The State Of The Game That Is Guild Wars 2

[InfiniteRetro]

I've been pretty vocal about many issues regarding the game but taking on the advice of some kind folk here i decided to approach this stress test with a more adoptive attitude and see if anything would change my overall opinion or outlook.

Combat: First thing i did was bind my heal spell to E, Q had my quick turn around and then Left Shift for dodging (basically because if im kiting holding right mouse button shift is the only key i felt i can use without letting go of any left hand fingers to in order to use that mechanic.) this worked out very well, made fighting 'less' intrusive.

However, for long periods of time (i basically played the entire stress test front to back) its strenuous. not entirely sure if this kind of mechanic will ever take over fully as i tend to view mmos as the downtime/escapism of my gaming lifestyle. having both hands constantly at the keyboard makes me miss simply point and clicking to move around when im not in a combative mood (examples would be in a city environment etc) and i did find it to be very taxing constantly playing in this vein. near the end i ended up simply standing still because i couldnt be assed moving anymore.

Enemy Strengths: Like GW1, the game basically equalises to your level except with 80 levels its more so apparent coming 'down' since you cannot scale up and you definately notice. I know its an opinion but i do think it steeps in a lot of 'facts' is the obvious mechanic employed with the ai. and that is, they simply hit you like a truck and if you dont move, you die. I know people bring up the dodge mechanic as this you-beaut thing BUT its the ONLY way to not die. your character may as well be made of paper which doesnt really add up when even a warrior seems to get popped just as easily as an elementalist. i would like it so your character felt a bit more meaty and can take a few because the 'constant' moving as stated above made me feel a bit on the drained side.

World Exploration: I view the zones/cities like a movie set. you are basically surrounded by a backdrop which circumnavigates the entire zone. within it, as we all know, DE's will reset, Hearts will be completed as a once off, and scouts will show more locations for skill point acquisition etc. I kinda wish scouts didnt exist. the whole point of exploring is to NOT be shown. i dont know if its a 'noob' thing to hold the hands of an mmo'er to show them where things are once you click on a scout, but i think doing away with scouts would promote MORE exploration as what Anet is saying in interviews and what not.

Also, and i think its 'normal', keeping an eye on your xp bar isnt something that will ever disappear. its true you get xp for nearly everything, BUT at level 12 my next storyline quest was recommended Level 19. it was the "Ashes from the past" one i believe, where you take on the ettins. there is NO way you can solo it at my level, which mean, id have to do 6 levels of grinding up. some people say 'well you should be working for your level' which then doesnt really equate to the 'fun' factor. i cant help it, i do like a very centralised questing system, or a system in place which, without fail, you know you'll be propelled forward. in gw2, xp is split amongst a bunch of stuff, and for the completionist, thats fantastic, for some that arent that way inclined, its a hindrance.

as a compensation, i think you should be upscaled for the storyline missions (note im not saying 'levelling up') because i believe that you should be able to finish the storyline and while acquire levels from it, NOT make it so it takes you all the way to 80. you might say finish on level 55, done the story but still have the world to go out and explore and level up the rest. in no way do i believe finishing the storyline means achieving level 80, hope thats clear.

Utility Tiers: well, im not a fan of how it is now. im sure its for balancing but i ended up sitting there going 'umm, i dont really want any of these but if i dont, i wont proceed to the next level'. again, i'll admit, i absolutely loved the gw1 build customisation. yes, a balance nightmare, but i think with effort they could have reduced and condensed like they have but still offer a fully utilised and customisable 10 slot skill bar with dual professions. because of the limitations even with weapon swapping (an elementalist staff still yields the same 'types' of spells regardless of attunement you have active) i felt kinda bored and wished i had more options. 8 fully swappable slots in gw1 offers more freedom than current, but, im a diehard gw1 fan lol

Character Graphics: hate them lol theres something 'off' which i cant quite put my finger on it. i loaded up gw1 mid beta just to compare and i do prefer the 'age ranges' and better factial and 'skin' types than in gw2. it almost seems like squishy plastic and feels more manequin like. after seeing other games like ArcheAge in beta, Tera, more recent race addtions to WoW, Rift etc, GW2 feel i dunno, 'off' is really the only term that comes to mind but then, its personal taste.

