Looking for new pastures...

[Splat.7981]

Hello everyone.

For a long time i played WoW, i only started at Pandaria so i never played Vanilla, TBC, Wrath or even Cataclysm. When Blizzard announced the re-release of Classic i saw it as a good opportunity to try it out and i loved it i'm still playing it but i got to the point where i want to play WoW, which is my favorite MMORPG, but i see myself stuck playing old versions of it and personally i want the game to get better going forward, in recent years that company has disappointed me in different ways and more than once and honestly i can't go to retail, it's like eating cheap fast food.

I also played FFXIV, i liked what i experienced but it's not for me.

I wish for a game similar to WoW, a big world that one can explore if we wish to do so, loot meaning that one can get better gear and weapons by killing mobs in the world or even through a secret chest somewhere or an epic world boss fight plus having dungeons and raids where one can also try to get juicy rewards 🙂 ...about PvP i don't know if there is other MMORPG's with open world pvp like WoW and where the mechanics feel good to experience, it would be awesome if it had open world pvp but if not i'm also all in for instanced pvp

I have come here to this reddit because on the internet i tried to look for similar games to WoW and some of the answers where kind of ridiculous to my eyes, some recommended Destiny 2...as to be similar to WoW as i see D2 as a high fiction space game, more of the same with Warframe which is more of the same as D2 and even Path of Exile... that's a arpg/hack and slash. I seek, as in the same flavor as WoW, a high fantasy mmorpg that has had inspiration in universes like Lord of the Rings for example, everything else that is fiction or space isn't for me.

I don't know if GW2 could be the game for me, the game that has been in front of my eyes but that i just ignored out of hope that WoW could become better or improve upon itself or even take some lessons of some games that, for me, have surpassed who once was the mmorpg king. Indeed, maybe GW2 is or can become the game for me but the fact that it has a store filled with skins for weapons, gear and so on makes me reluctant in the sense that me, as a player, i want to also get loot and cool loot from raids, dungeons, pvp and other in game activities and not be rewarded of the pretty/kitten looking stuff only if i swipe my credit card, i also say that probably i missed a lot by not giving GW2 a fair shot at the cost of believing in some sort of renewed WoW nostalgia that has become something of the past a long time ago. 

I'm sorry for the long post but i would love to know your opinions and tastes about this topic and maybe having your opinions about a good MMORPG to give a go even if it's not GW2, i have heard about lord of the rings online for example but i have no idea if that is a good game.

[Mungrul.9358]

GW2 is very different from WoW, but it also has a very generous F2P option, so you can give it a shot without spending a penny to see if it's your kind of game.

 

Just remember, with MMOs in general, nothing will ever match your first one; you'll always be judging subsequent ones against it.

[Danikat.8537]

20 minutes ago, Splat.7981 said:

I have come here to this reddit because...

Oh, so that's why we've had so many posts recently with this weird formatting that makes them difficult to read, it must be copies from reddit.

(In future if you want to copy text to this forum it's a good idea to select the 'post as plain text' option that comes up after you paste it in, that makes it a lot easier for everyone to read.)
 

20 minutes ago, Splat.7981 said:

I have come here to this reddit because on the internet i tried to look for similar games to WoW and some of the answers where kind of ridiculous to my eyes, some recommended Destiny 2...as to be similar to WoW as i see D2 as a high fiction space game, more of the same with Warframe which is more of the same as D2 and even Path of Exile... that's a arpg/hack and slash. I seek, as in the same flavor as WoW, a high fantasy mmorpg that has had inspiration in universes like Lord of the Rings for example, everything else that is fiction or space isn't for me.

I don't know if GW2 could be the game for me, the game that has been in front of my eyes but that i just ignored out of hope that WoW could become better or improve upon itself or even take some lessons of some games that, for me, have surpassed who once was the mmorpg king. Indeed, maybe GW2 is or can become the game for me but the fact that it has a store filled with skins for weapons, gear and so on makes me reluctant in the sense that me, as a player, i want to also get loot and cool loot from raids, dungeons, pvp and other in game activities and not be rewarded of the pretty/kitten looking stuff only if i swipe my credit card, i also say that probably i missed a lot by not giving GW2 a fair shot at the cost of believing in some sort of renewed WoW nostalgia that has become something of the past a long time ago.

I'm sorry for the long post but i would love to know your opinions and tastes about this topic and maybe having your opinions about a good MMORPG to give a go even if it's not GW2, i have heard about lord of the rings online for example but i have no idea if that is a good game.

