Guild Wars 2

Just a curiosity. I’m wondering why your MMO of choice is Guild Wars 2 as opposed to, say, World of Warcraft?

Personally, I’ve got a friend that plays WoW a lot. A lot. He’s been trying to get me into it, but it never really clicked with me. And now that I’ve found GW2, I doubt it ever will.

Because to me, WoW is largely a game about waiting. You’re waiting for your spellcasts, you’re waiting for a mob to respawn, you’re waiting for your character to finish walking across the forest, you’re waiting for a ten-minute cooldown (seriously, what’s up with that?) whereas in GW2, the only things I’ve had to wait for are loading screens and LFG.

Also, WoW has so much lore behind it that, as a new player and story buff, I find it intimidating just to learn about the world I’m entering. I’ve tried to read Wowpedia pages to catch up on the story, but when every single character, organization, minor faction, and blade of grass has a novel’s worth of backstory I just don’t want to put in the effort of all that reading to understand a world I’m not confident I want to stay in. GW2 has less lore, which can be seen as a weakness, but it also makes it easier to learn. And it’s exciting to be part of a developing story through Living World.

Those are my thoughts, at least. What about you guys? What makes GW2 stand out for you against the million other MMOs out there?

Asura’s are the only reason needed.

Charr
Many builds to explore
Narrative
Large variety of content to do at lvl 80
Large variety of content to do before lvl 80
Non-competitive resource harvesting
Waypoints instead of mounts
Charr
Meta-events and renown heart quest system
Map diversity and scenery
Many treadmills that don’t feel like grinds
Movement during combat
Skills that don’t take up 1/3 of the screen
Charr
Gliding
No trinity/roles except the ones you make for yourself
Each profession feels different from all the others
Still functioning economy
Forum arguments

oh, and Charr.

~EW

The people on TC, and because my family and friends play, that’s about it.

The rest (entire game) is just shiny pixels for people to have fun with.

Just more or less another game with another take on things. I like variety, so I play many different games.

I don’t quite know the purpose of playing here, but it’s the only MMO I can play nowadays really. I suppose it has something to do with the community; I feel welcome into any group regardless of the time I spent not playing before (I took a 2 year break and hopped back into the game). It’s like I somehow “belong” to the whole context of whatever is going with the game, Anet has done a really good job of making the player “be someone” inside their game world, and that’s not even considering the Lore. It’s ironic because the playerbase is so much more uniform than games like WoW (everyone is at different gear tiers, and they’re basically locked from each other, gameplay wise), and somehow I feel like it matters when I stop to revive someone or another person arrives at the champion I’m soloing to help me finish it. Go figure.

I prefer buy to play MMO’s.

I don’t rent ongoing games (subs) nor do I like constant reminders from the freemium games that amount to, “You could have these features which will make our game not annoying to play, but you must rent them via the freemium payment,” Neither do I care for the lack of quality in the F2P games.

Of the B2P MMO’s out there, GW2 has more fluid and responsive combat controls, and features grief-resistant systems like non-competitive nodes and no kill-stealing.

Before its release i intended to purchase GW2 because:
- Because there is no monthly fee.
- Because i thought GW2 would be GW1
. without the flaws (for exemple you could attack from under a bridge people that were 1000 feet above you in pvp)
. with less skill lags in contexts similar to Alliance Battles
. with open worlds
. with elitism problems adressed once and for all by making specific lfg tools for BOTH elitists AND pugs so that you spend more time playing instead of waiting and then heroing every hard content alone out of rage

After its release i was and i ’m still playing gw2 because:
- Because there is no monthly fee.
- Open worlds

Primarily;
The combat mechanics (We spend so much time doing it that I think it’s important it’s inherently enjoyable),
Level/world Mechanics. (Being able to play with friends/help-others, regardless of your character’s level, and wander about together without having to worry about ‘stealing’ or ‘tagging’ enemies, is a huge plus.)

Stubie.5834:

Asura’s are the only reason needed.

this

IndigoSundown.5419:

I prefer buy to play MMO’s.

I don’t rent ongoing games (subs) nor do I like constant reminders from the freemium games that amount to, “You could have these features which will make our game not annoying to play, but you must rent them via the freemium payment,” Neither do I care for the lack of quality in the F2P games.

