586 replies to this topic

[Larsen]

DuskWolf puts it very accurately, but there's two more variables that warrant mention.

First off, some people really are so uncritical and have such low standards for games that they can genuinely enjoy an awful game. It's the same reason people will go and watch Friedberg & Seltzer movies despite the well-established fact that their movies are among the worst serious productions ever to be made. Some just don't care, their preferences are uniquely suited to what even a terrible product offers. To them, GW2 isn't so bad at all. Others might just have no metric for comparison, or it might be their first MMORPG -- games of this genre have a tendency to amaze any virgin MMORPGer, no matter how bad it is, which is why a lot of people have a rooted fondness for Runscape. It was the first one they ever played.

Secondly, there's a subset of players who crave an MMORPG where they can be among the "best" without actually putting in any real effort or exhibiting any noteworthy skill. They're the people who just weren't good enough at EQ/WoW to raid, weren't sociable enough for any ambitious guild to tolerate them, or have very little time to play but still demand the ability to feel like they're at the top. To people like this, GW1 and GW2 offer a unique opportunity to have a maxed out character without the need to actually be particularly good at anything or likeable enough for a guild to put up with them. It's in their interest to keep the game from dying, because to many of these individuals, the whole appeal is to be able to look like a succesful player to others and that doesn't work if nobody cares about the game. These are the people who will aggressively defend the game, blaming other players for its failure or actively insulting anyone who doesn't like it.

[Evans]

Well I'll rather be blissful ignorant than condescending disgruntled.

[Linfang]

The game is too easy for high levels. The only time I found it challenging with the final karka event. There is too much of a take for granted attitude when fighting level 80 dynamic events, and Dragons. Peoples minds are on the chest in the end, and not fighting the boss who could actually kill them or wipe the entire group. I even seen players casually talk and joke during an event, basically letting the 1 key auto attack do the work.

I want to see a dynamic boss who wiped 20 people then who have to call in reinforcements and have friends and guildies drop what they are doing and come to this zone and kill this boss. And in the end the reward would be generous.

[Mouse1981]

One word: Planetside 2. Well, one word and one number.

And besides, GW2 totally sucks. It had potential, but apparently ANet did only 30% of the work that needed to be done. Some very bad calls on their behalf from the very start. A boring, shallow game. What else was to be expected?

[Evans]

Lovely of you to share your opinion.
Do you get paid per customer you reel in perhaps? I sure hope so.

[Fenice_86]

After the latest patch i found totally disappointed playing my ele, the idea to rise up another char makes me tired even before beginning it therefore i just went back to other games i was playing before gw2, waiting for a better skill update.

[Xavier]

Naginto, on 25 November 2012 - 03:26 PM, said:

Also the reason the trinity was removed was too hasten group formation and increase the fun number of successful group compositions. No more waiting for an hour screaming, LF1M NEED A TANK for CoF!!!!

And yet they go right ahead with FoTM. Getting a group for anything but that, has become quite a challenge. Over night, the game world became so small it's almost scary. I've never seen this happen in any mmo before. And this is only 3 small months into its lifespan. This is one for the history books. I think they would have had a better shot at introducing the holy trinity again, and just say "sorry guys, we lied".

[blindude]

Babylon, on 29 November 2012 - 10:29 AM, said:

My guild is the same. We started with 20+ people playing all the time and not one of them has been online for about a month now. So to anyone who says that threads like this are nonsense - it's a pretty big coincidence that so many guilds are experiencing the same thing isn't it? You can nay-say all you like but the fact is people are steadily dropping out of a game that just a few months ago was the best thing since sliced WoW.

I myself haven't played properly since before Halloween; I just got bored and I never even got past level 25. It's difficult to tell exactly what went wrong for me seeing as I haven't been affected by any of ANet's changes that they promised they wouldn't do but it's like the game's missing something.

Long-ass explanation:

Spoiler

I loved Aion and Rift (I only played them for the first 25 levels too btw so don't judge): they just had a charm that other MMOs didn't.

For Rift it was that you could have dozens of possible class combinations (I played a rogue that could throw magical knives, which was pure awesome) and the 'rifts' that appeared every so often. They're basically the same as dynamic events but although they're basically all the same they just feel five times as epic (dimensional rifts with tentacles coming out = win). And then there's the fact that the world ends right at the start of the game and you're sent back in time to fix it so there's something you don't see often in MMOs.

