Registered Member #18
Joined: 6:53:36 am GMT 02/25/04
Posts: 2808
I joined Vasburg. Eternal Grove just had too high of a pop and I didn't want to risk it with all the lag people were reporting.
Been playing for 2 hours so far and barely any lag. Guess I'm one of the lucky ones. I did get hit by it pretty badly not too long ago, though, which resulted in me dying.
Moo Registered Member #1327
Joined: 2:14:55 am GMT 07/27/08
Posts: 1718
So far it's not bad. It feels a lot like Guild Wars, but there's actually people out in the world. Quests are based on locations, you just kind of go there and start doing stuff and a little bar fills up and eventually you get a reward in the mail. Skills are unlocked my both gaining levels and using your other skills, and you get different sets depending what kind of weapon you have equipped.
Registered Member #625
Joined: 11:10:21 pm GMT 10/02/05
Posts: 1241
So. Very. Awesome. (all thoughts based on a human warrior)
GW2 is doing a whole lot of things very right. The most important of which, is that it's fun to play.
There is only one quest line, your class quest. Every character has a series of questions which determine your story, based on race, class, and back ground choices.
A Norn warrior and human warrior have very different tales, while a warrior human orphan noble and a warrior human commoner have tales that are just as different.
Dyeing clothes and social outfits are included from the start, allowing for RP right away.
Grouping is quite easy, as the zones create the level of your character. Take a level 20 a level 5 starting zone to help your friend, and it will lower you to Effective Level 5, so the fights are still challenging. (It does not scale upward, though).
Traditional quests are replaced with 'events' which are basically area quests the pop up based on random factors... bandits trying to burn a farm, for instance, or having to escort someone between towns.
Crafting is quite cool, as you can change proffessions for a gold cost, but you don't lose your old skills.. thus you can max all professions on a single toon if you wished.
Guilds have 'ranks' which can be raised by spending reputation, which is earned while taking part in events, as a part of leveling. Which makes them more then just a place to hang with your friends... you can also freely move your toons between servers, so you will never have to worry about being on the wrong server.
There are no deticated healers, though some classes can heal... I didn't try any dungeons, so not sure how the lack of a 'holy trinity' will actually work out, though I suspect it will end up with a tank specced guardian being in every group...
No report on PVP, as I hate it, and didn't try it.
For a beta, it was very fun, but there is still some polish needed and class balance to figure out (melee needs help).
The cash store, I think, is a major issue, as it's the only way to increase your bank space that I could find... and everyone that RPs will want space to store social outfits. You can also buy transmutation stones to copy the look of an item to another item of the same type (heavy armor to heavy armor, for example, but not light armor to heavy).
But, other then the cash store, it is a very fun game.
Registered Member #157
Joined: 5:18:57 pm GMT 06/25/04
Posts: 15510
I popped in for bits of the beta weekend and it was fun (though I didn't get to play my plant boy that I wanted since they didn't have the plant and the small gnomey races open to play yet). I tried out a human elementalist and was enjoying the elemental magic you could pick up .. you didn't have to pick one element but once you play with them all for a while you can swap them out depending on mood and situation and party.
I can't say as I can remember as much as Sepp, but it was cool when you wondered along on the way somewhere and a new quest popped up because an NPC called out to you for help
Registered Member #18
Joined: 6:53:36 am GMT 02/25/04
Posts: 2808
Lightfoot wrote ... I can't say as I can remember as much as Sepp, but it was cool when you wondered along on the way somewhere and a new quest popped up because an NPC called out to you for help
This is one of the coolest things about the game, and really lends towards an immersive and dynamic experience. Sure, in reality, all the dynamic events are really just pieces of programming sitting in the background waiting for the right moment to be kicked off, but I think this is the closest we can currently get to dynamic quests without a DM sitting in the background.
The game also really caters to those who like to explore. The map has alot of main points marked on it to give you some direction in an area and to make sure you know where the important stuff is, but there's also alot of nooks and crannies that aren't marked on the map. Gerbo and I were off exploring when we found a little cave with a bunch of ledges you had to jump across to make it from one side to the other. The trick was there were things on these ledges that made it difficult, pushing you off so you had to start over, assuming you escaped all the critters that wanted to eat you down below. I want to say we spent a good hour to and hour and a half trying to beat it. The reward at the end didn't end up being the best (we may have gotten unlucky that one time and I'm guess you can redo it and your reward randomly changes), but it was still a fun time, and a nice surprise.
I don't quite share Sepp's concerns about the cash shop. Yes, being encouraged to spend more cash on a game to get stuff sucks, but it's only a problem to me if I have to use the shop to be just as effective at playing the game as everyone else. As it stands, you can't really use the cash shop to get ahead in the game (often referred to as "buy 2 win").
You can use it to boost rewards you get in various ways (increased xp from monster kills, as an example), but I never really found myself wanting more than what I was getting. I think in a day of playing I got a character up to level 18, and the level cap is 80.
I believe what people are most concerned about when it comes to the cash shop are things like what Sepp mentions, you need to spend real life money to get more bank storage (I think you start with 30 slots, which are shared across all of your characters) and to get more character slots (you get 5 character slots total, not per server, since you can join any server you want with your characters). But again, I don't see it as so much a problem because I can play a game like WoW or Tera and spend $15 a month just to play the game, or I can pay $5 once whenever I feel like it to permanently increase my character or bank storage. Honestly, I never actually even found a need to use my bank, and I was actively crafting with my characters, which I would assume to be the most storage intensive activities.
Registered Member #625
Joined: 11:10:21 pm GMT 10/02/05
Posts: 1241
Crafting supplies actually have their own 'bank' (a consumables tab you can access at the bank. And my concerns are simply that it isn't quite free to play. I do feel the bank/bags will be necessary purchases as we level.
That said, since there is no monthly sub, it's easy enough to set aside 15 a month and get all the stuff you'd need.
As for character slots, GW1 added 2 free slots with every expansion, which will likely be enough for me.
I just wanted to be clear that I feel (personal opinion) that is more of 'No Subscription needed to play' then 'free to play'.
[ The Island of Thain ]
Guild Wars 2
