GW2 so far

I've been playing GW2 since it launched, but I don't get a huge amount of time to play. Consequently, I'm not at max level yet (80) whereas at least a couple of my guildies got there in a week... For me, this created a rather large gap, and I'm not just talking about level differences..

Whilst I enjoy such games and have happily played many hours alone, I do love the social aspect, but only if I'm having fun and feel some togetherness with my fellow players. Sadly, it has been quite some time since I had a really good laugh in an online game, and I find myself feeling very lonely: much more so in GW2 than in GW1.. maybe because there's a lot of new stuff to learn, but also, as silly as this sounds, because I don't have a team of heroes with me.. Hmm.. maybe I should book an appointment with a psychiatrist... :o

Anyway, here are a few things that I don't like about GW2:

- Nearest 'enemy':
You can bind a key to 'nearest enemy', which is great. I've set it to 'C' like it was in GW1. However, and this is a big HOWEVER for me, it will target non-aggressive creatures too... I find this highly annoying, especially since my first character is a Sylvari Ranger who I wish to be passive: she will only fight with those that pick a fight with her.. Might seem odd to some, but it is my choice, and I think that binding a key to 'nearest enemy' should only target 'red' enemies, and if you wish to kill 'yellow' creatures, you have to deliberately attack them. So many times I have accidentally killed a poor animal that I would rather not have killed. I come from a roleplaying background, which may help explain it a little to those who just don't get this attitude ;)

- Jumping puzzles/some vistas:
 I'm glad they added jumping to GW2, however I find some of these extremely challenging, and personally I find it no fun to get near to the end only to fall because I just didn't jump quite right, and have to start again. The camera angles whilst jumping and trying to get the positioning right are awful: sometimes there are tree leaves or something in the way and I end up having to just do a 'leap of faith'. Personally, I think 'puzzles' is stretching it a bit: it's more a case of skillful jumping. I'd prefer having to find secret entrances and work out how they open by following clues, using commands and the like.. but then wiki would kinda spoil the challenge of that for many. I've got better at them, so just a case of keep trying I guess :)

- Invisible status:
This is a joke. There is an 'invisible' statues option, which basically is completely pointless, unless I suppose all your friends are not in the same guild as you.. Why? Well because your location is shown in the guild roster, and if you move location it updates... What's the point........?

- Longbow range:
It would be great fun to rain arrows on some mobs down on the ground below when you're up high, but it never works for me.. Why not? It's a longbow, it should work; and even if it weren't a longbow.. anything I chucked off the cliff should land on the ground down below, no..? Meh!

- Dungeons:
Probably just personal taste here (again?), or I'm just getting too old to be playing online games, but I've been in a couple of dungeon instances and did not enjoy them one bit.. There's far too much going on for my liking, it's cramped and squished and everyone's on top of each other.. add to that the sounds and sights of spells and weapons and traps and goodness knows what, and it's just a big mess on the screen... I so much prefer the dungeons of GW (YEs, maybe I will! :P )

- Emotes:
One that just occurred to me: I would have expected more emotes, not less! I find this very disappointing. Yes, they've added '/me' which effectively means that you can emote whatever you want now, but your character doesn't do any action to go with this, so there are less 'action' emotes. Just in case you didn't know, you could type '/me coughs and spluttes' and the output will be ' coughs and splutters'. I do like this, but disappointed in lack of others. 

- Map chat: 
The first couple of days were wonderful. Just people chattering, helping each other, being nice.. lovely. Now, 90% of what I seem to see is 'LFG AC STORY' or similar.. ugh.. I wish they'd made a channel for that 'LFG' stuff... I wish there was just a 'chatter' channel....... :( 

- Heroes: 
There aren't any... :( 

Well, that seems like a lot of moaning. Don't get me wrong, I like lots about it: 
I adore the trading system: I hated the one in GW so much: only used it if I really needed to. 
I love the crafting, although I feel like I'm forever playing catchup with it. 
I like that you can see what there is to complete on each map and wander round doing it all. 
It's great that you can send/receive messages to other players: I missed that in GW 
Being able to go inside buildings and jump on things and swim underwater is fab. 

It's a great game, and still free to play, once you've bought it. Sure, there is stuff you can spend real life money on if you want, but you really don't need to. If you're someone who feels that they have to buy stuff, feels forced into it, I don't envy you: it's not a good place to be. Remember, it's a game. Do what you want to do, and enjoy it. 

 If you're out there Huggie, I miss you. 
 xxx

GW2 Beta w/e

Managed to play a bit in the Beta WeekEnd this weekend. Hmm... maybe I'm just to old and slow to catch on, but I found it frustrating. I didn't know what to do, how to do it, where to go... when I did decide what to do, lots of distractions would come up along the way to take me off track.. Then I'd be button-mashing to kill some random beastie - a stampeding minotaur, a grawl thief, or some other critter - with lots of other people who had miraculously turned up.... All in all, a bit too chaotic for my liking...

