Guild Wars 2

Let me preface this post by saying I’ve enjoyed the game very much.

So I’ve hit L80 … I’ve gotten myself clad in all Exotics. I’ve tried events (including the dragon events), dungeons, wPvP, sPvP, tPvP … and I’m kind of at a loss as what to do now.

1) Events: while some are neat, they don’t have the staying power to keep me interested past doing them once or twice in and of themselves.

2) Dungeons: I normally look forward to dungeon crawls but I feel the risk vs. reward ratio to be totally blown in GW2. I’m supposed to grind Explorer Modes ad nauseum for tokens to trade in so I can be … prettier (armor has the same stats as crafted)? Am I missing something about dungeons?

3) PvP (all modes): While solid, there’s nothing to GW2 PvP that I haven’t encountered (again, ad nauseum) in other games. Worse, I don’t see the purpose of it past the challenge of beating the next player (again, rewards consist of like-stat gear). While that’s fine in and of itself, I don’t find that mode of play sustainable without some form of reward system (and again, with something more substantial than looks).

I guess this is an end game (or rather, lack thereof) post. But I’m truly baffled at what ANet thinks is supposed to drive this game once a player has reached L80. In GW1, it was a nice concept to mix and match powers and go right at the next player. In GW2, it seems that the MMO gear grind has been added (the “bad”) without the rewards (the “good”). Worse, it kills the original model of being able to quickly adjust your character to a new play style quickly and easily within the PvP context.

Kind of seems like GW2 doesn’t know what it wants to be.

P.S. – GW2 has an amazing PvE world (shockingly so). It seems all the pieces are there … it’s just missing the right formula at the end.

P.P.S. – Does anyone else wish there was an FFA world?

Reroll

/15char

I’m leveling 3 alts through different leveling paths (I didn’t want to do 100% world completion on my first character because I knew it would make playing alts feel less fun). When I get tired of one I just switch to another. It makes leveling to 80 very slow, which is good because I enjoy leveling a lot more than farming dungeons or Orr.

Eurosdown.6072:

I’m leveling 3 alts through different leveling paths (I didn’t want to do 100% world completion on my first character because I knew it would make playing alts feel less fun). When I get tired of one I just switch to another. It makes leveling to 80 very slow, which is good because I enjoy leveling a lot more than farming dungeons or Orr.

Ok … but don’t you think that “rerolling” is a fairly odd (and ultimately, self defeating) form of end game?

I liked the toon that I’ve built. I want to play him more. I just feel that there is no more “building” to him past changing his looks.

Which brings me to another point … why have levels in GW2 at all? It doesn’t make any sense to me, since the game goes WAY out of it’s way to ensure that content isn’t level dependent (auto leveled pvp and pve content, etc …).

Quit and come back later.

might sound harsh but you have to remember this game has no sub-fee and was designed in such a way that you can quit and comeback whenever you want completely free of charge.

if your not having fun, then your not having fun.

My plan is to get 100% map completion, all the achievements, finish getting my gear (I’m 80 but still trying to get my pretty-shiny-aesthetically pleasing gear from a variety of dungeons.. gonna mix stuff up :-P) and then move on to another character… who I won’t worry about map completion or achievements on, I’ll just play him to 80 and finish the story and get more pretty gear ;-) I think that when I’m done with all 5 character slots I’ll just WvWvW until an expansion with some sPvP thrown in for a change of pace every so often.

Kruunch.3714:

Eurosdown.6072:

I’m leveling 3 alts through different leveling paths (I didn’t want to do 100% world completion on my first character because I knew it would make playing alts feel less fun). When I get tired of one I just switch to another. It makes leveling to 80 very slow, which is good because I enjoy leveling a lot more than farming dungeons or Orr.

Ok … but don’t you think that “rerolling” is a fairly odd (and ultimately, self defeating) form of end game?

I liked the toon that I’ve built. I want to play him more. I just feel that there is no more “building” to him past changing his looks.

Which brings me to another point … why have levels in GW2 at all? It doesn’t make any sense to me, since the game goes WAY out of it’s way to ensure that content isn’t level dependent (auto leveled pvp and pve content, etc …).

Oh I don’t think leveling alts is “endgame” at all. If you really want to get technical the only real endgame is Arah since I think it requires level 80 for explorable mode (?). Everything else can be done on a toon who is below max level.

As for levels, iirc during development they wanted to have no levels at all but felt that it would make the game feel too different (because, I dunno, MMO players like numbers that increase as they play ;P).

This is actually very similar to how I ended up playing SWtOR. The endgame bored me, so I leveled alts through story missions and pvp and it was a lot of fun. I will go back and level other classes when the game goes f2p.

Lorana.2468:

Quit and come back later.

might sound harsh but you have to remember this game has no sub-fee and was designed in such a way that you can quit and comeback whenever you want completely free of charge.

if your not having fun, then your not having fun.

Ok (hope you don’t work for ANet lol) … but why would I want to? Wait for a content patch / expansion and try that out? Is that your suggestion? Seems like a silly business model, since it took me less than a month to get to this point (i.e. out of sight, out of mind).

