Guild Wars 2

Broadly, I think Anet have done a lot of things well.

I’ll state i primarily play PVE and hardly any PVP or WvW. I like that i can take breaks and pick the game up again later. I haven’t played a game where i couldn’t do that but i’m aware they exist.

Relating to a recent forum topic, I am not anti-trinity. I didn’t pick up this game because i specifically was seeking an escape from the trinity system but because it was new and had fresh ideas, good reviews and appealing graphics. I didn’t specifically have my radar set for an anti-trinity game.

I dont play it for the Living Story, soap opera feature. I’m not up on the story or into the characters beyond those we deal with in the Personal story and Dungeons. I picked the game up at release and have popped in and out of playing, missing large chunks of the Living Story. But i do like the fact that maps arent static and get events related to the LS introduced. And i enjoyed stuff like farming invasions. I was only a number of months into GW2 at the time and i found the drama of so many people charging around quite interesting. Plus the sub game of counting how many boxes you got each time. All this while knowing and caring little about who Scarlet was and the general lore about why this event was happening.

And the biggest thing is that it has no monthly fee. Combined with the fact you don’t have to pay real money to access aspects of the game, unlike some other f2p MMO’s I’ve known. The way the Gemstore works is a big plus. If everything else was the same, but there was a monthly fee, i wouldn’t be a GW2 player. That’s not a slur on the game, it’s just my approch to playing MMO’s.

And finally, this game generally has a nice relaxed vibe,

I really like the exploring part of the game, and pure PvE portion of the game. I like doing quests in peace without worrying all the time about getting ganked by griefers. Many MMOs I played just simply dump open world PvP into the game just to please PvPers, but all they please are griefers and jerks (looking at you Aion).

And no grinding aspect. I used to play MapleStory. The first half of the levels can be completed by pure questing. But then they run out of quest and you’re forced to kill the same monsters in the same map all day until you reach max level.

Also, no monthly fee. I don’t want to feel forced to play the game as much as I can to get the most out of my subscription money worth. I take a break and come back as I please.

I also like the fact that you don’t need to spend real money to purchase cash shop items. I don’t like spending my real life money into cash shops if possible, since it makes the game P2W and I don’t feel like I earned those stuffs, since I just magically obtain them from nothing I did in the game.

Out of all the great things in GW2, its WvW that constantly suck me into the game. Well, no monthly fee certainly also help.

The combat obviously, no game has more freedom in combat. You can move when attacking and dodge. I don’t want a subfee, and all other games with similar combat has subfees or pay to win.

the polish……………………………

Definitely the no monthly fee is a good attraction but it is the exploring that keeps me coming back. The level of detail and thought put into small areas just amazes me. I have spots I have revisited and just stand and look around because they are so lovely. I also enjoy listening to some of the NPCs. There is a small message robot in Soren Draa (Metrica) that is worth following around as he delivers his messages to various NPCs. I had a good chuckle at what everyone had to say to each other. Definitely worth the time following him around as you see a relationship between two asurans develop. Simple things like that give such depth to this game.

I also think Anet has listened to what the players say. They have made some changes based on comments. I also like that they take chances and change things. Sometimes it works well and sometimes not so well but they show they are adaptable forward thinking. I see the game continuing to evolve.

The community is another huge plus. More than once I have gotten into groups who were trying to get through achievements and had an absolutely great time. We all helped each other through the parts we needed – everyone came out a winner. I also get a lot of satisfaction when exploring and if someone needs help I stop and help. Many times it has ended up helping each other through harder parts on a map. Overall the community is tremendous.

Its cheap and casual.

There are other games that are comparable or better, but they need a sub or are very unfriendly to casuals.

I also got the key for free from a friend, that sorta helped.

-The game is build for helping each other not to troll each other
- The world is HUGE and BEAUTIFUL + the Art epic and unique
- No trinity = No freaken Broken Overpowered 1 man army Healers in PvP
- Most friendly community
- Devs might be slow but they actualy CARE about the players and what they want

Combat, art style, spvp, fractals.

Kedarrian.2905:

I’ll state i primarily play PVE and hardly any PVP or WvW.

So you don’t play the game because of PvP or WvW, ok.

Kedarrian.2905:

I didn’t pick up this game because i specifically was seeking an escape from the trinity system

So yo don’t play the game because of the lack of trinity, ok.

