Guild Wars 2 - Top 10 Reasons to be Interested

[Tony2077]

holy fuck a mmo that make me want to play it and may actually be better then wow and all its knockoffs

 

[Nocta-Aeterna]

They switched from one gaming demographic (PvP players) to another (PvE player) in just one chapter and an expansion pack. I already made a promise to myself to never take their word for anything until I experience it on my own. They already broke a lot of promises to the loyal fanbase, now they are simply abandoning it by ignoring requests and problems with balance.

Methinks there was NEVER a central demographic: PVP and PVE were just heavily segregated. I myself was never much into PVP.
If you must play it for yourself before saying ANYTHING positive, go to PAX Prime next August, since they have had playable demos at every convention they've exhibitted at. Also, same lead designer ≠ same design decisions. Apart from realm PVP, GW 2 will still have ranked and strict structured PVP.

As for grind, the combat is now far more involved, with positioning, the ability to actively dodge enemy attacks and attack skills involving movement ánd required EXP to level plateaus at higher levels rather than increase exponentionally, meaning you din't need to grind for all eternity to get to max level. The outcome of events cascade over the world map, opening different events for different outcomes, meaning you can play the game multiple times, and always experience new things.

Regarding customisation, granted, the skillbar is no longer as configurable as in GW 1 and attributes do not influence skills directly, which is kind of a shame. Instead, however, there's the trait system, which grants special effects to skills, improves their effectiveness, reduces recharge etc. Here, go play with it for a moment.

 

[evilstonermonkey]

I've been excited about this since it was announced, and this vid does a really good job of explaining why. I generally prefer to solo RPGs, so the self-sufficiency side of things is very relevant to mine interest. That may make a person wonder why I would want to play an MMORPG as opposed to a non-MMO RPG, but the thing is I said GENERALLY - me and my best friend would play Guild Wars 1 all the time just chatting while we played, grouping every now and then to overcome particularly hard missions or areas, trading equipment and just generally helping out each otehrs characters. And while I usually avoided grouping with people I didn't know, helping out newbie guild members felt really rewarding. You can't get that in a purely single player RPG.

I am hoping minimum specs aren't too harsh though. My comp is pretty basic - my gaming machine is a PS3, all I use this for is uni work, interwebs and Guild 1.

 

[Boneasse]

Tremendous video. I had actually forgotten about Guild Wars 2, in the wake of several new oncoming games (Mainly The Witcher 2), but I'll definetely be buying this on day one. It lookes sweet.

 

[Korten12]

I've been excited about this since it was announced, and this vid does a really good job of explaining why. I generally prefer to solo RPGs, so the self-sufficiency side of things is very relevant to mine interest. That may make a person wonder why I would want to play an MMORPG as opposed to a non-MMO RPG, but the thing is I said GENERALLY - me and my best friend would play Guild Wars 1 all the time just chatting while we played, grouping every now and then to overcome particularly hard missions or areas, trading equipment and just generally helping out each otehrs characters. And while I usually avoided grouping with people I didn't know, helping out newbie guild members felt really rewarding. You can't get that in a purely single player RPG.

I am hoping minimum specs aren't too harsh though. My comp is pretty basic - my gaming machine is a PS3, all I use this for is uni work, interwebs and Guild 1.

I wouldn't worry about specs, since they said they would be similar to GW1.

 

[Nocta-Aeterna]

I've been excited about this since it was announced, and this vid does a really good job of explaining why. I generally prefer to solo RPGs, so the self-sufficiency side of things is very relevant to mine interest. That may make a person wonder why I would want to play an MMORPG as opposed to a non-MMO RPG, but the thing is I said GENERALLY - me and my best friend would play Guild Wars 1 all the time just chatting while we played, grouping every now and then to overcome particularly hard missions or areas, trading equipment and just generally helping out each otehrs characters. And while I usually avoided grouping with people I didn't know, helping out newbie guild members felt really rewarding. You can't get that in a purely single player RPG.

I am hoping minimum specs aren't too harsh though. My comp is pretty basic - my gaming machine is a PS3, all I use this for is uni work, interwebs and Guild 1.

I believe the specs are pretty mild. As far as I know, they've designed it so an average computer can run it. If you can play GW 1, you most likely can play GW 2.

