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

[Astalnar]

The fact I had to fork out so much money for the game, and then they made it free. I'm still bitter about that part. Also, I've got no time, and the main interest in the game for me was Personal Story that they transformed into a world events called Living Story.

[Tiwack]

I don't know, when did MMO developers forget what fun is?

When they saw the shit people will put up with as long as they get to play and experience it together.

[JoshuaNLG]

I feel like there's no real progression, past the wardrobe system there's really not much to work for, there's no better gear, you won't increase in power, the only progression system is "you just unlocked x ability to do/go y" and that's it, started to feel more like a chore, not "cool what am i going to do today in guild wars 2!" but more like "Right, gotta do fractals, tequatl, some dungeon paths.." etc.

I know the same sort of thing could be said for WoW, but i just always seem to be able to find something new to pass the time with in WoW and feel like I'm accomplishing something, I rarely got that feeling in GW2.

[Torais]

GW2 always felt sadly tragic to me. It had some amazing ideas and to this day has some mechanics that NEED to be integrated into other MMOs (riding Raptors is an absolute blast) but at the end of the day felt like just that. A collection of good ideas. There felt like no real cohesion between a lot of these good ideas and a hell of a lot of rough patches between them.

The universe and writing would by my biggest gripe (some spoilers to follow). Cities feel one dimensional and lifeless and while there is some really nice zones, there is also a hell of a lot of other ones that feel like copy/paste jobs with a different shade of brown thrown on them. The writing was equally lousy. I had hopes for the story this expansion improving matters but it fell flat within about two hours of starting. Other characters of the Dragon's Watch seem to serve no real purpose other than create screw up after screw up for you to clean up. The only real element I felt for was the sacrifice of Vlast which later just made me angry because the whole resurgence of Balthazar in the first place was once again due to yet another mindblowing act of stupidity from my party (in this case, Rytlock). So glad you got your stupid looking sword back though.

It really doesn't pick up from there and once again the Commander is left to be a glorified babysitter. Living World Season 4 improves things a little but it still falls short of WoW's writing (which is nothing that amazing to begin with but their world building blows GW2 away) and not even on the same page of something like FF14.

Other sticking points would be PvP. Oh hell, what a dumpster fire all avenues of that became.

[Deleted]

Would love to come back, but sadly the game doesn't let me resett my password and I don't know my character names anymore as I haven't played for years.

[DeadmanWalking]

Would love to come back, but sadly the game doesn't let me resett my password and I don't know my character names anymore as I haven't played for years.

I was in the same boat, just do a new account. It’s free and since I haven’t played in years I didn’t remember where I left off or how to play the character properly so starting from scratch helped me figure out where I was and how I got there. You can also get HoT for cheap and use the boost to go right to max level.

[Deleted]

I was in the same boat, just do a new account. It’s free and since I haven’t played in years I didn’t remember where I left off or how to play the character properly so starting from scratch helped me figure out where I was and how I got there. You can also get HoT for cheap and use the boost to go right to max level.

IS there any difference between the original game without any expansion and the free version?

[PACOX]

IS there any difference between the original game without any expansion and the free version?

Can't map chat and trading post restrictions. Most are the other restrictions are universal to new accounts.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Account#Free_accounts

[DeadmanWalking]

Can't map chat and trading post restrictions. Most are the other restrictions are universal to new accounts.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Account#Free_accounts

There is also a couple of days where a new player can’t use the trading post even if you buy an expansion which was annoying as hell. I know it is to combat gold sellers but as an honest player it was enfuriating to be locked out of it for a weekend. Once I saw that I put the game away for the remainder of the lockout and played other games until it was over. Just the ability to sell an item directly from your bag Space is much better than running back to a vendor all the time to unload especially when you start with small bags.

