GW2 Sales 2Q16: a new All Time Low
No, it’s a different perspective, not a clearer one.
On this we disagree. There’s a difference between allowing an understanding of the past to inform the present, and dwelling on negative feelings towards the past (or nostalgia) to the extent it deforms what’s in front of you. I feel that too many people do the latter, and it’s a shame.
~EW
From a 4 year to an other 4 year player ….
Tell them you dont have money , dont go all the way around trying to stir things up with the rest of the monkeys ….
I actually pre-ordered HoT because FF14 turned into a pile of rubbish with actual content droughts and really only fillers. Even in the forums there is much more negativity out there.
Maybe some of you are just stuck in a weird mindset. I am having a blast with HoT and appreciate it to the fullest.
I’ve tried to get many people I know into the game but haven’t had any takers. Many don’t want to because it’s not on a console. I think ANet complicating things in the game isn’t helping. People usually want a simple distraction from real life not something that is more like work. The complicated crafting and open world meta events requiring LFG isn’t helping. The game doesn’t even allow single players to claim a homestead to mod and build in.
And I hope it stays this way. This audience is the last we need. If they want “distraction” of their life (which sounds like they are not quite in a good shape mentally), they can play some tablet games or on their phones. Same with consoles where nobody responds because they do not have keyboards/connected their keyboards (source: FF14).
If this game turns down the difficulty to cater the “console and tablet mini gamers” then I am out for sure.
I agree except I wouldn’t exactly call the current map meta events and usefulness of LFG with them complicated stuff. The game is very casual friendly for people who want a simple distraction. It definitely shouldn’t be easier, nor harder. It’s right where it should be. The map meta events can be figured out by stumbling into one your first time through – that’s how I figure it out without even looking them up – the game walks you through it and from there just follow the crowd. And you don’t need LFG – sure it’s useful and once you see people talking about their LFG groups in map chat you can look them up and join one, but you can just as easily walk up to a bunch of people and just join in, like everything else in GW2.
On a brighter note, HoT is back on the UK PC sales charts at 19. That’s likely due to the LS coming back.
What we are seeing here is the April-June doldrums due to the lack of content. While the Spring Update bumped up the active players, the “Hey we fixed most of the missteps we did in the expansion” isn’t an advertising slogan you can take to the bank.
Since we now have some indication about how much of the income they book from selling gems, hopefully some will now realize why their is always new stuff at the Gem Shop.
Also in the 2nd quarter we saw the exchange rate go from 22 gold to 30.6 gold per 100 gems. We know the rate increases as more gems are withdrawn than deposited in the exchange. What if this increase wasn’t just due to the increased rewards delivered in the Spring Update but also a decrease in actual Gem purchases that were then sold into the exchange? If GW2Efficiency reflects a reasonable cross-section of players, players don’t keep gems around. They seem to sell the left over ones they have due to buying gems in amounts in excess of what they immediately need (hot dog/bun problem). Now if they aren’t buying gems (with cash) because there is either nothing they like in the shop (or they have everything they are interested in) or they can earn enough gold to satisfy their need, that may be one reason gem sale income is down. Just some armchair analysis.
Also if staffing is still around 300, 15.9 billion KrW (roughly $13.6 million) for the quarter is still not troublesome yet. It’s still $180,000 per person per year in income. And game/expansion income is used to buffer these dips in income. First two quarters of 2015 income was 42.5 billion KrW and in 2016 it was 46.5 billion KrW.
As for when to expect the next expansion? Not this year, maybe 3Q17 putting it two years after HoT and five years after launch?
Just my thoughts. I’ll listen to the call later but nice summary @Belenwyn.
We are heroes. This is what we do!
RIP City of Heroes
RIP City of Heroes
Honestly, I would say the content drought was the second biggest problem (HoT being the first). You CANNOT go nine months after a release of adding nothing. Three or four tops, but any more and you are shooting yourselves in the foot.
