Plain and simple, you're not meant to be able to level through the personal story alone. GW2's strength is the variety of gameplay modes you can choose to play at any given time during the level up process. Between events, hearts, map exploration, crafting, dungeons, and the various PvP modes, you should be able to find several things you enjoy doing in GW2. The story is meant to introduce you to certain zones you should be leveling in as well as provide some additional context to the dungeons and, really, the whole world. If the personal story is the only thing you like, then I hate to say it but I don't think GW2 is going to hold your attention for very long.
I will say that once you get into the 50s and 60s, each of your personal story events begin to feel like full dungeons. They can take upwards of 45 minutes to complete. This continues through to level 80.
For me personally, I eventually found myself outleveling my personal story drastically. I would, usually to my surprise, get 10 levels ahead of it, then go back and do it all. This pace felt good to me. Doing just 1 at a time can make it feel somewhat disconnected from itself, but then again I already think the story feels highly disconnected from the rest of the world in many ways. I have several criticisms for the personal story, but I'll wait until I get through my review to voice them. On the whole, I enjoyed the dynamic events and heart quests a lot more than the personal story anyway. I would even go as far as to say they do a better job at telling the story of Tyria than the personal story does.
I enjoy the order of whispers story so far. Yea, its a little chiche, but it makes me laugh from time to time and it fits my interest. I like how your choices in the story determine where you go and how your character progresses in the over all game. Replayability is high as well, so chances are I'll have a couple characters, at least one of each race. Saving up my exp boosters for em
Funny how my opinion is completely the opposite. I can not stand the personal story and like running around exploring on the map.
I'm now 15 levels behind on my personal story and trying to catch up but I really HATE it.
And I'm somewhere in the middle: The story doesn't blow me away, but I like it.
I don't "grind" the rest of the content to get to the next story quest. I enjoy pretty much the whole experience, and often end up doing the next story quest 1 or 2 levels higher that required. FYI: no advantage to doing that; you get dropped down to the recommended level.
The only time I've felt like things feel a bit grindy is when I've been in zones where a number of the hearts have similar activities as progress credit. 2 or 3 that are almost strictly fetch based, for example.
Between Crafting, jumping puzzles, pvp and exploration I find plenty to do in between my story arc.
I see no problems with the game. The problem a lot of people have is they play a game too much and burn out too quickly on it. This game is great for casual players but I could see becoming boring for hardcore gamers. If you learn to relax and stop staring at your exp bar and just immerse yourself in the game world while doing everything this game has to offer you will have a blast., I guarantee it.
This ^^^.
I pay almost no attention to my level. I just really allow myself to be immersed in the game world. I too do crafting and amazingly the xp for crafting is really good when you're "inventing" items. I also love exploring and love the vistas, so I've enjoyed just randomly discovering areas and waypoints and points of interest and the vistas. I've only completed 2 cities and none of the outdoor areas, but I've had a blast doing it. I'm really enjoying this game. I'm sorry some people aren't, but that doesn't really concern me.
I like the story. It's not super invasive to the other parts of the game. It's short and to the point. When you have to make a choice, it actually changes the direction.
Enter a whole new realm of challenge and adventure.
Originally posted by xpiher I enjoy the order of whispers story so far. Yea, its a little chiche, but it makes me laugh from time to time and it fits my interest. I like how your choices in the story determine where you go and how your character progresses in the over all game. Replayability is high as well, so chances are I'll have a couple characters, at least one of each race. Saving up my exp boosters for em
I've been kinda curious as to how the story "tree" maps out; it's not 100% obvious to me as of yet.
1-10th level seems to be based on your race.
10-20 seems to be based on how you answered a question about your past: "passed up the opp to join the circus", "lost a fight to a rival", etc.
20-30 is this race again?
30+ seems based on your faction, Order of Whispers, for example.
Of course, you still have choices which alter those quests significantly, but am I right in that once you hit 30 and choose a faction, you'll be playing 1 of 3 options regardless of your race, class, or questions at CC? Or are there 1 of 3 options for each race or some other factor? I only have 1 character over lvl 30 so I'm not sure.
Where is this freaking grindfest folks are talking about? I feel like I get xp for every darn thing I do in the game. I think if I have my character go to an outhouse to take a piss I'll get xp for that too. You get xp for hearts, DE's, crafting, viewpoints, finding points of interest, gathering, sneezing, avoid cracks on the road that would break your mothers back, skipping rocks over the lake....okay I am exaggerating but you get xp from so many directions that it is hardly anything that could feel like a 'grindfest'. I remember FFXI in the beginning when it took hours to get a level and that was only if you didn't lose xp after a bad pull or something.
