Guild Wars 2: Any Takers?

POSTED BY: HKCavalier
UPDATED: Tuesday, September 11, 2012 22:55
VIEWED: 5342
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HKCAVALIER

Sunday, August 26, 2012 3:11 AM

Hey all,

Just wonderin' if anyone's playing this. Been playing here on the "head start" weekend. It's kinda phenomenal so far. It never stops. Instead of quests, people just run up to you and tell you their business and a note shows up in the upper right corner of the screen and off ya go. You finish one thing and there are half a dozen other things for you to do. It can be overwhelming at first but it's lots of fun. I think--I can't be sure yet. It kinda grabbed hold of me today and I woke up a few hours later when someone walked in the door. That hasn't happened to me in years.

I'm on Ehmry Bay. Main character so far is a Norn Warrior named Chillaxe.

FREMDFIRMA

Sunday, August 26, 2012 4:03 AM

I dunno...

I am still pissed off at the original Guild Wars - I purchased it on their assertion that one could play solo, an assertion I tested with their trial at the time, and then after money changes hands comes that whole scorching thing and dun-dun-dunnn, PARTY REQUIRED - that you can fill it with (mostly useless) AI drones makes it no less a party REQUIRED environment, and I hated it for that, and threw it out the window.

Not particularly interested cause of this, and I firmly feel that any forced-party system leads to exploitation, drama, and bitterness which makes a game completely unenjoyable, FFXI is kind of the poster child for this, and I really *HATE* being locked into someone elses schedule, or having to impose my schedule upon them - if I am playing a game, entertainment, and I want to go do something else, make a sandwich or whatever, then I like having the option of doing so without leaving other people swinging in the breeze, right ?

-F

HKCAVALIER

Sunday, August 26, 2012 7:16 AM

Um...far be it from me to interfere with your grudge, but...this game absolutely does not require grouping. It's all WAR style "public quests." You "group" with whomever is on hand automatically.

And of course, GW1 and GW2 are nothing alike.

Also, you can play with anyone of any level, because if you're too high for an area your level scales down. Also, though it ain't implemented just yet, they will have "guesting" which allows you to play with anyone regardless of server. It's all super user friendly and it gets rid of the "holy trinity" and well, y'know, etc.

Just sayin'.

HKCavalier

Hey, hey, hey, don't be mean. We don't have to be mean, because, remember, no matter where you go, there you are.

BYTEMITE

Sunday, August 26, 2012 10:17 PM

I didn't like the first Guild Wars because parties eventually were mandatory, and because later in the game it seemed to just become a PVP grief fest.

Not really excited about GW2.

Quote:
It's all WAR style "public quests." You "group" with whomever is on hand automatically.

I can think of a dozen ways off the top of my head this would go wrong and someone can either leech or grief. And knowing gamers and the internet, that'll pretty much become the majority of what goes on.

Swtor goes free to play this fall, I've still got characters even though it's a pretty typical MMORPG. And I've still been playing Diablo 3 despite all the outcry, it's good for stress relief even while the click fest keeps you on your toes.

Anthony might play with you, he usually seems pretty game to try anything.

HKCAVALIER

Monday, August 27, 2012 12:10 AM

Hey,

Thanks for chiming in Byte. Nice to see you in print. :)

I don't know what to do with you guys and your grudges. What does your grudge have to do with me? "I'm sorry, I'm so hung up on how bad a 10 year old game was that I won't consider any game from that company for the rest of my life." And you can think of how this game you've never played could turn into a grief fest. What the hell is that? Seriously, what possible upside is there to making such an extreme snap (pre)judgement?

I'm not trying to convince you of anything. Just don't understand.

HKCavalier

Hey, hey, hey, don't be mean. We don't have to be mean, because, remember, no matter where you go, there you are.

BYTEMITE

Monday, August 27, 2012 1:50 AM

I didn't like the first guild wars, true, and I tend to buy games in a series based on whether I liked the previous ones. But my objection to the automatic groups is quite a bit simpler than that.

Are you familiar with the horror that, in other game fandoms, is called the "pick-up group?" Imagine that you are suddenly and automatically roped into a pick up group for some number of quests, maybe a lot, maybe only a few, but that your progress is dependent upon your successfully cooperating with strangers. They may or may not have the right complement of in game or real life skill for the challenge you are attempting. And that's the best case scenario, without malice factored in.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PickUpGroup

Failure is the only option.

FARFLY

Monday, August 27, 2012 2:59 AM

I've played Guild Wars for a little over four years now. I have yet to do any PVP or arena battles, and only played in a group with my daughter a few times. My first character finished the Tyrian campaign using only henchmen, no heroes. There were a few times I went out trying to gather some drops for various quests and found I got better results without having henchmen along.

In most of the missions if you try to start with less than the recommended party size it gives a warning but does not prevent you from trying. My daughter and her friends were heavy into the 55 or 600 monk questing, which is really solo.

I'm currently also playing a lot of Aion and the latest version of that has a fast-track server for players level 50 and lower that eliminates the possibility of getting ganked by opposing race players while you're working on leveling your character. They used to just have defensive buffs to protect you but when geared level 45 players ambush level 20 players who can't run away or fight them, the fun is gone.

Also with Aion, there are some areas that require a group for entry but once in the door you can solo. It's not that hard to get a quick group invite and as long as they know, you can quit the group once you're in the instance.

I haven't seen Guild Wars 2 yet but hope to play it solo as well.

HKCAVALIER

Monday, August 27, 2012 3:11 PM

Hey Byte,

Yes, I am familiar with pick-up groups (they worked pretty well in Lich King--pretty great for a short while, didn't work at all in Cataclysm). GW2 doesn't have that. It doesn't work like WoW. What they seem to have done is make a long list of all the things that don't work in MMO's and seriously got rid of them. That's what they said they was agonna do and, holy crap, they seem to have actually done it!

I'm very curious what never-before-seen problems they've come up with, but so far I ain't found 'em. Oh, one thing: voice acting in the cut scenes is kinda terrible from time to time. SWTOR had great cut scenes but the gameplay was a snore--I'm happy to trade the cool mini-movies for a game that actually looks good and plays this well.

Anyway.

HKCavalier

Hey, hey, hey, don't be mean. We don't have to be mean, because, remember, no matter where you go, there you are.

BYTEMITE

Monday, August 27, 2012 5:51 PM

Quote:
they worked pretty well in Lich King

They really didn't. If anything, the Death Knights made things even worse - people had to know how to play their classes, and usually didn't. And then on the off chance your group doesn't wipe five times on a relatively simple encounter, there's the customary loot argument and rage quit.

The basics of a pickup group.

Sounds like Guild Wars 2 has given people individual loot to avoid that, so no loot ninjas, but you're still going to have the other problems that arise whenever cooperating with strangers.

Don't like required partying. Give me a game where you can solo everything, but if a friend joins in, everything scales up in strength accordingly.

HKCAVALIER

Monday, August 27, 2012 6:02 PM

Byte,

You've had some bad luck and I've had some good luck. Why tell me that a game I played for 5 years didn't work when it worked for me? And so far I have not been forced to group with anyone in GW2. You can level to max from crafting alone. You are terribly misinformed about this game. Why do you insist on having opinions about what it's like to play a game you've never played? Does that seem right to you? This isn't even RWED. lol

HKCavalier

Hey, hey, hey, don't be mean. We don't have to be mean, because, remember, no matter where you go, there you are.

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