3221

I’ve seen one fail before, basically in the overflow this little underwater frog village is a nice safe haven and has merchants, I think, whereas the true server it’s overrun by snake people. You are right though that it doesn’t feel like a living world so much as a much of quests linked to a “dynamic” event that just resets now and then.

3222

It does a much better job of creating a living world than any other MMO I can remember.

Until we get skynet up and running I’m not sure we can get much better than scripted events.

3223

I just completed the Caudecus Manor instance. It was a far more enjoyable experience than the Ascalonian Catacombs and seems far better balanced. It was also more forgiving for groups learning how to play well together using the GW2 combat mechanics. This should really be a starter instance. I also received some nice yellow armor drops which I will be able to use once I hit lvl 45.

3224

I saw a pretty drastic event failure in the form of an entire section of the zone I was in having been burned down. When my queue popped to go back to my regular server I could barely tell I was in the same zone.

3225

I spent an afternoon in WvWvW and it was fun. The battles on each side were fairly equal so we had an interesting frontline which moved back and forth. I also made two levels. I am not level focused though so didn’t really notice. I dont really need an endgame goal and am more interested in the journey. I think this is where a lot of traditional MMO players become confused with GW2 as it presents everything to the player at an early stage.

3226

Yes. WvW has a lot of PVE elements and you progress in WvW just as if it was another zone in the game (which it is, really).

3227

If you stay at the burn rate of the average consumer you’re going to see a lot of zerged events. I’m falling behind and I’ve been the only one at four or five events just tonight - in some cases, especially the more dramatic ones, other people did show up and eventually complete them when I couldn’t solo, but at least one definitely failed. I definitely think the more exciting ones are the ones that don’t just start up on a timer, though, but have to be triggered somehow. Like I did one tonight where I noticed some frogmen being led off into the jungle and turned into boars. This was not signposted by the game, but it turned out to lead me to a captive frogperson that when freed started a three event chain culminating in a pretty difficult boss fight.

3228

As I go into higher level zones, the events seem to get better. I’ve only recently had several NPC’s run up to me and tell me they need help and have me follow them back.

I know one of the events in the Norn area has a bridge get destroyed. If it is, you basically cannot get to the other side :D. The main thing that irks me about this “dynamic world” is that the actual physical world doesn’t change at all. I personally have not encountered an event that changes the landscape in any meaningful way.

3229

I think that is a pretty defeatest approach to the ideal of a dynamic world. Anet has dynamic events down, but the world doesn’t really change. I think it is entirely possible to enjoy a game and an idea in it but still comment that it doesn’t hit an ideal. MMOs haven’t change much over the years, so doing better than the static WoW worlds everyone else is copying isn’t saying a whole lot.

EQ had a couple of events that were… somewhat world changing but the problem was you hit them once and then never had them again, so essentially the guys and gals drinking redbull and playing 72 hours would hit the event with no one else.

3230

To paraphrase Louis C.K., “you’re sitting in a chair in the SKY”. I was personally tickled mesmer pink when everyone could harvest the same nodes.

The stark difference between ultimate fail/ ultimate success states of many of the quests, along with the events transpiring whether or not anyone is present, really makes the world feel alive for me. On a number of occasions, I have ran into town needing x and gotten swept up in a chain of events that leads any number of places. After spending a large amount of money on crafting and my level 40 trait manual I found myself running through the Gendarran Plains to save the coin. Along the way, I participated in no less than 3 DE’s that had at least two further stages than what started in.
I followed another in the Plains of Ruin all the way through:
-From the outpost (Doom’s something or other) being overrun by the Branded and having to take it back;
-Escorting a scout to another outpost to pick up supplies;
-Escorting that supply train back to the outpost;
-Finally defending against the next Branded incursion.

I never grouped for single second of that time, yet played cooperatively with a varying number of people who came and went. All of this would/could have happened without my involvement; the world would keep on spinning. From the static spawns of Everquest in 1999, this is what victory looked like. That they don’t have deformable terrain yet seems a somewhat facile nit to pick.

