Guild Wars 2

The following comments are given from the point of view of players with a casual play style, and should be read as such, (even though I myself, am a seasoned MMO player). The following is the experience of players I know.

First, the new trait system is confusing. People I have spoke to are overwhelmed by it, confused as to how it actually works and worry about spending points by mistake, even though this isn’t actually an issue at all. Every class can have all their traits by 80, so why not just enable traits automatically as you level, instead of confusing people with fake choices. There could be a “reset” trait option for advanced players that want to make custom builds as they level. I have seen players simply ignore the system all together and just run around playing with no traits at all!

It is a little confusing having a trait actually change your class, many players could simply overlook this feature. Also weapon info still says “… usable by your profession”, simply because you don’t have the correct trait picked. It should read "Only usable with “XXXX” trait selected" or something to that effect.

Guild Wars 2 is a very casual game, and as such should have systems in place that reflect this. Everything should be in one easy to understand place.

To sum up, adding complexity, while creating “deeper” game play, also pushes some player away. Also one pitfall that needs to be kept in mind, as the game systems become more and more complicated: skill resets can and do happen in MMOs. How many times have you gone back to an MMO you used to play, only to find all your skills reset, and it would take hours of research to “rebuild” your character. This has happened to me in many games. I usually just log out and play something else….

I’m a by far not a hardcore gamer, I play this game mainly for open world pve, exploration and such…

And as soon as the game pointed out the trait system to me as well as the build system, I started using it, sure it took me getting to level 80 and alot of reading through the traits and finding ones that worked together.

But I figured it out in time, stop dumbing down a game just because a small percentage doesnt realize that the big glowing button is worth checking out, or cant be bothered to read through some minute volumes of text to try and find some synergies.

That said, anything in the open world, can be defeated using no traits at all, it wont be optimal, it wont be at all times a fun experiance because you lack substantial power, but it is possible.

And if players are pushed back by “deeper” gameplay, they probably should stay clear of RPGs, because they are built on deeper gameplay, such as character customization.

Honestly, everything you’ve described here is a non-issue. If GW2 didnt have the build variety the trait system allows for, I would’ve never stuck to it, it would’ve gotten boring REAL FAST. Half the game is getting to 80, the other half is figuring out stats and builds to venture into fractals and the like, or to try your hand at PvP.