Guild Wars 2: The One Thread

[Svifnymr]

Hell, add on the irritation when you boost a character with level 20/30 boost or the books, and you've got to not just click through tons of "you got a couple more skill points!" messages, but they don't automatically go to the next one, you need to go to the bottom right of the screen all over again, every level! (and then back to center accept)

And the stupid thing won't just let you spend points that you want to spend. As long as there's extra points remaining and open things you didn't buy (whether you want them or not), it'll keep highlighting it to "remind" you to spend points.


I fully expect this is some kind of revenge because of all the folks that complained about how to unlock the traits previously.

[Arlee]

Also the unlocking system for new players seems incredibly arbitrary. "You have unlocked vistas!" ummmm... okay? They didn't seem locked to me but thanks.

So, with the exception of a few things, most of those pop-ups aren't notifications about something being unlocked it's more of a "hey did you notice thing" message; which isn't at all conveyed well ><

[Cyberowl]

I've picked up GW2 today after seeing it's free now.

Quick questions:
1) I read somewhere that your spells don't change anymore after you unlock them, so there is no variation (like talents in WoW) or alternative rotation. Is that true?
2) Is it easy to get gold to trade for gems to unlock the "necessary" stuff like inventar slots etc.? Or is it some long grind or some action house/craft game to actually get a decent income.
3) What does the expansion offer? Is it as bad as WoW if you don't buy the expansion and everyone will switch to different content you can't take part in?

[Kelimbror]

1) I read somewhere that your spells don't change anymore after you unlock them, so there is no variation (like talents in WoW) or alternative rotation. Is that true?

Your weapon skills don't change, but there are a wide range of spells/skills that you unlock and select (like talents) that provide a lot of variety. The problem (to some people) is that you are using the weapon skills 80% of the time. Playing a class like Engineer or Elementalist will alleviate that somewhat.

You also can choose two different weapons to have equipped and swap them in combat providing access to 10 different primary skills.

2) Is it easy to get gold to trade for gems to unlock the "necessary" stuff like inventar slots etc.? Or is it some long grind or some action house/craft game to actually get a decent income.

You must play the auction house to make enough money to do what you are looking for. There is no 'necessary' stuff to unlock. Inventory space and character slots are the primary pain points for people, but you can earn your way into a guild bank if you rep your own guild fairly easily.

3) What does the expansion offer? Is it as bad as WoW if you don't buy the expansion and everyone will switch to different content you can't take part in?

I'm not sure why this is 'bad', but yes people will be playing new content. However, GW2 utilizes zones across the entire range of the game for multipurposed activities. Whether world bosses or holiday events, people will often be in other zones. In order to participate in the new story and new items, people will certainly spend a large chunk of time in the new zone.

[Cyberowl]

I'm not sure why this is 'bad', but yes people will be playing new content. However, GW2 utilizes zones across the entire range of the game for multipurposed activities. Whether world bosses or holiday events, people will often be in other zones. In order to participate in the new story and new items, people will certainly spend a large chunk of time in the new zone.

I didn't mean it's bad per se. I just wondered if there is no way in hell people would still continue doing old content. Because as soon as an expansion comes out in WoW, the old max-lvl content is gone. I don't know if I need the extra content the expansion would offer, because I don't think I will play it that seriously, but it would still kinda suck if everyone abandons old content.

I guess a big portion will continue to stick to the F2P version though and I won't be alone. :P

What do you mean with the "rep" guild bank part? Is it like in WoW where you start a guild, the guild bank gets some passive gold generation from members activities and you can access the resources as leader? I just hate having little inventar space and having to sell regularly. ;_;

[Kazgrel]

I didn't mean it's bad per se. I just wondered if there is no way in hell people would still continue doing old content. Because as soon as an expansion comes out in WoW, the old max-lvl content is gone. I don't know if I need the extra content the expansion would offer, because I don't think I will play it that seriously, but it would still kinda suck if everyone abandons old content.

I guess a big portion will continue to stick to the F2P version though and I won't be alone. :P

What do you mean with the "rep" guild bank part? Is it like in WoW where you start a guild, the guild bank gets some passive gold generation from members activities and you can access the resources as leader? I just hate having little inventar space and having to sell regularly. ;_;

There are almost always people running around in every zone, even now. Even went into Dry Top for the first time in 6 months or so and there were still a healthy amount of folks there knocking out events. Given how GW2 downlevels you to an appropriate level for the zone you are in (if you are above said level that is), areas all tend to feel relevant.

Friendly FYI since you mentioned you had just picked up the game, regarding inventory space: Click on the gear icon at top right of your inventory window and use Deposit All Materials. That thing is your best friend for freeing up space. It's not the be-all-end-all solution, of course, but it helps tremendously.

[zito]

Dry top is the best zone in the game imo. Love it. Spend hours there even though I have everything

[Gray_Matter]

You must play the auction house to make enough money to do what you are looking for. There is no 'necessary' stuff to unlock. Inventory space and character slots are the primary pain points for people, but you can earn your way into a guild bank if you rep your own guild fairly easily.

I don't play the AH at all and have enough to buy gems for myself and my two daughters. Granted, it's getting a bit tight of late but you can definitely get enough for a single player by just playing depending on how much you want to spend with gems. I have 2 full sets of permanent gathering tools. 9 permanent salvage box things. About 10 character slots, etc.

[zito]

so like whatever happened to mai trin. She escaped into the edge of the mists so is she just gone?!? They never explained what happened to her.

