My First Adventure in Guild Wars 2
September 12, 2025
I'm no pro at any massively-multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) by any means. The most I've played of the original Guild Wars was the intro scene. I've been seeing a lot of footage of Guild Wars 2 online and became interested. I run a Linux machine and found that it will run on Linux. I decided to give the free version without the expansions a try to see what it's all about. So I opened Steam, installed Guild Wars 2 (running with Proton), logged in, and patched the game. I allowed the Vulkan shaders to be pre-cached onto my system to create less stuttering during shader processing in-game.
I created a human warrior as my first choice. You are given the usual aspects of character creation until you have to answer a few questions to create your character's background. It has a Wizardry feel to the creation process. This is how my story begins:
Humans were once the leading power in Tyria (the world in Guild Wars), but their kingdoms all fell. Humanity is diminished, but unbroken. Queen Jennah rules over the human race in Divinity's Reach. I started in Shaemoor, which is outside of Divinity's Reach. Centaurs of the Modniir tribe are attacking, so my character volunteers to defend. The centaurs unleashed a huge earth elemental that bursts through the ground as a hand. You have to fight this elemental with Seraph warriors.
After successfully defending Shaemoor, I arrived at Queensdale to heal with "fresh air and exercise" as per Priestess Amelia. I'm given awards and the Adventure Guide: Volume One, which is essentially a completionist guide. You talk to scouts to unlock and find renown hearts and waypoints. Renown hearts are basically your quests in the vicinity. Waypoints are fast travel points on the map. Talking to the non-player character (NPC) will give you more details on your objectives for the renown hearts, but the information automatically populates when you are in the vicinity of the renown hearts in the "Area Goals" list. After completing the goals, the NPC generally turns into a merchant. Level scaling is also present in the game when you start advancing at a much higher level than the area you are in.
The game has the basic mechanics of many modern MMORPGs: auto-attack, skill progression, quests, events, loot, etc. The gameplay feels smooth with keyboard movements and hotkeys. I would like to see controller support added. I guess that's the old console gamer in me. The game has quirky and funny NPCs, but still the serious undertone with a great story lies in the main quest. The community in-game seems very friendly and informative. If the game continues to grow on me, I may even upgrade with the expansions.
I ended this adventure today in Altar Brook Vale. I plan on adding some hours to this fun experience. I don't generally put a lot of time into MMORPGs, but this one has really intrigued me. Feel free to message me when I'm online. My character's name is my handle: Aremythion. I'm open to pointers and just overall fun. Just keep in mind, I don't have the expansions.
+ Aremythion +