Losing Steam in GW2
I've lost a good bit of steam in GW2 after hitting max level and completing my selected crafting professions. I've done about half of the PVE instances and a few Fractals. Unfortunately, I'm finding my biggest obstacle to enjoying the content is time. Either I'm not willing or unable to spend 2 hours in a single session completing one piece of content. I enjoy the GW2 dungeons but I don't have the time to wait for a group to form and then finish the run. With the primary come-as-you-are-for-as-long-as-you-can content completed, also know as leveling, I'm feeling like a fish out of water.
Clearly, my tastes and lifestyle have changed. I left hardcore raiding several years ago and since that time, I've played games that I've enjoyed but few have stayed the long course since World of Warcraft. I can't be kept happy with a gear grind. I just don't give a damn about having the best of the best, if it requires a massive time sink. What does sustain me and get me to grind is decent crafting that has a profitable consumer market and player housing. I understand the shortage of games with player housing. What I don't understand, is how so many games get the crafting and economy mix wrong.
Beyond the gear carrot, player housing, crafting and a vibrant economy are the other sticky activities for MMO players. How is it that AAA fantasy games I've played since WOW have gotten it wrong? I found Warhammer crafting just a touch above useless except for making consumables for yourself, and even then not great. Rift's is further up the scale than Warhammer but honestly, not by a whole lot. You could craft or not and be just fine, which is cool for non-crafters but leaves a hole in the post leveling activity for many others.
I'm finding that GW2 crafting is maybe a bit above Rift but not by much in terms of necessity or value. The market is such that, there's very little profit for providing crafted items which renders it less rewarding as an alternative end game. I'm disappointed by this reality. GW2 crafting in and of itself, is very well done and is the best I've seen since EQ2. Unfortunately, the competition or weighting between crafted gear versus dropped and earned gear is so equitable, there's very little to covet. In the case of WOW and EQ2, beyond consumables, crafted items were one of the tiers of gear and only attainable via crafting, similar to what the new fractal gear is to legendary items in GW2.
Looks Good on Paper
On paper, having gear of the same level attainable from all avenues sounds good, except that it diminishes crafted items. And these crafted items in GW2 require a significant effort to manufacture but sell for pennies in most cases. I've seen people say that supplying mats is always more profitable than the time and gold sink of crafting which is true. However, that doesn't mean that crafted items should be selling for less than the combined materials. Which is from what I've seen, the situation in GW2. When I can buy rare gear for less than it costs me to port from Divinity's Reach to some level 80 zone, I'm sorry, some thing is way out of whack!
My Dilemma
I guess what I'm wrestling with in GW2 is what's left for me to do when I've opted out of gear grinds, can't commit to multi-hour dungeons sessions, crafting economy is weak and there's no player housing? I wouldn't mind setting a personal goal of map completion minus jumping puzzles but on some level it irks me to get level 5 rewards at level 80. The game knows my level, I'd just as soon get increased cash and karma, along the lines of what WOW did several years back for players who finished low level quests. I need some incentive that is a bit of progression. I'm already sitting on 60 ish extra skill points that I have no use for. Give me something to spend them on so I'll care if I get more - components, costumes, titles, etc. Pets!!! Oh the silly things I'd do to get vanity pets or costumes.
6 Month Sub to Rift
On a whim I purchased the Rift expansion pack and re-subscribed for 6 months. I think Trion's done a great job with Rift so am not averse to giving them some money. They've also added fishing since I last played and now PLAYER HOUSING!! I guess this is where I'll spend my gaming dabble time. I spent an hour leveling after re-acquainting myself with my Cleric and I can't do it. Having to stand still every time I cast a spell. I kept trying to dodge roll out of harm's way. I grumbled every time I had to return to the quest giver to complete a quest. UGH. After GW2, even Rift's content style that I thoroughly enjoyed last year, felt so "old school" to me now. Bleh, I can't be bothered leveling outside of GW2.
Money on the subscrption is not a total loss. My nephew still enjoys running around on my account and was happy to see me resub. He's more than welcome to level on my clerics if he chooses. For me, I'll stick with the housing for now. As luck would have it, I'd sent everyone's plat to my account as the household slowly un-subscribed. <evil grin>. That should be more than enough to get started creating houses. I could be persuaded to level IF there are some cool rewards out there for the housing system.
Riding it Out in GW2
No one that's on my contact list logs into the game anymore. At least, not while I'm online. I'm not hanging up my GW2 hat. For my time at least, I've enjoyed the leveling content the most since WOW and Rift. The crafting system has been the most fun since EQ2. And it's not like I don't enjoy the dungeons when I have time to do them. My problem is I don't have time for them or the constant WvW queues. Why the hell haven't some of those damned WvW cave dwellers stopped signing on so I can pop in and do that sometimes!!?? LOL Just kidding.
Even if there was a subscription, I couldn't cut GW2 loose yet. I'm going to hang in there. Make my own fun where I can and see where this goes. It feels like I'm becoming a niche gamer. I'm not interested in the items grinds after hitting max level. I need another form of progression or activity that rewards me appropriately for my level and the amount of effort I extend or not, as the case may be.
I'm kind of in the opposite position. Back in October I asked for Storm Legion for my birthday because it looked as though by the time that came I would be ready to take a break from GW2. Turns out I was completely wrong.
Every day I think of playing other MMOs - there are half a dozen that have things going on that I want to take a run at - yet when it comes to clicking an icon on my desktop that little red dragon is the only one I see. Far from running out of things to do I feel I'm barely scratching the surface yet. I have two level 80s, a level 65 and a level 25 and yet I haven't hit 50% map completion on any one of them. My fanciful idea of having eight level 80s, one of each class, is solidifying into a firm intention. Leveling up is just pure pleasure - why would I want to stop?
As for the end-game, I'm not touching it. Haven't done any dungeons (well, one, once) and unless they become massively less of a time-sink as you describe I'm not very likely to. Our server has busy, vibrant WvW but with only brief queues and I'm spending an increasing amount of time there.
My take on crafting in MMOs is that it should be purely for fun rather than profit, so I'm fairly happy with it in GW2. It could certainly be improved, but I have a 400 leatherworker, 300 cook and several in the 100-200 range. I just make what I need and that's fine.
Housing is the big issue for me. Personal instances were a big part of the pre-launch publicity but not only did they never happen in anything more than the most basic fashion, there is no dedicated team working on them and no prospect of them being improved any time soon. Not enough to sour me on the game in any major way, but it is a sore point.
Posted by: bhagpuss | December 01, 2012 at 04:19 AM
I think I could get more excited about doing the whole map without jumping puzzles if they game adjusted rewards for my level. Sure, you can say do it to see the content but meh, not so much. Level 50 downgraded still face-rolls lower level content except for the boring or obnoxious ones and all game have their share of those. Ugh, I ran across some real doozies unlocking all hearts whose vendors sell bulk produce.
I still enjoy myself every time I do play. Doing whatever I decide to do for that session, so am hanging in there.
With GW1 having had guild halls I think they're going to have deliver SOMETHING in that space.
Posted by: Alysianah aka Saylah | December 01, 2012 at 08:37 PM