Guild Wars 2

I’m a big fan of the Brisban Wildlands. There’s a nice variety of enemies and you can see the player cultures interacting in big, meaningful ways. You can see hints of what’s to come later in the game with the passages to the Maguuma Wastes. There are nice shoutouts to GW1, as well as some of what I consider the coolest new stuff in GW2 (like Skrittsburg). I also like most of the heart quests and events.

The one shameful thing is that it lacks a JP.

For me, Edge of the Mists is a beautiful map. Several biomes, floating landmasses, tall towers, several levels… can’t be beat for looks.

look ad this so much beauty no city’s no factory’s just fresh air i love it

zengara.8301:

Sorry, but harder means require more endurance, great effort on your part or difficult to resolve/finish…….Soloing lupi is hard (when lupi got harder people got mad, because there are professions now that simply can not do it, but people with professions who can, got happy since phase 2 is not standing still and waiting for 2 attacks), GvG can be hard (depending on guilds, and tactics like thief/mesmer hunting backline).

Doing the same process over and over is known as grinding, the possibility to fail does not change that, not even in the urban dictionary does something being hard somehow equal the possibility of losing or starting over….

What everyone wants is it being harder as it is described in the urban dictionary, as Collin told us, that should be very possible in the expansion, so happy for that, I just do not like it when people use 1 word that means something else entirely and transfer it to something else.

So, wait, the Urban Dictionary says that content that gets repeated and that includes the possibility of failure is not harder than content in which there is no possibility of failure? I’m not saying things like Teq or SW are hard in an absolute sense, but they sure are hard_er_ than much of the rest of the game, and they do fail from time to time.

I hope that HoT gives you what you’re looking for. I’m not hopeful myself on that score, though. Personally, I think one is better served seeking MMO challenge in PvP.

I like Frostgorge the most, its beautiful has a nice Zone layout and I simply love icy mountains.

Least liked is Dredgehaunt Cliffs (because I HATE Dredge – yes I am permanently damaged by the Dredge fractal for all my live.

Queensdale is pretty nice, Kessex used to be great before they had to blow it up. Mount Maelstrom is also alright. If you mean meta farming events… SW is better than Dry Top but honestly, i would not want HoT to be all meta event maps leading up to some huge boss fight. What happened to exploring and doing things at your own pace?

I love:

All snowy maps
Queensdale
SW for the events,but I hate deserts.

I hate:

Charr areas. Ascalon used to be beautiful (pre-searing hngggggg) but now with charrs on charge of it,meh.
I’ve said many times before,but I don’t like it for various reasons:

• Looks like it is hot all the time (I’m talking about temperature here)
• BUILDINGS MADE OUT OF METAL,ughh…how can Charrs live in that hot area inside a fortress made of metal…I feel sick just thinking about it.
• Annoying mobs like the ghosts that just block everything.
• Fire Imps in higher level areas

Hoelbrak most epic zone to stay around

Timberline Falls, hands down. Because it a beautiful alpine map and you have the freedom of walking easily and luckely not too much jumping on the mountains. I love to stand on the top of the mountain and watch the wide land around me.

Batelle.1680:

For base game zones, it’s hard to choose one. Plains of Ashford, Diessa Plateau, and Blazeridge Steppes all have their charm. I kind of love how they handle the transitions between the different micro-environments (like normal and haunted, or normal and branded).

This, especially in Blazeridge Steppes. I love the juxtaposition between the beautiful hills and forests of Ascalon, and the haunting oppressive feel of the Brand. If the Brand had a more SW-like meta-event that culminated in a Shatterer showdown that was actually engaging, Blazeridge Steppes would have the perfect combination of spontaneous explorability for moments of wanderlust, and tense, action-filled combat for when it’s time to bust some heads!

Map places I like visually:

• All northern snow ones
• A lot of the Flame Legion dry/volcanic places
• The Grove, DR
• Dry Top/SW

I like these because the environment and level of objects suits those places; especially terrain in general… stuff like the snow-covered trees just works and feels immersing.

