Pretty new MMO, does anyone play this? It seems pretty popular, not sure how popular it is here though.

I pre-purchased it. I got my engineer up to level 22 then got kinda bored. It's a really good game though. Gameplay is fun, the world is stunning, quests are a lot of fun too (no grinding). For some reason, I'm just not into it as much as WoW. I've been playing WoW since the beta in 2004, and I think I'll be purchasing MoP (just for the bg's and pvp). All in all, I highly recommend GW2.

I heard that PVE = WoW pvp = Gw2

Do you think it is worth getting? I got tired of WOW and SWTOR (despite having an awesome story) because I hate grinding. Does it have a decent story at least?

The story is alright. It's basically what they call a "Personal Story". In character create, you get a bunch of options (after customizing appearance) that have you pick your origins; like as a Human, you get to pick what your greatest regret is (3 options), and what you were born into (nobility, common folk, etc, again, 3 options).

After that, your story plays out based on those decisions. The story in general is basically all about the branching decisions; and all of the branching paths lead to some sort of ending (presumably at max level).

The story is advertised to be a story where "everyone has a different story", so.. yeah. Though not to make it sound too great; I think the story is pretty poorly written, but that's just my own opinion. Can't reveal much without spoiling it though.

Overall as a game? I think it's great.

I'd say if you like MMORPGs and are tired of WoW/SWTOR, it's worth getting. This game is really refreshing because it has a different system from most MMORPGs. I got a warrior to level 38, doesn't feel as grindy as WoW quests but still a grind, the event thingy is really interesting the first 20 levels, then you feel it's kinda just another way for repetitive grinding and I find my self underleveled most of the time for my zone so I had to go to other races' zones to catch up on levels.

Story-wise everyone's supposed to have their own personal story... pretty typical good vs. evil theme

The graphics look pretty amazing.

Gameplay is fantastic. It feels really dynamic and on-your-toes. And it encourages thinking in combat rather than standing still and spamming a sequence of spells. It's the first MMO gameplay that I thoroughly enjoy and feel like I am progressing skill-wise. Skills being bound to-weapon-to-profession really does add loads and loads of variety to how you want to play (sometimes it's hard to make up your mind), but there definitely is something for each play-style.

Also, the game really encourages teamwork. When you see someone, you want to help. The game is great at conditioning you to think like that. It really does feel good.

The environments and art style are absolutely gorgeous. You can really see ArenaNet put a LOT of effort into conceiving and realizing the world. It is by far the best fictional universe I have seen, and it is huge. And the various "mechanics" that encourage exploration, and the rewards for zone completion, really motivate you to do it. Also, NPCs really add life to the world. Lots of great dialogue between then; sometimes interesting lore is revealed, sometimes they're really funny.

The story is nothing to write home about; it probably is the weakest aspect of the game. Not to say that it's bad, but it's generic, and isn't as up-to-par as everything else. However, the lore behind the universe and various events in the game is really rich and expansive.

So far, with 60 hours into the game, I haven't felt like I was grinding. Also, I've never had to wait in chat spamming LFG. You just go out and do stuff. And the crafting is really great. You get level appropriate gear that is sometimes better than drops, and it really is worthwhile. I'm a huge fan of gathering materials too.

Whether to buy it or not...I'd say definitely, but wait about 2-3 weeks. There still are quite a few bugs, and despite ArenaNet doing daily updates, it seems like it will take a while to settle down. They've had much more sales than anticipated and server loads are pretty high atm. I have to say though, they really listen to their customers. I've counted about 7 features so far that were not included at launch, but were patched in due to popular request, and that's aside from bug fixes and optimizations. They're really transparent and communicate well with their user base.

Originally Posted by Yogurt

Gameplay is fantastic. It feels really dynamic and on-your-toes. And it encourages thinking in combat rather than standing still and spamming a sequence of spells. It's the first MMO gameplay that I thoroughly enjoy and feel like I am progressing skill-wise. Skills being bound to-weapon-to-profession really does add loads and loads of variety to how you want to play (sometimes it's hard to make up your mind), but there definitely is something for each play-style.

Also, the game really encourages teamwork. When you see someone, you want to help. The game is great at conditioning you to think like that. It really does feel good.

