I'm level 28 and am doing a level appropriate area. I try to explore and found two events. Which consisted of yet another escort mission and a defend the town mission. I've seen them and other events loop now for dozens of times.
I also found a vendor under water which sold the same crap as other vendors. And I found another event underwater which consisted of beating him in a fight. That's it after several hours in one area and killing the same creatures over and over and over and over. Good thing the combat is fun but it's getting to me, since I'm not getting any new weapons skills anymore.
I'm hitting a wall here. I look everywhere but I know I will not find loot in structures and such and the events I find are either escort, kill a boss or defend a town. I don't really care when I find a "hidden" cave or structures since there never is anything to find there anyway. I don't consider finding a hidden cave in itself discovering..this is not 1992. I played Fallout NV and Skyrim.
Like I said I'm getting close to hitting a wall and slowly am less happy to log in, I need some positive words and reassurance there really is stuff to discover (please tell me WHAT) and events will get better..
I have not really an interest in pvp (right now) and stopepd crafting because it drained all my silver.
well rocket sciense, when stuff you do is no fun anymore , move along. simple as that. mo need to justify your boedomness to anyone. but main thing is you get this same feeling with all the mmos outhere there is none there that can hold your intrest more than few days, sorry to say.
Originally posted by cura They should implement an option to turn off hearts and other hints from the map. It'll be hard to unsee some things you saw on the map when you just wanted to port somewhere hehe.
Actually, you CAN do that. Bottom left corner of the map allows you select/deselect what you want to view on the map.
This is odd. I jsut logged in first time after I made the thread and played for an hour.
I first found a plateau with a group of gathering nodes protected by a troll.
But then, someone asked for help at a crypt somewhere which turned out to be a mini dungeon with traps and a shit load of enemy spiders. With a loot chest at the end!
I didn't even know that was in the game, mini dungeons I mean!! Turns out there are lots more of them. I quess I really haven't been exploring hard enough...
I think I found my problem.. I found other stuff as well, hidden caves, jumping puzzles, gathering node area's, mini story. I went back t o a lower level area and discovered all these things.
It seems msot of this stuff is hard to find because off all the enemy mobs, especially since they respawn really quick.
The stuff I discovered in my previous post was only because I was teamed up at the time and could afford to stay in a dangerous area longer.
I think I found my problem.. I found other stuff as well, hidden caves, jumping puzzles, gathering node area's, mini story. I went back t o a lower level area and discovered all these things.
It seems msot of this stuff is hard to find because off all the enemy mobs, especially since they respawn really quick.
The stuff I discovered in my previous post was only because I was teamed up at the time and could afford to stay in a dangerous area longer.
Glad to see you gave it another shot and found how much stuff there actually is to explore when you stop letting the game guide you from Point A to Point B. Thats one of the biggest problems a lot of people have. Theyre so used to being led from point to point that they have this mentality that there is nothing else to do besides that.
I'm not sure why people mention marks on map and stuff. Sure they are there... Sure, real explorer is gonna visit and "explore" them. I actually don't go to places like towns or swarmed with symbols. I go to places, where "nothing is" and have fun exploring there. More often than not, I don't find anything worthwhile, but that's what exploring is about. Sometimes I find a small piece of story, hidden vendor, hidden event,, that I often solo or duo.
I'm now playing in high level zones and it's quite fun to see, there are no hearts... huge parts of the map are actually without any symbols at all. You can find underwater caves with introvert Asura scientiest inside. You can find quite big caverns full of spiders and worms without any treasure chest in it Sometimes I get a feeling, zones till some 50 level are made to teach you about the game. About how useful it's sometimes to use environmental weapon, and how useless it is at times...
I think ANet did decent job. They put marks on your map, so you're not completely lost (as spoiled people with quest helpers coming from various games would definitely be), while giving explorers time to explore and have fun doing that.
The only thing I have the grudge against are "invisilble walls" put someplaces you are not supposed to go.
