Guild Wars 2

Personally I’m a bit frustrated because I enjoy playing the game but I don’t enjoy spending a bunch of time trying to get from point A where I am to point B where I can actually play.

I don’t understand why game designers think vertical zones are such a great innovation when every game I’ve seen them in has demonstrated that most players avoid them whenever possible.

It’s great. I love it.

It gives more exploration and makes the zones feel more alive instead of a flat zone. I like that feeling of “I can’t get there quite yet, I need more skills” but that doesn’t surprise me since I love Zelda games.

Welp as someone who just wants to use the new spec in WvWvW, it got annoying running around trying to find an objective on a twisting and constantly coiling map only to find out that I can’t even interact with it anyway. Protecting these soldiers/rally points etc got boring fast because you’re just freaking grinding mobs.

P.S seems like thin content scattered around in big complicated maps

The new map is frustrating until you get Gliding→Bouncing shrooms→Updraft, but then it becomes a LOT of fun.

gennyt.3428:

Welp as someone who just wants to use the new spec in WvWvW, it got annoying running around trying to find an objective on a twisting and constantly coiling map only to find out that I can’t even interact with it anyway. Protecting these soldiers/rally points etc got boring fast because you’re just freaking grinding mobs.

I’m in the same boat as you. I just want to play the new elite spec for WvW. I’ve been running around for 4 hours and have only got 6 HP challenges done. A lot of the challenges are champion monsters which you can’t solo >_>.

GreyWraith.8394:

Personally I’m a bit frustrated because I enjoy playing the game but I don’t enjoy spending a bunch of time trying to get from point A where I am to point B where I can actually play.

I don’t understand why game designers think vertical zones are such a great innovation when every game I’ve seen them in has demonstrated that most players avoid them whenever possible.

Many will hate it.

The few who like it will soothe the makers.

My feeling is the majority feel very let down.

Ohoni.6057:

The new map is frustrating until you get Gliding->Bouncing shrooms->Updraft, but then it becomes a LOT of fun.

Agreed – with those things it is a lot of fun to fly and jump around.

atheria.2837:

GreyWraith.8394:

Personally I’m a bit frustrated because I enjoy playing the game but I don’t enjoy spending a bunch of time trying to get from point A where I am to point B where I can actually play.

I don’t understand why game designers think vertical zones are such a great innovation when every game I’ve seen them in has demonstrated that most players avoid them whenever possible.

Many will hate it.

The few who like it will soothe the makers.

My feeling is the majority feel very let down.

My feeling is on the opposite side.

I feel that the majority enjoys it, and players who shouldn’t play MMO’s to begin with want everything with a slight resistance on a silver platter.

Yeah idk which dev thought it was a good idea. The new wvw map is similar and is really annoying. GG anet GG

Vertical zone was a major reason for me not to buy the expansion. I’ll probably play a whole lot less wvw as well.

And to the one comment re people who shouldn’t play MMOs.. I started gaming in 2003. MMOs are all that I have played. None of them have or had this amount of vertical content or platforming. This game is aiming harder at Console players… not longtime MMO players.

New PvE areas are terrible. This vertical zones extremely bad decision by the game designers.

Not gonna bag on verticle areas, just wanted to point out that if you look at the actual land mass of the verticle and combine it with the lower total land masses below it, it comes out to be 1 full zone of area you can actually walk on. So basically what they did was divide a single map up in to smaller areas and shifted them up or down to give the appearance of 3 maps in one… very sneaky Anet.

I don’t call that a full zone or a map, i call that a mini-map. They even gated by every mean their tiny work to pretend.

What I’ve seen is really pretty and interesting and I can definitely appreciate the time, effort, and skill that was needed to create these maps. The devs definitely made something quite awesome.

But I just felt frustrated practically the whole time because it’s really confusing to navigate and it seems all we have to do is events (I never spent more time than necessary in Orr, DT, or SW. I tire of events quickly.) I’m feeling quite bummed now and dreading progressing anything given I found it so hard to get to events or couldn’t complete them due to lacking a mastery. I think it’s the drive for wanting to progress masteries that’s causing stress and frustration from finding it difficult to get to events. I do hope it gets better. I really do want to like all this. :/

Its extremely irritating to get to one place only to realise the point I want is actually somewhere above or below and I have to find some detour to get there. Starting to regret getting the expansion now. Getting glider helped a bit but its still really annoying when something i want is above me and i cant find the way up.

The events give so little exp and are hard to reach too at the beginning, been running around the whole day and only managed to unlock level 1 glider and a bit of progression to shrooms.

have you been using boosters and foods etc to increase xp? those do help a good bit if you havent been using them.

