Guild Wars 2

I’m not sure if its only my server but it seems like everyone wants to chill in Queensdale and do the same old events all day long. I can understand since finding an event is easy since theirs so many players roaming

I’m a newer player, almost two weeks now. My first 2 characters I tried were human. I saw all different races in Queensdale and figured it was were everyone started. I started a Sylvari just to be different and was blown away that I stated in a different world which was stunning and a little more complex with the water parts and such.

Only problem was, finding people to help with a champ I spotted was almost impossible. And stumbling on other players was rare. You really lost the sense of it being a MMO.

I found it however new and exciting and I plan on venturing with my thief that I e decided to main( human) into the charr and asura start worlds.

So my question, is it not viable to level by questing new maps? Is I more viable to level just by doing events. I’m pretty sure that all hearts have a set experience regardless of level so Cana level 40 benefit from doing Caledona forest? Do events give experience based on your level?

I’m new to the game and MMORPG scene and it just seems weird why people choose to grind certain areas when yiu have so many options. My map visibility on my level 24 thief isn’t anywheres even near 10 percent completion. And all I’ve been doing really is clearing maps. Did divinity reach, Queensdale, caledon forest , the city for caledon, working on kessix hills right now since my storyline is based there now. Might even do lions arch map tomorrow again since I haven’t done it on my thief. Doesn’t sound like a lot but it takes some time and I always try to do whatever events i stumble upon.

So will the game shift yiu think and spread out? Or will finding partners in discrete lands get harder as the fan base dwindles.

I’m pretty sure experience gain scales up with you, otherwise there would be no point of upscaling or going to lower level areas.

Queensdale happened to house a recently very popular event: Shadow Behemoth, where a rare and very coveted loot may drop. So you see everyone coming over to Queensdale hoping to get that loot from Shadow Behemoth.

To answer your other questions:

Experience (and loot) does scale base on your real level (if you were down-scaled in a lower level zone), but not by that much (not comparable to what you will get in the zone of your real level). Still, it is profitable to explore the other low level zone to obtain Map Completion, to have a change of scenery, meet different types of monsters to kill, different jumping puzzles, skill points, vista, etc.

Most of the things you can do PvE, you can solo it unless you want to take on a Veteran or a Champion mob. My advice is to avoid them unless there are others around doing it too. There are enough heart quests and dynamic events in the areas which you can solo, and obtain enough XP to level.

Queensdale is easy, and since it has been open since the first beta weekend most of the long timers know it well. The Asura and Sylvari areas weren’t even available to play till later.

Speaking only for myself when I needed to fill in a few events for my monthly I went to Queensdale as you are almost guaranteed someone will be nice enough to call out the events as they happen there.

Queensdale is my place of choice for daily’s and has also been my favorite zone in the game since beta. and after about 4 alts that are human, I’ve grown to love the place even more haha.

A whole slew of dailies and monthlies become much easier when a level 80 zones into queensdale. Especially particularly frustrating dailies like “aquatic killer” or grindy dailies like “daily kills”. It’s also nice finishing up your dailies without being CC’d or swarmed every two seconds.

They’re the very same people who jump on the forums and complain that ArenaNet force them to grind. I agree with you OP, I’m amazed at how incredibly boring people can make this game for themselves. I couldn’t do an event more than twice before I was completely over it, but all day every day?

Not to mention, humans have always been a popular race choice across different MMOs so its more often you’ll see someone starting a human than starting the other races. That may contribute to more people in queensdale.

Queensdale used to be my place of choice for dailies. even now, i often come back to see how good old troll is doing.

I think many people have favorite zones they like to hang out and e.g. do dailies in, mine is Kessex Hills. Sometimes it’s just about chillin’, ya know ?
“grinding” implies the need to do some activity over and over again against your will. GW2 doesn’t have a grind – unless reading forum posts from people who still don’t get this game after five months whining about grinding counts as grinding ?

I try and switch it up, im partial to ashford plains as my first toon is a charr. Although i have been playing my human thief alot and must admit i do like queensdale alot, as well as kessex hills.

I play a lot in Queensdale on all my characters. It’s a nice easy place to get around, easy to learn your way around and has pretty much everything that you need, except for higher level crafting nodes and such things.

When you reach higher level areas you’ll find that they’re infested with Risen. You can’t get around without being pulled back, put to sleep, stunned, knocked back, knocked down, etc., ad-flamin-infinitum and it gets very old very fast.

Four factors:
Humans are popular.
Queensdale is an aesthetically pleasing area.
Most dailies scream ‘goto Queensdale.’
Shadow behemoth.

On my server there’s plenty of people in Wayfarer Foothills (the norn starting area) as well.

I often use queensdale to fulfill certain daily requirements but I’ve found it strange just HOW MANY people are there lately.

I think it’s more just that people go because other people go. It’s a place where you can do stuff and still chat a lot.

Queensdale was is a very popular map before they fixed Shadow Behemoth. Lots of new accounts and many older players helping new players (and trying to recruit them)

Final Rest. This is why a majority of the people are there. If you get thrown into Overflow in Queensdale, this is likely the reason why. Rare staff drop from the Shadow Behemoth chest, and it’s the only place you can get it, and it’s a unique skin.

I will say having leveled a human warrior to 20ish and now deciding on switching to guardian for the survivability, Queensdale seems more polished than the Norn area, but I am still loving the Norn story so far. I started with Sylvari originally and enjoyed their area as well, but not nearly as populated as the Norn and Human starter areas.

Terok.7315:

A whole slew of dailies and monthlies become much easier when a level 80 zones into queensdale. Especially particularly frustrating dailies like “aquatic killer” or grindy dailies like “daily kills”. It’s also nice finishing up your dailies without being CC’d or swarmed every two seconds.

And this my friends is what ANET needs to learn what we like about Queensdale. It being FUN and still challenging at times without all the dang cc’s every second. They need to put this into MORE of the other maps and maybe just maybe we will go play them more for that FUN factor and not just going there because we have to for this or that reason.

I’m not sure what map has cc’s every second or every 10 seconds.

The boss fight is probably what you are seeing the most.

As several mentioned it was a popular destination to finish dailies, so that hasn’t changed. But perhaps some of the zone focus dailies have pulled in even more than usual from time to time.

Increasing leveled loot drops in below leveled zones don’t hurt either.

Well there’s just certain monsters that do nothing but always spam their cc and if you get into a map where you can face them in groups – no fun.

There is another thing that Queensdale has as an advantage over the other starter zones/maps too that I am testing/exploring these days. That being that it has 6 chests that you can open daily. The other maps do not have this many (yet to do Norn/Charr). Some of them you may find those skritt burglar chests but in queensdale you can ALWAYS open the below 6 chests every day:

1 – Beggers Burrows bandit cave (splendid).
2 – Wolf den just east of the Bandit farm event.
3 – Harpy chest NW of the Bandit farm event.
4 – Centaur camp just NW of the jump puzzle.
5/6 – In the Jump Puzzle which is at the SE corner of the map near the centaur camps.

In total thats 2 splendid chests which are fairly easy to reach and open daily so this is just another small example of why Queensdale is a fave map for so many people.