Guild Wars 2

First off let me say that after reading about the leveling changes yesterday both here and on reddit, I was up-in-arms and as ready to hate it as most other people seem to be. But, I decided to wait to play it before I judged. I’m glad I did.

I would consider myself a “veteran” player. I have played since beta, and have four level 80’s. I know how to dodge, I’m not an idiot, etc. So I have good reasons to be angry about level-gating and hand-holding. But after playing a new character from levels 1-8 (and will be doing 8-15 tonight), I have discovered a few things:

1. There is a TON of misinformation about what was changed, what is level-gated, etc.
2. Low levels go a lot faster. Leveling from 1-7 took me about 30 minutes, so even the stuff that is level-gated I hardly noticed.
3. There are definitely some things that still need to be changed/fixed.
4. The new leveling system works. I play all melee/ranged classes. Historically I have a mental block for casters for some reason. I made a caster class last night and the slower skill unlocks allowed me to get comfortable with what I had before I was introduced to something new.

Good things the leveling system does:
1. The “Information Rewards” when you level up. This is where a lot of the misinformation about level-gating has come from. Many of the features aren’t actually gated, you can still use them, the game just introduces you to them one at a time. This prevents information overload on new players while not hindering people who are willing to tinker around the world and the UI and find things themselves.
2. The compass (when it works). I have had friends come from WoW or similar MMOs and been unable to cope with how differently you level. They couldn’t grasp that exploration rewards you and that aside from the few hearts on each map there aren’t quests. I can see how the compass could help those players get acclimated to doing events, POIs, etc.
3. The skill unlocks. While I really liked the idea of using a weapon to unlock the skills, unlocking each skill at a certain level gives new players time to learn how to use them (And because each low level takes about 5 minutes, it isn’t that bad).
4. Personal story unlocks. This is just speculation, but I think I will like this a lot more. It always seemed weird to me that something climactic would happen in a PS chapter but then we would have to go feed some cows before going to save someone’s life. With each chapter unlocking all at once, I think it will feel more cohesive.

What needs to be changed/fixed:
1. Skill challenges. I don’t see any reason to lock players out of activating these. They should be like the POIs and Vistas, accessible but not shown on the map until X level.
2. The compass (when it doesn’t work). There were certain areas where the compass would freak out and switch objectives every 10 steps or so. Obviously this creates confusion. There is also the problem of it sending players to places above their level.
3. Veteran player options. It would be nice if you have a level 80 already that some features come already unlocked (POIs, Vistas, gear rarities, offhands, etc.). In addition, it would be nice to be able to get rid of the compass if you don’t want it.

Overall, just give it an hour of your time and try it out. An informed opinion is going to be taken a lot more seriously than an uninformed opinion.

Tried it. Didn’t like it. Reasons are smeared all over the forum.

And yet, I can see how it would be helpful to new players. To think of it, the highlighted features should show up faster, rather than spaced between 1 and 23…
I’m hoping some of it was just a bug, because getting some of those notices as a veteran was just baffling.

And the limit of combat options is understandably infuriating for a veteran player. The pushback of utility slots to make characters even weaker by level 30, when dungeons open, is a terrible idea to prepare them (new or veteran) for more difficult content.

Darkchief.5468:

In addition, it would be nice to be able to get rid of the compass if you don’t want it.

You can already do that. Hit ecs. Go to general options. Go to “content guide”.

imo, skill challenges should be like vistas – only hidden on the map until unlocked. It was the only thing I noticed as being dumb. If a new player finds one early on, they’re going to recognize that icon as being just a text box.

If the compass was meant to direct new players, it also needs some work in the form of pointing towards level appropriate stuff.

I tried it and got my 8 year old daughter to try it. We both dislike it. In fact its the only time she has ever walked away from a game for being BORING. And no matter that the players are saying on the forums, on Facebook, and in game, Including players that bought the game when it was on the 50% off sale recently, have said if it does not change they will go elsewhere. I had 2 friends buy the game after the patch that are trying to get refunds.

I have. Twice. I’m not a fan. I get what they were trying to do, and in some ways i agree that they succeeded on certain feelings during the process, but unfortunately the over all execution was poor.

Rauderi.8706:

Tried it. Didn’t like it. Reasons are smeared all over the forum.

