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Guild Wars 2 for the second time
BrucyBonus
Member Posts: 220
I played GW2 when it first came out for a period of about two months (most evening for a couple of hours). I tried most of the classes for 10-20 levels and settled on a warrior which I took to 50 or thereabouts. At this point I left; I can't remember the exact reasons but I think I was just bored, had a sense of disconnect with my character/ world and was slightly bemused that some of the better features in the original GW had been removed.
I have recently picked it up again and continued with my warrior. There are aspects of the game that are incredible, the detail and the polish and the general look of the world. I know that I should be enjoying it; there is plenty of pve activity and you are rarely searching for something to do (although given that it is a themepark I feel there could be a little more of a link between zones whether via lore or story).
However, I still get this huge sense of disconnect with the game and I can't quite put my finger on why. I am not sure if it just feels overwhelmingly casual or whether the quests etc just feel inconsequential (literally like spending five minutes on a ride at a themepark before moving onto the burger stall and then onto the next ride). I think it is simply that the world seems to be designed around keeping the player busy, there are lots of activities to do but they seem to be aimed at distraction rather than immersion or drawing the player into the world. It feels less like a themepark than channel hopping when there is nothing on TV that you are all that interested in watching. Anyway, as I said I can't quite put my finger on it but I do have this feeling of disconnect.
Finally, there are few people around and few guilds recruiting, obviously playing with others would improve the experience no end. And this is part of the problem, given the transient nature of all the areas, the swift solo-friendly quests, the absence of any (even voluntary) path to follow and the auto-grouping, it really gives you no reason to stop and have a chat or even bump into the same player twice. This is exacerbated by the fact that the areas I currently quest in are largely vacant whilst everyone sits in LA.
It took me a while to appreciate GW1, so I am hoping that the same is true here (although it has been more than 'a while'). I'm going to jump back in.
Comments
It's the no quest thing. You're not used to it. I think if the Personal Story was in the main world, you have some direction and then the dynamic events would be the distractions.
It kinda works like that right now actually with the Living Story. If you focus on doing the living story and completing the achievements, you have more of a goal and the events are the distractions and the world just feels ALOT better because of that.
This is not a game.
I'm not sure about the quest thing; after all there are quests (hearts); 'a rose by any other name...' and all that.
I have dabbled with the Living Story but will give it a proper go (although I seem to keep speaking to highlighted npc's who just shut down the conversation without advancing it).
I have thought of picking it back up to pass some time, but I haven't been able to get myself to do it yet.
No quests? I felt like I couldn't walk 2 feet without tripping over quests, naming them other things, doesn't change that they are basically quests. I felt the world was too cluttered myself.
It is b2p, so I own it, and I can maybe give it another shot sometime though.
Starter areas are full of Hearts, but you're actually better off not doing them IMO. They're a pretty slow source of XP. I used to 100% all areas, but now when I level alts up, I just explore, discover waypoints, do events and get skill points. These activities give you a bit more XP and help you when you're lvl 80.
Some Hearts provide useful equipment, however, which is why they're worth doing.
I agree with the cluttered feel. For me this (combined with the POI's, vistas, waypoints) limits any sense of exploration and adds to the disconnect. The world is carefully designed and crafted, but you are abundantly aware of that which prevents immersion.
You should join a guild as soon as possible. Unfortunately, I can't relate in terms of there being no people around. I'm not sure if it's just the server I'm playing on, but I never feel as if there are too few players. At least, compared to the lower-mid level areas of World of Warcraft, for example. In the latter I could run through entire zones and never run into anyone, which was a problem considering how long one would spend in each zone. But anyway, a large, active guild will give you constant chatter no matter where you are, guild events, heads up's on boss spawns etc. It makes a world of difference!
I agree, the game is no different than any other. In WoW if I need help or LFG I call it out, you can do the same in GW2. I have never understood why folks keep dogging the social part of the game. Just do it!
edit: Just because there isn't a wall of Crossroads chat with kids talking about their mothers doesn't mean it's not a social game. I like the chat box being open for what it is needed for.
OP: I know Sanctum of Rall has a lot of players if you could move there.
Death is nothing to us, since when we are, Death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.
I feel that disconnect as well... I tried to return twice over the past few months and I just cant feel interested in this game. Its got a beautiful world but its a very shallow experience. Everything is so easy, I never feel danger or thrill - more like I am just enduring a currency grind.
I joined 5 guilds soon after launch... checking the History Log of each shows that theyre all dead... like 2 people logged in the past month.
And i read an interesting thread on the official forums. This guy had his nephew delete 2 of his 5000+ achievement characters and he said "strangely I didnt even care that much. Which shocked me. I guess I dont feel any attachment to my characters."
I think that captures the essence of GW2 pretty well. Fluffy easy game where Currency grind and RNG is everything. Meh. looked nice atleast lol
Ok thanks, I might make the move then.
Edit: Never mind; just noticed that is a US server (I am EU). I can move there but time zones will create too many issues.