Hail fellow jungle adventurers.
Seeing the massive list of hot being good or bad i felt the need to write my own initial impressions of the expansion while comparing it to the many other mmo/expac launches that I’ve been apart of.
I am an mmo nerd, not of the mtn dew variety but more the Red bull/Irn bru type if you want specifics, eu and na difference yeah?
Been on gw2 off and on since head start, before hot i viewed gw2 as one of the better more successful mmos available on market, one of a few i return to often.
Now with hot starting up there have been many changes and additions.
So lets get started on a mini review.
The Good.
I’ve not seen this mentioned much but the launch was smooth as silk, i mean seriously no queues, no getting stuck or lost unable to play with who i want. Only technical issue i had was a reward box that kept crashing my client which is now fixed might i add.
I praise anet for such a smooth ride so many other mmos cause serious frustrarion here and i think many players take gw2s professional launch for granted.
Content. I love the new maps, before id hardly ever step into pve. Why?
Because it was too easy, brain dead easy infact. You simply could not lose.
Entering verdent brink for the first time gives you a shock to the system, the game forces you to focus and pay attention.
No more spamming auto attack and only paying attention to how many champions you can tag rather than whether there is a threat to your chars well being around.
For me this is a vast improvement over the original game. I believe i might continue into pve instead of only being here for the wvw.
Anybody complaining about hardness for me should stick to the original brain dead head bashing mind numbingly boring original game, orr awaits you.
The design of the maps is amazing. Im discovering cool stuff every play session and i have much much more to do yet.
The new musical score is fantastic, I had music disabled in vanilla, bit bored listening to most of those tunes since gw1 but these new ones which borrow themes from certain popular movies and such are just brilliant.
I actually really like the mastery system.
It adds a unique take on the levelling formula of the classic Rpg.
I can safely say the expansion would be very boring without the required gating the mastery system provides locking you from parts of the world.
For example, i found a way down into the depths to this apparent massive underwater tunnel area on the 3rd map. I only had glider masteries.. I was thinking this looks cool.
I venture out only to start getting destroyed by many hungry fish. Turns out i couldn’t continue.. I tried anyway and died hah but the thing is.. I WANT to go there EVEN MORE now.
Thats basic messing with human psychology and its great, adds to the game.
Gliding.
I used to play Aion over the years and gliding is nostalgic for me.. More so with my black feather angel wings!!! =) Being able to use them as a glider is amazing. Gliding its self i think is also helped by the awesome map design.
Desert borderlands is nice though i have to explore it more.
Guild halls are cool.
The Bad.
Hero point elite spec gating. Duh.
This was a big mistake on anets part in my opinion.
They gave everyone full access to Elite specs in beta then lock them behind a wall on official launch.
Im not saying players should have gotten them for free but if i was designing it, id have made the hp requirement the same as other specs while gating them behind a system of close to map completion of the first map only (or 50 wvw ranks not kitten 200). Giving players a fine taste of the new expansion without feeling FORCED to do it, to unlock something they had before even if it was beta.
For example i enjoy the game but i have jumped ahead of my normal progression through the maps and masteries looking for hps i can get without it being restricted.
That forced me to see things such as the forgotten city and the mursat like people before i did the story. To see clear spoilers of what will happen in the story when id have not gone there before otherwise.
I.e. I know some skritt ship is involved and gets blown up some place and what that entails possibly.
Id also be spending time on the actual game instead of hunting for silly hps like a mad man which i might add is very immersion breaking and boring.
I am at grandmaster now (work alot this week) its not hard for me, i dont mind hard, its tedious not hard. Stupid design choice.
Im sure it will be fixed but maps can get empty of players, that is obviously a big negative and counter to the point of the megaserver.
Lack of loot on some events is lame even when killing lots of hard champ mobs.
The ugly……
One of my characters is a ranger (playing mes in hot) and they got screwed in the rear this expansion…
First they are the only elite spec to be pure healing.
Healing could go well with the core of any class as long as it was controled, in bw3 druid was fun. A sort of medi guardian style of play, many were calling it just that.
Then they go and gut druids Asteral Force mechanics WITHOUT TELLING ANYONE.
Seriously.
They went and changed the Entire concept and left the players to discover their new shiny toy they have bought and looked forward to playing is infact something else, something clunky, not fun. Just kitten really.
There is lots of feedback on the ranger forum about it but to me the biggest downer is the silence from Anet.
Certain devs were involved ireneo(sp) and probably Roy and neither have said anything about it.
Druid is the only elite spec being made only useful in raid situations and crap everywhere else.
The silence to me is quite pathetic and it does look like office politics playing a part of ruining parts of the game.
Anet need to get a grip, explain and communicate.
Druid may have needed toned down but this absolute gutting of the class without communication is highly unprofessional.
Overall; day one, druid made me mad, still does.
But i like hot.
I think hp grind was a mistake but think hardness and masteries is great.
Maps are amazing and the future of the game looks bright!!
Sorry for grammar, wrote on phone.
Reavx