Of the B2P MMO’s out there, GW2 has more fluid and responsive combat controls, and features grief-resistant systems like non-competitive nodes and no kill-stealing.

This, but I don’t mind paying monthly subs if I’m not also being nickel-and-dimed to death. Both games I played for years apiece went f2p after being sub games and offered VIP/Patron monthly passes but also constantly reminded you that you should be buying from their stores. IMO, subs should get you access to everything, except perhaps some premium cosmetics.

I also love, love, love that GW2 has mage-type classes that in large part don’t have casting times on their spells so they can be just as mobile as any other class. This is a big plus to me. Due to a disability, I have a hard time with melee classes in most games and so am usually stuck with Ranger/Hunter if I want a mobile ranged class. In GW2, a different range of classes are open to me.

One criticism: this game is sorely lacking in cosmetics, and I think for most players, their appearance is of utmost importance. Between the paltry few 1-piece outfits in the store and most armor being, well, not very good-looking (IMO), it’s pretty much impossible to find a unique look.

I play guild wars because I don’t have a girlfriend to send money and time on.

That’s actually a valid remark. To make it more precise you could add that MMOs can be the cause or the consequence of break ups in couples. But i’m going off topic, sorry guys, please continue…

Apparently you aren’t that far into GW2 yet. Everything worth a crap in this game is time-gated.

Anyway… I play because it’s fun to hang out with other people. And you can actually do that in this game. GW2 encourages group play.

I’ve been through some pay2win MMOs and it’s not like I had problems with them overall but eventually grind or “pay so you can compete” killed off my interest. Not to mention all the bugs they could contain even if you payed monthly for their free to play service.
GW2 is a buy to play MMO with close to no bugs and exploits, somewhat entertaining PvP, interesting game mechanics and probably the least negative community among other MMOs. It’s also very casual MMO with big knowledge database and GW2’s gemstore offers us nothing but QoL and cosmetic upgrades and you can buy those by trading gold for gems. There is no grind in GW2, 2nd best gear is easily obtained within a day or so after 80 lvl. And to be frank, all those “too much grind” complaining people are plain wrong, GW2 has no grind unless you want it.

Been playing this game since GW1. Playing pretty much every day and I still find things I have not seen or done before. So many little nuggets hiding everywhere. Both myself and my wife plays. Along with both my boys. Oh and the granddaughter is now playing. I like the non-competitiveness of the resource nodes, the kills and well just about every part of PvE. I also enjoy the DBL map for WvW quite a bit. I prefer that one over Alpine any day.

Personally I have never understood paying $50+ for a game to buy it and then spending $10+ a month to rent what you just bought. I have played online games since the old BBS days and I still have yet to do that.

I largely play this game because my guild makes it fun, but that’s true in any MMO.

Unlike the person who claimed that they play this game because they don’t have a girlfriend, I’m fortunate in that my wife plays too. We play together much of the time, instead of sitting and watching TV (which we also sometimes do).

This MMO in particular gives me a lot of things other MMOs don’t. It’s less linear than most MMOs. There are all sorts of intricate nooks to explore. All sorts of hidden thing. I love the graphics style and the feel of the world.

I like not paying a monthly fee because it means I get to choose when I pay (buy something from the cash shop). When I’m annoyed with stuff, which happens, I stop spending money. When I’m happy, I spend money. I’m not being held prisoner by a subscription where I have to keep paying every month to play a game I already bought.

I like this game because the cash shop isn’t pay to win. I like it because it has humor. I like it because it focuses on the open world, instead of instances, as many games tend to in end game. I like it because new and interesting things happen often enough to hold my attention. The current events are an example of this.

I like it because I enjoy working on collections. I enjoy collecting skins. I like the wardrobe feature.

But mostly because I found a great group of people who play with who play like me…hardcore casuals and proud of it.

It’s a lot of fun for me, even after for years of playing just about every day.

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

Waypoints instead of mounts

Why not both? It’s working in TESO e.g. (I didn’t like many other things in that game though).
Are mounts still considered as evil in Guild Wars? If we had a larger variety of cosmetic mounts (yup, we already got mounts such as the magic carpet, broom,…) maybe we could experience a new feeling while roaming through Tyria. If we didn’t waypoint every 5 seconds it could provide much more authenticity to the world our characters live in..

