We did it. A video that talks about GW2 music without mentioning "Fear Not This Night", "The Great Toymaker", or "Battle on the Breachmaker". I mean those are all awesome songs too, but they're the commonly focused on tracks and the game has so many great tracks that it's actually nice to see others get the recognition they deserve.
I want more people to talk about "The Cycle Ends". Whenever I hear the start of the song, it makes me feel like (as a P/P engineer) I'm about to get off a semi-crashing airship and land on the blood soaked jade sands of Canthan Normandy Beach.
@@dmastermanga I like it even more considering the context of it.. Literally The End of the Dragon Cycle. Such a fitting track for the finale of the Elder Dragons Saga.
I love everything that Gw2 has offered me in tje beginning as a f2p, respected my time, didn't feel like I had to play regularly or my character would disappear, and that made me buy the game, well, that and no monthly sub, god that feels great. After that, it was like the sense of wonder that I didn't had in a long time. From the Dangerous and beautiful Jungles of Maguuma, to The great wonders of Cantha, the experience this game left me will always be a standart for games in the future. And Anet has been giving this great love for more than a decade, can't wait to see whats next for the future.
A 5k hour veteran here. I know you from your From Soft Ost reaction. This video is a realy suprise. GW2 is one of the most underratet MMOs. Most Friendly Community, Best Open world, good instance PVE, good PVP/WVW. Yes as a beginner this game can be overwhelming, because every content is revelant and you have to make your own goals, but there are multiple ways to do it. But if you have question the community has answeres.
I think that is partially ArenaNet's fault. At first, their marketing department (used to be) a dead gold fish. They didn't do any real marketing which is a big mistake if you go against giants like Bethesda, SquareEnix, Blizzard. But also, after launch, GW2 tried really hard to capitalize on their reputation that it is a very different game. GW1 was very different from other popular MMOs (in fact I'd barely call GW1 an MMO these days). But for the MMO community at large, that wasn't a good thing. Like, not having mounts, for example. I think they learnt from their mistake. Not just did they introduce the best mount system in the industry and actually managed to offer awesome features for every expansion that stay relevant and awesome even in the latest expansion but they also learnt from the failure of Living World.
Most long time players, like me, love to see new players and content creators who finally try out Guild Wars 2 and realize how great it is. Of course it's not for everyone, and some people can't get over their addiction to vertical progression games, but most people who can make the break are so relieved and appreciative of GW2 and how the developers respect their valuable time. Welcome to Tyria, and I look forward to seeing what other videos you will make about GW2. Edit: I wouldn't worry about GW2 becoming too popular and then having too many toxic players. We have our fair share (mostly within the competitive modes) of unsavory players, but it seems to me that the most toxic players don't stay playing GW2 for long, and they migrate to other games where they feel that their toxicity gets more attention and response, to fuel their strange egos. I have always, and will continue, to hope that GW2 gains more players, in hopes that it will lead to more content development for the game and bigger, better, expansion releases. I would love to see a resurgence of Raids, and have Arenanet commit the development resources to creating at least one new Raid instance with each new expansion, every year.
I wonder if GW2’s style of progression tends to weed out a lot of the toxic types. A game that encourages players to help each other and that isn’t hyper competitive with vertical progressions seems to invite less toxicity IMO.
The current composer for GW2, Maclaine Diemer, put out some awesome videos for the End of Dragons expansion that goes into a lot of details about the instruments used for that expansion and I think you'd really dig it. First time viewer to your channel here, and I love the passion and pure joy you give off when the music hits right. So yeah, I think you'd dig the EoD stuff. Great video :)
Maclaine is so great. we're gonna connect for an interview here soon, I'm hoping. He's a terrific composer. Nice to have you! hope you find other videos to enjoy as well :)
@@MarcoMeatballif you haven't seen it yet, look into what all he did with the end of dragons soundtrack. I believe there are several featurettes about it and definitely some inverviews (I think he might have spoke on it at gdc one year as well).
GW2 is such a wonderful game and so generous to the player. The fact that your gear will NEVER be obsolete so you dont have to rush in every patch to gear up and you can take breaks every time you want... Truly one of the best MMOs and one respectful business model towards the costumer.
I started playing in 2013, After 10+ years in our main mmo, farming from weapons to ingredients, strategizing, weekly inter-guild politics, power leveling alt characters... suddenly my squad had exactly 6 days vacation because new young squads wanting to do what we did. We could just farm like usual or we could try a new multiplayer game, after 10 years of literally knowing each other to that extreme... We were close to dip into LoL and other 2 MMOs besides GW2, we did a virtual paper pull. GW2 show us what is a healthy game relationship, our eyes opened so wide... imagine our leader at the time, suddenly your best squad presenting their accounts and kissing goodbye was not what the Guild leader expected... funfact, 20+ years later and last time, I hear the account retainer moved our main characters to the new deepest floor of the hardest dungeon, same retainer is mostly now a GW2 player who walk guildmates into GW2 after they leave the other one or want vacation... So is funny when I log in and suddenly he mentions to a bunch of new players that I'm the owner of "X equipment/character" and I'm like Patrick screaming "who are you people?!" yet I'm able to join them without worry about my equipment.
My big issue with the game as someone with thousands of hours in it is that anytime I wanna get someone into the game they or I basically need to shell out $150 for all the content, then however much on convenience to make the experience of playing the game not miserable. I think a lot of vets praise it so much without realizing or remembering how much of a slog it is to deal with their intentionally made inconvenience like only having a single bank tab which is just plain not enough for someone who wants to play, or inventory management cuz you don't have the infinite salvage kits, or having inventory space issues again cuz you dont have infinite gathering tools. No, "just farm the gems with gold" is not the answer. Especially for newer players. I've seen so many people excuse GW2's more predatory practices by saying you can just get gems with gold. Sure, that's absolutely true. Once you know how to farm it, can farm it, and willing to farm it on top of getting through the content. I do love the game, but I'd have a better time playing it if they made the new player experience better.
That sounds like a trash game. What’s the point of a looter where you just hold onto the same gear FOREVER that’s boring asf. What’s the point? Just go play a fuckin bullshit single player game at that point. I don’t know what it is about single player gamers branching out into multiplayer games and the scream crying because mmos and multiplayer games aren’t like their single player games. That would be like me going to a burger joint and wondering why I can’t order fish. It’s just Brain dead to me. This comment is all I needed to see to not waste money on a game that doesn’t want you to play it. So thanks for this btw.
@@Dbdjcusonr You don't even know how the system works and just started to spew some bullshit. Don't play it, the game don't need toxic people like you :)
@@Dbdjcusonr just because gear is not obsolete doesn't mean loot is not important... Before wow had those stereotypes set into mmos, god-like items existed and the legendary system exist here in GW2 as similar. But also this is why no new MMOs survive that easy... They fall so easy into stagnation. WoW is suffering from its own systems and copying from rivals, that single player raid is just copying again from some established MMOs. And while soulborne games are look like peak player skill, that gameplay existed since 00s... Due to always been players who wanted that challenge or took over as last resource. Sad thing, during COVID the graveyard system for guild halls was the saddest use of loot done. Those 2-4 joking tombstones (and serious in some cases) became many in many guilds... I remember crying after creating basic items after we lost a guildmate who was a mother of 3. Last year the oldest started and weep at her tomb in-game. A solitary guild member is always changing decorations on his sister tomb. True MMOs will never be like single games or basic multiplayer games. Heck, sanctum server in GW2 is named after a single player because of the rest of players who where there when he died before game launched. Gear and looting is important but if the game only goals are that you cannot survive in the MMO genre.
Honestly, GW2 is a game I have absolutely adored for its music for so long now. I wholeheartedly agree with everything you've said here. I do want to add though, if you've finished PoF, you should ABSOLUTELY play Living World Season 4, which follows on from it. Even above Heart of Thorns, which many people regard as having some of the most iconic music in the entire game, I think you'll adore Season 4 for its music. Both the ambient tracks, and a few places where the music and gameplay itself feel so, so entwined.
@@MarcoMeatball Just to add a bit to that, Joko is the best antagonist in the game imo and he's very prevalent in LWS4 so would highly recommend playing it for him as well.
Another fun thing about GW2 is that while you're out there grinding the map, getting your vistas, interest points etc, if some of the people finished up with the bosses etc and moving on to another map, you get a pop up that says that there aren't much people left in the map, you can leave and join new map, or after like 1 hour you automatically go to new map. Just go to new map, it even keeps you where you were and the map is full of people running around again doing events etc. It's actually nice.
I'm so happy you enjoyed it as much as you did Marco, as someone that has an MMO problem and has played hundreds of hours of all the more "mainstream" ones, GW2 has always been my top 1
I've been playing GW2 since launch. What I love most about it is that I can stop playing for years at a time and come back without my gear becoming useless. The community, even if there are some bad apples, is full to the brim with kind, open players old and new who are ready to help if you need it. I've played Rappelz, WoW, ESO,... but none came even close to GW2. I can say it proudly, it is my all time favorite MMO. A gem of an RPG.
