Thinking of buying GW2

[Deleted]

About refunds, the fine chaps over at GOG.com do refunds & they have a better reason then other firms not to.
As for forum mods, they are over zealous. I`ve seen threads asking about the difference between Guild Wars & gw2 getting locked with messages along the line of "This is a gw2 forum, please talk about other games on their own forums..." & many cases of threads being moved/closed for no good reason.

As for addons, sure some like warcrafts Recount, iLevel checkers etc may screw things over for players, but this game really needs addons for some things such as getting rid of the shite around the screen when you enter deathshroud, get hit constantly by blind & to fix what is in general an atrocious ui.
Hell, even the chat box is terribad..

& don`t even get me started on all of that crap top right.....*cringe*

[May90]

Thinking about GW2 as well. I have never been into WoW-like MMOs, but I've loved gameplay-based RPGs in general since Diablo I.

I have 1 question. Is leveling in this game any hard? Is it possible to die to random mobs if you are not careful enough? Or is it, like in WoW, Rift or SWTOR, "going AFK gives you a small chance to die"? I could not care less about endgame, but leveling is what I am there for, so is it any challenging?

Also, is game any "sandboxy"? Do you actually get to explore the world, or are you on the rails of quest chains without any free choice?

Too bad the game doesn't have a free trial.

[Deleted]

They do a free trial from time to, erm, twice since release I think, but perhaps may again at some point.
Levelling flies by, too fast I thought.
You can die easily enough, this game doesn`t mind throwing in pointless one shot mechanics or perma-stun fests, but if you go afk, just pick a safe spot to stand, there are plenty (although not always safe, I recall some thief afk near mobs in southsun shore, where folk ran past pulling mobs & it just kept dying > ).
Quest wise, it`s weird to explain. It`s more a sort of explore when you can be bothered, wander into some area & an event may start/of started. You kill Nth amount of things etc, then wait to see if another starts, if not, mosey on by.

[May90]

They do a free trial from time to, erm, twice since release I think, but perhaps may again at some point.
Levelling flies by, too fast I thought.
You can die easily enough, this game doesn`t mind throwing in pointless one shot mechanics or perma-stun fests, but if you go afk, just pick a safe spot to stand, there are plenty (although not always safe, I recall some thief afk near mobs in southsun shore, where folk ran past pulling mobs & it just kept dying > ).
Quest wise, it`s weird to explain. It`s more a sort of explore when you can be bothered, wander into some area & an event may start/of started. You kill Nth amount of things etc, then wait to see if another starts, if not, mosey on by.

Wow, sounds interesting. I'll look for some "Let's play"s on Youtube. I have been looking for an MMO with at least a little bit challenging leveling since Ultima Online, and this game without traditional endgame focus seems like the best way to go.

[Valeron]

I wouldn't call it challenging leveling, although to be honest I can't think of an mmo that has challenging leveling.

[Deleted]

If you check out Bogotter, WoodenPotatoes on youtube, they`ll have some stuff worth noseying at.
Depends if you like PvP, PvE, PvX. What type class do you normally play etc.

P.S. Albeit older game & less folk on it these days, the original Guild Wars can still be bought & is definitely worth the money. Personally, I gave up gw2 & returned to Guild Wars, but everyone has their different preferences hehe

[Fencers]

I wouldn't call it challenging leveling, although to be honest I can't think of an mmo that has challenging leveling.

Everquest and SWTOR can be rather challenging in their leveling experience for mainstream MMOs.

Though of course this is very subjective. What one person finds trival for X reasons may not be the same for another.

However, I will say this in my experience of the previously mentioned games; in the course of playing GW2 as a Ranger from early access up to level 80 I had died a total 8 times. Rarely did I feel threatened in the world unless I over-pulled or attempted a high level event/veteran encounter. The nature of the combat in GW2 is such that there is almost nothing one can not strafe, kite and/or burn down.

Where as in recent weeks of leveling in TOR, I have died half a dozen times per planet at the least. With some quests and areas forcing me really think about how I was going to get through them or seek additional help. Even with help, whole groups I have been a part of have wiped or needed to pull mobs very carefully.

[Valeron]

the only time I remember dying in SWTOR was trying to solo the heroic missions.

I suppose if push came to shove I'd say that the funcom games, AoC and TSW had more "challenging" leveling than other mmos I've played. Never played EQ, wasn't interested in mmos at the time, so I can't comment on that game.

[hrugner]

Everquest and SWTOR can be rather challenging in their leveling experience for mainstream MMOs.

Though of course this is very subjective. What one person finds trival for X reasons may not be the same for another.

