Guild Wars 2

i barely find 2-3 ppl online during map exploring.
maybe i am the lowest lvl remained on low areas,or did everybody else quitted already?

I’m having a hard time getting anything done on my lvl 20 engineer.
I just die all the time for lack of other players fighting the same npc’s etc. I can take on a few by myself of course, but if you’re the only one you’re bound to run out of kiting room and die.

Most Dynamic events I had to pass today, I simply died on each of them because we were like 1 or 2 trying.

On a saturday afternoon this really made me worry.
I didn’t enjoy playing today, in fact I started replying on a hundred forum posts just because I got tired of dying in the map where I am trying to level.

I came to the forums tryng to see if others had the same issues as me, and if it was normal I died in so many events and area’s, simply because I didn’t see many others there.

everything thats not a [group] event is soloable. It might not be easy but its doable

i think the game is not well balanced. they said its for party play but can be soloed too. thats untrue as u said, u cant get through some zones. and higher lvl dont have any reason to come back, or even pass by. repairing and warping while solo shortened my time played today to 1 hour only. i prefered to play mw3 multiplayer.
lol,i want to buy a logitech g700 to replace my sidewinder x8,but im wonder if makes any sense if this a campaign game.

try to get some skill points solo if u are 2 lvl below…

What server and starting zone are you located at and not seeing anyone? I have several low level characters, and see a lot of people every location I stop- unless you are going exploring off the grid, then what do you expect really? Its a huge world, and if you are going to remote locations, its possible you will not see very many players.

AsgardNation.2953:

try to get some skill points solo if u are 2 lvl below…

get two levels and comeback. You can do it, its just not faceroll easy. Thank GOD.

What server are you playing and what hours?

BTW you could have chosen a better title, if you don’t want to be considered ‘trolling’
not saying you are, just the title is a bit …ugly

A quick look at world selection will easily reveal that no, everybody didn’t quit.

Perhaps you are on a low populated server or maybe they are in the higher level zones.

wollie.9751:

everything thats not a [group] event is soloable. It might not be easy but its doable

Yes but… then why not just play a single player game?! This typical reply irritates me so much. Not yours particularly but I get this reply in map chat all the time. Its a massive multi-solo game.

wollie.9751:

everything thats not a [group] event is soloable. It might not be easy but its doable

it might be in theory, but it’s not in practice.
I’ll explain why, purely from a leveling new players point of view.

I saw a veteran scrpion mob today and figured: hey a challenge, i should be able to kill that if I’m playing right.
This idea was a fresh breeze from leveling fully heirloomed in WoW (if you’re familiar with that concept).
A challenge!

Being a good gamer I clear mobs around first.
Tricky by itself because I’m alone there and all mobs in GW2 seem to be very close together.
Kiting is limited.

Ok, I clear mobs, get an extra here or there but i’m used to kiting (woW hunter since vanilla, different game but you lean a thing or two).

Next up: vetran mob!
I attack and kite.
he despawns…
ok, he doesn’t like being kited for real.
I attack again, kite in small cirkles etc, sometimes jump in, than jump out.

Dam, normal mobs respawned.
I go back to clearing.

I attack him again.
Normal mobs respawn again even if i didn’t waste time resetting him this time.

In the end I never fought the veteran alone. There were ALWAYS 2 or 3 other mobs attacking me too.
One veteran plus a few normals no solo player can do, not in a limited kiting area.
Maybe a lvl 80 can because downscaling isn’t downscaling enough… but a normal quest geared equal lvl player can’t.

This is where server population comes in.

Because one little veteran isn’t the biggest challenge out there…
On this saturday afternoon I wasn’t able to get skill points, finish any DE, and even failed a few ‘quests’ simply because they took place in zones full of npc’s.
The fact that it’s a saturday afternoon really worried me, it really did!

Let me do most of these when a few players around are also killing mobs, atracting attention etc… and it’s a different game.
Than maybe yes: I can ‘solo’ most challenges.

i should get 2 lvl above and come back? not my style of play. title wasnt troll. i have a norn and its 90% of time solo. i sincerely tell you that im not feeling im playing a mmo!

By the way guys: we’re not trying to bash the game as such here.