I really, really, really want to like it, but after few hours I feel like I’m getting just frustrated instead of having fun. Right now I feel like I’d rather get Hero Points for my Revenant in Tyria. I’ve only been in the first zone so far, are the other zones different?

Teofa Tsavo.9863:

Vertical zone was a major reason for me not to buy the expansion. I’ll probably play a whole lot less wvw as well.

And to the one comment re people who shouldn’t play MMOs.. I started gaming in 2003. MMOs are all that I have played. None of them have or had this amount of vertical content or platforming. This game is aiming harder at Console players… not longtime MMO players.

This game is targeted at the people who are tired of the same old MMO design. Seriously, every single time Anet does something new and fun people say this isn’t like all those other MMOs. That is exactly the point. Really tired of the same old content design with a different theme in every single game. Anet tries to do new things, regardless of if you enjoy it or not, that is something to be appreciated.

Also on the topic of people enjoying the expansion or not. If they are enjoying it a lot, they probably aren’t on the forums complaining. Considering how dead the forums are, I tend to think it is doing well.

Does The Grove mimic vertical zones at least by some sort of appearance?

So far :
Verdant brink : A deliciously pleasant maze
Aura thingy : An interesting map with little mob that eat you like vultures on dead body.

I’m not liking it at all.
Too much unlock grinding just to do simple tasks.

I really like vertical zones. Its new, and its really amazing if you are look up and see undiscovered places. GJ anet, GJ.

The entire concept behind these new maps is ridiciuosly stupid. Instead of making decent content that is slightly difficult and fun to play they have decided to make it take longer to do by just making it diffcult to find. I put off buying this expansion because I knew anet was going to something like this, now I am full on regretting buying it. I really don’t mind grinding stuff out to get my gear and other things I want in game. But I shouldn’t have to spend hours looking for 1 hero point. Who ever designed these map should Never design another map because they clearly have no clue what they are doing. It the same type of content they made for Eotm and we see how much people use it.

Maps need to flow. There should be some direction that generally pushes people to where they need to go. Some maze type terrain is fine, but every map that anet has come out with since original launch has been this type multiple level BS.

problem is they put progression behind maze maps. Then added exp grind to maze maps Maze maps are ok when you can do it at your liesure, but making it an impediment to your first hero points is a bad look.

Also, starting people off unable to travel is bad.
Games that design travel unlock based maps make sure that you have the new travel ability as you go through the content you just got access to.

I’m kinda on the fence here. On the positive side, exploration is really fun. But on the negative side, if a certain event needs more players or you want to go to a specific place fast, there’s no way (since the WP’s are contested during an event) and that sucks. Note that this might become easier once you unlock the mushrooms and updraft gliding, I’m not there yet personally.

One word: horrid! By far the worst map design I’ve ever seen.

How I’d define the exact opposite of fun? → being expected to wander about endless endlessly confusing multi level claustrophobic ragged corridor maze maps filled to the brim with dead ends.

Good thing the much hyped new elite spec’s aren’t gated behind endless xp grinds that can only be done on those aforementioned fun-ridden maps……..

I do like exploring, but I’d rather do it on my own terms, not by frantically seeking locked behind content, be it accessing full power of the elite specialization via hero points, unlocking masteries or just trying to find the next story step.

Unlocking the elite spec is even worse with daredevil as the “elite mechanic” aka third (modified) dodge is locked behind GM traits, which basically means I’m better off using 3 core specs until I have unlocked everything from the elite spec. It is bad design.

The aforementioned combined with the maze-like vertical maps filled with multiple dead ends, mastery locked stuff, unreachable hero points and way points and finally the “you cannot progress or move on until you have ended this event” type of events made the first touch with the new content rather frustrating.

To not sound like negative nancy, I did like the story.

I personally love the first new map we get to explore. It reminds me of games like zelda, dark souls, or metroid, where you need to unlock some new abilities to get to areas inaccessible before.
I more than enjoy having the ability to discover hidden areas, and wanted that kind of stuff to appear on the maps of the core game.
So far, I think that this map is by far the most enjoyable map ever created. Everything feels alive compared to other maps.

Also, verticality is a good thing.

I like it, dont like it to be required. Reward me for doing difficult things, but dont make them mandatory.

