Guild Wars 2

If you were the lead manager of the development team and projects and had the same amount of resources that it cost to make the current game as is,

What would you do from here?*

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my own answer
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With the limited resources, and team members:

*1) Battlefields -I would add 3 of the unfinished zones, but with a new Level free play style design. So these 3 new zones are fully available for all levels. these Three zones are new feature called “Battlefields”. In the Battlefields, all the Monsters are champion difficulty. And all the events effect each of the battlefield zones. This is the hardest persistent world gameplay in the game. Requires groups or zergs as we call it, to defend the world, and attack the sources of the Evil causing the destruction in the battlefields. Also note that failed battlefield missions greatly damage and effect the non Battlefield zones. Both Defense and Offense is greatly rewarded for the risk and efforts. New PvE Battlefield zone sieges are made that can be used to battle against the Evil in the battlefield and control key locations for advancement.

This adds a sort of Raid like experience to the PvE game. Sort of a PvE version of RvR.

*2) New Structure PvP Modes – Adding 3 new Structure PvP modes. 1 for each population design (Low scale/Mid scale/Larger scale ).
*Low Scale PvP- Guild vs Guild 10 vs 10
*Mid Scale PvP – Offense/Defense Siege and Control – 25 vs 25
*Larger Scale PvP – RvR Instanced Mode 50 vs 50 mini WvW design, but can be queued into cross server between two lore waring factions. With Sieges, and PvE battles. Sort of like Old AV from WoW but with Sieges and destruction and missions. No weak NPC hear.

*3) Server Mergers of lower populations.
Self explanatory.

*4)Naval Combat- New Sea zone added to the game world, that has exploration on the surface of the ocean, and under the water. Players must buy a ship before they can enter the zone on their own. Or must join a crew of another player who owns as ship. New Large Sea monsters to battle at sea on ships using Ship spears and cannons. Or by jumping onto the monster. treasures to discover and treasure maps to locate like in Legend of Zelda Wind Waker.

*5)New WvW Features and Additional Layers of gameplay in WvW-
Naval combat added to WvW. the area of sea is added to connect the three border lands together. the Naval ships can attack the land. A new River is added to the land mass. the Eternal Map has new larger water ways and lakes added for ship battles. Ship vs Ship, and Land vs Ship. Commanders can send out Air Strikes as a new feature as well, to bomb players and ships.

*6) New Weapons types – Polearms, Cleavers, Fist Weapons, Crossbow, Tomes , Scythe, Flail.
*Polearms would be a new 2hander Weapon.
*Cleaver- would be a new 2hander axe weapon.
*Fist Weapons- would be a new main/off hand weapon.
*Crossbow-would be a new main hand weapon.
*Tomes – would be a new 2hander weapon.
*Scythe – would be a new 2hander weapon.
*Flail – would be a new off hand weapon.

*7) New Weapon Skill system- a change is made to the Weapon Skill system. They can now be rearranged in any order on the weapon bar. Also Each weapon has 2 laid out Skill Preset. 1 is the current skills, and the 2nd is a skill set to fulfill the opposite role of the first skill sets. Example: Guardian’s Staff currently is more Support themed for its normal set. In its second set, the Guardian staff skills are more offensive themed. When making build, the Weapon set can be chosen out of combat.

*8) New Soldier Class – Dread Knight- Dark Magic themed Soldier class.

*9) New 11th Action bar slot, and new Skill category called (Roles)-
role skills, are GW2’s version of the trinity, that effect group combat. Its needed for the battlefield zones. Roles skills consist of (Tanking skills/Damage skills/Healing). Players can choose 1 role skills to go on the bar, depending on the role they choose to play in the group. Role skills are unique to each class. Each class has 4 role skills per role totaling 12 role skills to pick from. Creating different ways to perform in the trinity group rather than simply tank and spank.

*10) complete the GW2 app, that features extra account security tools, as well as social communication with in game and offline members. Features mini games can have effect on the game world in unique ways like a sort of RTS game. Commanders can help direct battles in WvW from the app as well when not logged in.

*11) I would slowly get the community moved away from traditional level system restrictions, and levels in general, by adding side kicking system for PvE and open world. and over time, removed levels all together. Skills would be gained in the game world rather than by bars. Same for Trait points.

*12) Housing System for personal and Guild- cost real money to cover future development of this. But similar system to Rift’s player housing. With options to design GvG maps.

*13) New Talent Tree system- along side traits, this is a system that rewards some gameplay customization between trait gains.