World Graphics: as a test, i had my ele in the charr homelands area, much like pre searing, then mid beta as i mentioned above, i also chose my ele and went to the charr homelands in eotn. theres not 'much' graphical difference. BOTH games have this Bold & The Beautiful hollywood glow which gives the impression of graphical impressiveness, but closer inspection does yield some pretty bad texturing. and its funny but because it doesnt look that much different it runs worse despite what id consider a simple upgrade from the EOTN engine. next beta try it yourself, you'll see.

Questing & Events: every single npc is constantly yelling or running up to you. its now in the opposite end of the spectrum instead of you picking up they are delivering. i think a mix between would be nice. but atm everytime you enter an npc area its like you're the person they've been waiting for their entire life and they are rushing desperately to your aid lol

i know its a lot of negatives and i did enjoy the time, (the last event was bad though, so many people got bored) but just like any game especially being a huge fan of the first personally, i do feel a lot has changed for a more casual type approach.

thanks for reading

[DrakeWurrum]

However, for long periods of time (i basically played the entire stress test front to back) its strenuous. not entirely sure if this kind of mechanic will ever take over fully as i tend to view mmos as the downtime/escapism of my gaming lifestyle. having both hands constantly at the keyboard makes me miss simply point and clicking to move around when im not in a combative mood (examples would be in a city environment etc) and i did find it to be very taxing constantly playing in this vein. near the end i ended up simply standing still because i couldnt be assed moving anymore.

Firstly: so you played 5 hours?
Secondly: What MMORPG were you playing where you could click to move?

[Brandoh]

good read of those of us not playing.

---------- Post added 2012-06-28 at 12:23 AM ----------

Firstly: so you played 5 hours?
Secondly: What MMORPG were you playing where you could click to move?

any of them can be made click to move.

[DrakeWurrum]

Enemy Strengths: Like GW1, the game basically equalises to your level except with 80 levels its more so apparent coming 'down' since you cannot scale up and you definately notice. I know its an opinion but i do think it steeps in a lot of 'facts' is the obvious mechanic employed with the ai. and that is, they simply hit you like a truck and if you dont move, you die. I know people bring up the dodge mechanic as this you-beaut thing BUT its the ONLY way to not die. your character may as well be made of paper which doesnt really add up when even a warrior seems to get popped just as easily as an elementalist. i would like it so your character felt a bit more meaty and can take a few because the 'constant' moving as stated above made me feel a bit on the drained side.

Umm... what? So what you're saying is you don't like that not moving means getting hit and dying? O_o

I don't see why it's a bad thing that you have to actually work at staying alive.

I should also note: I never actually felt the downscaling. I didn't run around one-shotting mobs, but I still felt more powerful than mobs in an area when I was down-leveled, to the point that I could run around without much fear. They still required me to pay attention to survive and kill, but I also felt powerful in doing so.

---------- Post added 2012-06-27 at 11:25 PM ----------

any of them can be made click to move.

I haven't seen this in WoW, or in Guild Wars 1, or in City of Heroes. It's also worth noting that the "standard" way of playing for a majority of players is to play with both hands - one on the keyboard and one on the mouse. I have never found this to be uncomfortable, with proper posture. It's also worth noting that if you really want to just sit back and play using only one hand, you can take your hand off the keyboard and mouse-turn while also holding down both the left and right mouse buttons, and you'll run forward.