The environments and art style are absolutely gorgeous. You can really see ArenaNet put a LOT of effort into conceiving and realizing the world. It is by far the best fictional universe I have seen, and it is huge. And the various "mechanics" that encourage exploration, and the rewards for zone completion, really motivate you to do it. Also, NPCs really add life to the world. Lots of great dialogue between then; sometimes interesting lore is revealed, sometimes they're really funny.

The story is nothing to write home about; it probably is the weakest aspect of the game. Not to say that it's bad, but it's generic, and isn't as up-to-par as everything else. However, the lore behind the universe and various events in the game is really rich and expansive.

So far, with 60 hours into the game, I haven't felt like I was grinding. Also, I've never had to wait in chat spamming LFG. You just go out and do stuff. And the crafting is really great. You get level appropriate gear that is sometimes better than drops, and it really is worthwhile. I'm a huge fan of gathering materials too.

Whether to buy it or not...I'd say definitely, but wait about 2-3 weeks. There still are quite a few bugs, and despite ArenaNet doing daily updates, it seems like it will take a while to settle down. They've had much more sales than anticipated and server loads are pretty high atm. I have to say though, they really listen to their customers. I've counted about 7 features so far that were not included at launch, but were patched in due to popular request, and that's aside from bug fixes and optimizations. They're really transparent and communicate well with their user base.

That is really encouraging! I won't get it for a while since I am still playing games I got during the Steam summer sale, but that is good to know that it is a good game.

Since SWTOR became a WoW with star wars skins, I always make sure I ask and check reviews just in case

One thing to note is that you don't just click on something and watch your spells just fly over and smash them, enemies can dodge your attacks, you can dodge all of theirs. This is especially noticeable when dueling someone in PvP; it's very skill-based.

Also the dungeons are really hard, and you'll probably spend a lot of time doing them.

About the actual lore of Guild Wars, there are actually novels bridging the first game to this one... at least I think that's what they do. Haven't read any of them.

Originally Posted by Snowman

That is really encouraging! I won't get it for a while since I am still playing games I got during the Steam summer sale, but that is good to know that it is a good game.

Since SWTOR became a WoW with star wars skins, I always make sure I ask and check reviews just in case

my wallet is still recovering from that sale...

I never found WoW to be that much of a grind... but then again i liked to play the AH to make my gold so i usually just power leveled professions in a day if i wanted them. GW2 looks pretty good (I really like the platform jumping type stages in it).

If you wanna see a grinding game, look at diablo 3 once you start trying to max out paragon levels. its endless. But once in a blue moon you find some godly legendary and BAM! my blizzard games will be free from now on

Originally Posted by chappy89

I never found WoW to be that much of a grind... but then again i liked to play the AH to make my gold so i usually just power leveled professions in a day if i wanted them. GW2 looks pretty good (I really like the platform jumping type stages in it).

If you wanna see a grinding game, look at diablo 3 once you start trying to max out paragon levels. its endless. But once in a blue moon you find some godly legendary and BAM! my blizzard games will be free from now on

How did you never find WoW to be much of a grind? I guess if I had friends it wouldn`t be... :(

I never found that killing x random beasts to progress a quest was ever fun, I liked to play the storyline but I just got annoyed to just kill random beasts tons of time (that were sometimes hard to find) so I stopped playing. The professions are fun, but it takes too long to actually get high up

I played the PvP in beta and got bored pretty quickly, I loathe PvE so didn't even give it a try.

how's fast is the leveling up? Sounds like hardcore grindfests.

Originally Posted by vraj12

how's fast is the leveling up? Sounds like hardcore grindfests.

What? One of the biggest selling points of GW2 was that, by design, it made a huge effort to eliminate as much grind as possible. There will still be "grind" by some definitions, as some people even consider the simple task of having to do quests a grind, but it's gone for the most part.

Levelling is fairly quick compared to other MMO's (the cap is 80), but level is designed to be a non-issue. It's just an arbitrary number, not necessarily representative of skill or power. Your base stats do change with level, and there is level appropriate gear, but it's not supposed to be a big deal. This is in part due to the down-levelling system. All areas of the map are each designed for a particular level. Under that level, and you may struggle and die often. Over that level, and you are scaled down—you have a lower effective level and base stats—so that all areas provide a challenge to you. Move to another area and your level will change to suit that area (assuming that your real level is higher). You cannot steamroll (unless you play effectively; but you will be no more effective that any other character). Traits may change this, but not significantly.

However, even when downlevelled, you still get appropriate experience and loot (i.e. appropriate to you real level).