However, I will say this in my experience of the previously mentioned games; in the course of playing GW2 as a Ranger from early access up to level 80 I had died a total 8 times. Rarely did I feel threatened in the world unless I over-pulled or attempted a high level event/veteran encounter. The nature of the combat in GW2 is such that there is almost nothing one can not strafe, kite and/or burn down.

Where as in recent weeks of leveling in TOR, I have died half a dozen times per planet at the least. With some quests and areas forcing me really think about how I was going to get through them or seek additional help. Even with help, whole groups I have been a part of have wiped or needed to pull mobs very carefully.

Leveling up each of the different classes, I can say ranger was probably the safest, so this isn't too much of a surprise. You can walk through stuff as a ranger or a guardian without regard for combo fields or weapon swapping that are hell as an elementalist or a rogue even when you do know what you're doing. Well, in my experience anyway.

I still wouldn't call it challenging, but it certainly rewards paying attention and learning how to play quite a bit.

[Valeron]

If you want the most challenging leveling experience in GW2 then the Thief is probably your best bet.

[Polarthief]

If your favorite part of WoW was roaming around, exploring, doing quests, farming, all that sort of thing, without caring about gear or "progress"...you'll probably love GW2 because it's all that x100.

This is how you can basically sum up GW2, but sadly that's not what I was expecting from the game.

IMO it's an excellent casual experience, but a very boring time-committed experience.

[Ghostpanther]

Thinking about GW2 as well. I have never been into WoW-like MMOs, but I've loved gameplay-based RPGs in general since Diablo I.

I have 1 question. Is leveling in this game any hard? Is it possible to die to random mobs if you are not careful enough? Or is it, like in WoW, Rift or SWTOR, "going AFK gives you a small chance to die"? I could not care less about endgame, but leveling is what I am there for, so is it any challenging?

Also, is game any "sandboxy"? Do you actually get to explore the world, or are you on the rails of quest chains without any free choice?

Too bad the game doesn't have a free trial.

GW2 is well worth the purchase price. It has a huge game world to explore and you are pretty free to go about anywhere, but will not want to in some areas if you are under level for that zone. I would say leveling is overall not hard. I do suggest however you play a range/pet class such as a Ranger or Necromancer. Melee classes require more movement such as dodging and such. But then again, you may prefer that type of play style. It is possible in some areas to die to random mobs if you go afk, but depends on the location. I think there is plenty of challenges in the game. And I love the art work.

[Fencers]

the only time I remember dying in SWTOR was trying to solo the heroic missions.

I suppose if push came to shove I'd say that the funcom games, AoC and TSW had more "challenging" leveling than other mmos I've played. Never played EQ, wasn't interested in mmos at the time, so I can't comment on that game.

I would say AoC is somewhat challenging due to the way collision works in that game. Though I feel the The Secret World's "challenge" in terms of combat and so forth is about the same as other MMOs such as Warcraft, Rift or Everquest 2. But lower than SWTOR.

Some of the solo missions in SWTOR can push you right to the limit of your character abilities. As in I have to use health packs, companion, saber ward, retaliation, charge and CC to even make it through. Even having to take long downtime between pulls to recover if I happen to run as DPS with a DPS comp.

The challenge level in SWTOR is quite high because of the way the game's combat engine works.

I rarely load up on anything but signets in GW2, I rarely heal myself unless totally dire. And that heal is on a short CD by comparison. CC is short and reactive in GW2, etc.

The point I am making here is that the way combat functions in GW2 allows one to, "game" the game, so to speak. Or simply out skill a challenge. Whereas in EQ and SWTOR it is not possible without exploitation. One must meet the minimum requirement of X, Y and Z as absolute fact. Which almost always puts players right at the edge of their capability.

How "difficult" one finds all that is subjective.

Leveling up each of the different classes, I can say ranger was probably the safest, so this isn't too much of a surprise. You can walk through stuff as a ranger or a guardian without regard for combo fields or weapon swapping that are hell as an elementalist or a rogue even when you do know what you're doing. Well, in my experience anyway.

I have leveled all classes actually. I do not find any more difficult than the other.

Though I point to my ranger for a few reasons; I had the most leveling time with the character, GW2 was at it's newest & least modified state open to the the public state during that leveling experience and my own newness [such as it was] to the game mechanics of GW2. Vis-a-vis what is/was World of Warcaft with wookies or the highly familiar trappings of Everquest.

From headstart to level 80 in GW2 is the closest blank slate I can get to in an MMO.

