Guild Wars 2

I just hit level 5. Admittedly, that’s a baby step. But I’m bored to distraction. Does the game change significantly after the starting zone for the Char?

I haven’t done my homework on this game – I admit that. But with all the hype from the Intarwebs and my circle of acquaintances, I expected something…different, I guess.

There is a fairly steep difficulty curve once you hit level 20 onward. And then there’s Orr and the Risen.

To break things up a bit, you could always hop into WvWvW.

Tough to know what you are doing wrong if I do not know what you’re doing.

Personally, I love this game from level 1 to 8. I only PvE and run heart quests, dungeons, dynamic events, exploration. Have you checked out crafting? Have you run any dynamic events? Check out the other starter areas (use the asura gate in the Charr hometown.) Personally, my favourite starter area is human, then sylvar, then charr/asura, then Norn.

You may want to check out PvP. You can try that out from the get-go and you’re leveled up to 80. I know very little about PvP, so I cannot advise more than that.

The world feels dynamic, the combat requires you to be alert, exploring, crafting, and gathering reward you with exp, resource nodes are shared amongst players so there’s no hogging. The game’s vastly different, but it’s still an MMORPG. If that’s not your thing, well..

Bored by what exactly? Don’t you like doing the Hearts? Do the events not spark your interest when they occur? Doesn’t your personal story seem engaging? Do you have the tools you need for gathering and not find that interesting? What profession and race are you?

Sorry, so many questions. But with a ’I’m level 5 and I’m bored’ statement, it’s a bit difficult to figure out what’s going on.

Cheers.

You’ve played about an hour, and your character hasn’t yet unlocked most of its capabilities.

I can understand that maybe it’s not great fun for you, but you’ve not really given it much of a chance yet.

Several of the professions don’t come into their own until lvl 20 or 30 (engineer and mesmer).

I just feel like I’m running around fairly aimlessly killing x numbers of this and y numbers of that. Nobody talks in chat. The quests seem to peter out. I have no idea how crafting works because I have no idea how to gain a craft.

My warrior seems pretty fragile at the moment. I expect to have issues with a new game. I don’t expect to be turned off so quickly, so I’m trying to figure out what I’m missing. The manual being so complete.

astrocanis.3195:

I just feel like I’m running around fairly aimlessly killing x numbers of this and y numbers of that. Nobody talks in chat. The quests seem to peter out. I have no idea how crafting works because I have no idea how to gain a craft.

My warrior seems pretty fragile at the moment. I expect to have issues with a new game. I don’t expect to be turned off so quickly, so I’m trying to figure out what I’m missing. The manual being so complete.

It’s just a really different game. Even for a seasoned mmorpg player. If you are bored of the actual mechanics of the game though, it doesn’t really change. Which I love.

the game’s really easy early on.

you need to give your character more time to flesh out a bit.

you could try new weapon combinations for different skills, maybe you’ll find something you like more.

the same applies to race and class. race affects your personal story, and it kind of affects where you’ll spend most of your time during the first 30 levels. visit the other starting areas and see if there’s anything that interests you.

class, however, is key. watch a bunch of videos of all 8 classes, because picking the wrong class for you can make or break the game.

I know what you mean exactly. All I can suggest is to persevere until you hit 30, then it gets interesting as you unlock more skills and try out more builds and traits :P follow your PS as well. Personally, it’s my main driving force to leveling up my alts in pve (as the story at lower levels is pretty nice). It would also help for you to join a good guild to get some chat going. Often as well, doing hearts is gonna be boring. But the people who chat on /map sometimes provide hilarious comments about whatever and helps pass the time :P

Thanks for not flaming my post. After re-reading it, I realized it was definitely flame-worthy, at least to those enamored of the game.

I ~want~ to like this game. I was on for about two hours today and there was not a single comment in chat. I’m wondering if I have to do something to turn it on?

Maybe you should check out a new server. I am on Jade Quarry, and the chat is lively and there are people in every zone.

You may want to look into joining a guild too, at least you can have guild chat then.