I like challenges and it’s a fresh breeze this game can be quite hard when playing alone.

But you can’t deny that for new players leveling the server population is rather poor.
If a server it’s listed full on a saturday afternoon than that’s only ‘normal’ and it would be extremely worrying if the bigger servers weren’t in the weekend…

But how many of those are actually wandering around in the maps?

It seems the OP and me are merely describing what our experiences are. It’s nothing more than that.
We face these issues, and no matter what suggestions could help or not. Fact remains that if we join a new game we should be able to enjoy the leveling alone too.
In an MMO you expect others to be around too.
In GW2 you even need others to be around, or you don’t get anything done.

I am levelling an engineer, asura, lvl 13. met plenty of people, not all asura actually. Move to another server? What hours are you playing? Timezone?

i work in 3 shifts so i play every week at different times. morning,afternoons or late night.

Some things to keep note of:

If you’re dying a lot, you try these:

• Ensure that your gear is well within your level. Personally, I upgrade my gear every 5 levels (or 10 levels if I’m upgrading from a Rare item). Also make sure that the stats seem relevant to your build. Some say you shouldn’t build a “glass cannon”, but once you feel a little bit more comfortable, you should go with whatever suits you best.
• Make sure you utilize your Trait points. Early on, you can put a maximum of 10 points in one trait line. The Trait line with Power seems like the logical one to choose when leveling up. That way, stuff dies faster. But putting points in Vitality and/or Toughness lets you live longer. In that case, you may have to strike and equal balance between survivability and damage.
• Learn to Dodge, but Dodge what seems necessary. Sometimes, you’ll take a few hits, but you should be mindful of which hits are worth dodging and which ones are worth taking. Some mobs have some kind of charge-up ability that is often followed up with a powerful attack, while others are a little less predictable.

ari,i did all u said already. if some ppl think im trolling,they are so wrong. i love mmo’s. i just dont have the feeling i play one!
this thread should be closed, i didnt posted it to make fun or to ennoy other ppl. i just wanted to know if others feels the same. i read some other threads and ppl seems to agree with me. its not my game game,im not even the owner of the account(if i cheat i lose it). if this is anet ideea of making a mmo,i can deal with it. as i said,i played mw3 today,and only a fraction of time gw2.

Of course it’s not a MMO. That’s only a commercial argument in order to lure out people playing WoW.
My impression is that it’s a solo game with a multiplayer dimension. You play solo most of the time, and you can do like 75% of the game without anybody. From time to time you come across players, but they might as well be NPC the way they behave. Then, once you’re done with the solo part of the game, like any other game, you play the multiplayer part of the game. You go to BG, dungeons and such. And that’s the only places where it matters if there are players or not.

So like I said, it’s not a MMO. It’s a solo game, with a multiplayer part integrated, which allows you to enhance the lifespan of the game. That’s all.

What people need to understand is that it isn’t just the more even distribution of the levels, it’s also not a freshly launched game anymore. People don’t play every night for many hours at a time like they do in the launch rush.

Whether or not it’s an MMO is not a matter of how you feel, it’s a game genre.

I found either 2 scenario’s so far, while leveling:

1. there are many players around and everything is zerged (only that giant in Nage… so far proved different because he one-shots people no matter how many near, and he is grinded down or impossible, no in between).

2. there aren’t enough players and many many things suddenly become impossible.

There hardly ever has been an in-between for me so far.

neither 1 or 2 are a good challenge. A challenge should not be too easy, but it shouldn’t be impossible either due to other npc’s being in the way too much.

In the first few days, everybody was in newbie zones…

Now they are all in Orr

Oh, and I couldn’t care less about the label ‘MMO’ by itself. The OP touches on something I experience as a problem while leveling, regardless the name of the game

Telegraph.7509:

In the first few days, everybody was in newbie zones…

Now they are all in Orr

that’s perfectly fine, except for the little fact that you can’t get much done alone in those lowbie zones… you simply get swarmed with npc’s for a start, let alone that some equal level skill points etc can’t be done alone if other mobs are around.
Not to mention DE’s…

It’s not about what the ‘experienced’ players are doing, or not doing. It’s about the game design.
Surely it can’t be meant to be impossible unless there are loads of other people near you?

goto the tp and upgrade your gear, it is super cheap at the lower levels

This game is still highly populated. I was playing in Caledon Forest and starting Brisban on my baby Warrior and I was wading through people.

