Guild Wars 2

Many people seem to be crying out for an expansion to Gw2, beyond what LS seems to offer, and It’s not entirely unjust.

However as a thought experiment, most of you not being designers yourselves, What is the best way to implement an expansion into Gw2 and what should it consist of?

More specifically…

What qualifies as a 40 to 60$ (USD) paid expansion? What should it contain and add to the game?

Now, the larger question that tends to plague the entire games industry these days, DLC being so common on nearly every platform, How do you implement one without fracturing the player base?

Obviously you can just throw caution to the wind and hope that you have a large enough hardcore audience that will purchase it, but you may and will lose out on new players due to a now “higher” gate on entry to experience the “full” game.

Or

You can attempt to implement part of it as a patch while gating other aspects behind a pay wall.

As Anet’s focus seems to be, as of the last patch… -sigh- … to gather and keep newer players to hopefully expand its player base.

Sooooo

here’s the Final questions, just to see what the community thinks and can come up with…

1. What Should a full paid expansion Contain?

2. How can you fairly implement it into the game without Fracturing the player base (aka, what aspects of it should come “free” as a general Patch to the game)?

3. What aspects should be maintained behind a “Pay wall” while still providing a sense of Value? (Basically, what shouldn’t be available to those who do not pay while still making your investment/money seem well spent.)

Keep it Clean.

Seeing as there are quite a few people who have raged at the thought of having to pay for LS access because they missed the 2 week window, I don’t think you’ll ever find a good balance to an expansion that won’t fracture or upset a huge amount of people.

It worked in GW1 because of how it was: for the most part the game was kept in bubble worlds/instances. Only outposts were common ground that had to be kept public, and you won’t be able to cast spells or such there. I don’t think you would ever be able to do that for a living world like GW2, unless they open up another region (like Cantha or Elona) but that would take a lot of effort and may not go with the current flow of things lore-wise.

People are crying out for an expansion not because they want an expansion, but because they want a big chunk of content and believe that if an expansion came out they would get it. What they don’t realize is how this will break the game: with both the problem I outlined above and the fact that dedicating resources to making an expansion would mean less resources to make the free patches in the meantime. Updates would get slower and people would complain more. Once the expansion comes out, and people finish it in a month or so, they’ll ask for another one.

Simply adding new stuff is never the best solution. What they’re doing now with the LS season 2 is something I think will be great in the long run: Adding small new regions and changing a bit of the old ones with fairly regular updates.

I think you missed the actual questions and just opted to declare its a bad idea all around… Not what this thread is about, but thank you for the input

I don’t think anyone really believes that Guild Wars 2 isn’t due for a big dose of content. Even people who don’t play as much as I do have basically done what they want in the game that isn’t a huge grind to get done.

The question becomes how should this content be delivered.

The advantages of an expansion are clear. It brings a lot of excitement back to the game. It brings in a lot of money in very short order. And it gets people playing for a period of months.

The downside of an expansion is that not everyone will pay for one and it would divide the player base.

The problem is one of finances. If Anet can afford to release an expansion through the living story, with new weapons, skills, professions and/or races, then that would keep everyone playing, because there would be nothing to stop them from playing.

If they do the boxed expansion, then some people wouldn’t move on to that content…which is how most MMOs do it.

There is a middle ground most people don’t discuss and that’s not a big boxed expansion but smaller DLC packages, that include possibly races and stuff. If they do it that way and put it in the gem store, people can farm gems to get it, people can buy gems to get it, everyone can move on, but that would possibly make the game feel more like some of the other free to play games. It would no longer feel like buy to play.

Only Anet knows Anet’s finances and what is and isn’t practical though. All we can do is theorize.

Not saying it’s a bad idea all around, I’m saying the current system (the LS system) is probably the better choice than having a huge chunk of expansion at one point then long pause in between.

The LS season 2 is from my point of view, their alternative to expansions, and a very suitable one I have to say. If your thread is about how to implement expansions in GW2 and what they should consist of, I will say the current system is doing great.

Elsdragon.5109:

Not saying it’s a bad idea all around, I’m saying the current system (the LS system) is probably the better choice than having a huge chunk of expansion at one point then long pause in between.

The LS season 2 is from my point of view, their alternative to expansions, and a very suitable one I have to say. If your thread is about how to implement expansions in GW2 and what they should consist of, I will say the current system is doing great.

It’s a big gamble though, because you don’t really know if enough people will spend money in the cash shop to pay for the creation of that content.

New expansions bring new people to buy the original game as well. That’s an influx of cash big enough to pay for an expansion. That’s why I say only Anet knows what they can afford.

Swish.2463:

here’s the Final questions, just to see what the community thinks and can come up with…

1. What Should a full paid expansion Contain?

2. How can you fairly implement it into the game without Fracturing the player base (aka, what aspects of it should come “free” as a general Patch to the game)?

3. What aspects should be maintained behind a “Pay wall” while still providing a sense of Value? (Basically, what shouldn’t be available to those who do not pay while still making your investment/money seem well spent.)

---

Keep it Clean.

I don’t want to turn this into a living story vs expansion debate so I’ll just assume that ArenaNet has the resources to deliver both.

1. I think this is one would be quite difficult to answer. Some people will expect new races. You might find some novelty in that but it won’t add to the longevity of the game. Some want new professions. I think that ArenaNet believes that the current professions already cover all class archetypes. They could definitely add new skills to flesh out the existing professions. New zones have been traditionally associated with expansions. It wouldn’t make sense to break the mold so ArenaNet should include new zones and regions.

2. See, this is one of the major challenges that would make releasing an expansion difficult. They could do what they did with Guild Wars 1 where each expansion was a stand-alone game. The expansion would basically take place on a totally different continent that you can only access with the expansion. If you bought only the expansion, you can’t access the old zones. That way they wouldn’t have to raise the level cap and players wouldn’t feel like they are forced to pay for new content. When you take the living story updates into account, that is when it gets iffy. Supposedly ArenaNet would have to create neutral zones that are free such as Dry Top and release living story updates only in these neutral zones.

3. I sort of answered number this question in number 2. Basically, if ArenaNet chooses to create a whole new region with its myriad of zones and maybe races then this content would have to be paid for. Any features or living story updates should be available to all players regardless of whether they paid for the expansion or not.

Vayne.8563:

It’s a big gamble though, because you don’t really know if enough people will spend money in the cash shop to pay for the creation of that content.

New expansions bring new people to buy the original game as well. That’s an influx of cash big enough to pay for an expansion. That’s why I say only Anet knows what they can afford.

While that is true from a financial point of view, I am talking more from how the game is designed and presented. The core feature of GW2 in my opinion is that it’s a living world. These small but meaningful changes that happen on a fairly regular basis is better than having huge chunks of changes like in WoW (from Vanilla to Burning Crusade to Wrath of the Lich King and so on… even considering the patches in between).

