I'm now level 80 in full exotic gear

[NightGlider]

So as a F2P player that haven't purchased any exapansion (because it's currently not on sale and I missed the last one during Christmas time), I'm just giving my thoughts on this game so far.

Now that I've run the dungeons and did a lot of exploring (and continuing to do these) I find that this game can be a bit boring at this point. There is no real need for Ascended or Legendary gear as a F2P in the base game. I'm having just fun exploring all the map regions and the heart quests as well as finding all the "lookout" points in this game. But I feel that I am heavily restricted to progress getting Ascended gear or Legendary gear as a F2P player without buying any of the expansions and that is fine by me as I plan to purchase at least the Path of FIre/Heart of Thorns expansions once there is a next sale and get easy Ascended gear from the WvW vendor after that happens.

But yeah, after getting max level 80 and exotic gear, honestly feels like the only thing really to do in this game is map exploration and finishing quests in those regions. I'm still a newbie, only played for about 1 or 2 weeks so far. I'm sure I'll try raids and WvW or even PvP eventually....but...I don't know....I feel like the only reason I should play is to get Ascended or Legendary gear to look "cool" and that there doesn't really seem to be a need for it?

I guess after I get Ascended gear and complete the map region - "exploration", there really is not much that would motivate me to keep playing? Not sure if many people feel this way but I think that is what will end up happening.

One other criticism I found about this game is that at end game, the gear doesn't really feel very diverse at all. There is only a couple of sets it feels like that end game players will use and that was disappointing as I thought it would be more like gearing in Path of Exiles where you could min max all different affixes of your gear stats. :/ or even add special abilities to gear.

[Pixel]

Ascended gear is just 5% more stats, infused is a bit more stats on those stats. Legendary gear is part of fashion wars. The end game is essentially strikes, rifts, raids, fractals, or whatever else you feel like working on.

This isn't really PoE or WoW it's unique and different in the way it's designed. The power is mostly in the elite specializations.

[Eminem]

Originally posted by NightGlider:

One other criticism I found about this game is that at end game, the gear doesn't really feel very diverse at all. There is only a couple of sets it feels like that end game players will use and that was disappointing as I thought it would be more like gearing in Path of Exiles where you could min max all different affixes of your gear stats. :/ or even add special abilities to gear.

There is diversity in gear tho. You can go for DOT/condition bonus gear, Power based gear or even Support gear.

[✨Saint✨]

With only the base game, you play endgame for that part of the game.
Sure, it makes things easier, but you do not really need Ascended or even Legendary gear to progress in the base game.

[DarkSlayer197]

Just to let you know, that Ascended gear from WvW (atleast the armor aka the Triumph Armor Sets), those are Precursors that can be made into Legendary Armor.

You can get a Legendary back piece (Warbringer) and 2 Legendary rings (Conflux) from WvW too.

Legendaries let you stat swap freely. Ascended can Stat swap but costs materials and the use of the Mystic Forge. However, Legendaries also can be shared between all characters through the Legendary Armory.

For example, if you made a Legendary Longbow, any character that can use the Longbow can equip and use that Legendary Longbow at the same time without the need to bank and trade between characters. Ascended gear don't share that luxury.

[NightGlider]

Originally posted by Eminem:

Originally posted by NightGlider:

One other criticism I found about this game is that at end game, the gear doesn't really feel very diverse at all. There is only a couple of sets it feels like that end game players will use and that was disappointing as I thought it would be more like gearing in Path of Exiles where you could min max all different affixes of your gear stats. :/ or even add special abilities to gear.

There is diversity in gear tho. You can go for DOT/condition bonus gear, Power based gear or even Support gear.

I'm not sure if you ever played POE to end game but if you had, you would not compare what Guild Wars 2 level of customizing stats on gear with POE's. POE's are a LOT more diverse, complex and sophisticated. I also know that POE isn't a mmorpg, it's an arpg, but was just saying, I was hoping that it had that same level of complexity and diversification in stat gear like POE, which I found is not at all the case in Guild Wars 2.