I do like the fact that there is no sub fee, so I don’t feel ripped off (hence why this isn’t a ragequit post). I feel like I’ve gotten my money’s worth even if I didn’t play one more minute of GW2.

However it seems like an awfully big expenditure of resources (time, money, etc …) to develop a game that’s only to be treated like any generic console game.

Also, I like the way the game plays. I like its mechanics. I like it’s dynamics. I like it’s aesthetics. I just want some more depth to its content I guess? In other words, I WANT to play more … I’m just not sure where the “more” is.

I don’t find the rerolling alternative very appealing personally.

PvE:
Immerse Yourself In The World, Talk To NPCs
Complete The Personal Story Of Each Race
Unlock All Skills And Test/Play Different Builds
Get 100% World Completion
Find All Your Favorite Looking Gear Skins
Find All The Jumping Puzzles
Participate In Optional Events Like Keg Brawl and Halloween
Max All Crafting Disciplines
Discover Hidden Recipes
Discover Mystic Forge Recipes
Craft A Legendary Weapon
Get Dungeon Armor
Complete All Dungeon Modes, In all Dungeons
Join A Guild
Create A Guild With Only One Type Of Profession
Help Your Guild Earn Influence
Create Fun Events For Guild Members
Make An Alt Profession
Grab A Couple Of Friends/Guildies And Level Up Alts Together
Exploring The World Without Looking At The Map, Let The Gane Guide Your Direction
Get Rich, Or Dye Trying (pun intended)

Worlds PvP:
Immerse Yourself In The World
Get 100% Map Completion
Level An Alt To 80 By Only Playing Worlds PvP
Join A Guild And Claim Captured Objectives
Help Your Guild Earn Influence For ‘Art of War’ Upgrades
Find All The Jumping Puzzles
Become A Squad Commander

Structured PvP:
Make Creative Builds With Different Professions
Get Max Rank
Join A sPvP Group/Guild
Play Tournament sPvP
Play Paid Tournament sPvP
Plan Different Strategies For Each Map With Your Group
Get All Your Favorite Looking Gear Skins
Discover Mystic Forge sPvP Gear Skins
Prepair For eSport Extravagansa

What You Shouldn’t Do:
Play The Game For 10 Hours Every Day (except if you work for ArenaNet :P)
Complete Only One Type Of Content At A Time (<— this is you grinding. Now stop it)
Rush Trough The Game (a game is meant to entertain you, not waste your time, so enjoy it! That’s an order)
Expect A Completely Different Gaming Experience At Level 80 (if you didn’t like the game up to level 80, you most likely won’t like it after)
Only Do Content For The Rewards (again, games are meant for your entertainment. If you want to gamble, then poker is an excellent game)
Expect Other Players To Need You (there is no holy trinity in this game, so no one is forced to talk to anyone that they don’t want to. It’s just like in the real world!)
Compare Guild Wars 2 Content, With WoW Content (Guild Wars 2 is two months old, WoW is seven years old. Lets have a little perspective here)
Try To Force Yourself To Love The Game (maybe the game just isn’t for you?)

GW1 Had a gear plateau and GW2 was advertised to have the same. If you don’t see armour skins as something to work towards then I hate to say it, you won’t find what your looking for here.

Arena Net made a big stand about having everybody on level pegging. The endgame reflects that. I personally like the way they’ve done it, I enjoy getting better aesthetically pleasing armour, and I really don’t miss having to chase more numbers.

In terms of PvP it’s more of the same, it’s like if your into Call of Duty; when you have all your unlocks (think of this like leveling 1-80), you keep playing it because you enjoy it, not because they offer you a gun that kills people faster. Why would you consider this PvP any different?

If you love the amazing world, go out into it, complete the jumping puzzles, and the new explorer achievements.

Aside from that, I don’t know what else to suggest.

Also no to a FFA. It’s totally Lore unfriendly, and adding lore for lore’s sake to get a FFA world wouldn’t work. Also the way the games built, PvP in the PvE world would be totally open to all kinds of grieving, think players blocking event chains, camping jumping puzzles, etc. The games build to be cooperative, with a separate WvWvW area for open zone pvp.

Well, Kruunch, you are done. You have seen it all. There is no more content at this point. They added a few new jumping puzzles you could check out (If you have not done them all, there is a list of them on the wiki. They are fun and give achievements).

If you want to play more but seen it all, there is no alternative but to play it again or take a break.

Complete The Personal Story Of Each Race
Get 100% World Completion
Find All Your Favorite Looking Gear Skins
Max All Crafting Discipline
Craft A Legendary Weapon
Help Your Guild Earn Influence
Make An Alt Profession
Become A Squad Commander
Get Max Rank in PvP
Prepare For eSport Extravaganza

Got rid of fillers.

I think the problem is that to some people an MMO needs to have frequent mini-accomplishments to hold attention. I’m not one of these people, but I know many. People play an MMO to feel that progression, that’s why a lot of FPS games started implementing leveling systems. Do you guys remember original FPS games? There was no leveling, there was no unlocking anything, everyone had the same weapons and you could maybe change your skin.

This whole play to level up to unlock better weapons and gear was because of MMOs (in my opinion, and dare I say because of WoW, someone look up which FPS game was the first to implement a leveling up system, my money is it was after WoW’s release/popularity).