As for the story I like it but it's nothing over whelmingly good in my opinion. It's alright so nothing for me to push myself to get every time. Only reason I do is because of the rewards you usually get. Otherwise it could wait while I finish doing one of the many things I can do during that time.
To people, who like story-focused gaming in MMOs, Guild Wars 2 is not going to cut it. It just has too little of it, and what it has - though somewhat improved in comparison to the WOW formula - is not really high quality stuff. Two games, SWTOR and TSW has done story-based progression in MMOs really well; in those games you're always aware of what your character (not you!) is going through and you're mostly in anticipation of narrative progression.
A game like GW2, on the other hand, is not narrative-focused. Many people say they're even forgetting they had their personal story quest waiting for quite a while, and this is not for nothing: In their drive for distraction-based gameplay (I'd say even more so than Skyrim), Arenanet has relegated personal story to something of a niche in this game. It's just there for people who really, particularly dig personal story and actively seek it out in RPGs they play. Otherwise, an overwhelming majority of the game has to do with "you and the world", not your character and his story.
So, yeah... If you're looking for story-motivated gameplay, GW2 will probably disappoint you in this regard.
So, yeah... If you're looking for story-motivated gameplay, GW2 will probably disappoint you in this regard.
Or, at least if you're of the mind that GW2 is newer, therefore it will be "1 better" than TSW or TOR... the only real way it's better is that your choices more often and more deeply effect gameplay(compared to TOR and TSW), and your character actually talks(compared to TSW).
Also, as far as "empty story space between levels" goes, keep in mind that TOR is 50 levels to GW2's 80 levels. Having some chunk of your story mission occur almost every level in TOR compared to GW2's every 2 or 3 levels is not as big a difference from that perspective.
TSW is even harder to figure, without any levels. I remember when I played that I wished I could reset the whole series and do the whole story mission from front to back just to get a more focused context. but anyhoo...
I dont like that only the first third of it is actually about me. This is your actual "Personal" story. Its about you and it can vary greatly based on choices you made during character creation and choices you make during the missions.
The second third is about your Order and you have little choice in the direction this part takes.
The last third isnt even about you and you have no choice.
Hopefully when they continue the story in expansions they actually make it about you again.
I've been kinda curious as to how the story "tree" maps out; it's not 100% obvious to me as of yet.
1-10th level seems to be based on your race.
10-20 seems to be based on how you answered a question about your past: "passed up the opp to join the circus", "lost a fight to a rival", etc.
20-30 is this race again?
30+ seems based on your faction, Order of Whispers, for example.
Of course, you still have choices which alter those quests significantly, but am I right in that once you hit 30 and choose a faction, you'll be playing 1 of 3 options regardless of your race, class, or questions at CC? Or are there 1 of 3 options for each race or some other factor? I only have 1 character over lvl 30 so I'm not sure.
From what I can tell:
<<<CONTAINS 1-50 PERSONAL STORY SPOILERS>>>
1-30 is completely race unique. Within that, 1-20 is based entirely around the choices you made on character creation. Even within that, you're asked to make 1 or 2 choices during the story that will change your next 1 or 2 sequences. Regardless of your choice, your story will eventually converge again. From 20-30, you're introduced with the 3 Orders of Tyria and will periodically be asked to choose to accompany 1 out of 2 of them for your next mission. You seem to be faced with a choice like this 3 or 4 times before you have to officially choose your faction at 30.
30-50 is all about the factoin you joined. From talking with people who played different races but chose the same faction, we seem to have had several of the same missions. Your sidekick/mentor as well as some of the imporant characters you meet will vary based on your race, however.
Non spoiler version of 50-80 is that it is relatively the same for everyone, regardless of race and faction. You just have a few choices to make here and there that will determine your next mission.
<<<50-80 SPOILER VERSION AHEAD>>>>
50-80 is relatively the same for everyone. From 50-60 you fight off an Orrian invasion on Lion's Arch and begin to try to unite the 3 Orders. From 60-70 you help prove your worth and demonstrate Trahearn's leadership abilities to the 3 Orders so you're unified and motivated. 70-80 consists of your invasion of Orr.
I think in the rush to defend any possibly non-positive thing about GW2 people are missing what the OP is really saying.
Basically the OP wants a more involved questing experience revolving around his/her character. This is something very lacking from GW2. GW2 is far less about big interesting involved quests and far more about run around and do lots of tiny things that add up to lots of leveling. This includes exploring, DEs, hearts etc. None of it is involved (or for that matter really interesting) it is all a bunch of "hey do this real quick" and then you get a reward. Do enough of them and get another reward. Do enough of them in one day and get yet another reward.
The OP seems to be looking for a more involved questing experience, think the storied instances in LotRO. The closest GW2 has to that is the story quest and you only get to do 1 very short one every few levels.