From Reddit…
Lineage 1 – 94,4 billion KRW
Blade & Soul – 48,8 billion KRW
Lineage 2 – 19,0 billion KRW
Aion – 17,5 billion KRW
Guild Wars 2 – 15,8 billion KRW
Wildstar – 2,2 billion KRW
GW2 Quarterly Reports, 2012-2016
Source: http://global.ncsoft.com/global/ir/earnings.aspx
3Q12 – 45,841 (Pre-sales)
4Q12 – 119,013 (Launch, Southsun, Fractals)
1Q13 – 36,382 (LS Season 1 starts, Flame and Frost)
2Q13 – 28,889 (SAB, Molten Facility, Dragon Bash)
3Q13 – 24,481 (Bazaar of the Four Winds, Queen’s Jubilee, Tequatl revamp, SAB2)
4Q13 – 33,555 (Aetherpath, Tower of Nightmares, WvW Season 1)
1Q14 – 25,142 (Marionette, Battle for Lion’s Arch, LS Season 1 ends)
2Q14 – 21,506 (Feature Pack ((Account wardrobe, dyes, megaservers)), Bazaar 2)
3Q14 – 19,686 (LS Season 2 begins, Drytop, Feature Pack ((NPE, global guilds, TP Revamp), WvW Season 2)
4Q14 – 19,272 (Silverwastes)
1Q15 – 20, 026 (LS Season 2 ends, HoT announced at PAX, HoT Closed Beta 1)
2Q15 – 22,470 (HoT Closed Beta 2)
3Q15 – 20,699 (Stronghold / Desert BL test weekends, BWE 1 & 2)
4Q15 – 37,331 (BWE 3, Heart of Thorns release, Spirit Vale, PVP Leagues)
1Q16 – 30,667 (Winter Quarterly Update ((Tyria Gliding, Shatterer Revamp), Salvation Pass)
2Q16 – 15,894 (SAB, Spring Quarterly Update ((Fixing HoT, WvW linking, Level 80 boost)), Stronghold of the Faithful)
New Main- 80 Thief – P/P- Vault Spam Pro
221 hours over 1,581 days of bank space/hot pve/lion’s arch afk and some wvw.
221 hours over 1,581 days of bank space/hot pve/lion’s arch afk and some wvw.
Well, to be fair, Anet can’t carry a staff of 200 while only generating around 15 million per quarter.
Lets say 300 people cost $100K average each year. That is $30M a year.
A few million due to expanses.
$15M a quarter is $60M a year.
Also part of that cost is classed as investment (future expansions, etc).
Anet needs to drink a few coffees and wake up a little, but so far one can’t say much more than that. (and we already saw a few changes)
Ascended items are Anet biggest mistake and a kneejerk reaction.
Its no wonder people aren’t buying it, anets still trying to sell the expansion for 50 bucks here more then a year later.
Since the game released at the end of August 2012, the 3Q12 numbers is not just preorders but preorders and September’s income.
Other than that, good summary.
We are heroes. This is what we do!
RIP City of Heroes
RIP City of Heroes
15 million a quarter is not good news for a staff of 300, when Pokemon Go makes 10 million a day —- it’s cause of games like Pokemon Go, we will see more and more of these and less of traditional mmos in the future.
(edited by slashlizardy.9167)
15 million a quarter is not good news for a staff of 300, when Pokemon Go makes 10 million a day
It’s a cell phone game, not a computer game. And it struck a chord with the public. That said there are literally thousands of cell phone games that come out and don’t don’t that well at all. Taking the single most popular game in recent memory, and comparing it to a game from a different genre that’s four years old is pointless. I mean completely pointless.
It’s like saying that McDonalds makes more money than Peter Luger’s Steak House, so somehow Peter Lugers isn’t doing very well. It’s a pointless comparison.
Apples to carburetors comparison there @slashlizardy. Same could have been said about Farmville years ago. Or Angry Birds. Or Candy Crush.
We are heroes. This is what we do!
RIP City of Heroes
RIP City of Heroes
This is what happens when you put a game out in such a competitive environment and then spend much development time from zing the mistakes you made in the game. Time needs to be invested in game development instead of fixing mistakes or canceling on promises. I believe that since gw2 has finally created a blueprint to their game, that these issue will greatly diminish. What they do need a blue print for now is on making single player content which can be recreate per new content that is dished out. Which means that now they need a blueprint for single player content. I believe the next expac will be way better than the first. Everyone learns from mistakes, and if they want to make it anywhere then they better right down all the rights and never repeat the wrongs.
But thats what they have been doing all along building fundations or blueprints as you say it…. then scraping said blueprint for a new shiny one, they are like skritts in that regard.
If they had been producing content instead of fixing everything they broke with the release of HoT, they might still have players left to actually buy gems.
Wait. People are actually unhappy that they fixed things? Really?
