Which version is your favourite?

[Deleted]

It's been 9 years since GW2 has been announced and nearly 4 since it launched. The game has changed and is still changing since the announcement to present day. Which version did you like the most?

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Demo

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Beta#Pre-release

I'm not counting pre-demo (alpha?) because I doubt there is anybody that has played it here.

EDIT: I don't want to make another thread for the "which is your least favourite" so please post a comment if you have the time!

[Fencers]

I thought the launch of the game as a pretty fun despite the usual bugs and oddities of an MMO launch.

[Gray_Matter]

This is a bit of a difficult question. I like the game as it is right now with the new stuff that was added (gliding, etc) but I prefer launch from the point of view that there was a lot more content at launch compared to what they are releasing at the moment. For someone starting now they would have the best of both worlds.

[Lotus Victoria]

Launch. Launch was amazing. So many players, the smell of a new game. Everything was great.

[Dilbon]

Yogscast coverage of the closed beta was when I was most excited about the game.

[Deleted]

I guess for mechanics and stuff I'd say Heart of Thorns, although it has lost the vibrant feel it had at launch, its a bit limp/flat right now when I log in.

But I really couldn't vote for launch given how crippled certain specs were. Despite some flaws they have worked to make the game better, address imbalance and flesh out classes - albeit at a questionable rate.

[Shakadam]

I suppose I had the most fun some time during living world season 1, my guild was the most alive back then with lots of groups for wvw, dungeons etc.

However, the game as such is much better now. Lots of QoL improvements, more choice on how you want to play and all classes being viable in every game mode (which they most definitely were not back in the day). Sure it was fun stacking elementalists with FGS and rolling through any dungeon, but it was broken as hell. Rewards are also much better now than they were at launch, where the whole concept of a few blues and greens for an hour's work was a real thing.

If my guild was as active now as it was a few years ago AND we could get back the WvW population from those days I don't doubt that I'd enjoy GW2 in its current state the most.

[barackopala]

I liked the beta quite a lot despite the interface looking... egh, i must admit there have been tons of QoL that have made the game way better.

[Kazgrel]

Kinda difficult to answer, really. I suppose "pre-HoT" would be my kneejerk answer.

I was in closed beta, and that experience alone was enough to convince a group of my old wow friends (which included a few RL friends) to give the game a go. Took a while because the last time any of us convinced the group to try another MMO, it was SWTOR...

Have to say I liked the game when exotics were the BiS gear; this made the gearing process super fast and simple. Quit the game for a good 6 months after ascended gear was introduced...I was so pissed off about that.

Later I would log back in and over time I crafted entire set of ascended gear for my elementalist. Took several months, and I suppose that's what they were going for originally with exotics. /shrug

[Deleted]

launch was best

[Deleted]

Although the Living Story 1 was pretty shitty for a big part (just a dumb mindless AP grind), it actually made the world feel alive, the story progressive and accomplished GW2's goal to be a persistent MMO as a whole. And because it wasn't really endgame content back then the cons weighted not really that hard. Howsoever, I still remember people being stressed out about it.

I liked the zephyrite event, southsun, first halloween and attack on Lion's Arch for the most part. I really didn't like FlameFrost back then, although looking back, I may should have played it. I quite enjoyed how long Lion's Arch was a clusterfuck and I still prefer the clusterfuck to this new bland beach mess.

Launch was decent.

Hot complete utter shit.

Living Story 2 was a fukin joke (instance madness with the worst achievement grind I have ever witnessed + cancer storytelling).

Living Story 3 is meh, they are just pumping out new useless maps with reused enemy models, it's actually very cheap if u think about it. Storytelling is better than Season 2 tho. I don't find it fun as a whole at all.

Nothing feels persistent these days tho. That was killed with Hot because of lazyness.

[4KhazModan]

2nd half of living story season 1 for sure! We had the queen's pavilion, tower of nightmares, triple trouble, tequatl rework, marionette, fall/retaking of Lion's Arch, battle atop the breach-maker, the awakening of Mordremoth! Everything since then has been lackluster. Nothing takes place in the open world anymore and it barely feels like a MMO. I know they added new open world zones, but those are just grindfests with events that repeat so often you get bored of them after a day. All story stuff is instanced now, and it sucks.

[barackopala]

Cough cough apparently Tower is coming back as a fractal cough cough
and apparently there'll be a desert map/expansion with classes like spellbreaker for warrior and stuff, rumors tho!

[Eleccybubb]

Sadly I never played at launch. Started in December 2012 since I was asked by the GF what I wanted for Christmas so I said that. Pretty good times since we both played it together and still do from time to time.

[Deleted]

Heart of Thorns -- totally worth it

[Rivellana]

HoT

I love the vertical maps and the fact that you can glide everywhere now. Gliding/flying in Aion was one of my favorite things and gliding in GW2 feels reminiscent of it now (especially since you can actually have the white/black angel wing gliders as well).