People need to see that the 300+hrs of playing were worth the time (excluding just entertainment, which makes no sense to me. If you’re having fun, who cares, right?). Normally you’d expect the dungeon armor skins to be basically the same as raid tier gear, but since it doesn’t have better stats it is ignored.

I mean seriously the main reason people want to do raiding in WoW is so they can get the next tier armor, walk around in the main cities and have people be like “omg that armor is sick, that’s the TierX armor, he must be awesome!” That and so they can be geared up enough to do the NEXT raid that comes out. Mostly though its to look awesome.

I’ll never understand why that hasn’t been the same with the dungeon skins. You’re doing the same dungeons over and over (just like raiding) to get sweet skins (just like raiding), the only difference is it doesn’t make you ridiculously more powerful than anyone else. At least with GW2 there’s a light at the end of the tunnel because you know how many tokens you need.

When I would raid in WoW I could go 3 months without one piece of gear for my class, or I could get 3 pieces in one run (usually after everyone else already had that piece).

Here we go again….

“Ok I’m L80, now what”

Congratulations, you completely misunderstood the purpose and goals of the game. Happy whining that there’s supposedly “no content”.

There is a lot of endgame content in GW2, here is a list:

1. Dungeons (33 different quests)
There is no reason to “grind them at nauseum” like you said, this is not WoW.
The game actually rewards you a lot more for doing different dungeons rather than repeating. You do this for money (I doubt you have 3 sets of exotics and all exotic weapons/runes etc), and for fun.
2. Raid bosses.
There are more than a dozen of raid bosses around the world, some of which are terribly hard (GL doing elemental or centaur with 5 people), and according to devs they should be more rewarding now (or on next patch, can’t remember).
3. Crafting
Allows you to create your own gear and make money.
4. DEs.
There are thousands of very entertaining DE chains, many of which are group-based and rewarding.
5. Boss hunting.
Champs should have better loot now (or next patch, lol), very entertaining and rewarding.
6. Crafting.
Some like to become a crafter/merchant and make their own things.
7. WvW.
This alone is worth years of fun if you are into it, it really depends if you like Nina Tirith-style battles and mass PvP in general.
8. sPvP.
Hotjoin, free tournaments, paid tournaments – it can be really entertaining, I don’t like it due to the point-capping system which I’m not into but is a lot of people’s cup of tea.
9. Legendaries.
There are a lot of very cool weapons with unikittenfects to collect.
10. Exploration.
World completion, enjoying the world’s atmosphere,
11. Enjoy Tyria.
Nothing prevents you to go back in the maps and enjoy content again while being downscaled – I ensure you events are still going to get you killed.
12. Node hunting.
There are tons of nodes around which spawn in different places so you have an excuse to explore again and hunt for them.
13. Underwater.
There is a lot of underwater combat and exploration to do, many hidden caves, events and more.
14. Achievements & Titles
There are many titles and achievements to chase – some quite hard or time-consuming – that can keep you busy for a long while if you’re a completionist player.
15. Personal stories.
All races and orders have unique stories that are very interesting (up until Trahearne pops out of nowhere and takes over), you might want to check them.
16. Professions.
I was never an altoholic, yet GW2 made me make 3 classes up to 80 and enjoying all of them; there is even chance I’m going to make more chars.
All professions have at least 3-8 “sub-profession” to them; for instance a Thief can be played assassin style with backstab build, pirate style with sword/pistol, duelist style with sword/dagger, pistoleer with dual pistols, green arrow style with shortbow, dodgy bleeder with blossom or again shadow bleeder style with P/D.
Don’t understimate the sheer amount of content and depth professions have.
17. Skins.
I don’t need to explain this one.
18. Jumping Puzzles
Self-explanatory.
19. Mystic Forge Gambling
Self-explanatory.
20. Minigames
Keg Brawl, Halloween.

And that is for each of your characters.
Enjoy.

Its not the end of the world… Diversify – get some other games to play if you need. You can’t just sit there railing at Anet to build a better game. What you have is what you get, barring future expansions.

Do what I do, pick up a couple cheap games on Steam. Torchlight 2 is excellent for the price, and I’m loving Dishonored. I log in every once and a while with my mesmer, until I get kitten off that I keep getting nerfed… then back to another game. GW2 is slowly gathering dust on my hard drive… Thanks Anet!!! On to new things!

Kasama.8941:

PvE:
Immerse Yourself In The World, Talk To NPCs

Done (most just have canned greetings although some are fairly humorous).

Complete The Personal Story Of Each Race

I’d be more enthralled with this idea if I could do it on my main toon.

Unlock All Skills And Test/Play Different Builds

Done.

Get 100% World Completion

Near done … 86% (got some lowbie zone clearing left to do).

Find All Your Favorite Looking Gear Skins

Done … Google ftw!

Find All The Jumping Puzzles

Done.

Participate In Optional Events Like Keg Brawl and Halloween

Done.

Max All Crafting Disciplines

Why on earth would I want to? (I’ve maxxed two … I might do one more if I decide to go for my legendary weapon).

Discover Hidden Recipes

Eh … random is random (neat the first time though).

Discover Mystic Forge Recipes

See above.