No, they shouldn’t have broken them in the first place, but once you do, you can’t change time — you can only spend the time it takes to fix things.
Its no wonder people aren’t buying it, anets still trying to sell the expansion for 50 bucks here more then a year later.
Heart of Thorns launched in October. Without getting into whether $50 is the right price for it or not, we’re currently in August.
~The Storyteller – Elementalist – Jade Quarry~
From a post I made 6 months ago:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Ncsoft-s-earnings-4Q-2015/page/3
“I predict that Q1 2016 revenue will be around 26,000 KRW MLN (due to FTP Players upgrading after Christmas)
and Q2 will see GW2 revenue fall to its lowest point since launch at around 15,000 KRW MLN”
Killing off dungeons was a huge mistake. I´m really missing small group instanced content so I rarely play the game anymore and will likely move on to WoW Legion because of this. Raids don´t count because they cater to the 0.5% of the community.
I hear ‘ESO’ then ‘BDO’.
Hang in there, Tyria!
Thaír ar Nádal aï Narvèduí – Zían athâ éhû Tharnadaï
From Shadow unto Light is born the Narvedui
While softly walks the Tharnadai
From Shadow unto Light is born the Narvedui
While softly walks the Tharnadai
Its no wonder people aren’t buying it, anets still trying to sell the expansion for 50 bucks here more then a year later.
Heart of Thorns launched in October. Without getting into whether $50 is the right price for it or not, we’re currently in August.
Well I was under two months off. Right now I am one those people considering getting back into game. A full blown AAA game these days can be the range of 50-60 bucks. So for me after reading whats in the expansion it dont feel like its worth 50 bucks.
The expac is worth it if you enjoy character progression, or story mode. The maps are nice, but there is not that many. Also the elite specs are very powerful.
I was in your shoes “I read it online and it’s getting bad reviews” but playing the expac was actually enjoyable. It ‘felt’ short… but very enjoyable. I eventually upgraded all our family members to enjoy the story mode, and gain access to the new elite specs (for our wvw play).
My only gripe is the amount of collection achievements and chasing mastery points, feels a little grindy.
Gliding … is awesome and like second nature in PvE.
In the end, you always revert back to the worlds you enjoy exploring … and for me that’s Tyria and this game (and in past gw1’s version of it). Just something about the ambience I really enjoy.
From a post I made 6 months ago:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Ncsoft-s-earnings-4Q-2015/page/3“I predict that Q1 2016 revenue will be around 26,000 KRW MLN (due to FTP Players upgrading after Christmas)
and Q2 will see GW2 revenue fall to its lowest point since launch at around 15,000 KRW MLN”
Nice guess on Q2 but you undershot Q1 by a fair amount.
We are heroes. This is what we do!
RIP City of Heroes
RIP City of Heroes
Good, they deserve every bit of it. They destroyed the solo player and this is the end result. All the solo players have given up and gone elsewhere. First they ruined WvW with adding all that stupid crap. Then they turned what was a casual friendly game since April 26, 2005 into the steamy HoT piece of crap we have now. My friends have all left, I haven’t played in months and I don’t care what you fix or add to the game..I’m done. You can’t polish a kitten . You can’t force people to play together if they don’t want to. You can make the game harder so they have to group up to get through the content and you can watch by the sales how well that works.
I don’t care what they put in the next expansion I’m sure as hell not buying it. Or anything from Arena Net ever again. HoT is the complete opposite of everything Guild Wars was over the last 10 years. I don’t like where its going, and I won’t be here for it.
If they had been producing content instead of fixing everything they broke with the release of HoT, they might still have players left to actually buy gems.
Wait. People are actually unhappy that they fixed things? Really?
No, they shouldn’t have broken them in the first place, but once you do, you can’t change time — you can only spend the time it takes to fix things.
You can also spend money. Anet had two ways to go to fix things. They could have used existing staff levels and fixed things while not producing content or increased staff levels and done both.
Doing the first saved them money in the short run. It may have cost them money in the long run. If they had done the second, it would have cost them money in the short run, but may have made them more money in the long run. As things look now, on the limited information available, it appears they made a bad choice.