On a side-note regarding The Grove/DR: Also because the TP/Bank is the easiest distance to travel between. Haha. Everything is easy to scout and locate; good map design.

Map places I don’t really like visually:

• A LOT of the green/wild forest maps
• Orr in general
• Lornar’s Pass
• Blazeridge Steppes

Original maps with all the green trees and wooded areas trying to imitate real forest feels fake. Heaps of trees are all the same copy-pasted and it really feels like 1 bottom level; no places to climb. Heaps of places lack foliage or sky-covering canopies and it’s dull.

I don’t like the undead zones (Orr) as that’s personal preference.. I don’t like yucky wasteland infested with zombies, HOWEVER, I really like ‘ghost town’ creepy silent places. E.g; similar to things like ruined war-torn cities/landscapes (kind of like LA but more destruction/decay)

Anything like Blazeridge Steppes with all the purple aura entailing Branded creatures feels weird. I’m not used to it I suppose. I wish there were more vertical objects/buildings or even massive structures to give variety to the endless sky/horizon.

ANYWAY… yes I agree a lot of the original older maps are kind of moot after you’ve completed everything. There should be similar long-term goals exactly like SW/Dry Top that entails and rewards players with armor/weapons or something cool.

SW/Dry Top is the perfect example of rewarding content you can play over and over again. The rest of the original maps? Unless there’s a dungeon associated with it – then nope, sadly.

Actually dislike the top, snowy/mountainous half of Lornar’s Pass, love the bottom half. Frostgorge I also dislike. Guess I’m just not a fan of that kind of terrain.

Kryta makes me happy, so green and cheerful.
Orr for chain events, temple runs, story progression.

Rarely go to SW/Dry Top

My favourite is the sylvari territory. Mainly the middle and northern part. The tumourus wooden faces close to the worm are awesome

Iron Marches, Southsun Cove, Black Citadel – favourite

Metrica Province, Divinity Reach, Rata Sum – least favourite

Eldiora.5836:

Least liked is Dredgehaunt Cliffs (because I HATE Dredge – yes I am permanently damaged by the Dredge fractal for all my live.

Haha .. that is my most visited zone maybe beside Timeberline Falls. Such a great zone for farming wood and iron and also for leveling because there are so much quick events and also yellow mobs to level with exp-boosters.

I mostly just ignore all those dredge areas ^^

Sad Swordfish.9743:

I’m on the fence because I think every zone should have long term goals like trying to unlock armor set. Silverwaste lets you unlock both a normal (Carapace) and a pimped out version (Luminescent). If every zone had a armor / pimped armor associated (or rather 3 armors. Light, Medium, Heavy) I think many zones like Timberlane Falls and Lonars Pass would have a lot more action. That would be really cool. But 25 zones x3 armors is a lot of new armors.

It could be done easier.

Make that not 3 sets of armor per map, but one outfit per zone.

Shiverpeak
Ascalon
Kryta
Orr
Maguuma

But it would be too much to ask. This game usually doesnt reward playing, just farming.

Caledon forest is amazing to play through south to north as a new sylvari. My favorite experience of any map by far.

I will admit that metrica province is a bit more fun to just run around in as a level 80 tho. Seeing the asuran architecture juxtaposed with the lush jungle is incredible.

the Super Adventure Box was the most creative

Looks wise I like the Shiverpeaks because I love snow.

From an actual design standpoint I like the Orr maps because they have no hearts and the events progress the whole map. So you can either speed through mapping, or enjoy events and work your way through areas. Plus the mobs are the closest thing we have to gw1, where they actually have some intelligence and will cc you and I’ve even seen some people die to them.

Timberline Falls, no contest.

Gaile Gray.6029:

Lion’s Arch. Well, the new Lion’s Arch.

I agree. LA has always been in a special place in my heart. It was one of my favorite places in GW1, and I fell in love with it all over again when GW2 came out. Even when it was destroyed, I like to run around it. Can’t wait for the new map.