I recently jumped back into Guild Wars 1, it’s a different feeling walking through the maps by yourself compared to teleporting (+ loading screen) all the time (gw1 had outposts though, so you could easily reach distanced areas). I don’t want to remove waypoints in gw2 because they’re very useful but mounts could be a good thing for a different purpose.

P.S.: I want to ride drakes and dolyaks and things just as Dagnar Stonepate and the dwarves of the Stone Summit already did in gw1.

Tekey.7946:

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

Waypoints instead of mounts

Why not both? It’s working in TESO e.g. (I didn’t like many other things in that game though).
Are mounts still considered as evil in Guild Wars? If we had a larger variety of cosmetic mounts (yup, we already got mounts such as the magic carpet, broom,…) maybe we could experience a new feeling while roaming through Tyria. If we didn’t waypoint every 5 seconds it could provide much more authenticity to the world our characters live in..

I recently jumped back into Guild Wars 1, it’s a different feeling walking through the maps by yourself compared to teleporting (+ loading screen) all the time (gw1 had outposts though, so you could easily reach distanced areas). I don’t want to remove waypoints in gw2 because they’re very useful but mounts could be a good thing for a different purpose.

P.S.: I want to ride drakes and dolyaks and things just as Dagnar Stonepate and the dwarves of the Stone Summit already did in gw1.

I don’t get the mount hate either. I’ve lost the hope of Anet ever adding mounts to this game, but I’d be happier if they did.

Well I play GW2 as a casual alternative because I got bored with my main MMO. My view is that all MMOs will grow stale over time and you need to take a break from time to time. So I am taking a break from my main MMO currently and found that with HoT GW2 has improved enough for me to play it casually for a few months at least.

I will be going back to my main MMO within a month or two and then GW2 will go on the back burner again. But at least I know that when I need a filler game I can enjoy GW2 as a casual PvE alternative.

I started because my boyfriend made me. I continue because I feel good in the game, I like its cooperative nature, I like the setting and I’ve found new friends in the game. Oh, and last but not least – Sylvari

GW2 is not even that good of a game its just that everything else is pure TRASH.

Tera:
Great game….until the lolita-hunters in Korea ruined it and they stupified the game so much that a toddler can be great at it.

Dragonnest:
Nexon.

Vindictus:
Nexon.

kitten anything from Aeria Games. Period.

WoW:
Game came out like 3 thousand years ago.

Archeage:
lol

Skyforge:
Russian scam…because of course it is.

ESO:
played it at launch. Boring and buggy. No interest in ever returning. I don’t even like Elder Scrolls that much anyways.

Blade and Soul:
4 years too late. It WAS one of the most innovative mmos at the time and I couldn’t wait to play it, Don’t care anymore, lost all interest as time passed. Besides, (legacy)TERA is a far superior game than BnS imo (and still is), once I started playing TERA in 2012, there was no hope for this game.

Black Desert:
Had so much fun….for 3 weeks. But has the second worse management of a MMO I have ever seen in my life, only rivaled by the likes of Archeage or Aeria games. RNGRNGRNGRNGRNG Jesus F-ING Christ. There is LITERALLY no point to do anything in this game besides “Because I want to”. This game’s community actually makes me want to suicide. The game went straight P2W in literally less than 5 months. I Chargeback. kitten it. Aint nobody got time for that.

FFXIV:
Quite possibly the most boring game I have played in my life, EVER. Subbed to it over 4 times in an attempt to see what people enjoyed about the game, could not stomach it each time, couldn’t even get 1 character to level 60. Waste of money.

Wildstar:
Great game….that no one ever ever EVER asked for. So it has no playerbase. Simple as that.

There are many more games but these are the important ones that people care about. Everything else is either just a WoW Clone or a foreign scam…or both.

Even though I don’t like how simple and easy everything in GW2 is, it is still a solid game with a NORMAL cash-shop that makes sense, and have fairly consistent / reliable western developers. So I play it. If the Korean developer/playerbase didn’t destroy TERA I would still be playing that game to this day. Case closed.

I played other mmo with trinity.

