Guild Wars 2

Hi

So I loved guild wars 1 and played it for hours (probably far more than I should have), filled my Hall of Monuments and pre-ordered the game in preparation for its release. Once the game was released It was unique and enjoyable, however my study and sporting requirements overruled my desire to play the game. A few months ago I returned to Gw2 and just couldn’t get into it, its not a bad game it just doesn’t meet the expectations I had for it based on what guild wars 1 was.

So I would really like to hear from the rest of you (especially those who actually played gw1) what your expectations were, were they meet, why or why not, and what are your plans/expectations going forward (give it up, play something else, keep playing, etc). Answer which ever of those you feel like answering.

On a side note, I have decided to return to gw1 (which is now completely wiped, long story) so would be keen to start up a topic where people can provide help/items for gw1 players and post here to keep things up to date.

Look forward to some interesting responses

I expected GW1 with major mmo bling. Ingame VOIP option. A guild interface and bank controls far more advanced than what we got. Configurable UI. Particle sliders. Actual dynamic events rather than infinitely repeatable events. QoL features that are in games released 10+ years ago. I expected the Manifesto to be an actual “thing”.

I didn’t expect the content would be increasingly driven by NES nostalgia. I didn’t expect the story writing to be driven by emulating TV programs, terrible common tropes and social justice warriors.. I did expect the Lore of GW to be respected. I didn’t expect the personal story would be so glaringly bad. I really did not expect the super server merge and loss of all server community. I did not foresee “zerging” would be the preferred play. It’s always been an insult, to me.

I play here when I am taking breaks from GW or EQ2. I will not buy HoT. I do not like platforming, mario or LoZ, so, no point. I wont commit to anymore purchases until they quit floundering around and decide what they want to be.

Haven’t uninstalled cause I love my Norn and the environment is so pretty, when not blocked by a 600 lb winged, glowing GokuCharr or a blinding wall of particle effects. Waiting for a better MMO with better standards of immersion and an actual design destination. Wings.. really. Et Tu, GW2?

Currently playing the game after 1 year break.
What I wanted GW2 to be? The succession of GW1 of course.
I wanted new good stories adventures. I wanted the lore to eat me alive and feel amazed with every piece of story I uncovered with friends (new and old together with new and memories of old NPCs). I wanted added improved awesome 2013-2015 quality voice acting and breath taking cut scenes. I wanted new missions and their HM counterparts. I wanted balanced, rewarding(skill-wise) instanced content. I wanted to eventually see Cantha and Elona.
So far I haven’t seen most of what I wanted. I’m still playing because to be honest GW2 is not a bad game, it’s just not GW1’s successor.
PSA. HoT is helping a lot voice acting and story wise (I haven’t finished it yet and I’m avoiding spoilers. So far it looks good).

As a literature student my best suggestion to ANet is probably to invest more in the lore/writers. I want to see more dialogs, I want to see all the plot holes disappear, and don’t want to see cheap plot twists. I want the writers to talk to each other and agree together on what’s going in the game. I want them to use their brains and think about everything that’s happening in the story and make each episode link together more smoothly.
Also for your information, employees of ANet:

GODS DON’T GO SCUMBAG STEVE AND PEACE OUT FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS. Not all gods behave like, say Loki.

Teofa Tsavo.9863:

social justice warriors.

Do tell. Is it the fact that they acknowledged that hey, lesbians and disabled people exist???

Astrella.8930:

Teofa Tsavo.9863:

social justice warriors.

Do tell. Is it the fact that they acknowledged that hey, lesbians and disabled people exist???

No, the fact that they beat us over the head with them using pretty stereotypical blunt force theatrics. “Oh, lets go pick out curtains” Really? I am disabled BTW. Tiami makes me a bit ill in both design and characterization. Designed to be pitied. No thanks. Honest, subtle integration would have been far better. Obvious tokens are tokens.

Yay =) We are getting some great feedback, keep it coming!

real action combat (instead of the hybrid mess we got) with the feel of GW1.

Teofa Tsavo.9863:

Astrella.8930:

Teofa Tsavo.9863:

social justice warriors.

Do tell. Is it the fact that they acknowledged that hey, lesbians and disabled people exist???

No, the fact that they beat us over the head with them using pretty stereotypical blunt force theatrics. “Oh, lets go pick out curtains” Really? I am disabled BTW. Tiami makes me a bit ill in both design and characterization. Designed to be pitied. No thanks. Honest, subtle integration would have been far better. Obvious tokens are tokens.

shrug I’m both a lesbian and disabled and I liked both Jory/Kas and Taimi a lot.

Astrella.8930:

Teofa Tsavo.9863:

Astrella.8930:

Teofa Tsavo.9863:

social justice warriors.

Do tell. Is it the fact that they acknowledged that hey, lesbians and disabled people exist???

No, the fact that they beat us over the head with them using pretty stereotypical blunt force theatrics. “Oh, lets go pick out curtains” Really? I am disabled BTW. Tiami makes me a bit ill in both design and characterization. Designed to be pitied. No thanks. Honest, subtle integration would have been far better. Obvious tokens are tokens.

shrug I’m both a lesbian and disabled and I liked both Jory/Kas and Taimi a lot.

I would have preferred a lot more, scattered all over, integrated and no big deal. I also would have thought a war torn land would have made certain disabilities common. Instead, we don’t even get aging. Teen fantasy Lesbians. Honey Boo Boo adorable disability poster child.

TBH I liked the charged intensity of Evennia’s love for Saidra and always speculating.. were they? I like to think they were. This was in GW1

Mileage varies. I’m not ok with how it was done, but that’s me.

Teofa Tsavo.9863:

TBH I liked the charged intensity of Evennia’s love for Saidra and always speculating.. were they? I like to think they were. This was in GW1

Yeah, I’m not so sure that’s the case.

I mean, part of the fun of GW1 was how a lot of characters were blank slates outside of a few bold strokes to paint the characters’ name and purpose. (Usually dramatic death, if we’re talking Prophecies.) You could plausibly make a framework around many of the mauve-shirt NPCs who rotate in and out of the stories.

