Guild Wars 2

I just wanted to give a big Thank You to the ANET team for the experience they’ve created in Heart of Thorns.

Despite some of the bugs and issues some people have been complaining about I have had quite the positive experience exploring the different zones, participating in the events, and progressing through the story line.

For me, the greatest things about the original Guild Wars were the excellent story lines added in the frequent expansions, and the lack of level grinds. GW2 HoT brought both of those aspects back to the game and I’m loving it.

The storyline was compelling, with very creative and well put-together missions that actually make you think and come up with strategies for completion. The final battle was immersive and one of my favorite boss battles of any games I’ve ever played. I really felt like everything I was doing in the fight was having an impact on the environment and overall victory, and I’m looking forward to trying it sometime in Extreme mode!

The difficulty of HoT, while surprising at first, really encouraged me to improve my gameplay and brought my skill-level for playing my character to a whole new level which has been awesome! I actually feel like I’m not “mashing buttons” and actually putting more thought into how I use my skills!

And I’ve loved the Mastery Points system, progressing my character by gaining new skills and abilities that enhance my exploration and gameplay rather than just going up a level that just results in increased stats and new gear unlocks which aren’t that meaningful.

All in all, a great expansion guys. Keep up the great work!

Also have to say this is the best expansion I’ve played. So many positive things, short bullet list

• Smooth launch with very minor hiccups
• Game feels like a release grade product
• Creative map designs with excellent work by the art department.
• The overall story and narrative delivery are much improved over core game
• The way the events transition based on day time, night time and phasing between maps make the game world for alive.
• PvP upgraded with much needed progression path more causals
• In addition to their functional use Guild Halls give us a much needed place to simply sign in and be social in-game
• Multi-guild chat means we get to see conversations from our new and old friends without having to choose between them
• As a company ANet has listening to the community and was quick to address specific things players were most concerned about.

Long boring bullet point list. The bottom line is they found the fun. Once you orientate yourself to the new systems and progression path and start playing HoT becomes very hard to step away from. When you do sign back in there is no dread of XP grind. You’re just trying to decide if you want to go after, do adventures, etc… The more I play the more I want to play it more.

Perfect 10/10