Guild Wars 2

They run a tight, zero-tolerance ship.

Knowing that harassment, insulting demeaning language and genrally being unexcellent to each other will be responded to swiftly and decisively (when people report it- be proactive about doing so!) is a large part of why I play GW2 over every other MMO, and why I continue to reccommend it to players of all diversities.

There’s still some social bugs to work out, and there’s always bad apples showing up to try and make life unpleasant, but on the whole, ArenaNet provides a safe, welcoming environment.

There is a lot ArenaNet does right, no doubt about it- and there is a lot they do wrong.

But yeah, the aspect of everyone being nice to each other is something they have a good watch over.

There’s a lot Anet does right.

I think it’s telling that even when people complain or talk about how bored they are with the game they’ll often throw in some variant of ‘there is no better game for me to go to’.

This one isn’t perfect, I don’t think any game is perfect, but there are a lot of good points. Even if it’s as simple as the lack of subscription making it a game you can pick up and drop as you feel like it, there’s obviously something that keeps people coming back.

Danikat.8537:

There’s a lot Anet does right.

Very much so. They’re not going to make all the players happy all the time, because that’s impossible- but I think the overall of GW2 is a positive, enjoyable experience, both from an IC and OOC perspective.

Eleri Tezhme.3048:

Danikat.8537:

There’s a lot Anet does right.

Very much so. They’re not going to make all the players happy all the time, because that’s impossible- but I think the overall of GW2 is a positive, enjoyable experience, both from an IC and OOC perspective.

Kind of different for me.

While there’s a lot ArenaNet does right, the way they are handling the Living Story, the missions there and the constant gaze over the cash shop, I think it’s getting rather unpleasant.

The Living Story missions are short and while the story written is pretty alright, they cut it off so randomly for another ‘rest’ until January. It’s stupid the way they handle it.

Then of course there are soooo many things appearing in the cash shop that looks great as ingame rewards from other sources than the cash shop, or you need to farm ridiculous amount of cold to convert for a ridiculous amount too.

Farzo.8410:

Eleri Tezhme.3048:

Danikat.8537:

There’s a lot Anet does right.

Very much so. They’re not going to make all the players happy all the time, because that’s impossible- but I think the overall of GW2 is a positive, enjoyable experience, both from an IC and OOC perspective.

Kind of different for me.

While there’s a lot ArenaNet does right, the way they are handling the Living Story, the missions there and the constant gaze over the cash shop, I think it’s getting rather unpleasant.

The Living Story missions are short and while the story written is pretty alright, they cut it off so randomly for another ‘rest’ until January. It’s stupid the way they handle it.

Then of course there are soooo many things appearing in the cash shop that looks great as ingame rewards from other sources than the cash shop, or you need to farm ridiculous amount of cold to convert for a ridiculous amount too.

Considering the fact that you can farm gold pretty quickly and it usually takes tripple the time to get any good gear in a P2P game, it is ok, especially that it is up to you if you want to buy it or not.

Personally, I don’t mind LS and gemshop updates as long as they would announce an expansion. That will make my soul happy, assuming the expansion is good obviously.

What Arenanet also did 100% right is the trading post. The one central game-global stock exchange-like trading post. I’m speaking of the concept and general design like a stock exchange. We can always argue if the user interface could be improved, but the general design of the trading post itself is almost perfect. It’s one of the few subsystem designs I don’t have anything to complain about.

The other thing is the graphical design of the game. It’s always a pleasure to watch this beautifully designed world.

Eleri Tezhme.3048:

They run a tight, zero-tolerance ship.

Knowing that harassment, insulting demeaning language and genrally being unexcellent to each other will be responded to swiftly and decisively (when people report it- be proactive about doing so!) is a large part of why I play GW2 over every other MMO, and why I continue to reccommend it to players of all diversities.

There’s still some social bugs to work out, and there’s always bad apples showing up to try and make life unpleasant, but on the whole, ArenaNet provides a safe, welcoming environment.

That’s true. The game has a nice mature, respectful environment, and is one of the biggest reasons I’ve stayed. In my entire two years here, I’ve only had to deal with one unpleasant incident. Just one.

The Skinner Box. They got it down quite well. I’d say one of the best at it.

Farzo.8410:

Eleri Tezhme.3048:

Danikat.8537:

There’s a lot Anet does right.

Very much so. They’re not going to make all the players happy all the time, because that’s impossible- but I think the overall of GW2 is a positive, enjoyable experience, both from an IC and OOC perspective.