(My favorite was how Ronan and Ventari were an item. Ticks two boxes at once!)

It lent as well a nice amount of leeway to build stories which could use these NPCs without really impacting their existence in-game. It’s a little harder this time around, naturally, but it can be done.

Anyway, the question: what did I want Guild Wars 2 to be? Pretty much what I got, honestly. An engine like GW1 with swimming for three-dimensional movement (and it didn’t screw up as bad as EQ’s did) and a lot of farming inconsequentials for the sake of the shinies/achievements.

That’s practically what GW1 was if you weren’t into PvP. And I wasn’t.

Honestly i was looking for an MMO that praised skill and build planning above grinding better gear stats, and an end to NPC party members.

I liked the narrative of GW1, and I liked the flow of it, but what really made it tick were two very different things. The class and skill system, while flawed, added deep elements of customization. That customization is something I feel is sorely lacking in GW2’s model.

I also appreciated the basics of its skill and encounter designs. Skills in GW2 were often complex, but easy to understand. They were build with this sort of internal combo system. Before release of GW2, when they talked about the field/finisher system, that’s what I thought I was getting. Interactions that were’nt optional, but integral to playing the game as they were in GW1. The encounter designs in GW1, also, came in the form of highly supportive mobs. You often needed to go at new mobs a few times to understand their abilities and targeting order. Also, interrupts and high risk/reward skills were a thing. Many GW1 skills had long cast times, but paid off with devastating effects when you pulled them off. The down side was that those skills were easily interrupted, and that power struggle between nuke cast baiting, interrupting, and the overall slower and more tactical combat that made it what I used to call “the thinking person’s RPG” was lost in translation.

I enjoy the action combat, and it feels really good, but I also feel extremely limited when I roll characters. The entire system is designed around forcing a handful of builds for every class and idiot-proofing your skill bar. Every build is simply defined as <weapon name> <class name> because weapon and class are all that really defines a build, and then you get to make some very small impact tweaks. We could have had the same fluid combat with slightly longer TTKs to make it a bit more tactical, and a less dumbed down skill and attribute system.

I still think it’s dumb that WvW is fought over ephemeral points in stead of, you know, people’s expensive castles. I hate that they took the concept of “open PvP area” and designed the most gamey, least interesting, least consequential version of war. They missed a huge opportunity by attempting to make that style of play faster and more action packed. WvW, in the space of mass battle MMO models is possibly the worst I’ve ever encountered. There’s no permanence, no gain, no loss, and nothing matters. You literally play for points that don’t do anything but update a leaderboard. It’s just a bigger version of an arena match. It sucks. It’s the participation trophy version of war, and it’s an awful design compared to its peers.

I don’t dislike GW2. I like it a lot. I like what they’ve done with the living story in practice (though the content and what it means for the lore is kinda hit and miss) and see improvement with every release. That rapid content cadence with a clear ongoing narrative is the shot in the arm I think the entire PvE sector of MMOs needs. it might not be the best tale ever told, but it’s good enough that I still want to know what happens next and have fun playing it. I really like stronghold, as it brings back some of that tactical play that wasn’t really there in conquest, and fills spvp with a mode that feels less gamey and more tactical. I like that they’re attempting to take much of the speed capping and zerging out of WvW, and adding guild missions to make it feel less pointless. Now I have reasons to go to wvw and fight over things that actually matter, guild commendations and favor, and I can actually be denied those things. I really like where they’ve moved with open world design, treating it like a loosely commanded battlescape that automatically funnels players in to sympathetic fire teams all tackling a single large objective like an army. That’s a thing that’s wholly unique to GW2 and I love the feel of it and how much better it has become from the first time they tried it in Orr. I love the general idea of elite specs as replacements for secondary classes and what they hopefully mean for the future of the game. I love the creativity of masteries as a more coherant and sensible return to the title track endgame of GW1.

I might have wanted something different initially, but GW2 is an interesting animal all its own, and I love where they’re going with this expansion. It’s the shot in the arm the game needs in terms of challenge and longevity of content.

Played GW1 and I only had three complaints with that game the lack of an Auction Hall, Achievements weren’t account bound which was horrible for an Altoholic and that the very last class I tried out after years of play turned out to be my absolute favorite(Paragon). Gw1 evolved from people, hench, hero’s, and mercenaries the class you played changed your involvement. Paragon for instance was pure micromanagement of hero’s since they were your sword for me while with other characters the roles would change.

Gw2 changed all that and there were no healers no hench or hero’s the game was much easier and fixed two of my greatest complaints. A feel good MMO that was in stark contrast to other MMO’s that felt like work. Despised temporary content with a passion and glad they removed it as with GW1 the game evolves. Gw2 was a casual and relaxing MMO even if you did fractals or dungeons the content was never work.

HoT however changed some things the entire thing feels like reading a book and then every two seconds having someone rip that book out of your hands and sending you off to work before you can continue reading. You can’t really complete the work ahead of time without spoiling since you need to know what masteries needed for the grind. No lifers have long since beaten the game and spoil tidbits in chat and forums which I’ve turned off chat. Bright side is HoT has excellent design as I and a friend of mine have noticed and felt an old school platforming vibe from the maps. Just the other day someone commented that Verdent Brink felt and looked like Mushroom Hill.

If I had to complaints about GW2 it boils down to two things elitists want things to be exclusive and timed but GW2 has more items and experiences of that nature than any other MMO. Season 1 and all that entails is an exclusive to vets also events such as SAB and the fact Holidays change every year there are even titles that new people cannot obtain such as Emissary of the Mad King. To much of the game is locked to veterans and lost to new people. Second is Paragon it doesn’t exist in GW2 and guardian doesn’t count as a class is defined by its core mechanics and the core mechanics of the Paragon. Dervish and Revenant are similar so I’m hoping Paragon gets reborn in a new class. For the record the core mechanics of the Paragon for those who didn’t know are the Echo, Shout, and Chant. The Guardian exists but the only skill it has that is in line with these is Virtue of Justice. Maybe a future Elite or a class all it’s own. Though I’d like to reset story and implement a race change as well but oh well…

Overall the game feels limited they take 2 step forward and one step back. Season one, giving us two new heal skills since launch then removing one, and not balancing water combat and instead removing it from PvP and not providing any new weaponry I’d actually like water combat if it was balanced and we could use all our skills underwater. in some form.

