Guild Wars 2

I haven’t explored half of the new content yet and I’m seriously thinking about just uninstalling.

-New maps are a nightmare for solo players. Veterans mobs everywhere, champions for skill points, not to mention how poorly designed they are, half of the time I was running in circle trying to get to a point that was either above or below me. I had to google a guide to find skillpoints…

-You’re forced into an extremmely grindy mastery system right in the middle of the story. Great design.
I can’t comment on the story, I keep getting stoped by the mastery system.
This morning I had to stop my story progression just so I can jump on 2 mushrooms at the start of the mission.
IS THAT REALLY NECESSARY ?
I get it, you created a new system, let me enjoy the story, put a ramp there instead of 2 mushrooms, i’ll grind your kitten later.

-Ascended craft is still limited by daily cooldowns. It’s been out for so long and it hasn’t changed.
I’d like to reroll and enjoy some WvW in between the event grind but I don’t want to pvp with weaker items for weeks. I thought we were supposed to all be equal in PVP.

At least sPVP feels better now, they seem to have removed most of siege damage and water maps. Good job !

I’m just gonna stop with the new content for now and stick to sPVP as it’s the only thing that seems enjoyable =/

I’d like to know if anything later on is worth the struggle that you have to go through in this new expansion.

Thanks for reading

Remember the first time you got to Orr? How much harder it was to move around those maps because the enemies were more dangerous? HoT is supposed to be the same idea.

Before it was released ‘end game’ players were constantly crying out for more challenging content, complaining that everything we had was too easy. So they got it and…complained it was too hard. They’ve actually reduced the difficulty since it was released but it’s never going to be one of those areas where you can ignore all the enemies.

Same idea with navigating the maps. I actually find the best approach at first is to simply focus on playing rather than checking off goals. You’ll learn how to navigate the maps (they’re not that bad once you get used to them, and the travel related masteries help), train your masteries, learn how to deal with the different mobs and it will help with the storyline too since a lot of that is about navigating the jungle.

I think it’s worth it personally. I really enjoyed the storyline and once I got used to them I really enjoyed the maps too. It might help that I like exploring in games anyway. For me those maps have tons of stuff to do and have kept me interested far longer than any 4 normal maps.

As for ascended it’s unlikely it will ever be changed. It’s another system players asked for. Shortly after launch the people who had leveled quickly and got their exotics started complaining that there was nothing else for them to do because none of it would make their character more powerful and they wanted a stat-related long-term goal. Rather than add a gear treadmill where we’d all have to be constantly upgrading our gear every few months Anet added ascended to act as a long-term goal on it’s own.

But if you don’t want to make ascended you can still do almost everything, including WvW in exotics. The only exception is high level Fractals where you need some ascended pieces for agony resistance.

The mastery system isn’t extremely grindy, certainly not to get the masteries you need, and the new zones aren’t as hard as some people make them out to be, not even to solo. What you’re experiencing is culture shock.

When you played this game before, you knew the game before. You learned it, you played it and now things have changed but you haven’t really taken the time to relearn the game.

Of course the game’s difficulty is going to progress. The people that have the hardest time of getting used to the new stuff are generally returning players, because they have to learn everything at once, and they don’t have their “eye in” as the baseball saying goes.

The new zones require a bit more thought to navigate. They require knowing your profession and your enemies. But that’s all they require for most of it anyway.

It’s doable, if you have been playing all along, and did the content as the game progressed. Coming back it’s going to feel a lot like culture shock.

Yes I do agree that the HoT maps have a few design flaws, which you need to get used to. I still get lost once in a while on a couple of maps :p
But I believe Anet has learned a lot since, I find the new map (although it’s a bit small) A lot better.

I’ve played several other MMO’s and I have never seen GW2 as a grind game. I never needed to stay in one area killing the same mobs over and over again for hour after hour. I just enter a map walk around exploring, enjoy the graphics and scenery. Doing some events along the way or stick around to help with the Meta and before I know it I had the entire map done and had enough xp to unlock several masteries and had also recieved several mastery points. Using food and toll buff also helps.

Gearwise : I’m still in Exotics for about 80% (found a few Ascended pieces thanks to meta events)
I look at Ascended gear like I look at cars; with a bit of work everybody can drive a nice Volvo or Opel (exotic)
It takes a lot of work before you can afford the new Audi model (Ascended) and even ( a shii**load) more time and work to get enough to buy a Ferrari 250 GT (legendary).

You can still play all of the game without ascended or Legendary gear. But yes it’s very cool to have it. But would it still be cool to have if you could get it with no effort at all ?

And yes the HoT maps are a bit harder, but it never kept me from getting somewhere.
There is always lfg of map chat to give a shout out for help.

But yes, it can be a bit of a culture shock when you’ve been away for quite a while. I had the same thing about 2 months ago, just give it a bit of time.

the point of new end game content is for it to be harder and to be a challenge, not same old. I’m very happy with HoT difficulty, even if mushrooms make me wanna kill every fungi in existence and burn anything with more then 10% common DNA with it

But that’s how you learn and improve, by challenge. And the maps are hard to navigate, but that’s what makes them fun and challenging and not 3 hour challenge of the day, then next one.

Qtin.6940:

I haven’t explored half of the new content yet and I’m seriously thinking about just uninstalling.

-New maps are a nightmare for solo players. Veterans mobs everywhere, champions for skill points, not to mention how poorly designed they are, half of the time I was running in circle trying to get to a point that was either above or below me. I had to google a guide to find skillpoints…

-You’re forced into an extremmely grindy mastery system right in the middle of the story. Great design.
I can’t comment on the story, I keep getting stoped by the mastery system.
This morning I had to stop my story progression just so I can jump on 2 mushrooms at the start of the mission.
IS THAT REALLY NECESSARY ?
I get it, you created a new system, let me enjoy the story, put a ramp there instead of 2 mushrooms, i’ll grind your kitten later.

