New/returning player google search player observations

[salzia.2790]

First off Ranger class max level,

1.  Trying to figure out the steps to max my power was a  nightmare.  Fan bois - THIS IS AN OPINION FROMA RETURNING PLAYER

• Google searching had tons of old/bad articles
• The path to "good" was terrible
• Fan bois...your haha this is the link is fail if google does not support it.  The quest path is laborious at best.

2,  Questing

• 3 dimension questing needs a whole lot of work or really just avoid it!
• Instanced questing:  I am a power player ( kinda) I Hate this let me skip more!
• Instanced questing:  If you are going to force me at least point me better.  I was running around like a headless chicken looking for my next get me our of here yapping fest.

3.  End Game

• No clue yet.  And that my friends is a giant problem.

 

 

 

 

[DanAlcedo.3281]

>Outskilled by Google and can't find a giant green story star. 

>Somehow the games fault. 

 

Bro needs mobile game difficulty. 

 

[Danikat.8537]

As far as I know no one here works for Google so I'm not sure what you expect us to do about their search engine. It's a known problem that it's gotten worse at providing relevant results recently (on all topics, I'm not just talking about GW2 searches), but it's something only Google can solve. Here's some articles on the topic:
https://mashable.com/article/google-search-low-quality-research
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/01/google-search-is-losing-the-fight-with-seo-spam-study-says/
https://theconversation.com/is-google-getting-worse-increased-advertising-and-algorithm-changes-may-make-it-harder-to-find-what-youre-looking-for-166966

If you want build guides these are the recommended sites I know of:
https://metabattle.com/wiki/MetaBattle_Wiki For all areas of the game. I think they use a voting system to rank builds.
https://snowcrows.com/ Snow Crows is a guild, and I think only guild members publish builds and write guides for their site, but they're generally considered to give good advice.

You could also join a guild and ask them for advice or tell us what kind of build you want and we can help.

As for the rest I think it's important to know GW2 is not a game you can blindly rush through and expect to succeed. Being a good player means not just pushing a lot of buttons very quickly (although that's often important) but paying attention to what the game is telling you and responding to it. If you try to rush through everything without reading or listening you are, as you've found, going to end up lost and confused because you missed all the instructions along the way.

[HnRkLnXqZ.1870]

3 hours ago, salzia.2790 said:

1.  Trying to figure out the steps to max my power was a  nightmare.  Fan bois - THIS IS AN OPINION FROMA RETURNING PLAYER

If you google "ranger gw2" you get:
1.) the wiki entry
2.) meta-battle
3.) the q/a part
4.) the video suggestions
5.) SnowCrows
6.) HardStuck

Underlined ones are build-lists, asking you what you want to play and offer you the perfect build for that situation. MetaBattle and HardStuck have difficulty scales, telling you how hard those builds are to learn and control. Both sides also tell you in their guides that exotic gear works fine, no need to start with ascended gear. They show you what gear you need, stats, runes, sigils and relics. Explain how the build works, what to focus on and give tips about critical situations. 
-
Welcome to Guildwars 2!
This is an MMORPG:
- Massive
- Multiplayer
- Online
- Role-Play-Game

The game launched in 2012, so it is almost 12 years old. The core game and personal story are well designed and should be used as a tutorial to get you into the game. By using an instant level 80 booster, you skip the tutorial and get overwhelmed easily. We will not / cannot stop you from doing so, but be warned that this may lead to you rage-quitting the game due to total confusion. 

MMORPGs require time to learn and get used to the mechanics and the environment. Endgame here is massive, but very complex. We have plenty of options, but each of them has their own mini-cosmos with its own rules.

Try to get familiar with the /wiki command ingame. You can type this in chat and link items/locations via SHIFT+Click behind the command. Then press ENTER to open the gw2-wiki, with a detailed explanation of that thing. If you do not want to read, which is totally fine, you can try one of our dedicated content creators such as:
- Mukluk
- AyinMaiden
- Laranity
- MightyTeapod
- Vallun
- CaffeinatedDad

... there are more, but those are the ones I know from memory. They have guides and tutorials to everything relevant in GW2 including some very detailed class & build explanations. If you want to save time and are a quick learner, you can modify the video speed to 1.25x. That works for most explanation-videos, even tutorials and learnings of RL/work stuff. 

If you have any detailed questions about class performance, I highly recommend you to visit our sub-forums professions / ranger. We also have a Players Helping Players section, where you can ask everything you want - just be polite.

Note: Fresh account, created 4 hours ago, last online 4 hours ago, 1 post only (this one). I know what this looks like. The title has a few keywords, which may lead new/interested players to this page - via google or other search engines (yes, there are more ^^). So I just don't want this 'post' to be a red-flag for anyone curious about the game.