Bearded.6485:

The entire concept behind these new maps is ridiciuosly stupid. Instead of making decent content that is slightly difficult and fun to play they have decided to make it take longer to do by just making it diffcult to find. I put off buying this expansion because I knew anet was going to something like this, now I am full on regretting buying it. I really don’t mind grinding stuff out to get my gear and other things I want in game. But I shouldn’t have to spend hours looking for 1 hero point. Who ever designed these map should Never design another map because they clearly have no clue what they are doing. It the same type of content they made for Eotm and we see how much people use it.

Maps need to flow. There should be some direction that generally pushes people to where they need to go. Some maze type terrain is fine, but every map that anet has come out with since original launch has been this type multiple level BS.

This. make the maps like they made the charr lands maps. Those are legit =)

Methal.9045:

Bearded.6485:

The entire concept behind these new maps is ridiciuosly stupid. Instead of making decent content that is slightly difficult and fun to play they have decided to make it take longer to do by just making it diffcult to find. I put off buying this expansion because I knew anet was going to something like this, now I am full on regretting buying it. I really don’t mind grinding stuff out to get my gear and other things I want in game. But I shouldn’t have to spend hours looking for 1 hero point. Who ever designed these map should Never design another map because they clearly have no clue what they are doing. It the same type of content they made for Eotm and we see how much people use it.

Maps need to flow. There should be some direction that generally pushes people to where they need to go. Some maze type terrain is fine, but every map that anet has come out with since original launch has been this type multiple level BS.

This. make the maps like they made the charr lands maps. Those are legit =)

Charr maps are boring imo.
Also it’s a jungle. It’s supposed to be unpracticable.

Ohoni.6057
The new map is frustrating until you get Gliding?Bouncing shrooms?Updraft, but then it becomes a LOT of fun

I will even go as far as to say gliding alone added to the fun factor big time.

yea… fun for 12.5 seconds till you fall to your death… gliding never should have had a timer on it tbh…

This whole expansion needs a redesign. it’s a huge let down.

So we learn to glide like we had to learn to dodge roll.

Wait…most of us still haven’t master that yet.

I dont like it. There is little point to exploring unless you unlock most of the masteries, as lord knows a good chunk of them are hidden behind mastery related mechanics.

You’re missing out then.

I had gliding unlocked about ninety minutes in just running around.

Then I would just run to an edge and jump. Fantastic

it’s a huge, boring grindfest, maybe i’ll just go play a game that had fun in mind during design. as many have pointed out, trying to explore areas that are gated by this terribly convoluted mastery system just make it frustrating

DresdenAllblack.1249:

You’re missing out then.

I had gliding unlocked about ninety minutes in just running around.

Then I would just run to an edge and jump. Fantastic

Are you talking about me? Because I seriously doubt you have Updraft Use, Bouncing Mushrooms, Itzel Poison Lore (with is tier 4…) and Exalted Markings yet. All these things block you from exploring a map, and there is 0 way to get around them.

Jesus. All these spoon feeding demanding players.

it’s boring farzo, games are meant to be fun, not boring

I appreciate to read all your comments. I have not yet purchased.
A test weekend would be nice.

I absolutely adore these new zones and exploration. It’s absolutely mesmerizing.

The new zone is freaked amazing!! The exploration potential is off the charts!!

I’m finding the map frustrating. Maybe it would be more fun if I didn’t have to grind to get around the map to grind to get the e-specs.

Basically the map is a gigantic multi-tiered labyrinth that gets cut off half the time and requires teamwork to get anywhere. I don’t understand the meta events, I don’t understand rally points, I don’t get the supply mechanic. All I know is that I go to escort NPCs, and then they just up and give up after awhile because “the point is lost”.

its FAR too frustrating to navigate, its awful, and all the skills you need to navigate are locked behind a grind wall?

slow clap

The announced focus on vertical map design was a major contributor to my decision to not buy the expansion.

Personally, I’m loving the verticality of the new maps. I know it makes navigation a little more tricky, yet, it makes it feel more natural and as thought there’s so much more to explore. I keep finding all sorts of goodies and places in the new caves. hoping to try exploring the canopy a little more once I raise my masteries. I imagine this will keep me busy for quite a bit longer than some of the older less altitude varied maps.

Zibbles.6349:

Personally, I’m loving the verticality of the new maps. I know it makes navigation a little more tricky, yet, it makes it feel more natural and as thought there’s so much more to explore. I keep finding all sorts of goodies and places in the new caves. hoping to try exploring the canopy a little more once I raise my masteries. I imagine this will keep me busy for quite a bit longer than some of the older less altitude varied maps.

i would enjoy it more if you didnt have to grind to be able to navigate the area. Whats next you have to grind xp to be able to run or jump?

horrible…gliders are nice….but the maps are not