I would make a new feature that gave me 1000 bucks each time I click the mouse button.

Three things:

1) more skills for each build of each class
2) rethink the direction the plot is going and how it will fit into the LS
3) new dungeons and a raid

I would try to bring back some of the people that made gw1.

make the game world 2x bigger ALLOT of new zones and zone events and dungeons.

Hire some writers from Bioware to continue the PERSONAL Story

then when the player base grows with a million players ONLY BICOUS of this 2 thing I would start to work on the Living Story with the Help of Player feedback <<<<<<<<

I’d fix the TP…it seems to be getting worse lately. Yesterday mats I was selling weren’t even coming up with pictures on the TP just a blank icon.

Zoltreez.6435:

Hire some writers from Obsidian to continue the PERSONAL Story

There, fixed that for ya;)

1) I woul start by polishing the game, you know those nasty bugs that are here since BWE.
2) Then, keep the initial promises.
3) Balance the game

Zoltreez.6435:

make the game world 2x bigger ALLOT of new zones and zone events and dungeons.

So players are even more thinly spread and the world feels even more empty?

…writers from Bioware…

lol

I would work on making all the classes having multiple viable builds.

Increased reward for difficulty. (I.E. you solo a world boss, you get a lot more than if you zerg a boss)

Shift focus away from temporary content onto more content players actually want, like new zones, new dungeons, new weapons, new skills, new skins, etc. I’d probably also expand the skill bar to 12 buttons including 5 utilities, 5 weapon skills, 1 healing, and 1 elite.

Integrate the PS and LS using a new system that structures the LS as expansions to the PS and adding a ‘henchmen’ style NPC management subsystem that lets you recruit NPCs and take them with you when replaying personal/living instance/story/dungeon content.

Put more and better resources on profession balance/upgrades/tweaks.

It’s really that simple.

I would stop all work on future content immediately and go back and fix all known bugs and address all balancing and game mechanic issues.

Henri Blanche.8276:

I would stop all work on future content immediately and go back and fix all known bugs and address all balancing and game mechanic issues.

That’s a bad idea. You can’t stop all development work to address bugs, etc. Not only is it different teams doing them, but balance is iterative and never perfect so you’ll just end up spending months and months spinning your wheels rebalancing various things endlessly while the content grows stale.

Henri Blanche.8276:

I would stop all work on future content immediately and go back and fix all known bugs and address all balancing and game mechanic issues.

That would be a perfect way to kill the game.

The first thing I’d do would be remind myself every morning that my goals for the health and profitability of the game that pays me and my workers our living wage has ABSOUTELY NOTHING to do with the motivations of players individually or collectively.

It is a completely different perspective from 99.99% of the people that post their wishlists here. Bordering on polar opposite.

Nike.2631:

The first thing I’d do would be remind myself every morning that my goals for the health and profitability of the game that pays me and my workers our living wage has ABSOUTELY NOTHING to do with the motivations of players individually or collectively.

It is a completely different perspective from 99.99% of the people that post their wishlists here. Bordering on polar opposite.

What? Yes it does.

Actually, I really like these ideas. At first glance it may seem like a “let’s add stuff that I want/need”…but to be honest, they are very good solutions to some of the flaws of this game. But allow me to add my personal thoughts.
1, Sounds fun, but hard to make it viable, it would be the last on my list.
2 and 3, Absolutely. A must.
4. Wow, great idea! We have loads of pirates and pirate themes stuff in this game. Cool! Would also help to populate some of the maps to add these encounters to existing maps, where lakes and seas are present.
5, Don’t do much wvw, so I’ll leave this to you.
6, Would certainly solve many problems. It would be “content” in a sense that people would get permanent and big changes and interesting stuff they are ready to explore.
7, Would be most welcome.
8, Not necessarily the “death knight” stuff, but yeah…something should be added to fill that gap.
9, Amazing how a simple solution could calm people down regarding the trinity. It is a soft trinity, not hammered into stone, but something to give a feel of “role”.
10, If you say so
11, Something like Age of Wushu? There are many non-conventional levelling systems, but I feel fine with the current one as well. So this one has a question mark for me.
12, Great way for Anet to make money, and people would stop crying about it. Some totally cashless players might feel a bit down, but this is something we all and undoubtedly want.
13, Either just spice it up or make it new? Or create a separate talent system which focuses on actual gameplay stuff rather than numbers and chances.