[Deleted]

Can't map chat and trading post restrictions. Most are the other restrictions are universal to new accounts.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Account#Free_accounts

Happily I found my password again :3

[Deleted]

Just stopped playing the game after realising why it was so hard for me to get into it for more than 2 years of off and on attempts.
The game is very compelling graphic-wise and some of the systems in it, like class design, some combat aspects, crafting and many others. It really makes you to want to love it, but with me it failed and finally i know why.
GW2 is just a set of independent from each other mini games, stiched together into one big game. It is really inconsistent with every map being like a stand alone map detached from the wider GW2 universe. The so-called Living world episodes are instanced, and everything that happens in them stays there and does not affect your gameplay or progression in the game even remotely.
The total lack of progression here is quite notable, and i am not talking about gear progression. Occasionally, with a new LW episode, a new map is being thrown and when you enter it, it's like you start playing a totally new game with no connection to what you have been playing until then. New currency for new (fashion) rewards, all new metas that have nothing to do with anything else in the game. I really started feeling as if nothing i do actually takes me anywhere. Just do the same thing i just did in that last map, but now have to do it again for some different looking gear skins.
I wished they added some sort of progress through a expansion, like what WoW did with the garrison system. Something that engages you throughout the expansion to develop and see grow and have some actual benefits relevant to that expansion. And every new map they add helps you contribute to the grand cause.
Just something to connect all the activities and effort you put together and makes the story and world somewhat less disconnected.

[PACOX]

Just stopped playing the game after realising why it was so hard for me to get into it for more than 2 years of off and on attempts.
The game is very compelling graphic-wise and some of the systems in it, like class design, some combat aspects, crafting and many others. It really makes you to want to love it, but with me it failed and finally i know why.
GW2 is just a set of independent from each other mini games, stiched together into one big game. It is really inconsistent with every map being like a stand alone map detached from the wider GW2 universe. The so-called Living world episodes are instanced, and everything that happens in them stays there and does not affect your gameplay or progression in the game even remotely.
The total lack of progression here is quite notable, and i am not talking about gear progression. Occasionally, with a new LW episode, a new map is being thrown and when you enter it, it's like you start playing a totally new game with no connection to what you have been playing until then. New currency for new (fashion) rewards, all new metas that have nothing to do with anything else in the game. I really started feeling as if nothing i do actually takes me anywhere. Just do the same thing i just did in that last map, but now have to do it again for some different looking gear skins.
I wished they added some sort of progress through a expansion, like what WoW did with the garrison system. Something that engages you throughout the expansion to develop and see grow and have some actual benefits relevant to that expansion. And every new map they add helps you contribute to the grand cause.
Just something to connect all the activities and effort you put together and makes the story and world somewhat less disconnected.

Uh not sure what you mean because none of the LW episodes are stand alone experiences. Ambient dialogue changes, NPC reference past events as they happen, theres usually ambient events or changes that take place between episodes. The games events take place in "real" with the exception to "time locked" zones. So if 3 months past in real life, 3 months passed in game.

Prime example with the event they just released. There was an NPC running that said she was training for the event. She disappeared a week before the event. Event launches, she is an opponent in the event. Event NPCs frequently allude to past events.

The game doesn't force you to participate in the narrative if you dont want to, but its there and ever changing.

[Deleted]

The game doesn't force you to participate in the narrative if you dont want to, but its there and ever changing.

Ambient dialogue, right. Such things are nice and all, but i can't imagine very many players even notice.
Besides, i was not talking about the narrative.
The zones are disconnected. Each one of them has it's own main currency, it's own rewards (which in the end are not much different from one another). The moment you step in a different zone, all the efforts you have put until then means nothing. So it is a different zone, same events, different currency for the (kinda)same rewards. And that's it, you start over. Grind events (which very soon start to feel exactly the same) - gather currency - buy rewards. The rewards does not progress your gameplay or character in any meaningful way which very soon start to raise question why do you put the effort over and over to collect stuff that means nothing.
It's just a game where you collect gear skins and chase after achievements. No overarching goal.

[Autumn]

I left when they merged all the realms - even Lion’s Arch etc, and put the World Events on a timer - thus screwing up all our community events. Will never go back.

[PACOX]

Ambient dialogue, right. Such things are nice and all, but i can't imagine very many players even notice.
Besides, i was not talking about the narrative.
The zones are disconnected. Each one of them has it's own main currency, it's own rewards (which in the end are not much different from one another). The moment you step in a different zone, all the efforts you have put until then means nothing. So it is a different zone, same events, different currency for the (kinda)same rewards. And that's it, you start over. Grind events (which very soon start to feel exactly the same) - gather currency - buy rewards. The rewards does not progress your gameplay or character in any meaningful way which very soon start to raise question why do you put the effort over and over to collect stuff that means nothing.
It's just a game where you collect gear skins and chase after achievements. No overarching goal.