GW2 is where i belong because:

No trinity
Warrior don’t suck badly
No pvp elements in pve, individual gathering node
no gear differences pvp mode
Level downscaling
No sub
No general definition of pay2win
No kill steal
Dynamic event
Different well created races
WvW
Guild and guildmates
Greatswordssssss
Fun
Easy leveling

There are still a lot…. down the list

to get Chak Egg Sacs.

I’ve been playing GW2 since 2012 because:
+ It’s buy to play. I live in a poor country and $15 is a lot of money here, this is why I can’t play P2P MMOs. But I buy GW2 Gems occasionally (usually $10 twice a year).
+ I enjoy PvE (especially meta events) and WvW.
+ I actually enjoy PvP too but I’m kinda bad at it.
+ I love the GW2 lore and the characters.
+ I love my own characters and customization (skins, dyes).
+ I think the combat system is fun and the professions are great.
+ When I log on I always have something to do.
+ Sylvari!

I also agree with MMOStein. It is the best game in a sea of horrible grinders like MetinII, andf it is better than Eve Online which is more of an economy simulator and a job than a game.

As a big fan of the Warcraft games, I would have probably still played WoW instead of GW2 if I would have had a stable income to pay the sub. But GW1 was very good, and GW2 also was in its first years.

And no, you can´t have my stuff as I won´t leave right now even when I complain.^^

My reasons why I play and love GW2:

- Very interesting lore, part of it as legacy of GW1
- Lvling is fun, neither too slow or too fast, with good personal story
- no p2w, but b2p (or t2p – try to play, with that ability to try game without buying it)
- Events instead of standard quests
- Graphics (main reason why I don’t play WoW, I hate its graphics)
- World really feels alive (events, npcs chatting, story updates)
- Fast combat style (I love everything about it)
- So many different weapon types with some amazing skins!
- Unique playable races (except human ofc, but they have kinda unique lore for an mmo as well)
- Unique professions (mesmer, engi, rev, and others have some kind of uniqueness as well)
- Everyone has their own loot (from chests, monsters and nodes)
- PvP (GW2 has the best pvp I’ve ever seen + no pvp aspects in pve)
- WvW (while I do not play it too much these days, I still appreciate it as an alternative to pvp, + many players love it)
- Fractals
- Gliding!!
- Daily rewards
- Crafting system
- HoT and post-HoT maps
- Elite specs (awesome way to expand our playstyle without giving us new profession, can’t wait fo the next ones!!)
- Overall, the uniqueness of GW2 as an MMO

Several reasons. Originally it was because it’s buy-to-play. I like the idea of an MMO but not paying out constantly for permission to play one I’ve already purchased. And on top of that I never feel pressured to buy anything from the gem store. Some things are useful (bank tabs for example) but it’s always up to me whether I spend money.

I also like the casual-friendly design. If I take a break or I feel like doing something which doesn’t really progress my goals (like making a new character to play the low level story again) I don’t feel like I’m falling behind. I do make new armour sets periodically but it’s because I’ve decided to use a different stat combo, not because someone at Anet decided it’s time for everyone to grind for the new cap again.

Also no kill stealing, node stealing etc. if another person is around in PvE the worst that can happen is they ignore you and most things can be done either alone or with friends as you feel like.

There’s also lots of “little” things, the art design is really nice (like playing inside a painting), the fact that there’s very little ‘empty’ space in maps – there’s always nodes or NPCs to talk to or events or a puzzle or something, a lot of the world feels very original (the charr for example).

I seem to be in the minority in that the combat isn’t my favourite system for an RPG. I like the highly tactical systems where every battle needs planning in advance, but that doesn’t really work when you can’t save or pause. But GW2 is still fun. I like having a variety of skills and being able to pick and choose which ones to use or go all out and throw everything at them at once.

Vayne.8563:

Tekey.7946:

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

Waypoints instead of mounts

Why not both? It’s working in TESO e.g. (I didn’t like many other things in that game though).
Are mounts still considered as evil in Guild Wars? If we had a larger variety of cosmetic mounts (yup, we already got mounts such as the magic carpet, broom,…) maybe we could experience a new feeling while roaming through Tyria. If we didn’t waypoint every 5 seconds it could provide much more authenticity to the world our characters live in..