If you're posting here then you already own GW2 so the best thing to do is try it and see what you think. Although I strongly recommend you go into it with the mindset that you're trying to find another game you can enjoy as much as WoW, not a game which you can play just like WoW because it's nearly identical. If you do that you're going to be disappointed no matter what you pick because even the games which got called WoW clones either put their own spin on things and only copied certain elements or were badly made imitations trying to cash in, and I'm not sure any of the 2nd type are still going.

I haven't played WoW but from what I know of it you'll find both similarities and important differences. For one thing GW2 focused on 'horizontal progression' which means you can get to the maximum level and get the top tier of equipment fairly quickly and after that progression is either optional or about adding more choices rather than anything which is simply a better version of what you've already got.

That influences a lot of the game mechanics as well, for example it's not enough to just get ascended (top tier) or even legendary (top tier with some extra QoL perks and fancy skins) equipment, it's far, far more important to have something with the right stats for your build and know how to use your character effectively. I suspect a good player in exotics could out-perform an inexperienced player in ascended.

As for the gem store yes there's a lot of skins in there, but it's a tiny proportion of what's in the game in total. According to GW2 Efficiency there's 534 armour skins in the gem store and 1,973 in-game. However there's two important things to know, especially for someone coming from WoW. Firstly mount skins are almost entirely exclusive to the gem store but that's because they were introduced with the next-to-last expansion and have never been part of the reward system in this game. The mounts in GW2 get a lot of praise but it's never been a game about collecting mounts in the same way WoW is for some people.

Secondly most of the skins in-game don't come from random drops. There are some but the main reward from most areas of the game is some type of token or currency which you use to buy rewards from a vendor in the area. The good side of that is you'll never be stuck running the same dungeon or whatever over and over until you never want to see it again because you're hoping for that one drop you need. The downside is it adds an extra level of complication which means a lot of players seem to miss a lot of the available options.

But you can see (almost) all the available skins in the wardrobe by going to any bank and clicking on the 3rd tab down. That also lets you preview them to see how they look on your character. If you're interested in cosmetics I recommend checking it out to see what's available. You can also use the Wiki to find out what's available and how to get each skin.

Another important thing to know, although not directly related to your post, is that this game is designed to be very open-ended. Early on you're encouraged to explore open-world maps and do the story but you don't actually have to do either and once you reach the maximum level you'll get very little direction and are expected to make your own decisions on what to do. There are raids and other instances if you want them, but there's also a lot of 'end game' activities in open-world maps, ongoing storylines, PvP and World vs World (open-world PvP) and other activities to choose from. The game will never push you into specific areas so if something interests you then you can go ahead and play it and if not you can skip it without missing anything you need to play other areas.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

You have purchased all 3 expansions some time ago, so you can play any part of Guild Wars 2 (sans Living World Seasons 2-5, possibly) and discover what GW2 has to offer.

Edited July 18, 2022 by Inculpatus cedo.9234

[Splat.7981]

46 minutes ago, Danikat.8537 said:

Oh, so that's why we've had so many posts recently with this weird formatting that makes them difficult to read, it must be copies from reddit.

(In future if you want to copy text to this forum it's a good idea to select the 'post as plain text' option that comes up after you paste it in, that makes it a lot easier for everyone to read.)
 

If you're posting here then you already own GW2 so the best thing to do is try it and see what you think. Although I strongly recommend you go into it with the mindset that you're trying to find another game you can enjoy as much as WoW, not a game which you can play just like WoW because it's nearly identical. If you do that you're going to be disappointed no matter what you pick because even the games which got called WoW clones either put their own spin on things and only copied certain elements or were badly made imitations trying to cash in, and I'm not sure any of the 2nd type are still going.

I haven't played WoW but from what I know of it you'll find both similarities and important differences. For one thing GW2 focused on 'horizontal progression' which means you can get to the maximum level and get the top tier of equipment fairly quickly and after that progression is either optional or about adding more choices rather than anything which is simply a better version of what you've already got.

That influences a lot of the game mechanics as well, for example it's not enough to just get ascended (top tier) or even legendary (top tier with some extra QoL perks and fancy skins) equipment, it's far, far more important to have something with the right stats for your build and know how to use your character effectively. I suspect a good player in exotics could out-perform an inexperienced player in ascended.

As for the gem store yes there's a lot of skins in there, but it's a tiny proportion of what's in the game in total. According to GW2 Efficiency there's 534 armour skins in the gem store and 1,973 in-game. However there's two important things to know, especially for someone coming from WoW. Firstly mount skins are almost entirely exclusive to the gem store but that's because they were introduced with the next-to-last expansion and have never been part of the reward system in this game. The mounts in GW2 get a lot of praise but it's never been a game about collecting mounts in the same way WoW is for some people.