You have to take into account the hours you’re playing, the areas you’re playing, the server you’re on… and the fact that a lot of people are on a break right now playing MoP. People don’t “quit” GW2. They can come back any times, and leave when something else catches their eye for a bit.

The sky is not falling.

Kimbald.2697:

Telegraph.7509:

In the first few days, everybody was in newbie zones…

Now they are all in Orr

that’s perfectly fine, except for the little fact that you can’t get much done alone in those lowbie zones… you simply get swarmed with npc’s for a start, let alone that some equal level skill points etc can’t be done alone if other mobs are around.
Not to mention DE’s…

It’s not about what the ‘experienced’ players are doing, or not doing. It’s about the game design.
Surely it can’t be meant to be impossible unless there are loads of other people near you?

Oh, I am not trying to explain away the issue or anything – just musing. I play Keg Brawl a lot, and I know “lack of population”.

Is it Massive? yes.
Is it Multiplayer? yes.
Is it Online? yes.

If your having problems:
+ Check your gear…it does matter.
+ Check you skills/build…it does matter. If what you are using is not working try something else.
+ Join a guild that has active players leveling. Makes grouping up substantially easier.
+++++ When an event starts people in the zone are probably unaware its going on. Call it out in /map chat and link the nearest waypoint so they can get there. You would be suprised how many will show up.

Echo.7634:

Is it Massive? yes.
Is it Multiplayer? yes.
Is it Online? yes.

If your having problems:
+ Check your gear…it does matter.
+ Check you skills/build…it does matter. If what you are using is not working try something else.
+ Join a guild that has active players leveling. Makes grouping up substantially easier.
+++++ When an event starts people in the zone are probably unaware its going on. Call it out in /map chat and link the nearest waypoint so they can get there. You would be suprised how many will show up.

^ Good recommendations. I found being in a high pop guild to be rather enjoyable. Though I found a good group of people.

But, it mostly seems like this dude just wants to complain. So, giving advice is probably not going to do much.

@ Echo
Leveling isn’t gear based, I went from 1-80 with crap gear I got from story rewards very easily, And I was in areas 4-5 levels above me. No don’t say my class is OP because I’m working on all toons to 80, that’s 8 classes. Now if your in a dungeon gear kind of matters.

Nope, it’s a single player game with bots.

But seriously, it does feel like a single player game a lot.

The combat and skills make the gameplay homogeneous and boring. That’s why people are leaving. There is limited customization, weak progression in traits, and grouping is redundant. The game is just not well designed and it all stems from the removal of instancing in GW1 and the marginalization of group synergy , instituting zerg mechanics for combat. It’s just not mentally engaging.

There are a lot of people around on my server any time really- if you are stuck try calling for help in map chat.
This is not even necessary most of the time because if a big world boss is up people will come running.
For normal mobs I have often had people rush by land a few blows to get it down if it looks like you are in trouble.
People in the game are generally really nice and don’t mind helping.
Just today I had an awesome fight- I was alone when the champion troll spawned in Sparkfly Fen- I was fighting for a good couple of minutes but with the adds etc I couldn’t get it’s health to drop.
So a couple of people come by and they join- I went down and they rezzed me in a zerg while the champion was attacking my phantasms. We brought him down and it was such a nice experience. We were also talking in say the whole time so it was great.
This is an MMo, not a single player game.

Join some friends, join a guild or just call for help it is not that hard

lothefallen.7081:

The combat and skills make the gameplay homogeneous and boring. That’s why people are leaving. There is limited customization, weak progression in traits, and grouping is redundant. The game is just not well designed and it all stems from the removal of instancing in GW1 and the marginalization of group synergy , instituting zerg mechanics for combat. It’s just not mentally engaging.

That’s a really accurate post.

Well said.

I was sold one thing and the reality is another. Amazing what advertising can do to you.

Just hope I’ve learned my lesson with this one.

Feeling all alone on your map ?

Event just started right under your nose, and your feeling kinda scared ?

