4181

See, I’ve already finished a heart task, and gained karma, and still had no idea that I even had karma or what it was good for. This is what I’m talking about, the game doesn’t make learning many basic aspects of gameplay very intuitive. After watching the videos and doing a little online research I now know a whole lot more about the basics and can’t wait to play again this evening, but in my opinion the game, not the internet, should have taught me that stuff in the first two hours.

4182

WoW ruined entire generation of gamers :(

You are not expected to “research”, you are expected to go in and play. System is designed to just allow you to wander around and do whatever. Unlike WoW you are not expected to write a dissertation on optimal rotation with your chosen spec just to get out of starting area.

When I started playing GW2 I had no idea what karma is, eventually I noticed you could buy things for it and by then I had enough to buy something.

4183

I totally understand what Slainte is saying though.

When I first started playing GW2, it doesn’t hold your hand a whole lot… and, due to previous games, you kind of fear that you’re gonna do something “wrong”, and ruin everything forever.

It takes a while to come to the realization that you don’t really need to worry about that. One of the things that makes GW2 so fantastic is that you are really free to just do whatever the hell you want, and you’ll get rewarded, and you’ll always be making progress. You can’t really do it wrong. You can’t even really get to a point and find that you’ve somehow “wasted your time”, like in so many other MMO’s.

That being said, there definitely is some benefit to reading some of the GW2’s wiki, as understanding some of the fundamental mechanics does help put some of the stuff together in your head. But this stuff is more about powergaming, and you don’t really need to understand it at the lower levels.

4184

For the record, I haven’t played WoW since it was in beta, and I was playing games long before it came around. Meridian 59 was my first MMORPG for example…

But, I can see what you and Timex are saying. I am used to slightly more defined parameters in my MMO, and it would seem that Guild Wars is just pretty much freestyle open wandering and jumping in on stuff. I’m looking forward to playing more, especially now that I understand what’s going on a bit more.

4185

I think you’ll probably dig it, Slainte.

They’ve managed to keep in the grindy stuff that appeals to our low level reptilian brains, while removing all the stuff that makes it tedious.

You CAN do stuff and get rewarded for it with progression… but you never feel like you have to do anything that you don’t want to do. You never feel obligated to do stuff, which is really great.

At some point with most MMO’s, after the honeymoon period wears off, you hit the wall where it just becomes tedious grind. Maybe GW2 has the same thing, and I just haven’t hit it yet, but so far it’s neat to just be able to run around and do whatever.

For instance, I was playing with my girlfriend, and we just run around and try to find all the vistas… and in the process of doing that, we just happen to kill a bunch of monsters, complete hearts, etc. We just happen to be near events and junk that are taking place, so we run over and participate, and get credit for that stuff.

Overall, it’s a very cool, fun way to operate.

4186

It’s a tough balance to get, between too much hand-holding and too much “sink or swim” total immersion. I was initially in the same boat as Slainte Mhath, in that I was rather clueless. I’m not that much less clueless now, but I at least finally figured out a few things. For me, that enhances the game a bit, as I don’t feel quite as lost, but I do appreciate, very much, the fact that GW2 hasn’t penalized me at all for being a no0b. Everything I’ve done noodling around has ultimately been beneficial.

Then again, I’m not a critical path min/maxer, so my standards are pretty modest!

4187

I think you nailed it on the head, Slainte. It’s not a sandbox MMO but it has a bit of a sandbox approach in that you can just dive in and do whatever. Go harvest. Do some hearts. Climb to a vista. Hop into WvW. It’s not mandatory to know what karma is right off the bat because you’re not hurting yourself by not spending it immediately, etc.

Just jump in the river and go with the flow, doing whatever happens to strike your fancy along the way. The pieces tend to start fitting together by themselves as time goes on, at least that was my experience. Have some fun and feel free to hit up this thread if you’re feeling particularly lost on anything, but don’t sweat it if you don’t know/understand 100% of the game right away because you’re not really hurting yourself, the game design is pretty forgiving in that area.

4188

I agree with your last statement but the grind there is in the game is tedious IMHO, I just refuse to do any of it except for the crafting grind to get mats. Endgame in WvW means I don’t have to grind dungeons for 90 times to get a set of armor.

4189

The difference to me is the grind isn’t mandatory to do the content. The “grind” that exists is for the people who like that sort of thing and to give people long-term stuff to shoot for. Legendaries and the like are there for cool factor only.

4190

More than any MMO I can recall, GW2 supports “just log in and do whatever you want” gameplay.

My main is nearly done – he’s in full 80 exotics, except for jewelry. There are no skins I feel particularly drawn to grind out. Yet I still have an itch to log in and play, as the game is just that fun. There’s so much to do, and so much of it just works, I still enjoy playing even without meaningful ‘advancement’ of the character.

If you could combine GW2’s gameplay and world with TSW’s writers and voice actors, you’d have the best computer game ever made.

4191

I’m still shocked at just how good it looks, and the amazing variety that just a dye system adds. I’ve always ‘defended’ WoW’s look, and have never had any problem with it. But switching back and forth between the two is somewhat jarring now. Which is odd - there are plenty of games out with killer graphics, but simply because they aren’t in the MMO space it wasn’t a big deal. Two MMOs played in tandem the difference seems much more pronounced for some reason.

4192

Thanks! I’ll take a look next time.

4193

Well, ding level 80. Now what… My usual problem with MMOs.

4194

One class down, seven to go.

-Tom
4195

Continue to do the same activities you did from 1-79?

4196

Get into organized PvP and start busting heads in WvW.

4197

Nah, it’s dull.

4198

You’re dull.

4199

He is right. WvW is pretty dull. I liked Alliance Battles in GW1 a lot more than WvW is GW2.

4200

So that’s what Frostgorge Sound is all about! Pretty cool. Any other game would have made that some sort of group raid that you have to grind your way through.

-Tom

P.S. You guys are wrong about WvW being dull. It is, in fact, totally fun.