Expansion Excitement
stargrace 
Like a handful of other friends, I tuned in this morning to ArenaNet on twitch to listen to their announcement about the next expansion. It has been some time since I played GW2, but not because I dislike the game by any means. My issue is twofold. First, I am constantly struggling to figure out WHAT I should be doing. Because the game does not go up in levels, progression is an odd and fickle creature and is marked by other means. I have no idea what the current story is and whether or not I should be doing it – and why I should be doing it.
Second, I actually have two accounts. One is 4+ years old, started playing when GW2 released. I have a number of level 80 characters that I took through the game, unlocked the map on one of them, lots of crafting, etc. Then I worked for NCSOFT and one of the perks of that job was getting a copy of the game – and it came with a few bonuses, like the last expansion, some gems, and extra character slots. Things that I really wanted to make use of, so I abandoned my original account and created new characters. I got to level 80 on two of them by crafting, and not adventuring since I had already done the content on my original account. Of course that meant that I now had two level 80 characters who had unlocked zero waypoints, done zero personal story, and had done pretty much nothing except browse the auction house for gear and buy crafting supplies.
That’s where I stopped playing. I didn’t want to re-play through content that I had already completed on my old account, but I had no idea where to take the new characters.
Enter 2017. My time is incredibly limited and I’m trying to save some cash by not paying for a subscription. I’d really like to invest in a gaming laptop so I’m on a pretty strict budget. Anyway, GW2 doesn’t have a subscription, the game is beautiful, and why not return right before their next expansion comes out.
So here I am.
My level 80 Guardian (my favourite character to play) is currently working through her level 30 personal story. I’m not sure if I should be doing these in a different order (ie: latest content first, then backwards to personal story when I run out of stuff to do) but for now I’m going to do things in order. We’ll see how long that lasts. I only have an hour or two to play a day, but it should be enough to make a little progress. Today I managed to get from my level 10 personal story to level 30, so that’s something.
Playing? Excited about the expansion? Already bought it? Let me know in comments, and as always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself.