Out of Pod Experience

Any 2 weeks freeplay scheme + option to convert (ala EVE)?
If not, pass.

Having played it a few days now since early release I can honestly say:

"meh"

As far as fantasy MMO's go, it's ... passable. I say this having recently tried Secret World as well and, to be frank, Secret World was a better game with a worse execution, while Guild Wars 2 is a very standard/generic game with a better execution.

From a graphics standpoint, GW2 is basically a super-upgraded Aurora engine (yes, I know it's not actually the Aurora engine, but if you look at the effects, interact-able objects, etc, it will remind you very much of playing NWN or one of the KOTOR games). The art style is actually quite good, and I do enjoy the visuals, generally, but they are by no means mind blowing.

The combat is actually moving in a good direction for MMO's. Recently (SWTOR, TSW, etc), MMO's have moved away from autoattack and relied entirely on button mashing and cooldown management. I hate this in MMO's personally, as it gives you the feel of playing an FPS, without all the shooty-fun feedback of actually playing an FPS. Also, the lack of auto-attack causes significant DPS loss if you are not seriously on the cooldown-timer-ball. So, in GW2, autoattack is back and there are a very limited number of buttons to press, as opposed to the last decade of games which all decided you should have 2, to 3 to 4+ bars of skills to use at any given moment. Personally, I miss "turn on autoattack, hit important button occassionally, and chat with friends while you manage the fight" from the days of Everquest. It allowed me to focus less on grindy grindy and more on chatty chatty and some community building.

Levelling is ENTIRELY standard MMO faire, don't let anyone bull@#$@ you and tell you otherwise. It's all been done before. The quest journal is replaced with a map indicator saying "you need to go here to do some more quests." It's the same pig, different lipstick... and unless you really just want to grind exp via PVP or crafting, you really don't have much choice. The storyline quests skip several levels at a time, meaning that you will need to do general world exp-ing just to stay in level range of your story quest. Also, the whole "dynamic event" thing is fine. It was great when Warhammer did it 5 years ago, it's still fine now. But it's *not* new. I understand Rift and some other games have done it as well. Beyond that, that's about all there is for PVE at the moment, so, again, it's the same game, different name, in that respect.

The storyline is essentially a distraction you get every few levels. While I have significant problems with SWTOR's levelling themepark-treadmill system, I have to say that the first time I played through the story in *that* game, I felt connected to it and interested in what was going to happen next (Imperial Agent story ftw). In GW2, I can barely even remember who my character is and what he represents, and I can't really be forced to care.

As for PVP, well, I haven't touched the structured PVP yet, so I can't comment. Visions of "battlegrounds" and "warzones" from other games and all I can think of is that if I want a specific pre-set match in a no-consequences environment, I'll go play BF3 or some other FPS. On the other hand, I have messed around with WvW... or let's call it what it really is, RvR as ripped off from DAOC, and ... "meh" again. It's zerg on zerg, with stand-offs galore. This would be fine 11 years ago, but the game also has no real incentive to take part at this point beyond getting achievements. There is no thrill of the hunt, no pain in failure, and no adrenaline rush in the fight and euphoria after a great kill. If you are a regular of EVE's PVP aspects and the thrill of combat in EVE is already fading for you, RvR in GW2 is downright dull.

It's not a bad game, so far as the fantasy MMO genre goes. It's just nothing special or new. Fanboys will faun over it and the people who only come out to play from WOW when something new and shiny appears between WOW expansions will love it, but for those of us who expect depth, thoughtful gameplay and consequences in our gaming will find GW2 to be a short distraction, tailor-made for the modern ADHD FPS gamers who flooded the MMO genre circa 2004... and have been getting more ADHD ever since.

Played for 2 hours last night and really enjoyed it so far.

As a casual, no monthly fee, play when you feel like it/walk away for months and pick it back up title, it looks like it could be something I'll enjoy for a while.

But obviously, if EvE represents your only cup o' tea for MMOs, it's not gonna be for you. It is 100% themepark, 0% sandbox.

Fun distraction.

Hey fanboi, re-read his paragraph. He said he liked that auto-attack was back in GW2. You're the one not bothering to read.


Personally, it sounds like another fancy themepark. Eve grabbed me because the world in which I live is the one in which I die. Everything I do in PvE or PvP matters to the other. It's all one dangerous place.

But I do appreciate all the feedback on GW2. Thanks for saving me the $$$ :)

As an ADHD FPS gamer, I take great offense to this Okay maybe not quite that much.

Game makers seem to be increasingly afraid of gamers quitting a game, declaring "this is hard and stupid" and going to another game. So we end up with games designed to avoid lasting consequences so that players can't put themselves in unwinnable situations.

My ultimate example of this mode of thinking is Batman Arkham Asylum. Combat in the game amounts to choosing which button to press for the corresponding Awesome Bat Move you want to perform, making the vast majority of fights mostly cinematic and almost universally easy. Then, no matter how well or poorly you execute the fight, Batman's health is restored to full as soon as you're able to go a few seconds without being hurt. What makes the game truly absurd, though, is the fact that the storyline portion of the game takes a few short hours, while the "collect achievements" scavenger hunt can take far longer. It's a game designed around looking pretty and triggering the "gotta catch them all" collector mentality rather than building a compelling story and providing tense, adrenaline-inducing action.

There's nothing to see here folks, move along.

No, really. There is nothing in GW2 that the 'typical' EVE player is going to enjoy.

Make an offensive name? Banned.

Harass another player? Banned.

Exploit the market? Banned.

EVE serves a very important function in the MMO ecosystem - this balance must be preserved and under no circumstances should anyone be encouraging fellow players t try this game. If it's something you enjoy, then please do it responsibly in the comfort of your own home and leave all mention of it at the door.

Pretty Eventful week on GW2 btw

3000+ permabanned with tons more on 3 day suspensions , reddit has been pretty entertaining to read lately ...

Anyway, yeah, I am slowly becoming a GW2 hardcore fanboi ... been a while since I never felt pressured in a game to level up and just focusing on exploring. New map? new place to gather all POIs, Vistas and Portals for the nifty xp rewards and goodies, so far at 15% game world exploration, youtube is full of avid explorers pointing out how to reach the difficult spots and vistas. So far so good. Little things like that make the game enjoyable ...so many little details.

Anyway, reddit has a nifty spot for all things GW2

See you around

Fly Safe! o/

Thats one of the main things some people cant seem to grasp. The MMO themepark is still there, but the tiny details that make the whole make the game truly a new wave in innovation based on older principles, gone are the unique nodes, everyone can farm the same node, gone is the "killsteal" mentality, everyone gets a fair share of a mob and even ganging up on mobs in the wilderness is encouraged, if someone begins attacking a mob you killing its refreshing as it is faster xp, gone are several mental milestones old gen MMOs got us used to. And that alone makes the game shine above the same old same old.

Its like one of these hybrid cars. Its still a car, it still uses fuel, but hey, it also runs on battery power! Yet it still remains a car that uses fuel. Not the best, but a step in the right direction.

So far, any other MMO that comes out needs to have this mentality and destroy the old models to be worth it in my book. Also very little games out there that can make me squeeze as much as aI can out of 1 or 2 hours tops of available game time, just pop in a zone, explore a bit, and port to event happening for xp, karma and coin, do 3 or 4 events, log out, still did something meaningful instead of just walking around waiting for people to prep up for something for hours. (As a side note thats why I enjoy FW so much here in eve, just quick cheap pvp without much prepping in lo sec)

Also yes, the Thaumanova Reactor fire elemental boss is a pain, but the best part is that due to level scaling, you can go there at 60 for example and still get greens and yellows in your level range off the chest the event drops. Makes all zones worth visiting for these events, even newbie ones. So theoretically, once u 80 you can still do stuff in these zones and still be a challenge

Just marvelous thinking and design. Its as if the devs just took some of the best aspects of all mmos out there like WAR, COH, RIFT, WOW etc and pooled them into their own game, and I feel there is some truth in that.

Haters gona hate, but hey, glad to see someone else enjoying the ride

Cheers!

o/

I broke down and got it at release. I like the WvW. But worst thing is no first person cam, by far. I don't like staring at my characters butt from the ground as I try to pick off enemy players on walls during a siege. Really any point where you need to look around, it's a pain in the butt. Trying to look around in small rooms, just impossible. They put a lot of things up really high were you need to climb to them, I spend half the time just trying to get the camera to look up to figure a way there. Worst cam system I've seen in a game, even worse than NWN though needing a FP cam is not important there.

But generally, WvW is playable. Room for improvement, like some sort of battlefield leadership (apart from chat/guild chat), to get everyone going in the right direction rather than running in circles like confused ants as 90% do. But once they get there, combat can be engaging.

Like I said, it's playable. I have more fun in battlefield games, but maybe because it has tanks? hehe. Though it's more like planetside, w/o armor apart from golems. At least as far as WvW since I haven't bothered with structured pvp yet. Lots of targets in WvW though (plan to queue for over an hour at peak hours), got 30% of my monthly quota the first few hours (I usually rank top 3 in 64 player Battlefield matches). I've played planetside for years, SWG faction wars, also WWII Online, and I find gw2 WvW playable.