And yet, I can see how it would be helpful to new players. To think of it, the highlighted features should show up faster, rather than spaced between 1 and 23…
I’m hoping some of it was just a bug, because getting some of those notices as a veteran was just baffling.

And the limit of combat options is understandably infuriating for a veteran player. The pushback of utility slots to make characters even weaker by level 30, when dungeons open, is a terrible idea to prepare them (new or veteran) for more difficult content.

100% agree. Oh well, back to farming leveling scrolls…

Even after all my negative comments, I AM trying the new levelling system. I am following all the instructions given by the compass and it’s going ok. My gear is being refreshed reasonably frequently.

Can’t say its as fun though. There’s little adventure in it. I feel like Im playing a single player game.

GuzziHero.2467:

Even after all my negative comments, I AM trying the new levelling system. I am following all the instructions given by the compass and it’s going ok. My gear is being refreshed reasonably frequently.

Can’t say its as fun though. There’s little adventure in it. I feel like Im playing a single player game.

If you know where to go, turn off the compass.

I agree with most of that OP, Very nice analysis. I wish more players would go and try it themselves. Sure some people are still going to dislike it, but at least they have personal experience to base and not someone elses.

Vayne.8563:

If you know where to go, turn off the compass.

The point is, I am playing as the new system wants me to. I am following its instructions.

GuzziHero.2467:

Vayne.8563:

If you know where to go, turn off the compass.

The point is, I am playing as the new system wants me to. I am following its instructions.

The Compass is slightly bugged, doesn’t always work. Also its there for a baseline guide it is NOT instructions. Go wherever you like.

Paradox.1380:

Also its there for a baseline guide it is NOT instructions. Go wherever you like.

That’s a problem. Traditional MMOs have taught players to follow the arrow.

…

Dude, I have 13 lvl 80s. I don’t need pointers on how to play. I am following it as if I was a new player.

GuzziHero.2467:

…

Dude, I have 13 lvl 80s. I don’t need pointers on how to play. I am following it as if I was a new player.

Yeah I did the same thing. I found it sorta fun. Usually I have to follow my wife. lol

Rauderi.8706:

Tried it. Didn’t like it. Reasons are smeared all over the forum.

And yet, I can see how it would be helpful to new players. To think of it, the highlighted features should show up faster, rather than spaced between 1 and 23…
I’m hoping some of it was just a bug, because getting some of those notices as a veteran was just baffling.

And the limit of combat options is understandably infuriating for a veteran player. The pushback of utility slots to make characters even weaker by level 30, when dungeons open, is a terrible idea to prepare them (new or veteran) for more difficult content.

Yea since I haven’t leveled with the new system a whole lot, I still can’t say for sure whether I like it as a whole or not, but I do agree with you that all utility slots should be unlocked by the time you reach your first dungeon.

I’m still optimistic about it and hopefully some of the weirder changes and bugs will get ironed out, but I can totally see why people don’t like it. Its just that seeing misinformation and negative opinions being spread by people that haven’t even given it an hour of their time to try out is what is bugging me. Nothing wrong with not liking it as long as you gave it a shot.

Tried it, and I hate it. I haven’t played the game since.

I hate it its just insulting atleast put option for veterans that they don’t have go through and tutorial for people that just got the game to do it. Also wtf is with not getting skills points when you lvl up after lvl 13+

I did and I don’t like it. I can see where it would be more instructive for new players, but I have 10 level 80’s. It is tedious and a tad insulting to veteran players who like alts.

Also, there is such a thing as dumbing down something too much. When I first started playing I loved discovering things. I didn’t want it all spoon fed to me.

I re-roll or used to re-roll toons all the time prior to the trait change and this feature patch. I have given it a go and my experience was different from the op’s. I started a new ranger and leveling 1-10 was about 3 hours following the arrow and tool tips. After that I reached the story which didn’t even last me a third of that time since it is all in one chunk now.

Maybe it was just my class choice that I chose to test the system with that dragged me down. I will try a non human starter character next with a different class. It may have just been the shock of seeing how simplistic Queensdale had become as it is a zone I have been in many times. I can’t understand how interacting with objects would be to difficult for anyone to learn.

