Did you buy GW2?

Jayson · May 7, 2017 at 12:32 AM

So I've played the free version and I ended up enjoying it somewhat, and my original thoughts on the game weren't so favorable. Playable yes, but I couldn't give it an honest recommendation. My positives are now mainly based on the fact that I got a friend of mine and his wife to try it out as well. Playing through the core game gets a lot better when you know you can count on at least one or two others to be around. It is a social game after all!

So the question came up from the two of them as to whether or not I'd buy the HoT expansion and after some debate, I declined. There had been so many reasons before I even downloaded the core game... the lack of dual classes, the loss of build/weapon freedom, the guns and tech, no monks and imo, ignoring continuity for the sake of pushing game features.

Still there were a few nice things about it as well. Visuals were great as well as expansive environments and character creation. Escort quests were always neat and I actually enoyed the little heart quests.

So getting back to HoT, I had watched the original release announcement way back, and it cemented my resolve to not add money into the GW2 coffers. My first instinct was repulsion at the gliding... for several reasons. First off, it looks extremely jarring to me that a nine foot humanoid, clad it metal armor from head to toe, just casually jumps off ledges and goes sailing around. I know that it's "just a game" but those things matter to me. This is actually one of the core issues I have with GW2 itself. The second is what I already knew would follow... over the top cash shop items that I would describe as taking me out of the GW world.
You have gliders like the square clouds that look like they're from old SNES games you stand on, with your arms folded as you float down from somewhere, all the while hearing those annoying 8 bit sounds. It just completely ruins it for a person such as myself. The idea that the original founders of Arena Net spent time, money and effort to world build this really awesome series of games, then suddently seeing this cartoony stuff? Is a total buzzkill.

GW on the other hand seemed to be a little more grounded and consistent in it's handling of characters, story and settings, and that can be shown through their design of almost all of their armor and weapons throughout the classes during the original releases. Sure, you have glowing energy weapons and costume accessories here and there but imo, they're not done to an excess...

GW2 on the other hand has this over the top mentality for pretty much everything it does. Weapons are massively out of proportion for characters, and armor pieces jut out to ungodly lengths to a point of being absurd. Even attacks are over the top in some cases (whirlwind axe!) and that again, gets to the specifics of GW2. As the game has progressed, everything about it has been what I would define as out of character for Guild Wars and it's imo, increasingly gotten out of hand.

But to make matters worse Anet is still painting themselves into a corner with bad design and story choices. Add Spiderman style web shooting to their list with the new Living Story. And to make it even better, you have to earn these abilities to fully use the maps! I feel that these mechanics are also designed in a way as to not promote group play... gliding through maps on leylines solo and web shooting your way up to areas alone. Plus, some of these mechanics you have to work for are generally zone specific, so you're working towards something that has an extremely limited use and value. Unlike in GW when you'd see a siege devourer for example, where you just kill the enemy rider and take it. No skill training required, one and done!

In GW2, it's even gotten to a point where there's requests and now updates to disable sounds for weapons and items they've created, which was one of the reasons behind another issue.

Playing their open world events are a pretty cool thing to see but are a massive resource drain on your computer as the groups swell. This is compounded by the fact that no one at their studio had the foresight to see that continually adding showy lights and sounds to their unending cash shop items, would only make it worse. So no matter where you are, someone has something going that you and your pc, have to tolerate. I honestly don't expect that to ever improve.

There's one part in all of this that has me somewhat amused and that's their newest event, raiding. The gist of that being the teams are structured, players require structured builds and the event is instanced. This is the same with Dungeons and Fractals. Does that sound familiar to any GW players?

So I've looked through their recently leaked expansion 2 and I can't believe I'm going to say this but... it appears they've gotten a lot of it right, at least in the general sense. I'm about 90% sure that their storylines will not deliver based on the current events I've gone through.

Again, no respect for their own new continuity, or for the original.

I'll repeat once more, all of this is only my opinion.

So that was my scattered rant on why I won't support GW2.

For anyone who bothered to read this, why not post your reasons for either buying, or not buying the new game?

Marty Silverblade · May 7, 2017 at 2:48 AM Official Post

It looks like our experiences were pretty similar. I don't typically buy games on release unless I'm certain I'm going to like them enough to play them through several times, and there were enough red flags on GW2 to prompt me to wait. I played the free version when it came out with a friend of mine, mostly out of curiousity than actual interest. I'd heard enough post release that indicated it wasn't a game for me and that objectively it had it's share of issues, but I'm not the kind of person to disparage something without having personally investigated it so I gave it a go. I think I got through three areas (I'm playing a Norn, so shiverpeak ones) before quitting. My friend stopped at the end of the first area. The fact that 95+% of the content was mind numbing busywork was impossible to get past, and the combat was as uninspiring as I anticipated. Needless to say, I didn't invest in HoT. There were plenty of other issues I had too including but not limited to:

-I don't like the aesthetic with the gear either. Even in GW1 where the designs aren't deliberately over the top I prefer the more realistic ones. Immersion is very important to me. All of those new features, like the spiderman webs, just looks ridiculous to me.