 

[banksy122]

Top 3 reasons to be cautious as freaking hell about GW 2.

1. They shifted their philosophy by 180' - from PvP focused game to PvE grind, from regular content every 6 months and weekly-biweekly skill balances to QUARTERLY balances and shops where you buy event items...
2. They can't make PvE fun. Sure missions are good, but it's one time only. Dungeons are new in 50% - half of them are identical to others, and the rest is simply a matter of 2 days before someone finds a way to breeze through all levels, get to boss and kill him in time normal groups CAN'T achieve.
3. They don't care about balance when releasing new content.

That's some out-dated intel you have there champ.

Would you point out which is outdated?

1. They don't care about GvG or HA anymore. The last thing they did for PvP was adding Codex Arena... but they removed the spectacular failure that Heroes' Arena was. Last good, long content was... Nightfall. Eye of the North added even more grind, along with only few skills for each class that could be used in PvP. No elite skills. PvE skills? OP and promote grinding titles. Not to mention Ursal Blessing, dear God...
2. Some people took time to compare dungeons. Literally every other had exact same textures and even in some cases same rooms, taken from other dungeons. And basically 90% of those dungeons can be ran from A to Z with a Shadow Runner. Again thanks to Glyph of Swiftness from EotN.
3. They remade Dervish class. But while they were already OP in PvP, they were useless in PvE. They are a little more useful in PvE (though still boring to me), they are GODLY in PvP - heavy damage, survivability, mobility and conditions. It's like a sick combo of Assassin and Warrior who can hit 3 people at same time.

Also, people are being accused of DDoSing guilds that still partake in GvG. They were banned when they found out about it, but even now they do it just out of spite. And A.Net can't do ANYTHING to protect their own customers.

You seem to be mistaking Guild Wars 1 with Guild Wars 2.

Oh, no, not at all. Same developer. Same lead developers.

They switched from one gaming demographic (PvP players) to another (PvE player) in just one chapter and an expansion pack. I already made a promise to myself to never take their word for anything until I experience it on my own. They already broke a lot of promises to the loyal fanbase, now they are simply abandoning it by ignoring requests and problems with balance.

Ok now i may not have been with GW since beginnings but when was this? When did they switch from a solely PvP oriented game to pve? Because from what i saw it was pretty damn well pve focused.

Arrround the time they introduced Heroes, allowed Heroways to dominate HA (Mesmer and Necromancer heroes, dear God save us...) and GvG, added powercreep, made PvE a liiittle easier with introduction of new, powerful elites... but in the process made PvP unplayable for few months. Anyone who remembers on-release Paragons and Dervishes will say same thing.

That doesn't mean they were a pvp focused game to begin with. It means they had trouble balancing skills for pve and pvp; when they added new content. Also didn't they fix some of this in one of last years patches?

They were a PvP-focused game for 2 chapters.

Also, they fixed SOME of it. Mesmers useless in PvE? Fixed. But Mesmers were already powerful in PvP - so they now had even MORE anti-caster annoying spells. Warriors useless in PvE? Let's make it so they have a super-powerful AoE skill that has synergy with PvE-only skill from Nightfall. It is constantly used for fast farming and speed clears, two things they wanted to fix ever since they started nerfing Monks and Necromancers doing Underworld. Rangers being OP in PvP? Nerf traps, spirits, attack skills. Rangers balanced in PvP. Useless in PvE. Paragons eating people in PvP? NERF!!! Uselessness in PvE of course, except for 1 single build.

You seem highly invested emotionally in this argument so i am going to back away leaving you with these words.
Which campaigns were pvp focused? Not pvp-ish pvp focused.

Top 3 reasons to be cautious as freaking hell about GW 2.

1. They shifted their philosophy by 180' - from PvP focused game to PvE grind, from regular content every 6 months and weekly-biweekly skill balances to QUARTERLY balances and shops where you buy event items...
2. They can't make PvE fun. Sure missions are good, but it's one time only. Dungeons are new in 50% - half of them are identical to others, and the rest is simply a matter of 2 days before someone finds a way to breeze through all levels, get to boss and kill him in time normal groups CAN'T achieve.
3. They don't care about balance when releasing new content.

That's some out-dated intel you have there champ.

Would you point out which is outdated?