Craft A Legendary Weapon

All that grinding effort for a different skin on an item with the same stats? I enjoy carrots as much as the next man, but I want my cake to taste like a cake, not a carrot.

Get Dungeon Armor

Why? Especially if I like my current looks?

Complete All Dungeon Modes, In all Dungeons

Done.

Join A Guild

Done.

Create A Guild With Only One Type Of Profession

Why? (you seem to be really stretching for things to do here)

Help Your Guild Earn Influence

Done.

Create Fun Events For Guild Members

Done. Our favorite is naked drunken PvP. Seems to be hit with our opponents too.

Make An Alt Profession

Done … sort of … losing … interest …

Get Rich, Or Dye Trying (pun intended)

Done.

PvP (et al) …

Seems like a lot of senseless crap for a basic game content element (beat the guy over the head with your stick). I like PvP because it’s PvP … the other stuff is all meaningless (and rehashed) drivel.

What You Shouldn’t Do:
Play The Game For 10 Hours Every Day (except if you work for ArenaNet :P)

All the above was done playing two hours a day, five days a week for about three weeks.

Complete Only One Type Of Content At A Time (<— this is you grinding. Now stop it)

Eh?

Rush Trough The Game (a game is meant to entertain you, not waste your time, so enjoy it! That’s an order)

I do (did) have friends playing GW2 who went hardcore through it. They were done in a week and left. But that’s part of ANet’s demographic too.

Expect A Completely Different Gaming Experience At Level 80 (if you didn’t like the game up to level 80, you most likely won’t like it after)

Loved the game up to L80. Wish it would continue. That’s kind of the point.

Only Do Content For The Rewards (again, games are meant for your entertainment. If you want to gamble, then poker is an excellent game)

Everything we do in life is for a reward of some form or another.

Expect Other Players To Need You (there is no holy trinity in this game, so no one is forced to talk to anyone that they don’t want to. It’s just like in the real world!)

Eh?

Compare Guild Wars 2 Content, With WoW Content (Guild Wars 2 is two months old, WoW is seven years old. Lets have a little perspective here)

I didn’t bring up WoW. But if you’re going to try to be an MMO, bill yourself as an MMO, you better develop the content of an MMO (endgame being one of the most important aspects of an MMO).

Try To Force Yourself To Love The Game (maybe the game just isn’t for you?)

GW2 WHY WON’T YOU LOVE ME?!

Yeah no. I’m not so self involved that I don’t realize what GW2 is.

ANet made a nice game but not sustainable. It won’t draw the same type of ire that other similar MMOs (Champions Online, SWTOR, etc …) have drawn simply because ANet (et al) can fall back on the “no-sub fee” model. It was well thought out.

I just wish their end game had been as well thought out.

I can sorta understand what the OP is talking about. In fact his name sounds familar….Rift?

Anyhow, I was getting burnt out on other MMOs and thought the reason was because of the gear grind or the constant race to increase stats. Its kinda interesting to me that the one thing GW2 has taught me is that I need those things to keep me interested in a game. GW2 was never designed for that so I think players like myself and the OP quickly find ourselves asking the question…….“Now what?”.

For us getting ‘prettier’ is not progression.

Nothing against the game…..it is what it is and IMO they did an exceptional job of it. Its just not the game for a certain type of player…..unfortunate but not much we can do about it.

I have shelved GW2 much like I do any other no sub game ive played……ive gotten more entertainment hours out of this $60.00 than any of others combined so I am not disappointed….its just without tangible ‘carrots’ I simply have no interest in logging on anymore.

Curious to see what they do in terms of “Whats next?”…with their first expansion.

As Draylore pointed out, it’s not a game for people who only see a continuation of the game when they are chasing better stats in PvE.
It’s simply not a game for those people.

For the others there is my list above with 20 things to do that should keep you hooked for 2000 hours (5 hours / day for one year).

@Draylore: Well said and pretty much my point. The whole “gear is ruining PvP” debate could be taken care of simply with auto-level and stat caps (ironically, which they already do). The end of character building = the end of interest (for me).

And yes, I played Rift (and yes, I was that Kruunch ).

@Everyone else: I like GW2 very much. I want to continue playing it and I will probably follow the “skins-as-rewards” model … for a little while at least. But in today’s MMO gaming world, content plateaus = interest plateaus. And rightfully so.

GW2 is a good game and was a nice attempt at an MMO (with a BEAUTIFUL PvE game world) … just fell a little short of the mark of being a GREAT game (or a good MMO).

IMO of course. YMMV.

The game is not meant to keep you playing for 1000’s of hours on one character, unless you aim for a legendary and get tons of dungeon tokens from all instances, enjoy WvWvW too much etc.
Levels are there to set the pacing of the game. Pacing is important to prevent information- and freedom-overload at the beginning of the game. That can hurt players, so instead of throwing everything at you at once, you get to learn stuff over time, so you get time to play with your new toy before being introduced to another one.

I’ve got so many things in GW2 that I want that I have more of the problem… “How in the world am I going to find the time to get all this stuff!”

I want tier 3 racial armor. I want Vigil Armor. I want the Kraitkin Legendary. I want a pair of Soulshard daggers.

