Guild Wars 2

No no, this is not me complaining about what was never actually said yonks ago by an ANet employee, whoever it was (That we now know was never actually said). Instead, this is me realizing something.

So many MMOs out there… every one, in fact… when they release an expansion, it comes out six months, a year, maybe two down the line, with a load of content that gets finished in a week. At most, by the hardcore. And it’s supposed to be a lot of content too, meant to tide people over for ages.

GW2? The Living Story DOES give an expansion’s worth of content… over the period between when the game comes out, and that expansion would have released, doled out in bits over time. Sure parts of it disappear, like the storyline for F&F, but other parts stay… jumping puzzles, mini dungeons, and even Southsun, which got revamped just a few months after it was added, and this is to say nothing of balances or new mechanics. We ARE getting an expansion’s worth of content… just not all at once.

And it’s free.

Plus, nobody is tying you to a chair and forcing you to play it.

Note: The you in this post in not you, Chessrook.

Of course nobody’s physically forcing us to play the new content but I’m a completionist who likes to complete every game I play 100% and at first I found the achievement points in GW2 very motivating, now I just find it stressful. The only reason I bother doing the living story tasks is that they give achievement points and most of the rewards are soul or accountbound which means I will not be able to purchase them later so this is practically forcing me to do them and to be honest I find many of the tasks themselves incredibly boring, tedious and grindy in nature. Also there are so many bugs in this game that they seem to ignore just to release living story content.

I dont know about the rest of you but i really am looking forward to an expansion.
these living story things are in no way an expansion. Apart from the first that offered the FOTM and NEW Asended gear,

What i want is NEW ARMORE.. NEW, Weapons (Great Axe, Crossbow) new crafting and Legendary Armor.

I dont care about all these new Fluff temp content one single bit. I want near gear for my toon.

The living story stuff is stuff to do, while an expansion is worked on. It doesn’t replace an expansion.

As for having to do it, you need to learn to limit yourself if it’s causing you stress. No one should have to be stressed over a game.

also it come with ten expansion worth of nerf

Chessrook.8643:

So many MMOs out there… every one, in fact… when they release an expansion, it comes out six months, a year, maybe two down the line, with a load of content that gets finished in a week. At most, by the hardcore. And it’s supposed to be a lot of content too, meant to tide people over for ages.

GW2? The Living Story DOES give an expansion’s worth of content… over the period between when the game comes out, and that expansion would have released, doled out in bits over time. Sure parts of it disappear, like the storyline for F&F, but other parts stay… jumping puzzles, mini dungeons, and even Southsun, which got revamped just a few months after it was added, and this is to say nothing of balances or new mechanics. We ARE getting an expansion’s worth of content… just not all at once.

Asserting your favourite MMO is unique as a reason to argue it’s therefore superior, in the face of patently obvious flaws in that assertion .. I point you at Rift as only one of many which follows the same expac-followed-by-frequent-and-regular-updates that you’re saying only Anet provide .. simply shows you’re bereft of anything substantial to justify your assertion.

To add to this, the “so called” expansions worth of temporary free content is a rip off to gamers who just purchased the game that will/may not ever see this content, wouldn’t/shouldn’t they be entitled to this content as well, or, do they intend on repeating this content down the road for them, if so that’s good for them, but, what about the old GW2 players, they will be forced to repeat it too(not very much fun here IMO), double edged sword there. IMO, they(ANET) should be polishing the current content and working on new content(a full expansion) that I and I’m sure many others would rather have and be running out to buy.

Im Mudbone.1437:

To add to this, the “so called” expansions worth of temporary free content is a rip off to gamers who just purchased the game that will/may not ever see this content, wouldn’t/shouldn’t they be entitled to this content as well, or, do they intend on repeating this content down the road for them, if so that’s good for them, but, what about the old GW2 players, they will be forced to repeat it too(not very much fun here IMO), double edged sword there. IMO, they(ANET) should be polishing the current content and working on new content(a full expansion) that I and I’m sure many others would rather have and be running out to buy.

Actually it’s not a rip off. You bought a game with enough content to cover $60 many many times over. If you never got another update, it would already be worth $60. You’re not paying a monthly fee. It’s not pay to win. Even people who say they don’t like the game still say they got 300-400 hours. I can’t name too many games that will give you that kind of return on your initial investment.

