Category: Guild Wars 2 Columns

Guild Wars 2 has, since the release of Heart of Thorns, been slowly creeping deeper in to the micro-transaction pit. Customisation options for Gliders and Mounts, huge selling points for both expansion, are almost entirely gated behind the cash shop, and the RNG and gambling aspect of both the Black Lion Chests and Mount Adoption License have only added fuel to the fire.

Over time, developers have taken more and more steps backwards when it comes to communication — backpedaling from Colin Johanson’s hype train approach to allow players to experience the content as it arrives. And whilst the PvE releases are sticking to an open approach, the competitive game modes WvW and PvP are being left in the dark, leaving many of us wondering just what ArenaNet has in mind?

At launch, Guild Wars 2 was an MMO that strove to break the boundaries set by the classics of the genre and sought to achieve this through a diverse set of skills and abilities that each class could bring to an encounter. Now more than ever, Guild Wars 2 and the community expect certain roles for any difficult encounter, with specific classes fulfilling these roles either exclusively or objectively better than any other.

At launch, Guild Wars 2 was an MMO that strove to break the boundaries set by the classics of the genre and sought to achieve this through a diverse set of skills and abilities that each class could bring to an encounter. Now more than ever, Guild Wars 2 and the community expect certain roles for any difficult encounter, with specific classes fulfilling these roles either exclusively or objectively better than any other.

Any online game with a buy to play or free to play business model needs a way to generate profit long in to the game’s life spam. For Guild Wars 2, the Gem Store is the way in which Arenanet gets most of its profit outside of initial sales and expansions. Players can also choose to purchase their items with in game gold, converting them to gems to buy the flashy cosmetics and convenience items that come exclusively from the cash shop.

One of the biggest problems for Guild Wars 2 developers facing this stance in on balancing lately, however, has been the frequency that patches are being delivered to the community, with the meta shifts being too slow, too far between and too small for a great deal of the vocal community.

As Guild Wars 2 ages, skills have become flashier and larger, to make sure new elite specialisation skills look as good as they feel. This is leading to an ever-increasing issue of visual clutter, with PvP situations in particular becoming almost impossible to see some small but important animations, and enemy AoEs in all content becoming hidden amongst dozens of allied particle effects.

Warning! Countless spoilers ahead!!! To me, this story was highly successful and one of the best that Guild Wars 2 has delivered to date, both extremely enjoyable to play through and delivering intensity in spades. Here is my small reaction to Path of Fire.

Next week, we will put a score and summary on Path of Fire, the new Guild Wars 2 expansion. But this week, we’re still working through the deluge of new content and massive new zones. While many players have scooted through the story and started unlocking their Griffon mounts, we’re taking our time, seeing the sights, and getting lost in jumping puzzles and random encounters. In short, it’s like a return to form for Tyria. The game I fell in love with back in 2012 feels like it’s returned.

Path of Fire has been a big win of an expansion so far for the majority of the active player base and reviewers, with some of the best new content and gameplay of any major update the game has ever released. Compared to the poorly received Heart of Thorns, Path of Fire has been the ‘golden child’ of the game’s life, and a huge factor in delivering this great experience has been the beautiful exploration available within the Crystal Desert.