Are you satisfied? In GW2

[Zedek.8932]

Shooting Skrit in the head or firing down from elevated spots to assist struggling newbies in that pirate bay place in core thyria while sipping on a cold drink during our hot, German summer is incredibly satisfying. Especially when my Asura dishes out one of his bada..s Deadeye voicelines.

 

So: Great lore² + Great playable species³ * (Deadeye + The Hunter) = Fun³

[IndigoSundown.5419]

> @"DeanBB.4268" said:

> I guess I don't understand posts like this. If you aren't enjoying *playing* the game, then why are you here? There are a great many games out there to choose from, so perhaps one better satisfies you? I've taken some long breaks when I've gotten burned out, and still take short breaks to play Civ 6 or something else when the mood strikes me.

 

There are likely a number of reasons why people complain rather than moving on. Most of them have to do with investment. Everyone -- at least those who can post here) invested money in GW2. A lot of them have invested time into the game. Some invest emotion. The greater the investment, the more likely people will complain in hopes they can catalyze change rather than move on.

[Soa Cirri.6012]

> @"Ephemiel.5694" said:

> huge amount of freedom to do insane and/or wacky builds

In other words, depth and complexity. GW2 used to have a little more at launch, with the ability to mix and match trait lines (and stat combination using trait lines), but even that was "streamlined." So too, has been much of the game: the leveling process, map directions, color coding, etc.

 

It's all about accessibility—lowering the skill floor and making the system less overwhelming to new and casual players. Why? So more people can get into the game more quickly. Why? So there's a higher population of active players with a greater pool of potential revenue.

 

It's the same reason mindless blockbuster movies can make a billion dollars at the box office, but niche movies are lucky to top 20mil.

 

I'm not saying I have a preference either way, but I'm pretty reasonably sure this reason is why most of these changes were made.

[Azure The Heartless.3261]

On the pve side? most definitely. Community's nice for the most part, graphics are stunning, performance is good and mounts are useful and innovative.

And there's a crapton of things for me to do at any given moment.

On the pvp side?

_mmmmMMMmmmmMMm_

[Ephemiel.5694]

> @"Soa Cirri.6012" said:

> > @"Ephemiel.5694" said:

> > huge amount of freedom to do insane and/or wacky builds

> In other words, depth and complexity. GW2 used to have a little more at launch, with the ability to mix and match trait lines (and stat combination using trait lines), but even that was "streamlined." So too, has been much of the game: the leveling process, map directions, color coding, etc.

>

> It's all about accessibility—lowering the skill floor and making the system less overwhelming to new and casual players. Why? So more people can get into the game more quickly. Why? So there's a higher population of active players with a greater pool of potential revenue.

>

> It's the same reason mindless blockbuster movies can make a billion dollars at the box office, but niche movies are lucky to top 20mil.

>

> I'm not saying I have a preference either way, but I'm pretty reasonably sure this reason is why most of these changes were made.

 

Thing is WE were new and casual players and we both adapted to the more complex style of GW1 and enjoyed it. I don't understand this mentality that game developers have where they have to streamline everything and give people things in a silver platter. Has ANet not learned from WoW that streamlining constantly and making things easier will drive people away? The biggest MMO in the world nearly DIED because of this.

 

Players want a balance in difficulty when it comes to games, not things to be given to them. Using WoW as an example again, this is why people hated Legion simply handing out Legendaries left and right and why even BLIZZARD realized this was wrong and changed things in Battle For Azeroth.

[Soa Cirri.6012]

@"Ephemiel.5694"

ANET tries to achieve that "balance" by having both "casual" and "hardcore" content simultaneously offered in different areas, but they shy away from locking too much behind the hardcore content so casual players don't feel excluded. As a result, the game seems completely out of balance, and a vast bulk of rewards can be acquired without requiring much skill, and low-skill or uninformed (people who aren't deeply familiar with mechanics) players generally receive the greatest degree of focus in the thrust of game content, where persistence is more important than competence.

 

As far as streamlining in GW2 goes, I remember finding the [changes to leveling](https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/a-fresh-start-the-new-player-experience-in-guild-wars-2/ "changes to leveling") especially insulting, taking hand-holding to an entirely new level. It was a major departure from the first iteration where you basically had to figure stuff out yourself. And yet the feedback was largely positive as far as I could see, so I can't say that my view of it necessarily represents the player base they're trying to capture, which suggests that, in terms sheer popularity, the strategy may be working.

 

But I can say that hardcore/casual disconnection has repeatedly been a sort of design paradox that has challenged GW2 at least since around HoT, and maybe as far back as the Tequatl rework. You can't have it both ways, but GW2 repeatedly tries to, and rarely achieves it.

