Originally posted by Noxxumari
thanks for the positive insight on the game I have left these forums before because everyone is so negative. How is the community in general? I play for the social interaction as well. Nothing bores me more than not making new friends in a MMO.

I've had an easy time making friends in game, but it's a very busy game so sometimes the idle chatter is light because people don't have the time to stop. I find I'll be typing out something to say and have to stop halfway because we're back in another fight.  The pace in this game can be amazing because things are actively happening, instead of a questgiver based game where nothing happens unless you queue it.  So if you take the initiative, people will respond and the community is good.

Originally posted by ashleymorrow

I know that in time I will enjoy the game less, that's just the nature of everything in life. What is novel at first eventually becomes mundane. But for now I am having a great time. My background in gaming is not extensive. The only games I played for six months or more have been EQ2, SWtOR, and TSW. I feel fairly sure that GW2 will be joining that club.

 

So, if you're on the fence about buying it, here are the thoughts of a new player:

 

1) Character Creation: This element of any game is pretty important to me. If I don't have a 'beautiful' or 'dashing' looking avatar I find it very hard to get enthused. GW2 has the best character creator outside of Eve imo. Eve's is clearly better, but you can't interact with other people so I don't think it should count. 

A distinctive name is another small item that is super important to me. GW2 is the first game I have played that took the absolutely best approach and allows you to create names like 'Lily Stargazer' or 'Basher The Beast'. Despite millions of people having created characters I was able to get a name that I genuinely appreciated (Pandora Winter) in less than a minute.

My score: 9/10. I would give it a 10, but it seems that once you enter the actual game world your features become a little softer, probably for FPS reasons. Still, I love the way my character looks.

 

2) Beautiful Game World: Without a doubt, best cities I've ever seen (remember I am not an expert and my game past is limited). The main city is filled with NPCs and really seems alive. The country side I have seen so far has been less impressive than the cities but still very well done. The different geographic formations (mountains, swamps, etc.) really do exude the ambiance you would expect from such a locale.

MS: 8/10

 

3) Easy Questing: You never have to join a group, or at least I haven't in my first 13 levels. I have no idea about the endgame, but then I rarely get to the endgame so that is not a priority to me. The quest givers are easy to find, the goals are clear, and just by being in the same proximity of other players you are automatically grouped for whatever event is occuring. When it's over there is no painful seperation, you just go find something else to do.

 

MS: 8/10

 

4) Crafting: I loved the crafting in EQ2, but GW2 has the best crafting I have seen yet. It is easy, intuitive, and from the start you can make useful items. Gathering materials is done by harvesting nodes that only you have access to! No more disapointment from seeing some ore, running to it, and then being beaten to the punch by one second by another player. 

 

MS: 10/10

 

5) Community: The Community is very friendly (I'm on Crystal Desert) and any questions I have had have been answered quickly and politely. I have not had a lot of interaction with my fellow players as I am still trying to get my newbie legs, but some very friendly, down to earth folk seem to be the norm.

 

MS: 10/10

 

6) Ease of Use: Very polished interface. I need to print up a game manual, and I do wish that some features were explained  more clearly with a mouse over such as the character stats, but small things like that are easily rectified by doing a google search.  And despite that single, small flaw, there are so many innovations that the pros seriously outweigh the cons. The game designers obviously put fun first! Instead of running to a bank when my bags are full I can clear out inventory when away from the city with a single click that deposits collectables for me - just one example of many.

 

MS: 8/10.

 

7) Fun: I am truly enjoying myself. This is not a morally ambiguous game. You are the hero. You do the right thing. You help the poor and oppressed and defeat the bad guys. While some may see that as shallow, I actually appreciate the change of pace. It feels nice to be the good guy!

 

MS: 10/10.

 

So, those are my initial impressions and opinions. I still have a lot to learn, I have not gone beyond the starting zone, and my highest character is level 13. There may be serious issues later in the game, I don't know. All I do know is that I am really enjoying this relaxing, entertaining game for now. Easily worth the one time cost in terms of return on my investment. If you are looking for a highly polished, beautiful world I strongly recommend it. 

Oh hey question for you. I see that you tried TSW. I just couldn't bring myself to pay for a sub for that game even though I loved the idea of it. What were your thoughts on it if you don't mind me asking?

Also yeah GW2...hmm I wish the world for this game but for some reason something is off. I'm currently playing torchlight 2 as well as Rift. GW2 I come back to here and again but I'm also waiting on FF14 reborn so see if I can get that RPG spark back. If not I'll probably go back to playing console RPGs instead.

Till that time however I split my time between Rift, GW2 and Torch light 2. GW2 has taken the backburner after I got to 80 on my norn ranger...I have a lot of other characters that I would love to level but just can't seem to get the motivation for it. Perhaps if they add something that makes exploring worth it. Or perhaps something to make my character actually feel like they are powerful or something. Or who knows perhaps I'll come back just to casually level one of them up.