For Aion there was the visual appeal - although GW2's graphics are newer and better and the game looks amazing, Aion's visuals are far more attractive - it has shining forests and fantastic-looking cities as well as spell animations that made me want to spam them even out of combat.

Both Aion and Rift have better character styles (in my opinion and apart from the freaks that some people made), I don't know why, maybe it's the make-up and the crazy hair colours. I know it's a minor thing but it adds to the overall experience for me.
And most importantly both games do things a little differently from most other MMORPGs. For one thing they make out like the player is some all-important 'chosen one,' and I know GW2 gives you praise for being the Hero of Shaemoor or whatever but in RIft you're a friggin time traveler! And Aion in particular takes it very seriously - the player is basically a demigod.

Part of the reason I'm getting bored of GW2 is that it's all so... tame. It's so basic and unoriginal (sorry ArenaNet, no offence), I mean, the humans are fighting centaurs for Pete's sake! By that point in Rift I'd been resurrected Frankenstein-style, beaten back my undead friends and had a rumble with a dragon while trying to get to my TARDIS. In Aion I'd ascended to godliness and gotten a set of wings!

So in summary I still want to love GW2 but it's a plain, uninteresting RPG stereotype with a sad lack of particle effects.

inb4 I'm a nitpicky whiner.

Rift is good but Aion was the biggest shit i have ever played and actually even comparing it to gw2 is a blasphemy.
Huge gear grind ,traditional mmo combat mechanics that were even worse than wow bad balance,favor of ranged characters in abyss,zergy pvp with no substance ,boring instances and pretty graphics though world design wasnt anything particular interesting.
Omg only remembering the whole levelling process and the pain i got myself go through playing makes me sick..
But then again you ony got to 25 and probably dont seem like the guy that cares aboout good combat,fair pvp and gameplay but only for flashy effects wich aion i admitt had a lot..
No offence but i dont think you ll find many that will take you serious for this post.(Those that liked your post like every negative one in this forum..its their job stick around for a while and you ll see)
btw you cant spam aions combat animations out of combat..That little super awsome fireball is just a damage number waiting to be decreased by the emnemy's health pool after x sec.Its not like gw2 where it can get intersected or avoided or dodged or los during flight..but you dont care about those stuff, do you?

Edited by blindude, 30 November 2012 - 04:41 PM.

[curiousfluke]

I basically quit playing (except for events/holidays) because I hate all the Orr zones and was failing at making money (tried farming ore, but I really do hate those densely-packed zones so much I won't even go there anymore.) I don't want to sit there and grind the same events over and over again to make the money I need to buy things. I don't have time to play for hours and hours and it just isn't fun. I like to wander and explore and honestly most of my money has come from selling the stuff you get from map completion

I did run dungeons, but people get so angry so fast about every little thing and usually groups would fall apart due to lack of communication and coordination. I still haven't done half of the dungeons available at release because I could never find story-mode groups - I made it a point that I had to do the story-modes in order.

[Mustache Mayhem]

yeah the peeps I play with have quit.. one lives in alaska and the others here in cali- they are playing other games too.. not like they quit gaming altogether..

I just been busy- but with noone playing what's the point in making time.. I went into southsun cove and found a rich ori vein- but then thought to myself.. who cares? lol

[soxx]

blindude, on 30 November 2012 - 04:40 PM, said:

Rift is good but Aion was the biggest shit i have ever played and actually even comparing it to gw2 is a blasphemy.

No offence but i dont think you ll find many that will take you serious for this post.

Some of the flaws you listed for Aion I would also accredit to GW2.  How's that for blasphemy?  Opinions vary, especially when it comes to MMOs - get used to it.

-----------

On topic - For the past few days, I have basically logged in, done my daily for the karma jug/mystic coin, logged out.  I haven't seen other guild members on in over a week, unless they're logging on at a different time than they did the past few months.  Lion's Arch chat is nearly always rolling with FOTM and explorable mode dungeon parties, so I would assume most people that are playing are hiding away in instances?  I'm going to make it a point to do story modes (along with my personal story) this weekend, so if anyone wants in PM me please.

[sevalaricgirl]

Nox_Aeterna, on 24 November 2012 - 04:47 PM, said:

So nop , people that came hoping Anet would keep their promises like me are also on the quitting stage now.

That's not what was said.  What was said is that the people who ARE staying knew what they were getting themselves into and are staying and frankly I see no gear grind.  I play the game because I enjoy it.  If people want legendary which are totally ugly then they have to work to get them.  Others of us who don't want nor care about legendary are not grinding, we're playing the game.  Same with Ascended armor, you don't need it so why is it a grind.  Don't need it, don't want it, not grinding for it.

