I dont know the full state/features of ESO but to me these are some of the reasons GW2 got the #1:
Patching: In GW2 you just download the new files when there is a new build and you are ready to go. Servers are not down.
Structured PvP: 5v5 in instanced arena where it is fully skill based. Dont think ESO have that. PvE rewards for playing PvP added some months ago. There are regular tournaments with real cash in prize pool.
Lag improvement. Lag in World vs World PvP(almost open world pvp) has highly been improved since launch. I hear ESO still have big problems here.
Fractals dungeons added since launch. The difficulty increase the more you and your team play it.
Downstate: adds second chance to survive, almost a new gameplay, specially in sPvP.
Skill combo: when you combine a field with a finisher you get added effect. You can create the combo on your own or with the help of other player.
1) this is nice, but not really important to me since ESO patches when I'm at work or sleeping.
2) I agree that I like this and ESO should implement the same, but they are afraid to take away attention from the 3 faction PVP in that they might become ghost towns which is exactly what happened with Warhammer. Also, the 3 faction PVP really is the center of that game and Cyrodil has so much PVE, dungeons, exploration opportunities etc where you can pretty much ignore the PVE faction and live in that zone..as its almost like a PVP server from other games...as that zone is huge.
3) ESO still has lag problems, true...but it isn't as bad as some say. I've started dabbling in the PVP area a bit over the last couple of weeks, got all the way with Daggerfall Covenant to the Elder Scroll Castle of the Aldmeri..and experienced no lag...but I know its something they are still working on improving. Considering how many people are on the screen at the same time and how I can still play on max settings with FPS always over 30-40, to me thats pretty impressive.
4) This is good news.
5) A good feature, not the reason i would stay or leave.
6) Same as in most games including ESO.
Regarding point 6- the field combos- as far as I know ESO doesn't have this or at least nowhere near the depth of GW2, and it is pretty much unique to GW2.
Maybe you don't understand what these field combos are so let me explain: In GW2 if an aoe fire trap (or some other aoe fire abilities) is deployed by me or another player, anyone on my team who jumps through it with certain skills such as sword leaps/charges will get surrounded by a fire aura which adds fire damage on hit.
There are a multitude of such "combo finishers", so you can create ice auras, build "might", swiftness, healing etc depending on what skill you use in or through a "field". Another easy to understand example is if a ranger uses a aoe water based heal called healing springs (I think), that skill is classified as a "water field" so if a thief for example uses a bomb-like shortbow skill called combustive shot in that water field, everyone in the area will get an aoe splash heal.
In fact there are whole class builds based around using such combo fields to work, like dd ele or dp thief.
ESO has "synergies", which is a nice idea, but essentially involves a player hitting a hotkey (default is 6 I think) when the skill is fired. There is no interaction between skills as far as I know, at least nothing like GW2. I can't pop supernova and then charge through the area to get a sun/fire aura for example, or use whirlwind in an aoe heal to send healing beams out to everyone.
Combat is great in both games, and the flavour is very different, but GW2 is extremely deep and you can see how nearly every aspect of it was crafted with spvp in mind. Everything works pretty much flawlessly, skills, the UI, animations, and sounds give you all the info you need to pvp (unlike ESO). I know I am sounding like an ad, but the combat in GW2 really is that good. If you aren't into pvp it might be difficult to appreciate.
Originally posted by Thupli Yes, I love how people say, plenty of challenge just artificially create it by nor wearing armor and only using one weapon set!
If that doesn't tell you how bad gw2s pve is on actually challenging players, I don't know what does!
Imma agree and disagree.
There WAS challenging content on GW2 pve. Dungeons and Fractals, there people learned to coordinate and surprass those challenges and being able to even speed waltz though them or solo. The problem is that ANET abandoned that kind of content, 1 year after release no new challenge, 2 years.. 3 years... so yeah, people milked what they could, they got good at what the game offered and anet dint bother to add new challenges to the most challegding content.
Now if a new player tries to run AC p1 with they level 35 toon whats gonna happend? Failure, because there is a steeping curve from OpenWorld(anything goes) to dungeons(know how to dodge/use active defence), plus lack of trait and skills.
TL;DR: There is challenge, just that today people got good at it because anet dropped the ball on putting new content in this area.
/Hugs
now: GW2 (11 80s). Dark Souls 2. future: Mount&Blade 2 BannerLord. "Bro, do your even fractal?" Recommends: Guild Wars 2, Dark Souls, Mount&Blade: Warband, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning.