I recently jumped back into Guild Wars 1, it’s a different feeling walking through the maps by yourself compared to teleporting (+ loading screen) all the time (gw1 had outposts though, so you could easily reach distanced areas). I don’t want to remove waypoints in gw2 because they’re very useful but mounts could be a good thing for a different purpose.

P.S.: I want to ride drakes and dolyaks and things just as Dagnar Stonepate and the dwarves of the Stone Summit already did in gw1.

I don’t get the mount hate either. I’ve lost the hope of Anet ever adding mounts to this game, but I’d be happier if they did.

I don’t think GW2 needs mounts at all. There’s enough stuff to see and do that we don’t need to run past large tracts of empty space and we’ve got Waypoints when we need to go long distances quickly.

But I wouldn’t object if they did add mounts. I think they could be fun and I’m an animal person – I main a ranger and collect mini pets so I’d welcome the chance to add mounts to my zoo.

Danikat.8537:

Vayne.8563:

Tekey.7946:

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

Waypoints instead of mounts

Why not both? It’s working in TESO e.g. (I didn’t like many other things in that game though).
Are mounts still considered as evil in Guild Wars? If we had a larger variety of cosmetic mounts (yup, we already got mounts such as the magic carpet, broom,…) maybe we could experience a new feeling while roaming through Tyria. If we didn’t waypoint every 5 seconds it could provide much more authenticity to the world our characters live in..

I recently jumped back into Guild Wars 1, it’s a different feeling walking through the maps by yourself compared to teleporting (+ loading screen) all the time (gw1 had outposts though, so you could easily reach distanced areas). I don’t want to remove waypoints in gw2 because they’re very useful but mounts could be a good thing for a different purpose.

P.S.: I want to ride drakes and dolyaks and things just as Dagnar Stonepate and the dwarves of the Stone Summit already did in gw1.

I don’t get the mount hate either. I’ve lost the hope of Anet ever adding mounts to this game, but I’d be happier if they did.

I don’t think GW2 needs mounts at all. There’s enough stuff to see and do that we don’t need to run past large tracts of empty space and we’ve got Waypoints when we need to go long distances quickly.

But I wouldn’t object if they did add mounts. I think they could be fun and I’m an animal person – I main a ranger and collect mini pets so I’d welcome the chance to add mounts to my zoo.

My deal is that mounts, in past games, were always part of my characters identity. So like different characters would ride different mounts, just like they’d wear different titles or have different minipets. It’s another way of customizing a character to me.

I don’t care about speed or need at all. I care about customization. Once I get my armor looking just right on characters, I rarely change anything. A mount is another option for me to customize.

I’ve always enjoyed good rpg games. I used to play a lot of WoW and GW 1 in my teens and now when I’m older I like the way GW 2 merges their styles. It’s also very original in a lot of ways and it’s mechanics avoid many problems that WoW created (e.g. stealing kills and loot). I know some people complain about the lack of numerous purchable skills and elite skills like the ones in GW 1 but as a casual player I think the GW 2 noob-friendly combat is OK.

The lore is interesting – all the playable races are quite unique (except humans of course, the rest remains similar to other fantasy races but still unique), the minor races are nice as well. I really adore all the hints about Tyria’s past – the underwater Lion’s Arch for example. All the maps are beautiful and in my opinion the soundtracks are masterpieces.

I wish ANet introduced Cantha one day – this was my favourite place from GW 1. Maybe still to come?

nutri.1385:

All the maps are beautiful and in my opinion the soundtracks are masterpieces.

This something I can’t believe I forgot to mention. I have sometimes logged on just to listen to the music. Love GW2’s soundtrack!

Something but to pass the time. The action elements give me more to think about when thinking of this or that. I definitely don’t play it for the content or loot however. The base game itself isn’t very fun to me.

No monthly fee.

Because many games enforce PVP at a certain level of progression. GW2 does not. If it did, I wouldn’t be playing it.

I’m.. not sure anymore. I suppose the way dailies designed keeps me at least somewhat motivated. I still have plenty of check-boxes to fill out, tons of collections and long-term goals. I do love my characters and having tons of different builds and styles at my disposal.

