Guild Wars 2

[desocietas]

Anyone try out the Guild Wars 2 beta weekend?  I got a beta key by trading a Steam game, not realizing that I'd be out of town for the beta weekend.  Thankfully I got home a few hours before midnight - a few hours to try out the game.

Never played the first one, but this one looks pretty good.  I didn't chat with any of the players but I did like that you could just join in on an event if you felt like it.  WoW made me feel like a huge loner during the tutorial world, and it put me off quite a bit.

Not sure if I'd get it at launch, but at least I have a better idea of what the game is like.

[psydswipe]

I did not as I'm still unsure if I should play it, mostly because I don't want to commit the time to it. I played in all of the beta events for the original and then when the game came out I played with a few characters, and eventually got burned out having played some of the content many, many times. My attempts to get people I know in person to play mostly failed but I did play with my then Tribes team in some single-player co-op areas. Tried the multiplayer competitive stuff a little bit. I've always enjoyed ArenaNet's art style, looks really nice and the new one likely looks even better.

[scott]

I wont be playing it. Mostly, because I hated Guild Wars and though it was a cluster of a game. How it got a sequel, I'll never understand.

Secondly, I just don't have time for MMOs anymore.

[jcalder8]

Firstly I don't like other people enough to want to play games with them and get to know them to join their group and even if I did:

Secondly, I just don't have time for MMOs...

[psydswipe]

I wont be playing it. Mostly, because I hated Guild Wars and though it was a cluster of a game. How it got a sequel, I'll never understand.

I know, somewhat old thread but I still can't believe you said that  There are plenty of great games I don't like, but I don't see how anyone can hate Guild Wars that much. Of course it sold well enough to get a sequel and that sequel has sold over two million copies already which is surprising since they even suspended digital sales for a week. In any case, I did decide to try it. It's not quite what I was expecting as it feels a lot more like World of Warcraft than it does Guild Wars. I have a hard time staying interested in a MMO more than a month but since there is no monthly fee this one should be easier to stop playing for periods of time to play other games and then go back to it from time to time.

[desocietas]

Firstly I don't like other people enough to want to play games with them and get to know them to join their group and even if I did:

Secondly, I just don't have time for MMOs...

Ha, I actually really like how the "social" aspect of this game works so far.  I'm not part of a guild yet, and I'm not really interested in being part of one really.  What I do like about it (a refreshing change from the grinding monotony of Diablo III) is that you do see other people going about their business too and you can walk around with them if you want or go your own way.  Perhaps you see someone struggling with some enemies that ambushed them so you lend a few arrows in that direction to help out then go off and do whatever you were already doing.

I've definitely been on the other side of that and have been appreciative of someone else passing by and helping out.  Even the NPCs sometimes will help fight if you're fighting an enemy near them.

There aren't any obligations to anyone, though, and you can easily solo and have nothing to do with anyone else (I barely chat in the chat windows).  But something about knowing that there are other "real" people running around is comforting - playing solo-only large-scale RPGs can be both overwhelming and kinda lonely (didn't get very far into Skyrim or Dragon Age, for instance, and I don't really like to play Diablo III by myself).

So, so far I'm really digging GW2.  The MMO part actually kinda reminds me of Demon's Souls since you don't have to directly interact with the other players.

[psydswipe]

I agree, it's fun to just help others and the way the game works everyone gets drops. The events that pop up are great but they seem to repeat the same ones in each area and I've not ventured out too far so I keep playing the same ones over and over.

One nice thing about the original Guild Wars is there were no specific servers so you could play with anyone. With this game I know a few people playing but they're on different servers. I am a Norn Elementalist on Sorrow's Furnace.

[desocietas]

I agree, it's fun to just help others and the way the game works everyone gets drops. The events that pop up are great but they seem to repeat the same ones in each area and I've not ventured out too far so I keep playing the same ones over and over.

I was getting a few repeats too, so I started exploring more near the starting area and found the hub for traveling to the other races' regions.  Different enemies, different terrain, different events.  Pretty cool and expansive.

One nice thing about the original Guild Wars is there were no specific servers so you could play with anyone. With this game I know a few people playing but they're on different servers. I am a Norn Elementalist on Sorrow's Furnace.

I have a Sylvari Ranger and a Charr Guardian in Darkhaven.  Can you still switch worlds for free?  I know they said in the beginning, as everything is trying to stabilize, players can switch worlds at no cost (normally would cost in-game currency) so that they could meet up with their friends.

[psydswipe]

Not sure about server changing. Also, what I said earlier wasn't too clear. I did join this server because I knew one person on it, but I know two on another. Unfortunately, he is around level 60 and I'm only at 15.

The elementalist has a lot going on. They have four elements with different skills for each type of weapon. I can use a staff, a scepter, or a dagger, and with the one-handed items I can pair them with focus or a second dagger. I've unlocked all the weapon skills and will probably use the staff the most. No weapon quick swapping in battle though so I have to choose one weapon and stick with it. I plan on concentrating on earth spells when I unlock traits which I should probably do since I'm getting my butt kicked in some of these story instances.

[desocietas]

No weapon quick swapping in battle though so I have to choose one weapon and stick with it. I plan on concentrating on earth spells when I unlock traits which I should probably do since I'm getting my butt kicked in some of these story instances.

Oh, interesting... elementalists can't switch weapon sets?  I assumed all classes could.

[psydswipe]

No weapon quick swapping in battle though so I have to choose one weapon and stick with it. I plan on concentrating on earth spells when I unlock traits which I should probably do since I'm getting my butt kicked in some of these story instances.

Oh, interesting... elementalists can't switch weapon sets?  I assumed all classes could.

No, the only way to change weapons is to go into the hero screen and that doesn't work during battle. Switching elements is easy enough but if you change often you do have to wait for a cool down. With a staff fire is probably the best offense, water has a few healing spells, lightning is a fast offense, and earth has some defense. Using daggers makes an elementalist a decent melee fighter except that their armor is lousy. I started using traits today and those are divided between the elements and are only active when you have that particular element equipped. There is too much to decide  I had put some points in earth to help with toughness but the earth attacks aren't great so I keep switching during battles, may have to reset those, not sure yet.

[desocietas]

Whoa, good to know.  Sounds like Elementalists are a lil' more advanced in terms of play style...