Originally posted by Aerowyn
Odd in the 120 or so hours I put into this game if you include beta it has yet to feel grindy in anyway... Grindy can mean different things though.. To me grindy is like lineage 2

If I had to guess, I'd say it depends on what level you are.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but the levelling curve isn't very steep for GW2.  The levels don't take substantially longer to finish later on than they do earlier in the game.  So I could see someone thinking the game is "grindy" in the early levels (grindy sometimes being a euphimism for "slow") because they don't fly by like in other MMOs.  It takes longer to reach level 10 in this game than it does in other MMOs, so in that respect, it might feel like more work.  

But once you start getting to the mid levels, you start to notice that you are progressing in levels much quicker than other MMOs, because they aren't taking substantially longer than they did earlier in the game.  Not to mention, by that time you are fully into crafting, which gives you a ton of XP as well, and also fully comfortable with just going out and earning XP through exploration, which takes some time to learn how to do in this game (breaking old habits).   

I think it's all a matter of perception.  And I think people generally use the word "grind" in different ways. 

Originally posted by waynejr2

Originally posted by Kuppa
Its amaizing how things can be so different from person to person. This games feels so not grindy to me. Actually I barely pay attention to my xp bar, maybe its because it brings out the explorer in me.

Exploration seems grindy.  I love exploration but this game has over codified it imo.

Can you explain what you mean by exploration seems grindy? and over codified it?

What I mean is I have no clear goals. Im not exploring to gain map % and achieve some goal. Im doing it because its actually fun and interesting to look at something far away and go to it. In the way run into things because they happened to be on the way not because I was looking for them, it reminds me of how I played Skyrim.

My personal ratings:

1. GW2 - For the mechanics. It is the most accesible and fun-oriented (rather than gear-oriented) MMO I've played.

2. WoW - For the nostalgia. It was (and still is) a very polished and accesible game, although it's lore and general soul has taken a turn for the worse.

3. WAR - For my first time leveling through PvP. Nuff said.

Originally posted by Kuppa 

What I mean is I have no clear goals. Im not exploring to gain map % and achieve some goal. Im doing it because its actually fun and interesting to look at something far away and go to it. In the way run into things because they happened to be on the way not because I was looking for them, it reminds me of how I played Skyrim.

This. The game actually feels like an RPG rather than a gear-a-thon.

Originally posted by RebelScum99

Originally posted by Aerowyn
Odd in the 120 or so hours I put into this game if you include beta it has yet to feel grindy in anyway... Grindy can mean different things though.. To me grindy is like lineage 2

If I had to guess, I'd say it depends on what level you are.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but the levelling curve isn't very steep for GW2.  The levels don't take substantially longer to finish later on than they do earlier in the game.  So I could see someone thinking the game is "grindy" in the early levels (grindy sometimes being a euphimism for "slow") because they don't fly by like in other MMOs.  It takes longer to reach level 10 in this game than it does in other MMOs, so in that respect, it might feel like more work.  

But once you start getting to the mid levels, you start to notice that you are progressing in levels much quicker than other MMOs, because they aren't taking substantially longer than they did earlier in the game.  Not to mention, by that time you are fully into crafting, which gives you a ton of XP as well, and also fully comfortable with just going out and earning XP through exploration, which takes some time to learn how to do in this game (breaking old habits).   

I think it's all a matter of perception.  And I think people generally use the word "grind" in different ways. 

I could see that people are used to levels 1-20 flying by and then slowing down a lot in some cases which isn't the case in this game

Originally posted by Psychow

 

I know. He said it felt a little "grindy" and out of the woodwork 5 people said something along the lines of " Nuh uh...it's not grindy! I played lots and U'r wrong!!"

 Poor OP is probably second guessing himself as I type this...

The only provocative thing I saw above was someone saying, "Kids!"  I don't think that was necessary.

Other than that I saw people saying they disagree, and politely.  Even the "Kids!" post was reasonable up to that point.

Hardly a flame war.

Only thing I've found grindy so far is unlocking all the Elementalist weapon skills. Took forever, and felt like a root canal after a while (3 weapons, 2 offhands, 4 elements = UGH). Sad thing is after I played it a bit more I decided I don't like the class. Even by GW2 standards it's squishy (like wet Jell-O), and many skills are just carbon copies of one another with different elements involved.

Warrior looks to be almost as bad though...

