GW2 : Leveling

[styopa]

This thread is proof that people playing mmo's have gotten far, far too addicted to handholding games.

[DrakeWurrum]

exactly

Well, all the more reason to explore! I guess exploring the Dendraven Cavern, or whatever that place was called, was worth it after all.

[raddry]

Just to clear it out..
You talk about SINGLE starting zone ?
Or every starting zone for all races ?

I somehow get through 1-15 zone, and now im next. I'll give an example.
Lv18 Human.
I cleared/explored all map tuned for characters lv15-18. Even went bit to far and found some caves with badits .. no quest/event or anything, just boss at the end and chest. "I looked under every stone", talking to every NPC and so on in this segmets.
For Lv18 there is just little city near quarry, with single heart and repeating Centaur attacks for village. There isnt much to explore.. You sit on your azz and wait for next attacks till you get level and can move on. I checked there every house, every corner of quarry to find something interesting.. but no.. just sit and grind centaurs.

When finaly got 19, you can move south to fishing village. You find there NOTHING.. only thing to do there is defending village from Kreitans attacks and then rescue kindnaped villagers. Heart fills itself during single attack.. I explored whole lake but it appears to be waste of time... you should just wait in village for next attacks.

I WISH i could explore for fun... but im constantly locked in those small subzones, which I explore 3 times around not because its fun but out of frustration looking for something more interesting to do! Every time I move to far Im surrounded by enemies 2 level higher than me..

Well this is my current situation:

I'm level 15, next personal storyline is level 16. I'm Charr and ONLY visited the charr starting area. So at level 15 ( kinda the last level of the zone ), I have still 3 hearts to do, 1 skill challenge to do, 1 vista and 2 points of interest I think. Basically I haven't done anything in the extreme east of the starting zone, and I'm 15. Did some crafting and gathering, also got 100% Black Citadel ( then lets say I would have been 14 ).

[DrakeWurrum]

I feel like they've got the leveling rate just right... for those who are play the game as designed. Non-linear exploration. I think those trying to tunnel vision their way to 80 will actually level slower.

For some reason, I like that. O_o

[Fencers]

I feel like they've got the leveling rate just right... for those who are play the game as designed. Non-linear exploration. I think those trying to tunnel vision their way to 80 will actually level slower.

For some reason, I like that. O_o

I don't really give two flips about exploration and am leveling at a decent pace.

The game averages out to about 1 level per hour w/o mob or DE grinding, without crafting shit and no PVP. That's slightly on the slow side but not too bad for most players, IMO. If you played for 36 hours or so by now should be at least in the 29-32 range.

Leveling woes are simply people not knowing how to play the game. This is a time when "Learn2Play" is actually applicable.
.

[Deleted]

There is a weird gap and levelling is kinda annoying.
On my Charr i did all events and i'm lvl 4, the next ones are level 6+ and the class quest is lvl 8+. I can barely hit lvl 6+ mobs and when i do it's like 20 damage.

gather and craft you can level to 80 just by crafting.

When out and about, gather mats as you pass them (you get xp), and use the deposit collectibles option to send them to your account bank.,

Occasionally pop back and craft some items. and you'll get lots of xp for discoveries and such.

---------- Post added 2012-08-26 at 11:04 PM ----------

I don't really give two flips about exploration and am leveling at a decent pace.

The game averages out to about 1 level per hour w/o mob or DE grinding, without crafting shit and no PVP. That's slightly on the slow side but not too bad for most players, IMO. If you played for 36 hours or so by now should be at least in the 29-32 range.

Leveling woes are simply people not knowing how to play the game. This is a time when "Learn2Play" is actually applicable.
.

and again Fencers, telling people to L2P is not really appropriate for a moderator you know.

There are issues with levelling speed, there have been since the Betas. Its still there, if you are unlucky enough to miss out on lots of Dynamic events, so instead of flippantly being dismissive as is your standard response, you coudl try being helpful.

[Venziir]

What is wrong with this generation....

Yes, you are missing something. Big time. This is not a "Questing" game. This is not a "Grinding" game. This is a "Play the damn game and have fun" game. Stop it with the "must hit max level asap!" mentality, thats not what this is about. There is no race. Heck, there isnt even a leveling curve.

