Guild Wars 2

Hello, everyone!

I’m brand new to this game, and I’m loving it. The art/aesthetics are amazing, the graphics are amazing, and the combat feels good.

Been playing WoW regularly for 3 years and just bored with it. This game feels new and refreshing. Not sure what the player base is for this game, but I’m surprised it’s not the most played MMO. Hopefully it gets there!

This game probably will never be the most played MMO, because it doesn’t lead you around by the nose. A lot of people need a breadcrumb trail to exist. Games that send you from quest hub to quest hub. If you love this game, and you “get it” then you may find it hard to go back to other MMOs.

By the same token there are people who come here and have no idea what to do, where to go, or what to work on.

It’s not a game for everyone. It’s absolutely the best MMO for my particular play style.

Welcome to Tyria!

Well, I’m really loving it, so I plan on sticking around.

A few questions, though, how often does new content get released? Will there be an expansion coming in the next year? What’s the future of this game; will it be around for many years to come?

When starting an MMO, I wanna know the game will still be around in say 7 years.

Realistically, nothing will depose WoW from the throne of MMOs for a very long time, if actually ever in its lifetime – just from momentum.
However – Welcome to Tyria!

Starting advice:
1) Don’t use the Lvl80 boost on your first character! It does not take long to level “naturally”, and you’ll learn the game a lot better by going gradually.
2) Get gathering tools and mine/log/forage most everything you see, that’ll be a decent income along the way.
3) Remember that the dynamic level adjustment keeps “outlevelled” maps (decently) relevant still. XP and most drops are adjusted to your level, even when you are in turn adjusted to the maps level.

Bachian.5701:

Well, I’m really loving it, so I plan on sticking around.

A few questions, though, how often does new content get released? Will there be an expansion coming in the next year? What’s the future of this game; will it be around for many years to come?

When starting an MMO, I wanna know the game will still be around in say 7 years.

Lately, we’ve gotten small content updates every 2-3 months, the next coming some time july/august. Sometime late this year we’ll get an expansion, really no more info released.

Bachian.5701:

Well, I’m really loving it, so I plan on sticking around.

A few questions, though, how often does new content get released? Will there be an expansion coming in the next year? What’s the future of this game; will it be around for many years to come?

When starting an MMO, I wanna know the game will still be around in say 7 years.

There seems to be new content every 2-3 months (We had a massive content drought before and after HoT as they scrambled to create an expansion for a game that previously wasn’t designed for them, then scramble to fix the expansion that broke everything – Heart of Thorns was… pretty bad on release, but they really fixed it up)

There’s another expansion expected later this year. They don’t want to announce it because it’ll be a massive spoiler for the current story arc, which wraps up with the next content release.

That said – You have to buy the interim content from the gem store if you missed its original release window – “Living Story” releases. While you can convert gold to gems, as a new player it’s probably easier to just buy it outright and think of it like DLC for other games.

Never played WoW, but I understand it has “professions” that go and harvest crafting materials. There isn’t in GW2. Also, keep salvage kits handy and salvage everything that you can. And when you can’t salvage stuff, see if you can throw it in the mystic forge in Lion’s Arch – 99% of the time, you’ll get back a piece of armor or equipment that can be salvaged for crafting materials.

Join a guild and take advantage of the XP booster that the bar tender has in the guild hall. Should be a 10% experience booster (IIRC). Makes a huge difference. However, if you are running a free to play account, you won’t be able to access them.

Lastly, one of my guildies figured it up and you can get between 15 and 20 levels off of just doing map completion of the main cities – Lion’s Arch, Rata Sum, The Grove, Divinity’s Reach, Hoelbrek, and the Black Citadel.

Thanks for all the advice. I’ll keep it in mind. I saved my level 80 boost; probably won’t use it for a month or two.

I bought the HoT expansion, does that include all the “Living World,” or do I have to buy Season 2?

The Living Stories are separate. They are free if you log fully into game while they are “live” (during their initial release). So you have part 5 of LS3 already, and will get part 6 when that releases, presumably in the next month or so. You’d need to buy all of LS2 and parts 1-4 of LS3, which will be prorated in the bundle to allow for what you already own.