As for how they’re financed, that’s one reason I can see why there are more updates in the Gem Store with new skins and stuff.

Best way to make this expansion working in the sense of both finance as well as keeping the player base happy would be using the living story.
And although people yell and talk bs all day regarding Anet ,nerfs ,lack of new content,it is my opinion Anet planned this LS type of game knowing they will never make an expansion(as in boxed or requiring some sort of payment).
Do not forget only one season of LS came by,I believe throughout season 2 and 3 ,new permanent areas will be unlocked as well as new races.
Do not worry about money,I assure you there are a lot of people buying gems.
Considering the remaining player base ,there is a good degree of people spending around 10-20 bucks a month on the game

Honestly, GW2 is the cheapest MMO to play so, I don’t really see the issue of fracturing the player base since, for over 2 years all anyone had to do to play all the content was buy the box once. An expansion likely wouldn’t be released for yet another year so… that $60 got players 3 years of having the current content. I don’t see an issue with adding a $40 expansion, and I believe it would have a greater impact on motivation for people to play and for former players to return. Plus, some of the changes to the expac would likely also be included as patch download for the original game.

What should be in an expac of GW2? My wish list:

• 2 new weaponsets per class (doesn’t need to be entirely new weapons like a halberd or 2-hand axe… but take the existing weapons and give other classes new skills with them like an Engineer with a Hammer for instance)
• 4-6 new zones
• Bring back the Heart quests for the new zones. I know they get alot of flack, but I actually enjoy doing them on my alts
• 2 new open world raid bosses to start with (more as time progresses). Maybe allow guilds to open a personal overflow of the fight so they can get their guild in there first, and then bring in non-guildies to fill out the ranks
• 2 new dungeons with 3 wings each
• 2 new fractals
• Re-vamped WvW system that combines two servers on one team based on active wvw server participation. The WvW maps would have to either be increased in number, or increased in size/objectives to deal with the influx of players per match. This would allow the really low pop servers to be joined with Tier 1 servers like BG, JQ and TC. The middle servers like Yak’s Bend would be paired up with another mid-level server in the hopes of evening out the playing field.
• add 2 new battlegrounds that are NOT conquest (ie: A Capture the Flag battleground). Also consider making those battlegrounds optimal with larger numbers of players (ie: 10v10, 15v15)
• Revamp hotjoin sPvP to allow partied players to queue in together. Take Courtyard out behind the paywall (freaking horrible decision to do this in the first place)
• Increase level cap by 10 levels (I’m on the fence about this… though, I am still conditioned to enjoy level based progression)
• Increase the ways in which players can obtain ascended gear. As of now, crafting should not be the only truly viable option to get ascended weapons and armor. You should be able to get, at the very least, tokens from fighting Teq or Wurm or high level fractals to then save and spend on ascended weapons and armor

Vayne.8563:

Elsdragon.5109:

Not saying it’s a bad idea all around, I’m saying the current system (the LS system) is probably the better choice than having a huge chunk of expansion at one point then long pause in between.

The LS season 2 is from my point of view, their alternative to expansions, and a very suitable one I have to say. If your thread is about how to implement expansions in GW2 and what they should consist of, I will say the current system is doing great.

It’s a big gamble though, because you don’t really know if enough people will spend money in the cash shop to pay for the creation of that content.

New expansions bring new people to buy the original game as well. That’s an influx of cash big enough to pay for an expansion. That’s why I say only Anet knows what they can afford.

It’s true that only ArenaNet knows their own finances. The question then is, do they take the risk of producing an expansion? Or more accurately, do they take the risk of holding content they are already working on back so they could release it all at once in the form of an expansion?

With their current strategy, they may not be making massive gains but they are supposedly getting cash flow to keep themselves afloat. The Living Story is probably better at retaining players than large patches or boxed expansions. They wanted to emulate television shows and keep players interested over an extended time. Whether that has been truly effective so far is debatable.

Considering the massive marketing potential an expansion has and the number of players it can bring to the game (possibly bring players back too) it would seem like a really smart move. I think ArenaNet has learned that this is a trap and they likely fell into it before with Eye of the North to know it’s too good to be true. They certainly will see a spike in the population but that number will dwindle relatively quickly as many players will complete the content and then leave. This has happened with this big name MMORPG even.

Now if ArenaNet can somehow release a boxed expansion while staying on top of the Living Story then there certainly is no reason for them not to release an expansion. I just think that would be too difficult considering their limited resources.

the way things are now is perfectly fine, huge content patches every few months, along with LS updates which include minor patches, I wouldn’t have it any other way… spent hundreds in the gem store already to support further :P

Xbon.9086:

the way things are now is perfectly fine, huge content patches every few months, along with LS updates which include minor patches, I wouldn’t have it any other way… spent hundreds in the gem store already to support further :P

As I previously posted,alot ,and I mean alot of people have spent money in this game,indeed there are some who will come and say ,“I bought it and never spent a dime”.

But as you said,you spent hundreds,me as well… and so did many others:)

Do not forget Anet is not the deciding factor.Do not think for one second they don’t have the money…They are being backed by NCSoft,a company worth over 1.2 billion dollars…so to those who say"Anet just uses gem store so they can barely make it",get real..

an expansion eh?

I think that it should be like GW1 expansions..

A story from outside the view of the continent we are on, they know nothing of scarlet or the goings on in GW2 continental areas but slowly discover a threat to the whole world. Leading into the core game. It should have a massive story driven beginning like the tutorial level but until level 10 or so and it should wrap up with people from our continent landing on their shores spreading the word about the impending threat of the dragons.

New features:
All existing races choose which story/continent to start from.
2 New Races, any existing within story..or even something new.
1-3 New classes, one being the 3rd heavy armor spot (Im thinking a armored spellsword like class focused on control effects rather than dmg.) and the other being some re-imagining of the dervish with a lore twist.
5 New weapon types, Pole Arms (this includes scythes), Heavy Axe, Katar/Fist, Double blade (two handed light weapon, think darth maul…), Whip.
Existing classes with new weapon options.
Traits brought up 2-4 MORE points (great way to increase level cap without going above 80.)
3-5 New Legendary weapons.
3 New Dungeons.
Revamp to overall world. DYNAMIC changing zones that can either be player controlled or lost to the AI enemies. Destroyed cities dead merchants..the works.
5-10 new zones. (Centered around Elona or Cantha preferably. Could be something new.)
New Conditions and Condition system.
Revamps on enemy functions and AI (more like TA aetherpath/drytop or better. Not a billion HP without the ability to stun…but something that has cool functions to adapt to.)
New voices for our beloved characters SO WE DONT ALL SOUND THE SAME. (preferably with a pitch slider for simulated differentials.)
Balancing and polishing old content and systems.
New Dungeon types 3 Man and Guild dungeons.

That sounds pretty sizable id gladly pay 100$ to see that.