[Nox_Aeterna]

sevalaricgirl, on 30 November 2012 - 05:28 PM, said:

That's not what was said.  What was said is that the people who ARE staying knew what they were getting themselves into and are staying and frankly I see no gear grind.  I play the game because I enjoy it.  If people want legendary which are totally ugly then they have to work to get them.  Others of us who don't want nor care about legendary are not grinding, we're playing the game.  Same with Ascended armor, you don't need it so why is it a grind.  Don't need it, don't want it, not grinding for it.

Well i suppose people that did not know much about what Anet said before the game was out would say that.

Fact is , Anet said there would be NO gear grind for MAX stats gear, ONLY for looks. Which was the case for legendary and exos if you remember. (while true Anet will ALSO change that , awesome right?)

So since ascension gear is the new MAX stats gear and it REQUIRES gear grind , to many players there is a problem.

If you think there is no need for max stats gear thats is perfectly fine. BUT dont say people did not know what they were getting into and because of that they are quitting.

Cause it is the opposite , you did NOT know , and by luck is still happy with the system.

People that researched more and were hoping Anet would keep their promises are in many cases now really really pissed.

[Babylon]

blindude, on 30 November 2012 - 04:40 PM, said:

but you dont care about those stuff, do you?

Did I say something to offend you? Aion's shininess was but one of my points, good sir, but yes, although GW2 looks great I personally would prefer it if the god-like graphics engine were used more fully, i.e. with over-the-top flashiness.

Anyway, I thought I'd mentioned this but I guess I forgot; I still think GW2 is good. I've just become disinterested. All the things you said are correct -  the gameplay is far superior to Aion, for example, but that alone won't keep everyone playing forever as they did with WoW. GW2 is lacking in quirks that these other games have, such as demigod players, time travel, and dozens of unique class builds that can even allow a mage to heal and a priest to tank (not that I miss the holy trinity in the least).

Just to highlight it again, my main point with my earlier post was that GW2, while good, is predictable - it perfectly follows the fantasy RPG stereotype and therefore it gives me the 'been there, done that' feeling that makes me get bored after just a few minutes of playing.

[blindude]

Babylon, on 30 November 2012 - 07:51 PM, said:

Did I say something to offend you? Aion's shininess was but one of my points, good sir, but yes, although GW2 looks great I personally would prefer it if the god-like graphics engine were used more fully, i.e. with over-the-top flashiness.

Anyway, I thought I'd mentioned this but I guess I forgot; I still think GW2 is good. I've just become disinterested. All the things you said are correct -  the gameplay is far superior to Aion, for example, but that alone won't keep everyone playing forever as they did with WoW. GW2 is lacking in quirks that these other games have, such as demigod players, time travel, and dozens of unique class builds that can even allow a mage to heal and a priest to tank (not that I miss the holy trinity in the least).

Just to highlight it again, my main point with my earlier post was that GW2, while good, is predictable - it perfectly follows the fantasy RPG stereotype and therefore it gives me the 'been there, done that' feeling that makes me get bored after just a few minutes of playing.

you didnt offend me personally but as  a guy that wasted so much time with aion i couldnt let something like this pass

[fathamburger]

IMO essentially GW2 is a decent single player-esque PVE game now. sPVP and WvW were not released in mind with any kind of legs so while things were good out of the gate intiially I believe their current team does not have enough staff or willingness to spend to really support the PVP side as much as they do in PVE.

WvW is already seeing churn with most dedicated large scale PVP guilds moving to Planetside 2, a game that is pretty much dedicated to them but offers little else to do besides endless fighting. sPVP is basically like a demo version of COD or Halo to me, or at best.. about as in depth as Mass Effect 3 multiplayer. No legs, essentially people are churning cycling out until the next real content update unless you are farming fractals.

[ToySoldier]

Babylon, on 29 November 2012 - 10:29 AM, said:

Long-ass explanation:

Totally enjoyed reading your spoiler as a well-written, descriptive piece that showed me how we can differ.

I did not like Aion's world, and character looks etc nearly as much as I like GW2.  Personally I like the "ordinary"? (can't think of a word)  side of GW2 zones.  To me it feels real.  Aion was too "high fantasy"? (again can't think of a word) for me.  I did not enjoy being a divine creature with wings.  I enjoy walking slowly like a real person might in GW2.  I can't write as eloquently as you did, but just want to say I enjoyed your piece.  Very fun to read.

