Guild Wars 2

Hi all,

I played some beta’s, got early access and played the game pretty much daily for a month or two before having to admit to myself that I was actually thoroughly disappointed. I played GW1 for six years before but couldn’t last for more than a couple of months in GW2. So I complained much about the game on these forums in the hopes of Anet perhaps seeing that they needed to make some adjustments, but of course to no avail. Now, I’ve said about those things what I had to say. So this is NOT a thread to start complaining all over again, but as I haven’t followed the game for many months now, I was just hoping some of you guys could help me in answering a few of my points that I would like to ask about that would help me in determining whether this is a good time for me to give GW2 another spin. Please note I deleted all my characters and give all my stuff to someone else, to make sure I could make a fresh start if I ever decided to try again. I do not regret this decision at all.

So please, this is not a thread to bash the game but just an honest request from myself for information about some points that are a big deal to me personally. I do not expect the game to have changed everything I would like to but perhaps enough has changed to give it a go. I have divided my points into 3 areas: Leveling, endgame and pvp. My points are purely my opinion and I am just really wanting to know if these things have improved for someone like me. If you love the game that’s great, but don’t tell me I’m wrong about any of this, it’s just my opinion and you don’t have to share it at all. In fact if you love the game I am happy for you. I’d like to love it too.

Leveling:

1) Story lines. I found the story lines very predictable and rather uninspiring. I never really got connected to many of the npc’s even the ones that got killed in the story. I just didn’t care. Part of the issue was that the story line quests were far and few in between.

2) Voice acting. My experience with the game is that the voice acting and scripting are very poor in this game. It’s my opinion but I found them too childish and I prefered turning off the sound so I wouldn’t start hating my own character.

3) Replay value. I am an altoholic in any game. I already found it hard to level a second character to 80 at the time. I had 19 characters in GW1 and I just couldn’t get myself to level a 3rd beyond 20. Part of the issue here is that it actually takes too long to level to 80 because there are too many levels and the mindless jumping from one event to another really did get boring to me quickly.

Has the leveling experience been improved I wonder?

Endgame:

4) Dungeons. Some dungeons were ok but in the general I felt the boss fights were not very interesting. Mostly lots of HP on the boss and more ressing and dodging than skill use.

5) FotM. Was it the flavour of the month or has it turned into the flavour of the year? I refused to go in here and saw from the forums it was the best place to farm, invalidating the rest of the world basically. It links to dungeons and rewards but this dungeon sort of stands by itself. I am really wondering if it’s still the place to be for farming or if they fixed that.

6) Rewards. Rewards for endgame were an issue for me as well. I ran dungeons but most armour sets were actually quite ugly. I was used to much better design from Anet. So once I got the one armour set I like the rest of the dungeons became pointless. In fact many activities didn’t really feel rewarding. I know there are some new systems for rewarding players. How is that working?

7) Legendary weapons. There weren’t many and the skins were mostly horrible in my opinion and well, there was the RNG element that took the fun out of it before I got started on it. I saw new legendaries were coming, so there could be better skins, but what about that RNG element? Is it really still luck rather than achievement?

PvP:

8) WvW. I did it for a bit but the cap and defend and running around getting ganked by invisible thiefs and such did get old quickly for me. To be honest the ganking was the least of my concerns there.

9) PvP. So there were some arena’s, 8 vs 8 which wasn’t used much and 4 vs 4 team arena’s that were dominated by a few teams and new players had no chance unless they had the stomach for it. Is PvP any better these days?

Please feel free to respond to any or all points in here. I just want your opinions on how the game has progressed (or not) with respect to these 9 points.

If there are any new features that have improved the game and you think might be worth knowing about, feel free to let me know about them as well.

Oh and of course. This is just part of my decision making. A MMO is big time investment and I am just gathering information. I am not as silly as to let my decision be based on just this, but your replies are most welcome

with the new grind fest coming up gw2 will go so far from gw1
oh ye

You’ll probably find that your opinion on 1 and 2 won’t be different this time around if you play again. The haven’t changed anything there.

Point 3 I can’t help you on since I’m also an altaholic and no problems adventuring to level 80 again ( and again and again… )

Points 4 to 7 I doubt you’ll find very different either.

I don’t play against other players much so I won’t comment on the rest.

They have added a fair bit of content over the time you’ve been off but much o it has been temporary. The Living Story content. Some’s been good, some’s been meh (my opinion, of course).

You might just want to give it all a go again to see if your perception o the game is any different. In which case your opinions of 1, 2 and 4 to 7 may be different this time around.

(Complaining on the forums hasn’t changed either )

Thanks for your replies so far. I might add that I am not looking for GW2 to be like GW1, but it was a bit of a thing at first because I enjoyed GW1 so much and GW2 just was so disappointing to me in comparison. However, the reality is that GW2 has very little to do with GW1 and has to be judged by its own merits.

