Returning Player: Left after ascended introduction. Has anything changed?

Hello there.

I've been playing GW2 since im getting a bit worn out by XIV predictable and uninteresting game mechanics and patches, so looking for something that feel fresh, and GW2 was the MMO i played the most before quitting. Im wondering if anything has changed for it since i left, but very particular, in the 3 areas i think the game was the weakest and what ultimately made me quit it. (ignoring all the manifiesto things that never came to be...) This is not to trash on the game even if it might read as is what im doing, and after all, i stopped playing by these things, so please feedback considering that the following is how i saw the game and don't try to convince me im wrong.

Zergfest nature: I always felt like both PvP and PvE were zergfests based content, where honestly skill played little in comparison to just straight mashing your skills to contribute with the most damage possible, while on this topic, is the game still centered on berserker gear and just outdpsing bosses while rolling arround? I started as a warrior, and even if i had a lot of options to follow, the game ended up demanding me to gear up zerker and run GS for that damage, or it became a struggle to be selected for content. Is still as bad of a zergfest? Yesterday i played the triple trouble event, and while it was indeed zergy at some part, also there was a bit more depth to it than the other world bosses i remember, has this become norm?

Presentation: I think i have never felt so dissapointed to fight a boss as i was during the Zhaitan fight, which was hyped from the very start of the game all the way through, to end up in a incredible atmospherical stage fighting a mountain sized lich dragon who you fight by.... Fighting the same mobs you were fighting for 4 maps and 40 quests before him while cool stuff happens in the background.... And is even further killed by the lack of proper cutscenes, and those that were there were clumsy, lackluster, and even buggy and in general anticlimatic. Like every quest with Traharne was cool in concept, and the ambient was there, but the presentation of the events was like looking bad RP in a game with bad Emotes... Has this became better?

Storyline and Characters: Ok, i come from 4 years of XIV, and even if many would disagree, the storyline is actually good and characters have personality (even if its too anime for many tastes but is there.) and something i really think was hindering the whole game was, with its amazing world and lore, and previous game background, how little was used in the actual story of the game and how bland the story became considering we were fighting a Lich undersea dragon with an army of zombies. And even if they have very clear personalities, i could never get too interested in the supporting cast (assuming we are the protagonist.. which honestly i never felt like it, i felt like Traharne is more of the MC...) but destiny's edge was never too developed and honestly, i couldn't care that much about their struggles (and this maybe has a lot to do with the previous topic of the presentation...) never really got me involed with them, like any of them could die and i would be like "k thnx bai".

Has anything of this changed in someway, should i give it a go and try HoT and PoF, see how the years have treated this game, or i should just pass from it and just stay with the base game.

The following link has a great mapping of all features that have been added to GW2 based on Living World/Expansion release. It's broken down by category.

Source: [Lishtenbird ](https://www.reddit.com/user/Lishtenbird"Lishtenbird ") @ GW2 Sub-Reddit

Edit: Sorry for the formatting. The forums don't make any sense.

• Thread: https://redd.it/7147bq
• Infographic: https://i.imgur.com/t3d699A.png

Short story: if you have to ask, "has anything changed" before returning to this game, my guess is that you probably shouldn't return. Many things have changed and much remains the same — the things that are core to the game are mostly as they always have been; it's the details of how that's achieved that evolves. Whether that's better or worse depends largely on who's typing.

If, on the other hand, you're open to the possibility that your perspective might have changed, then I'd urge you to just come back and play a bit. There's no subscription, so it costs you nothing more than a few hours of your time. If lucky, you'll either get right into the swing of things (without help) and realize what you were missing or realize that you'd forgotten all the things you hated. If you're unlucky, you might need some extra time for someone to show you around a bit, to get an idea about the new maps and traits and events etc.

tl;dr if you have to ask, it's probably not changed enough. If you're open to giving it another try, it's free (just costs you some of your gaming time).