---------- Post added 2012-06-27 at 11:30 PM ----------

World Exploration: I view the zones/cities like a movie set. you are basically surrounded by a backdrop which circumnavigates the entire zone. within it, as we all know, DE's will reset, Hearts will be completed as a once off, and scouts will show more locations for skill point acquisition etc. I kinda wish scouts didnt exist. the whole point of exploring is to NOT be shown. i dont know if its a 'noob' thing to hold the hands of an mmo'er to show them where things are once you click on a scout, but i think doing away with scouts would promote MORE exploration as what Anet is saying in interviews and what not.

They added all that stuff because there was a significant number of people complaining that there was no direction and they really didn't know where to go to find things. Even with the heart tasks and points of interest and the scouts and all of the marks on your map, there is actually a LOT of stuff that is NOT shown on the map, at all. Have you looked into the jumping puzzles at all? Have you ever run up to an NPC, and started talking to them... and accidentally started an event? Because I have. The NPC I'm thinking of wasn't even in an area close to a heart task or skill challenge or anything. She was out in the middle of nowhere, where you'd never expect to find people.

Also, and i think its 'normal', keeping an eye on your xp bar isnt something that will ever disappear. its true you get xp for nearly everything, BUT at level 12 my next storyline quest was recommended Level 19. it was the "Ashes from the past" one i believe, where you take on the ettins. there is NO way you can solo it at my level, which mean, id have to do 6 levels of grinding up. some people say 'well you should be working for your level' which then doesnt really equate to the 'fun' factor. i cant help it, i do like a very centralised questing system, or a system in place which, without fail, you know you'll be propelled forward. in gw2, xp is split amongst a bunch of stuff, and for the completionist, thats fantastic, for some that arent that way inclined, its a hindrance.

It's absolutely true that the experience tuning feels off. A lot of people have been sharing this with Arena Net, and they've actually been working on that quite extensively. So far, though, it does appear absolutely intended that you're meant to jump around to other zones a lot, and not necessarily progress linearly. It feels awkward to me too, especially since I could've sworn I was supposed to be able to level to 80 only through personal story (just as one example), but let's wait and see what it's like on release.

as a compensation, i think you should be upscaled for the storyline missions (note im not saying 'levelling up') because i believe that you should be able to finish the storyline and while acquire levels from it, NOT make it so it takes you all the way to 80. you might say finish on level 55, done the story but still have the world to go out and explore and level up the rest. in no way do i believe finishing the storyline means achieving level 80, hope thats clear.

I absolutely do NOT think upscaling is needed. Ever. Levels actually don't mean very much in this game, but if they added upscaling to the game... well, then levels would be 100% pointless. Sure, if you run up to a mob 20 levels higher than you... eeeeh, you're gonna die. But that's used as a sort of "gating" process. I can't claim to know the specific design reasons behind it, but... well, did you know that Arena Net originally wasn't going to have levels at all?

It's something they wanted to do, but they realized that it would alienate too many people who are used to leveling.

---------- Post added 2012-06-27 at 11:36 PM ----------

Utility Tiers: well, im not a fan of how it is now. im sure its for balancing but i ended up sitting there going 'umm, i dont really want any of these but if i dont, i wont proceed to the next level'. again, i'll admit, i absolutely loved the gw1 build customisation. yes, a balance nightmare, but i think with effort they could have reduced and condensed like they have but still offer a fully utilised and customisable 10 slot skill bar with dual professions. because of the limitations even with weapon swapping (an elementalist staff still yields the same 'types' of spells regardless of attunement you have active) i felt kinda bored and wished i had more options. 8 fully swappable slots in gw1 offers more freedom than current, but, im a diehard gw1 fan lol

I can see why some people are bothered by it, but... I don't see it as a big deal. The exact reason they tiered the utility skills was because they realized that players were only grabbing the exact 3-5 skills they wanted, and ignoring ALL of the others, regardless of how many skill points they had. So they tiered the skills to encourage players to experiment more. You're complaining about the utility tiers specifically because you want to do something they specifically want to prevent. I know it sucks when developers do that, but... well, they have their reasons.

Yeah, you can jump into the mists and experiment - but that's really not the same thing, and how many players experiment with the skills they're not interested in that way? I didn't jump into the mists to experiment with traps. I jumped into the mists to experiment with a build or two that I'd come up with in advance, and thus wasn't really experimenting - I was testing out something I already knew I wanted to play. Not the same thing.

[Gisei]

Enemy Strengths: Like GW1, the game basically equalises to your level except with 80 levels its more so apparent coming 'down' since you cannot scale up and you definately notice. I know its an opinion but i do think it steeps in a lot of 'facts' is the obvious mechanic employed with the ai. and that is, they simply hit you like a truck and if you dont move, you die. I know people bring up the dodge mechanic as this you-beaut thing BUT its the ONLY way to not die. your character may as well be made of paper which doesnt really add up when even a warrior seems to get popped just as easily as an elementalist. i would like it so your character felt a bit more meaty and can take a few because the 'constant' moving as stated above made me feel a bit on the drained side.

I've played Necro in BWE1 and Guardian in BWE2 and I can say without doubt that the Guardian has far more defense and offense than the Necro. It definitely isn't a trivial amount either. I've actually been able to take on more enemies successfully as a pure melee Guardian than I have ever with my Necro. I'd like to point out that the only time I actually dodge is when facing veterans or stronger mobs. Otherwise, I dive into the middle of 6 mobs and tank it out.

And, you don't want the axe flying at you to hurt? I don't care too much for statistical advantages, but that seems to be the implication. If the axe hits you, it should hurt like hell, regardless of level or numbers.

[raincity]

Thanks for the information, as someone who is not in the beta its always nice to read opinions from people playing the beta. I'm curious if you could elaborate on the combat at all. I have heard a few rift/wow players describe the combat in GW2 as "clunky" as well. They went on to mention that it felt a bit disconnected and delayed, compared to their respective games at least. Maybe its just a big adjustment coming from their previous games with fairly traditional MMO combat systems. Either way I'm still looking forward to the game.

[DrakeWurrum]

Character Graphics: hate them lol theres something 'off' which i cant quite put my finger on it. i loaded up gw1 mid beta just to compare and i do prefer the 'age ranges' and better factial and 'skin' types than in gw2. it almost seems like squishy plastic and feels more manequin like. after seeing other games like ArcheAge in beta, Tera, more recent race addtions to WoW, Rift etc, GW2 feel i dunno, 'off' is really the only term that comes to mind but then, its personal taste.

Mmm... Mannequin like? I just don't see it. I really, really don't. I'll agree there needs to be more customization options for faces and hair and body shape and all that type of stuff (I'm currently of the opinion that beta is beta, and they don't want to let us see everything they have worked up - until then, however, let's be sure to continue informing them that what we have is not satisfactory, to be sure they get the memo!).

I actually feel like the characters in GW2 are much more... realistic... than the ones I find in WoW, or Guild Wars 1 (and GW1 is MUCH more limited with hair and appearance), and definitely better than City of Heroes. I haven't played Rift or SWTOR, and I know GW2 ain't Skyrim or APB: Reloaded, but I personally don't see these characters as "off" in the least.
The humans look human - more human than WoW humans, by far.

Hell, have you seen how the hair and clothing moves? It's fantastic.
Have you ever put your character onto an incline and looked at how his pose changed? THAT is impressive!

---------- Post added 2012-06-27 at 11:43 PM ----------

World Graphics: as a test, i had my ele in the charr homelands area, much like pre searing, then mid beta as i mentioned above, i also chose my ele and went to the charr homelands in eotn. theres not 'much' graphical difference. BOTH games have this Bold & The Beautiful hollywood glow which gives the impression of graphical impressiveness, but closer inspection does yield some pretty bad texturing. and its funny but because it doesnt look that much different it runs worse despite what id consider a simple upgrade from the EOTN engine. next beta try it yourself, you'll see.

I'll admit, in some places the textures could be more detailed. But contrary to popular belief, textures are not graphically intensive - 3D modelling, lighting, shadows, reflections, particle effects... THAT is what's graphically intensive.

You say you don't see much improvement over GW1 - I seriously beg to differ. I've played GW1 a bunch as well....
More to the point... why do people keep staring intently at the textures? Art is meant to be taken in all at once, as a big picture. Or, at least, that's how the art in GW2 feels.

---------- Post added 2012-06-27 at 11:48 PM ----------

Questing & Events: every single npc is constantly yelling or running up to you. its now in the opposite end of the spectrum instead of you picking up they are delivering. i think a mix between would be nice. but atm everytime you enter an npc area its like you're the person they've been waiting for their entire life and they are rushing desperately to your aid lol

Eh. In BWE1, you didn't have any of that - so when amazing events were happening nearby that you know you'd want to participate in, you'd have no idea what was going on. I've been exposed to many more events in BWE2 because of this improvement, and I found it immensely useful. Instead of just walking down the road towards the next heart task, suddenly I have a new event on my map in a completely new direction that I can choose to take part in... or simply ignore.

These people don't run up to you like you're the second coming of Jesus, though - they run up to you like they're panicked and looking for help. If you don't have a cell phone, and a friend of yours got so badly injured that it's unsafe to carry him, how are you going to act when you run off for help? You're going to be begging every person you pass by for help of some kind, ANY kind! If you walk on for a bit and watch that NPC a little, you might notice that he also ran up to the guy behind you. And the guy behind him. And so on.

You're not a special snowflake there!

I still find it ironic that after all of the complaints Arena Net received about having absolutely no directed assistance in finding events and various points of interest in a zone, people are now saying "Omg, I just want to explore, not be told where everything is!"
I think we've found a happy medium, because they seriously are not sharing everything with you. Just a few major points of interest. If you actually go out and explore a zone, you will still find many things you did not expect.

[frownface2000]

Firstly: so you played 5 hours?
Secondly: What MMORPG were you playing where you could click to move?

Well, WoW has a click to move option, most people just don't know that it exists

[MrSerious]

I know people bring up the dodge mechanic as this you-beaut thing BUT its the ONLY way to not die. your character may as well be made of paper which doesnt really add up when even a warrior seems to get popped just as easily as an elementalist.

A warrior can go sword and board and I think its his 4th ability that blocks the next incoming attack, if I was using two maces then the 3rd ability not only blocks that attack but delivers a counter blow. When I was playing a hunter today if I used an axe I could dive roll and strike the mob from behind (this is different to the dodge you have)

I really think you should play more than just 5 hours and explore what options you have with whatever class you chose. You might be missing a few things that can help you survive.

I might add that the fighting mechanics are the best I come across in an mmo, to me they feel fluid and responsive and with the weapon swapping option I can go defensive with a simple press of one button. Not only that my traits can help with buffs and debuffing, regen and instant heals... the fights feel very dynamic. I also enjoy teaming up with elementalists or necros and doing combo attacks.

[Ickz]

I pretty much disagree with all of the OP's points aside from character models maybe needing a little work - mainly just need more/better faces and hair.

[Bayhas]

Well, WoW has a click to move option, most people just don't know that it exists

Or play with it because click and move died with Neverwinter Nights 2 or even Diablo 3 for that matter. It's an impersonal and should be dead tech for MMOs.

[draykorinee]

Umm... what? So what you're saying is you don't like that not moving means getting hit and dying? O_o

I don't see why it's a bad thing that you have to actually work at staying alive.

---------- Post added 2012-06-27 at 11:25 PM ----------

[/COLOR]
I haven't seen this in WoW, or in Guild Wars 1, or in City of Heroes. It's also worth noting that the "standard" way of playing for a majority of players is to play with both hands - one on the keyboard and one on the mouse. I have never found this to be uncomfortable, with proper posture. It's also worth noting that if you really want to just sit back and play using only one hand, you can take your hand off the keyboard and mouse-turn while also holding down both the left and right mouse buttons, and you'll run forward.

Every single one of those games mentioned has a click to move in the options menu, its not convoluted, you just turn on click to move, in fact wasnt gw1 click to move by default, i only played a few hours of the trial and i remember it pathfinding for me without changing a setting.

I think i agree with the combat, I hate having to constantly dodge to survive its a little bit boring constantly rolling out of combat to avoid dying, id much happier have a parry or block mechanic, I know my warrior has it but I dont know about other classes. As a low level warrior I got involved in a dredge scenario and with about 20 other players its incredibly difficult to know where the damage is coming from, I died twice without a clue what had hit me.

Graphically I dont like how i 'float' over the world, otherwise they are mearly average graphics, i'll wait till optimisation before I put too much judgement.

[Fencers]

Secondly: What MMORPG were you playing where you could click to move?

There are tons of MMOs that offer click to move. In terms of worldwide % it is probably the most used control scheme.

[dokilar]

sorry you feel that way

i love the game =)

[Anaralah]

I havent seen character models in game myself only watched some streams/videos , but i was drooling while watching human character creation videos and it wasnt even fully customisable yet

[Pickynerd]

Why didn't you just link one of your many "I hate GW2" videos? Seems like every site that I read, you pop up on, and rant about your distaste for the game.
I am a long time reader here, and I've only registered now because it blows my mind the great lengths you've gone through, just to trash GW2 as well as the people who like it.

[draykorinee]

Why didn't you just link one of your many "I hate GW2" videos? Seems like every site that I read, you pop up on, and rant about your distaste for the game.
I am a long time reader here, and I've only registered now because it blows my mind the great lengths you've gone through, just to trash GW2 as well as the people who like it.

If this is the kind of contribution we expect from you, dont bother posting. People are free to offer constructive feedback without being considered haters. He already says he is a huge fan and enjoyed playing the game.

[Malthurius]

Combat: First thing i did was bind my heal spell to E, Q had my quick turn around and then Left Shift for dodging (basically because if im kiting holding right mouse button shift is the only key i felt i can use without letting go of any left hand fingers to in order to use that mechanic.) this worked out very well, made fighting 'less' intrusive.

However, for long periods of time (i basically played the entire stress test front to back) its strenuous. not entirely sure if this kind of mechanic will ever take over fully as i tend to view mmos as the downtime/escapism of my gaming lifestyle. having both hands constantly at the keyboard makes me miss simply point and clicking to move around when im not in a combative mood (examples would be in a city environment etc) and i did find it to be very taxing constantly playing in this vein. near the end i ended up simply standing still because i couldnt be assed moving anymore.

This is an extremely alien view to me. I play games to be engaged, and if I can play a game with 1 hand without focusing on the game... then the game has failed me in my opinion. So on this front, what you find "intrusive" I find "engaging". I don't agree with you.

Enemy Strengths: Like GW1, the game basically equalises to your level except with 80 levels its more so apparent coming 'down' since you cannot scale up and you definately notice. I know its an opinion but i do think it steeps in a lot of 'facts' is the obvious mechanic employed with the ai. and that is, they simply hit you like a truck and if you dont move, you die. I know people bring up the dodge mechanic as this you-beaut thing BUT its the ONLY way to not die. your character may as well be made of paper which doesnt really add up when even a warrior seems to get popped just as easily as an elementalist. i would like it so your character felt a bit more meaty and can take a few because the 'constant' moving as stated above made me feel a bit on the drained side.