-I strongly dislike the lack of instances. Instead of carefully considering what to do with your resources (party slots, skill slots, attributes, gear, etc) and needing to use them appropriately to overcome challenges, you can just get more people. Successes don't feel rewarding. I understand that there are some GW1 style instances later on but I don't care enough to get anywhere near them.

-I can't physically tolerate the massive fights. I don't have epilepsy or anything like that, but I had to fight this boss at the end of the first area and when there's all these flashing lights and animations and whatever my brain just thinks "cbf dealing with this" and I just tune out entirely and button mash (not that combat was more than button mashing anyway).

-It doesn't really seem like it's about anything. I was happy when I saw that personal quests were a thing, but then I realised that's pretty much what the game consists of. There's the living story, but season one is not available anymore and season two needs to be unlocked with some kind of payment, and I get the impression you need to be an established player to engage with it anyway. I could have been mistaken, but I didn't feel like it was something that was within reach. As such, it was do a bit of personal quest (which I like but is not close to satisfying in it's own right) then do 10 levels worth of busywork for the next bit.

Overall, it just seems like an odd mishmash of elements that either don't fit together and/or aren't good enough in their own right to make me favour playing GW2 over something else.

EDIT: I should say though, that not everything about my GW2 experience was awful. The character creator/graphics are good, even though I don't care at all for the art style. Cartography is done better than in GW1, though I dislike the vistas.

cosyfiep · May 7, 2017 at 3:57 AM Official Post

well, I did NOT even try it after the betas (which bluescreened my poor ole xp computer---and I STILL HAVE that computer, contemplating IF it can even handle moving up to 7).
The things that made guild wars guild wars were ignored with the new game---having to work together as a team to do things. Many of the areas you spoke of are just random groups of people ---all with basically the same skills sets--- not playing together, there is no need to speak to anyone else in those areas, heck you basically know what skills they have by just looking at what weapon they have! So I am NOT a fan of non-instanced worlds, I like to play in small groups who usually need a bit of communication and planning to get the quest/mission done, and when I kill something I want it to STAY dead, not just wait 4 minutes and have it jump to life again.
My next qualm is the mardi gras costumes ---I would not call most of the armor armor, to me it looks like an escape from a bad day at the circus. And having it not based on profession was a turn off as well.
Skills, I LIKE having tons of different skills to pick from and having EIGHT slots to put them in---having basically (my word for today) half of your skills picked FOR you leaves a bad taste in my mouth, I am not a child who needs to have my food cut for me, I am a mature (my word for old) person who has a spouse, a mortgage and a job, I am more than capable of cutting my own food, thank you very much.
The story you spoke of---in guildwars your character IS the hero, from what I have read in the new game, you are merely someone who is there when event are happening and NOT the central character.

Dont get me wrong, there are a few things I LIKE more about that game than guildwars, like the updated maps and scenery, but I am not willing to spend the time or effort to play the game simply to look at the pretty pictures (I can use the wiki to do that as well as the curse website that has many of the promo vids).
And my final reason for not playing it---I just dont want to, its not compelling me to even want to play it like guildwars did (and the lack of secondary professions--my monk LIKES having her pet mousey with her).
So I will keep my hard earned money and keep playing my free games (ok, I have put money into guildwars--but after almost 12 years, I have more than gotten its worth out of the time I have played--over 10k hours, yeah its that good).

MaxBorken · May 7, 2017 at 8:12 AM Official Post

I never bought it after carefully reading players' reviews and I'm very happy I didn't. In my opinion guild wars is perfect, and any attempt to make a sequel would sully that. Sometimes a sequel should never be made. Like Speed 2, Teen Wolf Too, Grease 2, any of the Fast and Furious fiascos, Blair Witch 2, Son of The Mask, etc etc.

They should have left alone and kept Guildwars sacrosanct. They tried too hard and by all accounts missed the point of what a sequel should be in favour of a money making machine.

Max

Captain Krompdown · May 7, 2017 at 11:38 AM

I bought it and tried hard to like it. I wanted to be convinced by guildies and friends who had found something exciting in the new game. Every once in a while, I'd even get a nostalgic thrill from stumbling across a location from my Guild Wars childhood.

But, in the end, the truth was unavoidable: Guild Wars 2 had the name of a game I wanted to play but that was about it. Nothing in GW2 felt special. It was all too homogenized and public. In GW, everything -- the items, the story/accomplishments, the builds -- felt special. Some of those things really were were special. There were rare items and imaginative builds, both of which could be passed in hushed tones among trusted friends. Some of those things weren't special at all. Was I the first to be sent to the Shiverpeaks or to face the trials of ascension in the Crystal Desert?? Nope. But GW somehow made it all feel special. What a beautiful game :heart:

Problematique · May 7, 2017 at 1:51 PM

I bought Gw2 collectors edition, I still have my Rytlock Brimstone statue in my room which is pretty cool.

