Guild Wars 2

It’s been a while since I’ve played GW2, pretty much since the fractals event weekend. After taking a break I decided to give the game another shot, thinking perhaps I was overly harsh and dramatic with my criticisms. So my RL friend, who also hasn’t played in a while, and I logged in feeling optimistic.

Attempt at fun #1: Do some epic events

First we tried going around and doing as many of the big epic outdoor bosses as we could find, such as the shadow behemoth and the sunless dragon. After wasting some silver and about 20 minutes teleporting around and waiting, we gave up. No events up, no one in the zones knew when they last spawned (if we even got a response).

Attempt at fun #2: Run some dungeons

I think you can guess how this went. I went to lion’s arch and he went to the relevant zones to spam “LFM for X dungeon”. A few times we actually found someone who wanted to do one of the dungeons, but we never found a full group. On top of that I even got a “do fractals nub”, and “sorry, everyone is doing the new instance now”. So it’s 3 months into the game and the original content is already outdated? I shouldn’t have to join a guild to run a stupid dungeon.

Attempt at fun #3: PvP

Neither of us had tried the new PvP map so we were interested to see what Anet had come up with so soon after launch. I read about getting buffs and stuff so it sounded promising. Again, I think you can guess how this went. The new map is…more of the same? At least we had a chuckle about Anet’s lack of creativity, and it looked pretty. We did a few games and got bored.

Attempt at fun #4: WvW

After being thwarted 3 times we decided to try WvW in a final effort to have some fun. We spent a few minutes running to where the action was only to be met with a zerg and overrun while trying to escape (since a bunch of them suddenly appeared right in front of us). That was enough “fun” for the night and we logged off and logged in to Planetside 2 to have some real fun.

I’m not trying to be overly pessimistic, but this game seriously isn’t that much fun. Anet really dropped the ball with dynamic events and especially the awesomely epic huge boss events. Why aren’t there more giant dragon and monster events, why don’t they happen more often, and why don’t they offer some kind of desirable reward? (Such as a unique pet, dye, armor/weapon skin for each boss) Why do I have to take a bunch of waypoints then sit and wait in the hopes of even seeing an event? Was it too much to ask for a timer?

Why are the old dungeons already obsolete? Why isn’t there a “dungeon finder” utility? Why are the entrances for some dungeons allowed to be perma contested? Why isn’t Anet doing anything to fix this?

Why are all the PvP maps the same? Seriously…how are there no capture the flag, capture the base, or even deathmatch style maps? They make these beautiful and well designed PvP maps only to implement the exact same mechanic in each one? Then when they create a new one…it’s the same old thing? Come on!

I guess WvW is what it is, but it would be nice to have more than just zerg vs zerg with long runs, no waypoints, and constantly trading the same bases and points over and over. If you WvW for one day, you’ve seen everything WvW has to offer, and that’s not right for such a large battlefield. Also, why aren’t there any cool events going on like a big dragon interfering with the fight occasionally, getting giant allied NPCs to fight on your side, or creating massive assault tanks/golems to attack bases?

“Wasted potential” is the best way to describe GW2. It could have been so awesome, and it still can be, but Anet seems content to simply put the game on cruise control. If you’re going to turn the MMO genre upside down and create an awesome game world, why not go all the way and make it epic?

Guess I’ll be back in another month or so to see if things have changed, but I’m getting less hopeful.

Not sure what happened suddenly either. I guess one possibility is they didn’t realize just how many people were looking for open world events and no linear questlines when they launched but they definitely should have hired on a buttload more people to help with the content (and I mean the content that’s already out). Not to mention the number of problems with many of the classes because if what most people claim is true that they have two people per profession it’s no wonder they’ve had bugs since bwe3 still in the game, that’s not enough people.

