Guild Wars 2

I just bought this game today, and it hasn’t even finished downloading. Obviously, I haven’t gotten a chance to play the game yet, and likewise I have a million questions. I’ll reserve most of them for now, as I’m sure just playing the game will answer them. I still have a few hours before I’ll actually be able to play, though, so I just wanted to hang out in the forums and talk to people

A few general questions/topics to get the conversation started:

I’ve previously played World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XI. These are two dramatically different MMOs. In FFXI, the game itself was (at the time) extremely difficult and time consuming, but I enjoyed it because the players in the game actually interacted with each other and helped each other. When you joined a Link Group (the same thing as WoW’s guilds), it wasn’t just for the perks; there were no perks. You were involved in this group because the game was simply much more enjoyable when you had a close-knit group of players to adventure with. I was ALWAYS running around with these other players, there was never really much solo time. WoW was quite the opposite; I always played solo because every other player seemed like a scumbag. A guild in WoW was just free repairs and the occasional Mass Resurrection; there was NEVER any actual companionship.

So what type of bonds/interactions can I expect to have with other players in Guild Wars 2?

Also, in FFXI you picked a race, but could change your job (class) at any time. They all leveled separately, but you could swap back and forth all you wanted. Leveling was, however, extremely time consuming, so I really just stuck to a couple different classes. In WoW, on the other hand, leveling was much easier and although you couldn’t change class, I ended up playing several different characters.

From what I’ve seen of this game, I’m likely going to want to play at least a couple different characters. The question is, how viable is it in Guild Wars 2 to have multiple characters? Will I just end up spending vast amounts of time only to have a handful of characters that haven’t really gotten anywhere?

Also, I’m open to the standard race/class suggestions. I’m open to anything, but what do you guys think is the most fun and/or rewarding builds to play?

You will enjoy GW2 as long as you make your own motivations for playing. it is still quest based like other games, but they come in the form of heart quests. You will also find other objectives, like Vistas and Points of Interest.Basically, you will find theese in every zone of the game.
You will also have the personal story quest which is the green quest that appears on the top right of the screen and will never go away until you have beaten the whole story.
Of course there will be dungeons unlocked after lvl 30 but as long as the game has no LFG tool you will need to rely on an external website for finding groups (gw2lfg.com)
There is no need to hurry up for getting lvl 80 (max level) because you won’t feel different than all the way till there. The game has the ability to feel “difficult” in every zone because of the down leveling system.
So, the advice is to enjoy exploration and not rushing to get max level like in other games.
You can’t change your profession or race once you have picked them, but as the leveling isn’t too long (approximately 1h/level depending on what activities you do) you can have multiple characters of different professions/races
You will encounter zones with a lot of players and others where the game feels like a single player. but the motivation to continue can only come from yourself. The more you resist the feeling of single player MMO, the better will be for you in the future when you will experience the vast possibilities of this game
There is also the PvP, but as I am not a fun of PvP in any game, I will let others explain this to you.

I wasn’t a fan of PvP in WoW, because I never maxed out any of my toons and therefore could never kill anything. The gear dominated the PvP in WoW, and I never had the best gear. I didn’t play WoW for more than a couple of months.

FFXI didn’t even have PvP back when I played it. The expansions that introduced PvP came out right before I stopped playing, and I never even bothered purchasing them.

The PvP, and especially the WvWvW in this game actually looks interesting, and I may even enjoy it. High hopes, though; I’ve yet to enjoy PvP in an MMO. SWTOR wasn’t bad, but it was also heavily reliant on good gear, and everyone else always had the best. I’m also not sure I would consider SWTOR an MMO.

I played Defiance also, though not for very long. That game became very boring very quickly.

Apparently I’ve played more MMOs than I thought lol.

Get to 60, which is relatively easy..depending on your playtime 1-2 months at max. Run some dungeons/craft/purchase exotics off TP. Head into WvW and enjoy. Its easy enough to gear up in this game.

Aside from ascended gear…gokitten ascended gear.

Edit: I played WoW for 6 years, Aion, LOTRO, Eve, Warhammer, Tera, SWTOR, Rift, GW2, now Neverwinter.

I’ve noticed people saying kitten in the forums. It’s quite amusing lol

Also, thanks for the advice!

Welcome to Tyria!

You may, or may not, find this helpful. It is just a very, very basic guide to the game:

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/manual/

For more in-depth information, you could peruse this site:

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Main_Page

Many happy adventures in the lands of Tyria! =)

**kitten is the in-forum filter at work ; )

The negativity in the forums, im speaking of myself as well, is well justified. Arenanet, in the eyes of many here, has strayed from their core goals and values as to what this game should be. Many people hold them to quotes from interviews and blogs, and arenanet has done the exact opposite.

This game was meant to be a unique snowflake where once you have your exotic set, its all a matter of aesthetics, exploration, wvw, and playing the way YOU want to play. For many. this is no longer the case. Compelled to check off your daily list, compelled to get that ascended gear, etc. Farming for a legendary is as difficult as ever because farming spots are constantly nerfed.

Dont get me wrong, the game has enormous potential. But little by little, developers are driving it into the ground.

But dont let me stop you. You might enjoy every bit of it.

If I actually stop to count… holy crap. Most I had forgotten because I didn’t play them very long.

First I played FFXI, until everyone else started dropping out; it isn’t a game you can play solo. I did, however, LOVE that game.

I’ve played WoW a bit, as well as SWTOR (before it was F2P) and Defiance. I’ve also played a lot of trials and F2P MMOs (RIFT, LOTRO, D&DO, Age of Conan) but none of those held my interest for long :/

Does it replace words with kitten automatically or does everyone just use kitten instead?

I’m much too amused by this…

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

Welcome to Tyria!

You may, or may not, find this helpful. It is just a very, very basic guide to the game:

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/manual/

For more in-depth information, you could peruse this site:

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Main_Page

Many happy adventures in the lands of Tyria! =)

**kitten is the in-forum filter at work ; )

Thanks for the links!

xIrishxCharliex.2786:

Does it replace words with kitten automatically or does everyone just use kitten instead?

I’m much too amused by this…

A few people use kitten, but mostly it’s the filter.

On another note, once you finish downloading, if you cannot log in, do not fear. Guild Wars 2 is experiencing some technical difficulties at this time, most likely due to the most recent patch. I am sure it will be up and running in no time, as usual. =)

xIrishxCharliex.2786:

I’ve noticed people saying kitten in the forums. It’s quite amusing lol

Also, thanks for the advice!

The forum does that.. What ever foul word is used, it is replaced with Kitten.

It’s only 80% done now; I likely won’t get to play tonight anyway. Hopefully there won’t be any issues tomorrow, but even so, I can be patient.

Off to bed with me, then. Goodnight all, and thanks for the chat

Others have said many useful things! I’ll add that in all my years in WoW and other similar MMOs I completely loathed PvP. Between my poor reflexes and the infantile attitude of many kitten strutting PvPers there was zero enjoyment in it save for a few mass guild PvP RP runs.

In this game I may not spend that much time in WvW but it is far more relaxing. I’ve enjoyed the mini sPvP special event arenas as well. One day I’ll try the real sPvP, though likely I’ll do horridly because most in there have had almost a year of practice at it.

Anyway, try everything in this game. You never know what neat thing you’ll discover and enjoy. Let “oh shiny” dictate your path, just wander from place to place and thing to thing. It’s fun!

edit: Hah! A common word for electronic male compensation triggered the filter. I don’t usually get "kitten"’d in my posts, I’ll know to avoid that word in the future.