I’m not really a hard-core player… so I see this list taking me beyond a year to complete… There’s plenty to do, but you just need to set a goal of the things that you want in-game.

I have my “carrots” that I am chasing. There are plenty of them out there, they just aren’t the same as other MMOs because these carrots only look better than all of the other carrots in the game.

I guess I will never understand people who must have a stat increase for an item to be worthwhile to chase… but I’ve hated all MMOs that were like that. All people are different :-) And GW2 doesnt’ have a sub, so you could leave and come back for new content later.

just do what you want to, mate. If you feel like playing, play some more. If you don’t, relax and take a break. Fundamentally, i think the most important part is you having FUN. When it stops being fun, stop. :P

people will all have different perspectives towards anything, so while this game may be for some people, this game might not be as well. For example, I tried playing Elder Scrolls Oblivion (before skyrim went out) mainly due to the reviews and its top rating. Played for 10 minutes, then uninstalled the game. Am I doing something wrong? Nope, just clearly the game wasn’t meant for me.

penatbater.4710:

For example, I tried playing Elder Scrolls Oblivion (before skyrim went out) mainly due to the reviews and its top rating. Played for 10 minutes, then uninstalled the game. Am I doing something wrong? Nope, just clearly the game wasn’t meant for me.

Hehe that is about twice as long as I was able to play Oblivion. =P

Presumably ANet wants player retention (like any MMO) to sell their future expansions (and of course, their online store).

The point is to have fun.

*PvP You can start it at lvl 1 with best Stats unlocked skills/trait points, this way a no-lifer can’t come in and beat everyone just because he is a no-lifer, everyone has a chance.
- I hope to god they never take this away, skill to win not gear to win.

When i think about it i played several different games, long ago, and it was a blast, and you played for fun, you didn’t get anything in the end you just had fun. Today everyone needs something in the end of the tunnel in order to do something, and they need it to have fun aswell, i will never understand that. What happened?

The things you can do in end game is, crafting, jumping puzzles, mini-games, dynamic events, dungeons, exploration. And i’m sure it has more stuff for other people, but that’s what i do.

Aren’t you thankful that you don’t have to play this game like it’s a second job? Even tho getting some “cooler” looking gear takes some time, it doesn’t rob you and it doesn’t make you do it in order for you to do other dungeons, it’s just for the looks.

I mean if nothing in the game offers you fun, the game is not for you.
If a game needs progression in order to be fun, the game isn’t fun in the first place.

To each their own, but you have loads and loads of titles that offer you exactly what you may want. To sum up other titles it’s, you grind to grind some more.

You grind to get to end-game, than you grind end-game so you are set for other updates, when a new update arrives you grind to get to end-game, and you grind end-game again so you are set for the next update. Some titles are free, some are not. I would love to charge everyone for this, over and over again. It’s sad that people are that weak xD

And to know that nobody cares what you do, what you wear or what you have in games, why waste so much time on something nobody cares about? I remember doing this when i was young, thank god i’m more secure and happy today, so much time i wasted on absolutely nothing.

But… to each their own, just be careful!

Kruunch.3714:

Presumably ANet wants player retention (like any MMO) to sell their future expansions (and of course, their online store).

Well, if they indeed want player retention then they’re doing it all wrong. In case you didn’t notice yet maps are already getting empty. It didn’t take long to smart players to figure out what this game really is. Your choices are extremely limited once you’re 80 :
- quit, go play another game and wait for something new. And I mean something really new, with real content. Things like those Halloween events are only good at entertaining 10 year old kids. Plus it’s an excellent opportunity to make them spend and waste $$$, isn’t it?
- level another character and do the exact same things all over again, knowing that there’s nothing at all once you’re 80.

Kruunch.3714:

Presumably ANet wants player retention (like any MMO) to sell their future expansions (and of course, their online store).

I think that probably a majority of gw2 players are still playing lol. And this game still has much room to grow—you do realize that not everyone is hardcore or even familiar mmo players, that huge list someone mentioned earlier about things to do is probably not half finished for most people and there’s more and more people coming to play as well. Gw2 will definitely sell its expansions, but whether it’s good for people who want “end-game” material (to whatever that means), who knows. A game is made to play for fun. When I’m lvl 80 in real-life (80 yrs old btw), I doubt I’m gonna look back on my gw2 life and say “dayum, glad I got that tier 1,000,000 armor set”. I’m just gonna reflect on how gw2 was a great $60 spent compared to most rpgs that end after playing one run through. MMOs have a community and an active development crew that tries to come out with ideas as much as they can. I think they are doing the best job they can do given a no-sub fee. But alas, time to move on and come back when you feel like it’s worth playing again. Glhf

Also, can people please quit talking as a group? On both sides, this is an opinion for yourself—just because you want to leave doesn’t mean the whole world is leaving. Okay, maybe some maps are low in activity, but have you waypointed across the entire gw2 world? Have you been to lion’s arch? Why is there overflow still? Have you been to different servers? Have you noticed how long it takes to queue for wvw? Lol, like seriously, if people were leaving it’d help me get my badges of honor faster. Just talk for yourself please or at least have some better facts—not possible reasons that may or may not apply.

