https://cheerfulghost.com/Travis/events/74/games-club-guild-wars-2
This event is over
Start:
End:
happening all day
anyone can join
Guild Wars 2 on Steam

Since it looks like many of us have taken advantage of the awesome Guild Wars 2 sale this weekend, let's play together!

If you're new to the game, create your character on the Anvil Rock server if you'd like to join us in WvW (if we ever get into that). For general gameplay it doesn't matter which server you're on. If you'd like to join the Cheerful Ghost guild, we're called "Cheerful Ghost." Please post your ArenaNet username in the comments below so we can add each other.

Or you're way overleveled for our noob content, or you're just antisocial and don't want to play with us, feel free to join in the event anyway to chat about the game.
You will need to sign in to join this event.

Users signed up:

Travis   Admin   Post Author wrote on 03/09/2015 at 02:43am

I'm Namwen.9075!

Travis   Admin   Post Author wrote on 03/09/2015 at 07:24pm

OK all, I've raised enough money to create the guild. It's called Cheerful Ghost and the tag is [CG].

Just as a reminder, if you bought the collectors edition, you get some items that let you increase guild influence. You certainly don't *have* to spend those on the Cheerful Ghost guild, but it will help us create the guild stash and treasure halls, and all the other awesome stuff we can build to give us more storage, magic find, luck, combat skill increases, etc.

The guild stuff seems pretty deep. Go figure, it's in the title, right? But this seems much more useful than guilds in other games.

jdodson   Admin wrote on 03/09/2015 at 07:34pm

Joined the Guild, thanks Travis. I'll apply my Guild exp boosts to it.

If anyone wants to add me my account is "jdodson.5831"

Timogorgon   Member wrote on 03/09/2015 at 08:51pm

Looks like I'm Taion.4056. If there's any way to send me an invite to the guild feel free to do so. I will probably be on later tonight around 8 or 9 pm PDT.

Travis   Admin   Post Author wrote on 03/10/2015 at 01:18am

Yep, I already invited you before even updating the post. Assuming you didn't change your name since last year.

Timogorgon   Member wrote on 03/10/2015 at 05:08pm

Logged in for a little while last night. I'm now a level 7 warrior, woo! I gotta say that starting armor I got as part of the digital version looks pretty damn awesome. I'm going to be very sad when I eventually have to retire it. It looks like there's a way to change the appearance of your gear but it costs some kind of special currency.

I forgot about the random real world events that happen. Those are a lot more fun to use for leveling up than the usual fetch quests. :)

Something cool I noticed is that my level scaled to whatever area I was in. After hitting level 7 I back tracked to the farm area outside the town to make sure I didn't miss any quests, and my level was automatically adjusted to a lower level. That's awesome! Too many MMO's make it a pain in the ass to try and play with friends if you're different levels. This game seems like they have that figured out.

Travis   Admin   Post Author wrote on 03/10/2015 at 09:24pm

That's one of my favorite things. Even in Final Fantasy XI, where you had level sync, it was a pain to use it because you wouldn't skill up properly. In GW2 it's easy peasy to knock your level down and play with whomever you want.

Timogorgon   Member wrote on 03/10/2015 at 11:22pm

I remember when Level sync came out and it was awesome for any jobs that had already hit the cap of 75 (if that dates when I quit the game, heh heh) and didn't need to skill up anything. You could earn merit points while helping new players and friends level their jobs! But it definitely was not great. Not only would you not skill up your weapons but if your equipped gear didn't match your capped level it got nerfed BAD. Still, at least FFXI tried. :)

Anyone think they'll be on GW2 tonight? I'd love to meet up with some other peeps.

Oh and I used my guild influence boost thingy for our guild. So, you know, YOU'RE WELCOME. Gimmie a guild vault now. :P

jdodson   Admin wrote on 03/11/2015 at 01:49am

I'll be on tonight. Like 9pm or will you be on earlier?

Travis   Admin   Post Author wrote on 03/11/2015 at 03:24am

The problem is the three hour difference here. You guys sign on right as I'm leaving. We always have weekends!

Travis   Admin   Post Author wrote on 03/11/2015 at 03:36am

Just to add-- I love that this game rewards exploration. I find myself just wandering around cities to see everything and complete the map.

Timogorgon   Member wrote on 03/11/2015 at 04:03am

Yeah, this time difference thing just isn't working out. We're really gonna need you to move to move to the west coast. That'd be great...

http://memecrunch.com/meme/2U9U5/that-d-be-great/image.jpg?w=526&c=1

jdodson   Admin wrote on 03/14/2015 at 02:23am

The only other MMO i've ever played I can really compare this to is Lord of the Rings Online and the very small bit of WoW i've played. I finally made it to a bigger town and learned two professions Tailoring and Cooking. Not really sure what cooking gives you but I have started collecting some supplies to craft a nice pair of shoes.

Travis   Admin   Post Author wrote on 03/14/2015 at 05:55am

I don't see the comparison to WoW. I was bored with WoW after a couple of hours, but this has had me hooked from the beginning. I was somewhat impressed with LotR Online but never enough to stick with it.

I love the impromptu parties. Earlier today I ran through a few areas with a group of two other people and myself, and there was no official party ever formed, we just happened to be running the same stuff. It's incredibly verstatile.

jdodson   Admin wrote on 03/14/2015 at 03:15pm

I was just mentioning the only other MMOs I've played. I never really went deep with WOW starter either.

