I hit level 80... Now what?

[Nebu]

Not meant to be a complaint thread or anything.  I am just wondering what my new goals and objectives should be at level 80 other than opening map and finishing skill points, POI's, and Heart quests.  I'm a bit confused about the differences between WvW and Tournament PvP objectives and what ranks do for me in terms of skill gains, power, gear, etc.

Any insight, links, or thoughts appreciated.

[Falconeer]

Guild Wars 2 is almost three games in one, but none of these three games is "finished" somehow. The PvE portion is missing some big huge impossible challenges at the moment. Mind, I am not talking about gear or raids per se, but some challenge that hasn't been beaten yet and players can work on for the next weeks if not months. They will patch it in eventually, but if I did my homework correctly nothing like this is in yet.

The WvW is amazing but it feels as if there's no point other than "mindless fun". Which is great, but when you pit servers against servers based on rankings, players want to see those rankings. It's not gonna change the nature of the game you are playing, and the scope (fun), but it creates a meta-layer which is missing at the moment. They need to patch in visible rankings so servers can begin taking more seriously the war aspect of the game. also, they need to find a way to make the WvW more accessible, as the queues are so long and unpredictable that this portion of the game is at the moment more like a lucky break for most of us than something we can invest on.

Same is true for sPvP. I am sure you noticed Nebu that while you bring your stuff in WvW, sPvP follows the logic of an fps or an rts if you want: everyone has the same resources to choose from and to play with, so the reasons to play are just the same reasons that you have in those kind of games. Fun, and braggin rights. Here what the game is missing is the bragging rights layer. Again, this is one of the most important parts of the whole GW experience, so rest assured it will be patched in soon, but right now it is totally absent. sPvP needs even more seriously stuff like rankings and tournaments, but all that stuff is not currently in the game and all people can do is practice and grind for vanity items. They also need to put in actual Guild Wars as soon as possible.

So, in short, while I consider GW2 an incredibly amazing game, they have to move out of the pre-season zone they put themselves into, and start rolling out the competitive and meta aspects of the game as soon as pssible. Mind, there's no monthly fee here or subscription to cancel, so they are not really in a rush to make sure you won't get bored, but it really feels that once you are done with exploring and some random borderlands fun, you (and everyone else) will have to wait for the first real meta-content patch, which is blatantly missing.

So, meh. Sorry Nebu.

EDIT: sPvP ranking does nothing for you other than giving you access to differently LOOKING weapons and armours. And match you against similarly ranked players when you hit "Play now" in the server browser.

[EWSpider]

The effort involved in what amounts to a vanity item may not interest you, but it's definitely a post 80 long term goal:

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Legendary_weapon

[proudft]

The dungeons, by most accounts, are really hard.  Perhaps at level 80 you have more items and skills and traits and whatnot, so they might be a little more manageable?  I haven't stepped foot in one, myself (yet).

[WayAbvPar]

Or you could go outside 

[Miasma]

I believe the endgame is mostly PvP.  You also still gain xp at level 80, the extra just get turned into skill points which even after you have bought all your skills can be used for stuff like crafting I guess.

But yeah PvE wise the only thing left to do is complete maps and the stupid hard explorable modes.  Achievements if you're into that sort of thing too I suppose.

[Nebu]

I believe the endgame is mostly PvP. 

I was thinking this too... but then I hit rank 10, checked the level 10 vendor and the gear has identical stats.  Seems that the items gained are all vanity items, which is sadly something I don't care about.

Or you could go outside 

I think I may do this.  Only other option is to level an alt or play a better pvp game like WoT. 

Have I mentioned that all the CC in GW2 without immunity timers is making me insane? 

[Evildrider]

This is a big problem for my guild actually.  I've had 4 people leave the game already once they hit 80 and realized there was fuck all to do that was worth a time investment.

[Riggswolfe]

Or you could go outside 

^^ This

Anyway, it'll be interesting to see if GW2 has the same problem most recent MMOs have where people hit max level, get bored, and quit.

[luckton]

Anyway, it'll be interesting to see if GW2 has the same problem most recent MMOs have where people hit max level, get bored, and go back to WoW.

Fixed 

[Hutch]

Anyway, it'll be interesting to see if GW2 has the same problem most recent MMOs have where people hit max level, get bored, and go back to WoW.