A lot of people really like questing and GW2 is not a game that has questing. In fact that was essentially one of their stated goals. A can understand the OP on this point and I think that is why I find so little of GW2 interesting and why I ever lack the real desire to log in. This doesn't mean that GW2 is awful and that anyone is bashing it. It simply decided not to put any focus on an aspect that is big for a lot of gamers which means this game probably isn't for anyone who really likes a lot of involved quests that may even take 30+ minutes to complete.
So to the OP. I understand where you're coming from, but you'll simply never find that in GW2.
I love the personal story, I find myself drawn to it. But I think the transition from personal story to the PVE world to be in sharp contrast. ANET did a terrible job of creating an immersive world that connects you to your story. The DE's and Hearts should have been written to enhance your personal story...Or at least not be in conflict.
"All hail the Slayer of Issormir" The savior of the world.........now go fill those holes with dirt, go pick more apples, go feed the cows, go water the corn, Kill those wasps, Go clean up after a rampaging bull, go squash spider eggs, go round up the moas. go collect escaped chickens and put them back in the penns, Go pick up the slime and put it in th econtainers..... The list continues on and on.
The hearts are mundane, manual labor, unimaginative, redundant and ulimately are NOT the stuff of fantasy. In short, they are terrible.
I feel as though my point was not taken correctly in some areas. I am not complaining about the length of leveling, but rather that I do not want to search all day for events and hearts. To me (I realize to a lot of you this is different) its not fun. I want to finish my story, but i'm forced to do other stuff... thats all I was saying. Granted, I love PVP and it's always been what I've leveled for on other games (which I can skip to Mists and just do).
All i'm saying is I'd love the ability to do my story and just move on to Mists. I do not care at all for world completetion. Is that so bad?
I love the personal story, I find myself drawn to it. But I think the transition from personal story to the PVE world to be in sharp contrast. ANET did a terrible job of creating an immersive world that connects you to your story. The DE's and Hearts should have been written to enhance your personal story...Or at least not be in conflict.
"All hail the Slayer of Issormir" The savior of the world.........now go fill those holes with dirt, go pick more apples, go feed the cows, go water the corn, Kill those wasps, Go clean up after a rampaging bull, go squash spider eggs, go round up the moas. go collect escaped chickens and put them back in the penns, Go pick up the slime and put it in th econtainers..... The list continues on and on.
The hearts are mundane, manual labor, unimaginative, redundant and ulimately are NOT the stuff of fantasy. In short, they are terrible.
Welcome to "Farm Hand Wars 2"
Thank you finally someone else on page. The grinding of other stuff in the world is not very fun when you have just got out of an epic personal story quest.
I love the personal story, I find myself drawn to it. But I think the transition from personal story to the PVE world to be in sharp contrast. ANET did a terrible job of creating an immersive world that connects you to your story. The DE's and Hearts should have been written to enhance your personal story...Or at least not be in conflict.
"All hail the Slayer of Issormir" The savior of the world.........now go fill those holes with dirt, go pick more apples, go feed the cows, go water the corn, Kill those wasps, Go clean up after a rampaging bull, go squash spider eggs, go round up the moas. go collect escaped chickens and put them back in the penns, Go pick up the slime and put it in th econtainers..... The list continues on and on.
The hearts are mundane, manual labor, unimaginative, redundant and ulimately are NOT the stuff of fantasy. In short, they are terrible.
Welcome to "Farm Hand Wars 2"
You have a point... they can feel at times menial, though I think you go too far with 'terrible' and 'unimaginative' because there are some extremely imaginative events in the game. Are they all? Ofc not, but point me to a game where every quest is imaginative... it's unfair to judge GW2 against what no other has achieved.
I do understand the 'farm hand' feeling, though as I rise in levels I feel that less and less (so far). I feel that you are making a pretty heavy handed unfair generalisation on all the hearts here somewhat.
And... 'redundent'? This I do disagree with. Every DE is a micro story if you stop to understand it, and each makes sense within it's own time and place, and a LOT of them are excellent and fun (IMO). While I get the mundane task ones are not your cup of tea, to cross them *all* off as 'rendundent' is extreme and untrue.
I guess though, luckily for you, the hearts only actually represent a fraction of the content on each map.
I love the personal story, I find myself drawn to it. But I think the transition from personal story to the PVE world to be in sharp contrast. ANET did a terrible job of creating an immersive world that connects you to your story. The DE's and Hearts should have been written to enhance your personal story...Or at least not be in conflict.
"All hail the Slayer of Issormir" The savior of the world.........now go fill those holes with dirt, go pick more apples, go feed the cows, go water the corn, Kill those wasps, Go clean up after a rampaging bull, go squash spider eggs, go round up the moas. go collect escaped chickens and put them back in the penns, Go pick up the slime and put it in th econtainers..... The list continues on and on.