(edited by Thelgar.7214)
Good, they deserve every bit of it. They destroyed the solo player and this is the end result. All the solo players have given up and gone elsewhere. First they ruined WvW with adding all that stupid crap. Then they turned what was a casual friendly game since April 26, 2005 into the steamy HoT piece of crap we have now. My friends have all left, I haven’t played in months and I don’t care what you fix or add to the game..I’m done. You can’t polish a kitten . You can’t force people to play together if they don’t want to. You can make the game harder so they have to group up to get through the content and you can watch by the sales how well that works.
I don’t care what they put in the next expansion I’m sure as hell not buying it. Or anything from Arena Net ever again. HoT is the complete opposite of everything Guild Wars was over the last 10 years. I don’t like where its going, and I won’t be here for it.
I play solo….
Both vanilla and Hot, I run around the maps alone and I’m just an average player playing on a laptop with crappy wifi hotspots.
Be careful what you ask for
ANet may give it to you.
ANet may give it to you.
Good, they deserve every bit of it. They destroyed the solo player and this is the end result. All the solo players have given up and gone elsewhere. First they ruined WvW with adding all that stupid crap. Then they turned what was a casual friendly game since April 26, 2005 into the steamy HoT piece of crap we have now. My friends have all left, I haven’t played in months and I don’t care what you fix or add to the game..I’m done. You can’t polish a kitten . You can’t force people to play together if they don’t want to. You can make the game harder so they have to group up to get through the content and you can watch by the sales how well that works.
I don’t care what they put in the next expansion I’m sure as hell not buying it. Or anything from Arena Net ever again. HoT is the complete opposite of everything Guild Wars was over the last 10 years. I don’t like where its going, and I won’t be here for it.
I’m a solo player too, but since since the April patch HoT is actually playable solo, at my level of skill. I just bid my time in Core Tyria trying to get MP to get autoloot.
Yes HoT was a horrible misstep in tone when compared to the core game. Most of that has been fixed now.
We are heroes. This is what we do!
RIP City of Heroes
RIP City of Heroes
I also play solo and have no problem with HoT content. Anything that needs a group you either already have a group there doing it, or you ask in map chat and people show up immediately. The masteries and achievements and whatever else just gives me things to work towards. As a casual solo player, I don’t feel the need to finish that stuff quickly and I don’t need any of it for any of the open world content I enjoy. So it’s just all fun stuff to do at my own pace. I’m even making myself some Ascended gear now and again, I don’t need it at all but it’s just a fun thing to slowly do while I work on HoT stuff.
I’m curious what the intended release schedule for future expansions will be under this new direction? I can’t really think of anything that gets me interested in an MMO again like a new expansion. But bumping up the schedule also runs the risk of failing to deliver a worthy expansion.
I don’t necessarily agree with those who say HoT is just such an unworthy expansion. I think it added a lot of great things, not least of which gliding and the incredible maps that really allow it to shine. But it was only the 4 maps and now Bloodstone Fen.
Basically, I want their best work, but I want it sooner rather than later. And I have no problem paying for it. That’s just the kind of MMO player I am. I put way too much time into these games to worry about spending $50 on them now and then. What kills it for me is losing interest because the next big content release isn’t even visible on the horizon and I’ve already done the things I enjoy doing to the point where I’m ready for something new!
“What we are planning to do going forward is that we are going to shorten the span for the next launch of the expansion pack. So right now we are in the phase for preparing for the 2nd expansion pack we ae going to shorten the launch timing between the different boxes that we launch to create more momentum. "
Good to see ArenaNet doubling down with their quantity over quality strategy.
I can see their revenue generating scheme now: Legendary Armor available only to those who buy the 2nd expansion.
It’s simple: Living World kept people around to chase new carrots. No Living World? No content? No interest. And once you lose players, it’s hard as hell to get them to come back. And a ton of us on the forum said this would happen, but people just had to have their expansion.
Anyone paying attention can see how eye-opening this year was for Guild Wars 2. I love this game, but I’m not fool enough to say there weren’t some extremely poor business decisions involved.
The Core game set a certain standard for non-grinding, casual play at your own pace. And then Heart of Thorns arrived, and raids, and PvP tournaments, and on and on and on.
Of course the casuals left for greener pastures. This shouldn’t surprise anyone not a rampant fan-boy, waving his white knight pom-poms in every thread to tell the community otherwise.
It didn’t work for Bagdad Bob, and it’s not working here. And now? The numbers back it up.
Facts are a funny thing.
Gone to Reddit.
(edited by Ardenwolfe.8590)
15 million a quarter is not good news for a staff of 300, when Pokemon Go makes 10 million a day —- it’s cause of games like Pokemon Go, we will see more and more of these and less of traditional mmos in the future.