I personally think the only way to have an expansion is to have it separate, its own self contained thing. Like Vayne said one of the challenges Anet face is that not everyone will buy it yet people may still play the game even if they dont buy the expansion. Hence living story can never occur in the expansion areas. On the other hand any content additions to the expansion zones will result in an update hiatus for those who didnt buy it.

Hence if It where me any expansion would be its one contained area like cantha or elona. You could travel there and back from tyria obviously but living story would still be tyria’s thing exclusively.

The expansion would have its own personal story of course. This might be added to in the next expansion but thats it in terms of updates. To make up for that I’d do some truly dynamic content to keep the area playable. Things like say on going never ending struggles that might destroy stuff and require rebuilding. I wouldnt just have it donate X resources and that sort of thing.. thats kinda boring, it would be more involving like secure territory, build actual stuff to help rebuilding like say bricks, planks, chairs, tables, beds, blankets and other required resources. These would in turn allow exclusive rewards in the form of skins, trophies etc..

Since I am designing this, It will naturally also have guild halls and housing and that same system of building chairs and such items will be used for the housing too. The new zones will also have their own world bosses, jp, hidden stuff and whats not. Perhaps even introduce time killing solo mini games such as fishing but again a trick here is one would need to be careful what buffs you get consuming new foods and such as not everyone will be able to craft these. That being said if its tradable it will probably not e a big deal.

Bhima.9518:

Honestly, GW2 is the cheapest MMO to play so, I don’t really see the issue of fracturing the player base since, for over 2 years all anyone had to do to play all the content was buy the box once. An expansion likely wouldn’t be released for yet another year so… that $60 got players 3 years of having the current content. I don’t see an issue with adding a $40 expansion, and I believe it would have a greater impact on motivation for people to play and for former players to return. Plus, some of the changes to the expac would likely also be included as patch download for the original game.

What should be in an expac of GW2? My wish list:

• 2 new weaponsets per class (doesn’t need to be entirely new weapons like a halberd or 2-hand axe… but take the existing weapons and give other classes new skills with them like an Engineer with a Hammer for instance)
• 4-6 new zones
• Bring back the Heart quests for the new zones. I know they get alot of flack, but I actually enjoy doing them on my alts
• 2 new open world raid bosses to start with (more as time progresses). Maybe allow guilds to open a personal overflow of the fight so they can get their guild in there first, and then bring in non-guildies to fill out the ranks
• 2 new dungeons with 3 wings each
• 2 new fractals
• Re-vamped WvW system that combines two servers on one team based on active wvw server participation. The WvW maps would have to either be increased in number, or increased in size/objectives to deal with the influx of players per match. This would allow the really low pop servers to be joined with Tier 1 servers like BG, JQ and TC. The middle servers like Yak’s Bend would be paired up with another mid-level server in the hopes of evening out the playing field.
• add 2 new battlegrounds that are NOT conquest (ie: A Capture the Flag battleground). Also consider making those battlegrounds optimal with larger numbers of players (ie: 10v10, 15v15)
• Revamp hotjoin sPvP to allow partied players to queue in together. Take Courtyard out behind the paywall (freaking horrible decision to do this in the first place)
• Increase level cap by 10 levels (I’m on the fence about this… though, I am still conditioned to enjoy level based progression)
• Increase the ways in which players can obtain ascended gear. As of now, crafting should not be the only truly viable option to get ascended weapons and armor. You should be able to get, at the very least, tokens from fighting Teq or Wurm or high level fractals to then save and spend on ascended weapons and armor

gonna pull your post here as it’s a good example.

I think if we take a cutter and chop up your wish list we can still come up with an expansion that has aspects that are free and some that would feel worth a payment.

Things sPvP and WvW related should remain free imo.

So thats the new skills/weapons/maps there.

PvE could use an incentive and Fractals is already in the core experiance, so lets make those additions free as well

Now, if it were me, I would place 2 or 3 of the PvE maps as free allowing for 1 of the dungeons to be played by anyone (but in story mode only maybe?) while keeping the others behind the pay wall.

World bosses could also be Split or kept in the Paid only maps depending on player count required.

What if the Hearts were also only available to those who paid? They don’t offer much beyond unique recipes or maybe a skin set or something.

the level cap and other suggestions I’m not going to really comment on, it’s not a discussion the thread needs to hold.

So to break it down.

All players Recieve – some new maps, a new dungeon, maybe a raid boss, new skills and weapons (at least in sPvP) and basic QoL improvements.

Paying Players gain – A few more maps, a second dungeon, a unique raid boss, new skills and weapons guaranteed in all game modes, Access to new Karma armor sets and recipes and items (skins and food etc…)

Anyone got better ideas or thoughts on that?

This over-analysis is BS imo.

It worked in GW1, it will work here, and on a tangent many like me expected this to be the format. $60 for a years fun, heck yeah GW2 players will pay that. I’d pay a lot more. I was a passionate GW1 player for 8 years, due in not large but huge part to the expansions. It ended up releasing my fav class, Sin ftw, and was so instrumental to the longevity and success of the franchise.

Anyone who disagrees is not a former GW1 player.

The excitement, speculation and gratification in both the PvE and PvP realms was what separated this game from the other games on the market.Sure no sub but we all couldn’t wait to hand over our coin for the expansion.

I’d class myself a casual player in GW2, played 6 months PvP on release pretty fiercely but that got way boring way quick, then got sucked into PvE mostly thanks to my guild and have had a blast but…..it’s stale. No I don’t have ascended gear or any legendary weapons, I don’t have the time or inclination for such things….which is why I used to play GW.

Now that’s all it seems to be about. 2 friggin years later. Either grind out gear, re-roll, or play a stale one format PvP. I guess my biggest question is are my expectations at fault?

In conclusion I do know one thing, the LS is a poor excuse for new content and if that is a substitution for an actual expansion I won’t be playing this game for too much longer and I would hate to see the game go that way.

fireflyry.7023:

This over-analysis is BS imo.

It worked in GW1, it will work here, and on a tangent many like me expected this to be the format. $60 for a years fun, heck yeah GW2 players will pay that. I’d pay a lot more. I was a passionate GW1 player for 8 years, due in not large but huge part to the expansions. It ended up releasing my fav class, Sin ftw, and was so instrumental to the longevity and success of the franchise.

Anyone who disagrees is not a former GW1 player.

The excitement, speculation and gratification in both the PvE and PvP realms was what separated this game from the other games on the market.Sure no sub but we all couldn’t wait to hand over our coin for the expansion.

I’d class myself a casual player in GW2, played 6 months PvP on release pretty fiercely but that got way boring way quick, then got sucked into PvE mostly thanks to my guild and have had a blast but…..it’s stale. No I don’t have ascended gear or any legendary weapons, I don’t have the time or inclination for such things….which is why I used to play GW.

Now that’s all it seems to be about. 2 friggin years later. Either grind out gear, re-roll, or play a stale one format PvP. I guess my biggest question is are my expectations at fault?

