back from GW2

people should just read about the games they wanna buy

i did, and that made me not buy it, as i need lots of help, and that with areas with automatic quests and missions, and gotta count on others, as i saw no heroes will come either (which is normal for such MMO's) and thats why i didnt even bother buying it

the line "no h/h" already made it easier for me (seeing as i cant get any help in GW anymore, now), and then having scaling in dynamic events (scaling in both lvls and amount of monsters)
that already sounded bad for me, and then seeing the "i've done it already" and "its easy, you can do it" peopel who say that go there too, no thx

enough reasons before GW2 beta's were here already to NOT buy it, for me

i have a reason to buy it, but it just wont win against the reasons i have NOT to buy (which is: my sister, RL friend and several GW friends bought it, and play it now)

why am i the only one (or 1 of the very few) of those who dont buy GW2, who knew it before GW was in its beta (in other words, before people could test and see it) ?

well anyway, as you see, i did pay attention to what GW2 was going to be like a long time ago

ps. take no offense, i'm NOT trying to say that people were dumb or anything cuz they bought GW2 and regret it, as it could've been a game they WOULD like, even with the old MMO tradition
buying MMO's always has its risks, but i saw this is one game i better not buy, and since i even tried it once, i know it even better

but i do remember seeing it was going to be an open world, having auto-missions/quests and having no h/h, and having weaponset-based builds (1 more reason i wont buy it)

GW2 is not "WoW with areas/lore/music recycled from GW1". GW2 is a MMORPG. Just like WoW is a MMORPG with areas/ lore/ music recycled from Warcraft. GW1 was more distinct from both, because it was not a MMORPG.

Outside of you not liking the MMO genre, and thinking that the entire genre = WoW, GW2 is a very unique game. It takes a lot of innovations from different MMOs that were poorly executed, and massively improves upon them (dynamic events, World versus World). It takes the main philosophy behind GW1 and expands upon it (cosmetic/ prestige endgame rewards, skill over gear grinding, content that can be enjoyed alone without forcing you to be in a party with human players). And is pretty bold at completely revamping key MMO concepts (no holy trinity roles, no endgame raids).

Jade Quarry/ Fort Aspenwood/ Alliance Battles are primitive/ outdated versions of World vs World, and no one is going to call the former formats more original or sophisticated than the later one. They are pretty much bare-bones in comparison. Likewise, outside of the lack of instances and AI parties, the entire PvE prograssion is everything GW1's PvE was, and much more. Achievements are a tweaked version of the old title system. Like-wise combat roles were the next natural step of GW1's ones (the first game lacked traditional tanks in exhange of the "control" role, the new one also takes away traditional healers in exhange of the "support" role). Story progressions gives actual options now, but is otherwise the same as we'd expect from Nightfall's/ EoTN's writers/ designers, with character driven content told through instances and dungeons. Map completion has drastically improved upon the old, clunky "stick-to-the-walls" exploration and the repetitive, monotonous and grindy nature of the vanquishes that GW1 offered. And the poor trading/ economy systems of the original also got a much needed revamp.

Yes, the developers created the sequel because GW1's base mechanics were deeply flawed. Why expand something flawed through expansions, that was hurting the game more with each expansion, when you can redesign it? The skill system is the biggest example here, where the extreme, unhealthy freedom for players to make fun, bad builds or unfun, broken builds was taken out (no more dual professions, no more free-for-all skill building), or better yet, toned down to bonus utility skills and the new trait system, which allows players to customise the flavor of their builds without extreme consequences.

The problem is about people posting because they did see others posting the same. The same happened for diablo 3 in fact. I see lot of players saying " after 200 hours playing it, i can tell you it fails "..

200 hours is quite much for a video game today, especially considering it does cost as much as any other game.
There is the age factor today that can change people's mind. Some maybe did play over 5k hours guild wars 1, but we were young.. 7 years after, probably everyone passed 20 or 25, and it's quite hard finding time to dedicate in other games...

I was excited to return to a GW game (quit GW1 a while back because all that was left after playing for 5 years was pretty much grind for titles). Unfortunately I get severe 'motion sickness type symptoms' from playing this game . People complain about the low FOV, so thats probably the main reason why (although I also still somewhat get it when I play in a streched out window to increase FOV).

I get motion sickness from a lot of games, but GW1 wasn't one of them. After reading GW2 used an upgraded version of the GW1 engine I didn't think I would get motion sickness so bad from it. I've played around with all graphics settings but to no avail.

Gameplay wise I thought PVE was somewhat fun. The public quest type events did start to feel grindy fast though. The personal story had some similarities with the missions in GW1, but were, for various reasons, less capturing and fun. WvWvW was also fun but felt a little too familiar after having played DAoC and Warhammer Online for years.