Agree fully with everything you're saying, but just had to mention that coming from playing Rappelz as a kid it was very jarring to see the Asura in GW2 being little psychotic engineer mice rather than emo elves. And they're still my favourite race in both games :D
Wait till you hear "The Seraph" or "The Cycle Ends" or "Dragonflight"...or...sooo many other epic tracks that are soooo much elevated by the moments they do play in. Oh and then there is also dynamic event music that changes depending on the stage of the event, like with "Attack on Tarir" from the Heart of Thorns expansion :) Also, some little extreme nerd facts: In Guild Wars 1 there was an area that was called "The Crystal Desert" and when you play as the Revenant class with the Herald specialization and switch on all the aspects, they all play first few notes of "The Crystal Desert" in a very slow manner. And some of the skills of the Mesmer like the Portal might sound weirdly familiar since they do play the first few notes of GW2's Main Theme, just in reverse 😁
Also Eagle's Flight and The Tengu Wall. I learned both of them on my flute years ago and play them all the time. I even went to the 10th anniversary event, met 2 of the composers of Gw2 music, got their pictures, showed them videos of me playing their music. They were so touched that they actually had ORIGINAL sheet music for a couple Cantha songs(like that the composers and performers wrote on) in the trunk of their car, and went and gave it to me!!! I laminated it and sent a video of me playing it to both of them. It was one of the best experiences of my life
Guild Wars 2 has been my favorite mmo since it first launched back in 2012. It has had it's up's and downs like any mmo, but it remains one of the most consistent games of any of it's genre out there. The community is one of the best in general, always welcoming new players and helping them out. The world is easy to navigate yet at the same time easy to get lost in in terms of immersion. And the music, I mean you said everything that needed to be said Marco. I don't think there is one objectively bad track in this entire game. Also, Charr are the best race don't @ me. 😉
@@EmptyBrewsky You just hate us because we're beautiful 😩💅 Charr are just sexist furries who lost their land to humans and can't stop their own race from killing each other in civil wars, skill issue fr fr
I've always loved how friendly the GW2 community is. I still remember grinding for weeks chest farming in silverwaste and then crafting my first Legendary weapon, linking it in map chat and and getting congrats left and right from strangers.
I've been playing Gw2 for thousands of hours at this point but never noticed how good the music is. I'll definitely pay more attention to it from now on, thanks for your video !
As a veteran of 12 years I love your enthusiam for the game and especially the music. Maclaine Diemer is probably my favourite composer for GW2 but there are so many beautiful songs and compositions that leave me nostalgic and teary eyed. I'm so glad you're having fun! Your video got linked on the GW2 discord server and we were gushing about it in the mod/mentor chat
@@MarcoMeatball There isn't really a main or official discord, but we're the most active one and are sort-of kinda still linked to the subreddit. Feel free to check it out if you have the time :)
I'm so glad I clicked on this video. It was such a joy to see you light up about the game. GW2 is my personal favorite MMO, and this comes from a WoW vet since Vanilla. It's refreshing, it's unique, the community is amazing, and it really does feel like an immersive world. Thanks for doing it justice in this video!
5k hours veteran here, been there at launch and keep playing today. Had many breaks, but i keep getting back to GW2, with new goals and motivations each times and without feeling held back cause of my breaks. World v World has a special place in my heart, never found another experience like this one somewhere else (and i tried!). Welcome to all new players passing by here, you're about to start a fabulous experience.
This is so great to hear. GW2 has basically meant 'home' to me for years (I used to play GW1 with my Dad, so we've been playing since release!) so I'm just really happy to see you gush like this. The general GW2 community is so nice because it's so deeply collaborative. It's so nice to see you loving this thing that means so much to me. And you're totally right that the music just.. exists. When you were playing the Dry Top music, I thought "I don't spend a lot of time in Dry Top, I won't know this as well", but I still knew it by heart.
I'm glad you gave this game a chance! As long as it's still running Guild Wars 2 will be my comfy forever game that I can go back to and know that there's plenty to do and see
GW2 is perfect for those who have other responsibilities or other video games to play, because it allows you to choose your goal and pursue it. If that is not respecting your time, I don't know what could be more. Also, GW2 does not destroy your progress when you leave the game. What you have achieved is there waiting for you. That's why as well as: to one of the most beautiful explorations ever, a collaborative openwold without necessarily having to party, a world alive with events and not static npc's, a combat system as fluid as never before in mmo's, a fair and not oppressive monetization of more of the same things, the best made mounts with different skills from each other and not skins with speed buffs, fantastic music and audio themes. I can go on but GW2 is unique and that is why like gw1 it will never die EDIT: devo essere sincero non conoscevo il tuo canale Marco e non sapevo fossi italiano! ( forse dal nome dovevo capirlo XD). E' davvero un piacere sentire che un italiano apprezzi Guild Wars 2!
@@trungle6619its a problem on small guilds but larger guild allows you to take a break however you want as long as you told them, they wont kick you in their monthly cleanup.
Welcome in the GW2 family ! I think your analysis of the music is pretty good. It really feels like most of the time it's there to complement the overall experience, rather than being a product of the landscape or forcefully shade your experience with specific colors if that makes any sense (like in action movies, if you take away the music it's just not the same anymore). It all blends and melds together "naturally" for lack of a better word atm.
Cool video! If I could suggest some of my favourite tracks from GW2 which you may enjoy: -The Cycle Ends (there are a bunch of versions because it's a looong boss fight theme which shifts through a series of phases, they're all great) -The Largos Twins -Battle on the Breachmaker -Attack on Tarir All of these are by the incredible Lena Raine either alone or in collaboration with the awesome Maclaine Diemer And then there's Fear Not This Night from the base game OST which is always a favourite and I'm sure has been recommended to you many times before.
Already yapped in the premiere chat but gotta put in my 2 copper for gw2 rep. Account is 12 years from the early access beta date and my charr engineer has been my main, my most beloved character of all time. He carries me no matter how mid the story gets (there are rough patches let’s be real here) I hadn’t realised one of my fave tracks - Eagle Flight - apparently only plays at one point in the story / adventure it’s tied to, but there’s something about it that’s.. uplifting? Inspiring? with its variations / movements and I’m glad I know what it’s called so that I can properly loop it, haha. The base game is free, and there’s no sub fee if you like what you experience, so you can always try it out and see how it is for yourself. Cheers!
I've played the game from its release. 12 years in. I still find things in core maps that I'm sure I've never seen before. Let alone the expansions. No other game has kept me this invested.
Game setup, described by various BG music: WoW - Landscapes / Views FF14 - Epic / YOU are the hero. GW2 - ... story. Everything is a story, and BG music complements that.
I played GW2 for a looong time through the first 3 expansions, but kinda fell off it when a lot of the friends I was playing with switched to FFXIV. Now honestly feels like a great time to go back to it. The horizontal progression really does make it so much less intimidating to go back to it having missed years of content, and not feeling like I need to play 100h+ to catch up on the gear grind. Now to go relisten to Battle on the Breachmaker for the 50th time
This was such a refreshing take on Gw2. Been playing casually since the beginning. Never ever bored. I love the music. Thank you for highlighting it. It’s a great community!
As a veteran player who has been playing GW2 for over 10 years, it brings me SO much joy to see new players being so excited about diving into all the game has to offer! I love this game and its community so much - I'm so happy that new players are still willing to take a chance on it :)
Love your take on this game. It is amazing and it gets too little information out there about HOW good it is. I love a game you can wander around - find so many side quests, adventures, secret cookies in the game ! Love it so much. Your take on the music is great too . thank you !
One of my favourite MMORPG with beautiful soundtrack. Combat System which never bored me. This is one of the game which I can literally sit in one zone and listen to the music. "Fear Not This Night" is still my favourite piece which I can listen endlessly.
You know what would make a good video/mini series? The wonderfully diverse Elder Dragon themes. Jeremy Soule seems like a tough act to follow but Maclaine/Lena/Stan et al. nail it so goddamn hard
The music is so good, most of the time it makes me cry if I listen to it outside the game, because there's nothing to distract me and the memories just flow through me like I personally lived through the game's story!! 🥺
I never run so fast to check out, dude my favorite game (almost 6000 hours) and one thing that made me feel in love with this game when I discovered was the music while I move across the base game maps... Even tho Jeremy Soul only did the base game music the music for expansions keep being good
Omg! This is such a surprise! I love GW2 and it's music but its so under rated that I never expected you to review it. Please review the End of Dragons OST. I ran so much of Soo-Won's boss event (even though it takes an hour or two to finish) because I love love love the music going while the epic fight went on.
I have been playing sense launch and I can honestly say that GW2 is my favorite video game of all time. It warms my heart seeing someone else who appreciates the musical score as much as I do.
As a GW2 lover I absolutely agree! It gives you the right amount of freedom. In my opinion at least. Many different mounts! A lovely story. So good music. Even if you decide to take a break for days, weeks or even months or years, you don’t really miss out on anything. Many different ways to enjoy this MMO. Solo or in a group. The community is very helpful too! It’s my absolute favorite MMO for years now and I love it. It’s just my place to go after a hard day of work to relax. It respects my time I can spare to enjoy playing video games and I love it for that.
As a veteran my favourite GW2 music is from Heart of Thorns, beautiful pieces in Tarir or moody Rata Novus. Icebrood Saga also had some fantastic pieces of music too!
I love it that GW2 gets some appreciation for its music. I have been playing Guild Wars for half my life now ( GW and then GW2) and the music is a huge part of the experience. The composing has really been underrated
It was so nice to see that you dedicated a whole section of the video to the music. I’m a musician as well, and I also love Guild Wars 2. It’s really exciting to see someone new to the game be so enthusiastic about it! Talking about the music like you did was so refreshing to me-I really appreciated your video. I’m definitely turning the game music back on again.