ArcTheFallen.7682:

Also, can people please quit talking as a group? On both sides, this is an opinion for yourself—just because you want to leave doesn’t mean the whole world is leaving. Okay, maybe some maps are low in activity, but have you waypointed across the entire gw2 world? Have you been to lion’s arch? Why is there overflow still? Have you been to different servers? Have you noticed how long it takes to queue for wvw? Lol, like seriously, if people were leaving it’d help me get my badges of honor faster. Just talk for yourself please or at least have some better facts—not possible reasons that may or may not apply.

I’m going to assume that’s not directed at me since I don’t believe I brought up anything of the like. I also assume (maybe mistakenly) that anything I post is considered to be my personal opinion (unless I’m citing facts and source).

As for “if you’re not having fun …” points; of course if I’m not having fun I’m just going to move on (do people really continue to play something that they hate?).

But the OP wasn’t made with the intention of whining about not having fun … more of an honest question of “what is there to do at this stage of the game”.

It’s been asked and answered (thank you). It was a nice game … hopefully future content will make it a nicer game.

I’d love to be able to enjoy it more.

Yes, sorry, I didn’t want to name names, but I wasn’t talking about you Krunch, have fun with your future games!

Yea Gw2 doesnt have alot fo staying power.

Been 80 for awile, literally bored to tears.

I cant tell you how many times ive taken durios…lol

hey folk. i’ve seen amny of these threads now. just to try to contribute to this discussion, a little background followed-up by some questions.

i’ve been gaming for.. most of my life. starting with mario bros on the giant grey GB, og Zelda, SFII.. then moved to PC gaming for a bit Red Alert, Warcraft II, then back to consoles and it was pretty much Playstation for me until recently, D3 and then now gw2. as you can see, this is my first MMO experience and i am absolutely loving it. having a blast.

so now the questions. bear in mind, these are genuine questions of mine..

1) what EXACTLY defines end-game? does it only exist in games that continually expand? many PC games, or specifically online games, or RPG’s if you will. and is it necessary for it to be in an MMORPG or any game for that matter?

2) instead of asking what there IS to do. can i ask first, out of curiosity, what are YOU looking for when you picked this game up? or what did you expect to find?

often, especially nowadays, players get extremely hype dby a game release, and they do everything, have fun, but then get bored. why is that? everyone wants a big release to be the perfect game for them, they expect it to match up to all their hopes and dreams a game could ever be. but in reality, that won’t always be the case. at least, with gw2, i think you are given enough flexibility for the game to be what you make it to be. again, fair enough, i don’t have the experience with other MMOs, then perhaps try not comparing it to other MMOs? and see gw2 for what it is. if it’s boring, then that’s too bad : ((( hopefully you won’t be gone for good.

you mentioned that PvP over and over or WvW over and over is the same thing and it gets boring. then might i ask what of our IRL regular hobbies? perhaps this may not be the right way of looking at it, or games are supposed to escape reality.. fact of matter is, we game because love it, because we liek to have fun, because it’s challenging. i myself am a soccer/football player. the game mechanic never changes, it’s the same, i play 8v8 on an astro turf pitch. it’s the same every week. my team remains largely the same, oppeonents are always different though.. i also run marathons, given that the location may be different each race, there are races i run every eyar and their track is the same.. why do i keep running? or playing soccer? for one, i love both sports. (or could be any hobby of yours!). eeach time i run alongside different people, i play soccer against different teams. other people improve. so i have to improve myself to stay in the game, or better yet, WIN. because i love winning. or is this not a fair comparison? just trying to bring into light that perhaps you could set goals for yourself in-game. try to challenge yourself. you mentioned the game and the world itself is amazing, then go explore it! try to master different weapon sets or use skills you’ve never dreamed of using before and try to take down the same mobs and bosses you previously did. come up with new builds to own in PvP that you’ve never seen before. group with randoms or new friends and go explore. your experience will be different every single time.

with that said.. this game is quite new, and yes, many of you have made it to 80 within weeks or even days. and got all the best armor. and have done everything. however, the game’s been only out for a few months now. if you’re into comparing this game to other games and other MMOs, how long have those been around? perhaps, it’s time to take a break, and come back when there have been expansions or things improved.

lastly, again, hopefully i didn’t offend anyone. just my thoughts and trying to understand why people are feeling this way. who knows perhaps i might reach that point too one day, but so far, i’m still having a blast. i play maybe 1 – 2 hrs each night or every other night. a bit more on the weekend. lvl 80, no alts and slowly working towards the gear set and weapon set i want. still have a ton to do. and looking forward to it. : ))

Have you taken a look at http://guildwars2hub.com/features/editorials/80-things-do-level-80/

EDIT
BTW — I’m one quest from finishing my story, but I’ve been playing round-the-clock WvWvW for the last three weeks. It’s been a blast!

Yeah no. I’m not so self involved that I don’t realize what GW2 is.
ANet made a nice game but not sustainable. It won’t draw the same type of ire that other similar MMOs (Champions Online, SWTOR, etc …) have drawn simply because ANet (et al) can fall back on the “no-sub fee” model. It was well thought out.
I just wish their end game had been as well thought out.

