing now are that i actually really love GW2 and dont want to leave it (exept when the developers are forcing me to). There isnt a real alternative for this game also. Unfortunaly most of my favorite aspects of the game have been removed by now.

What exactly did Anet remove from the game? Do you feel like there’s a lot of grinding in the game, i.e. uncertainty as to when you get the rewards you feel like you’ve been working on (are rewards too random)?

Returning to the game after a long break.

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: pessimist.7294

pessimist.7294

They removed/reworked things that were totally fine in the game like pressing tab to choose the next target. Also they removed the freedom how you want to play and level your character. In the past you could either level up your character by crafting, doing events in WvW and Edge of the Mist, exploring the world or just doing your personal story, After the feature patch the Personal story will unlock every 10 level only, Vistas are not visible until you reached a certain level and events on the edge of the mist will give you 30xp on lvl 20. And leveling is artifically slowed down now, even for veterans. Also they removed 1 of the better aspects of the already dull personal story (did I mention that they also removed your characters personality?) where you could tell the pale tree what your greatest fear is. The resulting mission of this dialogue and the dialogue itself are gone. Another thing are the armor skins, Anet simply brings out full suites where you cant customize the specific parts or just equip 1 or 2 parts of them you like. You have to wear the full suit and cant choose what color the specific parts have. And maybe most importantly the collaborated develpoment forum has been removed. In the first year after launch you could bring in your ideas, suggestions and your concerns. The developers would listen (more or less) and give feedback. Right now there is nothing like that, most players have the feeling that the devs are simply ignoring the playerbase (judging from the Feature patchs this year they probably are). Just to name some of the things which are gone.

Returning to the game after a long break.

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: ABrooke.7129

ABrooke.7129

I WvW, so my endgame is always the next reset. If you like dungeons, then no….you will be disappointed.