I suppose I’m cooling down on MMOs in general, though. I’m hoping ANet will finally get its act together and design events/classes/enemies in a way that isn’t lazy or discouraging, the way that HoT hit us.

A lot can be said,but if I had to put it all in a phrase,it’s because unlike most modern MMOs,it’s a quality game and not an assortment of bars to fill while you grind your self to death looking at beautiful but superficial graphics.

I left world of warcraft to play guild wars 1. I only play guild wars 2 because it’s a sequel of sorts. I don’t really like guild wars 2 more than world of warcraft either. lol

I played a couple of MMO, but the longest I played are SWTOR and GW2. GW2 strengths:

- GW2 has great interactive combat system compared to majority of MMOs. It plays more like an ARPG.
- Best maps/zones in all MMOs I have seen, and probably in all games I played.
- Great lore, which is also original.
- Between quest system and NPCs interactions, the world feels alive.
- Great quest/mission system.
- Good graphics.

The lore.

That’s pretty much it.

In one word? Elementalist.

Everything about the class is just awesome. The mechanics, the look, the lore, the flashy animations. No other class in the game (or in any of the other MMOs I’ve tried) compares to how Ele plays and looks IMO. As silly as it is, this one class is my one and only reason for sticking with this game.

Unsurprisingly, my time in-game has varied based on how effective the class has been; currently, after all the nerfs, it’s been a bit demoralizing to play Ele, so my playtime has decreased, and I say that as someone who stuck with the class throughout the year it was trash-tier in PvP.

Don’t get me wrong, the class is still viable and tons of fun—I never played the cancerous Cleric Tempest bunker or the godlike Cele D/D—but it feels like the people in charge of balance don’t have an idea about what direction they seem to want to take the class in. I yearn for the days just before HoT came out, where Cele D/D Ele had been reigned in and was truly fun and balanced to play.

Besides that, stuff like no subscription, no gear treadmill (besides Fractals/raids/WvW), individual resource nodes, action combat, gliding, art direction and music are the other things I like about this game. I also think the Gem Store has been implemented well, with nothing that’s truly mandatory to buy for most players. World-building, especially map design, is a big pro too.

GW2 has some of the best gameplay features to me, some of which make other games more “toxic” with the community. I’ve played many MMORPGs but the 2 I’ve played most (outside of GW2) is Lotro and Swtor.

- Instanced nodes (no fighting over resources)
- No mob tapping (no fighting over stolen mob XP/loot)
- Dynamic Level Adjustment! This is huge…most games you walk out of the lower level zones and don’t look back, making returning to them trivial at best.
- Crafting is probably the least intrusive of any MMORPG I’ve played.
- Tasks instead of quests. Auto bestowing and completing “quests” rather than speaking to NPCs before and after completion.
- Beautiful graphics.

Hardcore “Asuracist”.
The day they remove Asura from the game they will lose a paying customer (me).

The first franchise which has a diminutive race that is not only for the girls, but also arrogant and powerful. I am always a midget, might it be a Yordle or Lalafell, but especially the latter one were being used to be the “cute” guys that are pushed around in the lore. . .

Apart from that, I had never so much fun playing a character than this game. It’s like somebody dove into my mind and built the game around it. And that is very important to me. I could never play Duke Nukem no matter how good the game itself is, because of the main character.

But here, man, I could not decide between 3 professions, but I think I never felt so much joy playing as long-eared, brainy assassin (“thief”). Solely the fighting and the ability to use several weapons (dagger, sword, pistols, short bow) feels and looks great aesthetically. Could take screenshots the whole day!

The sound effects and animations are beautiful too. It really feels like I am playing a game, I mash buttons, I yell, scream, rage and laugh. HoT is a blast and I can not understand all the negativity around it.

Also, certain features are buyable: For example colours. One of the first things I did was buying Shadow Abyss for €25 in gems. In FF14 for example, it is gated behind so much unfun nonsense that I would have been running around with default colours till today.

