Guild Wars 2

Content Locust: How They Change The MMO Gaming Landscape

Someone was kind enough to post it already so I’m going to re-post it in it’s own topic for everyone to see. This kind of information is too valuable to go unnoticed.

We, as a community of Guild Wars 2, need to make sure that these locust don’t further try to drag our beautiful and wonderful world that ArenaNet created, in a direction we don’t want it to go.

Let us be more of a presence in the forums, GuildWars2Guru, Reddit, etc. etc.

Most common fear with this new added tier, to “close the gap” between exotic and legendary gear, will lead to more higher gear stats in the future; leading to a treadmill.

We have the ability to let them know we don’t want it to go in that direction. With the new content The Lost Shores, we can draw the line.

Because there is no gap to close now between exotics and legendary.
they create the gap when the patch goes live.

p.s. thanks locust to this mess^_^

Great post i totally agree with you! Should be reposted as often as possible!!

I’m not agreeing or disagreeing with you. But basically what you’re saying is that these “locusts” don’t have a right to express how they want their game play to be? What makes them wrong and you right on determining the betterment of this game?

Ganzo.5079:

Because there is no gap to close now between exotics and legendary.
they create the gap when the patch goes live.

Then they will need to close that gap with another tier and then maybe close the gap that creates with another one and so on.

Mr Crazy Moose.5760:

Ganzo.5079:

Because there is no gap to close now between exotics and legendary.
they create the gap when the patch goes live.

Then they will need to close that gap with another tier and then maybe close the gap that creates with another one and so on.

Why don’t they close the gap between rare and exotic? Fine and masterwork?

Irrodesia.3907:

We have the ability to let them know we don’t want it to go in that direction. With the new content The Lost Shores, we can draw the line.

Too bad they already have your money.

Someone said something in a different thread which kind of made me think (I apologize to whoever it was, I don’t remember your name):

“If they lose 50,000 existing customers but gain 10,000 new WoW players, it’s a win for them because the 50,000 lost customers already payed.”

Yeah, it’s a short term gain (because of potential gem and expansion sales) but on the other hand they have the potential to gain a LOT of WoW players (of course every game that tried to clone wow has failed, but anet wouldn’t be the first to ignore that in search of a slice of that WoW pie)

The cynic in me now believes the timing of adding gated content/gear treadmill exactly at the time they add a trial for friends is absolutely no coincidence, but rather a shortsighted grab for WoW’s fanbase.

Regardless of agreeing or disagreeing with what’s happeing to the game, i suggest everyone read that artical – it’s very good.
-
Also be sure to watch this aswell.
Extra Credits – Power Creep
This ties in with content locusts/gear treadmills.

Hexgame.4802:

I’m not agreeing or disagreeing with you. But basically what you’re saying is that these “locusts” don’t have a right to express how they want their game play to be? What makes them wrong and you right on determining the betterment of this game?

It’s more the fact that every other MMORPG already caters to them, and when a game like GW2 comes along that avoids doing so, they keep on shouting for it to get back in line until it does. They want every game to follow the same formula.

A good article to post and a picture perfect example of what is happening here. AN are selling out their core customer base and even their integrity and reputation to try and lure more WoW-centric players over. Allowing a tiny fraction of players control the direction of the game, especially allowing it to be steered in a complete 180 degrees is down right foolish.

BurnedToast.3781:

Too bad they already have your money.

Someone said something in a different thread which kind of made me think (I apologize to whoever it was, I don’t remember your name):

“If they lose 50,000 existing customers but gain 10,000 new WoW players, it’s a win for them because the 50,000 lost customers already payed.”

Yeah, it’s a short term gain (because of potential gem and expansion sales) but on the other hand they have the potential to gain a LOT of WoW players (of course every game that tried to clone wow has failed, but anet wouldn’t be the first to ignore that in search of a slice of that WoW pie)

The cynic in me now believes the timing of adding gated content/gear treadmill exactly at the time they add a trial for friends is absolutely no coincidence, but rather a shortsighted grab for WoW’s fanbase.

The might have our money but its the loyalist fans that they will rely on to keep the game afloat. They might get a short term boost of box sales thanks to the few WoW kiddies they do lure over but it will not last. GW2 simply isn’t designed to be WoW and one ham-fisted patch will not change that. Like the article has said, the locusts will chew through the new content in a few weeks, get their shiny new gear, get bored and end up going right back to WoW.