Betas & Stress tests

Well I did play GW2 in the stress test last month. As expected I spent a long time in the character creation section, then had a little play. I get very attached to my characters and creating them is hugely important for me. I enjoy spending time getting a look I'm happy with, then thinking up a name that really 'fits'. GW2 character creation is very 'tweakable', so this just adds to the enjoyment for me.

Of course there are lots of images on the web now, and videos about GW2 character creation, gameplay, etc., but whilst searching for a suitable image to put here to show this 'tweakability', I stumbled upon this video showing how a player created some celebrity looks:

Everything in GW2 is so different! Getting used to a new way of moving around in GW2 will take a bit of getting used to! You can't just click on the map and your character will run there anymore: using the movement keys is now the only way. This includes running to your target monster or NPC... now that does feel odd. Makes more sense though so I ain't complainin' :)

GW friends of mine of course were steaming through the game, levelling and getting way ahead of me, whilst I just pottered around the starting area. They did play in the first beta and I think spent more time playing but still, it would have happened. Hehe. I'm guessing some of them did what Ravven here said i.e. 'hit “random” a few times to get an acceptable look and maybe move the boob slider up, and then they’re good to go' whilst I'm with her about spending time on the creation.

Anyway, I enjoyed it, and hope I'll get time to play in this coming weekend's beta event (8th - 10th June '12)

:)

Goals

I'm well over half way through the Winds of Change set of quests, which is a relief. What a grind! lol
I'm also over half way through my Vanquishes, which is also a relief, but only because it means that those titles are over half-way completed. After whining about VQing just being Anet's way of getting us to play the game all over again, I actually discovered that I quite enjoy it. It's kind of like Cartographing for me, in that you have a goal of clearing something and it has a similar feeling to when you've finished cleaning something, organizing something, shredding, or other 'cleansing'......... :D

I've still got to get my first Tormented weapon, which is possibly something that I should be a little ashamed of... But, it's not because I can't afford it.. it's because I'm TOO TIGHT!! lol. I expect I'll cave when the time is right for me...

The New Thang

Well, Thang is back, or at least it was.. we had a little play a good few months ago now, didn't like it very much, and stopped playing basically. I can't really say much more than that.

I've just tried to visit what I believe is the most recent website for Thang to refresh my memory, but it didn't want to load... Perhaps it has once again fallen by the wayside.. Although there do seem to be some fairly recent Thang videos on Youtube.. It's a shame, because we got quite excited when we found it it had been resurrected, but it felt kind of 'empty' and 'soul-less' when we played again.

Often in life it is a bad idea to try and relive past happy times. Things (or 'Thangs' in this case) are rarely as we remember or wish them to be..

Guild Wars 2

Well, it's been a while, but my faithful little blog is still here. I still play GW, but not avidly. I go through phases with it: there'll be something I want to achieve, like a title or mastering an area, like DoA, or obtaining an item - a Tormented weapon would be good! and I'll play more. When the goal is achieved, I tend to ease off and turn my attention to other things for a while.

Of course GW2 is getting ready, and many people have returned to GW to try and get their Hall of Monuments a little 'plumper'. It's funny seeing how some people come back and almost seem to expect the fatted calf. I've seen people moaning about how you can't do this or that in GW (e.g. jump) when you can in some other cool game that they don't want to play anymore.. If it's such a drag, why are they playing? They feel the need to 'grind' out their titles to fill their HoM. Oh well, such is the way of the world I suppose. We're such a label-driven society. Me? I still only do what I want to do generally. Although I confess to 'grinding' my way through the WoC quest chain in both NM and HM (Normal and Hard modes). I do find this a huge drag, but feel that I need to do it, kind of like finishing a book. It's a sort of gap-bridging that Anet have done between GW and GW2. I think it's basically content to keep bored players occupied. I don't remember being bored in GW. Am I unadventurous, or too easily-pleased? I prefer to believe that it's because I have chosen to play when I want to, and to do what I want to. There are still some titles that I refuse to go for, since I simply don't see the point: why would a warrior want Backfire? I may feel forced to backtrack on that, but I'll do my best to find suitable alternatives which fit in with my game-playing ethos, which is basically 'It's a game. Play for fun'. :)

I'm quite exited by the prospect of going indoors in GW2, not to mention the aforementioned jumping, and stuff :D I bought the GW2 pre-purchase (not to be confused with pre-order, which simply reserves a copy of the game upon release, and doesn't allow you to play in the Betas before then) a bit late, so missed the boat for last month's Beta weekend, but I'm looking forward to the next one, hopefully this month (May 2012). There's a stress test this Monday too (14th May). I don't think my PC is up to it, but if I can just play about with character creation that'll make me happy. Hmm... maybe I am just easily pleased.. ^..^ It should also give me an idea of just how much upgrading my PC needs. I put it together about two and-a-half years ago, and still haven't installed a graphics card! Hehe. It's fine for my current needs, but we'll see what GW2 does to it..