Overal I thought the game was well made. I would probably have played it a long time, as it, despite its flaws, still seems the most fun 'recent' MMO out there at the moment, but the motion sickness completely ruins it for me which is a shame.

I actually found GW2 much better, story-wise, than any of the GW1 games. As much as I loved the first game, the plot always was sort of predictable (expecially after Prophecies), and it often felt merely like a hit-and-miss quest around the world in search for a solution to a problem, up to some random plot twist that ended it all.

The story in GW2 branches so often (and so dramatically) that you actually feel like your choice has some significance. Think of the absolute irrelevance of jailbreaking Kormir in NF: you don't do it, then Margrid does it herself anyway, you just opt to not cooperate with her, yet your choice has no direct consequences. Also the improved engine and new gameplay mechanics allow for some vibrant and involving action scenes, just compare the pure nonsense BLA was in GW1 (you're under assault, and you slam your gates wide open? Really?) with the impressive siege to Claw Island in GW2. Not to mention that while in GW1 the involvement of your allies (in the form of heroes and henchmen) is always implied but only partially perceptible due to the limited party size, in the new game you do get all of your allies to join your missions and actively partecipate when needed.

Still, GW2 is nothing to write home about in this sense, but I wouldn't call it a step backwards, not at all, simply because GW1 wasn't that spectacular either. There are some issues with the pace of narration here and there (com'on, I finally found the gravestones of my long lost parents... in a thicket just a stroll away from my house, I discovered they were royal spies against the White Mantle... and then nothing, big deal, there goes my biggest regret in life?) but I feel like narration flows cohesively and ultimately works just fine.

Speaking personally, neither GW1 nor its sequel are memorable or surprisingly original. I just don't think GW2 is inferior to GW1 in this sense.

You can. Just move in any direction and you'll stop reviving and move. I don't know what are you doing, but for me it's instant. I've revived lots of people while dodging AoEs. Get in the fry, start reviving, circle appears, press left, dodge away, run back in, go on reviving, until the guy is back up.


The camera IS annoying. When you zoom close, instead getting on top of the character, it places the head right in the middle of the camera.

In GW1 it worked way better. The head was placed in the bottom of the screen when zoomed closer, and if you zoom more than that, you go into first person.

I'm guessing they are making some kind of FPS-ish first person like in The Elder Scrolls or something like that, otherwise getting first person should be done already, as it's as simple as placing the camera where the head is, and hide the character model client-side.

It also doesn't help that it collides with most things on screen like all walls, trees and other props, instead just making the invisible.

Talking about Elder Scrolls, there is an online Elder Scrolls MMO in the making.
Now i am looking forward to that!

Atm i dunno what to think of GW2.
I cant play it (need new pc) and i have read enough details about GW2 i dont like.
I am sure there will be things in GW2 that i will like.

But an Elder Scrolls MMO sounds very appealing, ever since Morrowind i had the idea it could be an MMO(RPG).

The Elder Scrolls MMO looks nothing like previous Elder Scrolls except in name, much like how SWTOR was nothing like the Knights of the Old Republic games. It's yet another WoW clone, with the "twist" that it's also trying to clone several GW2's mechanics/ ideas.

The game is dead at end game, it's the same shit like every other MMO, after waiting 5 years for GW2, I am bored in 2 weeks, and I level completely through PvE, fought 3 dragons, the personal story Anet talked so much about is boring, the level scaling is the worst thing in an MMO ever, events that is supposed to level you are broken, and if you want to get the nice karma gear at end game you would have to run 600 plus events, they made the standard MMO with a few stand out stuff but they didn't improve the MMO genre....

My biggest gripe with the game so far after having experienced GW is that armor with maximum performance in GW2 is so much harder to acquire than GW. The cheap 60/70/80 AL armor persay doesn't exist in GW2, and there's no collector in GW2 that gives max armor away as cheaply as some trophy collectors in GW. It's almost as though in order to make that last push towards peak performance gear, you have to buy costly prestige armor. Instead of having the ease of buying it from Droknar's Forge, you'd have to save up and buy some from the Granite Citadel or the Grotto and stick with your subpar armor up until then.

I have to hold at least a full second before the revive animation breaks off and dodging just doesn't happen when I press the key during a revive.

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I'm not. Standard hotkey, 3rd-person MMORPG that is being made by a different ZeniMax studio rather than Bethesda, and which is set a thousand years in the past so that they don't have to bother with pesky things like existing lore... And apparently no existing Elder Scrolls system for character building and skills will be used, sticking with a more or less standard MMORPG system.

