A Fresh Start: The New Player Experience in Guild Wars 2

[Vexies]

I have to say I have always loved GW2 but sort of drifted away about 8 months after release. I've recently come back and re-fell in love with it. Im not sure what there is to fix honestly. Though I guess I always appreciated the differences that made it stand out from the crowd. I've tested every major MMO thats come out in the last 2 years and this is one of the few I really think have something special that is done right.

Im not sure what there reasoning is... why be more like the rest of whats out there. Most is so alike that its beyond boring. I guess only the one big concern would be the pointer.. not sure why thats even needed with big orange circles saying "event here" already in the game.

[Gray_Matter]

I am not getting why people are so unhappy with in these changes. They are not going to seriously affect anyone in an adverse way. My kids will probably love them. The only thing that may bother them is starting the personal story later as that is their favorite part. Personally I would love to see them can the levels but I can't see that happening.

I know they haven't put a lot into this feature set but I think that's because the "feature" guys were pouring a lot of time into the China release. On the content side, I think the lull is because of the S2 content type. Much better content with a single team means that it takes a bit longer to release. Personally, I would prefer a Dry Top every 3-4 months to what we got in S1.

[Deleted]

I don't really care about the level changes, I have every profession above lvl 30 anyways. And I highly doubt those minor changes will affect my gaming much if I decide to level new characters. I am glad that there is a option to turn off the handyholdy "go-there" mode tho. But I can understand that some players need it, had a friend try the game and he just felt lost and could not get away from the "you need to go there" mmo mode.

According to Anet next week will be more directed to veteran players.

So hope they saved the best for last, some nice QoL stuff so far but... meh.

[Huehuecoyotl]

But I can understand that some players need it, had a friend try the game and he just felt lost and could not get away from the "you need to go there" mmo mode.

It is so sad that MMOs like WoW have done this to players. Part of the joy of a new world is feeling like an explorer as you make you way into it for the first time. Arrows telling you exactly where to go ruins that, from where I am sitting. WoW got multiple millions of players involved with the game without it being dumbed down, but sadly the money men looked instead at the people that played and then left and decided they needed to do something to keep them.

Some people just don't belong in the genre. Bastardising the genre to try and keep those people here is only going to ruin it for the people that actually love this kind of game, in my opinion.

[Lazuli]

It is so sad that MMOs like WoW have done this to players. Part of the joy of a new world is feeling like an explorer as you make you way into it for the first time. Arrows telling you exactly where to go ruins that, from where I am sitting. WoW got multiple millions of players involved with the game without it being dumbed down, but sadly the money men looked instead at the people that played and then left and decided they needed to do something to keep them.

Some people just don't belong in the genre. Bastardising the genre to try and keep those people here is only going to ruin it for the people that actually love this kind of game, in my opinion.

In 2014 if it isn't super duper casual faceroll ezmode 9000 then it's fail

[Lionor]

To be honest this whole new player experience thing has a couple of controversies included as far as I am concerned.

1. Weapon skill unlocking. While trivial for veterans, I would argue that this is a change to for the worst for new players. It will be much more "overwhelming" to swap to a new weapon and have to read through/figure out 5 new abilities (more in the case of Elementalists) rather than unlocking them one at a time (and quite fast altogether). This is in direct contrast with the whole postponing the introduction of the downed state. It also takes away a tiny bit of the feel of "unlocking" your characters full potential during the early levels that really have little else in terms of leveling rewards.

2. The story line in chunks I think will break the leveling flow and immersion. The story line already more or less guides you as to which area to visit next and ties in quite well with the theme/story of that area. Coming in chunks might feel like too much story at once and then no story at all for the next couple of levels. I think it's a bad change for the first play through experience.

The other changes (arrow, etc) are meaningless for vets (as you can turn it off) but really send a mixed message as to what this game is about and the areas it is really good at.

[Svifnymr]

To be honest this whole new player experience thing has a couple of controversies included as far as I am concerned.

1. Weapon skill unlocking. While trivial for veterans, I would argue that this is a change to for the worst for new players. It will be much more "overwhelming" to swap to a new weapon and have to read through/figure out 5 new abilities (more in the case of Elementalists) rather than unlocking them one at a time (and quite fast altogether). This is in direct contrast with the whole postponing the introduction of the downed state. It also takes away a tiny bit of the feel of "unlocking" your characters full potential during the early levels that really have little else in terms of leveling rewards.

I don't mind one way or the other on the unlocking, I think, but I really wish they'd at least let you read weapon skills you haven't unlocked. Sure you can wiki it, but it's still pointless.

2. The story line in chunks I think will break the leveling flow and immersion. The story line already more or less guides you as to which area to visit next and ties in quite well with the theme/story of that area. Coming in chunks might feel like too much story at once and then no story at all for the next couple of levels. I think it's a bad change for the first play through experience.

The problem is that the story doesn't play out well if you're trying to go one to another, usually. You'll do part 1, then part 2, then find that you're a couple levels under part 3, then a couple more under part 4!
If the parts unlock at the START of the block, it'll still direct you. If they unlock at the end of the block of levels, then it's pointless. (You could already wait until the end, why make it mandatory?)

The other changes (arrow, etc) are meaningless for vets (as you can turn it off) but really send a mixed message as to what this game is about and the areas it is really good at.

It's an established fact that 96% of all posts about GW2 leveling were "where do I go next".

(And by established fact I mean from my memory. And by 96%, I mean cuz I used to see it a lot.)