Grats on your enjoyment I think its a good game, but instead of adding fluff they should but more depth into the game. You know switch some systems around or something. Add more skills, redo the pets, make the classes more viable. They feel kind of...hmm...shallow. I think I might come back for the pvp though as I loved that part.

Originally posted by Noxxumari
thanks for the positive insight on the game I have left these forums before because everyone is so negative. How is the community in general? I play for the social interaction as well. Nothing bores me more than not making new friends in a MMO.

Well despite what some people say, I've had just as successful a time meeting new people and playing with them as I ever had in WoW playing for 4+ years.  It's about as social when it comes down to it.  The difference is that you don't need to worry about whose loot is whose after killing quest mobs, since loot is instanced, so there's no "Hey it dropped one for you way back here".  God I hated that. 

But yeah, just join a guild that seems friendly.  Honestly, that's how I met all of my friends in every other MMO.

Originally posted by Graey

Oh hey question for you. I see that you tried TSW. I just couldn't bring myself to pay for a sub for that game even though I loved the idea of it. What were your thoughts on it if you don't mind me asking?

 

I think it is a great premise with not so good execution. Visually it's a beautiful game, easily some of the best atmospheres I've seen in a game. The initial stage is fun, but the game itself is hardly user friendly or intuitive. So if you play be prepared to sit down and read a good bit about the mechanics and how different abilities pair with others.

I had some good times in it, but in the end it was becoming more of a chore than a joy. I play games to relax, but if you're a competitive person you might really enjoy it. I would wait for a free trial though. I just read that a patch broke some of the quest givers and vendors; not a good sign.

The devs are really cool and I wish them the best, but I get the feeling that the ship is sinking. That's just my own personal intuition on the matter and I could be wrong.

Edited to add: If you can get it for ten or fifteen dollars you'll most likely get your moneys worth out of it if you're like me and divide the hours of fun into price paid. 

Originally posted by mistersalty1
theres no end game. once you hit 80 theres nothing to do. dont expect anything different than what you did in the starter zone all the way up to 80. WvW is just a big zergfest. game is bad.

Lets see, at 80 i still do all the same things i loved to do while leveling up... tough the dungeons only started at level 30. 

While most people zerg in WvWvW, because they are sheep that like to follow a leader, small group play in WvWvW can be much fun and there are even a lot of goals to achieve with a small group.

This game is the best thing since Vanilla WoW, EQ and DAoC. and i love it every day i play, so do my guildies and a lot of real life friends.  and every day i just play a few hours.

Originally posted by GXRranger
Come back and update the thread when you hit 80.  I would like to see if you changed your mind on the game any.

In a way the game for me really started to be fun when i hit 80. Now i cant pull myself till 3-4 am from WvW (bad because i ave to get p at 7.30 for work ;P ) for almost a month now, and that didnt happen since...hmmm...L2 (a long long time).

I didnt do a single dungeon, so i still have those to go through. I only have one craft skill to 400, and i want those too.

So ya, however you turn it, (if you care about that) i did get my moneys worth, and after a long time i can say i find a game more beautiful (graphically as a package technical+art) than LOTRO (was L2 before that), and thats certanly 1 thing that has kept me in those games for a long time (L2+ years, LOTRO i still play on and off when thers new content).

Originally posted by mistersalty1
theres no end game. once you hit 80 theres nothing to do. dont expect anything different than what you did in the starter zone all the way up to 80. WvW is just a big zergfest. game is bad.

There's Dungeons, FOTM, SPvP, Torunaments, WvWvW, Exploring, Crafting, Farming, Achievements,Jumping Puzzles, mini games, 5 Races, 8 Classes, 30 Stories.

There is endgame, you're to blind to see it. Please don't spread your false information.

Originally posted by InFlamestwo

Originally posted by mistersalty1
theres no end game. once you hit 80 theres nothing to do. dont expect anything different than what you did in the starter zone all the way up to 80. WvW is just a big zergfest. game is bad.

There's Dungeons, FOTM, SPvP, Torunaments, WvWvW, Exploring, Crafting, Farming, Achievements,Jumping Puzzles, mini games, 5 Races, 8 Classes, 30 Stories.

There is endgame, you're to blind to see it. Please don't spread your false information.

I think he meant vertical progression. At this pace I wouldn't be suprised to see vertical progression in the future.

Originally posted by moosecatlol

 

I think he meant vertical progression. At this pace I wouldn't be suprised to see vertical progression in the future.

Why should you be surprised when ANet has specifically said there will be vertical progression at 80?

Reddit AMA by ANet

"So to the question of vertical progression. So as we know there is already vertical progression in the game and we do intend to keep moving forward with this philosophy."

"I think it's important for GW2 to be able to have this kind of gradual progression."

Whether the verical progression is a 'gear grind' or not is up to each one's subjective opinion.

I am a technical kind of guy (I see things in black and white) so this to me is a gear grind because there are better gear.

