Guild Wars 2

So I have been trying GW2 for the first time over the last two weeks.

I have tried every class and every race except the salad people. I can see where the game has it’s strengths and weaknesses. Granted, two weeks doesn’t give you a huge perspective.

The only class that I seem to be able to play at all is the Guardian. To me, this is a major disappointment.

I have been an MMO player for years, from Ultima Online to Everquest, Star Wars, RIFT and WoW, I have played a lot. I used to raid high end content in WoW a few years back, but now I think I am becoming “that guy”. The guy who is mediocre or bad at gaming.

Guild Wars 2 should be in my wheelhouse. I should be excelling at the game. Instead, I find myself dying every night at least a half a dozen times. The game has continued to be frustrating to me. Meanwhile, I am surrounded by a really nice community that seems to be doing well.

So what if you find that you are “that guy”. Is Guild Wars 2 a much more difficult MMO than the others? Or am I at the end of my hobby?

Nah, your gaming skills aren’t deteriorating. Guild Wars 2 at the moment is unbalanced and extremely strange. I found myself dying repeatedly on my Elementalist and immediately after I hit 80, I was able to kill things without dying anymore. Since this is the first “MMO” Anet has created, I really don’t think that they knew what they were doing at first. I believe they were overwhelmed with the amount of factors they had to consider when they created monsters for the players to fight. Not only did they have to consider base health, damage, armor, and skills, but they also had to consider the level scaling from players that are level 80 in a low level zone. I’m guessing they had to slightly upgrade the npcs so level 80’s couldn’t one hit everything in low level zones, which put low levels at a disadvantage when trying to defeat said monsters.

It’s not you. It’s just the way the game is. Once you hit 80, you should be fine and you should easily be able to roflstomp any monsters that dare get in your way…. especially since you’re a guardian, you overpowered tank.

Plus, Anet has created PvE in the perfect way so you can only use Berserker gear in it. Berserker gear is the only viable way to play PvE, no matter how much I dislike it. If you don’t play with berserker gear, you’re outdated and you’re a liability to your party.

Guardian?

knight/zerker, 0/15/30/20/5, GS/Staff… never die, good dps.

Guild Wars 2 is different because all it is is a numbers game instead of an organize and tactics game. The more bodies or power/precision/crit damage you have, the better everyone does. There is no real trinity or real strategy you need to pay attention to because its all about numbers.

If you think too much into this game you will have a difficult time playing.

I also started with UO, well MUDs if you want to count those. Like you I died a lot my first few weeks until I got used to the mechanics and strengths and weaknesses of each profession. I’m still bad at the game and still die a lot but not as much aside from my Guardian who is named “Mr. Dies A Lot” but that is his personality to go Rambo style.

Overall I would say that I am bad at the game as a whole. My old eyes are tired of staring at screens for many many years from both work and play. So my slow reflexes and general lack of interest in being great at the game usually win out. However, I still enjoy it and find ways to enjoy the game that are more forgiving to my lack of skill.

I have found that most of the PvE content isn’t really super difficult once you get used to it. It can be frustrating at times but isn’t what I would consider requiring “elite” skill. I usually run about looking to pick fights with mobs, exploring new places and whatever else catches my attention during the few hours a week I play. I won’t do PvP because I’m burned out on that stuff and once again my lack of interest in becoming a good player doesn’t lend well to it. I dabble in WvW at times but usually just hand in the zerg or run supply.

I think unless you have played a lot in the last 2 weeks it is probably hard to determine what professions you can or can’t play well. They each bloom in their own way and some take more time to learn or to become more viable depending on what aspects of the game you want to do. I always thought I would never play Mesmer after trying it for about 20 levels and then getting killed non-stop. People always said Mesmers take until level 40 to reach potential. I started a new one and now at L32 I’m having a great time and will probably make it a main for awhile. Guardian is a great profession to start with because of survivability while you learn the mechanics.

Give it a little more time. My survivability went up dramatically after the first month of play, aside from “Mr. Dies A Lot”

tl/dr: No you are not “That Guy”, I’m “That Guy.”

Priam.8079:

So what if you find that you are “that guy”. Is Guild Wars 2 a much more difficult MMO than the others? Or am I at the end of my hobby?

