Guild Wars 2

While some people may feel it’s pointless to list things that are done very right in this game, I would tend to disagree. I think you can look at things you’ve done very right and build off of them.

So with that said, this is an opinion thread. The thoughts here are subjective. I made a new thread for things that could use some help:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/The-things-that-could-use-help-thread/first#post2923610
I think everyone can at least admit one thing they enjoy.

What do you feel this game does 110% right?
1.) Music
2.) Graphics
3.) Jumping puzzles
4.) Cityscapes
5.) I thought the two dungeons in the living story were magnificent
6.) Holiday events
7.) Guild missions – I’ve really enjoyed these and I hope they expand on them
8.) Epic fights – I don’t know about you, and while I think Tequatl will need a nerf in the future, we were all cheering on vent when we downed him the first time.

I think some of the core stuff is done right.

1. No mob tagging. No node stealing. That’s awesome stuff. Everyone gets credit for a kill, everyone has a chance to get loot if they meet the damage threshold.

2. The fact that everyone can rez is awesome. It makes some hard encounters interesting. We did a 26th level fractal today with someone who didn’t have enough AR, but we kept them rezzed and fighting when they missed a dodge. It makes the game interesting.

3. The downed state…for Pve anyway, I love this. It gives you a fighting chance, and sometimes, you can make that dramatic come back.

4. Mesmers. I just love this profession.

5. Guild Puzzles and Guild Rushes

6. Ambient sound in the cities. I’ve caught some great conversations….and the cities themselves. Great places to explore.

7. Overflow servers. Having spent hours in queues in Rift, I welcome this. I love guesting as well, even though I know it can cause problems.

8. No trinity. Again, I know some people love the trinity, but I’ve always disliked it. I keep thinking about how boring Lord of the Rings would have been if everyone only attacked Boromir and Gandalf healed him.

There’s more I’m sure, but this is a good start.

90% of everything. Specifically, without duplicating

1. Active combat
2. WvW
3. World Building
4. Guilds, I like that I can be part of multiple guilds, even if some of them are mainly contact lists.

All of the above and:
1. The Sylvari concept
2. The Sylvari redesign
3. The Sylvari everything. Honestly, they are the most incredible, fresh race I’ve ever seen in a game, their artwork, anatomy, lore and overall design is simply magnificent and I love every bit about them (Except for Trahearne)

1. I would add Exploration… I just love finding hidden stuff… even trivial things like a little cave hidden in an air pocket in a much larger underwater passage with a solitary quaggen who gets aggitated with you for finding his secret place… beautiful

2. No game play funneling, IE you dont just get to play content thats just your level excluding you from 95% of the game and forcing you to repeat the same stuff over and over again at max level

3. Dynamic events… I just can express how awesome it is to see stories play out in front of your eyes while questing rather then the same static situation all the time

4. Living story… It might not be perfect but like dynamic events its great to see the world evolve little by little infront of your eyes rather then all at once like it happens with expansion if even!

5. Mini games… its just good to have activities in game to do that are a bit different. Like them very much!

Art design, unique world, combat system, music (though i want more diversity, far too many locations have same music).

No one mentioned the wallet?

I like the payment model, the ability to purchase things by exchanging gold for gems, the Living Story (there is always something new to look forward to, even if it isn’t all just my cup of tea), the way we can mix and match armors, the music for the most part, the beautiful world, the fact that the game is almost always up and running, and anything and everything else I’ve forgotten to mention. =)

Big one for me… exploration.

I’ve been playing since release and one year later still (as of last night at least) I’m still finding secret locations, jumping puzzles, mini dungeons and other random stuff that turns out have been there since the game was released. That’s one thing I really love of this game.

Serophous.9085:

No one mentioned the wallet?

The account wallet is brilliant, not only for freeing up bank space but for the ability to share currencies between characters. None of that having to log onto another character to mail gold to the first one, relogging to the first character and then finding a mailbox. Dungeon tokens earned on any character are pooled and can be used on any other character. Love this feature.

And while I’m mentioning currency, I also love that I have the option of using ingame gold for account services like name changes, server transfers, gender change, character recustomization, in addition to any item I want on the gem store.

There are problems with this game, as there are any game. But most of what is listed above keep me going through all the problems. I’ll just reiterate some and add a few more.

