Sometimes I worry.

Ive been playing this about a month after release, although I've taken a few breaks, I've always come back. Theres something about it.
But now when I play, alone usually, my guild is long inactive, and up and joining a guild advertising in Lions Arch is usually not very rewarding, it a bit sad, really.

When I visit empty outposts I think about when it was everything was new, things seemed so "busy." People everywhere, spamming GLF MONK in Hell's Precipice forever, people used to party up to do things, or even to just explore. It was nice, always being able to count on real people to party up with. But its an old game, nobody is going to play for 7 years. Some do, but hey.

It makes me worry a bit for GW2, however. Back in the day, the game was about the game, and enjoying it, but now its just a grind for ectos/ambraces/whatever, to get..whatever. I dont think its about enjoying the game anymore. I wonder if that quality of the what the original game has become is going to transfer, GW2 is going to become an instant grind, people wanting to clear areas and collect their treasures to say just that they had done it. No enjoyment of the game, just rushing to get to high-end areas, high-end stuff. Huh.

I mean, I know MMOs have alot of grind, lots of internet egoism and the like. But I think itll be worse off in GW2.
I dunno, my 2 cents.
(still thrilled, dont get me wrong.)

No need to worry my friend, GW2 will be new to all of us, sure the game might be instant grind for some player but thats just part of the game. Remember not just us orignal GW players are getting GW2, but millions of other new players are hugely anticipating for the games releases.

I miss those old guild wars day, where I just played the game. With not a care about what weapon, armor i got, or how much money i had. Just playing because the pure enjoyment of it. I also miss those days when I didn't have to run a specific build to join a group to do mission or farming.

this day and age of guild wars, is pretty much playing by yourself, unless you're scing.

I just made a new character (to practice my melee since i'm used to monks and need to switch to guardian) and i insist on only using the most generic, bought in Kaineng equipment available. It's perfectly fine stat wise and frankly canthan warrior armor is the best looking outfit in the game anyway. The whole hunt for rare items is so easy to ignore in this game and yet so many people are completely consumed by it.

Personally I'm just glad to have had the first few years to remember when, as mentioned, loot, titles and HoM PvE grind were not the driving motivations for the player base.Was totally refreshing for the MMO market to have such a game, regrdless of what it's morphed into now.

Was pretty gutted to see the evolution of the game steer towards grind and PvE but realistically it was bound to happen.Pretty hard to keep players playing in the non-subscription model without it, personal ideology aside.

After EotN I'm not anywhere near as excited about GW2, HoM pretty much states Anets intent on content and game style, but I'll certainly purchase it and give Anet the initial benefit of the doubt.

Pretty sure I won't get the same amount of hours in but who knows....GW surprised me so maybe GW2 will as well.

Been playing since Christmas night 2005. Until the "release" of the HoM calculator, I didn't play with any goals, just played. Even though I hadn't made up my mind about GW2, I went after the 30/50 on 2 different accounts. Yesterday, I completed the "sweets" title, giving me all 3 of the "consumables" titles. I farmed the heck out of pre for Nicholas Sanford, using 5 accounts to feed the 2 post characters. Now, it is time to go back to playing the game once again.

Definitely, GW is the most enjoyable group experience I've ever had in an mmo but unfortunately in this late in the game you can't get that anymore. I don't think GW2 will suffer the same fate as it is going to get a LOT more attention than GW1 did.

@HoM comment... ANet just wants to reward people who played GW1...??Not sure I see what you're getting at. I'm glad they added it, if people grind for the rewards that's not my, or ANets, fault.

Well played since inception and still playing , thats over 7 years.

I always enjoy GW1 and yes you may see areas not busy but, I know a few Guilds that are having a blast taking new guys throgh the game, playing it over again .

The only guys that Grind if you call it that is guys who just want more and more wealth..cant understand that mabe its just me.

I often go on an Alt and do a few areas just to keep me having some Fun yes its still fun for me.

I have what I want from the HOM for Gw2 and heres the link to the official site to see what you obtain

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Hall_of_Monuments

It's all about how you choose to perceive the game too. What game have you played regularly(albeit on and off) for 7 years? Are there any others? There aren't for me. There are games I may go to every year to play for a few hours or a few days, but nothing like GW1. It is a special game and I will choose to always remember the fin I had. Choosing to remember a game that is over 7 years old at the end of its life cycle is asinine.

I have goals for my characters, however, I dont really grind to get them...I play the game--I enjoy doing quests and mapping (yeah I know I am one of the few who enjoys hugging walls)....the HoM just gave me a better chart of goals. I am still doing the stuff I wanted to--not what I need for the HoM (if that were the case I would have gotten my f-ugly-ow armor long ago).
I enjoy playing by myself or with my hubby (who got me to buy the game so we had something we could play together without hundreds of others)....I will still be playing after gw2 comes out--its a TOTALLY different game (just about ONLY the name is the same).
so I am not worried, and if they decide to turn off the servers...then I will be able to think back on the past 7+ years and look at my screenshots folders and see how much time I spent ....playing a video game

I think the "no grind" went out when they introduced factions and it has just got worse ever since. GW2 looks very poor in comparision to GW. Heavy consolification. It just lacks that magic we missed from first playing GW. I can't see that ever returning, the world is saturated with MMO and you can't survive as an MMO unless you do the whole MMO grind thing. It will be a long time before another MMO attracts me like GW.

