What's preventing you from coming back to/playing Guild Wars 2?

[ButterBeast]

It's filled with weebs

[ryanmahaffe]

It's filled with weebs

It's...not even a japanese or asian game

[Raisei]

There a few reasons:

1) The dungeons and probably raids feel very chaotic with ridiculous damage spikes especially on aoe. Which is the result of not having the holy trinity of roles with a Tank controlling bosses and trash and a designated Healer to help people stay alive. It felt like doing a dungeon with 5 DPS players all trying to do their stuff with near zero interaction apart from rezzing when someone got oneshot. I assume it will get better at higher skill levels but by the time I reach that point I usually lost interest.

2) The story content can be ridiculously difficult for some classes, especially if you try to do expansion stuff with a freshly leveled character. I don't remember what it was exactly but my Rogue was stuck for hours in the Crystal Desert trying to kill some of Balthazars minions, because they could kill her in a few hits. Mind you the same happens in the Jungle area with nearly every elite enemy unless you are lucky and folks come around to help.
Now this is not entirely bad, some challenge is nice and all. But as a casual player I kinda want to jump into the expansion I bought and not run dungeons for days first until I am geared enough to do it.

3) The worst thing for me: The sequential storytelling.

Now don't get me wrong, I actually like the idea of the story, telling it in chapters between expansions is great. BUT the way they go about it, simply sucks when you are not constantly playing. I played some of the game at launch but the guild wasn't too taken with the game, so we moved to SWTOR instead and later to WoW.
When the first GW2 expansion came around and we had some downtime anyway, I figured I'd play it and was very disappointed that i was just thrown in the middle of the story that (for me) ended after we killed the Undead Dragon.
I had no clue how we ended up in the Jungle, why suddenly the Sylvari were evil, and who halve of those guys were that called me Commander and why I suddenly hated Caithe. But at least for this one they put that NPC into Lion's Arch that told you the story of the Living World Chapters in short.

After playing a bit I stopped again and came back once more for the second expansion and boy it was even worse. Everything important happened in the Living World chapters. The main villain introduction, his goals, story of your comrades... and this time there wasn't even a summary. I mean I bought the expansion, should I not be able to understand why I am here?
i had the choice of buying all the chapters or just ignore the story and that is not okay. If it was just some world building and character interaction that would be fine, but if the expansion is just a continuation of the story started in the chapters then you either include them in the expansion or give players a summary at least.

Now I get that the game is F2P and they have to make money, but when I pay for an expansion it should be able to stand on its own legs and tell a self-contained story that does not force me to buy 10 other things to understand what is going on.

[PACOX]

There a few reasons:

1) The dungeons and probably raids feel very chaotic with ridiculous damage spikes especially on aoe. Which is the result of not having the holy trinity of roles with a Tank controlling bosses and trash and a designated Healer to help people stay alive. It felt like doing a dungeon with 5 DPS players all trying to do their stuff with near zero interaction apart from rezzing when someone got oneshot. I assume it will get better at higher skill levels but by the time I reach that point I usually lost interest.

2) The story content can be ridiculously difficult for some classes, especially if you try to do expansion stuff with a freshly leveled character. I don't remember what it was exactly but my Rogue was stuck for hours in the Crystal Desert trying to kill some of Balthazars minions, because they could kill her in a few hits. Mind you the same happens in the Jungle area with nearly every elite enemy unless you are lucky and folks come around to help.
Now this is not entirely bad, some challenge is nice and all. But as a casual player I kinda want to jump into the expansion I bought and not run dungeons for days first until I am geared enough to do it.

3) The worst thing for me: The sequential storytelling.

Now don't get me wrong, I actually like the idea of the story, telling it in chapters between expansions is great. BUT the way they go about it, simply sucks when you are not constantly playing. I played some of the game at launch but the guild wasn't too taken with the game, so we moved to SWTOR instead and later to WoW.
When the first GW2 expansion came around and we had some downtime anyway, I figured I'd play it and was very disappointed that i was just thrown in the middle of the story that (for me) ended after we killed the Undead Dragon.
I had no clue how we ended up in the Jungle, why suddenly the Sylvari were evil, and who halve of those guys were that called me Commander and why I suddenly hated Caithe. But at least for this one they put that NPC into Lion's Arch that told you the story of the Living World Chapters in short.

After playing a bit I stopped again and came back once more for the second expansion and boy it was even worse. Everything important happened in the Living World chapters. The main villain introduction, his goals, story of your comrades... and this time there wasn't even a summary. I mean I bought the expansion, should I not be able to understand why I am here?
i had the choice of buying all the chapters or just ignore the story and that is not okay. If it was just some world building and character interaction that would be fine, but if the expansion is just a continuation of the story started in the chapters then you either include them in the expansion or give players a summary at least.

Now I get that the game is F2P and they have to make money, but when I pay for an expansion it should be able to stand on its own legs and tell a self-contained story that does not force me to buy 10 other things to understand what is going on.