I guess I was hoping that Guild Wars 2 offered more unique choices of viable gear in the end game with differing stats and special abilities on them. Ah well...

[DarkSlayer197]

Originally posted by NightGlider:

Originally posted by Eminem:

There is diversity in gear tho. You can go for DOT/condition bonus gear, Power based gear or even Support gear.

I'm not sure if you ever played POE to end game but if you had, you would not compare what Guild Wars 2 level of customizing stats on gear with POE's. POE's are a LOT more diverse, complex and sophisticated. I also know that POE isn't a mmorpg, it's an arpg, but was just saying, I was hoping that it had that same level of complexity and diversification in stat gear like POE, which I found is not at all the case in Guild Wars 2.

I guess I was hoping that Guild Wars 2 offered more unique choices of viable gear in the end game with differing stats and special abilities on them. Ah well...

There are almost 40 different stat variations to choose from. As for special abilities, that slot belongs to the Relic. It used to belong to Runes (Runes stack for bonus stats and the 6th bonus used to grant an additional perk). Sigils do grant bonus traits as well (Example: Sigil of Air that strikes an enemy with lightning upon doing a crit hit).

[Hefutoxin]

Originally posted by NightGlider:

So as a F2P player that haven't purchased any exapansion (because it's currently not on sale and I missed the last one during Christmas time), I'm just giving my thoughts on this game so far.

Now that I've run the dungeons and did a lot of exploring (and continuing to do these) I find that this game can be a bit boring at this point. There is no real need for Ascended or Legendary gear as a F2P in the base game. I'm having just fun exploring all the map regions and the heart quests as well as finding all the "lookout" points in this game. But I feel that I am heavily restricted to progress getting Ascended gear or Legendary gear as a F2P player without buying any of the expansions and that is fine by me as I plan to purchase at least the Path of FIre/Heart of Thorns expansions once there is a next sale and get easy Ascended gear from the WvW vendor after that happens.

But yeah, after getting max level 80 and exotic gear, honestly feels like the only thing really to do in this game is map exploration and finishing quests in those regions. I'm still a newbie, only played for about 1 or 2 weeks so far. I'm sure I'll try raids and WvW or even PvP eventually....but...I don't know....I feel like the only reason I should play is to get Ascended or Legendary gear to look "cool" and that there doesn't really seem to be a need for it?

I guess after I get Ascended gear and complete the map region - "exploration", there really is not much that would motivate me to keep playing? Not sure if many people feel this way but I think that is what will end up happening.

One other criticism I found about this game is that at end game, the gear doesn't really feel very diverse at all. There is only a couple of sets it feels like that end game players will use and that was disappointing as I thought it would be more like gearing in Path of Exiles where you could min max all different affixes of your gear stats. :/ or even add special abilities to gear.

It really doesn't sound like MMOs are your thing.

Keep in mind, the F2P part of the game was designed back when Exotic gear was far more difficult to obtain, so the rewards for most things aren't as interesting.

You can get ascended gear through Fractals, so F2P accounts really aren't restricted here.

Most things you'd do are for various cosmetics. Karma vendors, collections, achievements, etc. Doesn't sound like you are interested.

MMO and ARPG are designed differently. The non-stat affixes in PoE are generally covered by traits in MMOs.

"End Game" players use most sets for a variety of reasons. The main sets are Berserkers and Vipers, mainly because they do the most damage. There is a HUGE difference in DPS output between casual players and optimized, so casual players need all the help they can get.

Diablo 4 might be more interesting to you.

[Nico]

Guildwars 2 mostly offers Vertical Progression. Getting max level and BIS gear is relaticely easy, the legendary gear is only a huge QoL upgrade and ... well, for the unique looks. Though ascended gear, while only being slightly stronger than exotic, is still required to actually do higher level fractals, due to the needed agony resistance slots.

