Guild Wars 2

You do realise that the ones for holidays like halloween and christmas will come back every year? So the idea that they are just one-offs is certainly not true for all of them and chances are that if they ever get in trouble to release some content they might do an “exclusive” reappearance of any of the other events “by popular demand”.

I hoped they would leave it as mini-games (like Kegg fights) which had some sort of hard entry fee or that is (hopefully) hidden somewhere, ESPECIALLY THE BETA HUNGER GAMES! I mean, that awesome minigame was SOOOO AWESOME! Also all the Haloween games! My goodness I want all that back!!!!!! Also, even tough this part might infuriate many people, maybe let a very, VERY miniscvule chance to drop the stuff (weapons, skin, mats and such) chance at the end in a chests or something!!! I want to see a chance to get those things, as hard they can be without sucking away the fun of it!!

Gehenna.3625:

You do realise that the ones for holidays like halloween and christmas will come back every year? So the idea that they are just one-offs is certainly not true for all of them and chances are that if they ever get in trouble to release some content they might do an “exclusive” reappearance of any of the other events “by popular demand”.

I think they will most likely do something different for this years holidays.
They should of at least left the hunger games as a minigame alongside the keg brawls.

This industry over the last five years has moved to this type of style. There are fewer and fewer games that don’t. Heck FFXI just released its twelve content update for an example.

These “events” generate an influx of cash that f2p and p2p need to keep going

This has been their style since GW1.

Works for me. Keeps it fresh.

I just read somewhere that the adventure box is kind of a beta…meaning it or something similar may become a permanent part of the game

Tinboy.7954:

This has been their style since GW1.

Not.
In GW1 they only had the classic holyday-based patches just like every single MMO out there.

Red Falcon.8257:

Tinboy.7954:

This has been their style since GW1.

Not.
In GW1 they only had the classic holyday-based patches just like every single MMO out there.

Huh? They had holiday based mini-games. You speak as if I have never played the game… lol. FYI, I’ve played every expansion other than Eye of the North. Every other MMO out there does not do mini-games. They just redecorate everything so it fits the theme and maybe add a couple drops here and there like a Santa hat.

Vlawde.1895:

I just read somewhere that the adventure box is kind of a beta…meaning it or something similar may become a permanent part of the game

Yeah if it goes over well we’ll get more of it:)

Red Falcon.8257:

Tinboy.7954:

This has been their style since GW1.

Not.
In GW1 they only had the classic holyday-based patches just like every single MMO out there.

They did Canthan (Chinese) New Year and other holidays that aren’t as often done.

Tinboy.7954:

This has been their style since GW1.

I like their style It keeps things new and hot!

sonicwhip.9052:

…

I’m sure if all of this content remained in the game world the GW2 concurrent users would not fall so soon and we would have a much higher number of active players with all of this fun stuff to do left in the game.

besides disagreeing with every point you make i want to point out that the only problem this game has with concurrent players is that it has too many of them

Best i can tell they can make these things because they have scripting tools that allow idle designers to mock up things rapidly.

I am not sure I agree 100%, but I have to admit that after playing around for a bit in the SAB last night my initial thought was:

“Wow, this is pretty amazing! But I wish they would have added more to the F&F Story instead of this…”

I understand that thinking this is flawed on a number of levels (potentially different dev teams, unknown F&F release schedule, etc.) but regardless, that was my initial perception and that is what will stick for most folks.

F&F has been underwhelming up to the last iteration. Even with the recent addition which had some actual content (great new characters, custscenes, and some actual story and lore) I was just “whelmed”.

I am hoping as F&F or other Living Story arcs continue, they provide as much if not more polished, full-featured content as the special/seasonal events.

sonicwhip.9052:

Gehenna.3625:

You do realise that the ones for holidays like halloween and christmas will come back every year? So the idea that they are just one-offs is certainly not true for all of them and chances are that if they ever get in trouble to release some content they might do an “exclusive” reappearance of any of the other events “by popular demand”.

I think they will most likely do something different for this years holidays.
They should of at least left the hunger games as a minigame alongside the keg brawls.

They will come back as they were before. They might add a little thing here or there but the foundation is there. I would be very surprised to say in the least if it was completely different this year.

Oda.2348:

I am not sure I agree 100%, but I have to admit that after playing around for a bit in the SAB last night my initial thought was:

“Wow, this is pretty amazing! But I wish they would have added more to the F&F Story instead of this…”

I understand that thinking this is flawed on a number of levels (potentially different dev teams, unknown F&F release schedule, etc.) but regardless, that was my initial perception and that is what will stick for most folks.

F&F has been underwhelming up to the last iteration. Even with the recent addition which had some actual content (great new characters, custscenes, and some actual story and lore) I was just “whelmed”.

I am hoping as F&F or other Living Story arcs continue, they provide as much if not more polished, full-featured content as the special/seasonal events.

