Guild Wars 2

Hi all,

So I’ve played this game Twice already and just couldn’t seem to get into the game, but I’ve always wanted to like this game for some reason and sure I was playing it, or doing something wrong,
I absolutely loved GW but never transitioned over to GW2 well.

I will be starting a whole new character, what tips do you guys have to get right into the meat of the game? is it WWW? I like to be competitive but like to have a sense of progression also, I hate grinding but love the whole organised raid thing.

The last time I played GW2 it seemed like an empty world but how can that be with so many people raving about this game, I’m sure I was just doing it wrong.

So any suggestions are more than welcome, I once again would love to lose myself in an MMO.

Thanks.

One aspect to this game is that it does not have a direct path of progression. You can do pretty much whatever you want in any order and still be “progressing” in one way or another. This was hard for me to get my mind around when I first started playing because I was used to WoW: Grind dungeons to get enough points to buy gear, then grind raids to get enough points to get full raid gear, then grind heroic raids until the next expansion hits.

Give yourself a goal and work towards it. For example, find all of the jumping puzzles and accomplish them. Or try to get the dungeon achievements, or do World Boss trains and try to get those achievements. Get at least one character to 80 and do the personal story along the way. Maybe level up in both PvP (through Tome of Knowledge rewards) or through Edge of the Mists. Try to get your crafting to max levels, and try to make ascended gear. Work towards collecting armor/weapon skins, getting cultural armors unlocked, getting faction armor and weapons unlocked, etc.

It may take some time, but the biggest thing is that there’s almost too much to do without much direction. I recommend a plentiful mix of all game modes. I PvE, PvP, and WvW about equally, so gameplay is always fresh.

Also tried to get into it, yet again.

- still same pve meta (berserker, stack together and zerg)
- still same pvp meta (conditions, bunkers, tons of mobility)
- downstate still here lol (forcing me to pick stability or stealth in pvp)
- wvw empty, and even when it isn’t there is hardhly any pvp in there
- edge of the mists (new pvp map) is just a karma farm train
- reduced build diversity (no hybrid builds anymore)
- still forced to pick healing and elite skill, why for gods sake?
- added ascended items because gw2 has no power creep
- gold insanely devalued, skins cost up to few thousands of gold (gw2 has no grind lol)
- spvp still only capture the point, no deathmatch so far and no plans for it…
- world pvp servers still not here because community doesn’t want to be ganked lol, but when I level the zones are empty or full of lvl 80 people
- world bosses still massive health sack for no reason
- ridiculous burst in pvp, tried stacking defenses and still got crit for 8k on my ranger
- new skins only come through gems, even tho they launching a paid expansion
- recent drama with booster remake, some people simply got ripped off their old ones
- account security still absurd, can’t disable e-mail authentication without support help, still need my CD-key for anything support related, just ridiculous
- chest reward spam, getting like 5-10 chest rewards with useless, non salvagable crap that is flooding my bags

I also dislike the community. It’s a mix of ex-WoW players that now hate everything that reminds them of that game, white knights that keep saying the game is perfect, role players, and tryhards that flame you for no reason. Tho that’s quite typical for MMOs.

SO many people are saying the game is good and all, but I got no idea where is that coming from.

If you really want to get into it, despite all that, find some people to play. Anything can be fun with the right bunch of people.

There are 2 things you should know when starting GW2, which many new players don’t know unless they investigate this game well before starting.

First is that there is no quest line you can follow which then levels you up as you complete missions. You must go out in the world and explore and as you explore you will discover waypoints, vistas, new areas, do world events or some smaller tasks, gather resources, learn crafting discipline(s)…because all that gives you XP. It is a bit hard to understand and get used to since (I think) all other MMOs have standard story line and lots of repetition to gain XP you need to progress.

Second thing is that PvE (mostly I mean open world) is not the only way to level up. While there are many ways you can level up in PvE, you can also do so in WvW (especially in Edge of the Mists map if your server happens to be green that week – experienced players know what I mean). You can also level up through PvP matches because you can select certain track which you in time complete as you play matches (you get more track progress if you win, but you still get something even if you lose). You get many rewards as you progress further in some track and every once in a while you will get Tome of Knowledge which gives you level up if you are below level 80 (important note: levels don’t matter in PvP environment, just for PvE and WvW).

I would also advise you to look for some guild. I know some servers have community guilds for new players and there are few cross-server guilds that accept new players and help them learn about the game. Just try shouting here and there and pay attention to map chat and I am sure you will find a guild soon.

Przemek.6835:

Also tried to get into it, yet again.