My channel is pretty much focused exclusively on music but sometimes I like to do an opinion piece or a “review” and prioritize the music since no one else does that! 🫶
I'm so glad you covered Guild Wars 2 in a video! It is one of my favorite games by far. What really sets the game apart from others to me is how well designed every aspect of the game is; from the combat, the exploration and even stuff like the game economy among other things. I think so many games could learn a thing or two from GW2. I hope I can you on some more GW2 streams! Best regards from Canada
I think the reason people are nice compared to other mmos is in gw2 there is little to no competitiveness. No stealing nodes, no stealing loot, no kill stealing etc. And helping others is rewarded, like healing and giving boons are counted towards kill and event participation, even reviving someone gives as much xp as killing mobs.
I do miss GW2. As someone who spent 99% of my time solo playing MMOs (not too much by any measure), I’ve had the fondest memories of MMO gaming in GW2 😊
GW2 is the first MMO in 20 years that makes me feel like it's a living, breathing world. the progression you go through as a character also feels very RPG with the way you unlock things that don't feel useless, It has an amazing sense of progression.
I've been a guild wars fan since the first game. And embarrassingly logged 18k hours in gw2. I'm so happy to hear you've been enjoying yourself. For me the most iconic song for gw is A Land Restored. Gives me a giant dose of nostalgia whenever I hear it. Was wondering if you had a chance to listen to Fear Not This Night, or sanctum sprint (this song in particular is so fun and I think it goes under the radar a lot)?
@@sv_1407dl You can easily hop in there and find some new friends. And even if that doesn't happen, it still is a great gaming experience, even as a single player ^^
12 year veteran player and agree the music is so good. Even after all this time it sometimes stops me in the middle of game-play just to let it wash over. And that Dry Top music... always stunning.
As someone who has over 15000 hours in the game, I can say it is worth your time. I however am burnt out. I started in 2012. Not many other options out there for this type of game. My personal favorite part of the game is raids. Sometimes I have to take a break, and come back in a few months. The business model allows me to do that with no problem.
I am a vet of GW2 from day 1, and the game is awesome in so many ways. But if you simply made videos about the music of GW2, I would watch them all! There are tracks of GW2 that I will happily play in the car just to listen to them. At certain seasons of my life, there were tracks I would go to over and over again.
I love the music in this game so much. Im biased because this is my first MMO love, everything in this game just feels right. Coming back from a stint of FFXIV where the music is in your face and repeats ad nauseum, it is so refreshing to have tracks fade in and out and not demand all your attention. And the game still has rousing tracks too. Largos Twins, The Cycle Ends, Attack on Tarir, Sands of Chaos and more! The soundtrack is stunning. Maclaine Diemer does a fantastic job whenever he composes, and all of the other composers they have brought on for expansions like End of Dragons and Janthir Wilds have blown me away. Goated soundtrack 🐐
I'm OK with FFXIV soundtrack being like that. It's on brand and a huge seller for the game and it's battles. Other games do atmosphere much better but FFXIV is all about jamming tunes to movie like cutscenes and battles.
I personally always have GW2 as my secondary MMO while rotating between many of the Triple A Vertical Progression MMOs. I feel GW2 is a great place to relax and play the game at your own pace. I play for the experiences that I have with other players. I feel as I have gotten older, the concept of GW2 is becoming more and more appealing as the years go by and having more commitments out of the game leads to certain games where your gear and stats are constantly improved upon every patch becomes more of a chore than enjoyment. I prefer Horizontal Progression a-lot now, especially since I have branched out to many other Genres of gaming, I love the pick up and play formulae that most new games tend to focus on. Love it or hate it, GW2 is here to stay, especially for people who love the MMO concept, but rather than chasing a number every patch, we play for the experiences. In comparison to your typical vertical progression MMOs, every new patch you are focused on one thing, quickly acquiring the highest Item Level gear. Every quest, dungeon, raid, world quest you do, you are thinking of the gear, you are tunnel visioned on that one goal, while you are completely ignoring the new content in-front of you. Even though GW2 has no gear progression, the ability to customize your build is quite amazing, sure if you want to maximize your DPS, there's only a handful of choices. You can choose to do harder content or stick with the more casual content. The beauty of GW2 is that you are rewarded for doing either. Now that the PvE Open World Legendary armor is released, players of all skill levels have access to the best gear in-game. Unlike in your typical Vertical Progression MMO where the best gear is locked behind difficult raids or pvp. Sure you can make counter arguments for each of these points, however what I'm trying to say is that GW2 gives all players an even playing field in terms of 'Power', the difference lies in your skill and dedication to the game, not some arbitrary number that is artificially increased every patch which leads players to be blinded to what's in-front of them.
Nothing like hanging around the Homestead doing a spot of fishing and just appeciating the music and the ambient sound. Never get to appreciate The Bog Queen's theme as I'm too busy fighting for my life! Still love the music from the Metal Legion concert, as an aging Mosher it brings back memories of being in "the pit" in the early 1990s!
ive been playing since release and it was the first MMO that made my eyes leak. the world, the music the way that it wants you to explore it has a very special place in my heart even when I stopped playing so much of it I would come back for every content release and buy every expansion. the story can be meh at times but some of the npcs you meet can really hold a place in your mind. An apple vendor could be your best friend for life.
I can't believe I didn't watch this video earlier but I'm so glad you absolutely adore GW2. This video feels like a passionate love letter and I'm excited and relieved you loved it so much. Also! Love to see the appreciation for Drytop. It's one of my favorite ambient OSTs but I rarely see it get the appreciation it deserves with how it swaddles the player in a comforting way as they're travelling through the land. I hope you do some analysis videos on more gw2 music. Theres so much that is underappreciated but beautifully crafted and I feel like you'd thoroughly enjoy the music from most anywhere in Tyria.
GW2 is the epitome of what a MMORPG is; while it doesn't have the cultural impact as the big two (WoW and FFXIV), it's a love letter to the genre, focusing on everything that make the MMO genre so enjoyable. By far has the best on-boarding and levelling experience I've had in any MMO; the combat feels unique and impactful, quests are more than fetching and killing things, and the social aspect of the game feels really generous and natural through the use of world events and WvW. On occasion I will listen to the base game's OST, which was composed by Jeremy Soule of Elder Scrolls fame.
it's funny, you released your video exactly when I was so nostalgic about GW2 and its original soundtrack I'm currently listening to it while I'm working. The first composer of GW2 is Jeremy Soule, which is easy to hear since some tracks remain Skyrim OST.
I hear Janthir Wilds soudtrack and I feel I am HOME and when I first started with GW2 after some break from WoW I had the same feeling.. like.. I.. am...HOME... after long, strange trip
Me and my boyfriend just finished are Session of GW2 just right now as the writing of this comment. Heading close into Icebrood Saga. My BF was catching up until we can do two other expansions I have not done fully yet is Secrets of the Obscured and Janthier Wilds. Was a long long journey too. Was fun playing the story together. I been in the game for 8 years. Another song that is under rated is "Fear not this night" Its a GW2 Song that even mentions the legendary weapons, Sunrise, Twilight and Eternity.
I love how this game respects your time as a customer. No FOMO, no p2w cause there is essentially nothing to win, no stupid sub fees, horizontal progression, instant pvp if you wish, great pve experience, by far the best mount system in any MMO out there, magical zones ( Verdant Brink's verticality ftw) and many more. When modern companies are putting out a plethora of MMOs and want you to get the next gear piece so your character is now 0.00001% stronger , Anet delivers the whole experience of how it is to actually enjoy an MMO while playing at your own pace.
GW2 Vet here and i will give just one of the million things that make this game great: -End game content is linked to old areas on porpuse. So a end game legendary weapons or achievments asks you to go low level zones, vanilla zones as a max level player. When you get there your character will be scaled to that zone level. Ie if you are a lvl 80 character in a begginer zone (lvl 1 to 15) you will be scaled to this levels so are your stats, dmg, HP, etc. For exemple "go to kessex hills (lvl 15-25 zone) and kill the spider queen there to complet one of 20 steps to get a nice mask skin" So when you get there you will be turned lvl 25 once again and fight side to side with trully low level players and you WILL NEED this new player's help while he is killing the same champion for another porpuse or rewards. This makes all the zones of the game still vibrant and populated. Vets always wants to help because they love the game and wants you to love it too. They want you to see their cool skins, cool titles and inspire you to continue your jorney. They will help you, guide you, hell they will even dive their mounts in your enemies to revive you! Its EPIC!
I discovered you when reviewing genshin music, and now you're talking about my favorite game that i started to play 2013 :') ty talking about it, im so happy you liked it (am FR sorry for bad english)
I'm working through the story slowly but steadily. Currently plowing through the Icewind Saga. I played 3000+ hours of Guild Wars 1. Adult life has limited me to just 250+h in Guild Wars 2, but working on it. Love that I can do it all in my own pace. And the music is just sublime! Speaking of the music, I'd love for you to deep dive and listen to the main themes from the very first to the most recent one and see and talk about how it has progressed :) It's quite the journey!
This is one of my longest played games, I've always passively enjoyed the music but seeing a video focusing on it has made me appreciate it even more. I'm glad you enjoy the game and welcome to the community! :)
I'm glad to see you playing GW2! Enjoy the ride! I'd like to take the opportunity to promote 4 songs from Guild Wars. Many songs from the first game carried on to the second, but I think these ones don't appear in the sequel: 1) Tome of Rubicon (slight possibility of appearance in GW2, not sure) 2) Guild Wars Factions Main theme 3) Land of the Golden Sun 4) Overture from Eye of the North (picked this one because I think it's the first time the current GW theme appears, you can hear it in several songs in GW2, even in the first Janthir Wilds theme in your video). For songs appearing in GW2, I'll wait until you discover them yourself!
