GW2 has not hooked me like GW1 did. GW2 is okay in its own way but its definitely too different and as such has not come to what I expected.
Don’t get me wrong, “different” can be good and TBH I could not wait for GW2 to come out… but now that its out (for a while now) I am slightly disappointed in it that it didnt make me want to keep playing it almost every day like GW1 did. I feel like I keep trying to convince myself why GW2 is good but i keep going back to my memories of GW1.
I think it is due to several reasons:
1. Minimal Build diversity/customising
GW1 was just perfect. Had many skills at our disposal to choose from to form different builds to serve different purposes per profession.
Being able to fine tune a build was something I heavily invested time in to find new viable builds and was just extremely fun to do to even pass time. I cant recall how many times I was away from the game just figuring out builds that would synergize well.
Now, GW2… I cant really say the same about it. Build customization is non-existent. Utility skills are quite pitiful too in nearly every aspect (lacking options, super high cooldowns, many are just redundant).
Huge loss…
2. Re-spec’ing
GW1 was simple and effective. Not too difficult to achieve and at minimal expense to the player.
GW2 has made respec’ing a lot more difficult. Financially. Good luck buying effective rune sets (if you claim money is no issue I challenge you to send me 6x sup runes of the eagle) and armors…lets not forget the additional money sink to reset your traits and the NEED to actually go to an npc to get this done… fun fun.
3. Health vs. Damage
Why over complicate things and go into the 1000’s? Higher numbers = more impact?
Again, Why stray so far from the GW1 formula???
Also, every profession in GW1 had the exact same amount of base max health (with the exception of runes altering them slightly but to no great degree). I don’t understand why max health per profession in GW2 vary so significantly. One would simply say “balance purposes” to justify this decision but if that was the case… all I have to say is “just look at GW1”.
4. Depth of battle
GW1 was deep and the strategy was intense which was something i LOVED about it. You would work with a team to get the most effective synergy and had a role to play in an effort to destroy an enemy team or mob. You wouldn’t just blow all your skills straight away on one enemy (and wait till they off cooldown to just use it again no matter what the situation) but would time your skills waiting for opportune moments to achieve max effect.
GW2 seems to be about how many numbers you can take away in how little time just by blowing your whole skill set in one go. The depth of battle cannot be compared to that of GW1. I can tell you one thing… I don’t look for a fire wall to shoot my arrows through it. Nor do I place a fire wall down with the intention of amplifying allies skills. If allies combo up with it, then it was merely right place, right time. Nothing more.
I may be underselling a few things but this is how I feel and if you reflect back on those years of GW1 experiences, I’m sure you can relate.
If these things were looked into further… I will be one happy chappy.
(edited by gkrit.9416)