Kedarrian.2905:

I dont play it for the Living Story, soap opera feature.

So you don’t play the game because of the story, ok.

Why do you play the game, then?

Kedarrian.2905:

And i enjoyed stuff like farming invasions. I was only a number of months into GW2 at the time and i found the drama of so many people charging around quite interesting. Plus the sub game of counting how many boxes you got each time.

Ah, I see.

So tell me: would the ideal content for you be something like the invasions, in which you have similar content to that and a chance to get a lot of boxes, with little to no lore or story?

I played Guild Wars since July 2005. The thing that attracted me most there can be found in Guild Wars 2 as well….the lore. To me a game is only as good as the story behind it.

Another thing is being able to play the way I want to play. Sure looking up other people’s builds to help perfect your own is fun, but nothing beats doing it yourself in the long run.

The look of the game is the third thing. I started gaming with Diablo 2 back in 2001/2002. From there moved on to my first MMO, Everquest and Everquest 2. I’ve played many since, including WoW, Shaiya, Last Chaos, Sword of the New World (Granado Espada), and Star Wars ToR. They all have their own look and feel, but Guild Wars 2 is just so much more alive.

1. What initially attracted me to GW2 was no monthly fees and the relaxed feeling of playing only when I wanted to. This is my first MMO because of that very fact. I had resisted friends urging me to join WOW in the past mainly because of the monthly fees and my perceived level of commitment to playing the game on a regular basis.

2. The feeling of cooperation with other players and the friendly helpful community.

3. The combat style.

4. The beautiful scenery and music and the encouragement to explore.

5. The multiple ways to play.

6. The multiple ways to build a character starting with looks, background story, weapons choice, skill choice, traits, dyes, skins, etc.

7. The lack of a trinity. It wasn’t until my friends gave me a subscription to WOW that I realized how glad that GW2 doesn’t have that.

I’m sure there’s more but that it for now.

I like that there’s no monthly fee and gameplay isn’t really all about the store.

I’ve gotten tired of games like LOTRO where they keep increasing the slayer and reputation grinds just so people will buy accelerators from the store, and now they are gating content behind finishing their obscene reputation grinds. I actually love that GW2 has NO reputation at all. So tired of reputation. lol

I’m also a gamer that likes to level characters and I feel that this is quick and easy here.

I enjoy finishing PvE maps and I like WvW.

I like the PvP reward tracks.

gathering/kills aren’t competitive

rules regarding the gathering of nodes are great

the world is beautiful to experience down to the npcs and their scripting

Leveling is an even keel experience across all characters

ui elements that are QoL requirements in every MMO are for the most part present here (wardrobe wallet accountbank etc)

Test.8734:

Kedarrian.2905:

I’ll state i primarily play PVE and hardly any PVP or WvW.

So you don’t play the game because of PvP or WvW, ok.

Kedarrian.2905:

I didn’t pick up this game because i specifically was seeking an escape from the trinity system

So yo don’t play the game because of the lack of trinity, ok.

Kedarrian.2905:

I dont play it for the Living Story, soap opera feature.

So you don’t play the game because of the story, ok.

Why do you play the game, then?

Kedarrian.2905:

And i enjoyed stuff like farming invasions. I was only a number of months into GW2 at the time and i found the drama of so many people charging around quite interesting. Plus the sub game of counting how many boxes you got each time.

Ah, I see.

So tell me: would the ideal content for you be something like the invasions, in which you have similar content to that and a chance to get a lot of boxes, with little to no lore or story?

Hi. Yeah I wanted to address some some of the core or unique aspects of the game in my post and see if people had contrary or similar opinions. And my post was partly prompted by having recently read on discussing the idea of Trinty.

I mainly play dungeons. Invasions were new at the time and novel in a way but i wouldnt be as excited to play them again now. but plenty of people enjoy Silverwastes loot collection so that section of the population remains there. But overall, I like the polish and production of thsi game, and that it has no monthly sub, as others mentioned.

But its not me more than anyone else. I stated the thread because i was curious about other peoples thoughts on it.

What aspects do you like it for, Test?

This game has ZERO trolls in chat.

This is first MMO where people are not busy talking about other MMOs, mostly cuz’, lets be honest, GW2 beats the hell out of it’s competition.

