So I know we had that discussion about the banning of the accounts (which is here if you missed it: http://forums.righteouswrath.com/index.php/topic,9041.0.html), which got me talking to those people whom I know are playing it. They inspired me so much to try out the game, and with the servers coming online and sales being again released, I bought myself a copy yesterday and tried it out for 4 or so hours.
What can I say? Well it is another MMO, although it really borrows some good innovations from other games. It has some of the SWTOR cut-scene story telling elements, it has Rift's world events that just happen and you auto group for, it has the weapon/talent system from TERA (or at least I am told), and WoW style interface for slickness and cleanness. What it is supposed to do is remove the grind out of the game, making you just want to play and explore (as it really should be), but I am not convinced it has yet. It should have taken so much more from all the MMOs to really remove the grind.
The Grind Left:
Crafting - while the crafting is almost, you still have to find a "crafting" station and you have to actually craft the item in game play time. SWTOR really improved this by letting you have "crew" that can do all that for you. Not many fantasy books I read had the heroes actually make their weapons and armour... nor should I have to in a game really - just something for me to sink time and grind into for resources.
Questing - while there really is the only real main story quest line, GW2 has area based events or quests that just show up or the player initiates. This means except for the main story line there isn't any need to go to a quest giver or turn in a completed quest. But these area based questing still has the kill 10 of these or 5 of those - find 8 hammers - etc. It is dressed up well though, as I didn't notice the grind at all until around lvl 10 when I ran out of places to go and things to do that I had to repeat some "area" based questing.
What it does well:
Autogrouping - when doing live events, area questing or pvp, it really does well to work well in combining your efforts with those around you allowing you to share in the experience and loot without having to make that fast group. While this removes the social aspect a bit from the game... I don't think I said a single word to anyone yet... it does allow you to not miss out of kills.
Loot - just like Diablo, loot is your own, and no one else can see you have loot to grab. Speeds it up as there isn't any round-robin rolls for stuff (at least not that I have seen yet)
Movement - while your character may not move very fast, the waypoint system is designed to allow you to move around the area very fast once you discover them of course.
Exploration - given that all the questing is area based (again except for the main story line for your character), exploring is pretty much required. They give you help though, as you have markers with Skill Challenges, Points of Interest, Tourist Sites, and Scout locations that drive you to particular areas. And there is a bonus to exploring - and no it isn't just an achievement like so many other MMOs - there is supposed to be loot rewards as well.
Combat - simpler than most MMOs, although I am starting to see the subtle way it could become more complicated and strategic. Dodge also adds an element of console play into the game, giving you the ability to choose when to dodge an attack. But yes combat is more streamlined, giving you about 5 attacks to really work with, and perhaps more if you swap your weapons mid fight. WHAT? Swap weapons mid fight - WHY? Well cause your attacks are based on your weapon in this MMO. And your unlocked attacks are based on weapon usage counts - the more you swing that axe, the better you become and the more skills open up.
Load Time - by far the fastest loading MMO I've played in years. This is a huge bonus as I'd rather be playing than waiting for the next zone to load.
F2P after purchase - micro-transactions don't give you bonuses to character development, at least not that I can find yet. So really is an F2P after you buy the game (like Minecraft in that sense). No monthly fees.
So again this is only my impression with 4 hours in. If your interested I'll keep you posted as I go.
Anyone else wanting to check this one out?
So far what I've found interesting are the real time events, that seems like a great way to get people together in the world, there is a major dragon battle you can get yourself into at high level and that just looks awesome. I also like the classes and some of the race designs.
Criticisms I've heard about are mainly that hitting the level cap goes by fairly quickly and that there is a lack of end game content (though I hear that gripe about every damn game). I've also seen that they don't have group matchmaking set up for guilds on world v world which basically makes it like Battlegrounds on WoW (i.e. you can't really plan strategy if you don't know what side you'll be shuffled to) you could end up fighting your guildies rather than playing alongside them. I recall watching a Yogscast video where the guys got matched on opposing teams and there was no way to get around it so they ended up fighting each other. I also think the whole pay to be a captain thing is a dumb idea (but that's just me).
I do like the gameplay I've seen so far but I am concerned about regular gameplay, I mean we haven't even gotten a single Co-Op session of TF2 rolling, which makes me think our schedules might be incompatible and I don't want to end up trailing behind again like in WoW, that sucked ass (that's what lead me to the original Guild Wars lol).
Darn it you got me thinking about GW2 now, I had so much fun with the other game and I'm sure they'll fix some of the matchmaking stuff
AUGH
Okay, I'm actually REALLY interested in this as I've been hunting around for another game I can sink my teeth into.
The main question I have is how scalable the UI is, I'm a little apprehensive when I read posts like this: https://forum-en.guildwars2.com/forum/support/tech/Increasing-the-User-Interface-Scale-Beyond-Larger
But from the sounds of things it may have been fixed? http://www.gamespot.com/guild-wars-2/forum/does-the-larger-text-ui-scale-option-work-in-the-retail-version-63853264/
If you download the game I can let you log in as me to test it out before you buy. Its just a 12GB download :(
Quote from: Melbosa on September 12, 2012, 08:47:02 AM
If you download the game I can let you log in as me to test it out before you buy. Its just a 12GB download :(
Ooh, you know here's what you can try, set your resolution to 1280 x 1024 and scale the GUI up to the largest possible setting (no matter how goofy looking) and e-mail me the screen shot! :)
If I can hack it with reading glasses we may be ok
Now I gotta pick a class! :)
Here you go, for all to see at the largest settings I could find.