I am impressed that you can level alts so vigorously. This is the first game where I just got bored with leveling so quickly.

Go to page 5 and see the How Many Characters… thread. Lots of us. Plenty who just run with one too. This game can support all sorts of players I they can find their feet first.

Most people I know that quits GW2 or are unhappy with it.. Mostly is because they keep comparing it with GW1.

All I can say is GW2 doesn’t disappoint for me and many others. Sure, there is still lotsa room for improvement but some players are just harder to satisfy.

Most of your listed problems – To summarise in a line: “Things weren’t to my tastes”.

Supercharged.8914:

Most people I know that quits GW2 or are unhappy with it.. Mostly is because they keep comparing it with GW1.

Well I certainly did that at first, since I was expecting a sequel, not a completely different game with the same name. But I have left that comparison behind and only mention GW1 as background for my initial disappointment.

Supercharged.8914:

All I can say is GW2 doesn’t disappoint for me and many others. Sure, there is still lotsa room for improvement but some players are just harder to satisfy.

Well this contradicts your last point a bit. It’s not just about being harder to satisfy, but having, as you put it, different tastes. What is true is that once you’ve played a few MMOs, you do have higher or specific expectations. This is normal in life but then it becomes a matter of how does a game cater to certain expecations, if at all.

Supercharged.8914:

Most of your listed problems – To summarise in a line: “Things weren’t to my tastes”.

They weren’t to my tastes. This is very much true of the leveling experience. But this was my point. It’s all my opinion and it’s how I felt about the game. And indeed I wonder if anything has changed in favour of my tastes.

So far it seems that the forum community is telling me that for the listed points, very little has changed, but I would think it too early to really come to that conclusion.

They’re working on rewards and they’ve just released their new blog post which outlines new plans for legendaries, with new types and changeable stats …

I’d give the blog a read as I think it does directly address some of the issues you’ve had, though it’s worth bearing in mind that these are going to be added gradually over the rest of this year and a bit into 2014, so you might want to delay your return a bit. Or, return now, get a char to 80 and then enjoy all the new stuff as it comes out, that part’s obviously up to you.

Your points 1 and 2 haven’t changed much, though again, they mention adding in some more story quests at certain levels, so it might be more interesting for you.

I don’t know how closely related your third point was to the first 2, so I’m not sure if you found levelling alts boring because of those two points or a mixture of all of your points? I’m an altoholic and am constantly making different chars. A lot of them get deleted, but actually I’ve found I’ve kept more and more of them recently the better I’ve got at the game. But I do struggle to level them because I do get bored at around level 40 (but love the early starting levels), so I found your post interesting.

CrossedHorse.4261:

They’re working on rewards and they’ve just released their new blog post which outlines new plans for legendaries, with new types and changeable stats …

I’d give the blog a read as I think it does directly address some of the issues you’ve had, though it’s worth bearing in mind that these are going to be added gradually over the rest of this year and a bit into 2014, so you might want to delay your return a bit. Or, return now, get a char to 80 and then enjoy all the new stuff as it comes out, that part’s obviously up to you.

Your points 1 and 2 haven’t changed much, though again, they mention adding in some more story quests at certain levels, so it might be more interesting for you.

I don’t know how closely related your third point was to the first 2, so I’m not sure if you found levelling alts boring because of those two points or a mixture of all of your points? I’m an altoholic and am constantly making different chars. A lot of them get deleted, but actually I’ve found I’ve kept more and more of them recently the better I’ve got at the game. But I do struggle to level them because I do get bored at around level 40 (but love the early starting levels), so I found your post interesting.

Thanks for that. To answer your last question. Point 1 and 2 were definitely part of it but not the whole of it. I found leveling boring specifically after about level 35 because it didn’t seem like your character really develops much beyond that level. Around level 35 you’ve pretty much unlocked all your skills etc and you just get some skill points after that. Just getting skill points for 45 levels made me feel like the level cap could’ve been in the range of 35-50. Anything beyond that felt like adding levels for the sake of levels…no new skills or anything. It just didn’t feel like progressing anymore and then the story line and repetitious events just got boring for me and basically took too long for what it actually did for your character. I hope that clarifies point 3 a bit more.

Edit: I just read the blog and I see your point, it does address or seems to address some of my points. It even sounds like maybe there is hope for the legendary precursor issue.

Gehenna.3625:

CrossedHorse.4261:

They’re working on rewards and they’ve just released their new blog post which outlines new plans for legendaries, with new types and changeable stats …

I’d give the blog a read as I think it does directly address some of the issues you’ve had, though it’s worth bearing in mind that these are going to be added gradually over the rest of this year and a bit into 2014, so you might want to delay your return a bit. Or, return now, get a char to 80 and then enjoy all the new stuff as it comes out, that part’s obviously up to you.