I do thank the people who mentioned that you can turn off the compass. Think that should have been a tool tip for anyone who has an 80 upon logging in. Like I said I will give another toon a fresh go in a different city with a different class to see if it goes faster. It was one of the things that killed it for me testing after the patch getting to 10 I actually stopped before starting the story as it had taken so long and I was completely bored. That had not happened before for me except for some of the longer story quest towards the end game.

GuzziHero.2467:

Even after all my negative comments, I AM trying the new levelling system. I am following all the instructions given by the compass and it’s going ok. My gear is being refreshed reasonably frequently.

Can’t say its as fun though. There’s little adventure in it. I feel like Im playing a single player game.

That is not a problem with the NPE that is a problem with you are not doing what you usually do likely world bosses, Dungeons, Etc..

Rauderi.8706:

Tried it. Didn’t like it. Reasons are smeared all over the forum.

And yet, I can see how it would be helpful to new players. To think of it, the highlighted features should show up faster, rather than spaced between 1 and 23…
I’m hoping some of it was just a bug, because getting some of those notices as a veteran was just baffling.

And the limit of combat options is understandably infuriating for a veteran player. The pushback of utility slots to make characters even weaker by level 30, when dungeons open, is a terrible idea to prepare them (new or veteran) for more difficult content.

They may make changes to when utility skills get unlocked please see
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Misconceptions-regarding-Level-gating/page/4#post4396936

Darkchief.5468:

First off let me say that after reading about the leveling changes yesterday both here and on reddit, I was up-in-arms and as ready to hate it as most other people seem to be. But, I decided to wait to play it before I judged. I’m glad I did.

I would consider myself a “veteran” player. I have played since beta, and have four level 80’s. I know how to dodge, I’m not an idiot, etc. So I have good reasons to be angry about level-gating and hand-holding. But after playing a new character from levels 1-8 (and will be doing 8-15 tonight), I have discovered a few things:

1. There is a TON of misinformation about what was changed, what is level-gated, etc.
2. Low levels go a lot faster. Leveling from 1-7 took me about 30 minutes, so even the stuff that is level-gated I hardly noticed.
3. There are definitely some things that still need to be changed/fixed.
4. The new leveling system works. I play all melee/ranged classes. Historically I have a mental block for casters for some reason. I made a caster class last night and the slower skill unlocks allowed me to get comfortable with what I had before I was introduced to something new.

Good things the leveling system does:
1. The “Information Rewards” when you level up. This is where a lot of the misinformation about level-gating has come from. Many of the features aren’t actually gated, you can still use them, the game just introduces you to them one at a time. This prevents information overload on new players while not hindering people who are willing to tinker around the world and the UI and find things themselves.
2. The compass (when it works). I have had friends come from WoW or similar MMOs and been unable to cope with how differently you level. They couldn’t grasp that exploration rewards you and that aside from the few hearts on each map there aren’t quests. I can see how the compass could help those players get acclimated to doing events, POIs, etc.
3. The skill unlocks. While I really liked the idea of using a weapon to unlock the skills, unlocking each skill at a certain level gives new players time to learn how to use them (And because each low level takes about 5 minutes, it isn’t that bad).
4. Personal story unlocks. This is just speculation, but I think I will like this a lot more. It always seemed weird to me that something climactic would happen in a PS chapter but then we would have to go feed some cows before going to save someone’s life. With each chapter unlocking all at once, I think it will feel more cohesive.

What needs to be changed/fixed:
1. Skill challenges. I don’t see any reason to lock players out of activating these. They should be like the POIs and Vistas, accessible but not shown on the map until X level.
2. The compass (when it doesn’t work). There were certain areas where the compass would freak out and switch objectives every 10 steps or so. Obviously this creates confusion. There is also the problem of it sending players to places above their level.
3. Veteran player options. It would be nice if you have a level 80 already that some features come already unlocked (POIs, Vistas, gear rarities, offhands, etc.). In addition, it would be nice to be able to get rid of the compass if you don’t want it.

Overall, just give it an hour of your time and try it out. An informed opinion is going to be taken a lot more seriously than an uninformed opinion.

I tryed it, all the way upto level 23, and from 50-60 On an alt. Leveling from 1-23 sucks. Mostly because my weapon skills are level locked. And for me that’s bull. I didn’t feel rewarded. Not to mention the level 50-60 rewards are armor with diffrent stats and ruin sets, that you can not even salvage!

