User:Vipermagi
[edit] Thoughts
BUILD WARS 2, or the lack thereof.
One thing I saw with fair frequency on the beta forums was talk about the lack of options, and I agree. Sure, you get two weapon sets to switch between in any given battle, and your skillbar is larger in the first place... But you only get like 20 utility skills ever, you keep the same five Greatsword skills throughout the entire game. Your shield skills never change. Nothing changes. You unlock your weapon skills before hitting level 10, and you've essentially unlocked your entire build already, and unless you pick up an entirely different weapon, you don't get to change it. You unlock utilities that kinda supplement the build that is dictated by the game. Your Guardian picked a sword? You don't get a cripple, ever. No Hamstorm for you.
You unlock an all-purpose Elite skill at some point, which you then just kinda use some time. Odds are, it doesn't really synergise with your chosen weapon, exactly because they're made to be fairly all-purpose. Why it exists in the first place? Because they're a key element to Build Wars, and removing Elite skills from a Guild Wars game is heresy.
Guild Wars 1 PvE kept me busy for years because I'm a total deckbuilder. My Warrior has an axe, and with that axe I get mutliple builds; Battle Rage, Triple Chop, Whirling Axe, Soldier's Stance. Then I have a sword; Hundred Blades, Cripshower, more Battle Rage, DSlash, Starburst. On top of that, I have yet more weapons; hammer, bow, spear, daggers, wand (Contagion bombing), scythe. All of those have builds associated with them as well, all built around one Elite skill or another. I have taken inspiration from others for some of those builds, I have built a lot of my own. On just that one Warrior. My Elementalist has more builds, and then there's the fact that I haven't througouhly played, for example, Mesmers or Dervishes. The sheer variety is mind-boggling.
In Guild Wars 2, what's going to feed that desire? Nothing. There is no build wars.
GW2 is an entirely different beast, and definitely one I'm looking forward to. If I'm going to spend over 5500 hours (almost 230 entire days) on this one as well?
I don't think the Persistent MMO iteration of Guild Wars is going to have the same longevity, strangely.
Random stuff.
