Guild Wars 2 Beta Preview

[triorph]

-snip-

Aiming your abilities should be a thing. It's not willing suspension of disbelief, its annoying.

And by skill I mean something that isn't "Learn how best to abuse one of your 10000 abilities in combat"

By skill I mean something that actively involves dodging and possibly parrying attacks as well as relying less on abilities that are on a hotbar and more on your skill as a fighter. Hell I'd settle for something like Divinity 2, where the hotbar exists but you at least need to dodge attacks and actually think.

Have you even tried the game? You have to "aim" many of your abilities (although not in a cross-hair sense), and dodging and blocking were very time-based skills required from the player. Your description of Divinity 2 sounds just like the combat in Guild Wars 2.

 

[banksy122]

Looks like chibi WoW is still pvp based for the most part.

*Sigh

What a fool I was to expect anything 'less'.

Someone doesn't know what the term "chibi" means, I see.

Chibi is a specific art style (one that refers to cartoon art, typically anime/manga art, in which all of the characters, even adults, are drawn to look like cute cartoon children). GW2 doesn't even remotely emulate this style. WoW is far closer to a "chibi" art style than GW2 due to its color style and the way its character models are drawn, so I find it hilarious that you'd say this because this means you either don't know what the term means, or you've never so much as looked at a single screenshot of the game.

Tip for next time: if you grossly misuse the term that you're trying to insult something with, you're doing it wrong.

lol

It's slang for small child. Guild wars is the small child next to WoW.

NOTE: I don't think that's a bad or negative comparison, considering the behemoth that is WoW.

GW1 could certainly be described as that, but GW2 has grown up and now far surpasses WoW, because WoW is growing old, and like old things, it doesn't get better, but gets static and deteriorates. I don't hate WoW, but after 2 and a half years and 4000 hours, it is nothing compared to GW2. From my experience, the people who play WoW still, don't play it because they find it more fun then other MMOs, but play it because it is WoW, and they can't not play it. They don't even look at other games.

 

[VanQ]

-snip-

How about, and this is a crazy idea here, an MMO that actually relies on skill and aiming! (Oh god doesn't that idea just shake your britches)

I mean I've heard Vindictus had good combat, but I also heard that's basically just a RPG with mulitplayer zones.

The first MMO developer to actually have a good combat system with less grind and actual content would be king of the god damn world for years...yet no one can grow the brain cells to NOT copy WoW and its predecessors.

Edit: Again, no quoting please, I ceased caring against the wave of people who claim GW2 is going to be god.

I know you said not to quote you again, but I feel I want to anyway since I agree wholeheartedly. There is absolutely nothing special about GW2 when compared to all the other MMOs I have played in recent years. It plays like a clunkier WoW, has a bigger grind than TERA (seriously) and is about as ugly as any non-AAA MMO you can name.
I don't get why people think the quest system is so amazing, either. It IS just kill x of y or gather x of y or sometimes both. The ONLY difference is they give you a bar to fill instead of telling you an actual number. PEOPLE SERIOUSLY FALL FOR THIS!
Sure, it's handy that you can run into a field and gather/kill x of y and not have to hand it in to an NPC somewhere, but that's not revolutionary in any way, shape or form. At most, it just removes the need to click the mouse two times more. And getting experience for finding places on the map is nothing new, WoW has done this from the very start as has TERA. They both offer experience and rewards for discovering points of interest.
GW2 is just another standard, run of the mill MMO. Also, the whole "dynamic combat" system they promised is utter garbage when compared to TERA. The dodge function might as well not exist considering how limited it is in use and considering you can walk out of the way of anything that would hurt you anyway.
Really, I was so excited for this game but the last three beta weekends have left an awful taste in my mouth.

-snip-

Aiming your abilities should be a thing. It's not willing suspension of disbelief, its annoying.

And by skill I mean something that isn't "Learn how best to abuse one of your 10000 abilities in combat"

By skill I mean something that actively involves dodging and possibly parrying attacks as well as relying less on abilities that are on a hotbar and more on your skill as a fighter. Hell I'd settle for something like Divinity 2, where the hotbar exists but you at least need to dodge attacks and actually think.