As a bottom line, I think people are kinda weird explorers... I do not explore to get "rewards", to find treasure chests or something... I explore, because exploring is fun for me. Explorer's reward is being somewhere, where noone else has been and finding places that has some cool in it. Be that a story, be that a view, if it's treasure all the better, but it's not required by no means. Be sure if the place has some great reward in it, it will be swarming with people...
For exploration to really pay off in this game, you should stop hunting for the points on the map. Because:
1) This way finding a vista or even a point of interest becomes unexpected and exciting.
2) Hunting map points may creep up on your playstyle and rein you into some sort of a ride, where you begin to do nothing but try and keep getting to the next point. Which to me ends up quite boring in a short time.
So, for anyone who are thinking of playing this game as more of an exploration experience, I'd advice at least give it a try without checking the map - and even using teleports... at least not often.
Also, there are the unmarked places, yes. Some of them are really cool and surprising. And some even provide challenging puzzles.
I think I found my problem.. I found other stuff as well, hidden caves, jumping puzzles, gathering node area's, mini story. I went back t o a lower level area and discovered all these things.
It seems msot of this stuff is hard to find because off all the enemy mobs, especially since they respawn really quick.
The stuff I discovered in my previous post was only because I was teamed up at the time and could afford to stay in a dangerous area longer.
Glad to see you gave it another shot and found how much stuff there actually is to explore when you stop letting the game guide you from Point A to Point B. Thats one of the biggest problems a lot of people have. Theyre so used to being led from point to point that they have this mentality that there is nothing else to do besides that.
Oh no I was actually going off the beaten path. But it seems to me, a lot of the things you can find, are well guarded by enemy mobs. And fighting a passage or area filled with mobs around your own level is dangerous (and a bit tedious because they take forever to go down) and makes me go explore somewhere less dangerous. And in my (little) experience you find less stuff there.
I think alot of people have different ideas of what exploreing in a MMO really is. personally in my opinion exploreing is setting out to check out some part of the map with no idea what is there, could be a dungeon could be some cool mobs to kill who knows its exploreing! and for the most part if i die then it really sucks because i have to explore my ass all the way back to get my corpes and items i just dropped.
GW2 idea of exploreing. hit M see the heart go explore what the npc wants you to do, and when you get there you will probably find a big orange cirlce on the mini map with a million other players zerging some so called event. oh and if you die who cares just click some spawn thing near by and go explore it again.
What? You look at the map to explore? Grab your gathering equipment and a salvage kit and adventure. Look in cracks, swim underwater, climb and jump. Fight mobs with others you encounter. Talk to npcs that can start DEs. If you come across an event join in. Move on to other areas, you don't have to complete them before doing it. Head back to a main city and craft. Buy gear and head out again. This is what rpg games were about, not hitting M on a keyboard.
edit: I forgot to mention, you still get xp for having fun!
You could play any game this way, so why is GW2 any different? GW2 has hefty rewards for zone completion and "exploring" each of these pre-determined points on a map. Maybe you are playing it wrong?
Yes those rewards are for when you are not exploring. You can make your gameplay one dimensional and just complete those tasks or adventure while completing them. Totally different thing going straight to something or exploring and encountering them.
If you are in a rush to get to 80 then by all means "explore" your way. I will explore mine and get my dollars worth. No one is playing the wrong way. I have always thought of exploring something much different I guess.
Exploring; 1. To investigate systematically; examine: explore every possibility.
You didn't answer my question though. What makes GW2 different to explore? If you skip objectives in a game, any game can be explored the way you are saying.
Never said you couldn't explore in another game. There is much more to explore in GW2 than other games including those points I mentioned earlier. WoW and Rift are very limited as you probably know, while GW2 has a much more diverse landscape that was made for "exploring".
Are you trying to say that I mentined never obtaining all the objectives? I'm not, you can certainly go to those points to get your area completion reward but you can also explore.
The discussion title reads "tell me about exploring" not "tell me about completing an area".
Sorry but exploring in a game like Vanguard is way better than exploring in GW2 and i actually like the game but imo it really does not hold a candle to games like Vanguard for exploring.
