I really enjoy the questing/leveling in GW2 so far for one reason: group friendly. I took a video w/ commentary to show you the basics.
If you overlook the overflow issues, GW2 accommodates groups very well. Having to worry about being on all the same quests, or even being the same level, as your friends is a problem of the past. In GW2 you group up and find areas of the map to go and do together. You can also roam and find events going on.
The questing itself in the lower levels can be lackluster. Watering crops, feeding cows, roaring at bushes to scare out animals, and defending against waves of bandits aren’t exactly innovative activities, but the way in which it works is awesome. I’m hoping that as the game progresses these quests become more involved or at least more than farmhand chores.
Watch the video for a better idea of how it works.
I can’t do typical themepark quest hubs anymore (except for WoW for some reason. Maybe conditioning over years of play heh). Trying TERA I liked the combat but the hubs killed me. The GW2 method is definitely the same concept in new window dressing but so far it really works for me. I can wander and join in any event and progress however and wherever I want.
Which leads me to the down-leveling. So far it works better then I thought it would. Everything is still a challenge but I still feel like my character is getting stronger due to having more abilities open. I never out level content and it’s added a lot to my gameplay and exploration options.
I don’t know if it’ll work as well when I’m max level and I have some gear but in the teens going back to the starter areas works great.
I also hope they don’t make the game easier. So far the challenge is great. If I spam abilities I die. If I actually use my abilities wisely I triumph. And I didn’t have to slog through the whole leveling process to get to the point where the combat demands I pay attention.
All I heard from Fergor…
I don’t usually use quest hubs, but when I do it’s because WoW has conditioned me to.
Sadly it’s true 🙁
You do not even need to form a group.
Difficulty can be so high that people help each other out of necessity and group up.
I like that feeling and if you do some damage on the enemy you get full exp.
Funnn
I’m still on the fench about this…I really want to love the game, but at the same time i’m afraid i’m gonna be disapointed. I have some guild mates and IRL friends who have been playing it, and they seem to like it. When one if them confirms that there are big pvp battles without any lag, and the cashshop doesnt affect anything I be ready to hand out my money to GW2 🙂
I was glad to see the insulting comment about a person who posted was removed. Thanks K&G for getting rid of it. Rarely do I see insulting comments here like the one I saw. I guess you guys stay up on it. I always wonder if the people who make insulting remarks, would make such a remark if they were face to face with the person. Probably not. I guess people get brave while sitting in their parents basement.
I am the type of player who likes to complete all quests and experience all of the content. As a result, I am always doing quests below my level. In GW2 it seemed like I was running out of content for my level.
I had a hell of a time with a level 10 story line quest when I was level 8. I needed two others to help me complete it. Maybe they just needed to tweek it a little.
Did I miss something? Do I need to grind more? Do I need to repeat some of the events? Maybe Anet wants you to buy the exp boosters in the cash shop, LOL.
I submitted a detailed ticket explaining my concerns. Maybe the need to increase the exp in the low level areas just a tad. But hey that is what beta is four.
like others I’m on the fence as well. Its been mentioned how people are helping each other but thats because it is beta most likely. When the real starters gun goes off people will zerg stuff and then in a couple months will it be like WAR and the PQs where no one is around?
I’m pretty much decided to just hold off until month 3 and get some feedback then. I skipped TOR and turns out that was a pretty good choice. I could go into these games with the goal to play 3 months and quit so i suppose if i choose that role its all good, but i cannot help but wish there is more to it.
oh well, we shall see. I’ve been playing Stronghold Kingdoms since last August but it is very casual and its f2p model works for me.
@Thomas: don’t go into encounters expecting you need to level up before you take them on (and I wouldn’t advise going the xp boost route either, though I know you were just kidding: they only provide +50% boost on kills, not dynamic events or personal storyline quests, which are your actual bread and butter for gaining xp).
Whether you are underleveled for a personal storyline mission or renown heart seems to vary based on what areas you’re running in. I completed my norn storyline 4 levels under recommended, but that may change for other norn characters based on the decisions they made in character creation and throughout the story, so my anecdotal evidence is no real help, understand?
@Thomas “I had a hell of a time with a level 10 story line quest when I was level 8. I needed two others to help me complete it. Maybe they just needed to tweek it a little.”
Well yes some story quests are very hard. I had one where if I where 2 lvls under the requirement I would not have made it.
Actually I died once.. then bought 3 different stat boosts at a merchant nearby and still failed. The third time I did make it.
Such encounters are part of the charm.
also, due to the automatic de-levelling, don’t be afraid to take a portal to the other starting areas and doing hearts there to gain a little xp before coming back to your story
@thomas – if you can’t do the level 10 personal story at level 8, just level up a bit in the open world, you aren’t meant to do it all at once; and It’s refreshing to find an MMO with some challenge in it.
Also most of us have just been in the starter areas. The events become much more diverse and intersting over level 10 with longer event chains and many of them require grouping to complete. You can’t really judge this game on the tutorial areas, which are clearly designed to be simple, easy and allow a high density of new players. I can assure people that Arenanet know how to make challenging content.
Thanks Rando
Thanks for the info gang. I did play three characters over the weekend non of which were leveled to 10. I will be looking forward to the next beta weekend to see how they fixed some of the issues.
Have they announced the future beta weekend schedule yet?
No, not yet. The only statement they’ve made was a few weeks ago that they would have one BWE a month…
I have a friend who played this weekend but is rather soured on the questing, and here’s why.
He mentioned that while you get credit for helping someone else kill a mob, that with so many players in his area mobs were often dead before he could help out. Items that were useable (ones you had to click to get credit for) were swarmed and took too long to respawn (an issue with almost every MMO I’ve played). As such, he said his 2nd quest in the game took 30 minutes to complete. This left him a little soured.
Did you run into any of this?
The clickable items work just like resource nodes, they are individual and can’t be “ninjaed”.
@Illy:
That was not my experience at all, but maybe my server was a lower population one than your friend’s, and by playing a ranged toon I always got some AoE on most mob. I also don’t remember a problem with item respawn rates as I remember many were able to be clicked after another player already got to them; although there were quest items that did get picked up permanently (like the ghost hammers in the Char zone)there were so many of them strewn around that depletion was never a real problem.
I think that is one advantage about the multi-faceted approach to dynamic event contribution, namely one could help by picking up items, or killing mob, or helping out in a variety of manners, so if one aspect was indeed limited you could switch to another method of participation.