So we’re about three weeks on and I was wondering how everyone is finding the game? I thought I would post my little (but long) write up of what I thought. This is obviously my opinion and if you don’t like it, I would honestly say just deal with it or get over it. There’s a summary at the end for all the tl;dr fans. This is based on my first 60+ levels and I might add to it later if I feel it needs it but, meh, who knows.
I have to say, I think technically and mechanically this is probably the best MMO to come out in recent years. With that said, I also find my interest waning a bit already.
I have just moved into the early 60s and at this point questing has become rather boring. You complete one or two maps worth of hearts and you’ve pretty much seen everything the quests have to offer. The events certainly do help break this up though and the way an event can take you from one side of the map to the other is great. They feel a lot more open than the rifts in Rift. On the flip side, the events are very much like the quests, I have done a lot of them and they’re starting to all feel the same. The time they only really shine is if I happen to catch the snippets of conversation and story before one kicks off.
I really enjoy the crafting and the discovery based advancement is brilliant. I love the fact that I can gain levels through the system but my one irritation about it, which I think is a real set back, is the amount of special ingredients that are mostly mob-dropped items. You certainly couldn’t level 1 through 80 only doing crafting as some people have suggested, as you simply won’t have enough ingredients, or gold to buy said ingredients, to do so. Even as an alt using the left overs would be tough unless you have done some serious ingredient grinding with your main.
The personal story isn’t something to write home about but it’s not really anything to complain about either. It’s nice being able to make choices that have some effect but I think I would have liked a little more of it. I haven’t played enough dungeons to make any real judgement on that area of the game but I did enjoy the one I have done, it was challenging and fun.
As for the world and exploration, it is wonderful. As infuriating as some of the jumping puzzles can be, they certainly add a nice challenge into the exploration of the world. Praise has to be given to whoever created the actual world, they have created the complete opposite to SWTOR in that it really feels like you have a living breathing world around you. It’s worth taking the time to enjoy the scenery, and appreciating the effort taken to create it.
Lastly, PvP and WvW. Both are a lot of fun but have their downsides. Structured PvP is great if you want to just jump straight into some competitive action and the fact that it’s statistically tracked account wide makes PvP-only alts a great option, especially as you don’t need to do any levelling for it. At this point, the only downer is a lack of maps but it’s early days so that is very forgivable.
WvW on the other hand is a great option if you like to get stuck into large scale battles. It’s not great for levelling unless you’re with a large group that is rolling through the map, capping a position and moving on. Defending a castle, while fun as you can create a field of bodies, isn’t very rewarding experience wise. However, joining the largest force, isn’t always the best option for WvW experience farming. You can easily get double or triple the amount of experience being in a smaller group roaming the land and capping checkpoints and supply points if your group is up to it. You will have a much quicker turnover rate than spending 30 minutes defending one point.
Summary (the tl;dr):
GW2 brings a much needed breath of fresh air to the genre but I still think it’s just fallen short of a full revolution. The traditional quest hub may be removed but traversing the areas and filling certain quotas of kills, collections and context-related actions is not. It’s nice that there is variety in how you level and honestly you will need to make full use of them all in order to hit 80.
There’s something for everyone in WvW and it is still the standout feature for me. Even if my interest is fading, the hours I have put into the game already and the fun I have had doing it, made this a more than worthy purchase. I honestly don’t think there is much here to keep me hooked for much longer but I definitely won’t regret any of the time I’ve spent.