I've only teamed up with people during random encounters. A few times people's buffed me, but due to the extra stuff I got when Instarted I've been OP since the start.

jdodson   Admin wrote on 03/20/2015 at 05:30am

Played a bit more tonight and I am now a level 14 Necromancer and I just sunk a few skill points into pets. So far the game blends a nice balance of not too hard yet challenging enough. With that, there are(at this point) a ton of things to do. Unlock skill points, discover Vistas, explore areas, unlock new waypoints and complete the story line.

The Storyline took me to this huge hub town inside a Cube I don't quite remember the name of. I can gate there easily enough and to other areas. I imagine you all can too and we might be able to group up that way? I am in Metrica Providence because that's where my race is out of. Where are you all from?

Travis   Admin   Post Author wrote on 03/20/2015 at 09:38pm

That cube town is Rata Sum, the home city for the Asura. That's where your "home" instance is that you can tinker with. Metrica Province is the starter area for the Asura, you'll barely go there after a bit. My main character is an Asura Elementalist, I've got him up to level 53.

I also have a Human Ranger, that's the one I'm playing with Katie. We're level 27 I think.

Here's the thing. There's a Trading Post in the game where you can buy and sell stuff with other players. I haven't had the need to do that except once when I accidentally salvaged my main kickass weapon. For a free-to-play game, the incentive to purchase items is pretty low.

The content is staggering. I love that you get experience for every little thing you do in this game. It encourages you to play how you want to play. I haven't even touched crafting, for example, but that's a good way to churn through a few levels.

Travis   Admin   Post Author wrote on 03/21/2015 at 12:28am

Oh BTW, the guild bank is up. The patch a few days ago screwed up a ton of stuff, including build progress, so it stalled for a few days. 50 slots of sharable space so far. It will take quite some time to build up enough rep to upgrade it.

jdodson   Admin wrote on 03/21/2015 at 02:17am

Nice. If you want to ditch any Chef materials feel free. smile I am building up stock so I can max level. I am going to make so many balls of dough.

jdodson   Admin wrote on 03/21/2015 at 02:22am

The game seems to be very Trading Company focused. At least if you want to craft you do. I am rising in the ranks of Tailoring and I needed to buy a ton of the gear to level up for it. It's not so bad as you can buy items through the trading company but if you wanted to farm mats its way more difficult than in other MMOs. At least certain mats for Tailor like the base mats you need to build everything with. For instance I tried to farm Jute Scraps from areas where the Wiki said you could farm them and I found 2 in a few hours. You need 126 to level up Novice Tailoring. You can buy them through the Trading Company but right now they are a silver and a few copper!

Travis   Admin   Post Author wrote on 03/21/2015 at 02:32am

Yeah I've sold a lot of jute scraps :)

Travis   Admin   Post Author wrote on 03/21/2015 at 03:38am

I don't know how neither Jon nor I had mentioned the amazing score yet. Jeremy Soule is one of the best game composers practicing right now.

Timogorgon   Member wrote on 03/21/2015 at 04:59am

I deposited some cooking supplies for you. :D

jdodson   Admin wrote on 03/22/2015 at 05:58pm

Thanks, that helps. The hardest thing I am trying to find is peppercorn, that stuff sells for 5 silver a piece!

Anyways, I just unlocked everything in Metrica Providence and I am on my way to the next area Brisbane Wildlands. You can go east to the Caledon Forest but it's the same level as Metrica and I am a higher level than that. Unless there is some compelling reason why I should go there beyond just unlocking everything, which is pretty darn fun.

I am now a level 20 Necromancer and the game is getting pretty enjoyable. Curious what levels y'all are, what areas and what you are focusing on?

Travis   Admin   Post Author wrote on 03/22/2015 at 06:07pm

I'm 58 or 59 on my Elementalist, and you can't really focus on one area at that point because you don't level with the content the way you do in earlier areas, so I'm jumping around a few of the 50's areas.

And yeah, Caledon Forest is the starter area outside the Sylvari's home city. Caledon and Metrica both spill into Brisbane for level 15 or 20. Maybe 15-25?

Dungeons unlock at level 30 I think, but so far I haven't touched them. I did start crafting a bit though. Do you get anything useful doing novice cooking? As a jeweler and artificer you don't get anything useful at all until later on. I'll probably do cooking on my ranger, it seems like it would fit.

jdodson   Admin wrote on 03/22/2015 at 06:10pm

I haven't started the grind process for cooking yet because I don't have all the supplies to max level it yet. I know that's odd but then i'd have to figure out what I unlocked and keep track and that seems like a waste.

Tailoring doesn't seem as useful as it seemed BUT I did get a few upgrades from it. I imagine at the absolute max level you can get some cool stuff from it but so far, not much more than you can find by fighting stuff.

Azurephile   Super Member wrote on 03/25/2015 at 03:47am

I have a question for you! In Guild Wars 2, are you battling against other guilds? Is that optional? I remember when I played Ragnorak Online with local friends, we had our own guild and we did fight other guilds at times. I think that was at least once a week.

Travis   Admin   Post Author wrote on 03/25/2015 at 06:19pm

I'm not even sure you *can* battle other guilds. I mean I guess you could get a PvP group together within your guild, but I haven't come across it.

jdodson   Admin wrote on 03/26/2015 at 02:37am

I haven't seen anything about that yet. If it's possible we'd have to be a higher guild level.