Meanwhile, the once- loyal fans who now feel like morons for believing AN and allowing themselves to be betrayed might stay or they might pack their bags and leave. GW2 has only been around for a few months and there are no long-term attachments to keep people around, especially after AN has blatantly lied to them. I actually though encourage people to stay. Not because of any loyalty to AN (which I no longer have. AN traded in that currency out of greed) but because I paid my money and might as well milk what enjoyment out of it I can. I will say though after spending a fair chunk of change on Gems, that is pretty much the last cent AN will ever get out of me and again, I encourage disgruntled players to do the same. AN have proven concepts like loyalty and honest mean little to them and are fixated on short-term revenue gains at the expense of everything else. If that only language they speak now, I am happy to oblige.

AN has proven it does NOT care what the majority of its players have to say. The fact they are going ahead with this moronic plan when it flies in the face of not only the overwhelming public opinion but the words of their own company president proves this. The only way for the customer to get his word across is voting with their wallets. I refuse to give AN another cent while they see fit to lie and betray the fans and customers that put them on the map. I implore every other disgruntled player to do the same

and judgeing by the list of threads that I had seen in the past few days, There are far to many content locust in GW2. Stop rune the the fun of dedicated players.

Hexgame.4802:

I’m not agreeing or disagreeing with you. But basically what you’re saying is that these “locusts” don’t have a right to express how they want their game play to be? What makes them wrong and you right on determining the betterment of this game?

They are the 1%. They don’t have right to ruin the game for the 99%!

Columba.9730:

Hexgame.4802:

I’m not agreeing or disagreeing with you. But basically what you’re saying is that these “locusts” don’t have a right to express how they want their game play to be? What makes them wrong and you right on determining the betterment of this game?

They are the 1%. They don’t have right to ruin the game for the 99%!

Did you ever stop to think that maybe just maybe this is going to be the only rarity change? They haven’t compromised on their consistent power levels for each rarity of gear. They are just adding an additional level of rarity to support infusions…

For all these die hard fans that are saying agony is going to ruin the game experience because it is a gear wall… It was in GW1! So were infusions. Oh no! Arena Net actually made the game a proper sequel. Let’s all go delete our accounts now and form a picket line.

It’s not a gear treadmill until it becomes a regular thing. I’m pretty sure Arena Net knows what they promised. They spent 5+ years of their lives making this game and you think they forgot their vision? Are you being serious. The attitudes of whiners on this forum kills me sometimes. One second you love them the next second you’re screaming for their blood. I would venture to say a large portion of these forums users are bi polar.

Wreckdum.8367:

Columba.9730:

Hexgame.4802:

I’m not agreeing or disagreeing with you. But basically what you’re saying is that these “locusts” don’t have a right to express how they want their game play to be? What makes them wrong and you right on determining the betterment of this game?

They are the 1%. They don’t have right to ruin the game for the 99%!

Did you ever stop to think that maybe just maybe this is going to be the only rarity change? They haven’t compromised on their consistent power levels for each rarity of gear. They are just adding an additional level of rarity to support infusions…

For all these die hard fans that are saying agony is going to ruin the game experience because it is a gear wall… It was in GW1! So were infusions. Oh no! Arena Net actually made the game a proper sequel. Let’s all go delete our accounts now and form a picket line.

It’s not a gear treadmill until it becomes a regular thing. I’m pretty sure Arena Net knows what they promised. They spent 5+ years of their lives making this game and you think they forgot their vision? Are you being serious. The attitudes of whiners on this forum kills me sometimes. One second you love them the next second you’re screaming for their blood. I would venture to say a large portion of these forums users are bi polar.

You realize that legendaries, at the end, will have the highest stats, higher than ascended? Now, step back for a moment. The legendary weapons you’re grinding right now, that is the kind of grind you will endure for EVERY legendary piece down the road.

In GW1, how long did it take to get max armor/weapons? The answer is: about 100-500 times shorter and less frustrating than what the legendary grind is today.

In order to make this new system, where exotics are 3rd tier, work, they’d have to completely redo legendaries, they’d have to allow them to all be acquired about as easily as the current exotics.

Still trust them to do that? Because I don’t.