People will like it and that’s fine. I don’t like it. Will it stop me playing the game? No, no it won’t. But I will let ANet know that I’m not happy with it or the “rewards”.

You know another killer for me was getting that first skill point. I got excited seeing that I unlocked one at 13 then going to check it out and finding it pre-selected for me was a shock.

Halan.7931:

Darkchief.5468:

3. The skill unlocks. While I really liked the idea of using a weapon to unlock the skills, unlocking each skill at a certain level gives new players time to learn how to use them (And because each low level takes about 5 minutes, it isn’t that bad).

Actually, it doesn’t.

Old version – you gradually unlock and learn skills for each weapon, starting with 1, then 2 and 3.

New version – skills are level locked, so if you levelup with one weapon, and then equip another – you have all the skills at once. Which is more confusing (isn’t “confusing” being the argument for new system?)

This is one of the things that I don’t like about the new system. I honestly think this trained the profession more using the old system. Perhaps displaying the skills you would get gave too much information. Or perhaps they wanted to give a feeling of progression tied to the leveling. If It is to give a feeling of progression tied to leveling I hope that skill unlocks are made account wide. See: (
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Learning-Curve/first#post4389552)

GuzziHero.2467:

Even after all my negative comments, I AM trying the new levelling system. I am following all the instructions given by the compass and it’s going ok. My gear is being refreshed reasonably frequently.

Can’t say its as fun though. There’s little adventure in it. I feel like Im playing a single player game.

Yeah, it does feel like the compass is leading you by the nose. To play GW2 like you used to (and I would argue that you should), you have to turn it off, but I don’t think it’d be clear to a new player how to do that.

GuzziHero.2467:

Even after all my negative comments, I AM trying the new levelling system. I am following all the instructions given by the compass and it’s going ok. My gear is being refreshed reasonably frequently.

Can’t say its as fun though. There’s little adventure in it. I feel like Im playing a single player game.

Doing the same thing, only at level 4 after about 20min, interesting thing was I could pop my commanders tag up at level 3 (didn’t think to try it before then) and now I have a following helping me along… and asking questions like why can’t I do a skill point? lol

Interesting from the misconceptions on level gating thread.

ColinJohanson.2394:

Hey folks,

Wanted to pop by and give another update on where we stand, as well as to help provide some information on some of the more common misconceptions we’ve seen floating around as well:

- There are bugs! We’ve seen the content direction system (the little arrow) pointing people at super high level maps when it shouldn’t, some systems/features not unlocking as intended for all characters on your account once your first learns them, some systems level gated that aren’t intended to be, balance issues where certain levels appear to be very out of whack, etc. As I mentioned earlier in this thread, our team is working to figure out what happened here and fix these as quickly as possible.

- There is misinformation: Numerous systems that show up in the level up guide that teaches you about things in the game when you gain levels are not locked out, the system simply tells you they exist in the game to help give you a better list of things you can do. Just because it’s included in the level up guide, doesn’t mean it’s actually locked out. You can dodge from level one, jumping puzzle from level one, etc. There also appear to be a lot of folks chiming in who haven’t actually played with any of the system, and are making claims that aren’t remotely true.

- There are some things happening at the wrong levels. Things like utility skills and elites are intended to come at approx. the same time they used to in actual game time, we sped up leveling for levels 1-15 and had them slide back in levels a bit to offset that pacing, they are not currently where we want them to be in the level up system. This was an oversight, and will absolutely be fixed.

- Not all of these changes were made as ways to teach the game, some of them are to provide a better sense of pacing, reward and progression. Early on we want to give a sense that you’re rapidly gaining new abilities, rewards, and learning new things as you level up. We added the level up reward messages, and the actual rewards themselves, and took abilities you’d usually use around that point in total game hours and presented them as unlocks (or things we teach that are already unlocked) to help give a better sense of pacing and progression.

With the addition of the new rewards, messaging, and level up screen to make leveling more exciting: we also wanted to make sure you had that feeling of excitement more often early on in the game, and presented new learning on a more regular cadence. So we greatly sped up leveling from levels 1-15. Many of the things unlocked at later levels are earned at about the same time period you used to start using them in the old system in actual real game time, we just staggered them out across the levels since we sped up leveling to make the game feel more rewarding early on.

