I love this game, I’ve been playing it since it launched and GW1 before that.
However, the sense I’m left with at the moment is of a game frozen in amber. Far too much time has gone by now without launch systems being fully realized, or new content being added.
I know there has been development – but it seems to have been focused on Living World with no real impact to character development, or reshuffling of systems already in place, like the trait system. I think both of these things are fine, but without content that is truly new and that helps players build and grow their characters, something is missing.
I’m writing the rest of this from the perspective of my current character, a human female Thief. Switch out the following with whatever race and profession you prefer.
It’s been two years, and:
-I still have no idea why it was important to select Lyssa as my god.
-Aside from a couple sections of the story, I see no impact from choosing that my parents died when I was young.
-I see no importance to selecting Noble as my origin.
-I haven’t noticed any real impact to selecting the Order of Whispers as my organization.
-The weapons available to me are the same.
-The skills, aside from a couple additions, are the same.
-While the world has changed in really cool ways, the game play aspect of navigating it is basically the same.
-There are no new races to choose from.
-There are no new professions.
-Quality of life annoyances, like being unable to turn off the name plates hovering over summoned pets, linger.
-And so on, and on.
As a human female Thief, I wish that:
-I gained access to a new skill by choosing Lyssa as my goddess.
-Gained access to a swanky nobles-only mansion with special costume options appropriate to my status.
-I had some permanent impact to selecting the “parents dead” story option.
-I had more benefits from joining the Order of Whispers – access to special weapons, skills, missions, costumes, etc.
-I had access to new weapons. Personally, I want Great Sword so I can use the katana skin (once it’s back up on the trading post).
-I had new skills to choose from, to mix things up.
-That there was more benefit to exploring, like more random treasure chests, or the chance to stumble across secret doors leading to randomly-generated mini dungeons.
-That there were costume options specific to each class, so I could create the ultimate look.
And going beyond that: we just need new stuff. Weapons that gain XP and level. New lands. New ways of advancing characters post level cap. Heck, I’d even welcome mounts or housing at this point.
Maybe an expansion is coming that will add new content. I don’t know. But if the last update was Anet’s attempt to attract new players, I think the real issue isn’t leveling but lack of any kind of significant development on the game. The Living Story stuff was cool but just didn’t cut it in terms of keeping things fresh. At this point I’ve swung my knives the same way 10 billion times. I think the core of this game is solid, it’s time to start building on this foundation.