[Kelimbror]

What do you mean with the "rep" guild bank part? Is it like in WoW where you start a guild, the guild bank gets some passive gold generation from members activities and you can access the resources as leader? I just hate having little inventar space and having to sell regularly. ;_;

So you form a guild consisting of yourself, make sure to choose 'represent' for your guild in the guild menu, then every time you log on you earn pts for your guild. Some activities earn pts as well, but log ons are the most reliable 10 pts each time. I'm not sure if there is a cap, but your alts if you rep them all count when you log on. I just logged all my alts on every day for a month and one of the earliest things you can build is a guild bank. It's an extra 60 (maybe just 30, idr) slots for 'free'.

I don't play the AH at all and have enough to buy gems for myself and my two daughters. Granted, it's getting a bit tight of late but you can definitely get enough for a single player by just playing depending on how much you want to spend with gems. I have 2 full sets of permanent gathering tools. 9 permanent salvage box things. About 10 character slots, etc.

I'm not really sure how considering even when I played every day I never came close to earning any sort of funds without selling materials on the AH. I would especially not expect a new player being able to acquire any amount of gold for some time due to lack of knowledge of systems and time to level. So really it seems using the AH would be the most logical and efficient way to acquire the amount of funds needed to unlock inventory/crafting inventory/char slots/etc.

Maybe you just play a lot, idk. I would just run around and do events, pvp, and whatnot and never earned enough gold to warrant notice. I managed to get some rare drops that I sold for a hefty amount and I've been living off that, but not enough to get the wide range of things I wanted in the cash shop.6

[Gray_Matter]

I'm not really sure how considering even when I played every day I never came close to earning any sort of funds without selling materials on the AH. I would especially not expect a new player being able to acquire any amount of gold for some time due to lack of knowledge of systems and time to level. So really it seems using the AH would be the most logical and efficient way to acquire the amount of funds needed to unlock inventory/crafting inventory/char slots/etc.

Maybe you just play a lot, idk. I would just run around and do events, pvp, and whatnot and never earned enough gold to warrant notice. I managed to get some rare drops that I sold for a hefty amount and I've been living off that, but not enough to get the wide range of things I wanted in the cash shop.6

Ahh, I misunderstood you. I thought you meant buy low, sell high type of playing. I often sell stuff on the TP. When I need to buy some gems I often raid the bank (globs, orch, T6, etc.) and also laurels which I swap for T6 loot. You can also change Karma for boxes. I got a precursor drop at one point so that boosted the coffers quite a bit. I also have spells where a do a few world bosses. They are quite lucrative.

I salvage anything under rare (and rares that sell for less than 30s on the TP) and then deposit the collectibles. I use a mystic salvage kit for the rares. I use BL salvage kits for exotics that have good runes.

[Kelimbror]

*SNIP*

Ah ok. This makes more sense. I do about 50% of the things you listed b/c I don't play enough to do some of the others or I use it to actually get items for myself/hoard mats for alts instead of selling them. But yeah, I just meant you're going to need to sell things on the AH in general to make the type of money that poster was looking for.

However, I think GW2's AH is really easy to use and make money on b/c it seems materials are always demand. With the base game being free I would think that should remain constant.

[Arlee]

3) What does the expansion offer? Is it as bad as WoW if you don't buy the expansion and everyone will switch to different content you can't take part in?

I <3 your avatar

The first few weeks after the expansion launches there will probably be a bit fewer people out in the old zones, however the way GW2 is designed there's pretty much always reasons to go back to old zones again so it probably won't die out completely. For example the post lvl 80 progression system is Mastery and there are a few you can only earn out in the wold world. So after I get Gliding and a mushroom thing unlocked in the new areas I'll be spending a lot of time out in the old areas unlocking all the things I want there. Of course Masteries are one of the things which only unlocks if you buy the expansion, so there is that as well.

[Sting]

Having a great time since I came back to play last month, ditched my old guardian main and started fresh. Bit of a dilemma though.

Randomly got a Zap after I threw in 4 rare items (topkek). Still debating whether I should keep it or go for Bolt. Currently playing a LB ranger with S/A as 2nd set, so in theory I could use it (and I heard your legendaries are account bound now anyway so I should be able to swap them between characters?). Should I sell it now since dropped precursors are likely to drop in value with the mastery path? Personally, I wouldn't have a clue how to spend the money anyway. I currently have only ~110g and not a whole lot of stuff needed to upgrade it besides the gift of mastery.

[zito]

I would sell it. You can get a precursor through precursor crafting in the expansion. But it sounds like you don't really like bolt so I'd skip it

[Sting]

Ah, you're right about that, prices will probably drop I guess? Better put it up on the AH asap then.

[Deleted]

The prices will drop. Precursors won't rely on a gamble anymore so people will feel less inclined to buy them straight off the TP.

[zito]

The prices won't drop because when you get the new precursor through the mastery system it will be account bound.

What I meant was is that you can get the precursor for free essentially if you desire to get bolt

[Deleted]

The prices won't drop because when you get the new precursor through the mastery system it will be account bound.

What I meant was is that you can get the precursor for free essentially if you desire to get bolt

Right. So the prices will drop as less people will buy them because everyone has the precursors *set* to them. They just have to work for it more.

That said, I heard there are costs tied to crafting the precursor aswell. Though I'm unsure how much this is.

[Sting]

Right. So the prices will drop as less people will buy them because everyone has the precursors *set* to them. They just have to work for it more.

That said, I heard there are costs tied to crafting the precursor aswell. Though I'm unsure how much this is.

I think it's more of an elaborate quest to do certain activities, that's what I gathered from the blog about it anyway. I think it remains to be seen how much of a pain in the ass these will be, but I think I'll cash in now just to be sure.