Guild Wars 2

Hello everyone!

I would want to clear some things up, im a guy, that when i ever hear “The game is dying” my morale for that game sinks like a stone in water, so i want to clear things up, is this game dying or not?
In my opinion, and in opinions of people ingame i would say, and also those.. No. As this game doesnt have a monthly fee, people don’t “waste money” on not playing, as if theres a monthly fee u wanna play that time, right?
This is still a thing that doesn’t stops the stone from sinking, i would really want honest answers, and abit more than just 2-3 words.

Thanks in advance!

Found this on a website, guess it answers your question

Playing at peek hours and theres still planty of people playing in lower level zones when im running with my buddys that are new to the game

It’s really hard to tell without having access to the data.

Some people say that zones seem emptier than before because most people are running fractals. But then people claim that it’s difficult to find a fractal group.
The server select screen shows high to full capacity, but some will argue that that’s not indicative of how many players are actually playing. No one (except for a dev) can give you an answer with conclusive evidence, prove me if I’m wrong.

I don’t see it, maybe you’re just on a small server.

Come to Sanctum of Rall, there’s kitten people everywhere.

Hm, I’m in Isle of Janthir, maybe a ton of us transferred over

I’d just like to point out that the server status display is under Arenanet’s control.

Anyone remembers what happened to AoC server status display?

MagnusLL.8473:

I’d just like to point out that the server status display is under Arenanet’s control.

Anyone remembers what happened to AoC server status display?

Believe what you will mate, I, for one, believe lots of people still play. European servers are mostly full as well, it’s not only NA.

MagnusLL.8473:

I’d just like to point out that the server status display is under Arenanet’s control.

Anyone remembers what happened to AoC server status display?

How do you know that?

xiv.7136:

Found this on a website, guess it answers your question

Severs pop status is calculated based on accounts per server, not people playing.

Considering that IGN, Time, and G4 nominated and or voted it Game of the Year, somehow I don’t think the game is dieing. Leveled off, maybe, but far far from dead.

Volomon.9147:

xiv.7136:

Found this on a website, guess it answers your question

Severs pop status is calculated based on accounts per server, not people playing.

Why does it fluctuate at different times during the day? I’m not being defensive, I really want to know.

NetherDiver.6079:

MagnusLL.8473:

I’d just like to point out that the server status display is under Arenanet’s control.

Anyone remembers what happened to AoC server status display?

How do you know that?

How do I know what? If you’re talking about Arenanet controlling it, well duh… it’s their code which shows server status so they can change it whenever and however they want.

If you’re talking about AoC: almost immediately after launch the server display was altered to permanently show “medium load” on all their servers, which is still true to this day. You don’t need to believe me, just check for yourself and/or ask anyone who ever played the game.

NetherDiver.6079:

Volomon.9147:

xiv.7136:

Found this on a website, guess it answers your question

Severs pop status is calculated based on accounts per server, not people playing.

Why does it fluctuate at different times during the day? I’m not being defensive, I really want to know.

Not sure, I often wonder that myself. However that is the answer given by the devs themselves. I’m not sure about the fluctuation because the server I’m on now I waited two weeks to get on, aka it dropping from FULL.

So who knows whatever the fluctuation was it could still be players moving their characters. If all it takes is one player for FULL to go to HIGH, this wouldn’t be surprising.

MagnusLL.8473:

NetherDiver.6079:

MagnusLL.8473:

I’d just like to point out that the server status display is under Arenanet’s control.

Anyone remembers what happened to AoC server status display?

How do you know that?

How do I know what? If you’re talking about Arenanet controlling it, well duh… it’s their code which shows server status so they can change it whenever and however they want.

If you’re talking about AoC: almost immediately after launch the server display was altered to permanently show “medium load” on all their servers, which is still true to this day. You don’t need to believe me, just check for yourself and/or ask anyone who ever played the game.

