Gave up on GW2 during HoT. Wish I hadn't

[Daks.1874]

I quit GW2 shortly after the HoT release. It was so long ago that I don't remember all the issues I had the game, I just remember I wasn't having fun.

One of my friends who hadn't played GW2 a lot decided to try it. They were having a lot of fun with it and after some time they convinced me to give it another shot.

 

After doing a little research about the game I knew I wanted to get mounts right away so I started with PoF. The moment I was given the raptor mount, I knew I was hooked. Mounting in general seems like such a basic concept for MMOs but the way GW2 does it is incredible. Not only does it change how you explore the world, they clearly designed them with fun in mind, which is extremely refreshing.

Jump forward a little over 3 weeks and I've now played through all the story content I've missed over the years (except some Icebrood Saga), and I've unlocked every mount in the game. Now I'm working on grinds for a few legendries and ascended gear and in the meantime enjoying a few game modes. GW2 fully has it hooks in me and I wish I had never gave up on it.

All this praise doesn't come without some criticism and I did want to include that here.

I think a major lesson MMO developers can take from recent years is that account progression is generally a good thing. I think GW2 does a pretty good job with this(Masteries, Mounts, Legendries, Skins, Bank, ect.) but it could improve in some places. One of those places is exploration. Having to rediscover waypoints on 2-3 different characters feels bad, even worse if you want to have an alt of each class. I think at least waypoints and uncovering the map could be an account unlock and that would only be an improvement to the game. Id go as far to say that maybe POI and Vistas as well but maybe not.

That brings me to my next criticism - Hearts. I don't mind completing these once on a character and moving on from there but having to repeat these when I'm coming back to one I've already done feels really bad. I get it, most of them are quick and easy to do. I still don't want to HAVE to repeat them to get some collection that wasn't accessible the first time through, feels like a waste of my time.

There are a few other small annoyances I've ran into here and there but I don't want to get "Nit-picky". 

 

All in all I'm having a lot of fun with the game and I'm really excited to play and explore more.
 

Edited July 18, 2022 by Daks.1874

[Mungrul.9358]

Regarding Hearts in particular, it's one of the things I think they got mostly right in EoD. Yes, they're still per-character, but now they're kind of a combination of HoT/PoF hearts and Core ones. You can complete them once, which unlocks the vendor services permanently, yet you can complete them again the next day for the karma and experience. You don't have to complete them every time you want to access the vendor.

[Daks.1874]

3 minutes ago, Mungrul.9358 said:

Regarding Hearts in particular, it's one of the things I think they got mostly right in EoD. Yes, they're still per-character, but now they're kind of a combination of HoT/PoF hearts and Core ones. You can complete them once, which unlocks the vendor services permanently, yet you can complete them again the next day for the karma and experience. You don't have to complete them every time you want to access the vendor.

I honestly didn't realize it was different in EoD, probably because I've mainly been focused on PoF grinds. If that's the case I hope they go back and update old ones. I think it would be a massive improvement

[kharmin.7683]

11 minutes ago, Daks.1874 said:

I honestly didn't realize it was different in EoD, probably because I've mainly been focused on PoF grinds. If that's the case I hope they go back and update old ones. I think it would be a massive improvement

Yeah, it was asked for way back after PoF was released.  They haven't changed them there so I doubt that they will.  At least, moving forward to EoD, they made them more in line with what the players here on the forum were requesting.

[Wolfb.7025]

Game changes completely once you unlock your first mount. GuildWars 2 definitely has the best mount system on all MMORPGs Although I kind of regret not playing without them, exploring core maps could be a little bit more social if people weren't zooming through from one point to another in mounts, but that's my own opinion.

iirc HoT has been re adjusted over time so it isn't as ruthless as it was on release.

[Daks.1874]

2 minutes ago, Wolfb.7025 said:

iirc HoT has been re adjusted over time so it isn't as ruthless as it was on release.

Mounts also help making HoT less painful. The maps are so complex and hard to navigate without them.

[itspomf.9523]

5 hours ago, Mungrul.9358 said:

You don't have to complete them every time you want to access the vendor.