Usually in the endgame you spend most of your time doing endgame content like fractals, strikes, raids, meta events or you are achievement hunting. There are really really many achievements in this game and many of them also offer unique rewards like special skins. Speaking of which .... there is a reason why this game is also sometimes called Fashion Wars 2, since your gear is mostly about it looks, there are probably also some player who love hunting for more skins or maybe even trying to collect'em all. Trying to get something special, like a legendary is also a goal many players like to work towards.

But in general you can say that the game offers you the freedom to do whatever you want to do, which certainly can make new players feel a bit lost for what they have to do. but there usually is always something you can do. Running out of things to do is not really something the average player ever experiences. The only problem you might have is trying to find a goal you personally like to have.

Since you are a PoE player you might not like this type of progression, since getting better gear or trying to get one more skill point to rush over maps more quickly can certainly be quite addicting. But GW2 was designed for the more casual playerbase, so stuff like equipment was made somewhat simple (and without RNG crafting hell) so that it's easy to get into and the focus was instead set on your own skill, aka how well you're able to control your character instead of needing to spend lots of time and currency to min max your build to then just having to hold q to flicker strike over the whole map.

Oh, right, be aware that Raids and Strikes are locked behind different expansions, so you might not get to play them without buying them. Just HoT+PoF only gives you access to all Raids but no Strikes.

[NightGlider]

Originally posted by Hefutoxin:

Originally posted by NightGlider:

So as a F2P player that haven't purchased any exapansion (because it's currently not on sale and I missed the last one during Christmas time), I'm just giving my thoughts on this game so far.

Now that I've run the dungeons and did a lot of exploring (and continuing to do these) I find that this game can be a bit boring at this point. There is no real need for Ascended or Legendary gear as a F2P in the base game. I'm having just fun exploring all the map regions and the heart quests as well as finding all the "lookout" points in this game. But I feel that I am heavily restricted to progress getting Ascended gear or Legendary gear as a F2P player without buying any of the expansions and that is fine by me as I plan to purchase at least the Path of FIre/Heart of Thorns expansions once there is a next sale and get easy Ascended gear from the WvW vendor after that happens.

But yeah, after getting max level 80 and exotic gear, honestly feels like the only thing really to do in this game is map exploration and finishing quests in those regions. I'm still a newbie, only played for about 1 or 2 weeks so far. I'm sure I'll try raids and WvW or even PvP eventually....but...I don't know....I feel like the only reason I should play is to get Ascended or Legendary gear to look "cool" and that there doesn't really seem to be a need for it?

I guess after I get Ascended gear and complete the map region - "exploration", there really is not much that would motivate me to keep playing? Not sure if many people feel this way but I think that is what will end up happening.

One other criticism I found about this game is that at end game, the gear doesn't really feel very diverse at all. There is only a couple of sets it feels like that end game players will use and that was disappointing as I thought it would be more like gearing in Path of Exiles where you could min max all different affixes of your gear stats. :/ or even add special abilities to gear.

It really doesn't sound like MMOs are your thing.

Keep in mind, the F2P part of the game was designed back when Exotic gear was far more difficult to obtain, so the rewards for most things aren't as interesting.

You can get ascended gear through Fractals, so F2P accounts really aren't restricted here.

Most things you'd do are for various cosmetics. Karma vendors, collections, achievements, etc. Doesn't sound like you are interested.

MMO and ARPG are designed differently. The non-stat affixes in PoE are generally covered by traits in MMOs.

"End Game" players use most sets for a variety of reasons. The main sets are Berserkers and Vipers, mainly because they do the most damage. There is a HUGE difference in DPS output between casual players and optimized, so casual players need all the help they can get.

Diablo 4 might be more interesting to you.

Ok I just had to respond to this as this guy sounds truly arrogant to imply that mmos are not your thing crap.

