[New Player Question] Living world and old areas

[Ghouly.8720]

Hi there

I am a new player, well honestly I brought the game at launch many years ago but I was stuck on WoW back then so I never really played this game past level 20-30.

 

Just curious if anyone can answer me a few questions regarding the game.

does the game really utilize the old areas in the living world, I feel much MMOs tend to forget about the whole world.

So I guess my question is as I progress through the story and the Expansions / living world content will the original areas  and content be utilized throughout the story and content.

as an Example what I hated with WoW was that when a expansion came the all content and gear was now just forgotten about and under utilized, people say its  cheap to re use old content but when it comes to story I feel you loose a connection to the world when its no longer relevant so is Guild wars 2 grounded so the world or is it just a yearly "Push you to this new area". 
 

[Danikat.8537]

Yes they re-use old areas.

New releases do of course add new maps to the game, and the story centers around that area and a lot of it takes place there, but they use older maps as well, it depends on what makes sense for the story. Things which aren't as directly related, like optional collections and achievements can use any content in any map, not just the ones which were newest when that achievement was added.

This game also doesn't use the same 'gear treadmill' system as games like WoW where new releases continuously add newer and more powerful things. Items from the base game are just as useful today as when they were first released. They might not be the best choice for certain builds, but only because of the stat combination, not because they're inherently weaker (and many let you select or change the stats).

One of the things I like about GW2 is you'll never reach a point where you're "finished" with an area and will never go back. You might not go there frequently, because there's a lot of other stuff to do, but there's always reasons to return. Even if you just want to play a particular map because you feel like it that's a valid choice. I could take a level 80 character with 100% world completion around the starter maps and while I won't have anything new to do (I think, there might be events I've missed) I can still play all the events which come up there and get the same rewards as I'd get playing on a level 80 expansion map.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

Almost nothing becomes obsolete.  There's Dailies in maps from Core and Living World Season maps every day, so you will always see someone playing. There's collections and Achievements and Side Stories all over Tyria.

 

Welcome return and good luck!

[Randulf.7614]

It doesn’t add new content to them or revisit them in the story, but they are always populated and you often need to items and currencies for collections and achievements that get added over time.

GW2’s great strength is that maps never go completely obsolete and always have players around to get things done. 

Edited January 11, 2022 by Randulf.7614

[Ghouly.8720]

Thanks everyone for replying

 

After moving away from WoW and getting older I was trying to decide to come back and give it a real chance or jump on the FF14 bandwagon.

As I am getting older, responsibilities and more casual I think this game is the best choice for me, as I really appreciate the living world, the graphics are stunning (considering) and the flatter gear progression. 

Plus the Combat mechanics in this game are amazing, to think its been out for over 10 years and i never appreciated it this much, I feel more responsive and agile.

[Rasimir.6239]

1 hour ago, Randulf.7614 said:

It doesn’t add new content to them or revisit them in the story

Some living world episodes do just that. Season 2 for example leads you to Fort Salma in Kessex Hills or Concordia in Timberline Falls. Parts of some Season 3 episodes happen in Divinity's Reach, and you back-track into PoF territory as part of the Season 4 story. I'd rather forget about the infamous DRMs, but strictly speaking that's also reusing old maps (although just in instances in that case).

 

More important though is that there are lots of unique cosmetics (skins, minis, ...) you can ear in this game through achievements or collections that take you back all over the world, as well as a lot of crafting rewards like new weapon sets (with unique skins rather than unique power) that require materials from everywhere. This is primarily what's keeping this game world alive.

Of course you have your "flavor of the month" maps that have more traffic than others, and people that insist that this or that map is the most "efficient" to play, but when you look at it objectively, you will find plenty of people in all game maps, and find that you gain rewards everywhere that are comparable enough to allow you to play what you find entertaining without falling behind reward-wise (and more importantly power-wise).

[Harfang.1507]

One day I happened to take a flight from Shattrath City in Outlands to the Dark Portal. While flying over Hellfire Peninusula, I typed "/who Hellfire Peninsula" or whatever it is you need to find who else is on the map. Me. Myself. And I. Thinking back to all the great times I had back in TBC days, I was so sad. You would not see that in GW2. The dynamic level adjustement, daily achievements, crafting gearing systems all work together to ensure any map ever becomes utterly obsolete. It might become easy mode, but going randomly afk on a low level map is akin to having a death wish, even for the best geared characters.

[Sir Alric.5078]

22 hours ago, Randulf.7614 said:

It doesn’t add new content to them or revisit them in the story, but they are always populated and you often need to items and currencies for collections and achievements that get added over time.

GW2’s great strength is that maps never go completely obsolete and always have players around to get things done. 

Actually there are some new events that were added to old maps because of story related reasons. I'm talking about the hunt for bloodstone crazed creatures, the veteran bandits, the unstable anomalies, the awakened incursions, the rifts in the mist, ecc.