Guild Wars 2

This is a post that really is meant to outline my impressions I’ve come to from Heart of Thorns.

First Impressions:
- Open World
Very early on I loved this expansion. I found myself grouping a lot in Open World. This was both with Guildies and really anyone I encountered. I loved this as it brought out a lot of missing socializing that had long since died from the game.
- Exploration
The exploration was good. There was a lot to do for the first 96 levels of Mastery or so, but by 41 that began to taper off hard.
- Challenging Encounters for the Post-80 Experience
Most of the Heart of Thorns creatures were pretty lethal compared to Central Tyria forcing most of us to group in order to get through them.

Later Impressions:
- “There’s really nothing to do.”
- The Mastery System isn’t that great.
- Auric Basin is 1/4 the size it appears because Tarir is massive, but useless
- There are 3.1 maps because of the reason above rather than 4.
- The fourth map, Dragon Stand, is really only a map if there are people doing the Map. Otherwise it gets halved.
- For the reason above we now only have 2.6 maps.
- I really don’t feel the need, desire, nor compulsion via any ‘fun’ with it to go on leveling much more than level 137 in Masteries… and that IF and ONLY IF I take my sweet time getting there because honestly… 80 levels was too much to start with. 160 some more doesn’t strike me as fun in the least since the content to do it from I don’t accomplish. I have to give myself over to the carrot-on-a-stick experience of Achievements rather than Exploring or defeating some enemy. And achievements are Story Mode. Not just getting done with story, but doing a whole block of achievements that are annoying little nick-nack mechanics I couldn’t care less about. Basically, 1/5th of the Mastery System is FUN. The rest of it is a pointless shameful grind that’s degrading and just a lot of annoying content most of us want nothing to do with.
The good news is most of the masteries after level 96 or so are just vanity fair stuff that really doesn’t add a lot more to the gaming experience. Unfortunately you have to have gone the right direction to get there. If you went after all Exalted Mastery for some reason then you’re looking at 160 some levels of Masteries before you can get on with gaming.
- The Ascended Armor nerf + Dungeon nerf = no Ascended Armor
Ascended Armor can be gotten only if a player devotes all of their time farming Chests in Open World for Empyreal Shards and then some more months farming Ore. That’s for just one Ascended Set. Legendary weapons are easier AND cheaper than this.
- Raids are the only content giving any rewards.
Fractals being made so that you do one Fractal and then level up your personal level was a great idea. Removing the Ascended Droprate from its already Nerfed point MARGINALIZED HALF YOUR PLAYER BASE!!!!!!!!

Pretty much the Ascended Armor situation + raids has transformed Guild Wars 2 from being an Open World game into another Level and Gear Grind treadmill.

You may have just killed this game Anet. Your game WAS Open World, WvW, PvP, and NOT FORCING us on a permanent Gear and Level grind. That’s very close to dead now. When it goes you’ll have killed the only thing your game was selling. So think very hard about that.

Eirdyne.9843:

This is a post that really is meant to outline my impressions I’ve come to from Heart of Thorns.

First Impressions:
- Open World
Very early on I loved this expansion. I found myself grouping a lot in Open World. This was both with Guildies and really anyone I encountered. I loved this as it brought out a lot of missing socializing that had long since died from the game.
- Exploration
The exploration was good. There was a lot to do for the first 96 levels of Mastery or so, but by 41 that began to taper off hard.
- Challenging Encounters for the Post-80 Experience
Most of the Heart of Thorns creatures were pretty lethal compared to Central Tyria forcing most of us to group in order to get through them.

Later Impressions:
- “There’s really nothing to do.”
- The Mastery System isn’t that great.
- Auric Basin is 1/4 the size it appears because Tarir is massive, but useless
- There are 3.1 maps because of the reason above rather than 4.
- The fourth map, Dragon Stand, is really only a map if there are people doing the Map. Otherwise it gets halved.
- For the reason above we now only have 2.6 maps.
- I really don’t feel the need, desire, nor compulsion via any ‘fun’ with it to go on leveling much more than level 137 in Masteries… and that IF and ONLY IF I take my sweet time getting there because honestly… 80 levels was too much to start with. 160 some more doesn’t strike me as fun in the least since the content to do it from I don’t accomplish. I have to give myself over to the carrot-on-a-stick experience of Achievements rather than Exploring or defeating some enemy. And achievements are Story Mode. Not just getting done with story, but doing a whole block of achievements that are annoying little nick-nack mechanics I couldn’t care less about. Basically, 1/5th of the Mastery System is FUN. The rest of it is a pointless shameful grind that’s degrading and just a lot of annoying content most of us want nothing to do with.
The good news is most of the masteries after level 96 or so are just vanity fair stuff that really doesn’t add a lot more to the gaming experience. Unfortunately you have to have gone the right direction to get there. If you went after all Exalted Mastery for some reason then you’re looking at 160 some levels of Masteries before you can get on with gaming.
- The Ascended Armor nerf + Dungeon nerf = no Ascended Armor
Ascended Armor can be gotten only if a player devotes all of their time farming Chests in Open World for Empyreal Shards and then some more months farming Ore. That’s for just one Ascended Set. Legendary weapons are easier AND cheaper than this.
- Raids are the only content giving any rewards.
Fractals being made so that you do one Fractal and then level up your personal level was a great idea. Removing the Ascended Droprate from its already Nerfed point MARGINALIZED HALF YOUR PLAYER BASE!!!!!!!!

