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  1. #1

    Best MMO that I've had the pleasure of playing

    Incoming wall of text:

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    Nearly two months after launch, I finally hit lv80 and I haven’t felt this way about a game in a long ass time. What a blast it was. I don’t even know where to begin. The experience was unreal.

    Despite the fact that I had little to no interaction with anyone from lv1 to 80 (ALL of my guildies went back to WoW once MoP came out), the experience was indescribable. It was the best leveling experience I’ve ever had and I wish it didn’t end so soon. I can’t recall the last time I was actually looking forward to log on to level my character. Yeah, to level. As I moved from MMO to MMO, leveling increasingly became more of a chore. It has become a pre-requisite for anyone that wants to enjoy the game.

    A definitive example of this is Aion. You had to endure through the worst grind of your life and drag yourself through the levels. Simply, leveling SUCKED. Eventually, I said ‘fuck this’ and gave up somewhere in the 30s. That all changed in GW2. Having gone through several MMOs, I thought I had come across every possible leveling mechanic that nothing else would seem innovative or ground-breaking. Boy was I wrong.

    Ironically, there wasn't much to look forward to every time I leveled up. You don’t get any cool spells like you normally do in other games. And I could've cared less about the talent point that I got each level. But exploration and dynamic events were unreal. Many of the zones presented some of the most aesthetically pleasing sceneries I have seen. I often found myself trying to find ways to climb up a hill or a cliff just to get a better view. And I could just stand there and stare at it for minutes. I felt like I was in Tyria.

    I was never a fan of achievements. Never cared about it in WoW aside from arena titles. But the map completion achievements were a nice bonus to my fervor for expedition. In every MMO that I’ve played, if I saw a cave or a camp full of ogres or goblins, I avoided them like a plague. But here, I barged in like a champ. Many of these unattractive camps had events or hidden treasures in them that gave incentives to invade. Even if I didn’t find either of those, it was well worth it for daily kill achievements, which gave considerable amount of xp. Every corner of the world had something to offer. Whether it's a hidden treasure, figuring out how to get to that vista, or a veteran guarding a chest, there was always something to be explored or discovered.

    One of my favorite things to do was making my way to each dungeon (for the first time to acquire WPs). Traveling in MMO is often regarded as a ‘waste of time’. I’ve complained about it. Others have done the same. And that never ending public outcry has led, for example, Blizzard to make 90% of its content accessible from major cities. When I turned casual, I absolutely loved this change. I thought I’d never want to travel again, ever. But man, I just can’t stop my chicken legs from running around in GW2. While on my way to a destination, I’d get side-tracked so easily and start discovering new areas. All the way up to 80, I’ve spent a considerable amount of time just purely exploring areas, but I still feel like I haven’t even scratched the surface. At level 80, I have less than 40% of the zones completed.

    Regarding dungeons, I do think that they are poorly designed. But oh wells, they can’t be perfect with everything I guess. Mobs hit like a truck and they have a shit ton of HP. Honestly, they can cut their HP by half and it would still take us 10 min. to down a boss. The final boss in TA up path took us longer than 15 min. and all we did was auto-range it down. The encounters aren’t captivating in the slightest. And this extends further to people that are still stuck in the trinity (tank/healer/dps) mode. Unsurprisingly, I had difficulty adapting to this new way of grouping. And even now, two months after release, I still see people struggling to adjust to this change. But once you start grasping the depth of the skills and utilities, the meta game evolves dramatically. At that point, even the most mundane fights spew breath of fresh air. What used to be a basic tank and spank (with lots of deaths and running back) suddenly turns into a battle full of skillchain combos and synergy of utilities. It’s entirely up to the players to make the fight interesting and fun. Because there's no set way of killing a boss, players can be infinitely creative with the encounters. But, as this is a mechanic that most are experiencing for the first time, I’ve had very few occasions that left me in awe.

    I also think GW2’s quest mechanic is the best thing that has happened to an MMO. It promoted players to explore the world, kill mobs, and take part in world events all at the same time. At a certain point, quests stopped seeming like a way to gain xp. They naturally got adsorbed into play as I progressed through the plot. It defied conventional logic about quests. I never had to follow a specific order of zones (eg Hellfire > Zangarmarsh > Terrokar etc). I would be in a zone, and before I was done with all of its quests, either a world event or plot would lead me to a different zone (sometimes, to the other side of the world) that had plethora of other things to do.

    Sooner or later, I will reach that moment where I have nothing left to do. There's definitely a lack of real progression at lv80. But I really do feel like the people that are unhappy with the game rushed to level cap and went through the content (including endgame) within a matter of few weeks. Maybe they had different expectations about the game. Quite frankly, so did I. I thought GW2 would be a 'better WoW'. And such expectation has caused me to find GW2 to be unappealing, initially. But once I got rid of such narrow mindset, I started enjoying the game and it turned out to be the best MMO that I've ever played. Just the experience and fun that I had from leveling alone is enough for me to say that.

    I understand that this is purely my personal take on the game and my thoughts may not relate to every gamer out there. But GW2 is the best MMO that I had the pleasure of playing. It exceeded my expectations in every way possible.

