Guild Wars 2

Ding, Level 30 #GW2 #GuildWars2

stargrace August 28, 2012 2 Comments

It was a complete accident that I leveled from 27-30, because it was all through crafting. I’m just a hair away from 200 in cooking, and I’m around 150 in jeweler. One of the major complaints I hear from a lot of people in-game is that they’re too low to progress to the next area or to work on their personal story quest. I, have never had this issue. It’s a bit odd to hear of a game that ‘forces’ a player into crafting or harvesting, but if you’re not a fan of grinding events you’ll want to do both of those things.

The level 1-15 zone is good for crafting up to 75, so I made it a point not to leave until I had reached 75 in each craft. This meant that I didn’t leave the starter zone until I was almost level 20, well above what I needed to begin the second zone. Once in the second zone I did the same thing, I completed the map, then worked on my story, and then raised my crafting until it was into the next tier.

Also keep in mind that there is more than one zone for you to explore. There’s nothing stopping you from taking your Asura over to the Norn starting area and completing their map. In fact you’ll probably want to, sooner or later. Or at least do it with an alt so that you get the achievements for completing the zones.

How to tell I’m REALLY enjoying a game? I stop playing alts. This is practically unheard of for me, any one of my long time readers will know that I am constantly flip flopping from character to character, working on multiple things at once. Not true in GW2. I’ve stuck with my Asura Guardian the entire time so far. It’s almost scary.

So now I’m sitting at level 30, still not completed the JC I need to do before I move on, and the zone I was questing in is 15-25, so I’m 5 levels above the recommended levels, again. It’s fantastic. Since the game auto levels you down as you meander your way through each zone you will always be level appropriate. It’s an incredibly smooth transition, you probably won’t even notice it, which is exactly as it should be.

Leveling too fast? I don’t think so, it’s not that I’m leveling quickly and missing anything, because I’m not, it’s that I have had a LOT of time to play and have been taking full advantage of that.

I did spend some money and buy $50 worth of gems. I upgraded my account to the digital collectors edition and I bought some lockbox keys. For a game with 0 subscription what so ever I’m incredibly pleased. I don’t have to worry about unlocking gear. Or levels. Or anything else. I can simply play the game. The entire game. That being said, I DO want to support AreaNet, I do want the developers to make money. Of course I’m going to spend a little here and there to show them that I appreciate their hard efforts, more than just the box cost of the game. So many other games I play are “free to play” with both subscriptions and stores and weird tiers of unlocking that it’s a pleasure to play an MMO that is so simple in its design. Buy a box. Play the game. The end.

As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

A Skritt of My Own #GW2 #GuildWars2

stargrace August 27, 2012 3 Comments

It’s a little hard to tell in this screen shot, but last night I came across the cutest quest I have ever done in all the years I’ve been gaming. Yes, it was that cute. I had to pick up a little unconscious skritt from the ground, and carry him to safety. Skritt are odd rodent type creatures, and my little Asura was hefting him around her little ears flopping all over the place as she sprinted to safety. It was so cute I just wanted to do that quest over and over again. The skirtt dangled from my arms and I knew right then and there I had to call him George. I’d squeeze him and love him forever, too.

I’m currently sitting at level 22, my cooking is 80 as well as my jewelry making, and things are going well. I’m having fun discovering vistas and exploring. Most of the time I’m auto leveled lower than my basic level because I’m higher than the zone area I’m exploring in, and when I see people who are 2-3 levels below the appropriate level I wonder what it is they’re not doing because I didn’t even leave the starter area (1-15) until I was almost 20.

I freely admit, I’m smitten. The game certainly isn’t perfect – absolutely no game is. But as I said on twitter, it IS perfect for me.

One of the things I love the most is just how detailed the world is. You can spend hours looking through a city at all the little nooks and crannies, exploring the finer details. There’s things to look at and see everywhere. If you’re only doing the quests and not taking the time to notice that as you run through the plants they rustle, or that as you leave a pool of water your screen splashes with droplets, then you’re missing some of the key things (imo).

I am (of course) still playing WoW, and I do still plan on keeping up with EVE (I haven’t done much of either lately, new shiny and what not) but since GW2 is subscription free (and not just some weird varied free to play model) I am only too happy to keep it in my active game roster. The marketplace was finally up for most of yesterday, though the auction house still was not. The only thing in-game that is sold in the market that I don’t find nearly enough of in the game world, are the chest keys. Potions and all the rest I’ve been getting as I complete achievements, but I have a good selection of locked chests sitting in my bank until I decide to take the plunge and purchase some keys so I can unlock them all. I’ve only gotten one key in-game.

As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

It’s Combat Wombat Time #GW2 #GuildWars2

stargrace August 26, 2012 1 Comment

Yes, that’s my Asura decked out in the pink swim suit.

