Guild Wars 2

Hopefully this is kosher with the rules of the forums, if not, I apologize in advance.

I’ve seen a lot of discussion over Living World, expansions, etc, and I thought it’d be fun to take a vote. How do you want content to be delivered? ArenaNet is sticking with the bi-weekly format for now. Do you agree?

I made a quick poll here: http://strawpoll.me/1721041

I gave options for box expansions, gem store expansions, bigger LW patches, and current-size LW patches.

I built this so you can only vote for one, so pick your favorite. Feel free to discuss below.

Personally, I’m torn, but I went with larger, less-frequent LW content. I think that the idea of “seasons” is okay, but I’d rather see bigger releases slightly less frequently, perhaps every 3-4 weeks. That said, I don’t want huge gaps in content like we’re seeing now.

As an afterthought to bugfixes.

/thread

I think I’m gonna keep this tab up. It’s proving interesting.

I’m really fine with any way of content delivery as long as that content is permanent.

Personally, I think that content every 3-4 weeks is a nice pace, like

• QoL features, bug fixing, small gradual balancing updates every 2 weeks and
• thoroughly tested, balanced, not rushed permanent (or at least semi-permanent content) content updates every next 2 weeks.

“Content every 2 weeks” is a nice selling point, but “content which is totally bug-ridden for 1 week of 2 weeks of its existence” and “content being released for the sake of being released and postponing all fixing and balancing” is not a nice practice.

Dual.8953:

I think I’m gonna keep this tab up. It’s proving interesting.

I was expecting paid expansions to be OVERWHELMINGLY the favorite. I’m rather surprised with the results so far, but we’re still at a very small sample size right now. (32 votes.)

I seriously don’t understand why would people want to spend more money on this game. The game is amazing and all that but why pay for something when you can have it for free, like it should be.

Keep the bi-weekly schedule but stagger LW/content releases and feature/quality of life releases, putting both on 4-week release schedules.

If the above is confusing, look at it this way (also, to clarify):

Week 1: Living Story/Living World content release (Battle for LA/Fot4W/The search for scarlet’s exploding underpants/etc)

Week 2: no release

Week 3: Mechanics/Quality of life update (new runes/sigils/skills/etc)

Week 4: no release

and then the cycle starts over for the next month. This allows ANet to devote more time & effort into a polished and more satisfying release without feeling pressured by self-imposed time limits, something that would become a major factor in deciding to “pull the plug” on GW1 (they tried to release new campaigns very 6 months, campaign=new game, not expansion, for those who never played the original). This also allows the non-hardcore player base more time to enjoy the content.

While deadlines can be a driving factor for a lot of things, over time people will get burned out.

[Edit]

This is under the assumption that ANet has 2 teams of developers working on these releases— one for content, and one for QoL/bug fixing/polish.

This is my opinion, for what it’s worth, and it’s worth exactly what you paid for it.

Rezz.8019:

I seriously don’t understand why would people want to spend more money on this game. The game is amazing and all that but why pay for something when you can have it for free, like it should be.

I think it comes with the implicit suggestion that there will be less gem-store pandering (animal hats, animal mini pets, animal backpacks, etc) and more skins, etc available in-game through completing content.

you need to add

-Permanent LS updates

tired of temp stuff b/c its still the same game after almost 2 years

Charak.9761:

you need to add

-Permanent LS updates

tired of temp stuff b/c its still the same game after almost 2 years

This might be a good topic for a follow-up poll. I was really curious about pitting cost vs free and frequent+small vs large+spread out.

I am not as concerned with the delivery of said content as much as the type of content. I want permanent regions added. Not just a zone or two, but quite a few new, permanent maps. I want armor and weapons I can earn. I am not talking about farming gold in the most efficient manner then converting said gold to gems and buying an armor set off the gem shop. I am talking about an armor set that represents what it is I did to earn it. That is one of the things that has been taken out of the game that makes an RPG what it is. Does that mean I won’t buy armor sets off the gem shop? No! I still do buy stuff off the gem shop with great frequency, but options have never hurt anything.

