Quick Gw2 Review after 1-15 F2P.

paul43

I've watched many Gw2 videos on youtube, and have a good idea what the game is about, now that it went F2P I figured I would give it a try. There was another very posetive review here, and I figured I would write my view.

*Client, 20GB download, you can start playing after 6GB. 20GB is a little small even for a 2012 game, expect not that good GFX and reuse of models.

* Music - The music is pretty bland, a couple of decent songs, they didn't recive any awards for the OST. You can listen to the entire OST on soundcloud.com/arenanet  With 80 songs it's hard to make them stand out.

* Quest system - It's a very automatic quest system, you eneter a area and quest pops up what you need to do. They've tried to hide it but most quests are just simple kill quests. The good thing is you can choose which of the objectives you want to do, you're not forced to find that last trap, you can just kill one more bear for example. The bad part of this quest system is that you don't have any story, why you're killing some stuff is not so important.  You don't even need to see the NPC you're helping. Sometimes you can complete a quest to help a farmer without having visited the farm.

* Event system, so far it's alright, breaks up the incredible dull questing system. 

I hope to get to lvl 30 so I can get a look at the first dungeon but this game is killing me for many reasons.

I grew up when fantasy was on the cover of AD&D books, Conan movies with Arnold, and Conan comics. Brutal and relative realistic.

This game is made for people who grew up with Hello Kitty and  Pokemon, yesterday I had a quest to dance for a Cow to make it happy while pink hearts came out of the cow, after the dance the cow thanked me in English.

My Necromancer looks like a Emo girl. I usually play a Tank and this game has no Trinity, hence why I'm a Necromancer. 

It's going to be hard to get to 30!

fivoroth

I agree with some of your points. The hearts system is mindnumbingly bad. There is no story to them and it feels like doing a checklist, also because they are all contained you don't have any epic quest chains.

events are ok but are nothing special. 

I did did get to level 80 but it was certainly not because I thought their quest system is any good. He personal story quests are cringeworthy, they are terrible and cheesy. And then you get some tree that looks like an abomination start bossing you around.

i honestly can't believe this game is the sequel to one of my all time favourite games -guild wars 1.

Kenaoshi

Well moslty are personal and i can even agree with the song part thus why i play mostly just listening to my own songs, but i hope i can help on the last few points.
- Dungeons
ergh, dungeons while may allow you to enter at lvl 30, the learning curve is far too step compared to open world. Would be nice to get some veterant help there, i would suggest joining a guild or creating your own LFG  with "new player, need help" something on these lines
- Tanks
Yes, GW2 does not have tanks, it moslty relly on avoiding the problem rather than fix it. 
Necro is one of my favorite classes but i would not recomend to a new player, the minions are weak and AI sometimes dont work. I would suggest dagger/warhorn and wells.
Well hope this helped.
have fun  

Loke666

Well, the heart quests are bad and were added late in the development. The alpha testers got confused  when they werent constantly told what to do, just skip them.

But I think the graphics look fine, have you maxed out the graphic settings? If you run on average then sure, it will look pretty bad.

Also, try out one of the other noob zones, there are 5 and the norn and Charr starter areas have less cuteness.

Necro might not be the perfect starting character, if you like tanks then warrior, guardian or rangers would fit better. 

rojoArcueid

paul43 said:

I grew up when fantasy was on the cover of AD&D books, Conan movies with Arnold, and Conan comics. Brutal and relative realistic.

This game is made for people who grew up with Hello Kitty and  Pokemon...

This killed your entire post.

So just because you prefer realistic violence even in fantasy you are saying the rest of the world is childish? pretty ignorant comment IMO.

I grew up watching Conan with Arnold too and as much as like the Age of Conan mmo, i do not prefer realistic violence in my mmos.

No, GW2 is not perfect, everyone knows that. No games are perfect. But out of all the mmos out there you count with one hand how many mmos have done most things better (not all, but most) and you get at least 1 or 2 fingers left (key word, at least, it could be more).

Dakeru

Hooray for f2p!
Now everyone with a mindset like the OP will play to level 15 to write a review on a 3 year old game.

Isidius

One of the most terrible reviews I have ever read...cringeworthy.

ButeoRegalis

rojoArcueid said:

paul43 said:

I grew up when fantasy was on the cover of AD&D books, Conan movies with Arnold, and Conan comics. Brutal and relative realistic.