@Alexander Dragonfang.1759 said:Zergfest Nature

The question seems to encompass several areas, so I'll break it down thusly:

• Open World PVE: Since Tequatl's revamp and especially with the Heart of Thorns expansion, meta events have greatly improved. For example, the very first HoT map, Verdant Brink has a meta event that spreads players out across the entire map to defend multiple camps, run supplies, escort NPCs, etc. World boss fights like the one in Draconis Mons requires some coordination, and ample understanding of crowd control application.
• Instanced PVE: I don't raid, so I can't speak for that aspect of the game. In Fractals, build diversity is leap and bound from the old, old Zerker meta. However certain classes are still pigeonholed into certain builds, e.g. Warriors/Berserkers are now mainly condition damage-based while Guardians/Dragonhunters are power-based, etc.
• PVP: Don't understand how you mean by PvP being a "zergfest."
• WvW: Truly one of the game modes with the most diverse builds. And the Zergfest is still real, especially in the higher tiers.

@Alexander Dragonfang.1759 said:Presentation

If you're referring to the presentation of story events, I would say the current system is much better than the "hatless dialogue cutscenes." Voice acting is still hit-or-miss, even in the latest story episode.

@Alexander Dragonfang.1759 said:Storyline and Characters

In regards to character design in general, I think the new cast is more interesting than Destiny's Edge. The writing, in general, is again hit-or-miss. Flashpoint was largely a hit, while One Path Ends...

@"Alexander Dragonfang.1759" said:Zergfest nature: I always felt like both PvP and PvE were zergfests based content, where honestly skill played little in comparison to just straight mashing your skills to contribute with the most damage possible, while on this topic, is the game still centered on berserker gear and just outdpsing bosses while rolling arround? I started as a warrior, and even if i had a lot of options to follow, the game ended up demanding me to gear up zerker and run GS for that damage, or it became a struggle to be selected for content. Is still as bad of a zergfest? Yesterday i played the triple trouble event, and while it was indeed zergy at some part, also there was a bit more depth to it than the other world bosses i remember, has this become norm?

ZergsStill a thing, but Anet has been encouraging players to split up more (instead of 1 big zerg, you have several smaller ones). This is particularly true of the HoT map-wide metas. Most have interesting mechanics (I personally think the final fight in the Dragon Stand meta is the most epic large-group fight Anet have made). LS3 has gone away from map-wide metas, and have split each map into smaller zones, each with it's own meta. This is likely the direction PoF will go.

DPS-centeredStill a thing. However condition damage is now on par with power dps assuming you've got a good build. With the introduction of raids, we have more roles, e.g. tanking and healers. GW2 has always been centered around active defense (dodges, reflects, etc) instead of passive defense (armor, toughness) so most content still benefit from high DPS builds. The HoT/LS3 enemies hit much harder and are less passive than vanilla enemies, so active defenses and crowd control have much more emphasis.

Presentation: I think i have never felt so dissapointed to fight a boss as i was during the Zhaitan fight, which was hyped from the very start of the game all the way through, to end up in a incredible atmospherical stage fighting a mountain sized lich dragon who you fight by.... Fighting the same mobs you were fighting for 4 maps and 40 quests before him while cool stuff happens in the background.... And is even further killed by the lack of proper cutscenes, and those that were there were clumsy, lackluster, and even buggy and in general anticlimatic. Like every quest with Traharne was cool in concept, and the ambient was there, but the presentation of the events was like looking bad RP in a game with bad Emotes... Has this became better?

Story presentation is much better. Those clunky face-to-face conversations are gone, replaced by in-game dialog. Still not much by way of cutscenes. The Modremoth fight at the end of the HoT story is one of the hardest single-player fights... definitely not as passive as the Zaithan fight.

