Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
[Column] Guild Wars 2: Head Start - Day One
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
As most everyone on the gaming planet knows, the head start for those who pre-purchased Guild Wars 2 started this past weekend. Pokket was one of the lucky ones who jumped in when she could. She's got her first day impressions to share. Check it out!
Naturally, the first thing I did when I launched the game was make my first (and probably my only) toon. I had debated between Necromancer and Elementalist for a while, but decided to make Necromancer my main. I stuck with Sylvari for Necromancer and was surprised at how evil you could make them look.
Read more of Hillary Nicole's Guild Wars 2: Head Start - Day 1.
)
Comments
Not the best I have played but it is a nice refreshing change.
I havent done the sPvP but I have done some WvW and it seems like Warhammer Online but bigger.
"I don't give a sh*t what other people say. I play what I like and I'll pay to do it too!" - SerialMMOist
I made an Necromancer after much debate over a Necromancer or Elementalist, but had already decided on the Asura race. At this point I'm having a lot of fun, the zones are nice and seem packed with little surprises but I refuse to judge the game overall until I hit 80 and see how this "new" endgame works out.
Except for the server problems it's been a good headstart and I've been able to play most of the time so I'd say its a B+ launch in the scheme of things, not bad at all.
The game is definitely living up to my expectations at this point
Peter Griffin: you know those germans, if you dont join the party, they?ll come get ya
Despite some early server 'hickups' I have been enjoying my time in GW2 immensely. The game is running very smoothly. Graphics and scenery looks great. Quests (Dynamic Events and Heart quests) are fun and diverse. And if you're tired of questing you can engage in other activities, like Keg Brawling with other players, which is a game in itself almost. There's a lot of stuff to explore and complete in the game world. I really have the sense of exploring in this game, to see if there are interesting things going on in the world. Playing with other people is seamless, no more kill stealing or node stealing; everyone gets loot and xp for kills, gathering nodes don't disappear if someone else reaches the node quicker than you do. I am only lvl 16, so I haven't experienced the entire game yet, but so far I am having a ton of fun! Nice work ArenaNet!
P.S. Killing stuff can feel a bit grindy sometimes, but that's a problem with all games where you can kill stuff. Skyrim can feel very grind too after you have done 20 dungeons. However in GW2 you get new skills and traits every once in a while, which keeps it interesting.
Secondly the server issues I was expecting so I wasn't suprised. I was suprised that I was able to login at 12:05 eastern and lock into a home world. I did just that, logged and went to bed.
After the expected chaos though I feel like this game has some real staying power for me, I didn't get any good wvwvw in during beta, but Saturday night I had a blast in wvwvw. I am relatively new to any type of wvwv, but the pure madness and insanity, there are literally herds of people running, I remember popping up over a hill and there is a group of like 60-80 plus enemy players and just thinking oh crap as I turn and run, I look back and this mob is just flooding after me. I manage to make it back to my group, but my heart was beating there for a bit and that's exactly what I have been looking for. I'm loving the game thus far.
I missed out on the server crash issue. Fun game...not as vaunted as some make it out to be but still entertaining. Actually running into some trouble in the human areas finding enough quests to keep leveling within my range....and for those going to bring up the whole exploration factor I am in fact running around and not just following hearts.
That and I'm sick and tired of every other fucking event involving centaurs.
1. For god's sake mmo gamers, enough with the analogies. They're unnecessary and your comparisons are terrible, dissimilar, and illogical.
2. To posters feeling the need to state how f2p really isn't f2p: Players understand the concept. You aren't privy to some secret the rest are missing. You're embarrassing yourself.
3. Yes, Cpt. Obvious, we're not industry experts. Now run along and let the big people use the forums for their purpose.
So how do you like the Necro?
Wicked, I found a GREAT way to break up the Kessex Hills blues (I started really, really hating Centuars there too) was to go to the Norn lands and just wander around finding Skill Point challenges and dynamic events.
PROS:
Was hoping to keep each land separate to the race for the beginning areas. Having done so though I have to say that it is better to split your time. Least if you start as human. Some of the other starting area lands seem more diverse to me such as Charr and Norn.
