Guild Wars 2

I know it’s probably futile to ask but there is so little communication from Anet about the state of the game or its direction, I’ve seen more articles over at Age of Conan or Secret World and they’re practically dead.

GW2 is live and kicking; SAB right now and in the middle of LS3 (i presume) and an xpac in the works; but where and when are things going to happen?

Yes I’m happy to pass judgment on the content you do indeed serve up, but you have built this dumbfounding wall between you developers and us your biggest fans. I know you burned yourself on making promises before, but considering you’re releasing a product into a market, wouldn’t it be better to get some feedback on some elements of your process. Of course not everything because you want to surprise us with creativity,innovation and unique ideas and are fully entitled to keep quiet. It’s just, in the long run that’s rarely helpful and right now player base is suffering in PvP and WvW and even PvE are restless due to in frequency of updates.

So, what’s up and when do we get to hear something?

When it’s ready.™

While I agree that communication ought to be frequent and robust coming from the company, there’s no mistake that the GW2 community whips itself into a frenzy over any tiny detail and lambastes the developers with salt and entitlement.

It’s a situation of our own making.

I would like to see more about the state of the game and what direction Anetare thinking of taking with it, but there are a couple of things that I feel need addressing.

In my opinion, it would not make sense to release the next Living World episode until after SAB, because ultimately you wouldn’t want people to be forced to choose between temporary content and enjoying new content. I don’t necessarily see a problem with giving an update or news before the end of SAB, but definitely no new current events or LW episodes.

Second, as far as official news, we don’t know about the next expansion. I’ve heard news about work on the next expansion being leaked (along with some info that may or may not be reliable, I don’t know for sure, other people could give you a better understanding of the matter), but as far as official news, we haven’t heard any.

Third, considering how Heart of Thorns was revealed, we’re unlikely to hear about the next expansion until either at the end of the Season finale or slightly before it.

I definitely would like some form of update, don’t get me wrong. Even though I don’t PvP, WvW, do fractals or raids, I’d like some updates on what’s coming (for all content), what Anet are doing to make those things better etc.etc. But it seems unlikely that they’ll give true info about direction until it’s far too late for feedback to make any difference.

EDIT: concerning how often the Living World episode release schedules, I’m actually okay with the schedule as it is. I prefer content finished and done well over speedy releases and I’m sure there are others who think that way too.

The xpac won’t be released in a long time. Some promised content from HoT is yet to arrive (Legendaries)

Abelisk.4527:

The xpac won’t be released in a long time. Some promised content from HoT is yet to arrive (Legendaries)

They could give us that until expansion 2 or they could simply add that into expansion 2.

I really think GW2 needs its second expansion this year and not later. October, November, but it needs to happen this year. Finishing Season 3 in July / August with the pre event of the expansion in September / October and the release in October / November seems doable for me.

My problem is that there’s absolutely no communication towards upcoming content or the expansion. They really need to talk to us rather sooner than later.

HoT was announced end of Januar 2015 and released in October – they still could announce XPAC Nr. 2 within the next 1-2 months and release it in November / December, couldn’t they?

I think Anet will take a while before deciding to release its next xpac.

There was a thread somewhere where NCSoft told Anet to release its next xpac within 1-2 years, but Anet said they do what they wanna do and that the next xpac will likely not be released in that timeframe.

communication is important to healthy relationships. without communication, even strong love can stagnate and pass. no one wants to be in a one sided relationship where it feels like your partner is always tight lipped about their situation and how they are doing.

I expect the next LS3 episode will go live following SAB, given the timeframe the others were released within. However, if it isn’t quite ready I wouldn’t be at all sad to see SAB run for an extra week or two this year!

As for the expansion, I hate to speculate with no information. All I know is that they mentioned something about putting more development resources toward completing it. Still, that tells me nothing about when to expect its release. I certainly hope for sooner rather than later, but I also want it to be done right.

They got seriously burned before by making promises they couldn’t / wouldn’t keep. Can’t blame them for the wall of silence approach. There will always be people who cry about it, generally though those who cry for more info don’t do it as much or as bitterly as those who get info and don’t like it.
Really we only have ourselves to blame.

Abelisk.4527:

I think Anet will take a while before deciding to release its next xpac.

There was a thread somewhere where NCSoft told Anet to release its next xpac within 1-2 years, but Anet said they do what they wanna do and that the next xpac will likely not be released in that timeframe.