/sigh

being a vertern of GW1[7 yrs] and a player of GW2 [BWE-3/Stress Tests] and 3 day head starter and a daily player since. i have NOT completed the game yet, as i am trying to indulge in everything it has to offer in PVE [primary choice of play] and do everything i can on 1 character [0-80] to fully experience what the game has to offer. .............

now, here is my assesment , to todays date, from how i am enjoying the game and some pro's and con's.

1. i fully understand this game is NO way shape/form as the original. now biased is removed.
2. the movement in the game is awkward and extremely clunky and not very user friendly [ i did, knowing prior to its release , i did use "w,a,s,d" in GW 1 to familarize myself ] , now most of the movement could also be attributed to the horrible camera angles and inablility to have great control.
3. camera angles.... playing a norn has its disadvantages and often times line of sight and views are obstructed comepletely because of poor camera angeling.
4. party instancing and grouping is non-existant. hoping this improves, as i enjoyed playing with others and not being solo and hoping to catch a group running thru slaughtering everything on the way. that is not grouping.
5. the story line is not so well written and at times was nearly impossible to complete[i was progressing faster in the game, but leveling slow] i will go back and now return to my last point and continue.
6. clearing/mapping an area is dreadfully boring and some vistas are just awful and and with the difficulty level reaching them, takes away from the genre of this being a game and becomes a chore. every map , as of now, is the same, enter area, kill,run,heart,DE,vista,POI, reward. blah !!!!!
7. spawning/re-spawning, i believe this is still a "work in progress" but i have had the fun of some very funny and awful spawns and deaths resulting from it, appearently i dont move fast enough [ ? ] . meh
8. guild halls ........ i know, they are coming [ i miss them terribly]
9. paying money to travel and repair armor. WTF. its not that i cannot afford it, its that i have to pay it. the fact that my costs for travel increase as my level does, despite that fact i may be "down" leveled to fit a certain area, my costs are that of my "true" level not the scaled down area. very poor design IMHO. fixing armor, another problem, but same scale as way points,"true" level based and not area driven.
10. the chat system is dreadful..........not sure what would inprove it, but i am not the only one having problems with it [ guild complains regularly, when we see the chat ]

overall, i am satisfied, but not sold on the game. when i reach the end game i will re-assess and post. thank you for allowing me this medium and topic. Cheers

The more I read the less I'm inclined to buy. At first I was going to give it a few months to let them iron out all the flaws (of which there are many) but I don't know now. Five odd years in development and this is the best they can do?

Hmmm not convinced. At all.

Maybe it's time to hit the RTS games again.

1-0 Ukraine...FFS England

perhaps look at the reviews on metacritic for more opinions

http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/gu...&num_items=100

obviously ignore the 10 out of 10 reviews, 10 outta 10 is clearly dodgy, and there are so many, but some of the negative and neutral ones might help you clarify you views

That pretty much sums up my feelings.

tnx for the info/warning about Elder Scrolls Online.
I'll stop looking forward to it now

Wow, "unhealthy freedom"?

That is actually my biggest disappointment. No second profession and the lack of a freestyle skill bar which made GW extremely flexible and interesting... you could make a bar for a particular mission's unusual challenges.

Yes, some bad bars were made, but so what... we all fail and learn... it is life.

Lol, i can't even change the order of the weapon's skill set, no matter that I find myself using the 1,5,4 skill order most frequently.

Take the "freedom" out of the game? Oh my... they sure did that.

Not only do I mirror you as a player, I second every single concern you address. I find myself just "going through the motions: zone in, try to open every point of interst, every vista, every teleporter, harvest/mine/collect every raw material, ...... it's just....meh! The spawns are a bit annoying as well: That stupid cave with Veteran dredge armor thing....you work your way in there, start to battle the damned thing, then the fools you killed earlier respawn and NOW you have 4 different baddies to kill!!!

hmmm GW game mechanics flawed? I guess I don't see the "flaws" I see the mechanics as an enjoyable game experience with the right amount of limitiations.

GW1 was intentionally designed to be more unique than the generic FPS game, although unlike GW2, GW1 ALLOWS for real FPS zoom in experience. GW 1 mechanics certainly are a different "structure" than the cross between Left for Dead & <insert any FPS game here> of GW2. For example in GW1, you must stop moving to attack/cast (except for certain shouts, stances or flash enchants). In GW2 PvE you pretty much have to move when you engage (except for those few long cast time skills) because EVERYTHING is not only typically faster than you (because they all hobble you) but is also lethal (scaling ensures this). In GW1 the build structure was ENTIRELY wide open, in GW2 the build structure is pretty much like any other FPS - your "primary" skills are weapon based/fixed + 3 semi customizable skills based on race/proffesion. Oh & jumping was not added to be "a kewl new thing" but instead because it's a REQUIRED GW2 mechanic not only for jumping puzzles but also to suplement evading.

