As a new player (got the game exactly 1 week ago and have 1 lvl80 and 1 lvl48 character) i feel this change is pretty much a punch in the face.
When i first made my character and started fighting i noticed right away that i got weapon skills unlocked by using the weapon, this gave me the feeling of my character mastering the weapon which makes more sense than “after you reach level X you can do this”.
Having my character master the weapon simply by using it felt more like an accomplishment and it encouraged me to try out combinations and and unlock the skills for all the weapons and find my playstyle, it also gave me a more varied combat than traditional MMOs where i am not allowed to explore possibilities before level X.
I also enjoyed the fact i could jump straight into the action(story) from the beginning with a purpose, a goal instead of having to do chores to a certain level first.
If i were to start the game today as a new player my first impression would be “whats different with this compared to other mmos? its the same grind as all other games”
that impression would not encourage me to continue playing, in fact it would make me leave the game probbably before even reaching level 10 or 20.
For me the personal story itself was my level up reward, after i did a personal story i saw i was underleveled for the next part (me being maybe 4 levels lower than the recommended) so i would do some events and gold hearts for 2 levels or so and then be back into the action, now it seems more like a chore like in other games where i have a big gap between story progression and grind.
Now everyone is different and i do like the level up rewards but this is seriously too much, i would say split chapters into at least 2 parts at minimum, unlocked every 5 levels and they should give the exp to compensate for the grind gap between them.
The game was fun as the spread of the storyline and content felt good for a new player and it made me recommend this game to some of my friends but i now feel more like warning them about getting guildwars2 as the game gives a false sense of progression in the early levels (yes the faster exp from 1 to 15 is accepted but it just feels out of place with the story)
As for the changes in the utilities/elite gate locking i feel the new levels are too spread out and gives new players a feeling unlocking these is just tedious work, when i was about to unlock the second utility i was looking forward to that as i was in deep need of it as a new player, now they have to wait even longer?
Same with skill points, i always loved to explore and try to find them, even then i ended up being way to low level to do them, sometimes i got them just by helping someone else get them which was rewarding in it self.
Also i am regretting even getting the game now if this is how the leveling and story progression is going to work. And i certainly regret the fact i bought a new character slot as i wanted to roll some more alts after my mesmer reaches level 80
Lastly i would like to point out that the new dodging tutorial (which i dont really get why was added?) along with a combo tutorial (as i am still abit unsure how combos work) could instead be worked into the early story as part of a training mission or something that can be skipped but does reward you if you do it.
“Do not fix what is not broken, improve it bits by bits”
PS: i pretty much just got on the forums to voice my opinion about these changes from a “new players eyes”, i will however keep an eye on this thread.
(edited by HikariKnight.2156)