Secondly most of the skins in-game don't come from random drops. There are some but the main reward from most areas of the game is some type of token or currency which you use to buy rewards from a vendor in the area. The good side of that is you'll never be stuck running the same dungeon or whatever over and over until you never want to see it again because you're hoping for that one drop you need. The downside is it adds an extra level of complication which means a lot of players seem to miss a lot of the available options.

But you can see (almost) all the available skins in the wardrobe by going to any bank and clicking on the 3rd tab down. That also lets you preview them to see how they look on your character. If you're interested in cosmetics I recommend checking it out to see what's available. You can also use the Wiki to find out what's available and how to get each skin.

Another important thing to know, although not directly related to your post, is that this game is designed to be very open-ended. Early on you're encouraged to explore open-world maps and do the story but you don't actually have to do either and once you reach the maximum level you'll get very little direction and are expected to make your own decisions on what to do. There are raids and other instances if you want them, but there's also a lot of 'end game' activities in open-world maps, ongoing storylines, PvP and World vs World (open-world PvP) and other activities to choose from. The game will never push you into specific areas so if something interests you then you can go ahead and play it and if not you can skip it without missing anything you need to play other areas.

 

Hello Danikat and thank you so much for your reply.

I'm sorry for the way that the text was pasted here i had no idea how to fix it when i was creating this post, i apologize for that.

 

As someone here has stated as well i have GW2 and also all the expansions, this is true, i never gave the game it's fair shot because well, maybe i'm just stubborn in believing that it's impossible to another MMORPG to be better or as good as WoW and in result i end up returning to Warcraft even when i'm not happy with the state of things in the game or with the company that probably doesn't deserve my money anymore.

 

What i fear in games these days and for example as you said, in WoW i go to a dungeon, a raid, a world boss or events and so on and i have a chance to get a piece of gear, a better weapon or a mount for example, and i fear that other games instead of rewarding the players, or make us feel like we achieved something awesome and important they instead "reward" players by placing the best gear or better looking in a store, same for the mounts.

 

I'm sure that a game like GW2 that has lived within the same landscape as WoW for years now has a lot of positives going for it, personally one of the things that i applaud in GW2 is it's community that probably it's not as large as some of the mmorpg's out there but it has remained loyal to this game.

[Splat.7981]

53 minutes ago, Inculpatus cedo.9234 said:

You have purchased all 3 expansions some time ago, so you can play any part of Guild Wars 2 (sans Living World Seasons 2-5, possibly) and discover what GW2 has to offer.

 

This is true.

I think i'm the issue to be honest, i keep thinking that WoW is a good game or it still is the best mmorpg out there when it's not, there are others that are very good as well i just don't know many besides GW2, ESO and XIV because for years i followed the WoW carrot.

 

I'm sure that, for example, if i dedicated time to a game like GW2 i would grow to become fond of it.

[Danikat.8537]

59 minutes ago, Splat.7981 said:

What i fear in games these days and for example as you said, in WoW i go to a dungeon, a raid, a world boss or events and so on and i have a chance to get a piece of gear, a better weapon or a mount for example, and i fear that other games instead of rewarding the players, or make us feel like we achieved something awesome and important they instead "reward" players by placing the best gear or better looking in a store, same for the mounts.

You don't have to worry about that. As I said the main difference is that a lot of content gives you tokens so you can choose a reward rather than relying on luck, but everything does have rewards, including a lot of unique skins and other items.

Everything in the gem store is either an optional convenience item or purely cosmetic, and as I said it only includes a small amount of the cosmetics in the game. The vast majority of items, skins etc. are found in the game itself.

[Harfang.1507]

WoW transfuge from a loooong time ago. I played Vanilla & TBC when it was new and cool. It is a game I loved, maybe too much, and like you, I am disappointed at what Blizzard has become.

GW2 is an MMO that dared not be a WoW clone, despite many similarities. They are both high fantasy games with ridiculously epic plots, though GW2's is much tighter in focus. I find both games to have similar paces, different from ARPGs like Diablo or PoE. It does not have open world PvP per se, but it has a game mode, World vs. World (WvW), entirely dedicated to large scale PvP. It also has a structured PvP (sPvP) mode, of which I am not qualified to talk about.

