Categories:
Pros:
- Unlocked content regardless of your level and gear
- Diversity of game content
- Ability to convert game currency to cash currency
- Non-linear progression of gear
- Not forced to wear the best gear
- Unprecedented pace and quality of content updates in the world of gaming
- Massive open world raids
Cons:
- Slower load times (unless you have SSD)
- Low drop rates for high-end materials
- Possibility to exploit early world content in dungeons
- Minimal increase in stats for best in-slot gear.
Guild Wars 2 is the sequel of a fantasy MMORPG from ArenaNet that is free to play and very popular. There is no subscription required for you in order to be able to play the game, but you have to buy the game package first. Recently, the core game became completely free, but you still have to buy its newest expansion Heart of Thorns. The game mechanics has been reworked in comparison to the first Guild Wars to bring innovations in the world of MMORPGs, but it has also maintained some of the features from the flagship title.
Game Environment
The action happens 250 years after the Great Destroyer was defeated in the world of Tyria, a huge place full of mystery, adventure and beautiful landscapes. As you enter the game, instead of seeing some idle monsters that you have to attack, you will witness a vibrant world, with crowds crushing together, spell blasting all over and characters with massive weapons. There are events in every zone. These events are the main form of questing in the game. You will be able to get involved in personal stories while you admire the amazing sights. Four new maps are introduced in the latest expansion.
Story and Plot
The storyline in Guild Wars 2 is unique in the world of MMORPGs, as the player’s actions feel like they directly affect the storyline. You as a player will have to reunite the members of a multi-racial guild called Destiny’s Edge. The purpose is obtaining enough strength to defeat the undead Elder Dragon Zhitan.
Gameplay
The game engine used in Guild Wars 2 is a modification of the engine used in Guild Wars and this means having 3d environments, objects, characters and animations, with better graphics and improved physics. You can choose your character from five races and eight professions. The latest expansion does not add any level caps, so level 80 remains the maximum level to achieve. While you perform general tasks like killing enemies, repairing fences, delivering certain items to NPC’s, you can always have the freedom to move to other areas where there are better opportunities.
Game Features
Instead of being guided into someone else’s adventure, in Guild Wars 2 you have your own adventure. The game can have a better replay value in this way. You will always have something exciting to do and the events are dynamic. You can use both spells and weapons for every profession. The WvW ( World versus World) feature allows entire servers to compete against other servers.
Classes & Races
These are the five races that you can play with: Humans, Charr, Assura, Norn and Sylvari. Since ArenaNet developers thought that having a healer for every party can be too restrictive, there is no dedicated healer class.You can choose from eight nine different professions: warrior, ranger, necromancer, guardian, elementalist, engineer, thief, revenant and mesmer. Professions in this game are more like the classes in other MMORPGs.
Slower load times (unless you have SSD)
– True
Low drop rates for high-end materials
– Salvage equipment and you should be ok, but that seems about right. You can also do a multi-map farm in Auric Basin. That gets you a fair amount of materials if you salvage everything.
Possibility to exploit early world content in dungeons
– I think this means stacking, which isn’t as prevalent or as useful as it used to be. Plenty of people have tried to do this in recent days and ended up getting the entire group killed. The only real ‘exploit’ that still exists is that dungeons can level you fairly quickly. However, leveling in general is fairly easy in this game.
Minimal increase in stats for best in-slot gear.
– Very true. With the exception of trinkets, the difference between exotic and ascended is very insignificant. Trinkets, however, are easy to get. Either you spend laurels for rings and amulets, or you spend guild commendations for earrings.
The ONLY reason I stopped playing this was because of the dungeon/matchmaking system. I had a heck of a time in dungeons, got rolled constantly, couldn’t find parties, and nothing really made sense. I look for more of an FFXIV system in this regard. Do the raids work out better? Is there something I missed? Is it really just going to be a “create a room” system where you create your own and hope people join type of setup? That’s the reason I walked away, but I didn’t look past the surface much… I loved this game aside from that and I’m desperately looking to get into a decent MMO and having a hell of a time.