- downstate still here lol (forcing me to pick stability or stealth in pvp)

What’s wrong with downstate? That was never up for being removed; it’s a core combat mechanic…

- wvw empty, and even when it isn’t there is hardhly any pvp in there

This is not true if you are tier 1, 2, or 3, at least. Tier 5 and 6 do have this issue though.

- reduced build diversity (no hybrid builds anymore)

Actually, with the most recent update to traits and armor stats there is more diversity and hybridization. You are not forced to take certain traitlines because they no longer give you stats you don’t necessarily want or need. All of your stats come from your gear now.

- still forced to pick healing and elite skill, why for gods sake?

Again, this was never something that wasn’t intended. Why would they remove that?

- spvp still only capture the point, no deathmatch so far and no plans for it…

The Courtyard is a Team Deathmatch map. This has been in game for a long time now. There is also a new game mode coming with HoT call Stronghold which is different from both Conquest and TDM.

- chest reward spam, getting like 5-10 chest rewards with useless, non salvagable crap that is flooding my bags

This is still a problem, but it’s fairly easy to clear your bags out anyway.

I also dislike the community. It’s a mix of ex-WoW players that now hate everything that reminds them of that game, white knights that keep saying the game is perfect, role players, and tryhards that flame you for no reason. Tho that’s quite typical for MMOs.

SO many people are saying the game is good and all, but I got no idea where is that coming from.

If you really want to get into it, despite all that, find some people to play. Anything can be fun with the right bunch of people.

If you really don’t enjoy it, why do you play? Your last statement is truthful though. Finding a group of people to play with will make your experience far more fun. Again, this is the same with all MMOs.

- still same pve meta (berserker, stack together and zerg)

Assassin, Beserker and Sinister are all meta. Stacking on top of each other isn’t meta. It’s a easy but bad pug tactics.

- still same pvp meta (conditions, bunkers, tons of mobility)

There is one good bunker build and most team don’t use it.There is only 2 celestial meta that use condition heavily. Overall you have a lot more direct damage build in PvP than condition build.

- reduced build diversity (no hybrid builds anymore)

Celestial Necro and Elementalist in PvP say hello. For PvE Hybrid was never a great idea. But Engineer was always kind of an hybrid profession. You always do near 30-70% of each damage that you have a zerker, sinister or celestial build.

- spvp still only capture the point, no deathmatch so far and no plans for it…

Courtyard is deathmatch and Stronghold is coming with the expansion.

- new skins only come through gems, even tho they launching a paid expansion

You don’t need gems for those skin. You can transfer gold into gem, black lion weapons are easier to get by buying them or key farming.

- ridiculous burst in pvp, tried stacking defenses and still got crit for 8k on my ranger

Maybe you are, what the word i’m searching for. Oh ya bad in PvP? I’m surviving just fine thank you, even on my thief.

- account security still absurd, can’t disable e-mail authentication without support help, still need my CD-key for anything support related, just ridiculous

Never had any problem about that whatsoever in 3 years. Never heard of that kind of thing in my guilds either.

- gold insanely devalued, skins cost up to few thousands of gold (gw2 has no grind lol)

Gold is easy to get too. What does it change? So just because numbers are relatively big (not even big but whatever), it mean that the economy is bad or grindy? By that logic Japanese economy is bad because their lower bank notes is 1000 yen. Difference in scale doesn’t change a thing.

- still forced to pick healing and elite skill, why for gods sake?

For balance? But I agree that I would like to take a 4th utility instead of an Elite. Don’t think that make the game bad.

- wvw empty, and even when it isn’t there is hardhly any pvp in there

I agree that WvW is a mess. Nice mode, but balance in number is wrong since day one. PvP or not depend on what you are doing. I always do PvP when i’m in WvW.

- edge of the mists (new pvp map) is just a karma farm train

Agree, but is it a bad thing? Yes and no. There is other place for PvP, so I’m ok with karma train and like it. But at the same time, it’s advertise as a PvP. Ideally, they would make a true karma train elsewhere in the game and keep that map PvP.

- added ascended items because gw2 has no power creep

I agree that it wasn’t needed and the game would be better without it. But there was a lot of people crying to have it. Anet was kitten ed if they did, kitten ed if they didn’t.

The rest is pretty much just opinion. It’s ok if the game isn’t good for you. I can’t stand WoW, that doesn’t mean it’s a bad game, it just doesn’t fix me and it’s ok. All different game for different players.

MiniEquine.6014:

If you really don’t enjoy it, why do you play? Your last statement is truthful though. Finding a group of people to play with will make your experience far more fun. Again, this is the same with all MMOs.

Don’t ask me. I got bored of WoW and I can’t find anything good so I lurk around here.

