The Guild Wars 2 Thread

[mediocrepoet]

They still want you to pay something like 50 Euros though for all content if you buy the trilogy for 30 and the last xpac for 20. Eh not sure I want to pay 50 Euros for a game that old. Who knows when the servers go down.

Well, they're still hosting GW1, so that's a good sign at least.

 

[TedNugent]

I actually bothered to play this game for quite a while.

Feedback:
As soon as you buy the base game you get a level cap boost on one toon. You get shit tons of level boost books just from playing the game. Leveling is literally not necessary if you don't want to. Levels scale down in pve, up in pvp. Once you are level 2 you can do max level arenas with fully scaled gear and max level abilities.

Getting a full set of exotic gear costs a petty sum and enables all world content as well as making it easy to try different builds or easily gear alts.

Ascended gear is time consuming as all hell to get but it can be respecced to different stats for a pittance and can be traded to different toons in the same armor class. Ascended gear is slightly better than exotic. Honestly, not even enough to worry about unless you're pushing fractals or raiding.

Best mount system in any game of it's kind. Mounts are not one size fits all, they have unique traversal mechanics and Path of Fire was designed to utilize many of them, making exploration in those zones pretty interesting. Older expansions will have none of this, but PoF has some really stunning platforming and exploration zones if you are into that.

Play the game pretty much how you want.

I did a lot of arenas, some fractals. There's a lot of grinding if you want. If you don't want to, don't.

Combat feels like an action game. It's fun, but beware pvp. Condition spamming and spamming of AoE fields is constant on capture nodes. Highly recommend ranged weapons. I really dislike the weapon swapping mechanic as each set does not have a shared cool down, meaning you will likely need to master both sets as part of your rotation. Otoh it does make swapping between ranged/utility/melee gear a breeze.

The game cleverly avoids the chore of heal targeting by exclusively using AoE aura heals and buffs.

The game doesn't hold your hand or put you on a progression path. Literally log in and do whatever the fuck you want.

The story exists, I guess. There are parts where it is amusing, and some neat stuff to look at. It can be ignored. Joko is a cool character.

I mostly just enjoyed the combat and the exploration, it's fun.

Game balance is ass. Blizzard is an absolute sphincter at game design, but their class design is magnificent in comparison to Guild Wars. The talent trees in Guild Wars are filled with broken paths that are particularly disjointed. Class play style is largely determined by your weapon choices.

I don't raid, and I don't care to.

 

[El Presidente]

I think if you're into "painting the map" (100%ing all zones in the game) then GW2 is very likely the best MMO out there by a wide margin. Older zones are moderately fun/chill, newer zones are incredible. The verticality in this game truly has no competition in any other that I'm aware of, even single player games fail to deliver vertical maps as fun to explore as GW2's, and that says a lot. Usually MMOs are easily blown out of the water by single player games when it comes to these "level design" aspects.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

The game doesn't hold your hand or put you on a progression path. Literally log in and do whatever the fuck you want.

unfortunately, everything you can do is boring and cookie-cutter mmorpg fare.

 

[Efe]

I thought at with gw2 they advertised with "living story" more than just mindless killing, platofrming around to find stuff, exploring etc.

It definitely isnt what I saw in trial.

Feels like a weaker wildstar ( which I only played a few hours which makes me an expert)

 

[rusty_shackleford]

I thought at with gw2 they advertised with "living story" more than just mindless killing, platofrming around to find stuff, exploring etc.

It definitely isnt what I saw in trial.

Feels like a weaker wildstar ( which I only played a few hours which makes me an expert)

I've played most MMOs on the market and GW2 easily ranks near the bottom. It doesn't even have any "so bad it's funny" factor, it's just incredibly mediocre and unimpressive in every single aspect.
The only way someone could like GW2 is if they never actually played another MMO.

 

[TedNugent]

The game doesn't hold your hand or put you on a progression path. Literally log in and do whatever the fuck you want.

unfortunately, everything you can do is boring and cookie-cutter mmorpg fare.

I list one exception, arenas. With WvW, YMMV.

but for the most part, all MMOs are boring with cookie-cutter MMORPG fare. The genre is disgusting and IMHO would best be nuked from orbit. I suppose you could make an argument for hardcore raiding if you are a no-lifer, but there is so much cancer en route to instanced content that scarcely even qualifies as being MMO in the first place.

The only way someone could like GW2 is if they never actually played another MMO.

I'm being dead serious, please name an MMO that isn't ass, rusty.

 

[El Presidente]

I thought at with gw2 they advertised with "living story" more than just mindless killing, platofrming around to find stuff, exploring etc.

It definitely isnt what I saw in trial.

Feels like a weaker wildstar ( which I only played a few hours which makes me an expert)

This is a game that doesn't know how to sell itself to the public, yeah. Not just that, there are "communication issues" so to speak throughout the whole beginner phase, such as not mentioning the elite specs of each class in the character creation.

