For the old and slow carebears out there :)...

Unknown

 

I'm not sure if there are many people like me on this site. I've played Guild Wars II since a week after it launched and my main has just reached level 68 and apparently I have completed just 29% of the world map. I only play PvE. I am guildless and I mostly play alone. I play a thief.

 

Anyhoo, thought I'd write down some impressions for those of you who are perhaps as slow as me.

 

Firstly, Guild Wars 2 is good value for the slow play style. It takes me months and months to level to cap and to (i) not pay a subscription but (ii) play a recently released MMO is a relief compared to what was the norm for me.

 

For the explorer, the world is beautiful and full and fun. Exploring is rewarded by the game in several ways. The rewards and letters from the Explorer Society as you "complete" sections of the map are really fun and I get more satisfaction receiving these than I ever do from leveling up.

 

The vistas are pure genius in my eyes. As is the level scaling which means you kind of ignore your level most of the time. The effect of this is not to be underestimated because as an Explorer it radically changes the range of places that are fun to explore because there is still the element of danger. And this means the world has always felt huge to me.

 

I heartily recommend trying your hand at cooking which is a challenging craft but ideal for explorers because every now and again you stumble on a patch of potatoes or sugar pumpkins growing in a hostile area. I sometimes buy eggs and butter as I am forever running out of them but I try not to. As much as I hate cooking in real life, discovery mode is so much fun where you just try different combinations and have access to all your cooking ingredients (most are "collectibles" and do not occupy bag space as such).

 

The cooking craft enables you to make dyes as well, which are kind of fun to discover and fool around with at a quiet moment.

 

Now to the most important thing: combat. I feel like I've only scratched the surface with what my character can do. I think in this game more than any other I have played except maybe Darkfall you can be "skilled" at fighting or not and that includes thoughtful choices about which skills you select for what situation (before the combat starts). Toss in under water combat (your weapon changes and so does your skill set) and the downed state mechanism (a small set of skills you can use near death to recover your feet) and how some skills can interact with the skills other players are using... phew, it can be all a bit overwhelming at times.

 

I can get annoyed with occasional lag in combat, like when I think I've just brilliantly dodged that Ettin's crushing blow but I haven't. I live in Australia though so some lag isn't surprising. I also get stuck in combat a lot.

 

You can manage the difficulty level of the game in a few ways. While your level and stats are scaled down, as say a level 50 player exploring a 20-30 zone you will have more powerful skills and better ranking gear and things will be easier. It isn't difficult to find challenge either. Taking on several enemies at once guarantees to make things interesting.

 

I've ignored my personal story. I hate the voice of my male human and generally found the voice acting to be cringe-worthy; the story is really for 12-year olds not adults.

 

One of the best things of the game is that seeing another player is always a good thing. They aren't going to "steal" that patch of mature herbs and they aren't going to take your kill and they aren't going to make the event too easy. It is very natural for players to cooperate for a time and then go their own way. The design brilliance from Anet sometimes has me shaking my head in admiration.

 

I can see Guild Wars II being my MMO home for a very, very long time.

Aerowyn

nice to see some positive posts getting sick of the constant negativity around here.. i play similar to you as it takes me many many months to hit cap.. I don't rush through just "trying" to hit cap I just play and enjoy the game. As for personal story i like it a good bit but you picked one of the worst gender/race combos for VO imho.. overall i found sylvari VOs to be good(for female at least) and i like charr as well. Asura is fun but can get annoying, and Norn to me are okay but females sound a bit butch but i guess it fits their culture. Anyway glad you are having fun as i still am since launch:)

Unknown

 

Oooh good to know, Aerowyn. About the VOs I mean. Maybe I'll try a Charr alt for the personal story... maybe in 2014.

 

And about the negativity, when you take a break from mmorpg.com and then come back it's like umm, wow, these are some seriously pissed off people (a phrase I've heard recently is passed over and pissed off haha) and, are they really playing the same game as me?

 

And actually mostly they are not playing the same game in the sense that they do totally different things (dungeons, PvP, guild stuff).

 

Zairu

Originally posted by Strap

 

 

 

 

yes, the voice acting makes me want to head-bash my screen.

but the story seems to vary depending on race. for instance, Asura was too kiddie for me to do much with. Slyvari (my mains) was hit or miss, while the Charr seemed a bit more mature. i say 'seemed' because i didn't get far on a Charr.

i felt the personal story got pretty fun around the time you pick a faction (lvl 30?) but was only so-so at the end (or at least where it left off with current game content)

 

 

but yeah, awesome that you are enjoying yourself at your own pace. it's a great game to explore and roll alts in. considering, for me, end-game means just that. the end.