Jerus.4350:

vanensang.1389:

Timberline Falls all the way!

This, I mean there are other great ones, but Timberline falls hands down the best.

I like this one too, which is odd, because I don’t often go there.

I like Caledon Forest, but only because of the amount and diversity of content there. Several jumping puzzles and explorer achievements, unusual dynamic events (shape-shifting battles), AND a world boss.

The Grove and Caledon Forest.

The Grove is just stunningly beautiful, especially the lower floor – my favourite “city” by far.

Caledon has a good mix of environments that I like (no desert or snow), the most fun jumping puzzles, fun although easy dynamic events, and is just generally a fun zone to chill out in.

I absolutely love Timberline’s aesthetic, music and overall feel. Such a pretty map

Just finished my world completion yesterday, so here’s my thoughts.

Queensdale is literally the least interesting zone in the game, nothing else even comes close. I don’t understand why anyone who started the game by making a human didn’t quit immediately. Maybe the extreme lack of anything interesting made them nostalgic for WoW’s early levels?

The ascalon zones, particularly around the Dragonbrand, are the best designed areas. They’re just so perfectly designed, frozen in their last moments, then twisted and corrupted into something alien. Even more so than Orr, which is my second favorite, they feel otherworldly and brilliantly strange, like something out of a nightmare. Nightmare Court, take notes.

I like Krytan Zones (Queensdale and old Kessex Hills) but my favorite piece is Lornar’s Pass.

Almost every map has something I really like, it’s very hard for me to choose a favorite. Mostly little areas of certain maps are stunning in my eyes, for example I love the Icevine Dale and Taigan Groves areas in Wayfarer Foothills. Such a pretty snowy forest.

This will probably be an unpopular opinion, but my favorite zones is, in fact, not a single zone.

My favorite zone design is the original set up for Orr. Particularly the temple system. You had meta events in three zones which influenced both its own zone and other zones.

The megaservers destroyed this set-up, unfortunately, since it was established on the server-based maps. It’s a shame, since such an establishment could have had so much potential.

Imagine if failing the Ulgoth event caused a centaur invasion in Gendarran.

Imagine if the Shadow Behemoth spawning caused some portals to spawn in Kessex Hills.

Imagine if The Shatterer’s return in Blazeridge resulted in increased Branded activity in Fields of Ruin and Iron Marches, while its death resulted in decreased activity.

Imagine if the Flame Legion had meta events like Assault on Atrox: Uniting the Grawl across Fireheart, Iron Marches, and Diessa in their major Castrums which gives pieces for making armor like the Luminescent sets. Not zone-based armor but region/threat-based armor.

That would make a fun inter-map system. Moreso if those world bosses weren’t placed on predictable boring timers.

Southsun Cove. WAIT, let me finish, stay your rotten fruit, I pray thee!

In my experience most people seem to either hate this place or actively avoid it, or just kind of ignore it and never go there since it isn’t required for map completion. I’m in the minority of people that love it to death, I spend time there every day.

Aside from being REALLY pretty with all the coral and the steam and the lovely beaches, there’s some really nice farming/gathering there. I usually leave with about 30 passion fruit, 3-6 passion flowers, a bunch of wood and metal, the odd foxfire, and a smattering of t6 mats. Blood, Fangs, Scales and Venom Sacs can all be reliably farmed here in a relatively small area…Claws as well, if you’re crazy enough to tango with Reef Drakes.

And there’s also the 2 JPs, each of which have a bonus mini-chest nearby.

Aesthetically, the Iron Marches is my favourite. I love the transition from ordinary Ascalon into the branded bits. It’s one of the few zones that has the truly otherworldly feel I enjoy in fantasy games. Also a big fan of exploring Orr, Dry Top and Southsun for similar reasons.

For actual game play and rewards, Dry Top wins. There’s a good balance of actual loot and zone specific rewards tied to event completion. Too bad they ruined it with an overly complex topography. A year later and I’m still getting lost in there.