In conclusion I do know one thing, the LS is a poor excuse for new content and if that is a substitution for an actual expansion I won’t be playing this game for too much longer and I would hate to see the game go that way.

Lol Ry. I know this will stun you but I’m a Guild Wars 1 player, and I disagree with you. I don’t disagree that I’d like an expansion. I don’t disagree that an expansion would bring people back to the game. But I definitely disagree with the idea that something that worked in Guild Wars 1 will work in Guild Wars 2. We’re talking many years in ago, in industry that changes all the time.

Point 1. When it worked in Guild Wars 1, the only multiplayer fantasy game that was out there was Guild Wars 1. There were no free to play MMOs (more than the dozens now available) to take people away from a buy to play game.

Point 2. The staff and offices of Guild Wars 2 are far larger than what we saw in Guild Wars 1. So yeah, buying a game that had no competition only had to support a staff of 50, with smaller headquarters. Hell the voice acting alone for this game puts a strain on the budget.

Point 3. There are many other complaints by people aside from just no content. People complain about lack of viable builds, the lack of play cooperation due to lack of a trinity, the lack of multiple PvP types and various other things. Having an expansion wouldn’t necessarily solve any of those problems.

You just can’t cut and paste a past solution and expect it to work now. That’s not saying it won’t work now…it might. But it’s by no means a sure thing.

History doesn’t always repeat itself.

I agree to disagree.

This game has many faults, and many awesome features but if LS is the future it will die a slow death.

I have money and I desperately want to spend it on this game. I don’t want to spend it at the gemstore on minis or gathering items. Expansion please.kthxbye :P

fireflyry.7023:

I agree to disagree.

This game has many faults, and many awesome features but if LS is the future it will die a slow death.

Expansion please.kthxbye :P

Well, if Anet isn’t working on expansion content, I’ll eat my hat. However, just to be safe, I’m going to get a hat made of chocolate.

Mine is made of fairy dust and the taste of Ron Burgundy’s armpits.

Opening Cantha and Elona when we as heroes have yet to take back the majority of Maguuma, the Northern Shiverpeaks, or the Crystal Desert from the dragons seems like we’d be spread too far apart.

That being said, I’d handle an expansion like this.
I’d tie it into the existing story. After taking back Claw Island, if you’ve purchased the expansion[s], you’d have the choice of creating the pact to fight Zhaitan, or forming another group to take on the other dragons of the Dragons, to reclaim part of the map. Go take on Krakalaka in the desert or Jormag up north. Put in a few new zones, and by a few I mean 5 or 6 in both the desert and the Northern Shiverpeaks. And have them start around the level of Fireheart and go up to 80. Players without the expansion[s] would be unable to access the new maps. Maybe have an NPC guarding them that says as much. Kind of like the Tengu guy by the south gate in Lion’s Arch used to do. It’d take some doing to make a pair of new dungeons to take on the other dragons in. And some creativity on new world bosses for these areas.

60$? Sure.

It should contain :

-New Areas
-New resources/drop items
-New Armor skins
-New Weapon skins
-New end-game ( dungeons) things to do.

If it was a GW2 expansion I’d pay $120…hands down.

I know for a FACT I’d get value for money when compared to other games or subscription models. I just don’t get this LS thing. Crap rewards, content done in a few hours at most, same talky head to talky head cut-scenes that we have seen since day one with a few exceptions. Tiny zones with a mechanic based purely on people repeating the same content quickly, repetitively and most importantly consistently to get “Tier” rewards or discounts.

Repetition of insubstantial content.

Let’s stir up things..“bring back Canta!!!” LOL

I used to be a staunch advocate of paid expansions, but at this point I don’t believe they will ever go that route. I think that’s fine, as long as they actually deliver on the “expansion-sized content” they were talking about back when.

I liked the expansions in GW1, but I think traditional expansions are no longer an option for GW2, and trying to do one would fracture the player base and cast even more doubt on Anet’s management. The Living Story has been a less-than-stellar tool for bringing new content into the game, but if they continue to iterate and improve on the idea, they could feasibly do something great with it, and they wouldn’t have to double back on their ideals if they did.

The concern that most may not buy the expansion I think is fairly limited. The fact is for everyone still here after perhaps 3 years time when one does pop the vast majority would purchase it because they stayed here that long because they like the game. The other factor people need to understand is that the large cash influx is usually timed to re-invigorate their coffers for their shareholders and used to draw old and new back to the game while increasing profits.

Also those who say they won’t buy it are likely those who are not spending money in the game to begin with hence it is not in the best interest of GW2 or Anet to cater to that crowd. As many have stated and history proves it there is a ability to do both the LS and QoL features in a limited capacity in between the actual expansion like content. This formula has worked so far and I believe there are valid reasons for the formula.

Also as many have pointed out already just the LS is not cutting for many players at this stage.

The hope of an expansion is the only thing keeping me here. If it doesn’t happen within a year I’m out. LS is not enough to keep me interested or playing and I’m a casual player, how the dudes/dudesses with 10+ 80’s and however many legendary weapons keep motivated to play the same content over and over baffles me.

I’d pay $40 or more for…
-a new region similar in size to Kryta or Shiverpeaks
-a new storyline (doesn’t have to be as long as the PS from the main game)
-a couple of new classes
-a couple of new races
-a couple of new weapon types
-a couple of new dungeons
-a bunch of new skins

PvP and WvW updates should be independent of the expansion other than whatever rebalancing will be needed when there are new classes.

Players who don’t purchase the expansions should still be able to explore the new region, join explorable dungeon paths, and join a party members’ story mission. I think that’s fair in terms of not fracturing the userbase while still providing reasons to pay. That said, people being cheap shouldn’t hold the game back. There’s no subscription and the gem store has been mostly non intrusive. An expansion every couple of years should be acceptable.

I know the Living World updates have added a couple of new maps, a story, and many new skins. But two years of this doesn’t compare to what we expect an expansion would have added. LW would have been fine in addition to expansions. Something to do between releases. But I do not consider it to be an acceptable replacement to expansions and I hope Anet either agrees and does expansions or put much more effort into LW so that it does replace expansions.

Expansion:

1.) New Race (Tengu) and access to their home behind the wall in LA
2.) Access to one specific storyline that grants:

• a title
• an ascended weapon

3.) New dungeons
4.) New Fractals

Free to players:

Map expansion (PVP, PVE, WVW)
Armor expansion
Weapon Expansion

Arcadio.6875:

I know the Living World updates have added a couple of new maps, a story, and many new skins. But two years of this doesn’t compare to what we expect an expansion would have added.

This.

For right or wrong I expected more, after 2 years. Maybe it’s a false expectation or my personal bias as a GW1 player at fault but…..a handful of hours content most nailed in two sittings at most….with a side of grinding out a backpiece in recycled content and mat grinding as a “reward” hardly constitutes substantial or rewarding content for me personally.

