GW2 Total waste of Money.

[Mallakai]

No open pvp. No real questing. No healers, tanks or dps setup. What is the point in grouping with others if no one has a role? To top it off, even if you do level to 80 you get level-capped when you go to lower level areas. The fact that pvp has absolutely nothing to do with your pve level makes no sense to me. Most of the event bosses look to me like a disorganized mess of players running around like chickens with their heads cut off. I understand they were trying for a different angle on the "standard" mmo scene, but honestly I really feel like this game was a total waste of money. I've played free-to-play mmo's that were better. In fact, I wouldn't play this one if it was free. I'll go back to WoW at $15 a month, it was money better spent if you ask me.

[Vayne]

All of the things you list as negatives, some people see as positives. This means, for players like you, Guild Wars 2 was, in fact, a complete waste of money. For players like me, WoW is a complete waste of money.

I think it's great that there exists at least one MMO that's not just another WoW clone for people like me.

[Nitiliak]

I'm sorry you feel that way.

Personally, I love this game. I feel like it gives people who normally solo everything (like me) a chance, instead of needing a party to do anything. I'm always shy about asking to join parties. And when I do, I never know what I should or shouldn't do. As for the PvP, if it were open, I'd be afraid of dying ALL THE TIME. Because I'm horrible at PvP >< and hopefully ANet will eventually notice the flaws (like the event bosses) and tweak them a bit.
I love the fact that it's not just another WoW ripoff. I normally get bored of them after 10 minutes... But hey, that's just my opinion

Have fun in WoW! (No sarcasm) =)

[Mallakai]

Not trying to troll or anything, but I just have a hard time seeing the point in leveling. No, I'm not max level on any of my toons, but whats the real end-game content? I've only leveled a few toons up past 20 (wich I realize is not that high) but after each level, It really seems like the same old "wandering aimlessly around" to me. I'd love to know. Does the game get ANY more exciting? Or can a person expect "more of the same" for another 60 levels? Even when you are at 80 what is there to do then?

I agree its a pain to have to wait to group with people to get things done on other mmo's sometimes, so yes the solo aspect of it is kind of nice, but there are some areas where you do need to group with people in GW2. When you do have to group, shouldnt you at least have an effective way of doing it rather than a bunch of random people throwing themselves at the bosses only to end up dead? You couldnt heal a player to save them if you wanted. You couldnt draw the attention of the boss to you to save another player even if you wanted. I dont see how the whole "group" thing is very effective. Wich would be fine if you NEVER needed to group with others BUT you do.

[Centaur]

Well, the great thing about this game is that the entire game is your endgame content. The higher level you get, the more of the game world you unlock, and the more places you have to play in. Whether you like exploring, hardcore dungeons with your 5-man organized team, doing dynamic events in any of the zones in the game, or even just crafting... at max level there is a lot to do for many different kinds of people. You're not restricted to specific level 80 zones or forced into doing specific raids to get ahead. This clearly appeals to a lot of people... though ofcourse it can never appeal to everyone.

If you're only level 20, then yes, you have a lot more to come... you haven't even run your first dungeon yet (which will become available at level 30). But yes, if you're not able to enjoy those first 20 levels at all, then you probably won't enjoy the rest of the game as well...
Also, if you're wandering around aimlessly, then you're probably still playing the zones with a WoW mindset (where lower level zones were a fixed chaining of quest givers, with the only purpose of leveling up and getting a step closer to endgame), and you're still not used to ArenaNet's system of hidden stories and dynamic events. Try talking to more of the npc's, figuring out their background stories, or following them around to see how they spend their day. Some of them actually trigger their own dynamic event chains, and for me, knowing the stories linked to those dynamic events made me enjoy those events a lot more... you get to see them as part of a bigger story, instead of just a random event happening without a clear a purpose.

And ArenaNet will keep adding new dungeons and new dynamic events all throughout the game, which is why it's great that you can go back to any zone and any level, as even months after release you can still find challenging new content there that you haven't experienced before.

[Vayne]

Not trying to troll or anything, but I just have a hard time seeing the point in leveling. No, I'm not max level on any of my toons, but whats the real end-game content? I've only leveled a few toons up past 20 (wich I realize is not that high) but after each level, It really seems like the same old "wandering aimlessly around" to me. I'd love to know. Does the game get ANY more exciting? Or can a person expect "more of the same" for another 60 levels? Even when you are at 80 what is there to do then?

I agree its a pain to have to wait to group with people to get things done on other mmo's sometimes, so yes the solo aspect of it is kind of nice, but there are some areas where you do need to group with people in GW2. When you do have to group, shouldnt you at least have an effective way of doing it rather than a bunch of random people throwing themselves at the bosses only to end up dead? You couldnt heal a player to save them if you wanted. You couldnt draw the attention of the boss to you to save another player even if you wanted. I dont see how the whole "group" thing is very effective. Wich would be fine if you NEVER needed to group with others BUT you do.