GW2's strengths are exploring the maps, finding jumping puzzles and some "open world mini dungeons" it has, fighting the group-oriented bosses with other players in said zones and so on. In other words this is a themepark MMO but it's an open world oriented one, instead of focusing predominantly on instances, which it also has and I heard nowadays are pretty fun but I still didn't play through the modern ones.

As for the downsides, the major one is Anet's mind boggling retardness throughout most of the game's life, going back and forth many times on what they want the game to be. To give just one example, on expansions, they went from "GW2 won't have them" to "yeah GW2 will be an expansion MMO" to "actually scratch that we're a living story MMO" to "nah, in fact, we're an expansion MMO indeed". Who knows what they'll do next. They already revealed they're working on the fourth expansion tho but when it comes to Anet anything goes. I do think perhaps the game's rather stable now, I think they might've finally settled down, but that sure as fuck shook off a lot of people from the game over the years. That's not to mention the layoffs and woke employees' twitter but amazingly enough this game is less woke than current WoW.

Another thing I dislike is the aforementioned way they treat elite specs. Well, for starters, I dislike the fact this isn't a holy trinity game, I like holy trinity, I think it's very fine and it handles class fantasy the way I usually enjoy. GW2 is more like ESO, where even a rogue can play as a healer. I don't like that, I think it's stupid as fuck, give me my boomer stereotypes pls and leave these modernities out of my games. While most of the combinations they did do deliver on the fun department, they make no sense and often strongly misguide new players into creating a character only to discover tons of hours later that doesn't really have the gameplay he was looking for. The game's main 'sniper gameplay' is hidden behind Thief. The game's forefront healer is hidden behind Ranger. One of the game's more notorious tanks is hidden behind mesmer, an "illusion caster" that most players will probably assume is absolutely squishy as fuck and need to use the clones and deception to survive. Again, many of these are very fun (GW2's Thief is a dream character, all specs are crazy fun), but they're kinda idiotic if you're expecting traditional archetypes and that might fuck you up on char creation.

 

[SerratedBiz]

Is WvW still the same couple of maps that they released at launch? I mean, I had plenty of fun running around with my guild but can only spend so many hundreds of hours in the same map before it goes stale.

 

[Val the Moofia Boss]

To add to what El Presidente said, GW2 also suffered from production issues. During the leadup to launch, GW2 marketed itself toward jaded MMO veterans, which meant the living world fiasco and no expansions. When it was clear that wasn't working out, they began work on the first expansion, HoT, but they didn't have their content pipeline worked out and this lead to the infamous content drought after S2. Then they were on a roll for a few years, with the HoT expansion, S3, PoF, and S4. The Anet started moving people to other unannounced projects, and GW2 wasn't greenlit for another expansion. So the GW2 devs began making S5, rebranded as Icebrood Saga. Then Anet got into financial trouble. Anet's other unannounced projects were cancelled and there was a wave of layoffs. Anet decided to climb out of trouble by greenlighting another GW2 expansion (their only money maker left). This led to the Icebrood Saga fiasco where the season was anticlimactically aborted halfway through (cue immense fandom backlash) as they scrambled to work on End of Dragons, which was apparently rushed. Now the devs are working on a fourth expansion and it's not clear how much S6 content we will get (the devs have thus far only promised we will get one map).

Is WvW still the same couple of maps that they released at launch?

A third WvW map set in the desert was added. It has some design issues and the dev who made it admitted he wanted to make PvE maps.

WvW has become P2W. You must own the Path of Fire expansion to get the WvW mount, which gives you a tremendous mobility advantage, especially in the desert map which is far and away the largest one, and the meta boils down to circling around and capping camps as quickly as possible rather than digging in and defending them.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

please name an MMO that isn't ass

guild wars.

amazingly enough this game is less woke than current WoW.

didn't this game got briefly infamous for something like "hello, i'm a plant person, i also like to take it in the ass"?

 

[El Presidente]

please name an MMO that isn't ass

guild wars.

amazingly enough this game is less woke than current WoW.

didn't this game got briefly infamous for something like "hello, i'm a plant person, i also like to take it in the ass"?

Never heard about that but currently in World of Blackcraft 70% of the dwarf guards in Ironforge are black, most being black female dwarves. About half of the elven guards in Silvermoon City as well. New starting zone has you receiving orders from strong independent female black general, but she has a heart too and is worried sick about her black priest son that got kidnapped. The human racial "Every man for himself", available in the game since day one, got renamed to "Will to survive". Makes sense, men dumb and Sylvanas smart stronk invincible female protagonist.

Hundreds of other things were also renamed or removed from the game, most notorious one being a portrait of a woman and additional clothes being drawn over cleavage in another.