    -Senjuinrikio (Maguuma)

  2. #2
    Deleted
    Gotta agree with you fully. I love GW2, especially guild WvW

    Even tried MoP for 2 weeks. Still didnt have the same "spark" for me as GW2 does

  3. #3
    Bloodsail Admiral Riavan's Avatar
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    I just wish the dungeon system was done a bit better and wvwvw wasn't just 3 way pvp in the most basic, unthought-of form (please arenanet look at planetside 1/2). I also really dont like how having it f2p hurts the gameplay - large gold sinks, keeping value of gold high via anti-farming code + making things generally harder to get.
    In every other way I see it as superior to WoW.

  4. #4
    The Insane Underverse's Avatar
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    Meh never could get into it. I have a level 50-something I play once in a while. Leveling isn't great, no real endgame, wvwvw is just a zergfest, skills are fairly 1 dimensional, plot is boring etc....

    That being said, WoW isn't great either. Just more commercially slick.

  5. #5
    Yeah, if I had one wish from the start for the game, it would be that they scrapped the dungeon system altogether.

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Doozerjun View Post
    Yeah, if I had one wish from the start for the game, it would be that they scrapped the dungeon system altogether.
    I would agree. A mission system ala GW1 would be ideal to me.

    Couple of small things within the game I think could be improved; UI, menus, LFG, costumes, etc. Though I am also okay with Guild Wars 2 being it's own thing for the most part. Really fun game despite minor shortcomings.

  7. #7
    Every additional paragraph on a post like this makes me think the person is just that more desperate to rationalize their choice. My honest question is: why? Why the need to post threads like this? Not trying to take a jab at anyone, I"m honestly curious.

  8. #8
    The Lightbringer Glytch's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Magpai View Post
    Every additional paragraph on a post like this makes me think the person is just that more desperate to rationalize their choice. My honest question is: why? Why the need to post threads like this? Not trying to take a jab at anyone, I"m honestly curious.
    the same reason people post those equally pointless "this game sucks" threads
    The Original Ganksta

    Top 100 US daggers. yeah, you're jelly alright

    Quote Originally Posted by Durzlla View Post
    then again i'm pretty sure you're smarter then the average dumbass

  9. #9
    Deleted
    I have been, and I still am, enjoying Guild Wars 2. There are many aspects of the game that are great yet there are just as many which are poorly conceived or ill executed. You highlighted dungeons as one of these (which is a major issue for someone like myself who prefers PvE over PvP) and I think questing and levelling in general is also implemented in a somewhat slapdash manner. I feel there is little flow between the zones and I have found myself heading to the other races's starting areas a good few times because I suddenly hit a brick wall in regards to expected level requirements. This can feel rather jarring and doesn't help with understanding the plot or purpose of the game. Sure, it does mean that I get to listen to some Asuran conversations (the detail in the game is incredibly impressive) but it does nothing to anchor my character's place in the grand scheme of things.

    While I was hoping that Guild Wars 2 could keep me playing for a huge amount of time, even once I had hit 80, it unfortunately doesn't hold such a sway on me. I am already back to WoW despite only being 43 in Guild Wars 2 and I place the blame for this wholly upon the atrocious dungeons in Guild Wars 2. In WoW, I can have my fix of questing (which is, despite smoke and mirrors employed by Arenanet, very similar though more enjoyable in GW2), PvE and PvP while I level. Guild Wars 2 seemingly can't supply that.

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Glytch View Post
    the same reason people post those equally pointless "this game sucks" threads
    I agree it's probably the same or conceptually similar reasons. My question is, what is it?
    Last edited by Magpai; 2012-10-18 at 10:52 PM.

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Doozerjun View Post
    Yeah, if I had one wish from the start for the game, it would be that they scrapped the dungeon system altogether.
    I wish that not all bosses would be glorified trashmobs with huge healthpools with one default strategy: playing aggro ping pong. I like the atmosphere of the game, I like pvp, but the Dungeon and Eventbosses while looking great are always either Zergfest or Running around until you are not the target than fire. No trinity is one thing, but having every fight require the same strategy is just plain boring. Seems like dungeons dont really work without it.

    I also dont really feel like I really help my group members. Boons have such short durations I sometimes ask myself if getting a stack of might for 5 seconds is even noticed by my group mates. Throwing a Combofield down is pretty much the only thing I can do aside that and this gives Regeneration, and it heals for almost nothing. Most of the time I have smoother runs by just not bothering and go all out damage.

  12. #12
    Definitely one of the best games I've played in my life. Loving it so far, specially PvP.

  13. #13
    If only WvW wasnt so broken with free transfers at the moment

  14. #14
    I wish that not all bosses would be glorified trashmobs with huge healthpools with one default strategy: playing aggro ping pong. I like the atmosphere of the game, I like pvp, but the Dungeon and Eventbosses while looking great are always either Zergfest or Running around until you are not the target than fire. No trinity is one thing, but having every fight require the same strategy is just plain boring. Seems like dungeons dont really work without it.