Azurephile   Super Member wrote on 03/26/2015 at 02:39am

That's cool. The name of the game seems to make my question irrelevant, but I thought I'd still ask. This also leads me to what I'm seriously considering posting in the forums. =)

Travis   Admin   Post Author wrote on 03/31/2015 at 03:09pm

Is anyone else who's playing this at or near level 40, about to start their chosen order's questline, and chose the Vigil?

Katie and I did this together, I chose the Vigil, and she chose the Priory. I did the start of her order's questline with her and it has bugged mine out so that now I'm stuck with the Priory. I already did the Priory on my other character and would prefer not to do it again!

From what I've read, if I join someone who's in the Vigil for their first couple of quests it will get mine back on track.

Timogorgon   Member wrote on 03/31/2015 at 05:20pm

I'm nowhere near that level, I'm still romping around at level 14. :P

I played for a bit last night, but I spent most of that time tweaking the controls. I'm not sure why, but the controls for this game bug me. They're standard MMO controls, but this game feels like it wants to be played more like an Action RPG than a standard MMO, and the default controls are terrible for that. Still, this is just a minor complaint and I am still really enjoying the game.

Speaking of which, anyone think they'll be on tonight? I would love to hop and and play with some peeps.

Travis   Admin   Post Author wrote on 03/31/2015 at 10:09pm

Depends on what you mean by "tonight." My tonight and you west coasters' nights seem to be very different :)

Timogorgon   Member wrote on 03/31/2015 at 10:23pm

Fair enough. :P

It'll be after 8pm PDT. Probably closer to 8:30 or 9.

jdodson   Admin wrote on 04/01/2015 at 02:03am

I'd love to join you all but I am very sick.

Hopefully catch you all again sometime. :sleep:

Travis   Admin   Post Author wrote on 04/01/2015 at 02:35am

Feel better Jon!

jdodson   Admin wrote on 04/01/2015 at 03:03am

Drugs help. smile

scrypt   Supporter wrote on 04/10/2015 at 04:36pm

AreaNet name: Scrypt.5270

Let's get it ooon....~

scrypt   Supporter wrote on 04/10/2015 at 04:41pm

How large is the download? I'll make sure to friend everyone as soon as it's installed.

Travis   Admin   Post Author wrote on 04/10/2015 at 05:52pm

It's pretty big. 30ish gigs? I can't remember exactly. It's no GTA V but it's big.

Azurephile   Super Member wrote on 04/10/2015 at 06:21pm

75% off! $15 for the Collector's Edition! Whoa!!! Anyway, I'm GregoPeck.6304 and I'm downloading now.

Timogorgon   Member wrote on 04/10/2015 at 07:38pm

Nice! I'm Taion.4056 on there. I'll try and log on later tonight and see if you guys are on. :D

Azurephile   Super Member wrote on 04/10/2015 at 09:07pm

I agree with Jon, Travis, we need to move to the West Coast, we don't belong here. Jake's already trying to get me to move to California. So, Jon, find us some housing! Hahaha.

That's cool Tim, it's going to take some time to download, so it might be a day or two until I'm there. I'm hoping it will be easy to find you and the others and join the guild. I'm sure at least one of you can add us easily and make that process easier for us. I'm looking forward to playing because of how many of us are going to be there (even if we're not all there at the same time).

Travis   Admin   Post Author wrote on 04/10/2015 at 10:01pm

I added you both. It'll show up as me "following" you until you also add me. See you inside!

Azurephile   Super Member wrote on 04/11/2015 at 05:17am

Added all of you except for Tim, it said you didn't exist.

scrypt   Supporter wrote on 04/11/2015 at 08:19am

"...it said you didn't exist."

Well, I didn't see that one coming. To be honest, though, "Tim" always seemed a little too good to be true.

scrypt   Supporter wrote on 04/11/2015 at 06:14pm

Are you guys running GW2 through the Steam interface? If not, are you using something else for in-game chat, or just sticking with text chat?

Azurephile   Super Member wrote on 04/11/2015 at 06:38pm

I didn't even think about it on Steam. I just went from the website and got it from there, so it has it's own client. I only used chat once to say "welcome" to someone, so I guess it was just text chat.

scrypt   Supporter wrote on 04/11/2015 at 06:48pm

Guild Wars 2 isn't available through Steam, but you can add it to your Steam library as a non-Steam game, and utilize the Steam overly while you're playing. I do this with all of my games, mostly just to keep them organized in one place.

jdodson   Admin wrote on 04/11/2015 at 08:33pm

When I play GW2 I try and run it through Steam for the overlay.

Azurephile   Super Member wrote on 04/11/2015 at 08:49pm

Cool, I knew you could add non-Steam games to it, so I added GW2. =)

Travis   Admin   Post Author wrote on 04/11/2015 at 10:24pm

I hadn't bothered, just use the in-game /whisper

Travis   Admin   Post Author wrote on 04/12/2015 at 03:53am

WBS, you said hello and then immediately signed off apparently. lol

Anyway, hi!

