Originally posted by Ludwik I just can't get into it, having done both chapters now.
The story has improved immensely and the graphics are stunning. I like the new events, albeit I dislike the jumping, and it seems like a huge improvement over season 1. But still, I can't get into it.
Guild Wars 2 doesn't feel like an MMO to me, it feels like an interactive movie. When there's a new update, you play through it for an hour then put the game away till the next update.
There's no reason to login on a daily basis and there's no reason to group with anyone or form any kind of a meaningful relationship. It's a single player game with free bi-weekly DLC that just happens to be online.
these graphics are still cartoonish. If you want stunning - look at ESO and FFIVX
Originally posted by Ludwik I just can't get into it, having done both chapters now.
The story has improved immensely and the graphics are stunning. I like the new events, albeit I dislike the jumping, and it seems like a huge improvement over season 1. But still, I can't get into it.
Guild Wars 2 doesn't feel like an MMO to me, it feels like an interactive movie. When there's a new update, you play through it for an hour then put the game away till the next update.
There's no reason to login on a daily basis and there's no reason to group with anyone or form any kind of a meaningful relationship. It's a single player game with free bi-weekly DLC that just happens to be online.
I hate to sound like a broken record, but this pretty much sums up where GW2 is right now. Ever since the Living Story was introduced, it's been taking precedence, and resources, over the other facets of the game, that is largely being ignored. People who love story will be happy though.
Thats because there is no character progression at max level, this goes for both PvE and PvP, WvW is nothing but mindless zerging and killing with flawed goals but no progression, PvE has no character progression adn there is no gear progression...
to make it a true MMO that keeps people playing, they need to add mild gear progression, and some kind of AA system that rewards both PvE as WvW. ...i have been saying this since before release...
And offcourse more group content like real dungeons for single and multi groups...
Agree.
There is no serious progression of any sort. All anet wants is for players to buy gems and junk off their store. Its just a cash grab at this point wrapped around a living story that is temporary and easily forgotten.
I really really hate all these crystals for jumping and stuff like that, really wish they would just go away.
Agree. I don't do the new area because of this. Just HATE the jumping and crystals (never done any jumping puzzle either, but they - luckily - are optional)
Can't stand anymore jumping puzzles. This whole area is about stupid jumping puzzles. GW2 is turning into a console platformer game. I uninstalled the game and probably won't go back. It seems like everytime they add new content they put something in to just annoy the crap out of you.
Specifically, they said they'd love to make S1 replayable, but they are currently not working on making that possible. If you consider the way S1 worked and was rolled out, it doesn't seem likely to happen anytime soon, and even if it did, it would probably be only the story instances, not the larger open world events.
On the positive side, that also means you're probably not going to have to fix road markers again
I'd be more than fine with just the story parts.
My biggest beef with playing GW2's story at the moment is that it feels like I'd be starting to read a novel with a chapter ripped out here and there. Not exactly a fun prospect.
It'd be a lot easier if I was one of the players that only cares about end-game content and skips all the story parts...but alas, I'm not.
I quit the game halfway trough season 1, not liking the living story content was one of the main reasons..
now i started playing season 2 and played the first chapter, and it absolutely feels like what i loved about the personal story parts of the main story..... Yes its linear, but i never cared about that... I am traveling the world again, meeting people listening to NPC conversations and enjoying the dynamic content and the new story based season 2 ...
Ugh... I forgot how much I hate their login system if you've been gone for a long time.
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
There is no serious progression of any sort. All anet wants is for players to buy gems and junk off their store. Its just a cash grab at this point wrapped around a living story that is temporary and easily forgotten.
Which is fantastic for people not interested in that kind of serious progression based on grind and big guild/friends schedule play.
Yeah, GW2 has grind (and some really big grinds), but it isn't serious.
Currently playing: GW2 Going cardboard starter kit: Ticket to ride, Pandemic, Carcassonne, Dominion, 7 Wonders
It is indeed stunning, the guys at ANet are at their top here. Almost feels like Game of Thrones, you can't wait for the next episode to see what is going to happen.
That's some high praise indeed!
I decided to make a new character and go through the storyline again, so it'll be a while before I get to that content. But at least it will be there to play if I stay active.
On a sidenote: I forgot how awesome Divinity's Reach is. It makes the cities other MMO's have feel so insignificant.
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
I came back to check it out with all the positive reviews about it. I was kinda underwhelmed. It was like 4-5 quest. It killed an afternoon, and was enjoyable, but not so much I am dying for the next episode. so probably going to free up the space on my hard drive for something else.
Its actually on par with some singleplayer rpg stories. And the new zones are amazing.
Still, without actual character progression (new skills, levels) it all feels pointless to me.
I wouldn't say pointless but you are right that we need new skills.
And skills you just can't buy for gold or skillpoints but actually have to cap or do things to get. I think I have like 400 skillpoints on my main and I already have gotten all stuff for legendary and a bunch for ascended gear and other stuff as well.
Its actually on par with some singleplayer rpg stories. And the new zones are amazing.
Still, without actual character progression (new skills, levels) it all feels pointless to me.
I wouldn't say pointless but you are right that we need new skills.
And skills you just can't buy for gold or skillpoints but actually have to cap or do things to get. I think I have like 400 skillpoints on my main and I already have gotten all stuff for legendary and a bunch for ascended gear and other stuff as well.
I have been promoting this since before release, the game needs some kind of AA system.. Preferably a system you cant max at all..
Best MMO experiences : EQ(PvE), DAoC(PvP), WoW(total package) LOTRO (worldfeel) GW2 (Artstyle and animations and worlddesign) SWTOR (Story immersion) TSW (story) ESO (character advancement)
Originally posted by Ludwik I just can't get into it, having done both chapters now.
