Sunday 18 August 2013

Schrödinger's undead dragon in @GuildWars2

I haven't played GW2 since I spent an hour trying to kill Frizz with a PUG during Sky Pirates.  I had been really quite enjoying the Living Story until then.

The main reason I liked the Living Story was because I could take it all at a decent pace that was compatible with the amount of play time that I get.  Then the two week schedule comes in and suddenly if I can't log-on for the first week I'm out in the cold with the PUGs because everyone else has done it already.  Oh, and there is no group finder.

As the Living Story was the main reason I was logging in, as soon as I got behind I gave up.  Admittedly I haven't finished my personal story but that's because, well, who the fuck is Zhaitan? You never see him in the actual game because he's Schrödinger's cat, right? He's defeated/not defeated at the same time.  The only time he definitively one or other is when you're in a Personal Story instance.  It's stupid.

Also, the thing I liked most about GW2 was that it wasn't a gear treadmill.  When you have subs you can use a gear treadmill to keep people subscribing.  Anet's solution to player retention is an Achievement treadmill with a tacked on story and gem store merchandising.  It's genius.

Sadly, I don't care about achievements, weapon skins, cosmetic gear or minis.  But then, I thought I was playing an RPG?  Aren't they supposed to be about story and character development?