That is coming, this is not related to that. F&F is end of april.

Geotherma.2395:

Oda.2348:

I am not sure I agree 100%, but I have to admit that after playing around for a bit in the SAB last night my initial thought was:

“Wow, this is pretty amazing! But I wish they would have added more to the F&F Story instead of this…”

I understand that thinking this is flawed on a number of levels (potentially different dev teams, unknown F&F release schedule, etc.) but regardless, that was my initial perception and that is what will stick for most folks.

F&F has been underwhelming up to the last iteration. Even with the recent addition which had some actual content (great new characters, custscenes, and some actual story and lore) I was just “whelmed”.

I am hoping as F&F or other Living Story arcs continue, they provide as much if not more polished, full-featured content as the special/seasonal events.

That is coming, this is not related to that. F&F is end of april.

Looking forward to it. Just hoping that after waiting another full month it takes more than an hour to complete.

In a year they will have a lot of awesome seasonal events to keep people coming back.

It’s called freshness.

If these events took place all the time, people would get tired of them.

I’d prefer perma content over “seasonal” or one off type things.

I think it could be fun if it was always here, but might get old too. So hopefully they would just make it another way to get the same rewards people crave, without it getting more “different rewards” aside from skins.

I think seasonal events should bring back refreshed fan favourites, will make looking forward to the particular events even better. If the content was added perma style there wouldnt be so much hype.

HOWEVER. Super adventure box has been the best of the bunch in terms of quality and difference in comparison to what other MMOs do. This means i think it should be a permanent addition rather than a month long one.
The scope to keep adding zones is really broad and something that would be really wasted if canned until next april.

Parlourbeatflex.5970:

I think seasonal events should bring back refreshed fan favourites, will make looking forward to the particular events even better. If the content was added perma style there wouldnt be so much hype.

HOWEVER. Super adventure box has been the best of the bunch in terms of quality and difference in comparison to what other MMOs do. This means i think it should be a permanent addition rather than a month long one.
The scope to keep adding zones is really broad and something that would be really wasted if canned until next april.

The only problem is it detracts from the life of the world. It being an instance, players won’t see all those people wandering around tyria as much. Of course this could die down a bit over time, but in the meantime they would really need to push out those world events, flame and frost things, and other content to keep people doing a variety. Most important reason for this is so that the SaB doesn’t become another “Maw”.

It’s not like when the events are finished they press the delete button and destroy all the code, it will all be there with the possibility of improving upon and / or putting it back into the game again later. I reckon for instance come halloween the clock tower will be back, even if they do a new one there might be an option to do the old one again as well. Same with the christmas content

It is seasonal content. It will be back next year. It means we get all the content every year for one year of work. Hopefully this means next year we will get much more permanent content.

sonicwhip.9052:

Does it seem to you that A-net does an incredible amount of programming and development work for content that is only temporary and will never see the light of day again? some of this temporary content looks like they have seriously spent a lot of time and money and probably required some serious overtime work from employees.

Another factor beyond what’s already been said is that all these “one-off” events like SAB, Karka invasion, the BWE Games… they all let the devs try out new techniques, new methodologies, see what works and what was a better idea on paper than in practice.

So while the content itself might be of a limited duration, the experience and knowledge gained by the devs is a boon to the rest of the game in perpetuity.

I’m sorry but all this holiday/seasonal crap is just a stupid move on ANET’s part. Yes it’s great to get it nailed down, but in a fast paced industry like this it’s important to produce sustaining content to keep the players playing the game. Who gives a rip about Halloween, or Chrismtas, or April Fools if people are quiting and will never see the content ever again. You just made a bunch of content that nobody will give two hoots about 1-2 years from now. Those will be your core gamers and they would have been around had you not had these development dead-ends in the first place.

Goloith.6349:

I’m sorry but all this holiday/seasonal crap is just a stupid move on ANET’s part. Yes it’s great to get it nailed down, but in a fast paced industry like this it’s important to produce sustaining content to keep the players playing the game. Who gives a rip about Halloween, or Chrismtas, or April Fools if people are quiting and will never see the content ever again. You just made a bunch of content that nobody will give two hoots about 1-2 years from now. Those will be your core gamers and they would have been around had you not had these development dead-ends in the first place.

One thing you’re missing is that Guild Wars 1 players, at least anecdotally DO care about those holidays. The busiest time in Guild Wars 1, the time with most people online and playing were the holiday events. And this isn’t a small jump in the population.

Shing Jea Monastry used to host the Cathan New Year every year. When events aren’t running, there was one zone in Shing Jea Monastary, or once instance of that outpost. Like when a city in Guild Wars 2 has no overflow servers.

On the festival days, there were 90 plus districts, or the equivalent of 90 overflow servers.