I'm reacting to the article that this site posted about the 5 best BTP games with GW2 at #1 and ESO at #2.
I'll state right up front that ESO is currently my favorite MMO. It has improved so much since launch, the combat and diversity of the builds suits me, and I love the exploration feel to it.
Guild Wars 2 was one of my favorite MMOs for the first 2-3 months, but quickly faded to me and everyone I know because once you got to lets say level 20ish, the progression of skills felt stale. I was pretty much already using the same skills I had already attained over and over again. In ESO, I'm constantly trying new skills and changing on the situation. For example, from level 1-15, I was a Sorcerer Tank with one hand and shield wearing heavy armor. Then at level 15 I equipped a healing staff for my second weapon and started shifting more of my points to Magica instead of just Health and Stamina. Then around level 40, I started encountering more Deadra, so I started picking and leveling skills that help with that. Then I switched to a BOW for my second weapon to allow better long range DPS for PVP when not doing PVE, but maintained my short range one hand and shield sorcerer tank build for my first skill slot. In fact I have several builds I easily switch out with a mod for solo tanking, heal with root builds, pure heal builds, PVP, etc).
This is one of the things that differentiates ESO from GW2 was that I felt my character constantly evolving and adapting. I didn't get that with GW2. Also I felt like as you level, it felt the same as every level below you with regard to the type of tasks you were doing in the world. The world didn't feel as dynamic as they initially advertised.
To what extent has those two points improved since Launch? Does the world feel even more dynamic than it did at launch? Has the feeling of progression improved so you aren't getting most everything you care about skill wise in the first 20-25 levels?
This was such a beautiful game, my favorite aesthetically, but wondering if it has improved in those areas. What other things have improved so much that if I got bored at the 2nd or 3rd month, its changed like ESO has (example Justice System) where I would want to give it another try?
It isn't hard to be the best when you're already scraping the bottom of the barrel. But that being said ESO takes the top spot.
GW2 is kind of like that super hot blonde from high school, looks great with a lot of clothes, but has a vapid personality and her go to move is the 'starfish'.
ESO on the other hand is that nerdy unkept brunette from highschool. You didn't really look at her while you were there in school, and she made very weird references to things you didn't understand or care about. But now that you're older, she's figured a few things out and has evolved as a whole.
Originally posted by Thupli Yes, I love how people say, plenty of challenge just artificially create it by nor wearing armor and only using one weapon set!
If that doesn't tell you how bad gw2s pve is on actually challenging players, I don't know what does!
Regarding complexity in general, yes, GW2 mostly casual game for pve,
because hardcore players even in WOW it's like 1-2%. In GW2 even less imho
but GW2 has hard content if you like it.
High level fractals for example. Or Liadri. Do you have "blazing light" titul?
At launch, you would unlock traits via points distributed by level. Now, you have to unlock traits by completing tasks like killing particular bosses. You can also pay for the trait with gold if you want, but if you want to improve the challenge of leveling, don't do that.
All of my posts are either intelligent, thought provoking, funny, satirical, sarcastic or intentionally disrespectful. Take your pick.
I get banned in the forums for games I love, so lets see if I do better in the forums for games I hate.
I enjoy the serenity of not caring what your opinion is.
Originally posted by Thupli Yes, I love how people say, plenty of challenge just artificially create it by nor wearing armor and only using one weapon set!
If that doesn't tell you how bad gw2s pve is on actually challenging players, I don't know what does!
Thats how pretty much every game is. And ive been playing and creating my own challenges since start of the century.
because vast majority of people dont want challenge.
WS went for "hardcore" and "challenge". Now WS makes in a year what GW2 makes quarterly. And its been in development almost twsce as long as GW2.
And f you want REAL challenge, do PvP, thats only real challenge in MMOs.
Has the feeling of progression improved so you aren't getting most everything you care about skill wise in the first 20-25 levels?
Nope!
I really miss looking forward to getting some kind of meaningful improvement to my character at level X. Once you've unlocked all weapon skills (you can do this by like level 4 or 5) and got a few skill points (level 20ish), the only thing to look forward to is new areas.
To be fair, GW2 got a lot right, but this really bugs me, even more so than the stupid "you can have 50 skills but only 10 (meaning about 7 useful ones) on your action bar".