Pretty much the Ascended Armor situation + raids has transformed Guild Wars 2 from being an Open World game into another Level and Gear Grind treadmill.

You may have just killed this game Anet. Your game WAS Open World, WvW, PvP, and NOT FORCING us on a permanent Gear and Level grind. That’s very close to dead now. When it goes you’ll have killed the only thing your game was selling. So think very hard about that.

Oh your done less then a month since release?
Maybe the content they spent over a year on wasent meant to be rushed in 29 days OP have you considered that maybe your not doing it as intended?

Edit
Trails of atlantis failed for a totaly other reason OP , mythic forced realm vs realm guys into pve best in slot item hunts or they wouldent be able to compete in dark age of camelot.
A good try but its a failiure

Edit2
And what forced gear grind? by level I guess masteries right?

If that wasent there you would have been done in less then a day.
Maybe you should start watching tv series or something no grind there at all.

Linken.6345:

Eirdyne.9843:

This is a post that really is meant to outline my impressions I’ve come to from Heart of Thorns.

First Impressions:
- Open World
Very early on I loved this expansion. I found myself grouping a lot in Open World. This was both with Guildies and really anyone I encountered. I loved this as it brought out a lot of missing socializing that had long since died from the game.
- Exploration
The exploration was good. There was a lot to do for the first 96 levels of Mastery or so, but by 41 that began to taper off hard.
- Challenging Encounters for the Post-80 Experience
Most of the Heart of Thorns creatures were pretty lethal compared to Central Tyria forcing most of us to group in order to get through them.

Later Impressions:
- “There’s really nothing to do.”
- The Mastery System isn’t that great.
- Auric Basin is 1/4 the size it appears because Tarir is massive, but useless
- There are 3.1 maps because of the reason above rather than 4.
- The fourth map, Dragon Stand, is really only a map if there are people doing the Map. Otherwise it gets halved.
- For the reason above we now only have 2.6 maps.
- I really don’t feel the need, desire, nor compulsion via any ‘fun’ with it to go on leveling much more than level 137 in Masteries… and that IF and ONLY IF I take my sweet time getting there because honestly… 80 levels was too much to start with. 160 some more doesn’t strike me as fun in the least since the content to do it from I don’t accomplish. I have to give myself over to the carrot-on-a-stick experience of Achievements rather than Exploring or defeating some enemy. And achievements are Story Mode. Not just getting done with story, but doing a whole block of achievements that are annoying little nick-nack mechanics I couldn’t care less about. Basically, 1/5th of the Mastery System is FUN. The rest of it is a pointless shameful grind that’s degrading and just a lot of annoying content most of us want nothing to do with.
The good news is most of the masteries after level 96 or so are just vanity fair stuff that really doesn’t add a lot more to the gaming experience. Unfortunately you have to have gone the right direction to get there. If you went after all Exalted Mastery for some reason then you’re looking at 160 some levels of Masteries before you can get on with gaming.
- The Ascended Armor nerf + Dungeon nerf = no Ascended Armor
Ascended Armor can be gotten only if a player devotes all of their time farming Chests in Open World for Empyreal Shards and then some more months farming Ore. That’s for just one Ascended Set. Legendary weapons are easier AND cheaper than this.
- Raids are the only content giving any rewards.
Fractals being made so that you do one Fractal and then level up your personal level was a great idea. Removing the Ascended Droprate from its already Nerfed point MARGINALIZED HALF YOUR PLAYER BASE!!!!!!!!

Pretty much the Ascended Armor situation + raids has transformed Guild Wars 2 from being an Open World game into another Level and Gear Grind treadmill.

You may have just killed this game Anet. Your game WAS Open World, WvW, PvP, and NOT FORCING us on a permanent Gear and Level grind. That’s very close to dead now. When it goes you’ll have killed the only thing your game was selling. So think very hard about that.

Oh your done less then a month since release?
Maybe the content they spent over a year on wasent meant to be rushed in 29 days OP have you considered that maybe your not doing it as intended?

Edit
Trails of atlantis failed for a totaly other reason OP , mythic forced realm vs realm guys into pve best in slot item hunts or they wouldent be able to compete in dark age of camelot.
A good try but its a failiure

Edit2
And what forced gear grind? by level I guess masteries right?

If that wasent there you would have been done in less then a day.
Maybe you should start watching tv series or something no grind there at all.

But there is grind in a TV series, I have to grind out a whole week before I can watch the next one.

Oh no thats waiting not grinding mate and thats why you watch more then one like 40

Linken.6345:

Oh no thats waiting not grinding mate and thats why you watch more then one like 40

Oh it is grinding when you have to sit through a week of the wife’s soaps.

Brother …. if you’re wife is watching soaps, maybe you should “grind out” some more romance in that marriage …

expansions are normally a work in progress and considering its guildwars 2 everything isnt in game yet they not just gonna drop that map and say here boys have fun get bored after awhile the meat of the expansion gonna get pushed out there once the living story starts spinning again.