You can gain crafting by speaking with a crafting instructor in your (or any) hometown, and certain outposts. They will have an icon above their head. For example, the armorsmith has a shield above his head I believe. They also show up on your map with their respective icons. Hover your cursor over them to see what they are. Once you find the one you want, speak to them and they tell you have to craft and can set you to that profession. I hope that makes sense. You may be able to get more info at http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Crafting

Another note, the wiki is a great resource. Type /wiki (search criteria) into chat in-game and it’ll open up your browser and take you right to it.

Different starting areas have different quests, if you don’t like Charr, I do strongly recommend checking human/sylvari areas (you can take your charr there through the gate as I said).

Also this thread has some great tips for starting out https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/players/OMG-If-you-only-knew-this-tips-for-new-players/first

Honestly, I tried starting with Charr and I found them to have the most boring starting zone out of all of the races available. Try one of the other races. I really enjoyed Asuran, Human and Norn starting zones.

astrocanis.3195:

Thanks for not flaming my post. After re-reading it, I realized it was definitely flame-worthy, at least to those enamored of the game.

I ~want~ to like this game. I was on for about two hours today and there was not a single comment in chat. I’m wondering if I have to do something to turn it on?

Make sure you didn’t make the same mistake as I did in choosing a server.

I accidentally chose a European server, even though I’m in the US, because that was the list it first presented to me.

I have now switched to a US server and it is alive and kicking when I play.

Cheers.

I like the Charr starting zones, when I started playing at launch there are a lot of interesting and funny event chains. The guy getting his barbeque stolen being one of them. I ran through Plains one more time and I was surprised to see very little DE’s going on. I didn’t see half the DE’s I saw when I started. So that’s weird.

If you have trouble surviving, try to put some Vit and Toughness in your gear. Not sure if you knew you could dodge (double tap in a direction) but that’s essential to survival.

The crafting stations are in the Black Citadel. You can have 2 Crafting Professions but you can gather from every type of resource node (Ore, Tree, Shrub) regardless of what Crafting Prof you have. You need to have the right tools though: Sickle, Mining Pick, Chopping Axe.

Don’t be afraid to ask around, both in game and forums.

Nayru.3947:

astrocanis.3195:

I just hit level 5. Admittedly, that’s a baby step. But I’m bored to distraction. Does the game change significantly after the starting zone for the Char?

I haven’t done my homework on this game – I admit that. But with all the hype from the Intarwebs and my circle of acquaintances, I expected something…different, I guess.

Every area is the same. Same hearts, same skill challenges etc. The game was very overhyped, so I can understand you feel surprised.

I couldn’t disagree more, I was feeling a little bored and when I feel bored it saddens me so I do a little exploration. Every time I do I come across something I didn’t know existed. For example I genuinely stumbled upon one of the new jumping puzzles by going to an event and following a clickable portal at the end. (it was beautiful and took up half an hour of my time exploring the new secret map to complete the puzzle.

Secondly, I just came across one of the most amazing set of events by just trying to get a few % towards my exploration. Its in Sparkfly Fen (55-65) and is smack bang in the middle of the map. Its part of the meta event “Protecting the Zintl Holy Grounds”

On my way to get a Waypoint, I heard two whispers agents talking. A chain of events started that seen me rescue captured hylek from nightmare court, defend them en-route to their camp and convince them to aid defend someplace i didnt know or have heard off, but the whispers agent had. The greatest moment was when the enemy camp turned friendly and I got to purchase a potion that turned me entirely bright red… pointless but highly amusing for some reason >.< Anyway they run off and i followed to this newly found meta event…

It was genuinely difficult to do, not because it had a high level smashing your face in boss but it was a simple capture and defend series of simultaneous events. But it required all three outposts to be secured and when one fell a new event started to recapture and when that failed you had to stop the invasion. With three of these camps to do and little help i had great fun spending around an hour just defending and farming mobs. I received 4 rares and other sold items give me 1G without even intending to look for coin. I had fun, saved some Hylek temple and made myself some money.

“Life moves pretty fast, if you don’t stop and look around once in a while you’ll miss it.”
Props if you get the quote without google

Point being i tend to not go looking for lootz and xp and fun but the bloody thing always seams to find me :/

No you’re not. Many people have felt the way that you have…. the game’s style is simply not enjoyable to everyone.

Higher levels have just two more things; dungeons and legendary items. The sad part is that you have to get to level 30 to tryout dungeon – and level 80 to get the cosmetic legendary items. The combat styles and general gameplay have no rules, play the way you want (but if you don’t seem to figure that out before lvl 30, then IMO the game’s probably not for you).

