Though I enjoyed my time in the beta, I can honestly say that the game is far from ready. Lots of unfinished or bugged audio, balance issues across the board, some general bugs, poor optimization and I couldn't even log-in for half the time I wanted to play the game ("code 42" could become a meme amongst us beta weekenders).

I'm willing to let them complete make this game (well as complete as it can be), rather than rush this unfinished product out the door.

What we saw of the game was in very good shape for a first "public" beta. There were the expected server issues, performance issues and bugs, but over all, things are looking pretty solid. If the 21-80 areas of the game and the Asura/Sylvari starter zones are in as good a condition as what we saw in the WBE, the game probably could be ready for release by the end of May.

However, we don't know the state of the rest of the game, so it's hard to say just how ready the game really is.

Would I play the game, in it's current state, every day for the next month, even knowing my characters would be wiped? Yes, I would. However, "playable for understanding fans" is different than "ready for release to the masses".

I really hope the rest of the game is in a similar state to what we saw, since that would make a June release date pretty likely. (I also hope that they will decide that twice monthly WBEs will provide useful feedback and stress testing and will increase the rate of events from now until launch)!

Release? No. 24/7 beta? Go for it!

It still has issues, but I would happily continue to play it until it is released. I had more fun this weekend and played with more people than I have in a LONG time in MMOs.

I wasn't even really looking forward to this game. I assumed I'd buy eventually just because it doesn't have a subscription, but other than that I barely paid attention to any of it until I decided to pre-purchase because I was bored this weekend. I'm hooked! I don't want to play anything else now and I'm having withdrawals!

It's been a long road and many games since 1999 with each game losing a bit more of that magic. Plenty of fun because I simply like these games, but it's been a while since I've felt any excitement to play. This game... for some reason it's there again.

It would release sooner if everyone just bought new PCs to improve performance issues, so get to it.

Aside from Friday log-in issues, we had no problems running with everything on max - but we did build 2 new PCs in February so we're probably in the upper range again.

Aside from that, every bug we encountered was more of a quirk than a problem. As for balance issues, I expect that much like every MMO, balancing will continue long after launch anyway.

My only complaints are lack of low level dungeons (which seems to be a split issue at the moment anyway, many suggest that you can't enjoy a dungeon until you have every ability apparently, I disagree), lack of ability to bind middle-mouse button, and that I didn't find out there was (or so I was told) a pet-swap keybind until after the weekend.

I'd mention the inability to easily get people into the same overflow server, but I can't imagine that will be an issue much longer. I'd also mention the glitch in which female NPCs occasionally made use of male voiceover dialogue during cutscenes, but the entertainment value was well worth the mix up.

I can understand people wanting to wait until it's closer to perfect, but we'd even sub without hesitation (if 'subbing' was even an option) as it is, surely they could use that extra £30-£100 to fund meals for a few all nighters to speed up the process. I'd personally rather be playing a game with a few bugs and quirks than frustrated and bored by the Alganon clones. It's been a long time since I've had anything positive to say about MMOs or been excited about their future direction, so I'd forgotten the torture of having to wait for release. I'm out of practice.

Minus a few, small imbalances such as WvW gate HP and the inability to remove pets, I felt that the game preformed quite well. I'd be content with playing it now, but I can still enjoy Spiral Knights for the time being.

Originally posted by sschrupp

Release? No. 24/7 beta? Go for it!

It still has issues, but I would happily continue to play it until it is released. I had more fun this weekend and played with more people than I have in a LONG time in MMOs.

I wasn't even really looking forward to this game. I assumed I'd buy eventually just because it doesn't have a subscription, but other than that I barely paid attention to any of it until I decided to pre-purchase because I was bored this weekend. I'm hooked! I don't want to play anything else now and I'm having withdrawals!

It's been a long road and many games since 1999 with each game losing a bit more of that magic. Plenty of fun because I simply like these games, but it's been a while since I've felt any excitement to play. This game... for some reason it's there again.

I completely agree.

Sad admission: While looking through my screen shots, I kept trying to rotate the scene, click on teleport points and check my friends list. True story. :)

Originally posted by Spectrumized

Minus a few, small imbalances such as WvW gate HP and the inability to remove pets, I felt that the game preformed quite well. I'd be content with playing it now, but I can still enjoy Spiral Knights for the time being.

That is not an actual issue. It is just incompetent people in beta, not utilizing the siege equipment available. Like the cheapest one, the Battering Ram does 8,000dmg to a gate, whereas your standard auto attack does 30-50dmg. That's a huge difference.

Game played  great for  me, some people may need to upgrade their PC or build new systems. I mean  if you guys wanna wait till the game is flawless in your eyes before release good luck  no mmorpg is gonna be flawless at release this game will be in development as long a Duke nukem forever if you expect that.. I think the game ran great and seemed very optimized..

I see no reason for their not to be a summer release from what i played.

As bad as my withdrawal is and as bad as i would love to play this very minute i would still say it is ready when anet says it is ready..

It is very likely that anet took on prepurchases to begin with as a way to bring in enough cash to convince ncsoft to be patient and to get the required resources to finish the game the right way and i am all in rather this is the case or not..

Its ready when anet says it is...

I really wouldnt honestly expect to see GW2 released before august...

Originally posted by Master10K

Originally posted by Spectrumized

Minus a few, small imbalances such as WvW gate HP and the inability to remove pets, I felt that the game preformed quite well. I'd be content with playing it now, but I can still enjoy Spiral Knights for the time being.

That is not an actual issue. It is just incompetent people in beta, not utilizing the siege equipment available. Like the cheapest one, the Battering Ram does 8,000dmg to a gate, whereas your standard auto attack does 30-50dmg. That's a huge difference.

Heh... reminds me of the two rams people were building at a gate of ours, and they failed to take out the burning oil first. I enjoyed toasting them.

Originally posted by Badaboom
Who else feels that, with the exception of a few hiccups, gw2 performed admirably during the BWE and should be released ASAP.  Anyone else going through withdrawal?

Uhh no, your standards must be pretty low.  This game needs allot of work still, I will being checking the next beta in hopes they have made improvements.

I think people exagerate a bit when they say things like.. "The game is far from ready" and "It needs a lot of work".

The game worked well, ran well and was pretty damn complete in my eyes. I'm still holding out for a June/July release date.

Originally posted by Jyiiga

I think people exagerate a bit when they say things like.. "The game is far from ready" and "It needs a lot of work".

The game worked well, ran well and was pretty damn complete in my eyes. I'm still holding out for a June/July release date.

Totally agree. 

Originally posted by snapfusion

Originally posted by Badaboom
Who else feels that, with the exception of a few hiccups, gw2 performed admirably during the BWE and should be released ASAP.  Anyone else going through withdrawal?

Uhh no, your standards must be pretty low.  This game needs allot of work still, I will being checking the next beta in hopes they have made improvements.

Disagree. This game as it stands is better than most that have been released for years.

Originally posted by Jyiiga

I think people exagerate a bit when they say things like.. "The game is far from ready" and "It needs a lot of work".

The game worked well, ran well and was pretty damn complete in my eyes. I'm still holding out for a June/July release date.

I think it's the whole:

No one has publicly seen/tested 30 - 80 content.

No one has publicly seen/tested 2 full starting areas.

No one has publicly seen/tested 7/8 dungeons.

All the balancing, bugs and tweaks that will need to be made to that content makes me very skeptical about an earlier release.