Link the nearest Waypoint in Map Chat (needs to be Map Chat for obvious reasons)

Then just announce the Event in the Map Chat, and Bingo, people will turn up, your empty map will suddenly be not so empty.

This will not always work, but can bring results, I think GW2 is suffering from ‘Shyness’, alot of people seem reluctant to talk and err ‘interact’, lolz

So, just give them an easy way to get to you, link the Waypoint, then they can just see where you are, and port on over.

But having said that, World of Wasted Time just got even more ‘wasteful’ with the release of MoP, so people are gonna be checking that out, give it a few weeks and when they are all bored of Pandas and Pet Poking, the numbers will probs go back up again.

MoP was released on a deadly time for GW2, wasn’t it… no coincidence I’m sure.

I am trying out all the tips given here so far by the way:

upgraded gear but I have to say: silver doesn’t come easy in ths game. Luckily you can easiliy find low cost upgrades at the market.

I transferred to a high population server.

Oh, I never was kitteno talk, but thanks for trying to help
Linking the way point really is the only real info people need.

One thing though: I’ve mentioned in /map some events that are impossible alone.
And often the reply is: that guy ‘insert whatever to replace the word guy’ doesn’t give any loot.
Some event npc’s are such a big fight they should give loot…

My biggest concern is this: the game just isn’t designed to do alone, is it?

In topics like this one I’ve been accused of several things, including being paid to be critical (lol), but in the end of the day we all want the same thing:

we want GW2 to be as good as it can be.

And having issues on a less than full server as leveling new player isn’t ‘good advertising’ towards other new players.
GW2 is under a lot of fire because it’s hyped up a lot before launch.
This doesn’t mean all critisism is unfound, and it certainly doesn’t mean MY critisism is aimed at ruining the game.
Quite the contrary…

come on,u advise me to check gear? rly? i bought best for my lvl,try to get cpt quickblade skillpoint for example. entire zone is filled with bandits atacking farm nearby, defended only by few downed npc seraphs.. try to get the skillpoint after u manage to get through those bandits,being same lvl as miniboss. u can have best gear for lvl9-11,u wont succeed! fk arenanet for that,this is not soloable game. its a stupid skillpoint,not a dungeon with awesome reward. i might not be the best mmo player yet last 5 years i played a mmo,so im not that dumb to not verify my gear,skills and tactics. that skillpoint is soloable only by a guardian defensive built.

can be this game dumber? while i wrote previous reply,3 guys come and killed,and i got the point while i was writing here. saved by alt tab…

The maps are freaking huge to see people everywhere, the only place where you gonna see everyone together is the starting zones, lion’s arch, and the major cities, everyone is spread out, they don’t stay in one place. And yes EVERYthing is solo-able except those group events, when one pops up ask in chat for help, if you can’t do that then sorry we can’t help you.

Rannulf: if you’re really alone, the simple respawns of normal mobs hinder you so much you can’t realistically tackle any vetran or skill point mob alone.

Everything is soloable is probably true, but not if the surroundings are empty of players too…

I look forward to having a tough fight against a vetran or skill point mob, or even trying events… but I simply get no room to fight them in if I’m alone.

It’s better on my more populated server this evening by the way, but this doesn’t take away the fact that it should also be possible to level alone on a less populated server (I believe).

I don’t know what game you people are playing, but i made my thief and did 100% world completion ALONE, when i need help for large events i ask for help in chat, i’m making a warrior now and doing the same.

You people just need to learn how to play the game.

AsgardNation.2953:

i barely find 2-3 ppl online during map exploring.
maybe i am the lowest lvl remained on low areas,or did everybody else quitted already?

In response to the title of your thread: Are you a troll?

you didn’t do that alone.
Aren’t you one of those saying there are always people around?

I’m not trying to nargue with you for the sake of arguing, but there is a difference between playing by yourself while other s are there, and truly being alone in that area.

You can not complete a map alone. You only can do it ‘alone’ if at the crucial points other players are around too.

What I am saying is that on the mid pop server I was on this saturday afternoon, too many crucial map points were impossible… because I was truly the only player there.
As I said: it’s better on a new server this evening.

