Guild Wars 2

Do you ever find a game that is just so tailored to what you enjoy you wonder where it has been your whole life? That's what Guild Wars 2 is like for me. And as it says, no subscription, no pay-to-win. Only pay to get the expansions and some vanity/practical items to make your life easier.

You can cook, craft weapons and armour, you can have pets, and customise your character to your heart's content. You can choose your profession then pick their specialisms and develop their combat style.

The world is huge; there are cities, towns and countries to explore. Secret caves and islands. Lore galore if that's your thing.

...Yes you will end up taking lots of vanity shots of your PC, at least I do. in fact once you reach LV80 most armour choices aesthetic rather than practical. As unless it's rare armour it will have the same protection rating.

Now, there is a preniumn currency in the form of gems, but trust me this isn't some frenium mobile game. Gems can be earned with in game gold rather than spending real money. They can pay for account upgrades, but nothing you strictly need to play. When I have spent money for gems I have never thought 'I regret getting that' after. If you are someone who struggles to keep their spending under control then I'd be careful playing GW2.

Without spoiling too much, the story for this game is great. The first part you get with the base game is pretty good, but as you work your way though the expansions, the writing picks up more and more. The voice acting for your character is great too and it really feels like a lot of effort was put into making players feel like the race and profession they picked at the start actually matters.

I did find some of the living world expansions started to feel a little grindy, but not enough to put it in the 'thoughts' section as a negative. And even then, the story kept me going.

So, I've noticed that a lot of GW2 players I've come across are autistic. Now, one of the guilds I am part of is for ND people, so I'd think I'm being biased. The other guild I am part of is full of ND people. Here we have a forum post with loads of people saying that yes, they also have autism and helping the poster because people who play GW2 are on the whole lovely. Here we have a Reddit poster talking about how the game helped them.

I myself have autism and love this game. It hits all my little autistic needs. Collecting things, the things I collect being used to craft other things, opening surprise item bags, clear rules and expectations (that are broken just enough to keep things fun), repetitive tasks. There are frequent rewards (without feeling like I am being taken advantage of to spend money.)

Tips to play GW2.

• Character profession complexity means how easy it is to play that profession.
• However, play what seems fun to you. Games are for having fun after all.
• Store all crafing items to stop your inventory filling up.
• Get the game from the arena netsite, not Steam.
• Look into something called Blish HUD for GW2, you will thank me.

Tips for gems vs coins (see 'thoughts' for more on gems.)

• Don't get transmutation charges via the gem store - you can get them elsewhere without spending money.
• Check the custom exchange rate for gold to gems, it changes frequently and you may get a good deal on gems by keeping an eye out.

Overall this is a great game I'd been putting off playing MMOs for years because I perceived it'd be full of jerks. But in GW2 I have had so many positive encounters with strangers. Be it them resurrecting me when my character dies, or working together to take down a boss.

I do feel some parts of the game get a little gimmiky, and sometimes people get intense in WvW - but at worst I've been called a 'noob.' Not great but a hell of a lot better than you'd get in other games.

You can download the game direct from Arena Net. No, I am not linking the Steam version, trust me you want to download it direct.