On GW2 and MoP, first impressions

Well well well, autumn is here, and with it, Guild Wars 2 and Mists of Pandaria.

Let's start with GW2. After a few weeks with me creating chars, doing some initial quests and halting, I ultimately decided to level an Elementalist, ie, a mixture between a WoW mage, priest, and warlock (dot dot dot).

I'm happily at level 20, with the first area, Queensdale, 100% finished, and I'm now exploring the Kessex Hills.

What can I say ? The graphics engine is stunning, it resembles (a lot) Warhammer Online, and we can see that things have come a long way since 2005, when WoW launched.

The interface is smart, simpler than WoW, but skills had a lot of thought in their making, so skills are "smart". And in my case, there's 80 of them. EIGHTY different skills, spread in four attunements and a few different weapon types.

There's a class/epic quest line, similar to LOTRO. But then, there are no "quests". There are tasks to do, you may do them, or skip them. You can simply level up by exploring, by collecting stuff, by going for PVP, or by going around and finding new, different events showing up suddenly, with hard bosses, and people rushing  up to help. It gives you the feeling of a full world, the way WoW was before they invented "hubs" and "flying mounts". Furthermore, you don't heve to be in a party to do anything. You can be in a party with friends, but go for any event or task and be rewarded.

I haven't seen chinese gold trading yet, though probably there is, and I haven't seen stupid people yet, though most surely there are.

The simple fact that you get experience for reviving a player gives a sense of community that I had lost.

As to battling, I've mostly done PVE stuff, but I can say it's hard, harder than WoW (PVE WoW difficulty is a joke until cap level nowadays), but if you play your cards well, you can still feel "invencible".

I am liking GW2 very much. RIFT was a newer WoW. GW2 is not a newer RIFT, it's a bit different from everything I've seen in MMORPG, although you feel the MMO effect.


So, now... Mists of Pandaria.

I'm attempting to level 4 characters simultaneously, so it goes slow, I'm still in the same starting areas (3 allies, 1 horde).

Silvermoon on release day.. :O

Level 2 monk

A helping guildie

Damn prince...

Kiting is a warlock's life

Graphics are... WoW. I got used to the chinese way, and I'm actually enjoying the sense of peace and contemplation pandas bring to questing and to battle (or the lack of it). The views from above or from flying are nice, it gives you a feeling not only of the northern chinese mountains, near the Great Wall, but also of Machu Picchu ( may be the set for the next expansion :PPP). There are also a few laughing moments, specially with a dwarf named Sully and his raccoons !

But the rest is all the same, dungeons are easy, killing makes you feel overpowered, one can kill 4-5-6 mobs at once, as a demo Warlock, as a retribution Pala, an arms Warrior, at least. As an elemental Shaman, it is a bit harder.
And what is also the same are... players. Players are rushing through the content, not reading quests at all, but all aiming to 90 in a week and an epic gear set... what for ? I don't know, to sit down and wait for the next big patch, probably. Dear Lord, there are level 90 monks already, 1 week after release, leveling from level 1.

All things considered, if I had to exclusively choose between spending my time in GW2 or MoP, I'd go for GW2 without hesitation.

Until then, I most probably will only go for LFR to know all the raids, do some reputation, Cata runs (still miss going inside Throne of the Four Winds) and stop by Christmas for a few months. For now, I'm enjoying leveling at my own pace.

Time will tell...