For those who follow the game, those who play ever day, the temporary content gives us something to do. I’m not paying for it, and those who don’t play the game but bought it…they’re not paying for it either. Cash shop sales are paying for it. RNG boxes are paying for it.

Maybe you shouldn’t use words like rip off. Maybe you should just say you don’t like it, because once you used those words, you’ve lost a whole lot of credibility.

Im Mudbone.1437:

To add to this, the “so called” expansions worth of temporary free content is a rip off to gamers who just purchased the game that will/may not ever see this content, wouldn’t/shouldn’t they be entitled to this content as well[b], or, do they intend on repeating this content down the road for them, if so that’s good for them, but, what about the old GW2 players, they will be forced to repeat it too([i]not very much fun here [b]IMO[/i]), double edged sword there. IMO, they(ANET) should be polishing the current content and working on new content(a full expansion) that I and I’m sure many others would rather have and be running out to buy.

No, why should they be entitled to all content? The world is moving, that’s the point of having a Living Story, while it certainly goes at a very slow pace and the changes aren’t as world shaping as they should be, there is some progress happening. Also, keep in mind that this Living World business is new to the devs, they are exploring new things about it, it might get better down the road.

What the living story doesn’t have, which is a pattern in expansions, is destroying existing characters by raising the level cap or gear tiers. In 10 months we’ve gotten 3 pieces of ascended gear, in other games it’d been 3 new tiers.

Kinda like the living story for NOT doing what expansions usually do … destroy my game.

Vayne.8563:

Im Mudbone.1437:

To add to this, the “so called” expansions worth of temporary free content is a rip off to gamers who just purchased the game that will/may not ever see this content, wouldn’t/shouldn’t they be entitled to this content as well, or, do they intend on repeating this content down the road for them, if so that’s good for them, but, what about the old GW2 players, they will be forced to repeat it too(not very much fun here IMO), double edged sword there. IMO, they(ANET) should be polishing the current content and working on new content(a full expansion) that I and I’m sure many others would rather have and be running out to buy.

Actually it’s not a rip off. You bought a game with enough content to cover $60 many many times over. If you never got another update, it would already be worth $60. You’re not paying a monthly fee. It’s not pay to win. Even people who say they don’t like the game still say they got 300-400 hours. I can’t name too many games that will give you that kind of return on your initial investment.

For those who follow the game, those who play ever day, the temporary content gives us something to do. I’m not paying for it, and those who don’t play the game but bought it…they’re not paying for it either. Cash shop sales are paying for it. RNG boxes are paying for it.

Maybe you shouldn’t use words like rip off. Maybe you should just say you don’t like it, because once you used those words, you’ve lost a whole lot of credibility.

Shakes head, Vayne, Vayne, Vayne. -LOL I’m not saying I was ripped off but the new/future buyers because they will never see this story-line progression and aren’t RPGs whether an MMO or single-player all about the story-line.
I actually like GW2 because of its potential and my being a GW junkie, I’m just miffed because this isn’t like ANET, I just feel like they are now puppets to NCsoft and not being allowed to do what they actually really want to do with GW2.

Im Mudbone.1437:

Vayne.8563:

Im Mudbone.1437:

To add to this, the “so called” expansions worth of temporary free content is a rip off to gamers who just purchased the game that will/may not ever see this content, wouldn’t/shouldn’t they be entitled to this content as well, or, do they intend on repeating this content down the road for them, if so that’s good for them, but, what about the old GW2 players, they will be forced to repeat it too(not very much fun here IMO), double edged sword there. IMO, they(ANET) should be polishing the current content and working on new content(a full expansion) that I and I’m sure many others would rather have and be running out to buy.

Actually it’s not a rip off. You bought a game with enough content to cover $60 many many times over. If you never got another update, it would already be worth $60. You’re not paying a monthly fee. It’s not pay to win. Even people who say they don’t like the game still say they got 300-400 hours. I can’t name too many games that will give you that kind of return on your initial investment.

For those who follow the game, those who play ever day, the temporary content gives us something to do. I’m not paying for it, and those who don’t play the game but bought it…they’re not paying for it either. Cash shop sales are paying for it. RNG boxes are paying for it.

