Worth to return?

[WhoJonStone.2013]

So, I’m debating on returning to GW2 and I see that there have been 2 expansions since I’ve been gone. I never really hit the end game content when I was playing...so, would it be worth it to return?

I’m mostly looking for PvP, maybe more open world, and a little bit of PvE. I’m just curious if the population still exists and if there would be a guild that would take, pretty much, a fresh character.

Thanks for any advice.

Edit: also, I’m asking mainly because I haven’t bought the expansions yet.

[MikeL.8260]

Look up reviews on Path of Fire or the state of the game in 2017/18, there's a lot of content and it only keeps adding up.

[Thane.9421]

If you are looking mostly for PvP, know that the population is probably at an all time low, and nearly all of the former top players have moved on from the game, citing lack of balance, a competitive scene and changes to ranked queues.

[witcher.3197]

For PvP, absolutely not. Saddens me to say this but I'm glad I didn't buy PoF and I wouldn't spend a penny on it. I'm not exaggerating when I say the balance team killed PvP. The community is gone and the gameplay is unenjoyable because of the powercreep.

PvE is doing okay though.

[Fluffball.8307]

The PvP problems are really only with the extreme upper range of players. The average GW2er isn't going to have any problems finding matches or getting good competition.

Also WvW is still great for scratching that competitive itch, last night all 4 of my maps had a healthy queue.

[Danikat.8537]

You can check out the games population yourself - just log into your account and look round. Unlike a lot of games new content doesn't invalidate all the old stuff so you'll still see a lot of people in the core game maps. You can also play PvP without buying the expansions. You won't be able to use the new elite specs, which might put you at a disadvantage, but again you can see how active it is and what matches are like now.

PvE end-game is trickier because a lot of that is expansion-only. There's Fractals of course, and things like world bosses and some collections in the normal maps, but you won't be able to do most of the big meta-events or bounties or anything without buying the expansions. I'd still recommend logging in to try out the game though, at the very least you can make sure you enjoy playing it before spending more money.

Oh and yes you will be able to find guilds that will take you on. There's plenty of new and returning players around, so there's guilds specifically for them, but also plenty of general purpose guilds who are happy to help new players.

[AliamRationem.5172]

@Thafinest.2401 said:So, I’m debating on returning to GW2 and I see that there have been 2 expansions since I’ve been gone. I never really hit the end game content when I was playing...so, would it be worth it to return?

I’m mostly looking for PvP, maybe more open world, and a little bit of PvE. I’m just curious if the population still exists and if there would be a guild that would take, pretty much, a fresh character.

Thanks for any advice.

Edit: also, I’m asking mainly because I haven’t bought the expansions yet.

I haven't done much PvP since the season prior to PoF release. My observations from that season were that there is an obvious lack of competition at the high end. With the top 250 filling the legendary tier and then all the way down to upper plat 1, there just weren't enough players available at any given time to avoid matching players multiple tiers removed from each other and you end up seeing the same people over and over again, match after match.

However, if you aren't the sort of player who expects to approach top 250 play (again, given the above scenario), then it might not be an issue. I placed low gold 1 and climbed my way up. It really wasn't until plat rank that I started noticing the problem. In gold I felt matchmaking was generally good and I didn't see the glaring issues like being matched against top 10 players when you're not even top 250, or finding the same group of players match after match.

I wasn't in the bronze or silver tiers at all, but I heard there are persistent problems with botting there (although I honestly wonder how bots make it into silver...).

Take this for what it's worth, because I haven't done any ranked play since that season about half a year ago. Given the influx of new and returning players due to PoF, I would be surprised if the situation has deteriorated since then. I would expect it has slightly improved, although the impact of that may be negligible at this point.

[mercury ranique.2170]

The population still exist and the game is still very active. The game direction has not changed. So if you had specific reasons to leave, it is unlikely they have changed. Although we had a very good amount of QoL things.