The story has improved immensely and the graphics are stunning. I like the new events, albeit I dislike the jumping, and it seems like a huge improvement over season 1. But still, I can't get into it.
Guild Wars 2 doesn't feel like an MMO to me, it feels like an interactive movie. When there's a new update, you play through it for an hour then put the game away till the next update.
There's no reason to login on a daily basis and there's no reason to group with anyone or form any kind of a meaningful relationship. It's a single player game with free bi-weekly DLC that just happens to be online.
I hate to sound like a broken record, but this pretty much sums up where GW2 is right now. Ever since the Living Story was introduced, it's been taking precedence, and resources, over the other facets of the game, that is largely being ignored. People who love story will be happy though.
Thats because there is no character progression at max level, this goes for both PvE and PvP, WvW is nothing but mindless zerging and killing with flawed goals but no progression, PvE has no character progression adn there is no gear progression...
to make it a true MMO that keeps people playing, they need to add mild gear progression, and some kind of AA system that rewards both PvE as WvW. ...i have been saying this since before release...
And offcourse more group content like real dungeons for single and multi groups...
I am really getting tired of these silly rants. It doesn't sound like a person who has spend a lot of time in the game.
I've played since release (and beta before it) and of this writing has around 1400 hours clogged into the game. It's true this game didn't launch with a lot of end game content, but I disagree completely with what you are saying in regards to incentivize plaything after max level.
It's no secret that at it's core guild wars never has been about uber stats, but they added a long term investment in terms of a higher tier of gear called ascended. This gear is difficult and time consuming to get, and it takes a long time to get all your stuff ascended. Even with 1400 hours invested I have not ascended armor on my main, because it doesn't interest me. It interests other folks and they feel that this carrot-on-a-stick is what they enjoy striving towards even if it offers 5% over the other top end-game gear, exotic, which is easily aquirable for all casuals.
Besides this, they have a pretty indepth achievement system that showers you with rewards at every 500 point level. When I got 5000 points, I received gems and a lot of stuff that costs money from the gem store. It was highly incentivized.
Also there is the world completion which is a hallmark for any veteran. Its the biggest sole achievement you will do in the game. Getting to lvl 80 in itself is no big deal, since everything rewards you massive amounts of xp. Much more so than in other game.
FYI, in WvW there is a pretty decent pvp rank system, were you build your character up, and making him/her better at using siege equimpent, killing guards, withstanding enemy siege fire and so on and so forth. I am rank 50 on my main and I'll say I have spend a couple of hundred hours in WvW over all my characters.
Finally, saying that WvW is mindless zerg is the ultimate red flag in your post. If you really get into it, you will see that there is a lot of times when strategy beats might. Up to a point of course, but would you expect from massive pvp like this? It sounds very pie-in-the-sky to me to call the game out on a guise such as this.
All of these things might not be to your tastes, but to say that there is no progression after max level is not true. It's taken me countless hours climbing up my fractal levels and earning enough gold to convert to gems to get the things i want for free.. extra character slots, more bank nodes, new hairstyles and so on.
GW2 end game is not perfect, no game is, but i highly enjoy what it is. And so does my friends and guildies. A lot of us are playing this game because we are done with the forced carrots-on-a-stick that other MMOs have for end-game. Getting 100% world completion on my first character, doing every heart, poi, vista, jumping puzzle, hidden area and getting the gold star and the legendary weapon fragments felt more like a legit accomplishment than anything I have done solo in a MMORPG, ever.
GW2 is not SWG Pre-CU, but frankly, nothing really is. The simulated world with a living player driven world/ecosystem/political sphere that will end the need for new content because the games evolution itself will be the end game content, is probably still far away. But for what it is GW2 is a great end game for me, because it allows me to play in smaller chunks of time, and because it doesnt waste my time new raid tier nonsense every third month. It's just about a game about making you character look cool and kill things with friends. I don't really think the game tries to do a whole lot more than that. It just wants to entertain, not fill your raid calender.
I have been playing a new release game (I won't mention the name) for over a month now and love it! Awesome gameplay and decent questing, PvP, and so on. It is a wonderful game....but, I decided to jump back into GW2 again. The stunning artwork and beauty of GW2 is worth not going back to that other game by itself alone. Although lately I only put about 75% of my effort into playing it, I'm jumping back in for some new stuff and am excited about it, and going full force this time.
TY for the SS OP.
Death is nothing to us, since when we are, Death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.
Originally posted by Ludwik I just can't get into it, having done both chapters now.
The story has improved immensely and the graphics are stunning. I like the new events, albeit I dislike the jumping, and it seems like a huge improvement over season 1. But still, I can't get into it.
Guild Wars 2 doesn't feel like an MMO to me, it feels like an interactive movie. When there's a new update, you play through it for an hour then put the game away till the next update.
There's no reason to login on a daily basis and there's no reason to group with anyone or form any kind of a meaningful relationship. It's a single player game with free bi-weekly DLC that just happens to be online.
I hate to sound like a broken record, but this pretty much sums up where GW2 is right now. Ever since the Living Story was introduced, it's been taking precedence, and resources, over the other facets of the game, that is largely being ignored. People who love story will be happy though.
Thats because there is no character progression at max level, this goes for both PvE and PvP, WvW is nothing but mindless zerging and killing with flawed goals but no progression, PvE has no character progression adn there is no gear progression...
to make it a true MMO that keeps people playing, they need to add mild gear progression, and some kind of AA system that rewards both PvE as WvW. ...i have been saying this since before release...
And offcourse more group content like real dungeons for single and multi groups...
I am really getting tired of these silly rants. It doesn't sound like a person who has spend a lot of time in the game.
I've played since release (and beta before it) and of this writing has around 1400 hours clogged into the game. It's true this game didn't launch with a lot of end game content, but I disagree completely with what you are saying in regards to incentivize plaything after max level.
