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Quick question about GW2
J2Khouri
Member UncommonPosts: 31
in Guild Wars 2
Hello, I was just wondering since they said they are taking out the grind from the game etc. it isnt going to be one of those games where you get a maxed toon in like one week like in WoW or SWTOR? I'm not saying i want grind, but I do want having a level 80 character to feel like an accomplishment. So its still going to take some time to max out characters in GW2 right?
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It is a bit confusing. There are lots of posts about how leveling and gear aren't required, but then there is apparently loot, drops, and tokens from bosses? I haven't figured out yet how those two concepts can coexist in the same game...
GW2 "built from the ground up with microtransactions in mind"
1) Cash->Gems->Gold->Influence->WvWvWBoosts = PAY2WIN
2) Mystic Chests = Crass in-game cash shop advertisements
Don't think anyone other than the Developers can tell you that one bud. No one really knows howquickly you can grind to level cap until you play it, but I'm assuming its on par with other games today.
But what we do know is that we can level from 1 - 80 at roughly the same rates doing either DE's, Instanced PvP, and WvW. That to me is much better than slow grind, but thats just imo.
The leveling curve for GW2 is nearly flat, with the levels prior to 30 taking a shorter time than the levels from 30 to 80, but no level taking longer than approx. 90 minutes (given average gameplay, it appears is the assumption).
However, unlike other MMOs where hitting max level is the point, and until which you cannot experience the breadth and depth of the game, in Guild Wars 2 the real "accomplishment" is not merely hitting max level, but acquiring skills and tactics. Levels are clearly de-emphasized given that you can, after a 10-minute tutorial, go to a structured PvP realm where your stats are automatically raised to those of a level 80, which all equivalent gear, traits, and weapons.
So in short, yes, if your focus is leveling, you will probably reach level 80 in a relatively short time. However, much like in GW1, if you were to think you were "finished" with the game upon reaching that point, you would be missing out on a great deal of content that is still available to you long after that point.
Leveling is aribitray since its been stated you can level up or down with friends in game to experience content, and you stats/gear stats scale with the corresponding level jump.
Gear is still viable, but the main selling point of GW2 is that at endgame gear is horizontal in stats, not vertical. They differ in graphical appearance, rather than in tiers of gear that is common with most gear treadmill MMO's.
List of some of the reasons there probably will never be any feeling of grind in GW2
1.) there's a flat leveling curve meaning each level should take just as long as the last
2.) you can level to cap in 3 entirely seperate ways from the start, through personal storyline, dynamic events, or WvWvW, so there shouldn't be any grind necessary since you have a ton of different ways to do it
3.) the game actually starts at level 1, as opposed to max level at thos other games. There is no end game progression. There is no PvP gear progression. All of the content is designed to be fun.
4.) sidekicking allows you to scale up to higher level content so you can play with your friends, but you will not be as powerful as a truly leveled up players because you won't have traits, skills, etc
ArenaNet has consistently said that leveling is not just about getting to the end. It's supposed to be the experience of the game. The game is being designed for FUN, not artificial time sinks or carrots on a stick.
Yeah, you might be confusing talk about two different areas of the game. In structured PvP you are given max-level gear, traits, weapons, and your effective level is 80, such that there is no stat gear or weapons to be acquired in the course of competition (though STATUS gear may be acquired through the Glory currency awarded for victories).
In WvWvW and PvE, gear has statistics and can be improved up to a certain threshhold. Levels determine access more prominently rather than power (though it does determine power to some degree, in the form of base HP and stats, it does not scale exponentially such that a mob that is undefeatable at level 75 is a cakewalk at 80). However, since things like trait slots and access to additional utility skills are determined by level, they are not completely irrelevant.
In addition, when a player ventures into a lower-level area, they are de-leveled to the level range of the area in question, though they retain any additional trait slots and skills they have unlocked given their higher "true" level.
TL;DR: gear and levels matter, but not nearly as much as it does in other games.
Ok i think i understand now. Thanks guys.
Honestly, it's hard to comment on the lvling rate, because they haven't dialed that in yet.
I will say, though, that if all you do is focus on lvls, you may lvl faster than other players, but when you get to 80 you will be very gimped. Why? Because a few major components to this game involve going out into the world and discovering challenges. For example, if you powerlvl to 80, you will be missing a lot of the skill challenges (which are required to get better skills). You will also be missing out on dungeon loot (if you want those badass looking pieces of armor, this will be a big deal). Not to mention that returning to a lot of the areas you'd have blown threw will auto-lvl you down to the appropriate lvl range, making that high lvl advantages fairly insignificant.
Will being lvl 80 feel like an accomplishment? It's really hard to say. I'd guess that it would, especially with the traits you'd have by that lvl, making you're character fully customizable. However, I would also say that muc of the accomplishment will be in completing achievements, dominating in PvP, and getting that awesome looking armor set that isn't easy to obtain.
Not necessarily a grind, because you aren't forced to do these things, but they are there and if you want to participate in them they won't be easy for the most part.
I have no idea to be honest... but with a lot of dynamic scaling with the sidekick stuff (http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Sidekick) and also event scaling (size) and branching, there appears (at least on the surface) to be a lot of content that can be repeated instead of just a handful of endgame dungeons. So even if leveling is short-lived, content should be plentiful if they live up to what they are saying.
Enter a whole new realm of challenge and adventure.
It will probably be just like GW1. In that game, the max lvl was 20, but there was so much content to do, that it didn't matter if you hit 20 faster or slower. For a WoW analogy, let's say you maxed to 60 in Classic WoW, then BC, WotLK, Cata came out, but the level cap was never raised. Even though you hit 60, you still have all that content you can do; Expansions, BGs, Dungeons/Raids, Achievements, etc. Probably a bad analogy, but oh well. :P
My point is, that leveling to 80 in GW2 might be slow or fast, but in the long term, it isn't going to matter much. There will be so many things to do, especially with scaling when you go back to lower level zones.
Yeah that makes sense
Ok, so some questions on those two points above in red:
1) Skill challenges required to get better skills? How many skills are there in GW2 and what is the process for obtaining all the skills at max level? Is obtaining all these skills more difficult than leveling or is it just a matter of experiencing the story to get them?
2) Dungeon loot? Is the only difference in dugeon loot appearance? Or do certain armor pieces work better with certain skills for example?
GW2 "built from the ground up with microtransactions in mind"
1) Cash->Gems->Gold->Influence->WvWvWBoosts = PAY2WIN
2) Mystic Chests = Crass in-game cash shop advertisements
1) Skill challenges are required to acquire skill points, which are used to "buy" access to different utility skills. Utility skills have different costs: some are only one skill point, others might be 20 points or more. You automatically get a skill point each time you level, which would provide you with plenty of variety based on your choices, but there are currently (as of press beta) 202 skill challenges, and thus 202 additional skill points that can be acquired. These are scattered all over the world, some in underground taverns, some require defeating an enemy, some might be at the end of jumping puzzles, etc.
2) Dungeon loot will have stats, which, at max level, will not be more powerful than any other given set of max level gear, but may have upgrades in one or another attribute that may be desirable (i.e. +x toughness instead of +x power, or some other combination of attributes). However, since these kinds of attributes can be acquired via other means such as crafting, the dungeon gear's inherent value will not be in the specific stats but rather in its rarity and appearance. It is likely that instead of just wearing the dungeon sets "as-is", people will transmute their preferred stats on to the dungeon armor "look".