It's hard to put into words the feeling some players get from playing this game. It's a sense of wandering into a world where adventures (read as dynamic events/quests) can take you to places you never intended to go.
I think you should try and play on your wife's account first. Test the waters. Wacthing videos of Divinity's Reach and exploring it firsthand are completely different experiences. There are so many nooks and crannies to find in the world. When I did one of the four hour stress tests I found a cave in the human starting area I hadn't found in 20 hours of play previous. The thought in my mind was "It's right there in front of me and I never found it. Awesome."
Now this kind of exploration isn't for everyone. I find the easiest comparison to make is with Skyrim, where sometimes you will have a goal in mind but suddenly get distracted by a sudden spawning of enemies or a cave you suddenly need to explore.
There's a little bit for everyone but it may not be to their taste. The structured pvp benefits the min-maxers of the game. They can theorycraft and build crazy ideas and test them on a whim in arena style battles. W v W benefits the more casual PvPer, a very open generally fun (if sieging without siege weapons...you're gonna have a bad time) group pvp where you try to win your server bonuses.
Honestly though I don't know how good it will be in the long run, I have had tons of fun over the beta weekends and just want to play more of the game. I can't really be completely objective until I've experienced a large amount of what it has to offer. We've only had a taste but judging from that it's a pretty solid buy.
Thank for the response, much appreciated.
I also enjoy "being lost within exploration" as well.
Frankly you sound like I did before I got my hands on the game in the 1st BWE.
I was jaded from previously over hyped games, and burned out on all the high fantasy, linear quest lines, dungeon grind, gear treadmill games that have all been pretty much the same.
I left RIFT last year this time just feeling DONE with MMORPG's and even more so after testing TERA and TSW... I was like I guess I'm getting to old for this. But something in the Manifesto made me want to challange what the DEV's were saying.
Now here comes some words from 160+ Hours within BWE's and stress tests played:
no forced linear quest paths.
open rewarding exploration, hidden treasures, puzzle dungeons, NPC's with hidden events / quests that if you don't pay attention to what is being said or done around you, you can miss them entirely.
the world doesn't feel static, infact it feels very organic. All the major cities just feel like they FIT perfectly within the game yet are completely unique from one another.
Your character feels like it fits organically within the world aswell unlike other games such as TSW where the world is amazing but your character feels cut out of a late 1990's early 2k's game...
The combat is somewhat similar but yet done right is incredibly refreshing, you don't worry so much about attack combo's but more about your enemy and the surrounding area's to make sure you see attacks coming and can anticipate your next move appropriately.
Yes the game feels similar to all previous games that had successful mechanics but it changes them just enough to make them feel so well done.
You never have to fight over resource nodes or even mobs, everyone who contributes in a fight gets rewarded accordingly not just the one person who earned enough points by showing up to all the raids but EVERYONE who worked hard.
Out of every game i've played, and I've played pretty much all of them extensively, in the past 10 years I've never seen a game so vast and with so much attention to detail around every little hidden corner.
Its easy to feel at home within this game because yes, its a theme park and yes its a MMORPG, so of course yes it has the same things you do in all MMORPG's but the way they are presented is just so well done that you don't feel like you are "working" to get thru anything.
I personally leveled 1 character to 40 and 4 characters to 20+ some of them multiple times in the same zones and it never felt like, oh god here I go again like making new characters in nearly all other MMO's.
Oh and finally, getting Legendary equipment is up to you not a team of people who fight over one piece but you alone, you gather the rare materials and build it yourself from materials scattered all over hidden area's within Tyria. No more watching grown adults turn into crying little babies because of a pixel they didn't deserve in the first place....
** my gripe with GW2** I personally don't like how in sPvP if you don't have a full group going in, it will seperate you from your party members. That just seems incredibly stupid and a huge over sight. If I have 2-3 friends on and we want to play together in sPvP and are in a party we certainly don't want to be on seperate teams... Hopefully they fix this. Other then that sPvP, although not my thing, was more enjoyable then the PvP in other games like RIFT or WoW of equal content.
WvW on the other hand has similarity's to other games like Daoc and Warhammer but here I'll describe it like this: Anyone can throw a good steak on a skillet and "cook" it, but it takes technique and some talent to cook a really good steak. ANET has taken the idea behind Realm vs Realm and put technique and talent behind it, very well done!!!