Hey there, GW2 Forum Lurker here,

As my forum history would affirm my next opinion; I expected GW2 to take the core feel and design of GW1 (not the case), while expanding on the combat (which ArenaNet definitely did). The social aspect that GW1 held (in my opinion), is superior to GW2. I made more friends in GW1 than any other online game. I belive this is because all areas besides outposts were instanced areas. Being in a mission, vanquishing, or dungeon delving in GW1 with strangers usually ended with a new friend. The social aspect felt natural and not forced, as with GW2 people are just intelligent NPCs that are running around.

TL;DR GW2 did not meet my expectations of merging GW1 aspects.

I played GW1 for lots of hours and enjoyed it quite a bit.
I have played GW2 also for lots of hours and have also enjoyed it quite a bit.

I knew when I went from GW1 to GW2 it would be different. It would have to be for a major reason – GW1 wasn’t really an MMO but GW2 is an MMO. There is also the fact that technology changes and they can now allow us to do different things like gliding or having (almost) 3D maps, jumping, etc. Things that were not really doable 10 or even 5 yrs ago. I expected pretty much the same lands but that with the difference in time (250 yrs world time) and in technology that some stuff would not be the same. I liked GW1 and still occasionally play it but I also like GW2 for the reason that it is different and continues to evolve. I would not like it if it was static nor do I want it to stay the same. Life changes and I am fine with the game changing when it needs to.

I think most fans of GW1 expected GW2 to be a continuation/ improvement upon the first game.

We ended up with something completely different.

I’m still disappointed about that. Sadly GW2 isn’t as good as GW1 was and I’m not entirely sure what ANet can do to fix that.

Fasalina.6571:

Currently playing the game after 1 year break.
What I wanted GW2 to be? The succession of GW1 of course.
I wanted new good stories adventures. I wanted the lore to eat me alive and feel amazed with every piece of story I uncovered with friends (new and old together with new and memories of old NPCs). I wanted added improved awesome 2013-2015 quality voice acting and breath taking cut scenes. I wanted new missions and their HM counterparts. I wanted balanced, rewarding(skill-wise) instanced content. I wanted to eventually see Cantha and Elona.
So far I haven’t seen most of what I wanted. I’m still playing because to be honest GW2 is not a bad game, it’s just not GW1’s successor.
PSA. HoT is helping a lot voice acting and story wise (I haven’t finished it yet and I’m avoiding spoilers. So far it looks good).

As a literature student my best suggestion to ANet is probably to invest more in the lore/writers. I want to see more dialogs, I want to see all the plot holes disappear, and don’t want to see cheap plot twists. I want the writers to talk to each other and agree together on what’s going in the game. I want them to use their brains and think about everything that’s happening in the story and make each episode link together more smoothly.
Also for your information, employees of ANet:

GODS DON’T GO SCUMBAG STEVE AND PEACE OUT FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS. Not all gods behave like, say Loki.

Good writing is a matter of opinion. People say The Great Gatsby was a classic but I personally thought it was boring. I believe that 200 years from now people will look back at Frank Miller as our age’s Shakespeare. Comics are where most of the great writing is at. You could have Batman win against Superman, which sounds ludicrous given that Batman is merely human (peak human, but still) but where the masterly writing comes into play is he does it in a convincing and plausible way. Although the Joker being as smart as Batman while lacking the hangups about killing and lacking a moral code should theoretically win most of his encounters with Batman, but since he’s a villain writing him to lose is obligatory. But he does so in a convincing way usually.

Speaking of the gods disappearing it could be an allegory for something else.

cam.6850:

A few months ago I returned to Gw2 and just couldn’t get into it, its not a bad game it just doesn’t meet the expectations I had for it based on what guild wars 1 was.

Well, I should preface it by saying that I enjoy GW2 a lot. Now as to why specifically, this does relate to what I expected:

• I didn’t like GW1. I only started paying attention to GW2 during development once the devs made it clear that this was significantly different from the first game. Luckily – for me – it delivered.
• I wanted a MMO which felt less like a job than WoW with it’s core focus on guild raiding was.
• I wanted a MMO I can more easily play in the little time I have aside from job and family, because no longer being a student I couldn’t easily keep up my raidleader role any more due to time commitment issues.
• I wanted something at least remotely resembling the RvR I loved DAoC for.

Those four points are why GW2 got me hyped. The MetroidVania-like elements to the new expansion only add to this.

so I’m probably not in the best position to answer this as I haven’t played gw2 in a while – a little over a year, but I have about 4k hours in gw1 and played gw2 from the first beta before calling it quits 2yrs in, the recent expansion did get me interested in reading the forums again to see what ppl are saying, hence this response.

What I expected of guild wars 2? To have a much deeper character connection, I mean I really wanted to have a sense that my character was unique but not just on a cosmetic level, cosmetics are important but I don’t like the way anet prostitute cosmetics in this game, it cheapens the whole point of armour which should be one of the primary ways a players shows off their achievements.

in the same vain I also dislike their 1 size fits all race armour design, for me this and the cheap cosmetic tricks are the primary reason I don’t play any more.

I still remember getting on the hype train during development and thinking how cool it would be to roll an asuran golemancer, basically an asura who rely’s heavily on his golem, I remember thinking there would be all sorts of upgrades for golems and my imagination just ran wild with it, I thought the same of norn animal forms and the cool quests that would lead to gaining those special powers, I remember thinking in WVW we would see armys of golems colliding with armies of shape shifted Norn.

currently I’m playing arkham knight quite sparsely, ive been a backer on SC since mid 2014 (spent more money on that game than I did in 2 yrs of guildwars 2) never really played a space sim before but it really looks like the right ppl are behind the project, also BDO coming soon, ill definitely check that out, hopefully there will be an early access package before Christmas.

just to say, I don’t think GW2 is a bad game, it does have many good things about it, it just wasn’t the game for me, I truly hope the game stays successful because competition amongst developers is good for everyone

Fasalina.6571:

GODS DON’T GO SCUMBAG STEVE AND PEACE OUT FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS. Not all gods behave like, say Loki.

interesting, how many deities do you know personally? According to quite a few people, such beings do not even exist in reality, so that should give some artistic license.