[salzia.2790]

Mostly helpful thank you.

 

As to this:  Note: Fresh account, created 4 hours ago, last online 4 hours ago, 1 post only (this one). I know what this looks like. The title has a few keywords, which may lead new/interested players to this page - via google or other search engines (yes, there are more ^^). So I just don't want this 'post' to be a red-flag for anyone curious about the game.

 

Fresh because the recovery process was convoluted and I had not overinvested to much other than maxing a character and skills at the time.

[starlinvf.1358]

if we’re still bashing ranger anyway, I wanna point out it the only class that has all the traits to do serious damage, but the designers purposefully makes them all mutually exclusive to each other.  Its the one class that struggles with that as a core design principle.  

[Sobx.1758]

9 hours ago, salzia.2790 said:

1.  Trying to figure out the steps to max my power was a  nightmare.  Fan bois - THIS IS AN OPINION FROMA RETURNING PLAYER

• Google searching had tons of old/bad articles
• The path to "good" was terrible
• Fan bois...your haha this is the link is fail if google does not support it.  The quest path is laborious at best.

What exactly did you google?
What results did you get?
What results did you expect?

9 hours ago, salzia.2790 said:

3.  End Game

• No clue yet.  And that my friends is a giant problem.

I don't get it. You started the game, you don't know about endgame and that's.. a giant problem? Explain.

[Supernova Starr.2069]

9 hours ago, DanAlcedo.3281 said:

can't find a giant green story star. 

Not sure on what OP is ranting but completing Story in Seitung Province was nightmare for me.

Designers knew exactly what they were doing while choosing green palette for that map.

[Crystal Paladin.3871]

1 hour ago, starlinvf.1358 said:

if we’re still bashing ranger anyway, I wanna point out it the only class that has all the traits to do serious damage, but the designers purposefully makes them all mutually exclusive to each other.  Its the one class that struggles with that as a core design principle.  

Necro reaper, berserker, bladesworn, willybendy, condi daredevil, power daredevil, holosmirk 😏🥴 scrapper says hi! How are you?

Edited April 22 by Crystal Paladin.3871

[AliamRationem.5172]

Your post is difficult to understand, but if I am reading you correctly you're only interested in raids/strikes/fractals and have little patience for anything else.  GW2 is a poor choice of game for you as it prioritizes the "everything else" while providing very little of the content you're interested in.

[AliamRationem.5172]

4 hours ago, starlinvf.1358 said:

if we’re still bashing ranger anyway, I wanna point out it the only class that has all the traits to do serious damage, but the designers purposefully makes them all mutually exclusive to each other.  Its the one class that struggles with that as a core design principle.  

Do you mean core ranger?  Because soulbeast, untamed, and even druid don't seem to have any problems dealing damage.  All 3 show benchmarks in the 42.5-44k range, with druid and untamed both listed in the top 10 builds on SC.  Further, soulbeast has been one of the best power DPS builds for fractals for years and Untamed has been the highest DPS build in the game in solo play since it released.

[RavensSorrow.6128]

On 4/22/2024 at 12:55 AM, salzia.2790 said:

First off Ranger class max level,

1.  Trying to figure out the steps to max my power was a  nightmare.  Fan bois - THIS IS AN OPINION FROMA RETURNING PLAYER

• Google searching had tons of old/bad articles
• The path to "good" was terrible
• Fan bois...your haha this is the link is fail if google does not support it.  The quest path is laborious at best.

2,  Questing

• 3 dimension questing needs a whole lot of work or really just avoid it!
• Instanced questing:  I am a power player ( kinda) I Hate this let me skip more!
• Instanced questing:  If you are going to force me at least point me better.  I was running around like a headless chicken looking for my next get me our of here yapping fest.

3.  End Game

• No clue yet.  And that my friends is a giant problem.

 

 

 

 

1) Just because it is old doesn't mean it is bad. Some of the old articles are still relevant years later thanks to the horizontal progression in gear. Without knowing what you googled or what sites you got it's hard to figure out how to "improve" the search. And what is this issue you have with "fan bois" as you say. It's a weird way to start don't do that.

2) I don't know what 3 Dimension questing is, but the instance cuts scenes you can skip most of them I think.

3) I have no clue what the problem is. Is it that you have heard nothing about it? maybe you googled it and couldn't find what end game is in gw2? Not giving us a clue to your not having a clue isn't the best way to get a clue. Get it?

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

On 4/21/2024 at 9:55 PM, salzia.2790 said:

.  End Game

• No clue yet.  And that my friends is a giant problem.

Many players consider this to be 'endgame':  https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/forum/24-instanced-group-content/

Enjoy!