Kind of different for me.

While there’s a lot ArenaNet does right, the way they are handling the Living Story, the missions there and the constant gaze over the cash shop, I think it’s getting rather unpleasant.

The Living Story missions are short and while the story written is pretty alright, they cut it off so randomly for another ‘rest’ until January. It’s stupid the way they handle it.

Then of course there are soooo many things appearing in the cash shop that looks great as ingame rewards from other sources than the cash shop, or you need to farm ridiculous amount of cold to convert for a ridiculous amount too.

Besides the fact that any f2p game releases skins/toys/ect into their cash shops to get revenue (ofc this game doesnt have to be like “all those other games”) and anets staff needs to be paid, if you hate that model how about suggesting another way for them to come up with revenue without the gem store. I have yet to hear one thats reasonable but it would be interesting to hear one if you can.

At what point did this become a “I don’t like X about GW2” thread, when the original intent was to talk about how nice it is for an MMO to have a clear cut, enforced behavior policies?

Is it really that important to turn any thread mentioning something Anet does well into yet another “I hate Living Story/RNG/GemStore/Yaddayaddayadda” gripefest?

Sheesh!

You must be new around here.

Deamhan.9538:

The Skinner Box. They got it down quite well. I’d say one of the best at it.

It’s actually not a skinner box. The skinner box requires you to get loot often enough to keep coming back, like WoW raids.

This is not quite the skinner box model. You should read up on it more.

Eleri Tezhme.3048:

…being unexcellent to each other

You didn’t just mean…

…naaah

…couldn’t be.

Ardenwolfe.8590:

You must be new around here.

SNERK hope springs eternal that we can have a nice talk without it being a kvetch session. Crazy, I know…

Korossive.7085:

You didn’t just mean…

…naaah

…couldn’t be.

In the theatre. Before leaving highschool. Next thing you know I’ll be shaking my cane and telling you kids to get offa my lawn.

Hmmph, I was two years out of college and heading to law school when I saw that in the theater. Gimme that there cane. And build me a lawn fence to save my vocal cords, they twinge bad when I raise my voice — legacy of a bad car accident followed by intubation.

OT, yes, this really is a game designed for people that like to be helpful. I think one reason trolldom and griefing hasn’t caught on nearly as much in other games is that there’s just not much you can do to ruin other people’s fun without hosing yourself in the process. And when something does arise that promotes toxicity, ANet stomps on it very hard.

That goes to what made so many of us think this would be the Second Coming of MMOs, back around launch. That the devs made this a game meant to encourage cooperation and kindness. Despite some erosion of that, it remains a core value of the game and keeps the community excellent, in part thanks to deliberately attracting people that don’t want to keep ahead of the Joneses and are quite fine with others also getting the pretty shinies.

Anet’s customer service has been spot on for me. This includes spending over a week emailing with me to try to get a dying computer to continue working for a bit longer. They have also helped me when I have done various stupid things I couldn’t fix.

Another specific and unexpected thing was the odd, quirky humor of the game. Most games have humor but this game has it tucked in the oddest places and generally strange. They also tuck odd bits in strange places where there is no reason to go, like the cat war council and the turkeys in AC. Oh… strawberry patch.

Super Adventure Box! Never, ever seen anything like it in any MMO. Please bring it back.

JPs! I don’t care that the rewards suck, I run them just for fun.

I am listing these because I am picking one general department and a few things that most people don’t mention. Most of that quirky humor is in what I consider “vanilla GW2” but it still pops up, like on the Labyrinthine Cliffs. Psst… Anet… more of that please. I still do things like talk to the Charr who are not too sure that there are cows falling out of the sky.

A lot of people mention it but I still will… the art. That’s what got my attention in the first place and I still wander around gawping at stuff.

I wonder how many people have spoken with the random NPC in Lion’s Arch about cats. He loves them and will chat a bit about it.

Gregori.5807:

Anet’s customer service has been spot on for me. This includes spending over a week emailing with me to try to get a dying computer to continue working for a bit longer. They have also helped me when I have done various stupid things I couldn’t fix.

Another specific and unexpected thing was the odd, quirky humor of the game. Most games have humor but this game has it tucked in the oddest places and generally strange. They also tuck odd bits in strange places where there is no reason to go, like the cat war council and the turkeys in AC. Oh… strawberry patch.

Super Adventure Box! Never, ever seen anything like it in any MMO. Please bring it back.