Just explore, do the hearts, join in the dynamic events that happen around you, go do WvW pvp (massive XP and Karma rewards btw). You have a ton of stuff to do, just no one to hold your hand and drag you through a bullet-point presentation. Is thinking by yourself that hard? Are gamers nowdays really incapable of grasping the concept of PLAYING a GAME without quest markers and mob kill counters? This is sad....

How much time you've got?

That said, that's just not quite true. I know a lot of "old school" mmo people, people who've killed everything and everyone in every single virtual world they've encountered since AC, UO and EQ - and none of them play for "immersion" or what you and I call fun - they play to hit max level and own everything and everyone around them as fast as possible. And these are all people between 35-50, so... Yeah.

[Fencers]

and again Fencers, telling people to L2P is not really appropriate for a moderator you know.

There are issues with levelling speed, there have been since the Betas. Its still there, if you are unlucky enough to miss out on lots of Dynamic events, so instead of flippantly being dismissive as is your standard response, you coudl try being helpful.

Being a moderator has no bearing on the issue. Please stop insinuating I am obliged to have a POV that is agreeable to you [or anyone] due to being a moderator. You have done this once or twice now and it is actually rather offensive.

There are times when the oft misused "learn2play" can be correctly applied. I believe it is the case w/r/t leveling in GW2.

The game is non-linear- though that doesn't mean there is an issue with "leveling". Players have to be willing to know how to direct their own experience to a large degree. Certainly beyond what renown hearts provide. A few betas ago one of the developers even said this on the official forums.

Furthermore, level differences are not such hard limiters in GW2 as in other games. It is possible to defeat enemies, clear a story step or clear zones without being exactly in the level range of that content.

One can be done with all of Wayfarer Hills or Metrica at around level 11-13. Knowing you should now move to such & such zone and clear up to such & such point then jump to zone-C and clear.... blah blah, is precisely "knowing how to play".

I would say non-linearity and the ability to tackle tasks without hard level enforcement are 2 major draws and design goals of GW2. Whether one is keen enough to discern a leveling route for themselves or actually solo the Blood Queen at level 14 is down to the individual player. And somewhat a hallmark of the franchise outside of the chain missions.

[Deleted]

Being a moderator has no bearing on the issue. Please stop insinuating I am obliged to have a POV that is agreeable to you [or anyone] due to being a moderator. You have done this once or twice now and it is actually rather offensive.

I'm sorry you find my comments offensive, but I'll say what I like thanks, both myself and other people on this forum find your posts inappropriate for a moderator, if you don't like it infract me as you do other people and I will take it up with people above you.

Your attitude as a moderator reflects on the site, if other people said what you do they would get infracted, you are supposed to moderate threads not stoke up trouble as you seam to go out of your way to do, and not eb dismissive and tell people to learn to play. You may find my post offensive, and thats regrettable, but I find some of your posts which dismiss other peoples opinions as pointless just because they don't agree with you to be entirely inappropriate given your position as a moderator.

Learn to play does not apply, it just implies that you think your way of doing things is best and everyone better jump to and do it your way.

There have been levelling issues since beta, dynamic events are a major part of the levelling experience, but if you are unlucky and don't get many you will lag behind the zone progression route. Anet said on the beta forums they expect you to be able to level within a zone and not feel compelled to do other races starting areas. If you get lots of de's then you will level fast, if you dont the you will need to supplement your xp with pvp or crafting and maxing exploration bonuses.


There is a difference between telling people to learn to play and helping them to find their way In the game. New players won't know progression paths, or where to go next as its not linear, helping them is much ore constructive than a post which boils down to telling them to learn to play.

[Maarius]

I'm sorry you find my comments offensive, but I'll say what I like thanks, both myself and other people on this forum find your posts inappropriate for a moderator, if you don't like it infract me as you do other people and I will take it up with people above you.

This is laughable, why should Fencers suddenly have no opinion any more after becoming mod. Why is "learn to play" offensive? It's actually quite accurate since not everyone gets it that exploration in GW2 is designed to reward you with lots of XP. Other games don't do that, nothing wrong with LTP.

