official Guild Wars 2

[Twiddle]

Well, this game alone has made me tell myself (and a couple of my friends agreed) that we are done with subscription based games. I'm simply no longer paying a fee to play a game. Of course I will use the gem store and whatnot, but that is optional, not mandatory.

I can't wait until the pay2play model is completely dead in the water, and most people refuse it.

[+ir0nw0lf Subscriber²]

I think that when [if?] WoW goes F2P, you'll see the sub model really start to die off.

[trag3dy]

I'd say it depends on how well GW2 does. I would say in the short term not much will change. But in the next 2 or 3 years I think more mmos will adopt the business model that Anet has set with GW2.

[Emn1ty]

I don't see much changing based on the no sub. But I do see changes based on the WvW and world events.

Yeah, a lot more MMO's are realizing that such features create far more replay value than additional dungeons and story-based expansion.

[Wakers]

To be honest, people said the same thing when GW1 came out. Granted, that was a hybrid game and not really an MMO - but it was and is still the only successful game with that payment structure.

[dead.cell]

I don't see much changing based on the no sub. But I do see changes based on the WvW and world events.

Well, I'd like to thank Warhammer Online for starting with Public Quests. They sort of paved the way back then to what would eventually become improved with Rift (and a bit more dynamic), and improved (drastically) to what we have in Guild Wars 2 now where we're no longer tied to shopping list questing anymore. World of Warcraft is barely getting on board with their scenarios I think, and from what I could tell in how they explained it, it seems it's just going to be on par with Warhammer's approach.

At least, I haven't heard enough talk from Blizzard on it, but if that's their approach, I can easily recall dozens of encounters like that with Warhammer... Fun yes, but that was back in 2008. :/

The WvW looks like we'll be seeing more of though. I think The Elder Scrolls Online team has been taking some serious notes from Guild Wars 2, right down to how they explained the combat system. I'm all for this really too, as we have enough WoW clones, and we need real progression in the MMO market.

With progression though will come a time when the companies have to face the big question: how will they get paid and operate their MMO? We've already watched as F2P pay-to-win models have sprung up and died off (or dying off). Obviously, that will be something to watch out for. I know some people love Turbine's model of paying for the content you want, but honestly, I hate it. LotRO for example feels like a locked game where their market is constantly in your face, as opposed to Aion. Which model proves to carry more success has yet to be seen though I guess, but I know I'd personally take Aion over LotRO, and I'm rather a fan of Lord of the Rings too...

[Nagisan]

I still remember my first WvW (towards the end of BWE3), my friend and I were messing around (we Skype for in-game communication), I was looking at the map, and zoomed out farther than either of us previously had. I told him "Dude, hit M, now scroll your mouse wheel out"....he did it and was like "holy f$^%"......seriously, the maps are gigantic in WvW. Each battleground is as long as Alteric Valley (in WoW), but 2-3 times as wide. And from the WvW I was in, there were 3 other battlegrounds of equal size that I could move to had I wanted to. Each section of the overall map was larger than any PvP-based map I've ever seen in a video game, and there were multiple sections that you could go to in the WvW, it was just insane.

[Emn1ty]

I have unfortunately not gotten a chance to do WvW. I look forward to trying it out when I can. The game has really impressed me even if the combat system isn't as engaging as Tera. The world is very fleshed out and I think all that's needed for me to really enjoy it is to find a group to play with. The best part about it is that there is no sub, so I am far more inclined to play this long-term than Tera (especially since my guild fell apart in that game due to a lack of goal and inability to level together).

I don't know. I just need to get myself a party I guess. I have a bad habit of soloing MMO's.

[Buio]

I think that when [if?] WoW goes F2P, you'll see the sub model really start to die off.

WoW earnings are 29% of all Activision Blizzards income alone. And a huge majority of that is subscription fees. Just because it's needed to survive for some MMO's doesn't mean that it is a good financial option for WoW.

Regarging free-to-play, I prefer to call GW2 subscriptionless and not F2P. F2P games often have heavy restrictions on what you can do, forcing pay options upon the player.

In GW2, you pay for the boxes and you can enjoy the game fully without any strange restrictions on gameplay. If you pay you will get fluff and bonuses, but nothing feels artificially locked out from your enjoyment if you choose to not pay for gems.

[vanillaketch]

SO psyched

[Phixion]

I think the Norn and Humans look the best out of all races, I'm not keen on the Asura tbh...

I'm still undecided on what to make though - I quite liked Necro, Elementalist and Engineer.

[dead.cell]

Regarging free-to-play, I prefer to call GW2 subscriptionless and not F2P. F2P games often have heavy restrictions on what you can do, forcing pay options upon the player.

Yeah, I just refer to it as 'buy to play' (B2P) really.

I think the Norn and Humans look the best out of all races, I'm not keen on the Asura tbh...

I'm still undecided on what to make though - I quite liked Necro, Elementalist and Engineer.