Fixed 

Not just fixed; MoP is going live in two weeks. I'd be curious to see how the MoP launch affects server pops in GW2, except that I'll be one of the ones going back, so someone else will have to make that observation o.O

[Ingmar]

Anyway, it'll be interesting to see if GW2 has the same problem most recent MMOs have where people hit max level, get bored, and go back to WoW.

Fixed 

Not for my group. That used to be the case but I don't know anyone who's gone back to WoW for like 3 MMOs now. I think it's dead for us (other than the chunk of players who I can't get to LEAVE it.)

[luckton]

I have no doubt that GW2 will fill the PvP/RvR itch that people have wanted scratched for a looooooong time.  That said, WoW's got tenure in the PvE department, and with Scenarios and Challenge modes being dropped into the house in the couple weeks, I think those that went to GW2 for a lasting/rewarding PvE experience may be coming back.

Time will tell :)

[Lakov_Sanite]

WoW hasn't had new content in the last three MMO's though. Expacs are a different animal altogether.

[kildorn]

The amusing thing to me is that GW2's endgame zones are pretty boring partly due to the volume of population. The invasion of Orr spans three zones and is actually really cool to do from top to bottom. Sadly with the number of people present the invasion never gets pushed back and it's really hard to find any back and forth going on. It's just done or waiting on the zone event respawn 24/7.

I think it's the issue with doing non instanced zones purely out of DE chains. Eventually the players just win them, and there's no mechanic for a hard reset.

[Ingmar]

Yeah I've noticed this problem. The monsters never 'win' the first step of the meta-events so there's never anything going on other than the same event getting won over and over, in a lot of places.

[Ginaz]

I hope pvp isn't the "end game" here because if it is I will probably level a dude to 80 just to see whats what and then rarely, if ever, play again.  I HATE group pvp.  Playing as a bounty hunter in swg has spoiled any other form of pvp for me.

[Nebu]

I have no doubt that GW2 will fill the PvP/RvR itch that people have wanted scratched for a looooooong time.  

I disagree.  The WvW seems pointless after a few days and I'm sure this will wear out the current fan base.  DAoC survived because WvW had an advancement scheme attached.  Even if the grind is long (hello RR13), it's enough to keep enthusiasts coming back.  

[Ghambit]

You could all come play TSW     Oh hai! New content patch in 2 days.

[Amaron]

I have no doubt that GW2 will fill the PvP/RvR itch that people have wanted scratched for a looooooong time. 

I don't know.  I think it lacks grief factor.  

[Ingmar]

I don't think that matters, for RVR players. What might matter is no death spam and lack of long term antagonists on the other team, since you rotate through.

[Sjofn]

Death spam is so simple, and yet no one DOES it. And they SHOULD, because death spam is AWESOME.

[Falconeer]

I don't think that matters, for RVR players. What might matter is no death spam and lack of long term antagonists on the other team, since you rotate through.

Yeah. As I said, until they do something that allows the meta-social-political game to start, or they will ruin what has the potential to be fantastic. But honestly I am pretty sure they will. I just want it now.

[Modern Angel]

The endgame shares a LOT of the same assumptions as GW1 does. The PVE part has a lot of grind, but it's something you can do and come back to; it's virtually identical to GW1 in terms of what it wants you to do (cosmetic gear) and how you do it (lots of time investment).

In fact, if you peel the onion back a bit, you'll see that a lot of the overarching design decisions are the same as GW1, just presented more competently. That's okay, but there's nothing like a traditional WoW/EQ/Rift endgame to speak of. And that's okay.

[Ingmar]

I would argue the story presentation is not more competent. Factions, Nightfall and EotN campaigns were all a lot more compelling than what we've got here. Granted in 2 out of the 3 the novelty of the different settings helped a lot.

[Modern Angel]

Oh, man, really?

I watched this really awesome video series of a guy retelling the history of GW, with hand drawn art of his own and stuff, and it was so much better than ANet's presentation that it wasn't even funny. Bearing in mind that I played GW1 fairly hardcore through Factions, I never realized how cool the world was because their storytelling was so mediocre. I knew it was visually well realized, and that it had some memorable NPCs because they went hand in hand with the "feel" of the world, but the background was reasonably well-crafted in ways I'd never picked up on because deserts and Devona and thZZzzZZZzzZZ...