Oh, and my character talks! The German dubbing for my Asura is incredibly good and better than the English voice over (which I tried and downloaded over 6 GByte of audio, also the same for the French). The other non-Asura NPC are rather, like, “normal TV commercial” voices, even though well-known. (The male kid voice is currently advertising “Müller Milch” yogurt in grocery stores.. so weird^^ But you get the point of the quality of the voice over)

Yeah…

I play it because I enjoy it, though I only do PvE stuff. I used to be a WoW player, but once I got more responsibilities in my life I was running out of free time to justify spending money on subscriptions, so I quit WoW and ended up finding GW2 to replace my MMO fix. Made me happy that it had no subs. Still miss WoW sometimes, however. But I’m enjoying myself in GW2.

Torolan.5816:

I also agree with MMOStein. It is the best game in a sea of horrible grinders like MetinII, andf it is better than Eve Online which is more of an economy simulator and a job than a game.

As a big fan of the Warcraft games, I would have probably still played WoW instead of GW2 if I would have had a stable income to pay the sub. But GW1 was very good, and GW2 also was in its first years.

And no, you can´t have my stuff as I won´t leave right now even when I complain.^^

I feel similarly. Sure, there are many things that I dislike about post-Burning Crusade WoW, and in the end I do enjoy playing GW2 more, but some things about WoW make me wish I could stick with it. And they are things that I prefer over GW2. Ex: Variety of environments (desert, thick jungle, etc.), variety of music (I can listen to Tanaris’ and Stranglethorn Vale’s music over and over), and seamless open world (no loading screens between maps, unless you continent-jump). Those are things that, if put into GW2, would make me far more happy. The jungles and desert-ish locations in GW2 just aren’t as enticing to me. Not enough variety for my tastes. But I still love GW2 and play it every day.

A few reasons;

- the simple gameplay means I can pick up and play and fill any timeslot I choose
- The downscaling means every zone is relevant and means I can vary what and where I play
- The variety of what I can do is staggering, whether its messing around in pve, farming, easy crafting, WvW, PvP, fractals, dungeons, story. Most MMO’s have variety, but not as easil;y accessible as here
- I always feel rewarded. Even blues and greens give me mats I’ll need for something
- It’s easy to set targets through collections and achievements. I always have a goal (and always too many lol..)
- The variety of social looks is staggering – so many options I can play with. I don’t like the fact that they’ve lost a sense of a specific GW2 style with all these wings and wearing White Mantle gear etc, but I can’t fault the variety. It is outstanding.

There’s a lot wrong with the game (for me) – whether it is the lack of LS1, the reliance on grind for most things, the wistfully poor communication and interaction between dev and community and the inconsistent deliveries of quality, regular content (largely due to direction seemingly changing on a whim). However, none of these are outweighed by the advantages which overshadow the problems greatly for me.

Only Anarchy Online has ever matched the interest and that more sporadically over the last 13+ years. Lotro died for me after Rohan came out and it never regained its glory. GW2 still remains fun for me after 4 years with barely any break.

Having played GW2 first and WoW afterwards I can safely say WoW feels completely outdated at this point. I never played WoW in the Vanilla days so I don´t have any nostalgia glasses on. The “combat” in WoW puts me to sleep and I can´t get immersed into the world because the graphics look so old.

Never played WoW cause it looked too cartoony for me.
I played Rift for a while, and they lie as often as politicians .
I tried Archeage for a year, but it is the ultimate RNG and pay to win game ever.

So…I play Guild Wars.

Quaggans
Beautiful graphics
Huge world to explore
Endless things to do
Quaggans
Minimal power creep
Level playing field for players in pvp
Frequent release of new content
Social gaming
Quaggans
Buy-to-play
MInimal farming/grinding required, just do what you enjoy and buy what you need
Asura characters
Anet sense of humor
Quaggans
April Fool’s Day pranks (wish they would still do new ones)
All the secret nooks and crannies to find
Gliding
Dungeons
Quaggans

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

Charr
Many builds to explore
Narrative
Large variety of content to do at lvl 80
Large variety of content to do before lvl 80
Non-competitive resource harvesting
Waypoints instead of mounts
Charr
Meta-events and renown heart quest system
Map diversity and scenery
Many treadmills that don’t feel like grinds
Movement during combat
Skills that don’t take up 1/3 of the screen
Charr
Gliding
No trinity/roles except the ones you make for yourself
Each profession feels different from all the others
Still functioning economy
Forum arguments

oh, and Charr.

~EW

Replace “Charr” with “Norn” and you have yourself a fine list!