Sorry to quote you twice in one post, but if that's the kinda gameplay you're after, you should give TERA a try, specifically Warrior. That's pretty much a perfect description of the class besides aiming arrows, which they can't use. But dodging, parrying and finding an open path to your opponent's back is how they roll.
If you're worried about the people on this forum that screamed "pedo" on the release, just ignore them. The game is genuinely good and there is a free trial now, so there's no reason not to give it a try.

 

[Negatempest]

Sorry, but nope, nah uh and negatory. Korean games have a nasty habit of being extremely grindy and Tera is no different. I have experienced quests where you have to kill 60 mobs, 20 of 3 different types, for xp that is equal to another that just had me kill 15-ish. No, this type of quest is in-excusable and is nothing more than a time sink artificially lengthen an MMO. Though I believe GW2 is more evolutionary than "revolutionary" Removal of kill marks, anyone can heal, anyone can rez, lfg nearly non existent, most obvious grind quests gone, unfair gear/lvl in pvp gone (you know what I mean, I don't want to go into detail). Want me to go more? Terrain actually looking different instead of just flat with trees every where. Being any class and able to kite or kill monsters a few levels above you instead of that being exclusive to range or healers.

No, GW2 isn't like every other MMO, BUT it still has level progression and some quests to be done before others just like other MMO's.

GW2 isn't Revolutionary, it is Evolutionary. Compare the very beginning quests of most MMO's compared to GW2 and if you tell me that they are similar and boring. You are full of ****

Edit: I don't mind the combat that the Korean mmo's have given, they are fantastic. What kills it every single time for most MMO's is the xp grind, always the stupid xp grind and quests.

 

[Hangler]

The game doesn't revolutionize anything really. It is more of an evolution of the genre I.E it keeps things that have served the genre well over the years and then adds other features to make things more interesting, like dynamic events and WvW pvp, to the point where it feels different from most other mmo's

 

[targren]

From the betas, about the only thing new that I could see from this over the other established MMO traditions is the business model. You pay for the game, then they have the RM store that I'm still not sure how I feel about, but it doesn't tilt toward "good."

The vaunted "event" system that's supposed to "change the world"... doesn't. Most of them just fall into the same old MMO quest types: Kill X mobs, Kill boss, gather X parcels, escort stupid AI. At least the localized event system keeps stupid "FedEx quests" at minimum, though.

Have to disagree that it feels any different from any other MMO, though, other than in the wallet. Unless that other MMO is "Guild Wars," at least.

 

[the doom cannon]

I'm just gonna snip this

Ok first point on grinding. Of course crafting is going to be a grind. It's a niche mechanic that requires people to invest time and currency to max out, and that won't ever change. Ok now to the other grinding stuff. By your reasoning, you want to be max level out the gate with everything unlocked and have no rpg aspect to the game at all. I know that sounds harsh, but it's really true. If you get rid of leveling, skill unlocking, and materials collection, then what do you have left? It's definitely not an rpg.

I will agree wholeheartedly that the skill tier system is complete bs and needs to go away. To compensate, they should add an achievement or achievements for unlocking all the skills.

Trait tiers on the other hand need to be there because it allows them to balance a handful of extremely powerful traits so they can't be abused. Traits are meant to tailor your play style, not create a play style.

Now for weapon skill unlocking. you're right. It is a grind, by your definition. But if you just take the time to play the game and enjoy it, you will unlock all 5 skills without even thinking about it. I think you, and others, see the 5 skills as something to get. While this is true, this also follows the checklist mentality, which is what Anet is trying to discourage. You can unlock all the skills for each weapon before you finish the early game if you actively switch your weapon set when you complete all 5 for a set. I don't see this as grinding because it just occurs through basic gameplay.

Addressing your point of farming the same DE over and over: you CAN, if you want. GW2 allows you to play however you want. If you want to farm a DE, then by all means go ahead. That doesn't mean it's a grind just because of how YOU want to play it. And you're seriously going to put exploring into the grind category? It's fucking exploring! Ok sorry that was mean but seriously.

I have nothing against you and I agree with some of your points. I just happen to disagree with a lot of them. You and a lot of other people have the "checklist mentality." As long as you retain this, then you will see everything in GW2 as a grind and won't have nearly as much fun as you could.