This game has amazingly designed PvE content. Even the most stubborn pvpers simply drool over these zones and just can’t help but try to experience some of it’s content.

Zone design is simply epic.

Soundtrack is the best thing I’ve heard in gaming since Final Fantasy VIII.

Combat freedom. It’s mix of action based & target based combat which is probably the best possible thing in mmos. I’ve played both styles (Tera, Neverwinter, Vindctus along with other tab based games) and somehow it’s both styles feel clunky at moments. Here, if I shoot on my target and non target monster gets in my way it still gets shot. My bullets dont fly trough monsters just cuz it’s not on my focus.
That’s amazing improvement in combat mechanics.
Also ability to switch weapons and gain totally other playstyle is just wow!

Phasing. None mentioned that and I’m surprised.
This game has high graphics quality and still it provides zero lagg (at least to me).
I played Rift before I came here and I had various glithces, laggs, low fps while here I have stable fps with 20-30 players around me plus mobs.
Very few other games can provide that.

And yea… I feel zero need for addons here. They simply made perfect UI.

In overall: This game is worth every single cent invested in it.
Hands down Arena Net. This is masterpiece MMO, the one which raises bar high and sets standards for future of gaming.

I simply can’t go back to other games anymore. I uninstalled Tera, WoW, Rift and LotRo. Bye and good riddance.

Tomerant.2701:

This game has ZERO trolls in chat.

It does? lol Couldn’t resist.

Celtic Lady.3729:

Tomerant.2701:

This game has ZERO trolls in chat.

It does? lol Couldn’t resist.

It has tons who come out and play in Lion’s Arch. It’s a minor guilty pleasure of mine to practice my forum PvP with them

What attracts me? $0/month.

Otherwise I’d be in FF14 with some of my better friends grinding levels on the crafter classes.

I play mostly PvE, WvW, and occassional sPvP with my guild. I do fractals nearly every day, but only do dungeons if I need a quick couple of gold or if a guildie needs me.

My wife and I were given the game as a gift from her brother and his girlfriend. We started playing mostly as a way to spend time with them. At the time, and for a while after I started GW2, I played WoW. Since the launch of Warlords of Draenor expansion, I’ve let my WoW subscription lapse and am playing GW2 exclusively. What draws me to GW2 is the lack of a traditional “holy trinity.” I like that any class can be useful and parties don’t necessarily have to follow a predetermined combination of classes to be successful.

I also find GW2 does a much better job of fostering a cooperative community. People are more likely to help each other out, even if they don’t know each other. Other game’s have mechanics that actively discourage helping each other out (ie loot/rewards only going to the first player/party to attack.) When I first started, there was a daily achievement for reviving downed players; this encouraged me to go out of my way to help someone who was downed. This seems to have persisted even after the daily reviver achievement went away.

I love the guild system in GW2. While guilds in WoW came with some bonuses and benefits, I think the guild bounties, treks, etc add additional dimension to the guild experience as a whole. I would, however, like to see more offered in the way of guild merchants, though.

As I said before, I don’t often do dungeons. They are one area that, in my opinion, could use some reworking to make them more interesting. Fractals, though, have been a great deal of fun for me. For the majority of them, the usual stack and burn strategy just doesn’t work. You actually have to actively work to kill and stay alive. The “puzzle” aspect of some of them is also a lot of fun for me.

The lack of a monthly fee was not a main selling point for me. I’ve played numerous “free” games in the past, and in my experience, it’s only free if you don’t want to have fun. The GW2 gem shop does not sell anything that is necessary to be effective and competitive in any aspect of the game. One can play the game and never buy gems or items from the gem store and still do just as well in PvE or PvP as someone who frequently buys gems. Also, the gold-gem conversion system offers the opportunity for people who want to buy gems but for some reason cannot to reap the benefits of the cosmetic items offered. Nothing is cash-exclusive. That’s huge, in my opinion, and one of the things that sets GW2 apart from other games with no monthly sub.

1. WvW/EOTM

2. The thing that scared me the most when I first heard about GW2 was the combat. And I don’t know why because I love it now. Being able to cast a spell where you want it to go and place things where you want them to be placed is a lot of fun, and it brings a huge amount of freedom and skill with it.