Timogorgon   Member wrote on 04/12/2015 at 06:39am

It was not immediately. I waited an appropriately long time before going and watching Daredevil instead, lol.

scrypt   Supporter wrote on 04/13/2015 at 07:54am

Daredevil is so GOOD! I'm really hoping for an Age of Ultron cameo of some sort, even if it's just a mention from one of the Avengers about "that lawyer in Hell's Kitchen."

I have three characters up to level 10 - Guardian, Ranger, and Thief - and I can't decide which one to continue leveling as a primary. Is there a class in particular that would better benefit our group? I would be glad to start another class if we are already full up on the three I've mentioned.

Azurephile   Super Member wrote on 04/13/2015 at 10:10am

That's awesome, scrypt! I'm juggling games at the moment. I'm trying to finish Diablo III: Reaper of Souls Campaign Mode with my Wizard (currently in Act V). GTAV (I pre-ordered) is going to be available tonight at 7PM (EST). Anyway, back to GW2, I created a Guardian, I think I'm just under or around level 10 and I'm currently at a story point. I have to deliver medical supplies to the bar tender. I'm still wondering when and how to join the guild.

Travis   Admin   Post Author wrote on 04/13/2015 at 09:19pm

Scrypt, why not all three? :)

I don't think you really need to balance a party the way you do in some games, so really it's just whatever you like.

I'm not sure what level you first unlock the guild stuff, but I've sent you both an invite. You can chat to anyone online with /guild

Timogorgon   Member wrote on 04/13/2015 at 11:05pm

I'm still very much a n00b in this game, but so far there does not seem to be a usual tank/healer/DPS party dynamic in GW2. So I think you should be able to pick any class you want and be fine. :)

Azurephile   Super Member wrote on 04/14/2015 at 12:05am

I'm level 12. I'm also noting that for the very first time (that I've noticed), this game puts my PC to work. When I play, I notice that the internal fans are running much more than usual, it's usually quite quiet. I played this morning and noticed it, so I checked my Alienware Thermal Controller and the fans were indeed running faster than usual, although not at full strength. My internal PC temp was 37 degrees Celsius, which is about 98 degrees Fahrenheit. Still, that seems much cooler than my old PC use to run. Right now (after playing Diablo 3) the temperature is 33 degress Celcius my fans are running minimally, the hard drive is the fastest one running and that's only at 33%. Where as in GW2, my hard drive fan was running just above 50%. My PCI fan is at 18% now, this morning with GW2, it was closer to 50%.

As for the guild, I assumed that once you got passed a certain point in your character's story, the game would tell you about guilds. I wish I had more inventory space as I'm often filling it up. I seem to have equipped all the bags it will let me. I've sold some things on the market, but need to go collect the coins from that. Also, with the "junk" stuff, I see that collecting pieces works towards an achievement, but do we need to keep them in order to complete that? I'm also wondering if I should destroy some of the items I got that I can't use on my character like Primeval armor.

Travis   Admin   Post Author wrote on 04/14/2015 at 01:55am

You'll get bigger bags later. Don't forget that you have a bank you can store stuff in.

You don't need to keep the junk for the achievement, just sell them to a vendor.

Azurephile   Super Member wrote on 04/14/2015 at 11:18am

Thanks for the invite, Travis. I used the guild influence item I had from buying the collector's edition. I also got another similar item (for a smaller amount of influence) that I also used. So, I believe I added 4,300 to our guild influence. I also used my bank for storage, thanks for the tip.

Jon, I sent you some food crafting materials, berries and butter, I believe. I would have had more for you, but I ended up selling them previously since I ran out of inventory space and didn't realize I could use my bank to store items.

scrypt   Supporter wrote on 04/14/2015 at 01:41pm

Hmmm... That kind of sucks that there isn't an emphasis on class dynamics. I enjoy playing support/healer or DPS roles. I'm sure it all works out. I just notice that combat in certain situations, even early on, can be spontaneously overwhelming and chaotic, and as a result, I've died more than I expected. Playing more and becoming familiar with the rhythm of things will help to fix that, I hope.

Azurephile   Super Member wrote on 04/14/2015 at 02:43pm

I died a few times as well. There was an area I was supposed to go to and I thought it was through a bandit lair and they ended up killing me a few times. I finally looked at the map and realized I could go around it and up a hill. I have a healing ability now that I can use. I also once mistakenly took on a larger boar. I usually choose warrior classes and I almost did for this character, but a guardian looked similar and there were a couple of reasons why I went with it instead. My name, "Gregory," supposedly means "guardian" and also, the description mentioned a "fierce loyalty to allies," so I thought it fit.

jdodson   Admin wrote on 04/14/2015 at 03:45pm

Thanks Greg, that will help quite a bit!

Travis   Admin   Post Author wrote on 04/14/2015 at 07:17pm

I think there are some intentionally overwhelming areas to start with, to get you into the swing of things. Even when you're leveled higher than the enemies, they can sometimes swarm you. Bandit hideouts are notorious for this!

jdodson   Admin wrote on 04/15/2015 at 03:46am

As a Necromancer I don't get swarmed much as I focus on pets and can summon 4 right now. If enemies get close I always back off and have my minions take them on as I pick them off from the edges. It's a fun class but doesn't do much damage with attacks.

Azurephile   Super Member wrote on 04/15/2015 at 03:55am

That sounds like my Witch Doctor on Diablo 3, Jon. I have 3 or 4 Zombie Dogs and a Gargantuan Zombie. I got so used to having them that I felt kind of lonely without them when I played next as a Wizard.

