Returning player - I am rather enjoying this!

[Xariann.5071]

Just posting this for no other reason than sharing the fun.

I bought this game, I believe, when it first came out. I played it for a bit (apparently longer than I remember, as I am going through the main game's story and the chapters were all familiar up to around the level 60 ones). I was a bit saddened to see that Dungeons weren't that popular although Fractals sounded good. But I moved on before I tried the Fractals. I logged back in a few times, bought new expansions to stay current, but I never stuck around.

However, as I adulted a bit more and health issues ensued, I found I was less able to keep up with the gear treadmills of other games. In fact Dragonflight came out, I maxed out all the reps, I almost maxed out my crafting, I got the rating I wanted in my M+, and when Season 2 came out... I was just done. It was SO MUCH work, it required SO MUCH effort, and I just couldn't do it again. Everything I did had been reset, and I'd had to regrind my mythic rating again etc.

I decided to retry Guild Wars 2. The lens through which I look at games, I think, has changed dramatically. I always knew this game respected your time, but... I didn't realise just how much FOMO was taking a toll on me, until it went away - because of my health issues, it was doing so a bit more than on a "normal" person. Now that I put my competitiveness aside, I am playing GW2 now and I am really enjoying it. I am liking the combat even more than before, I think I just got a bit tired of some other combat systems. And respecting your time does not mean there is nothing to do. There is actually a lot to sink my teeth into. And there is still group PvE content I can do when I wish to (which has been my focus for a long time). I find the classes in this game are rather interesting, too. Always have.

I was just a little bit worried by Arena Net saying they are changing the cadence of the releases, thinking, "So now here I am taking this game seriously, and now there will be more updates than I keep up with". Don't get me wrong, I think frequent updates are generally a good thing. I was just worrying about the "trying to stay up to date" part given my circumstances.

But it sounds like they are actually planning a catch up system for people so they don't get FOMOed in. So that part doesn't seem to have changed, and it appears we might be getting the best of both worlds - frequent updates while not getting cornered into doing everything right now.

It was interesting to see Preach Gaming's series about GW2, given that we have similar gaming experiences, as he painted a picture in my language... so to speak. I don't follow him regularly, but his series on this was pretty enlightening. 

I find that games are getting more and more "screamy", trying to extort you into gameplay every day, even when you are not feeling like it (but if you don't you fall behind). I am however logging into GW 2 because I enjoy it, and of my own choice. And that's gone away for a lot of games I think. I am glad to have it back.

Edited July 8, 2023 by Xariann.5071

[Beleron.9347]

Someone with something positive to say? <Gasp!>

Perhaps this forum isn't for you...

[Vayne.8563]

I get this completely. 61 here, all sorts of health issues, bursitis in my right shoulder and arthritis is my neck and back being the ones that affect my gameplay the most. Playing with 250 ping from Australia isn't all that helpful either.

I can do what I want, pretty much when I want, and feel like I'm making progression. To be fair, most people consider me a hardercore player, but I'm not really competitive. I'm just relentless. I keep going, take breaks, keep going, take breaks. And eventually I get done what I want to get done. It takes me longer than many people in my guild, but that's okay.

Glad you found a place to chill.

[Dayra.7405]

You cannot fall behind in gw2 (as a result of the horizontal progression), you can only progress in the direction you choose to as far as you choose to.