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Returning player with questions
hettllo
Member UncommonPosts: 2
in Guild Wars 2
Greetings everyone!
I was hoping you could help me find an answer to my struggles, so here's my story.
I've stopped playing GW2 back in late 2014. At that time I had almost 2 fully dedicated years to the game and I enjoyed every aspect of it. PvE (although there wasn't really much of that back then), structured PvP and WvW were all pretty interesting on their own but after playing for several hours a day, I started growing an overall sense of... pointlessness. There wasn't much that I could push myself to do in terms of in-game progression or achievements. The game felt like it was too casual with no real end goal to look forward to. I am not saying that's a bad thing, but I acknowledged it as the seed of my expanding disinterest. Eventually I just stopped playing, and so 3 years have passed since my last log-in.
Currently I am at what I like to label as "gaming low", and all the stuff I've been playing over the past months seems to no longer bring me joy. My last prolonged MMORPG interaction was with WoW but Blizzard just went too far with the whole grinding (which they thought is equal to more content) and since around the end of March I haven't really been playing anything consistently. In these situations I often find myself running back to games with which I've had pleasant experiences in the past so that's why I am writing here, in the GW2 forums.
As you can imagine, 3 years is a heck of a long time for an MMORPG and I have doubts whether I would feel the same way for GW2 as I did when I played it back in 2014. I know that now there's a "proper" PvE in place with raid bosses and everything, so that's definitely something to look forward to. Understandably however, I feel like I've missed so much during my downtime that if I were to return I would never be able to catch up with all the changes, and that I will try to hold on to the things I've known from the past, as a defensive reaction - which will pretty much screw me over quickly. I have several characters on the EU Desolace realm, which, as I've read it, is still going strong in terms of population, so I guess I could easily join a guild to help with my "transitioning" process.
I've still got a lot of concerns, though. Is there any real gear progression system, or can I simply craft almost BiS gear like I did in the past, and don't even bother doing high-end content? Is the game still buy to play or has it changed to a different model (subscription, freemium/ premium, cash shop)? Do I need to buy any extra expansions (I only have the vanilla GW2 + the HoT expansion unlocked for my account)? Is there REALLY anything to do at max level or do people still run those farm trains where you shovel around in search of ancestral evidence for transgenderism? Does the meta still revolve around running "zerker" builds for everything? What is the viability of a more support-oriented player who wants to heal and buff people instead of spin in circles with a needlessly disproportionate sword? Is WvW still based on Winnie the Pooh's ideology "The more - the merrier"? Do I still need to bring the physical manifestation of the symbols of communism in order to dig a carrot? (I've heard some bad stuff about people being forced to purchase gathering tools from the shop because they are way better)
I'd be extremely grateful if you guys could share your contemporary in-game experiences with me. It would really help me out in making the right decision.
Thanks a ton!
I was hoping you could help me find an answer to my struggles, so here's my story.
I've stopped playing GW2 back in late 2014. At that time I had almost 2 fully dedicated years to the game and I enjoyed every aspect of it. PvE (although there wasn't really much of that back then), structured PvP and WvW were all pretty interesting on their own but after playing for several hours a day, I started growing an overall sense of... pointlessness. There wasn't much that I could push myself to do in terms of in-game progression or achievements. The game felt like it was too casual with no real end goal to look forward to. I am not saying that's a bad thing, but I acknowledged it as the seed of my expanding disinterest. Eventually I just stopped playing, and so 3 years have passed since my last log-in.
Currently I am at what I like to label as "gaming low", and all the stuff I've been playing over the past months seems to no longer bring me joy. My last prolonged MMORPG interaction was with WoW but Blizzard just went too far with the whole grinding (which they thought is equal to more content) and since around the end of March I haven't really been playing anything consistently. In these situations I often find myself running back to games with which I've had pleasant experiences in the past so that's why I am writing here, in the GW2 forums.
As you can imagine, 3 years is a heck of a long time for an MMORPG and I have doubts whether I would feel the same way for GW2 as I did when I played it back in 2014. I know that now there's a "proper" PvE in place with raid bosses and everything, so that's definitely something to look forward to. Understandably however, I feel like I've missed so much during my downtime that if I were to return I would never be able to catch up with all the changes, and that I will try to hold on to the things I've known from the past, as a defensive reaction - which will pretty much screw me over quickly. I have several characters on the EU Desolace realm, which, as I've read it, is still going strong in terms of population, so I guess I could easily join a guild to help with my "transitioning" process.
I've still got a lot of concerns, though. Is there any real gear progression system, or can I simply craft almost BiS gear like I did in the past, and don't even bother doing high-end content? Is the game still buy to play or has it changed to a different model (subscription, freemium/ premium, cash shop)? Do I need to buy any extra expansions (I only have the vanilla GW2 + the HoT expansion unlocked for my account)? Is there REALLY anything to do at max level or do people still run those farm trains where you shovel around in search of ancestral evidence for transgenderism? Does the meta still revolve around running "zerker" builds for everything? What is the viability of a more support-oriented player who wants to heal and buff people instead of spin in circles with a needlessly disproportionate sword? Is WvW still based on Winnie the Pooh's ideology "The more - the merrier"? Do I still need to bring the physical manifestation of the symbols of communism in order to dig a carrot? (I've heard some bad stuff about people being forced to purchase gathering tools from the shop because they are way better)
I'd be extremely grateful if you guys could share your contemporary in-game experiences with me. It would really help me out in making the right decision.