Why would they do that though? Just to make us feel like the game is fuller than it is? Would a large amount of players suddenly stop playing if they see that a server’s at Medium capacity than Full? Seems like a stretch.

xiv.7136:

Found this on a website, guess it answers your question

That screenshot has no verifiable date. For all we know, it was taken on Launch Day.

Volomon.9147:

xiv.7136:

Found this on a website, guess it answers your question

Severs pop status is calculated based on accounts per server, not people playing.

Thats not true. During primetime some are full while others are not depending on the servers peak players.

So a server may be at high during 12pm- to 5pm then from 5pm to 9pm be at full status drop off.

That right there pretty much proves your statement is false. Otherwise population status wouldn’t flux on a hourly basis and be reflected in the server selection.

Volomon.9147:

xiv.7136:

Found this on a website, guess it answers your question

Severs pop status is calculated based on accounts per server, not people playing.

A game dev already confirmed this isn’t true. It shows us how many people are currently online. The idea that it only displayed accounts per server was simply made up and spread around as a rumor which just goes to show that it’s not so much dying game as there are people who despreately want to see it fail or at least make it seem like it’s failing. The same goes for all the conspiracy theories about the devs lying about the population and don’t even get me started on the Nexon cash shop theories. I mean seriously, of all the things Anet has done wrong, does anyone really think that the gem store items are some big offender here?

Namu.5712:

Volomon.9147:

xiv.7136:

Found this on a website, guess it answers your question

Severs pop status is calculated based on accounts per server, not people playing.

Thats not true. During primetime some are full while others are not depending on the servers peak players.

So a server may be at high during 12pm- to 5pm then from 5pm to 9pm be at full status drop off.

That right there pretty much proves your statement is false. Otherwise population status wouldn’t flux on a hourly basis and be reflected in the server selection.

Argue with this:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Server-Populations/first#post703192

Hello everyone.
Connor, when you see a server FULL means that the people who’ve chosen that server as theirs, or players who have moved to that particular server, have reached the cap, independently of where did they create their accounts.
Answering to your second question: no, there is no chart that shows that kind of information at the moment, I am afraid.

Players who make the server their’s, aka move there, not logged on or online.

A possibility is that during certain times they use more servers, we don’t really know exactly what they are doing. It could be during these times you see the change. We don’t really know. Maybe due to this design there is a change in the pop cap at different times. Pure guess of course.

MagnusLL.8473:

NetherDiver.6079:

MagnusLL.8473:

I’d just like to point out that the server status display is under Arenanet’s control.

Anyone remembers what happened to AoC server status display?

How do you know that?

How do I know what? If you’re talking about Arenanet controlling it, well duh… it’s their code which shows server status so they can change it whenever and however they want.

If you’re talking about AoC: almost immediately after launch the server display was altered to permanently show “medium load” on all their servers, which is still true to this day. You don’t need to believe me, just check for yourself and/or ask anyone who ever played the game.

I miss age of conan’s glory month, that game had potential, I kept comming back to it for its combat and raids/dungeons, but kept leaving due to lack of people. If only a game company would make a game to be fun and not to squeeze every penny out of players, they might make a long term cash cow instead of a few month paycheck.

Your turn. 330 am friday night…. game looks pretty populated to me. Thats not even primetime hours lol.

A game’s success or failure only relates to the amount of income it generates. Game companies allocate resources based on the revenue they get out of it. With no subscription GW2 relies on sales of the game itself and ongoing cash sales via the Gem Shop. 1,000 ppl playing but not spending is worse than 500 playing and spending.

I’m on a so called Full server and it’s not easy in the low level zones to find dungeon groups and really only do events I can solo.. to level my alts and I can go hours without seeing another player. Still, I wouldn’t say the game is dying but I’d say it’s disappointing overall.

Ruby Red.4019:

A game’s success or failure only relates to the amount of income it generates. Game companies allocate resources based on the revenue they get out of it. With no subscription GW2 relies on sales of the game itself and ongoing cash sales via the Gem Shop. 1,000 ppl playing but not spending is worse than 500 playing and spending.