Yes, GW2 is harder than any other MMO you said up there. But here’s a tip: dodge

Yeah, dodge. Press V, roll to the sides, keep moving. This isn’t WoW, you have to keep moving, you have to dodge

Repairs are one of the gold sinks in this game, it should be noted. If you don’t die at least once when you play, you’re probably not stepping foot outside the hub cities.

Edit: I don’t think I’d go so far as to say that GW2 is “harder” than other MMO games, it’s more that it’s a different mindset. Yeah, learn to dodge and how combat works and all that good stuff, but if you weren’t supposed to brush death often, why would there be downed combat?

yeah everybody dies a lot in this game, no matter the build especially at low levels. every class really shine when you manage to have a full build with traits and nice gear.
there are a lot of one shot mechanics, especially from bosses and even if you think you are a tank with your guardian it’s all about dodge, kite and moving over and over. if you stay still you die

I love playing my Guardian. It’s the only profession I really play. Don’t worry about having a ton of alts, and it seems like you’ve pumped yourself up. Let go of your ego and just enjoy what you’re doing or don’t do it at all

At a guess, you’re playing GW2 expecting it to play like your prior MMO’s, whereas it does not. It’s a common issue. If you approach each failure by asking, “What happened? Why did I get downed, and what can I do about it?” it’s possible you will learn the paradigm GW2 operates under, which is different than that of most MMOs.

I’d say down-scaling, dodging and no trinity are the things you have to keep in mind.

Priam.8079:

So I have been trying GW2 for the first time over the last two weeks.

I have tried every class and every race except the salad people. I can see where the game has it’s strengths and weaknesses. Granted, two weeks doesn’t give you a huge perspective.

The only class that I seem to be able to play at all is the Guardian. To me, this is a major disappointment.

I have been an MMO player for years, from Ultima Online to Everquest, Star Wars, RIFT and WoW, I have played a lot. I used to raid high end content in WoW a few years back, but now I think I am becoming “that guy”. The guy who is mediocre or bad at gaming.

Guild Wars 2 should be in my wheelhouse. I should be excelling at the game. Instead, I find myself dying every night at least a half a dozen times. The game has continued to be frustrating to me. Meanwhile, I am surrounded by a really nice community that seems to be doing well.

So what if you find that you are “that guy”. Is Guild Wars 2 a much more difficult MMO than the others? Or am I at the end of my hobby?

Is a action rpg, probably thats the problem you have. If you dont move and act fast you will die, so try to get used to the combat system since is different of what you are used and you will be fine ( the game in fact is very easy if you do so- i like action games a lot so i can be pulling it to my end of the rope saying that lol).

Hey Priam, I’m an ex WoW high end raider myself and I can assure you it’s just the combat and the way skills work together that’s so different in GW2 that is making you feel like “that guy”.

I don’t even want to look at how many times I died on my first toon, an elementalist, before I got the hang of things lol. It’s hard until you get it, but once it all clicks you’ll love it

Damage mitigation, positioning and CCs are much more important. There’s no rotations, it’s much more situational and combo skills and cross profession combos add another element to gameplay.

Here’s a pretty good basic guide.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUKWeaXZeOY

Karizee.8076:

Hey Priam, I’m an ex WoW high end raider myself and I can assure you it’s just the combat and the way skills work together that’s so different in GW2 that is making you feel like “that guy”.

I don’t even want to look at how many times I died on my first toon, an elementalist, before I got the hang of things lol. It’s hard until you get it, but once it all clicks you’ll love it

Damage mitigation, positioning and CCs are much more important. There’s no rotations, it’s much more situational and combo skills and cross profession combos add another element to gameplay.

Here’s a pretty good basic guide.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUKWeaXZeOY

If I had to recommend one video to a GW2 newcomer, it would be this one.

Thank you all. This community continues to impress. Thank you for all the feedback.

Priam.8079:

So I have been trying GW2 for the first time over the last two weeks.

I have tried every class and every race except the salad people. I can see where the game has it’s strengths and weaknesses. Granted, two weeks doesn’t give you a huge perspective.

The only class that I seem to be able to play at all is the Guardian. To me, this is a major disappointment.

I have been an MMO player for years, from Ultima Online to Everquest, Star Wars, RIFT and WoW, I have played a lot. I used to raid high end content in WoW a few years back, but now I think I am becoming “that guy”. The guy who is mediocre or bad at gaming.

Guild Wars 2 should be in my wheelhouse. I should be excelling at the game. Instead, I find myself dying every night at least a half a dozen times. The game has continued to be frustrating to me. Meanwhile, I am surrounded by a really nice community that seems to be doing well.

