Guild Wars 2

What motivates you to continue playing? Recently I’ve started to think about the motives that drive different people to play the same game. I suspect a lot of the hostility I see on the forums could be caused by different people not understanding what makes others tick. Essentially, most of us are unable to see that other people like things differently than we do.

In a recent thread it occurred to me that there may be at least four different types of players. I’m curious to know if there may be more.

A first kind of player enjoy working on enhancing the abilities of their character. They want to continually improve their character is very important to their satisfaction.

A second kind of player enjoys variety. They want to be able to try out lots of different builds and classes.

A third kind may be a social gamer. What motivates them is meeting people and/or playing with friends.

A fourth kind may be the competitive gamer. They want to show their skills and use them to defeat other players. This can be in PvP or the BLTP.

What do you think?

You forgot, just for fun, relaxing after a rubbish day at work/educational facility…

Which could be why most people play?

Personally, only WvW motivates me now, but I have played since release day, so that’s not surprising…

I think I’m not any of the four listed. =)

There are probably a lot more than 4 kinds of players. Different things motivate different people. As well as combinations of things.

That’s why I asked. I’m trying to wrap my head around the fact that not everyone is like me. I was/am trying to define mmo-gamer archetypes, for lack of a better term. It may be impossible, but it seems worth asking.

Meglobob.8620:

You forgot, just for fun, relaxing after a rubbish day at work/educational facility…

Which could be why most people play?

Personally, only WvW motivates me now, but I have played since release day, so that’s not surprising…

With the direction of PVE content and with it not showing any signs of slowing down, if I continue playing it will be in WvW..and even with that Im not sure if I can devote myself to it. Its nice when you are killing people defending keeps or camps. But there are more than enough luls in the fighting to make me just want to log off.

We’ll see.

As for my previous motiviations for playing: gearing out my toons for cosmetics, and exploring the world..every nook and cranny, with the occasional materials farm.

I’m really just waiting for a different, a deeper MMO.

GW2 is fine for what it is, but it’s just superficial compared to other MMOs.

WvW is really the only redeeming feature of this game for me. While it’s not nearly as epic and complex as I had hoped it would be originally it does have an appealing nature. In fact Zerg vs. Zerg clashes are some of the few highlight this game has to offer.

It’s a shame though that even with the inherent fun that is WvW I have to put up with so many “minor” frustrations that really make me pull my hair.

In WvW it’s the regular lag and the poor balance that make it unenjoyable at times. Wading through waves and waves of enemy Warriors just sin’t fun when they can disengage at will. The lag is the worst though, especially since it makes my Thief virtually unplayable.

tPvP would be fun, even with the random nature of SoloQ. But Skyhammer and the constant 4 vs. 5s are really, really game-breaking. For every good game I find in SoloQ I have to put up with one Skyhammer and one 4 vs 5 (always against me ofc).

PvE is ok I guess, but every big event is just another Zerg fest. There’s simply no reward or place for skillful play in PvE. Dungeons are all about skipping mobs and being super-efficient, rather than being about overcoming challenges.

And then there’s mechanics like downed-state, the worst snowballing mechanic I’ve ever seen, that just make me long for the next thing to come along.

Don’t get me wrong, I like most of the fundamental ideas driving GW2. The active combat, the Dynamic Events etc. But it’s the shallow nature of the game and so many of the frustrating secondary mechanics that really put me off it.

mmm I am not sure- I may be a combination or none of those.
I am a play for fun player.
that would include:
variety/ different classes and skills, exploring new horizons etc.
I like stories and lore.

I like improving on my characters but not the characters themselves in terms of stats but more my skill in playing them- I do not like pvp but this is why I liked the Gauntlet and why I like soloing champs

I don’t like crowds so I don’t like big guilds and I don’t like zergs- yet I enjoy meeting and chatting with people in the game

These are the things that keep me playing and what motivates me

I play to blow off steam from working, dealing with pets, dealing with family.
Sometimes I get a relaxing feeling just by going to a part of the map and harvesting stuff.
Then at times I check the trading post and gem store to see if any of my characters could use a specific type of armor.
Another thing I enjoy is playing my Guardian, running up the tower with a zerg or small group, and help those lagging behind. I get a good feeling knowing that I helped other players.

