Guild Wars 2

I normally start games at launch or in beta. Being that this game has been out for some time… will I find the learning curve steep?, any chance of finding lower levels to do things with?, are nice lower level items priced as though everyone new is a 80 playing on an alt?, any of the community or guilds receptive or welcoming to new players that will always have questions?

I’ve watched plenty of videos and read a good number of threads for newbies, just wondering what to expect as the game is DLing.

I guess my initial question is whether there is an ‘America’ server that might be particularly new player friendly? I usually go to the forums and look for the server dedicated forums and browse to see what might have the right ‘culture’ for me… didn’t see those here on GW2.

Thanks

Servers only matter for WvW. Every other aspect of the game your server is largely irrelevant due to the megaserver.

As for leveling and learning curve I can’t really comment since they’re overhauled the skill/trait system twice since I leveled my last character.

Just get in and start playing. If you want to get a feel for a certain profession you’re interested in at max level hop into PvP where everyone is 80.

Yeah, server selection doesn’t mean much outside of the WvW function which is kind of a PvP/PvE hybrid. I wouldn’t worry about that just starting out.

There are tons of guilds always welcoming of new players. They usually throw a few advertisements in map chat in the big cities and starter areas. Can’t say they’d all be super active and stuff but you can join multiple guilds and leave at will until you find one you like.

It is an MMO so there’s always going to be helpful players and jerks. Just the nature of the genre. GW does seem to have a good percentage of helpful ones though compared to other games.

gw combat does have a lot going on that a lot of games don’t so might take a bit of getting used to. Just get used to dodge rolls early on because it’s something you’ll want to do often. Also, get acquainted with the skill combo system as well. Ele, engi, and thief can do a lot of cool self-combo abilities if you want to play as one of those. The game becomes a lot more fun imo and a lot of playstyle doors open up once you master your own classes combo systems.

I would say the learning curve is roughly equal to (or in some cases less than) other popular MMOs. You will find PLENTY to do in the starter zone, especially on your first character, but if you do get bored and are not beyond 15 or so yet you can get to the other race’s starter zones by going into your racial city and taking their gate to Lion’s Arch (which has gates to every city).

Price-wise, lower level stuff is usually cheaper. The items a level 80 will want are about 2 magnitudes over what you will pay for equivalent gear at lower levels. Actually, the stuff for 80s can be even higher depending on what you want.

Look for people with colored arrows above them in the lower-level areas of starter zones. Often they are used for organization or bragging rights in anything higher but if they are wearing such (a commander tag) in an area less than level 10 odds are they are there to help new players.

Also note that due to level scaling, you can hit level 15 then move to another race’s newbie zone and keep on leveling, albeit slightly slower than you would if not level-scaled down. You won’t really need to do this, but if you want to, it’s straightforward.

Also, don’t forget about the crafting system: it’s a good way to stay geared as you level, and to boot, you level up from doing it (quite a bit, in fact). Another thing that helps is that unlike WoW and EQ, helping out a player who’s in trouble will not deny them XP or loot from the mobs. Yes, that’s right, helping is not killstealing! In fact, killstealing is darn near impossible.

Thanks for the replies everyone, lots of good info!

I will likely do a post with how I am progressing tomorrow. Maybe other future new players could benefit from my findings/experiences…