It's no secret that at it's core guild wars never has been about uber stats, but they added a long term investment in terms of a higher tier of gear called ascended. This gear is difficult and time consuming to get, and it takes a long time to get all your stuff ascended. Even with 1400 hours invested I have not ascended armor on my main, because it doesn't interest me. It interests other folks and they feel that this carrot-on-a-stick is what they enjoy striving towards even if it offers 5% over the other top end-game gear, exotic, which is easily aquirable for all casuals.
Besides this, they have a pretty indepth achievement system that showers you with rewards at every 500 point level. When I got 5000 points, I received gems and a lot of stuff that costs money from the gem store. It was highly incentivized.
Also there is the world completion which is a hallmark for any veteran. Its the biggest sole achievement you will do in the game. Getting to lvl 80 in itself is no big deal, since everything rewards you massive amounts of xp. Much more so than in other game.
FYI, in WvW there is a pretty decent pvp rank system, were you build your character up, and making him/her better at using siege equimpent, killing guards, withstanding enemy siege fire and so on and so forth. I am rank 50 on my main and I'll say I have spend a couple of hundred hours in WvW over all my characters.
Finally, saying that WvW is mindless zerg is the ultimate red flag in your post. If you really get into it, you will see that there is a lot of times when strategy beats might. Up to a point of course, but would you expect from massive pvp like this? It sounds very pie-in-the-sky to me to call the game out on a guise such as this.
All of these things might not be to your tastes, but to say that there is no progression after max level is not true. It's taken me countless hours climbing up my fractal levels and earning enough gold to convert to gems to get the things i want for free.. extra character slots, more bank nodes, new hairstyles and so on.
GW2 end game is not perfect, no game is, but i highly enjoy what it is. And so does my friends and guildies. A lot of us are playing this game because we are done with the forced carrots-on-a-stick that other MMOs have for end-game. Getting 100% world completion on my first character, doing every heart, poi, vista, jumping puzzle, hidden area and getting the gold star and the legendary weapon fragments felt more like a legit accomplishment than anything I have done solo in a MMORPG, ever.
GW2 is not SWG Pre-CU, but frankly, nothing really is. The simulated world with a living player driven world/ecosystem/political sphere that will end the need for new content because the games evolution itself will be the end game content, is probably still far away. But for what it is GW2 is a great end game for me, because it allows me to play in smaller chunks of time, and because it doesnt waste my time new raid tier nonsense every third month. It's just about a game about making you character look cool and kill things with friends. I don't really think the game tries to do a whole lot more than that. It just wants to entertain, not fill your raid calender.
Good post Sir, especially the last sentence.
Death is nothing to us, since when we are, Death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.
I logged in, played and logged off after having to sit through the contrived lesbian love dialogue only to have the NPCs get stuck and not do anything. I've already made the decision to pretty much put the game down for good. Miss me with this Living Story junk. I prefer the feature updates where skills, weapons, and other actual interesting things are added. I'll go back and play again if/when they open up a true new territory with a new set of hearts, Vistas and improve the combat.
"As far as the forum code of conduct, I would think it's a bit outdated and in need of a refre *CLOSED*"
Originally posted by FlyByKnight I logged in, played and logged off after having to sit through the contrived lesbian love dialogue only to have the NPCs get stuck and not do anything. I've already made the decision to pretty much put the game down for good. Miss me with this Living Story junk. I prefer the feature updates where skills, weapons, and other actual interesting things are added. I'll go back and play again if/when they open up a true new territory with a new set of hearts, Vistas and improve the combat.
Are you sure you didn't login to The Orange is the New Black mmorpg? What the heck are you playing?
Death is nothing to us, since when we are, Death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.
On a sidenote: I forgot how awesome Divinity's Reach is. It makes the cities other MMO's have feel so insignificant.
The only city remotely close to Divinity's Reach would be Marianople in Archeage, but it's still not as great as DR.
DR is what Minas Tirith should be if ever added to a game.
That sounds very promising. Kinda makes me regret forgetting all about my AA beta this weekend.
Ah well, there will be more beta weekends. Until then I'll enjoy my reunion with GW.
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
Raid progression is something most GW2 players never want to see and I understand that all you "wow" players would like this game more if there were heavy raiding and gear progression but this is not GW2 and I don't think it will ever be. Sure WvW is a mindless zerg mostly just killing each other but in what game is this different? please, please not the DaoC was so great speech again, sure it had it's shine but today? nah to old. A new DaoC would be fun and I would play it.
But guild wars has Spvp / Tpvp aswell and if you compaire GW2 arena with wow then why would you want a gear progression in arena pvp?
It takes alot more skills to be good in GW2 arena then wow since alot is gearbased, in gw2 we are all on the same level no one can have better gear you can build and rebuild you char millions of times to get it just right.
PVE sure I am with you on many points, I also want new dungeons and they really should give us one or five cause this is something that people really want. I could also see that there were greater rewards the harder the dungeons get so that there would be a carrot to do the other paths aswell and not just the easy ones.
Living story is great, we get new content every two weeks and yes it feels like a TV-Series but is that bad? This is something pve people should be longing for. Who doesn't want to be a hero from a great tv serie like game of thrones? Now you can in living story season 2, (game of thrones is better ). Put still in a small way you get the single player rpg feeling when doing living story and this is great.
New level cap, don't see the point. I mean who really likes leveling? sure in a sandbox it's alot more fun but in a themepark is there even a point to levels more then take up your time? Add other stuff insteed like more crafting, dungeons, zones, pvp maps, wvw maps, jumping puzzels, achievments, world bosses, classes, professions list goes on and on.
Its actually on par with some singleplayer rpg stories. And the new zones are amazing.