3. Skins also attract me. When I used to play Runescape (played it for 10 years), armors would be tied with specific stats, and there was no way to change the appearance of that armor to something you like, while keeping the stats (it might have changed since I quit though?), which is why I like having the ability to change my character’s appearance, but keep the stats I want. It’s a win-win.

4. No monthly subscription

I’ve always been one of those people that spent a majority of my time alone in MMOs. Not entirely because I’m antisocial or anything. But because most of the time I found my friends schedules and mine would conflict greatly. Making a schedule to play together was never set in stone or anything, so I became fairly used to doing solo things in other MMOs.

GW2 allowed me to easily play solo and still be sociable for lack of a term. I can still do group events and a lot of stuff without having to do a lot of LFG and stuff. And honestly the times I’ve done group content I’ve found it generally quite accepting and pretty tolerant.

Not having a monthly fee is just icing on the cake for me. It does, now, make the game more desirable to me. But before I started playing it I wasn’t turned off by subscription fee games. GW1 I enjoyed a bit for my ability to come and go as I please. As I enjoyed GW1 but there was a lot of times I just wasn’t into it.

There are plenty of small things I enjoy about GW2 but those are the two biggest things for me I guess.

Too tired to write a long list, but I really like dolyaks.

How fast expansions come out.

quaggans
dolyaks
graphics
and the gameplay

unfortunetly my list of things that put me off is 40 times longer

No P2W…and thats all for me

evanlegion.7680:

No P2W…and thats all for me

. . . that’s strange, I heard almost daily how it was P2W. From a lot of different people.

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

evanlegion.7680:

No P2W…and thats all for me

. . . that’s strange, I heard almost daily how it was P2W. From a lot of different people.

Depends on what winning means to you. In the usual sense, P2W means buying increased power/defense in PvE or PvP, or paying for shortcuts to increased power/defense.

If winning to you means having the newest, shiniest, but functionally useless items, then yes, GW2 is very much P2W.

Great combat mechanics + no gear treadmill + accessible PvP without gear limitations.

I think even if the style of this game was as ridiculous as something like Wildstar, I’d be interested in it for those reasons alone.

Being a fan of the original Guild Wars was the initial draw. And seeing elements from it brought into GW2 just made it easier to follow the game’s early development.

But when I began seeing more concept art, and the games UI it was the art which pulled my attention and still has not let go. It is exquisite!

What keeps me playing are the updates, regardless of overall quality and/or flow, it is refreshing and welcome to have content rolling in so often. And without an additional price tag (Yes I’m aware about missed LS2 episodes). Lastly I’m going to say the combat and customization of your character. Combat is fast, frantic(WvW) and sometimes intense(Tequatl, when you don’t quite have a team up to par). But most of it is fun.

Thanks Anet for creating this world to play in.

I was drawn in by the openness of the game. No mob tagging, no resource node tagging, non-group grouping (everyone around doing the same thing is effectively a group, since there’s no monster tagging and you don’t have to do all that much to get loot, at least under normal circumstances).

I liked the heart concept very much.

I was drawn by the toons. They are a big part of whether I enjoy playing, if I enjoy how they look. Sadly, that’s been whittled away at over the past year or so, but I’m still hopeful.

If it wasn’t for my own Engineer I don’t think I’d be playing GW2 for that long. I… kind of grew attached to it. It’s a stupid reason, but it’s a reason.

A fantasy world with sword and magic, armor classes, character creation and customisation, dragon and monsters….

Most important while having all sort of great elements of a fantasy game, they didn’t keep most frastrating trinity system. This is not the reason that attracts me but its the reason i cannot leave.

No subscription. Exploring. Character customization. WvW. EotM. World bosses. Dailies.

Buy to play is really big for me. Content wise I am very glad I dont have to repeat the same content over and over again to get BIS gear. That turned me off to other mmo’s.

I will never play another mmo without active defenses like dodging. <—Huge

Rifles, anthropomorphic felines (the Charr), Guild Wars 2’s specific fiction setting, the Charr’s steampunk culture, the Charr’s military culture, the beautiful environments, socialisation and role play (both passive and active), no subscription fee…

There’s obviously more to it than just those^ points, but I cannot be bothered to type anymore of them out.

The PvP: Combat mechanics, class balances, competitiveness.