JPs! I don’t care that the rewards suck, I run them just for fun.

I am listing these because I am picking one general department and a few things that most people don’t mention. Most of that quirky humor is in what I consider “vanilla GW2” but it still pops up, like on the Labyrinthine Cliffs. Psst… Anet… more of that please. I still do things like talk to the Charr who are not too sure that there are cows falling out of the sky.

A lot of people mention it but I still will… the art. That’s what got my attention in the first place and I still wander around gawping at stuff.

I wonder how many people have spoken with the random NPC in Lion’s Arch about cats. He loves them and will chat a bit about it.

This. Exactly this, when I hear people whine about no new content, I think to myself I bet you never saw x, or y or z and stopped and looked around and had a conversation, read flavor text, or just enjoyed the beautiful scenery. One of the things I like best about Guild Wars 2 is that it rewards exploration.

While I certainly don’t like everything ANet has added to the game since launch, the base game is (to me) still the best value in computer gaming. They did that right.

Deamhan.9538:

The Skinner Box. They got it down quite well. I’d say one of the best at it.

Yeah, the daily log-in stuff was the final nail in the coffin for me, at least as far as gem purchases are concerned.
That being said the base game is still amazing and provides fun and enterntainment for well over ~a year. If only we had more stuff added. Not saying expansion, just a tad more of everything, not just the bare minimum to keep players logging in.

Silmar Alech.4305:

What Arenanet also did 100% right is the trading post. The one central game-global stock exchange-like trading post. I’m speaking of the concept and general design like a stock exchange.

I disagree.

First: The general concept/design stimulates gambling on the stock exchange too much.
Second: The general concept/design devalues crafting because it is often cheaper to buy items on the TP than to craft them yourself.

Greetings.

The trading post — after standing in Kamadan in GW1, I would not have bought GW2 without a trading post.

Separating skins from stats.

Dodge rolls. Livens things up, without being too twitch.

No healer class — I shudder at the time I spent in missions in GW1 waiting for “6/8 GLF heals” to lure somebody in.

Combat. I’d be alright with more (selectable) skills for existing weapons and new weapons altogether, but even as it is now, it’s by far the most enjoyable combat I’ve experienced in an MMO.

It has spoiled me so that I just cannot touch traditional tabtarget hotkeyspam combats like WoW anymore. I just can’t.

Zok.4956:

Second: The general concept/design devalues crafting because it is often cheaper to buy items on the TP than to craft them yourself.

I don’t think that’s the TP’s fault, the pricing is a symptom of other problems. e.g…
- People craft at a loss to level their characters and dump the resulting items
- People craft at a loss to level their ascended crafting and dump the resulting items

If there were no reason to craft and sell other than profit, crafters could sell at a profit. And you would save TP tax + whatever their margin is by crafting things for yourself. Or you can pay the extra for convenience.

Zok.4956:

I disagree.

First: The general concept/design stimulates gambling on the stock exchange too much.
Second: The general concept/design devalues crafting because it is often cheaper to buy items on the TP than to craft them yourself.

Why is the first part bad? If you don’t want to do it, you can forget about it and just use the TP to get the things you want and sell the stuff you don’t need.

The second part would happen even in a localized market, but obviously in a smaller scale. The TP is a volume market. If you want to make profit you either find a small niche with high margin, or work with large volumes with smaller margins.

Crafters can also earn money on the TP no matter what their skill level is. Just need to be able to use some free online tools to figure out what to craft. The fact that some items are cheaper to buy from TP than to craft yourself just tells that the item in question is not in very high demand and/or the materials required to craft it are abundant.

Here’s my list, in no particular order:

No subscription
This is a big one. I could afford a subscription game, but I’d feel pressured to play it to justify the price. This month would be a nightmare for me – I’m away for 2 (non-consecutive) weeks but I want to play in between, so I’d also have to pay for all that time I’m not using. With GW2 I don’t have to worry.

No stat treadmill
Yes there is grind in this game, but not for things you have to have to play. When I got to level 80 I got a set of exotic gear pretty much straight away with karma I’d saved up. Then within a month I did both the newly released Flame and Frost dungeon and Arah path 2. In a lot of MMOs that wouldn’t be an option. A newly max level character couldn’t go and do the final dungeon in the game, they’d have to do all the others first to get the other equipment tiers in between.

Along the same lines I’m still using some of that same gear now, almost 2 years later, and it’s still basically the top tier (yes there’s ascended, but that’s a very minor improvement).

