My Analysis of GW, and Prediction for GW2.

I really agree with the OP- and I also had an ineffective class combo picked out before I got the game.

(Mesmer/ Warrior.)

Anyway, I see the same problem, but I play mostly PvP.

(Mostly RA.)

I'm not sure I was on when the builds weren't posted, but I personally like to make my own weird builds- and there is an outright hostile atmosphere against exotic/ non-cookie cutter builds.

(Especially from Monks.)

I think that the solution to the problem would be a heavy amount of buffing and nerfing of skills- probably mostly buffing- with the end goal of making as many builds viable as possible.

(The number of PvP useless skills far outnumbers the possibly overpowered ones.)

With the PvE PvP skill differences, they could even make skills behave in different ways for each mode to ensure they are viable in both modes.

Titles by themselves don't ruin the game, only the ones with bonuses that increase your effectiveness do. Title grinding gives people a reason to continue playing after they have burned out on the content.

Heroes made the game playable for those who liked to solo, and pretty much killed the game for those who liked to pug. Being of the latter I'm just glad I had a chance to go through pve before the introduction of heroes. At least they were fun to mess around with in PvP...owait they're gone now

As for metas...unless you remove all variation and customization from a game, there will be minmaxing, there will be a meta, and there will be people shoving it down your throat. At first look, one might think that because there is less skillbar variation in gw2, there will be a less pronounced meta. However I think traits will pick up the slack, meaning that the 'meta' will revolve more around stats and trait allocation than skills combos (at least compared to gw1).

This is true this is where ANet romper roomed out on those that put a lot of effort into the game only to be slapped in the face by invicifarming builds. They still allow this and that is why players are leaving in droves. There's nothing to play for there's nothing to set one out amongst the hordes. Once this game was about "skill", now it's just about copying some invincibuild online and being a zombie like everyone else. In a world where everyone can have and own everything everyone else can it's a boring world. Even without invincifarming though the game is way too easy now. When you can run around with 3 heroes and dominate 99% of the game easily in hard mode then you know the game is too easy and just another failed romper room game.

Agree with this post...
People cant and shouldn't assume things from a couple of PAX videos and from there experience in GW1. Anet has an amazing ability to say things and do another, and do something and say another.
So until the game hits, ill hold of on analyzing it, reading behind the lines, using a weegie board, asking a conspiracy theorist,consulting a doctor...............

Original GW (prophecies) REQUIRED coop play. Right from the begining in Pre (how else can U open the gate?). Sure you could get henchies in post but since it was new, learning/exploring with others was the most fun

Evolution of Prophecies into Factions allowed a different kind of Coop play (FA/JQ/AB). Partially/essentially random teams but still coop. Henchies still continued to support (fill out the team) when insufficient humans were available). Specific skills became REQUIRED to complete elite areas (CC/NT for Urgoz & KD for Kanaxi)

Evolution of Factions to NightFall minimized the REQUIREMENT of coop play with the introduction of heros - which if I'm not mistaken were originally intended for Hero Battles (HB) venue and were brought into PvE so that PvE players could HB too. Heros compensated for fewer avaialble humans but for the most part killed PUGS.

The expansion pack to EoTN evolution revitalized the REQUIREMENT of coop play (thinking HM dungeons here). No area is completely soloable (no heros/hench), but also steered us to the meta even more since the areas/dungeons REQUIRE soime kind of gimmick (cons or PvE skills) or specific team "set up" so that they could be completed in less than 4 hours.

I personally appreciated the evolution of alternate healer classes (Rt, E/Mo, D & P to an extent) since the coop play REQUIRES damage mitigation & if you couldn't find one, you were handicapped before you even started. I can't think of ANY team in GW (cept SoOSC) that doesn't require some type of Healer/Prot.

I wonder about the available player classes in GW2. Will there be a healer class that won't be the dominant sought after class for team play? I suspect if there isn't one in the game, then personal cons will be a major aspect of the game for any kind of return to REQUIERD coop play. Who knows? U might have a mandatory self heal and res on your bar (kinda like ALL RA players) in order to enter PvE "arena". In any event, I suspect that ANET will "Manage" our skill bars to create a specific play style that encourages coop and discourages solo... but what do I know? It's all suposition...

This thread and guru in general nowadays is filled with an unhealthy bias against Anet. The power creep updates were favorable compared to skills that were just bad.

... the "haters" here are just raging.