How much of the world have you truly discovered?

Lord.Bachus · July 2013

And i am not talking about rushing trough zones to get your map arhcievements. No, i am talking about taking time to discover all those little things going on in the world, following NPCs around to find out what they are doing, often ending in Dynamic events.

Do you take the time to discover all the zones and not just the path layed out to Orr? I think noboddy hardly knows the northern part of the continent, while there is so much to discover overthere.

Despite its many little flaws (no game is perfect) its still the game i keep returning to, playing about 3 nights a week while spending 3 nights a week in another MMO (which changes)

Serelisk · July 2013

the game tells me about 56 percent. I do rush through zones and don't take the time to discover anything. I also have 2,868 hours played. I'm not sure where you wanted this thread to go but this is my contribution to it.

Lord.Bachus · July 2013

Originally posted by Serelisk
the game tells me about 56 percent. I do rush through zones and don't take the time to discover anything. I also have 2,868 hours played. I'm not sure where you wanted this thread to go but this is my contribution to it.

different players different habbits... not calling them wrong or so, but just want to see how many likeminded people there are that still enjoy all the zones and the stories they have to tell..

ps, on top of that i am quite hardcore at sPvP. having played over 5000 matches so far.

Serelisk · July 2013

[mod edit]

...? I don't understand the purpose of your response.

Hrimnir · July 2013

I'm sorry but in the roughly 150 hours i put into the game before i quit i experienced all i needed to of the world.

[mod edit]

If you want a real world to explore, go and register and start an account and play EverQuest 1.

zasten · July 2013

81%

BrucyBonus · July 2013

There is nothing to explore. I am at a loss as to the point of this thread. There are no hidden quests or little alcoves in the map that are worth exploring, it is all served up in a neat little rectangle with waypoints and vistas to guide you around the four corners of the box.

I remember getting far more of a sense of exploration in GW1 despite the fact the map was probably more walled in.

Roxette · July 2013

97% done so far on my main. Not rushing, just doing it relaxed. 60% on both other chars.

Zzad · July 2013

Originally posted by BrucyBonus
There is nothing to explore. I am at a loss as to the point of this thread. There are no hidden quests or little alcoves in the map that are worth exploring, it is all served up in a neat little rectangle with waypoints and vistas to guide you around the four corners of the box.

I remember getting far more of a sense of exploration in GW1 despite the fact the map was probably more walled in.

Try playing GW2 unboxing the "Map completion" option in the lower left corner of your map...

No vistas...no hearts...just open world with chaining events ....and come back to say there is no exploration in GW2.

Anyway,with guidance or without it,there is heavy & plenty of exploration in GW2, hidden places with hidden quests/events, hidden chests...

We must be playing different games....

BTW and answering OP´s question, I have discovered 66% of the map on my main (and that´s playing since Beta....) There is A LOT ahead to discover...

Bjelar · July 2013

Originally posted by BrucyBonus
There is nothing to explore. I am at a loss as to the point of this thread. There are no hidden quests or little alcoves in the map that are worth exploring, it is all served up in a neat little rectangle with waypoints and vistas to guide you around the four corners of the box.

I remember getting far more of a sense of exploration in GW1 despite the fact the map was probably more walled in.

That's because GW had fog of war. In GW2 all you need to do is press "m" to explore the area.

You do have the "hidden" stories in GW2, but they are not very good.

NPC X needs help to gather tools to fix his broken wagon. The tools seems to have been tossed around by a giant, and can be picket up within a neatly marked area close to the NPC.

Once the NPC gets all the toolboxes he needs to fix his wagon, you need to escort him to wherever he is going. Once you get there, it turns out it was just in time to fend off a gnoll attack.

I'm not holding my breath for the movie to come out.

Toxia · July 2013

100% on 3 characters, first one was my main and i absolutely loved exploring the world on him, took my time and went where i wanted, and used the poi's, wp's etc as a guiding tool to show me what i had missed after i figured myself done with a zone. the other two were very mechanical, beelining between the points on the map.

Without a doubt the most exploration ive ever done or enjoyed doing in an mmo. I didnt get into mmo's till way after everquest had had its moment in the spotlight, so can't comment on how better it was.

Looking forward to everquest next for the exploration, hoping it has enough to match gw2.

Purutzil · July 2013

Well, to be blunt, every game typically has this stuff if you look. World of warcraft is well known for its little easter eggs and details if you explore, and in a lot of games they have this very same thing. GW2 isn't exactly a 'special flower' at all for this stuff, its pretty common, I just think the fact it has less to do and less to work for, it promotes people to explore a lot more compared to other games, so little 'easter eggs' or details are more likely to be seen for the sake of doing something.