Wreckdum.8367:

Did you ever stop to think that maybe just maybe this is going to be the only rarity change? They haven’t compromised on their consistent power levels for each rarity of gear. They are just adding an additional level of rarity to support infusions…

For all these die hard fans that are saying agony is going to ruin the game experience because it is a gear wall… It was in GW1! So were infusions. Oh no! Arena Net actually made the game a proper sequel. Let’s all go delete our accounts now and form a picket line.

It’s not just a rarity change – they showed a screenshot, and the new item has better stats then a current exotic – including the gem. The infusion slot is a freebie on an already better item.

Second, agony is GW1 was COMPLETELY different. It was a short little story thing you did which infused all your armor in one go. It’s not comparable at all, really the only thing that’s the same is the name.

Wreckdum.8367:

Columba.9730:

Hexgame.4802:

I’m not agreeing or disagreeing with you. But basically what you’re saying is that these “locusts” don’t have a right to express how they want their game play to be? What makes them wrong and you right on determining the betterment of this game?

They are the 1%. They don’t have right to ruin the game for the 99%!

Did you ever stop to think that maybe just maybe this is going to be the only rarity change? They haven’t compromised on their consistent power levels for each rarity of gear. They are just adding an additional level of rarity to support infusions…

For all these die hard fans that are saying agony is going to ruin the game experience because it is a gear wall… It was in GW1! So were infusions. Oh no! Arena Net actually made the game a proper sequel. Let’s all go delete our accounts now and form a picket line.

It’s not a gear treadmill until it becomes a regular thing. I’m pretty sure Arena Net knows what they promised. They spent 5+ years of their lives making this game and you think they forgot their vision? Are you being serious. The attitudes of whiners on this forum kills me sometimes. One second you love them the next second you’re screaming for their blood. I would venture to say a large portion of these forums users are bi polar.

did you fail to read the entire blog? this is the first of many.

I think this is time for us to stand up united against the locusts.

/signed.

Hexgame.4802:

I’m not agreeing or disagreeing with you. But basically what you’re saying is that these “locusts” don’t have a right to express how they want their game play to be? What makes them wrong and you right on determining the betterment of this game?

The fact that GW2 was sold as not having gear treadmill maybe? And lets not forget that it appears that this gear is currently tied to an RNG system FML

These people didn’t have any right to make propositions that fulfill their gameplay objectives for a simple reason :
They don’t play the game, they spoil it, they don’t want to particpate to the overall content because they don’t are interested in that. They even don’t involve themself in the community and the only thing they express is after 2 weeks of play in the official forum :
“this game is to short. I rush the content and now I feel bored”
“I want a more powerfull armor”

What the point of a more powerfull armor ? Nothing

Add new content that is progressively more difficult to overcome is a good thing. But no need to add new tier gear for that.
With new gear the new dungeons will not be more difficult and here is the vicious circle.

These people doesn’t have any common sense and their only goal is to see numbers increasing, wich when we spoke about a fantasy game is totally nonesense.

This society is completly perverted by robotics state of mind, and global denial.
Some people complain without work around to find that their state of mind is useless.
Some compagny throw away its logic and core philosophy to follow the desires of the upon ones.
Lots of people try to understate the concept of “saling his soul to the devil” and protect this huge compagny against all logic.
The rest of the people with “half a brain” as red in this forum and I add “half a heart” trying to put things in order lost their only game designed for fun and community link.

That is the really disgusting reality.

Sorry for my awful english.

Both the article about the content locusts and the video about Power Creep are something I think every player and – more importantly – every game developer needs to get familiar with.
To be honest, I find them so important that I believe that , given the current situation, ANet should not only address the Ascended Gear thread properly, but those two points as well.

I think some people are being just as elitist, rude and exclusionary as the people they call locusts.

Regardless of any opinion relating to Ascended gear, what kind of community are you hoping to achieve if you go around calling some of your fellow players insects and claiming they have no right to speak or have opinions?

This tread is kitten and that article is just a lame excuse from game developers for not being able to deliver AAA content. Everyone have right to play the game the way they want to. The fact that someone doesn’t like to play the game the way some game dev wants it to be played doesn’t make him/her bad person. He/she just had some expectations about that game that don’t come true, that’s it.

The piece carries quit a lot of hate and nobody deserves to be compared with an insect. I disagree with a number of things he says.

He says 1%, why he thinks so little? He says their opinion carries weight. I don’t see, why? Carries weight with who? I am “casual” and I care next to nothing for their opinion. Nobody reads all quest text, that is 1 of the thing so great about GW2 (there is simply very little reading).