 

Now I hope they retroactively enable this on all Path of Fire and Living Story hearts (as I don't think there were any in Heart of Thorns), because that has always been my biggest complaint, particularly for the tedious ones.

[Daks.1874]

2 hours ago, itspomf.9523 said:

 

Now I hope they retroactively enable this on all Path of Fire and Living Story hearts (as I don't think there were any in Heart of Thorns), because that has always been my biggest complaint, particularly for the tedious ones.

Absolutely agree with you on this. doesn't need to work that way anymore.

[LSD.4673]

9 hours ago, Wolfb.7025 said:

exploring core maps could be a little bit more social if people weren't zooming through from one point to another in mounts, but that's my own opinion.

I'll spoil it for you and tell you that no, it wasn't any more "social" than it is now. The only difference was that any time the idea of mounts was brought up, a horde would rise to shout it down.

[Anoxia.3850]

Welcome back.! Its never too late to join the fun! I was in the same boat, quit shortly after the launch of HoT. I don't remember why either but I came back during living world season 4 and had the exact same feelings of regret. Don't worry that will go away, GW2 is always right where you left it. 

[nosleepdemon.1368]

OP has friends who play GW2? I'm jealous. All my IRL mates are weaboos who are into all that Final Fantasy nonsense, or blonde bimbos who seriously play World of Warcraft.

[nosleepdemon.1368]

9 hours ago, Wolfb.7025 said:

Game changes completely once you unlock your first mount. GuildWars 2 definitely has the best mount system on all MMORPGs Although I kind of regret not playing without them, exploring core maps could be a little bit more social if people weren't zooming through from one point to another in mounts, but that's my own opinion.

iirc HoT has been re adjusted over time so it isn't as ruthless as it was on release.

 

They do knacker the social side a little bit, but somehow GW2 in general just manages to be this paragon of player interaction I have not found elsewhere. Maybe it's the game features steering folk, or the sorts of players the game attracts. I don't know, but GW2 is what I play when I fancy having conversations that extend beyond 'alpha is primary'.

[Daks.1874]

7 minutes ago, nosleepdemon.1368 said:

OP has friends who play GW2? I'm jealous. All my IRL mates are weaboos who are into all that Final Fantasy nonsense, or blonde bimbos who seriously play World of Warcraft.

This had me laughin. I have a few FF/WoW friends as well. Those games just aren't for me anymore.

Edited July 19, 2022 by Daks.1874

[Labjax.2465]

Similar story, I have my criticisms still, but I def get a lot out of it now.

[Mungrul.9358]

10 hours ago, nosleepdemon.1368 said:

...but somehow GW2 in general just manages to be this paragon of player interaction I have not found elsewhere.

I'm pretty certain it's to do with the fact that loot and resources are instanced per player, so there is little to no competition for kills or area control. It sounds simplistic, but removing even this basic source of contention does a lot to ensure that interactions between players are likely to be positive and productive rather than combative.

 

This is why I feel they need to rework scaling for when level 80 players with full ascended gear revisit lower level areas. With their current ability to kill things quicker through mount abilities and just better gear and stats (even after scaling), it re-introduces competition for resources.

Edited July 19, 2022 by Mungrul.9358
squirrelly to

[Randulf.7614]

HoT launch was some of the best times I’ve ever had in the game. Packed maps, fun content, unique interesting maps and gliding (for it’s time) - there haven’t been many times since which have matched it - PoF with mounts being the main one.

Looking at where the game is now and disliking so much of IBS and EoD, just makes those memories fonder.

[itspomf.9523]

On 7/18/2022 at 9:00 PM, LSD.4673 said:

I'll spoil it for you and tell you that no, it wasn't any more "social" than it is now. The only difference was that any time the idea of mounts was brought up, a horde would rise to shout it down.

 

Y'all weren't here round pre-release on Fort Aspenwood when we were cackling map-chat about rolling in jute and having a grand old time bouncing around the foot of Breached Wall Blitz as sleeping charr (second best bug removed feature, really).