Guild Wars 2

Excited is too less of a word to describe it...I've been following this for several years. I've been in the beta and will stay up late into the night Friday night. I'll be on Sanctum of Rall server.

I put more hours into GW1 (+1,200 hours) than any PC game except Counterstrike and Team Fortress 2. I completed most of the adventure mode at least once, but arena PvP was my primary love. I had a blast tinkering with new builds and testing them out on the battlefield with all of the great tools the game (and expansions) allowed.

With that said, I've been trying hard to fall in love with GW2, but I just can't. I feel they dumbed down the skill system by forcing skill packs on you instead of allowing each slot to be chosen by the player. Plus they got rid of the primary/secondary dual class system, which really opened up a wealth of build possibilities. The fun of creation isn't the same from what I can tell.

Also, my favorite class the Mesmer was revamped in ways I don't care for. A lot of the pressure skills, like Hexes, stances, interrupts and energy drains are gone as mechanics in this game. You have clones to play with now, but that seems somewhat like something the Ritualist (not in GW2) would use. There is a MUCH greater emphasis on melee fighting as a Mesmer, which rubs me the wrong way. Plus I remember being wow'd by the graphics in GW1 when it first came out, and the game itself was beautiful for its time. GW2 visuals seem merely decent, which is unfortunate. I dunno.

I do appreciate some of the mechanic changes, especially those that I was begging for in forum debates long ago. For instance, I hated that the Monk in GW1 was the only required class for most team builds, especially in the arenas. A team with a primary healer on it had a very high chance of winning vs. a team without. In GW2, there is no dedicated healer, and there a re a ton of self heals/defensive buffs for all classes instead.

I also like the fact that players don't need to carry a rez skill, allowing for the skill bar to be open for more cool options. The weapon mod system and the ability to switch between multiple builds on the fly looks great, and I like the dynamic quest system for adventure mode more than GW1s Fed Express game play. Another improvement worth mentioning is how skills between team mates of different classes naturally interact with each other in real time to create some amazing combos.

I want to like the game, but have a hard time generating a strong interest. Maybe I'll warm up to it if the reception is generally strong by players.

I enjoy MMO worlds but don't care for traditional MMO combat. I thought it might be fun to participate in the start of a new MMO, so I'll start playing GW2 on Saturday.

I'm hoping the PVE combat will hold my interest.

I've been playing games a looooong time so I know when I see something good. Guild Wars 2 is REALLY REALLY REALLY good. I love it.

Heh, that's the thing - I didn't join the betas. My impressions are based on preview articles, discussions with some old buddies in the GW universe and my deep experience with the first game.

I was known back in the day for having an extremely strong understanding of the game mechanics of the skills in the game and how to get an optimal synergy with them when designing character builds. A lot of stuff I can comprehend without playing it.

But while I can easily tell what parts of the old game I would miss if I get the new game, I know I'll have to play for awhile with GW2 if I ever want to know for sure if I like how it plays. I can tell though that they have made a quality product; maybe it's just not the one for me because of my expectations.

I'm having a lot of fun. They did a great job of rethinking how to make an MMO interesting.

There's no doubt it's a very different game from Guild Wars 1 (which, in the interests of disclosure, I did not like).

It will take time for the complexities to settle in, and it's true that the game seems to less in the way of build options. But I think the flexibility offered by the skill system may actually add some depth. It's true that every class has good heal options, but will a team use it in the arena? If not, they will die to a team that does. Right now everybody is just zerging and spamming attacks so it's tough to see where this will end up.

I am playing as an elementalist and the options I have in a battle - every battle - seem pretty damn interesting to me.

^^^ GW2 forces everyone to take a healing skill because it has a dedicated slot.

I'm fine with that since I always built my GW1 fighters with at least one heal skill, as well as a second defensive skill (i.e. Distortion on my Mesmer to avoid most physical attacks) and ressurection skill for random arenas.

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Edit:

Ehhhh... I went ahead and ordered the digital standard edition from Amazon. I figured that with all the great fun and time invested in the first game, which also pioneered forcing no monthly fees for an MMO, developer Arena.net deserves my early support for the sequel.

As for my concerns about my favorite class the Mesmer, I also used the Necromancer and Assassin as secondary mains back in the day (and felt comfortable using any profession depending on my team's needs). I suppose that if GW2's Mesmer doesn't grow on me I can play with the other professions to see if something clicks.

Are you guys playing the campaign first, jumping straight into PvP, or both?
Edited by joeblow - 8/27/12 at 12:00pm

I've played a bit of all 3. My opinion is that all 3 are amazing.

Right now World vs. World is subject to lots of queues and I've run into server issues with SPVP. So, it's new game issues but they aren't horrible.

Structured PVP, obviously, gives you all the skills right from the start (whereas, IIRC, you needed a max-level character to play it in GW1). But I still don't think I can use my character effectively.

GW1 allowed you to play "structured" PvP from the start, but you were handicapped if you hadn't yet hit the max level 20 or gathered a decent variety of skills and elites to build with.

Arena.net later came to their senses and gradually allowed PvP characters to stand on its own from the start (no more need for PvE grinding), which then only required that you buy each expansion to have all the options available.

I've spent probably 20 hours since launch and this game is glorious. It's forward thinking, it's player friendly. You actually enjoy the leveling experience and do not feel a rush to get to max level. In all other MMO's, it's "what's the fastest way I can level up". Not here, you are supposed to enjoy the ride. The only other game I felt this way about was DCUO. Every class is awesome and unique, so much so I still am not sure my main character because everyone is great. Zone events are often. Zone bosses spawn often. It's just great...I'm going to stop typing so I can go play. One last thing, it's the most beautiful MMO I've ever played and that includes Rift...although Rift is a close second.

Was really looking forward to this game but unfortunately it comes out practically on top of the new wow expansion which is going to get my focus first. Luckily this seems like a game where you don't really need to jump in and get "ahead of the curve" to be competitive, so I will come and pick it up later in the year after the first tier of MoP starts getting dull.

@Dave - I also crashed quite a bit during the beta. Full on BSOD which I never get.

Would it be entirely impractical to play this on my HTPC using a 360 controller? I'm not a gamer but have been really interested in giving this a run.

Since the game doesn't have built-in pad support, I'm guessing that the toughest thing to emulate properly is targeting. But since you brought it up, I may try it with my DS3 as well.

That sucks. This isn't a common issue from what I can see, so tracking down the cause probably won't be easy.

I'm gonna sit it out for a day or two. Today is the real release date and my guess is it's gonna be ugly.



Yea. I am playing it with a mouse and keyboard but it's actually pretty pad-friendly. Just google search "360 controller Guild Wars 2" and you will see some setups.

I wouldn't play structured PVP with it but everything else would be fine.

People still play WoW!?

Probably a lot more people are playing WoW than are playing GW2.

WoW still has like, 9 million people playing it. Down from the peak of 12 but it's still enormously popular.
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What manual?

There will be expansion packs galore - it is how ArenaNet gets paid. The GW1 packs were all well done.

I was bugged that the final GW1 campaign pack (Eye of the North) had no new professions, but I agree that they were all well done and worth the money. They even tossed out some free expansion areas as well.

The Wiki is pretty good but it has been down most of the time lately.

Yea it's actually a rough game to get started. Very very little is explained and the mechanics are very deep. The Wiki being offline just adds to the pain.

But then again now I am experimenting with weapon sets, crafting custom armor, etc., it's very satisfying to work my way through these things.