Still, without actual character progression (new skills, levels) it all feels pointless to me.
This is my problem also. I loved the game, I leveled several characters, played some of the endgame for a year, and then.... yeah. Character progression is still very important to me and GW2 just doesn't have it. I don't know, I guess it's a subtle psychological difference, because your WoW style progression is just gear upgrades over time, but somehow that carrot is still important for long term motivation.
I'd love to see GW2 develop some long term character progression. I understand the negatives for this and the power creep involved, but still it would be nice.
IMO it should be about just the content. I mean if you really enjoy to play the game it shouldn't always be about the cupcake at the end. After many years into wow I couldn't help feel like a Blizzard's pawn chasing that damn carrot.
Some people are being confused here. Most GW2 players, that are asking for more content, aren't demanding raid progression, or vertical progression. We are asking for more content, that isn't just about the Living Story.
SPvP currently has 1 gametype.
WvW got a slight overhaul, but made things worse.
Dungeons are still the same.
Weapon-types are still the same.
Classes still the same.
Skills still the same.
Traits got a couple additions.
2 new World bosses, 1 revamped.
I'm not saying content wasn't added, but when compared to other MMOs, it's been very lacking. I would've included the temporary stuff, such as the Molten Facility dungeon, Marionette, a couple SPvP maps, the event changes to certain zones, such as Kessex Hills, seasonal events, etc., but even with all that added, it's been very small, for being out 2 years now.
It hasn't been all negative though. EotM was a nice addition, and Fractals and Southsun cove was good. There have also been some crafting professions that got an extra tier. Ascended gear has been added. Season 2 is finally becoming permanent, but so far, it's been focused on Living Story. Hopefully, they start adding more content that isn't tied to the Living Story. That's great for people who love story, but everyone else is being left in the cold.
Some people are being confused here. Most GW2 players, that are asking for more content, aren't demanding raid progression, or vertical progression. We are asking for more content, that isn't just about the Living Story.
SPvP currently has 1 gametype.
WvW got a slight overhaul, but made things worse.
Dungeons are still the same.
Weapon-types are still the same.
Classes still the same.
Skills still the same.
Traits got a couple additions.
2 new World bosses, 1 revamped.
I'm not saying content wasn't added, but when compared to other MMOs, it's been very lacking. I would've included the temporary stuff, such as the Molten Facility dungeon, Marionette, a couple SPvP maps, the event changes to certain zones, such as Kessex Hills, seasonal events, etc., but even with all that added, it's been very small, for being out 2 years now.
It hasn't been all negative though. EotM was a nice addition, and Fractals and Southsun cove was good. There have also been some crafting professions that got an extra tier. Ascended gear has been added. Season 2 is finally becoming permanent, but so far, it's been focused on Living Story. Hopefully, they start adding more content that isn't tied to the Living Story. That's great for people who love story, but everyone else is being left in the cold.
Mate, I don't know how long it's been since you have played, but they actually added a lot of stuff over time;
1) sPvP: They have almost doubled the amount of sPvP maps they launched with, though I do not know the reason for why they haven't made more game types. But they have added one team deathmatch map, and it's really fun:
Though the biggest thing they have done to sPvP is the complete overhaul of the entire reward system. You can now get everything you need to make a legendary weapon by just playing sPvP thanks to a really cool reward track system, that gives you the same skins, materials and rewards which you would find in running dungeons for a long time.
Besides this, while not directly content the addition of Observer mode, custom tournaments and so on, should also be mentioned.
2) WvW: Got a lot better thanks to a long-term Rank system, giving you lots of points to leveling your character. Besides that they fine tuned the handicap-helping buffs for the outnumbered and nerfed the buff for the overpowered (by taking all 4 points in center). Also they added a lot more strategy by adjusting the reward allocation (plus a UI WvW pane overhaul) so a server can capture SM (stonemist castle) and camp it, and still lose, if the opposing force captures enough smaller camps, and keeps.
Siege equipment got improved, they added a new massive WvW area which is insanely much better than the normal maps, Edge of the Mists.
WvW still has problems, granted, but between the unique weapons you can get, all the achievements, the overhauled champion loot, gold and xp loot which makes it easy and fun to level up characters entirely by just doing WvW, as well as general latency and netcode improvements, I feel its fair to say that WvW is at the best place it has ever been.
The problem talking about WvW, is that WvW is not much fun for all the people who are on weak servers with weak commanders who are not focused on it. If you are not a big guild or several guilds actively working together and knowing what to do, you are not going to beat the zergs, or let things happen. I played on a mediocre-so-so-decent server (Far Shiverpeaks) for a long time, until I switched to Stormbluff Isle, and that changed anything. Even if that server is not even in the top 10, it still has a big passionate community which means there is plenty of room for having success and fun.
When you are just losing and losing because much of the server is not interested, its not much fun. But this is the way of WvW. They designed it to be unbalanced, to be chaos. It will never be fair, but what you can do is move to a server that cares about WvW, and then you can see how amazing it is, and how much tactics that actually is involved.
You are going to get steamrolled, and zergs are a real thing. As they should be. Any real army war situation in real life would favor the force with superior numbers, since in GW2 there is not a technology gap between the servers. But like in real life, sometimes strategy, terrain, bad leadership descisions and weak morale breaks the force with the bigger numbers.
3) Dungeons have been made harder since release, and they added the Aetherblade path (which is so-so...). However, the best of dungeons in GW2 are Fractals. Randomly categorized mini-dungeons, of which there are currently 15. They have said that things like Molten Alliance dungeons, Marionette encounter and Scarlett fight in Lions Arch are things that will be added as fractals over time.