Have seen a few of your vids around and love your takes on the music for many games. The GW2 soundtrack is a major bop and I'm glad you're loving the game as a whole. It really respects player time a lot... it's the perfect MMO for people who have lives and full time jobs, or just not a lot of time in general to game. And as someone who has walked away for a couple years here and there, it's always nice to come back and not feel pressured to play catch-up like in other games. Everything is where I left it and none of my efforts feel obsolete. Hope to see more from you like this as you play more of the game! :)
This was my first time watching any of your content. Im an XIV player looking to make the jump into GW2 and was curious about the community and the game in general. In this video, you made me so excited to start GW2, excited about the community and the journey I'll be going on and the way you spoke about the soundtrack pulled me in even further. Thank you.
YT recommended me this and i thought it was gonna just be a normal MMO-Catch-up-Review video and instead became such a musically nerdy video. i was just thinking today how most of the wow nostalgia and hype is specifically from the music of the intro zones, at its baseline of why it was so great. thanks for the video man! will subscribe and hope to see more!
That was a wonderful video about game and music, you helped me to listen the music and understand it more. Couple times got also tears in my eyes, wonderful work man, thanks!
Marco, I really enjoyed the way you talked about GW2. I've been playing it for 8 years, it's definitely my favorite game. Obviously it has ups and downs between each expansion, but it's a game in which I always find something that catches my attention and I always have fun with everything I do in the world, it's fantastic. Oh, and the music is amazing. Every time I hear a GW2 melody, the specific place I was in comes to mind: The Silver Wastes, Ascalon, Dragon's Defense, The Crystal Desert... so many other places, and I love the community.
GW2 is just not the same kind of MMO. You don't compete for monster spawns or boss spawns... everyone who participates gets their share. You don't compete for resource nodes... it's there for everyone who visits. The community is good because the game rewards sharing. 12-year-old content is still valid and good because of the horizontal progression & the way we all still benefit from that decade+ reward. They figured out a system where people can play together in a less toxic way & have fun.
Honestly, the biggest thing with the game for me, as someone who has played the game on and off since the original release, is that horizontal progression model. I don't feel like any of my time spent in the game has ever been wasted. That exotic gear I got for my main in those week around launch? I only got rid of that less than a year ago! So gear I saved up for around launch lasted me over ten years. That's absolute insanity, not just for an MMO. It's a game I keep coming back to, and every time I do, all my time spent in years before is still valued by the game.
Honestly, you only need 3 statlines in this game to do almost everything and every build for a character. Celestial for open world, Berserker for power builds, Viper for condition builds. With these 3 you can do whatever you want with no problem and even then, celestial can do everything you want. It's so much stats total that it gives you literally everything to clear any open world content, low fractals, dungeons. Celestial gear is the BnB of this game's gear.
@@zachariz1490 Only problem is how expensive Celestial can be, whilst also making the game significantly easier. Berserker and viper is cheap and easily accessible.
GW2 music was one of my "this is crowning the moment" times. "The Pact Laid Waste" piece was incredible in context. I still remember watching my screen with wide eyes as the characters I had gotten to know and my own character got the rug pulled out from under them, full of confidence after Zhaitan being killed, and immediately being wrecked by Modremoth. Only a brief moment later being thrust into a bitter fight for survival scared for your friends.
QUEEN OF MURK MENTIONED🎉, love the video. I was waiting for you to make this after I saw your tweets about the game. Can’t wait for you to keep finding all the magic that makes this game special.
Heart of Thorns OST is criminally underrated. Sad they don't still have Lena Raine working on the soundtracks anymore. Was happy when she came back to do "The Cycle Ends" for End of Dragons, another great soundtrack.
GW2 possibly my favorite game of all time this was my obsession for like 2 years of my grade school days, now offense to some of the older folks but I grew up watching my dad play GW and GW2 and played quite a bit myself on my own account and a character on his. GW2 will always have a place for me I should play it for a bit my play my favorite class again, necromancers, I know not the best class but I enjoyed playing it
agree the music is the best part. i started playing GW1 when i was a kid. and since then till now, the music is still so magical, calming, amazing, and being part of my life. there is also a lot of gw1 music to hear in gw2 and i love that! thanks for the enthusiasm 💛
Oooh, I have been watching your videos on gaming music for a while, I am so glad you discovered my game! I have been playing since launch, have taken breaks here and there because life without fear I will be comprehensively left behind and having to grind my way back. I envy you for being able to explore everything for the first time, it is such a good experience. Also, seconding doing Octovine in Auric Basin for the battle of Tarir music. Beating the fight and the change in the music gives me the happiest chills, no matter how many times I have done it, and I have done it probably hundreds of times.
I would have never expected to see Marco and Guild Wars 2 in the same video, glad that you're loving this game, the community is just the best. I hope lots of new players come and try this fantastic game, im nearing the 10k hours and im still loving every single part of it
Fantastic video, so glad to see people cherish the OST as much as I do. I hope you've listened to the Heart of Thorns soundtrack as well, songs like Rata Novus give me goosebumps every single time. Honestly perfection to my uneducated ears
gw2 has one of the nicest communities i’ve ever encountered!! ive played for almost 9 years now and i can count my negative experiences on one hand. there are entire guilds whose sole purpose is to help new players learn the game and get their foot in the door of end game content, and i’ve never seen that in any other game!! the music is one of my favorite aspects of the game, it’s always been in my top artist and i think it will be for the rest of time!! i highly recommend you listen to all of the elder dragon themes, as well as some of the raid tracks!! my personal favorites are ‘slothasor’, ‘vale guardian’, and ‘the largo twins’!! i’m glad to see you enjoying this game❤
This game means a lot to me and I absolutely love it. I've been playing since 2014, having spent 5,793 h in this game's world, and there's still so much to be done and I still have fun. I will never not have fun playing GW2. I may not have the time to grind all day every day, some days are more casual, and some days I don't log in at all, but the fact that I can still gain so much and get somewhere in the game speaks volumes So it makes me so happy to hear you have such love for this game. Please keep playing, for the world is happy to have you. You could also go back and play the story in order, for enjoyment purposes, but then you could see the great bromance that is Rytlock and Canach unfold (my 2 favourite characters). Btw, all of Path of Fire happened because Rytlock made a little whoopsie Personally, my favourite soundtrack song is Fear Not This Night. It's probably a bigger song and a more generic answer but it just hits home for me ever since it played after having beaten the big bad of the original personal story with my boyfriend way back when Something that is always fun for me is when story dialogue, even to this day, changes according to your character's race There's so much to be said about how amazing it is regarding mounts, combat systems, player movement, community, music, visuals, art style, old content never becoming irrelevant, gear, not being pay to win, goals, your time, etc. but I would probably hit a word cap if there is one
I'm really glad you are enjoying GW2, I'd love to see you analyse in depth each of the expac/living world soundtracks, I think they are so masterfully done and they effectively tell the story through the music. The Battle of Breachmaker or the various Tarir soundtracks are some of my favourites
We did it. A video that talks about GW2 music without mentioning "Fear Not This Night", "The Great Toymaker", or "Battle on the Breachmaker".
I mean those are all awesome songs too, but they're the commonly focused on tracks and the game has so many great tracks that it's actually nice to see others get the recognition they deserve.
I want more people to talk about "The Cycle Ends". Whenever I hear the start of the song, it makes me feel like (as a P/P engineer) I'm about to get off a semi-crashing airship and land on the blood soaked jade sands of Canthan Normandy Beach.
@@dmastermanga I like it even more considering the context of it.. Literally The End of the Dragon Cycle. Such a fitting track for the finale of the Elder Dragons Saga.
well, u should check out the original GW soundtrack by Jeremy Soul
@@SHADOWRUNNER254 It's so incredibly sad he is cancelled so no more GW2 music and Elders Scrolls 6 music.
The charr Triumphant. Nuff said
I love everything that Gw2 has offered me in tje beginning as a f2p, respected my time, didn't feel like I had to play regularly or my character would disappear, and that made me buy the game, well, that and no monthly sub, god that feels great. After that, it was like the sense of wonder that I didn't had in a long time. From the Dangerous and beautiful Jungles of Maguuma, to The great wonders of Cantha, the experience this game left me will always be a standart for games in the future. And Anet has been giving this great love for more than a decade, can't wait to see whats next for the future.
A 5k hour veteran here. I know you from your From Soft Ost reaction. This video is a realy suprise. GW2 is one of the most underratet MMOs. Most Friendly Community, Best Open world, good instance PVE, good PVP/WVW. Yes as a beginner this game can be overwhelming, because every content is revelant and you have to make your own goals, but there are multiple ways to do it. But if you have question the community has answeres.
I think that is partially ArenaNet's fault. At first, their marketing department (used to be) a dead gold fish. They didn't do any real marketing which is a big mistake if you go against giants like Bethesda, SquareEnix, Blizzard.
But also, after launch, GW2 tried really hard to capitalize on their reputation that it is a very different game. GW1 was very different from other popular MMOs (in fact I'd barely call GW1 an MMO these days). But for the MMO community at large, that wasn't a good thing. Like, not having mounts, for example.
I think they learnt from their mistake. Not just did they introduce the best mount system in the industry and actually managed to offer awesome features for every expansion that stay relevant and awesome even in the latest expansion but they also learnt from the failure of Living World.
who asked about your time spent
I'd say every mmo is overwhelming for new players, but gw2 has a lot of features that make it much less unforgiving.
Most long time players, like me, love to see new players and content creators who finally try out Guild Wars 2 and realize how great it is. Of course it's not for everyone, and some people can't get over their addiction to vertical progression games, but most people who can make the break are so relieved and appreciative of GW2 and how the developers respect their valuable time. Welcome to Tyria, and I look forward to seeing what other videos you will make about GW2.