I find it interesting that the "tax" for die-ing in GW is DP, but in GW2 the tax is $ (either through repairing damaged armor or waypoint respawn). I actually enjoyed the GW1 mechanic of spending $ on armor being important. In GW2 armor is a consumable - it WILL become damaged requiring $ to repair or else you will just equip non-damaged armor that you get as drops and then salvage your current set. I can't see myself ever buying armor in GW2 unless I don't mind spending the $ to both waypoint travel & repair.

Go try other games!

I'm still on D3... barely. It's a mouser so many will like not using the kb for movement.

Torchlight is coming and and that is also mouse controlled from what I heard. It's supposed to be a true d2 clone.

For those fans etc, remember that d1 and d2 were pretty great games and literally spawned guild wars and the lesser known torchlight. They both have more in common with d2 than even Diablo 3. The original d3 team quit after starting a fantastic sequel and the released d3 was created from scratch from a new team. It's interesting that many of the dev, etc. were on d2 and gw or torchlight. Ms Gray was on D2 before leaving with several from the d2 team to make Guild Wars... GW2 has separated itself from d2 completely imo. Some people dont like changes. So if you prefer a mouse controlled game that is kind of like guild wars, try d3 or tl. Torchlight will be like 10 bucks I heard.

I bought and will be jumping into gw2 in a bit. I've had fun using an overpowered bow class, but want a change of pace. Blizzard kept many d3 players by making new drops available the week of gw2's release. Many are bored of the game already since there is no end game or pvp yet. Most people should still enjoy the simplicity of d3 though. It's completely gear based so hope for good luck or get ready to grind or pay for gold/stuff.

So don't complain about the controls in gw2, cuz they are not going to change that. Just grab a different game and have fun.

-Not a company fanboy, just a gamer.

I got severe motion sickness from Portal 2, which was the first time I've ever experienced motion sickness from anything in 40+ years of living. Then when I began playing GW2 during the betas, I was experiencing the same thing - I was horrified, because I was so anxious to play it.

After some research and talking to my doctor, I began playing with a bright light positioned within my natural field of view in the room.

Motion sickness gone immediately, and it hasn't returned EXCEPT if I'm playing in the mornings and it's still sort of dusky in here (west-facing windows) and I forget to turn that lamp on.

Just thought I'd mention that in case it could help you...

gonna need to try that one...I get it so bad even the original gw causes it sometimes (rubberbanding makes me VERY nauseous.)...most video games give it to me
would be nice if this works! (thanks Gizzy)

going to go and find a really bright light now.....

A lot of people find the latest game gives them motion sickness. More often than not, this is a result of a reduction in FPS from what their eyes are used too. While you may not be able to quantify the difference between 33 FPS and 60 FPS, over time your brain has to work harder to process the motion, and this results in headaches and sickness.

Also, as mentioned, light. Ideally, ambient light around your monitors should be equivalent to a comfortable daylight setting that doesn't reflect off the monitor screen. I've seen some ergonomic sites suggest to turn the light down and keep the monitor bright. I don't think those people have actually ever used a monitor for any extended period. Your eyes should be able to move your focal point off the monitor to the things in your area without requiring dilation. This is especially true with newer CCFL and LED backlight monitors which have a brighter white-point. If ever you're in a position where you feel you need to turn the brightness down on the monitor because it's hurting your eyes, what you really want to do is increase the ambient light.

well, for me, video games have been causing this issue...for many, many years (I also cant read in a car and must watch out the window if I fly--the WHOLE TIME). I have an over head light almost over my computer (slightly behind it..so I can easily see it), I rarely have to adjust my eyes when looking from my computer to anywhere else. I do not play in the dark (though I do mod in the dark ).
my ears and eyes just dont like NOT being in sync with each other, and choose to use my sense of balance as their warground.

but I will try anything to stop having spells while playing (ok, just about anything---)

Other things that might help:

• Ginger - I like Dry Ginger Ale/Ginger Beer, but anything with ginger essence tends to help settle nausea. Tastes good as a drink too.
• Antihistamines (like low-dose Phenergan - 10mg) or Anti-Nausea tablets. I use 10mg Phenergan prior to long car trips to prevent car sickness.
• Peppermint or Lavendar essence on a handkerchief put somewhere where you can smell it (e.g. tucked in your shirt collar) - only need a drop or two, but they also tend to help with controlling nausea.
• Turning off any settings in game that cause camera shake, lighting bloom, image blur, and if you have an option changing the FoV as that is one of the big ones but not all games allow it.