[Chasind.3128]

The story is always too short, 1 hour of story content that you waited half a year for.

Anet doesn't seem to have direction with it's classes except mesmer and warrior

the only endgame is gemstore items and even the outfits look rushed and basic

 

In WvW, servers stack to get fights and half of the time you have to troll towers just to get a decent fight

The rewards aren't great because once you complete the reward tracks/ ticket chests you have to wait another week just to have it refreshed because if you wvw often you get the final chest in 2 days.

You cannot roam anymore in WvW without being chased by larger havoc groups

 

PvE has repeatable events

and raids

 

I always think back to my 1st time i played gw2 during headstart- dungeons could actually be challenging and everyone was trying to figure things out

now dungeons are a blink because of the new specs/ dps specs

 

there is absolutely no challenging content in gw2, unless you attempt raids but the only challenge is trying to have synergy with other players.

[Absconditus.6804]

Happy with many things, unhappy with some things. There are more things I am happy with than not.

[Blocki.4931]

The game has ups and downs, but for me personally it consists mostly of ups. There are many things that make me roll my eyes and after being spoiled from playing games with weekly/bi-weekly patches that aren't afraid to radically change things up sometimes I feel like some things just take too long to get changed, BUT I've gotten used to it at this point.

 

I have played around 4000 hours at this point and I'm looking forward to spending one or two hours ingame every day.

[Nuka Cola.8520]

Absolutely not. Im not happy with what's offered in pve (which is pretty much nothing unless you're one of those who log in into the game to stack and zerg). Not happy with balance, but its normal for an mmo so i'll let that pass. Absolutely not happy with spvp being stuck with the garbage conquest for six years. Not happy with wvw because they have forgotten its in their game, but even it being abandoned, its still the best content of gw2.

 

 

[Nuka Cola.8520]

> @"ProtoGunner.4953" said:

> I don't play for rewards I play be cause I like to kill stuff. Play a game be cause you like to play it. If you play only for rewards, don't play games.

 

Such a poor argument. Its like those peeps saying gameplay>graphics. What about having both? Have you heard of that? GOOD games have both, not one of the two. GW1 offered your KILLING AND REWARD. GW2 offers killing, very very easy killing. The kind of killing you could be doing while watching a youtube video.

[Tachenon.5270]

I'm so satisfied with GW2 right now that I've mostly been playing Guild Wars all week.

[Diak Atoli.2085]

I am very satisfied.

 

Good combat mechanics, good class balance, good story, good selection of challenging content. Great events. Awesome maps, awesome weapons.

 

Not so great selection of armor skins; but then, I'm really picky about those.

[Tsakhi.8124]

_Who sent you? What do you want? YOU CANNOT HAVE OUR TIME CHILD!_

 

(also, i'm a shameless fan. shhhh.)

[Bilgato.8034]

> @"Zexanima.7851" said:

> I am not satisfied, that's why I no longer play the game and just check in on the forums now and then. I love the combat and polished feel of the game but as a pvp person I hate how dull and lackluster the pvp scene is. I'm tempted to go try Guild Wars 1 as I hear the pvp was better done in that game.

 

Don't bother, nobody's there anymore. It was great back in the old days though, even the lobby was fun, we'd stand up on the cliff over the Jade Quarry socializing, making friends and bustin' balls...I really miss it.

 

[Kapax.3801]

I am not constant in this game, I usually leave it for long periods and come back when I see something interesting ... leave the game when the living story came out part 1 and I went back now that this is a new event, but possibly I will leave it again when I get all the achievements of this event.

 

What I always do not like in this game is:

Unbalance in PvP (conditions should not exist)

WvW boring long-term.

Too challenging and elitist content (Raid).

Dead dungeons.

Too many things in the Gem Store (and expensive on many occasions)

There is still no news from Housing.

There are no crafts that are interesting. (I was playing the Black Desert and it is amazing how it works its Craft systems)

And I think that the game is still not optimized.

 

What I like is:

The mount system is very beautiful compared to other MMOs.

Gliding system.

The lore was progressing and today you can say it is very good.

That they add new content regularly.

The details of the animations, god, the animations of the mount for example or other details within the game make it unique.

 

What he would need:

More personalization in faces, eyes, hairstyles, etc. (You could add more options, not like Black Desert, but a little more if you can)

Return to the armors and leave the suits of a single item. (fashion wars xD)

Go back to the dungeons.

A more flexible way of raid.

Achievements with better reward.

Fishing.