But I'm mainly referring to the mechanics and design.

[Kageru]

I'm assuming this is the flip-side of Anets revenue model. They simply won't have the regular cash-flows to even attempt keeping PvE "achievers" busy so they don't try. PvP you can do forever (and of course it means little), there'll be vanity item grinds if you just want to keep playing but the people asking where the next tier of gear and raiding is will go back to WoW anyway.

Of course being non-sub you can always pick it up again when there's more content. So it will be interesting to see what their plans are. A long lull before a GW1 style expansion pack or smaller instalments of new content on the cash shop.

[kildorn]

The expansions are already written essentially if you pay attention to the lore/story (and the ending). It's what, 7ish planned expansions probably? Each dragon will likely be an expansion, with the next one being NornDragon (guessing, since his commander is already in game, and it would make sense that he's nearby) complete with new lower/mid level zones for new progression.

What I don't know is how they'll do new skills/classes, due to half your skill bar being tied to weapons (adding new weapons to existing classes seems like it would be a short progression path)

But for current 80s: alts, world completion, gear grinds (and holy hell does Anet know how to make a grind), spvp/wvw. If none of that appeals to you, it's gonna be a short ride.

[Amaron]

I don't think that matters, for RVR players.

There needs to be something other than score though.  RvR lovers want Genghis vs the crusade vs Rome.  Not team sports.

[Riggswolfe]

Anyway, it'll be interesting to see if GW2 has the same problem most recent MMOs have where people hit max level, get bored, and go back to WoW.

Fixed 

Most people I know are done with WoW and spend their time these days hoping some MMO will come along they enjoy enough to stick with. I personally have gone back to WoW once since the TBC days but quit shortly after Cataclysm and MoP has no interest. In fact, I'm struggling to see why WoW still holds appeal. It's just so damned dated now.

[Furiously]

The effort involved in what amounts to a vanity item may not interest you, but it's definitely a post 80 long term goal:

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Legendary_weapon

Hmmm. I did just get "the lover".

[Kageru]

Anyway, it'll be interesting to see if GW2 has the same problem most recent MMOs have where people hit max level, get bored, and go back to WoW.

Fixed 

Most people I know are done with WoW and spend their time these days hoping some MMO will come along they enjoy enough to stick with. I personally have gone back to WoW once since the TBC days but quit shortly after Cataclysm and MoP has no interest. In fact, I'm struggling to see why WoW still holds appeal. It's just so damned dated now.

Two factors I think. There's no real competition in terms of raiding / gear progression MMO's. And also the people who race to get server firsts, the leet gear and the hard core achievements need an audience so they'll trend towards the dominant raiding game.

I really see GW2 as more a casual / second MMO / PvP side-line. I don't think it's interested in competing for the raider market.

[KallDrexx]

I've been thinking about this and why it doesn't bother me, and I think it comes down to what type of gamer you are.

Prior to GW2 I played a lot of Fallout 3, Fallout NV, Red Dead, etc..  For me I think GW2 is the perfect experience of a multiplayer Elder Scrolls type of game, which is why I don't mind being at 80 and still meandering around.  In those games I hit max level and still went around exploring different places.  While the main quests are ridiculously written there's a lot of interesting lore in the dynamic events.  It's great for exploring and finding a lot of little things. 

Most of the people I personally know that are complaining about hitting 80 and are traditional MMO players. 

I guess it comes to me that if you didn't enjoy getting to 80 then you wouldn't enjoy past 80.  If you did enjoy getting to 80 then keep doing what you enjoyed doing and complete the other maps.  It's quite obvious once you get to level 25 or so that levels don't really mean much in the game.

[Nevermore]

You could all come play TSW     Oh hai! New content patch in 2 days.

Sure, once it goes free to play.

[Nebu]

It's quite obvious once you get to level 25 or so that levels don't really mean much in the game.

If this is really their intention, then why have levels after 25 at all?  The grind to 80 seems superfluous.  Just leave it like GW1 and have it be a few levels to get your abilities and the rest of the world is just something else to do.  The 80 level cap seems like it's an attempt to cater to the traditional MMO crowd, but those gamers will see through it in a week or two and leave the game.  That's all fine and good if they are just after box sales.  If they're after RMT from gems, I think they're in for a disappointment.