GW2: that means Post Processing = low or off, Enable Camera Shake = off, and possibly play Windowed with the window the full width of the screen but NOT the full height (as FoV is calculated on the ratio between width+height) to give a larger FoV.

thanks for the ideas, but most of those actually make it worse (I get sea sick too...and the pills that are supposed to help make me soo sick).
and I am allergic to antihistamines....nothing like a trip to the er just for taking a pill

ginger I love and have it just about every day...does nothing as well as lavender...smells nice but otherwise zip.

but thanks for thinking about it and letting me know (I have had this problem for 30+ years, so yeah, I have tried quite a few things both good ideas and some really horrible ones--and yeah, those were the ones the doctors did to me), I have just learned to basically avoid situations, I dont read in the car, I dont watch movies or tv with 'shaky cam'..I never watch homemade videos (those are some of the worst!), I dont go near boats, and I have given up flying (for more reasons than just this).

and
I wont play a video game that can or does cause it...so gw2 is OUT! (not that I was really planning on playing it anyways, but this makes the decision a no-brainer)

skill over gear grinding, hmmmm nope, fraid not, it's a pve grindfest, as for JQ and FA being primitive and outdated compared to WvWvW, well, i suspect you're impressed by size, pvp is laughable in gw2, and JQ and FA along with AB are basic and easy, however they're far better enviroments for pvp than anything in gw2, though of course not as good as halls and gvg. GW2 is, again, a pve grindfest designed by a corporate diversion to make money out of the majority of MMO game players, i.e. pvers

The problem with GW2 is that it is neither skill nor gear grinding. It's EXP grinding. There is literally nothing you can do to beat something that is level 50 when you are level 40, and you are lucky to beat it at level 45. It's the GW1 level-based crit formula, except even stronger and causing the lower levels to get reverse-crits ("glancing blows") which basically make fighting anything other than your level +-2 worthless. Go ahead, try and kill a 10k enemy when you do 30 damage per hit and they do 1k.

TL;DR, GW2 gives you a huge world and then locks you into 2% of it at any given time. Compare this to GW1 where 90% of the game was available at level 20. GW2 should have kept lvl 20 as the cap, but DERP MMO DERP.


WvW is actually the one thing I have hope for being half-decent with coordinated play (I doubt we will see much of that though...). PvP in GW2, OTOH, is a laughable piece of shit with a small map and only 3 cap points.

I have had varying degrees of excitement about GW2 over the years. At times indifferent, at times resentful, at times really excited, and while I followed the development very closely I was still extremely shocked by some of the game mechanics.

Most notably by how guild and team support seems to be a rushed afterthought (post release and a few million people bitching) that still lacks in functionality. It's nice that we now, more often than not, at least end up in the same server as our teammates when we zone but there is still a difinitive lack of team support. I do not have superhuman vision and reflexes and am not capable of instinctively knowing where my teammates are at all times during combat - I'm finding a lot of the time that my support spells are missing the mark because I can't select my damned teammates to make sure the spell targets where they are. Party UI improvements PLEASE.

I read somewhere in this thread a remark about the targetting system, and it made me laugh ... what targetting system? For both combat and interactive uses, the targetting system is complete crap. Auto target doesn't always attack the nearest target ... promote target, etc., doesn't work too well either. If you disable auto targetting you'll have issues selecting the proper target unless you manually button mash your way through it. Non-combat targetting ... standing around a group of people .. say, a few humans, asuran, and a pair of norns all clumped together. Try clicking on them each individually and you'll end up with whoever is out front the most! Try clicking on your crafting table when there's 30 other people standing there! Holy shit is that ever annoying!

I like the game, I really do, but it needs improvement. I dislike how unfinished the targetting and team mechanics feel.

I do like the level scaling, but contrary to what they say the loot scaling UP is a crock of steaming horseshit - at levl 80 I should not be getting level 30 trash. Perhaps it's just me & by default I will continue to get useless trash for the next 5 years much like it took me 5 years to get a black dye to drop in GW1.

But seriously ... wtf is up with that? Guildies and such are having similar experiences with the loot scaling not working as advertised.

Server switches need to be MUCH cheaper. In fact I'd rather they were free. If you recall we had some issues with this in GW1 and Anet was wise enough to make district switching free and unlimited. Hindering the fans from playing with their friends is not condusive to happy & repeat customers. If they want to make it hard, or in some way punitive, for us to abuse their generosity they could just tack on some absurd time constraint (like 48 hours or such) during which we'd not be able to access our accounts. Whatever ... but making it cost so much is just crap. The micro transactions are supposed to be for vanity, and while I understand that GW2 was designed from the ground up to be a single player game I don't think it's "vanity" to want to be able to play with our friends.