I personally have a problem with instanced dungeons in all MMOs. I think they are counter-intuitive, they promote repetition, they cause burn-out, the are the cause of a on-rails non-living world experience that goes against everything I think MMOs should be about.
Instanced dungeons doesn't fit in GW2, but I think Fractals are good. The 32 regular dungeon paths and story mode dungeons in classic GW2 are certainly better now, thanks to much more rewards and gold and good quality items fro bosses, but I still think WoW does Dungeons a lot better.
In GW2 they made dungeons by giving the enemies lots of HP, and that is too bad because it doesnt suit a damage-migration game as GW2. GW2 is fast and deserves almost action games-esque bosses. Not traditional MMO bosses.
4) Weapon types, classes and skills are all the same. That is true. I don't know if I expected this in anything outside of an expansion. I really want to see more weapon types and more utility skills and weapon skills. But at the same time, almost every MMO I can think off had its balance seriously shaken up when the developers went crazy by just adding new skills and new classes.
Even GW1 which was legendary for its game balance (by James Phinney, Starcraft, Balance designer) got problems from its 4 additional classes. It becomes a harder beast to keep balanced. So far they have added over 30 new traits, and some 40 new skills, but no new weapon skills.
We all want to see new weapons like halbards, nunchucks, whips, flails, two-handed axes and double bladed swords. They would make all the existing classes so much more unique.
5) It's important to remember that they added a lot of things you don't feel when you just look at it, but which made the game a lot more fun. Laurels gave daily incentive to log in and play ( http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Laurel_merchant ), as did achievements reward system( http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Achievement_rewards ). You got ascended armors and weapons and achievement based weapons to strive for something.
They have added a crazy amount of PvP and PvE activities. It's one of the few things GW2 really messed up on before launch. At one point in 2011 they claimed they would try to get 20 mini games in at launch, but they ended up only having 1, Keg Ball. Now there is 14, but if you count Super Adventure Box, it is actually its own game entirely; http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Activities
Quality of life improvements, are things like the account wallet, account wide dye and the wardrobe system. these things empowers players, empowers people to make ALTs and lets people get a lot more out of the content they have. It's directly an opposite to the claims that they are just money hatting it away.
Besides this the biggest improvement is of course the megaserver infastructure which in my game have made it ten times more fun than it has ever been (even at launch).
They have added a lot of land mass now in terms of southsun which is a massive area, and now they are opening Maguuma Wastes. They overhauled a lot of Orr, they added Edge of the Mists, season 1 and events brought things like Mad Kings Lair, toypocalypse. And also things like the Labyrinthine Cliffs was a massive area.
Kessex Hills is basically a new zone, with a big public dungeon with several mini dungeons, personal stories and bosses in between (nightmare) the destruction of LA was basically a new zone, full of events.
Besides this they added a guild mission system, with 7 different kinds of gameplay mode, from rush to guild jumping puzzles. Over a year after being put in, my guild still uses 2-3 hours every week doing guild missions. its really fun for us, and it harbors fun content all of can do, and content that doesnt exclude anyone. there is a big amount of content in guild missions alone which harbors its own rewards.
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So I don't get it. GW2 has added more stuff 2 year into its life time than I have seen any other MMO do in its first two years, when you dont count expansion packs. I spend 60 dollars and have not spent a single dime more. not in their gem store, not with expansions, I've just converted the gold I earned in the game to gems and gotten everthing I ever wanted. I have gotten 1400 hours worth of gameplay for 60 dollars, and I've been able to play at my own leisure when they have added all this stuff to the game.
Yes, a lot of this stuff should have launched with the game in 2012, but that argument goes for every single MMO that has ever been released thus far. When I look at what I have gotten out of this game for free, I am basically in awe. Like you, I want a lot more. I want Cantha, I want Elona, I want new weapons and skills, and races, and I want it now and I want them to have worked on a full fledged expansion behind the scenes, but honestly, consider what they have added to this game. It's staggering.
I don't think GW2 is perfect. I think they stumbled a lot in Season 1. The opening halloween and southsun island events were terrible. lag, server crashes and poor content structure was a pain. they sucked. the early living stories sucked too. But it got good towards the end. The transformation of Kessex Hills and Lions Arch was great. lots of new enemies from toxic creatures to airship pirates!
The constant updates every 2-4 weeks through season 1 was really cool. I find myself falling behind in season 2 but they have now given you the ability t replay story chapter so long as you had logged in at least once during the chapter.
I guess I am still a bit burned out with the achievement grind from season 1.
Originally posted by FlyByKnight I logged in, played and logged off after having to sit through the contrived lesbian love dialogue only to have the NPCs get stuck and not do anything. I've already made the decision to pretty much put the game down for good. Miss me with this Living Story junk. I prefer the feature updates where skills, weapons, and other actual interesting things are added. I'll go back and play again if/when they open up a true new territory with a new set of hearts, Vistas and improve the combat.
Are you sure you didn't login to The Orange is the New Black mmorpg? What the heck are you playing?
Fly is right tho, the Marjorie romance is soooo badly written...and all the honey shnooky pookems they toss out to one another makes me queasy...I am like...ladies....I am right here....keep that to yourselves...talk about PDA, and badly written PDA.
* I am the kind of person that gets embarrased watching romanitc scenes tho*
It's actually one of the things that turns me off of the story..I was thinking to myself...Please let season 2 focus more on Braham, Taimi, and Rox...please...Nope...more of this drivel...
Hell I would have loved it if they mixed this group in with Destiny's edge abit...
Comments
these graphics are still cartoonish. If you want stunning - look at ESO and FFIVX
Agree.
There is no serious progression of any sort. All anet wants is for players to buy gems and junk off their store. Its just a cash grab at this point wrapped around a living story that is temporary and easily forgotten.
