funkychikin.2659

I'm thankful for your encouragement, but I fear I haven't been clear. I'm not being talked out of a game I enjoy. Rather, I'm disheartened by what I've seen generally (in my initial return to GW2) as a pervasive negative atmosphere surrounding some aspects of the game which are most important to me. Asking for people's favorite things (things most important to them) was not to alleviate a particular experience I'm having. It was rather to build a bit of respite from the generally negative discussions I've encountered by initiating a decidedly positive discussion for myself and others. Again, like I said, that's my fault for not being clearer, so I'm just trying to clarify for all that my aim was to stir up "good vibes," not to complain or seek advice. (Edit: That said, maybe I put this thread in the wrong forum after all.)

I didn't mean to come off as complaining, so I'm sorry for that! I was only trying to point out some things I've seen discussed (on forums and in-game) that have discouraged my engagement or dampened my enthusiasm. I should say, I'm not exactly new to the game. I made my first character back in 2014, and played open world for months. That character was (is - I still have him) an Elementalist that I named after my primary character in Guild Wars 1, who was an Elementalist that I played from Prophecies through Nightfall. I left for 4 or 5 years, came back around Living World Season 4? I'm not sure on the dates. Anyway, I piddled around and stopped again because life got in the way. I picked up [the other game] in 2020 during the pandemic, when I joined a friend's guild and began raiding and doing mythics. That friend eventually stopped playing [the other game] and my guild disbanded. I tried to make it for another year or so, but the experience became less and less enjoyable, to the point that I couldn't justify the price or the commitment. So, I came back to GW2, primarily because I watched a few streamers who made many of the same points you did. I wanted a game that respected my time, that I could find community in, and that I could get enjoyment out of without treating it like a second job. And naturally, there's the nostalgia factor for me as well. So far, I'm enjoying the little bit of overworld stuff I've made time for. However, like I said, the rub is that the game is in a different state than I remember it; or maybe my priorities and goals have simply changed. Either way, the transition hasn't been exactly comfortable. Which is why I thought I'd ask what y'all love about the game!

I'm putting this here because it seemed too specific for general, and because it is about "help," in a sense. To put the matter bluntly, I'm coming back to this game after a long absence, having finally left another game whose acronym rhymes with "cow." I've been playing now for a couple of weeks, and while I'm having some okay fun just exploring, I find myself already becoming discouraged at the state of the game as expressed by a significantly vocal portion of the community. In no particular order: debates and disappointments regarding my favorite profession; a (seemingly) steep learning/access curve for instanced PvE content that seems lackluster at best; and a near constant push to engage with WvW which, while admittedly unique, does not interest me. So I'm asking you all: what is it that keeps you here? What makes you want to keep playing? What is your favorite thing about Guild Wars 2, perhaps something you find only here? Yes, I know that the only way to get into the game is to keep playing the game; no, I'm not looking for specific answers. I'm just hoping to see some positivity that might help me (and maybe others like me) actually feel engaged with the game.

I know that these metrics matter for you, but you’re kind of missing the point of my clarification if you think that continuing to talk about charts and percentages is what I’m here for.

I’m not a mod, but I did start this thread, and I’d appreciate keeping the conversation civil and on topic. This is not the place for interpersonal squabbling, as it seems like you both have beef with each other outside this thread. In fact, I know you have, because I’ve seen it play out in other discussions. I’m not trying to police your posts ofr interactions, but a forum thread is a community discussion, not a place for an argument or dispute between two people (which, it seems to me, is what’s happening here). If y’all want to argue, be my guest. Just please use dms or something and don’t clog the forum I made to discuss a specific issue.

