Guild Wars 2: WvWvW Impressions

If you’re wondering why my blog has been so scarce with updates this past week, it is because I picked up a lot of overtime at work. I mean, a lot of overtime. Last week, I did 72 hours of work in just 6 days. This week, 40 hours in just 3 days. Now, that may sound I’m worked to death. But, no, not really. It wasn’t that bad at all, and I’m not that tired. Plus, amidst all that work madness, I was able to steal some time to participate in Guild Wars 2’s first beta weekend.

Guild Wars 2, for sometime now, I’ve been debating with myself if I should get this game or not. Because, for me, playing MMORPG is a huge time suck. Once I start playing one, it immediately eclipses my other hobbies. So, I’m afraid that if I get Guild Wars 2, my photography will wither and die. But obviously, and unfortunately, the lesser man in me capitulated and pre-purchased the game so I could participate on the beta event.

Now, there were only two reasons why I’ve decided to pick up Guild Wars 2: 1) No monthly fee; and 2) The “World vs. World vs. World” player vs. player feature.

The no monthly fee is pretty much self-explanatory. But the World vs. World vs. World (or WvWvW) has gotten me curios since ArenaNet announced it. So, as a MMO gamer with a taste for player vs. player, I just have to check it out.

But, the problem was, I had no idea how to get to the WvWvW. After I rolled a Charr Engineer and played the quick intro to my story, I was pretty much left running around the starting area doing events (which were quick and fun). There were no NPC I could ask or any info I could read to help me join the WvWvW. Luckily, my old guild (Gaiscioch) had info on their site on how to get there.

Once I found my way to the WvWvW area, I got lost once again. The place is just huge. Even bigger than WAR’s RvR lakes. So, I was just running around the place, clueless of what to do, stumbling upon enemy players, and dying in their hands. It was very messy, and I almost gave up.

Then, I found my old guild mates (hundreds of them, really) running around the area, razing castles, kicking ass and taking names. Once I joined up with them, the game started to become more clear, more fun. It really reminded me of my days when I was playing WAR with them, when we were taking every keep and castle, owning everything.

The combat is very fun, yet chaotic. First, there are no healers in this game. Everyone can heal themselves and everyone can resurrect the dead. I don’t have to wait to be healed anymore. Also, I don’t have to worry about killing the enemy healer first. Sieging a castle also takes a long time. But, in this game, unlinke in WAR, you can also take down castle walls and not just doors. WvWvW also pits three different servers against each another. I haven’t seen it in beta. But it’s inevitable that the 3 armies will cross each other and fight. That would be epic.

Unfortunately, with my hectic schedule, I wasn’t able to spend more time with Guild Wars 2. But with what little time I spent with it, in its WvWvW and some world events, I had a blast. So, I guess it’s time for me to resume playing Guild Wars 1 and get that points for my Hall of Monuments.