Guild Wars at Max Level

I have been at max level on my warrior for a couple weeks and have been trying to settle in and get involved in more things before I formed an opinion.  I'm still "settling in" and haven't really found all that much to be super excited about.  I saved all my karma from level 1 and bought myself 3 pieces of exotic gear from an event.  That's just about the best I'll ever see in those 3 slots.  I have my eye on a helmet that costs 20 gold... so I'm saving towards that.  I found a great sword with max stats already, but I don't have "best in slot" weapons of other types.  I'll be hunting for this piece or that piece for a while, but I can see a road that leads to the best stuff in the game and it's not very far from where I am.

So... what do you work towards?

The answer that I've been getting from people is to get different gear sets with different stats to use at different times.  Basically, build a pvp set, a tanky set, a burst dps set, a condition damage set, etc.  That's one road.  Another is to work on legendary weapons which take a lot of gold and time.  They don't have better stats than the stuff I have already (but ArenaNet is working on changing that) so there's no reason to rush to get a legendary unless you just want it for looks. 

Then there's WvWvW.  This is a game mode similar to Planetside 2 where you are fighting for control of structures and areas around the map.  In theory, this is a great place to enjoy all the hard work you've put in on your character, but I haven't found it to be as much fun as I had hoped.  So far, I've only been on a few times where I could put in more than a half hour before going back to clearing maps.  It's very dependent on having "commanders" on the map who can herd people together and make use of the the population.  Commanders are marked with an icon on the map for everyone in a large radius.  This allows for people like me who come straggling into the fight to have an idea of where the fight actualy is. 

So, now we're at the fight, but what can I do as a melee class without any decent escapes or deception skills?  Well... I can sit back and shoot my bow at people... or run in and get obliterated.  Those are my only options thus far in WvWvW.  When you start seeing fights with over a hundred people on each side there is simply no quarter for someone at the point of contact.  There are endless red circles everywhere that all mean damage, but will also confuse, disable, and DoT you to pieces.  I can pick off a straggler here and there, but the fighting is for the ranged classes.  I'm still not good enough at PvP to know how to take down another class 1v1 and in WvWvW... also, you use your regular PvE gear, so it's almost impossible to know if you'll be evenly matched 1v1.  On top of THAT, there's the fact that fighting vs a great sword wielding warrior could be the easiest possible fight.  I haven't quite figured out hammers and don't like giving away the few hits I get from bows, so it's bow/great sword for me... right to the grave unless my side has a numbers advantage. 

So, I feel helpless in WvWvW.  Firstly, because I don't know what I'm doing well enough to direct groups of people to things we could actually accomplish (like I would in Planetside 2).  Secondly, because my class is ill equiped for this type of combat.  That means I'm at the mercy of the commanders who are on at the time 100%.  If people aren't motivated and working towards goals then I'm back out in PvE.

Next, there's sPvP.  This mode is hilarous because it puts you at max level with PvP specific gear, so even if you are level 1 you are on exactly even footing with everyone else.  If this was what you wanted to do in Guild Wars 2 then there's no reason to ever level at all.  I find it fun, but it feels somewhat... odd?  Why level at all if this is "end game?"  I find that I enjoy sPvP more as a ranger than a warrior, so I've been taking my mid 20s ranger in place of my max level warrior. 

sPvP is actually a lot of fun, but it's hard to consider it the "end game" of Guild Wars 2.  It's more of a "side game" seeing as you progress independently from your PvE play.  Still worth doing... but if it doesn't matter if you've ever played your champion... how could it be "end game"?

World dragons are fun, but they aren't raid bosses.  They are fun experiences with decent loot, but they are no substitute for a true raid.  I don't know that I'd ever be able to raid like I used to on EverQuest again, but the lack of a similar experience here leaves level 80 life feeling a bit more empty.  Then again, I don't really know how raiding works without tank/healer/dps.  I would imagine it could be quite fun if ArenaNet figured it out, but I'm not sure raiding is what they want us to do.

The Six Sided Ring of Fire (the guild) has not qualified for any guild events/challenges yet, but we're working towards it (slowly... our low numbers mean we earn influence slowly).  These should be fun for us to do together very soon, but I have no experience with them yet, so I can't really speak to their quality.  I know I'm really looking forard to leveling up the guild (as it's the first guild I've ever created), but I don't know how far we'll be able to go until our numbers go up.


So... what do are you to do at level 80?

There is a message here.  It's just hard to see because everything you've done up to playing Guild Wars has left a haze of personal experience covering your eyes.  You are supposed to enjoy the game play for what it is.  That's it.  ArenaNet has given you a game that's fun to play early with very little "grind" to to keep you occupied.  There are fun events to take part in all over the world... in just about every corner of every map there's something challenging to do.   Even the level adjustment based on zone should have lit this bulb over my head.  ArenaNet wants you to see everything, do everything, miss a lot, go back to see it again, see new things when you pass from zone to zone, play with your friends, and enjoy your time in game.  It's not about the gear, the grind, or any of the other time sinks that other games have put in.  You are here to enjoy how you interact with the world regardless of gear, level, etc.

It's so simple it's crazy... just play to have fun.  No subscription fee, no real benefit to grinding out hours and hours on one character... just a well designed game that's fun and easy to play with your friends.