Storyline and Characters: Ok, i come from 4 years of XIV, and even if many would disagree, the storyline is actually good and characters have personality (even if its too anime for many tastes but is there.) and something i really think was hindering the whole game was, with its amazing world and lore, and previous game background, how little was used in the actual story of the game and how bland the story became considering we were fighting a Lich undersea dragon with an army of zombies. And even if they have very clear personalities, i could never get too interested in the supporting cast (assuming we are the protagonist.. which honestly i never felt like it, i felt like Traharne is more of the MC...) but destiny's edge was never too developed and honestly, i couldn't care that much about their struggles (and this maybe has a lot to do with the previous topic of the presentation...) never really got me involed with them, like any of them could die and i would be like "k thnx bai".

Unlikely to be any better. You've likely missed LS1, where the new Destiny's Edge 2.0 characters were introduced, so you won't develop much of a connection with them. For the foreseeable future, there's no way to play LS1. There are some new characters that don't necessarily need LS1 to enjoy... Canach was an interesting character that didn't feature prominently (as a companion) until HoT. Your own character does get to a more personality too... don't expect the super-character-driven protagonist (i.e. Witcher) but you're not the generic faceless protagonist (i.e. Skyrim) either.

Thank you for your feedback guys, very apreciated.

Ascended gear is the top gear in the game in terms of stats.

Zerg nature: The newer world bosses and the revamped world bosses have much more going for them mechanics-wise. Raids and new Fractals (especially the challenge mote versions of the newest ones) have a good variety of mechanics that are fun and testing. There is still zerg content out there too if you ever fancy turning off your brain for a bit.

Presentation: They have never made the Zhaitan mistake again (as you'd hope), in HoT your character will speak to other NPCs in the open world and the pace/delivery of story has improved a lot. Since story is delivered as you're playing - no more face each other interupting cutscenes - you feel more immersed. The actual cutscenes from HoT are stunning artistic works.An example from midHoT (spoiler but if you want to see what they are doing now it shouldn't ruin the story)

!

Storyline: Hit and miss, sometimes it is excellent and you'll get a few genuine laughs other times my head hits the desk. Everyone seems to like/hate at least one character in the group of regulars.

If you want a small taste, update your game and log in, then take a level 80 (I'm guessing you have one) to the area to the west of Brisban Wildlands called "The Silverwastes".

This was the final area added before the HoT expansion, and it shows off some of the things they were trying at the time. The enemies are a bit tougher than the ones in standard Tyria, and there's lots of events that players need to deal with to advance the map. Just use the Looking For Group function to find a map that's working on actually doing things, and not just farming loot, if your map seems empty when you get there.

If you like what you find there, great! If you don't, well...

The story is better, XIV still remains at top tho, there is a "New Destiny Edge" ( LS1 ), i really like them all , and i love how in LS2 they use their own proffesion skills so u can advance ( mesmer portal , necro bone Bridge ect ) ,u still interact with old Friends , and make New ones.

Now dialogs are in Game or cutscenes , no more face to face.

Hot events are better ,no longer following the zerg , mini events across the map , speaking of Maps in Hot are huge confusing as hell but u can glide and use uprifts , mushrooms to jump more funny than just running around.

Give It a try. =)

The first living world season was a great piece of story, it really involved the players in the world with changes to the core zones. the new formula they now use for the living world is imo a bit on the weak side when it comes to story, the world gets new zones which is really nice, but it feels less connected to the world in comparison to the first living world.

aside from the world, the dialogue itself is sometimes really disapointing to me, to much "modernization" of the language, there is a radio where they straight away us "over and out" and stuf like that even if they don't know what a radio is or how it is even working. the story is pretty predictable

Also regarding ascended gear: unless you're doing high level fractals (that require ascended gear for the AR) or serious raids with people using DPS meters, ascended gear is really not necessary. All the ascended gear I have is mostly because i had laurels to burn, got them as random drops or earned through doing a fun collection. Not a single one was crafted. :D

Also, totes not necessary, so yeah.

Jump in and try out HoT and see if that kind of combat and gameplay suits you and just play how you want. Seriously. My healing warrior had tons of fun running around on HoT maps and she is the furthest thing from the meta.