First of all I've played EQ1 when it first came out to end game for years. Then I played WoW to end game and stopped during the Panda Expansion. Played Lineage 2 for years, Aion, Terra, Arcgeage, ESO, BDO, Lost Ark and many more than I care to think about. I've played ALL these games to END GAME. If you actually look at my profile on steam, you should see that reflected there as well for some of the games I listed here, BEFORE I actually started to play on STEAM. I've even played MMORPGs BEFORE even the INTERNET was born such as BBS system like Tradewars. So mind you little boy, before you say mmorpgs aren't someone's "thing" with your puny knowledge of games you've played so far, I'd take more of a humble approach to responding.

[Hefutoxin]

Originally posted by NightGlider:

Ok I just had to respond to this as this guy sounds truly arrogant to imply that mmos are not your thing crap.

First of all I've played EQ1 when it first came out to end game for years. Then I played WoW to end game and stopped during the Panda Expansion. Played Lineage 2 for years, Aion, Terra, Arcgeage, ESO, BDO, Lost Ark and many more than I care to think about. I've played ALL these games to END GAME. If you actually look at my profile on steam, you should see that reflected there as well for some of the games I listed here, BEFORE I actually started to play on STEAM. I've even played MMORPGs BEFORE even the INTERNET was born such as BBS system like Tradewars. So mind you little boy, before you say mmorpgs aren't someone's "thing" with your puny knowledge of games you've played so far, I'd take more of a humble approach to responding.

Most people my age don't look for ways to be offended. There is nothing offensive by suggesting to someone that X might not be something that interests them.

Your profile is mostly private. I can see it was made 8 years ago. No games are shown.

I was only playing MUDs over Telnet in the mid 90's, but I wouldn't call that an MMO since there was always a limited number of connections available. iirc, AoL had one going where they would send you the physical version of a gem if you found it in game, so maybe that had a larger playerbase. Early 2000 I was mainly into Diablo 2. But I have played the majority of major MMOs and ARPGs since then. Mostly Western though, since I was not interested in the grind for grind sake of Eastern style.

Being old, you lived through "RTFM" and "lmgtfu" times of the internet, so you should have already seen the wiki (one of the best in gaming), which would have let you know exactly what to expect from gear as well as endgame.

Since you have played more MMOs than you care to think about, you should have already understood that NO MMO would have a similar itemization of having FFVII's materia slot system on Diablo 2's items like PoE does.

I suggested Diablo 4 because it is the closest MMO to PoE regarding itemization, since the legendary and unique items alter the ways skills work, similar to PoE's gem system, as well as it being an ARPG.

I'd suggest putting your ego aside while on the internet filled with nobodies. That way you won't get offended by people who are nobodies.

[NightGlider]

Originally posted by Hefutoxin:

Originally posted by NightGlider:

Ok I just had to respond to this as this guy sounds truly arrogant to imply that mmos are not your thing crap.

First of all I've played EQ1 when it first came out to end game for years. Then I played WoW to end game and stopped during the Panda Expansion. Played Lineage 2 for years, Aion, Terra, Arcgeage, ESO, BDO, Lost Ark and many more than I care to think about. I've played ALL these games to END GAME. If you actually look at my profile on steam, you should see that reflected there as well for some of the games I listed here, BEFORE I actually started to play on STEAM. I've even played MMORPGs BEFORE even the INTERNET was born such as BBS system like Tradewars. So mind you little boy, before you say mmorpgs aren't someone's "thing" with your puny knowledge of games you've played so far, I'd take more of a humble approach to responding.

Most people my age don't look for ways to be offended. There is nothing offensive by suggesting to someone that X might not be something that interests them.

Your profile is mostly private. I can see it was made 8 years ago. No games are shown.

I was only playing MUDs over Telnet in the mid 90's, but I wouldn't call that an MMO since there was always a limited number of connections available. iirc, AoL had one going where they would send you the physical version of a gem if you found it in game, so maybe that had a larger playerbase. Early 2000 I was mainly into Diablo 2. But I have played the majority of major MMOs and ARPGs since then. Mostly Western though, since I was not interested in the grind for grind sake of Eastern style.

