In case my last post put off anyone thinking about playing Guild Wars 2, it shouldn’t. Even though GW2 is extremely grindy and merch store-focused, there are plenty of things about the game to love.

World Bosses – Have you played any other MMO that has world bosses? So far, I’ve only encountered them in GW2 and Elder Scrolls Online. The world bosses in Elder Scrolls Online (which I think is a pretty solid game) are something of a joke. I’ve solo-ed (and succeeded) more than one of them. The world bosses in GW2 are huge. Dragons the size of middle schools.

It takes a concerted group effort of many players working together to take down a world boss, and there are groups of players who run around doing nothing but. Showing up to a well-populated world boss event is almost always a great time. People are excited and eager to fight the beast. Players share buffs. It’s a blast with sometimes valuable!

Map Meta Events – Each map has an event referred to as a “meta”. The meta is a large-scale group event that tends to combine several events that must succeed before tackling one or more big bosses. Like world boss events, there’s an air of cooperation (almost always) and it’s fun to be a part of a large group of players all doing what they do best in a concerted effort to fatten our game wallets and have a good time.

OK. Sometimes when the group events fail someone gets pissy and starts screaming about the idiots who ruined it for them, but mostly it’s: Damn. Nice try, though. Because it was. (Personally, I always block the “It’s everyone’s fault but MINE!” people. Because you know they do it all the damned time.)

The meta events also tend to reflect the story that opened the map for players in the first place, so they coordinate well with what players might be doing solo in the game.

Stories – I can’t say I enjoy ALL the story chapters in Guild Wars 2, but I appreciate most of them. Guild Wars 2 is a fun mixture of serious and silly, formal in some places and casual in others. There’s fantasy mixed in with science fiction (thanks to our Asura friends), and some great characters that people have really grown to love over the years.

Mounts – I’ve played DDO (ha!), ESO, FF XIV and WoW as far as multiplayers go. For my money, nothing beats the mounts in Guild Wars 2. Each one has a specific purpose, with the exception of the Skyscale. The Skyscale is sort of the luxury car of GW2 mounts. It can’t maneuver like a Griffon, jump like a Springer or jump through sand portals like a jackal, but it offers a great combination of “some of all the above” in that it can get you places other mounts can’t. Also, there’s nothing more fun that flapping through the maps of GW2 on your big sparkly dragon-ish spawn.

Just because I’m all annoyed by the current grind shouldn’t put off people from experiencing truly one of the most enjoyable and content-diverse games in the history of gaming. You don’t have to think it’s the best MMO of all times to enjoy yourself, and I guarantee you’ll find something you love.

My advice? Just steer clear of PvP or WvW for the first sixth months or so. Those areas of the game tend to be pretty hostile, especially to new players. But if you’re used to such environments and that doesn’t bother you, then jump on in if you want. Both PvP and WvW offer extremely rich reward tracks and keep even career whiners who do nothing but trash the game they spend 10 hours a day playing coming back for more.

In short… don’t let a crabby old man’s frustration rob you of fun. That’s politics. This is games!

Enjoy.