[IAmNotMatthew.1058]

On 4/22/2024 at 6:55 AM, salzia.2790 said:

First off Ranger class max level,

1.  Trying to figure out the steps to max my power was a  nightmare.  Fan bois - THIS IS AN OPINION FROMA RETURNING PLAYER

• Google searching had tons of old/bad articles
• The path to "good" was terrible
• Fan bois...your haha this is the link is fail if google does not support it.  The quest path is laborious at best.

Typed "GW2 ranger" into Google, FIrst was the wiki page for Ranger, under it a video guide to Ranger, under that 2 builds for Ranger on YT, under those was Metabattle and SnowCrows. A bit under that is Hardstuck with "RANGER BUILDS". In 5 seconds I found 3 sites with builds, 2 videos with builds and a video that will have a build along with explanations as it's a guide.

Not being able to or not willing to check what the search results are unless they say "THIS IS WHERE YOU WILL FIND YOUR RANGER BUILD" is not the game's fault, it's your fault mate.

[XSevSpreeX.2143]

On 4/22/2024 at 12:38 AM, DanAlcedo.3281 said:

>Outskilled by Google and can't find a giant green story star. 

>Somehow the games fault. 

 

Bro needs mobile game difficulty. 

 

You understood his post?

[Astralporing.1957]

On 4/22/2024 at 6:55 AM, salzia.2790 said:

3.  End Game

• No clue yet.  And that my friends is a giant problem.

"whole game is the endgame".

Yes, that means people that expect to be funneled into a singular tyupe of endgame content might feel overwhelmed - but then that game wasn't designed for them, so i guess it's as planned.

[Vayne.8563]

Old players opinion of new players opinion. 

What you're saying is not a huge problem. It's a problem for you.  The issue here is that you expect every single game to be made for or appeal to every single player. You want to be led around by the nose and this game was designed to be something different from that. The fact that you can't just google what to do at any given time is why many of us are here. It's about having choices and options instead of a linear path.

It's true you may not like this. I'm just not sure why we should care.  If you don't like the game, that's fine. I don't like plenty of popular games. You're not the only one that even has that opinion. But what you're complaining about, which is an issue for some people, is a draw for others.

Oh my god, there's a level of complexity that means I have to figure some stuff out without being spoon-fed a path forward! Whatever will I do.  And trying to dismiss any response to you by prelabeling it fan bois is exactly the kind of tactic that detracts from your opinion. What you're essentially saying is agree with me or you're a fan boi. It's okay if you don't get the game. I don't mind that. For every post we get like yours, there's a post by someone who loves the game. So maybe it's okay that you have this issue.

[willow.8209]

I think everyone's struggling that search results are not as good as they used to be. I suspect all the search engines are using more AI than they used to and that there's a learning curve for the companies with that--or it just isn't going to work like they hoped, who knows at this point (a skeptical person might suggest that they actually make more money from the low quality sites). Of course there's a thing called search engine optimization, but Google has always changed things up abruptly from time to time--usually reliably during the pre-Christmas season when retailers are trying to get customers for their end-of-year products, but also any other random time. 

3 dimension questing, I assume you're referring to Heart of Thorns or capital cities. Yes, it's different to get used to. Gliding masteries and at least bouncing mushrooms help a lot in HoT. Also you'll get more familiar over time. Some people do find the multi-leveled design frustrating at first, and others really like it straight from the beginning. I needed some masteries to like it, but at this point I do like it. Leaping off a cliff and catching myself with glider just because I can--yea I'm there for that. 🙂 Also the mounts are variously designed to help overcome particular navigation challenges. You can't use them in pre-PoF story, however. 

Story instances, you can skip most of the cutscenes after you've seen them once. Not a lot of help on first playthrough, but hey this is a story-rich game. The chatting and cutscenes tell the story. And just flesh out the world. It's fine to not be interested, but there is a point to having it there.

You usually have to do a little story to get more options available (e.g. gliding, fishing, etc), or occasionally lots (e.g. most PoF mounts)/all the story (i,e, griffon). 

As previously mentioned, the green spark markers point you to your story quest, but sometimes it's a green circle or green arrow (if these are orange, they are events), or green pathing chevrons (marking a way to navigate a capitol city for your story quest), or a green swirl (go through the portal to the next map). And sometimes really hard to see against the background, especially the circles and arrows. Sometimes there's a puzzle to solve, but I noticed these are often better marked now than they used to be. There are usually hints: sometimes something the NPCs say, and sometimes a guide on your screen... but occasionally you'll need to wiki the hints too. Sometimes, you just have to hang tight and wait because they want you to feel a sense of time passing or feel like the epic battle wasn't over too quickly.