The best thing about playing GW for the first time was being a noob discovering the world. GW2 will not be a noob friendly environment, very much the oposite.

Are you referring specifically to the lore/environments/etc in the game, and how it will effect GW1 players moving over?

I've got the same feeling. I got over that melancholy by doing 2 things getting busy with real life :P and thinking gw2 might give me that same feeling I first experienced 7 years ago.

peace bro

Highly doubt it. There's an entire new world to explore, new skills and interactions to play with, new content to do...I'm sure that some people will be focused on getting rich from Day 1, but I'm just as sure that there will be people who are just there to have fun and explore the world we have to play in.

To be fair: It's still possible to pug in this game thanks to the Z missions/quests/vanquish. But you need to follow the one-per-day shedule.

Pretty much that Anets initial mantra of...

...is now totally incorrect, if not totally hypocritical.

Grind is a core component for many titles and HoM rewards.That's flawed game design in regards to Anet's initial philosophy and if players have to grind to attain reward that is certainly Anets fault, they conciously decided to add the mechanic to the game.Repetition of content to attain reward is not what hooked many into this game and in regards to the threads theme is something that has put many players off the game compared to the "good old days" before titles and HoM when such mechanics were purely optional.

I'm not anti-HoM either, I don't care to much for it but it's keeping the game ticking but I vastly prefer the days playing before it's arrival.

Each to their own.

I really hope your wrong but have to agree in part.

Rank requests from day one?God I hope not.

Well I have been playing for 5 years now and still enjoy the game,though it has gotten a little boring with no one around.I don't get the grinding part to chase titles and really can't be bothered scing areas . I still like to run after chests which I have only really started doing for some fun and still love to pull my old 55monk out. Only area I haven't completed and have given up on is uw thanks to the sc owning that area and the elitism in certain parts of the game which is a shame to see a game become like that.

But the money I have spent on this game has well been worth every cent, and I hope gw2 will be just as fun.I won't get the game just yet till it comes out in full as i think it will be a let down in the betta stage, and i want that feeling of OMG this is incredible when I first jump into it.

I think the biggest thing is that when you hop into GW2 you aren't a wet-behind-the-ears player anymore. You cannot unlearn your playing skill. You will immediately gravitate towards builds that are efficient and get you there faster, instead of playing a hamstorm build because it looks cool. I'm sure someone will put it more succintly, but the main thing is you wont have sensory overload when you hop in because a lot of things will be second nature to you.

And yet that's true of ANY electronic game now, be it an MMORPG, GTA7 or Street Fighter 18.Anyone who has played video games for more than a few months, or even weeks, knows this.

The real issue is the emphasis, or at least point of contention, that players are not starting on the same tier.Those that have played GW and have decided to play GW2 after going 50/50 on HoM have a distinct advantage, be it through mechanics and/or aesthetics, to those who never played GW.

That's not based on either skill or experience.It's pure timesink and grind.

Point being that they (Anet) are rewarding players for a play-style, when at the time of release and for several years afterwards, they specifically promoted and marketed themselves as being against.

Again:

That was their point of difference, why many of us bought the game and what a lot of us remember...now it's gone and they have blended into the rest of the "Do this over and over 50 times to get this" MMO market.

GW2 will seemingly be a loot, title, gear, orientated game based on the same mechanics.

I seriously hope I'm wrong and will still will buy GW2 at release,....hands down I know as fact I'll get my moneys worth, but if the evolution of GW is any sign I certainly won't pump the hours in.

I don't need a work simulator thanks.

You should have been a Guild Leader - believe me you'd never be bored. Sure you end up doing a lot of stuff over and over again helping new guildies and new players out, but they all bring a fresh perspective to your game. I love playing with new players - they see things that I miss or that I've forgotten about. I even managed to get a second GWAMM on my Mesmer just by helping people out with titles and stuff.

I didn't discover this game until late 2007 so I missed out on its glory days. The hats from the early days look cool.

I pre-purchased GW2 but haven't played any of the betas because I don't have time. I hope I like it when I do finally manage to get into it.

While I can agree that they certainly have added grind in the form of titles, I don't think they really broke away from their core philosophy.

The fact of the matter is that all of the things you can grind for in GW are non-essential and entirely optional. You can do anything you want in the game, and in GW2, without maxing a single title. The kit you get as a reward in GW2 for HoM is cosmetically different but functionally the same, so you're not gaining any real advantage by grinding in GW1.

Put another way, you're not playing gear-wars, it's still clearly build-wars, which is precisely what made GW different from anything else out there.

The idea that the grind involved in the HoM is putting people off is just bullshit. 30/50 is easy to achieve and it's where the actual rewards in GW2 end, not that they're worth much anyway.

It's a game, people come and people go, and for most people it has a limited span. My FL has been 90% offline since long before the HoM because those people had played the game out and were ready to draw a line under it. I'm currently in a guild that has 3 accounts in it (all of which I am the only one who plays them anymore).... in July 2007 we were full and had 50 people on a waiting list where the average wait was 6 months. Shit happens, people move on, times change. That's as true of GW as it is of life.