I don’t believe this was ever said. First of all, Anet never said we do what we want to. The one time NcSoft did say when an expansion would be released, Anet simply ignored them. They never commented on it. Why would they? NcSoft owns Anet completely. Saying no publicly to anything NcSoft says is a bad business decision.

And Anet certainly never gave a later date for this expansion, considering they haven’t even announced it yet.

They’re probably going to release info just before their competitor expansion comes out in June.
That’s how game companies do thing for marketing reasons.

Isn’t June way too soon for an expansion? Especially because there hasn’t been a single word on the matter? Plus, that would mean that Living World Season 3 will end with the next episode, which is honestly way too short storytelling wise to properly build up for the next expansion. If season 2 is anything to go on, we may get a total of 8 episodes, which considering their release schedules could mean well into next year for the release of the next expansion.

castlemanic.3198:

Isn’t June way too soon for an expansion? Especially because there hasn’t been a single word on the matter? Plus, that would mean that Living World Season 3 will end with the next episode, which is honestly way too short storytelling wise to properly build up for the next expansion. If season 2 is anything to go on, we may get a total of 8 episodes, which considering their release schedules could mean well into next year for the release of the next expansion.

If we’re getting an expansion this year, I figure it’ll be done like most MMO schedules, so roughly around the two-year mark. For GW2, that’s within a month or two of October, maybe August if they’re feeling ambitious, and there will definitely be betas announced before it happens.

castlemanic.3198:

Isn’t June way too soon for an expansion? Especially because there hasn’t been a single word on the matter?

He didn’t say the expansion will be in June, just the news.
Personally, i wouldn’t count on next expac happening this year – if that was a plan, we would have first news about it already. I’d say August next year is the earliest something can happen.

And as for any general news, state of the game posts, or game direction updates. I wouldn’t expect them at all. Anet seems institutionally incapable of communicating on that level.

Astralporing.1957:

castlemanic.3198:

Isn’t June way too soon for an expansion? Especially because there hasn’t been a single word on the matter?

He didn’t say the expansion will be in June, just the news.

Ah, you’re right, my bad!

Vayne.8563:

Abelisk.4527:

I think Anet will take a while before deciding to release its next xpac.

There was a thread somewhere where NCSoft told Anet to release its next xpac within 1-2 years, but Anet said they do what they wanna do and that the next xpac will likely not be released in that timeframe.

I don’t believe this was ever said. First of all, Anet never said we do what we want to. The one time NcSoft did say when an expansion would be released, Anet simply ignored them. They never commented on it. Why would they? NcSoft owns Anet completely. Saying no publicly to anything NcSoft says is a bad business decision.

And Anet certainly never gave a later date for this expansion, considering they haven’t even announced it yet.

Actually, Mike did say that, or something very close, somewhat recently, though nothing specific about a 1-2 year timeframe (which I don’t believe NCSoft specified, either). And, it’s been stated before. It was either in one of the recent AMAs, or one of his recent forum posts. (Recent being within the last year or so.)

Dondarrion.2748:

So, what’s up and when do we get to hear something?

Soon™

Avigrus.2871:

Dondarrion.2748:

So, what’s up and when do we get to hear something?

Soon™

Blizzard would like their line back, please

…but, also, we get to hear about the new xpac when the new xpac is done, not when it’s being built. ANet changed policy due to a failure to deliver what (the players heard) they promised, in the past, and now “show, not tell” us new stuff.

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

Vayne.8563:

Abelisk.4527:

I think Anet will take a while before deciding to release its next xpac.

There was a thread somewhere where NCSoft told Anet to release its next xpac within 1-2 years, but Anet said they do what they wanna do and that the next xpac will likely not be released in that timeframe.

I don’t believe this was ever said. First of all, Anet never said we do what we want to. The one time NcSoft did say when an expansion would be released, Anet simply ignored them. They never commented on it. Why would they? NcSoft owns Anet completely. Saying no publicly to anything NcSoft says is a bad business decision.

And Anet certainly never gave a later date for this expansion, considering they haven’t even announced it yet.

Actually, Mike did say that, or something very close, somewhat recently, though nothing specific about a 1-2 year timeframe (which I don’t believe NCSoft specified, either). And, it’s been stated before. It was either in one of the recent AMAs, or one of his recent forum posts. (Recent being within the last year or so.)

They certainly never said the next expansion won’t be released in a 1-2 year time frame, though. That would be nuts.