All in all: great ideas and I support them completely. I hope the devs notice it! Because it is not just whining, but they are solutions that would benefit Anet as a company, the status of the game itself and the players as well. Most of it is a win-win scenario.

With limited resources I would focus on:
1. Adding personal touches to the Home Instances: For example, trophies of your victories from your Personal story, quest completions, etc. scattered about and a rotation of guest NPCs from your personal story.
2. Adding at least one new utility/heal/elite skill to each profession for each tier.
3. Along with adjusting the traits of each profession plus adding new ones to accommodate these new skills.
4. New Armor, weapon, and town clothes. You CAN find them as a very rare drop, or you can buy them at the Gemstore! Also a Gem Store Exclusive: Civilian Transmutation Stone! (Feeling shoddy at those formal gatherings? Or maybe feeling a little vulnerable in the alleys of Lion’s Arch without your platemail? With this stone you can transmute any armor of any class into wearable townclothes! Armor or Dress up TODAY!)
5. Also, all town clothes are now account bound (though default ones racially restricted) and are collectables that can be stored in the new “wardrobe” tab of your bank)

With more resources I would also add:
6. Seasonal Events! The Flame Legion plan to amplify the summer heat to stroke out the Black Citadel! Bandits are using the covering fog of autumn to launch an attack! Winter unleashes the full wrath of the Sons of Svanir and Icebrood in the Snowden Drifts! All this and more as a handful of dynamic events are added or substitute others and rotate every three months!
7. Weapon proliferations (and the trait support to go with it), rangers gain rifles, thieves can use offhand swords, longbow guardians, hammer engies, and more. At least one new weapon will be given to each profession!
8. New weapons! (And the trait support) All professions can now learn Unarmed combat, in addition, the 4 and 5 weapon unarmed skills are based on your race to give a racial weapon to compliment your profession based fighting techniques! In addition, Tyrians have learned to use spears on land, spears can now be used in melee (and ranged) by warrior, guardian, thief, mesmer, necro, and ranger. Finally, bringing back and old favorite from Guild Wars 1: The Return of scythes for Necro, Guardian, and probably someone else!

Knighthonor.4061:

Well I guess discussions like this never get serious replies compared to the other drama post and hyperbole fandom on this forum does..

An interesting question…and one that, at least for me, requires some interpretation. Is the question related to what I would do to please myself in the game – in other words, what would I like to see? Or is it what would I do if I were head of development to make sure that the game appealed to the largest group of potential customers? Those are two very different questions. That said…

If the question is about what I want in the game, then really not much of what the OP detailed is compelling. I want to make clear that I am not saying that OP is wrong…merely that their preferences do not align well with my own. I am personally pretty much a solo PVE player that also does guild missions without fail. So, I would love more open world PVE opportunities where I could collaborate with others that are around but not be forced to join organized groups. I like the jumping puzzles, although I am not that good at them….they are fun. And more guild missions. They are fun and I have to admit they are the highlight of my week.

Again, though, these are just my own personal preferences. If I were in charge of moving the game forward to appeal to the larger player base, my answers would be much different and in fact might not be so far off from the OP.

Elothar.4382:

Knighthonor.4061:

Well I guess discussions like this never get serious replies compared to the other drama post and hyperbole fandom on this forum does..

An interesting question…and one that, at least for me, requires some interpretation. Is the question related to what I would do to please myself in the game – in other words, what would I like to see? Or is it what would I do if I were head of development to make sure that the game appealed to the largest group of potential customers? Those are two very different questions. That said…

If the question is about what I want in the game, then really not much of what the OP detailed is compelling. I want to make clear that I am not saying that OP is wrong…merely that their preferences do not align well with my own. I am personally pretty much a solo PVE player that also does guild missions without fail. So, I would love more open world PVE opportunities where I could collaborate with others that are around but not be forced to join organized groups. I like the jumping puzzles, although I am not that good at them….they are fun. And more guild missions. They are fun and I have to admit they are the highlight of my week.

Again, though, these are just my own personal preferences. If I were in charge of moving the game forward to appeal to the larger player base, my answers would be much different and in fact might not be so far off from the OP.

Yeah more like the later.

I would dream bigger than what could be done thus destroying the game by either pushing unfinished products or dissatisfy the playerbase with the long wait.

I would like to see this discussion come back. I like deep discussions on stuff like this. Lets us explain what people’s expectations are when it comes to anet’s resource and development.

I would butcher the concept of Cash Shop RNG.