[ProtoGunner.4953]

> @"Nuka Cola.8520" said:

> > @"ProtoGunner.4953" said:

> > I don't play for rewards I play be cause I like to kill stuff. Play a game be cause you like to play it. If you play only for rewards, don't play games.

>

> Such a poor argument. Its like those peeps saying gameplay>graphics. What about having both? Have you heard of that? GOOD games have both, not one of the two. GW1 offered your KILLING AND REWARD. GW2 offers killing, very very easy killing. The kind of killing you could be doing while watching a youtube video.

 

I call that BS. Games used to be played for nothing. I played Ghoul n Goblins, Castlevania, Metroid, Zelda, Mario etc. for the sake of finishing it. There was no shiny reward at the end and you didn't even think about a reward - where is that coming from? Some intelligent people noticed that humans like to get something for their efforts, it's a simple mechanic called dopamine which your brain is releasing in tiny doses. People are actually addicted to this effect, so they want more and more. It's so simple and the majority of non self-reflective humanity loves shit like this. Before that, the reward was the feel of achievement of finally finishing this ultra hard game. Nothing more. We had a shift in what games are for. For many (online-)gamers it's just rewards and nothing else. That wasn't until around the 2000s and now we have a generation of games who only play shitty short sighed online games with mindless crap content and they only play for rewards. How sad...

 

And about rewards in GW2: what are people complaining? I read: if they hand out Legendaries like in WoW Legion it's bad. So that's bad. If they hand you out nothing, it's bad be cause bad rewards. I admit I liked killing bosses in GW1 for their greens, it was fun and a challenge to do it solo. But it got redundant pretty fast. Oh and don't forget nostalgia: I used to complain a lot in GW1 be cause everthing was so easily accessible and nothing really hard, you couldn't even jump, there was no trading post, there was not a single character development, no crafting you level/learn, no activities, no open world, nothing. It was very barebones. Lots of people forget that.

[Ashabhi.1365]

I am highly satisfied.

 

This is a game. As a game, it is meant to provide enjoyment and relaxation. It isn't meant to be a job where I have to punch a clock every day and do certain tasks on a deadline. If I want to push a raid hardcore I can, and if I want to spend the day playing dress-up I can. Are there issues? Of course there are. Every game ever programmed has them. Thankfully, the issues in this game are something that I can tolerate. There is plenty to do, and I don't feel penalized for not buying [insert shiny here.] The "loot boxes" don't affect me, and with a few exceptions, most of what I buy from the gem store comes directly from gold I have earned in-game and converted. (Disclaimer: I have purchased gems and bought certain things I wanted, so don't think I don't spend at all.)

 

In short, this particular game provides me with everything I need to have fun. That's the point, right? ;)

[arielwind.8921]

Yes, I am. There's no mmo I can enjoy like GW2.

 

Only things I hope ArenaNet to do is that please stop to fight with ground marks. I remember 'Hey I swung a sword again' in manifesto PV. It WAS fun to fight watching enemies' pre-action to dodge, guard whatever in vanilla game. Recent days we only watching ground mark. That makes me boring. I need graphic option settings to disable another group, squad skill effects.

In WvW, how long we have to fight in SAME map since gw2 launch. Everyone says EBG and Alpine Borderlands are best map. But I felt it already boring strategy long time ago.

[misterman.1530]

This is why I don't do festivals. Grind, grind, grind...for some blues and greens - maybe the occasional yellow if you're lucky. Then you get those tokens and you can get: minis...kites...skins...whoopee. I, for fun, bought keys with gems...opened about 10 chests...got one mount skin, the rest was crap. Never again. 6 years of playing this game and had 1 precursor drop (a month ago) - it had to be the cheapest precursor that could drop - got 60g for it or something. Nope. RNG has ensured I won't spend any more rl money on this game.

[Nuka Cola.8520]

> @"ProtoGunner.4953" said:

> > @"Nuka Cola.8520" said:

> > > @"ProtoGunner.4953" said:

> > > I don't play for rewards I play be cause I like to kill stuff. Play a game be cause you like to play it. If you play only for rewards, don't play games.

> >

> > Such a poor argument. Its like those peeps saying gameplay>graphics. What about having both? Have you heard of that? GOOD games have both, not one of the two. GW1 offered your KILLING AND REWARD. GW2 offers killing, very very easy killing. The kind of killing you could be doing while watching a youtube video.