Scalpless · July 2013

I've visited all the zones, but never gone after world completion. I mostly use them as alternate leveling spots for my alts. I still often find things I've not seen before , either through rare DEs or by stumbling upon unmarked areas by accident.

Shadanwolf · July 2013

FOR ME...pve games are a dime a dozen.

What separates one game from another is the faction conflict.GW2 WvW remains a major disappointment.

Bad.dog · July 2013

Originally posted by Shadanwolf
FOR ME...pve games are a dime a dozen.

What separates one game from another is the faction conflict.GW2 WvW remains a major disappointment.

And this relates to the op how? what remains a major disappointment is that you keep posting the same old rhetoric over and over

muffins89 · July 2013

Originally posted by Serelisk
Originally posted by erinys
56% of nothing is still nothing. exploring the poi's doesnt mean shit.

...? I don't understand the purpose of your response.

there's no exploration because its all marked out for you. (yes there are other places to see that aren't poi's, but they are very very few and far between)

Rusque · July 2013

I have pretty low completion, mostly because I could care less about achievement type completion. But I go to every corner of a zone, swim down as far as I can, try to climb things that aren't designed to be vistas (meaning it may or may not be climbable. But outside of a few nifty things to look at, I never found any hidden gems.

Also, dynamic events are still just dressed up kill 10 rats quests, fed ex quest, escort quests and that's pretty much it. Sometimes you kill 10 rats by defending a place from said rats, or sometimes you have to go out into an area and kill rats there while "saving" npcs who have been captured in some form. Either way, 10 rats die.

korent1991 · July 2013

I've got 100% of the world explored and I've got most of the exploration achievments where you discover the hidden areas and such...

Tho, the best places I've seen are those which aren't giving you any achivment and it's usually hard to get there.

Sovrath · July 2013

Originally posted by Lord.Bachus

just want to see how many likeminded people there are that still enjoy all the zones and the stories they have to tell..

I haven't explored most of the map because the game can't keep my attention that long. I do enjoy the small bits that I experience and log in semi regularly but I don't do more than 20 or 30 minutes if that.

Having said that I predominantly play by exploring. that was part of my problem when the game was launched because I would do what was in my level range and then want to branch out but would summarily get stomped (which is understandable) because I would inevitably make my way to an area a few levels above me where it was difficult to do anything.

I would then go back to the area with my level range only to realize I would either have to grind (not that big of a deal) or repeat the heart quests.

However I always stay until the end of a discovered quest/event. I've seen so many players run off when the npc's were talking only for them to then reveal something that the other players wouldn't ever see.

Thillian · July 2013

Originally posted by Jean-Luc_Picard
Originally posted by Purutzil
World of warcraft is well known for its little easter eggs and details if you explore...

World of Warcraft was great for exploration before they added flying mounts everywhere, and before the Cataclysm changes. In Vanilla WoW, the world seemed so big and mysterious. I remember running my night elf noob from Teldrassil to Elwyn Forest to join my friends, it was a scary and dangerous run through Wetlands, Loch Modan, up to Ironforge and finally the tram. All this has been destroyed, not only by the flying mounts, but also by Cataclysm. The world is very boring and questing is very linear now, and there's no adventure and exploration anymore.

GW2 beats today's WoW hands down when it comes to sense of scale of the world and exploration.

You mean that the GW2 insta-teleport to anywhere in the world enforces that feeling of "scale of the world"? I found both games to be the same crap when it comes to exploration.

monarc333 · July 2013

World exportation 100%, twice. Have most of the diving locations and all jumping puzzles and the other exploration achievements. As you can see I thoroughly enjoy this game and the off the beaten paths it presents. Even with that said I'm always finding new events that I never participated in. It's one of the joys I have with this game.

Thillian · July 2013

Originally posted by Jean-Luc_Picard
Originally posted by Thillian
Originally posted by Jean-Luc_Picard
Originally posted by Purutzil
World of warcraft is well known for its little easter eggs and details if you explore...

World of Warcraft was great for exploration before they added flying mounts everywhere, and before the Cataclysm changes. In Vanilla WoW, the world seemed so big and mysterious. I remember running my night elf noob from Teldrassil to Elwyn Forest to join my friends, it was a scary and dangerous run through Wetlands, Loch Modan, up to Ironforge and finally the tram. All this has been destroyed, not only by the flying mounts, but also by Cataclysm. The world is very boring and questing is very linear now, and there's no adventure and exploration anymore.

GW2 beats today's WoW hands down when it comes to sense of scale of the world and exploration.