In this regard the LS is a huge fail. Drip-feeding content is not the way to go thus far, I’d rather nothing for a year and then a serious dose of awesome….but it’s already been 2 years. If this is a test bed and we get a massive hit of content in 3-6 months all good but I’m not holding my breath.

I love the franchise but boredom is quickly setting in.I’m having more fun and surpises in terms of content playing Skyrim for the upteenth time. Sheesh.

fireflyry.7023:

Arcadio.6875:

I know the Living World updates have added a couple of new maps, a story, and many new skins. But two years of this doesn’t compare to what we expect an expansion would have added.

This.

For right or wrong I expected more, after 2 years. Maybe it’s a false expectation or my personal bias as a GW1 player at fault but…..a handful of hours content most nailed in two sittings at most….with a side of grinding out a backpiece in recycled content and mat grinding as a “reward” hardly constitutes substantial or rewarding content for me personally.

In this regard the LS is a huge fail. Drip-feeding content is not the way to go thus far, I’d rather nothing for a year and then a serious dose of awesome….but it’s already been 2 years. If this is a test bed and we get a massive hit of content in 3-6 months all good but I’m not holding my breath.

I love the franchise but boredom is quickly setting in.I’m having more fun and surpises in terms of content playing Skyrim for the upteenth time. Sheesh.

But you took a long break and missed most of the first season of the living story…most of which’s content is removed. I was here and I played it.

It was a mistake for Anet to have removed that content, but it’s done. So yes, those who took long breaks have reason to be less satisfied than some of us.

fireflyry.7023:

This over-analysis is BS imo.

It worked in GW1, it will work here, and on a tangent many like me expected this to be the format. $60 for a years fun, heck yeah GW2 players will pay that. I’d pay a lot more. I was a passionate GW1 player for 8 years, due in not large but huge part to the expansions. It ended up releasing my fav class, Sin ftw, and was so instrumental to the longevity and success of the franchise.

Anyone who disagrees is not a former GW1 player.

The excitement, speculation and gratification in both the PvE and PvP realms was what separated this game from the other games on the market.Sure no sub but we all couldn’t wait to hand over our coin for the expansion.

I’d class myself a casual player in GW2, played 6 months PvP on release pretty fiercely but that got way boring way quick, then got sucked into PvE mostly thanks to my guild and have had a blast but…..it’s stale. No I don’t have ascended gear or any legendary weapons, I don’t have the time or inclination for such things….which is why I used to play GW.

Now that’s all it seems to be about. 2 friggin years later. Either grind out gear, re-roll, or play a stale one format PvP. I guess my biggest question is are my expectations at fault?

In conclusion I do know one thing, the LS is a poor excuse for new content and if that is a substitution for an actual expansion I won’t be playing this game for too much longer and I would hate to see the game go that way.

I must say your post sounds very selfish and close-minded. Those are simply your opinion that you somehow consider a fact. I am a former GW1 player and I will disagree with your points completely. Though I am a “veteran player” if you consider the time factor, I would still consider myself a casual player based on the play-style as well.

Your expectations are not for what the game is but rather for how long it can keep you entertained. They’ve said that there wouldn’t be boxed expansions for GW2 when they released it and yet you still had expectations that it would. That is what I call delusional, believing something will go your way despite being told it won’t.

You claimed that your passion for the game came in huge part to expansions in GW1 (which were campaigns as stand-alone games really, there was only one expansion and that was Eye of the North), but all that tells me is that your passion isn’t about how different or wonderful the game is but rather that it gave a lot of content to play with. If that’s all you’re after, you’re better off playing multiple games rather than expecting one game company to crank out tons of content to keep you pleased. The longevity of GW1 wasn’t due to the added campaigns I would argue, but rather its uniqueness and deviant from the standards of what an MMO was back then, but you either failed to see that or conveniently left it out of your statement.

As for how the LS is, that is also a matter of opinion. I have said it before, and I will say it again, it is a far better option design-wise to implement this sort of LS content rather than a boxed expansion to go with their model of a living world. If your idea of content is simply “new races, new classes, new weapons, new skills, new maps, new dungeons, new pvp modes” then you’re missing out on a lot I have to say. The races and classes they have now are fine; adding any more may be more harmful to the game than you would think. The new maps and dungeons bit, we got a new map that kept extending as the LS progressed, who knows they may just release a new dungeon as well.

Could still easily go either way. They said last year they where finalizing discussions of how to deliver the content. Content production and planing is about a 6 month cycle for easy stuff. Living story after this (very long ) break will hopefully give a final hint to whether everything will be released inside the story of if a big chunk will be released as a more traditional expansion. Personally I am hoping they go the living story route but not my call to make.

The problem with an expansion is that the accountants in charge of the content will always decide that there must be “must have” content inside the expansion. It makes financial sense for the company to induce all players to buy the expansion. So whenever people talk about an expansion I know that I will probably stop playing because I will not buy the expansion and I will not get the “must have” content.

At the moment we receive updates to the wallet, trading post, cosmetics, etc through free updates. If an expansion is released then all quality of life improvements will be put into the expansion instead. The best cosmetics will require the expansion. New skills would be put into the expansion. However the big “must have” content that is usually put into expansions is a level cap increase (or some other way of boosting character power through gear treadmills and grind). Virtually all MMOs do this. Any claim that a GW2 expansion would not include a level cap increase, power creep, gear grinds, gear treadmills, is unrealistic speculation. These are the most favored tools of the accountants to make players expansions. That is what you ask for when you ask for an expansion.

Elsdragon.5109:

I must say your post sounds very selfish and close-minded. Those are simply your opinion that you somehow consider a fact. I am a former GW1 player and I will disagree with your points completely. Though I am a “veteran player” if you consider the time factor, I would still consider myself a casual player based on the play-style as well.

Your expectations are not for what the game is but rather for how long it can keep you entertained. They’ve said that there wouldn’t be boxed expansions for GW2 when they released it and yet you still had expectations that it would. That is what I call delusional, believing something will go your way despite being told it won’t.

Ok..news flash…the vast majority of gaming forum posts are opinion. It’s a bunch of gaming dorks like me debating gaming semantics the majority couldn’t care less about. I never stated anything as fact. Your making assumption up as rebuttal. Either that of you just miss-interpreted me.

Secondly I couldn’t care less what has been stated in the past. If your a GW1 “vet” I don’t need to tell you how many times Anet has done a 180 on “official” statements in regards to a multitude of facets to their games, especially in regards to GW1. Most would agree that nobody here really knows what the heck they are up to most of the time, we are all guessing.

I will state that for me, repetition of content does not equate to new content and yes, repetition of content no matter if it’s dressed differently does not entertain me.

