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Review.. If your unsure about purchase, here it is.
page975
Member Posts: 312
First, My play log :
Mostly, I played a Necromancer to level 54 at release. Came back a few days ago and have a Warrior to level 10.
One of the better aspects of the game is that it has a lot of replay value, with each race having its own unique starting and leveling zones. Each race has its own theme and can't really be compared to the others. Game play however will be exactly the same and your experience will be equal, but in a good way. I have not found any area boring or less attention given.
Many say that GW2 is like a solo game with others around you. I HAVE TO AGREE, I'm back with the understanding that this is not an mmo but a good video game with players doing the same thing as me. The content is easy, too easy. Dieing is not too often and only comes if your being lazy or a little too cocky.
Follow the popcorn trail - I really hate this in an mmo. Like all games you have a starter zone, then you naturally progress to the next quest hub, all seamless and well blended in. But a popcorn trail never the less. 1-5, 6-10, 11-15 and so on. You would find that you better spend some time in each area to progress at a comfortable level. However I found that I could play about five levels higher than my class. And it does depend on your class.
Now it seems like I'm starting to contradict myself here with my easy comments. So I'll try to explain....If you can play a few levels higher, it seems as if you hit a max wall. It's like a feel thing, that you can't go beyond and can't push. Playing higher could be aggravating BECAUSE YOUR OFTEN PLAYING BY YOURSELF. Yes you can use the community, and jump in on public events, but for the most part they are not your friends, they are people playing along side you. None are looking to chat or group. After the event they are usually up over the hill and gone.
Classes. I had played around with several and to be honest, I'm not too impressed with any of them. My Necromancer turned boring around the same time the game did at level 54. I did enjoy the Elamentalest in Bata, The Thief seemed to have a lot of un necessary movements and abilities for PvE as with the Mesmerrior. Both classes reminded me of my old Shaman days in World of Warcraft where you had to set totems on the ground before you even begin to fight ( A lot of the un necessary ). My Warrior seems so much more powerful and straight forward but somewhat boring. I never played around with an Engineer from rummer that they are underpowered and like the Thief, and the Messmerrior only to feel weaker.
The world is beautiful, detailed and lush. A lot going on, and I forgot to mention that you have a nice little story quest line that you can follow in a private instanced setting.
This game is a lot of fun for a few weeks. But because of the boring classes, NO COMMUNITY, and popcorn trail questing it seems to become boring anyway. It's fun to figure out the complexities, but once you do the fun seems to stop. All of a sudden everything seems like it's the same old over and over. I hit this wall at 54 and knew for sure that I had nothing to look forward too.
This time around I'm not even bothering with crafting. Last time I was aggravated in finding ridiculous amount of materials to craft things that were so abundant in the game....This may be a personal preference, because I was never a crafter.
Sorry I did not cover PvP or Dungeons, it's getting to long as it is.
Should you play GW2 ?..........I would say yes !....But understand it's not a true mmo.....If your like me, and it seems like the word on the street has much the same opinion, you will hit a wall where it's not fun anymore. But you get to keep this game on your computer for free and can return some day like me 
Comments
Guild Wars 2 is a true mmorpg. Would say WoW is less of an mmorpg with no dynamic content at all, no living story.
Guild Wars 2 is the best mmorpg i've played and i've played a lot of mmorpgs. Even played GW1 for a few years.
I think you may need to read-up on what constitutes a MMORPG. Hint: it's not dynamic content or a living story.
http://lyrics.iztok.org/verse/Lynyrd_Skynyrd/Simple_Man/80615
I know what a mmorpg is. Guild Wars 2 has it AND dynamic content and a living story.
If you're saying GW2 isn't an mmorpg i don't even know if you have played it at all.
You are starting an endless discussion. It is obvious that the OP expects different things then you from a MMORPG. And he didn't find it. End of the discussion, because it is just an opinion which differs from yours.
So try to read it as, it is not his kind of MMORPG. Instead of nitpicking about semantics.
A little followup :
Yesterday I had a good chance to play my Warrior, and found a few things.
I had noticed smaller groups working together as a Guild. This was refreshing to see from the first time I played at release. I'm sure for many that call GW2 home ARE playing the game as an mmo. However in my opinion developers did not make this game easy to do so.
Let me explain a little better :
In my original post I stated that GW2 has a popcorn trail style of questing. Quest hub 1-5, Quest hub 5-10 and so on. This is not exactly true. Something was off even as I was typing it, and it took yesterday to figure out what was REALLY wrong.
GW2 does not exactly use zones in a traditional way like WoW where you spend ten levels in Darkshore, then ten levels in Westfall making friends along the way. This can also be applied to other mmos such as EQ2,Vanguard, Warhammer, DAOC, LOTRO and many others.