You're talking about season 3 and 4 where maps share currency + one unique to the map, giving you an incentive to play particular maps. I don't see whats wrong with that but I guess its preferencial. Storywise, for 3 only the ice map was somewhat isolated. Season 4, all of them are connected, even having "real world" consequences (world invasions that died down as the story progressed).

Grind events (which very soon start to feel exactly the same) - gather currency - buy rewards.

Thats MMOs in general. Again the stories connect, if you want them two.

Progress? GW1 and GW2 have always been about lateral progress. Stuff at max game give skins and alternative ways to gear. If you're looking for some sort of power grind then GW isn't the franchise for you. As someone who raids and does a lot of fractals, I've used the maps quite often to put together new sets of gear. 1 unifying currency per season + one unique to a map? Great, I can choose which one I want to play (for the record each map doesn't give the same type of item. Also doesn't screw over plays who might be missing a couple of episodes. Missed an episode? You can still get items from for the maps you do have access to. Some give rings, some amulets, etc). Making a legendary? You get to play the maps you enjoy the most (unless you're making one of the legendaries tied to its respective season).

It's just a game where you collect gear skins and chase after achievements. No overarching goal.

Thats the franchise. But again, not really different from most MMOsl practically games in general. The goals are the ones you make for yourself. In WoW style MMOs you're forever grinding equipment tiers, going through cycles of being weak to strong, repeat. GW style MMOs are more akin to singleplayer games where you must learn to get better with what you have, the goal is achievements/cosmetics. You quest because you want to, if you don't want to then thats fine because you beat the game from your own PoV, I guess.

[Super Kami Dende]

Horrid Gameplay, boring Storylines, laggy Servers, A severe lack of interesting Endgame. After getting 2 classes to 80 I threw in the towel.

[PACOX]

I left when they merged all the realms - even Lion’s Arch etc, and put the World Events on a timer - thus screwing up all our community events. Will never go back.

The system puts you on map instances based on community/familiarity. You're placed in a mount instanced based on friends > party > squad > guild > server > instance population.

So the game will first try to place you with your friends, then party, squad, etc. So if you go to Lion's Arch, theres a good chance that you'll see people from your server. If you're trying to get everyone together it takes all of 2 mintures to taxi everyone into the same instance of a map. Never heard of someone having trouble doing a community event unless it involves more people than what a map can hold.

[Deleted]

Thats the franchise. But again, not really different from most MMOsl practically games in general. The goals are the ones you make for yourself. In WoW style MMOs you're forever grinding equipment tiers, going through cycles of being weak to strong, repeat. GW style MMOs are more akin to singleplayer games where you must learn to get better with what you have, the goal is achievements/cosmetics. You quest because you want to, if you don't want to then thats fine because you beat the game from your own PoV, I guess.

I guess this here is what kills it for me. To me, it is the game's job to direct you what to do while developing the story as you go. GW2 just dumps you out in the open and let's you figure out what you want to do or achieve, granted you want to play the game. However this is not 'granted' at all. This is earned through hooking story, engaging gameplay, threatening villains you want to kill and lucrative rewards you get in the end. GW2 miss two of those perks.
Not to mention how much i hate that this is the only game i have played, where i need to read in internet how many things work, like crafting ascended or the more complex meta events. Such a poor job in explaining those things with in-game descriptions.

I don't agree about the single player nature of GW2, with so many of the meta event stages requiring multiple players to complete. Sure you don't have to be in party, but if it so happen that there are no other players around, you're screwed. Dungeons, fractals and raids require teamwork and there is not even an automatic LFG system, you have to pug yourself and be accepted. So no, you can even say that GW2 is more group-play demanding than WoW is.
Not that this is a bad thing or anything, just saying. But try to run around completing something in Verdant Brink with 10-20 players in the entire map and come tell me you are not frustrated.

In the end, what GW2 differs from other MMOs is the lack of direction from the game. And it is my belief that this difference is a disadvantage.

[Lex Icon]

meta builds.. nothing i hate more. i know how i like to play and i always build my characters accordingly but people in this game are obsessed with meta builds and if you don't comply you'll only get crapped on.

what's the point of build diversity if none is allowed?

[A Chozo]

Right now: My processor is a i5-3330 and Guild Wars 2 runs at gorgeous 23fps with it. Not very pleasant. I can, instead, play Dark Souls 3 at almost 60 with minor weirdness.