Guild Wars 2

GW2 is a game that has attracted people that weren’t previous veteran mmo players. But I get the impression that the player demand and hype around HOT is from those who are tapping into their previous experiences in MMO’s. But not everyoine is in that player group. And sure, for Anet its good publicity and gets them headlines on plenty of gaming websites.

There is going to be a new class in HOT. But personally, i dont desire a new class. I have no where near fully explored the current range of classes. I dont have each one at 80, or know all their different skills and builds. I have a couple classes i enjoy playing and the rest of them are there for whenever i fancy a change. But i’m happy as i am. It’s hard to really know, but i would guess there are more GW2 players like me than those who have a full set of 80’s or otherwise know every class inside out and are craving something new. And remember how the opinions and player profiles seen on online forums such as this are going to be more HC than the general playerbase.

I like running dungeon regularly. I’ve still got a number left to fully learn. And after that there are Fractals which i’ve only dabbled in slightly. This game still has a lot to offer the player and only a small percentage have risen to be veteran dungeon runners or engage in Fractals. And for the rest, they tune in for sPVP or WVW. I don’t see why we need more PVE maps. It’s not like people are in love with any of the current ones. Any new maps will likewise become old and uninteresting soon enough.

Instead, below is a list of Quality of Life player requests from this forum. I would swap an expansion for less than half of the things listed below. Stuff like being able to save builds and traits for easy switching, and simple inventory related stuff. Yes please!

Title of the thread is totally misleading. Should be: “QoL Request for New Expansion”

I just wanna know the specializations :<

Conditions wont be fixed in the expansion.

You cant ship core mechanics with an expansion and have people that dont buy HoT effectively play another game.

Same goes for traits.

These things might get fixed after the expansion release, but certainly not expansion only.

I recently saw an interview where Anet briefly discussed the precursor track and said they aren’t sure whether it will be one or a combination of 3 tracks. The main reason I’m hyped at all about the xpac which looks small and underwhelming by MMO standards is the (about kitten time) inclusion of the precursor hunt promised looong ago and at least in the interview I got the sense that they were backtracking.

Kedarrian.2905:

GW2 is a game that has attracted people that weren’t previous veteran mmo players.

I think that was the original goal (with the whole “we don’t want players to grind” thing), but I believe ArenaNet has changed their minds. They probably realized it’s easier to appeal to veteran MMO players, who want more of the same, than to players who actually want good content.

It paints a very bad picture for the expansion.

I’ve been playing GW2 consistently for nearly 1.5 years now. I’ve have 13 level 80s and 3 toons with map completion. The expansion is hyped for veteran GW2 players, who are looking for new areas to explore because they’ve already explored all of the base maps (and that’s why they don’t like the current maps) and new professions to play after mastering all of them. If you’re not a veteran GW2 player, then its understandable that you’re not as hyped for it as others because you still find much of the base game exciting and fun, which you should because it is fun.

This is very much a QoL thread, which are normally addressed in feature patch updates which are different from new content updates like living world story and the upcoming HoT expansion. Its very likely there will be a feature patch/QoL update before or alongside the expansion. But I don’t think HoT will specifically address QoL on its own.

I’ve played since launch OP… I was in the betas and have played almost everyday since (with few exceptions). I usually only play 2 hours a night during the week and a little more on weekends… For players like me… I have one of every class at 80. I’ve done all the fractals. I’ve run all the dungeons. Done the PS, LS (and all achieves), map completion…. Still running dungeons and fractals though.. And running through the PS again.. Then the LS again.. And map completion again.. Jumping puzzles and mini dungeons I do a few times a week as well… Man.. I love the game.. And I’m going to keep playing… But for those of us who have done it all.. An expansion is sounding pretty good about now, after 2.5 years.

Did we really need a copy/paste of Lishtenbird’s thread so soon? Could you not have just posted in his thread, OP?

Edit: I see OP or Mod removed said copy/paste. Thus, never mind.

For sure, an Expansion will absolutely appeal to a player of your type Callidus. That is, the highly accomplished player who has explored much of what the game has to offer.

But my thought was that there are many more players who are not like you, than are like you. And these players, Mr.Average silent majority type. Are they at all hyped about an Expansion? Do they want more PVE maps and another class etc?

Like Test says, I think an Expansion for GW2 only appeases the HC or veteran MMO players. I can see how there could exist a large swathe of players who see no need to buy it.

Adding classes to the game this is a game changer for both the short run and the long run. The level of chose of how you play is always going to be more as they add more types in. So even if you do not like pve from HoT the new classes/system is something to get excited about.

Kedarrian.2905:

For sure, an Expansion will absolutely appeal to a player of your type Callidus. That is, the highly accomplished player who has explored much of what the game has to offer.

But my thought was that there are many more players who are not like you, than are like you. And these players, Mr.Average silent majority type. Are they at all hyped about an Expansion? Do they want more PVE maps and another class etc?