So what if you find that you are “that guy”. Is Guild Wars 2 a much more difficult MMO than the others? Or am I at the end of my hobby?

I’m bias with this game to the negative, so bare with me.

The game is good on some levels but compared to many MMO’s it lacks Depth (and longevity for me).

I found leveling alts up to be the only real flavor i enjoyed, sadly the game does not like my play style much. For what its worth the classes are all very similar to each other so there isn’t very much in them.

Sure Ranger has pets but they don’t work very well etc, so we have DPS on all classes traits and skills do very little (ran around for months with no traits on my Engi made zero difference to my game play) and the skills are all similar on the classes most get a version of each others skills..

The content has become steadily harder even PvE over the past year to appease the complaints but its made it a lot harder on new players, open world is just a leveling tool events are all for lv 80 and the grind has taken over most aspects that were fun.

Achievements are generally grind based etc jump puzzles and PvP are only fun to a select few that like that game play etc. Dungeons are end game and quite repetitive with low rewards for the risk involved.

I sadly am having more fun in the games this game said it would not be. maybe this game doesn’t fit your style of play or just feels too different.

Dante.1508:

Priam.8079:

So I have been trying GW2 for the first time over the last two weeks.

I have tried every class and every race except the salad people. I can see where the game has it’s strengths and weaknesses. Granted, two weeks doesn’t give you a huge perspective.

The only class that I seem to be able to play at all is the Guardian. To me, this is a major disappointment.

I have been an MMO player for years, from Ultima Online to Everquest, Star Wars, RIFT and WoW, I have played a lot. I used to raid high end content in WoW a few years back, but now I think I am becoming “that guy”. The guy who is mediocre or bad at gaming.

Guild Wars 2 should be in my wheelhouse. I should be excelling at the game. Instead, I find myself dying every night at least a half a dozen times. The game has continued to be frustrating to me. Meanwhile, I am surrounded by a really nice community that seems to be doing well.

So what if you find that you are “that guy”. Is Guild Wars 2 a much more difficult MMO than the others? Or am I at the end of my hobby?

I’m bias with this game to the negative, so bare with me.

The game is good on some levels but compared to many MMO’s it lacks Depth (and longevity for me).

I found leveling alts up to be the only real flavor i enjoyed, sadly the game does not like my play style much. For what its worth the classes are all very similar to each other so there isn’t very much in them.

Sure Ranger has pets but they don’t work very well etc, so we have DPS on all classes traits and skills do very little (ran around for months with no traits on my Engi made zero difference to my game play) and the skills are all similar on the classes most get a version of each others skills..

The content has become steadily harder even PvE over the past year to appease the complaints but its made it a lot harder on new players, open world is just a leveling tool events are all for lv 80 and the grind has taken over most aspects that were fun.

Achievements are generally grind based etc jump puzzles and PvP are only fun to a select few that like that game play etc. Dungeons are end game and quite repetitive with low rewards for the risk involved.

I sadly am having more fun in the games this game said it would not be. maybe this game doesn’t fit your style of play or just feels too different.

At least you are honest. For the first time in sixteen years I am without a compelling MMO to play. When I sat for six hours at a spawn point in World of Warcraft waiting for a mob to spawn to have a chance at getting a mini-pet, I realized it was time to leave.

I am not sure where I will land, but trying GW2 is at least keeping me busy.

Thanks for your post.

It’s fine. Most people are “that person” at some point; it could be a lack of motivation, skill, or just a bad day. You can’t just expect to pick up something and expect to pwn it regardless of prior experience with other games. That kind of attitude ruined Starcraft 2 for me as I was poised to never get any better. Truth, is most of the people that pick up at any game are terrible at it, including myself. However, if you realize it, then you can improve, instead of living in the delusion that you are l33t like most people that play any game end up being.

“I used to be good…” < Don’t be that guy!

there will always be the egoistic elitist that blast you for being ‘that guy’ and the helpful nice people that will encourage you.

so, it’s basically life. you shouldn’t have to worry about being ‘that guy’. because not everyone plays to be the best, most actually play to have fun!

You basically just have to play as if every mob is overpowered and you’re a squishy class that is forced to kite.

No matter what class, that is unless you do some high survivability build with certain classes.

But yeah, just play like that and you get used to it.