In his definition there is no difference between the locust and the hardcore gamer, probably the one are some of his friends and the others are the rest.

Also, in games with gear progression it pays to do the dungeon first and to level fast. Simply because if you are able to obtain the best grade first then you earn must more until the average players catches up and floods the market.

I think the locusts are meant for those who are hardcore in playing multiple MMOs, and moving from one to another once they are bored with their current ‘conquests’, and therefore creating issues for MMO content developers to keep up with..

I know of a lot of hardcore gamers who understand that new content takes time to create and deliver, and unreasonable ones who wants their (next) gratification immediately.

Of course I might be wrong as I have yet to befriend any locusts online. By theory they should move between MMOs very frequently, looking for the next-in-thing.

Beren, 1% or 10% doesn’t matter. The problem is a very small minority with no common sense decide for all the other.
And you ask in what way they carry weight ? simply because the compagny change radically the game design against all their promises and manifesto to fit the egotic desires of that minority.

As you may see, people like me who stand agaisnt this betrayal see their post deleted every hour.
The real question is why following few percent rushers who don’t play the game and don’t care any second about its background and gameplay depth and on the other and bannishing and silencing their first hour fans of each moment who want to make part of the game content.
Why take so many risks to tear the community appart and lost many of their players of heart who will quit the game and deter their circle of friend to join in.

Well of course posts get deleted if people are compared with plagues. Not so strange. People can play the way they want. That Anet targets 1 customer group or the other is their problem. What is the problem with someone completing a game and play the next? This whole update is not even there yet and people are already raging.

No. Posts are deleted when pointing incoherences and betrayal behaviour from Anet.

Many great and factual posts intelligently written have been deleted for exposing the truth.

People targeted by this article ar just idiots and yes they have right to play the way they want.
Here is exposed the cause. As you say it is ANet problem and alienation.

Columba.9730:

Wreckdum.8367:

Columba.9730:

Hexgame.4802:

I’m not agreeing or disagreeing with you. But basically what you’re saying is that these “locusts” don’t have a right to express how they want their game play to be? What makes them wrong and you right on determining the betterment of this game?

They are the 1%. They don’t have right to ruin the game for the 99%!

Did you ever stop to think that maybe just maybe this is going to be the only rarity change? They haven’t compromised on their consistent power levels for each rarity of gear. They are just adding an additional level of rarity to support infusions…

For all these die hard fans that are saying agony is going to ruin the game experience because it is a gear wall… It was in GW1! So were infusions. Oh no! Arena Net actually made the game a proper sequel. Let’s all go delete our accounts now and form a picket line.

It’s not a gear treadmill until it becomes a regular thing. I’m pretty sure Arena Net knows what they promised. They spent 5+ years of their lives making this game and you think they forgot their vision? Are you being serious. The attitudes of whiners on this forum kills me sometimes. One second you love them the next second you’re screaming for their blood. I would venture to say a large portion of these forums users are bi polar.

did you fail to read the entire blog? this is the first of many.

Did you fail to read this:

We will not be adding a new tier of gear every 3 months that we expect everyone to chase after and then get the next set and so on.

and this

We will slowly add the remaining ascended gear items and legendary items in future updates to allow people time to acquire them as we add exciting new content that deserves exciting rewards.

So a) they confirm they’re not adding a treadmill in the sense that there will be regular periodic new sets and b) they explain what they meant by more items to come, namely a phased addition of the other pieces to give everyone time to gather them and avoid creating a too big gap in the playerbase.

Also it will probably be easier to get in future:

Ascended and infusion rewards will be available in both PvE and WvW over time, and be made available through all sorts of content around the world including existing content.

And it doesn’t justify any turn over regarding their manifesto Holska.
And it doesn’t mean they wouldn’t break this promise one more time (watch my signature)

Oluerim.7256:

And it doesn’t justify any turn over regarding their manifesto Holska.
And it doesn’t mean they wouldn’t break this promise one more time (watch my signature)

I didn’t mention anything about that, I just replied to the poster I quoted that tried to devaluate another one’s post that stated it couldn’t be seen as a treadmill because it’s not periodic.

