My wife and I have been jonesing for a "new" MMO experience and although we both played at launch and level capped multiple characters, we left long ago (Path of Fire, 2017) and are now eager to come back, particularly in light of the new expansion. We have specific questions:
1) The journey is the reward, we don't want to come back to our old characters or jumpstart new ones to 80, we want to create new characters and start from scratch, experiencing everything fresh. This is a problem in games that have account-wide resources, I don't want a bunch of mats or gear available at the start. Do we have to create new accounts, or can we just choose a different server to play on (I forget the server model)?
2) I don't recall the monetization model. What's the best way to enter the game with access to 100% of the available content? Can I buy a bundle that includes everything? Should I just purchase every expansion since Path of Fire? Cost is not so much an issue (well, it's always an issue, but not a big barrier), I don't mind buying a full package if the cost is not exorbitant. What do you recommend?
3) Is it possible to start new characters in a different area to minimize repeating old content, or are we required to start with the Centaur invasion and live out of Lion's Arch, and other places like that which I still recall vaguely? Any way to vary up the experience a bit?
4) I enjoy crafting, but I'm not interested in entering markets that are flooded and offer no opportunities for making currency. Is the market so saturated that there's no real point to a new character taking up crafting, or are there still good opportunities to make some coin crafting? In most MMOs, this comes down to consumables as gear is usually best obtained elsewhere. What's the story here?
Thank you so much for reading up to this point. Any insights or suggestions are very much appreciated. I remember GW2 as having one of the best communities of any MMO I played, so I thought this long read might not be *too* out of place. I really look forward to playing again and would love to have some input from the community.
Thanks!
@HnRkLnXqZ.1870, thank you so much for the extremely informative answer! It was very helpful. We are going to make new accounts and buy the Ultimate edition, probably skip the personal story but level up all the way in order to get to know the systems, etc. Looks like the community here is as good as I remember it. Many thanks, friend.