I think the game is respectfully not for you. All your concerns are valid. I can clarify some things though.

1) Dungeons represent a completely different era of design for the game. If Anet could they would probably completly remove them. Fractals and raids better represent Anets current development goals. They definitly arent chaos unless you dont take time to learn the ins-and-outs of the combat system and how instanced fights are designed. GW2 definitely has a trinity, its not you traditional tank, heal, dps though. Instead its control, damage, support. In raids, you can actually add and tank and heal to that list.


2) The expansion material assumes you played through the 1-80 content gain a grasp on the game's fundamental systems. The first thing players tell new players is that the boost is a trap and you're going to end up feeling like a baby being taught to swim by being thrown into the ocean. In short you will be completly be lost and die...a lot. This game isn't meant to be played like WoW where if you don't get to level cap ASAP you're missing out. Nothing in the game becomes outdated. The one except is the first season of the living world which was a failed experiment.

3) The LW system is a blessing and curse. The problem isn't that its monetized. Its a B2P game and they are one of few streams of revenue once people buy an expansion and end being about the same amount of content as $20-30 'addon' packs in other games or a couple of WoW subs. Thing is, they are free for everyone for 3 months at least and can be purchased with a relatively small amount the gold. The confusing part is their existence isn't exactly made known to new players or the system to obtain them. Also players coming from sub-based games might think the lw episodes are grandfathered in because thats they way it is with a sub. Also Season 2 and 3 should be free now.

[Raisei]

I think the game is respectfully not for you.

Sadly, I agree. Because I think it is a good game, just doesn't deliver what I want from an MMO. Many things I find great, like the Mesmer class. Love this idea of an Illusionist class and the combat was pretty good, outside of dungeons at least, active dodging is a great thing.

1) Dungeons represent a completely different era of design for the game. If Anet could they would probably completly remove them. Fractals and raids better represent Anets current development goals. They definitly arent chaos unless you dont take time to learn the ins-and-outs of the combat system and how instanced fights are designed. GW2 definitely has a trinity, its not you traditional tank, heal, dps though. Instead its control, damage, support. In raids, you can actually add and tank and heal to that list.

Okay, that is good news. I had heard of the Fractals but never got to the gear level to do them and since i was playing solo I couldn't ask my guild to carry me.

2) The expansion material assumes you played through the 1-80 content gain a grasp on the game's fundamental systems. The first thing players tell new players is that the boost is a trap and you're going to end up feeling like a baby being taught to swim by being thrown into the ocean. In short you will be completly be lost and die...a lot. This game isn't meant to be played like WoW where if you don't get to level cap ASAP you're missing out. Nothing in the game becomes outdated. The one except is the first season of the living world which was a failed experiment.

I thought I had a grasp on the core things. I did play through the leveling stuff after all, more then once. But still the difficulty seemed to spike a lot.

3) The LW system is a blessing and curse. The problem isn't that its monetized. Its a B2P game and they are one of few streams of revenue once people buy an expansion and end being about the same amount of content as $20-30 'addon' packs in other games or a couple of WoW subs. Thing is, they are free for everyone for 3 months at least and can be purchased with a relatively small amount the gold. The confusing part is their existence isn't exactly made known to new players or the system to obtain them. Also players coming from sub-based games might think the lw episodes are grandfathered in because thats they way it is with a sub. Also Season 2 and 3 should be free now.

I really don't understand why they are not constantly free. It's not like there is a sub and other people in the past (when they were free) have paid for them through this, if that were the case I could totally understand having to pay for them. But as it is it feels like punishing people for taking a break between expansions for no reason other then making money of people wanting to see the full expansion story.

As I said, I like the game in many aspects, just some things are weird and dissuate me from playing, but there is a chance I will come back for the next expansion, maybe even play the living world, though with WoW Shadowlands coming up it's unlikely. Depends on the timing.

[Svifnymr]

There a few reasons:
2) The story content can be ridiculously difficult for some classes, especially if you try to do expansion stuff with a freshly leveled character. I don't remember what it was exactly but my Rogue was stuck for hours in the Crystal Desert trying to kill some of Balthazars minions, because they could kill her in a few hits. Mind you the same happens in the Jungle area with nearly every elite enemy unless you are lucky and folks come around to help.
Now this is not entirely bad, some challenge is nice and all. But as a casual player I kinda want to jump into the expansion I bought and not run dungeons for days first until I am geared enough to do it.

I agree completely, challenge has an appropriate place in the story, but there are a lot of places that can be difficult for some class setups. There is no need for challenge in story missions, though certainly there can be difficulty levels or achievements for doing it certain ways. There is also a level of "need to do everything" to the achievement system, so you can't get some achievement related items unless you do every achievement for the modules.
There's also an element of trying to hear/ pay attention to story elements while dodging overlapping red circles.

3) The worst thing for me: The sequential storytelling.