But on your topic, that’s still down to interpretation. I don’t see it as mandatory for me personally because I probably won’t be running the deeper levels of the new dungeon so don’t need it. It’s only required if yo do, so that makes it optional in a way.
Those that do run the dungeon will often do so multiple times and acquire the ascended stuffs along the way and I expect they have it before they really need it. It’s progression within the dungeon in this patch, not gear progression, grind or treadmill.
Furthermore anything in this game is only a grind if you make it one, I’ve never grinded for anything in this game so far, I’ve enjoyed playing through content and naturally acquired some upgrades that way but didn’t specifically go out to acquire them nor ran specific content. So the grind is entirely optional. I didn’t even notice much difference between rare and exotic both in dungeons and WvW, I didn’t get killed more often in WvW when I still had greens with a few rares.

Irrodesia.3907:

Content Locust: How They Change The MMO Gaming Landscape

Someone was kind enough to post it already so I’m going to re-post it in it’s own topic for everyone to see. This kind of information is too valuable to go unnoticed.

We, as a community of Guild Wars 2, need to make sure that these locust don’t further try to drag our beautiful and wonderful world that ArenaNet created, in a direction we don’t want it to go.

Let us be more of a presence in the forums, GuildWars2Guru, Reddit, etc. etc.

Most common fear with this new added tier, to “close the gap” between exotic and legendary gear, will lead to more higher gear stats in the future; leading to a treadmill.

We have the ability to let them know we don’t want it to go in that direction. With the new content The Lost Shores, we can draw the line.

Quite funny when people like you start with name-calling when someone have a different view of a game than you have. To be fair it´s people like you that ruins the game for people that enjoy it. Get the kitten of your high-horse. Just because you played GW1 or whatever doesnt make you any better or more special than the next player. =)

Hexgame.4802:

I’m not agreeing or disagreeing with you. But basically what you’re saying is that these “locusts” don’t have a right to express how they want their game play to be? What makes them wrong and you right on determining the betterment of this game?

Because it’s not how the game was advertised or how it is supposed to be. In all honesty, we are right and the “locusts” are wrong and shouldn’t have bought GW2 if they were looking for a treadmill. Grind MMO’s are that way —>

All is optional from that point of view Holska. But I agree with your statement.

The point is exotic should have been the top tier gear ever in this game and all dungeons doesn’t require any perequisite aside the level. That was engraved in stone as a fair contract with the future players.
Today all of that is only a lie and those like me who wanted to explore all the content buy fine transmutation stones to apply their favorite skin on their armor, in the same time rewarding Anet for their good game and philosophy.

As you say there is already enough grinding for every thing we want so to add extra god tier gear that are requiered to overcome dungeons and show your favorite skin while playing HL parts is too much for many person that have put faith in this game.

No one needs to have numbers and artificial resiliant stat to experience new content and challenge and have fun in a game.

I’m not a content locust, but I love them. I love that they are willing to number crunch and theorycraft so that the rest of us who don’t have as much time can use their examples to progress and build proficiently. They are no less entitled to play games the way they want to play than anyone else. The only way to kill off these types of players is to produce overly simplistic content. That isn’t good for anyone.

Ok, i’m gonna tell you another story. About 1 year ago there were totally new official server of pretty popular old K-MMO project with new big expansion. Me and some other guys (~1% of server population) were acting pretty much like “content-locust” (i found that comparison highly insulting btw).

You know what did happened next? Non of us had gone to the forums to whine. We had started to explore the new game content and to find the ways to compete each other and other players who started to reach end-game content at that time. But those who positioned themselves as a casual players had indeed gone to the forums and started to whine about how hard that game is, how they would never rich competitive level, and so on.

Administration of that project had listened to that whine and makes progression like 3x times easier and top items available in cash shop. Every freaking casual was able to reach end-game content and get pretty much best gear. And you know what happened next? They have reached level/gear cap and left. Just left.

They were not there to compete, which that MMO is all about, they were there
just to reach cap and leave. Like 30% of server population, not just 1%. And they friends and guild mates have left soon after as an avalanche effect. The project died although it had very good start and perspectives.

And now the main question, who do you think is more dangerous to be listened “locusts” or those casual scrabs?

I’m going to throw out a wild concept here that I don’t think I’ve seen anyone talk about in these forums ever.

There are good casuals and bad casuals.
There are good hardcores and bad hardcores.
That is all.

Bolt.8791:

This tread is kitten and that article is just a lame excuse from game developers for not being able to deliver AAA content. Everyone have right to play the game the way they want to. The fact that someone doesn’t like to play the game the way some game dev wants it to be played doesn’t make him/her bad person. He/she just had some expectations about that game that don’t come true, that’s it.