Your points 1 and 2 haven’t changed much, though again, they mention adding in some more story quests at certain levels, so it might be more interesting for you.

I don’t know how closely related your third point was to the first 2, so I’m not sure if you found levelling alts boring because of those two points or a mixture of all of your points? I’m an altoholic and am constantly making different chars. A lot of them get deleted, but actually I’ve found I’ve kept more and more of them recently the better I’ve got at the game. But I do struggle to level them because I do get bored at around level 40 (but love the early starting levels), so I found your post interesting.

Thanks for that. To answer your last question. Point 1 and 2 were definitely part of it but not the whole of it. I found leveling boring specifically after about level 35 because it didn’t seem like your character really develops much beyond that level. Around level 35 you’ve pretty much unlocked all your skills etc and you just get some skill points after that. Just getting skill points for 45 levels made me feel like the level cap could’ve been in the range of 35-50. Anything beyond that felt like adding levels for the sake of levels…no new skills or anything. It just didn’t feel like progressing anymore and then the story line and repetitious events just got boring for me and basically took too long for what it actually did for your character. I hope that clarifies point 3 a bit more.

Thanks for answering my question I have to agree to some extent. I love all my alts until about level 40 and then do get a bit bored with the whole process (now, if I have the gold I quite often craft them up about 20 levels).

Hopefully, the new missions they will add to the story line will improve this feeling.

Also, I am not sure how much of the living story elements you tried out before? They are now releasing content every 2 weeks, some of it temporary but they have promised that more of it will become permanent, and generally there seems to be a bit more to do. They will upscale your character to the new zones while they’re around as well, so I quite enjoy levelling up outside of the open world at times and just sticking to the new zones.

They’ve also done a massive overhaul of the achievements system, where you are now rewarded with chests every 500 points you earn, which I’ve found helps a bit with levelling as I just feel there’s more to aim for. For instance, I genuinely try to get map completion in each area now because I’ll get more AP, I run dailies on alts to net AP but also means I level them up and have a reason to do so etc.

Whatever you decide, the good thing about GW2 is that at least if you come back you know (at the moment, anyway) that you aren’t suddenly 40 levels behind everyone else with 80 new sets of gear grind out once you hit max level, so if you did pop back for a bit but decide it’s still not really where you want it to be, you can leave again and not miss anything vital.

GW1 was a grindfest too, less about gear but as much for titles/cosmetics. But it’s all optional for enjoying all the content there is. Stop the whining about this.

butch.8136:

GW1 was a grindfest too, less about gear but as much for titles/cosmetics. But it’s all optional for enjoying all the content there is. Stop the whining about this.

I’ve tried to make sure people understand this is not about whining but to get some input from people who are playing the game to see if there were some positive changes.

It was to be expected but please, your comment shows me you completely missed what this thread is about.

I know GW1 was a grindfest but the advantage I had there was that there were lots of rewards I wanted. Lots of armour sets I liked and to me I also liked the story lines.

Now, I am thinking about trying GW2 again and I just want some honest opinions from people who are playing the game about GW2 and the current state of the game to help me in deciding how to approach this. I actually hope to find some positives to be perfectly honest. So please don’t see this as a whine thread. It really isn’t and I would like it to continue in that spirit without comments like this that really can derail the thread.

some of the living story updates are really fun!!
the dungeon are getting more attention from the devs, and they’re planning to put more of them.. with the fall of abadon or theumanova reactor coming soon..
they are trying to connect dots to the storyline of the original guildwars..
pvp and wvw is upgraded also..
so i think its worth it to stick around!. I personally can’t wait for what they will provide!
and.. the updates of living story content has been really2 fast! show how much work they put into it!! developing one thing after another within a window of a few weaks aren’t exactly ease..

I think you need to have an entirely different mindset to play Guild Wars 2, both if you’re coming from standard MMO and if you’re coming from Guild Wars 1.

Guild Wars 1 did much better at telling the big stories, and did much better at attaching your to your characters. I don’t find myself nearly as attached to my characters in Guild Wars 2.

But then, an instanced game is ALWAYS better at telling a story than the open world.

In Guild War 1, because it was instanced, everything you did was sort of aligned with the missions. You were fighting charr in the missions and you were fighting charr in the world. When you passed that area, your missions were with stone summit dwarves and your quests felt like part of the same thing.

But there’s a big disconnect in Guild Wars 2 between the personal story and the open world, as there’d have to be. There are so many personal stories (not just one mission) and the open world is for everyone. So it’s not going to have the same feeling.

