Guild Wars 2

I’m struggling with some of the basic game requirements. When I read “Colin Johanson on Guild Wars 2 in the months ahead”, I see serious effort made to improve PvE, PvP and WvW. When I see;
“Open world online games are always strongest when players are encouraged and rewarded to interact as a community, to support other each other” and “Our shared loot system, dynamic level adjustment system, shared resource nodes, multi-player skill combos, and the ability for every player to revive one another are all examples of key game features that help support this concept of a community-driven experience.” , I have to agree that it’s a big reason why the game is so successful. I like PvE and am glad that PvP and WvW are available for those who enjoy it.

What I am struggling with is this;
“To make playing in our open world worthwhile, we’ll make it rewarding enough for players to spend their time there across all levels. It’s extremely important that we stay true to our philosophy that you should be able to play Guild Wars 2 the way you want to play the game in order to reach the most powerful rewards.”
And how it is diametrically opposed to this statement;
“and when the flow of the game ushers players to go places where they run into other players across all levels and have shared experiences.”

Let me explain. If the flow of the game means forced PvP or forced WvW or forced Dungeons or forced PvE, or forced anything, then it is NOT “ the way you want to play, it’s the way you want us to play. That is designed failure.
Wait, you say it’s not forced? Isn’t a dungeon forced on us if we try to complete our personal story? Isn’t WvW forced on us if we want to complete the world map or create a legendary weapon? Isn’t WvW forced on us if we want to complete a Monthly Achievement? Do I need to go on…

This forcing, continues to drive people away when it could be changed to an incentive based motivation to experience the other types of gameplay. Couldn’t the first dungeon completed grant a significant award that is useful in all aspects of the game? Wouldn’t players learn about dungeons that way? Couldn’t a Monthly Achievement be completed in the open world once a player has tried WvW and found it’s not “the way you want to play?” Why can’t completing the open world map be enough?
There must be many ways this could be done to EVERYONE’S enjoyment. Personally, as it is, I will never complete the world map or my “so called” Personal Story or even a single Monthly Achievement as long as the game forces other content on me, even if those things could ultimately become my most favorite part of the game.

I see great hope in this part of the statement. “Identifying existing parts of the game that can be improved and made more fun/exciting, and investing the time to ensure everything we’ve built really shines as we move forward.”

Tumult.2578:

What I am struggling with is this;
“To make playing in our open world worthwhile, we’ll make it rewarding enough for players to spend their time there across all levels. It’s extremely important that we stay true to our philosophy that you should be able to play Guild Wars 2 the way you want to play the game in order to reach the most powerful rewards.”

I might be wrong, but doesn’t that mean they aim to balance the rewards within the game, so that FotM for example wouldn’t be the #1 source of income?

Tumult.2578:

And how it is diametrically opposed to this statement;
“and when the flow of the game ushers players to go places where they run into other players across all levels and have shared experiences.”

Well, I think he was talking about open world, so “flow of the game” being “dynamic events gathering people around a spot on the map”?

Tumult.2578:

Let me explain. If the flow of the game means forced PvP or forced WvW or forced Dungeons or forced PvE, or forced anything, then it is NOT “ the way you want to play, it’s the way you want us to play. That is designed failure.
Wait, you say it’s not forced? Isn’t a dungeon forced on us if we try to complete our personal story? Isn’t WvW forced on us if we want to complete the world map or create a legendary weapon? Isn’t WvW forced on us if we want to complete a Monthly Achievement? Do I need to go on…

’Isn’t the requirements forced on us if we want to do an optional achievement?‘. Yes. That’s the reason its an achievement. And an optional one at that.

Tumult.2578:

This forcing, continues to drive people away when it could be changed to an incentive based motivation to experience the other types of gameplay. Couldn’t the first dungeon completed grant a significant award that is useful in all aspects of the game? Wouldn’t players learn about dungeons that way? Couldn’t a Monthly Achievement be completed in the open world once a player has tried WvW and found it’s not “the way you want to play?” Why can’t completing the open world map be enough?
There must be many ways this could be done to EVERYONE’S enjoyment. Personally, as it is, I will never complete the world map or my “so called” Personal Story or even a single Monthly Achievement as long as the game forces other content on me, even if those things could ultimately become my most favorite part of the game.

I see great hope in this part of the statement. “Identifying existing parts of the game that can be improved and made more fun/exciting, and investing the time to ensure everything we’ve built really shines as we move forward.”

Tbh, I don’t see a problem with the optional parts of the game having hard requirements. I like it that way, makes it all more rewarding when you manage to fulfill those requirements and get the achievement.
Of course, you should keep in mind that these parts of the game are, in fact, entirely optional and might be meant for a different type of player. You must accept it that you might not like all of the content a game has to offer. Good thing its optional.

The first comment refers to there being enough rewards for people to only play the “open world” and not WvW….

The game USHERS you into WvW… when it doesn’t have to.

Achievements must have requirements but they dont have to force us into WvW…

Never said anything about hard but the harder the better, as long as it doesn’t force us into WvW…

Your last statement is why I wrote this. I dont want to see people leave because of forced WvW… when it doesn’t have to force us. Of course if the game owners believe that the only way they will make money is to force everyone to try and make a legendary, then the forcing wont change. I’d just like to see the game last.

4 whole wvw maps … so difficult … I have to tolerate doing 32 boring as crap face roll PvE maps I have no interest in.

The only thing true about your complaint is Ascended gear. The backpack is exclusive to Fractals, the Amulet is exclusive to Laurels, and the rings are exclusive to both. All of the other “most powerful rewards” are Exotic quality and available through all parts of gameplay. ANet knows this is an issue for some people and is working to make Ascended items more available.

As for people always referring to this “play the way you want to play / choose” manifesto thing, I think it is silly. You have the choice to ignore gameplay elements if you want, just be ready to accept the consequences of that choice. Don’t want to do dungeons? Perfectly okay, but you cannot obtain dungeon tokens. Don’t want to do your daily / monthly? Perfectly fine, but you will be missing out on Laurels. The choice is yours.

That’s why I said “legendary”. You do realize you said yourself that a significant number of players have raised this issue. Do you really believe that it wont make players leave? Do you want to play a game with a decreasing population shortening the lifespan of the game. Ask yourself why a player should be forced to do 4 PvE maps when they hate it and it doesn’t have to be that way?
I’m done with the topic. I made an effort. I just hope I’m not back saying “told you so”.

Tumult.2578:

That’s why I said “legendary”. You do realize you said yourself that a significant number of players have raised this issue. Do you really believe that it wont make players leave? Do you want to play a game with a decreasing population shortening the lifespan of the game. Ask yourself why a player should be forced to do 4 PvE maps when they hate it and it doesn’t have to be that way?
I’m done with the topic. I made an effort. I just hope I’m not back saying “told you so”.

You know how many different hoops Blizzard Entertainment made their players jump through for the legendaries in World of Warcraft? While their numbers have fluctuated greatly over the years I have not seen a huge decrease strictly associated by players not being able to attain a Legendary weapons.

A legendary weapon isn’t required to have “the most powerful rewards” since they have Exotic stats. It is a pure vanity reward. Even when they get upgraded to Ascended stats, Ascended weapons will no doubt be easier to obtain.