Anyway, if you're still working on Cooking, then I'll be glad to send you any related materials I find. I'm not sure about crafting yet nor what I may end up getting into. I've already mined some ore because I found some picks and an ore deposit. I can also harvest things, I think. I have a few tools, actually.

Travis   Admin   Post Author wrote on 04/15/2015 at 09:43pm

Crafting, if you follow a guide, is pretty easy and cheap to level up so you can start actually making money with it. Apparently the only one you can really make money from is cooking, so good choice on that Jon!

jdodson   Admin wrote on 04/15/2015 at 11:39pm

Yeah, it looks like cooking is one of the more interesting because food gives you status effects that last for a time. Seems pretty useful to cook up some stuff for your team that could really help you out.

I am also a Tailor and that's pretty good too BUT not quite as useful as cooking as the gear you find replaces what you make pretty quickly.

Azurephile   Super Member wrote on 04/16/2015 at 12:39am

I've been playing more in the mornings before my son goes to school. Right now I'm in Divinity's Reach and exploring the city since my marker keeps changing to either an unexplored vista or some other local place. That's also a good way to get some EXP.

scrypt   Supporter wrote on 04/19/2015 at 05:50pm

One thing I'm not liking, is the platforming. Seriously, it sucks. I like exploring in massive worlds just as much as the next wood-elf-plant-creature thief, but if you're going to put platforming in the game, especially as a means of completing certain tasks, then, by all means, polish it up a bit. It's a minor complaint, since it hasn't really happened too often, yet.

It's a nice big beautiful world, though, and for the cost of entry, it's a satisfying experience. However, it does make me want to go back to WoW. I won't do that (although, if I could afford it, I might), but it makes me want to.

jdodson   Admin wrote on 04/19/2015 at 07:23pm

WoW is the best MMO of all time right(Everquest)? At least it's the reigning champ so yeah, makes sense it's might be better for that. I like the classes and abilities better in WoW. Plus I have more attachment to Warcraft than the stuff in GW2.

scrypt   Supporter wrote on 04/19/2015 at 09:12pm

What I played of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn was really impressive, and might be a contender for my time, but again with the subscription... The fact that I paid $15 for an MMO of this caliber, and am not required to pay anything else, is pretty damn cool.

Azurephile   Super Member wrote on 04/20/2015 at 01:18am

Scrypt, you mean having to jump from one place or platform to another? I ran into that in Divinity's Reach trying to reach some vistas. There were a couple or a few of them that I didn't figure out on my own and instead referred to a YouTube video.

I've never played WoW, but I know I could play for free up to level 20. I've played FFXI, but not XIV: A Real Reborn. I wish FFXI would go Free To Play so I can actually use the expansions I have (I won Wings of the Goddess from the wiki). I was tempted to play XIV: ARR, one of my friends plays it, but I haven't yet. I can afford to pay the subscription, but I knew that there would be a month or two I was sure I wasn't going to be playing it. That is June and maybe July as Terraria is expected to be updated to 1.3 in June.

I haven't played GW2 very much. It's ok, but definitely a steal at $15 for the Collector's Edition (the sale we participated in). One thing I wish for in the game is being able to automatically target an enemy. Sometimes I seem to have trouble selecting one to perform an attack on it. That may be an aspect of the game I don't know about and my targeting skills (IRL, "In Real Life") may get better with a bit more practice.

In contrast to FFXI, I like the easier co-op play, how every fight or battle can be joined by other players who also can get EXP and loot. That is, without having to form a party and also without others stealing your loot, the latter an issue I had with Ragnarok Online.

Timogorgon   Member wrote on 04/20/2015 at 01:58am

I agree the platforming is a little sub-par. The controls in general I feel could use some tweaking.

I love that anyone can participate in events on the fly. It makes it a lot more fun than repeating "Kill 10 rats" style quests over and over again, even if the basic mechanics are the same. :)

scrypt   Supporter wrote on 04/20/2015 at 03:06am

You definitely get a lot more experience from doing the events, which, as you say, Tim, is a refreshing change from the norm. At some points, though, I've noticed that it just leads to waypoint spamming. By that, I mean, someone from the chat will call out an event near a waypoint, everyone teleports to that waypoint, rushes the event, then waits for the next event call-out in the chat. Rinse, repeat. It got to the point that I was bouncing all over the map in a matter of minutes, chasing down events. Even though it costs 8 copper, or whatever the fee is for teleporting, that's not significant when it comes to amassing experience. However, it felt like I was cheating the game somehow. You would think they would have implemented some sort of "teleport sickness" to prevent frequent map hopping.

@GregoPeck, you can target the closest enemy by hitting the Tab key. This is how I usually initiate a fight. I thought I remember seeing something in the settings menu that allowed for automatic target on attack, or something to that effect. I'll have to check it out when I'm back online.

Travis   Admin   Post Author wrote on 04/20/2015 at 03:35am

I can't imagine ever preferring WoW to anything, but it's obviously popular for a reason. Every now and then I'll play a few hours of WoW to see what all the fuss is about and never care anything about my character or the gameplay. It just feels like a major chore, and having played a ton of Final Fantasy XI, if I think something feels like more of a chore than that game, I must *really* mean it, lol

As for the platforming, holding in right-click allows you to free-look, then it just controls like a third person shooter. It only took about the amount of time that it takes to finish up the vistas in the home area (Divinity's Reach, The Grove, Rata Sum, etc) and the level 1-15 zone to really get the hang of it. I still get frustrated with the more advanced jumping puzzles but they're meant to be tricky.

