Will it come down to this?

Ok, i'm not gonna try to make an editorial out of this because i feel it's been discussed before, only it hasnt been worded properly in my opinion.

I've been playing the game (all chapters) for two and a half years now and obviously i've liked it alot. The problem is, and like i said it's been pointed out before: What did i get out of all this time spent in the game?

Titles? yup, but who notices them nowadays?

XP? Oh yeah, alot. But then again i have no use for it, i cant even show my true level.

My question is: If Anet wanted to give PVE players (RPG fans) so much content, why didnt they allow us to play the game like a real RPG? That would involve leveling, acquiring powerful gear and weapons and so on... To sum it up: Why cant i become powerful?

That's what the only real problem with this game is; it's not assuming itself.

The real answer is the way PVP and PVE are tied together, they share the same mechanics (the skills for instance). So becoming very powerful in PVE would create severe balancing issues in PVP.

This brings us to my personal dilemma: Do i want to invest so much time in GW2 knowing that i may never be more powerful than a relatively new player?

Sadly, the answer is no. And even worse; i aint the only one who feels this way.

GWEN was a step in the right direction. PVE only skills is an indication that Anet recognises this situation. But how will they adjust in GW2? Will they adjust at all?

Who wants newbies to hit as hard as a 2 year old veteran? Nobody.

Anet, i ask 2 things of you:

1) In GW2, allow us to become true elite players and at the same time give new players something to look forward to.

2) Please let your intentions be known.


Comments are welcomed.

A worried fan.

i agree with everything you said.
that being said, i believe a-net dev's have already stated that the lvl cap will stay with gw2 (i believe, don't flame if i'm wrong). it seems a simple enough fix to release the lvl cap for pve, but keep it at 20 for pvp so it can be "balanced". I believe most players would be approximately level 150 brazillian by now.

Anet has already said they are strongly considering raising the level cap in GW2, or maybe get rid of it entirely. They've said that PvP will still be balanced, so I'm assuming in PvP, it will have a set level just like in GW1.

Now, when this information was released, there was a huge outcry from the more casual players, because how are they supposed to keep up if they can't play as much as hardcore players? Anet has covered this as well. They'll be implementing a buddy system, where you can elect a friend of lower level to help you through a mission, and for the duration that friend will be boosted to your level. So everyone will still be able to play the game at their own pace, as well as enjoy grouping with friends and not have to worry about certain areas being too hard for their level. The best of both worlds, me thinks.

I hope that this alleviates some of your concerns a bit. And if anyone notices I got anything wrong, or left some crucial bit of information out, feel free to correct me.

While i agree with you to a degree, i too love to keep leveling my characters and getting stronger and more leet armor and gear.

But this game wasnt designed for it. It was supposed to be designed for skill being greater than time. The concept also allows you to play as multiple characters, leveling to 20 is rather fast and you can enjoying play all professions instead of focusing on one or two really powerful ones. The design is set and cannot be changed due to the fact of the large fan base it has acquired.

On the down side of skill>time, you see alot of overly used skill bars. Many fire eles, warrior and monks all share the same skill bars. Kinda kills the skill aspect of the game if you are required to use certain skills to be in a leet group, or most people dont even try to find their own way to play and usually wiki or ask other people for a good build.

You are stepping into dangerous waters with this post. Most people are WoW haters and bought the game because of the skill is greater than time aspect.

I really enjoy GW alot, and is my favorite MMO. I too look forward to something that keeps giving me content beyond my lvl 20, thats what i was hoping with GWEN, sigh. I am suprised i enjoyed GW this much. I am happy with it. I think that Hellgate London will soothe my need to create a very deep character.

Ok, I'm really sick and tired with all these threads where players post there concerns with Guild Wars and we need seperate threads for that. I mean WTF. I understand people have concerns, hey man I have concerns too, but do we really need dozens of threads like this? Riverside Inn is always flooded with this kind of shit.

There arent' many games like GWs around.
Why do people want to change it into a level based online rpg when there are already tons of those. Don't we have enough of those already?
I only play to have fun and entertain myself. This isn't an investment for me, as I've already played those types of games and got bored.
Guilds Wars seems to be the only online rpg now where I can jump in and get lot of fun stuff in only hour of game time.
I really hope that if GW is changed so it doesn't work that way anymore, that someone will make a game similar to what it was to fill that niche.

Uh, fun? Why do people spend so much time watching tv? To acquire uber leet television-viewing powers? No. It's a recreational activity. If all that's important to you is material outcome and not enjoyment... you need to rethink your outlook on life.

I guess I'm a nobody then. And my friends. I really like this aspect, because it means you can introduce a friend to the game, and in a short time be playing on the same level as them, instead of having to do the equivalent of helping them around pre for 2 years with your level 20 character (boring). I like it because it means that the solution to a difficult area isn't to grind until you're a higher a level, but to come up with a strategy to beat it.

And I really don't get this attitude that being visibly "better" than everyone else is so important. I mean, you're trying to show off your "eliteness" to anonymous people you don't know, as an anonymous identity yourself...

I'd prefer a game to be fun.

And if newbies are hitting just as hard as the 2-year veteran, then that veteran hasn't learned a thing in his two years of playing.

I guess you have forgotten the motto that Anet used to promote during the release of Prophecies: Skill > Time Spent

Amen Shadowfox. GW is so great because it's about *how* you play much more than *how long* you've played.

To OP I agree 100%.

To the skill issue ... be honest there is nothing difficult in gw. If they dumbed it down anymore than they have over the last 29 months I wouldn't even log on. GW completely evolved into GRIND. Since they flopped on skill > grind it is time to rethink the rest.