Astralporing.1957:

castlemanic.3198:

Isn’t June way too soon for an expansion? Especially because there hasn’t been a single word on the matter?

He didn’t say the expansion will be in June, just the news.
Personally, i wouldn’t count on next expac happening this year – if that was a plan, we would have first news about it already. I’d say August next year is the earliest something can happen.

And as for any general news, state of the game posts, or game direction updates. I wouldn’t expect them at all. Anet seems institutionally incapable of communicating on that level.

I don’t think they’re going to have as long a lead time this time around. That is I expect less than 9 months from the annoucement to shipping. I could still come the end of this year.

Yeah, I just said that. …nothing specific about a 1-2 year timeframe….

He did say that the statement in the conference call about an(y) expansions coming sooner wasn’t anything ArenaNet would be addressing (one way or the other).

Abelisk.4527:

I think Anet will take a while before deciding to release its next xpac.

There was a thread somewhere where NCSoft told Anet to release its next xpac within 1-2 years, but Anet said they do what they wanna do and that the next xpac will likely not be released in that timeframe.

Considering the roll-out of HoT and its decimation of PvP and WvW, I think it’s for the best for ANet to take as long as they want to release the next expansion to make sure it goes more smoothly than last time.

Anet now must make 2 elder dragons to pop up and make a good story around it
and it will not be easy this time

i hope those 2 dragons will look epic mord was fun to do but it don’t realy look like a dragon

and we have our cute aurene baby dragon how will she look if she going adult

so yea Anet have allot to do it will take time

While more communication is always good I expect they learned their lesson. The official announcement will most likely be pretty close to the release.

ESO was what, 4 months? It is like they absorbed what was done wrong in HOT and used that as their plan.

Sure but if you are a product company and learn a lesson; in no sector is the advise that you shut off all communication with customers and don’t ever talk about what you want to do. This isn’t even life critical or that important; it’s entertainment and pkayers want to have to have something to look forward to… even if only an abstract idea. Inagine if Anet said 1 word, and 1 word only about the upcoming xpac…

Elona

Cantha

Shiverpeaks

No promises and it would strike a huge spark of imagination and excitement in the player base. As more elements were in place,they could drop another concept article or such. Remember befire GW2 launch and all those fantastic articles. Stuff to get excited about whether lore, bestiary, location, heck even mechanics if they are 100% sure about its workings at the time. Right now though i just feel famished and in a pressred MMO market that means leaking players; I’ve even been away to BDO for a bit and apart from a horrible RNG progression model it nearly got me over GW2 but here i am again back since a month or two ago. But i would honestly have rather not have to put GW2 down in the first place.

I’d expect more news from the devs around when sab leaves. On a diff note i never understood why they didnt even hype a release prior to it actualy being released, like with the new raid and the new 100 fractal or lw updates. All of them were talked about on guild chat a few days after rather than like a few days to a week before to get the hype and the excitement going. I mean dont get me wrong the trailers for the lw updates are good but how about some time with the devs talking about things we havent seen and what should we expect and be excited about.

I’m pretty sure that Xpac 2 will be the big beatdown of Primordus and Jormag, with LS3 serving simply as the prelude (As LS2 was the prelude to Heart of Thorns)

Sartharina.3542:

I’m pretty sure that Xpac 2 will be the big beatdown of Primordus and Jormag, with LS3 serving simply as the prelude (As LS2 was the prelude to Heart of Thorns)

I’d honestly be surprised if this is the case.

Vayne.8563:

I’d honestly be surprised if this is the case.

Why? Will only be one Dragon? I mean I suspect it’ll only be one (can release two smaller xpacks back-to-back, one for Jormag, one for Primordeus), but I bet they keep the general MO from HoT.

Carighan.6758:

Vayne.8563:

I’d honestly be surprised if this is the case.

Why? Will only be one Dragon? I mean I suspect it’ll only be one (can release two smaller xpacks back-to-back, one for Jormag, one for Primordeus), but I bet they keep the general MO from HoT.

Another question: must it be either Jormag or Primordus? Where there hints in game that we’ll battle them next?

The thing is, I rather see Crystal Desert / Elona happening with Kralkatorrik right now – or am I wrong?

Carighan.6758:

Vayne.8563:

I’d honestly be surprised if this is the case.

Why? Will only be one Dragon? I mean I suspect it’ll only be one (can release two smaller xpacks back-to-back, one for Jormag, one for Primordeus), but I bet they keep the general MO from HoT.