" something that is liked or wanted more than another thing : something that is preferred"
Not sure why you started a thread in the GW2 forums asking why we don't think ESO is a better game. You started this thread knowing you wouldn't be convinced otherwise and yet hoped to convince us to your way of thinking? What makes me say that? You have been trying to counter everyone's reason who has posted here as to why they prefer GW2 over ESO. Did you hope to achieve the forum miracle of someone saying to you, "You know? You are right!".
You don't want to know why people prefer GW2 over ESO. You want to convince them that their preference is wrong and that we should see things as the way you see it.
It's one thing to state you like one game over another due to such and such. But then try dispute others for doing the same thing is kind of self defeating for this thread.
Your not being an a$$ about it which is great and I tip my hat to you since most ESO fans seem to have giant sticks shoved up their arses when it comes to any discussion that involves a negative opinion towards that game. However, you might as well ask people why they don't like cheesecake or tomatoes then try to convince them they are wrong. It's all about preference. Simple as that.
The need for affirmation that the game you're playing is better than another is quite sad. You enjoy the game, just enjoy it, who cares what other people think.
Originally posted by vandal5627 The need for affirmation that the game you're playing is better than another is quite sad. You enjoy the game, just enjoy it, who cares what other people think.
Well said!
This is pretty much what I do, even in games where people often tell me I should rush to max level. It's my game and my time, I do what I want.
" something that is liked or wanted more than another thing : something that is preferred"
Not sure why you started a thread in the GW2 forums asking why we don't think ESO is a better game. You started this thread knowing you wouldn't be convinced otherwise and yet hoped to convince us to your way of thinking? What makes me say that? You have been trying to counter everyone's reason who has posted here as to why they prefer GW2 over ESO. Did you hope to achieve the forum miracle of someone saying to you, "You know? You are right!".
You don't want to know why people prefer GW2 over ESO. You want to convince them that their preference is wrong and that we should see things as the way you see it.
It's one thing to state you like one game over another due to such and such. But then try dispute others for doing the same thing is kind of self defeating for this thread.
Your not being an a$$ about it which is great and I tip my hat to you since most ESO fans seem to have giant sticks shoved up their arses when it comes to any discussion that involves a negative opinion towards that game. However, you might as well ask people why they don't like cheesecake or tomatoes then try to convince them they are wrong. It's all about preference. Simple as that.
I think you didn't read my post carefully and are somehow twitsting this thread into something its not. I think both games are good, like I said, for the first 2-3 months GW2 was my favorite game in quite some time. In fact before tonight I had already downloaded the game to give it another go and one thing that I do applaud the game for is that the combat does feel 'more responsive' than ESO. What I was trying to find out was exactly what I wrote in the green to see if those aspects that bored me have improved so I would stay longer this time around and explained why ESO has kept me longer. I wasn't meant to be a thrashing of GW2. Some of you including the two posters above this are so quick to judge when there is any indication that someone might not like an aspect of a game and just want to see improvements in those areas.
Also, I think its a legitimate question to counter the MMORPS author with the assumption that this is 'easily the best' when there was just an award given to ESO based on player votes on this site where that game surprisingly won quite easily..on a site that hated the game up until now..which shows just how far that game has come.
Spot on OP. You nailed the reasons why I played GW2 for three weeks, and why I'm still playing ESO a year later.
Over the last two weeks I've developed a stam tank build for my Nightbalde. This is after running a high burst assassin build. I'm still learning and creating "new"1 year into the game. For me it doesn't get any better.
im not that far in the game... i think 2 years down the road eso will be as polished...than i can switch again :-)
one thing i like gw2>eso is that the combat in gw2 feels a lot more visceral and impactful and the animations look a lot better than in eso...thats what keeps combat for me entertaining... honestly, even mount and blade has the more fun combat for me than eso...thats where i think eso lacks the most - not the skill system, that is great, but the feel and look of the combat....
You clearly have not seen the combat recently in ESO. Since update 6 (but even before that) the combat has been much better. I actually like it better than GW2 now and the AI in the game make interesting choices and run around corners to avoid attacks or to place themselves better.
Originally posted by vandal5627 The need for affirmation that the game you're playing is better than another is quite sad. You enjoy the game, just enjoy it, who cares what other people think.
Well said!
This is pretty much what I do, even in games where people often tell me I should rush to max level. It's my game and my time, I do what I want.
^This again
Stop reading the moronic typings of people that have missed whether a game is fun or not...
Just play...