Dante.1508:

Priam.8079:

So I have been trying GW2 for the first time over the last two weeks.

I have tried every class and every race except the salad people. I can see where the game has it’s strengths and weaknesses. Granted, two weeks doesn’t give you a huge perspective.

The only class that I seem to be able to play at all is the Guardian. To me, this is a major disappointment.

I have been an MMO player for years, from Ultima Online to Everquest, Star Wars, RIFT and WoW, I have played a lot. I used to raid high end content in WoW a few years back, but now I think I am becoming “that guy”. The guy who is mediocre or bad at gaming.

Guild Wars 2 should be in my wheelhouse. I should be excelling at the game. Instead, I find myself dying every night at least a half a dozen times. The game has continued to be frustrating to me. Meanwhile, I am surrounded by a really nice community that seems to be doing well.

So what if you find that you are “that guy”. Is Guild Wars 2 a much more difficult MMO than the others? Or am I at the end of my hobby?

I’m bias with this game to the negative, so bare with me.

The game is good on some levels but compared to many MMO’s it lacks Depth (and longevity for me).

I found leveling alts up to be the only real flavor i enjoyed, sadly the game does not like my play style much. For what its worth the classes are all very similar to each other so there isn’t very much in them.

Sure Ranger has pets but they don’t work very well etc, so we have DPS on all classes traits and skills do very little (ran around for months with no traits on my Engi made zero difference to my game play) and the skills are all similar on the classes most get a version of each others skills..

The content has become steadily harder even PvE over the past year to appease the complaints but its made it a lot harder on new players, open world is just a leveling tool events are all for lv 80 and the grind has taken over most aspects that were fun.

Achievements are generally grind based etc jump puzzles and PvP are only fun to a select few that like that game play etc. Dungeons are end game and quite repetitive with low rewards for the risk involved.

I sadly am having more fun in the games this game said it would not be. maybe this game doesn’t fit your style of play or just feels too different.

classes are very similar to eachother? wowowow classes beeing different is one of the best points in gw2’s favor. its still a pretty flawed game but you can’t point your finger at class design. the only class i think they dropped the ball was ranger. But thief is unique, mesmer is unique, necro is unique… The class specific mechanic makes every class different and worth playing.

ahuba.6430:

classes are very similar to eachother? wowowow classes beeing different is one of the best points in gw2’s favor. its still a pretty flawed game but you can’t point your finger at class design. the only class i think they dropped the ball was ranger. But thief is unique, mesmer is unique, necro is unique… The class specific mechanic makes every class different and worth playing.

On the outside sure they look different and some feel slightly different, but this game removed roles so now every class chooses the same role..dps, which is fine if that is what you like, most skills and traits have different names but effectively do the same thing across all classes.

Can i spec into other builds other than dps, sure i can, are they useful, not really, not to me.. i find them too weak, or not as good as pure dps is, they basically cant do their jobs as well as a dps can. healing and tanking almost non existent, condition builds useless as soon as you join with others, support? yeah not much, precision spec? another form of dps that’s not as good, Crowd control useless very poor if any.

So yea on the outside classes look different but are effectively the same thing, too me. other game have roles so skills and stats vary a lot more than Guildwars 2 so to speak.

Priam.8079:

So I have been trying GW2 for the first time over the last two weeks.

I have tried every class and every race except the salad people. I can see where the game has it’s strengths and weaknesses. Granted, two weeks doesn’t give you a huge perspective.

The only class that I seem to be able to play at all is the Guardian. To me, this is a major disappointment.

I have been an MMO player for years, from Ultima Online to Everquest, Star Wars, RIFT and WoW, I have played a lot. I used to raid high end content in WoW a few years back, but now I think I am becoming “that guy”. The guy who is mediocre or bad at gaming.

Guild Wars 2 should be in my wheelhouse. I should be excelling at the game. Instead, I find myself dying every night at least a half a dozen times. The game has continued to be frustrating to me. Meanwhile, I am surrounded by a really nice community that seems to be doing well.

So what if you find that you are “that guy”. Is Guild Wars 2 a much more difficult MMO than the others? Or am I at the end of my hobby?