With the lack of proper Leaderboards, the competitive scene has almost completely left the game. There’s no incentive to do Ranked matches without a team. Solo PvP has become utterly frustrating.

I’m constantly getting first timers on my team who don’t know basic rule of thumb gameplay. It’s not matchmaking fault, MMR is screwed up for every Solo Player.

I would pay a monthly subscription fee for a 2v2 or 3v3 gamemode… i’m forced to settle for Stronghold. Hopefully Stronghold will cater to my taste.

The competitive scene in GW2 has a high turn over rate. I feel it could be managed a whole lot better. I’ve become a casual player, playing other games and only attending 1v1 or 2v2 tournaments when I can.

When I log on:
“What do I want to do today?”
Silverwastes – is any requirement stopping me? No…
A dungeon – is any requirement stopping me? Well, finding people but no….
WvW – welp, nothing holding me back but a quick trait swapping…
Spvp – eh, if I’m in the mood, nothing stopping me but my own skill…
Fractals – well, I dont care about high end, i’m content on my position now so no…

Its like I can log in, and be ready to play without any restrictions because I didn’t meet some other requirement to do something….

Serophous.9085:

When I log on:
“What do I want to do today?”
Silverwastes – is any requirement stopping me? No…
A dungeon – is any requirement stopping me? Well, finding people but no….
WvW – welp, nothing holding me back but a quick trait swapping…
Spvp – eh, if I’m in the mood, nothing stopping me but my own skill…
Fractals – well, I dont care about high end, i’m content on my position now so no…

Its like I can log in, and be ready to play without any restrictions because I didn’t meet some other requirement to do something….

That’d be the big reason I stopped a certain other MMO Finally. It was a bit Fantastic at first, but you know, after so long of having the guild tell me how much awesome endgame was and me having to keep slogging through stuff to get in striking range? Erf. No thanks.

At least I could walk to Orr and find out how awesome it was to run around Malchor’s Leap and Cursed Shore.

I really don’t know what exactly attracts me. I have never played a game for so long like this one and I have yet to get bored. Mind you, I have played over 7k hours.

Sure, there are things that of course can and need to be improved. Nevertheless, it’s still a fantastic game for semi-hardcores like me.

The game’s overwhelming beauty and overall story-line. I’m always curious as to what happens next. Also, it’s been a long time since any MMO held my attention for more than a month after launch.

Almost three years later, and I’m still interested.

Dynamic combat and environment. I tried my best to main FF14 but I just couldn’t…I quit for 7 months due to questionable development decision. So far I’m impressed with Living Season 2 and the story in general and I’m personally hyped for the expansion, but on the other hand I fear how the bad dev choices may come again. Hopefully not.

I like…

• the pay model – I pay once for as many hours as I want. If I don’t want to play for a while, I haven’t lost anything. (At the same time, I’m willing to drop some money on gems from time to time because I want to support Anet for making a game I enjoy so much, but at a pace that works for my life and finances.)
• the combat system is dynamic enough that it always seems like a fun activity to me. Yet isn’t not a system that penalizes me too much for not being a high-twitch gamer.
• that there are lots of little bits of setting all over the place that you can stumble on – interesting characters and fragments of conversation, interesting bits of terrain and architecture, little bits of lore, etc. I like that Anet put in time on things like the messenger golem that runs around Metrica Provence and the newlyweds in the Ascalonian settlement.
• that I can easily move from soloing to group play to mass combat when I want – that there are options for all those types of play available.
• that GW2 has some novel approaches to genre tropes. The Charr and the Norn are both interesting yet distinct approaches to the ‘warrior race’ trope, for example.
• the diversity of the setting. I like that, for example, technology is not the bailiwick of just one race, but that the different races have different approaches to it. I like that while the races have definite characters to them, that they are not monolithic. I like that some cities are definitely one culture while others are mixed cultures.
• that you are as likely to see a female soldier among the NPCs as a male one. I like that some characters are gay and it’s not a big thing – it just is.
• that Anet is willing to destroy Lion’s Arch and not just hand wave it back.
• the fact that Anet is continuing to try different ways of telling story. Not all of them hit the mark, but they are continuing to try out different things.
• the ratio of effort to reward – it just seems to hit a sweet spot for me that keeps me interested.
• the fact that people will just work together adhoc, and that the systems (dynamic events, personally instanced elements like resource nodes, the lack of kill stealing, rewards for rezzing downed people, etc) all encourage that.
• the Asura. They amuse me to no end.
• the flexibility of playstyles – I can try out different playstyles on my characters back and forth as I like, and there seem to be numerous different options for playstyle (I think that the forum communities are overly obsessed with the ‘meta’ and the optimization of builds – it seems to me that they are missing out on a lot by being so narrowly focused)
• that it’s pretty. There are some really cool visuals.
• the things for sale in the gem store are really 100% optional.

