worth returning to game after many years?

[Phoenixfire.8079]

is it worth restarting the game ? i  played for a bit at launch then left it.

 

is it too late for me to play?

 

also hows the games crafting?  can i level up and stand out in it at all? like get special recipes etc?

[Infusion.7149]

Yes it is worth coming back, just do not spend too much time on it and work through the expansion content if you are not getting a level 80 boost. The endgame scene is slated to be even more casual as we move on and no elite specs are stated to be incoming.

At this point there is no real reason to craft anything except legendary items. You can get ascended weapons and trinkets quite easy.

I recommend referring to https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/User:Tanetris/So_You_Want_To_Gear_a_Character

[Einsof.1457]

No content in gw2 is outdated unlike other mmos. Come on back. 

[Randulf.7614]

It is surprisngly well populated right now across most maps (EU). The game seems to be enjoying a somewhat stable population.

It's never too late to play. You are never playing catch up with your own progression once you hit level 80 (eg levels, gear), just with content and there is no shortage of that

[Badfish.3258]

I came back to the game a couple of months ago after playing a bit 8-9 years ago, and am not really enjoying it much.  I bought the expansions and got some free level/gear boosts and so I have decent exotic/celestial gear and some ascended bits from WvW, but I'm never wanted for fractals, raids, strikes, etc groups as they want "experienced players" with specific requirements, despite me having watched YouTube videos and understanding the mechanics (and telling them this).  I gave up trying with PvE groups and just do some WvW nowadays.  WvW can be tough though, some players with the best gear/knowledge can kill you in about 2 seconds...

Overall I find the game quite unfriendly for new/returning players, now summer is coming I'll be done with it soon.

Edited May 2, 2023 by Badfish.3258

[Urud.4925]

Some end-game content can have some toxic players, like before (not to mention PvP); some players want specific boon-providers to make life easier, but ArenaNet added a category "not experienced/training" to the strike missions and raids in Looking For Group, so you can always look in these sub-sections. Raids also have an easy mode now. Compared to the chronotank-druid meta we had before, now there are more options for every profession.

As Infusion said, crafting is not as important as before, since you can buy ascended gear quite easily now, but it's definitely possible to level up your crafting profession and craft your own ascended armor, like before (materials are quite cheap right now).

It's hard to say whether you'll like it or not, it depends why you left the game years ago, but it's definitely not too late. It's still quite easy to catch up, at least in terms of power, since the level cap didn't change (although there are new levels of power creep added in the last expansion, but they are not difficult to farm). I'd say try it and see for yourself. If you've quit just after launch, I recommend to buy the first 2 expansions (they have a lot of content and can be found at 15-25€ both. HoT is now included in PoF), and hold on the third one, until you decide if you like it or not.

[Linken.6345]

9 hours ago, Badfish.3258 said:

I came back to the game a couple of months ago after playing a bit 8-9 years ago, and am not really enjoying it much.  I bought the expansions and got some free level/gear boosts and so I have decent exotic/celestial gear and some ascended bits from WvW, but I'm never wanted for fractals, raids, strikes, etc groups as they want "experienced players" with specific requirements, despite me having watched YouTube videos and understanding the mechanics (and telling them this).  I gave up trying with PvE groups and just do some WvW nowadays.  WvW can be tough though, some players with the best gear/knowledge can kill you in about 2 seconds...

Overall I find the game quite unfriendly for new/returning players, now summer is coming I'll be done with it soon.

Any reason you cant start a all welcome group for fractals and learn it with other newish people?

Why they dont want you in their groups are most likely they want a smooth run with people who have played the content already and are not in for a newer player that can screw the run up royaly potentialy.

Youtube videos are decent but its nothing to a player that have run the fight for example 50 times.

[knives.6345]

I quit like 7ish(?) years ago and just logged back in this 2023 - builds are a little outdated, but my gears are still relevant.

I am a casual player, I understand if people doing fractals, raids, etc wants experienced players. I just shout on map, and 80% of the time there are people willing to teach. One example is for the Turtle mount, you need to do strike. Our group waited for like 10mins when an experienced player joined in, gave us summary how it works and we did it. 1 died I think but overall, smooth.

Same goes for HP. There are tons I can solo, but for things I cannot, just yell on map. There are like a few instances where no one came, but again, 80-90% of the time, people come.

Crafting - I am a bit annoyed that the Gift of Battle (for Legendary) is now locked to WvW participation, but it is what it is. Created a thread here on forum asking how I can do it faster - got it within 2ish days.