>

> I call that BS. Games used to be played for nothing. I played Ghoul n Goblins, Castlevania, Metroid, Zelda, Mario etc. for the sake of finishing it. There was no shiny reward at the end and you didn't even think about a reward - where is that coming from? Some intelligent people noticed that humans like to get something for their efforts, it's a simple mechanic called dopamine which your brain is releasing in tiny doses. People are actually addicted to this effect, so they want more and more. It's so simple and the majority of non self-reflective humanity loves kitten like this. Before that, the reward was the feel of achievement of finally finishing this ultra hard game. Nothing more. We had a shift in what games are for. For many (online-)gamers it's just rewards and nothing else. That wasn't until around the 2000s and now we have a generation of games who only play kitten short sighed online games with mindless crap content and they only play for rewards. How sad...

>

> And about rewards in GW2: what are people complaining? I read: if they hand out Legendaries like in WoW Legion it's bad. So that's bad. If they hand you out nothing, it's bad be cause bad rewards. I admit I liked killing bosses in GW1 for their greens, it was fun and a challenge to do it solo. But it got redundant pretty fast. Oh and don't forget nostalgia: I used to complain a lot in GW1 be cause everthing was so easily accessible and nothing really hard, you couldn't even jump, there was no trading post, there was not a single character development, no crafting you level/learn, no activities, no open world, nothing. It was very barebones. Lots of people forget that.

 

Not important what a random game used to be played for. This is a sequel to GW1, a game that offered you challenge, variety AND reward. GW2 offers nothing else but good combat system, a combat system that is completely unused by Anet.

[Hugedeal.5426]

I have never raided or done t4 fractals before, so i am sort of stuck in tier 3 fractals and farmingmaterials to get me a few legendaries, guilds i do not join, everybody seems to "solo" mostly everything, what i mean with solo is we do not need the consent of other people to join on a event or anything, not even for wvw, so unless your raiding or doing fractals t4 i don't see the point of it.... the game is fine, i mean it is less boring the WoW for sure right now....

[robert.3475]

played alot of mmos over the years and this is by far the best mmo ive played

[Balsa.3951]

great game love it and when i hate it i stop play

[Soa Cirri.6012]

Eh... There are things I still enjoy. But there's a lot that makes me want to stop playing after 5 minutes of being logged in.

 

Yes, there is "always something to do," but _watching paint dry_ is "something to do," and there's a lot of content in GW2 that just seems uninteresting and uninspired, not to mention dozens of grindable items that are frankly too ugly for me to want. I have 13 characters, and all of them are equipped and skinned pretty much as I like them, so it takes a lot of effort to contrive new motivation to grind the same old content yet again. Gameplay eventually devolves into what amounts to spinning a wheel over and over again, the only thing changing being the size of the wheel. _Set goal, work at goal, acquire goal, repeat._ It's true that any MMO is like this in essence, but success hinges on how well it hides the "wheel" from you. Outside of Living Story, GW2 is just the wheel, and the game doesn't seem to try very hard to hide that anymore.

 

I'll be blunt though: the living story is a waste of time and resources. Even if you think the plot and characters themselves are amazing (and I strenuously disagree with that), much of LS comes down to a small handful of maps which exist solely for meta, and a few story instances of inconsistent quality, and all of it with a lot of padding and filler to space out what could otherwise be completed in less than an hour or two, with no replayability except for a handful of token achievements.

That's months of development time! I'd rather ANET spent that effort on other things, like:

* A variety of new weapon and armor **_sets_** reasonably acquirable in game without the need for a wallet full of gems or a lootbox lottery draw

* "Bridge" content for players between early and endgame to teach fundamental mechanics (zergs swarm Boss Blitz champs and are clueless about break bars and other fundamental mechanics because the game never eases them in or properly teaches them)

* A re-tuning of dungeons (which brand new players still frequently blunder into, and which still bug out frequently, to this day)

* Enhancing and/or expanding popular maps before/as they become stale

* Enhancing and/or expanding seasonal events before/as they become stale

* if none of the above, at least _innovate_, try something new, bold, and exciting.

* Basically anything else more immediately productive

 

I think we _still_ need build templates.

I think balance passes and class-tuning should return to being made on a bi-weekly basis, independent of all other content.

I think new content releases should be much smaller in scale and scope, and released more frequently.

I think the game needs dedicated, competent economists who do not insulate themselves from the community.

I think writers should focus on making meta-events more narratively compelling. My most fun narrative experiences in the entire game have all been from random recurring events in the open world, not from any dungeon, raid, or LS chapter.

I think open world is what makes GW2 what it is, and ANET has done wrong to crawl/run away from that philosophy.

I think the parade of new maps is becoming prohibitive by dividing the player-base too thinly for content which doesn't merit repeating.

 

So, satisfied? No, I guess not. I really used to love GW2, but now I guess I'm mostly disappointed. Not disappointed enough to swear off the game forever, but enough to contemplate taking another ten-month break. B)