I figured it might be a good idea to go back through history and find where ANet made promises and didn’t follow through for purposes beyond the player. I figured it might be helpful for people to understand why people have the impression they have about what Guild Wars 2 should be by creating one location for everyone to view what should have been when it comes to grind.
Feel free to post your own findings
From: Live and Let Dye – Kristen Perry on the GW2 Dye System
BY KRISTEN PERRY SEPTEMBER 28TH, 2010
this blog post seems to have been deleted
But I found it…
http://web.archive.org/web/20121001031942/http://www.arena.net/blog/live-and-let-dye-kristen-perry-on-the-gw2-dye-system
Colors will be unlocked, not muled.
Storage was always a factor when it came to dye colors in Guild Wars. The new system would cripple most inventories if we required characters to lug all the dyes around. Fear not! The dye hues themselves will be unlockable through various means, both in-game and out. Once you unlock the color, it will be available across your entire account, not just the individual character.
ArenaNet president discusses careful monetization of Guild Wars 2, the least greedy Western MMO
May 21, 2012 4:46 PM
http://venturebeat.com/2012/05/21/guild-wars-2-interview-monetization/#s:guildwars2-16
Mike B’Brien:
Here’s what we believe: If someone wants to play for a thousand hours to get an item that is so rare that other players can’t realistically acquire it, that rare item should be differentiated by its visual appearance and rarity alone, not by being more powerful than everything else in the game. Otherwise, your MMO becomes all about grinding to get the best gear. We don’t make grindy games — we leave the grind to other MMOs.
Mike O’brien swaying on the above view
From: A reddit AMA
http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/13tuac/im_the_studio_design_director_on_guild_wars_2_ama/c77csxm
Mike B’Brien:
How is introducing VP[Vertical Progression] respecting the player? Because it’s fun to be challenged and rewarded. Because it’s fun to have the character you play grow and evolve over time. Because ArenaNet (sort of) held a hard line against all VP with GW1 — no VP ever, year after year — and it wasn’t that fun. It was stagnant.
We use purely cosmetic rewards for things that would be outside the reach of typical players. I have an oft-quoted line about that: “If someone wants to play for a thousand hours to get an item that is so rare that other players can’t realistically acquire it, that rare item should be differentiated by its visual appearance and rarity alone, not by being more powerful than everything else in the game.”
Since you’re describing yourself as an average player and asking about average players, it shouldn’t be out-of-bounds for us to give you something new in the game that’s more meaningful to your character than a purely cosmetic change.
The impression ArenaNet gave Massively about progression in Guild Wars 2
From: Making the ‘jump’ from Guild Wars to Guild Wars 2
by Brianna Royce on Mar 26th 2012 11:00AM
http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/03/26/making-the-jump-from-guild-wars-to-guild-wars-2/
Progression
Don’t panic at the new level cap: It’s 80 in Guild Wars 2, not 20, but you’ll take the same amount of time to cover your first five levels as your last five. Levels aren’t meant to slow you down, only to direct your attention and gate your gear and skill bars. In fact, your character progression centers more on your acquisition of skills, for your own class specifically, since there are no secondary classes as in GW. Instead of swapping in builds of eight skills with attributes, each player will equip 10 skills at a time, adjustable at class trainers: five class skills that are learned (rather quickly) for each equipped weapon, one healing skill from a pool of support skills, three utility/class skills selected from your pool of unlocks, and one elite class skill from your elite pool at level 30. There’s no capture mechanic, and you won’t be grinding experience and plat to buy new skills; these class skills are unlocked using skill points, which reward your accomplishments (such as ridding a cave of a bandit leader). Skill point acquisition locations are even marked right on your map.
Guild Wars 2 Design Manifesto
by Mike O’Brien on April 27, 2010
https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/guild-wars-2-design-manifesto/
So if you love MMORPGs, you should check out Guild Wars 2. But if you hate traditional MMORPGs, then you should really check out Guild Wars 2. Because, like Guild Wars before it, GW2 doesn’t fall into the traps of traditional MMORPGs. It doesn’t suck your life away and force you onto a grinding treadmill; it doesn’t make you spend hours preparing to have fun rather than just having fun; and of course, it doesn’t have a monthly fee
Norn Guardian – Aurora Lustyr (Lv 80)
Mia A Shadows Glow – Human Thief (Lv 80)