Edit: I wouldn't worry about GW2 becoming too popular and then having too many toxic players. We have our fair share (mostly within the competitive modes) of unsavory players, but it seems to me that the most toxic players don't stay playing GW2 for long, and they migrate to other games where they feel that their toxicity gets more attention and response, to fuel their strange egos. I have always, and will continue, to hope that GW2 gains more players, in hopes that it will lead to more content development for the game and bigger, better, expansion releases. I would love to see a resurgence of Raids, and have Arenanet commit the development resources to creating at least one new Raid instance with each new expansion, every year.
I wonder if GW2’s style of progression tends to weed out a lot of the toxic types. A game that encourages players to help each other and that isn’t hyper competitive with vertical progressions seems to invite less toxicity IMO.
The current composer for GW2, Maclaine Diemer, put out some awesome videos for the End of Dragons expansion that goes into a lot of details about the instruments used for that expansion and I think you'd really dig it. First time viewer to your channel here, and I love the passion and pure joy you give off when the music hits right. So yeah, I think you'd dig the EoD stuff. Great video :)
Maclaine is so great. we're gonna connect for an interview here soon, I'm hoping. He's a terrific composer. Nice to have you! hope you find other videos to enjoy as well :)
@@MarcoMeatballif you haven't seen it yet, look into what all he did with the end of dragons soundtrack. I believe there are several featurettes about it and definitely some inverviews (I think he might have spoke on it at gdc one year as well).
Lol I somehow missed the bulk of the message I was replying to... Sorry to accidentally echo what was just said 😅
GW2 is such a wonderful game and so generous to the player. The fact that your gear will NEVER be obsolete so you dont have to rush in every patch to gear up and you can take breaks every time you want... Truly one of the best MMOs and one respectful business model towards the costumer.
I started playing in 2013, After 10+ years in our main mmo, farming from weapons to ingredients, strategizing, weekly inter-guild politics, power leveling alt characters... suddenly my squad had exactly 6 days vacation because new young squads wanting to do what we did.
We could just farm like usual or we could try a new multiplayer game, after 10 years of literally knowing each other to that extreme... We were close to dip into LoL and other 2 MMOs besides GW2, we did a virtual paper pull.
GW2 show us what is a healthy game relationship, our eyes opened so wide... imagine our leader at the time, suddenly your best squad presenting their accounts and kissing goodbye was not what the Guild leader expected... funfact, 20+ years later and last time, I hear the account retainer moved our main characters to the new deepest floor of the hardest dungeon, same retainer is mostly now a GW2 player who walk guildmates into GW2 after they leave the other one or want vacation... So is funny when I log in and suddenly he mentions to a bunch of new players that I'm the owner of "X equipment/character" and I'm like Patrick screaming "who are you people?!" yet I'm able to join them without worry about my equipment.
My big issue with the game as someone with thousands of hours in it is that anytime I wanna get someone into the game they or I basically need to shell out $150 for all the content, then however much on convenience to make the experience of playing the game not miserable. I think a lot of vets praise it so much without realizing or remembering how much of a slog it is to deal with their intentionally made inconvenience like only having a single bank tab which is just plain not enough for someone who wants to play, or inventory management cuz you don't have the infinite salvage kits, or having inventory space issues again cuz you dont have infinite gathering tools. No, "just farm the gems with gold" is not the answer. Especially for newer players. I've seen so many people excuse GW2's more predatory practices by saying you can just get gems with gold. Sure, that's absolutely true. Once you know how to farm it, can farm it, and willing to farm it on top of getting through the content. I do love the game, but I'd have a better time playing it if they made the new player experience better.
That sounds like a trash game. What’s the point of a looter where you just hold onto the same gear FOREVER that’s boring asf. What’s the point? Just go play a fuckin bullshit single player game at that point. I don’t know what it is about single player gamers branching out into multiplayer games and the scream crying because mmos and multiplayer games aren’t like their single player games. That would be like me going to a burger joint and wondering why I can’t order fish. It’s just Brain dead to me. This comment is all I needed to see to not waste money on a game that doesn’t want you to play it. So thanks for this btw.
@@Dbdjcusonr You don't even know how the system works and just started to spew some bullshit. Don't play it, the game don't need toxic people like you :)
@@Dbdjcusonr just because gear is not obsolete doesn't mean loot is not important... Before wow had those stereotypes set into mmos, god-like items existed and the legendary system exist here in GW2 as similar.
But also this is why no new MMOs survive that easy... They fall so easy into stagnation. WoW is suffering from its own systems and copying from rivals, that single player raid is just copying again from some established MMOs. And while soulborne games are look like peak player skill, that gameplay existed since 00s... Due to always been players who wanted that challenge or took over as last resource.
Sad thing, during COVID the graveyard system for guild halls was the saddest use of loot done. Those 2-4 joking tombstones (and serious in some cases) became many in many guilds... I remember crying after creating basic items after we lost a guildmate who was a mother of 3. Last year the oldest started and weep at her tomb in-game.
A solitary guild member is always changing decorations on his sister tomb.
True MMOs will never be like single games or basic multiplayer games. Heck, sanctum server in GW2 is named after a single player because of the rest of players who where there when he died before game launched. Gear and looting is important but if the game only goals are that you cannot survive in the MMO genre.
Honestly, GW2 is a game I have absolutely adored for its music for so long now. I wholeheartedly agree with everything you've said here. I do want to add though, if you've finished PoF, you should ABSOLUTELY play Living World Season 4, which follows on from it. Even above Heart of Thorns, which many people regard as having some of the most iconic music in the entire game, I think you'll adore Season 4 for its music. Both the ambient tracks, and a few places where the music and gameplay itself feel so, so entwined.
Played half of it for roller beetle :)
@@MarcoMeatball Just to add a bit to that, Joko is the best antagonist in the game imo and he's very prevalent in LWS4 so would highly recommend playing it for him as well.
@@MarcoMeatball Aha! Although IMO the best half for music is the back half, so definitely do continue where you left off!
Blish's Wish 😢
@@MarcoMeatball one of the best melodic and cinematic moments in the game for me is the battle in the auditorium at the end of season 4 episode 5.
Another fun thing about GW2 is that while you're out there grinding the map, getting your vistas, interest points etc, if some of the people finished up with the bosses etc and moving on to another map, you get a pop up that says that there aren't much people left in the map, you can leave and join new map, or after like 1 hour you automatically go to new map. Just go to new map, it even keeps you where you were and the map is full of people running around again doing events etc. It's actually nice.
yes!
Server shard
I'm so happy you enjoyed it as much as you did Marco, as someone that has an MMO problem and has played hundreds of hours of all the more "mainstream" ones, GW2 has always been my top 1
I've been playing GW2 since launch. What I love most about it is that I can stop playing for years at a time and come back without my gear becoming useless. The community, even if there are some bad apples, is full to the brim with kind, open players old and new who are ready to help if you need it. I've played Rappelz, WoW, ESO,... but none came even close to GW2. I can say it proudly, it is my all time favorite MMO. A gem of an RPG.
Same, you can stop and not fearing to miss out (at least since season 2 lol) and everything is still here and relevant !
i honestly feel the same. despite also loving ffxiv. it feels so vast to me.
Agree fully with everything you're saying, but just had to mention that coming from playing Rappelz as a kid it was very jarring to see the Asura in GW2 being little psychotic engineer mice rather than emo elves. And they're still my favourite race in both games :D
Your recent GW2 streams got me to redownload the game, and now I've spent the past month playing little else. It's such a special game.
Wait till you hear "The Seraph" or "The Cycle Ends" or "Dragonflight"...or...sooo many other epic tracks that are soooo much elevated by the moments they do play in.
Oh and then there is also dynamic event music that changes depending on the stage of the event, like with "Attack on Tarir" from the Heart of Thorns expansion :)
Also, some little extreme nerd facts:
In Guild Wars 1 there was an area that was called "The Crystal Desert" and when you play as the Revenant class with the Herald specialization and switch on all the aspects, they all play first few notes of "The Crystal Desert" in a very slow manner.
And some of the skills of the Mesmer like the Portal might sound weirdly familiar since they do play the first few notes of GW2's Main Theme, just in reverse 😁
the way music intertwines with gameplay in season 4 all or nothing with crystal dragon track is just such wonderful experience
@@numimimi The crystal dragon track gave me outright chills tbh
Also Eagle's Flight and The Tengu Wall. I learned both of them on my flute years ago and play them all the time. I even went to the 10th anniversary event, met 2 of the composers of Gw2 music, got their pictures, showed them videos of me playing their music. They were so touched that they actually had ORIGINAL sheet music for a couple Cantha songs(like that the composers and performers wrote on) in the trunk of their car, and went and gave it to me!!! I laminated it and sent a video of me playing it to both of them. It was one of the best experiences of my life
The cycle ends hits fucking different
Oh snap I did not know that, super cool
Guild Wars 2 has been my favorite mmo since it first launched back in 2012. It has had it's up's and downs like any mmo, but it remains one of the most consistent games of any of it's genre out there. The community is one of the best in general, always welcoming new players and helping them out. The world is easy to navigate yet at the same time easy to get lost in in terms of immersion. And the music, I mean you said everything that needed to be said Marco. I don't think there is one objectively bad track in this entire game. Also, Charr are the best race don't @ me. 😉
Sylvari are the best race 😉
Ahem, we asura beg the difference 😁
@@mittenvonscrufflears7233 Slyvari are just Elder Dragon salad minions :D
@@graphicsblacksmith Charr punt Asura for sport. :D
@@EmptyBrewsky You just hate us because we're beautiful 😩💅
Charr are just sexist furries who lost their land to humans and can't stop their own race from killing each other in civil wars, skill issue fr fr
I've always loved how friendly the GW2 community is. I still remember grinding for weeks chest farming in silverwaste and then crafting my first Legendary weapon, linking it in map chat and and getting congrats left and right from strangers.