1. MUSIC. MUSIIIIIIC. Jeremy Soule you are an amazing, amazing man. It’s even better when I can hear the tunes from GW1 that brings memories of the Prophecies campaign. Also, you can change it if needed. Getting tired of the same battle music? Change some tracks.

2. Versatility of choice for professions. I can pick any profession and still be as equally useful on all of them in some form or another. And I can solo with any of them.

3. Random conversations. It’s always interesting to go through a zone and catch conversations npcs are having about the nearby area. It’s also much more engaging than looking at quest logs from npcs you’ll never visit again, like in most other mmos.

4. GUARDIANS. Everything I want in a support profession, and snazzy blue fire to boot!

5. CHARR. Yeah, ok, I may be in the minority here, but I’ve been wanting to play as a Charr since GW1 and now I can. I also love the new dynamic between Charr and humans: They still hate each other, but they’re willing to put aside their quarrels for the greater good of the world. Also, I reserve judgment about the voice acting the game has since everyone has their own opinions, but man do I love the female main character Charr VA. I was originally going to go male Charr when the game came out, so I decided to try out a female Charr in the betas. One listen to that awesome voice and I was hooked. I sometimes equip Battle Roar (Charr racial skill) just to hear her go “Ashes and death!” or “Crush! Maim! Kill!” (The only thing I don’t like is the majority of Charr armor, but that’s a different story altogether.)

Stark.1350:

While some people may feel it’s pointless to list things that are done very right in this game

It’s not pointless. The forums have lots of negative feedback, and I voice my complaints over the stuff I don’t like. But I also like some parts of this game and think they are done right. Its never pointless to have good beside the bad.

1 – No race specific classes (I detest this in other games)
2 – Music
3 – Ambient sounds – I’ve gotten a kick out of things NPC’s say in cities. Make the city seem more alive
4 – Dodging – I like being able to control when I evade attacks and not just a chance due to some stat.
5 – World completion – I like there’s rewards, a title and AP’s tied to this. Gets people out in the world.
6 – The wallet – I am amazed this isnt on everyones list by default. Every game needs to look at this wallet and implement the same thing. Incredibly convenient. Best addition they’ve made.
7 – shared farming nodes – again something I detested in other MMO’s where nodes were first-come first-serve.
8 – Everyone can revive – while I think there’s some flaws in the downed state and party dynamic when people die, I think the fact everyone can revive is a good one. Revive being class-dependent isn’t a good model IMO.

no “trinity”.

great landscape/world.

Living World approach (the approach itself, not the events for the greater part till now)

Also, waypoints.

I will add to what has been said above,

Waypoints.

Get where you want to fast, for silver. Or go it on foot if you like. Options are good.

1. I love the combat system, it’s fluent and you directly interact in battle. I like having to move around rather than just standing and swinging.

1. Ambient music is spot on, I love Soule work especially. It sets the mood.
2. Graphics are stunning. It’s why I love this game, the world looks and feels alive.
3. Trading Post. I think it’s easy to use and user friendly
4. Guild Challenges/Events was a great way to bring the guild players together to achieve goals. More of this is needed
5. Connection to the world. You can jump, run, dodge, and interact with the world.

There is more things I could think of, but this is what I first thought of.

Well besides the obvious … Nameplates. Maybe it’s an odd thing to praise but the other day I logged onto a different MMO after not playing anything but GW2 since it’s launch, to realize that I couldn’t read the name of a monster that was 10 ingame meters away from my character. I had to mouse over it and read the tooltip. Players and NPCs as well. GW1/2 use a nice and easily readable font at all distances, and the alt/ctrl highlight functionality is awesome.

1.) Music
2.) Graphics
3.) Down/up leveling
4.) Artwork
5.) Fast paced combat
6.) Holiday events
7.) Wallet
8.) Dynamic event system
9.) Vistas
10.) Jumping puzzles by and large
11.) Guardian/Warrior character classes
12.) Dailys & Monthlys
13.) Easy to get exotic gear
14.) WvW
15.) All equipment equal in sPvP
16.) Trading Post
17.) Dodging
18.) Waypoints
19,) Skritt race (based on players?)
20.) Quaggon race
21.) Human, Norn & Asura races

Those are all GW2 strengths.

Can not really find fault with those parts of GW2.

I like this thread

But it’s very difficult to point out things that are done right. When something is done right, you don’t notice it or you grow used to it. Especially if you don’t have any point of comparison.

Someone was telling me about how WoW doesn’t have waypoints, and it blew my mind. “How,” I asked, “do you gather together in one area easily then?” thinking about guild missions, and how you need to transfer a truck full of people from one place to another.

“It doesn’t have dynamic events,” I was told. And though I’ve played other MMOs before, I was still confused. I’ve grown so used to this world, that imagining another, where the open world isn’t so… worldly, blew my mind.

1. the freedom to do what i want, when i want … no rules, no forced gameplay

2. lack of reliance on a dedicated healer … i’m a soloer, so having heals on each char makes wandering the world much easier

3. the world itself — as many have said, there always seems to be something new to find, even with 100% map completion (which is sooo much different than the cartographer title where you had to hit each and every little corner of every single map)

4. crafting, and this is just in comparison to GW1 rather than other games … i like the inclusion of this because, to me, sometimes it’s just fun to play around with …

5. the trading post, and again, this is just in comparison to GW1 … i like the inclusion of this much more than watching text going streaming by in the chat box with WTS or WTB …

6. the LS … while not all of it has been 100% engaging or interesting, especially for a soloer, i still really like the fact that new, albeit temporary, content is added in every couple of weeks … provides a lil more variety …

7. and the music/graphics … though if some of the music from the Jade Sea was included somewhere in game, i would love it even more …

Oh, and fractals is pretty awesome

Being able to play with your friends.

EVERY other MMO I have ever played I’ve been prevented from playing with my friends at one time or another because they have leveled at different rates or they pick classes that don’t fit into the trinity or they’re spread across various servers or it took too long for everyone to gather their characters across various maps or because the moon was in the wrong phase or some other shoddy excuse.

I always thought it was ironic how the MMORPG community has constantly thrown the ‘multiplayer’ term around as an argument against solo content yet past MMORPGs have had so many mechanics all designed to STOP people from easily and readily playing together.

IMO the subscription business model was the cause for those wretched mechanics. The only way friends could play together would be if they all poured in the same amount of time (and thus subscription dollars) as the highest level/most hardcore of the group.

I won’t even go into the idiotic loot limitations that turned friends into competitors for that single piece of gear dropped by a boss – which was just another timesink meant to stretch out subs.

People can say whatever they want about GW2, it is the only MMORPG I have played where it actually feels like the game supports the ‘multiplayer’ aspect rather than actively finds ways to slow it down.

SafiMoyo.5130:

But it’s very difficult to point out things that are done right. When something is done right, you don’t notice it or you grow used to it. Especially if you don’t have any point of comparison.

All you need to do is think back and remember the times when another MMORPG you played really ticked you off. Then ask yourself if you have gotten ticked off the same way in GW2.

Ninja-looted? Spawn-camped? Mobs you were about to attack getting tagged from under you? Mobs you were trying to kill getting wiped out? Crafting mats filling your bags?

I can think of a LOT of ways past MMOs have ticked me off and most of them don’t show up in GW2, much to my sincere enjoyment.

You know…I forgot to add something to my list.

Skritt, Quaggan and Kodan. Really cool side-races that I really like. I especially like Skrittsburgh. lol

Um… JP’s. Otherwise, most everything else I can contribute to having been done well/badly in other games already. I mean as far as core systems or content design in the game. I think JP’s are fairly original though, I think. It’s a good concept.

Oh and there is the level adjustment, makes a themepark a little more interesting. Though conceptually, it seems a derivative to a skill based sanbox system. But credit where credit is due.

Daywolf.2630:

Um… JP’s. Otherwise, most everything else I can contribute to having been done well/badly in other games already. I mean as far as core systems or content design in the game. I think JP’s are fairly original though, I think. It’s a good concept.

Oh and there is the level adjustment, makes a themepark a little more interesting. Though conceptually, it seems a derivative to a skill based sanbox system. But credit where credit is due.

Things don’t right don’t necessarily equate to things done first. Just saying.

