Well, last BWE this past weekend and found myself not wanting to play too much because I didn't want to spoil things too much for the actual release. One month or so until it actually launches and I can't wait! The game is so unbelievably amazing and I adore the fact that there's no monthly fees. Tried the Asura (gnome) class this past weekend and they're hilarious. Their dialogue alone and surrounding NPC's dialogues is worth the price of admission alone. Didn't think I'd ever like playing a gnome race, but I've fallen in love. There's a bunch of kid NPC's running around doing "Your momma is so dumb" jokes, I nearly fell out of my chair laughing. "Your momma's so dumb she thinks golemancer is the response to a golemquestion." etc ... Couple that with innovative fighting mechanism, the ability to send items to your bank from anywhere you happen to be in the world (and sell them for that matter too ... no more running back to town to the broker), no more mob-stealing (it's been effectively eliminated), auto-mentoring in areas that are lower than you, dynamic events that pop up suddenly and give you a rush as everyone in the area bands together to fight the mob, and heart-line quest series, and a personal storyline series of quests .... well it's just an overall remarkable game. This next month is going to be a long one. lol.
Played this weekend's Beta. Took a Ranger to Level 13...and puttered around on other classes to no more than level 6 or so. Its a beautiful game. I love the artwork style. Its like stepping into a painting. I suspect I'll get lost in this game for some time to come. Guess I'll have 2 MMO's now. Where will I find the time, lol? Raf
I'll be glad when it comes out next month. I like the way anyone can heal or rez anyone else, that we aren't competing with other players for kills, harvesting, loot, or experience, and all the puzzle places. The dialog of the npc's is hilarious. I find myself just standing around to listen to what they are saying.
Katz wrote: LOL...we were helping a friend who had rolled a Charr in his "personal story". One of the NPC's in the warband was named "Dinky". He kept a kind of a rolling monologue during the storyline that kept my wife and I cracking up.. Stuff like...((this growly deep voice))..."Once, I swallowed a thumbtack..((long pause))...I think it still there"...LOL..thats pretty random in the middle of a quest.. I like the mechanics of the game that allow everyone to get equal loot, xp, harvests also. If you didn't explore the Norn areas...go find the Keg Brawl area next time you're on. That game was a ton of fun. Raf
I was focused on the Slyvari and Asura areas. I'm going to have one of each race though so my norm will have fun at the keg brawl.
Keg brawl is open to any race....sort of like soccer with a keg of ale. Except the opposing team will kick you cross the ice and take your keg. Raf
I was focusing on human and charr areas. Main'll be a human mesmer, and a charr necro will be my first alt. The world is beautiful, the models are beautiful, the dye system kicks butt, and the game is fun. Wins all around.
I'll consider checking it out around Christmas, if everyone is still enchanted with it. But, after experiencing the disappointment of Rift, & watching others experience the fiasco of SWTOR, I refuse to get into any new MMO until it's been out a couple months.
Freejazzlive wrote: Thats understandable FJ. Except I play/experiment with new games (for me) all the time. AoC, WoW, Rift, TERA, DDO, Runes of Magic, Allods. Up to this point, all of them held my interest for about a week before returning here. GW2 is different though. Raf
Freejazzlive wrote: I understand your feelings on this too. I've tried a few that just don't keep my interest. I played Guildwars before I played EQ2 and still play it some. I'll continue to subscribe to and play EQ2 but I'm definitely playing Guildwars 2 from day one.
The thing is, I played GW1 and was not impressed. All the zoning and instances made the game feel very very isolating. Not the case at all with GW2. It's one big massive expanse, tons of players, has that true MMO play feel to it, but very very very different gaming dynamics. Everything in it is innovative and new -- and the feedback/interaction from the devs (they appear to actually listen to their playerbase when making changes between the betas) makes you feel like you're playing a game they're so invested in that they want it to be as perfect as possible. There's clever things like if you go into an area that has level 5 mobs and say you're level 10, it auto-mentors you to the level of the zone so you continue to get xp at the proper rate. Learning new spells/combat arts is innovative, too. You start off with one basic spell that auto-casts at the 1 slot and by using your weapon you slowly start to unlock the spell next to it via a percentage gain. Gradually, through combat you learn all of your fighting spells/combat arts -- unlocking them via fighting. However, that's not the end of it. Swap out your weapon from a staff to a knife and you get another whole set of spells/combat arts to unlock via fighting. Go under water and learn another whole set of spells/combat arts. There's also something like achievement points that unlock other spells/combat arts -- you gain those through levels starting at level 10 and upward -- and you can spend your points however you like to gain whatever new skill you'd like. They even have elite spells/combat arts to unlock after you've spent all you can in your achievement section. There's dynamic events that run something like PQ's that pop up randomly. So if you've visited an area and completed the questlines (they're called heart-lines), and return, you can encounter something completely new. It's always a good idea to return to areas because you never know what you'll find. There's your personal storyline that takes you through a very detailed lore-inspired series of events that gradually grows in level as you do. The personal storyline is neat because it takes you from the newb areas and sends you on a series of instanced "dungeons" that you can solo by yourself and continue to grow -- leading to trophies and awards and recognition. There's no mounts in game, but rather a series of teleportals that take you literally all over the entire map with one click .. you just open your map and click on one of the portals and you're instantly transported, no matter where you are in game (for a small fee of course). So you could be out deep in the woods or out on a ragged coastline and get home with one click. Players are actually rewarded for exploring. Find all the vistas and discovery areas of the zone you're currently in and you get a key to open a mithril chest, plus xp, plus another bonus reward. There are hidden puzzles all over the land -- one guy found an underwater organ he could play: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rx4UdIpaCWU .. that he just randomly came across and found a puzzle There's tons of little goodies like this all over the game for the curious adventurer. Oh! And I almost forgot. No more waiting for the "perfect" group to do dungeons ... according to the devs in GW2, almost any class can tank and survive. In fact a group tested out whether they could survive with an all-dps group and here's the results! http://www.gamebreaker.tv/mmorpg/br...ng-the-trinity/ So no more need for that holy trinity of MMO grouping anymore. It's wide open I honestly can't say enough about this game and how enthralled I am with it. Attention has been paid to every last detail and makes playing it feel like a real treat. I doubt I'll get bored with it quickly -- at least I hope I won't.
