Slow Down and Look Around

I've been enjoying Guild Wars 2 as is these past few weeks and I never look at the forums or other sites but when I decided to look around the forums and some sites what I found is a bit appalling. The community is actually divided because of a diminishing return issue.

ArenaNet added a diminishing return system recently and this causes an uproar in the community, although of course not all of them are affected and thus not all are enraged at this. But those who are affected rages in plenty of sites and the official forums. It is of course understandable why they are raging, because the DR system itself is not actually perfect and has caused legitimate players to be affected instead of botters as the system is actually intended.


However we must first see WHY these people are affected. Was it 100% the system's fault or they are doing something that will hurt the game's economy in the long run even if what they're doing can be considered "legal" in game terms? I'd say yes. They might not be exploiting or botting but excessive farming and event camping will eventually hurt the game in the long run. This is a product of previous MMO player mentality where everyone just want to be rich, use powerful loots as fast as possible and then get bored and runs away to the next game while whining about how the games they've played offers so little and they hated the grind.

This, IMO is the wrong way of thinking. You might say "well, we can have different way of thinking of how the game works so STFU" but it is pretty clear what ArenaNet intends to do with the game. Guild Wars 2 is not intended to be farmed or grinded in any way. IMO Guild Wars 2 offers an experience, it offers a vast world filled with lore and story in every corner. Guild Wars 2 is a heaven for those who loves exploring new areas and discovering new stuff. If you love the repetition of doing the same thing over and over, this might not be the game for you.

Now this is actually the main problem right now. The ones who are raging against the DR system doesn't accept being told "play another game" and says that those who says that are just fanboys that can't see the fault of what ArenaNet is doing. But labeling your opposition like that and just dismissing their opinions like that is just as stupid. Because what they are doing right now is just the same as going to an amusement park where it is clearly intended for the visitors to enjoy the rides but some people just want to stay at the balloon counter and ask for free balloons over and over again. When the park decided that each visitor can only have one balloon each so that the others can also have balloons and everyone can enjoy the balloons the "balloon farmers" got angry and rages. This might not be the perfect comparison but it is close enough IMO.

These DR ragers also felt that they are the majority of the players in Guild Wars 2 and I'd say they are wrong. They look like the majority because only the ragers went to the forums and whine over there. Only a few of the actual players really care about the DR and they are still in the game, happily playing the game. But of course, this is also the case in many MMOs before, where the loud minority will cry and thrash around on the floor asking for attention from the devs, thinking that they are smarter than the devs.

Camping around near where Tequatl the Sunless spawns and autoattacks for 3 hours near an event location to farm while waiting to grind an event or waiting near the bridge at Kessex Hills and farm that centaur bridge repair event is THIS what ArenaNet really wants? of course not. They want the players to try out different things, do sPvP, go help out your server's war effort in WvWvW or explore new areas and follow an event chain and enjoy the story. Anything but doing the same stuff over and over again.

Some might argue that ArenaNet themselves are the one promoting grinding by making people play through dungeons over and over again to get good armor but is really necessary? I'd say no, high level armors are of course more powerful and looks cool but it is not necessary to be able to do the higher level dungeons. Guild Wars 2 rewards those who have done it so many times that they can look cool but it was never their intention to make those armor easily farmed and lessen their value. If everyone's using the same exotic armor, then who's special? Again, the usual MMO player's mentality is what's destroying the genre as a whole. MMO players nowadays just want things to come easily but I'll tell you something kid, nothing worth having ever comes easily.

I'm no fanboy of ArenaNet but I do like Guild Wars 2 as a game. I like how it looks, how it plays and I never cared about the grinding and farming because I take it slow. This kind of mentality is what is missing from modern gamers. The ability to simply slow down and enjoy everything for a moment and not just rush through everything. This video I found in youtube gives a perfect example of how taking it slow actually changes your perception of the game:

Ragers will of course dismiss all that I've said here by saying "you're just a GW2 fanboy". But IMO, saying "you're doing it wrong" and "try playing another game that might fit your playstyle" ARE valid answers. Nothing is designed to be acceptable to every person. Guild Wars 2 is designed with a certain playerbase in mind and this player base are still in the game, enjoying it without having to go to the forums and whine. These players are whom ArenaNet made Guild Wars 2 for. I'm not saying "piss off of our game you hater" but what I'm saying is that just like food, clothing, music and other games that Guild Wars 2 might not be the game that fits with your playstyle and that is fine. We just need to accept this and move on.