All games end. The only difference is whether or not you are prepare to repeat the content that it handed to you. You could also say that after you’ve finished a raid in WoW, that you’ve “done” that. But people still come back, because they feel like they’ve gotten an experience out of it. Some players also play the same single player game for years, because they enjoy it, even after playing it for the 1000 time. This whole idea of endless endgame content is an illusion. You’re just repeating content, with a minimal amount of changes. The only reason why Guild Wars 2 seems different, is because it never stretches out the content that it presents, but cuts the bullkitten out. Basically, instead of putting the carrot on a stick, Guild Wars 2 just hands it to you. And the great thing about this is; you can do other things in your life, while still being able to keep up with the game. That’s what the game is build around. ArenaNet said it themselves many times even before release, that players shouldn’t look at Guild Wars 2 as a replacement for their current games, but as an addition.

Also, there’s no way you’ve done all that content in only thirty hours of playtime.

Kasama.8941:

Yeah no. I’m not so self involved that I don’t realize what GW2 is.
ANet made a nice game but not sustainable. It won’t draw the same type of ire that other similar MMOs (Champions Online, SWTOR, etc …) have drawn simply because ANet (et al) can fall back on the “no-sub fee” model. It was well thought out.
I just wish their end game had been as well thought out.

All games end. The only difference is whether or not you are prepare to repeat the content that it handed to you. You could also say that after you’ve finished a raid in WoW, that you’ve “done” that. But people still come back, because they feel like they’ve gotten an experience out of it. Some players also play the same single player game for years, because they enjoy it, even after playing it for the 1000 time. This whole idea of endless endgame content is an illusion. You’re just repeating content, with a minimal amount of changes. The only reason why Guild Wars 2 seems different, is because it never stretches out the content that it presents, but cuts the bullkitten out. Basically, instead of putting the carrot on a stick, Guild Wars 2 just hands it to you. And the great thing about this is; you can do other things in your life, while still being able to keep up with the game. That’s what the game is build around. ArenaNet said it themselves many times even before release, that players shouldn’t look at Guild Wars 2 as a replacement for their current games, but as an addition.

Also, there’s no way you’ve done all that content in only thirty hours of playtime.

By that logic, no game should have more content than it takes to complete in a few seconds and is repeatable. In practicality, an MMO needs to have multiple forms of recurring content that rewards the player and continues some form of progression. GW2 has very littler recurring content; multiple levels of PvP (good), and dungeon token farming (ok) but both of these suffer from lack of character progression past updating your pretty panties. Lack of progression makes for lack of endgame.

Any MMO that can be completed in two weeks, isn’t really an MMO.

@akamon:

1) Read above. To add to that, a good end game revolves around multiple avenues of progression once you’ve hit the level cap in an MMO with a level structure. The business model is a simple one … keep the players playing for sub fees (not applicable to GW2), micro transactions (applicable), and expansion purchases (applicable).

2) What I expected from GW2 was pretty much what I got (and what is) with the exception of character progression, which literally stops at max level and the minutest effort to equip exotics. There’s stuff to do … but fluff can only carry you so far and fluff (cutesy stuff that does not actually add to your character’s progression) is the only end game GW2 offers.

To that effect, it fails as an MMO and at the very least, loses out on any additional potential revenue from me as I now understand that it is a very limited game for an MMO.

Lack of sub fees however keep me from feeling like I’ve been ripped off, so I leave the game with a neutral feeling. Sort of like pixie sticks … fun for the very small amount of time I use them and forgotten in the next instant.

Unfortunate considering how much effort and good stuff ANet put into its game world which I like a lot.

I had just read this myself the other day and it just rang true to me. Perhaps it helps. I linked to page 3 because there is the relevant stuff in regards to these “issues”.
Whatever you do, have fun.

http://www.pcgamer.com/review/guild-wars-2-review/3/

By that logic, no game should have more content than it takes to complete in a few seconds and is repeatable. In practicality, an MMO needs to have multiple forms of recurring content that rewards the player and continues some form of progression. GW2 has very littler recurring content; multiple levels of PvP (good), and dungeon token farming (ok) but both of these suffer from lack of character progression past updating your pretty panties. Lack of progression makes for lack of endgame.

Any MMO that can be completed in two weeks, isn’t really an MMO.

lol, that is the logic of someone who only plays MMOs for the rewards. The enjoyment is in the experience, not in the progression. Progression is only really needed to conway a sense of character development throughtout the game. Once the story of the game ends, there is no need for it anymore. An armor stat boost is not progession, it’s simply an entrapment that always makes sure you have a goal to achieve, so you keep putting money into a game. But who the hell can seriously say they enjoy watching a number go up? People keep play MMOs because of their friends, and the people they meet along the way.

That’s like saying; if a book can be read in two hours, it’s not really a good book at all. You should put a higher emphasis on enjoying the experience instead.

I often find that if you have to explain to someone how to enjoy your game, then you’ve done it wrong.

Or I’ve done it wrong (certainly a possibility).

But since it’s my money I won’t be spending with said company, either way, they’re still getting the short end of the stick.

You see? It’s not a question of right or wrong.

Kruunch.3714:

I often find that if you have to explain to someone how to enjoy your game, then you’ve done it wrong.

Or I’ve done it wrong (certainly a possibility).