Elsdragon.5109:

You claimed that your passion for the game came in huge part to expansions in GW1 (which were campaigns as stand-alone games really, there was only one expansion and that was Eye of the North), but all that tells me is that your passion isn’t about how different or wonderful the game is but rather that it gave a lot of content to play with. If that’s all you’re after, you’re better off playing multiple games rather than expecting one game company to crank out tons of content to keep you pleased. The longevity of GW1 wasn’t due to the added campaigns I would argue, but rather its uniqueness and deviant from the standards of what an MMO was back then, but you either failed to see that or conveniently left it out of your statement..

I did neither, your just attempting to justify rebuttal by making assumptions and miss-interpretations of my post.

In saying, and to counter, your saying GW1 would have been a success regardless of any additional releases. Just Prophecies….of course your not…get my jist?

I also don’t think in the current market asking for substantial new content in an MMO 2 years after release is the lofty, unrealistic or irelevant expectation in regard to player satisfaction you make it out to be, especially when given the franchises history. I agree our opinions may differ but I disagree with my take on that being a personal fault.

Elsdragon.5109:

As for how the LS is, that is also a matter of opinion. I have said it before, and I will say it again, it is a far better option design-wise to implement this sort of LS content rather than a boxed expansion to go with their model of a living world. If your idea of content is simply “new races, new classes, new weapons, new skills, new maps, new dungeons, new pvp modes” then you’re missing out on a lot I have to say. The races and classes they have now are fine; adding any more may be more harmful to the game than you would think. The new maps and dungeons bit, we got a new map that kept extending as the LS progressed, who knows they may just release a new dungeon as well.

I agree it is opinion. 2-3 sessions of new content does not compare to a full expansion. Read the thread. I’m not alone on this, unless 10 hours or so of a linear story every few months pacifies you. Your being content in this regard does not negate complaint or critique from others who find the new content lacking.

Stooperdale.3560:

The problem with an expansion is that the accountants in charge of the content will always decide that there must be “must have” content inside the expansion. It makes financial sense for the company to induce all players to buy the expansion. So whenever people talk about an expansion I know that I will probably stop playing because I will not buy the expansion and I will not get the “must have” content.

At the moment we receive updates to the wallet, trading post, cosmetics, etc through free updates. If an expansion is released then all quality of life improvements will be put into the expansion instead. The best cosmetics will require the expansion. New skills would be put into the expansion. However the big “must have” content that is usually put into expansions is a level cap increase (or some other way of boosting character power through gear treadmills and grind). Virtually all MMOs do this. Any claim that a GW2 expansion would not include a level cap increase, power creep, gear grinds, gear treadmills, is unrealistic speculation. These are the most favored tools of the accountants to make players expansions. That is what you ask for when you ask for an expansion.

You are also forgetting what expansions also give their players: A big chunk of new content to play. This game is the cheapest form of entertainment in this industry. Full stop. If you can’t afford a $40 expansion after 3 years or don’t like to spend money in the game, you may not be the target demographic for the game.

Bhima.9518:

Stooperdale.3560:

The problem with an expansion is that the accountants in charge of the content will always decide that there must be “must have” content inside the expansion. It makes financial sense for the company to induce all players to buy the expansion. So whenever people talk about an expansion I know that I will probably stop playing because I will not buy the expansion and I will not get the “must have” content.

At the moment we receive updates to the wallet, trading post, cosmetics, etc through free updates. If an expansion is released then all quality of life improvements will be put into the expansion instead. The best cosmetics will require the expansion. New skills would be put into the expansion. However the big “must have” content that is usually put into expansions is a level cap increase (or some other way of boosting character power through gear treadmills and grind). Virtually all MMOs do this. Any claim that a GW2 expansion would not include a level cap increase, power creep, gear grinds, gear treadmills, is unrealistic speculation. These are the most favored tools of the accountants to make players expansions. That is what you ask for when you ask for an expansion.

You are also forgetting what expansions also give their players: A big chunk of new content to play. This game is the cheapest form of entertainment in this industry. Full stop. If you can’t afford a $40 expansion after 3 years or don’t like to spend money in the game, you may not be the target demographic for the game.

Maybe some people can’t afford after over-spending on black lion keys. Just saying. lol

@fireflyry

You’re completely changing what you stated. Explain to me how I misinterpreted your statements. In your first post, your position was basically to apply what they did to GW1 to GW2. You completely neglected to mention GW1’s unique take on what an MMO is and opted to argue that expansions are what made the game so great. It’s the other way around, the game was great and thus they made additional campaigns.

If you don’t care about what they say, then what do you base your opinions on? They have said stuff that they couldn’t pull through with, okay. Does that mean you should ignore everything they say? No. If you knew exactly what they were doing, then that would make the experience quite dull.

Go read your posts again and tell me they don’t imply those claims. If those were not your intent, then learn to word stuff better. I made no assumptions in my posts. You’re the one making assumptions here. Are you saying that when you played Prophecies you felt the game was dull and stale but when Factions came out you suddenly found it amazing? The game was great by design, additional campaigns (made because of how great the initial was) simply highlighted that. Expansions do NOT make a game.

I can clearly see that you see LS as nothing more than the added story, so I won’t bother to give any more arguments. Most people who critique the LS don’t even understand that their “critiques” don’t apply. What they want as content just isn’t suited to GW2 at the moment, or else the devs would have made those. From this thread alone, most people clamor for new maps/races/weapons and all that. What they’re basically asking for is a whole new campaign; what they want is a new GW2 campaign and not an extension of the current one.

fireflyry.7023:

In saying, and to counter, your saying GW1 would have been a success regardless of any additional releases. Just Prophecies….of course your not…get my jist?

Proph was a succes without expansions. Proof: they made expansions.

As much as I am inclined to pay for an expansion… It should have the same amount of feature and content than GW2.

- Regions: IMHO, an expansion sets the game to some new places, so adding two or three maps is not acceptable.
- Skills: new region implies unknown fighting styles, and therefore characters can learn these news ways, and 25 skill points per skill is not acceptable.
- Weapons: if, and it’s a big if, new tribes were to be discovered, I would be surprised that they, by chance, had developped the same fighting styles and technolgy we use. Not bringing anything new regarding weapons is not acceptable.
- Storyline: they might have to deal with dragons too, but they sure have other problems to deal with, ending up with the same governing principle of “dragons are mean, let’s fight together once we manage to get along” is not acceptable, we need to be in a new world with new problems.
- Fixed issues: it’s clear, and it should be the first point, we cannot have new things while some important things are still broken (and overlooked because other non-broken things are “fixed”… Or rather bugged as far as my playing experience brings me).

So we need a new campaign, or an expansion that brings us on a path far different from what we have been living in, again and again, during the last two years. After all, the planet is supposed to be really huge, and even in GW1 we’ve discovered but a fraction of it. If they don’t want to add Cantha or Elona, their sake will come from creating a new exotic world. I assume that if the game doesn’t get new blood in it, it shall be game over sooner than expected.