No Pay-to-win
Sure you can buy gems, convert them to gold and use it to buy exotics, or even legendary weapons. But there is nothing you can get by spending real money that you can’t get relatively easily without spending anything. I have spent money in the gem store, but always for novelty items, I’ve never felt like I had to in order to keep playing.

Cooperative PvE
I realise this will sound like I’m paraphrasing Anet’s promotion of the game, but I really like that I don’t have to worry about other people around me in PvE because they can’t, deliberately or accidentally, screw up my game. They can delay me slightly, for example if reviving NPCs counts towards a heart and they revive one before I get there, but it’s relatively rare. I don’t have to worry about them stealing my kills or loot or me stealing theirs, or messing up their events. At worst I’m indifferent to other people, quite often I’m actually happy to see a random stranger come along because I know they’re going to help me, without me having to say or do anything to persuade them. (Sure it’s for their own interest, because they want to complete the event or whatever, but that’s the beauty of it, two people playing in the same area totally independently are also helping each other.)

Generally friendly community
This partially stems from the above, but I think the players deserve credit too. There are exceptions of course (come on, it’s the internet) but it’s nice that on the whole people are friendly and civil to each other.

The art style
I try not to make graphics a priority for me with games, especially because then it limits the replayability over the years. But I do love the art style in this game, it’s a wonderful mix of realism and something like an oil painting (a slightly impressionist one too, which is a style I like). There’s been many times I’ve just stopped in the middle of what I was doing to admire the scenery.

It’s fun
The combat especially. There’s been more than a few times I’ve been genuinely excited during a battle not so much because of the end result as because the process itself is enjoyable. The combination of movement and the variety of attacks makes it exciting to play through even fairly routine fights. Although I much prefer it when a boss has special mechanics that make it distinct from normal enemies.

While there are a lot of things I love about this game, there is one area I think ArenaNet has pretty much down pat – open world PVE.

I cannot think of another MMO where the open world PVE is as cooperative and fun as it is in GW2.

That is where GW2 really shines – new zones, new beasties to kill, new things to do in the open world.

And they seem to be getting better at it with each attempt. Drytop and Silverwastes are a step forward and some of the most fun Ive had in open world pve in a really long time. Most MMOs arent really MMOs – they are open worlds built around cooperative 5, 10 or 25 party instances (dungeons and raids) – which are then designed to be the core of the game. GW2 is, thankfully, pulling away from that model and doing so in a way that is fun and entertaining.

There is a lot of hate on these forums (but that is true of any game forums, tbh) – and I don’t always agree with everything Anet does – but GW2 is still an amazing game and, if they stay the path they are on with content like DT and SW, will only get better as far as Im concerned.

Danikat.8537:

Here’s my list, in no particular order:

No subscription
This is a big one. I could afford a subscription game, but I’d feel pressured to play it to justify the price. This month would be a nightmare for me – I’m away for 2 (non-consecutive) weeks but I want to play in between, so I’d also have to pay for all that time I’m not using. With GW2 I don’t have to worry.

No stat treadmill
Yes there is grind in this game, but not for things you have to have to play. When I got to level 80 I got a set of exotic gear pretty much straight away with karma I’d saved up. Then within a month I did both the newly released Flame and Frost dungeon and Arah path 2. In a lot of MMOs that wouldn’t be an option. A newly max level character couldn’t go and do the final dungeon in the game, they’d have to do all the others first to get the other equipment tiers in between.

Along the same lines I’m still using some of that same gear now, almost 2 years later, and it’s still basically the top tier (yes there’s ascended, but that’s a very minor improvement).

No Pay-to-win
Sure you can buy gems, convert them to gold and use it to buy exotics, or even legendary weapons. But there is nothing you can get by spending real money that you can’t get relatively easily without spending anything. I have spent money in the gem store, but always for novelty items, I’ve never felt like I had to in order to keep playing.

Cooperative PvE
I realise this will sound like I’m paraphrasing Anet’s promotion of the game, but I really like that I don’t have to worry about other people around me in PvE because they can’t, deliberately or accidentally, screw up my game. They can delay me slightly, for example if reviving NPCs counts towards a heart and they revive one before I get there, but it’s relatively rare. I don’t have to worry about them stealing my kills or loot or me stealing theirs, or messing up their events. At worst I’m indifferent to other people, quite often I’m actually happy to see a random stranger come along because I know they’re going to help me, without me having to say or do anything to persuade them. (Sure it’s for their own interest, because they want to complete the event or whatever, but that’s the beauty of it, two people playing in the same area totally independently are also helping each other.)