- In general, this system is intended to be not only better for new players, but our hope is by the time it’s all in place you’ll find via the better rewards from levels 1-80 via the level up guide, the better rewards from personal story, the faster leveling from 1-15, and the ability to toggle the content direction system to help you with map complete will make this a better for experienced players as well.

- Over a years worth of testing with new players found we were absolutely able to keep them both more engaged, and more likely to return to keep playing Gw2 as a result of the intended system. That is at the end of the day, a win for all of us since all of you need more people to play with! However: if we find in the live environment that isn’t true and we’re not retaining new users better, we’ll absolutely both share that information with you, and continue to iterate to make it better. We keep very real time metrics of player retention for new users, and we’ll know very quickly how effective the work we’ve done is. I want to make it clear: what we used to have absolutely wasn’t good enough for our standards of retaining new users. Before we do some of the other things we want to do with Gw2, we had to fix this, period.

- Finally, I want to add that a few things (hello traits!) are things that can be improved for players who make multiple alts, we’re aware of this, and though company policy prevents us from discussing what’s in development: I can say we know Gw2 can be an even better game for people who love making alts in the long run, more info: when it’s ready™.

Well if some of this is not as intended and there is trait hope for alt addicts like myself I will stay on the fence for now. Hopefully we get a new patch next week correcting the changes that vets are seeing.

Gamers in general are a fickeled bunch. Change something and they come unglued over it. Even when it doesn’t affect their game play as a veteran player. I have three new characters and leveling is different so far. I am enjoying the leveling experience. So it is not that hard just different.

Tried disliked going to get killed a lot in spvp to get tomes of knowledge. sorry spvp guis. I was forced into this.

I have tried it. Got to 10 before I couldn’t stand being locked out of utilities and such.

Been there, done that hate it enough said. After two years I need none of what they’ve put into place it should have been set up so it was only that way for new players or at the very least an optional tab to check off “New Player Experience”, not a mandatory path for veterans who don’t need or want it at all.

Let’s not forget all loot from foes in PS has now been removed.

DonQuack.9025:

Tried disliked going to get killed a lot in spvp to get tomes of knowledge. sorry spvp guis. I was forced into this.

lol

I imagine, you won’t be alone in this XD

What’s the quickest way to get tomes of knowledge?
PvP or WvW?

Celestina.2894:

I have tried it. Got to 10 before I couldn’t stand being locked out of utilities and such.

I made it to level 12 and got to a crafting station which would let me open my bank, used one of those instant lvl 20 scrolls to pop up to lvl 20, then used a few skill point scrolls to give me a few options in the skills. It’s not as bad as I thought it would be and I can see where it’ll help out new players, hopefully Anet will release another scroll for veteran players that we can go from lvl 20 to say lvl 40 or 60 then play the toon out to lvl 80…. I haven’t touched the PS on this toon and not really sure I will at this point.

An interesting observation…. at lvl 7 I couldn’t start a skill point but if a higher level player started the skill point and I joined in I did get the credit and point.

Okay, so before your OP I had indeed tested it. I have played gw2 for just over a year and have 9 lvl 80’s. I created a new char and got about the business of checking it out, mainly to see what I had to do to reach the PS stage.

Well, skill unlocks are pretty lame at best, I KNOW how my skills work in this game, so being drip fed each skill was a big downer for me. It automatically makes things take longer. Which brings me to my next item: hearts.

If I don’t know, after completing one heart, how to complete a heart, then I have the ability to ensure a further 10 hearts to fully understand it. Thank you for assuming my intelligence is that of a flea ( no disrespect to any fleas playing).

On completion of my 11th heart I was still not level 10 and with it, unable to begin PS. Fortunately I had unlocked “gathering” so gathered the rest of the xp to lvl 10.

Finally! I could do the PS! And I went about the normal business of progressing through the PS. But then I notice something, something small, that made me want to check further. Foes in PS no longer drop loot!!! So I jumped on a lvl 80 alt and did the PS from level 20 block upto the level 50 block and not one single foe dropped loot for me.

I was not impressed. Some kind forum poster, posted information confirming this:

All the drops were moved to end of story rewards, so we could provide more predictable/consistent rewards. ( this also prevents some story steps from being more PROFITABLE simply because they have more enemies to fight).

So besides the fact this update classes my gw2 experience as being noob, it also showed me that more and more ways to make gold in game are being nerfed. Heck, even the rewards you get are soul bound.