I’m on a so called Full server and it’s not easy in the low level zones to find dungeon groups and really only do events I can solo.. to level my alts and I can go hours without seeing another player. Still, I wouldn’t say the game is dying but I’d say it’s disappointing overall.

Ya people aren’t in low level areas so much. Theres no reason to be.

There is no actual reason for them to list the current population of a server at the time of checking due to the overflow system. People are used to server populations being listed as a clue to whether or not they will have to wait to get in.

So, the purpose of GW2’s server populations could just be for account creations, but that wouldn’t seem to properly reflect fluctuations in listings though. I guess it could be server transfers, but the fluctuations do seem to follow a peak and off-peak flow. I did notice that when they did Lost Shores and the Friend Trial Weekend, the previously Full Servers became High pop. I doubt a bunch of people suddenly left at that time, but rather that ANet increased the server populations around the board.

On SBI, nearly everytime I log in I get put into Lion’s Arch overflow. During events, there’s tons of overflows.

As for game health, three months is when the MMO vagabonds tend to travel around. It’s a behavior pattern at this point. Play an MMO for a couple of months, suddenly get an urge to move on and get into a new thing. Repeat again in three months.

It’s certainly not at launch levels, but Johannson was pretty positive about the game’s sales and health in that recent interview.

NetherDiver.6079:

Why would they do that though? Just to make us feel like the game is fuller than it is? Would a large amount of players suddenly stop playing if they see that a server’s at Medium capacity than Full? Seems like a stretch.

Might seem like it but as I said, there’s already a known example out there, so taking those displays at face value might be… not the wisest of choices.
Also, do not underestimate the power of word of mouth: if the “fact” that a MMO is dying spreads around, more often than not it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. The perceived value of a MMO experience, for most of its users, is directly proportional to the number of other people participating in it, so it’s in a company best interest to make the game appear as populated as possible. No one likes playing in ghost towns, otherwise we’d all be playing single player RPG/FPS which can afford to have (on average) much better stories.

Dying is overreaching, but it is definitly losing playerbase:
http://beta.xfire.com/games/gw2 <— Graph here.

Server’s are “Full” because they display the status of how many account’s made that server their “home” server. It’s not servers’ current activity, it’s just their status to tell you that the server is not available for transfer unless someone leaves it. The accounts “homed” there that aren’t active still contribute to the server being “full” or “very high”.
If they were really “full” all the time, you wouldn’t even be able to log in, or be stuck in a queue or some overflow forever.

Berelious.3290:

Considering that IGN, Time, and G4 nominated and or voted it Game of the Year, somehow I don’t think the game is dieing. Leveled off, maybe, but far far from dead.

Since when is the gaming press ever giving bad reviews to advertisers? Never bite the hand that feeds you.

Some people really think these reviews are legitimate? I feel bad for you.

Skyrant Kangaroomouse.7458:

Berelious.3290:

Considering that IGN, Time, and G4 nominated and or voted it Game of the Year, somehow I don’t think the game is dieing. Leveled off, maybe, but far far from dead.

Since when is the gaming press ever giving bad reviews to advertisers? Never bite the hand that feeds you.

Some people really think these reviews are legitimate? I feel bad for you.

4Chan has managed to get kim jong un on the list of 2012’s most influential people, simply because of numbers and spamming.
If you want proper reviews of games, then I would suggest you look for freelance reviewers who have no implied obligations towards any advertisers, publishers or retailers. There’s a sad lack of regulation for critics especially in markets like the video game industry.

taken from IGN’s review of SWOTR:

“The Verdict

I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that The Old Republic is a stand-out, wonderfully crafted MMO. The story elements deliver on every front, the vocal performances are excellent, and some genuinely clever innovations have been applied to PvP combat. There’s also a massive volume of content to keep you hooked for a long time. But it’s important to keep in mind that The Old Republic doesn’t stray too far from standard MMO mechanics. If the target-attack style of combat and the repetitive quests of other MMOs has thrown you off in the past, then extra consideration needs to be taken. Even then, though, The Old Republic is worth a try. The characterization and settings are superb, regardless of what you think of the genre. BioWare has a lot of room for improvement and expansion, and I’m really excited to see where The Old Republic goes in the next few years. You should be, too."