Pretty

Combat

Grinding (Some folks enjoy it.)

Skills (Not over-done with too many skills)

Sound

Some more to add to my list

22.) Invasions
23.) Fractals
24.) Special effects on legendarys
25.) A lot of armour/weapon/back skins are very good
26.) Deposit all collectables
27.) Separate loot/nodes for all players
28.) No subscription
29.) Personal Story upto lvl 30

Trading post is the only thing they did right.

Serophous.9085:

No one mentioned the wallet?

good point and I would add sending collectables to the bank and accessing the email from anywhere to that sometimes it can be quite easy to forget about quality of life stuff!

The one thing that’s done so right is Sunrise. That’s the single most awesome sword I’ve ever seen in a game.

Tying skills to weapons. Makes the weapon something more than just a stat stick.

Now all they need to do is give us skills we can swap out on weapons -.-

Vayne.8563:

Things don’t right don’t necessarily equate to things done first. Just saying.

Well, quite true, but part of GW2’s selling point or marketing hype seemed to be the originality factor. After some 2k hours in the game, having leveled all the classes, mastering all the crafts, I’ve just come to the conclusion that originality was a weak point for the game design, not so original. The esthetics of the game are fairly original, but the underlining systems are not so much “things that are done right” but more "things re-done " etc. And in that, some of the things listed here were added to first-generation mmo’s and contributed to their decline.

Doesn’t spell doom for the game, but for many it means the expectation has fallen short from it’s original intent. But I listed two points that I see as meeting any such expectations, two points that contribute to an opinion thread. Unfortunately though, for some, throwing everything into a recipe including the kitchen sink, doesn’t necessarily result in a palatable dish.

1) No mob tagging/stealing, this is important, players are playing together as allies, not enemies. Unfortunately recent updates aren’t reinforcing this feeling (the battle of tagging mobs rages on!)
2) No resource node stealing (similar to the above)
3) Dynamic Event system for specific quest types (Escort/ Defend/ Assault/ Kill/ Destroy/ Gather/ Search). I don’t want to even consider doing any of the above “quest types” in a non-dynamic setting. Still, some quest types that are focused on dialogue / choices / information gathering, are better done in a traditional questing system and I think are needed in the game, PS isn’t enough to fill the gap.
4) Limited RNG in the Combat System. Guild Wars 2 combat system is a nice mix of traditional MMORPG combat and Action-based combat. It needs more Action features imo, like a proper action camera and better 3rd person control but what they clearly did right was the RNG in the combat system. Aside from a few traits/abilities and critical hits there is no RNG involved in hits, like chance to block/evade/parry whatever and there is no “to hit” roll either, that’s perfect.
5) Trading Post. Although the option to trade directly to other players would’ve been awesome, I still think the TP is a great addition. I much prefer that “reverse” auction system over what is usually used in games.
6) Jumping Puzzles. I simply love them. The best ones are those that require some thinking to complete.
7) Holiday Events, they are usually well done (I’m really looking forward to the upcoming Haloween!)
8) Guild Puzzles / Rushes / Challenges.
9) sPVP equality, there is no gear advantage in sPVP, as it should be
10) WvW, putting 3 SERVERS against one another in large scale warfare was an excellent idea
11) Overflows, the idea that you can continue playing the game without entering a queue is nice. Recent updates (Tequatl Rising) made obvious that the system has critical flaws too, but I’m sure (or rather I hope) they are working on a “fix”.
12) Exploration, I like the World of Tyria, exploring every secret, every hidden passage and cave. The Dynamic Event system helps exploration with loads of staff to do, potentially new. After updating the rewards on everything else, it’s time to improve exploration rewards, no?
13) The Account Wallet, a great idea for a game with so many currencies
14) Deposit Collectibles / Collectibles tab, this little option is a real life saver. I didn’t think much of it, until I realised it is the number one feature I was missing when I returned to play another game…
15) Discovery in crafting. It’s a nice system to mix-max and try to find out new recipies through experimentation (of course until the proper wiki page is done)
16) General Achievements, they offer a “check list” however they are always available and you can progress at any time. They are “long term” goals.
17) Art Direction / Artwork, while the game has lots of missing technological features, like DX11 features, it has excellent Art Direction.