I think everybody wants new zones, new weapons, new armor, etc. That’s pretty much a given.

$50 box expansion please and thank you!

I’d like to see a combination of things actually:

Keep the 2 week cadence, but do more than one thing. Sort of like multiple, small LS going on at the same time. Just like with life, just because one thing is happening over here, doesn’t mean something else also isn’t happening over there. The world just doesn’t ‘stop’ to do one thing at a time.

Give us a larger content LS every 3rd or 4th month. Maybe tie some of the events in together. Make it a more interesting plot, with twists and cliff hangers. Hell, kill somebody off and make us cry.

Lastly, give us an expansion on top of all of that. (I know, tall order, but I’m pretty sure they could do it).

Let LS be the story of the world as it exists and grows from day to day. Let it act as link from dragon to dragon. Let expansions be the growth of our personal stories and the epic adventures of slaying dragons.

Just my 2c

Odd….115 views, 125 votes.

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

Odd….115 views, 125 votes.

I also posted this on Reddit.

Ahh…I was going to ask, but I figured an answer would show up without doing so. Lol.

LanfearShadowflame.3189:

I’d like to see a combination of things actually:

Keep the 2 week cadence, but do more than one thing. Sort of like multiple, small LS going on at the same time. Just like with life, just because one thing is happening over here, doesn’t mean something else also isn’t happening over there. The world just doesn’t ‘stop’ to do one thing at a time.

Give us a larger content LS every 3rd or 4th month. Maybe tie some of the events in together. Make it a more interesting plot, with twists and cliff hangers. Hell, kill somebody off and make us cry.

Lastly, give us an expansion on top of all of that. (I know, tall order, but I’m pretty sure they could do it).

Let LS be the story of the world as it exists and grows from day to day. Let it act as link from dragon to dragon. Let expansions be the growth of our personal stories and the epic adventures of slaying dragons.

Just my 2c

They couldn’t do any of that. What you saw over the LS season 1 is exactly what Anet is capable of delivering. That’s the best they can do under the 2 week schedule. This is what happens when you compress the game development cycle and operate with small teams. You get proportionally small, less substantial content. You’re asking them to keep the 2 week schedule, but somehow ramp up the amount of content having more than just “one thing” to do. You also want them to make a full expansion on top of that. It’s not economically feasible. To make an expansion, they would have to quit doing living world, buckle down for 8-14 months, and build a solid $40-$60 box expansion pack. I’m all for that, because I would rather have one really nice steak dinner once in a while, than a single M&M every day.

Honestly, keeping monthly/bi-monthly patches with some content, balancing and similar stuff and adding expansion boxes as much bigger releases (like introduction of new, big area such as Elona or something) would be perfect for me. Add that to poll

I like how they ended up the last season with content coming every 2 weeks but the bigger events lasting for a month.

What I’d like to see going forward is more new zones and permanent dungeons added through Living World. I think rather than selling an expansion (which would separate the playerbase) they could sell new races. That would be cool.

Xenon.4537:

LanfearShadowflame.3189:

I’d like to see a combination of things actually:

Keep the 2 week cadence, but do more than one thing. Sort of like multiple, small LS going on at the same time. Just like with life, just because one thing is happening over here, doesn’t mean something else also isn’t happening over there. The world just doesn’t ‘stop’ to do one thing at a time.

Give us a larger content LS every 3rd or 4th month. Maybe tie some of the events in together. Make it a more interesting plot, with twists and cliff hangers. Hell, kill somebody off and make us cry.

Lastly, give us an expansion on top of all of that. (I know, tall order, but I’m pretty sure they could do it).

Let LS be the story of the world as it exists and grows from day to day. Let it act as link from dragon to dragon. Let expansions be the growth of our personal stories and the epic adventures of slaying dragons.