Just knowing I can play a game where at one instance I could go help others or just run away and be alone for a while gives me a comfort.

I play because I can do whatever I feel like doing when I log on. I rotate wvw, harvesting in Orr, dungeons, world bosses. I am working on my third legendary, because I’m someone who needs to be constantly working on something. When I make a new character, the end goal is to have 2-3 sets of armor and a legendary. I’ve always been a social gamer, but I seem to have trouble making friends in GW2, so i usually just play with one other person that I knew from a previous game.

I play simply to play.

When I’m frustrated or angry, getting on and playing some pvp or massacring everything in sight in pve helps calm me down.

When I feel like being social, my guild is there to laugh and chat and joke with.

When I just feel like wasting some time, I find it an enjoyable distraction.

I enjoy having the variety of things to do… from personal story and leveling, to snippets of living world, to frustrating jump puzzles, to simple exploration.

I play for a lot of reasons. Sometimes I feel like being competitive. Sometimes I feel like being annoying. Sometimes I feel like simply farming and being social. Sometimes I feel like immersing myself in the stories of the world. GW2 offers me facets for all of my different moods and inclinations, just like GW1 did/does. Most games can appeal to a few of my ‘facets’ but generally not to all of them, which leaves me dissatisfied and sends me searching for something else to do. I don’t experience this “missing piece” feeling with this game.

I keep playing because there’s so much to do and the group from my guild that’s on TeamSpeak is great so we have a lot of fun.

Because I don’t buy gems and I don’t play the TP it takes awhile to accumulate money, so there’s always something to work towards. I’m working on equipping my characters with full Ascended weapons and trinkets right now, while also leveling my crafting in anticipation for the new armor.

We also run a lot of dungeons, world bosses, and we’re getting more into fractals. There’s a ton of stuff to do in this game, so it feels like there’s always something to look forward to.

And when they come out with precursor crafting I’ll start looking into a Legendary as well, just to add another long-term goal.

Oh, and there’s always the Achievements. Thousands of them to get and for the most part they’re fun to get.

I’d have to say none of the above also, I play for fun to get away from the day to day BS. I like the social aspect of the game whether it be guild functions or just open play with random people, sometimes I like to just farm because it’s mindless and requires little concentration. I am a goal orientated person so I do like working towards objectives and acquire things, to me there is always something to do or work towards in GW2.

I play for several reasons, at different times. For example, I’m social and love being part of my guild, but sometimes I just want to work on my own projects.

During those times, I like to level new characters, and have new experiences. Leveling a thief for the first time now and it’s different for me than any other profession.

There are times when I play to be a completionist, like when the new achievements for the LS come out. It doesn’t always work out (I didn’t even try to beat Liadri for example), but I still get the meta for that achievement by doing some of the gambits.

All in all, I don’t know that you can boil people down to archetypes of how they play, because people are more complex than that.

rhapsody.3615:

I play because I can do whatever I feel like doing when I log on.

This pretty much applies for me as well. I don’t feel I have to focus on one thing and one thing only. If I don’t want to play one day, I don’t fall behind (much). My progress in this game is not based on whether or not I can play at certain hours for a certain amount of time. I feel I can progress in many different ways. I am not forced into only running dungeons as an example.

I know that I am a minority, but I am actually also happy with the Tequatl event and it is something I still look forward to when login on.
Getting people together in order to reliably kill the dragon every single day, has for the first time given the terms guild and community some meaning for me in PVE. I very much enjoy this new experience.