The hearts are mundane, manual labor, unimaginative, redundant and ulimately are NOT the stuff of fantasy. In short, they are terrible.
Welcome to "Farm Hand Wars 2"
You have a point... they can feel at times menial, though I think you go too far with 'terrible' and 'unimaginative' because there are some extremely imaginative events in the game. Are they all? Ofc not, but point me to a game where every quest is imaginative... it's unfair to judge GW2 against what no other has achieved.
I do understand the 'farm hand' feeling, though as I rise in levels I feel that less and less (so far). I feel that you are making a pretty heavy handed unfair generalisation on all the hearts here somewhat.
And... redundent? This I do disgaree with. Every DE is a micro story if you stopped to understand it, and each makes sense within it's own time and place, and a LOT of them are excellent and fun (IMO). While I get the mundane task ones are not your cup of tea, to cross them all off as 'rendundent' is extreme and untrue.
I guess though, luckily for you, the hearts only actually represent a fraction of the content on each map.
I'm about halfway through the game, and some of the latest ones I recall were pick up scrap metal, Gehtering eggs, gathering supplies.
Sure, if I want to avoid these tasks, I can choose to kill mobs over and over.
At what point does it get "better"? I'm already 38. If at the halfway mark, I'm still feeling this way, but it starts to get better from here, then they waited too long to make that transition.
I love the personal story, I find myself drawn to it. But I think the transition from personal story to the PVE world to be in sharp contrast. ANET did a terrible job of creating an immersive world that connects you to your story. The DE's and Hearts should have been written to enhance your personal story...Or at least not be in conflict.
"All hail the Slayer of Issormir" The savior of the world.........now go fill those holes with dirt, go pick more apples, go feed the cows, go water the corn, Kill those wasps, Go clean up after a rampaging bull, go squash spider eggs, go round up the moas. go collect escaped chickens and put them back in the penns, Go pick up the slime and put it in th econtainers..... The list continues on and on.
The hearts are mundane, manual labor, unimaginative, redundant and ulimately are NOT the stuff of fantasy. In short, they are terrible.
Welcome to "Farm Hand Wars 2"
You have a point... they can feel at times menial, though I think you go too far with 'terrible' and 'unimaginative' because there are some extremely imaginative events in the game. Are they all? Ofc not, but point me to a game where every quest is imaginative... it's unfair to judge GW2 against what no other has achieved.
I do understand the 'farm hand' feeling, though as I rise in levels I feel that less and less (so far). I feel that you are making a pretty heavy handed unfair generalisation on all the hearts here somewhat.
And... redundent? This I do disgaree with. Every DE is a micro story if you stopped to understand it, and each makes sense within it's own time and place, and a LOT of them are excellent and fun (IMO). While I get the mundane task ones are not your cup of tea, to cross them all off as 'rendundent' is extreme and untrue.
I guess though, luckily for you, the hearts only actually represent a fraction of the content on each map.
I'm about halfway through the game, and some of the latest ones I recall were pick up scrap metal, Gehtering eggs, gathering supplies.
Sure, if I want to avoid these tasks, I can choose to kill mobs over and over.
So you're about L40ish? Yeah, I can see why you have the opinion you have then about the 'menial' feeling of a lot of the hearts. Like I say though, I got less of that feeling as I rose in levels.
Though grinding mobs is not your only option for levelling aside from the hearts, to be fair.
Sorry I missed your edit.
When does it get 'better'? Well, that's hard for me to say, because I assume you mean 'more to my personal tastes', and I am not compeltly aware of our personal tastes, aside that you hate helping NPCs out on a farm.
Maybe you should focus on DEs rather then the hearts? They seem more... 'epic' a lot of the time.
I love the personal story, I find myself drawn to it. But I think the transition from personal story to the PVE world to be in sharp contrast. ANET did a terrible job of creating an immersive world that connects you to your story. The DE's and Hearts should have been written to enhance your personal story...Or at least not be in conflict.
"All hail the Slayer of Issormir" The savior of the world.........now go fill those holes with dirt, go pick more apples, go feed the cows, go water the corn, Kill those wasps, Go clean up after a rampaging bull, go squash spider eggs, go round up the moas. go collect escaped chickens and put them back in the penns, Go pick up the slime and put it in th econtainers..... The list continues on and on.
The hearts are mundane, manual labor, unimaginative, redundant and ulimately are NOT the stuff of fantasy. In short, they are terrible.
Welcome to "Farm Hand Wars 2"
You have a point... they can feel at times menial, though I think you go too far with 'terrible' and 'unimaginative' because there are some extremely imaginative events in the game. Are they all? Ofc not, but point me to a game where every quest is imaginative... it's unfair to judge GW2 against what no other has achieved.