Generally friendly community
This partially stems from the above, but I think the players deserve credit too. There are exceptions of course (come on, it’s the internet) but it’s nice that on the whole people are friendly and civil to each other.

The art style
I try not to make graphics a priority for me with games, especially because then it limits the replayability over the years. But I do love the art style in this game, it’s a wonderful mix of realism and something like an oil painting (a slightly impressionist one too, which is a style I like). There’s been many times I’ve just stopped in the middle of what I was doing to admire the scenery.

It’s fun
The combat especially. There’s been more than a few times I’ve been genuinely excited during a battle not so much because of the end result as because the process itself is enjoyable. The combination of movement and the variety of attacks makes it exciting to play through even fairly routine fights. Although I much prefer it when a boss has special mechanics that make it distinct from normal enemies.

It’s like you read my mind. This is about as close to my list without me actually typing it.

Silmar Alech.4305:

What Arenanet also did 100% right is the trading post. The one central game-global stock exchange-like trading post. I’m speaking of the concept and general design like a stock exchange. We can always argue if the user interface could be improved, but the general design of the trading post itself is almost perfect. It’s one of the few subsystem designs I don’t have anything to complain about.

The other thing is the graphical design of the game. It’s always a pleasure to watch this beautifully designed world.

While I agree whole heartedly about the graphical design being fantastic, I cannot agree that the trading post is perfect. I suspect it is the numero uno reason why rewards in this game are the way they are.

Accessibility. Putting aside the extraordinary hyperbole about the NPE, its still a very accessible and easy to pick up game with remarkable fluidity. Sure the NPE has issues to be resolved/repealed, but it by no means destroyed the game.

In comparison, another major MMO I just started feels slow and clunky. The whole feel of GW2 has ruined other MMOs for me and I mean that in a good way. It’s become a benchmark.

I saw music was mentioned. I have to say I think this an area which has imprved greatly. I thought Jeremy Soule’s new stuff for launch was particularly poor (except the GW1 original stuff), yet the new music being introduced has much more flavour and atmosphere. I am guessing that is down to Anets sound team?

Danikat.8537:

Here’s my list, in no particular order:

No subscription
This is a big one. I could afford a subscription game, but I’d feel pressured to play it to justify the price. This month would be a nightmare for me – I’m away for 2 (non-consecutive) weeks but I want to play in between, so I’d also have to pay for all that time I’m not using. With GW2 I don’t have to worry.

No stat treadmill
Yes there is grind in this game, but not for things you have to have to play. When I got to level 80 I got a set of exotic gear pretty much straight away with karma I’d saved up. Then within a month I did both the newly released Flame and Frost dungeon and Arah path 2. In a lot of MMOs that wouldn’t be an option. A newly max level character couldn’t go and do the final dungeon in the game, they’d have to do all the others first to get the other equipment tiers in between.

Along the same lines I’m still using some of that same gear now, almost 2 years later, and it’s still basically the top tier (yes there’s ascended, but that’s a very minor improvement).

No Pay-to-win
Sure you can buy gems, convert them to gold and use it to buy exotics, or even legendary weapons. But there is nothing you can get by spending real money that you can’t get relatively easily without spending anything. I have spent money in the gem store, but always for novelty items, I’ve never felt like I had to in order to keep playing.

Cooperative PvE
I realise this will sound like I’m paraphrasing Anet’s promotion of the game, but I really like that I don’t have to worry about other people around me in PvE because they can’t, deliberately or accidentally, screw up my game. They can delay me slightly, for example if reviving NPCs counts towards a heart and they revive one before I get there, but it’s relatively rare. I don’t have to worry about them stealing my kills or loot or me stealing theirs, or messing up their events. At worst I’m indifferent to other people, quite often I’m actually happy to see a random stranger come along because I know they’re going to help me, without me having to say or do anything to persuade them. (Sure it’s for their own interest, because they want to complete the event or whatever, but that’s the beauty of it, two people playing in the same area totally independently are also helping each other.)

Generally friendly community
This partially stems from the above, but I think the players deserve credit too. There are exceptions of course (come on, it’s the internet) but it’s nice that on the whole people are friendly and civil to each other.