So yeah I think it's preeeeeetty safe to say no gay Sylvari will make GW2 woker than WoW Shadowlands.

 

[mediocrepoet]

Well this seems to be the right place to ask this: how can you start expansion content if you don't want to play through all the OC stuff? I've owned GW2 since launch and played it sparingly over the years (mostly off again), but also decided to pick up the expansions recently. The thing is, I have no idea what to do other than to follow the OC map which bored me to start to fall off again. I wouldn't mind checking out the various expacks with some boosts to see if I want to stick with it or just write it off again.

 

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Well this seems to be the right place to ask this: how can you start expansion content if you don't want to play through all the OC stuff?

• Press C to open up the character menu.
• Click on "Story Journal".
• Click the expansion chapter or seasonal episode you wish to start.
• Click "Begin this Story".

I would recommend starting at the Heart of Thorns expansion and going in order from there.

 

[mediocrepoet]

Well this seems to be the right place to ask this: how can you start expansion content if you don't want to play through all the OC stuff?

• Press C to open up the character menu.
• Click on "Story Journal".
• Click the expansion chapter or seasonal episode you wish to start.
• Click "Begin this Story".

I would recommend starting at the Heart of Thorns expansion and going in order from there.

That's awesome. Thank you.

 

[TedNugent]

Well, for starters, I dislike the fact this isn't a holy trinity game, I like holy trinity, I think it's very fine and it handles class fantasy the way I usually enjoy.

Absolutely nothing about the holy Trinity makes any sense in the context of class fantasy.

Arguably, it is a necessary game design element, but class fantasy? And to be honest, no, it isn't even really necessary, GW2 completely dispensed with it.

Do you seriously think the dragon beating down on the dude with the shield to the exclusion of everyone else in the raid should ever make any sense?

Threat isn't even a mechanic they bother with any more. Managing threat used to actually be a thing, and it used to be challenging, and it made sense because the guy throwing fireballs should actually have to use his brain about being the most threatening target. Why even have a threat mechanic if you don't incorporate it into the gameplay outside of giving tanks a massive threat bonus?

Even tank swapping isn't an issue because of taunt buttons. "Hey dragon," taunt swap done, stacks dropped.

This is why the gameplay in WoW has devolved into fire puddles and dodging trains, because the DPS have nothing to do other than press spell buttons.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Do you seriously think the dragon beating down on the dude with the shield to the exclusion of everyone else in the raid should ever make any sense?

yes because he's the one who is holding the dragon's rare gem he stole from his hoard

tell a story, simple as

 

[TedNugent]

Do you seriously think the dragon beating down on the dude with the shield to the exclusion of everyone else in the raid should ever make any sense?

yes because he's the one who is holding the dragon's rare gem he stole from his hoard

tell a story, simple as

They never do, though.

And it still wouldn't make any sense as most encounters have either adds, multiple bosses and/or tank swaps, necessitating at least two tanks.

Let me know when a find a good MMO.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

I've played most MMOs on the market and GW2 easily ranks near the bottom.

Please post a ranked list of all the MMOs games you've played.

From games I've played, no nostalgia goggles:

S tier, timeless classics:
EverQuest progression servers. Same great EQ, tons of mechanical improvements on client/server.

A tier, fantastic with room for improvement, sadly many of these aren't available for play anymore/aren't the same as when I played them:
Project Gorgon
Lineage
SWG. Take your pick as to which version is your favorite, I think they're all pretty great.
Final Fantasy XI
Guild Wars(not an MMO)
EQ classic/modern EQ. Still great.

B tier:
SWTOR singleplayer content. Would have been a fine addition to the kotor series as a standalone game.
Dragon Raja. Appears to be the name of some other game now too? I mean the original one that's about 20y old now.
The Realm Online
Dungeons & Dragons online. Best dungeons in any MMORPG hands down. Awful UI, same engine as LotRO.
Fallen Earth, the relaunched version stripped of all the crap. Seems to be a product of love by the devs, would recommend checking it out.
Legend of Mir 2. I've always wondered what Legend of Mir 1 was. Fantastic game.
Lineage 2
Lord of the Rings Online. Fantastic atmosphere/world, must-play if you like Tolkien's work. Combat is pretty meh, UI is awful.
Star Trek Online. I was surprised at how fun this was and it has great singleplayer story content covering nearly all the Star Trek series plus some of their own original stuff. I never shelled out a dime, btw. The game seems to be funded by whales who splurge on buying ships from the shows.
Helbreath
original WoW/TBC

C tier:
Elder Scrolls Online. The world pvp area is fun, quests are good.
Everquest 2. Good for what it is.
Rift. I liked the class combo system
Rubies of Eventide, the original version with the turn-based grid combat.
Ryzom. I want to like this game, but sadly all I can say is that it's very unique. Simulates entire ecosystems and autonomous factions. Skills are built up from individual pieces of attacks, etc., Gets a C for effort.
Shadowbane, original not the relaunched version.
Warhammer Online. RIP.


