From MOBAs to Guild Wars: A Short, True Story

[Steadfastly Solemn.4032]

Anyone want to hear a story? Do I even have this post in the right place? Well, gather 'round and grab a snack, because I have a tale to tell.

 

So to start this post off, let me go back a few years: about four or five of them, in fact. I lived a lot further north at that time than I do now, but I have always, _always_ played video games. However, I mostly played a lot of console games because I didn't have a computer that could handle PC gaming. This changed a few years ago because I was able to cobble together a rig that could handle things like basic FPSs, RPGs, and MOBAs... if they were on the most potato of graphics. We're talking seeing polygons here, people. It was that bad.

 

2GB graphics card, I salute you.

 

Anyway. At that time, I'd never ventured into the land of MMOs mostly because my current interest was in MOBAs, and I had heard that most MMOs were just a massive timesink with no real draw other than that. Still, I remember trying one of them (not GW or GW2, sadly) and finding that despite the rather repetitive rigor of fight>gather>fight>gather>travel, it was actually kind of relaxing. But I didn't play it long due to not really enjoying the clunky controls and lack of aid for me, a new player, and because of this, I set that genre of game aside for a while and focused on my MOBAs. The reason I played MOBAs was twofold: first, because I was (and still mostly am) a competitive person. I liked testing myself against other people and coming out on top. But secondly, they served as a distraction from my life in the north, which was filled with stress, intimidation, and a glowing resentment of the factors that contributed to this. Playing those games allowed me to escape from that for short periods of time, which you would think would be something that would calm me down. But sadly (and it was much later that I realized this), I had picked the wrong genre of game to use as 'stress relief'.

 

Fast-forward about a year, and we come to visit a much more irritable person. Due to my aforementioned competitive nature, I'd gone _very_ hard into the 'play right or uninstall' phase that often accompanies such games. I'd grown toxic over my time playing MOBAs, and it had bled over considerably into my real life, making my stress just that much harder to bear and directing me to play more MOBA matches in order to compensate for it, which placed even _more_ stress on me. I was not a happy person, honestly, and I felt bad for the person that would hear me scream and swear at my computer after losing a game. And these anger issues continued for a while.

 

But one day, something happened: when looking up another game on a review website, I came across an advertisement for Guild Wars 2.

 

Now, this wasn't the first time that I had heard of the game. In fact, a friend had actually recommended the game to me about two years prior to that moment, back when the core game was pay-to-play and people had to gift each other trial codes in order to get new players on. Because I didn't have any money (or a computer that could play the game) at that time, I'd had to let the matter go, but with a PC actually capable of loading up this new game, I decided to give it a shot. GW2 had just recently gone free-to-play, after all. Why not try it out?

 

I still can't remember the first character I made. I think it was a sylvari mesmer or necro? Regardless, I played for a while and kind of liked the lush landscapes and interesting approach to combat. I didn't get too far into it, though, until my attentions were taken with another game, and I dropped GW2 and went onto that one instead.

 

I didn't return to Guild Wars for about three years.

 

Three years later, I'd moved south. I'd just bought a gaming laptop to replace my old setup, but due to even more stress and some *really* horrifying life situations, I'd turned into a bitter, ugly, angry person. It was terrible, really: MOBAs were still my thing, and yes, I still got blindingly mad and *incredibly* depressed when I lost. Blame the stress, blame my situation, but I was a _mess,_ people. Not going to sugarcoat it. But I had some extra money, and one day, I walked into a store and saw a copy of Heart of Thorns on sale.

 

I must have looked at that box for a full half-hour, trying to decide whether I wanted to buy it or not. I mean, MOBAs were my game of choice, but I'd had a decent time on GW2. It might be worth the time to invest in it. So eventually, I crumbled, and I spent thirty(!) dollars to buy a game, which was utter lunacy for a frugal person such as myself. When I got home, I installed the game and linked the expansion to my account.

 

The first thing I found was that my sylvari character from a few years ago had mysteriously vanished. I wasn't sure if I'd deleted it or it had been poofed for one reason or another, but that was okay, so after some thought, I made an asuran necromancer and headed back to Tyria again. But this time, I paid attention to the game and its story. And I got hooked on it. I walked Metrica Province, traversed the Shiverpeaks, swam the waters of Lion's Arch, and participated in bringing together a world to take down a (really awesome-looking) Elder Dragon.

 

I'm pretty sure I woke up my entire block the first time I saw Zhaitan. Seriously cool design.

 

I can honestly say that this game is probably one of the best games I've ever played. The story is great, the voice acting is pretty on-the-spot, and the combat (even though I'm still not used to the buttons after all this time) is fun. But what leads me to write something like this is not just the game itself, but the people that play it. The support and the comradeship I've found in guilds, fractal runs, WvW shenanigans, and just hopping around in the PvE world has been a contributing factor in not only my entertainment, but in helping me fix the stress and anger issues I've had for years on end. A few months after buying Heart of Thorns, I was a bit more relaxed than I had previously been, because I'd been putting the time I'd spent with other games toward farming my way to my first level 80 character. During the year following that, I made several changes in my lifestyle, one of which was to start leaving MOBAs behind.

 

Now, I'm a far more relaxed person. I can laugh if I die in WvW or PvP, which is something that I couldn't do for a long time in _any_ PvP setting of _any_ game. I tag up to lead metas on Dragon's Stand or Auric Basin, take newer players on small Hero Point runs when they need it, slowly lose my mind as I progress toward my first legendary weapon (The Binding of Ipos), and take screenshots when I come across ANet developers in-game. I even spearheaded an effort to get a guy without a glider to the Dragon's Stand final meta event chest just yesterday _without_ using a TP To Friend, and *dang it,* did it feel good to get him there. And that's what's so striking about this game: moments where you can feel good about working together.

 

Ultimately, I think what I'm trying to say here is 'thank you'. Thanks to ArenaNet, who put time, effort, and love into a game that I've grown to enjoy more than any other, and whose employees have been nothing but kind and considerate when I speak to them. And thanks to the players, who helped me discover a haven where I feel truly welcome.

 

Do I still play MOBAs? I do, on occasion. But I don't rage anymore. And when I feel bad or have had a bad day, I know that there's one place where I can go to let all that stress fade away.

 

Chopping down 13,500 Elder Wood Logs for (those darned) Shards of the Dark Arts is cathartic, after all.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

Lovely story. Happy to hear things are looking up. :)

[APGaming.3104]

This is exactly my life. But it's about you and you wrote it. Uncanny.

[IndigoSundown.5419]

Recognizing that which interferes with your inner peace, harmony, and happiness is the first step toward wisdom. Doing that which gives you those things is the second. Congratulations. Keep on keeping on.

[phs.6089]

My advise would be: don't enter spvp. sPvP made me go back to moba to get descent pvp, cus at least the moba I play have somehow balanced heroes.

[Wizler.8192]

I'm glad you're enjoying your time in Tyria!

[Tsakhi.8124]

I'm so glad you're in a better place now. And welcome to Tyria!

[Trise.2865]

As pretentious as it sounds... "Welcome home."