Jump puzzles ... ffs. This would be OK if my main wasn't a bloody giant Norn that, for some reason, causes spastic camera reflex whenever I come in close contact with things like walls, ledges, outcroppings, etc.. It would be nice if all it took to fix this was a simple twist of the camera angle but alas ... that just causes a severe case of embedded ass camera wherein my view suddenly switches & I'm stuck viewing my own toons ass from the viewpoint of whichever piece of landscape I happen to be nearest. I have no idea if this is a Norn specific affliction but whatever it is it's bloody annoying & I will never 100% the map because I cannot be reasonably expected to complete a jump puzzle to a vista if all I can see is my own ass.

If you have the system specs to run the game on full settings then you are truly lucky as it is an astoundingly beautiful world out there. I can hit those settings but it drops my FPS to 4, and so I only do it for screen shot moments ... but holy crap is it ever beautiful out there!

There are some balance issues that I hope get worked out soon. While dungeons are fun being obliterated in one hit is not, especially when you can't target properly with party supports. Also some class balancing and tweaking needs to be done. I'm running an Ele right now & at level 70 I cannot in any way, shape, or form, compare to a level 70 Warrior. While I rely on AoE dmg my defensive capabilities lack to the point that I have to constantly run (and constantly pull things out of my AoE dmg) OR I could not move as much and die. Meanwhile the husband takes down 3 of the same mob, dealing three times as much AoE dmg as I do in half the time & taking less than 10% off his health & without having to dodge AT ALL.

^ I have tried all weapon combinations across all elements - thus far Fire spec with dagger primary and focus offhand offers great dmg output with half decent self reliability, but still a fart in the wind in comparison to a Warrior. I understand by concept a warrior is less squishy than a caster, but by concept an ele is also supposed to outdo the warrior with AoE, no?

At this point in time I think if anyone out there wants to faceroll GW2 I'd recommend making a warrior.

For alternate pwnage go for Rangers - you don't die nearly as easy as casters and you can still kill 95% of what you're fighting even when knocked on your ass.

Anyway ... two vastly different games. I knew that, I'm not surprised by THAT, I'm just disappointed by some of the poor choices ANet made with the mechanics & am hoping they get fixed.

I hope anyone who's sitting on the sidelines, being indecisive about whether or not to pick up the game, realizes that regardless of what you read here or anywhere else you'll still form your own view once you actually play the game. So long as you remember that 1) it is a different beast than GW1 and 2) it is designed from the ground up for SOLO play then you will not suffer the severe and often catastrophic shock & disappointment than many have experienced.

For all the few things that I'm hoping they address you'll notice ... those things are quite few. The list of grieviances is small, and generally similar for most, as compared to the list of improvements.

If you haven't tried the game then try not to be judgemental, keep your expectations realistic to the information you've been given, and give it a chance. It might just be your new favourite thing.

If not at least you'll be able to write an informed review.

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I just wanted to piont out that GW1, at level 20 (max), gives you access to all areas of the game except starter points in Factions and Prophecies.

Comparatively

GW2, at level 80 (max), gives you access to all areas of the game except for personal plot lines you didn't choose to follow.

Where, precisely, is the difference? You don't like the amount of levels? It's easy to get to 80, there's tons of level 80's running around already and it's really no big deal. Compared to how quickly you can power level to 20 in GW1 it might be slightly slower to get to 80 in GW2 but still the point remains the same. At max level you have access to the whole game, in both games, so I don't know where you were going with that at all.

Higher level mobs obviously do more dmg, and obviously have higher armor & obviously will be harder for you to kill. However it is not impossible to kill things 5 levels higher .... quite possible, very easy if you employ some tactics. Cakewalk if you aren't alone. Perhaps your tactics need a little work, or maybe you should reroll an easier class for solo play (until they get around to better class balancing) like a Warrior or Ranger ... not trying to take shots at you, I have no idea what you're playing with, but from personal experience the caster classes have a real hard & slow learning curve before they reach more functionality & there are some rather large balancing issues that need to be addressed. If you're playing one of the squishier or weaker classes you may have more fun with one of the OP ones, but just be prepared for the nerfbat to hit them - I feel that's more likely to happen than the others being buffed.

I hear necros are great at high levels, too, but haven't got around to playing one yet.

No... GW2 is far, far slower. I can get to lvl 20 in about 5 hours in GW1. It takes closer to 100 hours in GW2 (~60-80 hours on average I would estimate). Thats 60-80 mind-numbing hours of level grinding. Lets make this clear: I can have every single profession in GW1 at max level faster than I can have a single one in GW2.

Ohh I'm not saying it's (entirely) impossible. I'm saying its stupid and useless. The XP bonus from doing so doesn't outweigh taking 10x as long to work. I have actually killed enemies over 10 levels above me through semi-exploits. The problem is that it's enemies flat out cheating on the game mechanics. It's not higher health or armor, it's a simple scale of when your level < enemy level you get glancing blows and the enemy gets crits.