I have played all the BWE and gw2 kicks the pants off any other game out there! You actually get credit for exploring, doing jumping puzzles to get to a certain spot, the fact there is no kill stealing, all combine to give us the best immersion into a game world! What a fantastic game! AND THAT IS JUST THE BETA VERSION!! Can't wait to see the live version! EQ2 doesn't hold a candle to GW2 in any way, shape or form. Jayne, if you need a guild in GW2 look up COTP. We would be proud to have you aboard! www.covenantofthephoenix.com is our website. Peace! Morg
To be fair though. GW2 doesn't adress all the needs of everyone. if you like questing, exploring, grouping with everyone and anyone at the drop of a hat, crafting, battlegrounds and gathering? Then yes. But the game doesn't allow for "Raiding" per se. While raiding isn't really my cup of tea any longer, there are a lot folks out there that really enjoy it. GW2 as far as I can see has totally done away with the raid concept. Whether thats a good or bad thing remains to be seen...but at this point I don't really see how it could even be incorporated in the model. Raf
Even though I haven't tried it yet, I "believe" that the World v World events are for the raiders out there. There are also dungeon raids ( i can't be 100% sure however, I was too busy trying out different classes etc to try those items out ).
Have not had a chance to try this yet, but I'm interested in everything I've seen and read about it. Not sure if I'll get it when it first comes out, or wait a couple months until the reviews start pouring in.
I played in the stress test this past Thursday and I was completely blown away...The game is beautiful and I was getting no lag at all on higher than balanced graphics. There is no zoning, except to certain dungeons. The world is massive and feels like it is really alive. Also, you can transfer servers anytime for free, and no monthly fees ever. Here is a link with all the info on the game you will need - Guild Wars 2 - Mass info for the uninitiated. - http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads...itiated-READ-ME I have played Everquest2 for close to 7 years and really enjoyed it, but I do believe that GW2 will cause me to rethink about subing here again. EQ2 just doesn't even come close to what GW2 offers. Maybe SOE can get some ideas on how to make their next installment of Everquest as good.
I've played original guild wars off and on since like 2005. It was my first MMO though not a true MMO as I found out after playing games like EQ2. I still love it to this day and have been looking forward to GW2 for like 5 years since they announced they were making it. I have preordered it and played in some of the betas and the latest stress test though I haven't worked on too much content as I don't want to spoil it for release. I can't wait. I currently play EQ2 and TERA but will most likely make GW2 my primary game come release. I am working with some of my TERA guildmates to make a chapter of our guild for GW2. It will be a very casual, social guild, and I'd be happy to have any friendly faces from EQ2 who want to join us to come on over. We'll most likely be on the Jade Quarry server. If you'd like to know more or would like to keep in contact about the guild please contact me on twitter @girlygamersite or PM me here on the forums. See you in GW2!
ekylok wrote: Just wanted to comment on this because it's a bit misleading. They will charge you to permanently change servers after launch -- I think it's something like $20, but all your toons go with you when you transfer -- with GW2 you can only play on one server, no server hopping or splitting toons between different servers unfortunately. What you CAN do for free, and it's kind of brilliant, is say your friends are on another server and you want to spend the day questing and playing with them .. you can visit their server as a guest and play with them (this is no charge and free to do for everyone) -- the only thing you can't do is participate in the World vs World battles because it would jeapordize the balance if an influx of players from another server came in etc ... Also, just read through that article you posted, it's fabulous. Very thorough and good to read for folks who are fence-sitting about the game.
My husband is very much excited about GW2. I wish I could get excited about it. I was in the first beta event and hated it. And it was one thing... I could not play in 1st person. I know, I'm in the minority - but I just couldn't get over the awful feeling of being detached from my body. I know it's me, not them. I like that in EQ2 I have the choice. I also like the depth of content in EQ2 (being nearly 8 years old will do that to a game). The odd thing is - when we were playing EverQuest, we could not wait until EQ2 because we would be at the start of the game... now that I've been playing EQ2 for so long, I don't want to "start over" - I like the vast amount of content in the game.