1. They don't care about GvG or HA anymore. The last thing they did for PvP was adding Codex Arena... but they removed the spectacular failure that Heroes' Arena was. Last good, long content was... Nightfall. Eye of the North added even more grind, along with only few skills for each class that could be used in PvP. No elite skills. PvE skills? OP and promote grinding titles. Not to mention Ursal Blessing, dear God...
2. Some people took time to compare dungeons. Literally every other had exact same textures and even in some cases same rooms, taken from other dungeons. And basically 90% of those dungeons can be ran from A to Z with a Shadow Runner. Again thanks to Glyph of Swiftness from EotN.
3. They remade Dervish class. But while they were already OP in PvP, they were useless in PvE. They are a little more useful in PvE (though still boring to me), they are GODLY in PvP - heavy damage, survivability, mobility and conditions. It's like a sick combo of Assassin and Warrior who can hit 3 people at same time.

Also, people are being accused of DDoSing guilds that still partake in GvG. They were banned when they found out about it, but even now they do it just out of spite. And A.Net can't do ANYTHING to protect their own customers.

You seem to be mistaking Guild Wars 1 with Guild Wars 2.

Oh, no, not at all. Same developer. Same lead developers.

They switched from one gaming demographic (PvP players) to another (PvE player) in just one chapter and an expansion pack. I already made a promise to myself to never take their word for anything until I experience it on my own. They already broke a lot of promises to the loyal fanbase, now they are simply abandoning it by ignoring requests and problems with balance.

Ok now i may not have been with GW since beginnings but when was this? When did they switch from a solely PvP oriented game to pve? Because from what i saw it was pretty damn well pve focused.

Arrround the time they introduced Heroes, allowed Heroways to dominate HA (Mesmer and Necromancer heroes, dear God save us...) and GvG, added powercreep, made PvE a liiittle easier with introduction of new, powerful elites... but in the process made PvP unplayable for few months. Anyone who remembers on-release Paragons and Dervishes will say same thing.

That doesn't mean they were a pvp focused game to begin with. It means they had trouble balancing skills for pve and pvp; when they added new content. Also didn't they fix some of this in one of last years patches?

Guild Wars as far as I played (which was a lot) never seemed PvP focused at all. Since he probably didn't realize 95% of the content was PvE...

Bingo!

Facepalm to both of you.

Yes, 95% of the content NOW is PvE. In Prophecies, you played campaign just to get to Tombs. Even in Factions half of the game was about Factions and battles (PvP) between players.

This also perfectly shows why GW2 will be ideal for everyone but the PvP players, you can't even tell what is left of the original game in GW.

I played the game for 1,500 hours, started in factions, and I never PvP'd. All the people I know who played from the start all played just PvE. Not sure what you are talking about. Of course they are switching from PvE to PvP with Guild wars 2, they are SHOWING YOU WHAT IS IN THE GAME, it is still in development. They are just showing all sides of it, not what they are making the game focus on.

 

[Cowabungaa]

Never digged Guild Wars thanks to it's heavy instancing. One of the main reason I loved WoW was because I could see a river sprouting in the mountains, and then follow it aaaaall the way down to the sea. Guild Wars 2 however seems to be doing that as well, and that's making me interested.

It also helps that the environments look absolutely stunning. As long as I can explore them like I did in WoW, I'm a happy panda.

 

[evilstonermonkey]

*chomp*

*chomp*

Sweet. Though looking at those graphics I would guess that that is true for running it at it's gentlest settings. Not that I think that's a problem, if I really wanted lavish graphics on my computer games I would invest in a computer that can handle it. I think that would be a really cool thing for game designers to do more often actually - design a game to be scalable, so it can run smoothly on low-level computers while hardcore computers can have the settings maxed out and really do something impressive.

Ah noo, a hideous post-eating beast is nomming my quotes...

 

[Tsaba]

Snip

So, at the end of the day, less is more.... where do I sign up?

 

[Master10K]

I've been excited about this since it was announced, and this vid does a really good job of explaining why. I generally prefer to solo RPGs, so the self-sufficiency side of things is very relevant to mine interest. That may make a person wonder why I would want to play an MMORPG as opposed to a non-MMO RPG, but the thing is I said GENERALLY - me and my best friend would play Guild Wars 1 all the time just chatting while we played, grouping every now and then to overcome particularly hard missions or areas, trading equipment and just generally helping out each otehrs characters. And while I usually avoided grouping with people I didn't know, helping out newbie guild members felt really rewarding. You can't get that in a purely single player RPG.