However, Guild Wars 1 was pathed and you couldn’t just wander around. You’d see a log and you’ve have to turn back because you couldn’t jump over it. If I were you, OP, I’d turn off my map markers from the map screen and try playing the game without them. Just wander around and really experience the world, without worrying about where the next POI or skill challenge is. Explore the world as if you were in the world.

It drastically changes how you play the game.

Gw2 is not GW1. I wish people would stop expecting that. They designed the game so they can do more things with it. With that said, I kind of wish it was like Gw1 a bit more. I never played GW1 but it sounds more up my alley.

The design direction is this:
-Lots of carrots(things to chase after for a reward)
-Lots of rewards
-Lots of things to do
-Poor living story
-Ambitious 2 week content patches.

Will the game actually improve? I dont know. Even with all of the improvements over the last 3-5 months, I still think the game went to the pits. Im slowly checking it out again and interested in Colin’s blog. But I had a thread of mine put in the trash can and deemed a complaint thread when I was seeking help and advice from players…simply asking “how do you have fun in the game”. So moderator behavior is still outrageous and there seems to be no oversight. THAT single handedly put the bitter taste back in my mouth.

So theres pros and cons all around.
Goodluck.

Svetli.4276:

with the new grind fest coming up gw2 will go so far from gw1
oh ye

Don’t be silly. That’s simply not true.

cesmode.4257:

Gw2 is not GW1. I wish people would stop expecting that. They designed the game so they can do more things with it. With that said, I kind of wish it was like Gw1 a bit more. I never played GW1 but it sounds more up my alley.

The design direction is this:
-Lots of carrots(things to chase after for a reward)
-Lots of rewards
-Lots of things to do
-Poor living story
-Ambitious 2 week content patches.

Will the game actually improve? I dont know. Even with all of the improvements over the last 3-5 months, I still think the game went to the pits. Im slowly checking it out again and interested in Colin’s blog. But I had a thread of mine put in the trash can and deemed a complaint thread when I was seeking help and advice from players…simply asking “how do you have fun in the game”. So moderator behavior is still outrageous and there seems to be no oversight. THAT single handedly put the bitter taste back in my mouth.

So theres pros and cons all around.
Goodluck.

The game is steadily improving, every patch there’s some quality of life. I admit it’s a little bit per patch, but let’s not forget GW2 currently patches every month. It requires quite a bit of double-think to deny this game has vastly improved since launch.

Svetli.4276:

with the new grind fest coming up gw2 will go so far from gw1
oh ye

But the grind in GW1 was even worse. And I am not talking about the optional grind.

The problem with every MMO now, is very simple. They are all trying to run away from what made MMOs good; socializing and killing hard mobs/bosses for great rewards. This could mean leveling, crafting, PvP or raiding, it all counted.

I know a lot of this came from 2004 when the general public found the internet FML, but the social experience of an MMO can still live on, if a game lets it. This is not a knock a GW2 but in general, at all the current MMOs. Let the players play the game you set up, not the other way around. I’ve been watching vids of Cubeworld, I think it’s an MMO but either way, this alpha voxel game looks/plays better than every triple A MMO on the market or upcoming!

Sandbox > Theme park.

Sandbox + Theme park (raids/dungeons/instanced PvP only) and some open world PvP sprinkled in. That’s the magic recipe.

Everything is just Theme park anymore, it’s that way because it’s easy (cheap) to develop for. That’s so sad, this is such a good genre and it pains me to see it die such a pointless death.

Get your heads straight devs. There is gold in the streets, waiting for someone to come along and scoop it up. You may upset some of the current players with important changes, but those guys are addicted anyway… No real MMO player, plays MMOs anymore. They are just waiting, desperately to finally play a real one again.

You’ve made up your mind in your own post. It would be best to find another game, its not gw1 and it never will be. Maybe neverwinter is more to your liking, it’s more like gw1 than gw2 is.

aspirine.6852:

You’ve made up your mind in your own post. It would be best to find another game, its not gw1 and it never will be. Maybe neverwinter is more to your liking, it’s more like gw1 than gw2 is.

Perhaps, but here I was the last few days, wondering about GW2 and feeling like I might want to give it another shot, because you know what: I also know it wasn’t all bad.

So I thought let’s put down some negatives (at least negative for me) and see if anything there has gone through some changes and perhaps get some insights that might tip me off to another approach to this game, because even though a lot of things are very similar to other MMOs (still kill x mobs, collect x items, escort this npc, defend that location etc), it is also very different in various aspects.

As some pointed out it takes a different approach and I thought it was interesting to get some points of view from people who’ve been playing the game for a while and have some more insight perhaps.

This game is not for you.

One thing i agree with is that the dialog is terrible, very childish.
I find myself skipping what npcs say and i dont seem to of missed anything in the missions/hearts etcs