I do understand the 'farm hand' feeling, though as I rise in levels I feel that less and less (so far). I feel that you are making a pretty heavy handed unfair generalisation on all the hearts here somewhat.
And... redundent? This I do disgaree with. Every DE is a micro story if you stopped to understand it, and each makes sense within it's own time and place, and a LOT of them are excellent and fun (IMO). While I get the mundane task ones are not your cup of tea, to cross them all off as 'rendundent' is extreme and untrue.
I guess though, luckily for you, the hearts only actually represent a fraction of the content on each map.
I'm about halfway through the game, and some of the latest ones I recall were pick up scrap metal, Gehtering eggs, gathering supplies.
Sure, if I want to avoid these tasks, I can choose to kill mobs over and over.
So you're about L40ish? Yeah, I can see why you have the opinion you have then. Like I say, I got less of that feeling as I rose in levels.
Though grinding mobs is not your only option for levelling aside from the hearts, to be fair.
This a criticsm within the game and not of the game, I am not saying it's an awful game or that I would choose not to do these tasks. They are part of the game and I will chose to do them, My overall point is that the general PVE experience provided in GW2, doen's tsupport the personal story well. I'm not saying the game isn't fun.
I say this because I'm really likeing the story. I found myself grinding from 36 to 39 last night, just so I can get into the next chapter. But the journey between, does feel grindy.
All i'm saying is I'd love the ability to do my story and just move on to Mists. I do not care at all for world completetion. Is that so bad?
Actually, in truth, it isn't.
I don't see why they shouldn't allow this. I get not everyone wants to play the PvE maps, and that's fine.
Can you not just level up in WvW until you are at the right level for your personal story chapters though? Does the game force you to do those maps?
I wish they would have an option to just do my story and be done. I don't have to level to 80 from it all and am fine with just being scaled up to the level each time (with some better stats to actually fight of course).
I use to level up from this, I would follow the caravans and get 2kXP every like 4 minutes. It was a flawless way to level, until they fixed it. Thats when I just gave up on the game, i'm not going to farm the same events over and over. Sure they're interesting at first but the lack of XP each one gives leaves me just farming them.
I love the personal story, I find myself drawn to it. But I think the transition from personal story to the PVE world to be in sharp contrast. ANET did a terrible job of creating an immersive world that connects you to your story. The DE's and Hearts should have been written to enhance your personal story...Or at least not be in conflict.
"All hail the Slayer of Issormir" The savior of the world.........now go fill those holes with dirt, go pick more apples, go feed the cows, go water the corn, Kill those wasps, Go clean up after a rampaging bull, go squash spider eggs, go round up the moas. go collect escaped chickens and put them back in the penns, Go pick up the slime and put it in th econtainers..... The list continues on and on.
The hearts are mundane, manual labor, unimaginative, redundant and ulimately are NOT the stuff of fantasy. In short, they are terrible.
Welcome to "Farm Hand Wars 2"
You have a point... they can feel at times menial, though I think you go too far with 'terrible' and 'unimaginative' because there are some extremely imaginative events in the game. Are they all? Ofc not, but point me to a game where every quest is imaginative... it's unfair to judge GW2 against what no other has achieved.
I do understand the 'farm hand' feeling, though as I rise in levels I feel that less and less (so far). I feel that you are making a pretty heavy handed unfair generalisation on all the hearts here somewhat.
And... redundent? This I do disgaree with. Every DE is a micro story if you stopped to understand it, and each makes sense within it's own time and place, and a LOT of them are excellent and fun (IMO). While I get the mundane task ones are not your cup of tea, to cross them all off as 'rendundent' is extreme and untrue.
I guess though, luckily for you, the hearts only actually represent a fraction of the content on each map.
I'm about halfway through the game, and some of the latest ones I recall were pick up scrap metal, Gehtering eggs, gathering supplies.
Sure, if I want to avoid these tasks, I can choose to kill mobs over and over.
So you're about L40ish? Yeah, I can see why you have the opinion you have then. Like I say, I got less of that feeling as I rose in levels.
Though grinding mobs is not your only option for levelling aside from the hearts, to be fair.
This a criticsm within the game and not of the game, I am not saying it's an awful game or that I would choose not to do these tasks. They are part of the game and I will chose to do them, My overall point is that the general PVE experience provided in GW2, doen's tsupport the personal story well. I'm not saying the game isn't fun.
I say this because I'm really likeing the story. I found myself grinding from 36 to 39 last night, just so I can get into the next chapter. But the journey between, does feel grindy.
Oh, for sure. I hope I am not coming across that I think you hate it or anything. I just think some of the language used was a tad dramatic is all. No offense meant.
Like I say, I understand your perspective and why you have it, even if I don't necessarily share it.