Elsdragon.5109:

I must say your post sounds very selfish and close-minded. Those are simply your opinion that you somehow consider a fact. I am a former GW1 player and I will disagree with your points completely. Though I am a “veteran player” if you consider the time factor, I would still consider myself a casual player based on the play-style as well.

Your expectations are not for what the game is but rather for how long it can keep you entertained. They’ve said that there wouldn’t be boxed expansions for GW2 when they released it and yet you still had expectations that it would. That is what I call delusional, believing something will go your way despite being told it won’t.

You claimed that your passion for the game came in huge part to expansions in GW1 (which were campaigns as stand-alone games really, there was only one expansion and that was Eye of the North), but all that tells me is that your passion isn’t about how different or wonderful the game is but rather that it gave a lot of content to play with. If that’s all you’re after, you’re better off playing multiple games rather than expecting one game company to crank out tons of content to keep you pleased. The longevity of GW1 wasn’t due to the added campaigns I would argue, but rather its uniqueness and deviant from the standards of what an MMO was back then, but you either failed to see that or conveniently left it out of your statement.

As for how the LS is, that is also a matter of opinion. I have said it before, and I will say it again, it is a far better option design-wise to implement this sort of LS content rather than a boxed expansion to go with their model of a living world. If your idea of content is simply “new races, new classes, new weapons, new skills, new maps, new dungeons, new pvp modes” then you’re missing out on a lot I have to say. The races and classes they have now are fine; adding any more may be more harmful to the game than you would think. The new maps and dungeons bit, we got a new map that kept extending as the LS progressed, who knows they may just release a new dungeon as well.

actually, pretty sure they started off saying they would definately be expanding the game through expansions. Shortly after release, they decided they were unsure how they would deliver it. Then they later decided they would see how living story does at delivering content.

As for content, yeah its important, most games, even good games, cannot continue to thrive with their initial content. That is why there have been like 100 streetfighter games, and demon souls, dark souls, and dark souls II. MMOs generally deal with this concept by continuing to improve and expand the same game with new content. Keep in mind most people are willing to pay for this, So its not as if they want something for nothing.

new races/class/proffesions would not be any more harmful to the game than anything else. FFXI was like 10ish years ago, and they managed to add 11 jobs without destroying the game. Gw1 added 4 proffesions, whom as far as i can tell attracted many players, and are still some favorite classes for many people. Assassin, dervish, ritualist were highly popular classes, and people still ask for them today.

No, gw2 has not truely captured all playstyles.
Keep in mind each job is firmly attached to its proffesion mechanic.
mesmer will always be tied to illusions and shatters
ranger will always be tied to pets
theif is always going to be controled by initiative, steal and stealth abilities.

point is, they may have hit some broad archetypes, but they are all limited in their playstyle by their class mechanics.
a thief cant really be a monk/martial artist, because he is dependent on stealth for defense, his mechanic is based around stealing, not combos, and initiative is made to front load his damage rather than build it up.

A warrior cant be a death berserker type because his mechanic is about 1 special attack he builds up over time, and his theme is to be highly variable with weapons and generally to buff enemies

necro is tied to 4 skills on his life bar, which favor one playstyle.

point is, they have a lot of room to grow when it comes to proffesions.

phys.7689:

Elsdragon.5109:

I must say your post sounds very selfish and close-minded. Those are simply your opinion that you somehow consider a fact. I am a former GW1 player and I will disagree with your points completely. Though I am a “veteran player” if you consider the time factor, I would still consider myself a casual player based on the play-style as well.

Your expectations are not for what the game is but rather for how long it can keep you entertained. They’ve said that there wouldn’t be boxed expansions for GW2 when they released it and yet you still had expectations that it would. That is what I call delusional, believing something will go your way despite being told it won’t.

You claimed that your passion for the game came in huge part to expansions in GW1 (which were campaigns as stand-alone games really, there was only one expansion and that was Eye of the North), but all that tells me is that your passion isn’t about how different or wonderful the game is but rather that it gave a lot of content to play with. If that’s all you’re after, you’re better off playing multiple games rather than expecting one game company to crank out tons of content to keep you pleased. The longevity of GW1 wasn’t due to the added campaigns I would argue, but rather its uniqueness and deviant from the standards of what an MMO was back then, but you either failed to see that or conveniently left it out of your statement.

As for how the LS is, that is also a matter of opinion. I have said it before, and I will say it again, it is a far better option design-wise to implement this sort of LS content rather than a boxed expansion to go with their model of a living world. If your idea of content is simply “new races, new classes, new weapons, new skills, new maps, new dungeons, new pvp modes” then you’re missing out on a lot I have to say. The races and classes they have now are fine; adding any more may be more harmful to the game than you would think. The new maps and dungeons bit, we got a new map that kept extending as the LS progressed, who knows they may just release a new dungeon as well.

actually, pretty sure they started off saying they would definately be expanding the game through expansions. Shortly after release, they decided they were unsure how they would deliver it. Then they later decided they would see how living story does at delivering content.

As for content, yeah its important, most games, even good games, cannot continue to thrive with their initial content. That is why there have been like 100 streetfighter games, and demon souls, dark souls, and dark souls II. MMOs generally deal with this concept by continuing to improve and expand the same game with new content. Keep in mind most people are willing to pay for this, So its not as if they want something for nothing.

new races/class/proffesions would not be any more harmful to the game than anything else. FFXI was like 10ish years ago, and they managed to add 11 jobs without destroying the game. Gw1 added 4 proffesions, whom as far as i can tell attracted many players, and are still some favorite classes for many people. Assassin, dervish, ritualist were highly popular classes, and people still ask for them today.

No, gw2 has not truely captured all playstyles.
Keep in mind each job is firmly attached to its proffesion mechanic.
mesmer will always be tied to illusions and shatters
ranger will always be tied to pets
theif is always going to be controled by initiative, steal and stealth abilities.

point is, they may have hit some broad archetypes, but they are all limited in their playstyle by their class mechanics.
a thief cant really be a monk/martial artist, because he is dependent on stealth for defense, his mechanic is based around stealing, not combos, and initiative is made to front load his damage rather than build it up.

A warrior cant be a death berserker type because his mechanic is about 1 special attack he builds up over time, and his theme is to be highly variable with weapons and generally to buff enemies

necro is tied to 4 skills on his life bar, which favor one playstyle.

point is, they have a lot of room to grow when it comes to proffesions.

I don’t ever remember them saying anything about expansions except that they wouldn’t have stand alone ones like Guild Wars 1 did, because they didn’t want to divide the player base.

If they did talk about expansions they didn’t talk much about them.

@ phys

Not too sure about that (I think that was when they were still developing the game as in without a proper beta or such yet?) but when they did release the game as a working prototype, I am fairly certain they mentioned not wanting to release expansions in the traditional sense.

