Guild Wars 2

He didn’t win any fans with that line.

I’ve stumped and cheered for GW2 forever. All the ideas sounded innovative on paper.

Now maybe I’ve got rose-colored glasses on but I realize GW1 was superior at a lot of things.

1. Why Groups Were Better In GW1

So you had to wait around LF monk in Guild Wars 1. Yep, I was there, I complained about how stupid it was to take 20 minutes to get a monk in GW1. Here’s the reality though, it was an inconvenience, but one that ALLOWED for the group to actually work together once they went into action. I’m not saying group play was hugely dynamic or anything. You did play your static roles and it could be repetitive.

What it was was something real however. When the group succeeded or failed, boy did you feel that.

In GW2 there’s no connection to anything. Even when they try to get us to coordinate for world events, it doesn’t feel much different that herding sheep to a spot. Nobody knows what’s going on in terms of success of failure. It all seems to be happening outside of us, in a dream, while way too many particle effects contribute to the haze of “what exactly is any of this?”

I miss groups that are playing “the mission” or UW or DoA. Back then we weren’t people trying to follow a Dulfy guide, but figured it out together. (Or sometimes failed pretty badly.) It used to be in Guild Wars that any intrepid group of adventurers with a decent use of our skills could make it through all sorts of devious opponents. And, though ranging from mild challenges to extreme ones, it was usually pretty engaging gameplay.

2. Expansions Are Awesome

I’m getting pretty jaded by the GW2 pay model. They’re making lots of money off the store, but the content we are getting is actually very very basic in the gameplay department. I honestly can’t pimp this stuff to people who don’t play. “Ok guys so with this new Lion’s Arch content what you do is basically just run around spamming your bar.” They’ll wonder if I’m crazy and why I play.

We need a revolution for this revolutionary game. We need an expansion that makes grouping real again, and brings a new continent’s worth full of amazing adventures.