This game is made for people who grew up with Hello Kitty and  Pokemon...

This killed your entire post.

No, this did:

paul43 said:

I've watched many Gw2 videos on youtube, and have a good idea what the game is about,

User836

I don't see what's so wrong about this review, I mean paul43 does describe some major game features and actually explains why he's not having a fun time.
I played the game for a bit when it was released and my experience was very similar to what has been described here. I also decided to stick with it and try some dungeons. I tried a few but for me they were really no fun at all. All other (high budget) MMORPGs I've played have had a dungeon experience more enjoyable to me. If you're having fun with this game then that's fine and I have no need to convince you to stop playing it but the review hits the nail on the head as far as my thoughts on the game go.

EDIT: though the Pokemon and Hello Kitty part is unnecessary and unfair I think.

Gaia_Hunter

The Heart quests do indeed have story behind it.

But opposed to other games that throw the story at you upfront with a wall of text, in GW2  you get the quest objectives first and then if you want the story you need to look around and pay attention.

Scouts will give an overall summary of what it is happening. Most NPCs will be chatting around about what is happening and they generally they have dialogue options for you to go through.

 Also, some of what is happening ties in with the personal story and the dungeons.


For example (and the following is spoilers) if you wonder why bandits seem to be creating so much havoc for apparently no reason than simple bedlam in Queensdale, it will be explained during the personal story that Minister Caudecus is paying bandits and in contact with centaurs to discredit Queen Jennah and overtake power. The Caudecus Manor dungeon will delve more in to this story.

Dungeons are quite a step in difficulty to normal gameplay. The Story mode might be doable but the explorable mode are really for level 80s, regardless of what the dungeon level requirement is.

Talking down on GW2 graphics and talking about reused assets is downright silly. Even people that dislike GW2 know it is a beautiful well crafted world. One just needs to go walk around any of the main cities, to see instances where they could just copy pasted assets and they haven't, like Hoelbrak beds in the halls.

Loke666

Gaia_Hunter said:

Dungeons are quite a step in difficulty to normal gameplay. The Story mode might be doable but the explorable mode are really for level 80s, regardless of what the dungeon level requirement is.

What? There are certain paths that are harder then others but running AC exp with a lvl 40 team isn't so hard for at least 2 paths. You certainly don't need 80s for any of those paths.

They are a step up in difficulty though just like fractals is another step up from dungeons.

Ridelynn

bad review is bad

I mean, seriously, saying it has bad graphics based solely on download size, and nothing to do with the actual graphics?

I hope you realize you should just give up before you hit L30, you obviously already have a grudge against the game, and this is just a smear post.

Treadworthy

paul43 said:

I've watched many Gw2 videos on youtube, and have a good idea what the game is about, now that it went F2P I figured I would give it a try. There was another very posetive review here, and I figured I would write my view.

*Client, 20GB download, you can start playing after 6GB. 20GB is a little small even for a 2012 game, expect not that good GFX and reuse of models.

* Music - The music is pretty bland, a couple of decent songs, they didn't recive any awards for the OST. You can listen to the entire OST on soundcloud.com/arenanet  With 80 songs it's hard to make them stand out.

* Quest system - It's a very automatic quest system, you eneter a area and quest pops up what you need to do. They've tried to hide it but most quests are just simple kill quests. The good thing is you can choose which of the objectives you want to do, you're not forced to find that last trap, you can just kill one more bear for example. The bad part of this quest system is that you don't have any story, why you're killing some stuff is not so important.  You don't even need to see the NPC you're helping. Sometimes you can complete a quest to help a farmer without having visited the farm.

* Event system, so far it's alright, breaks up the incredible dull questing system. 

I hope to get to lvl 30 so I can get a look at the first dungeon but this game is killing me for many reasons.

I grew up when fantasy was on the cover of AD&D books, Conan movies with Arnold, and Conan comics. Brutal and relative realistic.

This game is made for people who grew up with Hello Kitty and  Pokemon, yesterday I had a quest to dance for a Cow to make it happy while pink hearts came out of the cow, after the dance the cow thanked me in English.

My Necromancer looks like a Emo girl. I usually play a Tank and this game has no Trinity, hence why I'm a Necromancer. 