The catch for me is some what folded into itself: The fact that even in beta it offers a better gaming experience then any SUB game currently out, and better then any game i've ever seen in BETA, compounded with the way the mid level questing is done, with the knowledge of whats to come with Orr and DE's that WEB out instead of have a ladder scaling mechanic, all topped with its B2P = Complete and utter WIN!!! for $60 this game offers more then any Sub game yet it doesn't have a sub :P
Other then that my motivation for playing it with my wife is to set out on an adventure of exploration and have a game that rewards you for doing it!!!
oh and go thru Aerowyns compelation if that doesn't get your gamer side excited I'm not sure what will O.o
IamApropos See where adventure will lead you! My PC Specs: i5-3570k oc'ed @4.2GHz 8GB 1600 RAM GTX670 oc'ed @ 1.25Ghz Samsung 830 SSD.
"Trying to like the game"... that's your error right there. Personally I love GW2 because it feels really fun for me, if it doesn't for you, then no point on playing, really. Trying to force liking something can only end up in frustration if you'd rather do something else you really like.
Now you say your wife wants to get the game... well, that's the perfect oportunity. If she ends up getting it, play it for a little while on her account and see for yourself whether you like it or not.
They have no holy trinity... yea, they actually do. They take the DPS, Tank, Healer role and rename them to Support, Control and Damage. Whether it is the classic trinity or not, it is still a trinity. I even watched a video where a developer stated the Thief class could become a tank if he wanted, Irony or just cursed to fill the classic trinity? That's directly from Rift.
No player housing? Seriously? Is what comes to mind, I would think after all the immersion they are hoping for that player housing would have been one of the first things they implemented.
In all honesty, I am trying to become interested, I really am. My goal was not to pick apart the game, but to make an informed decision on my own without having played the game. I missed the beta weekends, I know, shoot me or crucify me, or whatever.
No, there is no trinity. There just isn't. Different classes can fulfill different roles, and with a weapon swap/new kit/new attunement they can do a different role. An elementalist can draw aggro and tank using earth attunement, they can heal using water attunement, and they can dps using fire or air. This is, of course, an oversimplification, but the fact remains that every class can jump into a variety of roles in 5 mans, you are not locked into just one. So again, different classes can do different roles depending on weapon choices, traits and skill selection. Effective play may require a person who was "tanking" to withdraw because their health is low, and have a teammate step in to get the mob's attention or kite tank, or someone to cripple, blind or slow and so on. This is a core game feature.
There is no housing but there are personal instances, which are found in your home city, which change depending on your personal story.
If you're not interested you're not interested. Dunno why you should try and force yourself to like something. If your wife likes it and you don't, that's just the way it is. People like different things.
I'm not saying there is a trinity, and to be honest I'm not conviced 100% either way yet. Need to see how the dynamics work out, when things get rough. I however suspect its more of a watered down trinity, which is less apparent or a shift in what the trinity is (as the OP indicates). Although you are kind of supporting the OP in his observation. If all (or most) classes can fit into a trinity role, it still exsists. Just a class isn't limited to it.
To some of the others, I am not looking for marital counseling, or trying to start a flame war. I'm being honest. I know, honesty on the interwebz, who'd have thunk it, right?
Even though I did give you a totally legitimate response (I wasn't being sarcastic! 'friends' really is just about my favorite feature for multiplayer games. :P ), I'll give you a helpful hint.
Check your phrasing. If you're phrasing things that make it sound like the two options are 'Either I'm crazy or the other people are crazy', people are naturally going to look at themselves, say 'Well... I don't feel crazy....', and turn around and accuse you of being crazy.
Just saying. (You did that a couple times. Not in so many words, but when you break down what you were saying, that's how it comes across) More careful phrasing can avoid people assuming you're starting a flame war!
Why would you try to like something. You need to get in touch with what your likes are otherwise you'll always be confused trying to follow the crowd.
It seems player housing is important to you. Go find a game that has it. Enjoy.
You can read one of the many threads that tell you the mission of GW2 and the ideas in which they designed the game. If these ideas appeal to you then perhaps you will want to let go of your preconceptions of you will enjoy in a game (player housing, mounts, trinity) and give it a try with an open mind.
"Trying to like the game"... that's your error right there. Personally I love GW2 because it feels really fun for me, if it doesn't for you, then no point on playing, really. Trying to force liking something can only end up in frustration if you'd rather do something else you really like.
Now you say your wife wants to get the game... well, that's the perfect oportunity. If she ends up getting it, play it for a little while on her account and see for yourself whether you like it or not.
yes yes I forgot a big point in my big reply :P
it doesn't matter if your wife or friends are over leveled compared to you, they are down leveled to your area if they come help and most likely when they come help, even if they have been there before, they have a good chance to see DE's they haven't experienced before.
No more having high level friends come 1 shot everything and ruin the experience for you.
Infact some times it can help having someone who has been thru an area help you out because they can point out little gems that you might miss otherwise. And who knows you might find something together worth sharing the experience together which you honestly wont find in any other game.