I would say GW2 and ESO have that for me. Then flip the bird at all that oppose
"This may hurt a little, but it's something you'll get used to. Relax....."
i think eso has a lot of potential - but waht do you do most in mmos? fighting - so the a) character progression/development and b) combat need to be great
eso character progression is great - but the combat is shitty due to two reasons - two of the same reasons soooo many mmos have shitty combat - so many rpg's have shitty combat and i dont understand why tbh
Has the feeling of progression improved so you aren't getting most everything you care about skill wise in the first 20-25 levels?
Nope!
I really miss looking forward to getting some kind of meaningful improvement to my character at level X. Once you've unlocked all weapon skills (you can do this by like level 4 or 5) and got a few skill points (level 20ish), the only thing to look forward to is new areas.
To be fair, GW2 got a lot right, but this really bugs me, even more so than the stupid "you can have 50 skills but only 10 (meaning about 7 useful ones) on your action bar".
Are you really played in GW2?
For example Elementalist can use at least 29 different skills during a combat,
If we include conjure weapons then even more ( at least +5 skills skills per weapon)
also some skills have internal combo: 1st click - one skill, 2nd click - totally another skill, etc
I am even no talking about fields-combo, where the result depends of the situation, where you are located, which field, which finisher...
i think eso has a lot of potential - but waht do you do most in mmos? fighting - so the a) character progression/development and b) combat need to be great
eso character progression is great - but the combat is shitty due to two reasons - two of the same reasons soooo many mmos have shitty combat - so many rpg's have shitty combat and i dont understand why tbh
1) shitty animations
2) no feel for impact
gw 2 has at least fixed both of those...
You really feel the amount of pain you caused your opponent when you hit them with this Eviscerate crit xD Sometimes I get stunned myself just by the sheer pain and destruction I cause XD
Also, I think its a legitimate question to counter the MMORPS author with the assumption that this is 'easily the best' when there was just an award given to ESO based on player votes on this site where that game surprisingly won quite easily..on a site that hated the game up until now..which shows just how far that game has come.
I think overall GW2 is just really a lot more polished than ESO; atm I am mainly playing ESO and loving it, but it feels rough around the edges and I run into buggy things every day. Just in terms of overall polish, depth, exploration, game modes, and even business model (ESO is still in the process of adjustment) I can understand why GW2 gets the glowing recommendation. But I think GW2 is at its zenith, where as ESO still has a lot of content to come before it is just rehashing the same ideas.
A player could actually farm mats to get a legendary. Drop rates were not that bad. WvWvW was entertaining with the power crystals as big targets.
Then anet began nerfing drop rates - supposedly due to bots. Bots are gone now, drop rates are still nerfed.
Then anet changed the dragon encounters so you can't get a precursor drop anymore.
Then anet pretty much broke every promise they made in their manifesto. Now we have power creep thanks to ascended.
WvWvW got badly broken - hacks they could not fix eliminated the power crystals. Now its just a mindless zerg fest.
Only way to get a precursor now, short of buying one, is tossing high value items into the mystic toilet and praying. Thats going to cost you a lot of grind.
The world boss dyanmics, where you need 100+ coordinated players in a pick up group - fail. Most often end in failure.
Living story - totally MEH
Anet making a real effort to push everyone to the cash store to buy skins.
I rarely play the game anymore - got my legendary before all the drastic nerfs - refused to sign up for gear grind with ascended. No way would I buy their expansion - it will be more of the same.
Comments
You got that backwards.
What!?
I doubt you're actually played the game.
..Cake..
Regarding point 6- the field combos- as far as I know ESO doesn't have this or at least nowhere near the depth of GW2, and it is pretty much unique to GW2.
Maybe you don't understand what these field combos are so let me explain: In GW2 if an aoe fire trap (or some other aoe fire abilities) is deployed by me or another player, anyone on my team who jumps through it with certain skills such as sword leaps/charges will get surrounded by a fire aura which adds fire damage on hit.
There are a multitude of such "combo finishers", so you can create ice auras, build "might", swiftness, healing etc depending on what skill you use in or through a "field". Another easy to understand example is if a ranger uses a aoe water based heal called healing springs (I think), that skill is classified as a "water field" so if a thief for example uses a bomb-like shortbow skill called combustive shot in that water field, everyone in the area will get an aoe splash heal.
In fact there are whole class builds based around using such combo fields to work, like dd ele or dp thief.
