Guild Wars 2

Posting this here in case anyone on here is interested in Heart of Thorns. A very incomplete and short view on my thoughts so far.


Most of it is definitely made with parties in mind. Even teaming up with 1 other person makes everything much easier.

I'm enjoying it so far though. A lot of people complaining about the Masteries and new collections, but I like this kind of grind. Ones with tangible, trackable progress that are largely scavenger hunts across most facets of the game rather than mindlessly grinding a single part of it for hours.

Some things I don't agree with though:
-Tyrian Masteries should be part of the Core game. I understand they're meant to be an expansion feature, but if they're going to nerf certain content from Core and then add Masteries that "un-nerf" it, those Masteries should be available to Core players. You shouldn't feel like you have less that you can do/receive than you could on October 22nd and all dates prior just because you didn't buy HoT.

-The way they've done Guild progression is pretty shady. Removing Influence and changing it all up to be a more extensive system that has Guilds working together for better rewards is nice, but then you consider that you can't do any of the things that you could pre-HoT launch with a Core game. You can't have a Scribe or Guild Hall without HoT, and without a Scribe or Guild Hall you can't even make the 24hr buffs or banners. It's pretty *** dumb that they removed functionality that existed prior to HoT just so you have to purchase HoT to access it.


Most people who enjoy the game with buy HoT anyway, but still. Some of these things basically force you to buy HoT even if you just want to retain the functionality and game features of Core that you had prior to October 23rd.

That said, as a fan of the game I recommend a purchase. Masteries, new Collections, new specializations, Revenant, the new zones... everything, pretty much, besides the things I listed above are great and expand the game a great deal. Is it worth the $50? Subjective, but for me as a fan of the game and someone who enjoys the type of content that it offers, the answer is a solid yes.