((( Player houseing and GUILD housing are planned for post launch. )) just thought that'd be a nice FYI
IamApropos See where adventure will lead you! My PC Specs: i5-3570k oc'ed @4.2GHz 8GB 1600 RAM GTX670 oc'ed @ 1.25Ghz Samsung 830 SSD.
I beta tested the original Guild Wars and was thoroughly unimpressed. When Guild wars 2 was announced I was even less impressed and frankly, just not interested. When release of the game came and went, I planned on just letting it pass me by.
However, recently my wife has been watching a few videos about the game and thinks she wants to give the game a try. I feel like a carnivore married to a vegetarian, which makes me a vegetarian as well, whether I like it or not.
So I have been trying to find features and videos, wiki's and websites. I have been scouring the internet for things that will make me interested, nothing has so far. The game simply looks like exactly every other theme park MMO out there. Am I wrong? Am I the delusional one, or is everyone else, because I simply don't get the hype.
From the video's I watched the game looks like a Rift on steroids, parts of every other successful game meshed into one, with a few new things or two sprinkled on top. You have questing, the same Destroy, Deliver, Discover, Gather and Defend quests that plague every other theme park MMO.
They have dynamic events, which frankly are just taking Rift and Warhammer online and mashing their public quest systems together. I've watched many videos on those in paticular.
I did however watch an interesting video about being able to discover hidden places, and that was interesting. My favorite time in games was before the in-game map system of Everquest. Navigating zones you had already explored was still a chore until you eventually memorized the entire zone and spawn points.
They have no holy trinity... yea, they actually do. They take the DPS, Tank, Healer role and rename them to Support, Control and Damage. Whether it is the classic trinity or not, it is still a trinity. I even watched a video where a developer stated the Thief class could become a tank if he wanted, Irony or just cursed to fill the classic trinity? That's directly from Rift.
No player housing? Seriously? Is what comes to mind, I would think after all the immersion they are hoping for that player housing would have been one of the first things they implemented.
PvP sounds interesting and if I do by the game it will generally be just to try out WvWvW PvP as that sounds rather interesting and maybe a throwback to my DAoC Days of playing a stealthed hunter during the castle seige waiting for a target for my spear.
In all honesty, I am trying to become interested, I really am. My goal was not to pick apart the game, but to make an informed decision on my own without having played the game. I missed the beta weekends, I know, shoot me or crucify me, or whatever.
What makes the game so appealing to the masses that would cause such a fanatical response? When I have approached people I knew about this game, I feel as if I am inquiring about religion, and we all know how well those conversatiosn go. They escalate quickly into "Hater vs. Fanboi" to them, which is when I turn and walk away, because, frankly, I am neither.
I have no reason to hate Guild Wars 2, and am trying to find a reason to want to purchase it. To make this thread a little less pointless, I will pose a question.
What makes You want to buy Guild Wars? Hopefully some of that will rub off on me.
The only thing in common with the dynamic events and public quests from Rift and WAR is that they are designed for more than one person to participate. The way they are implemented and executed and the way they tie together is much more advanced than anything done previously. To compare them to Rift and WAR and leave it at that is a bit misleading. The biggest problem people seem to have with them is that they treat them just like a quest list where they check them off one at a time until they have done them all. You can't do that with the Dynamic Events and treating them as all seperate things, when in fact they are tied together, is when you miss the point of them entirely.
There are many, many puzzles and hidden areas to explore and complete and they all reward you quite well for making it through.
There is no trinity... control/support/dps.. yeah.. you can do those roles but so can every other player.. at any time. Calling it after the holy trinity is.. not right. There's much more going on with the combat system in GW2 and being able to have any combination of any classes complete content is a big deal. Even remotely comparing it to the tank/dps/healer mantra we have been using is like comparing a c4 charge to a cruise missile, yeah they both blow stuff up but they do it completely differently.
What would player housing add to the game? What would be the point? Would it be instanced? Would you be able to raid the housing? If there is no point in it then why spend all the time implementing it, it has to do something. Player housing is cool as a concept but once you've got your house then what? What are you gonna do with it? Is it just there for show, are you really gonna try and brag about your house to others? There's plenty of swag in game already for achieving difficult things and having player housing means you are taking attention away from the big population centers like the racial cities.
He does a really good job of showing off different aspects of the game in a neutral manner, so you don't need to worry about him hiding bad things or misleading you with hand-picked footage.
I can totally understand you. There's nothing to GW2 that makes it any more interesting then other themeparks.
My grudge with GW2 is, that it isn't trying to make anything different, and it doesn't offer any longevity. Some 3 month into the game I'll start asking myself, what I should do now. That's basically the problem with all themeparks and the reason I don't get myself involved there too much.
