So, Guild Wars 2.

Massive bosses straight out the gates

It's been a while since I last posted, but in my defence I have good reason for that... I blame work and the release of Guild Wars 2. I've had access to the game now for about a week and a half, if you count the problematic early access launch, which was OK.

My initial impression so far is that there's lots and lots to do, whether that be personal quest lines, PvE including public'esk quests and seemingly dynamic events, Scenario PvP and World vs World vs World PvP (WvW for short). If you're not doing any of that though there are hundreds of Vista's to find and figure out how to get to (think of a watered down Tomb Raider puzzle) and even more Points of Interest to gain credit for exploring, all in the goal of completing your exploration of the world map.

The Underwater element is pretty cool

Some of the issues that have been experienced so far include, but are not limited to:

• Being unable to log in
• Random crashes to desktop
• Blue Screens of Death
• A seemingly un-fixable Black Trading Post (Auction House to you and me)

For me these are minor issues that are sporadic and I did expect seeing as the game is fresh out the oven and you can do all the stress testing you want, but you can't account for that initial real-person traffic. Also in ArenaNet's defence they have been excellent at keeping everyone up to date on issues and the status of those issues, either via Twitter, Facebook or the Reddit forums - which goes a long way as players aren't so disgruntled if they know what the frigg is going on.... I'm looking at your Bioware you Warhammer Online: AoR butchers. 

My initial goal was to roll a single avatar and level that all the way to 80, that way I'd keep in touch with my guild-mates and I'd get a really good feel for my class.... However I should have known from my experiences in past MMO's I never, ever, ever stick to one slot on the character selection screen.

At this moment in time I have four characters and I'm enjoying them all in different ways:

1. Guardian - Seems adept at most things, they can heal pretty well, dish out good damage and get to wear heavy armour. What's not to like.
2. Necromancer - My original main and by no means a weak class, they can dish out plenty of damage, can AoE with their ground target spells and can last just as long in their alternate forms. Oh and they can spawn a mini-army of pets too.
3. Thief - These guys are a lot of fun in PvE, but I've found WvW particularly to be VERY range focused so I decided to go for something a little tougher and leave this guy for when I fancy a change.
4. Ranger - Dishes out loads of damage with either a Bow or Two-Hander and has more skills than you can shake a stick at to slow their foes and keep them at range. I've not spent too much time on this, but I will be in the future.

Grrr

At present my main is the Guardian, but I change my mind as ofter as I change my socks so don't put any money on me getting my GDN to 80 first or even ever :p.

To assist me in putting the gaming hours in I have convinced, well just shown the Fiance into playing too and she's enjoying it more than me. We have decided to not rush at all too and just take it at a nice pace taking everything in - which seems to work well as even at a low'ish level you can still be competitive in sPvP and WvW in this game.

Him and Her.

 
All in all I'm pretty happy with my purchase and I'm confident it will give me many hours of MMO enjoyment, whether than be in PvE or PvP or just trying to fathom how to climb a rock to find a Vista!

Ish