Just a few things that have been on my mind since I started playing on the live servers.
Save up for that 3pt Healing Skill
The default one is fine, but man alive, the 3 point one will kick it’s ass and make your life so much easier during early levelling. I am playing a Norn warrior, and the 3pt healing skill is a regen passive with a flat rate heal. The default scales with your adrenaline.
Buy gathering tools immediately
Not only is it an easy way to make money, once the Trading Post works, but it’s necessary for any of your eventual trade skills. This is probably obvious to most veteran MMO players, but worth remembering if you’re a disorganised person like me.
Be wary of levelling your trade skills immediately
Don’t do what I did and blow a wad of silver (which is in tight supply to begin with) on trade skill items. You’re basically paying to level (and the buff food is lovely, but it does only last for 15 minutes.) If you’re going to do it, set a budget!
The Digital Deluxe Edition was not worth it
So I got some cool stuff, but I didn’t read the fine print while I was in the throes of saving my characters name and have in the process lost a lot of the ‘one off’ buffs available. Why? I’m rather used to Rift and other games, where you get the ‘buff’ items on all your characters whenever you create them. Hmm.
I’m really enjoying this ‘do anything’ thing.
Like, one minute I’m protecting a lady chasing a Jackalope, the next I’m a Snow Leopard. And then I might wander off and throw some snowballs at kids and it all COUNTS. Helping to ressurect someone during battle nets you experience. Going back to an earlier area and helping with events nets you karma, copper, and experience. And then there are vistas, and skill challenges, and points of interest! If you talk to NPCs you get to work on your character traits too!
I’m alone
There has been a thread of conversation in the blogosphere lately about individualist vs collectivist. Guild Wars 2 is at it’s heart individualist – but this often what a lot of MMO designers say they want. They want the player to be the hero. You can only do that if the experience for the player is as smooth and ‘you centric’ as you can make it.
While I think the omission of a /thank emote is a glaring oversight (as pointed out by Siha) I have noticed that I am more willing to throw myself into a fight involving others. Early on it was a big free for all, and very confusing, but as I mastered my skills and figured out how things worked without the triad, I found myself grouping up wordlessly and working well with strangers.
This fella wants bunny food. You can carry the food and get knocked over by bunnies, or you can scare bunnies away from someone carrying food. You can help. You both get credit. Someone has bitten off more than they can chew and is now a jam stain on the road. I see their ‘dead player icon’ and run across the map to help. Most of the time. As our understandings of conditions improve, we find ourselves paying more attention to positioning.
It all adds up.
Am I still alone? No, I’m in a world filled with thousands of players. Just because I’m not talking, it doesn’t mean I’m not playing with anyone.
Siha also pointed out that you can’t help anyone complete quests in the same way that you can in WoW (group kills and the like) and this is true, but I think it might just be a different way of defining ‘helping’ and ‘working together’ in MMOs.