Just my 2c

They couldn’t do any of that. What you saw over the LS season 1 is exactly what Anet is capable of delivering. That’s the best they can do under the 2 week schedule. This is what happens when you compress the game development cycle and operate with small teams. You get proportionally small, less substantial content. You’re asking them to keep the 2 week schedule, but somehow ramp up the amount of content having more than just “one thing” to do. You also want them to make a full expansion on top of that. It’s not economically feasible. To make an expansion, they would have to quit doing living world, buckle down for 8-14 months, and build a solid $40-$60 box expansion pack. I’m all for that, because I would rather have one really nice steak dinner once in a while, than a single M&M every day.

chuckle If you say so.

LanfearShadowflame.3189:

chuckle If you say so.

Fine, explain to me how Anet could deliver the established 2 week content, add on top a larger content patch every 3rd or 4th month, AND develop a full expansion using the same resources as before? You can only squeeze so much juice from a melon.

If you’re talking about Anet hiring more people and getting a bigger budget to increase production, then sure by all means. With more time, money, and people Anet could do anything. Ask NCSoft if they feel like it’s worth it to devote such resources to Anet when they have new games like Wowstar to worry about.

I had initially thought that they were working on an expansion and that the LS S1 was content to keep us occupied until they were done
Boy was I wrong

Charak.9761:

you need to add

-Permanent LS updates

tired of temp stuff b/c its still the same game after almost 2 years

Well we do have a permanent LS its still going on now just like how living things changing endlessly then so to a LS or a LIVING story would always changes too. That the ideal behind a living story a book is not a living story its just a story that dies or ends when the book is over or the group of books are over.

What your asking for i image is for a non living story a story that ends once you finish it but can be redone over and over for what? loot redoing the story i am not sure how that benefits the players or at least the players who have done the events etc… i guess it some what benefits ppl who miss them but they too will fall into the group of players who have done these events so they too will get no benefit in the long run.

Its best to keep the LS just that a living story that keeps chasing each day each update and to have story tellers to fill in players with what they missed.

Any way with the megasurvers it seems like Anet is going to add in a lot of new maps but this means the update are going to come slower. So i think and feel it maybe for the best to have slower and bigger updates. More then likely its going to be a big LS update every month with small changing during that month. Something on the lines of update ever 2 weeks that is small with an major update ever 4 to 5 weeks.

Iason Evan.3806:

I am not as concerned with the delivery of said content as much as the type of content. I want permanent regions added. Not just a zone or two, but quite a few new, permanent maps. I want armor and weapons I can earn. I am not talking about farming gold in the most efficient manner then converting said gold to gems and buying an armor set off the gem shop. I am talking about an armor set that represents what it is I did to earn it. That is one of the things that has been taken out of the game that makes an RPG what it is. Does that mean I won’t buy armor sets off the gem shop? No! I still do buy stuff off the gem shop with great frequency, but options have never hurt anything.

^this.

Only I will not buy item skins from the Gem Shop till they function like my HoM skins. Something about having to Buy the Skin and then Buy to keep using them via the charges leaves a bad taste in my mouth… probably just me though.

Anyway, yes. Add armor sets IN the game so that I can earn them through the content (this doesn’t mean grind and/or repeat dungeon paths for months on end either). GW1 did this very well. Complete a story line stage and then we had access to certain armor sets.

Edit: Auto Correct fail…

I like the idea of Gem Store mini-expansions. Especially if they are priced in Gems. Have it like a DLC in other games, with new maps and other stuff. I don’t know how it would work practically though, with some people buying it, and others not.

Currently the vast majority of voters reject an expansion with costs. So people should enjoy LW like the majority seems to do

Belenwyn.8674:

Currently the vast majority of voters reject an expansion with costs. So people should enjoy LW like the majority seems to do

I’m surprised by these results, but we must remember, 300 votes is a very small minority of the overall community. The forums and Reddit don’t represent the community as a whole.

