Guild Wars 2

Algreg.3629:

So, you think a game where the time invested alone in grinding for gear gives you huge advantages is superior to a game which relies on reaction time and versatility?

Cause then I frankly do not understand what you liked about GW1 which was never about grinding gear or time invested. (no, I am not a complete casual player today and certainly wasn´t back then, GW1 from day one both pvp and pve, from Ascalon to DoA).

And what items are you talking about? There are no p2w items in the shop. Are you talking about gems for gold? The superexpensive stuff is mostly cosmetic and exotic max gear is easily obtained by casual gameplay, so I do not see a p2w scenario here.

I can somewhat share your feelings about catering to casual players ruining gaming experience for more invested players I feared GW2 would turn out to be this way, but I just cannot see it applying to the product – I am not saying it is perfect, but that profound doomsaying just has no foundation.

Just wanted to say I’ll reply to this when I get home.

When you play a game like GW1 for many years and the devs start talking about GW2 because “they can’t do with this game what the community wants from it” and then they announce GW2, then it’s not strange that it sets the expectations a certain way.

It’s of course a different game but when you name something as number 2 then it says sequel and that there can be an expectation of recognition.

GW2 is a very different game from GW1. This is what people were told as well, but it was more different than people expected probably. It was for me.

I enjoy it for what it is but it is true that the skill bar in GW1 was more interesting. Partially because in GW2 you are confronted with fixed skill sets that belong to weapons. I like a mesmer with a staff, lucky for me it has a good skill set. I was told the sword/pistol combo is awesome but I won’t play it because I don’t like mesmers with guns. Just a personal preference.

The problem therefore is that skills are not just subject to fixed sets but also personal preferences on a visual level. What if I love mesmers, hate pistols but the pistol is the best weapon for a mesmer (just an example)? This means I would feel I have to use a pistol against my wish.
In GW1 skills were separate from weapons and the skill slots were entirely interchangeable and there were no sets of skills that you had to take together.

In GW2 I could think of making a clone build, but I am forced to have phantasm skills. Not a problem for me but I cannot take them out and replace them with more suitable skills. It seems to me that what people are upset about isn’t so much that a lot changed but more that we had certain freedoms of choice in our skill bar that are no longer there.

I can still enjoy GW2 for what it is, but I do agree that the skill bar in GW1 was much more flexible.

Gehenna.3625:

When you play a game like GW1 for many years and the devs start talking about GW2 because “they can’t do with this game what the community wants from it” and then they announce GW2, then it’s not strange that it sets the expectations a certain way.

It’s of course a different game but when you name something as number 2 then it says sequel and that there can be an expectation of recognition.

GW2 is a very different game from GW1. This is what people were told as well, but it was more different than people expected probably. It was for me.

I enjoy it for what it is but it is true that the skill bar in GW1 was more interesting. Partially because in GW2 you are confronted with fixed skill sets that belong to weapons. I like a mesmer with a staff, lucky for me it has a good skill set. I was told the sword/pistol combo is awesome but I won’t play it because I don’t like mesmers with guns. Just a personal preference.

The problem therefore is that skills are not just subject to fixed sets but also personal preferences on a visual level. What if I love mesmers, hate pistols but the pistol is the best weapon for a mesmer (just an example)? This means I would feel I have to use a pistol against my wish.
In GW1 skills were separate from weapons and the skill slots were entirely interchangeable and there were no sets of skills that you had to take together.

In GW2 I could think of making a clone build, but I am forced to have phantasm skills. Not a problem for me but I cannot take them out and replace them with more suitable skills. It seems to me that what people are upset about isn’t so much that a lot changed but more that we had certain freedoms of choice in our skill bar that are no longer there.

I can still enjoy GW2 for what it is, but I do agree that the skill bar in GW1 was much more flexible.

This is of cause true. But I am not too disappointed with the GW2 approach which is very different from GW1. Let´s leave aside that half the skills are tied to the weapons for a second (which makes sense to me, but I can understand why people may disklike the approach). In GW1, you were able to do crazy things, the 2 classes synergy made you able to totally bend the concept of a class. There weren´t that many players though that varied their builds a lot, maybe one for pvp, one for pve, that was about it for a lot of people. Even if there was a huge number of possible combinations, only a few were considered top notch and played. In fact, among the hundreds of skills there were a lot of skills with different names and looks that actually had more or less the same effect. Also, a lot of builds were nerfed as soon as they became overpopular.

In GW2, variety happens within the confines of a class concept. IMO it makes a lot of sense to have part of your skills tied to your equipment as these are actually the items you use to cause the skill effects. With swapping your gear (even in mid-combat) you have a reasonable variety on the fly. The same applies to your “right side skills”. I love the versatility enabled by changing skills in the middle of a dungeon. So what I am trying to say? If I had to sum it up, I think the character system in GW2 is at least as deep as in GW1, but in more subtle way.