I will never understand people like the OP.

"I invested SOOOO much time into Guild Wars, then it all gets thrown away in Guild Wars 2, thats bull****!!"

"What have I gotten out of 2 years of playing? Nothing to show for it, it's not fair and I will not buy Guild Wars 2."

Maybe I am confused, but games are meant to be played for FUN. They are not meant to make you rich, they are not meant to make you famous worldwide, they are not meant to carry on your legacy and pass it down to your children. They are meant to be played for fun, that is it. If you "invested" time into the game, while not enjoying it, that is not ANet's fault, it is your own ignorance. If you did enjoy it, then what is your gripe about? Thousands of hours of game time for less than 200 dollars? That is a VERY good deal. Compare that to the average Final Fantasy, that will get you anywhere between 40-200 hours for 50 dollars. If you enjoyed all of the games, and got thousands of hours of enjoyment out of it, ANet did their job, and a damn good job of it at that.

In the context of pvp, I do.

RPGs don't require levelling and powerful gear to be an RPG, that's just the simplest way to give the player accomplishments.

The one thing I loved about GW is the fast cap then you are done with XP grinding. What do people have to look forward too and who are the elite players? They are the ones who do not need higher levels to be powerful as they can play their character and can adjust to different area to play flawlessly.

Besides if there was no level cap, the people who prot bonded the UW the most would be the most powerful. I got 3 million XP there. If I scrolled would have been much, much higher. I know people with 10 million xp plus on their monks from UW soloing. Imagine if they scrolled there?

There are plenty of other MMOs that offer level grinding and GW2 will offer it as well, so skill vs level and gear [really what that skill vs time was supposed to mean] will come into this game as so many wanted. Meanwhile so many core people here will migrate off to other games. For me I will go with the best of the Blizzard team, and become a founder in Hellgate.

I think it's a general question of all of these types of games: "what will happen when I have everything?" I won't encroach on your philosophy, but I do think that this mentality is always present and no matter how high you go, you will always wonder what your efforts will accomplish. And to put it succinctly, they will not accomplish much of anything. The goal of the game as others have already said is to enjoy it. So while you're attempting to max your character out, consider that this is all fleeting and that you won't have any of this later on. What will you say, then? Would you rather waste hours upon days of your life and say that you enjoyed it or that you were miserable because they never led up to anything significant?

I'll share something with you, too... Rarely in MMO games will someone look to another player and appreciate the other player's superiority. If anything, most players are too enamored with their own accomplishments and showing them off to other people to know that nobody really cares. Then it comes back to the question of whether you did all that just to get recognition or to appreciate the game itself.

It's a common theme to all these types of games. Lots of people play to show off, but have no fun in the process. I say why even bother in that case. I mean if it gives your life meaning to try then I guess it's alright, as long as you understand that you will probably never approach a pedestal high enough for the work to be worth it.

-Las

Because you are role-playing a human, not a demi-god. You want power? Then the next time your friendly neighborhood fallen god is going all explodey, jump into its face and steal all his power before your team leecher.

Amen.

GW was one of few games where you didnt get that "moar powah!" bullshit, it was fun and relaxing. Hell, my ideal RPG would have no levels at all. It actually means more content.

If someone enjoying power progression and grind spent over 2 years on game which was supposed to be anti-that and where you knew from start that you wont get it ... GG to him, bad choice.

I hope what the OP wants will NEVER come to happen. I dont want to play WoW with just Guild Wars slapped on as the title. Theres a reason Guild Wars isnt like how you want it.... ITS NOT WoW!! And I hope Anet never tries to make it anything that even resembles WoW.

The only reason People want to be come gods in a game to the newer players is because of pride. They cant accept the fact that a newer player could kick their arse. They have a "Ive played longer than YOU! IM MORE 1337 THAN YOU! I KNOW MORE SECRETS ABOUT THIS GAME THAN YOU! I HAVE BETTER SKINNED WEAPONS THAN YOU!! I SHOULD BE A *GOD* TO YOU!! BOW BEFORE ME NOOB!!!!!!!!!!!!" mentality. The OPs comment on wanting Anet to let him become more leet emphasizes that he thinks this way, and thinks he DESERVES more cause hes played longer.

Its just like you see in all the movies how the vet is getting older and the new kid hows just out of training "presearing" is starting to show him up, and the vet gets angry and doesnt like the kid cause he isnt god anymore.

All the other grinding "more hours played = more close to being a god" games give you that mentality and an "in game reality" of it.

If people thought or think there was too much elitism now then if GW2 moves to being more like WoW it will get rediculous.

As a side note Ive played GW for awhile now, over a year so its not like im a newb who doenst want the vets to be gods to me. I just dont want to play WoW theres a reason I bought GW and not WoW in the first place.

Some people lack substance in their real lives. They have little to stand out from the crowd, have few or none achievements, and feel they have little or no chance at any achievements. They end up spending more and more time behind their computers in RPG games, and end up becoming "hardcore" players. They need to use the game to achieve what they can not achieve in real life. They end up believing that ingame achievements equals outgame achievements, they need to prove something at the community about their uberness and 1337ness.

In the end the ingame achievements is totally meaningless, and that Big Deal title actually means zilch to other people. It will not afford you the Porcshe, Chix, or Mansion. Best advice is to switch off the PC, go out, meet some real people, learn to have real fun, get a life.

This was not intended to be a flame, seems it turned out to be one. I just get irked by people shouting from the rooftops how uber they are in a game, and everyone must just know it, and pay homage.

I am uber out of game ... that is what really counts.