The art style
I try not to make graphics a priority for me with games, especially because then it limits the replayability over the years. But I do love the art style in this game, it’s a wonderful mix of realism and something like an oil painting (a slightly impressionist one too, which is a style I like). There’s been many times I’ve just stopped in the middle of what I was doing to admire the scenery.

It’s fun
The combat especially. There’s been more than a few times I’ve been genuinely excited during a battle not so much because of the end result as because the process itself is enjoyable. The combination of movement and the variety of attacks makes it exciting to play through even fairly routine fights. Although I much prefer it when a boss has special mechanics that make it distinct from normal enemies.

You pretty much said it for me here as well. I am constantly finding new things within the game that I enjoy looking at or discovering. For me it is the little touches everywhere that make this a brilliant game. I just started going through the book stalls in Divinity’s Reach and am enjoying finding some interesting and laughable books.

Another thing I have really enjoyed is when random folk just stop to help someone. I get pleasure out of helping someone as well. Some of the nicest conversations I have had were when we were waiting for an event to spawn. Generally if you ask in map chat for help, someone will kindly assist. Overall the community is just great.

I really enjoy the graphics and try to stop and look around as often as I can. Again, the small touches just really makes this game shine.

I think ANet does a great job of enticing folk into trying new things. Even if it was something I might not do more than once, I was glad I tried. I like the challenges. Some things took a lot of tries to master and gave me a huge sense of achievement. The rewards often are more than just loot (though that is nice, lol). Some folk like to jump to the end of the story right away. For me it is the journey that makes the story rewarding.

@Gaile: Its like cake or pie. It is GREAT when you are eating it, but when there is no more cake or pie, then you get sad, and come to the forums and ask, “Please Sirs, why is there no more cake or Pie?”.

If I were going to lavish praise on anyone up in the Anet Eagle’s Nest, it’d be their network and code people. They’re why the game works virtually anywhere in the world on a comedically broad array of hardware via internet agglomorations that defy logic and reason with their giant-spaghetti-bowl complexities.

In my experiences, they’re likely the ones that absolutely have to be going above and beyond just to do their jobs ‘adequately’.

Also, probably customer service. I’ve never had to deal with them, which says a lot in terms of how well the network and code folks have done their jobs too. Even beyond that, customer service people have to deal with other human beings in circumstances that are usually frustrating and obnoxious. I don’t ambiently hear a lot of complaints about Anet’s CS. That’s very telling, what I do not hear.

I suppose the forum mods probably deserve at least a courtesy tip too. They have to put up with us all day, and we’re quite clearly a collection of often Champion-class internet trolls if ever I’ve seen them.

i agree with pretty much everything the dev said it is a fun game

but this

Skills. Enough variety to be effective and fun; not so much that I feel I’m forever the noob for not knowing the intricacies.

i agree with it but

it would be pretty nice to get “new weapon sets” for the classes
maybe some new traits utility skills and stuff

Gaile Gray.6029:

naiasonod.9265:

If I were going to lavish praise on anyone up in the Anet Eagle’s Nest, it’d be their network and code people. They’re why the game works virtually anywhere in the world on a comedically broad array of hardware via internet agglomorations that defy logic and reason with their giant-spaghetti-bowl complexities.

In my experiences, they’re likely the ones that are going above and beyond just to do their jobs ‘adequately’.

You are so, SO right about this! Our programmers and network peeps are amazing. At the same Christmas party where I faffed to Daniel about the vistas and art, I also had a nice chat with Eric Rane, who’s a programmer lead. My regard for programmers knows no bounds because, end of the day, they are at the core of everything. I’m hoping we can get a few programmers to post here in the forums because their work is fascinating and, let’s face it, utterly key to every element of the game.

Thanks for pointing this out, naiasonod. Spot on!

At the very least, I hope someone brings them cake and cookies down in whatever passes for their monkey pit.

Programmers often have to be reminded to eat. Have a heart – don’t let your programming staff forget to do things like eat, shave, go home at least bi-weekly and occasionally observe real sunlight!

Eleri Tezhme.3048:

In the theatre. Before leaving highschool. Next thing you know I’ll be shaking my cane and telling you kids to get offa my lawn.

I’m constantly beset by apprehension about kids on my lawn, which is weird, cause I live with my parents and it’s not even my lawn.

Music, for a start – GW1 and 2 have always had good themes, and even without Soule doing the continuing score it’s still holding up well.

The combat system may not provide the level of control seen in many single-player RPGs or the diversity of GW1, but it holds up very well among MMOs for its fluidity and relatively few balancing issues.

