Change is good but....

Ok so I haven't played gw for ages...

and I come back, and i see a sh!t ton of changes to the game.

Now, back when i was a regular player i would be happy, because you could have some fun trying new things/ new builds etc.

However, now that there's several pages worth of updates..... i seriously cbf catching up, and it looks like I'm gonna be staying away until gw2, or even not even coming back and just going to sc2/d3.

Does anyone else feel that too many changes are disincentive for the casual gamer? or is it just that I've been away for too long?

A casual gamer is likely to take just what looks cool on his bar. Rarely will changes affect him, because he plays in areas that are not terribly reliant on what he brings.

you just been away for too long. I been away from GW nearly like a year and I still caught up to what it is today. I go to websites, read, read and read. Back then, I had no clue on what was PvE Sunspear skills, Kurzick/Luxon skills and zaishen missions/quests. It's not dis-incentive , its just the opposite. The game will get boring without updates, without updates, players will whine about the game not having anything new.

it depends on where you left off....if it was before nightfall came out, after eye of the north or after the ursan nerf....(if after the last, you actually have not missed out on much more than some skill updates).

Get your lazy ass back into the game lol, most of the updates are just to balance overpowed skills etc.

There are some updates which have added extra stuff, like Zaishen Menagerie, Bounties, Missions and so on.

If you haven't played for ages you're unlikely to notice any changes to skill updates, it's still 8 skills and they still have descriptions of what they do

last time i played was around easter last year

Since then it seems like they completely changed pve, since alot of the farming skills were taken out.

I'd imagine it's completely changed how pve's played out, with builds and all. I haven't checked but i'm almost certain that i'd have to go out and cap some skills to use em.

I'd really rather not go through with whatever looks pretty on my bar lol, so it does feel like a barrier to re-entry.

I can't help but think, if a-net is targeting casual gamers, reducing the learning curve on the game would better serve their purpose. Maybe by including a small number of high utility skills, rather than many specialised ones.

Directions:

1) Read the game updates on gw wiki or guild wars wikia.
2) If there is an update you know nothing about, click on the link and read about it
3) Rinse and repeat

if you are that interested in a game and enjoy it so much as to complain about being left behind, there should be plenty of incentive for you to do some light reading and catch up.

For the casual pve gamer and all the regulars who play non-gimmick builds the updates in the last year changed almost nothing. We got new opportunities, for example the Ritualist was greatly buffed and the Assassin to some extend. But if we want to change nothing, we could still use our builds from one year ago and be successful.

Some key skills where changed that allowed highly effective farming/speed clearing in high-end areas. 600hp monk, shadow form assassin. There were players who could only play 600hp or perma-assassin. Playing only this one build all day long. These, but only these, are really affected. In my guild of approx. 30 active players: none. Well, not exactly. We have one new member who returned from that to the balanced playing style and it seems he has more fun with that than with all the speed clears before. He currently rolls a bunch of new characters in addition to going pvp.

You are bothered by the amount of changes, yet you state you enjoyed "trying new things" when you used to play. I sense inner conflict, Grasshopper.

No, the basic elements of GW haven't changed at all and it still can easily accommodate the casual gamer.

Change is good but....Im gonna whine about having a read a few update pages or because I only ever played 600/smite/SF Sin ??

Seriously saying you like to try new things/builds and then saying changes are bad makes you look foolish. Stop posting here and go read the updates instead if you really feel you cant play the game without doing it all first.

Assuming you quit sometime in 07...you really haven't missed much and you haven't been away for too long. I was off the game for around 2 years or so and came back and adapted to the new stuff almost immediately.

No. I think it's the other way around.

More change is incentive for casual gamers to play more often. And, the good news is that if they're unable to play often, then the game is constantly new and exciting for them.

Trust me. That would be a great feeling to have again.

I was in a similar situation a year ago, and I felt pretty much the same way. But once I took a chill pill and just played the game like I was used to and gradually picked up tidbits of new things, I started having a great time.

There's really no reason to feel compelled to get yourself a leet build and be able to schmooz with all the veterans and explain how skill A has 2.65 higher dps than skill B first thing tonight. Take your time, hover over skills to read descriptions, browse the wiki a little bit each day, maybe join a guild and ask for opinions, etc.

You'll probably get excited about a cool-looking new skill and then read on the forums that it sucks, but use it anyway. The game has been explored so thoroughly by now that everything except the most optimal "sucks", but you know what, optimal can be boring anyway. I use all kinds of builds that are supposedly lame but enjoy them anyway and do just fine.

The only "irreversible" stuff I can think of is a handful of quests that people use to farm faction or reputation points or whatnot... I was a little irritated upon finding out about these unrepeatable quests *after* I already cashed in on the rewards, but if you're worried about that kind of thing, just ask around, and I bet you can get a list of those in no time.

Okay, 'nuff said. I don't mean to be patronizing, and I'm probably addressing my own insecurities rather than yours, but in any case, have fun!

for builds/skills, just look at PVX for the latest meta, u will remember those as u play them.
for area change(mostly elite area, as the normal runs u just kill everything), just look it up in the wikia

I think the situation in GW is much better than other MMO at least, in most other games, a couple month leave they raised the lvl cap, and you'll need to grind lvl day and night to keep up.
In GW, we just need to find a guild, ask, or look at wikis

Why would PvE be "completely changed" since a couple farming skills were nerfed?

The problem is there are not enough changes. Everyone runs a single build. With over a thousand skills in the game there are over a thousand useless skills and only a small handlful that ever get used. They just need to sack the Fail Krew and shake things up.

If you want to catch up quickly, just go to RA for a few days and watch peoples skill usage. It isn't the best way, but it is a quick re-introduction. Also, Defy pain is still a fail skill.

probably since all he did was use gimmick builds or do speed clears . ..

Change is good even if the change has killed popular farming builds!
Ive had 6+ month breaks in the game and coming back was always alot more fun when you had to read about the changes.
Like something i did a while ago i only played pre-searing for 2 weeks and then went back to post and got a gold drop i was like 0.0 when usually i woulnt even take much notice to it :P

The changes since last year aren't as nearly as much as the changes since proph. The only biggie is SF got nerfed. That's about it.

Yea only really huge updates were made on overpowered pve metas, if you are a casual player then I say jump back in, there are a few skill changes that are fun to mess around with.

You didn't miss much. Anet's significantly reduced their frequency and quality of skill updates, and the only new "content" were: a costume they designed in a few hours' time and put it up in their online store for a quarter price of the retail value in a normal game [$10], a pet stable, storage, and overpriced name changes and makeovers [I may've left some stuff out, but oh wells...].

So yea... change is usually good if they make it... well, GOOD. But in this game, they're kind of far from it. Oh, and don't get too fond of any particular skill or build because before you know it, Anet might put it on their Kill List and blow it up in the next update!

PS: PvP sucks -> 8v8 = RuptBotfest, RA = Blind/Weakness Ovarload[B.Surge/Flash, Gaze From Beyond, Blind Was Mingson, FC M/Ne's with necro spell buffs, war hammer buffs, etc... DON'T GO MELEE, or else risk going BALD], TA/HB = DELETED, Codex = JOKE.