Teofa Tsavo.9863:

Astrella.8930:

Teofa Tsavo.9863:

social justice warriors.

Do tell. Is it the fact that they acknowledged that hey, lesbians and disabled people exist???

No, the fact that they beat us over the head with them using pretty stereotypical blunt force theatrics. “Oh, lets go pick out curtains” Really? I am disabled BTW. Tiami makes me a bit ill in both design and characterization. Designed to be pitied. No thanks. Honest, subtle integration would have been far better. Obvious tokens are tokens.

They only beat you over the head with it if you’re sensitive to that. I never felt beat over the head with it. Because when I see someone who’s a lesbian I see a person and when I see a handicapped person, I see a person. I just see people.

It’s sad that so many people feel beat over the head with labels.

As for exaageration in the genre, it’s the rule for a reason. Half the people skip cutscenes and don’t read text. What you see as beating over the head, I see as making accessible to those not paying attention.

I played Guild Wars 1 a lot too. Expecially Factions. I loved that one.
I totally understand why people are disappointed about GW2. I dont say its a bad game, but some things are horrible in this game and some of those horrible things are vital. For example the group combat.. lots of things in GW2 are desidgned for just one player and the group combat without trinity, but nothing instead of the trinity system is just zerging and boring. The problem with that is, if i want to play a singleplayer game.. i wont play GW2, i play things like the witcher. I tried GW2 with friends and it felt like we were running around together, but we never really felt like playing in a team :/

Another thing i am really disappointed about is… i saw a nice armor some days ago. I didnt know the armor and was like:
Either its some lore oriented stuff, like an armorsmith from cantha who was lost on an expedition in the maguuma jungle and if we save him he offers his best armor as a recipe or sth like that. Or its just another gemshop Item.
It was another gemshop Item.. the moment i saw it in the gemshop i lost any hope that GW2 will live up to my expectations. I like to explore the world, expecially the new maps in HoT, but anything besides exploration is bad and updates are usually just new gemshop items…
GW2 could have been a superior sequel. But it isnt.

At the moment i just explore the maguuma jungle a little but i usually play different games a lot more. Rocket League, Path of Exile, Limbo, Distance and Ori & the blind forest are all games i can recommend. I wont recommend starting GW2. In games like Rocket League i enjoy every minute of my playtime. In GW2 i enjoy some moments but its usually forcing myself through the grind because i set goals in a game i will not care about in a few years. Stupid me x)
Btw one more thing that makes a huge difference for me is, that most of my games i play with a gamepad, sitting on my couch and sometimes i do that with friends and playing Distance or Rocket League in splitscreen. While GW2 has this oldschool mouse and keyboard controlls which forces me to sit uncomfortable in front of my pc :/
This game needs controller support in my opinion. Maybe with the new Steam Controller?

Algreg.3629:

Fasalina.6571:

GODS DON’T GO SCUMBAG STEVE AND PEACE OUT FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS. Not all gods behave like, say Loki.

interesting, how many deities do you know personally? According to quite a few people, such beings do not even exist in reality, so that should give some artistic license.

Hmm well lets see, having read the Iliad and the Odyssey made me encounter pretty much all of the most important Greek gods that’s about 30 I think? then there’s Aeneis, which contains about the same number and pretty much the same gods but with different names (the roman counterpart). Have you read any of the Tales? Those talk about the gods the people in northern Europe used to believe that exist (some even believe in them now!), the tales are quite a few and talk about a lot of gods and demigods. Then there’s the Kojiki, also an interesting read, the first part of which talks about the myth of creation of Japan, there’s about 20 gods in there too.
So yeah I have a pretty good idea on how the gods behave in most of the world (Sorry India, you’re next), not existing in reality is not an excuse they can pull up for failing their story so badly. Writing about gods, is like writing about everything else, the guidelines are already there thanks to centuries of people smarter than me and you and them

You need to be really careful using that word, artistic licence. Artistic licence is an euphemism generally used to stray a way from a known pattern or rule for the sake of maintaining some sort of standard. I.E misspelling a word because the author wanted to keep a pentatonic rhythm. Also the thing about artistic licence is that it only gets approved when the person doing it is of a certain importance and an already acclaimed artist, and not your average Joe. Lets face it if the story before HoT was a novel, no one would buy it, and that’s a general consensus seen on these very forums and simple search would approve of this. Hence I doubt the people behind that story are acclaimed, well known writers.

Alex.9567:

so I’m probably not in the best position to answer this as I haven’t played gw2 in a while – a little over a year, but I have about 4k hours in gw1 and played gw2 from the first beta before calling it quits 2yrs in, the recent expansion did get me interested in reading the forums again to see what ppl are saying, hence this response.

What I expected of guild wars 2? To have a much deeper character connection, I mean I really wanted to have a sense that my character was unique but not just on a cosmetic level, cosmetics are important but I don’t like the way anet prostitute cosmetics in this game, it cheapens the whole point of armour which should be one of the primary ways a players shows off their achievements.

in the same vain I also dislike their 1 size fits all race armour design, for me this and the cheap cosmetic tricks are the primary reason I don’t play any more.