I don’t dislike the LS structure I just disliked the content it delivered.
If we could get meaningful content and not zerg x for loots or checklist achievements then I think most people would be happy.(*not all of the LS was bad imo)
I think pretty much everyone agrees it is time for new content, the delivery system is just a means to an end.

Belenwyn.8674:

Currently the vast majority of voters reject an expansion with costs. So people should enjoy LW like the majority seems to do

It’s 102 votes for the current Living Story model to 101 votes for paid boxed expansions. How do you get a vast majority rejecting said expansion???

Seems to have been pretty evenly divided between those two since it started, in my eyes, anyway.

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

Belenwyn.8674:

Currently the vast majority of voters reject an expansion with costs. So people should enjoy LW like the majority seems to do

It’s 102 votes for the current Living Story model to 101 votes for paid boxed expansions. How do you get a vast majority rejecting said expansion???

You include the 70 who want a slightly less frequent LW.

timmyf.1490:

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

Belenwyn.8674:

Currently the vast majority of voters reject an expansion with costs. So people should enjoy LW like the majority seems to do

It’s 102 votes for the current Living Story model to 101 votes for paid boxed expansions. How do you get a vast majority rejecting said expansion???

You include the 70 who want a slightly less frequent LW.

172 to 101 is still not a ‘vast’ majority. A vast majority would be something like 220 – 50.

Ahh, then perhaps those two should have been lumped together as one choice. /shrug

That’s not the model we have been served so far, but…ok. A different Living Story, but a Living Story, nonetheless. Got it. =)

timmyf.1490:

Belenwyn.8674:

Currently the vast majority of voters reject an expansion with costs. So people should enjoy LW like the majority seems to do

I’m surprised by these results, but we must remember, 300 votes is a very small minority of the overall community. The forums and Reddit don’t represent the community as a whole.

I agree the poll is not representative. The same is valid for many statements like “LW failed. People want an expansion with costs.”

Xenon.4537:

LanfearShadowflame.3189:

chuckle If you say so.

Fine, explain to me how Anet could deliver the established 2 week content, add on top a larger content patch every 3rd or 4th month, AND develop a full expansion using the same resources as before? You can only squeeze so much juice from a melon.

If you’re talking about Anet hiring more people and getting a bigger budget to increase production, then sure by all means. With more time, money, and people Anet could do anything. Ask NCSoft if they feel like it’s worth it to devote such resources to Anet when they have new games like Wowstar to worry about.

They have 4 (or is it 3?) LS teams, with about 4 month development time per monthly arc, that shouldn’t be an issue to remain the same. It did get better as the season went on.

I’m not even going to speculate where the rest of the 300+ people anet have are. We know some of them are working on QoL, we know some of them are working with balance stuff. What have the ones that were working on the China coding changes been retasked to do? What are the cooking up in the background that they ’aren’t ready to talk about yet.’ We hear that a lot in interviews. “Big background projects”

Anet is still hiring people, so they are still growing. Yes, they will get additional revenue from China, but I wasn’t considering that or hiring new people.

The primary concern is not the way in which content is delivered, but in the type of content that is delivered. Specifically, temporary vs. permanent. Year 1 saw disproportionately temporary content, which is very, very bad for the game. I don’t know how anybody could ever rationalize otherwise.

Most people think LS better by default just because it’s free.
Yes LS is free, I can tell by the quality…

LanfearShadowflame.3189:

Xenon.4537:

LanfearShadowflame.3189:

chuckle If you say so.

Fine, explain to me how Anet could deliver the established 2 week content, add on top a larger content patch every 3rd or 4th month, AND develop a full expansion using the same resources as before? You can only squeeze so much juice from a melon.

If you’re talking about Anet hiring more people and getting a bigger budget to increase production, then sure by all means. With more time, money, and people Anet could do anything. Ask NCSoft if they feel like it’s worth it to devote such resources to Anet when they have new games like Wowstar to worry about.