All of your “counterarguments” could be rephrased as “ANet decided it’s gonna be like that, so it is like that and there is nothing left to say”. The fact that they designed the game in a certain way doesn’t mean it should be left without criticism.

Downstate ruins pvp for me. It empowers massive blobs of players to a point of ridiculousness. It makes killing people harder for range characters cause they can’t come close to finish them off. It strongly pushes me to pick stability or stealth just for the finisher. It makes 1vX much harder, even if the opponents are not doing much besides auto attacking you. Lastly, I feel it’s just unnecessary and doesn’t bring anything into the game. 9/10 times I get downed, I am dead anyways.

If they wanted to give more diversity they could’ve just removed stats from trait lines. As it is now I can’t make hybrid specs. Feels like they are trying to set the meta in stone so it’s easier to balance for their e-sport dream.

Didn’t see the courtyard map. What I’ve seen is rank farm all over the place wnich I forgot to mention in my previous post. This should not be a thing.

I know you CAN survive in pvp. But the thing is that I don’t think that with fully defensive build I should be getting crit for >30% of my total hp.

Anyways what I’ve said is my personal opinion about few points in the game. The fact that you, or someone you know didn’t share my problems doesn’t change my point.

Przemek.6835:

MiniEquine.6014:

If you really don’t enjoy it, why do you play? Your last statement is truthful though. Finding a group of people to play with will make your experience far more fun. Again, this is the same with all MMOs.

Don’t ask me. I got bored of WoW and I can’t find anything good so I lurk around here.

All of your “counterarguments” could be rephrased as “ANet decided it’s gonna be like that, so it is like that and there is nothing left to say”. The fact that they designed the game in a certain way doesn’t mean it should be left without criticism.

Downstate ruins pvp for me. It empowers massive blobs of players to a point of ridiculousness. It makes killing people harder for range characters cause they can’t come close to finish them off. It strongly pushes me to pick stability or stealth just for the finisher. It makes 1vX much harder, even if the opponents are not doing much besides auto attacking you. Lastly, I feel it’s just unnecessary and doesn’t bring anything into the game. 9/10 times I get downed, I am dead anyways.

If they wanted to give more diversity they could’ve just removed stats from trait lines. As it is now I can’t make hybrid specs. Feels like they are trying to set the meta in stone so it’s easier to balance for their e-sport dream.

Didn’t see the courtyard map. What I’ve seen is rank farm all over the place wnich I forgot to mention in my previous post. This should not be a thing.

I know you CAN survive in pvp. But the thing is that I don’t think that with fully defensive build I should be getting crit for >30% of my total hp.

Anyways what I’ve said is my personal opinion about few points in the game. The fact that you, or someone you know didn’t share my problems doesn’t change my point.

My counter-arguments were only for things that you weren’t fully truthful about. Anything I didn’t directly respond to I don’t necessarily have anything to say about it, though I was tempted (mostly because they are opinion-based).

Downstate has always been a core aspect of GW2 combat mechanics and it is not just applied to PvP. Certain classes have a much easier time returning to life from downstate (Necros with unlimited life drain, thieves with their stealth and teleport, elementalists with their mist form, guardians with their healing symbol). The other classes don’t have great escapes while downed and will often die more quickly.

As for hybrid specs, you are absolutely incorrect. It is objectively easier to make a build that focuses on doing multiple things very well now compared to before. I don’t know what hybrid builds you were running before, but there is almost certainly a way to make something similar to what you had with something more added in. Maybe the new system isn’t intuitive for you, is all. I could possibly see that, even though it is mechanically simpler.

@Przemek:
If you want to complain about the game, that’s fine. But please don’t do it in another person’s thread, where they ask for pointers to enjoy the game more. Instead, you come barging in and start telling them to stop playing.

It’s impolite, it’s not answering their questions, and it creates a toxic environment. Start your own thread.

@Everyone else:
Please stop responding to the troll. This thread is about helping the OP, not about debating what this other person likes or dislikes.

@Haptic:
Is there anything you specifically want to know? Your question is rather vague right now, and I’m not sure if it has been answered already.

I think the derailment happened because this thread was in general discussion at first rather than originating in Players Helping Players.

Haptic, it depends on what you like most. I’m no PvPer so to me the meat of the game is exploring. Looking all through the zones, listening to NPC dialogues, worming my way into caves, etc. Once you’ve done that, there’s leveling alts, doing rounds of Silverwastes (an 80 zone that is quite lucrative), world bosses, dungeons (either join a few friends, or make an LFG party yourself for first time runs), working through the Living Story to be ready for the story’s continuation in HoT, etc.

You should see people anywhere you go, thanks to megaservers.