What Keeps You Playing?

[Danikat.8537]

There's also a lot of topics and posts created by people who only visit the forum when they're having a problem with the game and either want advice or a space to vent. I think of it like this: if you visit a forum about custom PC builds you'll probably see endless topics about dodgy components, things not working, compatibility issues, needing help finding affordable components etc. but it's not because all PCs are terrible and constantly breaking down, it's because most people only visit a forum like that when they have a problem. This forum (and reddit) serves the same purpose for GW2. For the same reason you'll see a similar amount of negativity on most games forums.

Weird as it sounds if I wanted to see a lot of people praising Guild Wars 2 I'd go to the Elder Scrolls Online forum (because that's my other MMO) and tell them I love that game because it's so much better designed than GW2 and wait for people to disagree. Even people who will complain about a game on it's own forum don't like seeing complaints about it elsewhere.

(Which reminds me, you are allowed to mention other games by name here. You can't make a topic entirely about another game, but you don't have to avoid naming them, unless you want to.)

[evilcat.6817]

• Casual style, once a week drop in to do weekly wizards or not
• Slowly progress storyline, as i want to see the whole story
• run around in cute outfits killing mobs

[AliamRationem.5172]

8 hours ago, Vayne.8563 said:

The negative atmosphere is common in most MMO forums. The people that post the most have been playing this game for hundreds, if not thousands of hours. A few thousand hours in this game is not uncommon.

We all get into a place where we're doing something for so long that we've wrung a lot of the enjoyment out of it, and we want more of what we like and we're not necessarily getting it. But for what I've paid for this game, and the hours I've put into it, it's costing me pennies and hour to play.

Listening to any forum about any MMO is likely to be a negative experience, but people who are enjoying the game don't necessarily spend their time on the forums posting. Many of them are in game playing.

It's even more common when you make posts that ask questions like: "Is ele really as bad as they say?"

 

[Trevor Philips.3824]

No sub fee. 

[kharmin.7683]

7 hours ago, Trevor Philips.3824 said:

No sub fee. 

This is a huge factor for me, as well.  Also, what keeps me playing is the social aspect of playing with friends.  We don't necessarily set out to achieve specific goals or do any instanced content like raids and such.  We just party up, pick a map and have at it.  Sometimes it's a core map; other times not and we joke and tease each other with how bad we are when we're downed or dead because we don't make meta builds.  Instead, we play what we like whether it works or not.

Simply put, I guess, we just pal around and have fun.

[Qys.5937]

I love this game because it has so little pressure compared to other MMO's. GW2 doesn't make me regrind gear every few month and getting gear is a clear defined path. It might be grindy but little if any RNG. I know I need to do X achievement and farm/buy x amount of materials to get what I want and I can work as fast or slow as I want. GW2 has a wide range of activities PVP, WvW different flavors of instant content and so, so much open world fun to be had. I don't have to worry about "falling behind" if I can't log in for a bit because of RL. I know some people bring up the WV as being stressful but I don't see it that way. If I want to do the weekly/daily stuff fine if not no big deal. I still get enough points to get all the stuff I want and usually just have the gold/crafting bags left by the time the season rolls over. 

[Danikat.8537]

12 hours ago, Trevor Philips.3824 said:

No sub fee. 

That's a big part of what got me interesting at first. It was the charr which caught my attention and made me ask what my brother was playing, then when I found out it was an MMO without a subscription fee (this was GW1 so that was unheard of at the time) I knew I wanted to play it.

But these days there's a lot of buy-to-play or free MMOs so that on it's own wouldn't convince me (in fact I tend to be suspicious of the ones which claim to be free) to start or stick with a game, it needs to have other things going for it.

But I think a lot of what appeals to me about GW2 does stem from that decision, especially the fact that it genuinely doesn't have a subscription, rather than having an optional one or a "VIP tier" or whatever. The game is designed from the ground up for players to be able to come and go as they want, without being pressured to log in regularly, because Anet aren't trying to sell them that time, even as an "optional" extra. Which ironically also leads to me taking shorter breaks, because I'm never in a situation where I think I'm going to miss 2 weeks so I won't pay for the full month, so I can't play for the other 2 weeks either.

[Blood Red Arachnid.2493]

Mostly I play it as a synthetic form of work.  I can't just sit passively; it drives me mad.  I have to do something, albeit in a limited way.  Though now I'm at a point where I'm just collecting chests with several of my toons parked at them, as I have accomplished my most recent goal of crafting all underwater legendary weapons.  It's a bit odd, though, as I am sort-of in a post-gold state atm.  I'm waiting until all of SotO is released and seeing if there's anything objectional before buying it, so I'm in a state of stasis right now.  

[Tiamat.8254]

I like to discover new things. I'm constantly surprised how some content exists, you see it all the time, then when you start doing an achievement for example you find out why the content is there. I'm not an achievement hunter but I use them as a mechanism to explore. And then occasionally it's fun going in wvw 😃

[Nash.2681]

No sub and my guild and friends. Besides that- not much. EoD was a let down, the new direction they took with SotO feels like a complete scam to me. Now add the tons of bad design decisions they made over the last months and you succesfully pushed a player that sticked to the franchise for 19 years away.

[vandrefalk.6823]

As a casual gamer - who also takes time away to play other solo RPGs or even other MMOs - it's nice to come back and never be behind power-wise; sure, might be some new features or masteries to unlock, but it's quick to be current again.

And the completionist in me slowly chips away at achievements for upping my AP, even though I'm just at a measly 41K, so can't say I'm much of an AP hunter. But there's never a shortage of achievements to work on, and that's probably my endgame more than anything else.

But, gameplay and combat is fantastic in GW2, and whether I play WvW, PvE or PvP, there's usually something fun to do when I do get around to playing.

[Urud.4925]

1. The combat

2. The fact that it's not very gear-based compared to other MMOs. It feels good when you and your squad complete a CM or a raid for the first time, after trying several times and improving after each attempt (in many other MMOs, if your gear sucks and you don't want to farm for months, you have no chance, no matter your personal skills)

3. Admittedly, FOMO for AP (but don't abuse it ArenaNet! There's a limit to everything 😄.  And I'm getting close to it)

[Ariurotl.3718]

Stockholm Syndrome.

...

And lack of p2w or monthly fee, I suppose.