I've been playing Gw2 for thousands of hours at this point but never noticed how good the music is. I'll definitely pay more attention to it from now on, thanks for your video !
Nice 🫶
As a veteran of 12 years I love your enthusiam for the game and especially the music. Maclaine Diemer is probably my favourite composer for GW2 but there are so many beautiful songs and compositions that leave me nostalgic and teary eyed. I'm so glad you're having fun! Your video got linked on the GW2 discord server and we were gushing about it in the mod/mentor chat
Awwwww thatttttts why it saw a boost suddenly. That’s so cool. That’s the main gw2 discord?
@@MarcoMeatball There isn't really a main or official discord, but we're the most active one and are sort-of kinda still linked to the subreddit. Feel free to check it out if you have the time :)
I'm so glad I clicked on this video. It was such a joy to see you light up about the game. GW2 is my personal favorite MMO, and this comes from a WoW vet since Vanilla. It's refreshing, it's unique, the community is amazing, and it really does feel like an immersive world. Thanks for doing it justice in this video!
Glad you enjoyed it!
5k hours veteran here, been there at launch and keep playing today. Had many breaks, but i keep getting back to GW2, with new goals and motivations each times and without feeling held back cause of my breaks.
World v World has a special place in my heart, never found another experience like this one somewhere else (and i tried!).
Welcome to all new players passing by here, you're about to start a fabulous experience.
Did everything pve for the first year and a bit, then i discovered wvw. All i do is wvw now, and I've been playing going on 4 years soon!
This is so great to hear. GW2 has basically meant 'home' to me for years (I used to play GW1 with my Dad, so we've been playing since release!) so I'm just really happy to see you gush like this. The general GW2 community is so nice because it's so deeply collaborative. It's so nice to see you loving this thing that means so much to me.
And you're totally right that the music just.. exists. When you were playing the Dry Top music, I thought "I don't spend a lot of time in Dry Top, I won't know this as well", but I still knew it by heart.
They reused much of GW1 music because it was still so good.
I'm glad you gave this game a chance! As long as it's still running Guild Wars 2 will be my comfy forever game that I can go back to and know that there's plenty to do and see
i appreciate you pushing me to check the music.
I could listen to you talking about GW2 music for hours honestly, love both the game and your content, so this video was a godsent for me
GW2 is perfect for those who have other responsibilities or other video games to play, because it allows you to choose your goal and pursue it. If that is not respecting your time, I don't know what could be more. Also, GW2 does not destroy your progress when you leave the game. What you have achieved is there waiting for you.
That's why as well as: to one of the most beautiful explorations ever, a collaborative openwold without necessarily having to party, a world alive with events and not static npc's, a combat system as fluid as never before in mmo's, a fair and not oppressive monetization of more of the same things, the best made mounts with different skills from each other and not skins with speed buffs, fantastic music and audio themes.
I can go on but GW2 is unique and that is why like gw1 it will never die
EDIT: devo essere sincero non conoscevo il tuo canale Marco e non sapevo fossi italiano! ( forse dal nome dovevo capirlo XD). E' davvero un piacere sentire che un italiano apprezzi Guild Wars 2!
ciao ciao ti ringrazio. ben arrivato :) spero che trovi altri video che ti portano un po di gioia :)
the only problem i have is when i have to leave game for 1 week is being kick out my guild and lost free node.
I love the world exploration because 3D platformers are so dead as a genre. I'll take anything that still produces that gameplay.
You sound like an old guy
@@trungle6619its a problem on small guilds but larger guild allows you to take a break however you want as long as you told them, they wont kick you in their monthly cleanup.
Welcome in the GW2 family ! I think your analysis of the music is pretty good. It really feels like most of the time it's there to complement the overall experience, rather than being a product of the landscape or forcefully shade your experience with specific colors if that makes any sense (like in action movies, if you take away the music it's just not the same anymore). It all blends and melds together "naturally" for lack of a better word atm.
Cool video! If I could suggest some of my favourite tracks from GW2 which you may enjoy:
-The Cycle Ends (there are a bunch of versions because it's a looong boss fight theme which shifts through a series of phases, they're all great)
-The Largos Twins
-Battle on the Breachmaker
-Attack on Tarir
All of these are by the incredible Lena Raine either alone or in collaboration with the awesome Maclaine Diemer
And then there's Fear Not This Night from the base game OST which is always a favourite and I'm sure has been recommended to you many times before.
Already yapped in the premiere chat but gotta put in my 2 copper for gw2 rep. Account is 12 years from the early access beta date and my charr engineer has been my main, my most beloved character of all time. He carries me no matter how mid the story gets (there are rough patches let’s be real here)
I hadn’t realised one of my fave tracks - Eagle Flight - apparently only plays at one point in the story / adventure it’s tied to, but there’s something about it that’s.. uplifting? Inspiring? with its variations / movements and I’m glad I know what it’s called so that I can properly loop it, haha.
The base game is free, and there’s no sub fee if you like what you experience, so you can always try it out and see how it is for yourself. Cheers!
I've played the game from its release.
12 years in. I still find things in core maps that I'm sure I've never seen before. Let alone the expansions.
No other game has kept me this invested.
Game setup, described by various BG music:
WoW - Landscapes / Views
FF14 - Epic / YOU are the hero.
GW2 - ... story. Everything is a story, and BG music complements that.
I’d say that’s spot on and a nice tldr of the video 😂
I really love this sum up, thanks you
I played GW2 for a looong time through the first 3 expansions, but kinda fell off it when a lot of the friends I was playing with switched to FFXIV. Now honestly feels like a great time to go back to it. The horizontal progression really does make it so much less intimidating to go back to it having missed years of content, and not feeling like I need to play 100h+ to catch up on the gear grind.
Now to go relisten to Battle on the Breachmaker for the 50th time
I genuinely find it satisfying and feels a lot better than some of the vertical stuff
This was such a refreshing take on Gw2. Been playing casually since the beginning. Never ever bored. I love the music. Thank you for highlighting it. It’s a great community!
Glad you enjoyed!
As a veteran player who has been playing GW2 for over 10 years, it brings me SO much joy to see new players being so excited about diving into all the game has to offer! I love this game and its community so much - I'm so happy that new players are still willing to take a chance on it :)
Also! If you haven't yet heard "Aurene, Dragon Full of Light" from the GW2 living world series, I'd highly recommend checking it out!
Love your take on this game. It is amazing and it gets too little information out there about HOW good it is. I love a game you can wander around - find so many side quests, adventures, secret cookies in the game ! Love it so much. Your take on the music is great too . thank you !
One of my favourite MMORPG with beautiful soundtrack. Combat System which never bored me. This is one of the game which I can literally sit in one zone and listen to the music. "Fear Not This Night" is still my favourite piece which I can listen endlessly.
You know what would make a good video/mini series? The wonderfully diverse Elder Dragon themes. Jeremy Soule seems like a tough act to follow but Maclaine/Lena/Stan et al. nail it so goddamn hard
The music is so good, most of the time it makes me cry if I listen to it outside the game, because there's nothing to distract me and the memories just flow through me like I personally lived through the game's story!! 🥺
I never run so fast to check out, dude my favorite game (almost 6000 hours) and one thing that made me feel in love with this game when I discovered was the music while I move across the base game maps... Even tho Jeremy Soul only did the base game music the music for expansions keep being good
Man, I just love seeing other people discovering and having fun with my favorite game
Omg! This is such a surprise! I love GW2 and it's music but its so under rated that I never expected you to review it. Please review the End of Dragons OST. I ran so much of Soo-Won's boss event (even though it takes an hour or two to finish) because I love love love the music going while the epic fight went on.
I have been playing sense launch and I can honestly say that GW2 is my favorite video game of all time. It warms my heart seeing someone else who appreciates the musical score as much as I do.
As a GW2 lover I absolutely agree!
It gives you the right amount of freedom. In my opinion at least.
Many different mounts! A lovely story. So good music.
Even if you decide to take a break for days, weeks or even months or years, you don’t really miss out on anything.
Many different ways to enjoy this MMO. Solo or in a group.
The community is very helpful too!
It’s my absolute favorite MMO for years now and I love it. It’s just my place to go after a hard day of work to relax. It respects my time I can spare to enjoy playing video games and I love it for that.
the solo aspect is wonderful to me.
As a veteran my favourite GW2 music is from Heart of Thorns, beautiful pieces in Tarir or moody Rata Novus. Icebrood Saga also had some fantastic pieces of music too!
I love it that GW2 gets some appreciation for its music. I have been playing Guild Wars for half my life now ( GW and then GW2) and the music is a huge part of the experience. The composing has really been underrated
It was so nice to see that you dedicated a whole section of the video to the music. I’m a musician as well, and I also love Guild Wars 2. It’s really exciting to see someone new to the game be so enthusiastic about it! Talking about the music like you did was so refreshing to me-I really appreciated your video. I’m definitely turning the game music back on again.
My channel is pretty much focused exclusively on music but sometimes I like to do an opinion piece or a “review” and prioritize the music since no one else does that! 🫶
Marco, you must listen “Knight of embers” or “Attack on Tarir” from gw2. this game has a lot of masterpieces.