It's going to be hard to get to 30!

I agree absolutely.  I tried it out recently as well.   I immediately had the feeling this game was definitely intended for a younger crowd.  The polish and performance was indeed excellent.  However, as someone growing up with Conan/Dungeon and Dragons, I too could not find this game interesting.  

I'm glad it's intended audience is enjoying it, and it is indeed a well made game.  But speaking for myself only, it undoubtedly had the feeling of a saturday morning cartoon, while I'm much more interested in a late night creature feature or dark fantasy.

Gaia_Hunter

Loke666 said:

Gaia_Hunter said:

Dungeons are quite a step in difficulty to normal gameplay. The Story mode might be doable but the explorable mode are really for level 80s, regardless of what the dungeon level requirement is.

What? There are certain paths that are harder then others but running AC exp with a lvl 40 team isn't so hard for at least 2 paths. You certainly don't need 80s for any of those paths.

They are a step up in difficulty though just like fractals is another step up from dungeons.

Of experienced players sure.
Of new players, with no build and whatever gear dropped on them?
Nope. You just need to go find out videos of AC around release time (I know AC was modified since).

Treadworthy

User836 said:

I don't see what's so wrong about this review, I mean paul43 does describe some major game features and actually explains why he's not having a fun time.
I played the game for a bit when it was released and my experience was very similar to what has been described here. I also decided to stick with it and try some dungeons. I tried a few but for me they were really no fun at all. All other (high budget) MMORPGs I've played have had a dungeon experience more enjoyable to me. If you're having fun with this game then that's fine and I have no need to convince you to stop playing it but the review hits the nail on the head as far as my thoughts on the game go.

EDIT: though the Pokemon and Hello Kitty part is unnecessary and unfair I think.

Well said.  Some players have a need to defend the games they like.  Is understadable.  But nothing at all wrong with the review.  Everyone has their own opinion and I happen to agree with OP.  Is perfectly fine for different folks to like different sorts of games.

GW2 is a very well made game, as stated.  And they deserve their obvious success.  But I too can't come to terms with the T for teen rating and the obvious marketing towards a younger audience.   

Loke666

Gaia_Hunter said:

Loke666 said:

What? There are certain paths that are harder then others but running AC exp with a lvl 40 team isn't so hard for at least 2 paths. You certainly don't need 80s for any of those paths.

They are a step up in difficulty though just like fractals is another step up from dungeons.

Of experienced players sure.
Of new players, with no build and whatever gear dropped on them?
Nope. You just need to go find out videos of AC around release time (I know AC was modified since).

We did have some issues the first time just after the release but we eventually completed it anyways, and they have nerfed the difficulty since. I think I died 20 times the first run.

I still now and then help noobs groups through Ac and CM, in those cases do I usually have a higher level character (I have 7 80s and 2 lvl 20 something at the moment) but the people are minimum requiremnt for the dungeon.

It usually takes a while to co-ordinate people so the first couple of bosses are the hardest, and it is of course way harder to do it if you don't have a vet who knows how things really work but it still isn't impossible, just challenging.

Of course, getting rare gear on the characters helps a lot, having blue gear a few levels below your character makes things a lot harder but still not impossible.

My largest problem with GW2 have always been the difficulty nerf after the first beta week, it was awesome before with the perfect difficulty...

bcbully

Treadworthy said:

User836 said:

I don't see what's so wrong about this review, I mean paul43 does describe some major game features and actually explains why he's not having a fun time.
I played the game for a bit when it was released and my experience was very similar to what has been described here. I also decided to stick with it and try some dungeons. I tried a few but for me they were really no fun at all. All other (high budget) MMORPGs I've played have had a dungeon experience more enjoyable to me. If you're having fun with this game then that's fine and I have no need to convince you to stop playing it but the review hits the nail on the head as far as my thoughts on the game go.

EDIT: though the Pokemon and Hello Kitty part is unnecessary and unfair I think.

Well said.  Some players have a need to defend the games they like.  Is understadable.  But nothing at all wrong with the review.  Everyone has their own opinion and I happen to agree with OP.  Is perfectly fine for different folks to like different sorts of games.

GW2 is a very well made game, as stated.  And they deserve their obvious success.  But I too can't come to terms with the T for teen rating and the obvious marketing towards a younger audience.   

