Guild Wars 2

My father used to hate it when I said I was bored and had nothing to do. He’d love to point out allllll the things I could be spending my time doing. And he was right. What he failed to separate is the difference between having something to do just for the sake of having something to do, and doing something that grabs my attention and makes me want to do it (whether it be for the reward, to see what happens next, or just because the act itself is so exciting). I’m hoping they can create changes and/or content that the game makes me want to do. It may not, and hey I’ve enjoyed my $60 worth so no complaints, but I did make great friends on here and would love to have something interesting to do with them again.

Summary: having a laundry list of things you can do, by the very fact that I have to find one, means there’s probably something missing (obviously based on personal preference).

Someone already said it, but I’d like to reiterate: part of the problem many may be having with this game is that it’s not really an RPG. It has the structural elements of one: classes, races, levels, magic, etc, but it lacks the heart that the good one’s really have. Part of that, a big part I think, is that getting the same kind of love to a character and depth of story that makes RPG’ers so passionate about their favorite games seems almost impossible to create in an indefinitely sustained game like an MMO. Previous games tried to do it with dungeons and raids: it was the place to put your epic storylines. Yet even they were still made up of thousands of meaningless quests that would only barely touch on the main plot.

Guild Wars 2 is an action game, one that gets you to the highest level pretty quickly and then gives you repeatable competative events to participate in. That’s really it. Part of the problem is that with the lack of depth in terms of skill options even those events made to be dynamic such as sPvP and WvW are really quite static. You generally know what you’ll do, which exact buttons you’ll use and in which combination you’ll push them, and sometimes even the exact pattern you’ll move around the field in. These things are likely never to change. Now this may be exactly the kind of gameplay that some people want (in fact I’m sure of it), but I don’t think it’s necessarily the same group that have been doing MMO’s in the past. This game takes a new stance, a new approach that’s far more casual, more simplistic, and lacking in depth. I wouldn’t even necessarily say that endgame in those other games was really the best answer, just that it certainly struck closer towards what traditional (I use the term loosely) RPG’ers enjoyed.

I guess in summary what I’m saying is that this game is the Torchlight II of MMO’s. It’s pretty, it’s fun in a repetative sort of way, but it’s not the kind of game that will give me memories to cherish in the long-term.

I find myself in the same place as you, and I’m still trying to put my finger on it. This game seems to offer a lot of things to do: jumping puzzles, sPvP, WvW, map completion, crafting, PvE, dynamic events; I mean really I can’t even think of anything that’s missing from an inclusion standpoint. So why do I get bored 15 minutes after logging in, especially when I used to play ecstatically for the first month?

I’m starting to think that MMO’s may just not be for me anymore. I’ve never hit max level with best in slot gear in any game so fast, and everything that’s left for me to do such as achievements, map completion, and crafting, are just for the sake of saying I did it all. It has nothing to do with them being fun in and of themselves. Those events that I could repeat such as dungeons, sPvP and WvW are all feeling very static as of now despite the technically dynamic nature of them. Part of it might also be that there’s nothing to get anymore: I have no need of gold or karma for anything.

So now I’ve loaded Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate Edition and am having fun with re-living the story. Maybe it’s tone or depth that I’ve been craving; makes me think of why I love the first Diablo as opposed to the new one: technically 3 is great, but it’s missing the heart and soul of what made the game memorable. Right now GW 2 is as predictable as an episode of Storage Wars. Not a great feeling.

Alt-F4 has always been viable and existed, but people who are having fun in a match wouldn’t even consider it. What appears to be an increase in this happening (anecdotal evidence) probably has more to do with people just being bored now with uneven matches and they should just move on to something else rather than play WvW. It’s seriously more work than it’s worth to save a couple silver or to stop a couple people from potentially getting a loot bag, so I have a hard time believing they’re doing it for any other reason than “eh, I’m not having fun anyway, let me screw with someone.”

To add, if you find it’s happening more often now, it probably speaks more to the lack of fun people are having in the game than anything else. If you do it and you have a queue to log back in, you’re just screwing yourself.

Actually if you’re downed and Alt-F4 the next time you log in you’ll be dead and will thus be forced to pay to rez at a waypoint (assuming you don’t wait around for someone to rez you). So there is still a potential cost associated.