The effect of this is that you are funneled into a narrow corridor of the game until you have XP grinded enough to get to the next narrow corridor. Compare to GW1 where you finish the tutorial, reach level 20, and can go ANYWHERE. From the beginning.

We haven't played the same GW1 nor the same GW2.

Grinding? Do you know what you should do while you're leveling to 80? You should do the exact same thing you would do in GW1 at level 20: play the game normally.

I'm currently level 77 in a level 60 area, and I haven't grinded once yet. I've been playing the game normally, although I admit I'm a perfectionist and have been exploring all maps to 100% whenever I can and crafting to max, and I overleved 20 levels without grinding once. Do you know what is more of a grinding? Going back to a area to repeat everything you have done for the sake of a vanquish. But that was in GW1, GW2 fixes and drastically improves the meaning of exploration.

Unless the game ends at level 20 for you, which clearly doesn't, the extra levels are just that, an extra, that keeps quests rewards more meaningful.

GW1 was never a sandbox style of game when it comes to exploration. Are people forgetting about the existence of Prophecies? Outside of specific runs, the entire game was extremely linear, with most of maps consistitng of roads connected with each other in a web. You only reached max level 70-80% in (unless, guess what, you grinded), and you only had access to each new area once at a time.

This is not even comparable to GW2, where you start with five towns and five initial areas unlocked to you, the next 10 levels means more 3-4 areas to explore, and each 10 after that unlocks 2-3 more.

Not even Eye of the North, which gave you three racial areas at choice for your level 20s, doesn't even compares to the five racial areas GW2 gives at level 1s, and by the time you've fully explored one and only one of those five, you're already high enough to unlock the next set of maps.

How cute, a GW2 apologist trying to pretend that 80 hours of leveling isn't grind.

How cute, a post that completely disregards the arguments of another person, simply limiting to call them a fanboy. Yet, you still have to explain how leveling while playing the game normally is a grind.

The grinding I've seen in GW2, has been event grinding for exotic gear after level 80, or farming for crafting materials.

My current 5y old gaming notebook died (the graphics card).
So i now was like i has to buy a new one.
I was looking for a new good gaming notebook, however there r none that i liked atm.
So, i settled with a way cheaper gaming notebook that hindside luckily plays GW2 smoothly at Low settings.

I created a few caster characters and a norn ranger.
A good thing i decided to start playing with the Ranger, as according to an above post Warrior and Ranger are the better classes to play/start with atm.
My Ranger is lvl9 atm and has done Hoelbrak and the lower part of Wayfarer Hills.

Bad things sofar:
The one thing i dislike most atm is the fast respawning of foes.
There have been a few times when it took some more time to kill foes in front of me, i got attacked in the back by the last foe(s) i just killed.
Sofar wasnt a big problem, but i just dont like it.
For the moment waypoint travel and repair costs are ok, but i know i will dislike it when they become more or to expensive.
GW1 had banners near gateways saying where they would lead to. Couldnt find those in GW2.
It took me like half an hour to find the Home Instance in The Great Lodge in Hoelbrak, and only found it after i found a video on YouTube showing me what the entrance looked like.

Good things sofar:
I am liking the Ranger class sofar, with the pets.
For now i settled with an Axe/Torch combo.
Somewhat to my surprise i find the graphics quality at low settings acceptable to good enough.
The HoM rewards r nice, dont like or use all, but what i use is nice
I really like the skin rewards r unlimited.
Already went back a few times to get some weapon skins anew when i found a better weapon (from the same class).

If you think 80 hours of leveling isn't a grind then your argument is invalid immediately. Sorry, it's the truth. 80 hours of leveling, for a *single* character, is a massive, ridiculous amount of grind. Maybe in MMOtard world 80 hours is nothing but in the real world that's months of play chasing XP.

well a few rules in gw2...and U make it

1.jump to the mist and portal to la..save U copper
2.dont enter a lvl 25-30 place if U are lvl 23-24...U get U ass handet to you
3.get the best "rare" armor/ wep ...it last longer and can take more dmg
4.get som cake/pie from AH..for 1-2 copper...its boost a lot and make lot of stuff better/easy
5. dont salv befor U hit lvl a lvl 50+ place..befor it sell armor/wep..or use it
6.move and hit..dont stand still..ever

You're thinking that grinding and leveling are the same thing, when they are not. Also, GW2 is different than other MMOs in this regard.

Grinding is a term used in video gaming to describe the process of engaging in repetitive tasks during video games. [1][2] The most common usage is in the context of MMORPGs like Final Fantasy XI, World of Warcraft, Tibia, or Lineage [3] in which it is often necessary for a character to repeatedly kill AI-controlled monsters, using basically the same strategy over again to advance their character level to be able to access newer content.
~Wikipedia.