They have 4 (or is it 3?) LS teams, with about 4 month development time per monthly arc, that shouldn’t be an issue to remain the same. It did get better as the season went on.

I’m not even going to speculate where the rest of the 300+ people anet have are. We know some of them are working on QoL, we know some of them are working with balance stuff. What have the ones that were working on the China coding changes been retasked to do? What are the cooking up in the background that they ’aren’t ready to talk about yet.’ We hear that a lot in interviews. “Big background projects”

Anet is still hiring people, so they are still growing. Yes, they will get additional revenue from China, but I wasn’t considering that or hiring new people.

Yeah, wiki says Anet has 300+ employees, but a lot of them are odd jobs like community coordinators and website developers. I mean, they have people who’s only job is to scour the forums for feedback, distill it into bullet points, and present it to one of the game designers. A bunch of them are QA, which means they sit around testing the latest dev build of the game looking for bugs.

That still leaves plenty of room for actual 3d modelers, animators, programmers, and designers that get their hands dirty building the game, sure. But we have no idea exactly how big the LS teams are. Each team could be as little kitten people, or as big as 30. Only Anet knows.

As for constantly hiring, that’s how the game industry works. They are always hiring because they are always “letting people go” at the same rate. They hire a 3D artist temporarily to come in and churn out some models for a patch, then his contract expires and they don’t need him anymore because the models are done and the patch is out.

Alls I’m saying is that IF Anet could produce what you are suggesting on their current budget and resources, then they would. Those 300+ employees aren’t sitting on their hands over there getting paid to do nothing. What we see is what we get. Either it takes 300+ people to produce the piddly-squat LS season 1 we saw, or they have been working on something so secret, so big, so amazing for the last 2 years that it will blow our minds away. I’m just not that hopeful.

Windu The Forbidden One.6045:

Most people think LS better by default just because it’s free.
Yes LS is free, I can tell by the quality…

Many people think stuff with costs is better. That is not always true. This I can tell by quality.

Windu The Forbidden One.6045:

Most people think LS better by default just because it’s free.
Yes LS is free, I can tell by the quality…

Precisely my thoughts. Now you know why Plato said that the majority of the people is made of bronze, not gold or silver.

Arenanet answered the question today semi-officially.

http://imgur.com/JL4js7E,o0v29zi,Ifecc7X,rIFD8zE,9WzwG45,IykWPZb,OJwp2vz

Belenwyn.8674:

Arenanet answered the question today semi-officially.

http://imgur.com/JL4js7E,o0v29zi,Ifecc7X,rIFD8zE,9WzwG45,IykWPZb,OJwp2vz

“Permanent living story content”? You mean, the way it is permanent with destroyed LA or Tower of Madness, which is still out there? Wow. Amazing. No idea why people keep complaining about it! The permanent living story content so far is great! /sarcasm

Voted for Boxed Expansion without hesitation.

I think my takeaway from this poll is that, despite everybody feeling strongly about their particular preference, there is not a consensus from the community on the best way to handle future content updates.

Slightly more than half the votes are for some form of Living World, whether at the current pace or a slower one.

Slightly less than half the votes are for some form of paid expansion, whether a typical full box or smaller “gem store” expansions.

timmyf.1490:

I think my takeaway from this poll is that, despite everybody feeling strongly about their particular preference, there is not a consensus from the community on the best way to handle future content updates.

Slightly more than half the votes are for some form of Living World, whether at the current pace or a slower one.

Slightly less than half the votes are for some form of paid expansion, whether a typical full box or smaller “gem store” expansions.

this is accurate. but what it also shows is a signifigant divide, essentially half the user base will be disatisfied.

The best way to please customers accoriding to this poll would be to continue two week updates and to give people the type of content they want in an expansion.

If this was thier descision, the best thing would be to announce with the release of the living world to also prepare for “Insert Expansion Name here” free expansion coming in q1 2015 or somesuch thing.