ANet doesn't think so; 'there is better gear but the diff is not enough to be a gear grind'

Originally posted by mistersalty1
theres no end game. once you hit 80 theres nothing to do. dont expect anything different than what you did in the starter zone all the way up to 80. WvW is just a big zergfest. game is bad.

Really?, have you ever played WxWxW with 2 or 3, 10 men groups , organizated?, i think a lot of people just come here to troll but they have no clue about the game.

If you dont like the game its OK, but flame about nothing on these foruns its not fine.

Originally posted by mistersalty1
theres no end game. once you hit 80 theres nothing to do. dont expect anything different than what you did in the starter zone all the way up to 80. 

That's excellent news since I've been enjoying myself from the starter zone!

I would hate it if suddenly I was forced to run the same stale dungeon over and over again.

It's nice that a game is enjoyable from the beginning, I'm just sorry that so many hardcore themepark MMOers have been conditioned to think that no game is fun until endgame.

Originally posted by mistersalty1
theres no end game. once you hit 80 theres nothing to do. dont expect anything different than what you did in the starter zone all the way up to 80. WvW is just a big zergfest. game is bad.

Have you actually played the game or just repeating what blind haters do?

That is all it seems to me - play the game and find out for yourself. Don't be a parrot and just repeat things others who haven't played the game say.

Maybe you want stale 20 man raids with have been done ad nauseum in many games.

I have 3 level 80s.

I have 4 professions at 400.

I have world completion.

Yes, I agree that there is limited amount of worthwhile things to do at level 80. And I have played the game since pre release -3. I have about 1000 game hours invested.

PVE and Story: Once you have 1 level 80 everything is repetitive. Building alts is enjoyable, but the content is a repeat and unless you love doing the same thing over and over it gets old. Leveling is very fast - perhaps too fast?

WVW: I am on a server in tier 1 (top 3 wvw servers in NA) and yes - it is a zerg fest. Over the weekend I got my monthly done via follow a zerg from tower to tower, capture them, but then immediately leave (enemy re-claims). Rinse and repeat. WVW gets old and its the same every single week. Players are smart enough to see that the benefit of winning a match is just about zero - especially since the orbs were removed - and that its bette from an earnings perspective to simply flip/re-flip castles and towers and POCs. Holding this stuff nets you nothing. Flipping it every hour gets you pockets of silver, karma, etc. Its become a joke really.

sPVP is an acquired taste given you go in, your toon abilities are tossed and a cookie cutter applied to attempt to balance the matches etc. Not into that - I worked hard for my gear, abilities, etc. and to be downgraded to a cookie cutter - not for me.

Orr and other high level zones are near ghost towns even on high pop servers. You will find clusters of players farming a DE or 2 over and over (the camp corridor being the most blatent example in Cursed Shores) but overall Orr is such a drag that seldom do people venture out of their DE farming. This has gotten a lot worse since FOTM came out.

FOTM - flawed design. Everyone is on a different level, no incentive to re-run lower levels than what you are on so its harder and harder to find groups as you progress. Its not at all inclusive. No LFG tool so people stand around in Lions Arch for hours spamming LFG FOTM Level nn rather than playing the game. Wanna know why zones are empty - people are in LA spamming LFG.

Ascended Gear - after months (pre release as well) of claiming the game will be different anet caved in and gave us a treadmill - so people are less inclined to waste time chasing after other gear knowing they must run FOTM till they are bleeding from their eyes to get BiS gear. Epic fail.

So what does an 80 have to look forward to?

Dungeon runs - for tokens - for gear that is not BiS and has same stats as crafted. Pointless unless you love dungeon grinding.

FOTM treadmill.

WVW zerging.

Farming DEs and Dragons in otherwise nearly empty zones.

Originally posted by cptndunsel
snip

 

I guess 1000 hours before you get bored is quite good :)

And hopefully they wont repeat ascended gear mistake/fractals mistake, seems they are aware that they made one *shrug*

Originally posted by Eir_S
To the guy who said there's nothing to do at 80...... even if that were true, and it's not, I have had raid-like experiences complete with dozens of people and detailed mechanics to take down bosses or other obstacles many many times during the leveling experience, which is exactly what they promised and exactly why I love this game.  In WoW, there was nothing to do UNTIL max level, and I feel that's just wasting a large portion of the game to "get to the real game".

What the heck are you talking about. You can do EVERYTHING except raid pre-max level. [mod edit]

Originally posted by Psychow

Originally posted by Eir_S
To the guy who said there's nothing to do at 80...... even if that were true, and it's not, I have had raid-like experiences complete with dozens of people and detailed mechanics to take down bosses or other obstacles many many times during the leveling experience, which is exactly what they promised and exactly why I love this game.  In WoW, there was nothing to do UNTIL max level, and I feel that's just wasting a large portion of the game to "get to the real game".

 

What the heck are you talking about. You can do EVERYTHING except raid pre-max level. [mod edit]

I played WoW for 4 years. [mod edit]