No, it doesn’t.

But if you hype, market and sell a game under a premise that it will offer A to end with B and then flip 180 degrees within 3 months, that makes you at least an untrustworthy person.
People who complain about the upcoming patch are mostly the ones for whom gear treadmill is a highly unwanted feature of the game and who bought this game – and not any other – because it offered an escape from this prevalent mechanism.
They don’t say “hey if you enjoy games with treadmill you’re a bad person” either. But that’s not the point.
The point is, apparently they bought the wrong game despite their best efforts to make an informed purchase, because ANet did not stay true to ther pre-release promises.

Webba.3071:

I’m going to throw out a wild concept here that I don’t think I’ve seen anyone talk about in these forums ever.

There are good casuals and bad casuals.
There are good hardcores and bad hardcores.
That is all.

Of course.

Sad thing we have to suffer from few bad hardcores who doesn’t take time to enjoy a game and think.

I don’t see it as a lie because that implies they already knew they were going to add a new tier when the manifesto was published. It’s more like partly changing their mind along the way based on findings with the live game. Probably if they would’ve had certain data / feedback or had already started developing the new content in time for launch, then ascended gear would’ve been in at launch.
If applying the same logic folks now use to call them liars to RL, this means that every time you change your opinion on something you have been lying about it prior to that.
It’s part of development to change things along the way while still trying to hold to your design philosophies and although it’s on the border of it for me the manifesto still holds true for now.
Almost every other MMO I’ve played I’ve seen less rage about more obvious empty promises or changing to something priorly stated would never be done.
Don’t get me wrong, I understand the concerns of folks but I think too many are overreacting. Especially the childish threats of ragequits before the patch is even live and feeling entitled for refunds etc.

I enjoyed the article purely because it defines a type of gamer that lies somewhere between the so-called “Casual” and “Hardcore” – “Dedicated.” There is nothing casual about spending an hour or two every day playing video games.

Bolt.8791:

Ok, i’m gonna tell you another story. About 1 year ago there were totally new official server of pretty popular old K-MMO project with new big expansion. Me and some other guys (~1% of server population) were acting pretty much like “content-locust” (i found that comparison highly insulting btw).

You know what did happened next? Non of us had gone to the forums to whine. We had started to explore the new game content and to find the ways to compete each other and other players who started to reach end-game content at that time. But those who positioned themselves as a casual players had indeed gone to the forums and started to whine about how hard that game is, how they would never rich competitive level, and so on.

Administration of that project had listened to that whine and makes progression like 3x times easier and top items available in cash shop. Every freaking casual was able to reach end-game content and get pretty much best gear. And you know what happened next? They have reached level/gear cap and left. Just left.

They were not there to compete, which that MMO is all about, they were there
just to reach cap and leave. Like 30% of server population, not just 1%. And they friends and guild mates have left soon after as an avalanche effect. The project died although it had very good start and perspectives.

And now the main question, who do you think is more dangerous to be listened “locusts” or those casual scrabs?

The big difference is that most/all people knew gw2 was going to be a game catering to people who are turned off by games like WoW, where those content locusts thrive, i.e. a game in which most/all of the content can be enjoyed by your average casual. With the K-MMO you were talking about, it was obviously intended for hardcore gamers such as yourself. While I’m not trying to ostracize you, you should understand that while gw2’s endgame content may be boring/lacking for you, it certainly isnt’ for the vast majority. I don’t know the mmo nor the circumstances but I think it’s just bad design. When gw2 came out, alot of people loved it, except for the people who breezed through it trying to act all content-locust-y.

As for your question, it certainly depends on which target market any mmo company wants to capture. With a game like gw2, it’s clear what the answer is though. They do try very hard to make it challenging, but you shouldn’t expect the same “difficulty” you get with Wow or Rift (im not sure, i heard this game is pretty hard to master) or other traditional mmos out there.

The point is, stop making GW2 something it’s not meant to be. Clearly the KMMO wasn’t supposed to be ez mode. In the same way, GW2 isn’t supposed to be a wow-clone.

I’m amazed this unpleasant thread hasn’t been locked yet, since it serves no useful purpose and is largely being used to insult people.

Certain elements of this community are more elitist and rude than anything I’ve seen on WoW.

I haven’t seen a single “hardcore” player calling people noobs and telling them they have no right to speak. I have seen many posts from certain self-proclaimed casual players calling others locusts and telling them they have no life, must be unemployed and have no right to an opinion about the game.