Pokemon Go is based upon an IP with a built-in global following, did a full on media blitz, and introduced a novel use of technology in the process. It is hardly indicative of smart phone game releases.
But can we talk about this later? “Malcontent Avians 63” just released! I gotta go download it right away!
I can see their revenue generating scheme now: Legendary Armor available only to those who buy the 2nd expansion.
And then cancel them? Fool me once.
It will be a wait and see for me. Also a different pricing model for those that bought Core and then bought HoT would be nice,
I think this is more an issue with ANet not putting a whole lot on the gem store to drive sales.
They crank out glider skins, weapon skins, and outfits just as fast as they can make them. They release plenty of BLC weapon skins to boot. There are no shortage of special dye packs and infinite harvesting tools. I don’t think they could possibly offer more stuff to buy in the cash shop than what they’re already doing.
I suspect the real reason for the slump it HOT drove away players en masse. The game was created with a specific type of player in mind, and HOT cattered to that target audience’s polar opposite. It doesn’t help that what was on offer with HOT’s release was viewed by many to be underwhelming and that the expansion didn’t deliver on everything it promised.
I will never buy another expansion for this game.HoT taught me that Anet cannot do expansions for GW2 well. It took them 6 MONTHS to fix everything they broke when they released HoT. And they canceled one of HoT many selling points, New Legendary Weapons. I wont buy into that BS again.
Nope, GW2 as is for me here on out. If they want to drop new zones/story and charge for entry into them that is one thing. But to do another complete overhaul of the game? No I will not partake.
we don’t even have the game engine fixed yet. Really, what did we get that we paid for? Not a whole lot.
They can make smaller expansion than HoT every 3-6 months but let it cost 10€. I won’t give 45€ anymore for cancelled legendaries and small maps + raids for 4% game pop + legendary armor only available in raids while wvw and pvp are left behind.
Those of us that do more than PvE have been seeing the downward trend for quite awhile now. WvW was pretty much destroyed by HoT because they introduced maps players didn’t like, mechanics that were overpowered, and features that have more to do with PvE than player vs player combat. Players that stuck around looking for the magic bullet patch gave up when they saw what Anet had to offer. WvW only feels active right now because of server linking. WvW also lack long term goals & its own legendary wings to strive for.
Then on the PvP front, the most recent pro tourney was only viewed by 1200 – 1400 people. HoT threw the balance out of whack with introduction of elite specs. The game mode has been hurt ever since HoT expansion, and viewership keeps getting lower and lower. The game mode is stale, but they did release a new map recently. Unfortunately the new map isn’t in the ranked rotation so people who have their wings, or have been playing pvp for awhile, really are not motivated to play yet another season. Again, lack of long term goals & rewards is an issue, and lack of new maps & alternate non-conquest modes keep PvP stale for many.
Now PvE is Anet’s bread & butter, you would hope PvE players would be able to shoulder the game and keep it funded. Seeing how much Anet puts PvE as its main focus. But those figures speak for themselves, not even PvE players are spending that much money right now. So argue, debate, reason all we want. The numbers & the charts don’t lie. It doesn’t matter if PvE feels alive and active, it doesn’t matter if your guild is hopping with players or if you are having fun personally. All it matters is whether people are spending money, because this game is f2p it needs people to spend money. And right now, people aren’t spending that much money.
You know how it is, when people are happy, they spend more money. People spend money when they feel the content is fun & worth it. People spend money when they’re addicted to the game and want more out of the game. Anet really needs to figure out what they’re doing and what they want to achieve. Because the bottom line is really just the bottom line, it doesn’t matter how any of us feel the game is doing, all that matters is whether people are spending money.
“What we are planning to do going forward is that we are going to shorten the span for the next launch of the expansion pack. So right now we are in the phase for preparing for the 2nd expansion pack we ae going to shorten the launch timing between the different boxes that we launch to create more momentum. "
Good to see ArenaNet doubling down with their quantity over quality strategy.
Remember, this isn’t ANet saying this but NCSOFT to analysts, which is what they want to hear. They don’t care about any of the games NCSOFT markets, just the bottom line. Don’t forget, NCSOFT said an expansion was coming a year after the game launched in a conference call.
We are heroes. This is what we do!
