Guild Wars 2

Hey everyone,

There are many threads with all the problems, bugs, “imbalances”, etc, more than anyone dare count. Here’s the thread with all the things we think Anet has done right. As healthy as it is to take constructive criticism, people need positive feedback even more.

My two cents:

Environment – Beautiful. Given the current limitations in graphics engines, each zone is a delight to the senses and the devs have done well. The sounds and sights are stunning. Each Vista is a pleasure and I am always happy to see them as I explore the map.

Music – I usually turn in-game music off and play my own selection but I am still hooked on GW2’s soundtrack. Hats off to the composer(s), the music matches each zone (so far) very well.

Combat – I have only tried out the Engineer and am thoroughly enjoying the current mechanics of swapping kits for different abilities. Dodging, although a tad iffy, is a great addition to fighting a mob or in PvP. The downed state is very creative (I’ve never seen it outside of modern warfare) and killing blow in PvP will never get old. Combo finishers are very cool although I still don’t really understand them!

Underwater Combat – Very cool! I hated fighting underwater in WoW but having different skills when submerged is quite fun. It makes for a good time in PvP especially.

Personal Story – When I feel like taking a vacation from the MMO side of things, my personal story is a game within a game where I am the hero. NPC’s recognize me as their champion and it’s a great feeling to delve into that quest line.

Dynamic Events – A mish-mash of AOE but still fun! I’ve yet to explore the whole game but these break up the pace of questing quite well.

Gathering – Being able to harvest herbs, wood and ore is great. I am not much for crafting but I do enjoy collecting mats and selling them. Not needing to level my gathering (other than buying upgraded tools) is refreshing.

PvP – sPvP is very well-designed. Being granted level 80 and a full PvP set means that PvP is more about skill than who has the phattest loots. I am only level 21 or 22 but lose myself in sPvP for hours on end.

Jumping Puzzles – So fun. And challenging! ’nuff said.

Your turn, ladies & gentlemen! Tell us what you think GW2 does right.

~Spitwyld

DEs – They were never designed for the high amount of players in the first ‘ground rush’. Last night I was leveling an alt in Brisbane wildlands and DEs were much more enjoyable because the player population is currently all concentrated elsewhere.

There was one DE in particular, requiring us to attack three enemy camps across quite a wide open zone. About six of us joined up and went for it… then the magic happened. 6 players is few enough to make an essential contribution and keep track of what is going on. Oddly rather than balling up we fanned out and attacked with at least basic flanking strategy.

Up to a point the bad guys were putting up a good fight, but a few minutes in we got in sync with each other and combos started going off all over the place. Then we just started melting our way through the rest, battling from one camp to the next. It was really good fun.

So let’s wait for the post launch rush to die down and the DEs should become much more interesting.

WvW: They must have done something right with it, because I’m furious that I DC’d a bit ago and won’t be getting in the rest of the night, thanks to the queue of other players who clearly think Anet got something right there.

The game world is quite a work of art. Even when I’m irate over having to run yet more errands for yet another goody two shoes NPC who can’t be bothered to put the chicken back in its cage even though it’s standing motionless right at his feet, I still notice the occasional stunning landscape.

The world is beautiful.

DEs, while flawed in many cases, are an EXCELLENT foundation. I want to see them take mechanics even further and offer more incentives to revisit old zones.

I like the combat, but I love the crafting.

Spitwyld.1963:

Music – I usually turn in-game music off and play my own selection but I am still hooked on GW2’s soundtrack. Hats off to the composer(s), the music matches each zone (so far) very well.

It’s Jeremy Soule. He also did the music for the first GW and also for other games like Oblivion and Skyrim.

Ironically, he doesn’t match the music to the zones, or compose based on the created game. He composes solely based on storyboards.

Interesting. I’ll have to look up some of Jeremy Soule’s other works. He is certainly talented.