I managed to get myself out of the fetal position and off the floor to fight the withdrawals for a few minutes. I figured I would post my general impressions of this weekend. I will start by saying that I enjoyed this game extremely and I probably wont be gaming until Diablo 3 releases...and thats just to hold me over. I havent been this excited since I first started playing WoW, which was my first MMORPG. This post is going to be LONG WINDED.
Combat- When people say get rid of all the general MMO habits for this game, they aren't kidding. While some professions may be considered more oriented for doing certain things, every profession can be played in many different ways. Profession choice really is more an emphasis on one's play style and like of abilities. Take for example the engineer. I can run around with a flamethrower spewing fiery hate and discontent or pull out my elixir gun or med pack and support my allies with buffs and some heals. Whats that? You'd rather use your utility slots to create a turret farm? Done. Mechanical mayhem not for you? You'd rather run around tossing elixirs at people like a mad alchemist? Done. My point is with the skill slots and trait system there is a large amount of freedom that is afforded to the player. I always chuckled a bit when I ran with the mob in WvW because I would run into another engineer or two carrying a totally different kit from me and I always found it to be liberating not to see complete carbon copies of myself.
It took a little bit to get used to dodging attacks and I was still getting hit by attacks I should have dodged even at the end of beta. That said I was getting a lot better at it and it is quite the nifty mechanic.
WvW/PvP- I am not a huge fan of battlegrounds/structured pvp/warzones/scenarios. Whatever the hell you want to call them, I usually stay away from them. Why? Simple. I enjoy large, random, open world battles. Some of my fondest memories involve open world battles from World of Warcraft. I distinctly remember one that involved myself and Tr1age and began as a ragtag defense of Crossroads against an Alliance raid and ended with 2 raid groups full of horde steamrolling through Ashenvale and Darkshore into the night elf capital. Lightning's Blade Server in vanilla Warcraft was THE SHIT.
Anyway back to Guild Wars 2. WvW was definitely a lot of fun this weekend, but it was a bit disorganized. The chat bug didnt help much either. Your team chat could be seen by all 3 servers so any tactical chatter was impossible, unless it was on a voice program out of game. This is beta though. I am looking forward to release when guilds settle in and we see some real tough head to head to head battles in WvW with some great tactics. The maps are HUGE and look great. I don't know exactly how to unlock waypoints in WvW and I know they have to be careful balancing that because it can completely change the pace and flow of battle depending on how far or close you can respawn to the battles, but they might want to consider some alternate options. Maybe an NPC in the initial asura gate areas that gives you a speed buff like in certain capital cities, but its removed upon taking damage.
As for structured PvP, I don't mind doing it occasionally and I found the maps to be enjoyable, but its not really my thing. They also need to make it so you can join up as a group. Nine times out of ten I was on the opposite team from my party members. I also don't see how they can tout this as an e-sport and not have you join up with your party members. I chalk this up to being beta and not being completely implemented yet.
Immersion/Graphics/Sound- This is a HUGE one for me. I love taking screenshots and spending time enjoying the environments and exploring the virtual world. Guild Wars 2 is one of the most beautiful, if not the most beautiful game I have had the pleasure to enjoy.
Just look at the capital cities. I spent the most time in the human city of Divinity's Reach. The city is BEAUTIFUL. Its carnival time, and confetti is falling from the skies in the commons. Everywhere people are going about their business. Children are playing in the streets, people chatting, peddling wares, etc. There are great conversations to listen to between NPCs all throughout the city and the place is huge. There is so much to explore in the city and the world itself. Little hidden places all along the way to reward those who venture off the beaten path.
I also have to mention underwater environments. They are simply beautiful. I spent the better part of an hour with Tr1age in Lions Arch just swimming around exploring. In short it is really something you have to experience for yourself. Underwater combat takes a bit of getting used to, but it is quite smooth once you get a handle on it and the abilities are quite fun. I mean come on I shoot TORPEDOES as an engineer =P. This is another place where the sounds really come in. You really get the feeling of being underwater.
Crafting- I did not get to spend that much time crafting as I was experiencing other parts of the game, but it is something I want to look into a bit more during the next beta test. I like the idea of creating components and throwing them together to see what you get. I also like that if you have a huge stack of whatever to craft you actually craft it faster the more you get through said stack. No more setting yourself to smelt 300 Thorium and going to make a sandwich. Who enjoyed that? I didn't...well not unless I was hungry.
What I am unsure of is the ability to have 2 active crafting professions yet you keep the level you attain in any of them and can switch them at will. I am hoping there is some sort of cooldown, because while it will take a lot of time to level all of the crafting professions, it kind of goes against their whole team-oriented mantra. I mean why ask anyone for anything if you can just switch around professions and craft everything for yourself. Our resident crafter Gyoin will have to clear this up for me because he spent more time using the system than I did.
In closing, there is SO much more I could talk about, just from this weekend but I will let others post their experiences. That and I cant type forever. All in all this game is amazing and I seriously do not want to play anything else until it releases. God what the fuck am I going to do with myself? A little polish and some bug squashing and I think we are good to go. I am hoping we aren't too far from release. I have a hunch we are closer than we think but who knows.
TL;DR THIS GAME IS AMAZING AND I WANT IT NOW.