I have my own theories that I don’t share, but like I said, I’d be surprised if either of those dragons were the next dragon.

Nyel.1843:

Carighan.6758:

Vayne.8563:

I’d honestly be surprised if this is the case.

Why? Will only be one Dragon? I mean I suspect it’ll only be one (can release two smaller xpacks back-to-back, one for Jormag, one for Primordeus), but I bet they keep the general MO from HoT.

Another question: must it be either Jormag or Primordus? Where there hints in game that we’ll battle them next?

1. We spent a current event tracking Primordus’ movement, followed by living story episodes indicating he’s awake and active now, just as LS2 focused on Mordremoth waking up.
2. Jormag was also revealed to be awake in a Living Story Episode, and we’ve taken action against his minions and spreading influence as well. One of our former party members has begun rallying a force to march directly against the dragon.

There is no indication that Kralkatorrik is any more active than he’s ever been, while Jormag and Primordus are both active, though pitched against each other. He’s going to probably be the target after Jormag and Primordus.

And, if they’re going for a “new race” with this expansion (The Tengu are a prime candidate, if they’re going this route) – Kessex Hills has been foreshadowing from launch that the Dominion of Winds is having problems with Primordus. Being between Kryta and the Shiverpeaks, there’s a chance it ends up being the battleground between Jormag and Primordus as well, though this one is strictly speculation on my part.

In order for us to have any dragon that isn’t Primordus and Jormag, we have to resolve P+J first. An expansion is the best way to handle that, IMO, because the only options I see otherwise are “Kill them off in Living Story Episodes”, which I feel won’t give them proper impact and development, or “Have them kill each other off without our direct involvement”, which would just be underwhelming.

Yes, I would love to see us fight Kralkatorrik, especially if it’s through a blend of trench warfare and Charr vehicles blazing across the wasteland of the Crystal desert in a full industrial-military slaughter, but I don’t think it’s yet time to face what’s pretty much the Biggest and Baddest of the Elder Dragons.

Sartharina.3542:

In order for us to have any dragon that isn’t Primordus and Jormag, we have to resolve P+J first.

I disagree. I don’t think ANet want to push the game in the direction “kill 1 dragon, exp: kill 1 more dragon, exp 2: kill 2 more dragons, …”. There are hints enough the Elder Dragons aren’t just a random destructive force and killing them will have unforeseen consequences. I think the intended direction for the game is to build a crisis involving all the Elder Dragons and resolving it in a different manner once and for all.

we’re still in the midst of LW:S3.. there will be LW:S4 before they release an expansion…. still long long way.. enjoy the game…

What makes you think there’ll be another LW season before xpac?

They announce an expac now and it’s dead in the water

Reviewers, players, and on lookers will know or hear about the fact that the last expansion didn’t keep all its promises. Thus no one would have any reason to beleive anything they said regarding the new one. This would be easy fodder for rage reviewers and any critics of the game the bad word of mouth would spread much faster than any ad they could put out.

It’s simply a bad idea all around to announce an expac before releasing the full set of legendaries. They’d basically be offering hefty bait for every troll, competing shill, and click bait reviewer to rip the announcement apart. Including others wouldn’t trust anything they promise regarding the next expansion the game would boil down to a few knights and F2p players with no doubt less sales than HoT. HoT came in on a wave of good will the next expac would have a level of negative press the first expac never had to deal with.

Doam.8305:

They announce an expac now and it’s dead in the water

Reviewers, players, and on lookers will know or hear about the fact that the last expansion didn’t keep all its promises. Thus no one would have any reason to beleive anything they said regarding the new one. This would be easy fodder for rage reviewers and any critics of the game the bad word of mouth would spread much faster than any ad they could put out.

It’s simply a bad idea all around to announce an expac before releasing the full set of legendaries. They’d basically be offering hefty bait for every troll, competing shill, and click bait reviewer to rip the announcement apart. Including others wouldn’t trust anything they promise regarding the next expansion the game would boil down to a few knights and F2p players with no doubt less sales than HoT. HoT came in on a wave of good will the next expac would have a level of negative press the first expac never had to deal with.

I can almost guarantee that they’ll announce the expansion before they finish the full set. I mean if they’re doing a new weapon every 2-3 months, it’ll be years before a full set is finished.

There’s no way they can wait years to announce the expansion.