GW1 only has 20 levels, but you must still grind for a few things, especially for titles. Likewise, GW2 might have 80 levels, but they're so easy to get, and the means to get them are so diversified, that you can reach the level cap in two weeks by playing the game normally, aka, following the story, crafting, exploring, doing quests and events, having fun in WvW, gathering materials, getting achievements, etc.

There's no single time in GW2 where you must spend a whole day killing the same type of enemy over and over and over for the sake of leveling. In fact, it's a mathematical fact that killing enemies is generally a poor way to get experience, unless you're killing enemies that no player has killed for a long time, which in turn makes it impossible to grind, because the second time you kill them, you no longer will get that bonus.

I suggest you to try again and simply have fun playing the game. Go explore Tyria, gather materials (offers as much exp as killing) inbetween fights, join events around you, do some quests, follow the storyline when you can, go crafting for 10 minutes at the end of the day. You'll notice the levels will fly fast, and never will you have to dedicate to farming the same wolves over and over for a whole day.

MMOTards argument: Grinding is doing repetitive tasks like killing enemies for levels. But doing repetitive quests that involve killing enemies for levels, NOT GRINDING AT ALL LOLZ.

The only thing that really offers a secondary mode of character advancement (not just small bonuses that you get while killing things, i.e. everything else you listed) is WvW. But then WvW is screwed up because entering it early makes you half as effective as other players due to a lack of traits/equipment/money.

Kunder, I get the feeling that we aren't playing the same game .... and if we are you are definitely doing something very very wrong.

It does not take 80 hours of grind to get to level 80. You can easily and successfully 100% zones that are more than 5 levels higher than you. Just because YOU cannot do it does not mean that quite a lot of the rest of us just magicked and imagined our way to top levels.

You are NOT locked in to a small part of the game world. You have instant access to 6 major cities & all of their linked zones. In fact you have access to ANY ZONE you want to walk your lazy ass to/through & the only thing that might get in your way is death but that's NO DIFFERENT than GW1 & yet at the same time very different because there are no doors or gates or whatever stopping you from proceeding, no XYZ quest or objective that must be completed before the gate magically opens. You can go ANYWHERE in the GW2 map that you are smart and tactful enough to get to.

Let's clarify this grind issue, k?

In GW1 you gain experience, and thereby gain levels, by 1 of 3 ways, all of which include killing things & all of which MUST BE DONE at some point in time to reach max level:

1 - quests
2 - missions/dungeons
3 - kill things

In GW2 you gain experience, and thereby gain levels, by 1 of 10 ways, none of which are mandatory in and of themselves to reach max level:

1 - personal story quests
2 - heart quests
3 - events
4 - crafting
5 - gathering shit
6 - vistas
7 - points of interest
8 - finding waypoints
9 - combine the prior 3 & #2 and 100% areas for added reward
10 - kill things

If you *gasp* do all of them at the same time you'll hit level 80 REALLY FAST! Holy shit, just imagine if you popped an EXP booster it'd go even faster!

By your estimates of 80 hours to level 80 we're gaining approximately 1 level per hour if we "grind" our way there, to which I really must laugh at your ineffectiveness. If we take your "rushed" estimate of maybe 60 hours to level 80 we're still gaining quite slowly in comparison to reality. You can realistically craft your way through 20 levels in less than 1 hour, so we're still looking at your assessment as being 1 level per hour & hell yes you must really be doing it wrong.


Please don't respond with "whaaa fanboi" because I'm not a fanboy, I don't have a penis, and GW2 is not nearly as fantastic or innovative as GW1 was and remains to be. I'm just irritated by your complaining that just because you can't do something means it must be impossible for the rest of us. Stop whining and realize that if so many are being successful where you are failing then perhaps you should re-evaluate your methods and make some adjustments rather than insisting the rest of us that we're OBVIOUSLY wrong and hallucinating and just must be making it all up to make you look bad. Like SERIOUSLY WTF was I thinking doing all that LSD back in college?

That 80 hours of leveling is what's called playing the game.

Leveling is a secondary reward of playing the game and accomplishing things, from killing enemies, crafting, to just rezzing NPCs left and right.

Once again, its 80 hours of PLAYING, at which point you have a maxed out character. And can then go play anywhere in the game which you might have missed on the way there because the game is so massive.

Grind would be having to replicate the same "path" to get to the max level. So far, GW2 requires no repetition to achieve 80, unless you count killing more than one creature repetitive, in which case you probably shouldn't be playing RPGs in general.

If you don't understand the difference between grinding out 80 levels and playing the game naturally at which point you achieve level 80, then you're just confused. Yes, GW2 takes longer to level up a character to the max level, but that's part of the design. There's also a tonne more to do in GW2 than in GW1, from questing to just exploration, so I really don't understand how you can classify playing the game as grinding.