So, having tested it (fairly) I feel I am in a strong enough position to critique it and stating that this is the single most disgraceful thing anet have done to this wonderful game.

This needs to be sorted, pronto! This game is fast becoming someone’s cash cow and it is not what you do if you want to keep players coming back to play.

I normally defend Anet but these changes to leveling are garbage. All the original players and myself had NO problem figuring out stuff at low levels. Unless Anet has switched their demographic to 5 yearolds this is a terrible move. I honestly have no desire to create any more alts and level if this is how it is going to be. This is honestly the worst update from Anet ever, whole thing leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Tried it. Love the rewards, but that’s about it. The trading post is great. Everything else, bar the skins, is a complete travesty and not at all something that will keep people interested in making an alt.
1. Being told where to go and what to do is not what GW2 was meant to be about.
2. Skills that need to be unlocked during a lengthy leveling proccess, is insulting to anyone who has played a long time, let alone to new players who have watched the early GW2 promotion videos and then buy this game, just to find this bag of bullkittens have been implemented.
3. Personal story used to be something I could start many levels before hand. It was challenging and optional, I could do things “My Way” as Anet originally intended. Now it’s not GW2 anymore, just a game full of guides for pudding brain, white knights.

I applaud your work on the trading post at least, and commander tags being account bound seems nice, despite the over use of them. Welcome to Tag Wars 2.

A revision and re-work is in need.

ReV.6097:

1. Being told where to go and what to do is not what GW2 was meant to be about.

If you are referring to the compass, it can be turned off. In the options menu.

ReV.6097:

2. Skills that need to be unlocked during a lengthy leveling proccess, is insulting to anyone who has played a long time, let alone to new players who have watched the early GW2 promotion videos and then buy this game, just to find this bag of bullkittens have been implemented.

I believe that Colin Johansson said in a recent post that the opening up of some skills (I believe he said the utility skills and elite skill slots) are mistimed, and will be reviewed. For the moment, I will postpone judgment on that.

I really cannot comment on your third point, as I haven’t tried Personal Story yet in the new system. I understand what you mean by challenging yourself, and I agree it is a valid play option that was removed.
However, I have no problem at all with this system being a nerf to key farming.

HenleyLegoMan.4987:

On completion of my 11th heart I was still not level 10 and with it, unable to begin PS. Fortunately I had unlocked “gathering” so gathered the rest of the xp to lvl 10.

This alone just makes sure I’ll never want to start a lvl1 character again. I am a harvester! I love to harvest. I’ll not leave a node unturned, a tree standing or a plant unrooted… But now the game is trying to teaching me that that is not the way to play?

(ok, it’s not that alone, also the fact that my weapon skills are level gated is just horrible…)

Jornophelanthas.1475:

ReV.6097:

1. Being told where to go and what to do is not what GW2 was meant to be about.

If you are referring to the compass, it can be turned off. In the options menu.

What about the skill challenges, Points of Interest (level 7), Gathering Nodes (Level 9), Vista (level 10)
At least Dailys didn’t get level locked?
Like I said, I’d rather have the free will to do my personal story any time, rather than being told I can’t carry it on yet until level 20 – 30.
I’m not gonna post too much, as everyone else has done this over and over, but you get the point. It doesn’t really bother everyone so it’s not something I expect to see changed, but it bugs the crap out of many, so it has lead to many leaving. Now I’m left in an empty guild after many of my friends quit or started to not log in anymore, telling me they’d go to AA or FF14.

tested it, it sucks.
its inconsistent, and weird. i think its more confusing than not.
1)some things presented as unlocks are not unlocks (when you mouse over unlocks next level it shows locked icons)
2)the arrow is sort of cool, and sort of confusing, it points you to the closest thing, which changes at times. A new player wont necessarily know why they ran far, and then the thing it was pointing to disappeared
3)the rewards are often a lot of bad items, that are inconsistent with normal game rules, these are the items that you cannot sell or salavge.
4)enemies in instances dont drop loot, therefore you should always kill as few enemies as possible. While the above poster said this is to balance steps out, it doesnt, because some steps are longer and have way more enemies than others.
5) you get low level items you cant use because they are locked out, all offhand weapons before level 7
6) apparently some things are account unlocks and some are charachter unlocks according to colin, so someone telling trying to advise will probably be unaware of this.
7)skill points you cannot access until you come back at an unknown later level, markers on maps arent there early on.