Awesome exploit being done by players in a later human zone as well involving a DE. Good times...>_>
EDIT: Well, exploit may be harsh. Certainly isn't intended though and those taking advantage of it probably have a hilarious amount of karma at this point
1. For god's sake mmo gamers, enough with the analogies. They're unnecessary and your comparisons are terrible, dissimilar, and illogical.
2. To posters feeling the need to state how f2p really isn't f2p: Players understand the concept. You aren't privy to some secret the rest are missing. You're embarrassing yourself.
3. Yes, Cpt. Obvious, we're not industry experts. Now run along and let the big people use the forums for their purpose.
Beta tester maniac
It's a beautiful game all around. It runs well on my PC.
Combat
ONE ON ONE
When I fight a mob by myself, the combat feels very visceral. The animations are good, if repetitive. I'm loving hacking things with my two hander, although it is a tad too large like a crazy end-game weapon from another series...
MANY ON ONE
When a group of people gather together to fight, things get a little... "flashy" for me. I haven't grouped up yet despite more than a few attempts. It seems people are taking this "you don't have to group to benefit from events" thing seriously. But I digress... I'll end up in an orchard, or a meadow,or on a cliff, chasing down bandits or worms or drakes or something, and anywhere from three twenty other players are there as well.
Any mob that pokes its head up is instantly zerged by the lot of us in a flash of fancy combat effects. I Cannot see the mob, my character, or anything other than a mass of effects. Then the players scatter in search of another hopeless mob and I am standing there wondering if I hit the mob or not, because I can't really tell. It died, that's for sure. I think some numbers flashed... I suppose those were mine.
This happened a lot, and I'm wondering if those who have experienced more of the game see the same at all levels, or is this just a starting zone thing. Movies of PvP looking similarly flashy.
I am overall enjoying it. I am an explorer at heart andd there are a lot of pretty places to see.
_____________________________
"Ad eundum quo nemo ante iit"
_____________________________
"Ad eundum quo nemo ante iit"
Unless you spend money on Gems and trade them for gold. Then you pull out whatever piece of siege equipment you want and make things easier.
They opened the servers 3 hours early, and 6 hours in, the game went down for 3 hours... The AH crashing concerns me more...
Either way, I played and it has been pretty smooth overall.
2
My guildmates tell me to go to others races initial area... Lvl 19 Now.
But is realy shame the fact that personal history + quests of start area dont give you xp to go through the game.
Can't...stop....playing....
Best MMO for me since WoW. Better in many ways too, but that should be expected given it's 8 years later. And no SUB!!!!???? Amazing. Canceling all other MMOs for the time being as this game has 3 aspects to it, per character that will make me just keep playing it no matter what expansions come out for other games. PVE, sPVP, WvWvW. Like 3 games in one. Just fantastic.
If you're having troubles leveling, once you hit 19/20 just go to the Human 15-25 zone Kezzik Hills or whatever it's called. Run around and look for a Dynamic Event circle (anything but the swamp area all south) - if you can't find one, wait at the Bandit area all SE.
Sooner or later you'll stumble upon a Zerg of about 100 people who just run around in a small circle doing the Dynamic Events that instant spawn over and over and over (bad coding). As a result, you'll go from about 19/20 all the way to 30++ in 2ish hours, and you'll rake in about 15,000 Karma - at which point you can just go to your Hometown crafting vendors and get another bump in levels just from spam crafting with the Karma items and Recipes.
Most fun I've had in an MMO, well, ever. Love the attention to detail, comfortable yet challenging combat, and emphasis on exploring. This will hold my attention for the forseable future.
Hope they bring housing into the mix soon!
I absolutely love this game.
From snowball fights with NPC kids, to feeding livestock, to rescuing animals, to killing invaders,, the questing is soooo much fun. Never a dull moment exploring the land.
The cities are absolutely huge, and well detailed.
I personally love the graphics, not sure what everyone else things. The UI is great as well.
Sure, day one had some crashes and lag. Today there are some lingering bugs, but overall the launch has been great. the problems are not a huge deal.
I have been involved in just about every MMO release since UO back in 1997. This one ranks in the top 30%, not perfect, but for from horrible.
I was not sold on this and wondered just how good a F2P game can be. I have a feeling I will be playing this for a long time, and I just boughr a year's worth of RIFT last week. Ooops. What's great is I can play both and only have 1 sub.