I still remember getting on the hype train during development and thinking how cool it would be to roll an asuran golemancer, basically an asura who rely’s heavily on his golem, I remember thinking there would be all sorts of upgrades for golems and my imagination just ran wild with it, I thought the same of norn animal forms and the cool quests that would lead to gaining those special powers, I remember thinking in WVW we would see armys of golems colliding with armies of shape shifted Norn.

currently I’m playing arkham knight quite sparsely, ive been a backer on SC since mid 2014 (spent more money on that game than I did in 2 yrs of guildwars 2) never really played a space sim before but it really looks like the right ppl are behind the project, also BDO coming soon, ill definitely check that out, hopefully there will be an early access package before Christmas.

just to say, I don’t think GW2 is a bad game, it does have many good things about it, it just wasn’t the game for me, I truly hope the game stays successful because competition amongst developers is good for everyone

Your imagination of GW2 sounds so much better than the actual game xD
I really dont understand why the Races are so unimportant in GW2. They could have done awesome stuff and if the Races would fight eachother on the huge tyria map this game could have been so much better x)
The first thing that makes me think that choosing a sylvari for my main character has actual any effect was in the expansion… but its still pretty much “choose the race that looks the best to you” x)

Flowerpower.6795:

Alex.9567:

so I’m probably not in the best position to answer this as I haven’t played gw2 in a while – a little over a year, but I have about 4k hours in gw1 and played gw2 from the first beta before calling it quits 2yrs in, the recent expansion did get me interested in reading the forums again to see what ppl are saying, hence this response.

What I expected of guild wars 2? To have a much deeper character connection, I mean I really wanted to have a sense that my character was unique but not just on a cosmetic level, cosmetics are important but I don’t like the way anet prostitute cosmetics in this game, it cheapens the whole point of armour which should be one of the primary ways a players shows off their achievements.

in the same vain I also dislike their 1 size fits all race armour design, for me this and the cheap cosmetic tricks are the primary reason I don’t play any more.

I still remember getting on the hype train during development and thinking how cool it would be to roll an asuran golemancer, basically an asura who rely’s heavily on his golem, I remember thinking there would be all sorts of upgrades for golems and my imagination just ran wild with it, I thought the same of norn animal forms and the cool quests that would lead to gaining those special powers, I remember thinking in WVW we would see armys of golems colliding with armies of shape shifted Norn.

currently I’m playing arkham knight quite sparsely, ive been a backer on SC since mid 2014 (spent more money on that game than I did in 2 yrs of guildwars 2) never really played a space sim before but it really looks like the right ppl are behind the project, also BDO coming soon, ill definitely check that out, hopefully there will be an early access package before Christmas.

just to say, I don’t think GW2 is a bad game, it does have many good things about it, it just wasn’t the game for me, I truly hope the game stays successful because competition amongst developers is good for everyone

Your imagination of GW2 sounds so much better than the actual game xD
I really dont understand why the Races are so unimportant in GW2. They could have done awesome stuff and if the Races would fight eachother on the huge tyria map this game could have been so much better x)
The first thing that makes me think that choosing a sylvari for my main character has actual any effect was in the expansion… but its still pretty much “choose the race that looks the best to you” x)

thanks you, yes it could be great, I used to have arguments with my guild about race being more than cosmetic, there was always this resounding opinion that it couldn’t work cause then you’d be forced to pick race to suit profession, but honestly it doesn’t have to be the case. but more honestly i don’t even care anymore:)

I expected gw2 to be about skins. I also expected it to be about exclusive skins. However what I imagined was a bit different from what it is..

This is what I expected:
1. Theres a new skin available in GW2. Anet challenges players to figure out the recipe.
2. After trial and error, player A eventually discovers the skin recipe.
3. Player A realises that the item is not hard to make, so he only shares the recipe with his friends B,C,and D.
4. Eventually everyone else figures out the recipe and it gets posted online. The game is flooded with people wearing the skin. Time to move on to the next one (next exclusive item).

This is what ACTUALLY happens in this game.
1. Theres a new skin available in GW2. Anet challenges players to figure out the recipe.
2. After long trial and error, player A finally discovers the recipe.
3. Player A realizes that the recipe has a rare component, so he and friends players B,C, and D buy up all these rare parts from the trading post.
4. Player A then releases the information online and resells the rare parts 10x higher.
5. Players A, B, C, and D are now the only ones wearing this exclusive skin because nobody else can afford it.
6. The end.

While I like Guild Wars 2 immensely, I would say that it didn’t live up to my initial hopes of what the sequel would be. Like many things in life, I feel I can best summarize my feelings with a list.

Where it exceeded/met my expectations:
1. Opening the game world and removing the invisible walls of the first game.
2. Adding one of the best combat systems in the genre, IMO.
3. The current character progression system is noteworthy, and a drastic improvement over its shape at launch.
4. The amount of account inventories like dyes, wallet, etc. I’m a believer in the minimizing of having an inventory.
5. Events, open world bosses, and the overall gameplay are fun and accessible
6. The succinct skill bar – love this

Where it did not meet my expectations:
1. The lack of the trinity. Seriously, I loved played healer in Guild Wars 1 and lament its absence or deference to other classes.
2. The story. It’s awful. It reeks of fan fiction, SJW crusades, and shallowness. Compared to even Wildstar, it’s just so magoo. The first game wasn’t exactly TES quality, but it was still more engaging than this game’s.
3. The Mesmer. Aside from the Monk, Mesmer was my other main. I love the resource denial mechanic, and I feel like that’s absent from this game. Everything is condition based. Sure boons approximate the idea of an enchantment, but the first game really feel like Magic the Gathering with its nuanced skill system.
4. The lack of MMO standards like mounts, healing potions, large amounts of instanced dungeons like seen in WoW/LoTRO, customizable UI.
5. PVP cannot even compare to the first game.

I hated gw1, absolutely despised it with a burning passion, like if it was possible to get a refund on the time I spent in that game I would no matter the cost…

That said, I love gw2 and how it has the deep Lore of a a decade old world without the button mashing feel of wow.

Better.

Seriously.

Not based on GW1, but more on the initial talk of “living world” and dynamic questing I was expecting more of a sandbox.

I was expecting more from the “living world” as well. As of now we get standard MMO fare: build yourself up, kill imposing boss figure, rinse, repeat. There are some aspects that are interesting, such as LA changing over the course of the game and it being a truly different experience depending on when you enter the world, but the big picture of kill one dragon then kill the next is pretty mundane.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/lwd/Dancing-With-Dragons-Improving-Iconic-Foes/

That is what I would truly like to see this game become and is more along the lines of what I was expecting.