But since it’s my money I won’t be spending with said company, either way, they’re still getting the short end of the stick.

You see? It’s not a question of right or wrong.

Yes and no. Obviously design choices have been made, there is a certain vision.

Like someone else who posted something about how Planetside2 is so much better. Well, I am not interested in that game. Should I go there and then tell them I want story, exploration etc etc when that is not the point?

I find this game very refreshing and let me state that I have no issue with your opinion per se, but if you have done everything in two months already because it was on the checklist and now you are bored because you have nothing else to check off, then what could anyone here potentially say? Rinse and repeat posts, smell the roses, enjoy exploration, just wander around and help out a town. You don’t want to look good – or better you looked at everything available online and you are happy in that regard already (nothing wrong with it) – but you want or need the next cycle for higher stats … well good for you.

The only thing that I can tell you is that I left other games because I got tired of having to hunt the next gen set of stats – at least that is the mindset you get into given the game mechanics. Do 100 daily quests here, this dungeon another 100 times. Oops, there comes the next expansion, increase now reputation with 100 daily quests here …

I don’t have to explain to you how to enjoy your game, you asked “now what?” and thus people are trying to help, that’s all.

Again, have fun in whatever you decide.

Without getting further into pop-psychology (because it does seem that tangent consistently creeps into these posts), I can say I had a blast exploring the world, doing the events, doing the hearts, jumping puzzles, etc …

The problem is that I managed to do all of this in three weeks on a relatively relaxed schedule (2-3 hours a day, 5 days a week for 3 weeks). This includes 86% world exploration, having run every dungeon (at least once), achieving L80, achieving 400 skill in two different crafting professions, and doing wPvP and sPvP.

Here is the issue … I still want to play … but there’s no content left (no meaningful content), and no character progression.

So what I’m left with is:

1) PvP without reward (the best most incredible reward I can get for PvP is different looking armor … and not particularly better looking armor imo). PvP for PvP sake is fun in and of itself, but not sustainable (how many times can you beat someone over the head with a stick for no other reason than to … beat someone over the head with a stick?)

2) Dungeon grinding for the same lack of rewards that I’d get from PvP (which gives me less incentive to do it since PvP at least can be dynamic and fun).

That’s it … all the other stuff mentioned is that “check box” stuff you just panned (and fluff stuff of which some I’m interested in, but not to the extent to keep me interested in giving ANet more money).

Even the “legendary” weapon (which is something that would normally attract my attention) is fluff, since it’s a lot of effort for a new skin only.

The one thing that really angers me (and should anger you), is that even if you buy into that load of crap that is “do it just for fun” (isn’t that what we do any game for?!) and do all this fluffy stuff and get the Legendary for its looks and grind all those armor pieces for just the “right” look … then you have to spend real money to get the Fine Transmutation Stones to change your looks!

Hell no!

Bad business model!

For me that’s the great thing, grind is “optional” for fluff, not for content. Not sure if you read the review at all, everyone get’s to see the dragon.

It’s hard for me to … comprehend, perhaps my playstyle is vastly different and I do play 3-5 characters more regularly. My “main” just turned 80 and is venturing down to finish the personal storyline, max crafting I have probably around 150 if that, a bit over 50% world exploration. Finding new things in maps that I thought I knew with the third character etc.

I have done one jumping puzzle. Did PvP once and was in WvW maybe three times. Only did AC on story so far.

That is all and I have to confess I’ve been spending quite some time in the game, think around 270 hours so far.

PvP without reward … what reward does there have to be? You are winning, why make you more powerful? I really thought the mindset would be in a sense of getting a highscore. Refine your playstyle and get better etc.

No checking what your gearscore is before a dungeon, awesome? Granted if that was ever the only drive then, yes.

I remember for myself years back, a new world opened up. No thoughts about min-maxing. Adventure awaiting. Then came the years of counting. Numbercrunching. Checking lists online. Dropchances. Useless stats. Only do this dungeon every day and hope your item drops. Hope you win against the others rolling for it. Riding in circles to farm nodes. Cursing if someone else was faster.

I’m not quite there yet, but I am opening my eyes slowly and seeing adventure again. Usually after I’ve done my daily chores … pardon, achievement. But I’m getting better.

I would tend to agree on the transmutation stones, then again the whole model is very generous in itself so…

I feel you there kruuunch. I guess we are more of the MMORPG players that enjoys competition and heiharchy to a certain extent. Gw2 is built around to have a peaceful, friendly and equal-feel community. I, to be honest feel relieved for this type of gameplay style…but everything has its downs…and for this…its downside is it can become dull and bland really easily Everything gets scaled down to the point where the feel for progressiveness is close to non-existent..and feeling like you got nowhere since level 1. But GW2 jsut came out, so I am still looking forward and anticipating to what other contents await us.

Am I understanding you right that you enjoyed the non-repetitive progression while leveling up, and aren’t enjoying the options for max lvl (like WvWvW) because it’s repetitive content that does not actually ‘further’ your character in any way?

If so, I would have to agree with the above poster who recommended to take a break. Not because of burnout or whatever, but in order to wait for new content (I heard talking of a big content update in November?). See if that content piques your interest again.