Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns

1. OutOfPoint

   Oct 27, 2015

   10

   This expansion exceeds my expectations. The maps, gliding, story, music and amount of content are fantastic. Auric Basin is my favorite map soThis expansion exceeds my expectations. The maps, gliding, story, music and amount of content are fantastic. Auric Basin is my favorite map so far, and as a wvw player mostly, I haven't even touch on that, and pvp as well.
   
   Mastery points are account bound so for me it isn't a problem, gives me a purpose to keep playing and progress.
   
   Hero points which are character based and needed for unlocking elite specialization seem to be too much, but the latest update has them reducing the total points needed from 400 to 250.
   
   Overall, I'm having fun with HoT and can't wait to play it after work each day!… Expand

   • 8 of 17 users found this helpful
2. Dreddi1

   Oct 26, 2015

   10

   First of all let me say how amazingly stable this launch was. Hats off to Anet on that one.
   
   Just finished the story and I must say AnetFirst of all let me say how amazingly stable this launch was. Hats off to Anet on that one.
   
   Just finished the story and I must say Anet really outdid themselves this time. The zones are much more alive, events require you to participate instead of just tag-and-run and each map has its own unique meta event (Haven't done the Dragon's Stand zone yet but I've heard it's amazing). each map is filled with secrets, jumping puzzles, adventures, challenges, masteries etc.
   
   The dialogue between the player character and the npcs in both story and in the zones have gotten vocal which is amazing
   The story is also a major improvement from the original PS.
   
   The new masteries are also a welcome sight and makes your leveling meaningful again. Plus there are a lot of new ways to earn XP now so you'll have no trouble leveling them in the new zones.
   Not to mention all the new collections, achievements, skins, minis, the amazing glider and much much more. I really can't believe how good of an expansion this has been so far and I'm far far from done!… Expand

   • 27 of 58 users found this helpful
4. NathanRav

   Oct 25, 2015

   10

   This is an example of an expansion done right. A business model that is pleasing to the customers and provides the players with the type ofThis is an example of an expansion done right. A business model that is pleasing to the customers and provides the players with the type of content that we want. It would have been nice if it included build templates but they said that will come soon.… Expand

   • 91 of 181 users found this helpful
5. Mank

   Oct 28, 2015

   9

   Stable servers, no game breaking bugs but a few client crashes for me. Maps are fantastic, beautiful, chock full of content with lot's ofStable servers, no game breaking bugs but a few client crashes for me. Maps are fantastic, beautiful, chock full of content with lot's of variety and things to do. Mastery system really changes how you play, gliding is very fun, and there's a couple of little things gated behind masteries that give a good sense of progression when you come back to them. Solid experience overall.… Expand

   • 9 of 21 users found this helpful
6. Archon_Wing

   Oct 27, 2015

   7

   Guild Wars 2 was a fairly standout MMO, as I have never gotten into MMOs in the past.-- I've never been fond of excessive treadmills andGuild Wars 2 was a fairly standout MMO, as I have never gotten into MMOs in the past.-- I've never been fond of excessive treadmills and progression that would trivialize previous progress. The expansion keeps a lot of this, as in the past, most of the content is by and large, optional and most of one's previous progress is still left intact.
   
   The new zones introduced are visually stunning, accompanied by a story that is far superior and involving than the one found in the original. It may not be a literary masterpiece, but I see in-game stories as ways to get into the action, so it doesn't have to be. As always, Guild Wars 2's strongest strength is providing the atmosphere both in visual and auditory details that really makes brings forward the scope of the aftermath of events that have transpired. The zones aren't just larger-- they feel larger as well. In addition the enemies here are generally stronger than those found in the open world and also seem to have decent AI which is a nice contrast to the game pre-expansion. The new gliding mastery also drastically changes how movement works and is suited to the larger map size.
   
   Unfortunately, despite having the larger sense of scope, in terms of exploration, it feels oddly linear. This is because you must gather certain masteries in order to progress. The passageways tend to be rather narrow and meandering and going off the beaten path often just leads you into either certain death or realizing you need something else to progress. Oh, and whatever class you were using will get an elite specialization, but it will require you to do most of the content anyways, so don't count on it for help.
   
   But that's not the worst problem. The maps are so huge that you can go for a while without seeing a single person which was never a problem in the past. It can be mitigated with the "Looking for Group" tool, but I find it quite an annoyance especially when some of the hero points are intended for multiple players to do. Yea I understand this is an MMO. So it's not really good for the solo player if you were in the original game.
   
   Contrast this to the base game, where you could journey to any of the first 5 starter zones and explore the map in any number of ways. HoT exploration feels like it's on rails by contrast.
   
   But by any means, this is not a bad addition to Guild Wars 2. So why the low rating?
   