Couple of things that helped me:
Set up a keyboard setup that lets you hit everything you need quickly.
learn to dodge and control enemies and learn the timing of attacks. You would be surprised how many of the attack timings are the same. Watch some videos about dungeons and such and figure out some rotations.

also you’re only 2 weeks into the game you re not going to be good right away. Just give it a bit and the higher level you are the better the game is. Honestly while leveling my ranger i thought i sucked at it but when i was lvl 80 i got a hang of it and im actually pretty good (sword warhorn op)

As someone with old eyes and bad reflexes, I can promise you can learn the game well enough to do anything the PvE has to offer. Not being a PvPer I can’t speak to that end of things.

The one thing that saved me, though, was that right after the first Beta Weekend I got a Naga HEX mouse and bound the movement keys to it. That lets me move freely with a few thumb motions. As I am very right handed, that works very well for me; my left hand just has to jab one fingered at ability keys. It took a while to incorporate a keyboard dodge to my mouse movements and I still double tap HEX keys when in a hurry.

Anyway, keep plugging away. The need to constantly move and dodge is the biggest change from other MMOs (and I’ve played WoW, Aion, Rift, AoC, LotRo, along with DaoC, Horizons, and the like). Once I got used to that I actually couldn’t handle WoW mechanics anymore, I kept trying to dodge with my mage … silly me.

If you want some in game coaching I’ll be glad to help (I’m on NA Tarnished Coast). You won’t get razor edge performance advice from me, just some GW2 mechanics for dummies, the sort of thing I wish people had told me at the start. I have a lot of evening RP this week but I am sure I can find time if you need. Ranger and Elementalist will be my weak points, and Engineer won’t be so great either, but I have everything else at 80.

Charak.9761:

Guardian?

knight/zerker, 0/15/30/20/5, GS/Staff… never die, good dps.

10/25/30/5/0 gives moar dps with same sustained self-healing IMHO. Give it a shot, you will crush a lot.

You know, it’s not just dodging, OP. Even just moving makes the game a lot better. Do you know how to circle strafe? Because if you’re moving while firing, something you can’t do in most MMOs, you take less damage. Attacks miss you.

In most MMOs whether you’re hit or not is a matter of pure math. Your block that’s a number. Your evade, that’s a number. Here, you’re actually having to dodge and evade.

Rangers, to me, are the most survivable profession in open world PvE, because your pet can take the heat off you. Eles and mesmers are harder to play…but doable. I found warriors die more for me than almost any other profession…but if you learn to hit and run, hit and move, use terrain to your advantage, you’ll find yourself surviving a lot more.

If you’re on an American server, and want to guest over to TC, I’ll show you the ropes if you like, on any profession you have.

you dont start gw being pro. you literaly need to practice lol. other than that dont get stuck necros are great and so are mesmers.

As others have mentioned, it is a very different sort of game from other games in the MMORPG world. The only “kind of” big one (using that term loosely) one that uses similar mechanics really is Tera, and you’re less likely to have played that than say, WOW, EQ, TOR, Aion etc

It takes some adjustment, and every class plays differently, and some are much more survivable in what I would call “default” MMORPG conditions – those classes are primarily guardian and warrior – more so guardian, though.

But for example, elementalists were mentioned – I don’t have an 80 elementalist, but I found that if I started to struggle with a train of 4-6ish, I could survive and pull off amazing combats by timing my dodges, using ALL my abilities meaning swapping between all four attunements, and again timing my dodging most often for whenever I was waiting on a brief recovery timer…I could survive.

I didn’t die very much, but I will admit it was harder to survive – but I could pull off some still very impressive stuff, just that it was easier on Warrior/Guardian.

Thief would similarly have to be fairly mobile, and you’ll have to plan your attacks more accordingly.

Have you tried necromancer? they’re fairly easy-going compared to other classes as well in the way of leveling up/solo and such as well. I think you’ll find if you swap back and forth between an easy class and a more challenging one, you’ll pick up on patterns and ways of better self-preservation on your less soloable class.

Priam.8079:

Dante.1508:

Priam.8079:

So I have been trying GW2 for the first time over the last two weeks.

I have tried every class and every race except the salad people. I can see where the game has it’s strengths and weaknesses. Granted, two weeks doesn’t give you a huge perspective.

The only class that I seem to be able to play at all is the Guardian. To me, this is a major disappointment.

I have been an MMO player for years, from Ultima Online to Everquest, Star Wars, RIFT and WoW, I have played a lot. I used to raid high end content in WoW a few years back, but now I think I am becoming “that guy”. The guy who is mediocre or bad at gaming.