Maybe you shouldn’t use words like rip off. Maybe you should just say you don’t like it, because once you used those words, you’ve lost a whole lot of credibility.

Shakes head, Vayne, Vayne, Vayne. -LOL I’m not saying I was ripped off but the new/future buyers because they will never see this story-line progression.
I actually like GW2 because of its potential and my being a GW junkie, I’m just miffed because this isn’t like ANET, I just feel like they are now puppets to NCsoft and not being allowed to do what they actually really want to do with GW2.

One, I think this idea game from Anet not NCsoft. I have no proof of this, but I believe it.

Two, the new people playing are paying exactly the same amount I did, but they’re also getting fractals, guild missions and the living story du jour. They’re getting more for their money than I did, and I felt I was getting my money’s worth.

I think NCsoft definitely has some say over the cash shop, but I don’t think that the living story is strictly NCsofts domain. I have no proof for this, it’s just my opinion.

Im Mudbone.1437:

Shakes head, Vayne, Vayne, Vayne. -LOL I’m not saying I was ripped off but the new/future buyers because they will never see this story-line progression…

Which they haven’t paid for, so haven’t been ripped off by.

Saying that anyone is “ripped off” by free content changes is just silliness.

I do love it when people bring up the old chestnut of “you’ve played x amount of hours, therefore you got your money’s worth” lol.

Sure dude ill make a game in which you start at level one, and you level to 100 by killing critters. It will take you a year to get to level 100; and you won’t get anything other than your level 1 [Hatchet]. Since you’ve played a year to get there, you got your money’s worth right?

Lol.

I think the problem is Guild Wars 2, for players like me anyway, is that I’m not as attached to my character as I am in other games. It’s that simple. There are a number of reasons for this.

One of them is not being able to repeat personal story instances…hmmmm.

Maybe I’ll go back and read that book of my personal stories. lol

Vayne.8563:

The living story stuff is stuff to do, while an expansion is worked on. It doesn’t replace an expansion.

As for having to do it, you need to learn to limit yourself if it’s causing you stress. No one should have to be stressed over a game.

I would have agreed with that if these events didn’t give so many achievement points and if the rewards weren’t account/soulbound but most of the time they are and they look really good. New content like the Super Adventure Box, Wintersday Bells and Crab toss were great, even though I didn’t participate much in them. I also don’t mind permanent additions to the game which give achievement points. I just dislike boring, grindy tasks like killing 300 holograms, in addition to the tedium of doing the dailies and they don’t even last very long so I’ll have to do them somewhat quickly. Yes I know no one is forcing me to do them and it is me who chooses to do them but that’s how I am and when I do many of these achievements I just find them to be repetitive and get the feeling that they’re making new content for the sake of making it. If they reduced the number of achievement points or made it so most of the temporary content give rewards but not necessarily achievement points I’d gladly choose not to do them.

Never actually said?

http://gamingbolt.com/guild-wars-2-interview-we-talk-to-areanet-about-how-the-mmorpg-has-been-doing-post-launch

3rd question

Speaking of the updating process- that’s one of the beauties of making a game that’s based in online, that you can constantly be updating it. But aside from continual updates for Guild Wars 2, are there any plans for bigger expansions that are kind of in the works?
Yeah, yeah, we are actively working on a bigger expansion as well. But that’s something we don’t have a real timetable set on yet. Our major focus now, like most of the companies, is live updates. But we do have a small group of people that is working on expansions and stuff down the road as well. But our big goal, what we wanted to do, is really kind of do something that no one’s ever done before in an MMO after it came out. And that’s every single month, adding giant updates to our game and do a huge release that really gives the players the sense that they’re paying their monthly fee, and every four to five months, they’re getting free expansions’ worth of content as part of logging into our game.
We had a huge Halloween update in October, we just had a big one in November, we have a giant Christmas update coming in December, and all of those have gone over really well, and I think in December people are going to be really excited. But January and February are actually are biggest updates to date. They’re even bigger than all the stuff we did in October, November and December. And I think that when people see how much stuff they’re gonna get for no monthly fee in January and February, they’re probably going to be blown away. These two months combined are basically an expansion’s worth of content for free.

Ya it was said in many interviews took me 6 seconds to find on google so do some research next time.

