Guild Wars 2

Was a big fan of GW1, played it for years. Loved the story that was built, loved the world that was created.

GW2 comes along and although I initially had some concerns about the major changes to game play I found it it to be a worthy successor and quite a feat from the point of view of content available at release.

However as time went on I found I that my connection with this new world of Tyria was falling away, despite the added detail and vibrancy of environments and the grand story telling. All in all I have come to see GW2 as a series of major mistakes which has taken a fantasy world I was once engaged in and turned into something I just don’t even remotely care about.

It all started with Lions Arch. The first time I entered Lions Arch I remember thinking “WTF is this kitten??”. Then I heard some crap about pirates and rescues and whatever and sort of shrugged it off. But even now after who knows how long playing this game I still don’t really know how pirates ended up all over Tyria, let alone apparently ruling the world capital city err…garbage dump, yes Lions Arch looks like a garbage dump. I see that as a mistake.

After Lions Arch the next big one was the undead and the waste land that is Orr. I have no problem with the storyline around Orr and all that. I simply think that putting your highest level areas in what amounts to a garbage dump (oh yay another garbage dump) full of rotting dead things is hardly likely to encourage players to spend large amounts of time playing there. I see that as a mistake.

Then there is the what to do at level 80 problem. Yes, it is a problem. If WvWvW is meant to be end game content then it needs one hell of a lot more attention than it is currently getting. If dungeons are meant to be end game content then you need to make a lot more of them. Fractals are just a really obvious “bandaid” on a problem that isn’t going to go away. Some would argue that that bandaid is now just going to cause more problems due to the ascendant gear and all the “fixing” thats had to go on to try to appease players who felt they were being shortchanged. Now we have an ever growing number of currencies, as that seems to be the answer to everything now. “Meh, just create another currency so people have to do something else to get what they want”. I see this as a mistake.

But for me one of the biggest mistakes of all is the micro-transaction business model and how it’s influenced the game negatively. Its not so much about the obvious attempts to steer people to the store: Chests, highest level crafted gear all ugly as fuq effectively forcing the use of transmute stones that are handed out extremely rarely, etc That is just annoying. It’s the ridiculousness of cosmetic items that are completely loreless. Yes I’m very sure that in any believable fantasy world holy warriors would rage into battle with a plush toy attached to their backs… That just completely ruins the illusion. I don;t have a problem with micro-transaction models. Developers need to get paid, how is neither here nor there to me but when that method starts to screw with the world its in then yes I have a problem with it.

Last but be no means the least is the SAB. My god dudes, WTF were you thinking with that? The release of that content has now completely destroyed this fantasy world and reduced it to a bad joke. Sorry but that is really how I feel. It is just so completely wrong it just boggles my mind…

Now I am quite sure the posts following this will be full to the brim with fanbois and others all jumping in to flame the kitten our of me and I really am not concerned. This message is aimed at the developers as feedback. I hope that maybe they can refocus their priorities and get this world back on track but unfortunately I think it is already done for.