GW2 uses more of a pop corn method where you move forward every two level being funneled in a line. This makes it hard to recognize other players. Moving forward all the time makes it difficult to add others to your group. This along with easy play, dynamic events, and just plain old "why should I even bother". Even if your intentions are to make friends and form groups, most likely others would decline because "why should I even bother". It's not their fault, their not being un sociable, it's just bad developers mechanics.
However on the brit side, Long time players and Guilds seem to be overpowering the developers poor choice of game design. Their grouping and matching short quest hubs anyway......This is refreshing news from the first time I played at release.
Something else that was nice :
I was playing my Warrior ( a few levels above me ) when I came across a Thief fighting several wolfs at the same time. I assumed he was in trouble and I dove in to help. Well...I died....But I learned something humbling... I watched him fight as I was hoping for a res eventually. He used some very good Thief abilities and killed the entire pack of wolfs by himself !
So I guess classes can be more complicated if you utilize stratagy.......
So what I'm saying is that GW2 is much better first appearance !!!
From my experience, joining an active guild makes a huge difference in how much fun I have playing GW2. It seems that more socially-oriented players would be in guilds.
I initially played a warrior to level 40-ish and then stopped playing GW2 for several months. I bounced around to many games. Finally, I decided to come back and give it another try. I found it refreshing. In some ways it is easy, but in others it can become challenging. I did sort of get tired of leveling up alone (I wasn't in a guild yet because I still wasn't sure if I was going to stick around in the game). So I admit, I spent some real money on gems which I converted to gold. I then leveled weaponsmithing and armorsmithing to max and knocked about 20 levels off what I felt would have been a boring and lonely grind from 50-70. The last 10 levels to 80 were fun for me and more challenging.
When I hit 80, I joined an active guild that was recruiting in my time zone and I've had a blast since then. I have fun with group activities, I get help if/when I need, I help others, and sometimes I just do my own thing as I solo and work toward world completion. I'm not a raider, so this is a great game for me.
I will definitely try WildStar, EQN, AND TESO when they come out, but I am sure that GW2 will stay on my computer. It was certainly worth the box price for me and the money I spent on gems to level my crafting. I don' t think it's at all necessary to buy gems, but it was a convenience for me, so call me lazy if you like.
Bottom line: If you join an active guild, you can have a very social and fun experience.
A true mmorpg will force you to group with other people or you dont make progress.
GW2 you dont speak to people around you, you dont party or group up.
You just do you thing and leave without saying a word.....
This sounds like a true mmo to you buddy ?
WoW not a true mmo rpg ?
Ever played Vanila wow ? there were quests you needed a party for.
There were class quests you needed a party or a 40 men raid for.
You can see the new generation of mmo players live here at MMORPG.
Elementalist is pretty cool with dual daggers (Imho it's like a thief using magic)
Mesmer with 1h sword and pistol owns too! (You will start being mediocre but the more you level the more it gets powerful! You can even solo some champion events alone since the mobs go to attack the clones and you can pop new ones fast :P )
A true MMORPG is about playing with other people.
GW2 fits the bill.
Probably you play with other people much more time in GW2 than in other MMORPGs since it isn't a pain to play with - they don't take your xp, no fighting for drops, no fighting for resource nodes.
Currently playing: GW2
Going cardboard starter kit: Ticket to ride, Pandemic, Carcassonne, Dominion, 7 Wonders
Well that's a load of guano. During my WoW days leveling alts was a race from 1 to (eventually) 80, soloing my way through dead maps going from one quest hub to the next as fast and painlessly as possible. The only "forced" grouping was when you finally get to dungeons and raids. The few group quests were easily skipped and unnecessary.
In GW2 you have a lot more freedom with how you want to level up. I've leveled alts almost exclusively in WvW (talk about needing groups btw...), I've crafted many levels on characters, I've gone to 80 through the PvE world working with players I come across instead of against them.
Easily the best MMO I've played to date, still having a blast.
Oderint, dum metuant.
lmao if that's your mindset you'll never find an MMO you ever enjoy again because that's just piss poor game design. Let me pour months of work and money into making something that players can only see if they get 40 other players all grouped together and then have to work as a group. Yeah that's a real worthwhile way to spend your game making money. Seriously just cause you liked walking up hills both ways in the snow to play an MMO 20 years ago doesn't mean a car isn't the better way to go.
I've also never seen forced grouping in the definition of MMORPG (Massively, Multiplayer, Online, RPG). GW2 meets every one of the present criteria and I don't even play or enjoy the damn game and I can admit that much.
Steam: Neph
I'm pretty sure most people didn't give GW2 a fair shake. The dipped their toes in and said, "eh it's a bit cold" and left.
A few things about your review that you may come to see in time.
GW2 isn't really a popcorn trail game. Yes, the zones are generally by level group, BUT . . . once you have some levels under your belt the scaling nature of the zones and character means you can actually travel to most zones to quest. It's more limited at lower level because you can't really scale down, but once you're in your 30-40's you can travel to many zones - it really removes the breadcrumb trail feeling.