'Grind' is just doing something you do not personally enjoy I guess.
I've been kinda curious as to how the story "tree" maps out; it's not 100% obvious to me as of yet.
1-10th level seems to be based on your race.
10-20 seems to be based on how you answered a question about your past: "passed up the opp to join the circus", "lost a fight to a rival", etc.
20-30 is this race again?
30+ seems based on your faction, Order of Whispers, for example.
Of course, you still have choices which alter those quests significantly, but am I right in that once you hit 30 and choose a faction, you'll be playing 1 of 3 options regardless of your race, class, or questions at CC? Or are there 1 of 3 options for each race or some other factor? I only have 1 character over lvl 30 so I'm not sure.
From what I can tell: <spoilery bits omitted>
Thanks, Homitu! That's the info I was looking for.
That would make sense for what I've experienced so far. While a hugely branched set of stories from beginning to end would have been cool, at least in this case you could reroll and play out the other decisions without having to completely level.
Comments
Plain and simple, you're not meant to be able to level through the personal story alone. GW2's strength is the variety of gameplay modes you can choose to play at any given time during the level up process. Between events, hearts, map exploration, crafting, dungeons, and the various PvP modes, you should be able to find several things you enjoy doing in GW2. The story is meant to introduce you to certain zones you should be leveling in as well as provide some additional context to the dungeons and, really, the whole world. If the personal story is the only thing you like, then I hate to say it but I don't think GW2 is going to hold your attention for very long.
I will say that once you get into the 50s and 60s, each of your personal story events begin to feel like full dungeons. They can take upwards of 45 minutes to complete. This continues through to level 80.
For me personally, I eventually found myself outleveling my personal story drastically. I would, usually to my surprise, get 10 levels ahead of it, then go back and do it all. This pace felt good to me. Doing just 1 at a time can make it feel somewhat disconnected from itself, but then again I already think the story feels highly disconnected from the rest of the world in many ways. I have several criticisms for the personal story, but I'll wait until I get through my review to voice them. On the whole, I enjoyed the dynamic events and heart quests a lot more than the personal story anyway. I would even go as far as to say they do a better job at telling the story of Tyria than the personal story does.
Games:
Currently playing:Nothing
Will play: Darkfall: Unholy Wars
Past games:
Guild Wars 2 - Xpiher Duminous
Xpiher's GW2
GW 1 - Xpiher Duminous
Darkfall - Xpiher Duminous (NA) retired
AoC - Xpiher (Tyranny) retired
Warhammer - Xpiher
And I'm somewhere in the middle: The story doesn't blow me away, but I like it.
I don't "grind" the rest of the content to get to the next story quest. I enjoy pretty much the whole experience, and often end up doing the next story quest 1 or 2 levels higher that required. FYI: no advantage to doing that; you get dropped down to the recommended level.
The only time I've felt like things feel a bit grindy is when I've been in zones where a number of the hearts have similar activities as progress credit. 2 or 3 that are almost strictly fetch based, for example.
This ^^^.
I pay almost no attention to my level. I just really allow myself to be immersed in the game world. I too do crafting and amazingly the xp for crafting is really good when you're "inventing" items. I also love exploring and love the vistas, so I've enjoyed just randomly discovering areas and waypoints and points of interest and the vistas. I've only completed 2 cities and none of the outdoor areas, but I've had a blast doing it. I'm really enjoying this game. I'm sorry some people aren't, but that doesn't really concern me.
edit:
I'm only level 32, but I'm in no hurry.
President of The Marvelously Meowhead Fan Club
Enter a whole new realm of challenge and adventure.
If you get the daily acheivements for kills/mob types/events/gathering that's enough XP for about 1/2 a level.
So you can literally get 1/2 a level per day doing the exact same thing in the exact same zone if you wanted to.
I've been kinda curious as to how the story "tree" maps out; it's not 100% obvious to me as of yet.
1-10th level seems to be based on your race.
10-20 seems to be based on how you answered a question about your past: "passed up the opp to join the circus", "lost a fight to a rival", etc.
20-30 is this race again?
30+ seems based on your faction, Order of Whispers, for example.
Of course, you still have choices which alter those quests significantly, but am I right in that once you hit 30 and choose a faction, you'll be playing 1 of 3 options regardless of your race, class, or questions at CC? Or are there 1 of 3 options for each race or some other factor? I only have 1 character over lvl 30 so I'm not sure.
I said it before but I guess I will again...
Where is this freaking grindfest folks are talking about? I feel like I get xp for every darn thing I do in the game. I think if I have my character go to an outhouse to take a piss I'll get xp for that too. You get xp for hearts, DE's, crafting, viewpoints, finding points of interest, gathering, sneezing, avoid cracks on the road that would break your mothers back, skipping rocks over the lake....okay I am exaggerating but you get xp from so many directions that it is hardly anything that could feel like a 'grindfest'. I remember FFXI in the beginning when it took hours to get a level and that was only if you didn't lose xp after a bad pull or something.