Being old, you lived through "RTFM" and "lmgtfu" times of the internet, so you should have already seen the wiki (one of the best in gaming), which would have let you know exactly what to expect from gear as well as endgame.

Since you have played more MMOs than you care to think about, you should have already understood that NO MMO would have a similar itemization of having FFVII's materia slot system on Diablo 2's items like PoE does.

I suggested Diablo 4 because it is the closest MMO to PoE regarding itemization, since the legendary and unique items alter the ways skills work, similar to PoE's gem system, as well as it being an ARPG.

I'd suggest putting your ego aside while on the internet filled with nobodies. That way you won't get offended by people who are nobodies.

LOL "buddy" I already played D4 and completed ALL bosses and Lilith on the ETERNAL server, even harder than any Season content where they overpowered you with certain skills and abilities. So yeah. I've also played literall ALL the ARPGs out there right now. Grim Dawn, D3, D4, Titan Quest, Wocen, Torchlight 2, etc... I'm sure I'm forgetting some arpgs in this list..but yeah, I've tried them.

Telnet? LOL ohhh someone who doesn't know WTF they are talking about trying to sound smart. Tradewars has up to 100s of players and it was a TEXT based mmorpg. If you actually were trying games through BBS's, pre-internet, you would absolutely know what TRADEWARS is. It was literally the most popular mmorpg of its time that was text based and literally the ONLY one of its kind at that time.

Again, you might think I have an "ego" but I've actually played to END GAME every game I've listed. END GAME meaning GEAR PROGRESSION, getting stuff like over 1000+ ability points in ESO, etc... END GAME. If you even understand what END GAME means?

Anywho...

[Q]

Originally posted by NightGlider:

Originally posted by Hefutoxin:

It really doesn't sound like MMOs are your thing.

Keep in mind, the F2P part of the game was designed back when Exotic gear was far more difficult to obtain, so the rewards for most things aren't as interesting.

You can get ascended gear through Fractals, so F2P accounts really aren't restricted here.

Most things you'd do are for various cosmetics. Karma vendors, collections, achievements, etc. Doesn't sound like you are interested.

MMO and ARPG are designed differently. The non-stat affixes in PoE are generally covered by traits in MMOs.

"End Game" players use most sets for a variety of reasons. The main sets are Berserkers and Vipers, mainly because they do the most damage. There is a HUGE difference in DPS output between casual players and optimized, so casual players need all the help they can get.

Diablo 4 might be more interesting to you.

Ok I just had to respond to this as this guy sounds truly arrogant to imply that mmos are not your thing crap.

First of all I've played EQ1 when it first came out to end game for years. Then I played WoW to end game and stopped during the Panda Expansion. Played Lineage 2 for years, Aion, Terra, Arcgeage, ESO, BDO, Lost Ark and many more than I care to think about. I've played ALL these games to END GAME. If you actually look at my profile on steam, you should see that reflected there as well for some of the games I listed here, BEFORE I actually started to play on STEAM. I've even played MMORPGs BEFORE even the INTERNET was born such as BBS system like Tradewars. So mind you little boy, before you say mmorpgs aren't someone's "thing" with your puny knowledge of games you've played so far, I'd take more of a humble approach to responding.

Ohh you played lineage and everquest :D amazing titles, just like the others you mentioned of course, all mmos have something special and unique imo.
Where u played l2? back in the old day in official? bartz? or during goddess of destruction when game went f2p, i was in freya and zaken servers and well many times on diff private servers.
Everquest 1 and 2 are truly worthy of such name. literally endeless quests everywere and amazing lore, Norrath, Luclin, Veshan, Firiona, etc all the races, Iksar, ratongas, gnomes, elves, fae, dark elves.
GW2 is a great game but there's little next to no gear treadmill like everquest or lineage 2, lineage is p2w totally you wont find epic stuff like antharas ring or valakas necklace or zaken earring to boost your stats and be more powerful neither a draconic bow enchanted to +15. GW2 is horizontal progression anyways trust me, its worth it, great game, ive been playing it since 2015 wait for a special sale and get the hot and pof expansions both for $7 bucks totally worth it.