Prototypemind.4026:

I was expecting more from the “living world” as well. As of now we get standard MMO fare: build yourself up, kill imposing boss figure, rinse, repeat. There are some aspects that are interesting, such as LA changing over the course of the game and it being a truly different experience depending on when you enter the world, but the big picture of kill one dragon then kill the next is pretty mundane.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/lwd/Dancing-With-Dragons-Improving-Iconic-Foes/

That is what I would truly like to see this game become and is more along the lines of what I was expecting.

That thread is almost exactly what I figured/hoped it would be. Except instead of just the dragonspawns, apply it to all NPCs. The zones would shift based off player interaction killing, questing, etc, it would also allow the devs to add events that spread throughout Tyria.

Downside is Anet didn’t take that path, they instead used the current standard MMO structured setting, eliminated part of the structured aspect, and this is what we have.

I played Guildwars for over 8 years I still log on to bug people in Kamadan once in a while. I have three God walkings I have four full Halls of Monuments. I played Guildwars quite a bit more than most. I was not a pro player where I could not permasin without mistakes like others could. I did permasin mostly alone

After getting the three Gwamms, I thought I have done most everything I can do in the game. I did not grind for them I just played along with some friends in the game. They saw what I was doing, and they wanted to do it also. So when they had to do something my sin had already done I got another character and did it on that one over time doing that well filled up the requirements for the Titles.

People would call me a no lifer because I did titles. I also farmed, but not as extensively as others. To me a no lifer is someone that gets on does 20 speed clears in one area gets off comes back on does the same thing over and over and over. I at least explored, cleared areas out, and had goals in the game besides just being super rich. Which I was pretty well off in the financial part of the game lol.

When I heard the news of Guildwars2,ILiked how they got together said I wanna put X into the new campaign. Problem is they couldn’t, because the Guildwars engine was out of date. So they decided to create a real MMO unlike anything before it. Using things that did not work out in several of them each one thing for those other MMO’s. Figuring if someone mish mashed them into one game instead of making a clone of another game and adding a couple unique things in, it might work. So the idea for Guildwars 2 was announced to everyone. Five years later (I think that may be a record not sure lol) From Idea to finished product that is.

Guild wars 2 set 250 years into the future. Unlike Guildwars Guildwars2 has fire arms. Some people did not like that MMO’s shouldn’t have guns. Why? 250 years is a long time progress had to be made eventually. At least they are only up to a revolver for guns, and a rifle. Think about this 250 years is a long time no matter what. The world today is completely different from the world 250 years ago. Its called progress. Why can’t they do it in an MMO?

That’s what intrigued me about Guildwars2 the idea that it would not be Guildwars on steroids and just repeat the same formula. Or repeat the formula of other MMO’s. So far it hasn’kittens not a perfect game none are, some claim to be though. It would be a game that not only can change over time, but one that can be changed any time. Living story was suppose to be a way for the devs to give us totally new content constantly. Just seems that was not enough for some of the players so over some time they developed Heart of Thorns just to please them.

Now people are shunning Heart of Thorns. It cost too much, not enough content for the price, its got bad breath, all sorts of reasons not to get it. I tell you all what HoT if you just bought it for the scenery it is worth it. Of course do not do that lol its also a lot of fun to play sometimes a bit overwhelming. If you are an explorer type the maps are huge the entire left side of the map in the area that looks kinda like India is HoT. Look at that and think three levels then tell me its not enough content. Remember they also added WvW and PvP areas. Guild halls are huge maps in themselves, then you have caves you can glide too and discover those which again add to the diversity of the maps and the size. Raids will use what u gain in HoT to be successful in them.

Any way I like Guildwars because it was a great game to play for the time I played it. It was not the be all end all of all games though, but I liked the formula of not being a clone. Guildwars 2 has so much potential and that’s what I see the most in it.

imbalancedhero.3968:

I expected gw2 to be about skins. I also expected it to be about exclusive skins. However what I imagined was a bit different from what it is..

This is what I expected:
1. Theres a new skin available in GW2. Anet challenges players to figure out the recipe.
2. After trial and error, player A eventually discovers the skin recipe.
3. Player A realises that the item is not hard to make, so he only shares the recipe with his friends B,C,and D.
4. Eventually everyone else figures out the recipe and it gets posted online. The game is flooded with people wearing the skin. Time to move on to the next one (next exclusive item).

This is what ACTUALLY happens in this game.
1. Theres a new skin available in GW2. Anet challenges players to figure out the recipe.
2. After long trial and error, player A finally discovers the recipe.
3. Player A realizes that the recipe has a rare component, so he and friends players B,C, and D buy up all these rare parts from the trading post.
4. Player A then releases the information online and resells the rare parts 10x higher.
5. Players A, B, C, and D are now the only ones wearing this exclusive skin because nobody else can afford it.
6. The end.

Except that’s not what happened with night fury. The information was made available publicly within an hour. Much of the research was publicly documented while it was ongoing.

I wanted GW2 to be a game that had underwater content. But alas, it does not. They even advertised it in one of their 1st videos ever released, almost as if there was a completely other world to be explored, but there isn’t.
It’s a massive shame that really could of set GW2 high on the bar, more so than it is now.

I wanted GW1, with better graphics and a z axis.

I wanted the same character build experience.

I wanted skill hunting.

I wanted a plethora of armours that all looked different to choose from.

I wanted to see what the world, the entire world, looked like, 200 years later.

I wanted Humans, Charr, Tengu, Krait and Centaurs as our playable races.

I wanted the original game’s lore to be respected, not rewritten at every instance to allow for the flavour of the week in the LS.

In short, I wanted a game made by the original Anet.

What we got instead was GW2 – and it’s not a terrible game, but it’s certainly not an honest sequel to the original.

Taimi is amazing. Vulnerable yet strong, with a simple yet deep story, an interesting, non-maniqueist personality, and a high contrast character design where her disability actually IS visible and not a mere mention. My favorite character in the game by far.

I’m massively disappointed, too.

Not as much at release. It had a lot of little flaws, but it was something that could be improved upon slowly with time. I enjoyed many dynamic events which were chains to tell small stories – the writing was sharp, the events were fun, and those were unique ways of telling a story in a MMORPG. The writing in the personal storyline was bad, and the dungeon storylines were INCREDIBLY bad, but to be honest the writing in Guild Wars: Prophecies wasn’t that good either, it only improved later on.

Later, though, things only got worse:

Ascended grind and Fractals grind were introduced quickly when the game had the player loss that every single person knew all MMORPGs have. It was exactly at the 3 months mark that hit most recent MMORPGs, too. That was all it took for ArenaNet to completely renegade their own principles.

It only got worse from there. Instead of improving the combat system, ArenaNet only kept it more stale. With the removal of enchantments and hexes, what the skills do is incredibly limited – we have basically the same few effects repeated over and over. It was laughable when ArenaNet was showing one of the specializations, and they said, “Look how cool this is, each skill has a combo field!” – and really? Combo fields? We have been using the same combo fields for years now. This isn’t just a matter of having less skills than in the original GW, we have far shallower skill design as well.

Instead of improving dynamic event design, ArenaNet actually gave up on using them to tell a story, and turned them into just a grind. Take a look at the Silverwastes – it’s basically the same three events being repeated over and over on four different places, with no story development, no overall narrative, nothing. It’s just a grind pretending to be a “dynamic event” when it’s anything but dynamic.

And the storyline became even worse than the original personal storyline. Instead of building from the lore originally present in GW2, ArenaNet chose to add a very Mary Sue villain out of nothing, Scarlett, and it only went downhill from there; the way cutscenes and dialogue was built meant that our characters had to stay in silent and hidden most of the time, so the story basically became about a bunch of poorly written token characters instead of being about our PCs.

Instead of improving what we had at release, ArenaNet only made it worse.

It’s amazing how much they have destroyed their own Manifesto. Looking at what they had promised:

• “If you love MMOs, you’ll want to check out Guild Wars 2, and if you hate MMOs, you’ll really want to check out Guild Wars 2”: nope, GW2 has become the same grind cesspool as others MMORPGs.

• “We just don’t want players to grind in Guild Wars 2. No one enjoys that. No one finds it fun”: HoT is all about players grinding, be it through the mastery points, the precursor collections, grining gold to convert to gems and buy things at the gem store (where most of the skins go), and so on.

• “a fully-branching, personalized storyline”: thrown away after the end of the personall storyline in the core game (and it was poorly done even there).

• “and in Guild Wars 2, it’s your world. It’s your story. You affect things around you in a very permanent way”: no, we don’t. And it isn’t our story, it’s the story of the token NPCs.

Really, this has been nothing but a massive disappointment.

I though it was going to be a continuation of GW1 with better graphics and game play mechanics, sadly, that was not the case.

I used to be upset on the direction GW2 took, until I just decided it’s “Guild Wars” only in name, with no relationship to the original. If you think of it as a completely separate game instead of a sequel you will be much happier.

Firstly, please leave the lesbian/disability debates out of this topic (I am a Uni student so hear enough of this every day of my life already). I think what they meant by “PC” was the fact that it made the builds/classes far to fixed, as if they didn’t want people to feel like they had a poorly constructed build (Similar to the PC madness seen in most schools now days with the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th place ribbons, which are often exactly the same as the 1st place one…..). I’m not going to get into the gender debate and don’t want it on the topic. Other than that very interesting responses, it is clear that Anet has tried to appeal to the mass market rather than the core it had with GW1, something it may come to regret when the next/new hyped MMO arrives and many of those people move on. I know for a fact that they had player testing done with some of the best PVP and PvE players from gw1 and from what I could gather they listened to none of what they had to say…..

Wanted a game with no healer, inb4 dedicated healer druid.

What met/exceeded my desires:

• Cooperative feel: no ninja nodes, etc.
• Fluidity of combat: still the most fluid, despite several emulators since
• Large world, with lots of nods to GW lore and reminders of the past
• Dynamic events in the base game are/were a lot of fun
• A cash store that is not intrusive

What did not meet my expectations

• Ascended thrown in as a stopgap to try to stall player departure
• The implementation of the cosmetic endgame, which hinders the idea of developing multiple looks for a character, rather than encouraging it
• Build depth is almost completely lacking
• WvW is an imbalanced mess, at least in the tier I play in
• Just about every decent reward not in FotM (lol at even saying that) is in herd content. While I expected herd play to be in the game, I did not expect it to be virtually the only gameplay that provides virtual rewards.
• Not being able to see anything in close combat other than a blob of effects, especially not when games put out nearly a decade earlier provided effects sliders

IndigoSundown.5419:

What met/exceeded my desires:

• Cooperative feel: no ninja nodes, etc.
• Fluidity of combat: still the most fluid, despite several emulators since
• Large world, with lots of nods to GW lore and reminders of the past
• Dynamic events in the base game are/were a lot of fun
• A cash store that is not intrusive

What did not meet my expectations

• Ascended thrown in as a stopgap to try to stall player departure
• The implementation of the cosmetic endgame, which hinders the idea of developing multiple looks for a character, rather than encouraging it
• Build depth is almost completely lacking
• WvW is an imbalanced mess, at least in the tier I play in
• Just about every decent reward not in FotM (lol at even saying that) is in herd content. While I expected herd play to be in the game, I did not expect it to be virtually the only gameplay that provides virtual rewards.
• Not being able to see anything in close combat other than a blob of effects, especially not when games put out nearly a decade earlier provided effects sliders

Pretty much this.

Plus more non-trenchcoat options for ranger armor.

Well balanced, but instead elementalist is obviously the best class in the game objectively due to their versatility, wide range of abilities from different attunements so something’s always off cooldown, and especially their combo fields.

Vayne.8563:

Teofa Tsavo.9863:

Astrella.8930:

Teofa Tsavo.9863:

social justice warriors.