and thats just the weird and confusing cases that were non existent before.

in terms of just sucky boring stuff.
1)weapon unlock by level
2)drip feed unlocking of skills
3)high level unlocks for utilities and elites
4)forced personal story at specific levels (underleveling personal story used to be fun and worthwhile for me, now its boring, and less worthwhile)

overall the system is clearly inferior, and makes it feel like leveling should be a race to map complete at fast as possible.
kill no extra monsters that arent in an event. ignore events that are time consuming, kill no extra enemy in a personal story, Do every heart, real game begins around 36, as compared to like 20 before. you are finally free from grind around 70.

1-15 isn’t much of an issue.

Some things, like no weapon swapping until 15 are annoying, or not being able to do Skill Points until 13, but not game breaking.

It’s 15+ where things get really terrible – second utility slot at 24? Third at 35? Elite at 40?

No thanks.

And then there’s the fact that whatever Anet says they are trying to do, could have been done better differently.

Level gating solves nothing. Instead, they should have created more thorough tutorials and tool tips.

To the poster who claimed that he/she leveled too slowly:
According to the patch notes, the leveling speed through levels 1-15 was accelerated greatly compared to before. A guildmate of mine has already started a new character and claimed he hit level 13 within an hour. This effectively means that the unlocks at those lowest levels can all be attained very swiftly, to the point that they barely count as limitations.
(I have yet to see it with my own eyes, though.)

ReV.6097:

What about the skill challenges, Points of Interest (level 7), Gathering Nodes (Level 9), Vista (level 10)

I haven’t tried leveling a new character yet, but I was led to believe that harvesting was still possible at lower levels. Isn’t it so that the nodes just don’t show up on the minimap yet?

I am going to try a new character later tonight or tomorrow. I will reserve judgment on the NPE until afterwards.

ipan.4356:

It’s 15+ where things get really terrible – second utility slot at 24? Third at 35? Elite at 40?

No thanks.

I believe Colin Johansson’s recent post said this was not what they intended, and that it would be adjusted.

- There are some things happening at the wrong levels. Things like utility skills and elites are intended to come at approx. the same time they used to in actual game time, we sped up leveling for levels 1-15 and had them slide back in levels a bit to offset that pacing, they are not currently where we want them to be in the level up system. This was an oversight, and will absolutely be fixed.

Source: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Misconceptions-regarding-Level-gating/page/4#post4396936

I’m only level 4.5 on my new Human Necro, but I’m rather enjoying it. I’m about to go learn to dodge.

Funny thing is, I remember when I was starting out and how much trouble I had with my staff Elementalist with some of the early story steps, and a lot of it was not knowing how to move and fight, and yes, dodge.

Never played a necro before, so it’s kinda fun watching my skills unfold, and getting to try them in rotations before getting new ones. When I found a new knife I’d never used, I had 3 skills unlocked on my axe, and I immediately knew the 3 skills on the knife. I could read them and get an idea as to what they might do, but then jump right in with it without having to learn each one. Yes, that mechanic had a little bit of charm to it back in the day, unlocking a little as you go, but trying to look at it with new eyes, this way isn’t horrible either. I think the ‘learn as you go’ mechanic would have worked better if the game was ‘totally’ organic and level-less, but it’s not at the end of the day, so maybe this fits better.

Granted, it’s early, and maybe I’ll be frustrated by the time I’m 15, but we’ll see.

And, putting my “I’m new and don’t know anything yet” hat on, one thing that occurred to me was you get to buy 3 accessory karma items early on. Now maybe I missed it, but once you get the third one, and want to sell the one you don’t want to use any more, it’s not really clear as to why you can’t sell a karma item?

