Why do you play Guild Wars 2?

[SexyMofo.8923]

For the turtle mount. 

[Hollowhisper.1093]

I play GW 2 mostly because of the story and all the cool open world meta events. Ah, and I play it because of all the kind nudges and eastereggs devoted to Guild Wars 1. I loved GW 1 back in the day and binged it for I know not how many hours, weeks, months and years.

[Fueki.4753]

There is no subscription fee.

Despite glaring differences between the professions and obvious favouritism from Arenanet, most content and gameplay are still fun after over nine years.

The story is told better than in other games.

Edited March 13, 2022 by Fueki.4753

[NumNums.7935]

The story is good especially season 1 job-o-tron and the bard 😉

 

Also its fun to explore and learn new stuff with my small group of friends. 

 

[Tukaram.8256]

I went from Ultima Online to Guild Wars, then to City of Heroes and on to GW2. City of Heroes and UO were much more social and friendly. 

I am here for the monster bashing. I do not care at all about collecting shinies, or the story.  (I am not the target demographic for the gem store ha ha).  I would like to have seen a new profession with the release of Cantha, but there are some fun critters to fight so all is good. 

PoF had some great maps and was my favorite expansion, but EoD easily beats it. Maps are beautiful, critters are fun to fight, and the best story of the franchise (GW1 or 2). 

[Goettel.4389]

Best MMO for alting / leveling, playing in groups (metas) without having to organize, no level cap raises (never change pls), the combat, fashion wars, aviator box endgame ; - ) and now fishing.

[Asum.4960]

The first that come to mind (and ofc I can't go without criticising what I care about):

 

Investment & Nostalgia: I've been with Guild Wars since Prophecies, before it was Prophecies, almost 17 years ago, so needlessly to say, this franchise has been a significant part of my life, and as long as it's around I won't be far. 

 

Over-all fair business model: I don't like the psychological pressure I'd put on myself with subscription-fees and feeling like I have to play to get my moneys worth. I find myself investing a lot more when I feel like I don't have to. While ArenaNet has made (and continues to make) some significant missteps over the years, be it exclusive Lootbox skins, attempting to introduce more Lootboxes to the game, or maybe most notably the travesty that are Build "Templates", which imo constitutes a core game feature/functionality, which was completely butchered in favour of way over-reaching monetization - over all GW2 is being incredibly fair to it's players. 

 

The core gameplay: The combat system and build crafting is top notch. While I do often wish for a bit more meaningful choices (and more content tuned to a point that actually requires engaging with the games mechanics), there simply isn't another game at this scale with such a smooth, fun, engaging and player skill based combat system. There is just very little clunkyness, needless complexities nor plain boredom. 

 

Overall respect for time/players: No needless gear grinds. Convenience and fashion imo make for a far more engaging endgame, by putting players in charge of what they want to go for and invest into, rather than chasing artificially ever bigger/escaping carrots. 

While there is lot's of room for improvement in terms of actually ingame directly through gameplay earned prestige (something GW1 imo did a lot better without being suffocated and oversaturated by Cashshop offerings), it's far ahead of any competition I experienced. 

 

Lack of alternatives: Honestly, most games these days are pretty disappointing. Especially online games or "live services" often come across as empty shells whose primary objective is to serve as store front for way over priced virtual goods, usually through exploitative tactics, primarily exploiting gambling addictions and fomo. 

While GW2 dabbles in that with Black Lion Keys, Supply Drops, general pricing and the like, it's clearly apparent that it's a game at it's core that comes from an age where games were still made primarily with passion and desire to make a good product first - rather than just financial interests, with everything else second.

Edited March 14, 2022 by Asum.4960

[Hume.2876]

GW2 is the only MMO you can play and have a good job and busy life.  So really there is not much competition if you want to play an MMO.  Not only do you not need to play much - but you can drop out for months at a time - or only play for LW story and do fine.

 

It's like Arenanet said - here - its an MMO with action gameplay.   You won't get super powerful stuff for your character - but if you like just playing - you can play all you want. 

[Jianyu.7065]

Because it's the most relaxing game experience in my opinion. Combat rewards skillful timing and thoughtfulness. 

 

I play a few games in different genres Sod2, WH40K: Inquisitor, Stalker Anomaly, The Division 1/2...

 

Then I play GW2 to relax.

[Sylvia.4870]

                                                           Early years, I hope for exploring

                                                   To the Remains and the Beauty of History in Tyria

                                                   Witness the Rise and Fall

                                                   Of  the Good and the Evil.

