Asterism.2761

I use a crkbd on my main machine, and wanted to find a set of keybinds that worked comfortably with both that and a "regular" keyboard. What I settled on was using ESDF for movement, and then wrapping those with actions. For GW2 this works out pretty well, I have weapon skills on WQAZX, utilities on RTGBV, and weapon swap on C. Space to jump, double-tap to dodge (don't @ me!), profession skills on "1-5", mounts on Shift-[1-5]; I kept Shift-F for interaction, and lesser-used keys (map, inventory, etc) are on the right half of the keyboard. By shifting movement to ESDF I nearly double the amount of things my pinky can do without having to move my hand off of my movement keys, and has worked surprisingly well with every game I've tried it out on, as well as on every keyboard...

I first fired up GW2 last June, but didn't really start playing until about 6 mos. ago. Having spent time with FF14 prior and WoW concurrently, I can honestly say I enjoy playing GW2 more than either of the other two, and I don't say that lightly. I genuinely prefer the mechanics and moment-to-moment gameplay. I'm sincerely worried about endgame, though. There are things I like about all three games, but what it comes down to is that as much as I enjoy playing GW2, I'm afraid that once I finish working through the living story/hot/pof content, there's nothing really compelling to keep me logging in. WoW ... I don't really want to talk about. I'm enough of a casual that, by the time I hit endgame, it's just about time for the next xpac, so...whatever. A little questing, a little gearing, rinse, repeat ... I love the art style, I like the lore, and while the game mechanics are fine, they also aren't what draws me in. But no matter what, there's always more to be done. FF14 really nailed it with the job and crafting system. The lore is good, the mechanics are ok, but good grief - no matter what kind of mood I'm in there's ALWAYS something compelling to do. Crafting decorations for the player-owned housing, grinding mounts, event quests, ... GW2 has the best gameplay (IMO); between the classes and the weapon skills, there's always a way to change up the grind to keep things interesting. The art direction is great (even if the engine holds it back in some respects), the lore appeals to me, and I just really want to spend time in Tyria, but ... the rewards are primarily materials for a crafting system that isn't particularly compelling, partly because it's just point-click-craft, and partly because the things worth crafting are ... gemstore items, on whatever rotation they're on, and not actually craftable. Gear drops are rarely more than salvage items. More often than not, the rewards just aren't rewarding. Which, for me, right now, is fine. I'm more engaged in the story, but once I'm caught up with that, then what? Why am I even logging in? I really, genuinely appreciate the approach ANet has taken with the gear progression and f2p model, and at the end of the day I really, really want to spend my time in Tyria. I'm not averse to paying a monthly subscription fee in exchange for rewarding content, and while I'll happily go spend my "monthly subscription money" on gems instead, that's only gonna go so far -- I'm not gonna buy things to use in a world I've no reason to log into. WoW and FF14 have both mastered the art of dangling the proverbial carrot, but I feel like that's what's letting ArenaNet down -- in their attempts to be player-forward, they've also diminished the things that keep players coming back. Thankfully, I've got quite a way to go before I get there, and until then, I'm enjoying the hell out of the experience. Or, perhaps "savoring" is a better word, because as I look at my plate, I can already tell that last, juicy morsel is going to be gone before I've had my fill...

Yeah, just here to chime in. I really dig the art style used in these cut scenes, but other than being a bit annoying, I just accepted it as the price for running ultrawide. Then I rolled a Norn guardian this morning and, well ... this happened: https://i.imgur.com/WgODdoK.jpg Awkward.