My favourite zone is frostgorge sound because of the amazing underwater scenery. Underwater scenery is far better than scenery on land in my opinion and it is a shame there has been no more lakes or anything added in lw season 2.
Second favourite is plains of ashford. It is the first zone I saw in game because I made a charr character and I like both the natural scenery and charr architecture.

Although it doesn’t really count as a proper zone, labyrinthine cliffs is by far the most epic map that has been added in gw2. The views you get by searching for sky crystals or the ones you get just be standing there are incredible. I would love to see that zone return despite the zephyrites being gone. I liked the look of the crown pavilion too.

In terms of the appearance and asthetics it’s absolutely got to be the Shiverpeaks and Timberline Falls in particular (with Lornar’s Pass a close second). I love alpine mountains in real life too so it’s not entirely surprising (although in GW1 the Maguuma Jungle was my favourite zone) but something about it – the variety of different terrain I think – always makes me feel much more excited about exploring those zones than the others.

In terms of the mechanics of the map though I’m one of the people who really likes the Silverwastes and Dry Top.

For me it’s not so much 1 activity that I like, it’s the fact that there are so many different things going on, all in the same map and not in distinct regions.

There’s the map-wide meta event, with almost all the smaller events feeding into it, which each person can do as much or as little of as they want. There’s also chests, coins and other hidden things to find, the story elements of course, and in Silverwastes the gigantic jumping puzzle weaving in amongst everything else in the seemingly empty spaces.

It gives it more replay value than most maps, increases the chances of coming across something you’ve not seen before even when you’ve been across the whole map and it means there’s always something going on.

The problem with it IMO is that some things, particularly the meta events, require almost everyone on the map to participate, which causes resentment when some people want to do other things, or only want to do a bit of it. I think it would be a lot better if they could scale it back a bit so different people doing different things on the same map isn’t an issue I think it would be a lot more popular.

As far as logical and efficient, both Divinity’s Reach and Rata Sum are excellent cities and I like them for that. Getting around is easy and services are neatly placed.
With explorable areas, I like Orr. It is both challenging and the look of grandeur fallen to ruin makes for an interesting backdrop to the Pact assaults and throngs of players charging up the steps of its temples to the Gods into battle.
Kinda the opposite of a Zombie Apocalypse, with Risen going about their daily routine, and suddenly, ZERGed!

Weird enough, and I didnt read them all, almost no-one says the boring silverwastes. I do hope this is a small hint towards the expansion, because they seem to be going towards that theme?
I hope they have big nice city’s like DR, I hope it has nice levels like ascalon area, with trees and green. And snow like the shiverpeaks. There is lots of room in the map for all of these environments it seems.

Oh man, that’s so hard to choose ONE area. Can I choose a section instead? Like, for example, Kryta?

If I can pick a large section, then… personally, I like Maguuma Jungle the best. I like the scenery—I think it’s absolutely gorgeous. Also, my favorite world boss is in that Jungle: Tequatl (Yes, Sparkfly Fen does count as part of Maguuma).

If I have to pick one area—just one—that I like then… hm…. that’s so hard. I think Rata Sum would be my choice or… I really don’t know. XD

If there’s any place I hate, then that would be Straits of Devastation. I despise that map so much, too many enemies around, and it throws me off when I’m trying to get a Vista after being mobbed.

I think having more varied zones that all do different things is nice, it caters to all sorts of people. I personally like the Silverwastes map, but I understand how someone can not like it too. Maybe mix in one or two zones like that, a few traditional ones, and maybe even some completely new concepts. Everybody’s happy

Aesthetics: Timberline Falls, Lornar’s Pass (like the feel and look of most of the Shiverpeaks Maps) then Maguma areas with Ascalon areas (except Southsun) and Kryta tied for last.

Gameplay: Silverwastes, Dry Top, Mt. Maelstrom (a surprisingly “busy” map with 2 world bosses, a dungeon with an event chain to open it, 2 JPs and a Guild Challenge – plus some good farming for hard wood and platinum), Southsun, Orr and then kinda everything else.