All of those keep me coming back.

asura,casual,easy to play,b2p.

- best non-sub game out there
- amazing art/music
- world content that’s actually relevant
- WvW
- story is great, despite the Orr quest changes that ruined the pacing/consistency

Zackie.8923:

the polish……………………………

Never met any Polish people in game I don’t think, met some Aussies though.

Sarcasm switch left on overnight again 8B

I was playing a lot of MMOs but only GW2 really made me want to return, login and play every day. For example WoW becomes really boring after reaching max lvl/gear, also you have to grind dungeons/raids/arena again after each expansion or event update – that is really tiring. Ragnarok (1st one, yes) is pretty outdated and there isn’t a lot of players there nowadays, plus it also requires a lot of grind or uses P2W mechanics. Tera/ArchAge/Aion – I don’t think I even need to comment those.

Anyway, there are lots of aspects awesome about GW2 like:
- Awesome combat system that makes you feel really free (try other games to understand)
- Really awesome world maps (looking forward to see HoT maps!)
- Living story – this was actually something new after zero or almost zero story games
- Various events appearing along each year (like Halloween, Lunar New Year etc.)
- Loot system thanks to which there is no whine about loot sharing in groups
- Pretty nice music and art (the only MMO where I haven’t switched sound off)
- Non-forced leveling and the way levels work on locations and even in dungeons
- Non-forced PvP and WvW (I am not a fan of PvP, but playing those in GW2)
- Almost no client lags and issues (got only two errors for two years of playing)

Also there are some other minor things like there is no specific “best” place to farm gold (and I actually think that this game IS NOT a grindfest – devs have done a pretty good job at that. If you don’t believe – go play some other MMOs to feel the difference).

I might actually say I love almost everything about GW2 and that makes me return and play the game every day.

Charr. And awesome graphics, animation and music. And charr. And the fact that every class feels so unique. Also the fact that it’s buy to play and has a nice community and i always have something to do in this game. And the charr.

Combat and game mechanics that alone makes me enjoy games. Story can be made up by the players pve is always going to have a “win” and will be easy in the long run. PvP will always be unfair to one person or another. RvR will always be a big group vs a big group. If you can make the combat and game mechanics fun and very intuitive all game types will be enjoyable even if they are lacking. Other games that go back to the older ways of mmorpgs (very simple combat with no real active fighting and more passive and lack luster mechanics) and try to do one game type will fail out at the end.

I am attracted to GW2 because of the art, the PvE game play with others, the choice of options, and sometimes even the story.

The art is beautiful, the music spectacular, the voice work does its job, and it is a treat just to put on some good headphones and get absorbed into it all.

I can log in and play anything, which allows me to vary out my game play each week.
Maybe I want to do all jumping puzzles, help new and lower leveled folks run areas, or possibly just go mad with fractals and dungeons.
Then again I could play in the Silverwastes, enjoy the scenery, or drop by Lion’s Arch and read the chats as people babble.

No subscription also means I can hook my Civilization games back into me, get addicted, come back, and not feel bad about losing a few days.

That’s an easy question for me: The races!

This game uses races (or more accurate, species) far better than any game I’ve played so far. As much as players complain about clipping, etc, GW2’s races are awesomely crafted, animated and clothed! Not only do the races look unique (particularly Asura, Charr and Sylvari) but the feel unique as well. Compared, other games will reskin a human skeleton and call it a day but Anet does a lot with races, from their cultural tendencies, to their place in the world and even racial abilities. They’ve got history, culture, even preferences.

It’s one reason why one of the major things I wanted in an expansion was a new race, because what a race would entail is more exposure of that race’s culture, seeing their main city, how they live and raise their children, their views and preferences…just their whole story, really. Not only that but you could expect much more than just a reskinned Charr model.