3 replies to this topic

[DarkWasp]

Project – Community beta review

With all of the betas behind us, only one major event remains. Release. However, we will not forget the memories we made while testing the game. At the end of a beta I usually poll my guild and type up a feedback report on our collective experience of that event. However, now that all of the beta weekends are done, I believe they deserve a review as a whole. Instead of just asking the guild, I want to open up the feedback to the rest of the community as well.

With your help I will be writing a community beta review. No, it will not include a number rating, grade or anything like that. However, it should provide plenty of insight into our beta experience. A useful resource for those who either missed the betas, or are still undecided on buying the game until they hear what people think of it so far. This way they do not need to spend a lot of time browsing through the forums to find our opinions.

Participation is simple. Just answer one or more of the questions below. Please elaborate on your answers. This is YOUR chance  to review the game without the need to spend a lot of time on editing and grammar. I do have to be able to understand it though.

Make sure you number your answers according to the questions or copy everything below into your post and replace the non-bold text with your response.

• If you attended more than one BWE, which was your favorite?
  Were there any outside factors contributing?
  
• How did you feel about the density of content?
  Number of events, number of armor skins, .etc
  
• What did you think of the cash shop and trading outpost?
  How useful was either to you?
  
• What did you think of the professions?
  Which ones did you like/dislike and why? Have you chosen a main?
  
• What did you think of each starting area?
  Which felt the most natural to progress in? Which had the coolest surprises?
  
• What did you think of the major cities?
  Do you have a favorite?
  
• What did you think of other areas in the betas?
  Level 15+ areas and Ascalon Catacombs.
  
• What was your favorite level range?
  Example: I found the game to get better after unlocking my first trait point.
  
• What are your thoughts on PvP?
  Also if you have any awesome PvP stories, feel free to share.
  
• What issues hindered you the most?
  Examples: NPC spawn rates, server lag and downtime, performance issues.
  
• How was the game’s difficulty?
  Did you find the crowded areas had an affect on difficulty?
  
• What do you want to see at launch?
  Examples: “I would like to see the game’s replayability keep me returning for years to come.”
  “I want to see more character creator options.”
  “I hope the game runs better on my PC.”
  “I want to see my friends finally buy the game.”
  “I just can’t wait to progress a character I get to keep.”
  
• Additional comments?

There is no set deadline on your feedback, but I am trying to get the article out with plenty of time to spare before the game comes out and the internet floods with official release reviews.

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Edited by DarkWasp, 28 July 2012 - 08:54 PM.

[Miku Flarestorm]

Hello there! Nice project

• If you attended more than one BWE, which was your favorite?
  I attended all 3 BWEs, all 3 were great. The first one because I finally got on the game, the second for bringing more fixes and for the first dungeon release. The last felt to be my favorite one, I could play the so awaited Sylvari, and could finally decide on the class to roll on release (won't mention more polishing of the game from the BWE2!). One outside factor was, my friends that didn't prepurchace GW2 could still play with my thanks to all those beta keys giveaways.
  
• How did you feel about the density of content?
  The PvE is so deep! You can log in and just run and doing stuff with no objective, this is for me what makes the density of the content. I was always surrounded by things to do, to discover, to look at. Various events, hearts, vistas here and there... For the look, graphics were awesome, even tho I could only run it on medium. A lot of details and love put in the world, something that I remember from the first Guild Wars.
  
• What did you think of the cash shop and trading outpost?
  Both are well designed, the idea of trading gems for money and vice versa makes it alot smoother and cuts off the pay2win feeling. Accessing the TP from anywhere is a great idea! Didn't use it at all durring my gametime however I felt in love with the "Send all collectibles" feature. Compared to traditional cash shops and brokers, this is a huge step forward.
  
• What did you think of the professions?
  I liked all that I tried, some more than others (tried all except guardian and ranger). They felt so unique! The game let me customize every bit of the class, so i could run what I liked, and being good at it. From an Engineer's main PoV, professions were almost balanced, yet some still need small tweaks (Engineers, Mesmers, Warriors, Thiefs).
  
• What did you think of each starting area?
  The most natural was human's zone, I guess because we are humans after all, the story-line was "natural". The coolest was the asuran zone: golems, gadgets, labs, crewes... so many cool-looking stuff! Had much fun going through their starting zone, the Hearts were all quiet unique, participating in some experiments was a great laugh (especially the Skritt's intelligence research!). Maybe that doesn't count as a starting area, but I wasn't impressed by Sylvari's tutorial, it felt too straightforward and close, I didn't have the space to "breath" unlike in  others tutorials where a whole map was open for exploration.
  
• What did you think of the major cities?
  Major cities are as unique as the races, they reflect them so well. Those built on levels are really interesting (The Groove and Rata Sum). But all of them are great! They're huge and "living" unlike in most MMOs where you have a place with NPCs and then invisible walls all around. The various dialogues are also good to hear, they too give life to each capital. My favorite I guess is the Black Citadel, gears, chains, firearms, and metal streets, charrs are so badass *____*.
  
• What did you think of other areas in the betas?
  I didn't experience any changes from starter zone to the next one beside the fact that the "problems" of the higher areas were way wider than those in the starting ones. You get from "Save us from bandits" to "Stop the centaur siege on our castle". The dungeon was hard. Enough to make you think twice before going rambo. I still menaged to finish it once before the beta ended. It was a great experience, a dungeon like never before with it's puzzles, hard mobs and strategies. There I however realized that "combos" are too random and mostly unnoticed. But it was fixed with the UI icons poping out saying what combo you created afterwards (Stress test2?).
  
• What was your favorite level range?
  I had fun on any level, on any map, was it PvE of WvW. In a game like GW2 where endgame is the whole game, I didn't feel like on "that" level, I had more fun. But I guess once you have your main set and all skills unlocked, you really start to play the game. So I bet anything after "unlocking all your skills" is my favorite level range.
  
• What are your thoughts on PvP?
  Easy to learn, easy to get in, getting more and more balanced, minimal RNG, no gear vs gear. One thought: it's awesome. Hopping for a successful e-sport!
  
• What issues hindered you the most?
  My PC is crappy, but this has nothing to do with the game. Random crashes and lag in WvWvW is what hindered me the most. The sPvP matchmaker going down from time to time too.
  
• How was the game’s difficulty?
  Solo gameplay is quiet easy, heard a 9 years old boy was doing well with his warrior in pve (*note to self, warriors are indeed OP!*). For events, more people there were, harder it was. I remember we killed the Behemot from the Human' zone with 6 people, then we killed it with 40. It took in both cases around same time. The main challenge is in the dungeons, but it obviously should be that way. Overall, difficulty is well dispatched where it should be.
  
• What do you want to see at launch?
  Me playing on my new PC, with all my guildies.

Finally done! Speeded up at the end, going to sleep!

[DarkWasp]

Miku Flarestorm, on 28 July 2012 - 09:52 PM, said:

Hello there! Nice project
-snip-

Thanks for all of the input Miku.

I definitely agree with that last part. Getting all of the guildies together would be nice. I've had a handful of friends and guildies who couldn't make it to a beta, ended up on a different, or forgot to contact me. It was kind of a hectic spread out mess during the beta weekends, but I hope to see all of them get that stuff sorted out when the game releases.

[DarkWasp]

Update:

I'm trying to get this done before Sunday. I have five separate reviews so far, but I'm hoping we can make it into the double digits so the article better represents the community.

Remember you don't have to answer all of the questions, and none of the answers have to be long.