Can't stand anymore jumping puzzles. This whole area is about stupid jumping puzzles. GW2 is turning into a console platformer game. I uninstalled the game and probably won't go back. It seems like everytime they add new content they put something in to just annoy the crap out of you.
Ugh... I forgot how much I hate their login system if you've been gone for a long time.
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
https://www.ashesofcreation.com/ref/Callaron/
Which is fantastic for people not interested in that kind of serious progression based on grind and big guild/friends schedule play.
Yeah, GW2 has grind (and some really big grinds), but it isn't serious.
Currently playing: GW2
Going cardboard starter kit: Ticket to ride, Pandemic, Carcassonne, Dominion, 7 Wonders
That's some high praise indeed!
I decided to make a new character and go through the storyline again, so it'll be a while before I get to that content. But at least it will be there to play if I stay active.
On a sidenote: I forgot how awesome Divinity's Reach is. It makes the cities other MMO's have feel so insignificant.
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
https://www.ashesofcreation.com/ref/Callaron/
I came back to check it out with all the positive reviews about it. I was kinda underwhelmed. It was like 4-5 quest. It killed an afternoon, and was enjoyable, but not so much I am dying for the next episode. so probably going to free up the space on my hard drive for something else.
My Thoughts on Content Locust
I wouldn't say pointless but you are right that we need new skills.
And skills you just can't buy for gold or skillpoints but actually have to cap or do things to get. I think I have like 400 skillpoints on my main and I already have gotten all stuff for legendary and a bunch for ascended gear and other stuff as well.
I have been promoting this since before release, the game needs some kind of AA system.. Preferably a system you cant max at all..
Best MMO experiences : EQ(PvE), DAoC(PvP), WoW(total package) LOTRO (worldfeel) GW2 (Artstyle and animations and worlddesign) SWTOR (Story immersion) TSW (story) ESO (character advancement)
> The new season is simply stunning!
Agree!
I am really getting tired of these silly rants. It doesn't sound like a person who has spend a lot of time in the game.
I've played since release (and beta before it) and of this writing has around 1400 hours clogged into the game. It's true this game didn't launch with a lot of end game content, but I disagree completely with what you are saying in regards to incentivize plaything after max level.
It's no secret that at it's core guild wars never has been about uber stats, but they added a long term investment in terms of a higher tier of gear called ascended. This gear is difficult and time consuming to get, and it takes a long time to get all your stuff ascended. Even with 1400 hours invested I have not ascended armor on my main, because it doesn't interest me. It interests other folks and they feel that this carrot-on-a-stick is what they enjoy striving towards even if it offers 5% over the other top end-game gear, exotic, which is easily aquirable for all casuals.
Besides this, they have a pretty indepth achievement system that showers you with rewards at every 500 point level. When I got 5000 points, I received gems and a lot of stuff that costs money from the gem store. It was highly incentivized.
Also there is the world completion which is a hallmark for any veteran. Its the biggest sole achievement you will do in the game. Getting to lvl 80 in itself is no big deal, since everything rewards you massive amounts of xp. Much more so than in other game.
FYI, in WvW there is a pretty decent pvp rank system, were you build your character up, and making him/her better at using siege equimpent, killing guards, withstanding enemy siege fire and so on and so forth. I am rank 50 on my main and I'll say I have spend a couple of hundred hours in WvW over all my characters.
Finally, saying that WvW is mindless zerg is the ultimate red flag in your post. If you really get into it, you will see that there is a lot of times when strategy beats might. Up to a point of course, but would you expect from massive pvp like this? It sounds very pie-in-the-sky to me to call the game out on a guise such as this.
All of these things might not be to your tastes, but to say that there is no progression after max level is not true. It's taken me countless hours climbing up my fractal levels and earning enough gold to convert to gems to get the things i want for free.. extra character slots, more bank nodes, new hairstyles and so on.
GW2 end game is not perfect, no game is, but i highly enjoy what it is. And so does my friends and guildies. A lot of us are playing this game because we are done with the forced carrots-on-a-stick that other MMOs have for end-game. Getting 100% world completion on my first character, doing every heart, poi, vista, jumping puzzle, hidden area and getting the gold star and the legendary weapon fragments felt more like a legit accomplishment than anything I have done solo in a MMORPG, ever.
GW2 is not SWG Pre-CU, but frankly, nothing really is. The simulated world with a living player driven world/ecosystem/political sphere that will end the need for new content because the games evolution itself will be the end game content, is probably still far away. But for what it is GW2 is a great end game for me, because it allows me to play in smaller chunks of time, and because it doesnt waste my time new raid tier nonsense every third month. It's just about a game about making you character look cool and kill things with friends. I don't really think the game tries to do a whole lot more than that. It just wants to entertain, not fill your raid calender.
I have been playing a new release game (I won't mention the name) for over a month now and love it! Awesome gameplay and decent questing, PvP, and so on. It is a wonderful game....but, I decided to jump back into GW2 again. The stunning artwork and beauty of GW2 is worth not going back to that other game by itself alone. Although lately I only put about 75% of my effort into playing it, I'm jumping back in for some new stuff and am excited about it, and going full force this time.
TY for the SS OP.
Death is nothing to us, since when we are, Death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.
Good post Sir, especially the last sentence.
Death is nothing to us, since when we are, Death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Are you sure you didn't login to The Orange is the New Black mmorpg? What the heck are you playing?
Death is nothing to us, since when we are, Death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.
That sounds very promising. Kinda makes me regret forgetting all about my AA beta this weekend.
Ah well, there will be more beta weekends. Until then I'll enjoy my reunion with GW.
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
https://www.ashesofcreation.com/ref/Callaron/
Raid progression is something most GW2 players never want to see and I understand that all you "wow" players would like this game more if there were heavy raiding and gear progression but this is not GW2 and I don't think it will ever be. Sure WvW is a mindless zerg mostly just killing each other but in what game is this different? please, please not the DaoC was so great speech again, sure it had it's shine but today? nah to old. A new DaoC would be fun and I would play it.