Playing repetitive content can also be done in a FPS, where you allways play the same maps on and on again, without needing to level first.
Here's still waiting for a level-less open world PvP MMO similar to EvE Online but without the spaceships.
I'm not saying there is a trinity, and to be honest I'm not conviced 100% either way yet. Need to see how the dynamics work out, when things get rought. I however suspect its more of a watered down trinity, which is less apparent or a shift in what the trinity is (as the OP indicates). Although you are kind of supporting the OP in his observation. If all (or most) classes can fit into a trinity role, its still exsists. Just a class isn't limited to it.
To me, when people talk about "trinities" it implies static roles.
In GW2, two things are different:
People are resonsible for keeping themselves alive. Now different party members can use different abilities that can contribute to this. For example, a Necro might use "Well of Blood" or an Elementalist use "Healing Rain" or an Engineer could use "Healing Turret" etc, but this is not sufficient in an of itself. It is the multiplicative effect of self-healing and group suport. This applies to other group buffs as well as to mob debuffs.
The roles are not pre-defined or static. You might jump is as a warrior and use 1000 blades in melee range, get smacked around, and roll out, switching to rifle to put cripples and/or bleeds and/or vulnerabilty on the target, then roll back in. A necro might use death shroud and move into melee range to take pressure off a teammate.
So is there a "tank" or a "healer" or a "DPS" or any other static category in any of what I've described? Or is it a bit of controlled chaos where people have to shift dynamically and suport the team?
"Loading screens" are not "instances". Your personal efforts to troll any game will not, in fact, impact the success or failure of said game.
They have no holy trinity... yea, they actually do. They take the DPS, Tank, Healer role and rename them to Support, Control and Damage. Whether it is the classic trinity or not, it is still a trinity. I even watched a video where a developer stated the Thief class could become a tank if he wanted, Irony or just cursed to fill the classic trinity? That's directly from Rift.
No player housing? Seriously? Is what comes to mind, I would think after all the immersion they are hoping for that player housing would have been one of the first things they implemented.
In all honesty, I am trying to become interested, I really am. My goal was not to pick apart the game, but to make an informed decision on my own without having played the game. I missed the beta weekends, I know, shoot me or crucify me, or whatever.
No, there is no trinity. There just isn't. Different classes can fulfill different roles, and with a weapon swap/new kit/new attunement they can do a different role. An elementalist can draw aggro and tank using earth attunement, they can heal using water attunement, and they can dps using fire or air. This is, of course, an oversimplification, but the fact remains that every class can jump into a variety of roles in 5 mans, you are not locked into just one. So again, different classes can do different roles depending on weapon choices, traits and skill selection. Effective play may require a person who was "tanking" to withdraw because their health is low, and have a teammate step in to get the mob's attention or kite tank, or someone to cripple, blind or slow and so on. This is a core game feature.
There is no housing but there are personal instances, which are found in your home city, which change depending on your personal story.
If you're not interested you're not interested. Dunno why you should try and force yourself to like something. If your wife likes it and you don't, that's just the way it is. People like different things.
I'm not saying there is a trinity, and to be honest I'm not conviced 100% either way yet. Need to see how the dynamics work out, when things get rough. I however suspect its more of a watered down trinity, which is less apparent or a shift in what the trinity is (as the OP indicates). Although you are kind of supporting the OP in his observation. If all (or most) classes can fit into a trinity role, its still exsists. Just a class isn't limited to it.
The problem is your thinking in previous MMO philosophy. The game doesn't play that way. Combat is much more dynamic than that. Players can't just sit there fulfilling a singular role. Just sitting still spamming skills = death, even against normal mobs. Players have to constantly adapt on the fly and keep moving.
To me, when people talk about "trinities" it implies static roles.
In GW2, two things are different:
People are resonsible for keeping themselves alive. Now different party members can use different abilities that can contribute to this. For example, a Necro might use "Well of Blood" or an Elementalist use "Healing Rain" or an Engineer could use "Healing Turret" etc, but this is not sufficient in an of itself. It is the multiplicative effect of self-healing and group suport. This applies to other group buffs as well as to mob debuffs.
The roles are not pre-defined or static. You might jump is as a warrior and use 1000 blades in melee range, get smacked around, and roll out, switching to rifle to put cripples and/or bleeds and/or vulnerabilty on the target, then roll back in. A necro might use death shroud and move into melee range to take pressure off a teammate.
So is there a "tank" or a "healer" or a "DPS" or any other static category in any of what I've described? Or is it a bit of controlled chaos where people have to shift dynamically and suport the team?
I generally found that whoever had the most health at the time should be the tank. If team-mates are down and you have agro, your job is to kite/tank/cc until another friend can get revived. The trinity of roles ebbs and flows depending on wahts happening in the battle.