RIP City of Heroes
RIP City of Heroes
(edited by Behellagh.1468)
I hope they don’t change too much about the payment model because one of the things I like about this game is that I don’t have to spend a lot of money. I don’t care if other people buy every costume and glider skin on the gem store because that doesn’t affect me at all. But the moment ANet makes me feel like I have to buy more is the moment I stop playing. I’m already annoyed with ESO forcing you to spend a lot of money, so while it’s a fun game, it’s caused me to want a break. GW2 is my last hope.
“What we are planning to do going forward is that we are going to shorten the span for the next launch of the expansion pack. So right now we are in the phase for preparing for the 2nd expansion pack we ae going to shorten the launch timing between the different boxes that we launch to create more momentum. "
Good to see ArenaNet doubling down with their quantity over quality strategy.
Remember, this isn’t ANet saying this but NCSOFT to analysts, which is what they want to hear. They don’t care about any of the games NCSOFT markets, just the bottom line. Don’t forget, NCSOFT said an expansion was coming a year after the game launched in a conference call.
That was on a call though, if its on paper its more tangible.
Just like the 2015 Jan 3rd Budget report that projected what the Expansion set to release was going to make, I would put more weight into something down in a Financial document then something over a conference call.
“What we are planning to do going forward is that we are going to shorten the span for the next launch of the expansion pack. So right now we are in the phase for preparing for the 2nd expansion pack we ae going to shorten the launch timing between the different boxes that we launch to create more momentum. "
Good to see ArenaNet doubling down with their quantity over quality strategy.
Remember, this isn’t ANet saying this but NCSOFT to analysts, which is what they want to hear. They don’t care about any of the games NCSOFT markets, just the bottom line. Don’t forget, NCSOFT said an expansion was coming a year after the game launched in a conference call.
That was on a call though, if its on paper its more tangible.
Just like the 2015 Jan 3rd Budget report that projected what the Expansion set to release was going to make, I would put more weight into something down in a Financial document then something over a conference call.
What report was that? Certainly not the Daewoo outrageous guesstimate?
We are heroes. This is what we do!
RIP City of Heroes
RIP City of Heroes
“What we are planning to do going forward is that we are going to shorten the span for the next launch of the expansion pack. So right now we are in the phase for preparing for the 2nd expansion pack we ae going to shorten the launch timing between the different boxes that we launch to create more momentum. "
Good to see ArenaNet doubling down with their quantity over quality strategy.
Remember, this isn’t ANet saying this but NCSOFT to analysts, which is what they want to hear. They don’t care about any of the games NCSOFT markets, just the bottom line. Don’t forget, NCSOFT said an expansion was coming a year after the game launched in a conference call.
That was on a call though, if its on paper its more tangible.
Just like the 2015 Jan 3rd Budget report that projected what the Expansion set to release was going to make, I would put more weight into something down in a Financial document then something over a conference call.What report was that? Certainly not the Daewoo outrageous guesstimate?
I dont remember which report, but it was the one that said the est HoT sales was going to be 10,000,000. Which if you did the math, put the MSRP of HOT at 49.99, which is what it was.
So say what you want….
Desktop: 4790k@4.6ghz-1.25v, AMD 295×2, 32GB 1866CL10 RAM, 850Evo 500GB SSD
Laptop: M6600 – 2720QM, AMD HD6970M, 32GB 1600CL9 RAM, Arc100 480GB SSD
Laptop: M6600 – 2720QM, AMD HD6970M, 32GB 1600CL9 RAM, Arc100 480GB SSD
Just saying now, I told you so, to all the people who kept screaming for an expansion for years, and the white knights claiming HoT would be a huge boon for profits and the number of active players.
Expansions, unless in widely-popular subscription games, do not make money. Microtransactions for cosmetics do, and focusing on important things like gameplay make any content droughts much more enjoyable. Games like League, which has an astrononical budget know this; almost all profit comes from skins and their tight gameplay mechanics and good balance, with a very occasional new champion/content release.
ANet has failed repeatedly to provide us with a quality, detail-driven gameplay experience as a whole for well over a year, now. Most aspects of the game which were once great selling points have been stymied, while an excess of attention has been put in all the wrong places in hopes to expand their bleeding playerbase via niche markets. Unfortunately, the real, hard truth is that the existing greatness of the game is being continuously tarnished through negligence, and in many respects, blatant ineptitude of maintaining such a great experience.
