Do you enjoy map completion? Why or why not?

Something I've been doing lately for the gift of exploration. I'm not asking for any kind of changes regarding it, I'm just curious to how everyone likes it.

Personally I really dislike it. I hate going through the same content over and over and over again with there being no difference. It really gets me burnt out on the game. I'm having to put a huge time sink into something I have zero interest in doing other than for the reward. If I didn't need the gift I would never bother.

I'm a very casual player, so I don't really enjoy what feels grindy to me to have to complete every map. I did it once; that was enough for me.

Pretty much every map has that one heart mission - the one that's a huge pain in the ass and not a smidgen of fun to be had. Other than that, I really don't mind it.

It was fun the first time back in 2012/2013, I've never ever touched it again.

I like it and now with mounts it goes really fast

It's been years since I completed it on my main character and at the time it seemed like a bother. I do enjoy exploring and unlocking the maps, but the PoI's or Vista's or hidden areas that I had trouble finding were annoying.

I'm now taking one of my original toons, who was sitting at 53%, the rest of the way for the Gifts, and am really enjoying it with the mounts and glider. Other than those mobility boosts, it's not a power-creep thing, since this is a core ranger (ie, far removed from meta) still building up HPs to unlock Druid.

And the extra BL keys have been nice, too, for the statues and WvW/PvP pots (current guarantee from chests) if nothing else.

I have a lot of characters and there are times where I just enjoy hopping on one and running around completing a few maps. I find it relaxing

That being said, there are a certain few Hearts that you really come to hate if you run maps a lot. I guess there are things that can be learned from these

I dislike hearts.

I enjoy it because the chance to explore a virtual world is one of the things I really like about RPGs, so it's exactly the kind of content I like. I've done it all at least once (except the newest Living World maps which I haven't completed yet) but often it was months or years ago that I last did that particular map, so it's nice to revisit it.

I also think it helps that even when I need it for a legendary I don't think of it as a task to get finished ASAP. I'm not rushing to clear the map as fast as possible, I just pick an area I haven't completed yet and feel like playing and use the map completion stuff as a prompt for where to go while exploring. If a event comes up which I feel like doing I'll join in, even if it doesn't contribute to any hearts I need. If I come to a settlement I'll talk to all the named NPCs. If I come across a jumping puzzle I'll do that, even though it's not part of map completion (and I've done them all before) and so on.

Of course when I do start making a legendary it's one of the first things I start and often one of the last things I finish, but I don't try to rush making a legendary either so that's ok.

I voted other because I have about 6 characters atm who have 60-70% world completion, with only 1 character at 100%. I enjoy doing zone completion. It gives me a chance to play PvE on a variety of different characters and builds, which keeps things fresh, while also collecting low tier mats that are valuable (eg. iron, platinum, butter, seasoned wood, etc) and rolling the dice at potentially get a BL key.

I have 1 Gift of Exploration left from my first map completion, and that will go into the legendary I'm making now. After that, I have no intention of purposefully doing another map completion until I need another, as it just takes up a bank space, but will continue to periodically pick a zone here or there, on this character or that, and keep it fun. Should the time come when I need more gifts of exploration, I imagine I'll have at least one character in the 80-90% range, which shouldn't be hard to finish off.

Map completion should be done the same way one would eat an elephant imo.

Do I enjoy it? No.

Why? Hearts.

(just finished my 4th one last week. 1st time with mounts. Would happily do it more times if it weren't for hearts)

I enjoy most of the map completion, especially when it involves leveling new characters, but all the hearts start to become tedious around the 50% mark. For the most part it is enjoyable but taking a break from it now and again is necessary.

Why? Because it's relaxing.

First time was fun.Subsequent times... it's just busy work. Chance of key makes it less unbearable.

And yeah, the main reason is: I dislike the hearts. Not all of them; there are just too many, many of which are dull, tedious, and unnecessarily complicated.

It's much, much more fun with mounts. I don't think I'd do another core Tyria completion without them.

I like map completion because it is fun to revisit other places. If I take my time I always find something I have not seen before or have forgotten about. There are a couple of story bosses I would like to never see again -- like the git Caudecus or where you fight the dragon in the tree or Balthazar -- pretty much ever. But the maps as fun to explore and you can always find people who need help.