It’s true that games cannot thrive without additional content, but GW2 is not without additional content. If one could compare the current state it is in now to the state it was in at release, or maybe even just a year ago, they could see so much changes to it. Again maybe not in the typical sense, but just because they don’t add content like WoW or other MMO’s doesn’t mean it’s bad. Heck, the reason why GW is so good is because they don’t follow traditional MMO’s.

As for new classes, those are different games. In GW1, those new professions came from new lands (Cantha and Elona), and the game itself had a dual class system that made additional classes actually more interesting. That’s not the case for GW2 though. The assassin class has sort of been reworked into the Thief; the Monk and Paragon have been sort of combined to be the Guardian (I think?). As for the Dervish and Ritualist, those classes wouldn’t make sense in the expanded race selection. For example, the Charr who don’t believe in gods would never have Dervishes as they were holy warriors that evoked the powers of the human gods. And I don’t see the Asurans summoning up spirits in their culture, so Ritualists are also out. Coming up with new classes isn’t as easy as looking up what other RPG’s had; if they don’t appeal to the lore then it would be very harmful. Adding race specific classes on the other hand may seem like a good alternative, but it would also create separation between races like in WoW. I personally wouldn’t want that.

Expanding on each class would work, but they’d have to rework the skill tree and maybe even how one unlocks skills. So with a lot of potential also comes a lot of planning. It would be great to see more skills, but if they did it haphazardly, then I would have preferred if they didn’t or took more time.

Swish.2463:

What qualifies as a 40 to 60$ (USD) paid expansion? What should it contain and add to the game?

Seafood! I would pay $60 for an expansion that added seafood recipes. There are so many fish! Why can’t we cook the fish?

More seriously, I’ve always assumed that the first paid expansion would include the third heavy armor profession and a new race.

Which, if it were the Japanese-themed Tengu, would make it the perfect time to also add… some kittening seafood!

Elsdragon.5109:

@ phys

Not too sure about that (I think that was when they were still developing the game as in without a proper beta or such yet?) but when they did release the game as a working prototype, I am fairly certain they mentioned not wanting to release expansions in the traditional sense.

It’s true that games cannot thrive without additional content, but GW2 is not without additional content. If one could compare the current state it is in now to the state it was in at release, or maybe even just a year ago, they could see so much changes to it. Again maybe not in the typical sense, but just because they don’t add content like WoW or other MMO’s doesn’t mean it’s bad. Heck, the reason why GW is so good is because they don’t follow traditional MMO’s.

As for new classes, those are different games. In GW1, those new professions came from new lands (Cantha and Elona), and the game itself had a dual class system that made additional classes actually more interesting. That’s not the case for GW2 though. The assassin class has sort of been reworked into the Thief; the Monk and Paragon have been sort of combined to be the Guardian (I think?). As for the Dervish and Ritualist, those classes wouldn’t make sense in the expanded race selection. For example, the Charr who don’t believe in gods would never have Dervishes as they were holy warriors that evoked the powers of the human gods. And I don’t see the Asurans summoning up spirits in their culture, so Ritualists are also out. Coming up with new classes isn’t as easy as looking up what other RPG’s had; if they don’t appeal to the lore then it would be very harmful. Adding race specific classes on the other hand may seem like a good alternative, but it would also create separation between races like in WoW. I personally wouldn’t want that.

Expanding on each class would work, but they’d have to rework the skill tree and maybe even how one unlocks skills. So with a lot of potential also comes a lot of planning. It would be great to see more skills, but if they did it haphazardly, then I would have preferred if they didn’t or took more time.

my point wasnt really to bring back the gw1 classes, but to say that gw1 classes added a lot of the most favored classes to gw1. i personally prefered my assassin to any other class. If factions never came out, the class would not exist. there are many others who feel similarly about dervish and ritualist.

reworking the classes is not really a viable option, because some people love their classes, it wouldnt be fair to totally change them on a core level. Hence the advantage of new proffesions.

As far as them adding content in a non traditional way, i would be fine with that, but to be honest, i cant really say i feel much has changed in terms of content. Im not saying they did nothing, it just doesnt come across as revitalizing the game.

I thought the way GW1 expansions brought in new areas, classes, and skills was great. If they opened up Elona (or Cantha, or the ruins of cantha, or any other new area), added a new class or two, a new race would be awesome, and a few weapons (like was said earlier, even allowing an existing class to use a weapon or two they didn’t have before) I’d be lining up to hand Anet my money.

Of course I’d be just as happy with it all coming as LS updates throughout the year, adding all that new stuff…

I just want new content and stuff is the point…

I played GW1 actively from it’s launch till EOTN without taking any pause from it.

GW2 played from launch to february/march 2014 then decided to put it on hold till new stuff comes in. So about 1,5 year in this game till getting bored’burned or whatever you’d call it.

I’m still same player with same kind of attitude, hunger for exploration in fantasy worlds, lorefreak etc. than I was back in launch of GW1.

In my humble opinion GW2 as fantastic as it is in the varied crowd of MMO’s, it would benefit a lot from meaty old-school expansion like there was in the original GW.

My view on expansion:

- New continent, consisting of 8-10 zones with 2 of them for new class leveling
- New class, tied to lore of expansion
- New skills to existing classes + 2-3 new weapon types tied to expansion lore
- WvWvW improvements what players have asked in forums
- sPVP game modes and 4 new maps to rotation
- GvG introduced with 8vs8 and CTF/Boss elimination gametypes
- Factions introduced or similar type of PvP that ties to PvE for example like Urgoz & Deep in GW1, elite areas that open up to your victory in conquering that spot on map
- Guild Halls
- Polymock + other activities like Bar Brawl, and return Keg Brawl from that random rotation
- Few new dungeons with paths and unique armours & weapon skins

Hah. That’s a wishlist for sure.
But yeah old-school expansion isn’t necessary so bad idea even if Anet philosophy dictates otherwise.

In my opinion, the expansion should have :
- 2 – 3 new zones.
- New maps for PvP.
- New kind of weapons.
- More mini games with lots of reward ( ex : Race, Killing as much as enemies in a period of time, some boardgames…).
- 2 – 3 difficult and big bosses.
- More activities for end game ( beside dungeons, boss and farming. Guild dungeons must be a good idea ).
- Pet system ( we can feed the minis and they can be growth up, and we should have some minigames for them ).
– New map for WvsW. I want to make a small group with 3 or 4 people, we will go sneaky and destroy some of enemy’s structure, but we can’t do it now, i hope you will have a map for WvsW in which small or big group can play.

Briefly, i want the expansion make the game be more casual, we will have more activities to choose.
This is my first time posting on Forum, sorry for my bad English.

Tengu with full Tosei-gusoku armor! So many possibilities, and so many people would be thrilled to start speculating what could be included. I’m eagerly trying to find something to keep me invested but it’s getting hard when everyone except the creator and keeper of the dreaded “policy” seems to feel that way or think it’s important.
I hope this free weekend gives then whatever they’re looking for so they can finally open up and give everyone something to get excited over again.