But that returns us to the fact of the matter: this game just isn’t designed to level alone, unless enough others are around.
And it does seem that a lot of people stopped playing, or if they do play, they aren’t in the mid-level zones…

Kimbald.2697:

you didn’t do that alone.
Aren’t you one of those saying there are always people around?

I’m not trying to nargue with you for the sake of arguing, but there is a difference between playing by yourself while other s are there, and truly being alone in that area.

You can not complete a map alone. You only can do it ‘alone’ if at the crucial points other players are around too.

What I am saying is that on the mid pop server I was on this saturday afternoon, too many crucial map points were impossible… because I was truly the only player there.
As I said: it’s better on a new server this evening.

But that returns us to the fact of the matter: this game just isn’t designed to level alone, unless enough others are around.
And it does seem that a lot of people stopped playing, or if they do play, they aren’t in the mid-level zones…

There are people around but they don’t stay in one place, people spread out, just ask in map chat and you will see people, one of the problem i have with this game is people are too quite in map chat, if you’re feeling alone join a guild. But people are there.

Piken Square has a pretty solid and stable player population, credited in large part due to it being one of two unofficial role-playing realms. With that said, however, I’ve definitely noticed a slight decline in the number of players.

I’ve not been put into an overflow server for a fair few days, so I think it’s safe to say that the initial launch hype has begun to settle and subside for a variety of reasons already brought up by other posters.

I’m still enjoying the game, though it is a little frustrating to see certain events and zones neglected by my peers.

Yak’s Bend keeps putting me in LA overflow. Apparently, that must mean the game’s dying.

DusK.3849:

Yak’s Bend keeps putting me in LA overflow. Apparently, that must mean the game’s dying.

No, it means the game can’t even handle all the bots right now.

Not arguing with the social part or the guild part, which is the same but than organised ‘social’

But try asking for help on say a veteran mob, or some no loot dropping world boss type of npc…

These arguments tend to get polarised.
I’m not saying you are wrong, but I am saying you and others don’t see the problems that arise when really hardly anyone is near, and no one is bothered to come help…

Player mentality in GW2 is luckiy very helpfull, actually like Wow in the early days. WoW is degrading over it’s trade chat boredom, and seeing the hostile elitisism on these forums isn’t a welcome sign either to be honest (not aimed at you).

The whole idea of wandering about in the massive game world, not being tied to quest lines, was a big selling point of this game.
From my experience on a mid pop server, it seemed that I couldn’t really do that.
I could only wander alone where others were wandering alone too…

Garenthal.1480:

Piken Square has a pretty solid and stable player population, credited in large part due to it being one of two unofficial role-playing realms. With that said, however, I’ve definitely noticed a slight decline in the number of players.

I’ve not been put into an overflow server for a fair few days, so I think it’s safe to say that the initial launch hype has begun to settle and subside for a variety of reasons already brought up by other posters.

I’m still enjoying the game, though it is a little frustrating to see certain events and zones neglected by my peers.

I might check that out, since I never RP’ed before, while quite liking to make up history etc for my char.
But aside my own preference: don’t you think a typical RP server is the last to die out?
People there are playing this for the story and roleplaying, they’re passionate about that more than game mechanics or pvp imbalance or other issues.
They still care, but they are more committed to their ‘role’ in general.
so I think those servers would actually hold their players the longest.

I could be wrong, but I don’t think anyone randomly picks a RP server… not for long anyway

The problem with social interaction is the social part. And that depends on people more than anything.

I just have a hard time believing complaints about lack of population, not because I don’t think it’s possible, but because the people who complain generally fail to mention basic things like:

Server name
Area name
Time and timezone when the person was playing

As long as we don’t have that sort of information, the OP can be a total troll for all I care. We can’t even check if anything he says has any value when there are no facts to consider.

I’ve seen threads where people finally mentioned their server name and then there were instantly replies of people from the same server who said it was nonesense and that they had no problem finding people.

So who should we believe?

Obviously since negative things are more exciting, people tend to believe the negative first.

I am all for criticism, but without any useful info or facts it’s just a load of empty talk to me.

They can’t be giving their server name, silly. Then anyone could just hop on the game and realize that it’s a high-pop or full server. And that would contradict all the doom-and-gloom rhetoric they posted.