Before the change of the Tequatl event, I had been in a PVE guild for 7 months. When I initially joined I had hoped to find more purpose of the guild, but I was somewhat disappointed. The guild goals seemed to be getting as many people as possible to join, which then meant people begging in guild chat etc. Taking your chance with a pug group usually meant a faster run than going with a guild group. The only real thing the guild provided was access to guild missions and every once in a while a magic find buff etc.

Maybe, that is one of the reasons, I am happy with Tequatl. After leaving my old guild and joining TKS, I now feel being in a guild has an actual purpose. Even though there are no guild missions, as people come from many different servers and most of them have a different main guild. To me, this type of guild offers more value.

TooBz.3065:

What motivates you to continue playing? Recently I’ve started to think about the motives that drive different people to play the same game. I suspect a lot of the hostility I see on the forums could be caused by different people not understanding what makes others tick. Essentially, most of us are unable to see that other people like things differently than we do.

In a recent thread it occurred to me that there may be at least four different types of players. I’m curious to know if there may be more.

A first kind of player enjoy working on enhancing the abilities of their character. They want to continually improve their character is very important to their satisfaction.

A second kind of player enjoys variety. They want to be able to try out lots of different builds and classes.

A third kind may be a social gamer. What motivates them is meeting people and/or playing with friends.

A fourth kind may be the competitive gamer. They want to show their skills and use them to defeat other players. This can be in PvP or the BLTP.

What do you think?

Close but not quite.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartle_Test

Turtle Dragon.9241:

TooBz.3065:

What motivates you to continue playing? Recently I’ve started to think about the motives that drive different people to play the same game. I suspect a lot of the hostility I see on the forums could be caused by different people not understanding what makes others tick. Essentially, most of us are unable to see that other people like things differently than we do.

In a recent thread it occurred to me that there may be at least four different types of players. I’m curious to know if there may be more.

A first kind of player enjoy working on enhancing the abilities of their character. They want to continually improve their character is very important to their satisfaction.

A second kind of player enjoys variety. They want to be able to try out lots of different builds and classes.

A third kind may be a social gamer. What motivates them is meeting people and/or playing with friends.

A fourth kind may be the competitive gamer. They want to show their skills and use them to defeat other players. This can be in PvP or the BLTP.

What do you think?

Close but not quite.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartle_Test

Cool. I didn’t know about that. Thanks!

Nothing motivates me. I haven’t played GW2 in like…. 3 or 4 months…. maybe longer. I play Rift and WoW now.

If I were to enumerate the archetypes I’d say:
1- On a level of activities:

• Cosmetic players: skins, looks, hairstyles, characters
• Roleplayers: Lore, stories,
• Economic players: TP flippers, gold hoarders
• Challenge players: achieve a competence in something, overcome challenges
• Social players: who enjoy interaction with other people

2- On a level of depth/time investment/advancement:

• Casual
• Relaxed
• Normal
• Hardcore
• Extreme

There are probably more levels or criteria.

TooBz.3065:

Turtle Dragon.9241:

TooBz.3065:

What motivates you to continue playing? Recently I’ve started to think about the motives that drive different people to play the same game. I suspect a lot of the hostility I see on the forums could be caused by different people not understanding what makes others tick. Essentially, most of us are unable to see that other people like things differently than we do.

In a recent thread it occurred to me that there may be at least four different types of players. I’m curious to know if there may be more.

A first kind of player enjoy working on enhancing the abilities of their character. They want to continually improve their character is very important to their satisfaction.

A second kind of player enjoys variety. They want to be able to try out lots of different builds and classes.

A third kind may be a social gamer. What motivates them is meeting people and/or playing with friends.

A fourth kind may be the competitive gamer. They want to show their skills and use them to defeat other players. This can be in PvP or the BLTP.

What do you think?

Close but not quite.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartle_Test

Cool. I didn’t know about that. Thanks!

Ooh that’s quite nice

Aside from the examples listed, I play because it’s an escape from real life. I have a stressful job. Until recently, I was caring for an elderly, ill parent (RIP.)