As for waypoint spamming (you probably saw me doing some of that earlier in Caledon) you only ever really see that happening when that area's events are one of the daily achievements. "Caledon Forest Event Completer" was one of today's, so you saw a ton, but if you went to Queensdale you would have barely seen any of it unless one of the world bosses was about to spawn. Since everyone is trying to get those events for the daily it can be tricky to get to any before they're already over, so waypoint spamming in the chat is a helpful way for everyone to get a chance at the events.

Autotargeting: I just hit 1, and it targets the closest enemy. I must have that setting ticked. You can then tab through them or just double click them to switch.

Azurephile   Super Member wrote on 04/20/2015 at 04:03am

Thanks for the tips, Travis, and Scrypt. I haven't looked at the control configuration and I don't recall the game telling me about Tab. I'll give those things a try. I know 1 is the first skill/ability, which is my primary attack. I just got used to clicking or holding down the left mouse to attack an enemy.

I noticed the daily achievements listed, but I haven't tried to accomplish them. I've been in Queensdale this whole time pretty much and what you said, Travis, makes sense because I don't think I've seen any teleport spamming. I also don't pay much attention to the chat.

scrypt   Supporter wrote on 04/20/2015 at 05:00am

WoW was my first MMO experience, so it holds a special place for me. It might not be the be-all, end-all of that genre, but it does a much better job of engaging the player than GW2, and I find it more aesthetically pleasing. The environments in GW2 have a tendency to look chaotic and the levels poorly designed, whereas WoW is almost meticulous in both regards. Lore is a big part of it, too. Blizzard has a ton of it with Warcraft. Guild Wars will get there, I'm sure.

And the platforming: it's not that I can't or don't know how to do it (I've completely cleared the Caledon Forest), I just feel like the mechanics make it so the platforming seems tacked on and unpolished. The difficulty of the platform puzzle isn't because it's "tricky" per se, rather because the mechanics are not designed for it. Playing tennis with fish instead of rackets might also be tricky, but it's probably not as fun. Not without some form of drug, at least ;).

Travis   Admin   Post Author wrote on 04/20/2015 at 02:30pm

Ah yeah, I see what you mean about the platforming mechanics, but I feel like I might be the only person who doesn't have any issues with them or the controls in general. It seems like it should be a mess but it just kinda makes sense to me, somehow. Lol.

Travis   Admin   Post Author wrote on 04/20/2015 at 02:31pm

Oh and the reason I mentioned holding in right click as you are platforming is that I didn't realize that for a long time. After starting to hold in right click the platforming mechanics just feel like a basic platformer to me.

scrypt   Supporter wrote on 04/20/2015 at 06:12pm

Like I said, it's a minor complaint. Thankfully (for me), the platforming stuff isn't a big part of the game.

I've been critiquing the negatives, so I'll mention some of the things I love about this game. The event system is really good. I'm not aware of too many other games that do this, with the exception of Destiny, and I'm now feeling that Bungie totally got the idea from Guild Wars 2, which would make me even more sad about Destiny. Seeing everyone come in on an event and act as an instant PUG (pick up group), allowing you develop a strategy based on the moment, adding buffs to your allies, using crowd control effects... it's a lot of fun!

I'm loving the Thief class, especially with weapon swapping from sword and dagger to bow and arrow. There are still some things that the game should be explaining better (Traits, for one, and when they become relevant, before purchasing more than a handful from your trainer...), but overall I feel it working out for me. Allowing color customization of armor is really awesome, something that I wish were available in every game that uses armor.

The fact that there are no mounts in this game kinda bummed me out at first, but I've grown used to the teleport system. Having both wouldn't make sense. I'm hoping there are better ways of acquiring pets/toys? besides paying cash money for them. One of the things I loved about WoW was the luck of farming for a pet. I love random epic drops!

Travis   Admin   Post Author wrote on 04/20/2015 at 08:28pm

Oh don't purchase traits from the trainer until late game. You can find them in the world by completing certain events or visiting certain places, so you'll be wasting skill points buying traits early on.

And (I think) most mini's can be found in black lion chests if nowhere else. I know I've gotten a few at random, not sure where.

scrypt   Supporter wrote on 04/20/2015 at 10:49pm

Speaking of Black Lion Chests, where does one find keys to open? I looked on the black market, or whatever, and couldn't find any there.

Travis   Admin   Post Author wrote on 04/21/2015 at 12:14am

You get keys as rewards for various things, story quests (which start at level 10 I think), map completion, etc.

You can also buy them on the gem store but screw that.

scrypt   Supporter wrote on 04/21/2015 at 01:41am

Ahh. I've been ignoring my story quest. Should probably get on that!

Travis   Admin   Post Author wrote on 04/21/2015 at 03:56am

The story quest is one of my favorite parts of the game actually. The first 30 levels are race specific, and the questions you answer during character creation shape the story. Then you pick your order, and 40 and 50 are about your order and which lesser race you choose to help. Then level 60 shit goes down and you start working toward the culmination of things that I won't mention in case of spoilers, but it's pretty awesome. The level 80 story quests are my favorite, culminating in a dungeon.

