I found this thread by googling “GW2 is boring”
what Anet did right: Pretty graphics & scenery + underwater content
what Anet did wrong: this is a loooong list
to put it bluntly; they hobbled the gameplay to the point of frustration.
maps are far, FAR too large to the point of getting lost in simple structures like Lions Arch is a nightmare. so lets begin:
1. Foremost, they switched the game from a skill base to being “level” based. (IE: GW1 you could spend all your attributes into certain skills of whatever two professions you chose as YOU SAW FIT; along with a massive amount of skill choices that the player could create countless combinations and personal recipes for their skill bar – this made each and every player/play style unique and fun. This was entirely destroyed in GW2.
2. Weapon restrictions ? (your class cannot use this item) in GW1 any class could use ANY weapon, if they were skilled in it or not, this further supported unique skill combinations by designing weapons with their own combinations of perks. Again, this was entirely destroyed in GW2 by limiting certain weapons to certain classes; making any flavor of play style incredibly stale.
3. One of my biggest peeves is “level limits” to items (you cannot use this item/armor/weapon until you are level-XX) so why are there drops for armor and weapons and merchants selling items that are beyond your skill level. In GW1 there was no limitation you could wear higher or lower grade armor depending on what you could afford ~ but YOU COULD WEAR IT. (and) you could use any weapon even if you didn’t have the required skills (attributes cap) for that particular weapon/shield/magic ability ~ and used it as a lesser proficiency, but could still reap the perks it held. Again, this was entirely destroyed in GW2 by reducing armor/weapons functionality to a mere “level” requirement.
Just found a nice sword ? Well, too bad you have 3 more levels to grind before you can actually wield it = lame.
4. Re-spawning enemies are by far, way, way too frequent. now you have to pay $ from your purse to resurrect ? In GW1 this issue was balanced by an increasing negative handicap on your stats promoting a more careful & tactical play through, AND when you killed something on the map it “stayed dead”. In this way, Anet made GW2 far too much like WoW, without even realizing that the reason we were playing GW1 was because it “was not” WoW.
5. No real guilds in GW2? = this is mind boggling . As another poster pointed out, GW2 was watered-down into a “single player” game ~ where you go and explore, and sometimes bump into other people who run by you and disappear into the distance, usually to never give you no mind. And no, there is no helpful henchmen or ’hero’s menu – you just have to hope and wish upon a prayer that some higher level group wanders by your area of the immense map if you can’t handle the far too many re-spawning enemies in the section you happen to find yourself in. Kinda like going out to your local Highway and sticking out your thumb like a hitchhiker for a ride, and never knowing when you’ll get dumped on the side of the road if you don’t keep up.
6. Disappointingly limited skill choices ~ points that you are forced to wasted on skill boxes you don’t want nor need just to unlock the next set. The once large map circle has been replaced by a rectangle… that well, by its shape alone tells you that it freakishly distorts your viewing area on two sides so that you are forced to open the world map ever few minutes to see where the hell you’re going, which is hard enough to do as you try to dodge your way through enemy AI that stands annoyingly close to each other to trip your now invisible aggro bubble. ANET…please put back the aggro bubble, pretty please, with sugar on top! it was beyond useful to the point of a vital necessity when exploring.
7. Button spamming = combat, press button 1234, etc, wait for each to cycle their time limit to renew then mash & mash again. No, you didn’t choose your weapon skill set ~ that automatically came with the weapon you’re holding , same as everyone else. At least custom dying your armor sets is a unique improvement, too bad we can’t custom dye our weapons too like we did in GW1.
8. Repeating what you’ve heard said by others, GW2 is nothing like GW1, period (or the success that made it so popular and unique) Anet seems to have bowed down and created a clone MMO game that is already similar to way too many others already out there, and oddly chose to castrate the very essence of what had made it so popular and disfigured the distinctive and flavorful Guild Wars game-play that we had so loved.
(edited by Bane Bloodrage.1426)