Guild Wars 2

Basically, I have this problem with Guild Wars 2 where I keep being given good advice from fans that I should try to just appreciate the journey of the game and all, but it feels like I really don’t have enough interest to play enough to even complete the main plots of GW2 vanilla before touching on HoT, and then from there to complete HoT before Path.

I like the game, and, frankly, some of the new elite specs seem really interesting and fun, but my time isn’t infinite and I have other things that interest me. Honestly, I’m really not sure what to do, and I know that this is far from a helpful question to ask.

I guess to summarize, how should I treat all of the hype and interesting things coming out of the new expansion, when other than a HoT-boosted Guardian my characters are around their 20s and 30s, level-wise, and I only have so much time and drive to grind.

Sorry, I wish I could phrase this better.

I hope you are trying not to keep up with fellow Guildies or Friends. I say play at your own pace when you have the spare time and your Friends and Guildies should be more than happy to lend a hand, advice or helping you in-game-wise.

That’s the way we do things in [AoL] and other guilds I am sure do the same.

But it depends on why you even play. Do you want to get all your characters to level 80 as quick as possible? Do you want to join pvP? WvW? Do you want to do raids?

Because different people play for different reasons. It took me for example over a year to get my first character to level 80. Because i really enjoy the process, I like exploring low level maps (and I hate HoT maps, I still do, even years after release, every time I have to go there). I like doing hearts and doing little quests around. I do not play in PvP so I actually do not care if my character has “the best” build or is loaded with legendary gear (got 0 of those).

But for others some completely different part of the game is their reason. Some only play in WvW. Some only do high level fractals or raids with their guild. Some just like to gather and show off weapon skins.

Does it even bothers you that you are not leveling fast enough? Do you actually have fun when doing something in the game?

Don’t complete the plots. Go off exploring. If you find you never get past L20-30, ask yourself, is there anything you really like doing in the game? Maybe there isn’t. Even great games aren’t good for everyone (and that’s without even agreeing whether GW2 is good, let alone great).

I go at my own pace — I took probably 10 months longer than most of my game buddies in maxing masteries because, well, I just wasn’t that interested. Even after finding out how much fun max gliding is, I wouldn’t have pushed myself any harder to max it.

Or put it this way: the only treadmills in this game are the ones you decide to step on. Some people like doing that and getting past certain phases; if that’s not you, don’t worry about it. Stick to the journey.