As for the story I like it but it's nothing over whelmingly good in my opinion. It's alright so nothing for me to push myself to get every time. Only reason I do is because of the rewards you usually get. Otherwise it could wait while I finish doing one of the many things I can do during that time.
To people, who like story-focused gaming in MMOs, Guild Wars 2 is not going to cut it. It just has too little of it, and what it has - though somewhat improved in comparison to the WOW formula - is not really high quality stuff. Two games, SWTOR and TSW has done story-based progression in MMOs really well; in those games you're always aware of what your character (not you!) is going through and you're mostly in anticipation of narrative progression.
A game like GW2, on the other hand, is not narrative-focused. Many people say they're even forgetting they had their personal story quest waiting for quite a while, and this is not for nothing: In their drive for distraction-based gameplay (I'd say even more so than Skyrim), Arenanet has relegated personal story to something of a niche in this game. It's just there for people who really, particularly dig personal story and actively seek it out in RPGs they play. Otherwise, an overwhelming majority of the game has to do with "you and the world", not your character and his story.
So, yeah... If you're looking for story-motivated gameplay, GW2 will probably disappoint you in this regard.
Or, at least if you're of the mind that GW2 is newer, therefore it will be "1 better" than TSW or TOR... the only real way it's better is that your choices more often and more deeply effect gameplay(compared to TOR and TSW), and your character actually talks(compared to TSW).
Also, as far as "empty story space between levels" goes, keep in mind that TOR is 50 levels to GW2's 80 levels. Having some chunk of your story mission occur almost every level in TOR compared to GW2's every 2 or 3 levels is not as big a difference from that perspective.
TSW is even harder to figure, without any levels. I remember when I played that I wished I could reset the whole series and do the whole story mission from front to back just to get a more focused context. but anyhoo...
I dont like that only the first third of it is actually about me.
This is your actual "Personal" story. Its about you and it can vary greatly based on choices you made during character creation and choices you make during the missions.
The second third is about your Order and you have little choice in the direction this part takes.
The last third isnt even about you and you have no choice.
Hopefully when they continue the story in expansions they actually make it about you again.
From what I can tell:
<<<CONTAINS 1-50 PERSONAL STORY SPOILERS>>>
1-30 is completely race unique. Within that, 1-20 is based entirely around the choices you made on character creation. Even within that, you're asked to make 1 or 2 choices during the story that will change your next 1 or 2 sequences. Regardless of your choice, your story will eventually converge again. From 20-30, you're introduced with the 3 Orders of Tyria and will periodically be asked to choose to accompany 1 out of 2 of them for your next mission. You seem to be faced with a choice like this 3 or 4 times before you have to officially choose your faction at 30.
30-50 is all about the factoin you joined. From talking with people who played different races but chose the same faction, we seem to have had several of the same missions. Your sidekick/mentor as well as some of the imporant characters you meet will vary based on your race, however.
Non spoiler version of 50-80 is that it is relatively the same for everyone, regardless of race and faction. You just have a few choices to make here and there that will determine your next mission.
<<<50-80 SPOILER VERSION AHEAD>>>>
50-80 is relatively the same for everyone. From 50-60 you fight off an Orrian invasion on Lion's Arch and begin to try to unite the 3 Orders. From 60-70 you help prove your worth and demonstrate Trahearn's leadership abilities to the 3 Orders so you're unified and motivated. 70-80 consists of your invasion of Orr.
I think in the rush to defend any possibly non-positive thing about GW2 people are missing what the OP is really saying.
Basically the OP wants a more involved questing experience revolving around his/her character. This is something very lacking from GW2. GW2 is far less about big interesting involved quests and far more about run around and do lots of tiny things that add up to lots of leveling. This includes exploring, DEs, hearts etc. None of it is involved (or for that matter really interesting) it is all a bunch of "hey do this real quick" and then you get a reward. Do enough of them and get another reward. Do enough of them in one day and get yet another reward.
The OP seems to be looking for a more involved questing experience, think the storied instances in LotRO. The closest GW2 has to that is the story quest and you only get to do 1 very short one every few levels.
A lot of people really like questing and GW2 is not a game that has questing. In fact that was essentially one of their stated goals. A can understand the OP on this point and I think that is why I find so little of GW2 interesting and why I ever lack the real desire to log in. This doesn't mean that GW2 is awful and that anyone is bashing it. It simply decided not to put any focus on an aspect that is big for a lot of gamers which means this game probably isn't for anyone who really likes a lot of involved quests that may even take 30+ minutes to complete.