I feel like your expectations are blown out of proportion. What RPG doesn’t provide questing, dungeons, and exploration for the entirety of its gameplay experience? Yeah, that’s basically all you do up to 80 (unless you PvP), but isn’t that the point? The scenery changes, the story changes, the objectives change, but you’re still playing an MMORPG from start to end.

astrocanis.3195:

I just hit level 5. Admittedly, that’s a baby step. But I’m bored to distraction. Does the game change significantly after the starting zone for the Char?

I haven’t done my homework on this game – I admit that. But with all the hype from the Intarwebs and my circle of acquaintances, I expected something…different, I guess.

You haven’t done anything wrong. Maybe try joining a fun guild, the game is past it’s Honeymoon period. If you join a decent guild you’ll have much more fun than you will on your own!

It’s probably not going to be that fun until you start unlocking most of your skill set and developing an effective fighting style.

It will take time – and it does get better!

@kindeller

FB for the win.

OP……you can unlock all of your weapon skills in the first couple of levels if you can get the weapons. After that, nothing really changes from that core aspect.
This is not your typical, complex MMO. It has the same grind as other MMOs (or worse), but it’s more like a console game with no real depth. For me, it’s like putting on your scuba gear and looking out over a beautiful ocean, only to find out its one foot deep. If you are feeling like this now, I don’t think it’s going to get any better for you. But who knows….maybe it will grow on you.

I’ve enjoyed the game tremendously so far, but I would say if you’re not enjoying it now, you’re probably not going to enjoy it later. It doesn’t change significantly.

One exception I’d make to this is if the problem is the combat style/skills, then stick with it long enough to learn the skills for all the weapons of your chosen profession as different weapons can give combat a very different feel. You also might want to give pvp a try. You can jump in right away.

But, yeah, if exploring the world and dynamic events aren’t ringing your bells, you’re unlikely to change your mind later.

Villious.8530:

OP……you can unlock all of your weapon skills in the first couple of levels if you can get the weapons. After that, nothing really changes from that core aspect.

I very much disagree with this. Utility skills and elites and traits change the game significantly — not to mention new enemies who have new skills and their own challenges.

For example, I played my engineer to level 60 with turrets. I’ve recently switched some trait points around and chose some different utility skills (elixirs, mostly), and poof. It feels like an entirely new class. Even though my engineer was and still is using a pistol and shield.

To the OP — several suggestions on server already. But often times, even on my server (Tarnished Coast), I’ll see a silent map chat. Then one person starts talking, and several others join in. I helped with a group event earlier this evening where things were really quiet… then one person said hi, a few more chimed in, and someone else called for help with the group event, and pretty soon we had an army rolling through ogres having a grand time.

Don’t be afraid to speak up in map chat first. Say hi, ask any questions you might have, and see if people respond. You may also want to look into guilds, I had a whole bunch of fun in GW1 simply due to the guilds and alliance I was in and the people there.

If you’re looking for basic information on crafting, I highly recommend the series of videos on YouTube from a user named Enigmius1. He has a series of crafting videos that go over the basics of how things work, and it’s enough to get you running rather quickly.

Finding a guild to call home will definitely spice up your play experience. It’s also possible that the class you created, might not be the right one for you. Try out the other races and classes. You just might find something that “clicks”. Feel free to give me a shout in game (Aria Silverfyre), Im on Tarnished Coast, but I can still answer questions and come help with dungeons when you get there.

I have to admit I found the game boring when I started. It just didn’t feel right and instruction on how to do things was poor so I found I was missing out on too much and not doing things right.

So, I started a new character (the first one only got to level 5) and took things more slowly, taking the time to explore and to learn, and that was more fun. Seeing what different weapon types do for example.

That said, i’m not overly thrilled with the game. The events don’t feel right, the personal story is abysmally presented, and the lack of player interaction for a new game is shockingly bad. For a game that was supposed to be the new uber MMO it feels like a hodgepodge of other games and themes.

Still, my new character is up to level 10 and it is getting more fun to play, but it hasn’t grabbed my imagination in the way that other games have.