[kineticdamage]

I quit because the game was boring.
In a few words : combat mechanics are too simplistic. Skills core design is awesome, but there's simply not enough of it. I would need at least twice the amount of combat skills, mechanics interdependancy, and trait choices to be happy with the game.

i'm not necessarly talking about having 50 skills on my bar, for example they could just make all the skills work like Thief's skill#1 : press skill#1 -> triggers effect 1 -> press again -> become skill#1B -> trigger effect 2 -> press again -> becomes final skill#1C -> effect 3, etc.
And if you don't press in time, it resets to skill#1A.

Oh and please, skill diversity doesn't mean refactoring [skill 4] by keeping the same mechanic and just changing its animation from a sword slash to a hammer crash. I'm talking about real mechanics here, not just fancy visuals. Aka something that matters in a strategy, something that doesn't feel like you've already seen it in another class.

That plus I really need far more layers of strategies via traits.

Well all in all, GW2 Combat is way too simplistic for a game that is supposed to hold you for monthes fighting over and over, may it be in PvE or PvP.

________

Sidenote : It's really depressing me to see how the only thing people are caring about in feedbacks ... is the f*cking gear. Just look at the forums here, or the official ones, etc .. 80% of threads and complaints are talking about gear ... about those goddamn 3D models they put on once, and then stop thinking about while in a fight. Cold hard fact is that gear is just an illusion, and it doesn't make your game better. I feel depressed because these obsessions can't help bring the game in a better direction. The only effort it encourages devs to make is to create 10 new 3D models every month, and voilà. Great ! ....

Just realize the deeper reasons for you to feel bored. Like the above : combat variety. You wouldn't care so much about the result of your fight (= loot) if the fight in itself was fun and exciting. Hell, you wouldn't even care to grind the same pack of mobs in the same map coordinates for hours if every time you started a fight, it didn't feel the same as the last one.

And to bring that feeling of game diversity, in a mmo perspective, the best way is not to prioritize content creation (as it will be burnt by players in a week), it's also not to prioritize loot creation (as it will become obsolete in 2 weeks) .... It's to focus on creating more and more layers of combat mechanics for each class.
Watching your character in its shiny armor is not a game. Clicking a "buy material" icon to craft a legendary weapon is not a game. Hell, even repeating the same combat rotations for the 1000th time on a different boss is not a game.

A game is to interact with your character differently every couple of seconds, a game is to think about how you will adapt to the next situation. To create different strategies.
And the moment you stop having to think, the moment you start pressing buttons brainlessly because you're doing the same pattern for the 100th time .. that moment is the time where it's not a game anymore.

And right now, after not even a month with GW2, I don't feel like playing a game anymore.
Every combat feels like I've already fought it, even before starting it.

This is even more frustrating when GW2's core combat design is brilliant. There's just not enough of it.

Edited by kineticdamage, 01 December 2012 - 02:14 PM.

[beadnbutter32]

Naginto, on 25 November 2012 - 03:26 PM, said:

No more waiting for an hour screaming, LF1M NEED A TANK for CoF!!!!

I prefer the trinity because by rolling a tank or healer everyone wants to add you to their friends list.  Plus I liked both roles.
In GW2 every role is the same, dodge, CC, and damage when you can, just with slightly different animations and cool downs for skills.
Cooldowns in GW2 are the new keep your eyes glued to the GUI mechanic.

But to get back on track, the lack of the trinity simply turns off more people than it pleases, hence the steadily declining player base.
Funny how the game is no longer on any sales top ten list in just a few months.

[Naginto]

Agreed, and I dont know why a previous poster quoted me into this thread with that comment. To me its just the recent patches have been distractions. Fractals either pull players (who like them) from the open world and into an instance, or push other players out of the game. I don't like the tiered progression of fractal levels so I don't play them. The problem is that means I'm stuck in the same limited and heavily nerfed end game content of 3.2 level 80 zones and 2 semi-80 zones.

I was playing a 3rd alt up to 80 but I just couldn't take it anymore and quit this week.

Edited by Naginto, 01 December 2012 - 01:06 PM.

[\Nuking]

chrisbdrake, on 27 November 2012 - 10:23 PM, said:

No, No, No, No, No, NO!  It is not scientifically referred to as a "sample".  There is nothing scientific about that sample.  It does not represent the community as a whole.  It represents only those people that answered the poll.  It is anecdotal only.