Overall though, Gw2 just never clicked with me like GW did. I played through the first game, did what I wanted to but after finishing the main story I ran out of things to do and I couldn't get back into it.

It's a shame, a big part of me just wishes they kept adding content to GW, instead of going to make Gw2. Oh well.

Hyper · May 9, 2017 at 9:16 PM

Yes.

As Guild Wars Legacy player who pre-purchased Guild Wars 2, I started playing during the first beta weekends. However, only a few weeks after the game's official release I more of less got disappointed by the new weapon-based skill system and could not find a build that suited a convenient playing style for me. This ultimately resulted in taking a long break with the game until around the Season 1 finale. But after this break I gave the game a second try and found a nice and convenient Scepter/Dagger build which focused on Earth Magic and condition damage. (Bleeding) Having finally found a nice build I quickly found myself back into the game, finishing the main story line. Here I regained an old hobby of me, namely Title/Achievement Hunting like I did in GW1. I also find great enjoyment in just exploring the game, including trying to break out of the normal accessible parts of the map and void jumping.

The new achievement system has proven to be a good motivator for me to try out new content and game modes, including WvW and some PvP. I still consider myself to only be a casual player but I enjoy the game and hope to continue to have a wonderful journey through the beautiful world of Tyria.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/User:Hyper

Gentleman · May 10, 2017 at 9:48 AM

Ill make my response quick and simple.

NOPE loyal to the OG

Problematique · May 10, 2017 at 2:05 PM

I did play the closed beta for GW2 as well and during that weekend I absolutely loved it.

TDR2000 · May 11, 2017 at 5:09 PM

I did buy it, in fact I also bought HoT! Without the expansion, GW2 seemed all right. There wasn't too much of a grind involved and the game was very forthcoming to casual players. However, with the introduction of Masteries, the game became a chore. You simply have to grind your xp, grind for gear, grind for everything. Too much grind for me.

On the bright side, I really love the jumping aspect of the game - getting to certain locations and making the map exploration that bit of more interesting.

That said, I don't play gw2, and I don't think i will pick it up any time soon. I tried to play last LS episode, but that was extremely boring. Comparing to GW, its just mindless button mashing. Not cool.

Juniebug · May 12, 2017 at 11:38 PM

I did buy GW2 and wanted to like it, hoped greatly to like it. I did like character creation and the dye system and the trading post. But then .... there were the other problems: The lack of choice on skills. The evil Vistas some of which seemed senselessly hard. But I plugged along thinking, "Surely the game will get better!" I particularly hated the personal story. The story and episodes lacked the scope and depth that I was used to in Guild Wars --- the classy Missions that I had come to expect.

The end came quite suddenly for me. It was Wintersday. Halloween had been an enormous disappointment with its "prizes" of clacking teeth and silly useless things. I was expecting better bigger badder fesitvals filled with Health-enhancing candy corn instead of silly useless teeth that did nothing. Then Wintersday dawned and a great big package appeared in the snow. I opened it, expecting at the very least a Wintergreen candycane. Instead out pops eight little dolls who promptly killed me totally dead. I believe that opening a present should not be a death sentence. If the devs of this game thought that was ok? then I was out and going back home to GW. I left and have never returned to 2.

James · May 14, 2017 at 8:52 PM

Purchased. Enjoyed for a while. Currently in a state of loathing.

After the initial enjoyment of a big new world, large zergs all over the place with Meta Events and the joy of derping around in WvW - I quickly ran out of things to do. They have made it too simple, too easy and you can tell that it's designed with little/no consideration of the players that want to have a genuine challenge and test of their own creativity. Everything is quite literally faceroll.

The fact of the matter is GW1 had strong mechanics, a relatively balanced skillset for many professions and the full freedom of buildcrafting. GW2 has none of this. It is bland, repetitive and fundamentally serves the purpose of being a consistently strong earner for Anet. They've done great for a game to suit the modern gaming business model but as far as sticking to the true magic of Guild Wars? No. They've missed by a mile.

Looney · May 15, 2017 at 1:06 AM

I'll keep it relatively short.

I bought it shortly after release and played fora while but got bored and missed the stuff that made gw special. (Many have mentioned that stuff)

After a while I tried it again with an ex guildmate but lost interest when she stopped playing. (Not going into why she stopped, I still miss her)

Another friend started playing gw2 and convinced me to buy HoT. He ragequit after support refused to help with a gem store purchase he regretted. (Not saying support was wrong it was a 'consumable' item... u buy a glider skin and consume the item you get to unlock it) He quit both games gw2 and gw.

The only reason I have logged in since then is once in a while to chat with ppl who don't play gw anymore, and even that is getting less likely with every large update I would need to do just to chat.

So yes, I bought that game twice, but I'm not pleased I did.

Emma · May 16, 2017 at 3:10 PM Official Post

My brother bought it and I watched him play for a while. To this day that is still all I saw from Guild Wars 2 and all I plan to see from Guild Wars 2. It didn't look like Guild Wars or gave me that "Guild Wars feeling.