I’d suggest making an Asura as second toon, unless you really don’t like their style.
There’s more humor and variety than the Charr starting zone. See if you like that better, and accept that Renown hearts are boring 90% of the time. The Dynamic Events that show up with orange circles are more interesting. There’s also a most deadly Fire Elemental in the northwest corner. If you also don’t find those to be fun, well, this game might just not be for you.

Btw, the starter zones are very easy except in the far corners and caves/buildings. They can feel a bit boring, but when you hit the next zone at level 15, things get a lot more challenging. I found that to be a point where I started having a lot more fun, since it forced me to step up my game and learn to use all my class abilities.

Nayru.3947:

Kindeller.3072:

Nayru.3947:

astrocanis.3195:

I just hit level 5. Admittedly, that’s a baby step. But I’m bored to distraction. Does the game change significantly after the starting zone for the Char?

I haven’t done my homework on this game – I admit that. But with all the hype from the Intarwebs and my circle of acquaintances, I expected something…different, I guess.

Every area is the same. Same hearts, same skill challenges etc. The game was very overhyped, so I can understand you feel surprised.

I couldn’t disagree more, I was feeling a little bored and when I feel bored it saddens me so I do a little exploration. Every time I do I come across something I didn’t know existed. For example I genuinely stumbled upon one of the new jumping puzzles by going to an event and following a clickable portal at the end. (it was beautiful and took up half an hour of my time exploring the new secret map to complete the puzzle.

Secondly, I just came across one of the most amazing set of events by just trying to get a few % towards my exploration. Its in Sparkfly Fen (55-65) and is smack bang in the middle of the map. Its part of the meta event “Protecting the Zintl Holy Grounds”

On my way to get a Waypoint, I heard two whispers agents talking. A chain of events started that seen me rescue captured hylek from nightmare court, defend them en-route to their camp and convince them to aid defend someplace i didnt know or have heard off, but the whispers agent had. The greatest moment was when the enemy camp turned friendly and I got to purchase a potion that turned me entirely bright red… pointless but highly amusing for some reason >.< Anyway they run off and i followed to this newly found meta event…

It was genuinely difficult to do, not because it had a high level smashing your face in boss but it was a simple capture and defend series of simultaneous events. But it required all three outposts to be secured and when one fell a new event started to recapture and when that failed you had to stop the invasion. With three of these camps to do and little help i had great fun spending around an hour just defending and farming mobs. I received 4 rares and other sold items give me 1G without even intending to look for coin. I had fun, saved some Hylek temple and made myself some money.

“Life moves pretty fast, if you don’t stop and look around once in a while you’ll miss it.”
Props if you get the quote without google

Point being i tend to not go looking for lootz and xp and fun but the bloody thing always seams to find me :/

So, you saw some npc’s talking and did some events? The OP wanted to know if the game changes significantly after the first area. Events are the same after the first area. NPC’s are NPC’s…

Yes and in response to my quoted post, and to develop the opposing argument to encourage the OP to return I explained how all events are not infact the same and several events can combine and work together to provide similar end game content but at low level. Just because its not at level 80 does not mean it cannot be considered end game content, you can return to complete it at 80 as I did. I made myself enough money to purchase two Exotic quality items without even trying. If that’s not considered end game worthy then your missing the point. That is where I’ll agree to disagree however I will not allow you to continue to state that events are all the same when narratively, mechanically and (player dependent) enjoyably different. Not even factoring in reward, that statement is false. If you believe so you haven’t explored or seen enough of the game to comment. I know I haven’t explored half of the content in this game but I still know there is enough varying game play to keep me occupied.

Its like skyrim, I have never played it but all my friends bought it, some played the main storyline and left it in weeks. Others spent months completing random quests and making their own fun. In that sense, it’s varying but if your going to shoot down an area of the game… feel free to give some valid justifications not just spew opinions and falsified statements.

I’ll also happily admit that not everyone is going to be happy with GW2 as is, its not perfect but neither is life. I’ve come to deal with it and enjoy what I can (:

You are not doing anything wrong. Not every starting zone, not every class and not every race is necessarily fun for everybody. Also, different weapon combinations can be entirely game-changing (say, a mesmer with a sword plays different than a mesmer with a staff). Experiment.