What represents the community as whole then? Would you only credit the poll if every single GW2 purchaser voted?

Political polls are usually made out of an even smaller percentage of a given states population than this poll, and those are at least somewhat accurate. This sample consists of more than enough votes to be generalisable.

[blindude]

\Nuking, on 01 December 2012 - 02:05 PM, said:

What represents the community as whole then? Would you only credit the poll if every single GW2 purchaser voted?

Political polls are usually made out of an even smaller percentage of a given states population than this poll, and those are at least somewhat accurate. This sample consists of more than enough votes to be generalisable.

Yeah but political polls are not being made by samples that you make by going into the conservatives hanging place for example..The sample size is good enough but is it random enough??

[ManMadeGod]

SerDrak, on 24 November 2012 - 11:43 PM, said:

I see a lot of people saying things like, "I've moved on, the game's dead to me." But you still visit GW2Guru?...

Maybe some people just feel it much more fun to see how the defenders will say
than to play the game?

[DeConstruct]

Well as someone who hasnt played for well over a month, but kept track of the game:

• My activity dropped immensely when I got exotic geared. Was hoping to find a more exciting variety of cosmetic items to obtain, to keep me striving for something.
  
• WvW was utterly horrible. The whole concept of small things snowballing into big effects and strategic elements went down the kitchen sink. That and Canadian French people just utterly ruining the European balance by night capping.
  
• Legendaries seemed this awesome concept. However they are the very definition of the word grind. And as Arenanet changed the rules to get them halfway they killed my ambition to get them along with it.
  
• There was not enough challenge in the game. It feigned difficulty by higher damage, higher health, shorter timers, and higher frequency of fubar aoe effects. Combat was not dynamic, but gimmicky instead.
  
  So that's essentially the reason for me going inactive. Since then I've followed some newsbits and this was my impression (maybe not the right one, but my perception)
  
• Events with strict timers. Conflicting with my personal schedule.
  
• Rewards tied to events, but mainly tied to the cash shop though chests etc.
  
• Ascended items. As I understand a grind almost as bad as legendaries.

So I'm thinking to myself, what would I really log on again for? Everything is about being there at specific moments, with long term goals and investing cash. This while games have come out this season that allow me to play at a time of my choosing, get proper entertainment within a single play session, and will provide me with a challenging difficulty should I choose it.

A game like guild wars 2 is supposed to have this whole social dynamic dragging people back to the game over and over. But it is quite anti-social. I'm better friends with the dude I just headshotted and claimed he had intercourse with several of my relatives than the person I just slayed an outdoor dragon with.

Edited by DeConstruct, 01 December 2012 - 06:02 PM.

[alucard13mmfmj]

Question though...

Diablo 3 or Guild Wars 2?

[Kymeric]

Every time I see a comment that the game is dead I have trouble reconciling it with the amount of people I still see running around mid level zones even during Oceanic play times.  And I'm not on an "unofficial" Oceanic server.

[Targanwolf]

I bought GW2 in the hope it would have world class WvW. Competing in this mode drives me to pve to get a character to a place where they can hold their own in WvW. I found the GW2 devs haven't the slightest inkling of what makes great faction conflict. They see WvW as some kind of basketball game where people run around 24/7 to see who can score the most points in the alloted time.Such idiocy .Such disappointment. So...for me...there is nothing compelling me to play.For me GW2 pve(great as it might be)..is just a means to an end.  So I don't play...and start turning into Elder Scrolls Online  and PS2 as short and longer term considerations.

[Dasryn]

Larsen, on 29 November 2012 - 10:48 AM, said:

These are the people who will aggressively defend the game, blaming other players for its failure or actively insulting anyone who doesn't like it.

ive raided in WoW (had full item level 264 gear BEFORE the actual lich king wing in ICC was released)

and i completed all hardmode flashpoints as a MT and had full champion gear BEFORE 1.1 launched in SWTOR - yeah back when it was hard as hell because you could go through 25 champ bags without any gear.

so im a PVE AND PVP elite.  and this isnt even counting all the other mmos ive played.

but i aggressively defend GW2.

why?  because ive seen the extremes of both sides of the spectrum.  and i see that GW2 does what it does, the best. i dont think this game is perfect - hell ive crashed so many times its not really funny - hell, i got a 72 hour ban within 24 hours of buying the game two months after launch, over soemthing stupid.

