I've decided to come back to GW

Considering I am not really into arguing, as it is not my goal to change your opinion, I'll quote just to say the following: in my personal view, the game isn't anywhere near dead.

No issues finding people in outposts, GvG or HA matches either. I do these daily, every night.

Sure, possibly the game used to be more active before, and I respect your opinion. But it is still active enough to have lots of fun in. I know I do, thus I still recommend the game as an excellent option. Less active, yeah, but calling it dead is definitely a gross overstatement.

It amazes me how people, who must have enjoyed playing Guild Wars, have become so cynical. Just because the game is not what it used to be for them they now feel compelled to disparage the game for those who may want to try it.

well you really have not missed all that much.

The game is still great and at times can get a little boring but there is always something to do.

Guild Wars isn't as active as it used to be, but it's far from dead. Too many people expect too much for too little in my opinion.

I'm just coming back to Guildwars after being more and more disappointed by WAR's seemingly shallow combat mechanics, and horrifying grinds.

I never get tired of that feeling of coming back to GW after playing another RPG for a while, and being horribly, tragically, BAD. However stale some of the content has gotten, no other competitive RPG out there has given me the same feeling of accomplishment that I get from keeping my team up as a prot Monk, or landing a well-timed bull's strike just as my target start to kite away.

My point being, there are still people coming into GW or coming back - because this game does have a level of challenge and a philosophy of combat design that no other game out right now shares.

Besides, GW might be lower activity than in the past, but according to Xfire (not a great statistical indicator, but it at least tracks trends) it's still nearly as active as WAR is - and the number of people playing is stable (actually grew slightly over the past couple months). Ad to that the fact that WAR's population is spread across far too many servers, and I've found that GW feels far more alive than WAR's RvR areas do most nights.

To those who like it, I really do hope WAR turns around and picks up, but for now I'm back in GW.

I couldn't agree more. GW isn't at its best, but its basic mechanics are still better than anything another MMO has to offer.

In WAR, healing felt pretty bland and seemed to have a low learning curve... you read what your skills do, use the most efficient ones, and don't get killed by being in the wrong place (unless you get pulled into the wrong place by a lolimba electromagnet or something).

Another thing WAR really lacks is interrupts, imo. Spell pushback is a terrible, skill-less mechanic. Obviously, there's nothing close to a mesmer in the game, but WAR doesn't even have a "hit this button: interrupt target's action" mechanic. One of the most fun things in GW IMO is d-shotting a sin's first attack after he teleports in your face... in WAR if a witch elf pops in your face, you die. Unless you're wearing plate. Or unless you're a healer, in which case you can run while using your insta-cast healing breeze and life sheath and hoping that your teammates will kill the witch elf before she kills you.

Yeah, it's dead.

I think this is something that a lot of people become upset with forget oh so often: there is nothing even close to what Guild Wars is. Even with all of its flaws it's an amazingly superb game.

GvG is messed up.

But since the OP said hes been gone two years, about the time i've been playing, theres been alot that has changed. You will most likely enjoy it for several months if u do both PvE and PvP and own all 4 games. Its new content to you so its fresh. People that have done everything are bored, need more to do new areas not grind anet.

I'd consider the game dead when Kamadan is reduced to 2-3 districts of people selling during peak play hours. When no new players start and old players quit and all thats left are people who invested just enough time to want to achieve something before GW2.

And posting here isn't a waste of your time?

Well You paid for the game and there is no monthly fee so welcome back.
There have been some quests added and a crap load of skill changes. Wiki will fill in the details. Just hit f-10 while playing. Good Luck and welcome back.

All these negatative posts about a game on a fansite for the same game makes the mind wobble.

Get some friends to play with you. No game is dead, as long as you have some people to enjoy it with. Go try out the dungeons in EOTN, those are always fun to do. Factions, if you don't have it, is pretty fun as well, spikes like crazy
Nightfall is awesome, definitely do that. There's also the single player Mission Bonus Pack, you pay GW as a character from GW's past history, etc. Lots of stuff to check out.

i completely agree, War was a mega let down,so ive come back to Guildwars after about a year of playing just during events, to well, find alot more people than their used to be ,yes the changes have made some people angry/upset, but could these changes be for a reason , to find new builds,new strategy's ,but with the other posters, i agree the lack of new pve content has be a downfall, they should'nt be so focused on Gw2 and should stil have half a term working on new stuff for gw1, they could probably still finish off Eutopia and that will keep people in for another 6 months .

How come people keep saying it's dead, I've been playing off and on for three years, and I see no sign of Guild Wars dying. This is probably because I recently purchased factions, and really am not close to finishing it, which will keep me occupied.

if you havent played past factions then id say you may as well come back, 2 campaigns you can play through. however after that you can only do pvp, theres no such thing as 'end game' content in pve other than elite skill and title farming which i personaly find so boring, titles do nothing and you really only need a few elite skills because most never see the light of day (they arnt used in builds). i like mmo's for the pve content (raids and such) and so i had a lot of fun playing through the 4 campaigns but when i was done it was a big "what now" moment, turns out pve stops there and it turns into a pvp only game which = no fun for me. so yeah if you want pvp then come back for that, if you want meaningful, fun pve, with huge teamwork for boss fights and crazyness in dungeons/raids, and with an actual goal insight (titles arn't a goal, they are time fillers) then come back for the last 2 campaigns then leave because guild wars doesnt have anything like that. i will give that to WoW, while the raids may be grinds at least they are fun grinds with a lot going on, guild wars doesnt have anything to compare in the pve setting.

The only thing that keeps me away from GW is lord of the rings online.

When I log into GW I then realise I forgotten how to play it properly

I think people forget that they have played GW for 3 years now and they have found every flaw in every part of the game. Same with WoW. That is why people get so amped up about the next big MMO, only to find out it is buggy, unbalanced, and doesn't have the content and they always come back. Because they are so familiar with GW they see the flaws, and not everything else that three years of maintenance has done.

So to the OP, go ahead and come back, you will be able to find a group at most outposts unless it is a really unpopular mission (and if not heroes and henchman will get you through) and we still get threads on guru here of people just now buying the game and we know how small of a sample set forums are.

People, please, stop saying the game is dead, you're scaring off newcomers.

The game is nowhere close to dead. Maybe it is for you guys, but I guess that's only because you rushed all the content. If you'd open your eyes, you'd see that almost every outpost has a district with at least 10 players in it, even the most unpopular missions.
I know for a fact that I've played the game for over 2 years now, and I'm still having fun. Plus, I still haven't finished the Factions & Nightfall Campaign xD (Gate of Madness is MAED o_0). And I'm not even talking about EotN, or the M.O.X.-Quests.

To the OP, come back, enjoy yourself, because you will, in PvE as well as in PvP, and don't mind the QQ'ers.

GuildWars isn't dead.