You mean that the GW2 insta-teleport to anywhere in the world enforces that feeling of "scale of the world"? I found both games to be the same crap when it comes to exploration.

Yes, I mean even the "insta-teleport" is better than flying mounts. The remote places there to explore and discover do not have a teleporter, you still need to find them, and even places with waypoints still have to be discovered first. Flying mounts just allow to fly over everything directly to the goal, without even having to get there first through exploration.

Both GW2 but also even old WoW (even nowadays) definitely have more exploration potential than your favorite game, The Secret World, anyway.

Secret World isn't really there to feed me with the feeling of a proper world and exploration. I have Vanguard and Fallen Earth for that. And it would be laughable to compare these two with GW2. As far as I know, WoW flying mounts are available once you level up through the area , i.e. at a higher level than the zone itself. So you also have to first run through it on foot, just like you need to "tag" the teleporters in GW2 first before teleporting to them.

I find GW insta-teleporters to be even bigger "killer" of the world than flying mounts, since they allow you to immediately get to anywhere without any need for travel whatsoever. And it's actually travel what enforces that feeling of having a world. Otherwise it's just a lobby. And GW2 is very close to that feeling of a lobby.

Thillian · July 2013

Originally posted by Jean-Luc_Picard
Originally posted by Thillian

I find GW insta-teleporters to be even bigger "killer" of the world than flying mounts, since they allow you to immediately get to anywhere without any need for travel whatsoever. And it's actually travel what enforces that feeling of having a world. Otherwise it's just a lobby. And GW2 is very close to that feeling of a lobby.

I've played both Vanguard and Fallen Earth... big worlds full of nothing aren't exploration worthy, they are just boring to me. Vanguard is a theme park, a poorly designed WoW clone with even worse production quality, and Fallen Earth... well, one of the worse combat systems of all the MMORPGs I've played in the last 17+ years since UO beta, and also one of the most empty and boring world I've seen. The 17 years old UO could give Fallen Earth lessons about how to make a good sandbox MMO with an interesting world to explore. But that's just my opinion, of course, and that's why I'm posting in the GW2 forum instead of Vanguard or Fallen Earth forums...

And to finish this, anyone saying GW2 feels like a lobby obviously didn't play that game long enough to have an opinion worth paying attention to.

I could say the same: anyone saying Vanguard and Fallen Earth are big empty worlds full of nothing shouldn't be taken seriously, since those two games offer so much more exploration and interesting places that even if GW2 world were to inflate 10 times the size it is now, it would still be considered small and uinteresting themepark with big flashy attractions compared to those two.

Thillian · July 2013

Originally posted by Jean-Luc_Picard
Originally posted by Thillian

I could say the same: anyone saying Vanguard and Fallen Earth are big empty worlds full of nothing shouldn't be taken seriously, since those two games offer so much more exploration and interesting places that even if GW2 world were to inflate 10 times the size it is now, it would still be considered small and uinteresting themepark compared to those two.

I've played both extensively, so you can not cheat me here.

To not use GW2 as reference, I will just say that both Ultima Online and Asheron's Call, respectively 16 and 12 years old games, offer better designed worlds with a lot more meaningful exploration than either Vanguard or Fallen Earth.

But then we are on a GW2 forum here. Don't be too surprised if many people like GW2 more than your own personal list of favorite games, which all have their own forums on this site by the way.

If you think that getting to a big flashy icon so that it tags as "EXPLORED" in your achievement log is "rich and meaningful exploration", I'm happy for you.

I still have active account in Asheron's Call 1 and I do not think that AC1 had better sense of "world" than Vanguard or Fallen Earth and would never use it as a reference.

Serelisk · July 2013

In my limited normal exploration, GW2 offered a lot of things off to the side that gave an amazing feeling to stumble across. It's definitely rewarding for those who look beyond the POI's. Do I think it's the pinnacle of MMO world exploration? No, it's probably not. But there is a lot more outside of the beaten path and things marked on your map to explore, and if you're not finding them then you're reinforcing the experience of those who have.

SomeHuman · July 2013

I'd say about 70% ish. I really soaked in the world for the first 30 levels or so. Then I took a 30 level vacation to WvW and returned to the world a little too equipped to find a challenge. It was at this point I began the bee-lining. I used the map exploration achievement and saving up for legendary mats as my goals, but I just couldn't keep the circuit going.

The nice thing about GW2 is that I can leave it alone for 6 months or a year and come back to it when I'm ready. I wish I had never stepped into WvW and leveled, even though I thoroughly enjoyed WvW, even with all the frame-rapes and invisitoons and whatnot.

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