Since its release in August 2012, Guild Wars 2 has seen many developments. Our colleagues from Gamestar have taken a closer look at the MMORPG and its evolution.
What can you learn from the video? In just under 16 minutes, you’ll learn everything important about Guild Wars 2 and its development over the past years. It starts by discussing the general content of the MMORPG, covering classes, races, and the content at launch.
Subsequently, everything revolves around the expansions of the game. The various seasons of the Living World, as well as the expansions, are highlighted:
- The first season of the Living World was only playable for two weeks before the content was removed. This made the game feel alive, but returning players and newcomers missed out on the content.
- With Living World Season 2, permanent content and the first new areas were introduced to the game in 2014.
- The expansion Heart of Thorns brought the first raids to the game in 2015, leading the community in Guild Wars 2 to more coordination and group play.
- The second expansion Path of Fire introduced mounts in 2017.
At the end of the video, the question of where Guild Wars 2 stands today and whether it is worth taking a look at the MMORPG is addressed.
Guild Wars 2 – Is it worth it in 2019?
What does GW2 offer to newcomers? Currently, Guild Wars 2 offers you for PvE:
- 9 different classes
- 5 playable races
- 58 story chapters, each with at least 3 missions
- 8 completely different mounts
- 7 raids
- 20 different fractals with 100 difficulty levels
- 8 dungeons with 4 to 5 paths each
- and a huge number of areas in the open world
Additionally, there is Arena PvP with regular seasons and automated 5v5 tournaments, as well as World vs World, where battles take place for towers and fortresses on a large map.
Anyone starting in the MMORPG now has a lot of content to complete in the open world and in instances. Guild Wars 2 is also Buy2Play and only one expansion is needed to access nearly all content of the game.
Where does GW2 struggle? While newcomers can look forward to a huge amount of content, veterans of the game are currently dissatisfied. There are several reasons for this:
- The competitive content like PvP or World vs World is currently lacking.
- Although regular updates are released for PvE, they are not as substantial as hoped. Moreover, raid instances are released only every 9 months. Hardcore players are not currently being catered to.
- There are problems in communication between the developers and players.
- In February, there was a wave of layoffs that left some players uncertain about the future.
However, there are also positive signs from the developers toward the community. For instance, Guild Wars 2 wants to bring something exciting for players every month, including events and festivals. The new story episodes are also expected to arrive faster than before.
What is currently happening in Guild Wars 2? In September, the latest story episode “Bound by Blood” was released, which introduces the new season of the Living World. A larger balance patch was also released in early October.
Currently, the Halloween event in the MMORPG is ongoing, which invites players to farm gold with spooky activities. On October 29, the build templates will be released, a feature that players have long wished for.
Many players suspect the release of the next story chapter in November, followed by the return of the Wintersday event in December.
Guild Wars 2 – The perfect second MMO
Why is GW2 the perfect second MMO? Guild Wars 2 has no monthly fees. Once purchased, you can revisit anytime. There is also no item treadmill, so old gear never goes out of style, saving you unnecessary grind.
Additionally, it is worth logging in regularly. Every 2 to 3 months, a new story episode is released. If you log in before the next chapter’s release, you unlock it for free and can play it anytime.
So, if you’re looking for something to do during a content drought in your own game, you should give GW2 a chance. Alternatively, Guild Wars 2 can of course also be played as a main MMO.
Note: The author of this article also contributed to the Gamestar video.