Translation:

Yeah it’s awesome buy it!!! it won’t be relegated to a f2p model in a few short months no!!! NEVAR!

It’s not dying, the world isn’t ending Dec 21st and all is well on the “full” servers!

The fact that our guild has went from 50 to 5 isn’t real, they are all just invisible and Divvy’s Reach is busting at the gills as we speak! /honest!

It’s not dying, it’s just settling after the initial hype (which, as you’d expect, was way over the top, tipping it to be a WoWkiller)

IMO the game is not dying at all.

Most people are 80 by now and are either running fractals or explorables for their exotic gear. This happens in every MMO, and the lower level zones end up a lot emptier. I’ve been going back and helping friends level, and IMO it’s much more fun now that the events aren’t cluttered up by 1000 people. Usually events have 5-10 people, and they actually feel like you have to try to complete them now.

NetherDiver.6079:

Volomon.9147:

xiv.7136:

Found this on a website, guess it answers your question

Severs pop status is calculated based on accounts per server, not people playing.

Why does it fluctuate at different times during the day? I’m not being defensive, I really want to know.

the reference point is being adjusted dynamically. For example, shortly before Karka weekend all the servers went to full status when they lowered the server caps, and at the start of the event the caps were raised to let the weekend invitees in. Smaller adjustments are being done constantly (and likely mostly automated).

Basically, today’s “full” may be twice as much (or half as much) as yesterday’s “full” for all we know. Without hard numbers this list doesn’t tell us anything
…especially since we don’t even know if the reference point is the same for all the servers, or server-specific.

Until they allow a /who command, there is NOWAY to know anything. Certain other MMOs let us know exactly what’s going on. ANET likes to keep everything vague.

It’s way too soon to tell.
But surely NCSoft is trying everything they can to sink the ship.

Dying is the word that people use when they are disappointed and angry. All MMOs go through that initial phase because, well, companies always overpraise their own game and games cannot please all players anyways.

What happens a lot though is that games get hyped a lot to the point that many people jump on it, hoping it will bring them whatever they are missing in another game etc.

More than half of the initial players quit withing a few months in pretty much any MMO. I agree that even though a lot of population is lost, it doesn’t mean a game is dying. It could mean though that a game slows down and becomes one of the many small population MMOs that are out there. It’s the fate of most MMOs, aside from the big WoW that still has more subs than any new game out there. It’s an odd segment of the gaming industry really.

There is no sub but as easy as it is to stop playing for a while, it’s also just as easy not to come back. What I mean is that yes, you could log in a couple of weeks or months later, but unless something made a lasting impression (in a positive way), there’s no real pull to come back.

For me, that’s where GW2 is at. I enjoyed some of it for a while but I have nothing that makes me want to come back. If for example vertical gear progression was turned back, I still wouldn’t play again for whatever reasons I have.

So has GW2 lost a lot of players? Yes, but that is generally the norm. Is it dying? Can’t tell but I would say there’s enough population left to last for a while. I do wonder what all the negative vibes recently will do for getting new players into the game.

Because if anything, a dying game is a game that loses more players than it gains. That could take years even but if GW2 is at this point losing more players than gaining, then yes, I would call it a dying game. But that can be turned around still if it were the case.

No its not going to collapse. But the ascend armour was in put place for a reason to help keep player retention high. To deny otherwise would be foolish.

In Sept those Locusts who blazed through content left – pop down (but expected)

In Oct – 50% decrease in sPvP and large decrease in PvP left – pop down

In Nov – Massive loss of pop because of armour. a minor increase for returning. Huge pop loss. Those who finished the runs got armour now have left – down again.