Combat- When people say get rid of all the general MMO habits for this game, they aren't kidding. While some professions may be considered more oriented for doing certain things, every profession can be played in many different ways. Profession choice really is more an emphasis on one's play style and like of abilities. Take for example the engineer. I can run around with a flamethrower spewing fiery hate and discontent or pull out my elixir gun or med pack and support my allies with buffs and some heals. Whats that? You'd rather use your utility slots to create a turret farm? Done. Mechanical mayhem not for you? You'd rather run around tossing elixirs at people like a mad alchemist? Done. My point is with the skill slots and trait system there is a large amount of freedom that is afforded to the player. I always chuckled a bit when I ran with the mob in WvW because I would run into another engineer or two carrying a totally different kit from me and I always found it to be liberating not to see complete carbon copies of myself.
It took a little bit to get used to dodging attacks and I was still getting hit by attacks I should have dodged even at the end of beta. That said I was getting a lot better at it and it is quite the nifty mechanic.
WvW/PvP- I am not a huge fan of battlegrounds/structured pvp/warzones/scenarios. Whatever the hell you want to call them, I usually stay away from them. Why? Simple. I enjoy large, random, open world battles. Some of my fondest memories involve open world battles from World of Warcraft. I distinctly remember one that involved myself and Tr1age and began as a ragtag defense of Crossroads against an Alliance raid and ended with 2 raid groups full of horde steamrolling through Ashenvale and Darkshore into the night elf capital. Lightning's Blade Server in vanilla Warcraft was THE SHIT.
Anyway back to Guild Wars 2. WvW was definitely a lot of fun this weekend, but it was a bit disorganized. The chat bug didnt help much either. Your team chat could be seen by all 3 servers so any tactical chatter was impossible, unless it was on a voice program out of game. This is beta though. I am looking forward to release when guilds settle in and we see some real tough head to head to head battles in WvW with some great tactics. The maps are HUGE and look great. I don't know exactly how to unlock waypoints in WvW and I know they have to be careful balancing that because it can completely change the pace and flow of battle depending on how far or close you can respawn to the battles, but they might want to consider some alternate options. Maybe an NPC in the initial asura gate areas that gives you a speed buff like in certain capital cities, but its removed upon taking damage.
As for structured PvP, I don't mind doing it occasionally and I found the maps to be enjoyable, but its not really my thing. They also need to make it so you can join up as a group. Nine times out of ten I was on the opposite team from my party members. I also don't see how they can tout this as an e-sport and not have you join up with your party members. I chalk this up to being beta and not being completely implemented yet.
Immersion/Graphics/Sound- This is a HUGE one for me. I love taking screenshots and spending time enjoying the environments and exploring the virtual world. Guild Wars 2 is one of the most beautiful, if not the most beautiful game I have had the pleasure to enjoy.
Just look at the capital cities. I spent the most time in the human city of Divinity's Reach. The city is BEAUTIFUL. Its carnival time, and confetti is falling from the skies in the commons. Everywhere people are going about their business. Children are playing in the streets, people chatting, peddling wares, etc. There are great conversations to listen to between NPCs all throughout the city and the place is huge. There is so much to explore in the city and the world itself. Little hidden places all along the way to reward those who venture off the beaten path.
I also have to mention underwater environments. They are simply beautiful. I spent the better part of an hour with Tr1age in Lions Arch just swimming around exploring. In short it is really something you have to experience for yourself. Underwater combat takes a bit of getting used to, but it is quite smooth once you get a handle on it and the abilities are quite fun. I mean come on I shoot TORPEDOES as an engineer =P. This is another place where the sounds really come in. You really get the feeling of being underwater.
I adventured to the Snowden Drifts level 15-25 area in Norn Lands with Tr1age on the last night of beta. Let me set the stage for you. It was night time. I zoned in through the portal to a cold, snow covered forest. The snow was falling heavily from the sky. I stepped off to the side away from a small fort near the portal to take in the environment and listen to the atmosphere. You could hear a cold wind whipping through the trees and the sharp creaks and cracks of branches bending and snapping in the cold. Other than that It was complete eerie silence, similar to what you would expect in a blizzard in the real world.
Later on in our adventures in said zone I bore witness to some immersion that put a grin on my face from ear to ear. We were travelling up a snow covered road and I watched a bit of snow fall off a tree's branches and land on the snow covered ground with a soft thud. I think we might have caught it on the recording of the stream, but that was certainly an awesome moment for me.
Later on in our adventures in said zone I bore witness to some immersion that put a grin on my face from ear to ear. We were travelling up a snow covered road and I watched a bit of snow fall off a tree's branches and land on the snow covered ground with a soft thud. I think we might have caught it on the recording of the stream, but that was certainly an awesome moment for me.
Crafting- I did not get to spend that much time crafting as I was experiencing other parts of the game, but it is something I want to look into a bit more during the next beta test. I like the idea of creating components and throwing them together to see what you get. I also like that if you have a huge stack of whatever to craft you actually craft it faster the more you get through said stack. No more setting yourself to smelt 300 Thorium and going to make a sandwich. Who enjoyed that? I didn't...well not unless I was hungry.
What I am unsure of is the ability to have 2 active crafting professions yet you keep the level you attain in any of them and can switch them at will. I am hoping there is some sort of cooldown, because while it will take a lot of time to level all of the crafting professions, it kind of goes against their whole team-oriented mantra. I mean why ask anyone for anything if you can just switch around professions and craft everything for yourself. Our resident crafter Gyoin will have to clear this up for me because he spent more time using the system than I did.
In closing, there is SO much more I could talk about, just from this weekend but I will let others post their experiences. That and I cant type forever. All in all this game is amazing and I seriously do not want to play anything else until it releases. God what the fuck am I going to do with myself? A little polish and some bug squashing and I think we are good to go. I am hoping we aren't too far from release. I have a hunch we are closer than we think but who knows.
TL;DR THIS GAME IS AMAZING AND I WANT IT NOW.