3231

I am having trouble completing the final achievement of the monthly. It seems to be stuck at 28833/50000. Is there some way of kickstarting this?

3232

Never had fun PvP’ing in any game, but I went into WvWvW with my elementalist along with a couple fellow Qt3’ers. I’m only level 14, but as you know, it uplevels you to 80. Had a total blast. I was only in there about an hour but I came out with about double the silver I had to start, some nice green stuff, and the glee that comes with stabbing a banner into a red baddie. ‘Finish them!’.

And I gained a level and a half. Suppose that means I’m 15 now. Fun stuff, until your cable modem goes pssht, anyway.

3233

I fucking love this game like no other. This is what I’ve been waiting for since first tasting the fantasy/MMO experience with WoW.

In other games I know immediately what class I’ll play. I rarely do alts. In GW2 I have three chars going at once and still don’t have a main. And I LOVE IT.
In other games I often quit early because the actual systems get boring, predictable or are too rng-based. Or they’re an FPS and I suck. In GW2 it’s just twitch-based enough to keep my brain pumping.
In other games when real life side-tracks me, I start to lose the itch. Right now I’m YEARNING for more GW (because I haven’t tried the Engi yet!).

Eric, please tell your team their melted hearts are gooey-filled, fantastic morsels of delight. Moar pls.

3234

I assume thats for survivor achievement for monthly? Its actually 100k worth of experience that you need to do without death. There are some bugs with it though, like some people experiencing the counter not moving if they logout of the game, changing instances, or using a waypoint. So if you’re really going to try to get that right now, you either will have to just stay in one zone, or maybe trying getting it through leveling up from crafting?

3235

I’d be hitting Like if I could. I can’t, so … THIS. So much this.

3236

Thank you, I’ll make sure the team sees this.

3237

I’m enjoying this immensely as well. I was seriously burned out with WoW, and I didn’t really play it obsessively, but this is so much more enjoyable. I appreciate that if you get tired of one aspect of the game, you can switch easily to another, whether it’s solo PvE questing, group PvE, WvWvW, sPvP, pootling around searching for cool things in caves, figuring out how on Earth to get up to that vista, crafting, trading on the … oh, well maybe one day! And that’s just with my elementalist, I haven’t even tried another class yet. Ele’s are quite a challenge being so soft and squishy, but boy do they make things go boom, so I’m forever dodging and leaping around, switching attunements to heal, cripple mobs, back to damage etc - it’s so far away from the tedious button-sequence combat in WoW it’s barely recognisable, even though through all the dressing the systems have clear similarities. I often wonder if other players think I’m crazy leaping around like a madman, but it seems to work. I only had one story quest so far that was… well, pretty much impossible solo, but that’s what helpful guild mates are for. And sure, I got quite tired of one zone so I swapped to another and the good times rolled once more.

No, it’s not perfect, but what ever is, but it got me back in MMOs after I thought I’d never touch one again.

3238

Ditto. It’s an amazing MMO. It does so many things just right. I can’t wait to get home every day and play. Just flitting from zone to zone in no particular order fighting the good fight and destroying centaurs and carrying bunny rabbits to various locations. ;)

I’ve already used up all my character slots. I want an alt for every profession so looks like I am going to have to purchase another three slots.

3239

heh, I bought two new character slots already for my alts ;-)

3240

(One more) Never before have I been such a shameless fanboy. I’m texting my friends, I’m calling them, I’m practically holding their children for ransom to make them play this game. Usually when someone asks about a game, they get a tailored response, “If you like strategic shooters, BF3 is good. If you don’t mind cartoon graphics and like raiding, WoW is good.”
With GW2 it’s:
Friend: “So what do you think of G-”
Me: “BUY IT OR WE’RE NOT FRIENDS”

K I’m done. <3