In Dec – from what has been seen and projected – casual player bleed off due to the ascend and nerf loots – add in the staleness of PVP/WvW and feeling left out.
pop down again.

The events bring back about 15% of the pop but it lasts for 2-3 days max and they go back on their merry way.

The game isnt dead or close to it – it has had a huge player exodus of about 40-50% so there are alarm bells going off.

The real issue is if the monitization is failing because those that left were supporting the game in that way above those that stayed. I dont know and cant answer that – we will have to see. (or the events generate the income desired)

I sincerely hope anet decides to go in a direction and stay with it so the game can stabilize itself and expectations can be brought in line with this. It would make things much easier and probably more profitable as well.

Does it really matter that much what others think. If you like and enjoy playing the game then do so. Some have issues that prevent them from sinking time, energy and money in to the game, but those are their issues. Me, personally, I refuse to sink alot of time, energy and money into a game that cant reset your account when its been comprimised by a third party. My issue is its a waste of time, energy and money when there are other games out there with the same content that offers this. But as some say it is free to play and a nice break game here and there. But the security of knowing that if the account becomes comprimised and i can be set back is worth more to me then anything this game offers. But as I stated these are my issues, there are other issues for some, and some that have no issues with the game think its the best thing ever. Really this is something you have to decide for yourself and do whats right for you.

On Ferg crossing, I am doing world completion so visiting all the zones, still plenty of people. I’ve run into a lot of new people as well, they just bought game in the last week. Since we are not a full server, I bet we get the most new players. Game is doing fine.

A lone player running around in low level areas in PvE, will say the game is dying. While a player who’s playing Worlds PvP with his guild, will argue that there are plenty of players around. Basically, it depends on what server you are playing on, what guild you are in, and what content you are playing.

Every MMO I have ever played has claims of it it dying when “OMG I don’t see anyone playing”. Apparently Wow has been dying for 6 years. Your experience does not equal the World. Your server is empty, mine is full. Lower zones are empty, Lion’s Arch is packed.

I don’t think people understand GW’s business model. There’s no sub so it’s assumed players will temporarily stop playing but because of it being free, will return later, especially when there’s something new like a monthly or one time event. And when they have these events people spend money on limited time only chest and items.

I’ve read nothing but negative response to the Karka event yet Anet has shown no plans to stop doing them. Which is very likely because they made a hell of a lot of money.

This game would only be dying if people are no longer spending money in the cash shop. If someone only plays a week out of the entire month but makes a purchase on something shiny, Anet’s made money. I’ve personally never spent real money on this game, so what happens when I stop playing…nothing.

Also, they are still hiring, which is something companies usually don’t do when they’re not generating income.

Douzeh, I beg of you.

Do not get the impression of GW2 through these poisoned forums.

There are 2.8 million users currently playing GW2. Out of those, 300,000 or so are on the forums and even less post. Everyy server in this game is at full capacity 24hours a day. This game is anything but dying.

I wouldn’t say this game is dying , this game still has a lot of people in it .

A better indication is to go the the mist lobby and click on the pvp browsing. Most of the time like 30% of the pvp servers are full, so the game is not dying. Not so long ago these servers were full. However this is pvp and in pve a lot more are playing( i think), but it gives some idea about numbers.

Katostrophe.3274:

Douzeh, I beg of you.

Do not get the impression of GW2 through these poisoned forums.

There are 2.8 million users currently playing GW2. Out of those, 300,000 or so are on the forums and even less post. Everyy server in this game is at full capacity 24hours a day. This game is anything but dying.

2.8 million users? Total fabrication. Maybe they sold 2.8 million copies but a lot of people quit as always happens. I think it’s less than 1 million now. Why would I be wrong and you right? Exactly, it’s just a gut feeling, not factual.
300000 on the forum? Based on what? Another fabrication. I actually think it’s much less tbh.
Every server is full 24/7 ….this should make you raise an eyebrow. It’s not normal that servers are full at 4am. That makes no sense. There are not that many people on. The only way that could be is that there is cross continent overlow and then people should be in overflow often during their prime time. I don’t think that’s the case.