Comments
well rocket sciense, when stuff you do is no fun anymore , move along. simple as that. mo need to justify your boedomness to anyone. but main thing is you get this same feeling with all the mmos outhere there is none there that can hold your intrest more than few days, sorry to say.
If it's not broken, you are not innovating.
I never found a chest so I quess I haven't been exploring enough!
Perhaps I'm used to Bethesda (Obsidian) RPG's to much were you find loot in almost every structure and cabinet.
Actually, you CAN do that. Bottom left corner of the map allows you select/deselect what you want to view on the map.
This is odd. I jsut logged in first time after I made the thread and played for an hour.
I first found a plateau with a group of gathering nodes protected by a troll.
But then, someone asked for help at a crypt somewhere which turned out to be a mini dungeon with traps and a shit load of enemy spiders. With a loot chest at the end!
I didn't even know that was in the game, mini dungeons I mean!! Turns out there are lots more of them. I quess I really haven't been exploring hard enough...
I think I found my problem.. I found other stuff as well, hidden caves, jumping puzzles, gathering node area's, mini story. I went back t o a lower level area and discovered all these things.
It seems msot of this stuff is hard to find because off all the enemy mobs, especially since they respawn really quick.
The stuff I discovered in my previous post was only because I was teamed up at the time and could afford to stay in a dangerous area longer.
Glad to see you gave it another shot and found how much stuff there actually is to explore when you stop letting the game guide you from Point A to Point B. Thats one of the biggest problems a lot of people have. Theyre so used to being led from point to point that they have this mentality that there is nothing else to do besides that.
I'm not sure why people mention marks on map and stuff. Sure they are there... Sure, real explorer is gonna visit and "explore" them. I actually don't go to places like towns or swarmed with symbols. I go to places, where "nothing is" and have fun exploring there. More often than not, I don't find anything worthwhile, but that's what exploring is about. Sometimes I find a small piece of story, hidden vendor, hidden event,, that I often solo or duo.
I'm now playing in high level zones and it's quite fun to see, there are no hearts... huge parts of the map are actually without any symbols at all. You can find underwater caves with introvert Asura scientiest inside. You can find quite big caverns full of spiders and worms without any treasure chest in it
Sometimes I get a feeling, zones till some 50 level are made to teach you about the game. About how useful it's sometimes to use environmental weapon, and how useless it is at times...
I think ANet did decent job. They put marks on your map, so you're not completely lost (as spoiled people with quest helpers coming from various games would definitely be), while giving explorers time to explore and have fun doing that.
The only thing I have the grudge against are "invisilble walls" put someplaces you are not supposed to go.
As a bottom line, I think people are kinda weird explorers... I do not explore to get "rewards", to find treasure chests or something... I explore, because exploring is fun for me. Explorer's reward is being somewhere, where noone else has been and finding places that has some cool in it. Be that a story, be that a view, if it's treasure all the better, but it's not required by no means. Be sure if the place has some great reward in it, it will be swarming with people...
For exploration to really pay off in this game, you should stop hunting for the points on the map. Because:
1) This way finding a vista or even a point of interest becomes unexpected and exciting.
2) Hunting map points may creep up on your playstyle and rein you into some sort of a ride, where you begin to do nothing but try and keep getting to the next point. Which to me ends up quite boring in a short time.
So, for anyone who are thinking of playing this game as more of an exploration experience, I'd advice at least give it a try without checking the map - and even using teleports... at least not often.
Also, there are the unmarked places, yes. Some of them are really cool and surprising. And some even provide challenging puzzles.
Oh no I was actually going off the beaten path. But it seems to me, a lot of the things you can find, are well guarded by enemy mobs. And fighting a passage or area filled with mobs around your own level is dangerous (and a bit tedious because they take forever to go down) and makes me go explore somewhere less dangerous. And in my (little) experience you find less stuff there.
Sorry but exploring in a game like Vanguard is way better than exploring in GW2 and i actually like the game but imo it really does not hold a candle to games like Vanguard for exploring.