Most people find it's pretty useful to read the wiki and look at other guides, and going through the level 1-80 story can also be very helpful to learn the game. If you skipped that with a boost, I recommend you still go back and play the pre-80 content. In addition to the story, do some heart quests, events, hero point, world boss. Then once you have a feel for how the game works and how you character plays (or how its play has changed through an elite spec), you can then do the level 80 content more readily. 

End game is all level 80 content, whether that's playing through the expansions, crafting armor, PvP, WvW, fashion, fractals, raids and strikes, collections, whathaveyou. Try some things, see if you find something you like. It's a game: if you're not having fun, try something else. If you like to speedrun stuff I suggest you try fractals, dungeons, PvP, or WvW. Or even Dragon Response Missions (some players hate these but I think from repetition and those being the main new content at the time they came out). 

Edited April 25 by willow.8209

[salzia.2790]

Keep bashing me that will probably increase revenue to put more devs into content...boggle.  The game does not have a clear directional improvement path for anyone that is not a hardcore fanboi.  Hate all your want but players and $$$ dictate the number of devs/quality and I am just saying the leveling and power progression is a MASSIVE mess.

Bring the hate.

 

PS:  Strike mission LFG Training has been empty every time I looked.  So much for those points.

Edited July 18 by salzia.2790

[Vayne.8563]

1 hour ago, salzia.2790 said:

Keep bashing me that will probably increase revenue to put more devs into content...boggle.  The game does not have a clear directional improvement path for anyone that is not a hardcore fanboi.  Hate all your want but players and $$$ dictate the number of devs/quality and I am just saying the leveling and power progression is a MASSIVE mess.

Bring the hate.

 

PS:  Strike mission LFG Training has been empty every time I looked.  So much for those points.

Again, you want to call everyone who likes the game a fan boi. I can call everyone who doesn't like the game a hater, but that's a cheap tactic that means absolutely nothing. If you mean by fan boi that I like the game, sure I like the game it's why I'm here. It's why many of us are here. And because we like the game, and don't have the same problems you do, naturally we're going to talk about the game.

But if they changed this game to give us all the answers like you want, it would lose something FOR ME. I would like the game less. I want to learn and explore and figure out stuff. And it's okay if you don't. That's fine. Not everyone likes the same stuff.

But I found a way to get trained doing various things and you didn't. Therefore, I did something right and you didn't. It's IS harder to learn some stuff playing this game, because in a lot of ways there's more complexity. There's not just one size fits all or one build fits all.

I like that. It's what I want from a game. This game provides that, therefore I like it. You want to dismiss that opinion by calling me a fan boi.

I want to dismiss your opinion because you're representing a feature as a problem.

[DanAlcedo.3281]

4 hours ago, salzia.2790 said:

PS:  Strike mission LFG Training has been empty every time I looked.  So much for those points.

Strike training? What? 

Strikes ARE training by default. That's literally the point of strikes. 

Just join a group. As long as they don't set requirements or are cm fights, you will be accepted. 

Check for IBS 5 + DS. Say what role you play when you join and go. 

I do strikes runs everyday. The dps/skill needed is low and we carry beginners no problem. 

I have never seen someone get kicked for low performance in nm strikes. 

[AliamRationem.5172]

6 hours ago, salzia.2790 said:

Keep bashing me that will probably increase revenue to put more devs into content...boggle.  The game does not have a clear directional improvement path for anyone that is not a hardcore fanboi.  Hate all your want but players and $$$ dictate the number of devs/quality and I am just saying the leveling and power progression is a MASSIVE mess.

Bring the hate.

 

PS:  Strike mission LFG Training has been empty every time I looked.  So much for those points.

Perhaps if you explained your position instead of insisting there's a problem as if it were self-evident, we might be able to find some common ground.  But thus far it sounds more like you just came here to vent some vague frustration with the game.  Did you expect a positive response to your temper tantrum?

So, let's try again.  You're just saying the leveling and power progression is a MASSIVE mess.  Okay.  So, what does that mean exactly?  Are we talking about progression during the leveling process specifically?  If so, I think a lot of people would agree the leveling process in this game leaves a lot to be desired.  But that's almost every MMO I've ever played because the focus is always on the content that comes after you're done leveling. 

Are you saying the power progression at endgame is a mess?  How exactly?  Is it too difficult to improve your character?  You seem to be having trouble getting into strikes and other endgame content and suggest that it's difficult to find resources on how to prepare yourself.  Is that the problem?

The good news is that there isn't much of a progression in terms of equipping your character for endgame.  There's exotic which you can purchase from day 1 and there's ascended/legendary gear, which is only 5% higher stats than exotic.  So it's very easy to gear your character for all endgame content.  The problem then is finding an appropriate build and learning how to play it.  For this player resources like snowcrows.com are good.  You should be able to take any of their builds, familiarize yourself with how they work, and perform adequately for any normal mode content.