Guild Wars 2 should be in my wheelhouse. I should be excelling at the game. Instead, I find myself dying every night at least a half a dozen times. The game has continued to be frustrating to me. Meanwhile, I am surrounded by a really nice community that seems to be doing well.

So what if you find that you are “that guy”. Is Guild Wars 2 a much more difficult MMO than the others? Or am I at the end of my hobby?

I’m bias with this game to the negative, so bare with me.

The game is good on some levels but compared to many MMO’s it lacks Depth (and longevity for me).

I found leveling alts up to be the only real flavor i enjoyed, sadly the game does not like my play style much. For what its worth the classes are all very similar to each other so there isn’t very much in them.

Sure Ranger has pets but they don’t work very well etc, so we have DPS on all classes traits and skills do very little (ran around for months with no traits on my Engi made zero difference to my game play) and the skills are all similar on the classes most get a version of each others skills..

The content has become steadily harder even PvE over the past year to appease the complaints but its made it a lot harder on new players, open world is just a leveling tool events are all for lv 80 and the grind has taken over most aspects that were fun.

Achievements are generally grind based etc jump puzzles and PvP are only fun to a select few that like that game play etc. Dungeons are end game and quite repetitive with low rewards for the risk involved.

I sadly am having more fun in the games this game said it would not be. maybe this game doesn’t fit your style of play or just feels too different.

At least you are honest. For the first time in sixteen years I am without a compelling MMO to play. When I sat for six hours at a spawn point in World of Warcraft waiting for a mob to spawn to have a chance at getting a mini-pet, I realized it was time to leave.

I am not sure where I will land, but trying GW2 is at least keeping me busy.

Thanks for your post.

You realize you are part of a very, very small minority in the WoW community that does an event for a minipet, right? And you left a game that focus’s .0005% of its attention on minipets (WoW) just to come to a game that focus’s about 20% of its attention on minipets. And you’re doing the same thing in GW2 as you did in WoW, except you do it longer and again and again. I guarantee you’ll spend more than 6 hours in GW2 collecting minipets. I do not understand your reasoning there

Galtrix.7369:

Priam.8079:

Dante.1508:

Priam.8079:

So I have been trying GW2 for the first time over the last two weeks.

I have tried every class and every race except the salad people. I can see where the game has it’s strengths and weaknesses. Granted, two weeks doesn’t give you a huge perspective.

The only class that I seem to be able to play at all is the Guardian. To me, this is a major disappointment.

I have been an MMO player for years, from Ultima Online to Everquest, Star Wars, RIFT and WoW, I have played a lot. I used to raid high end content in WoW a few years back, but now I think I am becoming “that guy”. The guy who is mediocre or bad at gaming.

Guild Wars 2 should be in my wheelhouse. I should be excelling at the game. Instead, I find myself dying every night at least a half a dozen times. The game has continued to be frustrating to me. Meanwhile, I am surrounded by a really nice community that seems to be doing well.

So what if you find that you are “that guy”. Is Guild Wars 2 a much more difficult MMO than the others? Or am I at the end of my hobby?

I’m bias with this game to the negative, so bare with me.

The game is good on some levels but compared to many MMO’s it lacks Depth (and longevity for me).

I found leveling alts up to be the only real flavor i enjoyed, sadly the game does not like my play style much. For what its worth the classes are all very similar to each other so there isn’t very much in them.

Sure Ranger has pets but they don’t work very well etc, so we have DPS on all classes traits and skills do very little (ran around for months with no traits on my Engi made zero difference to my game play) and the skills are all similar on the classes most get a version of each others skills..

The content has become steadily harder even PvE over the past year to appease the complaints but its made it a lot harder on new players, open world is just a leveling tool events are all for lv 80 and the grind has taken over most aspects that were fun.

Achievements are generally grind based etc jump puzzles and PvP are only fun to a select few that like that game play etc. Dungeons are end game and quite repetitive with low rewards for the risk involved.

I sadly am having more fun in the games this game said it would not be. maybe this game doesn’t fit your style of play or just feels too different.

At least you are honest. For the first time in sixteen years I am without a compelling MMO to play. When I sat for six hours at a spawn point in World of Warcraft waiting for a mob to spawn to have a chance at getting a mini-pet, I realized it was time to leave.

I am not sure where I will land, but trying GW2 is at least keeping me busy.

Thanks for your post.

