Which starting area do you recommend playing first and why?

[Scram]

I was curious for all of you players who tried multiple starting areas which do you recommend and why?

[Deleted]

They all have their merits, but out of all, I'd pick Sylvari. Great storyline, gorgeous environment, and generally fun dynamic events. Although that can be said for all starter areas.

[Vexies]

Asura starting area.. cause Asura are awesome!! Seriously though, I played the Human, Norn, and Asura starting areas and of those I enjoyed the Asura's the most followed closely by the Human starting area.

Why? well I really fell in love with the character of the Asura. The quests reflect it very well. The DE's deliver a great sense of urgency and purpose and really showcase the area extremely well. I found the zone to flow well and had no trouble at all getting immediately engaged and entertained. Definitely worth checking out.

[Fencers]

The most impressive for me is the Human area, Queensdale. It's packed with so much stuff the breathe and sweep of the area is overwhelming. There are settlements in Queensdale larger than some AAA MMO's capital cities. The detail, sound references to GW1 and look of the area is perhaps the best realization of the Green Fields/Rolling Hills trope of gaming.

In terms of efficacy: Wayfarer Hills, the Norn starter area is the most tightly designed and quickest time to clear of any zone.

If you want to see the best ideas of GW2 in practice: Queensdale
If you want to level like a boss: Wayfarer Hills

[Lillpapps]

Fencers, how efficient is it to do all the starting areas after eachother?

[Chinese Bootlickers]

Wayfarer Hills.Plenty of hearts and DEs, easy to my eyes, and I know it better than the back of my hand.

[personn5]

I've only really finished was the human one(did parts of the Asura,norn, and charr ones). I preferred the Human zone though.

I'm personally just gonna stay in the same zone I start in, unless I just feel extremely under leveled when I get to other zones.

[Maxilian]

Well i have just played the Sylvari, norn and human starting area and IMO the best one was the humans starting area

[Deleted]

I recommend the starting zone of your own race.

[Jibjub]

I think the human area was gorgeous and fun -- but I will be playing a Norn and will be doing the Norn starting area. The personal story gives lots of exp and _story_ so I'd recommend you play in your races starting zone (if you have a race picked). Otherwise you'll have to do a lot of traveling to keep the story going to start.

[Fencers]

Fencers, how efficient is it to do all the starting areas after eachother?

Very. In another thread somewhere I listed out the fastest progression path up to the highest level zones available in the beta. I am pretty confident that path is correct as I have now got leveling down to 1 level/per hour WITHOUT xp boosts or chain dungeon runs.

Which is about as fast you can possibly go through a zone.

[Maarius]

hm I heard each of the personal storylines (from each race) are from a different author and Ree Soesbee has written the Sylvari one. I enjoyed that in the BWE so I definitely start with a Sylvari. Personal Story takes place in this "starter" zone (I dislike this expression, since it's up to lv.17 and every character-level has viable leveling-content in those zones) and so I'm all for Caledon Forest.

---------- Post added 2012-08-17 at 03:56 PM ----------

Very. In another thread somewhere I listed out the fastest progression path up to the highest level zones available in the beta. I am pretty confident that path is correct as I have now got leveling down to 1 level/per hour WITHOUT xp boosts or chain dungeon runs.

Which is about as fast you can possibly go through a zone.

Hm I'm confused... you believe that doing the 1-15 zones one after another is the fastest way to level up to 80? I'm pretty sure you'll get more XP in higher zones.

[Fencers]

Hm I'm confused... you believe that doing the 1-15 zones one after another is the fastest way to level up to 80? I'm pretty sure you'll get more XP in higher zones.

Going from QD->Kessex->GF is not actually as quick as the route I had laid out. Which had you hopping across some starter zones and such.

Its basically tiered.

tier 1; your starter zones which are roughly the first 12-18 levels
tier 2; the zones which follow- Kessex, Dissea, Snowden, etc
tier 3; the zones a step up from those [assuming]

There are some areas that aren't as "neat". For example you are out of Wayfarer much faster than QD. While Metrica and Sylvari-land stretch a bit over 17ish.

Basically you want to do each bracket; all tier 1s, then clear all the tier 2s, then all the tier 3s, etc.

[charlieprince]

I was curious for all of you players who tried multiple starting areas which do you recommend and why?

pick the one that appeals to you most..

now, assuming someone never played any bwe or stress test and going into the 28th blind

here's a general gist of the main feel/vibe/enemies of the starting areas

Sylvari = nightmare court (evil sylvaris)
Asura = Inquest (evil asuras)
Human = Centaurs
Norn = Sons of something (evil norn)
Charr = Flame Legion (evil charr)

each with their own stories/locales/flavors/themes/etc.. but again, pick what you want

I like fighting Centaurs but I'll be an Asura so I'll be around Rata Sum although my favorite scene-wise is the Norn area's Frozen Wilderness

[Maarius]

Basically you want to do each bracket; all tier 1s, then clear all the tier 2s, then all the tier 3s, etc.

... for getting as fast as possible to 80. Interesting.

Hm I was lv.17 when I left Queensdale, personally I stay with the unhurried "lore-route" (following the personal story steps).

[papajohn4]

If I understand correctly, Queensdale is 1-15 level. There are parts of the map that have mobs with different level from 1 to 15. So if I first do the Norn starting area and go level 15 and then move to Queensdale, how this will work with sidekicking? When I go to the part of the map that there are mobs 5 level I will be 5 level? or I will be 15 level and I will fight mobs level 5 or so during my try to complete the queensdale map?

[Deleted]

Sylvari feels a lot more ...sped up, than Human area for example. But doesn't really matter...just personal preference.

[Azrok-]

I have done Queensdale to death throughout betas, so I'll probably be doing the Sylvari starting zone or the Norn one on launch day

[charlieprince]

Sylvari feels a lot more ...sped up, than Human area for example. But doesn't really matter...just personal preference.

I tended to avoid the Sylvari area after trying it out from fear of falling in love with it :X already i told my guild that atmosphere/story-wise/ambience/etc... Sylvaris destroy all others

I didn't want to fall in love with it since I want a tiny snotty death dealing asura as my main but Sylvaris are... interesting

[xkungx]

as a casual player of wow nowdays.. played hardcore only on tbc, and starting becoming more casual each expansion...
i still like to pvp, some random bgs, some rbgs, raiding occasionally, and leveling alts, gearing up alts....
do u guys think i would fit in gws2?
i didnt play gw1... so my doubt is if with this description if i have chance to like gw2?
playing this days fifa 2012, fifa manager 2012, some gta, diablo3 (played for 1 month only) and wow...

i really want to try new games..

ty