Daywolf.2630:

Vayne.8563:

Things don’t right don’t necessarily equate to things done first. Just saying.

Well, quite true, but part of GW2’s selling point or marketing hype seemed to be the originality factor. After some 2k hours in the game, having leveled all the classes, mastering all the crafts, I’ve just come to the conclusion that originality was a weak point for the game design, not so original. The esthetics of the game are fairly original, but the underlining systems are not so much “things that are done right” but more "things re-done " etc. And in that, some of the things listed here were added to first-generation mmo’s and contributed to their decline.

Doesn’t spell doom for the game, but for many it means the expectation has fallen short from it’s original intent. But I listed two points that I see as meeting any such expectations, two points that contribute to an opinion thread. Unfortunately though, for some, throwing everything into a recipe including the kitchen sink, doesn’t necessarily result in a palatable dish.

I’m sorry but I think you judge too harshly here.

Originality doesn’t only mean something that uses nothing that was ever used anywhere else. It’s the combination of all the ingredients put together in the right way that make this game what it is.

I’m sure some game somewhere did away with mob tagging and maybe another (though I don’t know of any) allows everyone to rez each other and maybe another has the downed state (though no MMO has it).

But the deliberate combination of factors to make leveling a cooperative instead of a competitive feeling creates a completely different dynamic than any game I’ve ever played.

It’s like saying Shakespeare used all the same words as writers that came before him. They’re just words. It’s how you combine them that makes all the difference.

Vayne.8563:

But the deliberate combination of factors to make leveling a cooperative instead of a competitive feeling creates a completely different dynamic than any game I’ve ever played.

EQ1? Yes, quite there in many respects. Not just referring to the open-world raiding system, but even in multi-group dungeons, where groups relied on other groups to keep everything in check. Sure, they weren’t zerging the same MOB, but it was very difficult to say survive Karnor’s Castle (KC) without other groups helping to keep control of the castle, and often using communication to do so.

Such competitiveness still exists in this game, no all encompassing system can truly provide complete hand-holding to make everything “fair”. Doing the FE boss event shows such an example, where players will intentionally one-hit pre-event mobs denying others of a share in the event success XP. Some classes even using huge knock-backs seemingly to deny melee types of a hit on a mob, beyond just the FE example.

But I’m not trying to point out everything wrong with the game, I could easily mention some well known hot button issues, but all games have such issues. I do think that JP’s and level adjustments are a credit to this games development, something that down the road can remain a lasting impression as something done right in this game.

This is a nice topic. I applaud ANet for making each class unique and feel unique beyond the standard ranged/melee/magic format. My necro has the death shroud. Eles are… eles. Mesmers have their illusions. A good thief doesn’t have to die if they don’t want to.

Away from the MMO, it feels like it could be a great singleplayer RPG.

I think WvW is great, with minor flaws. It’s what I “always wanted in a game”, just massive battles. Yesterday a small group and I took a tower, and it happened to have a nice view, and we all just chilled there for a second. One person said “I love this game.” and we concurred. I love this game. :P

1. New Tequatl
2. Content updates
3. Lvling
4. Claw of mommafriggin jormag

Daywolf.2630:

EQ1? Yes, quite there in many respects. Not just referring to the open-world raiding system, but even in multi-group dungeons, where groups relied on other groups to keep everything in check. Sure, they weren’t zerging the same MOB, but it was very difficult to say survive Karnor’s Castle (KC) without other groups helping to keep control of the castle, and often using communication to do so.

So you mean when you got out of the first town/village in EQ1 you didn’t have to compete with other players for mobs? Raids and multi-group dungeons are one thing, but in GW2 the same principle applies everywhere. There is a big difference here.

• Nooks and crannies. You never know what might be in that cave.
• Nods to GW lore (Gwen’s grave :‘( ; The DE in Brisban where you help Les Longbow’s ghost fight the ghost of the Demagogue, etc.)
• No kill or node stealing
• Deposit all collectibles
• Moving while attacking
• DE’s (well, 95% of them, anyway)
• B2P
• Dagger Ele
• Flamethrowers

1. Exploration… you can literally go almost anywhere within a zone. The only real “invisiwalls” I came across where in placed that there really need them.