Gear progression, economy and crafting are radically different from WoW. In WoW, you grind your fancy epic gear in raids (or at least used to when I was a player). It was a treadmill. In GW2, a fresh max-level character can be equipped with exotics (nearly Best-in-Slot gear) in a matter of minutes without resorting to your credit card. What end-game content gives you is currencies and materials for convenience and cosmetic purpose, essentially. Ascended and legendary gear is just 5% better than exotics. Raids can give you cosmetics, but a lot of cosmetic upgrades are locked behind the Black Lion Company's paywall. That paywall can nevertheless be bypassed by RL money or gold garnered in game.

[Hotride.2187]

Having played WoW a lot, the best part for me in GW2 is the lack of the threadmill. I can gear a character once and its done. No endless battlegrounds/arenas/raids to keep gearing characters only for the next expansion to drop and delete all that time and effort. In GW2 you can even work toward legendary gear, which you farm once and then you are set on all your characters. Even fully geared, there are tons of achievements and collections to go after; you can set endless goals for yourself.

Gameplay itself... hard to say. I much prefer the instanced content from WoW and how that played, compared to instances in GW2. On the other hand I like pvp in GW2 a lot more; even if it was harder to get into than in WoW. GW2 also has open world "meta events", which to me at least feels way more varied (and enjoyable) than anything WoW had to offer.

Personally I've had more fun in GW2. I feel way less forced into finding pve groups and similar crap. While I'm never actually playing solo, I am playing "alone". No need to wait on other players, rarely have to depend on other players to be on the ball.

My main problem with GW2 is the lack of a duel area. A lot of my WoW time was just dueling, that is missing in GW2. You can duel, but its hard to find players and its not as clean as it was in WoW (e.g. you can get interrupted by other players).

 

Edited July 18, 2022 by Hotride.2187

[that baby stealing dingo.7]

I don't think GW2 is much like WoW, but I think it's a very quality MMORPG. 

 

"What i fear in games these days and for example as you said, in WoW i go to a dungeon, a raid, a world boss or events and so on and i have a chance to get a piece of gear, a better weapon or a mount for example, and i fear that other games instead of rewarding the players, or make us feel like we achieved something awesome and important they instead "reward" players by placing the best gear or better looking in a store, same for the mounts."

 

The best gear in the game is the gear you craft. Any awards you get from completing end game, instanced content (i.e., raids) will be as good, but not better, than the guy next to you who never tried a single raid in his life. He just made it with materials gathered from the game world. 

 

Mounts are earned, not purchased through the in-game store. 

 

There is zero reason to spend money in the gem store if you don't want to. It all cosmetics and quality of life things. You can purchase certain items that help with loot generation (mineral nodes to mine in your home instance, say), but nothing that changes the game balance between players in any meaningful way. 

 

In summary: I can't say GW2 will be as enjoyable for you as WoW, but your main concerns are unfounded. 

 

 

 

[kharmin.7683]

18 hours ago, Hotride.2187 said:

My main problem with GW2 is the lack of a duel area. A lot of my WoW time was just dueling, that is missing in GW2. You can duel, but its hard to find players and its not as clean as it was in WoW (e.g. you can get interrupted by other players).

 

This seems to be a popular request for players coming from other MMOs where dueling is more prevalent.  In my opinion, many player come to GW2 because it doesn't have this feature/option in open world.  A quick forums search on open world dueling might give some indication as to the lack of desire for such.

I have seen where it has been advised to find dueling in WvW, but from what I gather that is a far more limited sub-set of players who enjoy engaging in that type of play.  Which, again, may be why many players in GW2 don't want it.   /shrug

[Ashen.2907]

You will not get cool gear as drops...or at least not often. You will need to craft, buy from the TP, do collections (kind of like scavenger hunts), or complete achievements to get top end gear.

[Ashen.2907]

On 7/19/2022 at 7:23 PM, Ashen.2907 said:

You will not get cool gear as drops...or at least not often. You will need to craft, buy from the TP, do collections (kind of like scavenger hunts), or complete achievements to get top end gear.

Added for clarification:

That isnt to say that you cant have fun playing the game and earning top tier loot. Just dont expect it to (under most circumstances) come from a random drop.

Edited July 22, 2022 by Ashen.2907

[Nabbut.7480]

A huge advantage of GW2 over WoW is content density - there is always something to do in a few seconds of walking/riding, like event, or harvest node, or just kill some hostiles/wildlife. After playing GW2, WoW is too large, empty, waity and boring to me.

As others said, there is no endgame gear stat progression in GW2- you get full ascended and that's it, the rest that you can do is to get new skins. And legendaries are the same ascended stats with extra swag/utility, behind a huge, expensive grind.