Hi there everyone, I would like to use this thread to point out my concern of the way this game is evolving. I would like to do this by looking back at the updates we’ve had since launch, divided into 3 years: from launch till August 2013, September 2013-August 2014 and September 2014-now. I will only state the major things, for those who want to read the precise information: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Release
A click on the date of the release or the name of the release should bring you to the notes. Be warned however: this post contains over 6000 words and 30.000 signs so if you plan on reading it, take your time, I’ll try not to waste it by giving my sincere opinion and alternatives. Know that I have spent way more time into writing all of this than you need to read it xD
Ps for the first readers: give me some time since I’ll need to copypaste it into around 9 posts.
In year one: there were 16 releases, of which the first one at the end of the second month which was a good thing because players had to get used to the game first and some minor issues needed to be fixed. Anyhow, keep In mind the 16 releases in 10 months.
- 1 – 22/10 – Shadow of the Mad King (116 AP): H’ween event with the haunted doors, labyrinth, reaper’s rumble, lunatic inquisition and the clocktower. Added costume brawl, skritt burglars and some jp’s + mini-dungeons along with achievements and the “bosses-category”. Adding karma reward to daily + monthly.
- 2 – 15/11 – The Lost Shores: Southsun Cove has been added along with Fractals, the first ascended rings and backs and a new Pvp-map. Big ending with the Legendary Karka event which was a good concept but the servers couldn’t handle it and left a lot of people with empty hands. Daily and monthly pvp added.
- 3 – 14/12 – Wintersday (165 AP): Christmas event with snowball mayhem, bell choir, toypocalypse, infinerarium and winter wonderland.
- 4 – 28/01 – Flame and Frost: Prelude (147 AP): beginning of the flame and frost arc, ascended amulets. Changes of Orr events and, again, a change of the dailies.
- 5 – 26/02 – Flame and Frost: The Gathering Storm: ascended accessories, added spirit watch to Pvp, major overhaul of AC endboss fights + minor tweaks for other dungeons. Added guild missions. Yet again: change of dailies.
- 6 – 26/03 – Flame and Frost: The Razing: Wvw overhaul: titles, passive abilities and achievements.
- 7 – 01/04 – Super Adventure Box (106 AP): old school platform game with new skins.
- 8 – 30/04 – Flame and Frost: Retribution: molten facility and custom arena’s.
- 9 – 14/05 – The Secret of Southsun (235 AP): new minigame and rare mini’s to farm for
- 10 – 28/05 – Last Stand at Southsun: introduction of the Karka Queen. New Wvw dailies.
- 11 – 11/06 – Dragon Bash (195 AP): dragon ball and moa racing.
- 12 – 25/06 – Sky Pirates of Tyria (193 AP): story dungeon, not so secret jumping puzzle and new condition: Torment as well as AoE looting.
- 13 – 9/07 – Bazaar of the Four Winds (255 AP): New zone, new activity: belcher’s bluff and sanctum sprint, new stat combo: celestial. Added rewards for every 500 account wide AP.
- 14 – 23/07 – Cutthroat Politics (200 AP): Aspect Arena + Southsun Survival, candidate trials (Ellen vs Evon) where players have a direct vote in upcoming content.
- 15 – 06/08 – Queen’s Jubilee (174 + 220 AP): Crown Pavilion, Queen’s Gauntlet and a Wallet for dungeon tokens and other currencies. Unique 1v1 arena-style fights with the gauntlets and gambits to push yourself as much as you like.
- 16 – 20/08 – Clockwork Chaos (195 + 10 AP): reinstated use of karma boosters on karma containers for a limited time since the removed usage caused some havoc. Clockwork invasion.
Y1 revision: During this first year, every release came along with tweaks to skills and traits which were frequently updated to clear out some bugs or unintended effects. All in all: a fantastic year with loads of new content, even on a 2-weekly basis since March. A constantly evolving game and 2211 AP that could have been gathered by temporary content. I, and I think a lot of others, had the feeling that there was always something to do, whether there were new areas, new mini-games to farm some achievements or some special loot to farm for, you just couldn’t be bored during this year.