The comeback of a Player

Hi everyone!

I just recently started playing guildwars again.. After a break of 1.5/2 years or so.

When I first started playing, back in 2006 I belive (few months after release) the game and community were great.

Now, when I came back to these forums it seems.. dead. And when I read post, only the oldies seem to be active (those players from 2006 2007 2008).

How has the game changed? I just started a new Pre-character, and things seem the same, but I still got the feeling that there isnt much "fresh meat" in game, just like here on the forums. What is your view on things?

Oh, and I used to be a Ritualist, and now started a Mesmer. Are those 2 proff still great?

and, how is GW2 coming along? Release date? proffesions?

Thanks!

~Nohjo|||Rits got a major major upgrade, and will get ANOTHER major upgrade again this week.

Spirts all cast 1 second or less. Mesmers have more direct damage options now, although pretty much they still fall under the 'stop hitting yourself', 'degendegendegen', and 'STOPTHAT!!' catagories.

You heard more about GW2 when they first announced it then you do nowadays.

Supposedly we'll see a beta release this year... supposedly.

There are a couple of really good trailers they've done for it though.

At least it isn't duke nukem forever.

Presearing still is pretty full, but as you get along, things will probably be less populated except for the main towns, and towns which have the current Z quest, or towns close to nick's location.

Oh, what are Z quest and nick locations?

Go to great temple of balthazar on battle isles. You'll see 3 flags. Each flag is a daily quest you can do somewhere in the game. Doing these quests for missions, boss bounties, or pvp, nets you exp, cash, some points in associated titles, and zaishen coins. The coins can be used to buy items from the traders nearby.

Problem though is that you have to build up some sizeable amounts of coins to get the top end items, some of which are the larger bags.

Yes, anet added in more storage, but at a cost.

you can get in game bags for your charas, BUT... these bags only hold armor for charas, or weapons. nothing else. Also you can only buy the 5 slot bag. The 10-15-20 slot bags require z coins. there's a substantial jump between getting the 15 to the 20 slot bag. (basicly requires 7000 copper coins converted to silver, converted to gold)

There's also more general storage from the panels for your account, but again, that costs. This time in real life cash you pay to anet. 10 bucks a panel. One panel can no longer be gotten, only available for a few months last year. It had an additional cost it seemed that no one realized at the time, but I won't get into here.

I will say when a Z mission is active in an area, then you tend to get people willing to play that area. Which is good, as it revitalizes a given area for a short time, usually a day or two.

There's also the new pokemon trainer... er, pet trainer area.

you can take your old used pet, give him up, but still keep him, and go get another one!

Gotta catch em all!

Oh, reminds me, you did get in at a good time, Xunlai tournament house is DEAD.

The betting we did on automated tournaments?

Gone. TO much trouble to clean up. In it's death rattle, it gives up 50 tourny points to players no matter who they are. Talk to tolenko to register your account, then talk to ... high priest something or other in GToB. He'll then give you 50 points, and you can go back to tolenko, exchange those for keys, and go have some fun at the zaishen chest in the explorable area.

Almost forgot. Other thing that was added was Nicholas.

He's in presearing, over by ft ranik, in that little hidden away nook. See if you can find him. He asks for 25 of various things every day that you collect from the mobs.

When you move to post, he starts getting around a bit more, showing up in all the various explorable areas, asking for items that usually fall from the monsters. Every once in a while he asks for materials, which he is doing this week. He's over in ferndale outside of Hall zu heltzer, asking for 3 amber per gift, max 15 total. The gifts tend to give some nifty items, some more useful then others.





anywah... hope that helps.|||Quote:








Now, when I came back to these forums it seems.. dead.

How has the game changed?




It's far from dead... however, the newbie inflow has dropped quite a bit. There are still new players coming in steadily, but not as much as when a new game comes out. That's to be expected.

GW's community is surprisingly strong given its use of instancing and its age. We've seen quite a few games come and disappear even from major publishers. Still, the best way to meet people is getting into a good alliance. There are alliances that take new and veteran players alike, which would be good for you if you plan on starting new characters.

Content updates have been more focused on balancing the professions, and so you should expect that every profession is roughly equally strong as every other one. Build that are easier to use effectively tend to be more popular amongst PUGs, so mesmers and non-perma assassins tend not to be preferred. Otherwise, most of PvE is accessible to anyone.

There's been a few content updates with regards to rewards... zaishen missions / combat / bounty being a big one, but also changes to luxon / kurzick faction gain, addition of books, etc. Hard mode was also added. In terms of actual quests, UW got Dhuum, and there's a quest series related to MOX.

I'm not sure what was added before you left... but here's the list anyway.

Oh, and welcome back!|||Quote:








It's far from dead...




Ok, I guess Im just used to the bioshock (1and2) forum. It feels so much more vibrant and alive. Even before its release.

Ah, yeah, I do know some about those new features. If been reading the Wiki for a while, and it does sound fun!

My experiences with guilds has been far from good. I usually end up in a dead or corrupt guild. :P

But I'll check it out.

Maybe I can persuade some old friends to start playing again..

Oh, and another question: With gaile gray gone, how is regina doing as a community manager?

I was quite in love with Gaile, and was sad to see her go. |||Gaile is still working at ANet, just not as a PR.

Regina is doing a really good job. She has a different style than Gaile's, so some people like it better, some prefer Gaile's... I'll let you decide for yourself.

Lindsay is another to look out for. She's on the live team, and she's been known to get involved with the community.|||shes only on the wiki right?|||Quote:








When I first started playing, back in 2006 I belive (few months after release) the game and community were great.




It was released in 2005

Anyways, loads of things have changed in 2 years. Maybe it's nice to let the game surprise you, like it could do when you started.

Also, big skill update is coming this week, where some overpowered farming builds are taken care of, while they are changing some of the current lines (e.g. tactics, hammer mastery, blood magic).|||Sorry, I didn't exactly document their movement...