ESO has "synergies", which is a nice idea, but essentially involves a player hitting a hotkey (default is 6 I think) when the skill is fired. There is no interaction between skills as far as I know, at least nothing like GW2. I can't pop supernova and then charge through the area to get a sun/fire aura for example, or use whirlwind in an aoe heal to send healing beams out to everyone.
Combat is great in both games, and the flavour is very different, but GW2 is extremely deep and you can see how nearly every aspect of it was crafted with spvp in mind. Everything works pretty much flawlessly, skills, the UI, animations, and sounds give you all the info you need to pvp (unlike ESO). I know I am sounding like an ad, but the combat in GW2 really is that good. If you aren't into pvp it might be difficult to appreciate.
Take the Magic: The Gathering 'What Color Are You?' Quiz.
there is.
UInless you post link of yourself soloing dungeons naked, theres all the challenge you need
If that doesn't tell you how bad gw2s pve is on actually challenging players, I don't know what does!
Take the Magic: The Gathering 'What Color Are You?' Quiz.
Imma agree and disagree.
There WAS challenging content on GW2 pve. Dungeons and Fractals, there people learned to coordinate and surprass those challenges and being able to even speed waltz though them or solo. The problem is that ANET abandoned that kind of content, 1 year after release no new challenge, 2 years.. 3 years... so yeah, people milked what they could, they got good at what the game offered and anet dint bother to add new challenges to the most challegding content.
Now if a new player tries to run AC p1 with they level 35 toon whats gonna happend? Failure, because there is a steeping curve from OpenWorld(anything goes) to dungeons(know how to dodge/use active defence), plus lack of trait and skills.
TL;DR: There is challenge, just that today people got good at it because anet dropped the ball on putting new content in this area.
/Hugs
now: GW2 (11 80s).
Dark Souls 2.
future: Mount&Blade 2 BannerLord.
"Bro, do your even fractal?"
Recommends: Guild Wars 2, Dark Souls, Mount&Blade: Warband, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning.
btw, in GW2:
what is your WWW-level?
what is your spvp rank?
It isn't hard to be the best when you're already scraping the bottom of the barrel. But that being said ESO takes the top spot.
GW2 is kind of like that super hot blonde from high school, looks great with a lot of clothes, but has a vapid personality and her go to move is the 'starfish'.
ESO on the other hand is that nerdy unkept brunette from highschool. You didn't really look at her while you were there in school, and she made very weird references to things you didn't understand or care about. But now that you're older, she's figured a few things out and has evolved as a whole.
Regarding complexity in general, yes, GW2 mostly casual game for pve,
because hardcore players even in WOW it's like 1-2%. In GW2 even less imho
but GW2 has hard content if you like it.
High level fractals for example. Or Liadri. Do you have "blazing light" titul?
Or are you finished Clock-tower?
All of my posts are either intelligent, thought provoking, funny, satirical, sarcastic or intentionally disrespectful. Take your pick.
I get banned in the forums for games I love, so lets see if I do better in the forums for games I hate.
I enjoy the serenity of not caring what your opinion is.
I don't hate much, but I hate Apple© with a passion. If Steve Jobs was alive, I would punch him in the face.
Thats how pretty much every game is. And ive been playing and creating my own challenges since start of the century.
because vast majority of people dont want challenge.
WS went for "hardcore" and "challenge". Now WS makes in a year what GW2 makes quarterly. And its been in development almost twsce as long as GW2.
And f you want REAL challenge, do PvP, thats only real challenge in MMOs.
Nope!
I really miss looking forward to getting some kind of meaningful improvement to my character at level X. Once you've unlocked all weapon skills (you can do this by like level 4 or 5) and got a few skill points (level 20ish), the only thing to look forward to is new areas.
To be fair, GW2 got a lot right, but this really bugs me, even more so than the stupid "you can have 50 skills but only 10 (meaning about 7 useful ones) on your action bar".
Preference:
" something that is liked or wanted more than another thing : something that is preferred"
Not sure why you started a thread in the GW2 forums asking why we don't think ESO is a better game. You started this thread knowing you wouldn't be convinced otherwise and yet hoped to convince us to your way of thinking? What makes me say that? You have been trying to counter everyone's reason who has posted here as to why they prefer GW2 over ESO. Did you hope to achieve the forum miracle of someone saying to you, "You know? You are right!".
You don't want to know why people prefer GW2 over ESO. You want to convince them that their preference is wrong and that we should see things as the way you see it.