I am hoping minimum specs aren't too harsh though. My comp is pretty basic - my gaming machine is a PS3, all I use this for is uni work, interwebs and Guild 1.

I believe the specs are pretty mild. As far as I know, they've designed it so an average computer can run it. If you can play GW 1, you most likely can play GW 2.

Well sure, the specs will be pretty mild when compared to graphically intensive games and if you're just doing simple dynamic events (helping a poor farmer) then you shouldn't have any trouble running it. However if you're exploring then a biga$$ dragon descends upon you [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pX8GJcGIVbI], the your basic PC may start chugging a little... or a lot.

 

[evilstonermonkey]

*chomp*

Exactly... I played a LOT of PvE, and literally no PvP. My guild was part of 7 linked guilds, and of those 7 guilds one was a dedicated PvP guild. The majority of other people in the guilds only rarely if ever did PvP, judging by the ones I talked to and the general chat. Aside from PvP specific titles, and the fun side of it if you enjoyed PvP, there was no reason to do PvP if you didn't want to.

Dammit, back you beast, back!

 

[Master10K]

Never digged Guild Wars thanks to it's heavy instancing. One of the main reason I loved WoW was because I could see a river sprouting in the mountains, and then follow it aaaaall the way down to the sea. Guild Wars 2 however seems to be doing that as well, and that's making me interested.

It also helps that the environments look absolutely stunning. As long as I can explore them like I did in WoW, I'm a happy panda.

Have a read of their latest blog post [http://www.arena.net/blog/an-introduction-to-the-environment-art-of-guild-wars-2#more-5073], to learn more about the environments of Guild Wars 2.

 

[crunchieman]

Between this and Skyrim I am not going to do much next year.

 

[Hobonicus]

I got bored of Guild Wars very quickly, mostly due to all the instancing, so I've been very skeptical about Guild Wars 2.

...but apparently I should have been paying more attention, this all sounds pretty amazing. I am a huge cynic when it comes to modern MMORPGs and had pretty much written Guild Wars 2 off but it sounds like the developers are actually evolving their game for the better.

 

[Cowabungaa]

Never digged Guild Wars thanks to it's heavy instancing. One of the main reason I loved WoW was because I could see a river sprouting in the mountains, and then follow it aaaaall the way down to the sea. Guild Wars 2 however seems to be doing that as well, and that's making me interested.

It also helps that the environments look absolutely stunning. As long as I can explore them like I did in WoW, I'm a happy panda.

Have a read of their latest blog post [http://www.arena.net/blog/an-introduction-to-the-environment-art-of-guild-wars-2#more-5073], to learn more about the environments of Guild Wars 2.

Interesting, but doesn't really adress my concern. But as long as it's pretty much a given that I can do what I could do in WoW (the river thing), then I'm satisfied. No loading screens between areas made it feel like one big whole. Continents and planets okay, but I don't want a loading screen each time I step outside a certain area. I want to stand on the edge if I want, see what happens in both areas, you name it.

 

[Korten12]

Never digged Guild Wars thanks to it's heavy instancing. One of the main reason I loved WoW was because I could see a river sprouting in the mountains, and then follow it aaaaall the way down to the sea. Guild Wars 2 however seems to be doing that as well, and that's making me interested.

It also helps that the environments look absolutely stunning. As long as I can explore them like I did in WoW, I'm a happy panda.

Have a read of their latest blog post [http://www.arena.net/blog/an-introduction-to-the-environment-art-of-guild-wars-2#more-5073], to learn more about the environments of Guild Wars 2.

Interesting, but doesn't really adress my concern. But as long as it's pretty much a given that I can do what I could do in WoW (the river thing), then I'm satisfied. No loading screens between areas made it feel like one big whole. Continents and planets okay, but I don't want a loading screen each time I step outside a certain area. I want to stand on the edge if I want, see what happens in both areas, you name it.

Oh, their will be loading screens between areas I believe. I also believe this is due to the nature of the dynamic events. Imagine having to have a thousand dynamic events (some with take up whole zones) trying to load at the same time, it would be quite difficult as its not the same as normal quests like WoW.