But hey, at least it's not as bad as TSW's skill grind. I like the game but good lord progress is slow-paced.

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Originally posted by Aerowyn
To me grindy is like lineage 2

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This. Grindy means you kill mobs mindlessly for hours just to gain 5% exp. :P In GW2, I just go out to gather stuff for crafting and I run into events. Lotsa fun! <3

Originally posted by Wolvards

Originally posted by Kuppa
Its amaizing how things can be so different from person to person. This games feels so not grindy to me. Actually I barely pay attention to my xp bar, maybe its because it brings out the explorer in me.

This is how I feel. It's crazy how some people find some games grindy, and others not. Me I find SW:TOR a classic grinders game. Quest hub here, grab 5, complete all, next quest literally leads you to the next set of hubs. Always making sure you gain enough exp or else go farm some mobs to catch up.

GW2 is the opposite for me. I'm an Asura and I havent even done their starting zone yet. I've got Human and Norn almost all the way done, and Charr over 50%. Now i'm just running around Gendarren fields looking for hearts vendors, I NEED cherries to level up my cook skill haha, so that's what i'm looking for, just leveling on the way.

It is not really so strange, we do like different things. Even us MMOs fans like very different games  but that is just natural. People who listens to rap does not neccesarily like the same band either....

So far myself does it not feel grindy at all since I usually choose to ignore repeating stuff. Of course once in a while I do repeat stuff since some NPC cry out for help and I just dont have the heart to leave them to the mercy of bandits or whatever.

Grindy in my opinion is doing the same content over and over and this game is large enough to not do that.

Originally posted by Aerowyn
Odd in the 120 or so hours I put into this game if you include beta it has yet to feel grindy in anyway... Grindy can mean different things though.. To me grindy is like lineage 2

Yet when it comes to PvP lineage 2 far exceeds GW2. GW2 feels very grindy when it comes to PvP..

Originally posted by Kuppa
Its amaizing how things can be so different from person to person. This games feels so not grindy to me. Actually I barely pay attention to my xp bar, maybe its because it brings out the explorer in me.

While you are right this is a pure troll post and should be regarded as such. He loved the leveling in SWTOR but adding the "quest" system in GW2 would have made it better....then SWTOR wasnt better or am I missing something? It just reaks of a troll.

Interesting picks, none of those are even close to 'most fun' to me.

Guildwars 2 is relatively fun to me, somewhere in the middle. Its 'interesting' at first but I get tired after an hour of two and just don't really feel like it. I think the lack of 'order' of sorts actually detracts me from the leveling process. 

I haven't played SW:ToR, so I can't comment there.  Although I do love every Bioware game I've played, so I suspect I'd enjoy SW's leveling experience.  

As for the present, GW2 is vastly more fun than WoW's leveling experience to me.  However, you made a relative assessment, so I'll do the same.  It's honestly difficult to compare how much I enjoy GW2's leveling now to how much I enjoyed WoW's 8 years ago. I was blown away at the time and I'm blown away now, which I must say is a feat in and of itself for GW2.  I wasn't sure I ever could be blown away by an MMO again.  

I will say that I approve of the advancements WoW has made to its quest system over the years and across the expansions.  They've gone from mass quest wrangling at single quest hubs to a broader disbursement at a more fluid pace.  Quests today are less clusters of individual tasks and more components of to an overall narrative told within the zone.  Phasing allows for more complete storytelling and an enhanced illusion that you had an impact on the world.  (It has its cons too, of which I am well aware.)  

I bring all of that up to say that I'm hopeful that GW2 can make comparable advancements with its event system over the years and across future expansions in much the same way WoW did its quest system.  

Originally posted by Aori

Originally posted by Aerowyn
Odd in the 120 or so hours I put into this game if you include beta it has yet to feel grindy in anyway... Grindy can mean different things though.. To me grindy is like lineage 2

Yet when it comes to PvP lineage 2 far exceeds GW2. GW2 feels very grindy when it comes to PvP..

i don't care for gear based PVP personally.. so never liked PVP in lineage 2

i didnt play SWTOR

for me, GW2 is the most fun leveling ive ever had -- i *love* exploring

(playing mmos from 1999)

Originally posted by Purutzil

Interesting picks, none of those are even close to 'most fun' to me.

 

Guildwars 2 is relatively fun to me, somewhere in the middle. Its 'interesting' at first but I get tired after an hour of two and just don't really feel like it. I think the lack of 'order' of sorts actually detracts me from the leveling process. 

