For roughly two decades I’ve tried getting into MMORPG’s, but of the ones I’ve tried, they’ve never grabbed me for long. One of the main issues I’ve found when trying to get into MMO’s is that I wasn’t there at the beginning, and everyone already knows everything. I always feel like I wanted to be part of that initial discovery where everyone else was in a similar position to me. When I’ve tried to play with friends it has been, at times, overwhelming due to them already knowing everything there is to know and trying to keep up. Asking strangers for help or tagging along in a dungeon for the first time after people have run it hundreds of times has made me feel a burden – not that anyone has been negative towards me, that’s more my perception.
New World Ignited Something
Then New World came along I thought that this would be the one for me. I was there from the start; everyone was in the same boat as me. It was all fresh, brand new, and exciting. And for a while it was great. However, 2 and a half years on and some 300+ hours later I feel like New World has shown me everything. Furthermore, the future of the game doesn’t look brilliant. That being said, I’m not writing it off, but I think it’s time to let it sit for a while.
What I will say, however, is that New World got me into the swing of MMO’s, the pacing, the style of gameplay, and the grind. I enjoyed it for a long time. Whether I was doing solo stuff, dungeons, PVP, or just some leveling of trade skills. I found that I could casually play it and just chill out.
Guild Wars 2 Electric Boogaloo
That being said, it was time to look elsewhere. Time to look for something that will scratch that itch of casual questing in a huge world whilst thousands of others go about their business around you. And also offering some kind of end game to work towards and play through. Not only that but also a game that felt like it wasn’t clinging to life. As I already had a Guild Wars 2 account, I figured I’d start there.
Twice I’ve tried playing Guild Wars 2 and twice it has eluded me. For whatever reason I couldn’t quite get into it. Partly this is due to the aforementioned things. However, I also think my gaming tastes have changed dramatically over the last few years. I’m in the market for something that you can drop in and out of easily. Something that doesn’t need to be taxing all the time. I want to be able to log on do some quests, maybe gather some materials, do a bit of crafting here and there then log off. Whilst also being able to have longer sessions where I do dungeons and other group activities that challenge me a bit more.
I think it Finally Twigged
This time around I finally think it has twigged. I’ve hit max level, all but wrapped up the main (first part of the) story and I’m having a blast. I’ve been taking my time getting to know the game properly this time around. Previously I felt like I was trying to rush through and get to the ‘cool’ stuff. I didn’t pay attention to the mechanics or systems in the game, or the story.
This time around, I’m taking it slower and enjoying the story and the leveling process. Additionally, I’m enjoying exploring the world so much. Sometimes I will go for a ride on my raptor across the lands to see what some of the other areas look like. When the first dungeon became available at level 30, I made the trip on foot to where it was. I trekked through the snow-covered Shiverpeak mountains to get there and loved all the sights I came across. My screenshot folder is building up quite nicely now!
I have asked myself what has changed, and I think it is mostly down to what I said earlier. My gaming tastes have just changed. A couple of years back my main game was Escape from Tarkov. I have about 1500 hours in it I think. But I’ve not played it in about probably 2 years. I guess I’m becoming an older gamer or dad gamer as some people call it – although without the dad bit.
PVP
Since hitting max level I’ve been playing a fair bit of World vs World. I’ll be honest I don’t always know exactly what is going on. But some of the fights I’ve been a part of have been fantastic. When New World added the Influence Races – PVP events at certain times of the day where you could fight against another faction for territories. I was having a blast playing them.
The main issue was that they only happened at 7pm and 8pm if I remember rightly. So if you weren’t playing then you wouldn’t get to participate. It would have been good to see them do a few other times now and then. Anyway, they were really fun. But a little shallow as really they only impacted the massive player factions who battled for territories. Yes, you could take part, but there wasn’t much depth to it outside of getting a bit of loot. It was still good fun to play and showed that glimpse of New World having the potential to do really cool stuff. But I don’t really understand what’s going on with the development as they keep stagnating.
The Future
That’s another reason why I’ve enjoyed Guild Wars 2 and moved away from New World. Because I know there is more to come from the game. As well as the multiple expansion and Living World content that I’m still yet to even look at. New World has an uncertain future and no one seems to know what 2024 has in store for it. Hopefully, it will sort itself out because there is potential for a great game. We shall see. Additionally, I feel like I’m more set up to play a more traditional MMO now rather than the action MMO of New World. So maybe I’ll even give World of Warcraft another go someday… For now, I’m happily getting stuck into Guild Wars 2.