Im Mudbone.1437:

Shakes head, Vayne, Vayne, Vayne. -LOL I’m not saying I was ripped off but the new/future buyers because they will never see this story-line progression and aren’t RPGs whether an MMO or single-player all about the story-line.
I actually like GW2 because of its potential and my being a GW junkie, I’m just miffed because this isn’t like ANET, I just feel like they are now puppets to NCsoft and not being allowed to do what they actually really want to do with GW2.

New/future buyers will have truckloads of their own new/future Living Story updates, they won’t miss anything important.

Not enough tangible rewards to be considered any sort of “expansion” content. The festivals are nice and actually have stuff to do and unique things to get.

To be honest I prefer big paid expansions like Factions and nightfall with slower, more chock-filled PERMANENT additional content. Like how GW1 did it.

Thats the key word, how much of the monthly update stuff has actually stuck around permanently? Southsun… and now the aetherblade JUMPING PUZZLE will be permanent.

All these living story updates feels like nothing cause you are getting nothing out of it except the fact you are now playing a book cause there is nothing at the end for you to get, only the satisfaction of seeing what happens next. For a few people that’s enough, but for the majority of us it’s not. This is why I basically skipped out on the entirety of flame and frost. And guess what, none of flame and frost is permanent as far as I know. (outside of the one mini and the weapons)

I would definitely stop and appreciate the events more if they added more rewards into them. Garbage blues/greens and 2 silver per level 80 event. Why would I appreciate that? All the living story does is create content that players will get angry about, and for good reason. Granted, some of the events are enjoyable…. until you reach the end and get kitten as a reward.

Fox Reeveheart.1890:

This is why I basically skipped out on the entirety of flame and frost. And guess what, none of flame and frost is permanent as far as I know. (outside of the one mini and the weapons)

Jetpack, Recipes, Sentinel’s stat (Azurite), Titles, World Tweaks (Refugees in Lion’s Arch and the progression to Southsun’s story).

Also, in regards to people saying that new players will be ripped off for not getting free, limited content, should we also push in every holiday each time someone makes an account? Honestly, these monthly limited contents are the EQUIVALENT to monthly holiday events, WITHOUT BEING TIED TO A REAL LIFE HOLIDAY. Think of it as such, and then move on with your life.

If you didn’t like Wintersday, so sad. If you didn’t participate because it wasn’t permanent, that’s not ANet’s fault.

If you didn’t like Flame & Frost, so sad. If you didn’t participate because it wasn’t permanent, that’s not ANet’s fault.

Esplen.3940:

If you didn’t like Flame & Frost, so sad. If you didn’t participate because it wasn’t permanent, that’s not ANet’s fault.

WRONG it is the fault of ANet because they REMOVED the whole event, seeing as how I and many others joined after or were just to low level to participate we are screwed due to the “who gives a crap about the players, we are doing what we want” attitude. I don’t know if you have noticed but there are multiple threads of disgust over these temporary events for multiple reasons.

theenigma.3597:

Esplen.3940:

If you didn’t like Flame & Frost, so sad. If you didn’t participate because it wasn’t permanent, that’s not ANet’s fault.

WRONG it is the fault of ANet because they REMOVED the whole event, seeing as how I and many others joined after or were just to low level to participate we are screwed due to the “who gives a crap about the players, we are doing what we want” attitude. I don’t know if you have noticed but there are multiple threads of disgust over these temporary events for multiple reasons.

It’s what ANet wants to do, a living & breathing world. Unfortunatly there are more WoW players coming in every day, who only care about the reward they get after the event, and not about the experience & the gaining of knowledge about the lore.

Riselight.3695:

theenigma.3597:

Esplen.3940:

If you didn’t like Flame & Frost, so sad. If you didn’t participate because it wasn’t permanent, that’s not ANet’s fault.

WRONG it is the fault of ANet because they REMOVED the whole event, seeing as how I and many others joined after or were just to low level to participate we are screwed due to the “who gives a crap about the players, we are doing what we want” attitude. I don’t know if you have noticed but there are multiple threads of disgust over these temporary events for multiple reasons.

It’s what ANet wants to do, a living & breathing world. Unfortunatly there are more WoW players coming in every day, who only care about the reward they get after the event, and not about the experience & the gaining of knowledge about the lore.