There are other defensive options other than dodge. I found "black powder" on the pistol off hand for thieves to be a very effective melee defensive move in PvE. If I ran out of stamina to dodge, "black powder" was a good option. Other classes have other defensive abilities as well that are quite effective. But even with these defensive options, the combat still required attention and engagement, which seems to be something you're not a fan of.

World Exploration: I view the zones/cities like a movie set. you are basically surrounded by a backdrop which circumnavigates the entire zone. within it, as we all know, DE's will reset, Hearts will be completed as a once off, and scouts will show more locations for skill point acquisition etc. I kinda wish scouts didnt exist. the whole point of exploring is to NOT be shown. i dont know if its a 'noob' thing to hold the hands of an mmo'er to show them where things are once you click on a scout, but i think doing away with scouts would promote MORE exploration as what Anet is saying in interviews and what not.

I kind of agree here, I'm not the biggest fan of scouts, but I just don't talk to them. Problem solved. They don't even really ruin exploration if you talk to them, there is still plenty to explore because scouts don't permanently reveal things to the players, they only provide direction for those that want it.

Also, I found that there was rarely a "back drop" in zones. Usually, if there was something on the horizon, you could get to it. There are a lot of things that the scouts never show your or even mention. When you close your sense of exploration to a single zone surrounded by back drop, your sense of exploration is already ham-stringed, so it's not a good mentality to have if you want to explore.

Also, and i think its 'normal', keeping an eye on your xp bar isnt something that will ever disappear. its true you get xp for nearly everything, BUT at level 12 my next storyline quest was recommended Level 19. it was the "Ashes from the past" one i believe, where you take on the ettins. there is NO way you can solo it at my level, which mean, id have to do 6 levels of grinding up. some people say 'well you should be working for your level' which then doesnt really equate to the 'fun' factor. i cant help it, i do like a very centralised questing system, or a system in place which, without fail, you know you'll be propelled forward. in gw2, xp is split amongst a bunch of stuff, and for the completionist, thats fantastic, for some that arent that way inclined, its a hindrance.

as a compensation, i think you should be upscaled for the storyline missions (note im not saying 'levelling up') because i believe that you should be able to finish the storyline and while acquire levels from it, NOT make it so it takes you all the way to 80. you might say finish on level 55, done the story but still have the world to go out and explore and level up the rest. in no way do i believe finishing the storyline means achieving level 80, hope thats clear.

I personally felt no such thing. I was under leveled for a lot of my personal story to the point where I couldn't solo it either... but I didn't think to myself "Ugh, got to go grind levels now"; I thought "Oh, let me go check out more of the zone then and I'll come back in an hour", because I found leveling content fun.. but in all honesty, it's not suppose to be leveling content, it's meant to just be content.

I also feel that it shouldn't up scale your level. The personal story as they are now feel like cool little milestones of accomplishment, and being able to just run from one to the next with no time between would cheapen that I would feel. There are a lot of varying opinions on how fast leveling should be, but I honestly don't mind the leveling as it is now or how accessible the personal story is.

Utility Tiers: well, im not a fan of how it is now. im sure its for balancing but i ended up sitting there going 'umm, i dont really want any of these but if i dont, i wont proceed to the next level'. again, i'll admit, i absolutely loved the gw1 build customisation. yes, a balance nightmare, but i think with effort they could have reduced and condensed like they have but still offer a fully utilised and customisable 10 slot skill bar with dual professions. because of the limitations even with weapon swapping (an elementalist staff still yields the same 'types' of spells regardless of attunement you have active) i felt kinda bored and wished i had more options. 8 fully swappable slots in gw1 offers more freedom than current, but, im a diehard gw1 fan lol

They've said they are going to add more options to the trait lines (more major traits) so that will fix part of the problem. And if you're having a hard time finding a trait that you like, it might be a good idea to look at another trait line that supports your character a bit better. Eh, I just don't mind the current system, haven't really wrestled with it.