Caledon has always been one of my favorite zones. Broke my heart when they removed the TP from there instead of moving it to crafting area.

This game generally lacks monumental awe-feel with huge monumental buildings or constructions. The only thing that looks a bit like this is Lornar’s Pass if you look up from the valley to the Priory.

And then… the new areas are all much much smaller with events everywhere. Sometimes I just want a vast devastating area not filled with zergs and NPCs running and shouting all the time. Give us something like the Crystal Desert or Desolation in GW1.

Now with even smaller maps than the ones from the original game (why!?!) the game even loses more immersion which is anyway bad be cause of zoned maps.

I personally am in-love with Frostgorge sound. Challenging, varied, the very memorable Kodan city, and it also has some pretty fun events. I cannot stress how accomplished I felt beating the claw of Jormag, and calming the voice of Koda.
The area near the beginning with the 5 pinesouls is my absolute favorite area in the entire game. So majestic…

I likewise love the snowy feeling, that gladly both compares, and contrasts to Skyrim’s snowy mountains.

Gaile Gray.6029:

Lion’s Arch. Well, the new Lion’s Arch.

Is that the new LA we haven’t even seen yet?

I consider orr meh. Unless you happen on the event train the only way to get wps on the far side of the straits (and beyond) is swim and hope nothing kills you until you get to a shore wp. When you are in the train it is almost TOO easy though. There is nothing in between. You can do some of one and some of the other but it feels like you are making it harder just to make it harder.

I never could get the appeal of DT. I just LOVE the SW though. Even if I was not there all the time I would just laugh at the dailies that require you to do 4 SW events as I get them for events I do not even remember being in.

Linnael.1069:

Caledon forest is amazing to play through south to north as a new sylvari. My favorite experience of any map by far.

I will admit that metrica province is a bit more fun to just run around in as a level 80 tho. Seeing the asuran architecture juxtaposed with the lush jungle is incredible.

I agree with both. The music in Caledon Forest got me hooked on this game. I quickly got a feel for it between the calming music and low-level stuff there. Having a heart that was mostly playing with pups was a nice change of pace from a war game. Then I went and died somehow and when I was about to WP I noticed the text ‘a noble soul is healing you’ … I wound up crying that people actually looked out for each other in this game.

Now that I am not constantly on my toes about being killed in an instant by low-level monsters I can sit back and enjoy the scenery. I love snow (hey, I am half Finn) but the shiverpeaks strike me as a bit too quiet most of the time … almost like nobody goes there except for dailies and boss fights.

For some reason i cant get the 100% map explorer because i keep getting to Queensdale

And ofcourse …. (A cliché Super hero adventure box)

I would say between LA (pre-scarlet’s invasion) and the underwater depths of Bloodtide Coast.

Queensdale…

sometimes i just wandering around just to enjoy the view…

Meetrica Province, hands down, favorite zone in the game. Still hate the nerfs Anet made to it with the NPE to be honest.

The architecture, the design, the look of it hasn’t changed though. I miss the underwater lab, but for the rest, i love asura, their architecture and their culture, and i love to run around in Metrica Province, see the progeny learning, see the labs preforming their different experiments, fighting the inquest. I just love the zone, and few other zones really compete with it, for me.

I’ll probably be one in minority here, but my favorite are Orr locations. They are not ugly at all, in fact there is charming heavy beauty of an ancient capital. Huge ruined temples, grotesque monuments, desolate squares. Half of them are under water. Corals and seaweed show that Zhaitan brought this once great human capital from the sea. We can hear wailing of restless ghosts, tormented by elder dragon’s curse. And above all this a sky, with a thick yellow clouds, never showing us the light of a sun.
Personally I think this is epic.

Also love Ascalon – charr buildings and human ruins equally.
Caledon forest is also very rich and beautiful.

Snowy zones already are turn-off for me, but there is always this kittening snow. It irritates me to no end, so I never want to go there. Wish devs give us an option to disable snow.

Despite the nerfs, I still love Queensdale. Fond memories there. But, yes, it’s not the same.