I'll never forget after making my first toon, a necro. I wanted him to be ulgy, mean evil, but he ended up looking like a Calvin Klein model... At the first quest giver the first words he spoke were "How can I help my lady!" in a heroic British tone... I was saddened 

StoneRoses

paul43 said:

I've watched many Gw2 videos on youtube, and have a good idea what the game is about, now that it went F2P I figured I would give it a try. There was another very posetive review here, and I figured I would write my view.

*Client, 20GB download, you can start playing after 6GB. 20GB is a little small even for a 2012 game, expect not that good GFX and reuse of models.

* Music - The music is pretty bland, a couple of decent songs, they didn't recive any awards for the OST. You can listen to the entire OST on soundcloud.com/arenanet  With 80 songs it's hard to make them stand out.

* Quest system - It's a very automatic quest system, you eneter a area and quest pops up what you need to do. They've tried to hide it but most quests are just simple kill quests. The good thing is you can choose which of the objectives you want to do, you're not forced to find that last trap, you can just kill one more bear for example. The bad part of this quest system is that you don't have any story, why you're killing some stuff is not so important.  You don't even need to see the NPC you're helping. Sometimes you can complete a quest to help a farmer without having visited the farm.

* Event system, so far it's alright, breaks up the incredible dull questing system. 

I hope to get to lvl 30 so I can get a look at the first dungeon but this game is killing me for many reasons.

I grew up when fantasy was on the cover of AD&D books, Conan movies with Arnold, and Conan comics. Brutal and relative realistic.

This game is made for people who grew up with Hello Kitty and  Pokemon, yesterday I had a quest to dance for a Cow to make it happy while pink hearts came out of the cow, after the dance the cow thanked me in English.

My Necromancer looks like a Emo girl. I usually play a Tank and this game has no Trinity, hence why I'm a Necromancer. 

It's going to be hard to get to 30!

 Gorgeous graphics! So far from the truth!




If you are going to critique a game Pros or Cons at least make an effort!




Hopefully you don't last long in the game especially if you rely on having Holy Trinity.

ceratop001

I think whats happening is everyone seems to be uninspired. A lot of players just don't like mmorpg's anymore. They haven't come to grips with that reality, but for some reason they think they enjoy the genre still.  I myself find GW2 not half bad and it rates pretty high in my book considering whats out there right now. I saw some comments about fanboi's being made too. A fanboi will defend anything if what they invest time in is their whole life basically.

Theocritus

I downloaded yesterday also here are some thoughts:

The good - graphics are pleasing to the eye.....Alot of people and servers.....Good class and race selections....Events are OK and break up dull questing

The bad - quests and story are pretty boring.....f2p limited to say and whispers in chat.....Can we join a guild?...Was invited, clicked join, was not in guild......Very little inventory space...the heart quests suck

The ugly- Arenanet added some add on garbage that I told it not to add....Totally screwed up my browser to a point where I had to take it back to defaults to get rid of it

Overall: Right now Im 50-50 on the game...Certainly I'll play to at least level 30

Loke666

bcbully said:

I'll never forget after making my first toon, a necro. I wanted him to be ulgy, mean evil, but he ended up looking like a Calvin Klein model... At the first quest giver the first words he spoke were "How can I help my lady!" in a heroic British tone... I was saddened 

Yeah, the voice can get annoying, but the personal story is optional.

Also, while my necro do look scary it wouldn't hurt with more options with the character customization, particularly with humans.

Pala

Uninspired vet, just went back to AO to test if what I remember is pure nostalgia and if I am jaded. Ended up playing 12 hours straight, level 0-24 yesterday (clunky UI and lag incl.). Last weekend I downloaded FFXIV, and tried 3 days in a row to play it, never managed more than a 2 hour session before I got bored. 