Yah I did not get an experience, lore, a sticker, a lolly pop, anything, for me its like some weird non existent trip to a twilight zone episode…….. brilliant design choice right…… sarcasm off.

Maybe its me.. but i’ve not felt connected to any content addition Guildwars 2 has produced since maybe Halloween.

Every single Event and Living story for me has been of frustration, tedium and honestly a vague boredom.

Each addition just seems less and less like Anet are even trying that hard..

Edit sorry i forgot SAB i did enjoy that but it was quite immersion breaking and weird, but on a whole i did enjoy how the reward system and the minigame was for everyone, not just a certain group..

Riselight.3695:

theenigma.3597:

Esplen.3940:

If you didn’t like Flame & Frost, so sad. If you didn’t participate because it wasn’t permanent, that’s not ANet’s fault.

WRONG it is the fault of ANet because they REMOVED the whole event, seeing as how I and many others joined after or were just to low level to participate we are screwed due to the “who gives a crap about the players, we are doing what we want” attitude. I don’t know if you have noticed but there are multiple threads of disgust over these temporary events for multiple reasons.

It’s what ANet wants to do, a living & breathing world. Unfortunatly there are more WoW players coming in every day, who only care about the reward they get after the event, and not about the experience & the gaining of knowledge about the lore.

The experience and lore behind all of the Living Story thus far has been extremely poor, and even worse, poorly portrayed. Flame and Frost as well as Southsun and Dragon Bash were mostly push “f” to win. It wasn’t a fun experience. As for the lore of the Living Story so far.. it’s been pretty awful and hard to even understand for a lot of players.

I’ll give the teams their credit for MF being incredibly fun and engaging, introducing new concepts such as dungeon-specific materials (azurite).
Also, just because people do not enjoy the content or are upset with not being rewarded, it doesn’t mean that they are from WoW. People like to know that their time spent wasn’t a waste, and for many, that was the case for the Living Story updates.

True, but Southsun is dead on my server. Nobody goes there anymore, no events are being done, constantly contested. They did something very wrong there and I hope they fix it.

CharrGirl.7896:

True, but Southsun is dead on my server. Nobody goes there anymore, no events are being done, constantly contested. They did something very wrong there and I hope they fix it.

lol, that was their fix.

killcannon.2576:

CharrGirl.7896:

True, but Southsun is dead on my server. Nobody goes there anymore, no events are being done, constantly contested. They did something very wrong there and I hope they fix it.

lol, that was their fix.

Well they made it worse, nobody wants to go there now more then ever

Whenever I go there its emtpy and contested.

Vayne.8563:

The living story stuff is stuff to do, while an expansion is worked on. It doesn’t replace an expansion.

It actually seems like the plans have changed regarding that:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/GW2-Expansion-targeted-for-2013/first#post1391159

(The last paragraph in Martin’s post is what I’m referring to.)

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/GW2-expansion-1Q-Ncsoft-Conference-Call-merged/page/3#post2024859

Which… I have mixed feelings about.

I don’t have an issue with Living Story as a method of content delivery; I’ve actually been enjoying it.

My hesitation is that so far, the Living Story chapters have been essentially one-shot plots that don’t have anything to do with what was previously set up as the main narrative – that is, the defeat of the Elder Dragons. Which, in the short term, I’m actually okay with; in a realistic world not everything is going to revolve around the same limited set of issues, and it’s cool to explore some new storylines.

In the long term, though, I really hope the Elder Dragons plot doesn’t get ditched in favour of primarily self-contained temporary plots. It’s going to increasingly strain credibility that all the heroes of Tyria are constantly rushing off to focus on a set of pirate attacks at a holiday event or a disturbance on an obscure island when literally the whole world is supposedly threatened with destruction by much larger forces.

I hope that regardless of how they decide to deliver the content, ANet won’t lose sight of the narrative they originally established. I think we need a balance between Elder Dragon/main plot stuff and one-shot stuff, not all just one or the other.

Anakita Snakecharm.4360:

Vayne.8563:

The living story stuff is stuff to do, while an expansion is worked on. It doesn’t replace an expansion.

It actually seems like the plans have changed regarding that:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/GW2-Expansion-targeted-for-2013/first#post1391159

(The last paragraph in Martin’s post is what I’m referring to.)