I agree that the forums shouldn’t be why you like or dislike a game, but your completely made up figures don’t help anyone.

When I tried to make a transfer at 5:30 a.m. in the morning I couldn’t because the server I wanted to go (my home server Gandara) was “Full”. And I can tell you this. From the beginning I play mostly at night and I can assure you the server IS NOT full at this hour -rather empty, dead, deserted – whatever you wanna call it.
This server status is a deception just to “keep the players playing” and not get the SWToR feel after few months after release.

People are always saying on every MMO forum that the game is dying, seems to be some trend of recent years.

I’m not a fanboy and quit GW2 myself for now, but I don’t think this game will die in the next few years.

The game isn’t “dying”, there’s just less people actively playing. How does anyone know that? When I was still playing I’d jump around various maps and check out what the population was like. Two of the best metrics to check for this game’s overall “health” are how many accounts log on per week and what is the average time an account plays in a week.

However, ANet will never share this information. Why won’t they share it? Because it’s it becomes too easy for people to know what the health of the game is, and honestly no company wants you to know what their actual “health” is, they try to create the illusion that the game is super healthy all of the time even though it’s not.

The hype has died down, which means people who were playing that were on the fence are now either on one side or the other, which means people did drop. Those people who did drop were more PvE people than WvW or PvP, because there are more casual gamers than hardcore gamers and casual gamers tend to have a higher percentage of play in PvE. In WvW and PvP ratio of casual to hardcore gamers isn’t as largely in favor of casuals, so in the those competetive game types (WvW and PvP) the population will be more consistent and doing better form a ratio perspective, and obviously worse when it comes to size in raw numbers.

Again the game isn’t dying, there’s just less people that there were and the overall number of accounts will continue to increase, because the number of accounts can’t decrease as ANet only bans accounts and doesn’t delete them (probably for the purpose of including banned accounts in the total number of accounts).

The real question GW2 players need to be concerned with is “how is your server doing?” Are there lots of people throughout the maps? If not, that means people aren’t making alts and new people aren’t coming in to your server. If a lot of maps in your server doesn’t have a lot of people that’s bad, because people leveling characters up or going back to experience content won’t have a very social experience.

If your server has loads of people in all the maps, then you’re server is doing fine. You can’t think your server is doing fine just because it says “Full”. That just means ANet has the amount of people they want in that server. Do all the servers have the same cap for people? Ask ANet. Do all of the servers have people playing a lot of hours? Ask ANet. Are there servers with less of a PvE population and more of WvW population or more of a PvP population? Ask ANet.

You can’t actually know the health of the game unless you get the information ANet has, but again they won’t give it away because they want people to think the game is super healthy all of the time. But the fact of the matter is, it can’t be all of the time, and it’s not.

If GW2 has 1 billion people playing that doesn’t necessarily mean the game isn’t dying. Under this model, the game needs to make money via the cash shop in order to remain viable. If people aren’t spending money there, the game has no income and will become stagnant. Sure, some of the initial sales money will keep the game going for awhile, but I’m guessing that expenditure on the game is getting close to an end, if it hasn’t already stopped. The company isn’t going to put all the money back into GW2. There are profit margins to be maintained and other games currently in the works by NCSoft to be funded. That said GW2 is to the point of sinking or swimming based on cash shop purchases and has little to do with the number of people playing the game.

Namu.5712:

Your turn. 330 am friday night…. game looks pretty populated to me. Thats not even primetime hours lol.

That’s a very bad argument. A server may display Full or Very High but that means nothing. That just means that lots of people have registered that server as theres. They don’t necessarily need to be logged in. It just means a lot of character slots have been used up on the initial server.

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