[Valeron]

probably correct about TSW although my view is skewed towards fights in transylvania where it ramps up considerably compared to soloman island and egypt. the mission, The Girl Who Kicked the Vampire's Nest, is harder than any other solo quest or mission in any mmo I've played

[Wakwazu]

Leveling isn't hard. However, at level 20 I always ran into a dead spot where I didn't have any new content to level with.

The other players suggested crafting, PvP, and grinding those map events. Crafting was too expensive, I don't like PvP, and grinding is so 2004.

[Tokas]

The only review you need to watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ax-_06Acj8Y

right... taking lessons from a clicker...

[hrugner]

I have leveled all classes actually. I do not find any more difficult than the other.

Though I point to my ranger for a few reasons; I had the most leveling time with the character, GW2 was at it's newest & least modified state open to the the public state during that leveling experience and my own newness [such as it was] to the game mechanics of GW2. Vis-a-vis what is/was World of Warcaft with wookies or the highly familiar trappings of Everquest.

From headstart to level 80 in GW2 is the closest blank slate I can get to in an MMO.

I used the word safest as a distinction from difficulty. Ranger and guardian have enough going on be default that they can fail at basic game play and not die, so leveling one of them when new seems a good way to learn the other classes. Like you said, you can game the game in GW2, my point is more that you don't need to with those two classes.

[Karizee]

I would say the challenge for new players is learning how the combat works (it's more action based, you have to be much more positionally aware than in a game like WoW for example), learning the attack animations of the different kinds of mobs, what conditions look like and how to remove them, how combos work, that kind of thing.

You can't just afk anywhere, definitely not in the open world and even an outpost is dangerous as it can be overrun by enemies.

The exploration aspect is one of the highest praised aspects of the game and really a superb experience. There are multiple layers to the maps and hidden areas everywhere. Definitely not on the rails questing, you are free to roam anywhere, although if you are underleveled in higher zones you will aggro mobs from 5 states away and won't be able to do much damage.

There's downscaling when you go to lower zones, say if you are level 45 and go to a 15-25 zone you will be scaled accordingly but you will receive a good amount of xp and rewards to your true level. However downscaling isn't absolute, I still feel more powerful when downscaled than going through an area at an appropriate level (probably due to gear and traits).

Most players only have ~40% map completion by the time they hit 80. You can get xp in so many ways that it's possible to hit 80 with just gathering ore in a low level zone (most easiest way to level albeit the longest) but for the average player going for map completion is a challenge. They did nerf the mob count in the Orr zones since there were so many tears over the difficulty level, but I have recently helped players to get some map objectives there since it can be very challenging for new players to do on their own.

[Pickynerd]

I had so much fun with this game, that being said, once the glitter wears off... There is nothing to keep you going other than the fact it is B2P and you can go back whenever you want.

I quit ages ago, no desires to play again.

[May90]

Hmm, I wouldn't call SWTOR's leveling any challenging. As long as you bring the right companion with you and actively use abilities, it is nearly impossible to die to random mobs, as long as you don't pull more than 2 groups. As a tank Vanguard I have only died a few times trying to solo 2+ Heroics, once against the final boss in act 3 (forgot to take any medpacks with me), and 2-3 times on Taris, when Elara (healer) was not yet in my crew. Haven't used a single stimpack or any other artificial boost during the entire game, and have used medpacks, maybe, 5 times overall.
Fights felt too tedious, though. Maybe it is because I played in tank+healer combination, with very low DPS output, but, really, some bosses took like 3 minutes to kill, while not dealing any significant damage to me (reminds me of Intellect Devourer from Neverwinter Nights that dealed next to none damage but took like 20 minutes to kill).
Actually, I play SWTOR currently, but exclusively for the story and Star Wars lore. The gameplay itself really disgusts me, and I have to take a break, at least, every 2 hours before I get bored too much. I really dislike super-slow-paced static combat system, with tapping through a set of abilities without any dodging/blocking/moving/etc.

This is, actually, what appeals to me in GW2 the most: Kingdoms of Amalur like combat system, where combat is not hard, but does require at least some active maneuvers to survive. And, as people mentioned above, art style is amazing, and the music is just... WOW!

and grinding is so 2004.

You've just made one more argument for me to play this game! No sarcasm. I miss that old-school grind so much, when you actually could level by killing mobs, rather than on-rail quests.

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OK, so generally, from what you've written guys and from what I've seen on Youtube, I really think this can be that MMO I have been waiting for since Ultima Online. No endgame focus - check. Incredible art and music style - check. Active combat system - check. A lot of real grouping - check. Not focused on those people with no life playing 50 hours a week for some virtual achievements - check. No subscription fee - check. Gonna try it in a few weeks!