So to the OP. I understand where you're coming from, but you'll simply never find that in GW2.
I've said this before,
I love the personal story, I find myself drawn to it. But I think the transition from personal story to the PVE world to be in sharp contrast. ANET did a terrible job of creating an immersive world that connects you to your story. The DE's and Hearts should have been written to enhance your personal story...Or at least not be in conflict.
"All hail the Slayer of Issormir" The savior of the world.........now go fill those holes with dirt, go pick more apples, go feed the cows, go water the corn, Kill those wasps, Go clean up after a rampaging bull, go squash spider eggs, go round up the moas. go collect escaped chickens and put them back in the penns, Go pick up the slime and put it in th econtainers..... The list continues on and on.
The hearts are mundane, manual labor, unimaginative, redundant and ulimately are NOT the stuff of fantasy. In short, they are terrible.
Welcome to "Farm Hand Wars 2"
I feel as though my point was not taken correctly in some areas. I am not complaining about the length of leveling, but rather that I do not want to search all day for events and hearts. To me (I realize to a lot of you this is different) its not fun. I want to finish my story, but i'm forced to do other stuff... thats all I was saying. Granted, I love PVP and it's always been what I've leveled for on other games (which I can skip to Mists and just do).
All i'm saying is I'd love the ability to do my story and just move on to Mists. I do not care at all for world completetion. Is that so bad?
Thank you finally someone else on page. The grinding of other stuff in the world is not very fun when you have just got out of an epic personal story quest.
You have a point... they can feel at times menial, though I think you go too far with 'terrible' and 'unimaginative' because there are some extremely imaginative events in the game. Are they all? Ofc not, but point me to a game where every quest is imaginative... it's unfair to judge GW2 against what no other has achieved.
I do understand the 'farm hand' feeling, though as I rise in levels I feel that less and less (so far). I feel that you are making a pretty heavy handed unfair generalisation on all the hearts here somewhat.
And... 'redundent'? This I do disagree with. Every DE is a micro story if you stop to understand it, and each makes sense within it's own time and place, and a LOT of them are excellent and fun (IMO). While I get the mundane task ones are not your cup of tea, to cross them *all* off as 'rendundent' is extreme and untrue.
I guess though, luckily for you, the hearts only actually represent a fraction of the content on each map.
Actually, in truth, it isn't.
I don't see why they shouldn't allow this. I get not everyone wants to play the PvE maps, and that's fine.
Can you not just level up in WvW until you are at the right level for your personal story chapters though? Does the game force you to do those maps?
I'm about halfway through the game, and some of the latest ones I recall were pick up scrap metal, Gehtering eggs, gathering supplies.
Sure, if I want to avoid these tasks, I can choose to kill mobs over and over.
At what point does it get "better"? I'm already 38. If at the halfway mark, I'm still feeling this way, but it starts to get better from here, then they waited too long to make that transition.
So you're about L40ish? Yeah, I can see why you have the opinion you have then about the 'menial' feeling of a lot of the hearts. Like I say though, I got less of that feeling as I rose in levels.
Though grinding mobs is not your only option for levelling aside from the hearts, to be fair.
Sorry I missed your edit.
When does it get 'better'? Well, that's hard for me to say, because I assume you mean 'more to my personal tastes', and I am not compeltly aware of our personal tastes, aside that you hate helping NPCs out on a farm.
Maybe you should focus on DEs rather then the hearts? They seem more... 'epic' a lot of the time.
This a criticsm within the game and not of the game, I am not saying it's an awful game or that I would choose not to do these tasks. They are part of the game and I will chose to do them, My overall point is that the general PVE experience provided in GW2, doen's tsupport the personal story well. I'm not saying the game isn't fun.
I say this because I'm really likeing the story. I found myself grinding from 36 to 39 last night, just so I can get into the next chapter. But the journey between, does feel grindy.
I wish they would have an option to just do my story and be done. I don't have to level to 80 from it all and am fine with just being scaled up to the level each time (with some better stats to actually fight of course).
I use to level up from this, I would follow the caravans and get 2kXP every like 4 minutes. It was a flawless way to level, until they fixed it. Thats when I just gave up on the game, i'm not going to farm the same events over and over. Sure they're interesting at first but the lack of XP each one gives leaves me just farming them.
Oh, for sure. I hope I am not coming across that I think you hate it or anything. I just think some of the language used was a tad dramatic is all. No offense meant.
Like I say, I understand your perspective and why you have it, even if I don't necessarily share it.
'Grind' is just doing something you do not personally enjoy I guess.
Thanks, Homitu! That's the info I was looking for.
That would make sense for what I've experienced so far. While a hugely branched set of stories from beginning to end would have been cool, at least in this case you could reroll and play out the other decisions without having to completely level.