Combat does come off as simplistic early on, some classes more than others, but it's a bit more interesting that it shows at first glance. First of all there's weapon swapping which is the most obvious method of adding more abilities. You can chain together various abilities. For example, you're a warrior, on my warrior I love to have sword/sword and axe/axe so I can throw my sword, leap to target, weapon swap to axe's and do my whirlwind.
Then you get utility skills which can alter your playstyle and lastly come the traits. They are really innocuous and ANET did a poor job of showcasing them, but they can change how you approach combat. Sometimes using an ability will trigger a secondary effect which synergizes with something else you have. Looking for these to improve damage output or sustainability shows some real depth.
For example, the thief might actually incorporate dodging into it's rotation and survivability by choosing to proc caltrops off a dodgeroll, while also generating might from dodgerolling and then granting vigor (to regenerate endurance for more dodgerolling) when using a heal skill. All of a sudden you'll have a thief that rolls around a lot to generate stacks of might while crippling and bleeding enemies which can make a ranged kiting playstyle much more enjoyable and so on.
GW2 has more depth that people give it credit for and delving into it is quite rewarding. You can build some pretty interesting class combinations.
I have played GW2 since early access and it is by far the best mmorpg I have ever played hands down nothing comes close. I started playing mmos in 1999 and in 2002 you could say I was addicted to DAOC, my point is I have played alot of mmos and nothing comes close to the masterpiece that is gw2. I have even tried to play some other mmos since gw2 and I get to a body of water and im like wtf i cant swim and fight, the combat and everything in gw2 has ruined me for other mmos.
For those that think the game is dying I lol. I play on Anvil Rock one of the lowest ranked wvw servers which has caused whole guilds to transfer. Guess what there are still ques on patch day and I see new players all the time and this on what is considered to be one of the lowest pop server.
The game is/will do very well for along time. First mmo I know of that has pumped out so much content so fast, bi-weekly updates with no sub thats unheard of. My how haters will be surprised when they announce 4 million, 5 million sold etc.
I just bought this yesterday. I had been interested in the game since it launched. It started out slow but I was up until past 5 in the morning playing it hardcore.
It is different. The story is kind of bad. It definitely is deeper than it seems at the beginning. I am enjoying it personally and looking forward to playing again today. I like it so far. But I must suck at the game right now because I have gotten my butt kicked quite a few times with my Necromancer. Then again, that may be coming from learning weapon swap and getting some focus on what I want my character to do skill-wise.
It seems that GW2 is sort of a polarizing MMO game. But it seems pretty cool so far.
He said it's not a true mmorpg, when it really is a true mmorpg. It's not the standard WoW mmorpg.
As much as I love this game, anyone who wants to dump serious time into their MMO's will dissapointed. The real time story patches are an awesome concept, but me being a hardcore MMO player minigames are not something I'm interested in.
They have been adding a lot more permanent content as of late however, so it has been keeping me occupied until FFXIV launches.
Played-Everything
Playing-LoL
I've managed to put more than 600 hours into Keg Brawl >.> I don't see the rplbwme, ofifcre...
MAN, lemme just warn you.
Necro is Beast on PVP but underappreciated on PVE.
Its hard to master but once done its pretty cool.
now: GW2 (11 80s).
Dark Souls 2.
future: Mount&Blade 2 BannerLord.
"Bro, do your even fractal?"
Recommends: Guild Wars 2, Dark Souls, Mount&Blade: Warband, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning.
I've tried to pick up this game on about 6 different characters over the past year. The highest level I've reached is 48.
My problem with the 1-80 progression is, each zone feels exactly the same as the one before it. You do your hearts (kill x, fetch y, interact with z) and the exploration objectives (vistas, POIs, waypoints). The only enjoyment I get from going into a new zone is checking out the environments, since they are mostly very nice in this game. But other than that, there is very little variety in what you can do or what you experience.
I don't feel any connection or commitment to the world around me. The story and lore is all around generic and lacks 'character'.
I am starting to notice that.
A true mmorpg? What constitutes a true one?
Necro's went from alright to flat out amazing in the recent patches. I've been a warrior player since day 1(well, i have all classes leveled but warrior has been my favorite) and i've recently started moving to get my necro dressed up for my main.
I don't even play it as a condition build, but straight DPS and man, tis awesome! Think i'm loving it more than my war now.
But, for anyone coming into the game wanting a little help, drop me an ingame mail, my name is Taaz.
I'd love to show you around!
The Deep Web is sca-ry.
I agree with almost all your review OP except for the single player mmo. It is no different than any other MMORPG out there. WoW, Rift, even SWToR! If you want to group then just go ahead and ask to group with others. In fact, if you don't even like to socialize with others you can get into a group without even saying a thing.
This is the best game for the buck out!
edit: Popcorn trail? This is one of the best games to play and you don't have to follow a single quest hub. Just start exploring and damn the torpedoes! No need to do hearts or find Points of Interest in a set order if you don't want to!
Death is nothing to us, since when we are, Death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.