Guild Wars 2

I don’t mean for that question may come across as aggressive or insulting. I really want to understand, and hopefully rekindle my interest in the game.

My first MMORPG was WoW; I started in 2009 during Wrath and took my time leveling. I capped at BC and ran all the raids there before moving into Wrath content. Then I finally had a chance to reach max level and give up questing and exploring in favor of raiding (specifically, as a healer). I stuck with things all the way through to the beginning of 2013, when a friend and I decided to try some other games to see if they solved the WoW problems that we just saw getting worse.

After a few different experiences, both good and bad, we found GW2 and absolutely loved it. The personal storylines were a fantastic concept, the voice acting was more welcome than I can express, the dynamic events and level scaling made the world big and dangerous and super immersive, and the professions…well, they didn’t make it to “mini-game” level like I always wanted, but they were miles ahead of WoW. And combat mechanics, ‘downed state’, effects working ‘on friendly players’, and the like were just incredible. My best ever “boss fight” in an MMORPG was as a level 38 Mesmer! I thought I had found my eventual home.

I hit max level uncomfortably quickly. GW2 developers appeared to have bought into the concept of “the game begins at max level” and rushed players through to get there. But when I did, and my personal story was about over, and the world was just about fully explored, and I was ready for a super-challenge to work toward I found emptiness. There was no chat channel to find others to run a dungeon with (still haven’t done one), no chat channel or gui to find a guild (found two dead ones by happenstance), and seemingly no raid content in the attempt to get away from the “gear grind.” In short, I felt like I was rushed to max level to get to an end-game that didn’t exist.

Between having no sense of purpose to anything, and missing playing a healing class, I returned to WoW within a few months of trying GW2. Yet I keep finding myself making suggestions to the developers to make WoW more like GW2, and keep seeing WoW go in a different direction. I get an urge to return to GW2 and remember great times leveling up, but before I even load it up I begin asking: to do what? What would I even do when I logged in? What is there to work toward achieving?

So I guess my question is twofold. Did I miss something before that could have captured my attention and given me purpose in a social context, like raiding does in WoW? Have updates over the past year added an end-game in any way?

I have tried the following and they just don’t capture my interest:

WvW – Very cool concept that I love, but no long term progression. We just fight for bonuses that reset each week. And a bit too much “giant group kills single player” while being unable to find a group.

Guilds – Poor interface and no real common goals to work towards. But I may be jaded because I could find absolutely zero methods to find a guild. Lack of global chat kills any chance at in-game social interaction.

Dungeons – May be fun, but as mentioned above I have no way to find a group to try them.

Economy – I loved playing the economy in WoW, but though GW2 has an interesting setup, the massive number of players all using the same market has normalized all prices and stymies any real economic mini-game. Worse, most crafted goods are worth less than their components!

Professions – Without any sort of global chat, there’s no way to assist other players or ask for another profession expert to help you. So they seem worthless once you get geared up in yellow.

Orr – I explored a little over half of it. It was interesting, to a degree, but there didn’t seem like there was much ‘buddying up’ while I was there, and that’s 90% of the fun of an MMORPG.

I think what I really want is:

A purpose – Some long term goal to work towards that each thing I do in game contributes towards in some direct or indirect way. A transmog weapon doesn’t quite do it for me on this front.

A social group – A guild would be great. I hate monster guilds with hundreds of players. And most of the ones I find are dead or dying or not working towards anything in particular. But how does anyone find one without a good guildfinder or global chat channel?

Social dependencies – Social interaction is often kickstarted and maintained in games by players needing something others can provide (mats, a friend with superior strength, etc).

I hope this hasn’t come across as too negative. As I said, I absolutely love the game, the interface, the graphics (I have far too many screen captures), my class…I just don’t know what to do from here and would love some help.

Thanks,
Nicholas

Unfortunately there’s not really an “endgame” as such, at least compared to GW1 with God realms, GvG or the later added elite dungeons. Grinding Fractals is one choice, but there’s no real reward at the end there either. Living world updates are usually small and don’t provide much “end-game” content.

You can try to work towards a legendary weapon, which will be a long-term goal, but you said you don’t just want to work on a different skin.

Go to main cities, especially in Lions Arch and use the LFG tool. Half of your problems will be solved.

End game in gw2?

THERES PLENTY!

- You can grind in wvw
- You can grind in pve
- you can grind in pvp

Oh, and
- You can grind on open World

I hope you have fun with Grind Wars 2 # Korean Edition (a game, where grind is not neccessary)

• The dungeon finder can be found in the friends/social menu.
• WvW titles, Spvp titles, legendaries, AP and ascended gear are built in long term goals. You can also create your own.
• This forum has a guild recruitment sub.
• Social dependencies don’t really exist, at least not at the level of SWG.
• The economy/market can be extremely profitable for those who do their homework and provide a quick 2g-3g per day to those who don’t.

I hope others can give you more detailed responses, I’m a bit tired. Good luck.

If you enjoy paying 14.99 to do repetitive dungeons over and over again, spend hour(s) forming a raid group only to be at the mercy of a lottery looting system to obtain higher gear, by all means head back to WoW and enjoy your monthly bill.

This game isn’t subscription based and allows players do whatever they wish to do. Currently obtaining ascended gear is pretty difficult and is obtained through various things throughout the world and by crafting.

Plenty of dungeons to enjoy
WvW groups to join up with.
PVP matches to take part in.
World Bosses to destroy.

Yet you ask “imo” — it’s free and don’t feel obligated (no sub costs) and wish they had a lottery loot system.

This game is great and the only thing that needs improvement is its graphic engine and more class abilities.

Thank you, all, for your responses.

I was not aware there was an LFG tool (I don’t think it existed when I played) so I will give that a shot.

And I actually enjoy grinding, sometimes, if it can positively affect me or my ability to assist my guild, but I didn’t see many options for it (again, profs seemed to peter out).

And Terok, I’ll check out the forum guild recruitment, though I really prefer that stuff to be in game. Maybe if I find a good group I can drum my interest in the game back up.

Thanks again!