Not to mention Tarir, The Forgotten City. ua-cam.com/video/UH1IQ_fZjto/v-deo.html Probably my favourite piece from Heart of Thorns
You should go to Grothmar Valley and do the Metal Legion event and witness the Ballad of Soul keeper. It's still in my top 3 best events.
I'm so glad you covered Guild Wars 2 in a video! It is one of my favorite games by far.
What really sets the game apart from others to me is how well designed every aspect of the game is; from the combat, the exploration and even stuff like the game economy among other things. I think so many games could learn a thing or two from GW2.
I hope I can you on some more GW2 streams!
Best regards from Canada
I think the reason people are nice compared to other mmos is in gw2 there is little to no competitiveness. No stealing nodes, no stealing loot, no kill stealing etc. And helping others is rewarded, like healing and giving boons are counted towards kill and event participation, even reviving someone gives as much xp as killing mobs.
Yes thats the main reason, and in fact if you go in high rank pvp, ppl are toxic af 😂 (5.5k hours veteran here)
@@vrinels718 Well, that's any competetive game mode everywhere
@@vrinels718 you forgot raid elitists. they are the worst.
It's the game I always wished for back in my WoW days.
Guild wars 2 has been nothing but a joy for me to experience. Glad you had fun and hope to see you in Tyria in your spare time :D
I do miss GW2.
As someone who spent 99% of my time solo playing MMOs (not too much by any measure), I’ve had the fondest memories of MMO gaming in GW2 😊
I'm so happy seeing your joy of the game cause this is exactly how I felt when on my 3rd try of GW2 it all just, clicked!
GW2 is the first MMO in 20 years that makes me feel like it's a living, breathing world. the progression you go through as a character also feels very RPG with the way you unlock things that don't feel useless, It has an amazing sense of progression.
I've been a guild wars fan since the first game. And embarrassingly logged 18k hours in gw2. I'm so happy to hear you've been enjoying yourself. For me the most iconic song for gw is A Land Restored. Gives me a giant dose of nostalgia whenever I hear it. Was wondering if you had a chance to listen to Fear Not This Night, or sanctum sprint (this song in particular is so fun and I think it goes under the radar a lot)?
I got sucked into this game after someone in discord would not stop talking about it. I love Sylvari and the games story so much
sylvari are so cool imo
i want to play this game but idk none of my friends play it and it seems hard to find people
is it still alive and well?
@@sv_1407dl oh it’s alive alright. Just fishing doing a round of world bosses and there was well over a hundred people at each one.
@@sv_1407dl community is very friendly and ive basically ONLY played solo!
@@sv_1407dl You can easily hop in there and find some new friends.
And even if that doesn't happen, it still is a great gaming experience, even as a single player ^^
12 year veteran player and agree the music is so good. Even after all this time it sometimes stops me in the middle of game-play just to let it wash over. And that Dry Top music... always stunning.
someone once said "GW2 is the Canada of MMOs" and I never heard something more true lol
lolllll
As a Canadian, and a GW2 player, I support this.
As someone who has over 15000 hours in the game, I can say it is worth your time. I however am burnt out. I started in 2012. Not many other options out there for this type of game. My personal favorite part of the game is raids. Sometimes I have to take a break, and come back in a few months. The business model allows me to do that with no problem.
I mean that’s so many hours 😂 you’ve definitely gotten your fill huh
I am a vet of GW2 from day 1, and the game is awesome in so many ways. But if you simply made videos about the music of GW2, I would watch them all! There are tracks of GW2 that I will happily play in the car just to listen to them. At certain seasons of my life, there were tracks I would go to over and over again.
I love the music in this game so much. Im biased because this is my first MMO love, everything in this game just feels right. Coming back from a stint of FFXIV where the music is in your face and repeats ad nauseum, it is so refreshing to have tracks fade in and out and not demand all your attention. And the game still has rousing tracks too. Largos Twins, The Cycle Ends, Attack on Tarir, Sands of Chaos and more! The soundtrack is stunning. Maclaine Diemer does a fantastic job whenever he composes, and all of the other composers they have brought on for expansions like End of Dragons and Janthir Wilds have blown me away. Goated soundtrack 🐐
I'm OK with FFXIV soundtrack being like that. It's on brand and a huge seller for the game and it's battles. Other games do atmosphere much better but FFXIV is all about jamming tunes to movie like cutscenes and battles.
GW2 is such a gem! Thank you for your awesome video :)
I personally always have GW2 as my secondary MMO while rotating between many of the Triple A Vertical Progression MMOs.
I feel GW2 is a great place to relax and play the game at your own pace. I play for the experiences that I have with other players.
I feel as I have gotten older, the concept of GW2 is becoming more and more appealing as the years go by and having more commitments out of the game leads to certain games where your gear and stats are constantly improved upon every patch becomes more of a chore than enjoyment. I prefer Horizontal Progression a-lot now, especially since I have branched out to many other Genres of gaming, I love the pick up and play formulae that most new games tend to focus on. Love it or hate it, GW2 is here to stay, especially for people who love the MMO concept, but rather than chasing a number every patch, we play for the experiences. In comparison to your typical vertical progression MMOs, every new patch you are focused on one thing, quickly acquiring the highest Item Level gear. Every quest, dungeon, raid, world quest you do, you are thinking of the gear, you are tunnel visioned on that one goal, while you are completely ignoring the new content in-front of you.
Even though GW2 has no gear progression, the ability to customize your build is quite amazing, sure if you want to maximize your DPS, there's only a handful of choices. You can choose to do harder content or stick with the more casual content. The beauty of GW2 is that you are rewarded for doing either. Now that the PvE Open World Legendary armor is released, players of all skill levels have access to the best gear in-game. Unlike in your typical Vertical Progression MMO where the best gear is locked behind difficult raids or pvp. Sure you can make counter arguments for each of these points, however what I'm trying to say is that GW2 gives all players an even playing field in terms of 'Power', the difference lies in your skill and dedication to the game, not some arbitrary number that is artificially increased every patch which leads players to be blinded to what's in-front of them.
Nothing like hanging around the Homestead doing a spot of fishing and just appeciating the music and the ambient sound. Never get to appreciate The Bog Queen's theme as I'm too busy fighting for my life! Still love the music from the Metal Legion concert, as an aging Mosher it brings back memories of being in "the pit" in the early 1990s!
ive been playing since release and it was the first MMO that made my eyes leak. the world, the music the way that it wants you to explore it has a very special place in my heart even when I stopped playing so much of it I would come back for every content release and buy every expansion. the story can be meh at times but some of the npcs you meet can really hold a place in your mind. An apple vendor could be your best friend for life.
I can't believe I didn't watch this video earlier but I'm so glad you absolutely adore GW2. This video feels like a passionate love letter and I'm excited and relieved you loved it so much. Also! Love to see the appreciation for Drytop. It's one of my favorite ambient OSTs but I rarely see it get the appreciation it deserves with how it swaddles the player in a comforting way as they're travelling through the land. I hope you do some analysis videos on more gw2 music. Theres so much that is underappreciated but beautifully crafted and I feel like you'd thoroughly enjoy the music from most anywhere in Tyria.
Woah, i didn't know you're playing it! I remember you reacting to the songs, wlecome to this amazing game and community
GW2 is the epitome of what a MMORPG is; while it doesn't have the cultural impact as the big two (WoW and FFXIV), it's a love letter to the genre, focusing on everything that make the MMO genre so enjoyable. By far has the best on-boarding and levelling experience I've had in any MMO; the combat feels unique and impactful, quests are more than fetching and killing things, and the social aspect of the game feels really generous and natural through the use of world events and WvW. On occasion I will listen to the base game's OST, which was composed by Jeremy Soule of Elder Scrolls fame.
it's funny, you released your video exactly when I was so nostalgic about GW2 and its original soundtrack I'm currently listening to it while I'm working.
The first composer of GW2 is Jeremy Soule, which is easy to hear since some tracks remain Skyrim OST.
I hear Janthir Wilds soudtrack and I feel I am HOME and when I first started with GW2 after some break from WoW I had the same feeling.. like.. I.. am...HOME... after long, strange trip
There's sooo much amazing music sprinkled through out that game....lots of variety as well.
Me and my boyfriend just finished are Session of GW2 just right now as the writing of this comment. Heading close into Icebrood Saga. My BF was catching up until we can do two other expansions I have not done fully yet is Secrets of the Obscured and Janthier Wilds. Was a long long journey too. Was fun playing the story together. I been in the game for 8 years. Another song that is under rated is "Fear not this night" Its a GW2 Song that even mentions the legendary weapons, Sunrise, Twilight and Eternity.
I love how this game respects your time as a customer. No FOMO, no p2w cause there is essentially nothing to win, no stupid sub fees, horizontal progression, instant pvp if you wish, great pve experience, by far the best mount system in any MMO out there, magical zones ( Verdant Brink's verticality ftw) and many more. When modern companies are putting out a plethora of MMOs and want you to get the next gear piece so your character is now 0.00001% stronger , Anet delivers the whole experience of how it is to actually enjoy an MMO while playing at your own pace.