2. Nodes! I can’t tell you how many times in other games that I would be fighting my way to a gather node only to have some (expletive kitten deleted) run up and harvest while I was keeping the guard mob busy. Thank you ANet for making that a moot point!

3. WvW…nuff said

4. The wallet

5. The details… I was telling a friend the other day how I noticed that the little pixel-sized bugs followed you in the swamp. Your footprints slowly disappear on the sand. When you walk on the road, you kick up a bit of dust in the appropriate areas. You get the picture.

There’s a lot more, but most of them have been listed already

The personal story before Traherne.

maddoctor.2738:

So you mean when you got out of the first town/village in EQ1 you didn’t have to compete with other players for mobs? Raids and multi-group dungeons are one thing, but in GW2 the same principle applies everywhere. There is a big difference here.

No, not when you joined a party. After all, EQ1 was forced grouping. And yes, there is a big difference here, GW2 has no mmo dungeons, they are instanced multi-player dungeons. If you are asking for a strikingly similar example I can provide a game name. I just used an example of a very early game that some would overlook as a valid example, yet even back then in some ways it had similarities in regard to that. Fast fwd a few years to CoH? By then most games moved away from the KS opportunities to a first hit system, but CoH was doing a system where everyone received XP. It was rather co-op, anyone could join in, somewhat larger battles.

And really, the original would be I guess UO, since there was no experience by killing mobs, but by using skills. It’s where the first real zergs started heh. Huge invasions by monsters into towns, epic. Giant pvp battles 100’s of players, no overflow instances. It’s all been done before, The games never “evolved”, only rehashed existing gameplay and put it into a casual wrapper as a selling point, including all the limitations they could devise for proper hand-holding.

Daywolf.2630:

Vayne.8563:

But the deliberate combination of factors to make leveling a cooperative instead of a competitive feeling creates a completely different dynamic than any game I’ve ever played.

EQ1? Yes, quite there in many respects. Not just referring to the open-world raiding system, but even in multi-group dungeons, where groups relied on other groups to keep everything in check. Sure, they weren’t zerging the same MOB, but it was very difficult to say survive Karnor’s Castle (KC) without other groups helping to keep control of the castle, and often using communication to do so.

Such competitiveness still exists in this game, no all encompassing system can truly provide complete hand-holding to make everything “fair”. Doing the FE boss event shows such an example, where players will intentionally one-hit pre-event mobs denying others of a share in the event success XP. Some classes even using huge knock-backs seemingly to deny melee types of a hit on a mob, beyond just the FE example.

But I’m not trying to point out everything wrong with the game, I could easily mention some well known hot button issues, but all games have such issues. I do think that JP’s and level adjustments are a credit to this games development, something that down the road can remain a lasting impression as something done right in this game.

Except for one problem. In EQ 1, you could wait on a boss for ages, it could spawn, someone could dive in and tag it and you’re group was screwed out of credit for it. There are plenty of stories like that (and it doesn’t happen here).

Don’t you remember groups competing in EQ 1 to tag a boss that spawned so rarely you had to call friends at 2am to wake them up if it spawned?

Daywolf.2630:

And really, the original would be I guess UO, since there was no experience by killing mobs, but by using skills. It’s where the first real zergs started heh. Huge invasions by monsters into towns, epic. Giant pvp battles 100’s of players, no overflow instances. It’s all been done before, The games never “evolved”, only rehashed existing gameplay and put it into a casual wrapper as a selling point, including all the limitations they could devise for proper hand-holding.

No experience / using skills is completely different to actually having experience but shared between players. If it’s all been done before then show me a game that did it all before.

You pick games that have one or maybe some more of the features on the feature list and say “hey it’s not original”, it’s the whole mix that counts, do you or do you not have a game name that contains all of the feature on people’s lists?

I remember EQ1 with some not-so-rose colored glasses…

Yes, it was my first “real” MMO, and yes, it was a lot of fun, BUT… I do not miss Body Runs (or as I like to call it: Dude…Where’s my body?") having to get a cleric buff every hour or so or not being able to survive my own level content,or as Vayne said: Getting that 2AM. wake up call to go kill a boss…

There is NOTHING new under the MMO sun. It’s all in the way it has been put together. GW2 puts it together in a way that is pleasing to me.