Make sure you run to group events when they come up. They are fun and give you good exp. and loot. At lower level, stick with mobs your level or no more then 2 levels above you, otherwise it is a bit of a chore to take them down on your own. Don’t just go to hearts, explore a bit and you will run into a variety of different mobs, events and such. Try different weapons as was said above also, play around with different skills until you find some you like.

It’s very easy to blow thru content without ever knowing it was there. I’d say pay attention to NPCs like Kindeller mentioned and follow dynamic event chains. Some areas are more alive than others.

If you want chat, go into your main city & thru the asura gate to lions arch. That’s the main gathering hub and you can find a guild to join that’s active and chatty.

Also, since you’re low level, a lot of your personal abilities aren’t yet unlocked. Warriors have a lot of weapon skills to learn so unlock them and figure out fun synergies with the utilities you’ll slowly unlock. By the time you hit 20 you’ll have 3 utility slots open and 10 points into a trait line. These things give flavor to playstyle.

Crafting can be picked up in a major city (u can learnthem all but only 2 active at a time) and you can do all the gathering. Get a mining pick, axe, and sickel.

Try out PvP and WvW if you want something very different to do too.

Honestly, I felt the exact same way when I first started. I’d sign in, play a little, then sign back out. But then I joined a really active and well spread out Guild and I love it. I mix things up a lot. If most of my guildies aren’t on for an hour or two I PvE. Then when they’re on, I do tournies til late at night. Then when they sign off, I do WvW with the more Oceanic Guildies. I do all three, all with constant silly chat both in Guild chat and Vent and have a blast. Don’t ‘grind’ one section of the game. Play the game to it’s fullest. (:

I really love this game because it feels real! You can do real-time events not just kill this centaur then go see Bob to complete your quest. For example you get a quest to escort the kings daughter to his castle and if you fail to escort her and she gets kidnapped you get a follow-up event that has you go to the centaur village (Assuming it was centaurs that kidnapped her) to rescue her.

astrocanis.3195:

I just feel like I’m running around fairly aimlessly killing x numbers of this and y numbers of that. Nobody talks in chat. The quests seem to peter out. I have no idea how crafting works because I have no idea how to gain a craft.

My warrior seems pretty fragile at the moment. I expect to have issues with a new game. I don’t expect to be turned off so quickly, so I’m trying to figure out what I’m missing. The manual being so complete.

All video games require you to click buttons and/or click on things in the environment. The difference is in how these interactions look and feel. Regardless, your character might get more interesting as you unlock more skills on more weapons, and now that you have hit level 5, you can start buying and equipping utility skills. Perhaps more complexity will help you.

Starter zones can seem fairly empty. Still, I’ve been surprised at how many people crawl out of the woodwork when an event happens. hint you can sometimes start an event by “talking” to NPC’s. Sometimes they will approach you and “speak.” other times, you can approach them and if the dialogue option is Talk rather than Greet, you might be able to generate an event. Events and personal story go a long way in supplementing hearts.

Crafting can be learned from crafting NPC’s. There are some in every starter zone, usually in places where the mobs are levels 8-10. Or, you can find the crafting area in your capital city, the Black Citadel. If you enter from Plains of Ashford, go up the ramp, then bear right and back down. You will see icons for crafting (e.g., a shield for armorsmithing) on your map (M) once you enter the city.

Now that you are level 5, use your first skill point(s) (iirc it’s only 1, but might be 3) and buy Healing Signet, and equip it in your healing slot. It provides regeneration, and can go a long way toward making a warrior less squishy. Unlike other games, you might have to engage in a more mobile style of combat, using circle kiting and ranged options for some fights. Once you get to level 7 you will be able to equip a 2nd weapon or pair of weapons, and switch between them. If you switch in combat there is a short cooldown before you can switch again.

GW2 is set up to reward exploring, so wandering around to see what’s around the next bend can lead to things to do. For more conversation, join a guild. You might have to go to Lion’s Arch (LA), as most of the capital cities are under-utilized. To get to LA, click the PvP tab in the upper left of your screen, pick Go to the Heart of the Mists. Once there, exit through the big pink portal you’ll see. This puts you in LA. To get back to the Charr area, look on the LA map for the Asura Gates (you’ll see several small pink circles on the LA map) and enter the one with Charr guarding it. This puts you back in the Black Citadel.

I hope the game picks up for you.