You realize you are part of a very, very small minority in the WoW community that does an event for a minipet, right? And you left a game that focus’s .0005% of its attention on minipets (WoW) just to come to a game that focus’s about 20% of its attention on minipets. And you’re doing the same thing in GW2 as you did in WoW, except you do it longer and again and again. I guarantee you’ll spend more than 6 hours in GW2 collecting minipets. I do not understand your reasoning there

Hi Galtrix,

The pet example was one small part of my leaving WoW after nine years. The whole island that was introduced pre-SoO was a slap in the face. After having played since December to achieve my legendary cloak, and spending hours in normal raids AND LFR, to see a player fresh at 90 walk onto an island and open a box to get gear close to mine was a big factor in my exit.

I was a mini-pet collector though, and some of the pets required camping and RNG to even see it. Sitting and waiting for a mob to spawn, or an event to begin only to not get the pet was a huge waste of game time. And before you say MMO’s are a waste of time, I would disagree. MMO’s are my hobby.

It took a lot to walk away from nine years of game play, but it was time.

P.S. I will never “collect” anything in an MMO again. The payoff has never been worth the effort.

It’s probably because it’s an action game. I came over from Vindictus so I actually think this game is a lot easier.

Priam.8079:

So I have been trying GW2 for the first time over the last two weeks.

I have tried every class and every race except the salad people. I can see where the game has it’s strengths and weaknesses. Granted, two weeks doesn’t give you a huge perspective.

The only class that I seem to be able to play at all is the Guardian. To me, this is a major disappointment.

I have been an MMO player for years, from Ultima Online to Everquest, Star Wars, RIFT and WoW, I have played a lot. I used to raid high end content in WoW a few years back, but now I think I am becoming “that guy”. The guy who is mediocre or bad at gaming.

Guild Wars 2 should be in my wheelhouse. I should be excelling at the game. Instead, I find myself dying every night at least a half a dozen times. The game has continued to be frustrating to me. Meanwhile, I am surrounded by a really nice community that seems to be doing well.

So what if you find that you are “that guy”. Is Guild Wars 2 a much more difficult MMO than the others? Or am I at the end of my hobby?

Give it some time, most of the “difficulty” involved in PvE are just mechanics that you will learn over time.

You should pay attention to what other people are doing correctly(or ask them) then you will eventually find things easier and you will change your gear to more berserker (because other stats don’t help at all anymore when you know when to dodge etc.).

You will be able to play other classes effectively too after that, but you just have to learn their tools to mitigate damage too.

Priam.8079:

Guild Wars 2 should be in my wheelhouse. I should be excelling at the game. Instead, I find myself dying every night at least a half a dozen times.

Like you I have been playing WoW for a good number of years, and a some other MMOs before coming to GW2. And like you, initially I had problems to adapt, because I was used to be able to face tank stuff, especially on a tanky character.

GW2 does not work like that. Even on a guardian – which was my first choice to level too – you simply can not play like you used to in WoW. While an appropriately specced guardian is quite forgiving when it comes to taking damage, you still need to learn when it is time to get out of harms way. Dodge and keep moving, and I am sure you’ll get it :-)

I have fallen in love with the active combat in this game, and could not stand going back to the more static systems in most of the other MMOs. Give it a little bit of time!

Priam.8079:

Guild Wars 2 should be in my wheelhouse. I should be excelling at the game. Instead, I find myself dying every night at least a half a dozen times. The game has continued to be frustrating to me. Meanwhile, I am surrounded by a really nice community that seems to be doing well.

So what if you find that you are “that guy”. Is Guild Wars 2 a much more difficult MMO than the others? Or am I at the end of my hobby?

I wouldn’t say it’s that much more difficult, but it does require an adjustment to your thinking. Where other MMOs are (almost) completely about trinity and rotation, GW2 is about movement and self-management. In WoW, for example – movement penalizes you. It breaks your skills, screws up your rotation. Here, not moving gets you killed.

Additionally, with no dedicated healer to keep pumping your health bar, you have to be aware of the hits you’re taking. Have to know which skills are a ‘must dodge’ scenario, when to pop your healing skill so you don’t waste it, or when to trade off with a teammate, etc.

Priam.8079:

the salad people.

:O

IndigoSundown.5419:

Karizee.8076:

Hey Priam, I’m an ex WoW high end raider myself and I can assure you it’s just the combat and the way skills work together that’s so different in GW2 that is making you feel like “that guy”.