You cannot have a meaningful discussion if you keep referring to people as insects and rudely dismissing them.

Oluerim.7256:

Chrissle.8690:

Irrodesia.3907:

Content Locust: How They Change The MMO Gaming Landscape

Someone was kind enough to post it already so I’m going to re-post it in it’s own topic for everyone to see. This kind of information is too valuable to go unnoticed.

We, as a community of Guild Wars 2, need to make sure that these locust don’t further try to drag our beautiful and wonderful world that ArenaNet created, in a direction we don’t want it to go.

Let us be more of a presence in the forums, GuildWars2Guru, Reddit, etc. etc.

Most common fear with this new added tier, to “close the gap” between exotic and legendary gear, will lead to more higher gear stats in the future; leading to a treadmill.

We have the ability to let them know we don’t want it to go in that direction. With the new content The Lost Shores, we can draw the line.

Quite funny when people like you start with name-calling when someone have a different view of a game than you have. To be fair it´s people like you that ruins the game for people that enjoy it. Get the kitten of your high-horse. Just because you played GW1 or whatever doesnt make you any better or more special than the next player. =)

Locust without arguments spotted.
You should get of your high-horse and wipe your ridiculous troll smiley off.

Only the truth hurts people like you because you don’t respect anything and you don’t accept people pointing that.

This article is serious and accurate regarding the reality and the newscast.

But its a good thing to show everybody that you find funny such a serious nonesense situation Anet put us in.

Oh yay another one that resorts to namecalling. And you even give me credit for being something I´m not. Good for you mate. =) I have one lvl 80 with 47% world completion. I havent completed all dungeons. I have no legendary and I spend a lot of my time on alts. But just because I dont agree with you people and your namecalling you directly assume I´m one of the people you call “content-locusts”. You guys are funny. Who is it that is a troll now and not have any arguments and just resort to namecalling when someone doesnt agree? You just prooved my point. =)

Kana.6793:

I’m amazed this unpleasant thread hasn’t been locked yet, since it serves no useful purpose and is largely being used to insult people.

Certain elements of this community are more elitist and rude than anything I’ve seen on WoW.

I haven’t seen a single “hardcore” player calling people noobs and telling them they have no right to speak. I have seen many posts from certain self-proclaimed casual players calling others locusts and telling them they have no life, must be unemployed and have no right to an opinion about the game.

You cannot have a meaningful discussion if you keep referring to people as insects and rudely dismissing them.

100% agree with this post. =)

holska.4127:

I don’t see it as a lie because that implies they already knew they were going to add a new tier when the manifesto was published. It’s more like partly changing their mind along the way based on findings with the live game. Probably if they would’ve had certain data / feedback or had already started developing the new content in time for launch, then ascended gear would’ve been in at launch.
If applying the same logic folks now use to call them liars to RL, this means that every time you change your opinion on something you have been lying about it prior to that.
It’s part of development to change things along the way while still trying to hold to your design philosophies and although it’s on the border of it for me the manifesto still holds true for now.
Almost every other MMO I’ve played I’ve seen less rage about more obvious empty promises or changing to something priorly stated would never be done.
Don’t get me wrong, I understand the concerns of folks but I think too many are overreacting. Especially the childish threats of ragequits before the patch is even live and feeling entitled for refunds etc.

We don’t speak about changing opinion we speak about breaking moral contract with thousands customers for no proper purpose.
They always planned to release new content periodicaly and they always swear not to add superior gears.
That’s it.

Oluerim.7256:

holska.4127:

I don’t see it as a lie because that implies they already knew they were going to add a new tier when the manifesto was published. It’s more like partly changing their mind along the way based on findings with the live game. Probably if they would’ve had certain data / feedback or had already started developing the new content in time for launch, then ascended gear would’ve been in at launch.
If applying the same logic folks now use to call them liars to RL, this means that every time you change your opinion on something you have been lying about it prior to that.
It’s part of development to change things along the way while still trying to hold to your design philosophies and although it’s on the border of it for me the manifesto still holds true for now.
Almost every other MMO I’ve played I’ve seen less rage about more obvious empty promises or changing to something priorly stated would never be done.
Don’t get me wrong, I understand the concerns of folks but I think too many are overreacting. Especially the childish threats of ragequits before the patch is even live and feeling entitled for refunds etc.