Have you actually played Asura, or are you basing that on their appearance? Because if we went by appearances at first, I'd tell ya I didn't care for the Asura too. Then I played one. :p

It's funny rather, I thought I was gonna roll Charr since I first heard you could play as one. Tried it though, and it just wasn't my cup of tea.

I have unfortunately not gotten a chance to do WvW. I look forward to trying it out when I can. The game has really impressed me even if the combat system isn't as engaging as Tera. The world is very fleshed out and I think all that's needed for me to really enjoy it is to find a group to play with. The best part about it is that there is no sub, so I am far more inclined to play this long-term than Tera (especially since my guild fell apart in that game due to a lack of goal and inability to level together).

I don't know. I just need to get myself a party I guess. I have a bad habit of soloing MMO's.

Yeah, Tera's combat system is pretty damn nice, but I felt like I was just prancing around in a typical Asian MMO setting. Like I just couldn't get immersed into the world at all for one thing... :/

[Nagisan]

Finally decided on what to make, Male Norn Warrior (their armor looks so awesome because of how large it is due to the size of the norn) and Female Human Thief (I feel female fits the thief role better than male, and I prefer the human medium armors over most of the other races, norn seems to use lots of furs, asuras = ugly, not a fan of sylvari....the armor meshes together too well with the character model and makes it not look like armor and charr = ugly).

Already have names determined and everything.....plan on skipping to the name section of the character creation screen and reserving my names, then deleting the characters and making them again proper (names are reserved for 24 hours after deleting the character).

[Phixion]

Have you actually played Asura, or are you basing that on their appearance? Because if we went by appearances at first, I'd tell ya I didn't care for the Asura too. Then I played one. :p

Yep I played one, wasn't keen... too small for my liking - the armour doesn't look great on them IMO.

[dead.cell]

Yep I played one, wasn't keen... too small for my liking - the armour doesn't look great on them IMO.

lol, s'all good. :p Norn are my favorites just as well anyhow.

Was planning on making a male at release, but the females act like total badasses too. Strong women. :wub:

[Twiddle]

Yeah, I love the Norn females. I usually play females in most games. Easier on the eyes and all, and the models always seem to be done better than the males. But I think I may want to RP an "old and wise" mage type, with the white beard and such. But I tried and couldn't, only because the norn men are ridiculously huge, and the male human voice acting sounds like a young adult, and not an old and wise man. Breaks my immersion on both levels. I also dislike the low guttural norn female voice. So I am thinking about a Sylvari female, but I didn't play this beta weekend, so I'm not sure.

[Nagisan]

Was planning on making a male at release, but the females act like total badasses too. Strong women. :wub:

Was thinking the same thing about my warrior (that I mentioned above would be male).......I don't like a lot of the female norn heavy armor I've seen so far, but I'm sure that's not all of it, and something as simple as the starter armor in your pic looks really nice as far as heavy female armor goes......I keep forgetting we can transmog so if I find some armor I like while leveling I can hold onto it and make the good armor later on look like the nice looking set.

I think I may have to make both of my mains (warrior and thief) female......if I ever make an engineer or ranger or something it will be male....but that's a big if (melee ranger is fun but squishy, engineer felt too complex and random for me).

[trag3dy]

In many other forums people who dislike GW2 are saying it's just another WoW clone that is destined to fall into the shadow of the king. I honestly don't get that comparison at all.The only thing GW2 and WoW have in common is that they are both mmos. Obviously the people who say GW2 is a WoW clone haven't played it or are just trolling. So what does everyone else think about comparing GW2 to WoW?

Also I'm of the opinion (like others on here) that melee tends to be a bit to squishy. I think we're going to see some balance patches shortly after release where anet buffs the durability of warriors a lot and thiefs at least a little bit. Guardians seem to be a decent place as far as durability goes. For pve anyways. My warrior felt like a wrecking machine in pvp, so I'm curious to see how they will balance them out.

Still, my first class will be a charr warrior despite the durability issues.

[arrrgh]

No one else here is bothered by the respawning rates? Basically anytime you are fighting multiple enemies, new ones start spawning on top of you before you are done with the battle. Not to mention that enemies constantly popping out of nowhere is about as cheap looking as it can get.

Warriors were indeed pretty squishy and in some boss battles I got myself killed pretty regularly, I usually ended up just pulling out my riffle for hard hitting bosses. Of course warriors have hundred blades which is probably the most powerful skill in the game.

[dead.cell]

I keep forgetting we can transmog so if I find some armor I like while leveling I can hold onto it and make the good armor later on look like the nice looking set.

Totally forgot about this too, wow... :pinch:

No one else here is bothered by the respawning rates? Basically anytime you are fighting multiple enemies, new ones start spawning on top of you before you are done with the battle. Not to mention that enemies constantly popping out of nowhere is about as cheap looking as it can get.

Warriors were indeed pretty squishy and in some boss battles I got myself killed pretty regularly, I usually ended up just pulling out my riffle for hard hitting bosses. Of course warriors have hundred blades which is probably the most powerful skill in the game.