Character Graphics: hate them lol theres something 'off' which i cant quite put my finger on it. i loaded up gw1 mid beta just to compare and i do prefer the 'age ranges' and better factial and 'skin' types than in gw2. it almost seems like squishy plastic and feels more manequin like. after seeing other games like ArcheAge in beta, Tera, more recent race addtions to WoW, Rift etc, GW2 feel i dunno, 'off' is really the only term that comes to mind but then, its personal taste.

I don't see what you're seeing. GW1 characters felt like robots to me personally. GW2 characters are a lot better at emoting, and that's a huge plus.

World Graphics: as a test, i had my ele in the charr homelands area, much like pre searing, then mid beta as i mentioned above, i also chose my ele and went to the charr homelands in eotn. theres not 'much' graphical difference. BOTH games have this Bold & The Beautiful hollywood glow which gives the impression of graphical impressiveness, but closer inspection does yield some pretty bad texturing. and its funny but because it doesnt look that much different it runs worse despite what id consider a simple upgrade from the EOTN engine. next beta try it yourself, you'll see.

Texture quality isn't all there is to graphics. Besides, I'm not really impressed by graphical fidelity, I'm much more impressed with aesthetics and art direction, and in that respect, GW2 wins out by far. GW2 environments just look better overall to me.

Questing & Events: every single npc is constantly yelling or running up to you. its now in the opposite end of the spectrum instead of you picking up they are delivering. i think a mix between would be nice. but atm everytime you enter an npc area its like you're the person they've been waiting for their entire life and they are rushing desperately to your aid lol

If you talk around, there are some NPCs that have tasks that they aren't really in your face about. There is an example in the swamp where the shadow behemoth is where there is a woman with book. She doesn't really talk to players and she doesn't have a marker above her head, but if you talk to her she will tell you about the book on the table that has a ritual to open a portal to the underworld. If you tell her you're curious, she'll start the ritual and open a portal summoning a veteran mob to kill.

There are a lot of events and things that you have to find yourself, next time you play, talk to some people and read what they have to say... they usually have something interesting to direct you to or hint at in my experience. If not, at least they have some cool lore.

But I feel like you exaggerated a little bit, NPCs never really came off as desperate to me, and rarely do I notice messengers unless they're right next to me.

Sorry about dissecting the post... it's just easier to think about each point this way and give a more cohesive response personally.

[couchboi]

While I'm not entirely on board with everything the OP is saying, I definitely agree with him on the more...hard hitting points. Aesthetically, I'm definitely pleased. I think ArenaNet did a great job. I've been playing Guild Wars 1 for almost 7 years now and the differences between the two become noticeable.

I completely trust ArenaNet and I love the game, I guess I've just never been into all of this hype that everybody has for it. Well, being a Guild Wars 1 player there is obviously a lot of excitement for it. I think it's most likely because I have been playing Guild Wars 1 for as long as I have. I know what to expect from ArenaNet. I know exactly how they're going to handle this game. I know people are going to be disappointed, and honestly my hipster side is kicking in and I WANT that to be the case. Back when they first announced it, some of the only info we had was the playable races, the jumping (shit, even sliding), and all of that jazz. The 2 years between not knowing anything after the announcement and then the year after the teaser trailer was released I was pretty damn excited for it. Again, I know it's my hipster side, but a part of me only wanted it to be Guild Wars 1 players that ever played Guild Wars 2. Anyways, I'm just rambling now.

Basically, I know where the OP is coming from. I LOVE Guild Wars 2 and it will be fun as hell, I just wish people would calm the hell down over every little detail. That's my 2 cents. You should cash it quick.

[Pickynerd]

If this is the kind of contribution we expect from you, dont bother posting. People are free to offer constructive feedback without being considered haters. He already says he is a huge fan and enjoyed playing the game.

Search You Tube: Baldatgames gw2, if you really want to see "constructive" Google baldatgames... Every site I enjoy, he's on it, saying how much GW2 sucks.

I'm just sayin'...