Feanor.2358:

I don’t think ANet want to push the game in the direction “kill 1 dragon, exp: kill 1 more dragon, exp 2: kill 2 more dragons, …”.

And what hints at that?

I mean both the base game and the first expansion work that way.

Nyel.1843:

Another question: must it be either Jormag or Primordus? Where there hints in game that we’ll battle them next?

I dunno, only like… the entirety of the current LS3?

Guild Wars 2: Fire and Ice.

Lead the forces of Tyria (comprising yourself and rotating pairs of locked-out-of-combat NPCs) in a campaign to pit Primordus and Jormag against one another!

All-new masteries for gliding in superheated and supercold air, using red and blue bouncing mushrooms, and walking across lava and super-slippery ice; unlocking the ability to apply Special Burning to icebrood and Special Chilled to destroyers; and deciphering ancient Mursaat symbols to pass gates.

Watch Braham refuse to work with or listen to anyone, fail horribly in his mission, and possibly derail the entire operation! Will he complete his descent into becoming a Son of Svanir? (Spoiler: no. He will be pulled back from the brink with the power of friendship!)

New raid, jam-packed with lore that raiders wish they could skip and lore nerds are salty about being unable to get to!

ALL THE ICE AND LAVA SKINS YOU CAN STOMACH AND THEN SOME.

There. I made the announcement for them.

Sister Saxifrage.7361:

Guild Wars 2: Fire and Ice.

Lead the forces of Tyria (comprising yourself and rotating pairs of locked-out-of-combat NPCs) in a campaign to pit Primordus and Jormag against one another!

All-new masteries for gliding in superheated and supercold air, using red and blue bouncing mushrooms, and walking across lava and super-slippery ice; unlocking the ability to apply Special Burning to icebrood and Special Chilled to destroyers; and deciphering ancient Mursaat symbols to pass gates.

Watch Braham refuse to work with or listen to anyone, fail horribly in his mission, and possibly derail the entire operation! Will he complete his descent into becoming a Son of Svanir? (Spoiler: no. He will be pulled back from the brink with the power of friendship!)

New raid, jam-packed with lore that raiders wish they could skip and lore nerds are salty about being unable to get to!

ALL THE ICE AND LAVA SKINS YOU CAN STOMACH AND THEN SOME.

There. I made the announcement for them.

So much salt, I want some potato chips to put it on.

Thanks for the giggle.
(And probably some tears, because you’re probably so, so right.)

Sister Saxifrage.7361:

New raid, jam-packed with lore that raiders wish they could skip and lore nerds are salty about being unable to get to!

Heh. Not to be overly bitter but if it’s like the current 4 raidwings, then I think I’m fine not getting all those 4 sentences of totally disconnected non-fitting lore.

Carighan.6758:

Feanor.2358:

I don’t think ANet want to push the game in the direction “kill 1 dragon, exp: kill 1 more dragon, exp 2: kill 2 more dragons, …”.

And what hints at that?

Mainly, it would be a poor story. It would be predictable and because of that – boring. “It worked for a while” doesn’t mean “it will work forever”. I’m confident ANet writers are aware of that. Just look from a storytelling perspective.

Feanor.2358:

Mainly, it would be a poor story. It would be predictable and because of that – boring. “It worked for a while” doesn’t mean “it will work forever”. I’m confident ANet writers are aware of that. Just look from a storytelling perspective.

Um… okay?

But neither the base game nor the first expansion show anything to suggest such a desire or even change in direction. While for a MMO (a very very low standard to match) the story is decent, it’s still “just” a MMO-story, works as a frame of reference but nothing else, but then also doesn’t have to do anything else either.

And from all we can say so far, it’s Jormag and Primordeus next, possibly one at a time but given the advanced age of GW2 I suspect both at once. I know they wanted to increase the cadence of xpacks so it might be separate, coming a year apart or so, but even Blizzard with all their cash and manpower couldn’t deliver on that “faster xpacks”-promise, so I remain extremely doubtful.
And yet everything points to those two dragons, now that the train is in full motion (it was hinted at as the overarching story MO in the base game and confirmed in HoT, beat the elder dragons as the major pivotal story steps). Which also works well for ANet, we know where the end will be so they get a chance to “back out” of GW2 development in favor of GW3 or something comparable. Always handy to have that. If not they can switch to some other ominous threat.

Carighan.6758:

I dunno, only like… the entirety of the current LS3?

I just returned some weeks ago and haven’t touched LS3 yet.