Guild Wars 2

I still after all this time believe that GW2 is on the precipice of being an amazing game, much better than WoW and most other MMOs could ever hope to be.

So, what’s holding it back?

There are lots of little things here and there that are minor annoyances – thinness of new content in general is probably the main one. I.e. not enough new models, not enough new zones, weapons, etc. The dominance of offense over defense and support is another one, because it makes character building less engaging. But none of those actually matter quite as much as a lot of people think they do.

There are two very specific things that I think are the main culprits keeping it from greatness:

1.) Combat is a little too frantic. For the most part, the action-style combat is good, but when you’re fighting in a field of dozens of models and lots of character effects, it becomes ridiculous trying to see attacks to dodge them in time, and squishy classes especially (i.e. Thief) end up in the downed state frustratingly often, especially in zergs. I think the game could actually benefit from increasing attrition of all classes and removing the downed state altogether.

2.) Lack of environmental diversity and immersion. The game’s art is of terrific quality, but it’s also kind of mundane. Most zones do not have the magical feel that the majority of zones in games like EQ and WoW possess. For the most part it just feels like a CG version of the natural world. Immersion is heavily influenced by this as well as the presence of world dungeons – in part because of the particular sort of aesthetic they provide in making the world feel more wondrous and in part because of the sense of camaraderie they facilitate (that you frankly don’t get in the open world). Anet’s abandonment of that sort of content in favor of one super dungeon accessed through a city and zerg open world content has been the most damaging decision they have made. I don’t think you can separate the concept of world dungeons from fantasy MMOs and end up with something better. You just can’t, and they were silly to think they could.

Einlanzer.1627:

So, what’s holding it back?

Too many players taking the game way too seriously.

~EW

Lack of diversity?
Seriously?

Like with the original GW, we got almost every enviroment imaginable right now. From frost to desert. From jungle to mountains.

That being said, core Tyria has the problem of being too flat if anyhing. After playing through the levels of HoT, it is quite noticeable and only few parts stick out.

While it makes sense for a lot of these flat places, there is certainly room for some more complex maps in the future.
Mountains need to be more like mountains and not just some steep stones in the way.

For example, ice structures throughout Jormags areas, that we can climb, that crumble and have to traverse (use SAB mechanics, let us hate ice )

On topic
I don`t get these topics in general.
It is clear that they are struggling and all people do is crying for more more more.

More content, more this, more that.

Yes, they need to get their priorities straight and I hope they are doing it right now.

They had HoT, they had half a year where they appeaerently noticed: oh kitten, this i not working

They need to get back to their roots and thats it.

Oh and they wanted open world (zerg) content from day one. It`s not something they started favour now. They just got in the direction where they are able to facilitate more or less “rewarding” content.
They are learning.

They got some good ones with the Worldboss reworks and the maguuma wastes, but went too far with HoT.
Even the LS1 stuff was great for the most part and again, that was just them testing things for the first time.

It happens, cut them some slack, they didn`t really do much so far. However what they did took lots of time

I also like the maps a lot but there is something annoying me about it…after nearly 4 years of playing gw2 (yes really 4 years bcs i played in the beta too)….i learned most mechanic and i can fight not bad.. …so with my favorite build everything is too easy for me (if the map is under lvl 70)…also the mobs in central tyria became less rewarding ..the drop rate is so horrible sometimes (1 items per 20-30 monster :/ )…i wish there was a way to go back to these maps with stronger monster and better loot

And LS1 was the best ever !!!

Well, the devs do whatever they want. Suggestions are rarely ever considered but acknowledged, not implemented. That’s probably what’s holding this game back. It’s their game anyway so I guess that’s somewhat fair.

Jaken.6801:

Lack of diversity?
Seriously?

Yes.