Day One

How to  begin? I've read a number of posts talking about the impeding release date of GW2. They have reminisced about their experiences of GW1, the years of waiting when their was either feast or famine of information, or their plans of what they will do in the new game. I've enjoyed reading every one of those posts. They offer an insight into the thoughts and feelings of their respective authors. I'm one of those people who enjoys observing others. Not to judge, just to learn, to see, to understand a little more. However these posts started a thought in me. Why do I want to play? I'm almost 40, I have 8 children, I'm in the military and I'm amazingly busy. I'm not your typical gamer, well maybe now a days I am, but why, with all that is one my plate, would I want to play?



My new Asuran Mesmer, Zinjin.  The graphics rock!

I can't say I was a huge GW1 player. To be honest, I never got a single toon to 20. I played it when I had some spare time, it was a side game. In addition, all my friends were playing WoW so I was there with them during WotLK. WoW eventually soured on me-too much Skinner box for my tastes. The same happened to my friends and so we just played nothing. Then in 2010/2011, news of Guild Wars 2 reached my ears but it wasn't until I watched the "manifesto" that my interest really perked. I sent the video to my friends and we all started to get excited. GW2 promised to remove a large chunk of what soured WoW for us. We eventually pre purchased the game so we could get beta access and we've been blown away since then.

To be honest, we have not been to concerned about crafting, skills, who is OP or not, or even loot. We were having a blast and enjoying ourselves. GW2 will now be our "bowling night" activity if you will. This is important to me, to us. My buds and I talk about all sorts of this while playing. Our jobs, families, idiots, sports, or we just do something crazy and enjoy the moment. For example, we use to play devilsaur aggro tag in Ungoro crater and see who could survive longest; we'd easily spend an hour just laughing at how crazy we were being. It was great though because it was a stress outlet, and we all need one. This is why I'm looking forward to playing GW2. It's a moment to put yourself into a story, an adventure. You can be as brave or as cowardly as you want. You can be the king or the pauper. You can be with friends who are geographically separated or you can be alone. Steve put is best, "You can be anything that you wanna be."



The forge in Smokestead.  More art than machine.

So, today at 12:50 am central time I logged in with no problems at all. I made four quick characters to save my names and turned the game off. As I talked about in a previous post, my laptop broke and I've had to use the family computer. That computer is not a power house. It strains when the kids play Lego Star Wars so GW2 could possibly kill it. I will pick up my new rig today and after I have it all assembled and ready, then I will rip into GW2 in all it's visual glory. I'm not paying a subscription so my money is not going unused. To be honest, I've been able to play so much in betas and stress tests I feel my money was already well spent. I want to enjoy this game, not just play it, but enjoy it.


Update:  Got my new rig and HOLY COW!!!  GW2 is gorgeous!  I have all the setting maxed out and I still can't get over it.  I spent more time looking at water, floating particles, trees, and spell effects.  It is wonderful to just takeina game and pace it the way I want to.

Excellent job ANet.  Excellent job.

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