This post is, for the most part, in response to the 2013 preview video that was released. I’m going to summarize that video for everyone:
“We’re going to keep doing what we’re doing… better”
That’s all well and good, but it isn’t what Guild Wars 2 needs. The grindy endgame content for this game has been a turnoff for a lot of people in my guild. In fact, once my guildies hit level 80, raid all the dungeons, and then WvW for hours on end… it’s hard to keep them coming back. I’m sure I’ll get a bunch of replies from people saying their guild doesn’t have this problem, and blah blah blah. Bottom line is that if you’re not into grinding areas for completion, there isn’t much to give this game a sense of depth.
Guild Wars 2 needs to have a wide array of activities that players can participate in that don’t involve clubbing things on the head. I think the game needs things like player housing – a place where we can customize and display our weapons, store our loot, and hang out with friends. This game needs GUILD HALLS (this game is called GUILD WARS and we still don’t have Guild Halls??? WTF?) … I want to see more complex NPCs that have simply daily routines, instead of GW1-style patrol paths. I’d like to see mounts, if only in the wide open world areas. I’m tired of NPCs saying the same things over and over… it breaks any sense of immersion that there could be.
We need more, and I hate to borrow concepts from Skyrim again, but Radiant AI style quests… such as hunting a fugitive, that is randomly spawned in an area for players to chase.
The bottom line is that this game needs way more depth to keep people involved. The hardcore people that enjoy grinding will stick with the game no matter what, and that’s fine. They are not the majority though. A majority of players are a bit more casual, and expect a more immersive experience than repeating the same events over and over again. Guild Wars 2 has enormous potential, and I really hope that ArenaNet taps into this for 2013. More events and better rewards are a start, but it indicates that ArenaNet might not realize that their game needs a bit more work than that. I really hope the initial success hasn’t gone to their heads.