So I guess what I’m trying to say is maybe it’s poor priority and poor personel management? and no you’re right that’s no excuse really.

agree with almost everything. DE’s were a major failure, mostly because they were left to rot in the sorry state they were created in. in fact i havent touched PVE in over 2 months. mostly doing spvp and WvW, which are quite enjoyable. even though i play the most gimped profs (ranger and necro), i have quite a bit of skill so im having fun for the time being.

but i still cant get over how their lack of care about the open world and DE’s. theyve done everything imaginable to alienate their fanbase and the manifesto that they used to sell the game. they used DE’s to sell the game then just dropped it. DE reward and difficulty scaling, untouched. bugs, still rampant. aoe tagging, still a problem. Lost Shores, a failure (might as well delete the zone).

i left PVE in the dust. the spvp department seems passionate about their work and im looking forward to the balance patch. wont be touching Winter’s Day stuff…it’s silly fluff.

on a more positive note, even though the game hasnt really moved forward in any way so far, it’s young and the potential you speak of still isnt lost.

nerva.7940:

on a more positive note, even though the game hasnt really moved forward in any way so far, it’s young and the potential you speak of still isnt lost.

I definitely agree. The game still has every chance in the world to live up to its potential. Just because some players have been alienated and left, doesn’t mean Anet can’t make the game awesome and draw everyone (and more) back to the game.

Plus there’s no sub, so we can always come back at any time. The way the game is now, though, and the way it’s going…..I’m not optimistic

I’m not even worried about stuff like class balance, ascended gear, everyone only grinding fractals, or bugs at this point. The game has a severe general lack of “fun”, especially in PvE, and that worries me.

nerva.7940:

wont be touching Winter’s Day stuff…it’s silly fluff.

Inorite. I am the most casual player you’ll find and even I am not taken in by the fluff and won’t be concerned over the holiday nonsense until I can login to my character and 1v1 in pve and not spend all day killing a mob because everything is broken.

We have some high hopes for the next few patches. I dunno what they think will happen if they don’t deliver but I know what’s happened to other titles in the past when they’ve let things rot this long.

As one “brave” review said at release, GW2 isn’t so much the next generation of MMORPGs, but it does show the way. I find that a good description.

DEs are great, but still rudimentary. Need to be far more interdependent and branching to truly shine, but it shows the way.

Dungeons are quite okay, but FotM/ascended was a blunder that has done terrible damage on PvE and dungeons (varies quite a bit per server though). ANet’s supposedly working on a fix, hope it comes with winterday but I’m not counting on it just yet.

PvP needs those game modes, agreed. Atm it’s still a waste of potential (GW1 should be an example to ANet…wait…).

WvW you’re oversimplifying though, I think. Just like on Earth, zerging is pretty much the most basic strategy, but a pretty inefficient one.

Tenshi.3598:

WvW you’re oversimplifying though, I think. Just like on Earth, zerging is pretty much the most basic strategy, but a pretty inefficient one.

I won’t deny that, since WvW is what it is. But it would have been much more fun to have more than a few catapults and battering rams. There should be giant NPCs you can “capture” to fight with the zerg. The zerg should be able to work together to create base assaulting tanks and golems (not player/zerg destroying ones mind you), and more interesting weapons of war. It would be great to have more transport options than running 10 miles to the action, only to hit a group of enemies running toward you and getting a repair bill. There should also be a greater sense of accomplishment, such as having little bases leading up to bigger bases and finally leading to an enemy commander with a big event. (They sort of have that but to a much lesser extent)

What I’m saying is, WvW is good not great. Which is a shame because it really could have been amazing.

There is a dungeon finder online www.gw2lfg.com. Most people use it now a days and there are still a variety of different runs.

Valhallen.1693:

Why do I have to take a bunch of waypoints then sit and wait in the hopes of even seeing an event? Was it too much to ask for a timer?

Best to check the Guild Wars Temple Dragon Timer before waypointing…

http://guildwarstemple.com/dragontimer/

ArcTheFallen.7682:

There is a dungeon finder online www.gw2lfg.com. Most people use it now a days and there are still a variety of different runs.

That’s an excellent site I was not aware of. However, it’s also a very sad reflection on Anet. How is something similar not already part of the game?

Manoa.5897:

Valhallen.1693:

Why do I have to take a bunch of waypoints then sit and wait in the hopes of even seeing an event? Was it too much to ask for a timer?

Best to check the Guild Wars Temple Dragon Timer before waypointing…

http://guildwarstemple.com/dragontimer/

That’s another excellent site, so thanks for that. Maybe I’ll give it another try tonight. Again though, great site, sad reflection on Anet.