GW2 Vet here and i will give just one of the million things that make this game great:
-End game content is linked to old areas on porpuse. So a end game legendary weapons or achievments asks you to go low level zones, vanilla zones as a max level player. When you get there your character will be scaled to that zone level. Ie if you are a lvl 80 character in a begginer zone (lvl 1 to 15) you will be scaled to this levels so are your stats, dmg, HP, etc. For exemple "go to kessex hills (lvl 15-25 zone) and kill the spider queen there to complet one of 20 steps to get a nice mask skin" So when you get there you will be turned lvl 25 once again and fight side to side with trully low level players and you WILL NEED this new player's help while he is killing the same champion for another porpuse or rewards. This makes all the zones of the game still vibrant and populated. Vets always wants to help because they love the game and wants you to love it too. They want you to see their cool skins, cool titles and inspire you to continue your jorney. They will help you, guide you, hell they will even dive their mounts in your enemies to revive you! Its EPIC!
It’s such a cool thing imo
I discovered you when reviewing genshin music, and now you're talking about my favorite game that i started to play 2013 :') ty talking about it, im so happy you liked it (am FR sorry for bad english)
I'm working through the story slowly but steadily. Currently plowing through the Icewind Saga. I played 3000+ hours of Guild Wars 1. Adult life has limited me to just 250+h in Guild Wars 2, but working on it. Love that I can do it all in my own pace. And the music is just sublime!
Speaking of the music, I'd love for you to deep dive and listen to the main themes from the very first to the most recent one and see and talk about how it has progressed :) It's quite the journey!
This is one of my longest played games, I've always passively enjoyed the music but seeing a video focusing on it has made me appreciate it even more. I'm glad you enjoy the game and welcome to the community! :)
I tried playing wow today and I was like nah… lol
I'm glad to see you playing GW2! Enjoy the ride!
I'd like to take the opportunity to promote 4 songs from Guild Wars. Many songs from the first game carried on to the second, but I think these ones don't appear in the sequel:
1) Tome of Rubicon (slight possibility of appearance in GW2, not sure)
2) Guild Wars Factions Main theme
3) Land of the Golden Sun
4) Overture from Eye of the North (picked this one because I think it's the first time the current GW theme appears, you can hear it in several songs in GW2, even in the first Janthir Wilds theme in your video).
For songs appearing in GW2, I'll wait until you discover them yourself!
Have seen a few of your vids around and love your takes on the music for many games. The GW2 soundtrack is a major bop and I'm glad you're loving the game as a whole. It really respects player time a lot... it's the perfect MMO for people who have lives and full time jobs, or just not a lot of time in general to game. And as someone who has walked away for a couple years here and there, it's always nice to come back and not feel pressured to play catch-up like in other games. Everything is where I left it and none of my efforts feel obsolete.
Hope to see more from you like this as you play more of the game! :)
🫶🫶🫶thank you!
This was my first time watching any of your content. Im an XIV player looking to make the jump into GW2 and was curious about the community and the game in general. In this video, you made me so excited to start GW2, excited about the community and the journey I'll be going on and the way you spoke about the soundtrack pulled me in even further. Thank you.
I stopped xiv because I really didn’t enjoy dawntrail at all and I realized I spend half my time in cutscenes. So I switched. Haven’t looked back yet
Been playing it for 2 weeks nonstop ever since I saw you play it more than any other game.
YT recommended me this and i thought it was gonna just be a normal MMO-Catch-up-Review video and instead became such a musically nerdy video. i was just thinking today how most of the wow nostalgia and hype is specifically from the music of the intro zones, at its baseline of why it was so great. thanks for the video man! will subscribe and hope to see more!
That was a wonderful video about game and music, you helped me to listen the music and understand it more. Couple times got also tears in my eyes, wonderful work man, thanks!
Aw thank you so much!
Marco, I really enjoyed the way you talked about GW2. I've been playing it for 8 years, it's definitely my favorite game. Obviously it has ups and downs between each expansion, but it's a game in which I always find something that catches my attention and I always have fun with everything I do in the world, it's fantastic. Oh, and the music is amazing. Every time I hear a GW2 melody, the specific place I was in comes to mind: The Silver Wastes, Ascalon, Dragon's Defense, The Crystal Desert... so many other places, and I love the community.
Started playing like 2 weeks ago and I've been hooked as well lol
ya i played all those hours in 4 weeks LOL.
GW2 is just not the same kind of MMO. You don't compete for monster spawns or boss spawns... everyone who participates gets their share. You don't compete for resource nodes... it's there for everyone who visits. The community is good because the game rewards sharing. 12-year-old content is still valid and good because of the horizontal progression & the way we all still benefit from that decade+ reward. They figured out a system where people can play together in a less toxic way & have fun.
Honestly, the biggest thing with the game for me, as someone who has played the game on and off since the original release, is that horizontal progression model. I don't feel like any of my time spent in the game has ever been wasted. That exotic gear I got for my main in those week around launch? I only got rid of that less than a year ago! So gear I saved up for around launch lasted me over ten years. That's absolute insanity, not just for an MMO. It's a game I keep coming back to, and every time I do, all my time spent in years before is still valued by the game.
Honestly, you only need 3 statlines in this game to do almost everything and every build for a character. Celestial for open world, Berserker for power builds, Viper for condition builds. With these 3 you can do whatever you want with no problem and even then, celestial can do everything you want. It's so much stats total that it gives you literally everything to clear any open world content, low fractals, dungeons. Celestial gear is the BnB of this game's gear.
@@zachariz1490 Only problem is how expensive Celestial can be, whilst also making the game significantly easier. Berserker and viper is cheap and easily accessible.
GW2 music was one of my "this is crowning the moment" times. "The Pact Laid Waste" piece was incredible in context. I still remember watching my screen with wide eyes as the characters I had gotten to know and my own character got the rug pulled out from under them, full of confidence after Zhaitan being killed, and immediately being wrecked by Modremoth. Only a brief moment later being thrust into a bitter fight for survival scared for your friends.
QUEEN OF MURK MENTIONED🎉, love the video. I was waiting for you to make this after I saw your tweets about the game. Can’t wait for you to keep finding all the magic that makes this game special.
nice presentation of the game
Heart of Thorns OST is criminally underrated. Sad they don't still have Lena Raine working on the soundtracks anymore. Was happy when she came back to do "The Cycle Ends" for End of Dragons, another great soundtrack.
It the moto for GW2 : Eveything you do is useful, everything.
Never in my life would I ever imagine seeing a vid about gw2 from you
I'm so happy ^^
GW2 possibly my favorite game of all time this was my obsession for like 2 years of my grade school days, now offense to some of the older folks but I grew up watching my dad play GW and GW2 and played quite a bit myself on my own account and a character on his. GW2 will always have a place for me I should play it for a bit my play my favorite class again, necromancers, I know not the best class but I enjoyed playing it
Welcome.
agree the music is the best part. i started playing GW1 when i was a kid. and since then till now, the music is still so magical, calming, amazing, and being part of my life. there is also a lot of gw1 music to hear in gw2 and i love that! thanks for the enthusiasm 💛
Oooh, I have been watching your videos on gaming music for a while, I am so glad you discovered my game! I have been playing since launch, have taken breaks here and there because life without fear I will be comprehensively left behind and having to grind my way back. I envy you for being able to explore everything for the first time, it is such a good experience.
Also, seconding doing Octovine in Auric Basin for the battle of Tarir music. Beating the fight and the change in the music gives me the happiest chills, no matter how many times I have done it, and I have done it probably hundreds of times.
There some really great soundtracks in LS4 and EoD, I think you'll be quite happy with that
Been seeing a few videos about GW2 lately. It’s kinda making me want to play it again.
I would have never expected to see Marco and Guild Wars 2 in the same video, glad that you're loving this game, the community is just the best. I hope lots of new players come and try this fantastic game, im nearing the 10k hours and im still loving every single part of it
Fantastic video, so glad to see people cherish the OST as much as I do. I hope you've listened to the Heart of Thorns soundtrack as well, songs like Rata Novus give me goosebumps every single time. Honestly perfection to my uneducated ears
gw2 has one of the nicest communities i’ve ever encountered!! ive played for almost 9 years now and i can count my negative experiences on one hand. there are entire guilds whose sole purpose is to help new players learn the game and get their foot in the door of end game content, and i’ve never seen that in any other game!!
the music is one of my favorite aspects of the game, it’s always been in my top artist and i think it will be for the rest of time!!
i highly recommend you listen to all of the elder dragon themes, as well as some of the raid tracks!! my personal favorites are ‘slothasor’, ‘vale guardian’, and ‘the largo twins’!!
i’m glad to see you enjoying this game❤
This game means a lot to me and I absolutely love it. I've been playing since 2014, having spent 5,793 h in this game's world, and there's still so much to be done and I still have fun. I will never not have fun playing GW2. I may not have the time to grind all day every day, some days are more casual, and some days I don't log in at all, but the fact that I can still gain so much and get somewhere in the game speaks volumes
So it makes me so happy to hear you have such love for this game. Please keep playing, for the world is happy to have you. You could also go back and play the story in order, for enjoyment purposes, but then you could see the great bromance that is Rytlock and Canach unfold (my 2 favourite characters). Btw, all of Path of Fire happened because Rytlock made a little whoopsie
Personally, my favourite soundtrack song is Fear Not This Night. It's probably a bigger song and a more generic answer but it just hits home for me ever since it played after having beaten the big bad of the original personal story with my boyfriend way back when
Something that is always fun for me is when story dialogue, even to this day, changes according to your character's race
There's so much to be said about how amazing it is regarding mounts, combat systems, player movement, community, music, visuals, art style, old content never becoming irrelevant, gear, not being pay to win, goals, your time, etc. but I would probably hit a word cap if there is one
I'm really glad you are enjoying GW2, I'd love to see you analyse in depth each of the expac/living world soundtracks, I think they are so masterfully done and they effectively tell the story through the music. The Battle of Breachmaker or the various Tarir soundtracks are some of my favourites