I really do enjoy map completion, I finished my 16th 100% world completion not too long ago. I just personally find it relaxing, though there are some hearts I loathe (looking at you, Blazeridge Steppes Ash Legion heart.....). I tend to start with level 80 core Tyria maps and work my way down, so by the time I'm feeling antsy the maps are much faster to complete. Fourteen of those world completions, however, were done after mounts were added. Mounts make the experience so much more enjoyable for me - from being able to swiftly move between hearts/POIs/etc., to rounding up enemies to quickly finish hearts, I can't imagine doing map completion without them.

I think the question is a bit misguided. Map completion as an activity exists as an aside almost solely for the purposes of Completionist and literal "End Game" crafting that is legendary weapons. And with Gen 1 weapons not being account bound, and sold on the TP, anyone doing map completion is under no compulsion to do so other then then own. The reasons are not important.... the fact that you can side step it completely and still get the reward, changes the entire nature of the perceived problem. And even if you include the reasons, gold farming is so incredibly lucrative in this game that pursing legendary weapons for profit is practically a detriment given the number of non-gold rewarding activities you have to take part in. And pre-cursor crafting just adds several additional layers of consideration on top of all of that.

Because of this, the answers to the question are not going to have significant direction about the activity itself, but how much of an obstacle people view it as to other things they are pursing.

That out of the way. If you want to talk about the actual experience.... its..... inconsistent. And I highly suspect this has to do with level designers having free reign to play with ideas, and most of it being used due to time constraints. Lack of polish can also be seen in many late game areas, some even grinding game flow to a complete stop. The starting areas had most attention, and it definitely shows. This break in flow is ultimately what I think poisons the whole experience for many people. Because if it didn't, I doubt people would be aware enough to bother scrutinizing it the way they do. Consider Silverwaste is essentially the same format on a much smaller scale- but its stable flow and transitions of activities create a minor trance like experience. One that can be easily repeated for hours without becoming tiresome. The only ones that really complain are the ones who only see very minor obstacles that they can't be bothered to overcome.

Sometimes fun to do a map or two with alts :)

Yes, I've done it on 6 characters. I enjoy it because it's fun and relaxing (plus I get some extra Keys which is nice).There's one thing I dislike though, when they lock PoIs and other map completion stuff behind meta events. Don't get me wrong, I am a huge fan of open world but when I want to explore a map I don't wanna interrupt the journey by waiting for a meta to start... It ruins the pace.

So at times I end up waiting around for someone or something and in the game I came from(swtor) this meant running laps on the guild ship or wherever.

In gw2 I instead pick a map and work on completion until the people are ready or its time for the event.

Examples: reset for wvw (squad is put together at 8:30 or so)

Guild missions at seven (squad is started fifteen minutes early)

Raid at 9 (squad is opened at 9 but we start when everyone is there and comp decided which can take awhile)

Hey let's do treasure hunting at noon. (Glance At clock. 1140.)

Tequatl is the daily make sure you get in a good map! (Picks char without sparkfly fen complete).

Just to name a few. I've only seriously gone hung ho on map complete twice. Once when working on Bifrost and once when slogging through with my daughter when she needed it for Predator. That said when it gets to 85 or so I can't stand it and finish it.

Tldr; it's nice to have an activity you can literally start and stop on a dime with zero repercussions.

Yes. The first thing I really fell in love with in GW2 was the world and the scenery, and the way exploring was encouraged and rewarded. Exploration is still what I do most of. My characters are mostly stationed on maps they haven't completed yet, and get to do a little more exploring when a daily is on their map or region, or if I have some extra time and want to progress them some more. When a character hits level 80, they get the honor of becoming my agent in Orr or HoT for dailies (etc) until they've completed that area.

The rewards of repeated map exploration:Increased familiarity with the maps, getting to know all the hard-to-find places.Discovering faster, easier ways to fill some of the heart quests that I originally thought were a huge pain. (Some stay a pain forever, though.)Discovering new events, conversations, NPC and other touches I never noticed before (or have forgotten.)A painless way to rank up key farmers.Plenty of karma, which I have no trouble finding ways to spend.The hope of scoring some Black Lion keys.

Yes the first time I do it with one character.Nope for subsequent ones.

I like it, once.Even then, the HoT maps made me hate it because of all the meta-event blocking.

It's just tedious busy work. :#