You can say what you do and don’t like, but I think you’d be mistaken to say that people don’t care about these events. Some people love them. If Guild Wars 1 is anything to go by, a lot of people.

Holiday special content is what Anet do. Xmas, Easter, Halloween. The big 3 holidays in the western world. Its a celebration event that happens each year. Hell GW even had the summer time dragon festival.

If you dont like it you dont need to play the content. But claiming its to some kind of detriment of the game for Anet to do this kind of thing is laughable. GW1 proves you wrong.

Vayne.8563:

Goloith.6349:

I’m sorry but all this holiday/seasonal crap is just a stupid move on ANET’s part. Yes it’s great to get it nailed down, but in a fast paced industry like this it’s important to produce sustaining content to keep the players playing the game. Who gives a rip about Halloween, or Chrismtas, or April Fools if people are quiting and will never see the content ever again. You just made a bunch of content that nobody will give two hoots about 1-2 years from now. Those will be your core gamers and they would have been around had you not had these development dead-ends in the first place.

One thing you’re missing is that Guild Wars 1 players, at least anecdotally DO care about those holidays. The busiest time in Guild Wars 1, the time with most people online and playing were the holiday events. And this isn’t a small jump in the population.

Shing Jea Monastry used to host the Cathan New Year every year. When events aren’t running, there was one zone in Shing Jea Monastary, or once instance of that outpost. Like when a city in Guild Wars 2 has no overflow servers.

On the festival days, there were 90 plus districts, or the equivalent of 90 overflow servers.

You can say what you do and don’t like, but I think you’d be mistaken to say that people don’t care about these events. Some people love them. If Guild Wars 1 is anything to go by, a lot of people.

3 days on rings of fortune, yeah baby gamblin in my sleep, only in GW! Not even Vegas can get you to do that!

It’s not too much for work temporary content; it’s something that has livened up the game. And it is a game. This update reminds of that, and how much games used to give people joy. ArenaNet makes a fun game and this just adds to the list of sweet memories.

This style of game is new to ArenaNet and they are trying out ideas. We may never see another Karka type event again – which is fine – but it was at least something cool to have for a while. The same goes for this; it might be a seasonal event, it might stay – we don’t know. Chances are, it’s ending in April and we can tell stories about it. It was something special.

Take a step back and enjoy this. It might not happen again.

In GW, ANet put in special events for holidays and other noteworthy times. Some of these reappeared annually, sometimes with changes. If this event is well received, I think we’ll see it again. I don’t expect to the Karka invasion of LA again, or anything like it — but I think the Mad King and Tixx will be back, and maybe the Super Box, too.

Not enough content? People complain. Too much content? People complain.

Zeppelin.6832:

Not enough content? People complain. Too much content? People complain.

Always amazes me that people expect the game to only cater to them

GW2 is always putting in something new even if its something small they show they are working on making our gaming experience grow. Nothing is stagnant we dont just get the same event skinned differently. Each time I find myself getting to the point of quitting something is added that keeps me around The Adventure Box is one of those things it is so fun

Such is the idea of a living world things changes and things do not stay the same forever.

Zeppelin.6832:

Not enough content? People complain. Too much content? People complain.

I’m not complaining about either, I just feel it is strange they would work so hard on something that would soon be gone.

sonicwhip.9052:

Zeppelin.6832:

Not enough content? People complain. Too much content? People complain.

I’m not complaining about either, I just feel it is strange they would work so hard on something that would soon be gone.

So do chefs. You go out have a great meal and that’s that. The book you read in a week might have taken the author ten years to write. Most books won’t get read again and again and again.

I don’t know about you but I’m bored with most of the permanent dungeons in the game anyway. I do them with guildies, but after all this time if I never did one of the original dungeons again, I wouldn’t be too sad.

Maybe temporary content isn’t so bad as people might think.

Vayne.8563:

sonicwhip.9052:

Zeppelin.6832:

Not enough content? People complain. Too much content? People complain.

I’m not complaining about either, I just feel it is strange they would work so hard on something that would soon be gone.

So do chefs. You go out have a great meal and that’s that. The book you read in a week might have taken the author ten years to write. Most books won’t get read again and again and again.

I don’t know about you but I’m bored with most of the permanent dungeons in the game anyway. I do them with guildies, but after all this time if I never did one of the original dungeons again, I wouldn’t be too sad.

Maybe temporary content isn’t so bad as people might think.

Well you can’t compare an mmo to food cooked by a chef.
this is more like a house…Anet is building house by making a huge room and then taking it down to replace it with another room that will also be taken down.

sonicwhip.9052:

Vayne.8563:

sonicwhip.9052:

Zeppelin.6832:

Not enough content? People complain. Too much content? People complain.

I’m not complaining about either, I just feel it is strange they would work so hard on something that would soon be gone.