Hello, OP here. I’ve been reading and enjoying all of your responses. I wanted to jump in and make a clarification, though, because I didn’t want this thread to become about “what is specifically wrong about ele and how do we fix it?” So to clarify, what I asked was, is ele as bad as they say? What I should have said was, I am going to play my ele and not look back, because I love it; is ele as bad as they say? Reason for the clarification being, I’ve seen some terms and phrases thrown around which are either subjective or haven’t been fully defined. Some examples: First, what is “no reward?” What is the “reward” we’re imagining, exactly? That we get everything that [insert other profession] gets and more because we press more buttons? The complexity is part of the reward for me, and if [insert other profession] can do more with less, I don’t personally care. Secondly, what is “better performance,” exactly? What is the metric? Rotation parses? DPS meters? Boon uptime? This type of bean counting is one of the biggest reasons (if not the biggest reason) I finally gave up on WoW. I personally have no intention of going over charts and spreadsheets like pushing buttons is my second job. Third, “complexity” itself. If performance and reward are both linked to complexity in the mind of this community, then I’m sorry, but I’m not getting it. Believe it or not, evaluations of complexity can vary between people, especially if they have enough translatable gaming experience. FOR ME, the elementalist is not overly complex. If anything, it hits that sweet spot FOR ME that other, simpler classes do not (again, because I’m interested in feel, not numbers.) When I asked if ele was “that bad,” I expected talk of data and digits, because this is an MMORPG after all. But for me, the numbers are most important when being evaluated by the people for whom those numbers matter. If ele is “just fine” with its complex rotation and isn’t absolutely stacked on the popularity meters as a 1-and-done DPS/boon behemoth, then that’s fine with me. What I don’t want is someone telling me that my profession is “garbage” because of the above factors, without considering that those factors are not as empirical as they might seem, regardless of the hard “performance” data that gets thrown around. My concern was always that the ele hate was justified somehow. While there are certainly some pain-points that can be addressed and some disappointments to discuss, it seems that the ele is not so much fundamentally broken as it is misused and misunderstood (perhaps even by the devs). So, while I might not be appreciated by the “high end players” as an ele, I was never going to appreciate their outlook on this profession (or any other) either. So, for those who tl;dr these longer posts, I’ll ask again more clearly: I’m going to play my ele regardless. I’m going to queue for groups regardless. I’m going to have fun, regardless. Is ele really that bad, then? Or are we just missing that different people have fun in different ways?

Learning curves don't really scare me all that much. I played Mage in WoW; that's a learning curve, imo. But GW2 is a different game, and the fight mechanics are built differently - and the boon/condition system is much, much more important here. Which makes the issue of alacrity application and quickness maintenance all the more pressing. Which, in turn, leads me to my point. I have no problem playing the profession; my problem, I worry, will be the community's perception of the profession, both within Ele circles and beyond. The learning curve is manageable, esp. w/o weapon swapping. What I find less manageable is the often arduous, frequently tedious, uphill struggle of getting some rando pug leader not to kick me on principle for playing Ele. My question from before being, is Ele really in a bad state, or is it just the community? The answer seems to be that Ele is in an okay state, but could benefit from some love from the devs and a potential rework. As concerns the community, the consensus seems to be, why would you even bother when there's other professions, esp. w/ Necro's tankiness and Mesmer's utility. So idk, I'll give it a fair shot and see how far I can get, but I'm not gonna take or give grief over playing what I like. Edit: thankfully GW2 is much friendlier to alts, so it's not all doom and gloom.

Thank you both for well-put answers. I guess these are part of the point, for me? The way I'm hearing/reading things, my ele will be my "story main," and I'll "have to" [read: would be better off to] pick a different profession for end-game PvE content. I say this because my ele has the most story progression from when I left off playing back in 2019-ish. This does suck, but I understand the situation better now. Granted, I could just find a good guild, or else just tough it out. I've been enjoying Tempest and am working on Catalyst; I find that I don't enjoy Weaver at all, for many of the reasons you mentioned. Either way, I suppose I'll keep the Ele but see if Necromancer or Mesmer feel good/fun nowadays.

I dunno, I watched three separate tier list videos from 2 months ago (was there a major patch then?), and each video came up with wildly disparate conclusions. Besides, from my experience with WoW, tier lists are often unhelpful and actively detract from the health of a gaming community. See: the comments on the latest DPS tier list from WoWhead. Like I said, I'm only here for PvE and have never had any interest in PvP or WvW, but I could potentially give WvW a try, if only to finally acquire the Warclaw.

It's sad but apparently true, just as it was true of the WoW class forums. Initially, I came to the profession forums hoping to discover what had changed in my 5 year absence and maybe pick up some helpful pointers. Imagine my surprise to discover that I should apparently just learn to play another profession - except that they're in the crapper, too, apparently.

Is this profession really as bad as the forums make it out to be? Okay, okay - there's a million threads asking the exact same question. But I'm coming back to GW2 from WoW, mainly because WoW's gameplay has lost all appeal and because the new expansion seemed like a good time for reentry. My GW2 main, from way back when, is an Ele. My GW1 main, from back in high school, was an Ele. Judging from the general sense of doom and dismay that I've read in several posts over the last several hours, Ele is fundamentally broken. But, from my perspective getting back into open-world and story content, any profession is perfectly viable. So again, see the question above. As far as I can tell, most of the discussion revolves around Ele's apparently poor performance in PvP and WvW, as well as its complex gameplay. I have absolutely no interest in either PvP or WvW, and none of the GW2 professions are "too complex" to me, compared to the average WoW DPS rotation. I am, however, interested in strikes and fractals, and am wondering if playing my favorite profession will lock me out because "the meta." What says the forum? Does Ele = clown class or not?