   Well, I primarily play World vs World and the new maps introduced are also interesting but are generally too large and complex when centered a mode where one expects to face players, not the environment as much. And much like the PvE maps, finding players, enemy or allied tends to be a issue. There are some interesting concepts at play here, such as structures being harder to attack and more interesting structure mechanics, but they seem a bit overtuned and meant for larger groups. Finally, there's the issue of World vs World progression being tied down the gated specialization mechanics-- World vs World can access them via a randomized item drop which is far more tedious than its pve counterpart. However, as of this writing, Arenanet has addressed some of these concerns and has lessened some of the requirements.
   
   In the end, I appreciate the designer's will to expand on concepts that already existed and also to cater to a more hardcore fanbase. However, it's very clear that a lot of these things are not suited for me, and the game seemingly lacking in polish in a number of places such as the rather unintuitive PvP Guild missions and other minor things like having daily achievements for content that no longer exists in addition to the empty feel that seems present in a lot of locations just makes me feel the game was rushed to some degree. Given that this is merely a first impression and I expect changes for the better in the future, this may mean HoT has the potential to be an excellent addition. In fact, since this initial writing, some steps were already being taken to addressed, so at the very least you have a company that's willing to listen to player. As for now though, I would say don't rush for it.… Expand

   • 13 of 17 users found this helpful
7. marc5477

   Feb 13, 2016

   3

   Grind GRing GRInd GRINd GRIND!!! Thats all this expansion is.
   
   I am a fan of GW2 despite its many flaws and was hoping for something new inGrind GRing GRInd GRINd GRIND!!! Thats all this expansion is.
   
   I am a fan of GW2 despite its many flaws and was hoping for something new in this expansion but alas, it was a let down. Not only is the content just more of the same (zerg this, zerg that) but they made it grindy as hell... they created new currency for each of the new zones that forces the player to grind the same cycle of quests more than a hundred times to get the items in each map. The quests are just like old world quests and just as boring when you have to repeat them.
   
   The one notable difference is the enemies are harder but not in a good way. They simply have more hit points and hit harder but they dont do anything interesting and for the most part, they do not require any strategy or anything like that to beat. Think Planes of Power in EQ (which is when that MMO fell apart as well). Its just the same enemies from the old game but hit harder and take longer to kill. The problem is that they are still trivially easy to beat so all this does is make the grind even worse. On top of all that, there is no reason to fight them... and that is the real killer. You dont get better loot for killing them because they didnt add any new loot to the game... just new skins for the same old same and thus, there is no point to any of it.
   
   The only cool new mechanic is the ability to glide from a fall... but its not as if you need this in the old world for anything. Other than that, no interest new items (just new looks/skins), no interest bosses (they are all just zerg fests like old bosses) and lastly, the story is clearly contrived and an afterthought and not nearly as good as the original game quest.
   
   I had to remember that this game is made by a Korean company and Koreans are known for their grindy MMO's like Lineage, which many western gamers (like myself) get bored of very quickly.
   
   There is no reason to own this expansion. Just play the original game and once you are bored move on. This brings nothing worthwhile to the table.… Expand

   • 11 of 13 users found this helpful
8. ShinGlacier

   Dec 1, 2017

   0

   The game has a lot of potential, but ANet doesn't care about the players, they are more interested in their money instead.
   
   The game evolvedThe game has a lot of potential, but ANet doesn't care about the players, they are more interested in their money instead.
   
   The game evolved since launch, that's true, but at quite a slow pace.
   
   The expansion stories were a lot shorter than the main one and a lot more convoluted.
   
   The new classes that were added with the expansions are a bit of a fresh air, but ANet doesn't know how to make them fit in the different aspects of the game (PVP, PVE, Raids).
   
   Spellbreaker from the last expansion doens't have a place in Raids, as an example. Scourge was so nerfed that it lost it's place in any raid for more than 3 months.
   
   ANet doesn't seem to test what they do and then it takes 2+ months for them to fix it.
   
   Classes are absurdly unbalanced in PVP, you can take an overpowered one and simply cheese you way to the top tiers.
   
   End game content (I include making new Legendary items, high level Fractals and Raid Wings in this category) are slow, very slow to come out. We had to wait 6 months for a new raid wing (had 4 before that), and ONE YEAR for 01 new fractal level. That is RIDICULOUS.
   The new legendary items are lackluster. As an example the new rifle and shield are simply garbage when compared to the previous ones. The medium legendary armor look absurdly crap, when compared with it's heavy and light counterparts.
   
   Now they decided and go heavy with the lootbox system. It was ALREADY present in the game, with Black Lion Chests, but now they decided to introduce Random Mounts for a price. When they are not random, which are 2 atm, they are extremely overpriced.
   
   Oh, and I forgot to mention that they slyly changed most of their servers to Amazon ones, giving most of their player base worse pings, while a minority ended up getting better pings, and they don't even acknowledge that.
   
   So yeah, that's it I guess. A game with potential, but huddled together with a greedy, lazy management.… Expand

   • 0 of 1 users found this helpful

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