The presence of a non-humanoid race that don’t look like creepy anthropomorphic furry things is a plus – except that their footprints are still backwards…

Perhaps most importantly to me, it takes very little time to bring a new character to the point that fights in WvW are not determined by gear. Very few fights fall within the 5% margin between ascended and exotic. Build selection – and controversially, consumables – determines the outcome in the majority of cases.

slamfunction.7462:

@Gaile: Its like cake or pie. It is GREAT when you are eating it, but when there is no more cake or pie, then you get sad, and come to the forums and ask, “Please Sirs, why is there no more cake or Pie?”.

Pretty much this. But the cake is, was and will be a lie. The only thing we are getting are the dried crumbles which have a very strange color.

And even as 1 of those who are harshly criticizing Anet and its course there are indeed a few things they did right.
A colorful world full of adventures and joy as a good base when GW2 got released (even tough they destroyed much of it again) and they way how they created this friendly and open minded community (or lets say mostly friendly and open minded).

Danikat.8537:

Here’s my list, in no particular order:

No subscription
No stat treadmill
No Pay-to-win
Cooperative PvE
Generally friendly community
The art style
It’s fun

I agree to Danikat’s list (she also gave excellent reasons for each part, I agree to those too), and would like to add BLTP to the list of what’s done right.

A lot of good points have been brought up already, but I’d like to add inclusivity in representation in the game world in the list of what Anet’s been doing good.

First, there’s the fact that the game world, and perhaps more importantly the main NPCs you see throughout the story, are pretty well balanced re: gender and they’re all spread out in terms of competency. That may sound silly to some, but given how often in video games the population seems to be 90% hypercompetent dudes and 10% damsels in distress/armcandy it’s something I appreciate a lot.

Similarly, you have no idea how glad I was when I learned about Caithe and Faolain’s past relationship way back when I started in the game, or when Kasmeer/Marjory became Actual Real Canon (my friends and me had been whispering “they’re girlfriends” between ourselves since Tower of Nightmares, but we never believed we’d ever get anything but maybe some strong subtext to go along with it. There was loud irl disbelieving cheering when the kiss happened. Possibly I still get emotional over it sometimes) because it’s so darn rare to see in most games/media in general, two women who settle easily into a relationship (or are bitter broody exes, I’m looking at you Caithe) like that, with no fanfare or titillating the male gaze. That was good, that was so great and important I’m always gonna be grateful that it happened. even if it’s a shame that such a simple thing is so rare that it being included makes me this happy

Similarly, thanks a lot for Taimi. I’m glad Anet acknowledged that disabilities exist, and that some people live with them. I’m glad that she wasn’t turned into a sob story or, just as bad, some inspiration BS, the way that kind of thing is treated most of the time. And bonus points for lore-compliant mobility assistance devices :P

These are the main aspects that struck me, as a player who’s afab and queer and who hangs around disabled people. But I think I can generalize a bit in saying that GW2 does a really, really great job in building up NPCs as real characters, especially by MMO standards but even compared to some other single-player RPG games. I am horrendously fond of some of those virtual people, which isn’t what I was expecting at all when I got into the game.

now maybe add some mentally ill and/or trans characters and my love will be eternal winkwinknudgenudge

Gaile Gray.6029:

You are so, SO right about this! Our programmers and network peeps are amazing. At the same Christmas party where I faffed to Daniel about the vistas and art, I also had a nice chat with Eric Rane, who’s a programmer lead. My regard for programmers knows no bounds because, end of the day, they are at the core of everything. I’m hoping we can get a few programmers to post here in the forums because their work is fascinating and, let’s face it, utterly key to every element of the game.

Thanks for pointing this out, naiasonod. Spot on!

Edit: This holiday season reminds me of others where programmers have had to step up to analyze urgent situations, even spending New Year’s Day on a major issue back several years ago. Of any team member, it’s likely to be a programmer whom we have to drag out of bed in the middle of the night. So Dwayna Bless ’em, every one!

Bless them!

I’ve only played this mmo but I read other forums. After reading multiple threads/posts about how “another major mmo” has people spamming a***l jokes and making abusive/sexist/homophobic remarks in trade chat without fear of repercussion, it makes me appreciate how hard ANet works to keep this sort of thing to a minimum.

I’ve seen comments ingame about how friendly and helpful people are when someone asks a “noob” question as they’ve been slammed in other games for showing ignorance.