Like Test says, I think an Expansion for GW2 only appeases the HC or veteran MMO players. I can see how there could exist a large swathe of players who see no need to buy it.

I am not a HC player at all, and I am looking forward to the new content. The game would have been out for nearly 3 years by the time the expansion releases, that is plenty of time for most of the players who have been with GW2 since around the beginning, to at the very least complete all the zones in this game, and even all the dungeons as well, even for the casual players.

I’m a fairly casual player, so think I’m similar to Kedarrian (OP) even though it looks like he’s farther along in the game than I am.

I’m not sure how an expansion really changes things. Right now there are people doing things I’m not doing/haven’t gotten around to yet. There are maps I haven’t explored, so adding more doesn’t really change anything. Adding the Revenant doesn’t impact me, other than I’ll want to create one and try it out. Shiny stuff is always exciting, after all.

The game as it stands remains for those who wish to keep playing it as-is, barring future updates, which come whether or not an expansion happens. So adding content that others will undoubtedly explore far sooner than I will doesn’t really impact me.

I expect new HoT content to draw players there, but also expect they will drift back to older areas after the shininess wears off. So I don’t expect current game areas to be ghost towns. Look at all the new players with these $10 sales. Many of them will want to continue exploring the current Tyria, and not everyone will rush out and get the expansion. Plus, who knows what the expansion will bring that has some impact on the existing world, be it events, achievements, needed materials or whatever.

Let those excited for the expansion enjoy it. It’s an MMO – you pick your own path, let others enjoy their own paths. That’s the beauty of it.

I don’t understand why people think the new expansion is a bad thing… it’ll bring new life to older zones, probably. There’ll be lots of people like myself who choose to level a Revenant and do it the long way (by playing through zones).

I´ve played since launch for about a year until I simply couldn´t bear the simplistic Zerg fest gameplay anymore, that the broken living world idea basically solidified.

This expansion hype has brought me back again, though much too soon it seems.

Otherwise OP is right.
There´s so much still left to do, even for me, that I´ve found myself logging in daily again.
Just to get the kitten 5000 achievement chest and finally see the dungeons I left out due to the living world grinding pressure.

I think it’s worth mentioning that even if the Xpac does seem to appeal more to veterans (which I’m not certain it does), that’s still a good thing for casuals too. This is because a big part of a game’s spirit that pervades its community comes from the love that veterans have for it. Nothing makes a veteran more happy than working diligently only to come back home and share the fruits of their labor with the community. However, a veteran needs a challenge to keep them around and inspire that hard work: if there’s no challenge, veterans begin to leave; if there’s no veterans, much of the fruit is left in the sun to wither away (or it simply becomes stale). And to further develop on the idea of community, GW2 is in ways primarily a community based experienced; and it is not wrong to think that a healthy community at times depends upon a healthy influx of new ideas. New content brings about the opportunity for players to apply themselves in new ways, and thus, to learn and share new ideas. And everyone benefits from new ideas, whether they be a casual or a hardcore veteran: this is because everyone is part of the community – and community is everything.

TL;DR: We expand for the betterment of the community!

If they hadn’t messed with the game this past year I would probably be excited about the expansion. But until they fix this mess I’m not interested in giving them any more of my money and I’m not interested in leveling a new character even if it is a new profession.

Test.8734:

Kedarrian.2905:

GW2 is a game that has attracted people that weren’t previous veteran mmo players.

I think that was the original goal (with the whole “we don’t want players to grind” thing), but I believe ArenaNet has changed their minds. They probably realized it’s easier to appeal to veteran MMO players, who want more of the same, than to players who actually want good content.

It paints a very bad picture for the expansion.

As if “more of the same” and “good content” are mutually exclusive. You almost make it sound as if veteran MMO players don’t want good content. How does that even remotely make sense?

Unless with “good content” you actually mean “stuff I personally like”. Then your comment makes sense. But if you meant that then you should just have said that instead of “good content”.

EDIT: So what exactly do you think Anet will add in the expansion that you won’t like and what do you think they won’t add that you would have liked? What would you want in an expansion that you think HoT won’t have?

Could you please provide some sources for your claim that veterans are a minority? Judging by the many threads requesting more robust content in the past, there are more than enough people looking forward to it.

Daewoo Securities seem to agree: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Earnings-forecast-hints-at-expansion-Q3-2015

Are you really suggesting halting all this development in favour of QoL improvements?
That would mean a substantial expected earnings drop, and no return on investment.

Your suggestion makes no financial sense. On the plus side, it’s perfectly possible we’ll get more QoL updates between now and the expac, Like the camera changes, for instance.

You’re not alone. As a PvPer, I haven’t seen any reason to purchase the expansion yet. And that’s fine. Much better, in fact, than every other MMORPG where you are left behind by everyone else if you don’t buy the newest expansion.