Thanks a ton!
Comments
-The specialisations can be maxed out by doing 25 hero challenges in the new zones (or will already be maxed out if you have 100% world map clearance from the core game)
-Other new things you can learn is flying, using bouncing mushrooms, etc.
-You will need to buy the expansion to unlock the raid/specialisations/flying etc.
If you can wait a bit longer then you should wait until the next expansion which will most likely include the current one for free.
:awesome:
Some additions:
- In HoT zones don't expect to wear zerker and not getting stomped oftenly, unless you have skill above average players. Now we have marauder sets which is similar to zerker but also add some vitality so you can take more hits, hence more forgiving for mistakes.
- There are some events in later zones (like in Dragon's Stand for example), which require dedicated healer for smoother runs. Ofc this is not being forced, but rather to cater more playstyle so people just don't kill on sight everything and call it a day.
- I have to admit, even with HoT expac, GW2 is not a game where you wanna spend your entire free hours to play it. GW2 has some nice features, but unfortunately, longevity is not one of them. You just play it and log it off whenever you feel like.
- Raiding is just ONE FORM of end games that is existed in GW2. Most of the playerbase do not even play it, so don't feel it's the only way to progress your characters.
When you don't want the truth, you will make up your own truth.
I keep going to the final zones, like Orr, and there are still plenty of people there. It seems people do enjoy helping others more in this game than in others.
As far as what another forum poster said about dedicated healer, don't believe it. Although Rangers and Eles can heal, it is more like an emergency heal, as they can only really heal a max of 5 people. So one still needs to learn to dodge and positioning is still key.
I agree with this statement wholeheartedly. In a world where work, and kids, and LIFE take priority, GW2 will wait patiently for you to return.
I still think this game has some of the best BG's and really in depth skill based PvP. Yes....there's always some balance issues in every MMO, but they generally try to keep everyone in their roles.
PvE is great...if you haven't played in 3 years you likely have TONS of living world story line to catch up on.
*SPOILERS AHEAD*
We killed 2 elder dragons, with one being vanilla GW2, and the the second being HoT, now Jormag and Primordus have awakened and with the most recent chapter bringing Balthazar down to our mortal realm I personally LOVE the story. Fully voice acted....I cant get enough of it.
WvW......well.....it has evolved and has lots of new features....unfortunately the new WvW zone in the HoT expansion just didn't get received too well....so I feel WvW is currently the lesser of the 3 game aspects....but it's still fun.
You may have to buy a few gems to unlock all the past living story lines....but it should only be about $20 for all of them and it's well worth it IMO. I spent more than that on coffee every day lol.
You should not worry about that. They way guild wars 2 is designed you will never have an issue to catch up...It has mostly horizontal progression, the top gear remains the same, you can switch stats on it very easily and the grind is left to a minimal unless you strive for very specific cosmetic stuff. What you will need is to just learn the new way of how the classes and the builds operate that was very very different back in the day. If you have not played since 2014 there was a complete overhaul, of the trait system. You might want to level up a new character to learn the new stuff smoothly. And that can easily be part of the fun as you never feel you will need to catch up. You can still take you time on it. DO not be afraid of leveling a new char if you find the changes overwhelming.
There is no gear progression. But that is the reason why you can catch up which is your major concern. You do high level content because it is fun and you want to craft the high level stuff, vanity cosmetics, achievements etc. There is only minor gear progression in the fractals (that they have changed substantially) If you need a gear treadmill then GW2 is not your game. No high level content will force to play it though gear progression. But wanting a gear treadmill and also a game that allows you to pick it up easily and without grind are contradictory.
Is the game still buy to play or has it changed to a different model (subscription, freemium/ premium, cash shop)? Do I need to buy any extra expansions (I only have the vanilla GW2 + the HoT expansion unlocked for my account)?
Vanilla is F2P and HoT is b2p. There is no 2nd expansion. That is rumoured to be coming at the end of 2017. If you have both then you are only missing the Living World Season 3 content (currently on episode 5). It has the same system as season 2. If you login while the patch is live you unlocked it for free. Otherwise it is 200 gems per episode. Each episode has substantial content but it is not relevant until you have explored the HoT parts.
Is there REALLY anything to do at max level or do people still run those farm trains where you shovel around in search of ancestral evidence for transgenderism?
Yes people still run farm trains. But HoT content is all end game so there are much more to do than farm trains. The wiki has a nice summary of everything:
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Endgame
Does the meta still revolve around running "zerker" builds for everything?
What is the viability of a more support-oriented player who wants to heal and buff people instead of spin in circles with a needlessly disproportionate sword?
Zerker meta is long gone. On raids and fractals we are at the age of the condi meta. There are still power builds around but there are also support/healer build that are very useful. WvW has its own builds for support and heal. Tank/support is also relevant on raids. Not amazing diversity but miles better than the zerker meta days.
Is WvW still based on Winnie the Pooh's ideology "The more - the merrier"?
Yeah unfortunately. But many people have fun roaming.
Do I still need to bring the physical manifestation of the symbols of communism in order to dig a carrot? (I've heard some bad stuff about people being forced to purchase gathering tools from the shop because they are way better)