I can see that being something folks don't like. There is a certain level of "go on...explore" going on were you don't really get a focus or any order of how things should be done. Its not a bad thing for me but I can see players not liking this when they try the game for the first time and just ending up dissapointed.

I'll be honest and say that I don't mind linear leveling.  The biggest problem I had with SWTOR was leveling an alt of the same faction as they had zero alternatives at higher levels.  The second biggest problem I had was that they made voice overs for just about every quest.  That was major overkill.

When I say GW2 feels a little more grindy to me, it's in reference to sometimes having to run the same DEs over again and trying to find every little spot on the map to complete it for the reward.  Exploring is fun but I have a limit I guess.  Searching out hearts, skill quests and DEs is also fun.  I just wish the DE's were a little more plentiful.

Ideally, the game would allow a zone to be taken over due to failures and have totally different heart quests and DEs depending on how overrun things are.

I am worried about the fun of leveling alts.  But it's far too early to determine for me.  If unlocking all quests, POIs and such is done per character.  Well I'll likely see everything on my main before rolling an alt.  That could be a problem.

Originally posted by FrodoFragins

I am worried about the fun of leveling alts.  But it's far too early to determine for me.  If unlocking all quests, POIs and such is done per character.  Well I'll likely see everything on my main before rolling an alt.  That could be a problem.

only issue ive had w alts is getting the city waypoints again is redundant - so ive skipped doing that for now :)

Originally posted by FrodoFragins

I'll be honest and say that I don't mind linear leveling.  The biggest problem I had with SWTOR was leveling an alt of the same faction as they had zero alternatives at higher levels.  The second biggest problem I had was that they made voice overs for just about every quest.  That was major overkill.

 

When I say GW2 feels a little more grindy to me, it's in reference to sometimes having to run the same DEs over again and trying to find every little spot on the map to complete it for the reward.  Exploring is fun but I have a limit I guess.  Searching out hearts, skill quests and DEs is also fun.  I just wish the DE's were a little more plentiful.

 

Ideally, the game would allow a zone to be taken over due to failures and have totally different heart quests and DEs depending on how overrun things are.

 

I am worried about the fun of leveling alts.  But it's far too early to determine for me.  If unlocking all quests, POIs and such is done per character.  Well I'll likely see everything on my main before rolling an alt.  That could be a problem.

 

 

i been through the charr starting zone 3 times total since beta.. only once i got 100% of the map but every time was a differn't experience as I saw some DE's from start to finish some I saw at the end and some in the middle.. making a living world provides a MUCH better replayability experience as nothing is set in stone.. yes DE's repeat and you will see the same ones but they are always going on without you and you don't always see them all the way through. This to me adds so much to the game and overall replayability. Also if you ever feel like you NEED to search out for things i'd try doing something else.. try crafting or try some WvWvW to level.. shouldn't ever feel like you need to search out DE's or hearts just to level

Originally posted by Aerowyn

Originally posted by The_Korrigan
In the theme park category, I put the fun of leveling in GW2 above any other game I've played, including WoW... and definitely WAY above SW:TOR, which except the story, was just a WoW clone with boring "icon over the head" NPCs.

same i dunno how people got passed 30 in swtor.. i was falling asleep past 20 world design and classes were just boring me to death.. i was litteraly just playing because i love star wars but even that only went so far... for me feeling apart of a living world makes the leveling experience 100x more enjoyable in so many aspects.. as GW2 is really the only MMO i have played to really provide this sort of experience I will say its the most enjoyable leveling experience I have had in a MMO.

Well, I played SW:TOR like if it was KOTOR3 so it saved me... I enjoyed the double trip to max level on republic and empire side, but that's it. Once the story is over, the game is even more boring than similar WoW clones.

The very first 1-15 zone can feel like a little grind, especially if you don't craft.

But here is a little suggestion to make people's GW2 experience past the first zone significantly less grindy:  Before going to the 15-25 zone of your choosing, go to another 1-15 zone.  I did this mainly because I needed crafting mats still.  After finishing my second newbie zone Im over level 20 already, and being over leveled doesnt matter because of the level scaling.  And its not like you have to finish them or even do hearts, just run around gathering and the events you run across.  Go for some skill points.  Enjoy the vista views.  Im not remotely concerned with my level at all right now.  I couldnt even tell you my level.