So for me personally it is not that I am jaded, dont like MMOs or that my memory is bad, its just that all the new MMOs are a bit crap. IMO

Lithuanian

My own two cents about Guild wars 2 free to play.
Client: normal size, good.
Download: takes a bit, but you can play at less than half of it. Good too.
Graphic: very distinctice from other mmos I have seen. I enjoyed it, though it's far from what I am accustomed to (Lotro's realistic, Istaria's old-fashioned etc).
Character creation: well, little customization. You just choose pre-selected things and click "next". I really enjoyed Persona;l story. it's something, I have never seen in other mmos. Once again - developers, please consider more customization.
Playing: I saw how my personal story changes gameplay and was satisfied with it. Quest systems seems ok. Controls were clumpsy untill I changed them to what I am accustomed to.
I do not have any problem with "kill 10 rats" quests. If farmer is annoyed with 29 zillions of rats attacking his farm, he may tell - "you, hero, go and slay 10 rats, plz". He may be too tired to explain, you know.
UI: this is where I got lost a bit. I saw UI in terra, AoC, Lotro, Istaria. This one is kind of...minimalistic. Some things lacking or well hidden, like quest journal (pressed Q to no results). Other mmos have journal where you can see what quests have you taken and maybe even cancel some of them.
Players: many, sometimes - too many. If I am supposed to collect apples, there are more those eager to do so...and I am left with 1 apple instead of 4. Same with other "check this" quests.

Major flaw was restrictions. Once again, bad influence of Neverwinter: no World chat for free users. i was unable even to see it, unable to communicate to other players.  My female toons looked almost clones, I wasn't able to make an evil-looking Necromancer. Skills were...a bit weird, I found only 2 attacks usable at lvl.4. When killed (never go to lvl.9 area if yo uare lvl.4) I chose to travel to neariest Waypoint...and ended laying on the ground. Wait, I was supposed to travel? Some quests give orders, but what to do, remains unclear with zero hints.

Major enjoyments: personal story. Possibility to talk with NPCs and sometimes even save them that way. Attacks looks cool. Graphic is very distinctive.

Overall impression: nice game, really worth a try, but not one I would  pay for (be it B2P or P2P).

StoneRoses

Pala said:

Uninspired vet, just went back to AO to test if what I remember is pure nostalgia and if I am jaded. Ended up playing 12 hours straight, level 0-24 yesterday (clunky UI and lag incl.). Last weekend I downloaded FFXIV, and tried 3 days in a row to play it, never managed more than a 2 hour session before I got bored. 

So for me personally it is not that I am jaded, dont like MMOs or that my memory is bad, its just that all the new MMOs are a bit crap. IMO

You're burned out!!! These current MMOs have more options for you to enjoy and gain levels.

Folks love the story in SWTOR...I prefer to level my toon just running Flashpoints.
Champions Online I enjoy running the Alerts.

Aura Kingdoms, forces you to follow the story to unlock other zones, I'm still entertained.

You are far from limited in GW2. Craft, Gather, Explore, PvP, or PvE...ect I started leveling a 2nd Gaurdian with another race,... 9 toons total.

I have yet to touch ESO....I'm looking forward to it.

Pala

StoneRoses said:

Pala said:

Uninspired vet, just went back to AO to test if what I remember is pure nostalgia and if I am jaded. Ended up playing 12 hours straight, level 0-24 yesterday (clunky UI and lag incl.). Last weekend I downloaded FFXIV, and tried 3 days in a row to play it, never managed more than a 2 hour session before I got bored. 

So for me personally it is not that I am jaded, dont like MMOs or that my memory is bad, its just that all the new MMOs are a bit crap. IMO

You're burned out!!! These current MMOs have more options for you to enjoy and gain levels.

Folks love the story in SWTOR...I prefer to level my toon just running Flashpoints.
Champions Online I enjoy running the Alerts.

Aura Kingdoms, forces you to follow the story to unlock other zones, I'm still entertained.

You are far from limited in GW2. Craft, Gather, Explore, PvP, or PvE...ect I started leveling a 2nd Gaurdian with another race,... 9 toons total.

I have yet to touch ESO....I'm looking forward to it.

I dont think that its about options, its about the world. I also have a couple level 60s with SWTOR, the game can be charming but the zones and the quests are repetative, the amount of voicover and exposition is boring, Flashpoints I enjoy and is only thing I do in there. 

Champions Online, played it, I think I had 1 eye closed and 1 arm tied behind my back while I was killing everything in site. 

Aura Kingdoms and ESO I havent tried. It all feels disconnected and on rails, I dont think I am burned out just the games are mostly solo grind, repetative and lack so many things that I cant be bothered to expand on here.

StoneRoses

VIdeo games, Sports games, Marble collecting, watching your favorite TV show, sitting at the Bar drinking,...

All Repetitive!!!!