But guild wars has Spvp / Tpvp aswell and if you compaire GW2 arena with wow then why would you want a gear progression in arena pvp?
It takes alot more skills to be good in GW2 arena then wow since alot is gearbased, in gw2 we are all on the same level no one can have better gear you can build and rebuild you char millions of times to get it just right.
PVE sure I am with you on many points, I also want new dungeons and they really should give us one or five cause this is something that people really want. I could also see that there were greater rewards the harder the dungeons get so that there would be a carrot to do the other paths aswell and not just the easy ones.
Living story is great, we get new content every two weeks and yes it feels like a TV-Series but is that bad? This is something pve people should be longing for. Who doesn't want to be a hero from a great tv serie like game of thrones? Now you can in living story season 2, (game of thrones is better
). Put still in a small way you get the single player rpg feeling when doing living story and this is great.
New level cap, don't see the point. I mean who really likes leveling? sure in a sandbox it's alot more fun but in a themepark is there even a point to levels more then take up your time? Add other stuff insteed like more crafting, dungeons, zones, pvp maps, wvw maps, jumping puzzels, achievments, world bosses, classes, professions list goes on and on.
IMO it should be about just the content. I mean if you really enjoy to play the game it shouldn't always be about the cupcake at the end. After many years into wow I couldn't help feel like a Blizzard's pawn chasing that damn carrot.
Some people are being confused here. Most GW2 players, that are asking for more content, aren't demanding raid progression, or vertical progression. We are asking for more content, that isn't just about the Living Story.
I'm not saying content wasn't added, but when compared to other MMOs, it's been very lacking. I would've included the temporary stuff, such as the Molten Facility dungeon, Marionette, a couple SPvP maps, the event changes to certain zones, such as Kessex Hills, seasonal events, etc., but even with all that added, it's been very small, for being out 2 years now.
It hasn't been all negative though. EotM was a nice addition, and Fractals and Southsun cove was good. There have also been some crafting professions that got an extra tier. Ascended gear has been added. Season 2 is finally becoming permanent, but so far, it's been focused on Living Story. Hopefully, they start adding more content that isn't tied to the Living Story. That's great for people who love story, but everyone else is being left in the cold.
eso fanboy coming in and trashing gw2 as cashgrab... oh the irony.
son, nobody takes you serious talking bs like that.
Time better spent on .. what? Leading you somewhere ... where exactly?
Mate, I don't know how long it's been since you have played, but they actually added a lot of stuff over time;
1) sPvP: They have almost doubled the amount of sPvP maps they launched with, though I do not know the reason for why they haven't made more game types. But they have added one team deathmatch map, and it's really fun:
Though the biggest thing they have done to sPvP is the complete overhaul of the entire reward system. You can now get everything you need to make a legendary weapon by just playing sPvP thanks to a really cool reward track system, that gives you the same skins, materials and rewards which you would find in running dungeons for a long time.
Besides this, while not directly content the addition of Observer mode, custom tournaments and so on, should also be mentioned.
2) WvW: Got a lot better thanks to a long-term Rank system, giving you lots of points to leveling your character. Besides that they fine tuned the handicap-helping buffs for the outnumbered and nerfed the buff for the overpowered (by taking all 4 points in center). Also they added a lot more strategy by adjusting the reward allocation (plus a UI WvW pane overhaul) so a server can capture SM (stonemist castle) and camp it, and still lose, if the opposing force captures enough smaller camps, and keeps.
Siege equipment got improved, they added a new massive WvW area which is insanely much better than the normal maps, Edge of the Mists.
WvW still has problems, granted, but between the unique weapons you can get, all the achievements, the overhauled champion loot, gold and xp loot which makes it easy and fun to level up characters entirely by just doing WvW, as well as general latency and netcode improvements, I feel its fair to say that WvW is at the best place it has ever been.
The problem talking about WvW, is that WvW is not much fun for all the people who are on weak servers with weak commanders who are not focused on it. If you are not a big guild or several guilds actively working together and knowing what to do, you are not going to beat the zergs, or let things happen. I played on a mediocre-so-so-decent server (Far Shiverpeaks) for a long time, until I switched to Stormbluff Isle, and that changed anything. Even if that server is not even in the top 10, it still has a big passionate community which means there is plenty of room for having success and fun.
When you are just losing and losing because much of the server is not interested, its not much fun. But this is the way of WvW. They designed it to be unbalanced, to be chaos. It will never be fair, but what you can do is move to a server that cares about WvW, and then you can see how amazing it is, and how much tactics that actually is involved.
You are going to get steamrolled, and zergs are a real thing. As they should be. Any real army war situation in real life would favor the force with superior numbers, since in GW2 there is not a technology gap between the servers. But like in real life, sometimes strategy, terrain, bad leadership descisions and weak morale breaks the force with the bigger numbers.
3) Dungeons have been made harder since release, and they added the Aetherblade path (which is so-so...). However, the best of dungeons in GW2 are Fractals. Randomly categorized mini-dungeons, of which there are currently 15. They have said that things like Molten Alliance dungeons, Marionette encounter and Scarlett fight in Lions Arch are things that will be added as fractals over time.
I personally have a problem with instanced dungeons in all MMOs. I think they are counter-intuitive, they promote repetition, they cause burn-out, the are the cause of a on-rails non-living world experience that goes against everything I think MMOs should be about.
Instanced dungeons doesn't fit in GW2, but I think Fractals are good. The 32 regular dungeon paths and story mode dungeons in classic GW2 are certainly better now, thanks to much more rewards and gold and good quality items fro bosses, but I still think WoW does Dungeons a lot better.