 

if you like magic, try the Mesmer. i am a regular rogue/assassin or mage/sorcerer/wizard type and i can honestly say that the Mes is my favorite class that i have ever played in an MMO. to me, it is really that good. i use dual swords/staff and have so much fun with it. people who say that the classes in GW2 are all the same, did not try a mes (or the game itself probably).

 

anyway, happy hunting and if you are ever on Sanctum of Rall, show my server some love. it really is a great community, or at least when i was playing. 

Zairu

Originally posted by Strap

 

 

And about the negativity, when you take a break from mmorpg.com and then come back it's like umm, wow, these are some seriously pissed off people

 

 

so very true.

it blows my mind how people can be so negative about their entertainment, something that is always optional in life.

if i am not enjoying myself, i just accept it and move on. it isn't neccessary to hate something for not being something else that it was never intended to be. if the mmorpg.com community realized this as a whole, we would have much better conversations and less trolling. of course, i'm good either way.

 

 

 

ignore_me

Enjoying this game on the second go of it. Dungeon content is challenging, and the sheer alien nature of the game takes some getting used to.

eye_m

I really enjoy the game and I've taken my time with it. 

 

I think it's the best way to enjoy GW2.

PaRoXiTiC

I'm actually very shocked that you are not level 80 yet. That tells me you are true blue PvE'er. I mean you must take in every site, interaction, npc, everything into detail.

I applaud you. We need more of you in MMO's. Hope you find a good guild at level cap or at least have fun rolling another class.

Eir_S

It took me quite a while to reach 80 as well (not counting the pc downtime).  I used to think vistas were hokey, and believe me, I swear like a sailor getting some of them, but it's worth it.  Glad to hear you're having fun, I'm still loving the game to pieces.

redcap036

Hi Strap, great thread glad to hear your having so much fun in GW2, I sent you a private mail thru mmorpg.com so please don't forget to check your mail, cheers

tordurbar

Happy to see that the OP is still having fun. This was me a month ago - before the last patch. I only had 2 level 80 and a 65 but was having loads of fun playing almost all solo with no pvp.

However, I would not recommend GW2 for care bears. There is no healing class. You can explore but with no long term stealth you are going to be doing a lot of fighting to get where you want to go.

The best thing about GW2 is that you do not cringe when you see other players. They dont steal your drops, they dont steal you xp and they dont steal your nodes. Yes they can grab quest objects before you can but 3 out of 4 is 100% better than any other mmo!

Yes, GW2 was a great game before the last patch.

redcap036

I think I got to say one thing and that is I don't think Strap should call himself a carebear, to me he sounds more like a soloist and there is a big difference between the two,

 

Carebear/s; someone or a group of players who want to change the game to make it easier to play for what ever reason.

 

Soloist; some who prefers to play solo, a player whom excepts the challenge of the game for what it is, a player who trys to complete the game by themselves without help.

 

I think the term Soloist fits much better for Strap than carebear.

 

"I'd much rather be David vs Goliath than an army vs Goliath."

Zzad

It took me almost 3 months to level my first character to cap.

I trully enjoy getting "lost" in GW2´s world and letting the game drive me.

Have you tried to play it with "map completion" turned OFF  in your map? 

nolic1

Well this is a site a post without negativety in it and love it you brought a smile to my face when I read your post. I to have been just enjoying the game and just going through enjoying it for what it is then driving my self but my time to play has changed alot with work so I have only been playing about an 1 or 2 a day and when I do play I dont ever pay attention to my lvl or for the most part the stuff on the mini map I just go around and do what I feel like doing for the night I even spent 2 hrs one day crafting and messing with the the forge in LA and making some cool stuff. None of my 3 80's has maxed crafting and my other toons are just now hitting lvl 60 but before I was working I spent more time just rushing along now I just enoy the game and have fun with it. 

 

Alot of the other people I play with or did play with have moved on to other games or are running fracturals I have not even finished the dungeons on story mode cause I am saving them for different toons to kind of fill the void of time. I might run a dungeon if I have more then an hr or 2 but not right now do I have the time. But yes still having  a blast with the game even more now then I was before.

Mdpats

One of the few reasons why I picked this game up.  I don't get much time to play, maybe a couple hours a night among other things too.  I never have to 'force' myself to play to feel as if I'm getting my money worth.

azzamasin

Ive got 3 level 80's, a level 47, a 41 and a level 29.  Wish I could of took my time but sadly I am burnt out o nthe game.  I still log in and do m y dailies every day but that was about the same boat I was in when I quit WoW too so this doesn't look good.  Great thing is Neverwinter and ESO both release this year so by the time my hardcore personality wears out on them GW2 should be teeming with content.