Formal Thief Elite Spec proposal:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/thief/ES-Suggestion-The-Deadeye-FORMAL/
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/thief/ES-Suggestion-The-Deadeye-FORMAL/
The dog that chases two rabbits, catches neither.
They had an audience for this game in players uninterested in the traditional MMO of gear grinding and tiered content and bean counting DPS output.
And they lost that audience while seeking after traditional MMO players, which in the end they never wound up getting.
And at this point, I think it’s years too late to turn things around.
I hope I’m wrong, but I doubt it. Might get in even another couple of expansions, but this game will go down long before we even have time to see the last of the six dragons.
(edited by Conncept.7638)
“What we are planning to do going forward is that we are going to shorten the span for the next launch of the expansion pack. So right now we are in the phase for preparing for the 2nd expansion pack we ae going to shorten the launch timing between the different boxes that we launch to create more momentum. "
Good to see ArenaNet doubling down with their quantity over quality strategy.
Remember, this isn’t ANet saying this but NCSOFT to analysts, which is what they want to hear. They don’t care about any of the games NCSOFT markets, just the bottom line. Don’t forget, NCSOFT said an expansion was coming a year after the game launched in a conference call.
That was on a call though, if its on paper its more tangible.
Just like the 2015 Jan 3rd Budget report that projected what the Expansion set to release was going to make, I would put more weight into something down in a Financial document then something over a conference call.What report was that? Certainly not the Daewoo outrageous guesstimate?
I dont remember which report, but it was the one that said the est HoT sales was going to be 10,000,000. Which if you did the math, put the MSRP of HOT at 49.99, which is what it was.
So say what you want….
That was an analyst’s guestimate what the expansion was going to bring in, not anything from NCSOFT or ANet. They, Daewoo, quickly walked back that estimate within a few weeks.
And I don’t remember any White Knights here asking for an expansion. It was the naysayers who disliked living world clamored for a “traditional” expansion.
We are heroes. This is what we do!
RIP City of Heroes
RIP City of Heroes
(edited by Behellagh.1468)
The dog that chases two rabbits, catches neither.
They had an audience for this game in players uninterested in the traditional MMO of gear grinding and tiered content and bean counting DPS output.
And they lost that audience while seeking after traditional MMO players, which in the end they never wound up getting.
And at this point, I think it’s years too late to turn things around.
I hope I’m wrong, but I doubt it. This game will go down long before we even have time to see the last of the six dragons.
Most content is still open world content like it always has been. Few people really do raids and most of us don’t think about it much. It doesn’t affect me that it’s there and on a daily basis I forget it even exists in game until I see someone talking about it on Reddit.
So retail sales went down? After they made the entire core game free to download and play?
Expect an announcement for the start of the development of Guild Wars 3 later this year.
So much for “challenging group content” boosting the game – Casuals leaving was expected.
Too bad most “hardcore groupers” seem to spend ingame-gold instead of RL-cash.
Catering to the least profitable group 101?
The dog that chases two rabbits, catches neither.
They had an audience for this game in players uninterested in the traditional MMO of gear grinding and tiered content and bean counting DPS output.
And they lost that audience while seeking after traditional MMO players, which in the end they never wound up getting.
And at this point, I think it’s years too late to turn things around.
I hope I’m wrong, but I doubt it. This game will go down long before we even have time to see the last of the six dragons.
Most content is still open world content like it always has been. Few people really do raids and most of us don’t think about it much. It doesn’t affect me that it’s there and on a daily basis I forget it even exists in game until I see someone talking about it on Reddit.
What does that matter? Raids are just THE absolute worst example, not even close to the only one.
Open world content does not mean it is inherently made for we happy few that are left. Look at the disaster of HoTs open world areas, map mechanics and enemies designed to force players to either play ANets way or “GTFO my game scrublords”, and the way they intended wasn’t even interesting! The trick to them was minmaxing stats and a tiny subset of mechanics and cheesing your way out of one instant death one-shot attack after another for hours on end.
What matters in the end, is how the developers are spending their time, and hardly any of their time in the last three years has been spent on any improvements for us, but instead on new “shinies” to attract the shallow and easily distracted, who are just as easily lost to the next shiny some other developer came out with.
While anything made to apply to us, is repetitious old hat content with a new coat of paint slapped on, continually smaller with each release, and never with any mechanical improvements no matter how obvious the need.
(edited by Conncept.7638)