I don’t even want to look at how many times I died on my first toon, an elementalist, before I got the hang of things lol. It’s hard until you get it, but once it all clicks you’ll love it

Damage mitigation, positioning and CCs are much more important. There’s no rotations, it’s much more situational and combo skills and cross profession combos add another element to gameplay.

Here’s a pretty good basic guide.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUKWeaXZeOY

If I had to recommend one video to a GW2 newcomer, it would be this one.

I had never seen this video and it is a good one that is applicable generally to gaming and not just GW2. I learned gaming skills from my two sons. When I was new, they saw me backpedaling and told why it was better to strafe to keep the target in front of you while avoiding their melee attacks. I ended up unbinding the backpedal key and just binding strafe left and right and began using the mouse, generally, for movement. It’s amazing what simple things like character navigation can get you.

Another aspect to this is PvP. Backpedaling and keyboard-turning is like painting a target on your back as they are easily observable and anathema to skilled players. It’s a wise investment of time to get this down early in your gaming experience.

Dodging, while very important, is not the answer to all problems with GW2 combat. For one, it is based on a limited resource. Encounters which challenge this resource negate the skill involved in dodging. I believe there are problems in combat that are problems with the conception of challenge in combat with developers and not problems of player skill. I conceptually know what I should do. If I do everything I know to do, I can still die and die too easily. It’s not pervasive in the game but it happens often enough for me to consider it a problem in PvE.

You’re not “that guy”. Each class in this game has a drastically different play style (Guardian being one of the most straightforward) and the skills/weapons you chose greatly affect how you play the game. Playing thief with two daggers and 3 poisons, for example, will get you killed a lot. Playing thief with two pistols and a few shadowstep/smoke screen/stealth skills will lower your dps, but make you feel unstoppable.

Just keep playing, you’ll get it.

Oh, and dodge.

Priam.8079:

So I have been trying GW2 for the first time over the last two weeks.

I have tried every class and every race except the salad people. I can see where the game has it’s strengths and weaknesses. Granted, two weeks doesn’t give you a huge perspective.

The only class that I seem to be able to play at all is the Guardian. To me, this is a major disappointment.

I have been an MMO player for years, from Ultima Online to Everquest, Star Wars, RIFT and WoW, I have played a lot. I used to raid high end content in WoW a few years back, but now I think I am becoming “that guy”. The guy who is mediocre or bad at gaming.

Guild Wars 2 should be in my wheelhouse. I should be excelling at the game. Instead, I find myself dying every night at least a half a dozen times. The game has continued to be frustrating to me. Meanwhile, I am surrounded by a really nice community that seems to be doing well.

So what if you find that you are “that guy”. Is Guild Wars 2 a much more difficult MMO than the others? Or am I at the end of my hobby?

What level are you?

For a start, if you’ve only played for 2 weeks, you would not have unlocked all your skills/traits etc. For eg: you don’t get ur first elite skill till lvl 30. You will find once you unlock some of the better skills and traits and are able to get the multi/runed armor and trinkets, you will feel much better. I would suggest you play in lower lvl areas for a bit till you get used to the gameplay, which yeah, after coming form rooted combat you will find a bit difficult to adjust to. But trust me, if u stick with it, you will get better at it.

Also try different weapon sets, make sure u unlock all the weapon skills, guardians can use quite a lot of them and see which you like best. And ofc, don’t forget to switch your weapon sets during combat too and get a use of an extra skills set. As I said, not sure what lvl u are but i think you get your weapon switching at lvl 7.

Anyway, good luck and welcome to gw2! Hope you rediscover the fun you once felt in MMO’s.

Priam.8079:

So what if you find that you are “that guy”. Is Guild Wars 2 a much more difficult MMO than the others? Or am I at the end of my hobby?

I play GW 2 ever night, and have done so since it was released. I think you need to give other classes a chance. which takes time. I can take my light armored necro in to very tough situations and wipe the monsters out, Ranger take out monster like crazy, Engineers are wrecking house of damage, Warriors are mega tanks, BTW love the Guard too. On the other hand people love the thief and I can not play one for the life of me. LOL You see they all play differently, just pick the class(es) that you love to play and have fun.

NOTE: I do admit that GW2 is hard, and may be harder than other games, but that may not be bad. I play Star Trek Online with a friend and am board to tears because it is too easy. Or you kill by attrition: Die, come back. Die, come back, Die, come back. Die, come back, etc.