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/GW2-expansion-1Q-Ncsoft-Conference-Call-merged/page/3#post2024859

Which… I have mixed feelings about.

I don’t have an issue with Living Story as a method of content delivery; I’ve actually been enjoying it.

My hesitation is that so far, the Living Story chapters have been essentially one-shot plots that don’t have anything to do with what was previously set up as the main narrative – that is, the defeat of the Elder Dragons. Which, in the short term, I’m actually okay with; in a realistic world not everything is going to revolve around the same limited set of issues, and it’s cool to explore some new territory.

In the long term, though, I really hope the Elder Dragons plot doesn’t get ditched in favour of primarily self-contained temporary plots. It’s going to increasingly strain credibility that all the heroes of Tyria are constantly rushing off to focus on a set of pirate attacks at a holiday event or a disturbance on an obscure island when literally the whole world is supposedly threatened with destruction by much larger forces.

I hope that regardless of how they decide to deliver the content, ANet won’t lose sight of the narrative they originally established. I think we need a balance between Elder Dragon/main plot stuff and one-shot stuff, not all just one or the other.

Don’t believe everything you read, or even everything a dev says.

Expansions in this business age of MMOs are collateral. They’ll launch an expansion shortly before ESO comes out is my guess. It’s not that they’re not working on an expansion or they abandoned it. They’re simply timing it so the release is the best for their bottom line.

As any company would do.

Because NCsoft has made it clear to their stockholders that there would be an expansion and that it would be released at a time to maximize profit.

Anakita Snakecharm.4360:

Vayne.8563:

The living story stuff is stuff to do, while an expansion is worked on. It doesn’t replace an expansion.

It actually seems like the plans have changed regarding that:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/GW2-Expansion-targeted-for-2013/first#post1391159

(The last paragraph in Martin’s post is what I’m referring to.)

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/GW2-expansion-1Q-Ncsoft-Conference-Call-merged/page/3#post2024859

Which… I have mixed feelings about.

I don’t have an issue with Living Story as a method of content delivery; I’ve actually been enjoying it.

My hesitation is that so far, the Living Story chapters have been essentially one-shot plots that don’t have anything to do with what was previously set up as the main narrative – that is, the defeat of the Elder Dragons. Which, in the short term, I’m actually okay with; in a realistic world not everything is going to revolve around the same limited set of issues, and it’s cool to explore some new storylines.

In the long term, though, I really hope the Elder Dragons plot doesn’t get ditched in favour of primarily self-contained temporary plots. It’s going to increasingly strain credibility that all the heroes of Tyria are constantly rushing off to focus on a set of pirate attacks at a holiday event or a disturbance on an obscure island when literally the whole world is supposedly threatened with destruction by much larger forces.

I hope that regardless of how they decide to deliver the content, ANet won’t lose sight of the narrative they originally established. I think we need a balance between Elder Dragon/main plot stuff and one-shot stuff, not all just one or the other.

I honestly feel that the Living story has weaved a tangled web that has (if you look closely) led us step by step to where we are now and in my opinion… set us up for a MAJOR expansion of map for the one year anniversary…

Look here for my (what I believe to be VERY sound) theory on what will be happening for the one year anniversary!

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/I-find-it-VEEEEEEERY-interesting/first#post2266520

Vayne, from your last few posts, you’re starting to sound a bit… cynical (or jaded, at least). What gives?

Spiral Architect.6540:

Vayne, from your last few posts, you’re starting to sound a bit… cynical (or jaded, at least). What gives?

I’ve always been relatively honest about my likes and dislikes about this game. Some people have painted me as a fan boy, but even when I first joined the forum, if someone made a complaint I agreed with, I’d agree with it.

I don’t agree with people using hyperbole to make points or overstating the importance of something to try to make it sound like it’s going to destroy the game, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t flaws in the game. I’ve never said otherwise.

In this case, this is NOT something I have any problem with at all. I’m not jaded about it, but I’m realistic.

No one can put this amount of content out this fast and make it all meaningful. Yet it behooves Anet to give people stuff to do. Rift did the same thing and Anet is doing it a LOT better.

By the same token, its’ not an expansion which opens up big new areas, adds no races and/or professions, new weapons.