You do need to group for dungeons. You don't need to group for dynamic events. But the truth is the healing you think is so lovely in an MMO and the tanking is actually quite forced and very much contrived. I remember reading Lord of the Rings and not seeing any healing or tanking at all. From a dramatic point of view, a monster only attacking the one guy who is geared for it isn't very exciting at all. In fact, I find it dull as dishwater.

There are tons of things people can do to help groups in this game, but they're done differently. You can remove conditions from people even if yu're not grouped with them, throw down a healing rain in an AOE area. You can use knockbacks and blinds and stuns to help out. What you can't do is sit there and make someone only attack you. If you don't see that as completely contrived, I don't have anything else to say on the matter.

The fact is, if you play this game with a guild and people you like, it's probably more enjoyable. Certainly that's true for me. But I don't see this game as wandering around the world aimlessly. There is a personal story, it builds slowly. Reference again Lord of the Rings.

The story doesn't start with Frodo taking the ring to Morder to cast it in the fires of Mount Doom. It starts at Biblo's birthday party, with Gandalf showing up in the shire. That's it. There is a story here, but it takes time to develop, instead of throwing you in at the deep end. The story starts after level 20 and continues through to level 80 and even beyond, since several of the story quests are at level 80. There's certainly a point to it all.

And each zone has stories as well. The battle between the humans and the centaurs is a story. They're trying to drive humans back, we're trying to take land from them. It's a war out there. I felt the war. I don't need a wall of text that nobody reads anyway in order to give me justification that there is a war.

This might surprise you but once, a long time ago, there are a whole lot of games that didn't lead players around by the nose, and people played them. But as the gaming industry drew a wider and wider audience, games have been dumbed down. Do you know why most people don't read quests in WoW? Because they can just follow an arrow to a star. It wasn't always like this. Guild Wars 2 is a half-step backwards to a time when people actually explored worlds and found cool stuff. If you don't find that cool, there are tons of games for you to enjoy.

But the dragons that have invaded Tyria and caused the drowning of Lion's Arch and the Dragon Brand, and who have chased the Asura to the surface are quite large foes, who need to be handled. I don't need more of a point than that. Their influence is everywhere you look, but the game starts you far from the dragons and you work your way up to facing them. That's the real point of leveling. Not just wandering around. As you level, you learn your profession, you learn the skills, you learn to dodge, how traits work, it's a tutorial that pretty much ends at level 30 when you get your elite skill. And coincidentally at that level, the story begins to get more intense and it begins to talk more about the dragons and their affects.

I don't like games leading me around by the nose and never have. It's one of the reasons I couldn't play WoW. The player is rewarded with all sorts of things, experience, loot, etc, but I never felt like there was a reason for my character to be doing what he was doing. Surely my character knows nothing of experience points.

In the end, it comes down to a simple matter of preference. You don't like the way this game is laid out and that's fair enough. But I don't like the way most MMOs are laid out, and I'm happy that this one exists.

[tym]

I have seen many a post about leveling, and how its not important. IMHO, I disagree, the more you level, the more of the map you can play. I try to open as much as the map as possible, so IF i decide to join a group, I can play any wear on the map I want.

Yes you do scale down when you go to lower levels, you still have a advantage with skill traits, and such. IMHO, not a fan of crafting, just cheaper to buy what you want from the trade post. Sure you can make your own level 80 stuff, but how much are you gonna spend to get yourself to that level.

The point is, the game is YOUR game. Play it how you want. You make your own rules, some want 100 percent map completion, thats there goal, My goal, Fill out the map so I can jump anyplace, some use crafting to level, I use just the map.

Some players want to be told where to go, what to do, how to do it, I respect that. GW2 may not be for you.

[TitanBlade]

"I don't like games leading me around by the nose and never have. It's one of the reasons I couldn't play WoW. The player is rewarded with all sorts of things, experience, loot, etc, but I never felt like there was a reason for my character to be doing what he was doing. Surely my character knows nothing of experience points"

Just because GW2 allows more exploration doesnt mean you are not handfed tons of stuff, Press the map button and it tells you tons of places to go, there are plenty of leading features to this game.

[Vayne]

"I don't like games leading me around by the nose and never have. It's one of the reasons I couldn't play WoW. The player is rewarded with all sorts of things, experience, loot, etc, but I never felt like there was a reason for my character to be doing what he was doing. Surely my character knows nothing of experience points"

Just because GW2 allows more exploration doesnt mean you are not handfed tons of stuff, Press the map button and it tells you tons of places to go, there are plenty of leading features to this game.

Sure, I agree. It also gives you the option to turn off all the map icons, which I do, most of the time, anyway. I wish there was an option that only showed you things you have already discovered, but there's not. But you can still explore if you wish to explore, by turning off vista and skill point and POI icons. It's at very least a choice.

Closest thing to an old-style RPG in an MMO ever. It's not perfect, but it's a damned sight better than any alternative I've found.

[Don't Panic]

Spending 1 minute researching the game before buying it would have been a good idea.