So do chefs. You go out have a great meal and that’s that. The book you read in a week might have taken the author ten years to write. Most books won’t get read again and again and again.

I don’t know about you but I’m bored with most of the permanent dungeons in the game anyway. I do them with guildies, but after all this time if I never did one of the original dungeons again, I wouldn’t be too sad.

Maybe temporary content isn’t so bad as people might think.

Well you can’t compare an mmo to food cooked by a chef.
this is more like a house…Anet is building house by making a huge room and then taking it down to replace it with another room that will also be taken down.

I don’t really see it that way at all. Anet is decorating a room, and you spend some time in that room and then they’re redecorating.

Content that keeps getting played eventually become stale is my point. By bringing out stuff and bringing out different stuff, they’re doing something most games don’t do. I think that if they can keep doing it (better than they’ve done it so far), then it might be an interesting formula.

At very least, it’s an experiment in the genre.

I like how people seem to have so much insight into how long these things take them to develop…

Honestly I don’t mind the temporary features. It gives the world a dynamic feeling and a sense of urgency to try the new content. There never seems to be a time where there’s not something new in the world to try, where as other MMO’s there can be months in between content and I’ll be sitting around twiddling my thumbs because I’ve accessed everything I possibly can.

sonicwhip.9052:

Well you can’t compare an mmo to food cooked by a chef.

Why not?

sonicwhip.9052:

Vayne.8563:

sonicwhip.9052:

Zeppelin.6832:

Not enough content? People complain. Too much content? People complain.

I’m not complaining about either, I just feel it is strange they would work so hard on something that would soon be gone.

So do chefs. You go out have a great meal and that’s that. The book you read in a week might have taken the author ten years to write. Most books won’t get read again and again and again.

I don’t know about you but I’m bored with most of the permanent dungeons in the game anyway. I do them with guildies, but after all this time if I never did one of the original dungeons again, I wouldn’t be too sad.

Maybe temporary content isn’t so bad as people might think.

Well you can’t compare an mmo to food cooked by a chef.
this is more like a house…Anet is building house by making a huge room and then taking it down to replace it with another room that will also be taken down.

If the game is more like a house, than the temporary content are more like dinner parties.

LowestTruth.2635:

sonicwhip.9052:

Well you can’t compare an mmo to food cooked by a chef.

Why not?

Because it’s like comparing a carrot to an airplane.

LowestTruth.2635:

sonicwhip.9052:

Well you can’t compare an mmo to food cooked by a chef.

Why not?

Because irl if you are cooking Moa meat, PETA and wikipedia would be contacting you and asking how your eating an extinct bird :P

Farzo.8410:

LowestTruth.2635:

sonicwhip.9052:

Well you can’t compare an mmo to food cooked by a chef.

Why not?

Because it’s like comparing a carrot to an airplane.

Hmmm.. if I had not read the rest of his post, I’d agree with you. It is quite clear that the comparison is that people will often devote a lot of effort and time to create something that is enjoyed for a fraction of that time. This happens with food, books and video games. Sometimes a lot of preparation is needed and will only be enjoyed temporarily.

Hmmm.. if I had not read the rest of his post, I’d agree with you. It is quite clear that the comparison is that people will often devote a lot of effort and time to create something that is enjoyed for a fraction of that time. This happens with food, books and video games. Sometimes a lot of preparation is needed and will only be enjoyed temporarily.

Here’s an anecdote.

“Hey generic friend person, you should really try this game!”
" Really? What’s it called?"
“Gw2, it’s a great mmo”
“Oh yeah!! I heard about that. Read some articles that they are constantly adding new things to the game. What all have they added since launch?”
" Well they put in some great temporary content…"
“What? Temporary content? In a mmo? So you mean if I go out and buy it today I won’t get to experience all those great things you got to experience already?”
" Well sure you will, you just have to wait 6 or 8 or 12 months till they roll them back out!"
“Pass. I’ll just go buy a game where I can experience things whenever I want to”

Now we all know they have added more than just the temp content, but it’s obvious that each month they probably spend more time developing temporary content than actual permanent content (with FotM and some of the mini dungeons being exceptions). Even this living story is temporary. All this is great for current and long time players, but puts a hitch in plans when trying to sell it to brand new players, especially by word of mouth.

My opinion: Good permanent content trumps temporary great content.

Farzo.8410:

LowestTruth.2635:

sonicwhip.9052:

Well you can’t compare an mmo to food cooked by a chef.

Why not?

Because it’s like comparing a carrot to an airplane.

Insufficient answer. A chef creates a meal as an art to be savored, tasted, and finished. Over and done.

Why can’t they be content chefs creating a meal to be savored, tasted, and finished?

I do not see (yet) any reasonable explanation of why it’s different. I see an arbitrary statement because.

Life is to hard and is only temporary, It’s not worth living.