We don’t speak about changing opinion we speak about breaking moral contract with thousands customers for no proper purpose.
They always planned to release new content periodicaly and they always swear not to add superior gears.
That’s it.

What makes you think they don’t have a “proper purpose”? What if this game were out for 2 years and they release a tier that was slightly more powerful than exotic. Would you throw a conniption fit even after 2 years because they promised you there would be no treadmill?

It will take people no more than a week, if not less, to get this gear. There is no raiding, there is no serious time commitment, there is no treadmill. It is just a stepping stone to acquiring legendary gear so that the gap between exotic and legendary isn’t quite as large as it was originally intended to be. Get over it already.

Kana.6793:

I’m amazed this unpleasant thread hasn’t been locked yet, since it serves no useful purpose and is largely being used to insult people.

Certain elements of this community are more elitist and rude than anything I’ve seen on WoW.

I haven’t seen a single “hardcore” player calling people noobs and telling them they have no right to speak. I have seen many posts from certain self-proclaimed casual players calling others locusts and telling them they have no life, must be unemployed and have no right to an opinion about the game.

You cannot have a meaningful discussion if you keep referring to people as insects and rudely dismissing them.

I disagree. It serves to enlighten some of us who are unaware of the complex dynamics a community plays in shaping their game. More so, the vocal and the hardcore ones. The idea suggested by the article is very interesting, and if it is offending, there must be a reason why. And the reference to locusts, I’d guess, is due to a locust’s nature to hop on to brazenly eat a location’s food source dry. That’s, imo, a rather objective definition of what the article says. If it should offend you or some other people, part of me wants to say grow some balls, while part of me wants you to speak up and argue against it from a different perspective, providing good arguments of course.

Honestly, I don’t care how you play your games. I don’t care if you like flavor-of-the-month content or not, or if you want better stats or not, or whatever.

If ANet thinks they can be more successful with a different philosophy, even that doesn’t really bother me. What bothers me is when a company decides to completely change its design direction without any sort of accountability to their fan and consumer base.

Honestly, they don’t have to change anything. I just want someone to come out and say “we decided to take it in a different direction, we hope you like it” rather than pretend that they haven’t been leading us all on.

I had read that article before but this was the perfect place and time to post it. Even when they lock this, perhaps it will still get the views it deserves.

holska.4127:

Columba.9730:

Wreckdum.8367:

Columba.9730:

Hexgame.4802:

I’m not agreeing or disagreeing with you. But basically what you’re saying is that these “locusts” don’t have a right to express how they want their game play to be? What makes them wrong and you right on determining the betterment of this game?

They are the 1%. They don’t have right to ruin the game for the 99%!

Did you ever stop to think that maybe just maybe this is going to be the only rarity change? They haven’t compromised on their consistent power levels for each rarity of gear. They are just adding an additional level of rarity to support infusions…

For all these die hard fans that are saying agony is going to ruin the game experience because it is a gear wall… It was in GW1! So were infusions. Oh no! Arena Net actually made the game a proper sequel. Let’s all go delete our accounts now and form a picket line.

It’s not a gear treadmill until it becomes a regular thing. I’m pretty sure Arena Net knows what they promised. They spent 5+ years of their lives making this game and you think they forgot their vision? Are you being serious. The attitudes of whiners on this forum kills me sometimes. One second you love them the next second you’re screaming for their blood. I would venture to say a large portion of these forums users are bi polar.

did you fail to read the entire blog? this is the first of many.

Did you fail to read this:

We will not be adding a new tier of gear every 3 months that we expect everyone to chase after and then get the next set and so on.

and this

We will slowly add the remaining ascended gear items and legendary items in future updates to allow people time to acquire them as we add exciting new content that deserves exciting rewards.

So a) they confirm they’re not adding a treadmill in the sense that there will be regular periodic new sets and b) they explain what they meant by more items to come, namely a phased addition of the other pieces to give everyone time to gather them and avoid creating a too big gap in the playerbase.

Also it will probably be easier to get in future:

Ascended and infusion rewards will be available in both PvE and WvW over time, and be made available through all sorts of content around the world including existing content.

The original blog stated that this dungeon set, and the upcoming armor is just the beginning. All you can cite is the they won’t add new tiers EVERY 3 MONTHS. They may add then every year, 9 months, whatever. However, they clearly stated in the original blog that more tiers were coming. You are wrong.