I come to GW2 because it takes me away from life in general for the few hours a week I can get away. AND it costs me nothing more than my time unless I want it to.

I’m with Ashabhi. My life is very stressful. I play GW2 to turn off the stress and just unwind. If I’m thinking about how that sword looks with my armor, I’m NOT thinking about work or the exam I have coming up or etc etc etc.

ok sorry, didnt understand your purpose with this thread, but i’m still maintaining what i was saying before…

I play this game for fun, to enjoy it, not to run after rewards, or something else (a title, a gear…). So I hate farming/ flipping TP/grinding every day…although its actually the only way to get nice characters…

So I’ll stay on GW2 for pve (world exploration, living and personnal story, dungeons etc…), my friends in guild,
because its supposed to be the next part of Guild wars (I started this serie after faction’s release…and its still the best persistant universe from my point of view), RP and lore’s possibilities, Scarlett is just a bad moment…
For some challenges (even if i’m not a true gamers, I feel there is few permanent hard content…)
Quite bored sometimes anyway…but I’ll stay until the game disappears.
So many things could be added in the future to makes GW2 better and better…

TooBz.3065:

What motivates you to continue playing?

At this point, nothing. I am normally motivated by crafting, but since Anet seems to think the only way people who craft should be able to obtain T6 mats is via the trading post, I gave up.
I’m also at the same point with my legendary. No precursor, and I’m not going to farm gold just to buy one or throw away in the mystic toilet.
I log on once in a while when Im really really bored, of if I feel like doing PvP that doesn’t have any real loss risk to it. Outside of that, nothing left in GW2 motivates me.
Anet motivates me a LOT, but that is negative motivation driving people away from the game.

Hey guys,

A lot of people are turning this into a qq thread. What I mean is what do you look for in a game? What do you enjoy?

Everything at various times. All of it.

Turtle Dragon.9241:

TooBz.3065:

What motivates you to continue playing? Recently I’ve started to think about the motives that drive different people to play the same game. I suspect a lot of the hostility I see on the forums could be caused by different people not understanding what makes others tick. Essentially, most of us are unable to see that other people like things differently than we do.

In a recent thread it occurred to me that there may be at least four different types of players. I’m curious to know if there may be more.

A first kind of player enjoy working on enhancing the abilities of their character. They want to continually improve their character is very important to their satisfaction.

A second kind of player enjoys variety. They want to be able to try out lots of different builds and classes.

A third kind may be a social gamer. What motivates them is meeting people and/or playing with friends.

A fourth kind may be the competitive gamer. They want to show their skills and use them to defeat other players. This can be in PvP or the BLTP.

What do you think?

Close but not quite.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartle_Test

That test is based on assumptions. It is not valid. It forces you to select very specific answers you may not agree with to continue, to fit its theory’s mold. There’s no scale of any kind, just black and white. Actually, there are so many things wrong with that test I wouldn’t know where to start from. This is probably one of them: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observer-expectancy_effect ><;.

Anyway op, this is my answer! x)
I play games to create my own characters and stories. Or to experience them. I enjoy fantasy worlds and fictions in general. I could spend my whole life playing games like Minecraft, where I get to create EVERYTHING from the grounds up. I love exploring, and taking pictures of everything. I enjoy skill challenges and solving puzzles. I don’t particularly care about competition [albeit it can be a nice challenge from time to time] as I do play games to unwind and I have enough of a stressful time in real life. There are times I simply want to have some alone time and I enjoy my solitude. Other times, I may feel more social and join other players – meet people from all over the world, play with my rl friends and all that stuff, but I’ll never be a social butterfly :-P.

Building my character is a motivation, not as much stat wise as it is look wise and getting new abilities( i am looking forward to new ones being added, and new weapons)

But the biggest drive for me is always pvp and improving in PvP. That is just an endless amount of fun content that never gets old.
I do also enjoy the occasional relaxing pve though

I guess im pretty varied.. but pvp is what keeps me going, if i am not interested in the pvp i am not interested in the game either.