I keep hearing that melee is squishy and I think you talking about respawn rates but... I've gone in headstrong against the many mobs on my Asura warrior (hammer) and just wreck shop. Spawn rates didn't seem too crazy either, maybe it was just an isolated issue you were having with them? Not sure...

Have yet to be killed as melee. Oddly enough though, I found my necromancer and mesmer a little more troubling to play, but I didn't retry them this BWE.

In many other forums people who dislike GW2 are saying it's just another WoW clone that is destined to fall into the shadow of the king. I honestly don't get that comparison at all.The only thing GW2 and WoW have in common is that they are both mmos. Obviously the people who say GW2 is a WoW clone haven't played it or are just trolling. So what does everyone else think about comparing GW2 to WoW?

I think it's a long argument and that it's better to say that they just don't compare at all because GW2 isn't a WoW clone. ArenaNet's approach is quite radically different in every way. The only similarities being basic RPG and MMO elements really...

Here's what I posted on Massively earlier in regards to Mists of Pandaria:

I just can't do it. I've touched on GW2's beta weekends, and I can't go back to fighting over loot, tagging mobs, nodes, XP, not being able to play with friends simply because they're too high level, or trying to keep up with one another, fighting over quest items, trying to talk to people to get them to group so we can both get the quest completed (and being ignored anyway), a community that doesn't talk anymore in groups with "r?" and "y" being the form of responses now...

Ugh, I'm just gonna stop there and say that it was a fun ride while it lasted, but after 6 years of playing, I just can't do it anymore. MoP doesn't fix my problems with the game, and until Blizzard does, I just won't be able to pick it back up again. Guess it's not too big of a loss anyway, I don't know anyone who still plays anymore.

[Guest]

Female Human's are too good lucking. I planned to only have one which is the Mesmer who was the best outfitted class in the first GuildWars. Now I am planning a Ele and Thief too. I didn't want any more females. Damned you artists for making me think with my penis in a game!

[trag3dy]

Totally forgot about this too, wow... :pinch:

I keep hearing that melee is squishy and I think you talking about respawn rates but... I've gone in headstrong against the many mobs on my Asura warrior (hammer) and just wreck shop. Spawn rates didn't seem too crazy either, maybe it was just an isolated issue you were having with them? Not sure...

Have yet to be killed as melee. Oddly enough though, I found my necromancer and mesmer a little more troubling to play, but I didn't retry them this BWE.

The issues with melee become really apparent when there are a lot of people near you increasing the difficulty of enemies and events. It's not uncommon to get 1 shot by bosses as melee, and you can only dodge twice in short order. Compounded by the fact that if there are a lot of people in the area then it's hard to see the red circles on the ground as well. Also, I can think of two or three areas in the charr starting area where the red circles blend right into the ground and they were literally impossible to see.

[Wakers]

I think with melee - and I played a lot as a thief - you have to have the right weapon set for the right situation.

This beta was much better in regards to making it obvious when creatures were about to attack, which was absolutely not the case in previous betas. When you're fighting a boss or you're in the middle of an upscaled event / group event you really need to have the weapons available that give you evasive skills and dodging skills.

At first I was dieing a lot with the thief because I was trying to fight boss mobs with dual pistols - this became a hundred times easier when I switched to double daggers or sword + dagger, because not only can you dodge twice, but you then have skills that evade you around the target and blind enemies.

So with the warrior, you'd need to be looking at using the sword and shield when you feel like you're in a bad situation.

[Nagisan]

I think with melee - and I played a lot as a thief - you have to have the right weapon set for the right situation.

This beta was much better in regards to making it obvious when creatures were about to attack, which was absolutely not the case in previous betas. When you're fighting a boss or you're in the middle of an upscaled event / group event you really need to have the weapons available that give you evasive skills and dodging skills.

At first I was dieing a lot with the thief because I was trying to fight boss mobs with dual pistols - this became a hundred times easier when I switched to double daggers or sword + dagger, because not only can you dodge twice, but you then have skills that evade you around the target and blind enemies.

So with the warrior, you'd need to be looking at using the sword and shield when you feel like you're in a bad situation.

While I do agree that weapon set has something to do with it, I'm surprised daggers or dagger/sword worked better for you on your thief against a boss than the ranged options. I played a lot of shortbow thief over BWE3, and I was soloing elites 2 levels above me....but this was also with no one else in the area.

That being said, I think enemies do respawn a bit fast in some situations. While I was fighting the above mentioned elite, I had 1 other mob respawn on my that I had to start fighting, by the time I killed the elite and the extra mob I had, the elite respawned and I had to start fighting him again...luckily someone else showed up and helped finish him off. Had I been with multiple people it wouldn't have been a problem, but as I was on my own I had enemies respawning on top of me. They should tweak respawn rates based on the number of people in the immediate area.

[Wakers]

Shortbow thief is awesome, but I spent most of my time with sword and dagger or 2 daggers because I kept finding upgrades. I got one blue shortbow at about level 2 and never found a better one. I was having so much fun with the melee weapons I didn't bother buying a better shortbow.