Play for fun. Play to win. Play for perfection. Play with friends. Play in another world. Why do you play?
Originally posted by Magnetia I generally found that whoever had the most health at the time should be the tank. If team-mates are down and you have agro, your job is to kite/tank/cc until another friend can get revived. The trinity of roles ebbs and flows depending on wahts happening in the battle.
Indeed. There are constantly people tanking/healing/DPS'ing, changing roles on the fly doesn't mean these roles aren't fulfilled any more. It's a different take on the trinity, but it's definitely still there.
Originally posted by Magnetia I generally found that whoever had the most health at the time should be the tank. If team-mates are down and you have agro, your job is to kite/tank/cc until another friend can get revived. The trinity of roles ebbs and flows depending on wahts happening in the battle.
Indeed. There are constantly people tanking/healing/DPS'ing, changing roles on the fly doesn't mean these roles aren't fulfilled any more. It's a different take on the trinity, but it's definitely still there.
That doesn't mean it's a "trinity". If everyone can do everything and switch roles mid-fight where is the trinity?
Block the trolls, don't answer them, so we can remove the garbage from these forums
Originally posted by Magnetia I generally found that whoever had the most health at the time should be the tank. If team-mates are down and you have agro, your job is to kite/tank/cc until another friend can get revived. The trinity of roles ebbs and flows depending on wahts happening in the battle.
Indeed. There are constantly people tanking/healing/DPS'ing, changing roles on the fly doesn't mean these roles aren't fulfilled any more. It's a different take on the trinity, but it's definitely still there.
... if you're going to change the definition of trinity to be so loose that any game where you take damage, give damage and heal from damage is a trinity game, then so is Halo.
I think that makes the term so diffuse as to be nearly 100% useless.
When people talk about GW2 not being a trinity game, they're specifically meaning the holy trinity of healing, damage and tanking.
... and it's true, you can't be a tank, or a healer, the game simply doesn't support those as roles.
There is a sort of soft trinity, but it's support/control/damage, where tanking is more a subset of control, rather than being a really important role in and of itself, and healing is a subset of support.... and nobody is just a support, or a control (Hence it being a soft trinity)
When people are talking about a holy trinity game, and what GW2 is definitely not, is a game where the three basic roles are 'person who takes all the damage' 'people who dish out damage' and 'person who heals the damage'.
Roles 1 and 3 simply aren't workable, due to no aggro control, and heals that, quite frankly, suck compared to any MMORPG that uses the normal holy trinity model.
When people are talking about GW2 not being a trinity game, they're specifically referring to the lack of a viable tank or healer role, and the fact that characters don't have set roles, nor is that the most efficient way to play to try and wedge yourself into a niche you stick to.
Thanks Apropo, I'd post a quote of your post, but the quoted pages are getting a bit out of hand.
These are the kind of responses I was hoping for, once again, thanks.
I hope the read wasn't to long and boring for you but I wanted to give a not so drooling over guild wars 2 presentation.
Your welcome by the way. If you have any specific questions concerning anything I may have experienced or tested within Guild Wars 2 compared to other games feel free to ask or PM. I don't mind discussing things with reasonable people its when the rabble come in and start spewing misinformation as hard facts that I get all twisted :P
IamApropos See where adventure will lead you! My PC Specs: i5-3570k oc'ed @4.2GHz 8GB 1600 RAM GTX670 oc'ed @ 1.25Ghz Samsung 830 SSD.
They have no holy trinity... yea, they actually do. They take the DPS, Tank, Healer role and rename them to Support, Control and Damage. Whether it is the classic trinity or not, it is still a trinity. I even watched a video where a developer stated the Thief class could become a tank if he wanted, Irony or just cursed to fill the classic trinity? That's directly from Rift.
No player housing? Seriously? Is what comes to mind, I would think after all the immersion they are hoping for that player housing would have been one of the first things they implemented.
In all honesty, I am trying to become interested, I really am. My goal was not to pick apart the game, but to make an informed decision on my own without having played the game. I missed the beta weekends, I know, shoot me or crucify me, or whatever.
No, there is no trinity. There just isn't. Different classes can fulfill different roles, and with a weapon swap/new kit/new attunement they can do a different role. An elementalist can draw aggro and tank using earth attunement, they can heal using water attunement, and they can dps using fire or air. This is, of course, an oversimplification, but the fact remains that every class can jump into a variety of roles in 5 mans, you are not locked into just one. So again, different classes can do different roles depending on weapon choices, traits and skill selection. Effective play may require a person who was "tanking" to withdraw because their health is low, and have a teammate step in to get the mob's attention or kite tank, or someone to cripple, blind or slow and so on. This is a core game feature.