To sum it up: My experience has been positive so far. I got 3 legendaries crafted this 2023, I am not actively pursuing other legendaries, just saving mats for now. And people, just like when I quit 7 years ago, are still surprisingly helpful. I've seen a few toxicity (lol when Soo-Won meta fails, the squad chat fires up) but I think in GW2, is a lot tame compared to other games.

[Fueki.4753]

Try playing it and see if it's fun to you. If it is fun to you, it's worth coming back. If you don't have fun, it's not worth coming back.

Noone but you yourself can answer the question, whether it's worth for you to come back or not.

Edited May 2, 2023 by Fueki.4753

[Bastien.1645]

I'm exactly like you, played in 2012 and 2013 and just recently came back.

 

This game is incredible. I have tried a lot of MMOs including GW1 (my favourite of all time, nothing comes close, not even GW2), ESO, WoW, FF. GW2 right now to me is the best in the market, really worth coming back, amazing community, combat system, not very grindy or treadmilly compared to wow for example that has a gear treadmill and then resets every 6 months, amazing lore and story but I might be a bit biased since going back to Cantha hits me right in the nostalgia feels. 

[Gazragar.7598]

As a bump (googled for practically this exact question) - I've got one level 60 character, one 43, and another 25.  Should I start from scratch, or try and pick them back up?

[Endaris.1452]

51 minutes ago, Gazragar.7598 said:

As a bump (googled for practically this exact question) - I've got one level 60 character, one 43, and another 25.  Should I start from scratch, or try and pick them back up?

The general advice is to never delete old characters for a relatively simple reason: Birthday gifts.

Birthday gifts are given out by character creation date and the later ones have exclusive skins, dyes etc. If you delete these characters that means that you'll need to wait their age until you can progress onto the next level of birthday gifts and the later birthday gifts are definitely better than the earlier ones.

[phaserBanks.7386]

For me, I maxxed out my Thief character with all the crafting skills. I use my Druid primarily now, but I turn to my Thief to craft items for all my other characters.

[kharmin.7683]

22 hours ago, Gazragar.7598 said:

As a bump (googled for practically this exact question) - I've got one level 60 character, one 43, and another 25.  Should I start from scratch, or try and pick them back up?

Depends how long you've been away.  Maybe start a new toon from scratch to re-familiarize yourself with things and then pick up the veteran characters when you're better acclimated?

[Dorsai.1458]

PVE is always ok in this game (except for how everyone needs to ball up for boon access). Open world pve is the best thing this game has going for it IMO.

If you're primarily a PVP player, look elsewhere.  SPVP is stale and unbalanced as hell.  WvW is not pvp.  It's zerg vs zerg boonballs.  I hardly see any roamers anymore and spend most of my time trying to peel one guy from a zerg or just flat out running from the zerg.

[DavyDrones.2397]

On 5/2/2023 at 3:15 AM, Badfish.3258 said:

I came back to the game a couple of months ago after playing a bit 8-9 years ago, and am not really enjoying it much.  I bought the expansions and got some free level/gear boosts and so I have decent exotic/celestial gear and some ascended bits from WvW, but I'm never wanted for fractals, raids, strikes, etc groups as they want "experienced players" with specific requirements, despite me having watched YouTube videos and understanding the mechanics (and telling them this).  I gave up trying with PvE groups and just do some WvW nowadays.  WvW can be tough though, some players with the best gear/knowledge can kill you in about 2 seconds...

Overall I find the game quite unfriendly for new/returning players, now summer is coming I'll be done with it soon.

I am exactly the opposite. I have a blast farming masteries. I am close to have fully upgraded glider and soon will enter PoF and start farming the mounts. I don't think the Fractals, raids, strikes are be all end all.

[Gaiawolf.8261]

Similar story for me. I played at launch, took a 7 year break, and came back in 2021. I started a new character to relearn and get back into the game's feel and was very happy that I did. The leveling experience was fun, although I'm not sure I needed it, if that's not your thing. I was able to get back into my old characters with a bit of practice. 

Unlike what some other players advised about crafting, I found it valuable and kinda fun way to level too. It might escape some veteran players' notice how much the game's inflation affects new/returning players. I used it first as a way to save gold on new gear and later as a way to make gold.

I mostly play OW, WVW, and ways to explore the world and story. I don't play fractals and strikes much, but I was able to get into them pretty easily too. There are guilds and even pug groups willing to train new members and help newbies. It's been very rare that I ran into a toxic player.

Overall, I find this game very engaging due to its dynamic, hybrid action combat system, lore and unique races, massive OW that feels alive with both large and small treasures, and friendly playerbase.