So much awesomeness has been going on with the head start of Guild Wars 2 that I haven’t even had time to write about it until now, but I’m forcing myself to. First of all, despite numerous people having a rocky start to the game, mine was almost the complete opposite.  I had one disconnect issue when I created my 5th character, but aside from that I’ve had 0 lag, and 0 issues (aside from the game wide ones like the auction house and store being down). I am confident in saying that GW2 will be one of my main ‘homes’ for quite some time, the game just caters to every single aspect of an MMO that I adore.

I joined Combat Wombat on the Sanctum of Rall, most of the people in the guild are people I’ve “known” in an online manor for quite some time, but have never really been given the opportunity to group with or talk with before. That, and I’ve always been too shy. I decided to throw caution to the wind and the first thing I did was start to get to know my online friends better, participating in guild events and vent. I’m so happy I did, it was one of the best decisions I could have made.

Game stuff aside (which pretty much everyone will be talking about) I had so much fun last night and during launch that I surprised even myself. Last night Combat Wombat hosted their first guild event, which included a pool party at the top of the diving board in Lion’s Arch. I REALLY have to give it to the developers, they did an AMAZING job giving players some roleplay features. If you stand at the top of the diving board you’ll notice a little footstool at the far end. Upon it are a pair of goggles. Put them on for hours and hours of laughs. Add a few dances to the mix, most of them by Sylvari and one very active Asura, and you’ve got a recipe for squeals of delight.

Once we had danced until we just couldn’t dance any more (some of us quite literally, as we hit the rocks below the diving board by mistake) we decided to take on a hidden jumping puzzle that is located in Lion’s Arch (there’s another one in the Asura starter zone, FYI). If I thought the diving board was fun, wow, that was nothing compared to this. It was an incredible time, following guild mates from location to location, working our way through this puzzle. There was one part where I was shuddering in the dark, because guess what, the lights literally do go out, and all of the Sylvari decided to turn on their glow features to try to light our way. It was hilarious. Also, no, it didn’t work very well. Thought counts! Our reward at the end was a chest of (pretty useless) goodies, and an achievement for having made the trip.

The game is great, there’s no question about it, but it’s really this group of people I’ve found myself playing with who make it an unforgettable experience. Thank you all.

A Few of My Favorite Things #GuildWars2 #GW2

stargrace July 23, 2012 No Comments

Ah, another beta weekend come and gone, and the last one before Guild Wars 2 goes live in August. What a long time it seems from now! Of course, that’s more than likely because I’m incredibly impatient. I thought I’d name some of my favorite things that I’ve discovered about Guild Wars 2 so far. Keep in mind I’ve been reading very little about the game, and while these things may not be new to you, they were for me (and brought about a lot of joy). Hopefully some of these things will also be news to others out there, and they’ll bring you just as much pleasure.

1. Vistas. These are Super Mario-esc jumping puzzles that players have to figure out how to reach and I think they’re brilliant. How many times a day in your average MMO do you see people jumping all over the place for no reason what so ever. People love to jump! These vistas are marked on the world map by a set of triangles, and what you’re looking for in game is a hovering map surrounded in white light, typically way up high some place. You’ll have to figure out how to reach it, and then jump to it without falling. Once you’re up there you’ll be granted some experience for finding it, as well as the achievement for finding it, and a remarkable video depicting the area you happen to be in. Beautiful AND fun!

2. Guilds. I learned this weekend no longer are we tied down to one guild! Have a guild of RL friends? A guild of roleplayers? A guild of hardcore raiders that only meet once a week? Now you can be a member of ALL of those guilds at once. You can only ‘represent’ one guild at a time, that is, talk in guild chat – but I still think this idea is fabulous.

3. Dye. I mentioned this before, but I love the way dye works in GW2. You’re no longer collecting bottles that stay infinitely in your inventory or in your bank, but you’re collecting bottles and then unlocking a colour. It does work per character and isn’t account wide, but you can trade / sell the bottles so your alts can unlock them. You can customize colour from the get go with the default palate, and I think that’s fantastic.

4. Crafting. In specific the ‘collections’ tab which holds all of your crafting supplies (well, the raw materials in any rate). This tab will also hold all gems you find (gems are used to socket your gear, basically) and miniatures. I love that my inventory is rarely ever full, because I can just instantly send all my crafting supplies to the collections tab no matter where I’m at. Thank you ArenaNet for letting me play and have fun without the hassle that comes from a full inventory!

I had a blast this weekend, logging in almost 15 hours of game time between Friday and Sunday (I decided not to play Sunday because I knew it would be shutting down in a few hours). I still haven’t decided what I’m going to play at launch, but the beta weekends (the two I’ve participated in) have been an absolute blast. I can’t wait for it to go live! I hope everyone else had a great time playing too.

As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!