There is no housing but there are personal instances, which are found in your home city, which change depending on your personal story.
If you're not interested you're not interested. Dunno why you should try and force yourself to like something. If your wife likes it and you don't, that's just the way it is. People like different things.
I'm not saying there is a trinity, and to be honest I'm not conviced 100% either way yet. Need to see how the dynamics work out, when things get rough. I however suspect its more of a watered down trinity, which is less apparent or a shift in what the trinity is (as the OP indicates). Although you are kind of supporting the OP in his observation. If all (or most) classes can fit into a trinity role, its still exsists. Just a class isn't limited to it.
The problem is your thinking in previous MMO philosophy. The game doesn't play that way. Combat is much more dynamic than that. Players can't just sit there fulfilling a singular role. Just sitting still spamming skills = death, even against normal mobs. Players have to constantly adapt on the fly and keep moving.
No, I've played GW2 since BWE1. I'm just not conviced there is no trinity, just not a traditional one. Some classes have higher mitigation, others heal better, others dps better. All can do all three. Come when things get rough, would you really not make use of the strenghts?
I refused to research GW2 up until a few days ago. I had a open mind when I did this, mainly due to me having no game that had me excited to log in for many hour sessions. To my delight I think I may have discovered a game that has a "high skill ceiling" in pvp.
Comments
Thank for the response, much appreciated.
I also enjoy "being lost within exploration" as well.
Frankly you sound like I did before I got my hands on the game in the 1st BWE.
I was jaded from previously over hyped games, and burned out on all the high fantasy, linear quest lines, dungeon grind, gear treadmill games that have all been pretty much the same.
I left RIFT last year this time just feeling DONE with MMORPG's and even more so after testing TERA and TSW... I was like I guess I'm getting to old for this. But something in the Manifesto made me want to challange what the DEV's were saying.
Now here comes some words from 160+ Hours within BWE's and stress tests played:
no forced linear quest paths.
open rewarding exploration, hidden treasures, puzzle dungeons, NPC's with hidden events / quests that if you don't pay attention to what is being said or done around you, you can miss them entirely.
the world doesn't feel static, infact it feels very organic. All the major cities just feel like they FIT perfectly within the game yet are completely unique from one another.
Your character feels like it fits organically within the world aswell unlike other games such as TSW where the world is amazing but your character feels cut out of a late 1990's early 2k's game...
The combat is somewhat similar but yet done right is incredibly refreshing, you don't worry so much about attack combo's but more about your enemy and the surrounding area's to make sure you see attacks coming and can anticipate your next move appropriately.
Yes the game feels similar to all previous games that had successful mechanics but it changes them just enough to make them feel so well done.
You never have to fight over resource nodes or even mobs, everyone who contributes in a fight gets rewarded accordingly not just the one person who earned enough points by showing up to all the raids but EVERYONE who worked hard.
Out of every game i've played, and I've played pretty much all of them extensively, in the past 10 years I've never seen a game so vast and with so much attention to detail around every little hidden corner.
Its easy to feel at home within this game because yes, its a theme park and yes its a MMORPG, so of course yes it has the same things you do in all MMORPG's but the way they are presented is just so well done that you don't feel like you are "working" to get thru anything.
I personally leveled 1 character to 40 and 4 characters to 20+ some of them multiple times in the same zones and it never felt like, oh god here I go again like making new characters in nearly all other MMO's.
Oh and finally, getting Legendary equipment is up to you not a team of people who fight over one piece but you alone, you gather the rare materials and build it yourself from materials scattered all over hidden area's within Tyria. No more watching grown adults turn into crying little babies because of a pixel they didn't deserve in the first place....
** my gripe with GW2** I personally don't like how in sPvP if you don't have a full group going in, it will seperate you from your party members. That just seems incredibly stupid and a huge over sight. If I have 2-3 friends on and we want to play together in sPvP and are in a party we certainly don't want to be on seperate teams... Hopefully they fix this. Other then that sPvP, although not my thing, was more enjoyable then the PvP in other games like RIFT or WoW of equal content.
WvW on the other hand has similarity's to other games like Daoc and Warhammer but here I'll describe it like this: Anyone can throw a good steak on a skillet and "cook" it, but it takes technique and some talent to cook a really good steak. ANET has taken the idea behind Realm vs Realm and put technique and talent behind it, very well done!!!
The catch for me is some what folded into itself: The fact that even in beta it offers a better gaming experience then any SUB game currently out, and better then any game i've ever seen in BETA, compounded with the way the mid level questing is done, with the knowledge of whats to come with Orr and DE's that WEB out instead of have a ladder scaling mechanic, all topped with its B2P = Complete and utter WIN!!! for $60 this game offers more then any Sub game yet it doesn't have a sub :P
Other then that my motivation for playing it with my wife is to set out on an adventure of exploration and have a game that rewards you for doing it!!!
oh and go thru Aerowyns compelation if that doesn't get your gamer side excited I'm not sure what will O.o
IamApropos
See where adventure will lead you!
My PC Specs:
i5-3570k oc'ed @4.2GHz
8GB 1600 RAM
GTX670 oc'ed @ 1.25Ghz
Samsung 830 SSD.
"Trying to like the game"... that's your error right there. Personally I love GW2 because it feels really fun for me, if it doesn't for you, then no point on playing, really. Trying to force liking something can only end up in frustration if you'd rather do something else you really like.
Now you say your wife wants to get the game... well, that's the perfect oportunity. If she ends up getting it, play it for a little while on her account and see for yourself whether you like it or not.
What can men do against such reckless hate?
I'm not saying there is a trinity, and to be honest I'm not conviced 100% either way yet. Need to see how the dynamics work out, when things get rough. I however suspect its more of a watered down trinity, which is less apparent or a shift in what the trinity is (as the OP indicates). Although you are kind of supporting the OP in his observation. If all (or most) classes can fit into a trinity role, it still exsists. Just a class isn't limited to it.
Even though I did give you a totally legitimate response (I wasn't being sarcastic! 'friends' really is just about my favorite feature for multiplayer games. :P ), I'll give you a helpful hint.
Check your phrasing. If you're phrasing things that make it sound like the two options are 'Either I'm crazy or the other people are crazy', people are naturally going to look at themselves, say 'Well... I don't feel crazy....', and turn around and accuse you of being crazy.
Just saying.
(You did that a couple times. Not in so many words, but when you break down what you were saying, that's how it comes across) More careful phrasing can avoid people assuming you're starting a flame war!
Thanks Apropo, I'd post a quote of your post, but the quoted pages are getting a bit out of hand.
These are the kind of responses I was hoping for, once again, thanks.
Why would you try to like something. You need to get in touch with what your likes are otherwise you'll always be confused trying to follow the crowd.
It seems player housing is important to you. Go find a game that has it. Enjoy.
You can read one of the many threads that tell you the mission of GW2 and the ideas in which they designed the game. If these ideas appeal to you then perhaps you will want to let go of your preconceptions of you will enjoy in a game (player housing, mounts, trinity) and give it a try with an open mind.
yes yes I forgot a big point in my big reply :P
it doesn't matter if your wife or friends are over leveled compared to you, they are down leveled to your area if they come help and most likely when they come help, even if they have been there before, they have a good chance to see DE's they haven't experienced before.
No more having high level friends come 1 shot everything and ruin the experience for you.
Infact some times it can help having someone who has been thru an area help you out because they can point out little gems that you might miss otherwise. And who knows you might find something together worth sharing the experience together which you honestly wont find in any other game.
((( Player houseing and GUILD housing are planned for post launch. )) just thought that'd be a nice FYI
IamApropos
See where adventure will lead you!
My PC Specs:
i5-3570k oc'ed @4.2GHz
8GB 1600 RAM
GTX670 oc'ed @ 1.25Ghz
Samsung 830 SSD.
The only thing in common with the dynamic events and public quests from Rift and WAR is that they are designed for more than one person to participate. The way they are implemented and executed and the way they tie together is much more advanced than anything done previously. To compare them to Rift and WAR and leave it at that is a bit misleading. The biggest problem people seem to have with them is that they treat them just like a quest list where they check them off one at a time until they have done them all. You can't do that with the Dynamic Events and treating them as all seperate things, when in fact they are tied together, is when you miss the point of them entirely.
There are many, many puzzles and hidden areas to explore and complete and they all reward you quite well for making it through.
There is no trinity... control/support/dps.. yeah.. you can do those roles but so can every other player.. at any time. Calling it after the holy trinity is.. not right. There's much more going on with the combat system in GW2 and being able to have any combination of any classes complete content is a big deal. Even remotely comparing it to the tank/dps/healer mantra we have been using is like comparing a c4 charge to a cruise missile, yeah they both blow stuff up but they do it completely differently.
What would player housing add to the game? What would be the point? Would it be instanced? Would you be able to raid the housing? If there is no point in it then why spend all the time implementing it, it has to do something. Player housing is cool as a concept but once you've got your house then what? What are you gonna do with it? Is it just there for show, are you really gonna try and brag about your house to others? There's plenty of swag in game already for achieving difficult things and having player housing means you are taking attention away from the big population centers like the racial cities.