In GW2 they made dungeons by giving the enemies lots of HP, and that is too bad because it doesnt suit a damage-migration game as GW2. GW2 is fast and deserves almost action games-esque bosses. Not traditional MMO bosses.
4) Weapon types, classes and skills are all the same. That is true. I don't know if I expected this in anything outside of an expansion. I really want to see more weapon types and more utility skills and weapon skills. But at the same time, almost every MMO I can think off had its balance seriously shaken up when the developers went crazy by just adding new skills and new classes.
Even GW1 which was legendary for its game balance (by James Phinney, Starcraft, Balance designer) got problems from its 4 additional classes. It becomes a harder beast to keep balanced. So far they have added over 30 new traits, and some 40 new skills, but no new weapon skills.
We all want to see new weapons like halbards, nunchucks, whips, flails, two-handed axes and double bladed swords. They would make all the existing classes so much more unique.
5) It's important to remember that they added a lot of things you don't feel when you just look at it, but which made the game a lot more fun. Laurels gave daily incentive to log in and play ( http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Laurel_merchant ), as did achievements reward system( http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Achievement_rewards ). You got ascended armors and weapons and achievement based weapons to strive for something.
They have added a crazy amount of PvP and PvE activities. It's one of the few things GW2 really messed up on before launch. At one point in 2011 they claimed they would try to get 20 mini games in at launch, but they ended up only having 1, Keg Ball. Now there is 14, but if you count Super Adventure Box, it is actually its own game entirely; http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Activities
Quality of life improvements, are things like the account wallet, account wide dye and the wardrobe system. these things empowers players, empowers people to make ALTs and lets people get a lot more out of the content they have. It's directly an opposite to the claims that they are just money hatting it away.
Besides this the biggest improvement is of course the megaserver infastructure which in my game have made it ten times more fun than it has ever been (even at launch).
They have added a lot of land mass now in terms of southsun which is a massive area, and now they are opening Maguuma Wastes. They overhauled a lot of Orr, they added Edge of the Mists, season 1 and events brought things like Mad Kings Lair, toypocalypse. And also things like the Labyrinthine Cliffs was a massive area.
Kessex Hills is basically a new zone, with a big public dungeon with several mini dungeons, personal stories and bosses in between (nightmare) the destruction of LA was basically a new zone, full of events.
Besides this they added a guild mission system, with 7 different kinds of gameplay mode, from rush to guild jumping puzzles. Over a year after being put in, my guild still uses 2-3 hours every week doing guild missions. its really fun for us, and it harbors fun content all of can do, and content that doesnt exclude anyone. there is a big amount of content in guild missions alone which harbors its own rewards.
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So I don't get it. GW2 has added more stuff 2 year into its life time than I have seen any other MMO do in its first two years, when you dont count expansion packs. I spend 60 dollars and have not spent a single dime more. not in their gem store, not with expansions, I've just converted the gold I earned in the game to gems and gotten everthing I ever wanted. I have gotten 1400 hours worth of gameplay for 60 dollars, and I've been able to play at my own leisure when they have added all this stuff to the game.
Yes, a lot of this stuff should have launched with the game in 2012, but that argument goes for every single MMO that has ever been released thus far. When I look at what I have gotten out of this game for free, I am basically in awe. Like you, I want a lot more. I want Cantha, I want Elona, I want new weapons and skills, and races, and I want it now and I want them to have worked on a full fledged expansion behind the scenes, but honestly, consider what they have added to this game. It's staggering.
It's absolutely mind boggling to me to act like it's all been about the living world. GW2 has added more new character customization in terms of hairstyles and faces and dyes than any other game I have seen. The game offers exclusive armors and weapons now from so many acitvities. Unique skins from crafting ascended armor and weapons ( http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Ascended_armor ), unique skins from fighting Champion bosses in the champion over haul patch ( http://dulfy.net/2013/08/06/gw2-champion-weapon-skins/ ) , unique armor and weapons from advancing through achievements ( http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Zenith_weapon_skins ), unique backpiece skins for doing the living world/fractals ( http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Gallery_of_back_items ), unique weapons from doing guild missions ( http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Guild_weapons ), unique weapons from participating in the WvW Spring Season Tournament ( http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Mistforged_Hero's_weapons ), as well as all the other over 250 weapon skins they added over the course of the game ( http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Black_Lion_Weapons_Specialist ). then you have 10-15 armor sets as well, which you can buy on the gem store with real money or transfering your gold to gems, and all the black lion scrap weapons are sell-able on the Trading Posts.
I don't think GW2 is perfect. I think they stumbled a lot in Season 1. The opening halloween and southsun island events were terrible. lag, server crashes and poor content structure was a pain. they sucked. the early living stories sucked too. But it got good towards the end. The transformation of Kessex Hills and Lions Arch was great. lots of new enemies from toxic creatures to airship pirates!
I am just saying.. consider it for a moment.
The constant updates every 2-4 weeks through season 1 was really cool. I find myself falling behind in season 2 but they have now given you the ability t replay story chapter so long as you had logged in at least once during the chapter.
I guess I am still a bit burned out with the achievement grind from season 1.
Playing: varies every day it seems.
Fly is right tho, the Marjorie romance is soooo badly written...and all the honey shnooky pookems they toss out to one another makes me queasy...I am like...ladies....I am right here....keep that to yourselves...talk about PDA, and badly written PDA.
* I am the kind of person that gets embarrased watching romanitc scenes tho*
It's actually one of the things that turns me off of the story..I was thinking to myself...Please let season 2 focus more on Braham, Taimi, and Rox...please...Nope...more of this drivel...
Hell I would have loved it if they mixed this group in with Destiny's edge abit...
Oh well.