Do tell. Is it the fact that they acknowledged that hey, lesbians and disabled people exist???

No, the fact that they beat us over the head with them using pretty stereotypical blunt force theatrics. “Oh, lets go pick out curtains” Really? I am disabled BTW. Tiami makes me a bit ill in both design and characterization. Designed to be pitied. No thanks. Honest, subtle integration would have been far better. Obvious tokens are tokens.

They only beat you over the head with it if you’re sensitive to that. I never felt beat over the head with it. Because when I see someone who’s a lesbian I see a person and when I see a handicapped person, I see a person. I just see people.

It’s sad that so many people feel beat over the head with labels.

As for exaageration in the genre, it’s the rule for a reason. Half the people skip cutscenes and don’t read text. What you see as beating over the head, I see as making accessible to those not paying attention.

Why should i be forced to pay attention to it, i don’t care. I don’t care if the characters are lesbians, thats great for them. i don’t care if taimi is disabled. I see them just as normal characters, i don’t want stereotypical nonsense thrown in to make their appearance change from just “ohey this is different, nice to see this becoming normalised.” to “wow, token and tacky” throwing in gimmicks to constantly draw attention to the fact that they made a solid effort to put dynamic personalities into the story is just silly.

Vayne.8563:

As for exaageration in the genre, it’s the rule for a reason. Half the people skip cutscenes and don’t read text. What you see as beating over the head, I see as making accessible to those not paying attention.

If someone is purposefully avoiding something then exaggeration (or whatever other techniques are used) to reduce their ability to do so is not making it accessible to them, its attempting to force it on them. Attempting to force someone to notice something that they are actively avoiding is a pretty solid definition for the phrase, “beating them over the head with it.”

That said, I do not think that what is done in GW2 qualifies as beating us over the head. I don’t think it is done at all well. I do think that there is a lack of balance in this regard. Big deal.

You can add me to the boycotting with my money and not going to purchase this expansion. I wanted GW2 to be a waaay better game then it is.

Teofa Tsavo.9863:

I expected GW1 with major mmo bling. Ingame VOIP option. A guild interface and bank controls far more advanced than what we got. Configurable UI. Particle sliders. Actual dynamic events rather than infinitely repeatable events. QoL features that are in games released 10+ years ago. I expected the Manifesto to be an actual “thing”.

I didn’t expect the content would be increasingly driven by NES nostalgia. I didn’t expect the story writing to be driven by emulating TV programs, terrible common tropes and social justice warriors.. I did expect the Lore of GW to be respected. I didn’t expect the personal story would be so glaringly bad. I really did not expect the super server merge and loss of all server community. I did not foresee “zerging” would be the preferred play. It’s always been an insult, to me.

I play here when I am taking breaks from GW or EQ2. I will not buy HoT. I do not like platforming, mario or LoZ, so, no point. I wont commit to anymore purchases until they quit floundering around and decide what they want to be.

Haven’t uninstalled cause I love my Norn and the environment is so pretty, when not blocked by a 600 lb winged, glowing GokuCharr or a blinding wall of particle effects. Waiting for a better MMO with better standards of immersion and an actual design destination. Wings.. really. Et Tu, GW2?

You do know that SAB has not been around in about a year right? To say the content is FUELED by NES nostalgia is freakin stupid.

They should just change the name to Grind Wars and get it over with.

The Tee Why.4807:

Teofa Tsavo.9863:

I expected GW1 with major mmo bling. Ingame VOIP option. A guild interface and bank controls far more advanced than what we got. Configurable UI. Particle sliders. Actual dynamic events rather than infinitely repeatable events. QoL features that are in games released 10+ years ago. I expected the Manifesto to be an actual “thing”.

I didn’t expect the content would be increasingly driven by NES nostalgia. I didn’t expect the story writing to be driven by emulating TV programs, terrible common tropes and social justice warriors.. I did expect the Lore of GW to be respected. I didn’t expect the personal story would be so glaringly bad. I really did not expect the super server merge and loss of all server community. I did not foresee “zerging” would be the preferred play. It’s always been an insult, to me.

I play here when I am taking breaks from GW or EQ2. I will not buy HoT. I do not like platforming, mario or LoZ, so, no point. I wont commit to anymore purchases until they quit floundering around and decide what they want to be.

Haven’t uninstalled cause I love my Norn and the environment is so pretty, when not blocked by a 600 lb winged, glowing GokuCharr or a blinding wall of particle effects. Waiting for a better MMO with better standards of immersion and an actual design destination. Wings.. really. Et Tu, GW2?

You do know that SAB has not been around in about a year right? To say the content is FUELED by NES nostalgia is freakin stupid.

There is a heavy platforming bent to HoT. Perhaps that what was meant.

The Tee Why.4807:

Teofa Tsavo.9863:

I expected GW1 with major mmo bling. Ingame VOIP option. A guild interface and bank controls far more advanced than what we got. Configurable UI. Particle sliders. Actual dynamic events rather than infinitely repeatable events. QoL features that are in games released 10+ years ago. I expected the Manifesto to be an actual “thing”.

I didn’t expect the content would be increasingly driven by NES nostalgia. I didn’t expect the story writing to be driven by emulating TV programs, terrible common tropes and social justice warriors.. I did expect the Lore of GW to be respected. I didn’t expect the personal story would be so glaringly bad. I really did not expect the super server merge and loss of all server community. I did not foresee “zerging” would be the preferred play. It’s always been an insult, to me.

I play here when I am taking breaks from GW or EQ2. I will not buy HoT. I do not like platforming, mario or LoZ, so, no point. I wont commit to anymore purchases until they quit floundering around and decide what they want to be.

Haven’t uninstalled cause I love my Norn and the environment is so pretty, when not blocked by a 600 lb winged, glowing GokuCharr or a blinding wall of particle effects. Waiting for a better MMO with better standards of immersion and an actual design destination. Wings.. really. Et Tu, GW2?

You do know that SAB has not been around in about a year right? To say the content is FUELED by NES nostalgia is freakin stupid.

I think he was talking about some of the platforming elements in HoT, not SAB.