It's one thing to state you like one game over another due to such and such. But then try dispute others for doing the same thing is kind of self defeating for this thread.
Your not being an a$$ about it which is great and I tip my hat to you since most ESO fans seem to have giant sticks shoved up their arses when it comes to any discussion that involves a negative opinion towards that game. However, you might as well ask people why they don't like cheesecake or tomatoes then try to convince them they are wrong. It's all about preference. Simple as that.
"If I offended you, you needed it" -Corey Taylor
Well said!
This is pretty much what I do, even in games where people often tell me I should rush to max level. It's my game and my time, I do what I want.
I think you didn't read my post carefully and are somehow twitsting this thread into something its not. I think both games are good, like I said, for the first 2-3 months GW2 was my favorite game in quite some time. In fact before tonight I had already downloaded the game to give it another go and one thing that I do applaud the game for is that the combat does feel 'more responsive' than ESO. What I was trying to find out was exactly what I wrote in the green to see if those aspects that bored me have improved so I would stay longer this time around and explained why ESO has kept me longer. I wasn't meant to be a thrashing of GW2. Some of you including the two posters above this are so quick to judge when there is any indication that someone might not like an aspect of a game and just want to see improvements in those areas.
Also, I think its a legitimate question to counter the MMORPS author with the assumption that this is 'easily the best' when there was just an award given to ESO based on player votes on this site where that game surprisingly won quite easily..on a site that hated the game up until now..which shows just how far that game has come.
There Is Always Hope!
Over the last two weeks I've developed a stam tank build for my Nightbalde. This is after running a high burst assassin build. I'm still learning and creating "new"1 year into the game. For me it doesn't get any better.
You clearly have not seen the combat recently in ESO. Since update 6 (but even before that) the combat has been much better. I actually like it better than GW2 now and the AI in the game make interesting choices and run around corners to avoid attacks or to place themselves better.
^This again
Stop reading the moronic typings of people that have missed whether a game is fun or not...
Just play...
I would say GW2 and ESO have that for me. Then flip the bird at all that oppose
"This may hurt a little, but it's something you'll get used to. Relax....."
i think eso has a lot of potential - but waht do you do most in mmos? fighting - so the a) character progression/development and b) combat need to be great
eso character progression is great - but the combat is shitty due to two reasons - two of the same reasons soooo many mmos have shitty combat - so many rpg's have shitty combat and i dont understand why tbh
1) shitty animations
2) no feel for impact
gw 2 has at least fixed both of those...
Are you really played in GW2?
For example Elementalist can use at least 29 different skills during a combat,
If we include conjure weapons then even more ( at least +5 skills skills per weapon)
also some skills have internal combo: 1st click - one skill, 2nd click - totally another skill, etc
I am even no talking about fields-combo, where the result depends of the situation, where you are located, which field, which finisher...
So, learn to play...:)
You really feel the amount of pain you caused your opponent when you hit them with this Eviscerate crit xD Sometimes I get stunned myself just by the sheer pain and destruction I cause XD
I think overall GW2 is just really a lot more polished than ESO; atm I am mainly playing ESO and loving it, but it feels rough around the edges and I run into buggy things every day. Just in terms of overall polish, depth, exploration, game modes, and even business model (ESO is still in the process of adjustment) I can understand why GW2 gets the glowing recommendation. But I think GW2 is at its zenith, where as ESO still has a lot of content to come before it is just rehashing the same ideas.
GW2 was fun when it first came out.
A player could actually farm mats to get a legendary. Drop rates were not that bad. WvWvW was entertaining with the power crystals as big targets.
Then anet began nerfing drop rates - supposedly due to bots. Bots are gone now, drop rates are still nerfed.
Then anet changed the dragon encounters so you can't get a precursor drop anymore.
Then anet pretty much broke every promise they made in their manifesto. Now we have power creep thanks to ascended.
WvWvW got badly broken - hacks they could not fix eliminated the power crystals. Now its just a mindless zerg fest.
Only way to get a precursor now, short of buying one, is tossing high value items into the mystic toilet and praying. Thats going to cost you a lot of grind.
The world boss dyanmics, where you need 100+ coordinated players in a pick up group - fail. Most often end in failure.
Living story - totally MEH
Anet making a real effort to push everyone to the cash store to buy skins.
I rarely play the game anymore - got my legendary before all the drastic nerfs - refused to sign up for gear grind with ascended. No way would I buy their expansion - it will be more of the same.