Speaking of Black Lion chest keys -- Some people have perfected the quickest way to level 10 so they can do the story quest and get black lion chest keys. New character -> race to level 10 -> quickest path through level 10 story quests -> black lion chest key GET -> delete character -> repeat.

Azurephile   Super Member wrote on 05/12/2015 at 10:04pm

There were a few things I learned in my game play this morning that I thought I'd share. I found out that the Golem Banker is only available for two weeks of game play and afterwards is safe to destroy. That helped me save some inventory space. I also found out that you can click on options in the inventory screen and use "compact" to move everything together starting from the top. This helped me empty one of my leather bags. I was then able to drag a larger leather bag to one of the tabs on the left of a leather bag that I emptied. This helped increase my inventory space a bit.

I made it to a new area in the game, after Queensdale. I may be getting used to the controls. My problem has been that I often click on enemies to fight them, which isn't always effective when other players are fighting those enemies, too. Today I tried simply pressing the 1 key instead of clicking when other characters were near. I think I've tried the Tab key, but haven't really spent much time playing with that.

One of the reasons why I'm glad I reached a new area was because Trading Post merchants and other merchants were nearby. This made it easy for me to collect the money I received from all of the stuff I've sold so far. It also helped me sell my junk items.

I've been giving Jon my cooking materials since he said he's working on that type of crafting. I haven't started crafting yet and I'm thinking of selling the crafting materials I've been obtaining. If any of you want some crafting materials let me know what kind you want and I will gladly send them to you.

jdodson   Admin wrote on 05/14/2015 at 01:18am

"I've been giving Jon my cooking materials since he said he's working on that type of crafting."

Thanks for that Greg. I haven't been playing much of GW2 lately due to being busy so I mostly have time for Hearthstone.

Travis   Admin   Post Author wrote on 05/31/2015 at 09:47pm

This officially ended today, but I just expanded it for a couple of days for closing comments about the game.

As I'm sure you can tell, I love this game :)

Currently I have a level 80 elementalist and ranger, a level 33 guardian, a level 29 mesmer, and a level 11 engineer. When I decided to start crafting everything I made more characters (that I will definitely play, they aren't just crafting alts) so I could get all the professions. I've gotten all 8 crafting professions to master (level 400), and two to 500. Six of them can go to 500, all but jeweler and chef-- basically the ones you can make ascended gear with. Most of the experience on my mesmer and engineer come from crafting-- on a fresh character, mastering two crafts gets you 25 levels of experience. The trip from 400-500 gets you another three.

Lately I've really enjoyed the world boss train. Every few minutes a new major boss event spawns in the world, and you get killer loot and experience if you need that. Tequatl the Sunless is the best. It actually requires strategy and isn't just cheaply hard.

So yeah, I love this game. I definitely got my $15 worth. What do you all think?

Azurephile   Super Member wrote on 06/01/2015 at 01:22am

I haven't played as much as you have. I can't remember, at the moment, what level my character is. I was playing in the mornings before Vinny went to school, but I think it's been a while since I last played. I think I like it. It's an ok game. There are things about it I like and many things that I haven't explored yet, like crafting. I think I'd play it more, but I've been doing some serious Diablo III gaming lately. That will end soon though, at least by time Terraria updates!

I'm thinking we can continue to comment on this event even after it's "over." I'd certainly like to continue talking about it as I play more. So, I definitely want and need a place for that.

Azurephile   Super Member wrote on 06/05/2015 at 08:56pm

Comment #92 Wow! Anyway, I just thought I'd suggest extending this event until the end of the month. I've finished my Diablo goal, which was to get through campaign mode with each class and each gender. So, I need something to fill in the time until Terraria 1.3. So, I might start playing GW2 more soon.

scrypt   Supporter wrote on 06/06/2015 at 02:12am

I haven't been able to play for the past month or so, but what I did play, I really enjoyed. The last thing I was doing before I stopped was trying to just explore everywhere, unlocking as many teleport points as possible. The environments are beautiful! My favorite thing about Guild Wars 2, so far, has to be the public event system (they do it so much better than Destiny), and the fact that you can play without a subscription. I've gotten well over $15 worth of fun out of this game, and I'm looking forward to playing more, whenever I get to see my computer again :).

Travis   Admin   Post Author wrote on 06/06/2015 at 05:17am

Yeah sure, I'll extend it if people are interested :)

Scrypt, when do you get back to your PC again anyway?

scrypt   Supporter wrote on 06/06/2015 at 03:20pm

I should be back "home" by July 16th. I'm trying to plan a little trip into New York before I leave, but I don't know if that will happen. I guess I'm prolonging my exodus in hopes that it will ;).

Azurephile   Super Member wrote on 06/07/2015 at 08:47pm

Sorry, Jon, but you've got plenty of in-game mail from me. The good news is that I've begun to sell a bunch of my stuff, like crafting materials I can't use. So, hopefully I can manage my inventory better. I don't know anything about crafting, but I still gather ingredients. I may have to figure that out. I'm constantly seeing things in the world to harvest like plants, trees, or rocks to mine.

A few notes: I found out how to repair gear. Those merchants are kind of hard to find sometimes. I don't often use waypoints, I tend to travel on foot mostly. I usually use them when I die and need to revive some where. Some times the game is really calm and peaceful. I like that other players can join together and battle enemies, helping each other, without having to form a party.