-Ascended craft is still limited by daily cooldowns. It’s been out for so long and it hasn’t changed.
I’d like to reroll and enjoy some WvW in between the event grind but I don’t want to pvp with weaker items for weeks. I thought we were supposed to all be equal in PVP.

At least sPVP feels better now, they seem to have removed most of siege damage and water maps. Good job !

I’m just gonna stop with the new content for now and stick to sPVP as it’s the only thing that seems enjoyable =/

I’d like to know if anything later on is worth the struggle that you have to go through in this new expansion.

Thanks for reading

Yes, that is HoT sadly. If you’ve already got your Ascended gear, you already have the best in the game, and there is nothing else in HoT worth farming for.

Well, do you just hate it? Or was it simply not what you expected? In the latter case, you could potentially adapt to the new environment.

But it sounds to me like you’re a lot more interested in the storyline than running around exploring the jungle or you wouldn’t be in such a rush. I think somebody else in this thread suggested simply exploring VB, first.

That happens to be what I did and you know what? It’s only 3 mastery points. That is all you need to complete the storyline, unlock your elite spec, and navigate nearly every location on all of the maps. Unlocking more masteries will allow 100% map completion and several QoL upgrades.

These maps are not supposed to be explored in an hour or two like core Tyria maps. You’re supposed to go out and explore them, unlocking masteries along the way that expand upon your ability to explore.

I completely understand your frustration if all you wanted to do was complete the storyline. But it’s 3 MPs. Three. I really wouldn’t have a problem with moving those masteries to baseline as a suggestion, but it seems to me that these complaints are a whole lot of complaining about a few hours of effort in a game you’ve been playing for years.

While I agree with many of your points, OP, I do not believe that it is a good enough reason to uninstall the game. After all, you can choose to completely ignore the HoT maps/content and just enjoy yourself with the core Tyria stuff (or PvP or WvW, whatever floats your boat). It’s not mandatory, in my opinion.

Qtin.6940:

I haven’t explored half of the new content yet and I’m seriously thinking about just uninstalling.

-New maps are a nightmare for solo players. Veterans mobs everywhere, champions for skill points, not to mention how poorly designed they are, half of the time I was running in circle trying to get to a point that was either above or below me. I had to google a guide to find skillpoints…

How about you take the time to actually look where you’re going, and around you instead of staring at the minimap for everything? the maps flow together quite well. And while the hero points require a group to take down, they also provide much greater rewards than core tyria points (10 skill points each, as well as rare gear and the map currency. Those latter rewards are also available every day you repeat the event, encouraging players to help out even once they already have the point)

And the maps are actually very well designed, instead of the boring snoozefest of “Straightline from Point A to Point B”. It encourages actual exploration of the map, and figuring out how it all fits together – While Core Tyria’s map zones fit together like a seamless jigsaw puzzle, HoT’s fit together more like a hamster house.

-You’re forced into an extremmely grindy mastery system right in the middle of the story. Great design.
I can’t comment on the story, I keep getting stoped by the mastery system.
This morning I had to stop my story progression just so I can jump on 2 mushrooms at the start of the mission.
IS THAT REALLY NECESSARY ?
I get it, you created a new system, let me enjoy the story, put a ramp there instead of 2 mushrooms, i’ll grind your kitten later.

You also have to grind 10 levels between chapters in the core game’s story. Masteries are the new leveling system. Take your time to explore the maps and follow their stories instead of just focusing on the personal story.

-Ascended craft is still limited by daily cooldowns. It’s been out for so long and it hasn’t changed.

And has no reason to change.

I’d like to reroll and enjoy some WvW in between the event grind but I don’t want to pvp with weaker items for weeks. I thought we were supposed to all be equal in PVP.

You are equal in PvP. However – WvW is and has always been a schizophrenic mess because it’s trying to be “Lawless Open world PvEvP” “Grand strategy” and “Large scale tactical battles” all in one.

slashlizardy.9167:

Yes, that is HoT sadly. If you’ve already got your Ascended gear, you already have the best in the game, and there is nothing else in HoT worth farming for.

Well there are the new HoT stats but on the other hand anyone looking for a gear treadmill game is looking in the wrong place.

Khisanth.2948:

slashlizardy.9167:

Yes, that is HoT sadly. If you’ve already got your Ascended gear, you already have the best in the game, and there is nothing else in HoT worth farming for.

Well there are the new HoT stats but on the other hand anyone looking for a gear treadmill game is looking in the wrong place.

And if you’re looking for a FUN reason to grind, grind, grind away in HoT maps, the you’re looking in the wrong place too

HoT is quickly turning into this decades Highlander 2….

slashlizardy.9167:

Khisanth.2948:

slashlizardy.9167:

Yes, that is HoT sadly. If you’ve already got your Ascended gear, you already have the best in the game, and there is nothing else in HoT worth farming for.

Well there are the new HoT stats but on the other hand anyone looking for a gear treadmill game is looking in the wrong place.

And if you’re looking for a FUN reason to grind, grind, grind away in HoT maps, the you’re looking in the wrong place too

That doesn’t exist anywhere. Fun and grind are polar opposites.

^^ Exactly my point, thank you!

That depends on the individual. What is fun for one, could be an insufferable grind to other. Thus, the same thing can be fun and grind at the same time. Even worst, there are masochistic people too, who enjoys or cant play without obsesively grinding stuff (It could be argued that they don’t know how to have fun, but I think is more proper to say they have a different kind of fun).

Thanks Ardid, now that was an interesting read! hahaha