[Pixel]

What guild wars 2 does is makes the endgame activites fun and worth it, but you don't get considerable power. In place of it you get convenience through legendaries where you can swap your stats around on the fly apparently which is cool. But the game largely is in how you chose to approach it. To do fractals you do need to progress in regards to agony resistance to go deeper into the harder fractals where the elite players are. To do raiding there are communities that do them but they are no longer being added, although strikes which are one boss instances are.

There is racing, legendary crafting, market pvp, normal pvp, pve stuff all over, and more to keep you busy. If you need power progression and the constant chase for gear though this isn't your game. It's more like a sandbox it seems in a lot of ways in how you chose to interact with it than full on themepark and relies more on skill it seems than button mashing prowess.

[Hefutoxin]

Originally posted by NightGlider:

Telnet? LOL ohhh someone who doesn't know WTF they are talking about trying to sound smart.

A telnet client is generally how you connect to a MUD. Windows used to have them standard, so as long as a computer was connected to the internet, you could play the MUD from anywhere, including Libraries and Classrooms.

Not as good as Gmud or Zmud, since you didn't get color text or macro's, but it was on every computer. Gmud was free, but you needed to grab an older version of Zmud for a permanent free-trial iirc.

Since you don't seem to have any knowledge of MUDs, they are only Text as well, generally with some ASCII Artwork when first logging in.

Hopefully you have a better understanding of the difference between someone googling "oldest MMORPGs" and the experience of someone who actually played the games.

As for the rest, there is nothing special about beating Uber Lilith or doing Endgame in multiple games. I mean, you hit endgame here in about 1-2 weeks, so... yeah.

Anyway, good luck with whatever you choose.

[NightGlider]

Originally posted by Hefutoxin:

Originally posted by NightGlider:

Telnet? LOL ohhh someone who doesn't know WTF they are talking about trying to sound smart.

A telnet client is generally how you connect to a MUD. Windows used to have them standard, so as long as a computer was connected to the internet, you could play the MUD from anywhere, including Libraries and Classrooms.

Not as good as Gmud or Zmud, since you didn't get color text or macro's, but it was on every computer. Gmud was free, but you needed to grab an older version of Zmud for a permanent free-trial iirc.

Since you don't seem to have any knowledge of MUDs, they are only Text as well, generally with some ASCII Artwork when first logging in.

Hopefully you have a better understanding of the difference between someone googling "oldest MMORPGs" and the experience of someone who actually played the games.

As for the rest, there is nothing special about beating Uber Lilith or doing Endgame in multiple games. I mean, you hit endgame here in about 1-2 weeks, so... yeah.

Anyway, good luck with whatever you choose.

I know what MUDs are and I know what Telnet is. Most of these were UNIX based and were popular among college students who had access to a unix system in college or a university.

BBS's were the first GUI based windows program, even before Windows had a GUI, I believe, and was at that time DOS based. So, technically, Tradewars was the real revolution of text-based mmorpgs that were available for people outside of a university or college system (that were Unix based) that regular consumers could access with a modem. This is probably when the real revolution of PCs at home started with the wide availability of the 286AT PC for the home consumer. Also BBS's were largely FREE to download and install...albeit doing over a 200bps to 2400bps modem was the epitomy of torture, especially if you got disconnected and had to redownload again, which happened often in those days.

I also understand that there were chat based communities that could be accessed via iirc channels but at that time, you needed university access to join MUD communities for anyone that wasn't a college or university student, from what I remember. I also remember that I became quite active using the mIRC client to become pretty active in some of these channels, which largely acted AS the internet before the internet started having a GUI based on webpages, etc...

Tradewars was largely available on these home PCs that started to pop up around this time, outside of the college/university settings of MUDs and UNIX based systems. This is also arguably the point when Microsoft Windows started to take over the computer world.