Firstly, I would just like to say that this isn't meant to offend or cause any kind of bad feeling. I just want to put something out there and see what you guys think.
I was really hyped for GW2, I mean really. The promise of dynamic events, the eradication of the "Holy Trinity" and the 8x3 Explorable mode dungeons seemed almost too good to be true. I devoured article after article and waited for this great game to be released with hopes of it being the next big thing.
However, a couple days back, I realised that perhaps this game could be missing something.
The problem was I bought into the hype that was being stirred up by many people. They compared GW2 to other popular mmos and claimed that this would now be the top dog and keep them entertained for years to come, expansion after expansion. They made fun of the supposed "gear treadmill" that other games use and ridiculed the "carrot on a stick" approach to mmos.
All that got me thinking though: what is it that I enjoyed in an mmo? I liked adventuring with friends, getting more powerful and clearing content. I loved that feeling of gaining a new weapon that obliterated the stats of my old one and the thrill of pushing my damage to the absolute maximum.
Then I thought about GW2. What you do from the very first DE is essentially the end game content. I would still be clearing content with explorable dungeons but after putting in all the effort where would my powerful weapon be? How would my character become more powerful and my dps soar? (essentially the dps role is different in GW2).
I realised I wasn't interested in purely cosmetic loot, for me, armour appearences are merely a bonus to the awesome stats that come with them.
The "gear treadmill"/"carrot on a stick" are incentives to play. People say they provide an illusion of fun and progress; however, in this case, it is not an illusion if you feel and see said effects ( I see my damage soar and I feel the fun). I knew that once I clear through the explorable modes I'd be done with the game totally and utterly. Going back to do old DE's (even if I am scaled) doesn't provide me with any progress.
Getting the "carrot" throughout the whole game will get tiresome quite quickly. Sadly I realised GW2 won't have the PvE experience I was hoping for.
My final point is this though: us mmos fans created this problem (well, a few of us). We compared GW2 to a game that was totally different and warped the expectations we should have had.
Back in '06 I didn't look at TES 4 and compare it to an mmo, neither did I do that for FF13 when it came out.
I saw people that loved raiding talking about GW2 and saying "End game is gonna be so awesome, downing bosses in explorable mode will keep us busy for months! Can't wait to see the armour sets" It's sad because these people will waste their money and be left with a bad taste in their mouths after geting the real GW2 (the GW2 we should have been thinking about instead of trying to make it something it's not).
GW2 will be fun to play for a month and then I'll leave and come back maybe a bit later on. However, it will not quench the the thirst of those looking for an experience that is already out there. We have a game that gives us that fix.
What GW2 will do is provide a fun experience that will last as long as any console game out there. I should have looked at it from that perspective instead of trying to make it into something it's not and hasn't tried to be...