Also, Alt-F4 is a Windows function to ensure people can always get out of an application should an error occur, thus nothing can be done about this. While other games have included penalties/timers before being able to log back in, it also affects those who legitimately get booted or crash. Considering the number of times I’ve seen my entire server get kicked from WvW due to a problem on Anet’s side, I’m pretty sure that added nuisance would not have had a favorable response.

You’d have to elaborate on “good”.

Many people, despite the innate difficulties in currently playing one, enjoy the profession due to its dynamic play-style (particularly with d/d). The biggest obstacle I find people need to overcome to find out how effective they can be is how quickly and easily they can swap attunements. Those people who leave it bound to the function keys I’m sure have problems. No matter the weapon set you’re using, effective and timely attunement swapping is critical, and if that can’t be handled well then the entire profession will not be played very well.

The problems that need to be addressed have already been mentioned ad nauseam; a long list of bugs, traits (particularly in our damaging lines) that need addressing, and a lackluster Downed State. After that personal experience might dictate what other types of adjustments would be desireable.

I think my personal biggest uncertainty is what direction the dev’s want the game to go in terms of damage and survivability. Right now there seems to be quite some discrepency in terms of available burst damage between professions. They’ve already mentioned that they think d/d’s damage is too low, for which I agree, but at the same time I wish they’d tone down other professions damage rather than bring mine up too much. I like playing the Elementalist because I have to work for my damage, and feel far more like it’s dictated by my level of skill. Other professions however can pull off far more with far less effort (Thieves the classic example), and often with better survivability.

What I want most of all is for the vision that was touted coming to fruition through class balancing. No near-instant kills, no aspect of the game that is guaranteed by any one profession, and a host of dynamic, fun abilities that are both rewarding for the novice and offer additional benefit for those that master it. Unfortunately at the pace they’re moving this may happen, but not for several months as they’re really still working on bugs (both those that have existed and new ones that continue to crop up).

In theory Kellhus you are correct. In practice (regarding the Ele), not even close.

A glass canon Warrior still has higher survivability (and damage if talking Staff) than my Ele, and a defensive Warrior still has higher survivability than my Ele (and does more damage). The balance with the profession is simply not there. It is also far easier to pull off the damage and use the tools to survive the encounter with most other professions.

If there was a middle-ground build that allowed good, sustainable DPS with a decent level of survivability, I would be all over it. As it turns out I have to (again in regards to Staff, the playstyle I prefer) either build glass canon to do respectable damage, or build full defense just to be able to run away successfully from a Thief, Warrior, Mesmer, etc.

It’s not complete fail but overall it’s incredibly lackluster and weak compared to other professions. It took me getting level 80 gear and going back to do earlier content in order for it to really be viable. Water is the only real exception and as others have mentioned Water-5 is tricky to pull off, especially in a 3d fighting environment where you can be swarmed by krait and everything else. And I find Fire oddly weaker than just spamming Air-1 and Air-2 (at melee range).

I know this is primarily aimed at sPvP, but I just want to add regarding Guardians that their downed state attack was hitting me for 1300 and critting around 2400in WvW (I had to check my combat log to understand why a Guardian I had downed was able to kill me from 3/4 health then come back up and wtfpwn me so easily).

I’m in the same boat that I keep trying to love my Ele but every time I play another alt I just shake my head in exasperation. PvP of any kind is almost always about burst, and the only way to really get that is d/d while being a master with attunement switching (that means hotkeys and a gaming mouse of gtfo). If you go s/d you need to take the necessary signets to keep them relatively in place. I’ve tried the heavy defense bunker build and all it does is delay the inevitable. So I’m great at running away, yay?

I’m trying not to be bitter but finding it nearly impossible. I don’t want to reroll; I didn’t spend all that time leveling just so I could tell myself I chose incorrectly. I keep reading the forums hoping to find that one build that will finally give me a comfortable playstyle where I can do decent damage and have decent survivability and utility. So far it doesn’t exist. WvW is glass canon siege build and sPvP is heavy defense bunker-hope-for-a-good-team-to-assist build. PvE is just sort of “meh”.