but ive accepted this game for what it is.

and thats the main issue with folks like Duskwolf and threads like these.  you guys are so caught up with how this game is nothing like GW1, and how this is too much like WoW, and how this and that and the third, when all the information was there.  ANet made several official statements regarding what GW2 was going to be like and what to expect from this game.

this is an acceptance issue.  something that many of you cant seem to do.

i played BWE2 - hated GW2 because i thought i had it in my head what this game was SUPPOSED to be, i went to Gamestop and CANCELED my Collector's Edition pre order.  played the secret world and Rift.  decided, GW2 is what my wife and i needed with our work schedules and what we wanted out of content and community, so after ENORMOUS amounts of research and watching gameplay vids and reviews, i purchased the game a full 2 months after launch.

and i couldnt be more happy.  because i did my research, i knew what to expect and im not putting unrealistic expectations on this game or its developers.

Edited by Rickter, 01 December 2012 - 06:39 PM.

[alucard13mmfmj]

Targanwolf, on 01 December 2012 - 06:35 PM, said:

I bought GW2 in the hope it would have world class WvW. Competing in this mode drives me to pve to get a character to a place where they can hold their own in WvW. I found the GW2 devs haven't the slightest inkling of what makes great faction conflict. They see WvW as some kind of basketball game where people run around 24/7 to see who can score the most points in the alloted time.Such idiocy .Such disappointment. So...for me...there is nothing compelling me to play.For me GW2 pve(great as it might be)..is just a means to an end.  So I don't play...and start turning into Elder Scrolls Online  and PS2 as short and longer term considerations.

To me.. there is no "pride" in wvwvw. I wish you can claim a keep an defend it for months, only to lose it in glorious battle later. Right now, it is get keep.. lose it within 24 hours. get keep. lose it within 24 hours with the current mechanics and how things are set up.

I tried planetside. I think a 24/7 faction vs faction vs faction might be a bad idea... It just takes away from things.

I played ragnarok online... I enjoyed the guild vs guilds. Usually its twice a week for 2 hours. It was fun defending YOUR castle against other guilds and keeping the castle for a few weeks to get rewards or access to guild dungeon or just for pride. I remember having a blast with 12 people defending against 60 zergers. Slaughtered them all ^^. It was really fun and involved strategies other than numbers game. Attackers would have to zerg, but the zerg is just a smoke screen for key players/classes to inact skills to break the enemy's defense (sortve like in LOTR in helms deep where there is a big battle and during that big zerg battle.. one orc got a bomb and blew up the culvert and making a hole in the wall).

[Jump_N_Move]

Its just an unfinished game. No more no less. It should have never been released 3 months ago. It should of stayed in beta, no matter how many people complain and complain of it looking good enough to release. Marketing saw their pre-orders sky rocket. They rushed out the cash shop, and then saw how many dumped in their credit info and their minds exploded. A month later plopped out the game out and have been trying to patch it after ever since.

GW1 had three big things that kept people around. A good story line coupled with enjoyable missions and scattered elite content. GvG. And an addicting Hero's Ascent.

GW2 has a crap story line that presents absolutely ZERO reason to do so. No GvG. And nothing even close to HA.

The question is just where to go from here. You can't really fix the story line involvment. GvG looks to be the same as D3's pvp (vaporware). And they've already stated and made sPvP completely seperate from PvE. So something like HA will never likely exist. If you want PvP with PvE rewards, you'll have to go play the un-fun zerg fest WvW.

As for why its un-fun its because there's no higher level strategy in this game. There's no depth. So combat just reduces to Dodge red rings, auto-attack, wait til chest. Repeat. You don't even have to know what you're skills are. 1 is pew pew pew. 2 is some sort of movement/block/dodge skill. 3 is bigger pew pew. 4 gives some sort of boon/aoe field. 5 is finisher/big boom/high cooldown skill. As for traits. The depth could be there, but it just turns into minute build tweaks instead of major play style changing.

And for the whole dynamic content making it so where ever you go no matter your level you can do something. It just sucks. The rewards suck. Finding and triggering the DEs sucks. The ones you can repeat had their XP nerfed already, plus DR. Its a cool concept, but all it did was give us zergs and make leveling not enjoyable. At least once you hit 40 you can dungeon run your way to 80 but Flavor of the Month killed that off.

its just giant trainwreck still in progress, which i can't seem to stop playing in the hopes that it'll improve. (kind like this post, yet i keep typing...)