It's like how every MMO had to make the reconciliation with their pocketbooks that you can't keep charging for old expansions. WoW would decrease prices, but still charge for BC and Wrath for instance, until finally just giving stuff once it was outdated. GW2 tried the same thing until finally releasing HoT when you got PoF or whatever. By the same token, if they want to charge gems for a Living Story of the past, it should only be the latest stuff, then release old stuff when the new expac comes out.

You want to encourage players to return, not throw $ barriers in front of them.

[Angrie]

I was in GW2 beta and played at release. Was one of the first to get max'd on everything, even had a mildly successful YouTube channel during beta/release. Problem i had with the game was what to do after completing the map. WvW was cool and all, but my friends didn't enjoy it. Never got into dungeons because my friends didn't understand it and quit before we had a solid group of people.

So what prevents me from playing today:
1. Lack of knowledge of the game. I came back for the first expansion and was clueless on what to do, where to go, how to progress, etc. Some random guy tried to help me in the game and ended up saying, there's too much to teach you. There's so much content that to learn it at all at this point is almost impossible.

2. Playerbase ego. Despite in 2012 being one of the first people to get through the game, any game knowledge i had from then is gone. The few times i've logged in since i get slammed by people being critical of the choices i made (8 years ago).

3. Even starting fresh, the game doesn't really meld together. Zones that were once full of players are empty, so events seem useless in most zones. Could be because i'm now a noob and don't understand the system anymore, or it could just be a new way to experience the game.

Wish i could fall in love with the game again, but i don't see that happening unless there's a clearer path on what to do. Currently i think of the game "look for shit to do" when i get there i don't understand why i would even find it to be fun to begin with. I have no idea how to play in dungeons or raids(?). There's no guidance outside their forums, which is just wrong. I want to learn as i play, not read countless documents outside the game to be able to play 5% of the game; there's no organization to the documents.

[vitor210]

What's stopping me? A bazillion paid chapters and DLCs and expansions to get up to date.

basically this!

[schwank05]

No Holy Trinity, No gear Treadmill, Dungeons seem pointless. I got into it last year and got all the mounts and what not from the new xpac then just couldn't really see anything else to do in game. I like a lot of the classes and how they play, but I don't know what to do at those points.

[vian]

They show zero interest on the game-modes they focused on early on, and the fact that the game-engine is still shit.

[Big Thanks]

I dont have a mount
I dont have a Glider
I have this:

[Xorzor]

Assuming I could get an account to work (last time I tried it didn't), I would still have no IRL friends to play the game with. I mean, why play an MMO if you've got no one to play it with?

[OokOok]

Never played it.

I've always wanted to, MMO's are such a time commitment though especially when starting out in one that's been out for awhile. If it's not casual or new player friendly it's just a rough start.
When was it.... so long ago. I watched this youtube video of a ... worgen looking player fighting this giant lightning purple dragon, and it made the dragons in WoW just look like garbage. Ever since that video i've always wanted to play the game but never got into it.

[Ihazpaws]

Lack of holy trinity. Pve is damn boring because of that.

- - - Updated - - -

Assuming I could get an account to work (last time I tried it didn't), I would still have no IRL friends to play the game with. I mean, why play an MMO if you've got no one to play it with?

To find new friends from the game?

[Yoshimiko]

The PVE meta was locked in place last time I played. If you weren't a warrior or mesmer, you didn't get parties. That wasn't fun.

Also, they threw out thousands upon thousands of bans on their first month for their error, with no apology for their overreaction. That kind of scummy business move immediately turns me away from a game.

[sanaubia]

I find PVE really boring and world events get old really fast. I originally bought the game because of competitive PvP, and it was pretty decent the first two to three months, then suddenly devs stopped listening players and pretty much destroyed the tournament scene when removing gems etc. from prices, and balance went south pretty fast

[Thokri]

F2p.
I don't care about lore/background/world enough to ignore engine.

I doubt basic stuff changed, I found it boring in launch so pve is likely still boring. It felt like game itself did not know what it wanted to be.

[FKemp]

I play it for a month every year, but it just can't hold me for long. It may sound dumb, but I'm a solo player and there's not a lot of rewarding and/or interesting solo activities in GW2. I do enjoy the PvE combat and exploring the world though.

[ryanmahaffe]

I play it for a month every year, but it just can't hold me for long. It may sound dumb, but I'm a solo player and there's not a lot of rewarding and/or interesting solo activities in GW2. I do enjoy the PvE combat and exploring the world though.

Have you considered going through the story? There is a ton there.

[arkanon]

Can someone give me some idea of what the best way to start fresh with the game is right now? I played in vanilla, and that account is probably still around, but the couple of times I jumped through the hoops to reactivate it, i was just horribly lost and confused, and quit. Im interested in starting a fresh account with all content, is there a way to do that? Is there a "complete edition" or something?

What i mean i guess is with wow, you can get caught up to the current content very quickly, does anything like this exist in GW2?

Edit for derp, 20 seconds on google found the standard edition seems to include what i want.