That's weird, is that windowed mode?
EDIT: Sorry I meant 1920 x 1080!!!
Sorry sorry!!
You asked for it, so you get it.
That's actually pretty good!
...dammit :D
A'ight I'm currently downloading GW2 at 2 MB/s
I'll try to get on tonight, I'm making a roast for tomorrow though LOL so we'll see how that goes.
I'm playing on Isle of Janthir, character Melbosa, Charr race.
Quote from: Melbosa on September 13, 2012, 08:40:33 AM
I'm playing on Isle of Janthir, character Melbosa, Charr race.
Groovy.
I'm not sure what my starting profession should be, some of the support classes like Engineer look fun (bombs n' guns n' turrets!!) but I figure I'll solo for a bit first (maybe ranger or warrior) to feel out the game. I do like pets as well so who knows maybe necromancy is for me lol too many choices.
I'm a Warrior with Weapons/Armouring as professions. All I need is a harpoon gun to finish off my weapon skills and I'll be good for all around battle!
Quote from: Melbosa on September 13, 2012, 09:09:27 AM
I'm a Warrior with Weapons/Armouring as professions. All I need is a harpoon gun to finish off my weapon skills and I'll be good for all around battle!
I like a lot of the AOE/controller stuff from what I've seen on the youtubes especially for PVP/WvW
I'll probably spend a few days feeling out a couple classes.
GAH I wanna play now so bad...
So yeah, after prepping a GIANT roast to slow-cook today I kinda bombed out last night (ended up playing some Mirrors Edge and Minecraft sort of half alseep [had to get in some half-awake parkour lol])
Anyway I've decided to go thief, I'm going to dual wield pistols so I can sneak up, do a massive chunk of damage and then run away.
I think hit and run is for me at least for now, I kinda like ranged as well but I'm going to focus on my main to at least lvl 30 or so
You and your cooking and not just ordering pizza in every night like a bachelor... See what you're doing to your gaming time? :D
Mirror's Edge half-asleep would lead to bad dreams, for me.
Quote from: Thorin on September 14, 2012, 11:25:21 AM
You and your cooking and not just ordering pizza in every night like a bachelor... See what you're doing to your gaming time? :D
Mirror's Edge half-asleep would lead to bad dreams, for me.
Yeah, I'm cooking a big dinner for the family as they take possession of their new house today. I was going to make Yorkshire Pudding as well today but I don't have eggs...
I cook most nights now I only eat out at lunch (and that's only when I go into the office).
But yeah, I had lots of crazy dreams last night. I was a secret agent sent to infiltrate some small business, I was set up for my first day of work and got involved in some crazy drama between the people who worked there, then later I had to escape and of course it was parkour through a nifty mall...
I won't be able to hit GW2 until Saturday night probably (I'm helping the folks move some stuff into the new place before the movers come on Sunday).
When I *do* login though I'll be going for a few hours at least, gotta make my "Thief-eretta" character :D
Saturday night? Isn't that when we're planning the cave crawl for? Ima go post in that thread...
Quote from: Thorin on September 14, 2012, 12:05:34 PM
Saturday night? Isn't that when we're planning the cave crawl for? Ima go post in that thread...
Whichever night
So apparently Isle of Janthir is full...
Guess I'll find another server
Given that transfers cost money this sucks
I can get on that server during an off time but then who knows how long the queue will be.
3 of the servers I've tried to pick went from High to Full and kicked me out of the world selection back to login already
Off to a flying start as per @%&#ing usual...
Okay, the server I'm on is called Anvil Rock
The character I'm playing is named Cyletta
Currently lvl 4 thief, I can take down lvl 6 mobs though which seems a bit OP (not sure why)
So far I like, I'm kind of stuck in an instance at the moment that escalated in difficulty rather quickly (i.e. I can't do the task I'm supposed to as I get owned every time).
I absolutely love the events, they kick ass.
The map is the best thing ever AND WAYPOINTS SHOW UP IN THE HUD (hooray!)
Oh, if it isn't obvious I love this game!
It looks great plays great and so far has been a blast :) (well several blasts now that I'm gaining proficiency with 2 pistols :) )
HMmm some server transfers are free.. but sorry you couldn't get on my server. I really wanted to play with ya!!!!
That sucks that servers become "full". Is that typical for MMOs? (I'm not an MMO player so I'm asking)
Quote from: Thorin on September 16, 2012, 07:22:30 PM
That sucks that servers become "full". Is that typical for MMOs? (I'm not an MMO player so I'm asking)
Well some games like WoW let you create a character no matter how populated a server is HOWEVER when you log in you go to a queue to get into the game. GW2 has eliminated the queue but VASTLY underestimated the number of players. I guess if I had gotten on a few weeks ago
all the NA servers were marked as FULL which meant you would have had to make your starting server in Europe. According to the forums they've been adding servers to try to meet demand (there are a LOT of servers to pick from).
As of September servers transfers are no longer free. When they brought the new NA servers online to meet demand there was a period that let guilds reorganize their membership so transfers were free.
I would have liked to play with you as well, this is a very social game, at some point we should transfer our characters or something.
Well hopefully they open up some free transfers again to low pop servers. I'm playing with a couple guys from work, but as of right now no guild so we could jump ship anytime I think.
Sounds good man, let me know when you guys move so I can get on there.