I highly recommend checking out the videos here > http://www.youtube.com/user/CaraEmm/videos
He does a really good job of showing off different aspects of the game in a neutral manner, so you don't need to worry about him hiding bad things or misleading you with hand-picked footage.
Eleanor Rigby.
I can totally understand you. There's nothing to GW2 that makes it any more interesting then other themeparks.
My grudge with GW2 is, that it isn't trying to make anything different, and it doesn't offer any longevity. Some 3 month into the game I'll start asking myself, what I should do now. That's basically the problem with all themeparks and the reason I don't get myself involved there too much.
Playing repetitive content can also be done in a FPS, where you allways play the same maps on and on again, without needing to level first.
Here's still waiting for a level-less open world PvP MMO similar to EvE Online but without the spaceships.
To me, when people talk about "trinities" it implies static roles.
In GW2, two things are different:
"Loading screens" are not "instances".
Your personal efforts to troll any game will not, in fact, impact the success or failure of said game.
Why should I play WoW?
Why should I play TERA?
Why should I play Rift?
Why should I play SWTOR?
Why should I play TSW?
Why should I play EQ?
Why should I play Aion?
Why should I play Eve Online?
Why should I play <insert game title here>?
Why did I create this thread when I already know that I will debunk whatever is said in reply to it?
Why indeed...
The problem is your thinking in previous MMO philosophy. The game doesn't play that way. Combat is much more dynamic than that. Players can't just sit there fulfilling a singular role. Just sitting still spamming skills = death, even against normal mobs. Players have to constantly adapt on the fly and keep moving.
I generally found that whoever had the most health at the time should be the tank. If team-mates are down and you have agro, your job is to kite/tank/cc until another friend can get revived. The trinity of roles ebbs and flows depending on wahts happening in the battle.
Play for fun. Play to win. Play for perfection. Play with friends. Play in another world. Why do you play?
Indeed. There are constantly people tanking/healing/DPS'ing, changing roles on the fly doesn't mean these roles aren't fulfilled any more. It's a different take on the trinity, but it's definitely still there.
Eleanor Rigby.
Have you watched these videos?
Top 10 Features of Guild Wars 2
Guild Wars 2 - Top 10 Reasons to be Interested
That doesn't mean it's a "trinity". If everyone can do everything and switch roles mid-fight where is the trinity?
Block the trolls, don't answer them, so we can remove the garbage from these forums
... if you're going to change the definition of trinity to be so loose that any game where you take damage, give damage and heal from damage is a trinity game, then so is Halo.
I think that makes the term so diffuse as to be nearly 100% useless.
When people talk about GW2 not being a trinity game, they're specifically meaning the holy trinity of healing, damage and tanking.
... and it's true, you can't be a tank, or a healer, the game simply doesn't support those as roles.
There is a sort of soft trinity, but it's support/control/damage, where tanking is more a subset of control, rather than being a really important role in and of itself, and healing is a subset of support.... and nobody is just a support, or a control (Hence it being a soft trinity)
When people are talking about a holy trinity game, and what GW2 is definitely not, is a game where the three basic roles are 'person who takes all the damage' 'people who dish out damage' and 'person who heals the damage'.
Roles 1 and 3 simply aren't workable, due to no aggro control, and heals that, quite frankly, suck compared to any MMORPG that uses the normal holy trinity model.
When people are talking about GW2 not being a trinity game, they're specifically referring to the lack of a viable tank or healer role, and the fact that characters don't have set roles, nor is that the most efficient way to play to try and wedge yourself into a niche you stick to.
I hope the read wasn't to long and boring for you but I wanted to give a not so drooling over guild wars 2 presentation.
Your welcome by the way. If you have any specific questions concerning anything I may have experienced or tested within Guild Wars 2 compared to other games feel free to ask or PM. I don't mind discussing things with reasonable people its when the rabble come in and start spewing misinformation as hard facts that I get all twisted :P
IamApropos
See where adventure will lead you!
My PC Specs:
i5-3570k oc'ed @4.2GHz
8GB 1600 RAM
GTX670 oc'ed @ 1.25Ghz
Samsung 830 SSD.
No, I've played GW2 since BWE1. I'm just not conviced there is no trinity, just not a traditional one. Some classes have higher mitigation, others heal better, others dps better. All can do all three. Come when things get rough, would you really not make use of the strenghts?
So because it's not static it's not a trinity?
Eleanor Rigby.
No it's not.
Read Mewhead's reply.
Block the trolls, don't answer them, so we can remove the garbage from these forums
I refused to research GW2 up until a few days ago. I had a open mind when I did this, mainly due to me having no game that had me excited to log in for many hour sessions. To my delight I think I may have discovered a game that has a "high skill ceiling" in pvp.