I hope ANet never lets up on this as it makes a big difference in how non toxic general chat is.

I have to praise Anet for balanced classes. This is mainly from a PvE standpoint, but whereas many people complain about Meta team setups, basically every class can be useful in dungeons in terms of equal dps. Its not balanced perfectly (i.e. I’ve heard necro still isn’t as good dps wise) but I feel like if I want to make a new character, and still try and be as OP as possible in dungeons I can pick any class. This also goes for PvP and WvW, at least from my experience where I have killed (either through short or long fights) every class and have been killed by every class. Some people were complaining about cheese builds, but as far as that goes I haven’t found too many I couldnt beat by skill, except some engineers are really annoying. But overall I’d say I think their balance is pretty good and i think its also a really hard task to complete coding wise, to make sure every class’s skill and weapon combinations are not OP over anothers.

(also just my opinion so may be wrong but its still a hard thing to balance and code)

I love everything about this game. I have played about everything over the years including several hyped, newer games than GW2. This game has ruined all the others for me.

IDK how to explain this but I would like to add how they gave this game life. I guess by that I mean that the world feels very much alive. I feel like I am part of a living world. I mean like even down to the tiny ambient creatures (even the bugs) have tons of life. It is so interesting and I feel really close to my characters. From the little animations to the interesting conversations. I can just walk around and enjoy the view lol.
Even how grass moves when you shoot a fireball through it! I love it all lol.

Thanks anet for spoiling every other mmo for me lol. I hope this game continues to be successful so I can keep playing it!

Vayne.8563:

Danikat.8537:

Here’s my list, in no particular order:

No subscription
This is a big one. I could afford a subscription game, but I’d feel pressured to play it to justify the price. This month would be a nightmare for me – I’m away for 2 (non-consecutive) weeks but I want to play in between, so I’d also have to pay for all that time I’m not using. With GW2 I don’t have to worry.

No stat treadmill
Yes there is grind in this game, but not for things you have to have to play. When I got to level 80 I got a set of exotic gear pretty much straight away with karma I’d saved up. Then within a month I did both the newly released Flame and Frost dungeon and Arah path 2. In a lot of MMOs that wouldn’t be an option. A newly max level character couldn’t go and do the final dungeon in the game, they’d have to do all the others first to get the other equipment tiers in between.

Along the same lines I’m still using some of that same gear now, almost 2 years later, and it’s still basically the top tier (yes there’s ascended, but that’s a very minor improvement).

No Pay-to-win
Sure you can buy gems, convert them to gold and use it to buy exotics, or even legendary weapons. But there is nothing you can get by spending real money that you can’t get relatively easily without spending anything. I have spent money in the gem store, but always for novelty items, I’ve never felt like I had to in order to keep playing.

Cooperative PvE
I realise this will sound like I’m paraphrasing Anet’s promotion of the game, but I really like that I don’t have to worry about other people around me in PvE because they can’t, deliberately or accidentally, screw up my game. They can delay me slightly, for example if reviving NPCs counts towards a heart and they revive one before I get there, but it’s relatively rare. I don’t have to worry about them stealing my kills or loot or me stealing theirs, or messing up their events. At worst I’m indifferent to other people, quite often I’m actually happy to see a random stranger come along because I know they’re going to help me, without me having to say or do anything to persuade them. (Sure it’s for their own interest, because they want to complete the event or whatever, but that’s the beauty of it, two people playing in the same area totally independently are also helping each other.)

Generally friendly community
This partially stems from the above, but I think the players deserve credit too. There are exceptions of course (come on, it’s the internet) but it’s nice that on the whole people are friendly and civil to each other.

The art style
I try not to make graphics a priority for me with games, especially because then it limits the replayability over the years. But I do love the art style in this game, it’s a wonderful mix of realism and something like an oil painting (a slightly impressionist one too, which is a style I like). There’s been many times I’ve just stopped in the middle of what I was doing to admire the scenery.

It’s fun
The combat especially. There’s been more than a few times I’ve been genuinely excited during a battle not so much because of the end result as because the process itself is enjoyable. The combination of movement and the variety of attacks makes it exciting to play through even fairly routine fights. Although I much prefer it when a boss has special mechanics that make it distinct from normal enemies.

It’s like you read my mind. This is about as close to my list without me actually typing it.

Ditto. Was about to type a long post saying the same things when I luckily saw this one. I would also like to add the TP is one of the best I’ve come across and does a good job in simulating a real market.