I tried it. Thank God I had an experience scroll…the last one I will ever use. Even level 20 is boring without traits and the locked skill slots make it all that more frustrating. I gave it a chance. It’s terrible.

suggestion for improvement:

• change unlock symbols to a new icon for information, or suggestion
• if an event the arrow is pointing to ends, say event ended in a readable way.
• zones should be labeled with a level range and a word to describe how hard in relation to your level
• Get rid of non sellable/non salvageable items, these break the rules of the game and serve no purpose. You get these items one time per charachter, they will not destroy the market, or lead to too much salvage material
• All monsters that do not respawn endlessly should drop loot, in story step or not.
• Almost all skill unlocks should be waived for veteran players, at their own choice on char creation. Its a lot more tedious every time after the first charachter.
• weapon unlocks should be an either or system, you get it from killing and if you dont by a certain level it unlocks for you.
• Personal story should be startable at any level, and you can choose how much harder it is, up to the reccomended level. To balance the difficulty, they can give you the amount of exp you would get for completing the step differently based on what level it was at when you completed it.

its not all that bad. you get some stuff when you level up, thats something too. besides getting a “skill 5 unlocked” on various weapons, didn’t feel any intervention.

edit: i stand corrected

Jornophelanthas.1475:

To the poster who claimed that he/she leveled too slowly:
According to the patch notes, the leveling speed through levels 1-15 was accelerated greatly compared to before. A guildmate of mine has already started a new character and claimed he hit level 13 within an hour. This effectively means that the unlocks at those lowest levels can all be attained very swiftly, to the point that they barely count as limitations.
(I have yet to see it with my own eyes, though.)

ReV.6097:

What about the skill challenges, Points of Interest (level 7), Gathering Nodes (Level 9), Vista (level 10)

I haven’t tried leveling a new character yet, but I was led to believe that harvesting was still possible at lower levels. Isn’t it so that the nodes just don’t show up on the minimap yet?

I am going to try a new character later tonight or tomorrow. I will reserve judgment on the NPE until afterwards.

---

ipan.4356:

It’s 15+ where things get really terrible – second utility slot at 24? Third at 35? Elite at 40?

No thanks.

I believe Colin Johansson’s recent post said this was not what they intended, and that it would be adjusted.

- There are some things happening at the wrong levels. Things like utility skills and elites are intended to come at approx. the same time they used to in actual game time, we sped up leveling for levels 1-15 and had them slide back in levels a bit to offset that pacing, they are not currently where we want them to be in the level up system. This was an oversight, and will absolutely be fixed.

Source: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Misconceptions-regarding-Level-gating/page/4#post4396936

the increase in speed of leveling is mitigated by the story steps being bundled together. just doing the story steps alone used to get you to level 5-6. which takes 15 minutes. overall, i would say there is probably 15 min to an hour difference in speed of leveling from 1-15 for an experienced player.
However you can some times level fairly fast in the new system if you happen on some quickly completed dynamic events in the right places.

skill challenges are locked out, i dont believe the others are, or perhaps they are locked out only on first charachter.

honestly though the new level experience gets old fast, i would say around 7, it doesnt last that long, but the unlocks continue way past level 15.

a level 20 mesmer is missing 2 proffesions skills, 2 utilities, has no trait skills,
essentially being level 20 now, is inferior to being level 10 before april patch. and even inferior to being level 5 pre april.

While colin says this may change, we still dont know when it will change, or how much it will change.
the biggest issue i have, is it is not a clear improvement, its a different direction that feels worse. To encourage progression and pacing they should have used different mechanics, that scaled better based on the skill/knowledge of the player.

thats the biggest problem with this system, it holds every one back to the lowest common denominator, with the only way out, being to grind faster. It doesnt adapt to the users abilities/playstyle at all.

@phys:
Your point about leveling speed balancing out against Personal Story delay is valid.

Regarding the rest of your post:
Colin Johansson already said that skill slot unlocks (especially utility and elite skills)have been put in too late in the leveling progression.

As for when this could be changed:

Hi there,

As a follow-up to Colin’s post, we want you to know that we’re working kitten fixing bugs in the New Player Experience system. We’re also using this opportunity to make a few changes to its design to take into account the feedback we’ve been reading. We’re aiming to deploy the fixes early next week.

As Colin explained (make sure to read this post and that one if you haven’t!), this is a complex, “big picture” system that has a lot of components. We want it to benefit all players and improve your game experience overall.

We understand that this is an important topic for the community and appreciate that players have been talking about it. We’ve been triaging bug reports, developing fixes for them and discussing what design changes we will bring to you next week. We’ll continue to both work on the next updates and read the feedback from the community on this topic!

Thank you

Source: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Misconceptions-regarding-Level-gating/page/8#post4398760