[drigoly]

there are multiple zones which cover the same levelrange, so if you stick only to one of them you might get bored waiting for something to happen.

[Fencers]

There is a difference between telling people to learn to play and helping them to find their way In the game. New players won't know progression paths, or where to go next as its not linear, helping them is much ore constructive than a post which boils down to telling them to learn to play.

Yes. there is a difference between telling someone "learn2play" and making a generalized statement on the leveling aspects of the game. Even larger difference in addressing the leveling scheme & design intent and "helping players out with leveling".

You are welcomed to your opinion.

The funny thing is, so am I.

[Kapaya]

The human starting zone was a disaster. I did all hearts, all events that poped up (even more then once), did some gathering and gott all POI, Vistas and skill points, and I was done at lvl 13 in a 1-17 zone. I had to swap to another starting zone to get my level up, I simply couldn't beat a lvl 21 quest on lvl 13. I've gotta say, GW2 is certainly not friendly to players who haven't bothered doing any research. If I didn't by coinsidence stumble upon the Azura gates that teleport you to other races starting zones I would probably have quit playing after I hit lvl 13.

[killidan]

I'm level 14 and I didn't have any problem. If anything, I'm slightly behind the content/class quests. I do dynamic events, class story, hearts, exploration/vistas, gathering/crafting, a little bit of everything.

[Anaralah]

It is good to be about 2 lvls behind the heart/de/pq you are doing anyway as it increases the chances of getting rare items , we have been doing lvl 14 events with a friend of mine while i was 12 and he was 10 and he was getting green items from every 5-6 mobs he looted while mine was like every 20 mob

[Cthulhu 2020]

I was level 16 on completing my starting zone, doing all events I came across and exploring every nook of the zone, as well as crafting. I'm now 25 doing other race's starting zone and have yet to set foot outside of a 1-15 zone. Racing from objective to objective is possibly the worst way to level... sounds strange but they've actually made a game where you level faster by exploring. Who'd have thought.

[Deleted]

Wait... so the longer mobs survive from generation to death, the more XP they give? O_o

Yep. Suddenly there's an incentive to attack them neutral mobs, eh?

[Deleted]

I was level 16 on completing my starting zone, doing all events I came across and exploring every nook of the zone, as well as crafting. I'm now 25 doing other race's starting zone and have yet to set foot outside of a 1-15 zone. Racing from objective to objective is possibly the worst way to level... sounds strange but they've actually made a game where you level faster by exploring. Who'd have thought.

And this, right here, is why I can see myself playing the game for a good few years to come

[Blznsmri]

There is a weird gap and levelling is kinda annoying.
On my Charr i did all events and i'm lvl 4, the next ones are level 6+ and the class quest is lvl 8+. I can barely hit lvl 6+ mobs and when i do it's like 20 damage.

It gets better... By the time I finished Kessex Hills (The second "Human" zone) I was level 27 (two above the level range). Also after about level 15 or so, content two to three levels above you is completely do-able.

It also helps if you don't restrict yourself to Events + Story. Go exploring, play around in PvP, CRAFT some shit, the discovery system is crazy fast. It all adds up.

[Silvertaurus]

Its kinda annoing when only answer to the problems I get is "LOL .. dont rush.. L2P" not actual advice what I could miss.
I myself trying to do EVERYTHING i have access to.. in WoW its my big problem, because I like to explore each corner and complete everything I can.

The only thing i skip on purpose is PvP and other zones. I do events, even activly look for them, unlike some people who claim they just do some on their way. I run to every node of resources and spent all on crafting (artif + tailoring - I didnt pick cooking so it might be draw back). Completed Main human city, starting zone and LA in 100%. I poke all NPCs quite often unlocking or gaining directions for Dynamic Events.. but some are so far, by the time i get there its finished.

And still struggle to be on correct level.. I dont rush forward. I squize everything I can from any location and wont leave it until im actualy on correct level to move on .. which often means extra farming and repeating same events few times.
Only thing I could do more is maybe farming materials for more crafting .. all those claws/bloods and other similar stuff is always hard to get and is kind of block on leveling crafting. I craft only through discovery.. maybe did waste to much mats for bags.