Sometimes this game reminds me of Oblivion, Final Fantasy X, and FFXIII. One voice actor sounds like the guy who played Ject in FFX, but I don't see his name in the GW2 credits. A female centaur also sounded like a female in Oblivion.

Travis   Admin   Post Author wrote on 06/08/2015 at 02:59am

You can stash crafting ingredients in your material storage, you don't have to keep them in your bank. Just click the gear at the top of your inventory and click "deposit materials."

Travis   Admin   Post Author wrote on 06/08/2015 at 03:01am

You can't do that from your bank though, you have to have the materials in your main inventory.

Travis   Admin   Post Author wrote on 06/08/2015 at 03:04am

To FURTHER clarify, you can right click any material, wherever you have it, and choose to deposit that particular material. In order to deposit all that you have, you have to have them in your inventory.

Azurephile   Super Member wrote on 06/08/2015 at 03:21am

Ah yeah, I keep forgetting about that bank. I'm not sure how to access it either.

Azurephile   Super Member wrote on 06/08/2015 at 03:29am

I found out how to access it: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Account_vault

Travis   Admin   Post Author wrote on 06/08/2015 at 05:04pm

How did you get to level 20 with the basic bags you get and without using your bank or material storage? Your inventory must be a mess! lol

jdodson   Admin wrote on 06/09/2015 at 02:36am

"Sorry, Jon, but you've got plenty of in-game mail from me."

Thanks, just picked it up today!

Azurephile   Super Member wrote on 06/09/2015 at 04:48am

It was a mess, but I've sold, salvaged, and sent Jon things.

Travis   Admin   Post Author wrote on 06/09/2015 at 12:13pm

Yeah depositing those materials will help :)

Azurephile   Super Member wrote on 06/09/2015 at 06:59pm

You're welcome, Jon. Now that I have my inventory management under control for the moment, I'll probably send you less frequent messages. I'll save what I find and hold on to it for a time so that I don't send you as many messages. So they might come in less frequency, but might contain more. =) The game said you hadn't been on in a few weeks, so I thought I'd send you that previous warning.

I'm still getting used to combat and using my skills.

jdodson   Admin wrote on 06/10/2015 at 02:41am

WHATEVER YOU DO GREG DON'T STOP SENDING ME FREE SHIT!

Travis   Admin   Post Author wrote on 06/10/2015 at 02:54am

Once you get to level 30 or 40 and can handle more world bosses than the few you can get in the starter areas you can start churning gold fast. It gets even better when you're getting level 80 gear from them. Katie and I got about 5 gold each for maybe 45 minutes of playing tonight. At that point, you can buy all the materials you want!

So you could get all the money you need to level up Tailoring, for instance, in about 4 days. If you want to go this route. It's the cheapest way to level it but doesn't give much return.

http://gw2crafts.net/tailor.html

Azurephile   Super Member wrote on 06/10/2015 at 02:57am

I sent you some more! Haha One of the things seems to be special, it's a dye.

I found a banker, as I journey on foot between my current quest places. I used the skins I had stored and stored more of the original equipment that I can't seem to salvage (yet?) or sell. There are a couple of other random boosts and things in there now.

I like that you can quickly and easily sell items using the Trading Post. Sure, you have to find a Black Lion Trading Post merchant to collect your earnings, but I still often sell items quickly using the TP. I haven't bought any items from them, though. I have bought some harvesting materials and need to buy more. That's one way I keep coming up with good to send to Jon.

Azurephile   Super Member wrote on 06/10/2015 at 02:59am

I figured that other guild member was Katie! Anyway, I haven't been paying attention to currency. I haven't really used it very much yet and I'm still earning by selling with the TP. I am level 30 now, I'm currently working on a character story quest.

Travis   Admin   Post Author wrote on 06/10/2015 at 03:54am

Finding a TP or bank is easy. Each are available by fast-traveling back to the closest city, and the teleport costs are negligible. There's a waypoint to teleport to close to the bank/TP in every city, and Lion's Arch has quite a few waypoints next to the various banks/TPs spread about the city.

Alternatively, even if you aren't interested in PvP, if you click the PvP icon in the top left row of icons (it's the one with two swords I think) and go to the PvP lobby, after a brief training intro (on your first time only, of course) you are put into the lobby. There's a merchant, Trading Post, and bank very close to where you enter.

You can then exit the PvP lobby and get back to right where you were in normal mode. That's better than just using waypoints in many ways since it puts you back *exactly* where you were.

There's also a handy gate to Lion's Arch straight from the PvP lobby, so that's a free teleport to Lion's Arch basically, with one more loading screen.

And if you're worried that people can fight you in the lobby-- they can't. You have to go through other menus or other locations for actual combat.

Off the topic of currency and trading for a sec-- not sure how much everyone keeps up with news on GW2 but in the next content update (soon) Lion's Arch is getting rebuilt! You may have noticed that it's kinda destroyed. The first season of the living story (before our time in the game) destroyed the city, leaving it in rubble in many places. You may have *also* noticed that with a patch about three weeks ago, there's a lot of new construction going on. They're finally fixing it! In the next content patch everything will be fixed, and many areas will be significantly changed and some are being added.

If you want to join this conversation you need to sign in.
Sign Up / Log In