Positively The Last GW2 Post : GW2

Until the next beta weekend, that is. When is that, anyway?

WvWvW

• First attempt Saturday night: complete failure. Couldn't even find the zone. Went through the Mists, ended up in Lion's Arch.

• Second attempt Sunday night: found the zone straight off. What kind of an idiot would miss it? It's right there!

• Three very enjoyable hours defending a massive castle. Saw three more keeps on map, one for each world. Never went anywhere near them. Thought that was the whole thing Marveled at the size of it. Realized reading the Wiki this morning that was just one of four WvW zones! Understand now what all those portals in Lion's Arch were for.

That's me on the left, protecting our door!

• Fighting was constant, fluid, fun. No lag, no hitching, no strobing. Died just three times in three hours, recorded fourteen kills. Doesn't sound much but the Monthly WvW Kill Target Achievement is only fifteen. No clue what causes a kill to register. Must have been involved in ten times as many. Contribution? Killing blow? Nifty hat?. Who knows?

•  Verdict: Great if it stays packed. That's a lot of space, though.

Random Stuff I Liked

• Charr running on all fours. Bounding, really. Feels gloriously non-human.

• Creatures running at low health. Better still, creatures running, meeting a stronger ally, joining up and coming back. Saw this happen repeatedly with rock drake hatchlings and rock drakes.

I will if you will...

• The vertiginous climb and dive in Lion's Arch. Bit of a Baywatch vibe going on in Lion's Arch, now I come to think about it.

• Buying and selling from anywhere but only being able to collect money and goods from a Broker in town. Ideal compromise between facility and worldliness. Bet that gets changed.

• Creatures fighting each other. Harpies hunting warthogs on Diessa Plateau sticks in my mind but there were others.

• Discovering recipes. Yes it's all on a wiki already but I have enough willpower not to look until I'm stuck and fed up. 

• Talking rats! Found one in a Lion's Arch and a Citizen too! Player race! Player race!

Random Stuff I Didn't Like

• Animals dropping weapons and armor. What is it with game developers? How hard can it be to put appropriate drops on mobs? Spend all that time banging on about immersion and then stuff your wolves with magic swords.

• On a related note, what's with the Globby Goo? Drops off everything. Beta placeholder for unfinished loot tables or global parasitic infection? Either way, get rid of it!

• The extreme speed of learning skills. Shortbow dropped for me around level 16. Off a warthog probably. Pigs are notoriously skilled archers. Took around 15 minutes to unlock all five skills. A few hours per skill would be better. If skills are going to unlock in minutes might as well hand them out with the weapon.

Let's see your papers "Citizen"

• The extreme speed of leveling. Level 19, give or take, in a weekend. I was locked out of the game for a few hours, had to learn new game systems and environments so that's fast. Too fast. As I said in feedback in game. If the famous flat level curve (can a curve be flat?) is still in the plan that means level 80 in around a week. Call it a fortnight to allow for work and sleep. Six months would be better. Three at the outside. Maybe it does slow down. I hope so.

• Super-fast crafting. That thing where if you make a stack of items the first takes a second,  the next half a second, the third a quarter of a second and so on. Really annoying. Watching the progress bar tick down remorselessly on a stack is one of crafting's great pleasures. Also good for making coffee and checking email.

• Naming WvW teams Red, Green and Blue. The enemy's already anonomized enough with all names removed. Hard to work up any "World Pride" when no-one even knows the name of the World.

• Personal Story. I could do without this. Mine was good, but it's out of kilter. Instanced single-player RPG storylines don't fit with an open party open world. Can you even invite someone else into your personal story instance?

That's all I made notes on. Nothing game-breaking there. Not even game-bending. I was enjoying myself far too much to quibble. Not that quibbling isn't enjoyable in itself

Roll on next Beta Weekend. Better yet, roll on launch!