D tier, would be F but has at least one standout component:
SWTOR multiplayer content. Companions are cool, too bad they neutered them by making them all equal(ish) and making gear not matter.
FFXIV. Only interesting part was the crafting.
Neverwinter. Neat crafting system that involves hiring NPCs who work for you and giving them assignments. NPCs have stats, etc.,
The Secret World. A-tier singleplayer game, but why is it an MMO???


F tier:
Elyon
TERA
Flyff
New World. Tree cutting simulator 2021.
Knight Online. I played it years ago closer to release.
All the generic korean anime MMOs with absurd grinding and cash shops that I didn't list individually.
all other versions of WoW

Meh/Unremarkable/WoW clone/Not worth your time tier, games that don't even get a grade because there's no reason to play them and I don't hate them enough to give them a D/F:
Aion
Allods
Champions Online
DCUO
GW2



Unrankable tier:
Runescape. I couldn't really get into it, but I have friends who loved it. It seemingly has a few interesting ideas, and a lot of people love the quests. It has perpetually been on my TODO list.
City of Heroes. I got choice paralysis at character creation and never got to play.

I don't remember enough tier:
DarkEden
PlaneShift. I want to check this out again at some point.
A Tale in the Desert
--
I used wikipedia's MMORPG list which is missing a lot. I know because a few came to mind while I was going through it due to them not being there. This is most of the games on the list except a few korean/chinese games I skipped over.

There was a post-apoc isometric pre-rendered graphics MMORPG I remember playing but can't remember the name of. I've been trying to find it again for a while, it was fun. Probably released early 00s. Maybe someone has any idea what I'm referring to. Definitely not Fallout Online or w/e that's called.

 

[Morenatsu.]

mmos should only be ranked based on furry appeal. nothing else matters

 

[Efe]

"My name is sya, but back then I used to be simon"

Gw2 is woke too I guess. why are you guys supporting it?

 

[Val the Moofia Boss]

I never shelled out a dime, btw.

Did you play during the Delta Rising expansion? Because the game literally became P2W. They introduced a sixth tier of ship that were far stronger than any T5s and could only be acquired through the cash shop, and the space content was unbeatable without having a T6. Much Later on, they eventually allowed players to grind for T6s without spending money...

Gw2 is woke too I guess. why are you guys supporting it?

GW2 is relatively story lite compared to FFXIV. In that game, each patch is about 3-4 hours long and maybe only 15-20 minutes of it is actual gameplay. In GW2, patches are about 1-2 hours long and there is maybe only 10-15 minutes of characters talking (and most of that talking is about progressing the plot, ie identifying the next place we are going to or a weakness of the villain), the rest is gameplay. The woke stuff is stupid but it's not constantly waved around in your face.

I'd say that WoW is worse when it comes to being woke. The wokeness is far more in your face than in GW2:

• Changing iconic character designs (ie, Jaina, Sylvanas, Alexstraza, etc)
• Retconning Chromie and waving her identity around in your face.
• Cancelling Quinton Flynn due to bullshit accusations and replacing his iconic voice as Kael'thas (Kael'thas is a major character in the Shadowlands questing and the change of voice is noticeable, especially when Blizzard usually goes to great lengths to keep voices consistent even after 2 decades have passed)
• Warlocks having a chance to summon stupid male succubus.

FFXIV is also starting to get infected by the woke agenda (was already converged by the globalist agenda many years ago) but that isn't very conspicuous yet.

 

[Drakortha]

Meh/Unremarkable/WoW clone/Not worth your time tier

aka, the tier for games I can't prove are objectively bad but I am biased towards because if I'm not, I can't remain in the prestigious connoisseur of fine tastes club.

Well done mate, lol. Hey at least you're being honest, eh?

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Meh/Unremarkable/WoW clone/Not worth your time tier

aka, the tier for games I can't prove are objectively bad but I am biased towards because if I don't, I can't remain in the prestigious connoisseur of fine tastes club.

Well done mate, lol. Hey at least you're being honest, eh?

No, they just have absolutely nothing remarkable about them whatsoever.
GW2 falls directly into that category. It does nothing new, and nothing well.

 

[ADL]

Couldn't disagree more. Guild Wars 2 mechanically does things I've never seen in other MMOs and in general does things quite differently. The business model, the mounts, the horizontal progression in the form of gear and elite specializations, the pseudo action combat, the way the open world is structured around dynamic events etc.


I won't defend the story because it's cringe but take a look at the first End of Dragons mission for example. Where else have you seen this where you're jumping from airship to airship and you have movement abilities made specifically for that mission?