The story sequence is: Personal Story (levels 1-80, comes with base game) > LS1 (was an experiment in constantly changing the world, no longer available, might one day be reworked to let people play it again, meanwhile there is a 3 hour player-compiled movie of all the story parts of LS1) > LS2 > HoT (comes with HoT expansion, which you own) > LS3 > Expansion (pending) > LS4 (some time after expansion release).

LS1 introduced the characters you work with in LS2. LS2 ends pretty much moments before the HoT story picks up. LS3 is chronologically a bit after HoT and deals with aftermath and new issues, but refers back to a lot of things that happened in the PS; it continues with the same NPCs you’ve been dealing with.

One final note: The expansion will include the base game and HoT in its purchase price, or at least the last time ANet announced pricing philosophy that was the plan. This is so new players don’t have to spend huge amounts to play. The rumor is that it will be lower priced than HoT was. Regardless, per ANet the price is what it is and the free inclusion of older releases is a bonus for new purchasers, not a dissing of old ones.

It’s more like 7 levels for all the Cities.

Living World Season 1 is no longer available (but there is a small recap in Lion’s Arch, and a long recap available on YouTube).

Living World Season 2 is available for purchase in the Gem Store as a bundle. It isn’t included with Heart of Thorns.

Living World Season 3 is current, but you will have missed Episodes 1-4 (purchasable through the Story Journal), and will unlock, free of charge Episode 5, and Episode 6 (once it releases). A few months (3-5?) after that, Expansion Two should release.

The Wiki (link above, or accessed in-game by typing ’/Wiki [topic of choice]) is a great resource for all things Guild Wars 2.

Welcome to Tyria, and good luck.

Because the hearts are prominently displayed on the maps a lot of new players think they’re the way to level. However it’s the events that are the main way to level and play. Hearts were added late in the development of the game when the Devs realized that players needed direction and something telling them where to go next. So concentrate on doing events as you see them. They tell a story and give lore as well as giving XP. Do hearts in between to get more XP and to open up a merchant for you to buy gear with karma and to sell your stuff.

Edit: there’s always going to be someone who doesn’t enjoy the game but instead of moving on to a game they do like they have to say negative things on the forum. /shrug.

Thanks for all the help. Look forward to leveling up some characters!

I think GW2 is a beautiful environment and i like the combat system a lot (much more than wow), but i think one of GW2s biggest issues as far as getting new players is poor advertising.

Zaekeon.5128

Add me to friends if you have any questions. I came from wow (still play a little bit) recently and can help you out with any comparisons between the two…what I found about guild wars is the more I played it, the more and more little things I came across in the game that just isn’t evident on the surface. There’s a lot to do and given that we are just starting we have a few years of relevant (I think gw2 does a good job of keeping stuff worthwhile past it’s leveling life) content to catch up on.

Best advice is to forget all of the min/max stuff from wow and just have fun leveling the first time around/exploring/trying new builds. Check out some new players guides on YouTube—they are helpful.

Welcome to the game

Bachian.5701:

Well, I’m really loving it, so I plan on sticking around.

A few questions, though, how often does new content get released? Will there be an expansion coming in the next year? What’s the future of this game; will it be around for many years to come?

When starting an MMO, I wanna know the game will still be around in say 7 years.

New content is released regularly (but as with any MMO, if you play a lot it will never keep up with you!). For awhile now they’ve been advancing the “Living World” season 3 storyline by releasing a new chapter every 2-3 months. The last chapter should be released in the next couple of months. After that, they’re planning to release a second expansion.

Between LS3 releases, there have been the usual balance patches. There was also a WvW patch recently with some new rewards and changes designed to bring more people into WvW. I hear they’re also working on a similar PvP patch for that game mode.

As for the player base? It’s really hard to tell. Almost certainly the population has been declining, but there is no way that I’m aware of for players to accurately estimate the size of the population or exactly how quickly it’s changing. It’s also worth noting that the game is around 5 years old, and some decline at this point is expected.

You can find plenty of discussion on this topic as the next expansion approaches. The long and short of it is that the 1st expansion (HoT) wasn’t universally well-received. Most players I’ve spoken to have very strong reactions to it: love it or hate it.