    I also dont really feel like I really help my group members. Boons have such short durations I sometimes ask myself if getting a stack of might for 5 seconds is even noticed by my group mates. Throwing a Combofield down is pretty much the only thing I can do aside that and this gives Regeneration, and it heals for almost nothing. Most of the time I have smoother runs by just not bothering and go all out damage.
    I can really relate to you here and thought EXACTLY the same thing. Nearly every boss fight was an endless repetition of 'die & runback'. There was little to no coordination and, rather than fighting as a 'group', it felt more like 5 individuals playing every man for himself. I even tried spec'ing into a supportive build to 'contribute' more. But players never came inside my rings or walls. They all ran out of my range of heals. They just did their own thing and didn't care about what I had to offer.

    But, one day, I got into a group where the leader told me to set certain skills on my bar and how that would benefit the group. Same dungeon, a completely different experience. I was pretty stoked. It made me say to myself, 'so this was how it was supposed to be played out'. But I understand that this is not the type of group that we meet on a daily basis.

    Regarding the event bosses, yup, it's nothing more than a zergfest. I can just auto-attack from 100 to 0 and the bosses will still die. But when you've got tens of people railing on a boss (especially the dragons), I think it's pretty difficult to make an individual impact. I think the way they designed these event bosses has more to do with experience than achievement (hence the short cd on respawns).

  15. #15
    I still can NOT consider a game without an open seamless world and without a mount system to complement the adventuring as a valid entry for MMORPG's.

    Jumping through loading screens is not my idea of an open ended world and traveling.

    Let's face it: Man has always invented things to travel :

    the wheel, taming horses, building boats, building coaches on top of the wheels and animals to pull ...

    In GW2 you get a loading screen and jump through hoops.

    That's not a world to adventure in, that's a world to "play" video games in and so

    GW2 fails as a world of an MMORPG.

    In 2004 we had a seamless background loading world of Azeroth to adventure in with nice boat travels and high flying birds to enjoy the world.

    In 2012 the "revolution" brought us closed maps that were sewed together with loading screens to play an advanced set of COD maps.

    Using the word exploration to visit closed maps connected with loading screens is smart.

    Using "world vs world" pvp for a game that doesn't even have an open PvP world (only instanced PvP) is even smarter.

    And you all were fooled by it.
    Last edited by BenBos; 2012-10-19 at 12:17 AM.

  16. #16
    Scarab Lord Karizee's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Utsusemi View Post
    But GW2 is the best MMO that I had the pleasure of playing. It exceeded my expectations in every way possible.

    -Senjuinrikio (Maguuma)

    This is the overwhelming response I see from just about everyone I've met in game. It really is great
    Valar morghulis

  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Karizee View Post
    This is the overwhelming response I see from just about everyone I've met in game. It really is great
    I think that Xfire players disagree :

    http://www.xfire.com/games/gw2/Guild_Wars_2/

  18. #18
    "Hey look someone is having fun in a game that isn't the game I want them to have fun in, lets go shit on their OPINION."

    That's you that's what you sound like.

  19. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by endgame619 View Post
    "Hey look someone is having fun in a game that isn't the game I want them to have fun in, lets go shit on their OPINION."

    That's you that's what you sound like.
    You may have fun in any game.

    Just don't sell it as the best if it lacks fundamental things that were already in MMORPG's a decade ago, like an open world as a backdrop to play in with some excellent transports and views.

    I think when standards were set years ago, you need to better these standards, not cut these necessary things for an mmorpg out.

    ... or we will be soon playing MMORPG's in rooms connected to each other with loading screens like a FPS or a Sherlock Holmes click and point adventure game.

    GW2 is not an mmorpg world.

  20. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by BenBos View Post
    I still can NOT consider a game without an open seamless world and without a mount system to complement the adventuring as a valid entry for MMORPG's.

    Jumping through loading screens is not my idea of an open ended world and traveling.

    Let's face it: Man has always invented things to travel :

    the wheel, taming horses, building boats, building coaches on top of the wheels and animals to pull ...

    In GW2 you get a loading screen and jump through hoops.

    That's not a world to adventure in, that's a world to "play" video games in and so

    GW2 fails as a world of an MMORPG.

    In 2004 we had a seamless background loading world of Azeroth to adventure in with nice boat travels and high flying birds to enjoy the world.

    In 2012 the "revolution" brought us closed maps that were sewed together with loading screens to play an advanced set of COD maps.

    Using the word exploration to visit closed maps connected with loading screens is smart.

    Using "world vs world" pvp for a game that doesn't even have an open PvP world (only instanced PvP) is even smarter.

    And you all were fooled by it.
    STOP LIKING THINGS I DON'T LIKE!

    Seriously. Guess what, some people are ok with having loading screens. Some people are ok with not having mounts and running about on foot. By sales numbers, quite a few people are actually ok with that (2 million+). If you don't like it, fine.

    But for you to come in and tell us that we're "fools" because we have different preferences than you is both ignorant and rude. I suggest you not do it again, because that kind of behavior isn't welcome in them forums.

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