                                                          Through Dungeons, the Small Three Pathways of the Mists

                                                   With a number of allies  by my side

                                                   Days and nights I feel cheerful 

                                                  But with curiosity for gaining Gold

                                                  A kind traveller offers an advice

                                                 To the West of Tyria, the Source of Riches

                                                 Where the Wicked Blossom lies and leeches.

                                                       As  a devoted Servant and Commander

                                                To aid others for achieving specific goals;

                                                Hunting down the Four Legends,

                                                Collecting stacks of pouches for months,

                                               Crafting the Weapons, full of legacies.

                                                     Years pass - yet I don't waver

                                              To submit to Superior powers

                                              Only care for Core Abilities

                                             To the Adventure in the Kingdoms of the Mists

                                             Alone or with other companions

                                             To see the Allied  Forces'  Glory and Tragedy.

                                                   With the lacking of Understanding

                                             To be against some powerful adversaries

                                             Inside the Combat Lobby of the Mists

                                            Every types of fighters I can meet

                                            Clean or Dirty,  Rude or Polite

                                            To better my strength and wisdom

                                            For surviving in circumstances.

                                                 Above all else, the True Purpose of Playing;

                                            Joyfulness to myself and to others

                                           Once in trouble or tension, I fade away

                                           Back again when motivation is restored.

                                           

                                          

                           

                                            

                                            

                                                  

                                           

                                            

                                             

                                           

                                             

                                 

                                                 

                                               

                                                

                                            

                                                  

 

 

Edited March 14, 2022 by Sylvia.4870

[hatebreeder.8316]

The combat system. GW2 has set the bar so high that other combat systems feel like a lackluster now.

[Vanthian.9267]

Sunk Cost

[Batel.9206]

Well, it used to be for the story: the fun, clean, fantasy adventure about fighting dragons. With reports about what EoD's story is like, though... I won't be buying End of Dragons. Too bad, I was really looking forward to it.

Currently, I play the game for RP, because I'm convinced the community can make better stories than whatever ArenaNet did. I play for exploring, for the fact that there is no subscription fee, for the lovely graphics (if only we had a way to turn down visual effects...), for the music and open world and combat.

[Xenesis.6389]

WvW, as much of a poor state it's in, and has been for much of a decade, it's the only reason I play this game.

[Gibson.4036]

On 3/12/2022 at 4:32 PM, Einsof.1457 said:

The swearing and adult sexual themes have disappointed me as well. Especially in EOD. The story/writing isn't on my list even though I slog through it on all my characters. 

I was really surprised by Ryltock's f-bomb toward the end. They cut it off, just barely, but there's a burst of static or something that more or less completes it anyway.

[ilonlie.4316]

I  play for a feeling of advancement.

I enjoyed it a lot until advancement made it either a job or requires superhuman intelligence and reaction times. I haven't given them any money for a long while except for buying EOD, which now I regret.  I was enjoying EOD until the EOD 2.2 junction box reset (GW2 - End of Dragons 2.2 The Future in Jade)  destroyed my enjoyment. I recommend staying away from EOD until leets build up Wiki and YouTube EOD game mechanics.  6610 hours played.

Edited March 14, 2022 by ilonlie.4316

[Jukhy.2431]

Duh. For fishing ofc! 

[vandrefalk.6823]

* GW2 (and GW1) for the fantasy universe and story that includes sci-fi/steampunk elements. Sure enough, it has its ups and downs, but they finally delivered with EoD. And those environment designs... throughout the entire game, a lot of variation over the years!

* The fantastic combat system; it's probably the most fun and fluid combat in any MMO I've played and keeps me coming back... probably only rivaled by BDO's combat, but GW2 still coming out the one I enjoy more... because rest of BDO... well... you know 😄

* Horizontal progression! No power grind; once you hit 80 and get your ascended gear, which is quickly enough, you're never falling behind power-wise. And in sPvP it's all skill-based (and of course Fotm/balancing) but you're not going to get smashed by someone with a gear score higher than yours or someone who has grinded thousands of hours to be level 89.129492% compared to your fresh lvl 80.

* And with horizontal progressions comes a lot of enjoyable auxiliary systems; diverse mounts, gliding, the new bot, QoL improvements, etc.

* Enjoyable professions and specializations

* Great wardrobe system for customization of my characters.

[medivh.4725]

1. PVE, PVP, WVW
2. Open world is fantastic scenary. Now with fishing is a great way to relax
3. Unlocking wardrope, weapons, dyes. For role play and fashion war .
4. Build optimization, crafting, gears upgrading. TP buy and sell. 
5. The GW2 combat system is very good. 

Edited March 15, 2022 by medivh.4725