I can enjoy the Living Story content (and I do) and STILL want/expect an expansion. The two aren’t mutually exclusive.

And I do feel a bit rushed with the speed of the updates. I’d prefer these updates to be a month each, instead of every two weeks. As it is, I’ve basically given up PvPing altogether, because my time is spent doing in world stuff…and I’d like a bit more time to keep my own schedule.

But overall I think the Living Story is good stuff, and I’m quite happy with it.

@ Vayne: I was just ribbing you a bit… I couldn’t resist.

I tend to agree with you on most of what you posted there, though if you’ll permit me a slight digression, I did think Ember Isle was brilliant.

My concern, and I’ve posted this elsewhere, is that there’s been a lot of “rushed” content put out, yet many “standard” MMO features (guild UI refinements, LFG tools, TP UI refinements, etc.) remain unimplemented. There have been bugs which were reported back at launch which have yet to be addressed, yet we get lots of new, shiny (temporary) content. The new shiny stuff sells more games, though, so there’s a lot more incentive to create new content than there is to fix what’s already been released.

Spiral Architect.6540:

@ Vayne: I was just ribbing you a bit… I couldn’t resist.

I tend to agree with you on most of what you posted there, though if you’ll permit me a slight digression, I did think Ember Isle was brilliant.

My concern, and I’ve posted this elsewhere, is that there’s been a lot of “rushed” content put out, yet many “standard” MMO features (guild UI refinements, LFG tools, TP UI refinements, etc.) remain unimplemented. There have been bugs which were reported back at launch which have yet to be addressed, yet we get lots of new, shiny (temporary) content. The new shiny stuff sells more games, though, so there’s a lot more incentive to create new content than there is to fix what’s already been released.

I’m not strictly disagreeing with your concerns, but the teams working on the living story content aren’t necessarily the same people who would work on some of the things you mention. Alongside the story content, we are also getting permanent changes to the game systems (e.g. laurels, WXP and ranks, guild missions, etc.)

We know that there is a team working on a LFG tool, and rewards are also being worked on, so it’s not necessarily the case that living story content is being delivered in exclusion to other work that’s needed for the game.

Most people that came from WoW just want to get prizes, they think that that prize is the game, and that prize is the fun. I dont know about you but some people that can follow innovation should know that the path is the game and the path is the fun. I think WoW was intended to be a game not show off contest but people corrupted it and now it is moneymaking machine

The problem I am having with the ‘living story" is that the world doesn’t change at all, just something is scotch taped in monthly, then removed without effecting the basic game at all. Yeah, you see a few new weapons, a hat, but what has really changed?

In order for the whole ’expansion’s worth of content’ thing to work is if someone is there for every bit of it. Yes, its free, so no one is losing something they paid for, but it seems a shame to put all that work in and then remove it.

Then there is the question of timing. With the temp stuff, you have to log in on a timely basis to get all of it. With a full expansion, its there, its going to be there when you are ready for it.

Yeah, its nice not to have to wait months or years for new things to do, but there is always going to be a trade off. You can get a ton of stuff at once, or a little bit here and there.

^.^

Spiral Architect.6540:

@ Vayne: I was just ribbing you a bit… I couldn’t resist.

I tend to agree with you on most of what you posted there, though if you’ll permit me a slight digression, I did think Ember Isle was brilliant.

My concern, and I’ve posted this elsewhere, is that there’s been a lot of “rushed” content put out, yet many “standard” MMO features (guild UI refinements, LFG tools, TP UI refinements, etc.) remain unimplemented. There have been bugs which were reported back at launch which have yet to be addressed, yet we get lots of new, shiny (temporary) content. The new shiny stuff sells more games, though, so there’s a lot more incentive to create new content than there is to fix what’s already been released.

I agree, that bug fixing has been slow. A game like Rift fixed bugs AT FIRST a lot faster…but it was still a much smaller, much more modest game, and it STILL had a subscription fee, which means everyone playing was paying at least ten bucks a month. That’s a lot of money to fund the game straight up…far more than Guild Wars 2 is likely to have.

And many features are being worked on. We all know this game launched way too early. But without a monthly fee, I’m not paying to play it early, so I’m not sure what the difference really is.

I wouldn’t have wanted to wait another year to play it, before it came out.